The Reader

Sept. 8 - 14, 2011 VOL.18

dish14

Art of Cooking Essential

8days17

An Evening with Tara

culture19

Experiencing Greatness

theater22 Boy Wonder

OMAHA JOBS 2

Weird 34

MOjo 36

FUNNIES 6

29

FULL-TIME FULL-TIME BCS GRANITE. Warehouse/Showroom Assistant & Bookkeeper/Secretary/Showroom Assistant.

Contact matt@bcs-usa.net.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

SYLVAN LEARNING CENTER. Teacher/Tutor. Contact LoriRoh@NebraskaSylvan.com.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

CONVERGYS. Omaha Contact Center, Customer Service Associates. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

CORESLAB STRUCTURES OMAHA Inc. Drivers & Safety Coordinator Bilingual.

Contact hgreiner@coreslab.com.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

PAWZ PET SERVICES. Pet Services Specialist.

Contact Nicole@pawzpetservices.com.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

SEMPECK’S BOWLING & ENTERTAINMENT. Food & Beverage Hospitality General Manager.

Contact steve@sempecks.com. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

PRO TURF LAWN SERVICE Chemical Applicator. Contact jarid@proturflawntree.com.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

TRICITY AUTO TRANSPORT. Driver.

Contact tricity@gtmc.net. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

FULL-TIME

FULL-TIME

FULL-TIME FULL-TIME

FIRST DATA CORPORATION. Customer Service Reps.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

NEEDED: INDEPENDANT LOW VOLTAGE SUBCONTRACTOR MUST HAVE OWN WORK VEHICLE, INSURANCE AND VALID DRIVERS LICENSE. EXPERIENCE A MUST. CALL 402-546-9479.

LIFETIME FITNESS. Contact jberg@gmail.com.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

HARRAHS & HORSESHOE CASINO. Customer Service and many other positions.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

HOOD PRODUCTS, LLC. Administrative Assistant.

C o n t a c t brad@hoodfilters.com. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

JACKSON HEWITT TAX SERVICES. Tax Preparer.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

HUMBOLDT SPECIALTY. Lead Metal Worker. Contact Dmccarty@humboldtspecialty.com.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

MARY KAY COSMETICS. Independent Beauty Consultant.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

ITEX. Telemarketer. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

20th Annual Fort Omaha

INTERTRIBAL Powwow

Saturday, September 24, 2011 1-7:30 p.m.

Free & open to the public Metropolitan Community College Historic Fort Omaha Campus 30th & Fort Streets • Omaha, NE Special Presentation at 3 p.m.

Kevin Locke

Known as a visionary, hoop dancer, traditional storyteller, indigenous Northern Plains fluteplayer, recording artist and educator

For more information: Call: 800-228-9553 ext. 2253 or 402-457-2253 www.mccneb.edu/intercultural

Reigning Princess Lisa Ebert, Northern Ponca

4 0 2 - 4 5 7- 2 4 0 0 | w w w . m c c n e b . e d u

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SEPT. 8 - 14, 2011

| THE READER |

omaha jobs

THE WORK CONNECTION. Sales Professional. Contact jseibert@theworkconnection.com.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

STAR ENTERPRISES. Outside sales persons and project Managers. Contact staromaha@gmail.com. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

UNICCO. Regional Electrical & Instrumentation Mngr Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

TENDERHEART CHILDCARE Seeking Help! Must be bilingual.

Have flexible hours. Please apply in person at 12315 Westwood Lane.

HOOD PRODUCTS, LLC. Hood Exhaust Technician.

C o n t a c t brad@hoodfilters.com. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

PRUDENTIAL. Financial Representative.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

TIP TOP TUX. Assistant Manager.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

FULL-TIME ROBERTS ADVERTISING Embroidery Operator. Contact todd@robertsadv.com.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

STATE FARM. Service & Office Manager.

Contact kyle.emsick.rnol@statefarm.com.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

RETAIL DATA LLC, Data Collectors. Contact frances.owens@retaildatallc.com.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

ICON. Study Participant.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

FULL-TIME $$$HELP WANTED$$$ Extra Income! Assembling CD cases from Home! No Experience Necessary! Call our Live Operators Now! 1800-405-7619 EXT 2450 easywork-greatpay.com (AAN CAN) PAID IN ADVANCE! Make $1,000 a Week mailing brochures from home!

Guaranteed Income! FREE Supplies! No experience required. Start Immediately! homemailerprogram.net (AAN CAN) DIERS FORD LINCOLN. Sales Representative. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

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To learn more, visit uscellular.com or call 1-888-BUY-USCC. Things we want you to know: A two-year agreement (subject to early termination fee) required for new customers and current customers not on a Belief Plan. Current customers may change to a Belief Plan without a new agreement. Agreement terms apply as long as you are a customer. $30 activation fee and credit approval may apply. Regulatory Cost Recovery Fee applies; this is not a tax or government-required charge. Additional fees, taxes and terms apply and vary by service and equipment. See store or uscellular.com for details. Promotional phone subject to change. U.S. Cellular MasterCard Debit Cards are issued by MetaBank pursuant to a license by MasterCard International Incorporated. Cardholders are subject to terms and conditions of the card as set forth by the issuing bank. Card does not have cash access and can be used at any merchants that accept MasterCard debit cards. Card valid through expiration date shown on front of card.

Allow 10–12 weeks for processing. Smartphone Data Plans start at $30 per month or are included with certain Belief Plans. Application and data network usage charges may apply when accessing applications. Service Credit: Requires new account activation, two-year agreement and Smartphone purchase. $100 credit will be applied to your account in $50 increments over two billing periods. Credits will start within 60 days after activation. Account must remain active in order to receive credit. No cash value. Kansas Customers: In areas in which U.S. Cellular receives support from the Federal Universal Service Fund, all reasonable requests for service must be met. Unresolved questions concerning services availability can be directed to the Kansas Corporation Commission Office of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at 1-800-662-0027. Limited-time offer. Trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners. ©2011 U.S. Cellular.

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USC-ICON-11-002 BURST_2_Upper_A sept. 8 - 14, 2011 | THE READER |

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SEPT. 8 - 14, 2011

5

5IVE

MINUTES INTO THE FUTURE bit.ly/mUdjj3 | SEPT. 8, 2011

"In vitro" meat, or meat that is

years, tiger meat and whale meat

grown in a lab, will make its

will become popular. With a

consumer debut in the next year.

decade, it will be possible to eat

Initially, it will be very expensive,

wooly mammoth meat, thanks to

but costs will rapidly come down as

frozen specimens. Within a half

a market develops for the product.

century, dinosaur meat will be

The first consumers will be

available, recreated with the help

vegetarians and others with ethical

of gene sequencing. An exciting

objections to the slaughter of

future lies ahead both for the

animals, but quickly a new market

dedicated gourmand and the

will develop among culinary

inventive chef, as any meat we can

adventurers. As costs lower, it will

imagine eating will be available,

become easy to produce meat from

cruelty free.

any cell source, even some found frozen, or recovered from ancient sources. As a result, within a few

6

SEPT. 8 - 14, 2011

by: DR. QUENTIN MARK MYSTERIAN and BUNNY ULTRAMOD

| THE READER |

news

topnews

Fire Contract Simmers Department cuts budget, welcomes back auditor

T

by Lindsey Peterson

he smoke has yet to clear for the fire union and the city in contract negotiations. Last Tuesday, the city council voted unanimously to take over negotiations, booting Mayor Suttle and his team.

Councilman Thomas Mulligan said, “It appears we’ve reached an impasse, and by the passage of this resolution, we the council will ensure labor negotiations for Omaha will continue.”

It appears the union may already be finished negotiating -- filing an unfair labor practice claim with the Commission of Industrial Relations stating the council has overstepped its role in the negotiating process.

Regardless of the outcome, after years of overruns the Omaha Fire Departments stands ready to cut its budget next year and to welcome back State Auditor Mike Foley.

Last October, Foley issued a final report, and a wake-up call, for the department. Unable to find proper documentation, specifically for payroll, Foley labeled the department’s record keeping as “woefully inadequate.” Foley called off that audit, postponing it indefinitely. Foley’s final report ended with a polite, “We’ll be back.”

Ten months later, the Fire Department said it’s ready for round two of an audit tentatively scheduled for sometime next spring.

Assistant Fire Marshal Jim Gentile is confident in the revamped department. Taking heed of Foley’s recommendations for improving payroll practices, Gentile said no other department in the city now has better record-keeping. Before, logs tracking sick and paid leave, working out of class (different pay grade), and union employee leave lacked proper documentation. Too often, most of those categories were not reconciled. Gentile said lack of uniformity, not fraud, was the issue. He said his records were always immaculate, but no one from the auditor’s office had asked for them. Foley said auditors look at a “sampling” of time-keeping paperwork from different departments, but not all departments, making Gentile’s assertion a possibility.

Each supervisor had their own way of tracking employee work, leave, out of class and sick hours.

Gentile said all departments now follow a single, uniform protocol and keep records in “triplicates.”

In his report, Foley also tried to review paid leave taken by fire union employees. Paid union leave entitles union delegates, representatives and officials to leave with pay to participate in union functions. Foley noticed six paid leave hours taken in 2010 by union

President Steve Leclair. Foley reported those hours were “substantially less” compared to the previous union president. Again, a lack of documentation left the auditors with more questions. Auditors scheduled an interview with Leclair, a fire union captain (unnamed in the report), as well as Fire Chief Mike McDonnell for September 10, 2010 to address concerns.

When the men arrived with union attorney John Corrigan, Leclair and the fire union captain declined to answer any questions at the direction of Corrigan, according to Foley’s report. Fire Chief McDonnell participated and was “very cooperative,” said Foley.

Leclair did not comment on the audit for this story.

Union attorney John Corrigan said the union responded to the auditor’s questions via letter but never received a reply. Corrigan said the audit was politically motivated at the urging of the head of Omaha Alliance for the Private Sector, Dave Nabity. He said Nabity attempted to smear Leclair by accusing him of criminal activity. Last fall, Leclair filed a lawsuit against Nabity alleging defamation of character.

Corrigan didn’t know whether the auditor’s office will want to interview union officials next year.

Heeding Foley’s recommendations and implementing a better timekeeping system, the fire department has become the first city department to implement Mayor Jim Suttle’s vision of Performance Based Budgeting.

“Performance-based budgeting is basically where we try to take the resources we have and focus those resources on the things that do work for the citizens, the services that work for the citizens, and work in the best way for the citizens most efficiently and most effectively,” said Suttle’s Communications Director, Aida Amoura. “Instead of just funding everything as it’s always been, we sort of tailored our funding to go just to things that work, things people say they absolutely want that are vital services, and working on making them efficient and effective.”

This new budgeting model, Amoura said, has shaved $11 million off the fire department’s budget within two years. The Omaha Fire Department is currently the only department under last year’s budget.

“They were able to reposition people so that they were working with less, but more effectively getting out there and taking care of people in the same way that they always have, and respond in the same amount of time. They have a five-minute response time wherever in the city -- north, south, east, west,” said Amoura.

Amoura and Gentile touted the department’s track record of zero civilian deaths in three years, despite cuts and the slight shrinking of the force. Cuts included one heavy rescue unit, fire engine and fire truck.

Amoura said that despite the union contract uncertainty, the final trimmed fire department budget for 2012 will remain unaffected. ,

BECKY’S NEW CAR

by Steven Dietz

A contemporary, captivating story, Becky’s New Car finds two families unknowingly intertwined.

Humorously ironic situations, rapid scene changes and clever audience interaction will keep you entertained, delighted and on the edge of your seat as you become part of Becky’s world on this enjoyable ride! Will Becky find the new life she didn’t know she was searching for, or is a new car just the thing she needs?

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SEPT. 8 - 14, 2011

7

heartlandhealing

N E W

A G E

H E A L T H

A N D

W E L L N E S S

News you can use

T

AMERICAN LANDSCAPE Contemporary Photographs of the West Opens September 17

Barbara Bosworth, Skalkaho Falls, Sapphire Mountains, Montana, 1999, gelatin silver print, courtesy of the artist

2200 Dodge St. | Omaha, NE | www.joslyn.org | (402) 342-3300

IC E AGE

The Real Story

Now open through Sept 30 Fontenelle Forest Nature Center

The Real Story Learn why the Ice Age was much more than snow and ice! Meet extinct creatures on a forest walk. Investigate the life of a saber-toothed cat. Discover a baby mummified mammoth. Explore a bone hut and creativity cave. Dig for fossils.

Open Daily Fontenelle Forest Nature Center 1111 North Bellevue Blvd Bellevue, NE 68005 402-731-3140 fontenelleforest.org

ime for another installment of “News You Can Use,” highlights of news around the world that points out how we might want to consider alternatives to the way we’re doing things, especially in areas affecting our health.

Another Top Forty “Hit” for American Medicine.

American medicine was able to crack the Top Forty statistically in August. Details emerged that infant survival rates for our high-tech, high-cost method of delivering babies has plunged us to a worldwide ranking of No. 40. That’s right. We're on a par with Qatar.

Want to know where you should live if you want to have a better chance of your infant surviving childbirth? You could move to Slovenia. Or you could move to Lithuania, Cuba, South Korea, Iceland, Malaysia, Taiwan or Hungary and your newborn will stand a better chance of survival. Where’s the best place to have a baby if you want it to survive past one year? Try Singapore, Bermuda or Macau. They all rank in the top ten with Monaco leading the way at No.1.

The Public Library of Science says 2009 stats show we number 40. But CIA estimates say we’re worse off than that. They show the U.S. at number 47. A few years ago we were ranked in the top 30, but we’re not getting better at delivering babies as fast as the rest of the world.

What could be endangering our newborns? Evidence points to too much intervention. Caesarean sections, surgically removing a fetus from the incubation chamber of the mother’s womb rather than allowing the natural process, are still on the rise in the US. In 1965 the rate of C-sections was 4.5 percent. It is now over 31 percent and going up. Nearly one in three moms get surgery in the delivery room, encouraged by the medicos. Studies have shown favorable outcomes are more likely when C-section rates are closer to 5-to-10 percent. But C-sections are just one facet.

Sources suggest better access to midwifery services would improve birth outcomes. Fortunately, that access may happen in the Omaha area very soon. More on that in a future column.

Just say “No” to GMO. Genetically modified organisms have been taking over the biosphere since the early ‘90s when George Bush the First, Dan Quayle and their agribusiness cronies foisted them upon us. Leading European countries have banned their use, and heavyhanded enforcement of patent law has made “Monsanto” a dirty word in many farming communities.

GMOs are constructed when genetic material from one species or variety is spliced into that of another, transferring traits that mega-corporations say are desirable. One such example is Roundup Ready soybeans. Splice a gene into a soybean plant and cause it to resist a certain poison (Roundup) and you can spray all day long and not kill the soybean but devastate surrounding plants and weeds. That’s what’s

B Y

M I C H A E L

B R A U N S T E I N

happening now in 97 percent of American soybean fields. But news this month is that corn plants which Monsanto genetically modified to thwart a voracious insect are also falling prey to that very pest in a few Iowa fields - the first time a major Midwest scourge has developed resistance to a genetically modified crop. This raises concern that the way some farmers are using biotech crops could spawn superbugs.

Iowa State University entomologist Aaron Gassmann found that western corn rootworms in four northeast Iowa fields have evolved to resist the internal pesticide made by Monsanto’s corn plant; and this could encourage some farmers to switch to insect-proof seeds sold by competitors of the St. Louis crop biotechnology giant, and to return to spraying harsher synthetic insecticides on their fields. In other findings, we learn the overuse of Roundup has spawned weeds that are now resistant to the potent poison, creating what farmers are calling “super weeds.” It’s just another reminder that “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature.”

Food choices lower cholesterol better than statin drugs. Here’s some good news if ever there was some.

Are you hooked on statins? There’s a good chance you are if you’re an American. Statins are the most popular prescription in the U.S. Over 355 million were filled last year. That’s a lot of payola in the pocket of Big Pharma.

Thankfully, what we have suspected is true: Nature does better than drugs in lowering cholesterol.

Big Pharma says statins lower “bad” cholesterol and decrease risk of heart disease. But research shows some foods lower “bad” cholesterol to half that seen in many patients taking statins. Bottom line: You could lower your cholesterol with diet choices more effectively than with drugs which are filled with nasty side effects. Of course, American medicine doesn’t want you to do that. They want you hooked on their juju and that includes drugs. To wit: Quoted in the Los Angeles Times, cardiologist Steve Nissen said, “Patients don't want to take the medications, and I’m afraid that if you tell them there’s a diet that works just as well, then they’ll do that instead.” No kidding. And you’d have to trade your Beemer for a Kia. If Clinton can go vegan, there’s hope for us all. Former President Bill “I never saw a burger I didn’t like” Clinton has embraced the veggie diet promoted by cardio-visionary Dr. Dean Ornish. Ornish found that a vegetarian diet, light exercise and meditation actually reverse heart disease without drugs or surgery and the Ornish Program had a breakout start right here in Omaha with support from Mutual of Omaha. Ornish bases his program on experience gained in studying yoga, and Omaha yoga teacher Susie Gillespie helped him develop a usable plan for mainstream America.

Tom Osborne has also used the program to improve heart health. Fun to note that quinoa was served on the Husker training table last week.

Be well. ,

HEARTLAND HEALING by Michael Braunstein examines various alternative forms of healing. It is

provided as a source of information, not as medical advice. It is not an endorsement of any particular therapy, either by the writer or The Reader. Access past columns at HeartlandHealing.com

8

SEPT. 8 - 14, 2011

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Theater

coverstory

The arts

Drama-deprived?

Coming after Musicals

I

What’s coming up in performing arts, the symphony and the opera

by Warren Francke

f you belong to that peculiar tribe bugged by musical theater, you will be drama-deprived until the end of September when Bug opens at the Blue Barn and Gogol’s The Inspector General visits the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Those two join Next Fall, a play at SNAP! Productions featuring male lovers split by religious faith. Tracy Letts wrote Bug, which won off-Broadway honors for the story of a cocktail waitress hiding from her violent biker boyfriend.

And the Russian play adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher gives UNO director Doug Paterson freedom to add a local twist to the satirical farce about provincial corruption.

But devotees of musicals won’t have to wait for a rich array. We’ll soon write more about two offerings, Jersey Boys by a Broadway company at the Orpheum and Chicago starring Kirsten Kluver, Melanie Walters and Seth Fox at the Omaha Community Playhouse.

The Broadway hit about boy singers is quickly followed by the vintage music of Victor Herbert in Chanticleer’s Babes in Toyland, Sept. 9-25, in Council Bluffs. Next up are these musicals: n Children of Eden at the Bellevue Little Theatre with music by Stephen Schwartz, Sept. 16-Oct. 2. The cast gets to play God (called Father in this show drawn from Genesis), Adam and Noah, and features such obvious songs as “The Expulsion” and “The Flood.” n Songs for a New World, starting Sept. 28, at Creighton University, and The Wedding Singer at Iowa Western Community College, opening Oct. 27. n Monty Python’s Spamalot hits the Orpheum Nov. 3 for just two nights and Omaha Performing Arts follows with Rain—A Tribute to the Beatles, Nov. 1112. It promises to “take you back to a time when all you needed was love, and a little help from your friends.” Beatles fans wanting more must wait for the return of Billy McGuigan’s Yesterday and Today to the Playhouse Dec. 2-31.

The theaters with the most interesting lineups appear to be the Blue Barn and UNO, along with the dozen offerings on two stages at the Playhouse.

We won’t label the university’s 12 Ophelias (a play with broken songs) a musical, but the Caridad Svich creation opening Nov. 16 features original music by Michael Croswell. UNO winds up its season next April with Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins, a musical drama seldom seen because it deals with the dark side through the likes of John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald.

The Barn’s selections won a “Wow!” thanks to three choices: Bug, Sarah Ruhl’s In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play) which enjoyed a terrific staged reading at the Playhouse and Spring

by Cheril Lee

T

Omaha Performing Arts

Awakening, the controversial musical that has been avoided by the Performing Arts schedulers.

The latter two treats won’t open until February and May, when the Playhouse presents Hairspray.

By that time, Chanticleer will have presented the new musical based on Richie, the Fonz and other Happy Days characters and earlier the Playhouse will have revived The Fantasticks and introduced Altar Boyz, an irreverent parody about five small-town boys. Creighton will do a bolder-than-usual Urinetown and Bellevue will complete its season with How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

And the summer will not only bring the traditional musicals from Ralston and Papillion-LaVista companies, but an original musical, Flyover: a No Coast Song Cycle, a combined effort of Witching Hour and the Candy Project. It will be followed in August by SNAP! Productions tackling Avenue Q. Meanwhile, the Broadway Across America series will have opened 2012 with Blue Man Group followed by two familiar musicals, Cats and Fiddler on the Roof plus a much newer hit musical, Rock of Ages, the arenarock love story featuring hit songs of iconic rockers.

That dearth of September drama disappears in October and November. On Oct. 7, Witching

Hour offer the interactive Now You Are Dead: a Pick Your Play Adventure, and Circle Theater stages J.B. Priestley’s An Inspector Calls while Shelterbelt Theatre continues its annual run of short, scary Shelterskelter plays.

On Oct. 21, the Playhouse provides the local premier of Flyin’ West, a poignant slice of American history focusing on courageous African-American women. November brings Shakespeare to Creighton with Merry Wives of Windsor.

However, Bard mavens must wait until summer for more when the Nebraska Shakespeare Festival pairs Comedy of Errors with Julius Caesar.

That’s because the Brigit Saint Brigit company, which often includes Shakespeare in their season of classics, will pass on his work while continuing to search for a new home after leaving the Downtown Space recently shared with the Blue Barn. Instead, they’ll open with Moliere’s comedy Tartuffe in November, then feature two Irish playwrights, Conor McPherson and Samuel Beckett before closing with Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.

The season’s classics elsewhere include A Streetcar Named Desire at the Playhouse and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at UNO next spring. ,

cover story

his year, Omaha Performing Arts celebrates its fifth anniversary. Executive Director Joan Squires said 1.7 million people have attended programs at the Orpheum and the Holland Center over the past five years.

The Family series is a new addition to the season.

Squires said first up are the Yamato Drummers of Japan, “which is a group that combines percussion with athletic abilities.” Squires described the next production, Cirque Mechanics Boom Town, as “Cirque de Soleil meets the gold rush.”

Omaha Performing Arts’ Jazz series begins in December with Grammy Award-winner Chris Botti, who performed at the Holland for New Year’s Eve a few years ago. Squires called Botti, “an amazing jazz trumpeter.”

Following Botti’s performance, is a concert featuring legendary pianist and composer, Herbie Hancock.

Omaha Performing Arts will offer two extra concerts for music lovers. Doc Severinson and his Big Band perform big band classics, pop tunes and jazz numbers in February, while Bela Fleck and the Flecktones perform in April, playing everything from jazz to bluegrass.

The Dance series begins with traditional family favorite, The Nutcracker, performed by the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet. Squires said the production will feature 60 young people from the community. Another highlight is dance company Momix’ May production titled Botanica, where the flora and fauna of the garden come alive.

Huey Lewis and the News start the Popular series with a concert in October featuring music from the ‘60s and ‘70s. Broadway legend Patti LuPone presents her onewoman show onstage at the Holland Center in February.

The 1200 Club performances are held in the Scott Recital Hall and feature tableside seats and refreshments.

Upcoming performers include five-string banjoist Alison Brown and David Wax Museum playing a blend of traditional Mexican folk, American roots and indie rock.

Ticket information is available at 402-345-0606 or omahaperformingarts.org.

Omaha Symphony The Omaha Symphony shines this season playing pieces from Sibelius and Ravel to Liszt and Beethoven.

Music Director Thomas Wilkins says the new season begins the decade countdown toward the Symphony’s centennial. He says the orchestra offers music from Brahms twice this season on the Masterworks series.

Guest violinist Jennifer Koh will play Brahms’ “Violin

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y continued from page 11 Concerto” in March while the Symphony’s first concert features Brahms’ “2nd Piano Concerto.”

Another highlight is guest conductor Jeffrey Kahane’s arrival in January. Kahane is going to do a play-conduct which means he will be the guest soloist as well as the conductor and will do both simultaneously.

Wilkins’ favorite is the Chamber series. He said this year the Symphony decided to find great repertoire first and then create themes based on the music instead of the other way around. The first concert is called Wind Serenade and features Dvorak’s “Serenade in d minor” and Mendelssohn’s “1st Symphony,” which he wrote when he was only 12 years old.

But if you like a little visual content with your classical music, check out the Sights and Sounds series. This season offers the chance to enjoy film classics such as Psycho and The Wizard of Oz with live musical accompaniment, though you may never shower again. And the kids will enjoy hair-raising fun with the Symphony Spooktacular featuring magician Keith West. And who could resist the siren lure of animated classics from Looney Tunes with musical accompaniment from the symphony?

Symphony Pops offers performances from country superstar LeAnn Rimes and that perennial crowd favorite, Christmas with the Symphony returns in December. The Symphony Rocks series highlights music from Ray Charles and Fleetwood Mac. Wilkins said he enjoys offering different types of concerts because it showcases the orchestra’s versatility.

Tickets are available at 402-342-3560 or omahasymphony.org.

Opera Omaha Opera Omaha invites the public to “experience greatness” this season. Communications Director Brad Watkins said the opera is, “Focusing on great singers, great stories and great ways to experience them.”

This is Opera! starts the season on Oct. 15. The production focuses on the big hits of the last 200 years in opera.

Watkins said the concert will be, “semi-staged with set pieces and costume pieces and will feature the Opera Omaha chorus.” Guest singers include soprano Elizabeth BlanckeBiggs and tenor Arnold Rawls.

In November, the Opera presents a new production of Hansel & Gretel featuring sets and lighting by Jim Othuse of

the Omaha Community Playhouse and libretto by Jane Hill, Interim artistic director for Opera Omaha.

“It’s a good way to expose kids to opera. It is The Nutcracker for the Halloween season,” Watkins said.

The Scottish Rite Masonic Center is the setting for The Marriage Contract in February. The Opera will offer preshow refreshments prior to each performance.

Gilbert & Sullivan’s operetta The Mikado wraps Opera Omaha’s season and features live musical accompaniment from the Omaha Symphony. Former Artistic Director Stewart Robertson returns to conduct the performance.

Tickets are available at 402-345-0606 or operaomaha.org. ,

VISUAL ARTS Bemis auction tops fall’s playlist of key arts events

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by Michael J. Krainak

he Big Ten’s laying down the gauntlet as well as the welcome mat for Nebraska this autumn may get all the ink, but the 2011 fall season also hosts a number of fine arts events for the discriminating viewer after the game.

Beginning this month several key area art venues will offer a play list of openings of all kinds. Some are annual and much anticipated while others are a kickoff of a different kind. What follows is a preview of key centers, galleries and organizations contributing something out of the ordinary to the area arts vibe for the remainder of the year.

For the past 13 years the annual auction of the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts has been the most anticipated arts event. No more than in 2005 when Director Mark Masuoka and former curator Jeremy Stern extended the auction preview into a multiple week show with a BuyIt-Now option. Since then current curator Hesse McGraw and staff have organized it annually into the most enjoyable opportunity to see a survey of local, regional and international contemporary art under one roof.

This year the auction exhibit opens Sept. 16 featuring over 250 artists and some 400 plus works. The auction itself

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is a two night affair, Oct.13 in the Underground and Oct. 15 in the first floor galleries. Auction profits will benefit mostly the Bemis residency program which recently increased from 24 to 36 annually due to the addition of five new live-in studios.

McGraw and Underground Curator Joel Damon have pumped up the “wow factor” for that venue, but all Masuoka would reveal is that “a few local artists will create site specific works to set the tone true to an Underground event. The artists are the stars of the auction and this is a great way to showcase their talent and work.”

Two very different galleries have something to celebrate this fall, the grand opening of each venue in a new location. Lincoln’s Modern Arts Midwest has officially opened another site, Modern Arts Midtown in that vicinity at 3615 Dodge St. A full service gallery, representing many significant regional artists, the Midtown addition will host an open house, Sept. 16 with a special emphasis on sculpture in its 4000 sq. ft. plus venue.

“We want to create a market of our own in Omaha, both challenging and diverse,” MAM owner Larry Roots said. “Our MFA’s are all moving away. I want to help them find a way to stay. We can exhibit up to three separate shows on the main floor and we have an additional 4000 feet of auxiliary space for more experimental, spontaneous work.”

The RNG Gallery, better know for its edgier, alternative exhibits, especially from area emerging artists, has closed its doors at 20th and Leavenworth along with its partner Dixie Quicks restaurant and will reopen mid-October in its new digs at 157 W. Broadway in Council Bluffs.

Though RNG’s first show featuring artists Christina Vogel and Steve Azevedo won’t open till later that month, owner Rob Gilmer promises a special grand opening with a 9 ft. tall sculptural installation that will show off the 2500 sq. ft. space with its tall ceilings and special door “rafters,” movable walls, brick façade and long glass enclosed northern exposure.

“I want to set a tone for the art to follow,” Gilmer said, “and be a part of that renaissance that Council Bluffs is experiencing. We’re bringing a damn good art space to an area that plays like Brooklyn to its big brother west. Our shows will open on the second Friday of the month rather than the first, and we’ll have Saturday artist talks in order to better promote the arts in the metropolitan community.”

Omaha is fortunate to have two non-profit organizations that mentor area arts students in after school programs, the active Kent Bellows Foundation and Art Center on behalf of high schoolers and the Union for Contemporary Art currently at development and fundraising stage to benefit primarily grade school students. KB students have just finished two urban murals in collaboration with UCA and UNO’s Neighborhood Center project and look forward to a ribbon-cutting ceremony in late September with Omaha’s mayor, Jim Suttle. They will also participate in two more murals in the downtown library in November.

Meanwhile, UCA will partner with the Birdhouse Collectible to host Home, a group exhibit of Nebraska artists that will transform the Bancroft Street Market into modern day living spaces. The show will open Dec. 2 and continue through the 11th.

Additional fall exhibitions can be found weekly in Reader’s 8-Day Picks, Mixed Media column and the calendar. But three area exhibits deserve notice for what they bring to the area arts scene from beyond its borders: The Joslyn Art Museum will offer American Landscapes: Contemporary Photographs of the West, Sept. 17, which features 14 artists who vision a more urban and suburban setting in deference to the heroic vistas typical of an Ansel Adams. Chief curator Toby Jurovic will hold two gallery talks, Sept 22 and Oct. 27, and on Nov. 13, Joslyn will hold an artist panel with three of the photographers.

This fall Sheldon Art Museum will hold an exhibit with an interesting regional connection. Viet-Nam, Nebraska, which opens Sept. 23 featuring California artist Binh Danh whose multi media show will compare the experiences of early Nebraska settlers with the lives of Vietnamese who left their homes to settle into Lancaster County. Danh will lecture at the show’s opening at 5:30 p.m.

For the past decade no venue has made a more consistently significant contribution of interesting and edgy art from Europe and Latin America than Omaha’s nomadic Moving Gallery. This fall’s contribution which opens Oct. 6 in the Garden of the Zodiac Gallery space, featuring portrait photography from two German artists, Christian Rothmann and Gerhard Kassner should be no exception.

Kassner will include a series of “Faces and Hands” in black and white as well as later portraiture of his friends and family which will segue nicely with Rothmann’s portraits, “Mothers and Daughters” in his familiar, colorful palette. ,

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Art of Cooking Essential In defense of sodium chloride

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by Kallie Quinn

o celebrate something so essential to the act of cooking, whether you are the chef at Noma, 2011’s best restaurant in the world, or Omaha’s New York Chicken & Gyros at 1611 Farnam, is to highlight how important yet so simple is the act of using salt.

As Paul Urban and Jessica Joyce, who serve farm-to-city street style food at New York Chicken & Gyros, put it, “Food without salt is like a Paul Walker movie: flavorless, boring, and a little crazy.” It is one thing a kitchen cannot do without.

A bin of salt sits on each station of the professional kitchen so as to not risk depletion during a busy night’s service. It might sound silly, but great chefs can feel the seasoning. The line between under-seasoned and overseasoned is a fine line to walk. Proper seasoning becomes an extension of a chef ’s hand as does his or her knife. It becomes second nature.

Salt is close to a chef ’s heart. It’s how we make things taste good. Salt is love. Call me a hopeless romantic, but salt is sexy. It’s the ultimate supporting actor. You don’t know it’s there until it’s not.

Salt as controversy It would seem foolish to threaten a chef with hi-jacking his salt supply, but it happened in New York last year. Brooklyn Assemblyman Felix Ortiz introduced legislation that according to the New York Post would

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“eliminate the use of salt ‘in any form’ in preparing food in any restaurant in the state.” Proper seasoning would be up to the guest. Authorities might as well have threatened to confiscate knives and sauté pans. And maybe the gas hook up. I admire the effort to look out for the health of the public, but perhaps eliminating the single most important ingredient in the kitchen is not the way to go. Pasta cooked in unsalted water? Bland and just wrong. Next time someone says salt is bad, take it with a grain of salt.

cium silicate, an anti-caking agent, and has a sharper taste. Kosher salt is the preferred by cooks for it’s pure taste and minimal processing. Some cooks even prefer a certain brand of kosher salt because they are used to how the grains feel when they take a pinch and can feel how they have seasoned something properly.

Salt as a nutrient

Salt with Nebraska roots

According to Nancy Bertolino, a Hy-Vee registered dietitian who advises clients on healthy eating at the 90th and Center location, “the greatest sources of sodium in the diet come from processed foods.” The average healthy person should limit their sodium intake to 2,300 mg per day. Iodine was added to salt beginning in 1924 as a cheap and effective way to eliminate iodine deficiency which can cause thyroid problems.

Table salt endures more processing and contains cal-

Joy Morton, son of J. Sterling Morton of Nebraska City and founder of Arbor Day, acquired a major interest in a salt company called Onondaga Salt. Morton Salt, as the company became known, and its “umbrella girl” is one of the most recognized salt brands in the world. Give salt a break; Joy Morton did. Used wisely, it is the most useful tool in the kitchen. Unseasoned food is like Paul Walker: it might look good, but that’s about it. ,

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Salt as a preservative As I was walking around the farmer’s market recently, I rationalized each purchase with the phrase, “Well, I’m going to pickle it anyway.” Yes, salt is used as a preservative. Salt is used to cure meats and fish. Salmon can be cured using salt and sugar. Speck is a salt-cured and smoked ham from northern Italy. Bottarga is salt-cured and dried fish roe.

Before refrigeration, it was necessary to salt and cure meats for preservation. Don’t you remember Oregon Trail? How do you think they carted all of that meat around?

We have taken the use of sodium one step further (as we have the mega mall and the big gulp) and used sodium in many forms as a preservative in bread, cereal, crackers, canned foods, soups, and countless other products that fill our cabinets. We may just be eating a shelf life extension. If salt is love, sometimes we love it a little too much.

crumbs

dish

Dante Adds Manager to Expand Wine and Spirits Offerings: Dante Pizzeria Napoletana has added Andy Wood to its management team as wine and spirits director.

Wood will focus on further developing the already unique all-Italian wine list. He will also expand the distinctive cocktail selections. “We’re pleased to add Andy to the Dante management team. His knowledge of wine and spirits will be a great benefit in expanding our selections while staying true to our Italian culinary focus,” said Dante chef/owner Nick Strawhecker.

Dante Pizzeria Napoletana will participate in the upcoming Omaha Restaurant Week. It is located in The Shops of Legacy at 168th and Center. For more information visit dantepizzeria.com Tommy Colina’s Kitchen Offers Extended Hours: Now offering dinner service five nights a week, Tommy Colina’s Kitchen in midtown now opens for dinner Tuesday – Saturday until 9 p.m. Locally owned and operated, the eatery delivers casual fare with a chef-driven menu. Offering breakfastonly brunch on the weekend, fresh chicken breast sandwiches and fresh ground daily steak burgers.

Located in Midtown Omaha at 35th and Farnam. Call 402.502.9027 or visit tommycolinaskitchen.com Corporate Steakhouse Wars: Corporate steakhouses have been relatively quiet until recently when Longhorn Steakhouse announced plans to double its unit count over the next few years.

Days later, Outback Steakhouse gave away one million steak dinners as a marketing campaign.

Longhorn Steakhouse lists only one metro location on its website, but has two more locations under construction in Omaha. The old Lone Star Steakhouse location at 3040 S. 143rd Plaza and the old Indigo Joe’s space at 7425 Dodge St. will be home to the next Longhorn Steakhouse locations.

— John Horvatinovich Crumbs is about indulging in food and celebrating its many forms. Send information about area food and drink businesses to crumbs@thereader.com

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8 d ays TOPTV “The Space Between” Sunday, 8 p.m. (USA)

If any subject would incline you to forgive a sentimental TV movie, it’s 9/11. In “The Space Between,” a flinty flight attendant named Montine (Melissa Leo) is grounded on Sept. 11, 2001, with an earnest Pakistani-American boy (Anthony Keyvan) in her care. When she discovers that the boy’s father works in the crumbling World Trade Center, she reluctantly shepherds him to New York City by hook or by crook. As you would imagine, acceptance and hope ensue. But in this case, you’re glad of it. “The Space Between” is truly moving, thanks to Leo’s mastery at creating her character. Montine is a woman trying to hold onto her dignity despite the indignities of her profession, and 9/11 pushes her to the edge. It’s not often an actress gets to scale her performance to such justifiably intense material, and Leo makes the most of the opportunity.

—Dean Robbins

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t h e r e a d e r ’ s e n t e r t ainm e n t p ick s s e p t . 8 - 1 4 , 2 0 1 1

WEDNESDAY7 Sept. 7

Encyclopedia Show

PICKOFTHEWEEK Tara Vaughan

House of Loom, 1012 S. 10th St. 6-9 p.m., $5, www.houseofloom.com Each month, the minds behind The House of Loom hold an Encyclopedia Show. They pick a topic and invite ten artists, performers and assorted creatives to come up with an original piece related to that theme. This month’s Encyclopedia show will happen Wednesday the 7th at 7 p.m. The house band includes All Young Girls Are Machine Guns and a super special surprise guest. All ages are welcome and it’ll cost you $5 to get in (it’s a suggested donation, though, so be sure to pony up).

—Kyle Tonniges

THURSDAY8 Sept. 8

Pepper w/ Ballyhoo! and We Be Lions The Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St. 9 p.m., $22 ADV/$25DOS www.theslowdown.com

When lead singer Brad Nowell of Sublime passed away in 1996, he probably hadn’t had the chance to appreciate the impact he had on so many people.

The band Pepper clearly took Sublime’s influence and ran with it. The two are often compared because of their shared musical style involving reggae, dub and rock. Pepper formed in Hawaii around 1996 when guitarist/vocalist Kaleo Wassman met bassist Bollinger in middle school (yes, middle school).

After several failed attempts at finding a drummer, Yesod Williams luckily crossed paths with the duo.

Relocating to San Diego, Pepper was soon opening for notable artists such as Burning Spear, 311 and Snoop Dogg. While it’s been a minute since their last album release, they are currently headlining the 2011 Vans Warped Tour. The trio continues to spread their positive messages and elevating music delivered with a raw, punk aesthetic — Kyle Eustice

| THE READER |

picks

Monday, Sept. 12

Jess and Tara’s Tour Kickoff Show w/ The Tara Vaughan Band, Edge of Arbor and Kris Lager Band The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St., 8 p.m., $7 at the door waitingroomlounge.com, taravaughan.com

T

ara Vaughan is one of Omaha’s best-kept secrets. The unsigned local musician whose vocals and amazing piano stylings bear an uncanny resemblance to Regina Specktor or Sara Bareilles, just released her second album (Better Versions) in March. Since and before then, she’s been in demand by just about everyone, playing show after show on Morning Blend, Q98.5, The Waiting Room, Side Door Lounge and at GlamVIP just to name a few.

The talented young singer-songwriter will be kicking off her tour next week with fellow local acts, Edge of Arbor and Kris Lager Band. Both Vaughan and Edge of Arbor member, Jessica Errett, will be hosting the event held at The Waiting Room Sept. 12. Aside from the music, the show will double as a fundraiser for Vaughn and Errett’s East Coast tour this fall.

The bands will be raffling off tickets to the Henry Doorly Zoo (along with a painting done by an animal), a show at the Omaha Community Playhouse (“Yesterday and Today”), a guitar lesson with Andrew Bailie, T-shirts, CDs, posters, etc. There also also be a silent auction for items such a date-night package (dinner for two at the Flatiron and tickets to see LeeAnn Rimes with the Omaha Symphony). Scott Zrust (musician and sous chef at Dario’s Brasserie) will be giving away a chance to have him cook a four-course dinner party for six. Not a bad deal indeed.

Check out all the musicians on their Facebook pages to hear some of their new music and see where they’re headed next. They can also be found on Twitter and their band sites. Vaughn’s album be heard on her website (www.taravaughan.com), as well as on iTunes.

—Jessica Stensrud

t h e

r e a de r ’ s

FRIDAY9 Sept. 9

Picture Picture: Nebraska Video Art Now: 1 Night and Done The New BLK, 1213 Jones St. 7-11p.m., FREE thenewblk.com, 402.403.5619

The New BLK Directors Shane and Shawn Bainbridge wrangled artist Tim Guthrie to put a city-wide video show together — the original vision expanded and will continue in 2012, but is introduced this weekend in conjunction with Omaha Creative Week. The onenight only show features over a dozen emerging and established artists who use video as medium. The subjects are vast. Andi and Lance Olsen’s intense Head in Flames focuses on Vincent Van Gogh’s last days and his great-grandson’s murder. Jamie Burmeister and Tim Guthrie exhibit Cli•mac•ter•ic, their interactive bike video installation, along with solo-made videos.

Ann Gradwohl’s Act Now comprises a two-way glass mirror and video using advertising targeted towards women. Scott Blake shows his 9/11 Zoetrope of news footage of United Airlines flight 175 crashing into the south tower of the World Trade Center. Gary Day presents WordGardens, a series of animations and photogravures based on the Garden of the Monsters in Italy. Michael Mayer exhibits Heaven and Earth, activating a “meditative space” investigating our relationship with technology. Other featured artists: Nolan Tredway, Heidi Bartlett, Russ Nordman, Jody Boyer, Alex Myers, Brittan Rosendahl, Alex Bodell, Ryan Carroll, Harrison Martin, and Bryan Klopping.

— Sally Deskins

Sept. 9

Phoenix Art Opening/ Studio Stories: Works on paper

by James Freeman

Hot Shops Art Center, 1301 Nicholas St. Opening reception 6-10p.m., FREE Hotshopsartcenter.com, 402.342.4212 Omaha-based metal and glass sculptor Susan Woodford celebrates “surviving robbery, vandalism and a great loss” exhibiting her new work in

entertainment the Nicholas Street Gallery. The Metropolitan Community College welding instructor’s rich and poignant large pieces are her “translation of the current perceptions of the human condition within our society … with each piece I concentrate on the light, the non-verbal emotion I am trying to convey, and enjoy the happy mistakes.” Seasoned local artist James Freeman, known for his botanical abstractions and grid-based collages turns emotive, exhibiting paintings and drawings of goofy toys, puppets and dolls, in the 1301 Gallery. The large, colorful paintings, intensely rendered chalk pastels and mysterious graphite line drawings of macabre figures are said by the artist to represent his working interior dialogue as he creates —“frustration, happiness, anger, confusion, global goofiness…”

— Sally Deskins

picks

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pepper

SATURDAY10 Sept. 10

Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band The Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St. 9 p.m., $10 ADV www.theslowdown.com

Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band

When you think of Vans Warped Tour, bands such as Bad Religion or NOFX probably come to mind - not a band that specializes in playing the washboard, five-gallon bucket or bottleneck slide. Meet Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, a little bit of an anomaly in itself. The Southern Indiana-based trio produce soulful, country blues with topics ranging from the disappearance of the American family farm to crystal meth abuse; but the weighty material doesn’t mean they don’t know how to get down. The danceable, sing-a-longs often celebrate rural life and anchor their reputation as an incredible live band. In the studio, they are as raw as it gets. They don’t use overdubs, and record strictly on analog tape. You can’t get more country than that. The guitarist/vocalist Reverend Peyton, vocalist/washboard extraordinaire Breezy Peyton and drummer/bucket aficionado Aaron Persinger hit the Slowdown stage Saturday.

— Kyle Eustice

picks

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| THE READER |

An interview with Opera Omaha’s new general director

by Cheril Lee

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tury English composer and conductor). There are several 20th and 21st century composers I would love to eventually bring to Opera Omaha. When I was in Chicago, we made it our mission to bring audiences the bookends. We started with the earliest operas and finished with the 20th or 21st century,” Weitz said.

He said if you look at Opera America’s stats of the most frequently performed operas, “Jake

oger Weitz is the new general director for Opera Omaha. Weitz took the helm in early August and is roger weitz excited to return to Omaha. He had his first professional experience in arts administration through a summer internship at Opera Omaha in 1998.

Weitz said though he grew up singing in choirs and taking piano lessons, he never aspired to be a professional singer or musician. After earning a degree in music, he said he learned he should leave singing and playing to the professionals.

Weitz said, “I fell in love with song and repertoire and opera and I thought if I can work in this business without being a singer, that’s what I want to do.”

Weitz moved here from Chicago where he was general manager of the Chicago Opera Theatre. Before that he was an Arts Management Fellow at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. But, Weitz said he gained most of his experience as the Artistic Administrator at the Chicago Opera Theatre.

“In that capacity is really where I learned about budgeting, the artists and the audition process as well as how to plan seasons.”

This season, Weitz wants to attract family audiences with a new version of Hansel & Gretel. He also says The Marriage Contract, running in February, is a good introduction to opera for newcomers, clocking in at just 75 minutes. Food is offered before each performance.

Heggie’s Three Decembers and Moby Dick are inThough he had no hand in planning the cur- cluded. Moby Dick has been all over the country rent season, Weitz said future seasons would in- and all over the world. Composer John Adams clude lesser-known works as well as blockbusters also has some terrific work. So, yeah, opera is a that people expect. living, breathing art form.”

“I love Mozart and Verdi. And I’ve really Weitz envisions offering two large-scale, come to appreciate Benjamin Britten (20th cen- blood and guts operas in the Orpheum and at

least one lesser known work in a smaller venue.

He said the opera is always looking for collaborations with other groups around town. Opera Omaha has previously collaborated with local visual artists including Jun Kaneko, Catherine Ferguson and Watie White.

Weitz said opera is an interdisciplinary art form that lends itself to partnerships, “You’ve got singers, musicians, dancers, actors, scenery, costumes, lights and backstage production personnel. There are so many ways we actually need other arts groups in this city. So, two years down the line, I’m thinking there’s going to be a big meta-production and opera is the one that can pull it all together.”

He said opera attracts a diverse group. “Opera could very easily appeal to the theatre buffs, the symphony crowd, the dance community, visual art supporters and literary types.

Opera is the wonderful marriage of all these different art forms.”

For Weitz, the great thing about live performance is that it’s not just a rewarding musical experience, but it’s also a social experience. “You don’t get the same feeling watching a clip on your computer as you do being in a crowded theatre with the audience abuzz and the orchestra tuning up,” he said.

“There’s real electricity and magic and I feel strongly once people come to the opera and experience it, we will have them hooked.”

Weitz said opera is an experience anyone can appreciate. And whether it makes you laugh or cry, it will move you. , Tickets for Opera Omaha’s 2011-2012 season are available at 402-345-0606 or operaomaha.org.

culture

n Joslyn Art Museum’s annual College Night is Sept. 9, 7 p.m-9 p.m. College students and faculty are invited to a night celebrating art and music, taking in the museum’s permanent collection, including the newly installed American and American Western Art. Music will be provided

by Americana-Orchestral-Folk-Rock-Waltz band Midwest Dilemma. Godfather’s pizza will be free, and visitors can play “Scvngr Trek”— a mobile device game about going places, handling challenges and earning points.

mixedmedia

Experiencing Greatness

culture

n Omaha-based artist Scott Blake (showing in the New BLK’s Nebraska Video Art show), just returned from New York City where he presented his flipbook and media study for 9/11 Zoetrope Aug. 24 at the 9/11 TV News Archive Conference at New York University. (“Amy Goodman (my personal hero) was even in the audience,” Blake noted.) Blake’s 9/11 flipbooks are currently at the West Baton Rouge Museum in Louisiana.

Upcoming exhibits are scheduled in Oregon, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and France. They were featured in New York Magazine Aug. 27 in “The Collected Works: How artists, writers, musicians, filmmakers, video-game designers and quilters responded to the attacks.” For mroe info: barcodeart.com. n University of Nebraska-Omaha fine arts and humanities reference librarian Marvel Maring creates one-of-a-kind artist books and design bindings, exhibited at the Metropolitan Community College Gallery of Art and Design, 204th and Dodge, opening Sept. 8, 4 p.m.-8p.m. Maring, who received the 2008 Book Artists Award from Clo’ Artists’ Facility in Ireland, is showing concurrently in Il Libro: The Art of the Book Exhibition at Barton Art Gallery in Wilson, N.C.. n Author R. Tripp Evans lectures on artist Grant Wood and his own book, Grant Wood: A Life at Sheldon Museum of Art in Lincoln Sept. 8, followed by a book signing. n Omaha based photographer Dorothy Tuma and Creighton University theology professor Wendy M. Wright opened Le Point Verge: Mary and the Catholic Imagination at Clare Gallery in Hartford, Conn. this weekend. The exhibition presents photographs taken over a seven-year pilgrimage by the duo, focusing on images of the Virgin Mary within the the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

— Sally Deskins Mixed Media is a column about local art. Send ideas to mixedmedia@thereader.com.

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SEVEN AD 5 x 5

fashflood n A Fashionable Reminder: Fashion’s Night Out takes place Sept. 8 and it is not to be missed. Boutiques worldwide are keeping their doors open late and providing one-night-only deals, such as trunk shows, cocktails, in-store live music and more. Be sure to check out the event Fashion’s Night Out Omaha on Facebook to see if your favorite boutique is participating to support local fashion commerce. n Treat Yourself: Life Time Fitness Omaha’s MediSpa is hosting an open house Sept. 15 for members and non-members. MediSpa guests will have access to great deals on services such as botox, hydrafacials, microdermabrasion treatments and more. Even better, all guests will receive a $100 gift certificate toward MediSpa services, 15 percent off all retail products and any appointments booked while attending the open house. This event runs Noon to 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15, at Life Time Fitness, 17007 Elm St. n Mark Your Calendars: Hosted by Miss Colorado North America 2012 Maegon Coble, Fashion on

3117 N. 120 ST // OMAHA, NE 68164

sept. 8 - 14, 2011

| THE READER |

www.sevensalon.com

culture

Sarah Lorsung Tvrdik is a stylist, costumier, wife and freelance writer based in Omaha, Neb. Her style blog can be found at fashflood.com.

So why am I touting a staged reading of End Days on a weekend when Jersey Boys just opened at the Orpheum and Babes in Toyland is underway at Chanticleer in Council Bluffs, not to mention that Chicago and Children of Eden add to the musical menagerie next weekend at the Omaha Community Playhouse and Bellevue Little Theatre?

For starters, you can read more about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons online at thereader.com elsewhere in this issue, and we’ll feature the Playhouse musical next week. But there’s also the fact that last season made me a fan of the staged readings at the Playhouse, thanks to director Amy Lane and their 21 & Over series. And it’s timely on the 10th anniversary of the attack on the Twin Towers in New York City.

On the surface, one might argue that End Days has the most in common with the Genesis musical, which could be called “Beginning Days.” But it’s more a tragi-comedy which inspired one reviewer to ask, “Who knew the Rapture could be so funny?”

The play by Deborah Zoe Laufer, performed at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 12, at the Playhouse, deals with the Stein family devastated by the terrorist slaughter. The father (played by Dave Wingert)

survived being in one of the World Trade Center buildings, but hasn’t changed out of his pajamas since.

The rest of the cast, all with University of Nebraska at Omaha connections, includes Sharon Sobel as the mother and Amy Schweid as daughter Rachel, whose boyfriend played by Noah Diaz is an Elvis impersonator. Steve Krambeck doubles as Stephen Hawking and Jesus.

The mother has turned from her Jewish faith to find Jesus and she is determined to save the family from being “left behind,” given their conviction that the end time is near.

Because the Playhouse staff is busy in tech week, preparing for the Thursday preview and Friday opening of Chicago, and because director Lane wanted to do more staging than usual, UNO artists are also aiding with lighting, sound and costumes.

And it’s free, though donations are accepted to help pay royalties and other costs.

—Warren Francke

n The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries will hold an event celebrating former U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser’s work this Friday at 5:30 p.m. at the Van Brunt UNL Visitor Center at 13th and Q in Lincoln this Friday. The ceremony will be held to thank Kooser for the donation of his journals and correspondence dating from 1968 to the present. n Four-time Agatha Award winner Louise Penny will be at the Bookworm at 87th and Pacific this Wednesday to sign copies of her new book, A Trick of the Light at 6 p.m. n Following a day of visiting Omaha high schools, Ellen Hopkins will read and discuss her work at the Millard Branch of the Omaha Public Library at 132nd and Westwood Lane

this Tuesday, Sept. 13, at 7 pm. Hopkins’ books (her first was Crank based on her daughter’s meth addiction) have been criticized for their dark and often tough, adult topics — but they are very popular with many teenagers. Hopkins’ new book, Perfect, tells the story of four teens feeling the pressure to be more than what they think they can be in high school.

Staff from the Bookworm will be at the library to sell Hopkins’ books.

Cold Cream looks at theater in the metro area. Email information to coldcream@thereader.com.

booked

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402.934.2177

— Sarah Lorsung Tvrdik

coldcream

Hair and makeup by Seven Salon // three2three photography

Fire will be Saturday, Oct. 1. Presented by Anthony Gaines Photography, it includes cocktails, appetizers, music, fashion, art, a silent auction and more. Featured local clothing designers include Fella, Shawntelle Kuhlmann, Lameesha Stuckey, Buf Reynolds, Juantiesha Christian, Karen Gaines, Rasheena Nichols, Monnie Winslow and Olajide Cooper. Photographic works from Anthony Gaines, Andrew J. Baran and paintings from Gerard Pefung will be featured. Proceeds will benefit the Omaha Chapter of the International Association of Black Professional Firefighters, a service organization meeting the needs of the at-risk community they serve in Omaha. Doors open at 6 p.m. and this event will take place at 2028 Lake Str. Visit facebook.com/ fashiononfireomaha for additional information on this event and to purchase tickets.

— Kyle Tonniges

Comments? Questions? Want more? Check out our Booked blog online at thereader.com. Or email us at booked@thereader.com.

STone Temple piloTS* Gordon liGhTfooT SepTember 16

SepTember 25

Girl Talk ocTober 6

Tickets available at stircove.com or by phone at 1-800-745-3000. *Tickets for the Stone Temple Pilots show on July 17 will be honored at the rescheduled show on September 16. Entertainment schedule subject to change. Must be 21 or older to enter Stir Concert Cove. Know When To Stop Before You Start.® Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-BETSOFF (In Iowa) or 1-800-522-4700 (National). ©2011, Caesars License Company, LLC.

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theater Boy Wonder Chachi. That's where legendary songwriter Carole King saw him and touted a new show in LaJolla called Jersey Boys. She was convinced he was born to play Frankie Valli and the rest is ongoing history.

Bwarie (the sound in “Buenos” and rhymed with

by Warren Francke “airy” or the Four Seasons hit “Sherry”) has since pero one has been one of the Jersey Boys lon- formed at the 63rd annual Academy Awards and the ger than Joseph Leo Bwarie, now into his 63rd annual Tony Awards.

And you’ll see him on stage at the Orpheum fourth year as Frankie Valli. He’s appeared with at least five different actors as each of the other for all but nine minutes of the two-and-a-half hour show. “There’s only one time Four Seasons. that I’m off stage,” he said, He keeps it fresh, thanks adding he looks at the show to audiences that go wild when as an athletic event. "We’re the boys from the wrong side of really athletes on stage, runthe tracks make it big on every ning an obstacle course, a one of the more than 1,000-plus marathon.” nights he’s played the iconic If you’re good at math, rocker. And it helps that he that means singing 162 found time to record “Nothin’ songs each week, performBut Love,” an album that ining all 27 six times, with an spired Jazz Times to declare alternate subbing for two him “a blend of Bobby Darin shows weekly. He gets lost in and Mel Torme.”

Frankie, “and even my own But, when you hear him as relatives say, ‘We forget it’s Frankie Valli during the next you, Joey.’” three weeks at the Orpheum The touring show brings Theater, he renders all 27 hits his widespread family closer with the character’s more nasal JOSEPH LEO BWARIE together as cousins around sound, rather than that DarinTorme combo of hard edge and velvet in his treat- the country see him perform. He’s the only entertainment of such standards as “Ol’ Devil Moon,” “I Can’t er in his immediate family, which includes a younger brother and sister, his mom (a second-grade teacher) Give You Anything But Love” and “Night and Day.” It's his ability to become Frankie, and nail the hits and his father, (a pioneer in creating specialty gift that sold 175 million records, that wows the crowds. baskets). He wasn’t completely escaping them in BosIt helps that he looks the part, too, with his dark hair ton because both parents had relatives nearby.

Omaha becomes the 51st city in his more than and smooth countenance, though at 5’6”plus he’s taller than Valli’s 5’4”. Bwarie is so into the role that three years touring with Jersey Boys. And it’s not only he was cast as “Frankie Valet” in the movie Race to his first time here, but “I’ve never ever been in Nebraska.”

Witch Mountain.

During the three-week stay (all their visits By birth geography, however, he’s more San Fernando Valley Boy than Jersey boy. He got his start at around the country are three weeks or longer), “I age 9 in studio sessions for Michael Landon’s High- have this notion I’m going to take tennis lessons.” He way to Heaven television show, and still hears the also plans to jog and visit the zoo.

If Omaha is anything like most of the cities toured theme song from Sherri Lewis’ Lamb Chop’s Playby the Tony-award-winning musical, he’ll have us on Along humming in his head.

“I was very enamored of all of it. It was like a our feet cheering, even before the boys completely seal the deal when they bring down the house with playground.”

He roamed from Lala Land, where he attended “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You.” ✌ Catholic school, to Boston’s Emerson College (“to get away from my parents”), appearing there in Gypsy, Jersey Boys runs Sept. 7-Sept. 25 at 7:30 p.m. TuesdaysFame and as Tom Sawyer in Big River. Then it was Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Saturback to California for work with Garry Marshall, days, and 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sundays at the Orpheum helping the big-time producer and his daughters cre- Theater on 16th Street in Downtown Omaha. Tickets start at $18 and are available at the Holland Performing ate children’s programming.

Marshall cast him in the world premiere produc- Arts Center, online at TicketOmaha.com or by calling tion of the Happy Days musical as the Fonz’s cousin 402.661.8516.

Can’t take eyes off Jersey Boys’ Frankie

N

Drawing, Drinks & punks!

’s y h c t e Dr. Sk THURSDAYTH SEPT 8 GE

21 and up For more information, check out our Facebook Page: Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School Omaha

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UN BROTHERS LO T. S M A N R A 3812 F

Donation

8pm-11pm door @ 7:30

3 hours with a figure model, drinks,, contests, and good company.

Bring your art supplies and prepare to be blown away!

22

SEPT. 8 - 14, 2011

| THE READER |

theater

Bon Iver

SepTemBer 8

GIrl Talk ocToBer 6

Tickets available at stircove.com or by phone at 1-800-745-3000.

Entertainment schedule subject to change. Must be 21 or older to enter Stir Concert Cove. Know When To Stop Before You Start.® Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-BETSOFF (In Iowa) or 1-800-522-4700 (National). ©2011, Caesars License Company, LLC.

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SEPT. 8 - 14, 2011

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art

OpeningS

EISENTRAGER-HOWARD GALLERY, Stadium Dr. & T. St, (402) 472-5522. EMBLAZONED CIPHERS: Group show featuring the work of Barry Anderson, Rickey Allman, Julie Farstad and Linnea Spransy. This show opens Sep. 6-Oct. 6, reception Sep. 7, 5:30 p.m.

GOVERNOR’S RESIDENCE EXHIBITION, 1425 H St., (402) 5952334. NEW WORK: New work by Judith Jonston, opens Sep. 7-Oct. 7.

HOT SHOPS ART CENTER, 1301 Nicolas St., (402) 342-6452.

NEW WORK: New work by Charlene Potter, opens Sep. 3-27, reception Sep. 9, 6 p.m. NEW WORK: New work by Scott Papek, opens Sep. 3-27, reception Sep. 9, 6 p.m. STUDIO STORIES: WORKS ON CANVAS AND PAPER: New work by James Freeman, reception Sep. 9, 6 p.m., this show continues through Sep. 27.

JOSLYN ART MUSEUM, 2200 Dodge St., (402) 342-3300. COLLEGE NIGHT: ART, MUSIC, TWEETS, EATS: A night of entertainment begins Sep. 9, 7 p.m., featuring music by ithe ndie/rock/ folk band Midwest Dilemma.

THE NEW BLK, 1213 Jones St., 402-403-5619, info@thenewblk.com. PICTURE PICTURE: NEBRASKA VIDEO ART NOW: 1 NIGHT AND DONE: The New BLK and Tim Guthrie present a one night video art happening, featuring work by Ann Gradwohl, Nolan Tredway, Heidi Bartlett, Russ Nordman and Jody Boyer, Alex Myers, Tim Guthrie, Jamie Burmeister, Andi Olsen, Brittan Rosendahl and Alex Bodell, Michael Mayer, Ryan Carroll, Scott Blake, Harrison Martin, Bryan Klopping and Gary Day, opens Sep. 9, 7 p.m.

OM CENTER, 1216 Howard St., (402) 345-5078. TIBETAN BUTTER SCULPTURE: Demo of Tibetan Sculpture by Gaden Shartse Monks, part of Old Market Gallery Walk, show opens Sep. 14, 5 p.m.

UNL HILLESTAD TEXTILES GALLERY, 35th & Holdrege St., (402) 472-2911. DRAWN: New work by Texas-based artist Beili Liu, continues through Sep. 9, artist lecture, “Drawn With a Thread,” at 6 p.m., Aug. 25.

ONGOING

THE 815, 815 O St. Suite 1, (402) 261-4905. ARTISTS ON THE EDGE: New work by photographer Eddie Gentry, opens Sep. 2, 6 p.m., continues through Sep. ANDERSON O’BRIEN FINE ART OLD MARKET, 1108 Jackson St., (402) 884-0911. INNER WORLD/OUTER LIFE: New work by Kat Moser, continues through Sep. 11.

ANKENY ART CENTER, 1520 SW Rd., (515) 965-0940. NEW WORK: New work by Jacklin Stoken, this show continues through September.

ARTISTS’ COOPERATIVE GALLERY, 405 S. 11th St., (402) 3429617. TURNING AND RETURNING: New work by Doyle Howitt, N. Byram Luth and Margie Schimenti, this show continues through Sep. 25.

DUNDEE GALLERY, 4916 Underwood Ave., (402) 505-8333.

SPEAKING OF COLOR: New work by Karen Schnepf, through Sep. 18.

DURHAM WESTERN HERITAGE MUSEUM, 801 S. 10th St., 444.5071, durhammuseum.org. GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER: The life and work of an extraordinary man, through Oct. 30.

EISENTRAGER-HOWARD GALLERY, Stadium Dr. & T. St, (402) 472-5522. EMBLAZONED CIPHERS: Group show featuring the work of Barry Anderson, Rickey Allman, Julie Farstad and Linnea Spransy. through Oct. 6.

ELDER ART GALLERY, 5000 St. Paul Ave.. TWO PLUS ONE: New work by local Lincoln artists, this show continues through Oct. 2.

FRED SIMON GALLERY AT THE BURLINGTON BUILDING, 1004 Farnam St., (402) 595-2334. NEW WORK: New work by Janet Eskridge, through Oct. 7 GALLERY 9 PROFESSIONAL ARTISTS AFFILIATION, 124 S. 9th St., (402) 477-2822. CREATURES AND SCENARIOS: New work

by Carol Devall and Roy Stoner, this show continues through Oct. 2.

GOVERNOR’S RESIDENCE EXHIBITION, 1425 H St., (402) 5952334. NEW WORK: New work by Judith Jonston, through Oct. 7.

GREAT PLAINS ART MUSEUM, 1155 Q St., Hewit Plc., Lincoln, 472.0599, unl.edu/plains/gallery/gallery.shtml. PORTRAITS OF

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THE PRAIRIE: Watercolor paintings and ink sketches by Richard Schilling, inspired by Willa Cather, this show continues through Sep. 15.

H. DON AND CONNE J. OSBORN FAMILY GALLERY AT CRISS LIBRARY, 6001 Dodge St., (402) 554-3206. THE ART OF THEATRICAL DESIGN: Fantastical set designs, handmade hads and costumes, continues through Sep. 27.

HANDMADE MODERN, Parrish Prjoect, 1416 O St., Lincoln, sarabucy.com. PEOPLE YOU SHOULD KNOW: New work by Kelly Smith, through Sep. 30.

HISTORIC GENERAL DODGE HOUSE, 605 3rd St., Council Bluffs, 501.3841, dodgehouse.org. IN MEMORY OF... THE ART OF MOURNING: Examines a family’s response to loss and mourning in the late Victorian period, this show continues through Oct. 23.

THE INDIAN OVEN, 1010 Howard St.. FOOD WINE AND ART: New work by Cameroon born artist Gerard Pefung, continues through September 29. Wine Tasting Dinner, Sep. 8, 6 p.m., $40.

Closing Reception Sep. 29.

INTERNATIONAL QUILT STUDY CENTER AND MUSEUM, 1523 N. 33rd St., Lincoln, 472.7232, quiltstudy.org. NEBRASKA QUILTS AND QUILTMAKERS: Group show, through Oct. 2. ELEGANT GEOMETRY: AMERICAN AND BRITISH MOSAIC PATCHWORK: Through Jan. 1, 2012.

KIECHEL FINE ART, 5733 S. 34th St., Lincoln, 420.9553, kiechelart.com. CONTEMPORARY SUMMER SHOWCASE: Group show, through Oct. 7.

KRUGER COLLECTION, UNL Architecture Hall, 10th and R, Lincoln, 472.3560, krugercollection.unl.edu. DESIGN PROCESS: Explores the steps a designer takes, runs through Mar. 16, 2012.

LAURITZEN GARDENS, 100 Bancroft St., 346.4002, omahabotanicalgardens.org. OUTSIDE KANEKO: Through Sep. 15, over 50 sculptures and drawings by Jun Kaneko.

LUX CENTER FOR THE ARTS, 48th and Baldwin, Lincoln, 434.2787, luxcenter.org. TREELINE: NATURE’S ICONIC FORM: Group show that pays homage to the noble stature and presence of trees, through Nov. 1. RECLAIMED: ART MADE OF RECYCLED MATERIALS: Group show that examines and questions the state of our throw-away culture/society, featuring new work by Jake Balcom, Elizabeth Frank, John Garrett, Daphnae Koop, Jennifer Maestre and Conrad Quijas, this show continues through October 29.

MODERN ARTS MIDWEST, 800 P St., (402) 477-2828. MODERN ARTS MIDWEST: Oil paintings and pastels by Don Williams, through October 1.

MORRILL HALL, 307 Morrill Hall, Lincoln 472.3779, museum. unl.edu. AMPHIBIANS VIBRANT AND VANISHING: Photographs

by Joel Sartore, through Nov. 30.

MUSEUM OF NEBRASKA ART (MONA), 2401 Central Ave., Kearney, 308.865.8559, monet.unk.edu/mona. THE NEBRASKA SUITE: New work by Enrique Martinez Celaya. NEBRASKA NOW: Photography by Dana Fritz, through Oct. 2.

THE NEW BLK, 1213 Jones St., 402-403-5619, info@thenewblk. com. THE TITLED SERIES: Original Art by Nina Barnes, continues through Sep. OLD MARKET ARTISTS GALLERY, 1034 Howard St., (402) 3466569. NEW WORK: New work by Kris Hammond, Andy Chaudhur and Rhoni Moore, through Sep. 30. Money raised will benefit UNMC Eppley Cancer Center.

OMAHA’S CHILDREN’S MUSEUM, 500 S. 20th St., 342.6163. ocm.org. DINOSAURS DAWN OF THE ICE AGE: Stomping and roaring robotic dinosaurs are invading the museum, through Jan. 8.

PASSAGEWAY GALLERY, 417 S. 11th St., (402) 341-1910.

CLAY, SILVER, & STONE: New work by Paul Nichols, Sandi Nichols and Meridith Merwald-Gofta, this show continues through Sep. 30.

PEERLESS, 3517 Farnam St., Ste. 7108, contact@wearepeerless.com. READINESS IS ALL: New work by Ying Zhu, through Sep. 30.

SHELDON ART GALLERY, 12th and R, UNL, Lincoln, sheldonartgallery.org. THE HARMON AND HARRIET KELLY COLLECTION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN ART: Works on paper, opens through Sep. 25. DECISIVE LINE: Drawings by Dan Howard, through Sep. 18. NEW WORK: Grant Wood, through Oct. 2. HISTORIES: Works from the Sheldon Permanent Collection, through Jul. 15, 2012.

| THE READER |

art/theater listings

7 of Last Comic Standing and the star of the half-hour special Comedy Central Presents Rachel Feinstein.

FRIDAY 9

check event listings online!

SILVER OF OZ, 6115 Maple St., (402) 558-1307. NEW WORK: New work by impressionist painter Jane Reed, opens Sep. 2, 6 p.m., continues through Sep. 27.

TUGBOAT GALLERY, 1416 O St., (402) 477-6200. TUGBOATERS II: Group show featuring new work by Joey Lynch, Jake Gillespie, Peggy Gomez, Nolan Tredway, Alex Borovski, Bryan Klopping and Peter Worth - the original founders and people currently involved with Tugboat Gallery. This show continues \ through Sep. 24.

UNL HILLESTAD TEXTILES GALLERY, 35th & Holdrege St., (402) 472-2911. DRAWN: New work by Texas-based artist Beili Liu, continues through Sep. 9.

UNO ART GALLERY, 6001 Dodge St., (402) 554-2796. HARDCORE PAINTING: CONFESSIONS AND PREMONITIONS: New work by Julie Farstad and Jessie Fisher, continues through Sep. 28.

WORKSPACE GALLERY, 440 N. 8th St., workspace.gallery.lincoln@gmail.com. POSTMORTEM: A STUDY IN DECOMPOSITION: New work by Darryl Baird, this show continues through Nov. 3.

theater oPENING

BABES IN TOYLAND, Chanticleer Theatre, 830 Franklin Ave., (712) 323-9955. Opens Sep. 9, Sep. 10, Sep. 11, 7:30 pm, Adults: $15; Seniors and Students: $12. An operetta that weaves together various characters from the Mother Goose nursery rhymes.

BECKY’S NEW CAR, Omaha Community Playhouse, 6915 Cass St., 553.0800, omahaplayhouse.com. Opens Aug. 19-Sep. 18, Thu.-Sat., 7:30 p.m., Sun., 2 p.m., $35, $21/students. An unpredictable comedy/drama that begins with the titular character interacting with the audience.

FERDINAND THE BULL, Rose Theater, 2001 Farnam St., (402) 345-4849. Opens Sep. 9, Sep. 10, Sep. 10, Sep. 11, 7:00 pm, $16. The story of a bull who would rather smell the flowers than fight in bullfights.

NEXT FALL, SNAP! Productions, 3225 California St., (402) 3412757. Opens Sep. 8, Sep. 9, Sep. 10, Sep. 11, 8:00 pm, $15. A witty and provocative look at faith, commitment and unconditional love.

poetry/comedy thursday 8

COMEDY NIGHT AT THE SIDE DOOR, Side Door Lounge 3530 Leavenworth St., (402) 504-3444 . 8:00 pm, $5. Weekly comedy at the Side Door Lounge.

DR. HAIM KOREN, Milo Bail Student Center 6001 Dodge St., (402) 554-2383. 12:00 pm, FREE. Dr. Haim Koren, ambassador of Israel to Turkmenistan, will present a lecture on Sudan and Darfur on the third floor of the Milo Bail Student Center.

BUSINESS ETHICS: TAKING THE HIGH ROAD, UNO Thompson Alumni Center 6705 Dodge St.. 2:30 pm, FREE. Lecture is open to the public.

AMIABLE ADULT READERS DISCUSSING BOOKS ALMOST ALWAYS READ BY KIDS, The Bookworm 87th & Pacific St., (402) 392-2877. 6:00 pm, FREE. Group will discuss Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan. Group meets every second Thursday.

DR. HAIM KOREN, Jewish Community Center 333 S. 132nd St., (402) 572-8486. 7:30 pm, FREE. Dr. Haim Koren, ambassador of Israel to Turkmenistan will present a lecture on globalized terrorism.

BACKLINE IMPROV, Studio…Gallery 4965 Dodge St., (402) 660-0867. 8:00 pm, $5. Backline Improv hosts their weekly show entitled “Interrogated.”

RACHEL FEINSTEIN, Funny Bone Comedy Club 17305 Davenport St., (402) 493-8036. 7:00 pm, $16. A finalist on Season

JOY JOHNSON, Omaha Public Library Millard Branch , (402) 444-4848. 12:00 pm, FREE. Meet the author of “Sandhills and Shadows.”

WISENHEIMERS, Pizza Shoppe Collective 6056 Maple St., (402) 932-9007. 8:30 pm, $10. One of Omaha’s original improv comedy groups.

RACHEL FEINSTEIN, Funny Bone Comedy Club 17305 Davenport St., (402) 493-8036. 7:00 pm, 10 pm, $18. A finalist on Season 7 of Last Comic Standing and the star of the half-hour special Comedy Central Presents Rachel Feinstein.

SATURDAY 10

THE SHERLOCK HOLMES BOOK CLUB, The Bookworm 87th & Pacific St., (402) 392-2877. 10:00 am, FREE. Group will discuss “The Resident Patient” from The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.

Group meets every second Saturday.

POETRY SLAM, OM Center 1216 Howard St., (402) 345-5078.

7:30 pm, $7. The longest running poetry slam in Omaha is back for another month.

RACHEL FEINSTEIN, Funny Bone Comedy Club 17305 Davenport St., (402) 493-8036. 7:00 pm, 10 pm, $18. A finalist on Season 7 of Last Comic Standing and the star of the half-hour special Comedy Central Presents Rachel Feinstein.

Sunday 11

BOOKS AND BAGELS, The Bookworm 87th & Pacific St., (402) 392-2877. 11:00 am, FREE. Group will discuss Cutting for Stone

by Abraham Verghese. Group meets every second Sunday.

ETRUSCAN HUMAN SACRIFICE IN MYTH AND RITUAL, Joslyn Art Museum 2200 Dodge St., (402) 342-3300. 2:00 pm, FREE. Lecture with Professor Nancy T. de Grummond RACHEL FEINSTEIN, Funny Bone Comedy Club 17305 Davenport St., (402) 493-8036. 7:00 pm, $16. A finalist on Season 7 of Last Comic Standing and the star of the half-hour special Comedy Central Presents Rachel Feinstein.

monday 12

POETRY AT THE MOON, Crescent Moon Coffee 8th & P St., (402) 435-2828. 7:00 pm, FREE.

tuesday 13

ELLEN HOPKINS, Omaha Public Library Millard Branch , (402) 444-4848. 7:00 pm, FREE. Author of “Burned,” “Identical,” Crank” and “Impulse” will introduce her new novel “Perfect.”

ELLEN HOPKINS, The Bookworm 87th & Pacific St., (402) 392-2877. 7:00 pm, FREE. Author of Crank will read and discuss her work.

DOCUMENTARY: “NOT JUST A GAME: POWER, POLITICS AND AMERICAN SPORTS”, Nebraska Wesleyan 51st & Huntington St., (402) 465-2395. 7:00 pm, FREE. Part of Visions & Ventures Symposium: “More Than A Game: Economics, Ethics and Politics of Sports”, screening takes place in Olin B Lecture Hall.

FIVE DOLLAR COMEDY: MICE IMPROV, Pizza Shoppe Collective 6056 Maple St., (402) 932-9007. 8:00 pm, $5.

OPEN MIC POETRY, Indigo Bridge Books 701 P St. Suite 102, (402) 477-7770. 7:00 pm, FREE. SHOOT YOUR MOUTH OFF, The Hideout Lounge 320 S. 72nd St., (402) 504-4434. 9:00 pm, FREE.

Wednesday 14

ACOUSTIC OPEN MIC FOR MUSICIANS & POETS, Meadowlark Coffee 1624 South St., (402) 477-2077. 8:00 pm, FREE. 24TH BIENNIEL OMAHA PRODUCTS SHOW, Qwest Center Omaha 455 N. 10th St., (402) 341-1500. 11:00 am, N/A. One of the largest and diversified business expos in the Midwest. http://www.showofficeonline.com/products.htm DAVE ZIRIN, O’Donnell Auditorium 50th St. & Huntington Ave.. 7:00 pm, FREE. Part of Visions & Ventures Symposium: “More Than A Game: Economics, Ethics and Politics of Sports”, lecture entitled “Power, Politics and American Sports.”

THE MIDWEST POETRY VIBE, Arthur’s 222 N. 114th St., (402) 393-6369. 9:00 pm, FREE. This weekly poetry event allows for spoken word artists to show their stuff.

OK PARTY COMEDY PRESENTS: BATTLE ROYALE II, Waiting Room 6212 Maple St., (402) 884-5353. 9:00 pm, FREE.

Brought to you By:

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SEPT. 8 - 14, 2011

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The Rise of Depressed Buttons

I

t's not possible to talk about the debut of Depressed Buttons at hot new dance club House of Loom Sept. 9 without first talking about the apparent demise of The Faint.

Three members of The Faint -- frontman Todd Fink, keyboardist Jacob Thiele and drummer Clark Baechle -make-up Depressed Buttons. So before we talked about the new project, Fink and Thiele set the record straight on The Faint, who haven't released an album since 2008's Fasciinatiion or performed live since their appearance at the 2010 MAHA Music Festival. Is the band kaput?

"I would say that it's not happening," Fink said last week via a phone call that included Thiele. "It could happen again, but it's not happening and there are no plans for it to happen at this point. Joel moved to California, and I guess he quit."

Joel is The Faint's bass player, Joel Petersen.

"He doesn't want to do the band," Thiele said. "He really kind of lost interest a while ago. He doesn't really want us to do the band without him because he wouldn't like the music we'd make. This way he's not embarrassed by The Faint's music."

"He quit the band and assumes the band was over when he quit," Fink added. "But we're not just characters in his life. We all have invested the same amount of energy into the band, and felt like we could do it. His quitting is just that, and if we did do some more shows, we would consider checking with him to see if he wanted to do it, but assume he would not."

Fink said the remaining members of the band talked about doing a Faint tour next year in conjunction with a possible rerelease of Danse Macabre, The Faint's career-defining album, released 10 years ago this Aug. 21. The record sold 147,000 copies, making it the band’s all-time bestseller and among the best selling Saddle Creek Records releases. A new live show would center on Danse Macabre "and maybe Blank-Wave Arcade," Fink said. "I'd like to see those two remastered. I think they could be improved a lot."

If Petersen declined an invitation, Fink said, "We could do it with four of us. There's plenty of people in the band, or we could find someone else, too. I'd rather just do it with the four of us." The band is rounded out by guitarist Dapose.

As for Petersen, Fink said his quitting was the right thing to do if he didn't want to be in the band.

"I don't have any hard feelings about it," Fink said.

"People are just complicated."

Through Fink, Petersen said he didn't want to comment for this article. There's more to The Faint story and everything surrounding it, which will appear in next week's column.

Fink said Depressed Buttons grew out of Faint after parties DJ'd by Fink, Thiele and Baechle. "One

Lazy-i

s c e n e

b y

t i m

m c m a h a n

thing led to another and we ended up doing that a lot," Fink said. "We found ourselves wanting music that we couldn't find, and thinking we should just make our own tracks, what we want to play."

The trio soon began taking more bookings outside of the after parties. Fink said Petersen, who doesn't like DJs, didn't want the events to be listed as "The Faint DJs." "So we thought of a new name, Depressed Buttons, to kind of make fun of electronic music," Fink said.

Last December, Depressed Buttons released its first EP, QWERTY, on Mad Decent, an L.A.-based label owned by Thomas Wesley Pentz, a.k.a. Diplo, the Grammy-nominated producer of "Paper Planes,"

by M.I.A. "We plan to keep releasing our originals through them," Fink said.

Depressed Buttons also has remixed such acts as Of Montreal, Boy 8-Bit, Boys Noize, Shinichi Osawa, Teenage Bad Girl, Herr Styler, CSS, LOL Boys, Para One, Reset!, Felix Cartal, Tony Senghore, Tommie Sunshine, O+S, Autoerotic, Beataucue and Crookers.

The trio's DJ stints have included NYC's Webster Hall, Moscow's Solyanka Club, shows in Vienna, Nottingham, Berlin, and a headlining gig in front of thousands at the mammoth Avalon Hollywood.

Fink said Depressed Buttons wasn't made for Faint fans. "The point of it is different," he said. "The Faint was songs. You could dance to them if you like the song. Depressed Buttons may have words, may have lyrics, does have samples, but think of it as instrumental music. If there are voices, they are used as other instruments."

As for the upcoming Loom performance, which is part of a monthly residency at the club, "This is a dance party with club music," Fink said. "There's no performance aspect to it unless you like watching people tweak knobs and faders and press buttons.

The point is to have fun and to dance and to expose Omaha to the type of things that are happening in the world in the electronic club scene. It's some futuristic stuff; it's not really for Faint fans, but we are people from The Faint."

"Depressed Buttons is forward thinking, it's one second ahead of the rest of the club scene," Thiele added. "It's sort of about the science of music.

There's a lot of new music being made that couldn't have been made until now because the technology didn't exist. If you're in the right mindset, in the right club with the right vibe and sound system, it can be a really enlightening experience. I think some people prefer not to dance, but to close their eyes.

It's avant-garde."

"You can't go too crazy," Fink responded, laughing. "It's still dance music." , Depressed Buttons performs Sept. 9 at House of Loom, 1012 So. 10th Street. The 21+ show starts at 10 p.m., cover is $5. For more information, go to houseofloom.com.

is a weekly column by long-time Reader senior contributing writer Tim McMahan focused on the Omaha music scene. Check out Tim’s daily music news updates at his website, lazy-i.com, or email him at lazy-i@thereader.com.

26

sept. 8 - 14, 2011

| THE READER |

lazy-i

B L U E S ,

R O O T S ,

A M E R I C A N A

A N D

Grrrrl power

O

ver a half dozen world-class roots and blues women visit the metro this weekend. The fireworks start when Ana Popovic’s sultry, guitar-driven blues takes the stage at Lincoln’s Zoo Bar Thursday, Sept. 8, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Eilen Jewell: Friday, Sept. 9, at 8 p.m. the Sunday Roadhouse presents the return of Eilen Jewell at Slowdown. Jewell has received praise from everyone from New Yorker magazine, USA Today to NPR and American Songwriter, which wrote of Jewell’s last CD “an undiscovered gem ... a layered, shimmering pearl of an album that shines like cut crystal.” Listen in at eilenjewell.com.

Candye & Laura: The remarkable Candye Kane hits the Zoo Bar Tuesday, Sept. 13, 6 p.m.-9 p.m. Her last disc, Superhero, is a barnburner of souful music and fun. She’s just released her latest disc, Sister Vagabond. Allmusic.com calls her the 21st Century version of Bessie Smith. Catch Kane’s show and discover one of the finest young guitarists working today, Laura Chavez, who plays with a power, muscle and depth that already distinguishes her from the pack. See candykane.com.

hoodoo

M O R E

B Y

B . J .

H U C H T E M A N N

TUF: Kansas City’s Trampled Under Foot is making a name on the national blues scene. The distinctive, soaring voice of Danielle Schnebelen is the powerful heart of the music made by this trio of talented siblings. Visit tufkc.com for band bios and videos.

Davina: Minneapolis band Davina & The Vagabonds is landing rave national reviews for their new disc Black Cloud. If you like Ms. Kane and Ms. Schnebelen, check out Davina. She’s got a rich, versatile voice that gets comparisons ranging from Etta James to Amy Winehouse. Davina writes most of the material, from jump-blues to jazz and to old-school New Orleans’ sounds. Davina kicks off the annual Omaha Jitterbugs’ Cowtown Jamborama weekend with a show Thursday, Sept. 15.

Their show hits the stage at the Eagles Club, 24th & Douglas. See jamborama.com for showtime.

The Boys are Back in Town: Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials bring their houserockin’, old-school Chicago blues to The 21st Saloon this Thursday, Sept.

8, 5:30-8:30 p.m. Kris Lager Band tears it up at Lincoln’s Zoo Bar Saturday, Sept. 10, after 9 p.m.

Hoodoo hero Jon Dee Graham plays the Zoo in two weeks, Saturday, Sept. 24. ,

HOODOO is a weekly column focusing on blues, roots, Americana and occasional other music styles with an emphasis on live music performances. Hoodoo columnist B.J. Huchtemann is a Reader senior contributing writer and veteran music journalist who has covered the local music scene for nearly 20 years. Follow her blog at hoodoorootsblues.blogspot.com.

presented by:

SPONSORED BY: SECURITY NATIONAL BANK, HYVEE, PHYSICIANS MUTUAL, THE READER, BLUE CROSS AND BLUE SHIELD OF NEBASKA AND AKSARBEN CINEMA

omahafarmersmarket.org

NOw ACCEPTINg

r a C t Sp rin e g n e l l a h C September 16th - 17th Races Start: 7pm

$3,000 To Win Each Night! www.I-80Speedway.com hoodoo

| THE READER |

SEPT. 8 - 14, 2011

27

2234 South 13th Street Omaha, NE 68108 346 - 9802 www.sokolundground.com

livemusiccalendar

SEND CALENDAR INFORMATION — including addresses, dates, times, costs and phone numbers — to The Reader’s calendar editor. Mail to or drop off information at P.O. Box 7360 Omaha, NE 68107; email to listings@thereader.com; fax to (402) 341.6967.

Deadline is 5 p.m. the Thursday prior to issue date.

sun 9/11/2011

thr 9/15/2011

fri 9/16/2011

sat 9/17/2011

sun 10/2/2011

Auditorium PolkA HAll of fAme induction ceremony And dAnce feAturing tHe mArk VyHlidAl BAnd dAncing 4:00 - 8:30 ceremony At 6:00 free AdmiSSion fAded w/ god comPlex, cAligulA, And tBA SHow @ 7:30 unScene PAtrol w/ in loVe And cHriS doolittle SHow @ 7:30 S.A.d.urdAy nigHt SHowdown w/ Signum A.d., cold Steel, VitoSuS, fAded BlAck, And riSe from ruin SHow @ 7:00 Afton PreSentS: AJ tHe dreAd, dJ Joonie c & gueStS SHow @ 6:30 dwe PreSentS: deVil driVer w/ SkeletonwitcH, cHtHonic, And curSed By moonligHt SHow @ 7:00 Auditorium mAt keArney

MusicOmahaShow.com

The Documentary three-part episode

With Special Guest:

Andrew Jay

From Rock Paper Dynamite

28

SEPT. 8 - 14, 2011

THURSDAY 8

LIL ED AND THE BLUES IMPERIALS, (Blues) 5:30 pm, 21st Saloon, $12.

GALVANIZED TRON, (Hip-Hop/Rap) 9 pm, Bar 415, FREE. LUKE ROMANO, THE DRACO NOCTIC PROJECT, SAS, (Rock/Folk/Singer-Songwriter) 7 pm, Clawfoot House.

LACY JO, (Folk/Singer-Songwriter) 7 pm, Crescent Moon Coffee, FREE. SHAWN FREDIEU, (Cover Band) 9 pm, Firewater Grille, FREE. J. PHLIP, (DJ/Electronic) 9 pm, House Of Loom, $10.

NATE BRAY, (Jazz) 6 pm, Jazz, A Louisiana Kitchen.

NICK DAHLQUIST, FORWARD FERRETT, (Rock/Folk/ Singer-Songwriter) 9 pm, Knickerbockers.

DEATH BY STEAMSHIP, CORDIAL SPEW, YOUTH AND TEAR GAS, DSM5, (Rock) 6 pm, Louis Bar and Grill, FREE. CAMILLE DEVORE & RON COOLEY, (Jazz) 9 pm, Myth Martini Bar, FREE. ROCK PAPER DYNAMITE, THE BURNING HOTELS, THE BIG DEEP, (Rock) 9:30 pm, O’Leaver’s Pub, $5.

SMOOTH JAZZ THURSDAYS FEATURING BRAD CORDLE, (Jazz) 9 pm, OzoNE Lounge at Anthony’s Steakhouse, FREE. AMY LEEDS, JOE BACKER, (Folk/Singer-Songwriter) 7:30 pm, Pizza Shoppe Collective, $8.

EVERYTHING GOES, PAINT THE COASTLINE, THE CASH FLOW, (Rock) 9 pm, Shamrock’s Pub & Grill.

PEPPER, BALLYHOO!, WE BE LIONS, (Rock) 9 pm, Slowdown, Advance: $22; DOS: $25.

IT’S ME SWEETUMS, THE SHIDIOTS, BLACK HAWKS, THE F*** MOTHERS, (Rock) 7 pm, Sokol Hall & Auditorium, $8.

READER RECOMMENDS

BON IVER, KATHLEEN EDWARDS, (Rock/Folk/SingerSongwriter) 8 pm, Stir Concert Cove, Advance: $30; DOS: $33.

JR HOSS, (Cover Band) 9 pm, Two Fine Irishmen, FREE. DECOY, (Cover Band) 9 pm, Whiskey Roadhouse (Horseshoe Casino), FREE. THE BLUE PARTY, SOLID GOLD, TIME HAMMER, (Rock) 9 pm, Zoo Bar, $5.

ANA POPOVIC, (Blues) 6 pm, Zoo Bar, Advance: $12; DOS: $15.

FRIDAY 9

LEMON FRESH DAY, (Cover Band) 9:30 pm, Arena Bar & Grill, FREE.

READER RECOMMENDS

CASEY JAMES PRESTWOOD, THE BURNING ANGELS, (Rock) 9 pm, Barley Street Tavern, $5.

BAD COUNTRY, CASEY JAMES PRESTWOOD, THE BURNING ANGELS, (Rock) 9 pm, Barley Street Tavern, $5.

HI-FI HANGOVER, (Cover Band) 9 pm, Brewsky’s Park Drive, FREE. CHESHIRE GRIN, (Rock) 9:30 pm, Chrome Lounge, FREE. A.D.D. THE BAND, (Cover Band) 9 pm, Firewater Grille, FREE. DEPRESSED BUTTONS, D.A.M.B., (DJ/Electronic) 9 pm, House Of Loom, $5.

NIGHT SHAKERS TRIO, (Jazz) 7 pm, Jazz, A Louisiana Kitchen.

MY BROTHER, (Rock) 9 pm, Knickerbockers.

BLUE HOUSE, (Cover Band) 9 pm, Loose Moose, FREE. DYSON HOLLOW, (Rock) 7 pm, Louis Bar and Grill, FREE. CELERITAS, (Rock) 9:30 pm, O’Leaver’s Pub, $5.

BAZOOKA SHOOTOUT, CELERITAS, THE LONELY ESTATES, (Rock) 9:30 pm, O’Leaver’s Pub, $5.

| THE READER |

music listings

TAXI DRIVER, (Cover Band) 9 pm, OzoNE Lounge at Anthony’s Steakhouse, FREE. CACTUS HILL, (Cover Band) 9 pm, Red9, FREE. SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE, THE BULLETPROOF HEARTS, THE NATURE DICKS, CORDIAL SPEW, (Rock) 9 pm, Shamrock’s Pub & Grill, $5.

SUNDAY ROADHOUSE PRESENTS EILEN JEWELL, (Country) 7 pm, Slowdown, Advance: $12; DOS: $15.

SMOKIN SECTION, (Rock) 7 pm, Soaring Wings Vineyard, $5.

THE GARDEN, DIRTY FLUORESCENTS, (Rock) 9 pm, Stir Live & Loud, $5.

PAISTY JENNY, (Rock) 8:30 pm, The Grove, FREE. BART CROW, (Country) 9 pm, Uncle Ron’s, FREE.

READER RECOMMENDS

PFLAMES, WAGS & MURPH, SCRU FACE JEAN, NEGLECTED, THE O.N.E., (Hip-Hop/Rap) 9 pm, Venue 162, $5.

SKYPIPER, ANNIVERSAIRE, TARLTON, (Rock) 9 pm, Waiting Room, $7.

PRANXTER, (Cover Band) 9 pm, Whiskey Roadhouse (Horseshoe Casino), FREE. FAC WITH THE FABTONES, (Blues) 5 pm, Zoo Bar, $5.

SATURDAY 10

TAXI DRIVER, (Cover Band) 9:30 pm, Arena Bar & Grill, FREE. SNAKE ISLAND, CAT ISLAND, THE HEAD CABINETS, ALL YOUNG GIRLS ARE MACHINE GUNS, (Folk/ Singer-Songwriter) 9 pm, Barley Street Tavern, $5.

ROGER CLYNE & THE PEACEMAKERS, (Rock) 9 pm, Bourbon Theater, $15.

RIVER WATER TRIBE, JACOB GREENE, (Folk/SingerSongwriter) 8 pm, Cultiva Coffee, FREE.

READER RECOMMENDS

THE SATURDAY NIGHT JIG, (DJ/Electronic) 10 pm, House Of Loom, FREE. SKY ROAD FLY, (Rock) 6 pm, Louis Bar and Grill, FREE. HECTOR MORALEZ, PARIS, MINORITY MUSIC, THE FACTORY, PANOS AND SENTENZA, (DJ/Electronic) 9 pm, Nomad Lounge.

THE LABELS, (Cover Band) 9 pm, OzoNE Lounge at Anthony’s Steakhouse, FREE. DUSTIN BURLEY, (Folk/Singer-Songwriter) 8 pm, Pizza Shoppe Collective, $5.

DFUNK, (Cover Band) 9 pm, Red9, FREE. MARCH OF DIMES BIKE RUN WITH THE PENROSE STAIRS, (Cover Band) 9:30 pm, Shamrock’s Pub & Grill.

READER RECOMMENDS

THE REVEREND PEYTON’S BIG DAMN BAND, MATT COX, (Rock/Folk/Singer-Songwriter) 8 pm, Slowdown, $10.

BROTHERS TANDEM, FORK IN THE ROAD, (Rock) 9 pm, Stir Live & Loud, $5.

MOON JUICE, (Cover Band) 8:30 pm, The Grove, FREE. GALVANIZED TRON, (Hip-Hop/Rap) 9 pm, The Hideout Lounge, $7.

PILE, THE HOWL, AARON PARKER, SUN SETTINGS, (Rock/Punk) 7 pm, The Hole, $6.

BREAKAWAY, (Country) 9 pm, Uncle Ron’s, FREE. TIM KASHER, AFICIONADO, DIM LIGHT, (Rock) 9 pm, Waiting Room, $10.

KRIS LAGER BAND, (Rock/Blues) 9 pm, Zoo Bar, $6.

SUNDAY 11

SUNDAY ACOUSTIC OPEN MIC 9/11 TRIBUTE WITH LANEY OLDRO, JOHN KNOBBE, VAL KEMP, KURT WAGONER, (Folk/Singer-Songwriter) 7:30 pm, 21st Saloon, FREE.

TREVOR HALL, (Folk/Singer-Songwriter) 7 pm, Bourbon Theater, Advance: $10; DOS: $12.

O’CONNELL’S BRIDGE, (Folk/Singer-Songwriter) 7 pm, Brazen Head Irish Pub. CLIMATES, LIPSTICK HOMICIDE, DOMESTICA, SOLACE TAYLOR, (Rock) 9 pm, Duffy’s Tavern.

RIVER WATER TRIBE, (Rock) 6 pm, Louis Bar and Grill, FREE. BIG BAND GINA, (Rock) 7:30 pm, Metro Community College, $15.

TWO DRAG CLUB, TAKE ME TO VEGAS, THE SHALLOWS, (Rock) 9 pm, Shamrock’s Pub & Grill.

CHRIS SAUB, (Folk/Singer-Songwriter) 2 pm, Soaring Wings Vineyard, FREE.

READER RECOMMENDS

2011 POLKA HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY AND DANCE WITH MUSIC PROVIDED BY THE MARK VYHLIDAL BAND, (Folk/Singer-Songwriter) 4 pm, Sokol Hall & Auditorium, FREE. THE FAKE BOYS, THE BRICKS, (Punk/Rock) 7:30 pm, The Hole, $8.

ROGER CLYNE & THE PEACEMAKERS, LYDIA LOVELESS, (Rock) 8 pm, Waiting Room, $15.

MONDAY 12

MONDAY NIGHT BIG BAND WITH DEAN HAIST, (Jazz) 7:30 pm, Brewsky’s Haymarket, $6.

READER RECOMMENDS

PEACE OF SHIT, DIKES OF HOLLAND, THE PRAIRIES, (Rock) 9:30 pm, O’Leaver’s Pub, $5.

BIG BAND MONDAY FEATURING MIKE GURCUILLO AND HIS LAS VEGAS LAB BAND, (Jazz) 6:30 pm, OzoNE Lounge at Anthony’s Steakhouse, FREE. JESS AND TARA’S TOUR KICKOFF SHOW WITH THE TARA VAUGHAN BAND, EDGE OF ARBOR, THE KRIS LAGER BAND, (Rock/Folk/Singer-Songwriter) 8 pm, Waiting Room, $7.

THE STEEL WHEELS WITH LLOYD MCCARTER AND THE HONKY-TONK REVIVAL, (Rock/Country) 9 pm, Zoo Bar, $5.

TUESDAY 13

CONFUSED LITTLE GIRL, ALL MY FRIENDS ARE DINOSAUR, SWAMP SITTERS, (Rock) 8 pm, Bourbon Theater, $5; Under 21: $7.

SHENANDOAH DAVIS, MEANER PENCIL, ACKLEY UNDERSEA, (Folk/Singer-Songwriter) 7 pm, Clawfoot House, $5.

GEMINI SYNDROME, EVOLVE, STITCHED UP HEART, ALLIANCE OF THE OVERSEAS, (Rock) 9 pm, Knickerbockers.

MISS SHEVAUGHN, YUMA WRAY, (Rock) 6 pm, Louis Bar and Grill, FREE. ACOUSTIC TUESDAYS FEATURING STEVE SPURGEON, (Folk/Singer-Songwriter) 6:30 pm, OzoNE Lounge at Anthony’s Steakhouse, FREE.

READER RECOMMENDS

FINDING FICTION, CELERITAS, PLATTE RIVER RAIN, DEAD FOX MORNING, MINT WANT WILLY, (Rock) 9 pm, Side Door Lounge.

SUNDAY ROADHOUSE PRESENTS: TOMMY WOMACK, (Country) 7:30 pm, Waiting Room, Advance: $12; DOS: $15.

CANDYE KANE, (Blues) 6 pm, Zoo Bar, Advance: $10; DOS: $12.

TROUBADOUR TUESDAY FEATURING GERARDO MEZA, SHAUN SPARKS, JON DELL, ANDREW BAILLE, (Folk/ Singer-Songwriter) 9 pm, Zoo Bar, $4.

WEDNESDAY 14

VIVA VOCE, PARSON RED HEADS, AREN’T WE ALL DEAD, (Rock) 9 pm, Duffy’s Tavern, Advance: $8; DOS: $10.

CONEY ISLAND COCKABILLY ROADSHOW BURLESQUE, (Rock) 9 pm, Knickerbockers.

NOSTALGIA WEDNESDAYS FEATURING BILL CHRASTIL, (Cover Band) 6:30 pm, OzoNE Lounge at Anthony’s Steakhouse, FREE. TRAMPLED UNDER FOOT, (Blues) 6 pm, Zoo Bar, $10.

DA ANIMALZ, DYMONDZ, HB CITY, RDOT, SHIFFT SWIFFT, (Hip-Hop/Rap) 9 pm, Zoo Bar, $7.

0

UPCOMING SHOWS

Late last fall Tim Kasher went north for the winter after nearly a year of touring in support of Cursive’s 2009 release Mama, I’m Swollen.

Venturing independent, he fully took on the writing process and the result is more of an arranged record than his past releases.

saTurday, 9/10/11 9:00PM @ ThE waiTing rooM

TIM KASHER

SPOtlIGHt SHOW

w/ Aficionado & Dim Light

Thursday, 9/08/11 9:00PM @ ThE waiTing rooM MosEs PrEy

Thursday, 9/08/11 9:00PM @ slowdown PEPPEr

Friday, 9/9/11 9:00PM @ ThE waiTing rooM sKyPiPEr Cd rElEasE

saTurday, 9/10/11 8:00PM @ slowdown ThE rEVErEnd PEyTon’s Big daMn Band

sunday, 9/11/11 8:00PM @ ThE waiTing rooM rogEr ClynE & ThE PEaCEMaKErs

Monday, 9/12/11 8:00PM @ ThE waiTing rooM JEss & Tara’s Tour KiCKoFF show

wEdnEsday, 9/14/11 9:00PM @ ThE waiTing rooM oK ParTy CoMEdy PrEsEnTs: BaTTlE royalE ii

Friday, 9/16/11 6:00PM @ ThE waiTing rooM - 18+ sailor JErry PinuP PagEanT

Friday, 9/16/11 9:00PM @ slowdown anChondo

Omaha Reader (The Reader)

Swayzene D.

w/ Tara Vaughan & The Counter Plot

Tickets available at whiskeyroadhouse.com, Ticketmaster.com or by phone at 1-800-745-3000.

I-29 South, Exit 1B | horseshoe.com Must be 21 years or older to attend shows or to gamble. Know When To Stop Before You Start.® Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-BETS-OFF (Iowa) or 1-800-522-4700 (National). ©2011, Caesars License Company, LLC.

w/ Ballyhoo! & We Be Lions

w/ Lydia Loveless

w/ The Filter Kings, The Blacktop Ramblers, & The Matt Cox Band

9/16/11 AFTER THE FALL 9/17/11 SONO 9/18/11 MC CHRIS 9/19/11 MAN/MIRACLE 9/20/11 SLEEPER AGENT 9/21/11 GOMEZ 9/22/11 KOSHA DILLZ 9/22/11 NEEDTOBREATHE 9/23/11 QUARTUS 9/24/11 ELECTRIC SIX

w/ Anniversaire & Tarlton

w/ The Tara Vaughan Band, Edge Of Arbor, & The Kris Lager Band

w/ We Be Lions & Mia Leblon

9/25/11 SCHOOL OF ROCK 9/26/11 MUSIC QUIZ 9/26/11 PLAIN WHITE T’S 9/27/11 THE WOOD BROTHERS 9/27/11 THE FAMILY VACATION TOUR 9/27/11 EOTO 9/28/11 HELMET 9/28/11 TRUTH & SALVAGE CO. 9/28/11 BLUE OCTOBER 9/29/11 CONDUITS

More Information and Tickets Available at

WWW.ONEPERCENTPRODUCTIONS.COM

music listings

| THE READER |

SEPT. 8 - 14, 2011

29

YOU AND A GUEST ARE INVITED TO A SPECIAL SCREENING OF

For your chance to receive a complimentary pass for two, email MOVIEGUY @THEREADER.COM beginning Thursday, September 8.*

COLUMBIA PICTURES PRESENTS A EXECUTIVE SCOTT RUDIN/MICHAEL DE LUCA/RACHAEL HOROVITZ PRODUCTION A FILM BYBASEDBENNETT MILLER ON THE PRODUCERS SCOTT RUDIN ANDREW KARSCH SIDNEY KIMMEL MARK BAKSHI BOOK BY MICHAEL LEWIS “STORYMONEYBALL” MUSICBY MYCHAEL DANNA SCREENPLAY PRODUCED

BY STAN CHERVIN

BY STEVEN ZAILLIAN AND AARON SORKIN

BY MICHAEL DE LUCA RACHAEL HOROVITZ BRAD PITT DIRECTED

BY BENNETT MILLER

*NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. Two admit one passes per person. 100 passes available. All emails must be received no later than 11:59 PM (CT) Monday, September 12, 2011.

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www.Moneyball-Movie.com

IN THEATERS SEPTEMBER 23

OMAHA READER THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 5x5 LH

30

sept. 8 - 14, 2011

| THE READER |

E D I T E D

Point Blank proves action cliches are universal

S

POINT BLANK

by Ryan Syrek

orry, Esperanto; À Bout Portant, which translates to the nearly Keanu-tastic Point Blank, is a reminder that action clichés are the true universal language. Writer/director Fred Cavayé puts a lightly French twist on such classics as “average guy at the wrong place and wrong time,” “pregnant wife held hostage,” “dirty cops are everywhere” and “only the hero’s bullets are accurate.”

Aided by clever cinematography and an actor, Gilles Lellouche, who looks like Liam Neeson if you squint, Point Blank is a harmless bit of escapist fun.

After a fairly inspired opening chase sequence that ends with a delightful bit of blunt force trauma, the film shifts to our protagonist, an affable nurse named Samuel (Lellouche).

When he saves a patient (Roschdy Zem) targeted for murder by bad guys and catches a glimpse of the would-be assassin, Samuel finds himself dead center in a conspiracy that goes “all the way to

the top” or “straight to the sacré bleu” or whatever the French cliché is.

Samuel’s wife (Elena Anaya), who is megapregnant and thus undeniably kidnappable, is held hostage until such time as Samuel brings the patient he saved, who happens to be a thief, to the evil crime lords. After a marginally exhilarating escape sequence, the nurse and the thief find themselves reluctant partners; one trying to save his wife, the other trying to save himself, both trying to follow familiar film formulas as best they can.

30 Minutes or Less CNext time the bank-robbing pizza boy should deliver extra laughs.

Conan the Barbarian Sweaty man-nipples and fake blood can’t quite cut it.

D

Another Earth C+ Old-fashioned laughs without slapstick puking? It can’t be!

Rise of the Planet of the Apes A re-imagined reboot that uses real imagination.

B

READER RECOMMENDS

Attack the Block AA sci-fi comedy, action, thriller featuring British-slang spewing teens? Believe, bruvva!

Film Streams at the Ruth Sokolof Theater 14th & Mike Fahey Street (formerly Webster Street) More info & showtimes 402.933.0259 · filmstreams.org

Tabloid B+ S&M, Mormonism and tabloid journalism. What more do you need?

X-Men: First Class (ON DVD) Nothin’ is more fun than mutant superheroes in the swingin’ ’60s, baby.

B+

Aside from one of the silliest “beaten to death by a chair” scenes in history, Cavayé manages to mostly hit the right notes. Well-framed chase sequences galore are squeezed between the obligatory stand-offs and non-shocking obvious revelations. Still, with an air of The Fugitive mixed with Taken, Point Blank is a reminder that this type of mindless diversion is replicated for a reason. There is comfort in the straight-forward objective and solace in the shoot ‘em up.

Lellouche carries a globally approachable charisma; his face is just “action-hero-esque” enough to buy him wielding a pistol and just “everyman” enough to believe it’s his first time doing so. Meanwhile, Zem and Anaya aren’t given much to do but look pissed and look pregnant, respectively. But action movies aren’t acting exhibitions on either side of the Atlantic.

Cavayé, who also wrote the screenplay upon which the generic Russell Crowe thriller The Next Three Days was based, should also be applauded for his decision to keep the whole shebang compact and lean. At under 90 minutes, the length is just right for a film with little of consequence to offer. The American tendency would be to bloat the thing with some kind of motivating backstory when “get pregnant wife back” is all the impetus audiences need.

Point Blank is recommendable for its confident resolution to be what it is and nothing more. Short, good-looking and packed with predictability, it is the sort of film that exists only to pad IMDB resumés and help pass the time. ,

GRADE: B-

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■ In direct disobedience of The Beatles, Film Streams (filmstreams.org) has opted not to save things that are free for either the birds or the bees, choosing instead to share them with us twice over.

First, Tuesday, Sept. 20, at 7 p.m., Native American Public Telecommunications (NAPT) will partner up with Omaha’s art theater to show a free screening of Reel Injun, a film exploring the depiction of Native Americans in the media. Spoiler alert: Said depiction often sucks. The presentation is sponsored by the Native American Studies Program at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and will feature a post-show discussion. This screening is also produced in partnership with NAPT’s fourth biennial VisionMaker Film Festival, which will be held at the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center (theross.org) and Sheldon Art Museum in Lincoln. What’s better than a thought-provoking experience for the grand price of free?

Howsabout two thought-provoking experiences for the grand price of free?

On Thursday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m., Film Streams is holding a free screening of The Quilted Conscience, a documentary about the relationship between 16 Sudanese-American girls and a quilter’s guild in Grand Island, Nebraska. The event is presented by the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Grace Abbott School of Social Work and the University of Nebraska Foundation and will feature a post-show discussion with director John Sorenson.

Tickets can be reserved by emailing Maggie Wood at maggie@filmstreams.org, and thanks to Beardmore Chevrolet Subaru, you won’t pay a dime for them? Sew what are you waiting for? Get it? I said “sew”…because it’s about quilting. Hey, at least the jokes are free, too.

— Ryan Syrek

CUTTINGROOM

French Fried Nerves

film

Cutting Room provides breaking local and national movie news … complete with added sarcasm. Send any relevant information to film@ thereader.com. Check out Ryan on Movieha!, a weekly half-hour movie podcast (movieha.libsyn.com/rss), and also catch him on the radio on CD 105.9 (cd1059.

This Week Sarah’s Key First-Run (PG-13) Directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner and starring Kristin Scott Thomas.

Starts Friday, September 9 Based on the best-selling novel

by Tatiana de Rosnay.

Point Blank First-Run Directed by Fred Cavayé.

Starts Friday, September 9 “POINT BLANK will leave you breathless. It grips you at frame one and doesn’t let go. This tiptop French thriller stands as a rebuke to a Hollywood system that can’t seem to make them like this anymore.” —Kenneth Turan, LA Times

Family & Children’s Series Little Women 1994 Directed by Gillian Armstrong.

Sept 10-22 (Saturdays, Sundays, Thursdays)

Screwball Comedies The Palm Beach Story 1942 Directed by Preston Sturges.

Friday, September 9 - Thursday, September 15

Facebook & Twitter: /filmstreams

film

| THE READER |

SEPT. 8 - 14, 2011

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film

e d i t e d

Muck of the Irish The Guard is a fascinating failure

Your Classical Companion on the FM dial, 90.7 KVNO Since 1972 WWW.KVNO.ORG

m o r e

W

by Justin Senkbile

riter/director John Michael McDonagh’s debut feature, The Guard, starts off with a scene where a tired old Irish cop (Brendan Gleason) inspects the scene of a fatal car wreck, finds some LSD in one of the victim’s pockets and the guard pops it in his mouth before offering a cold, expletive-laden greeting to the day.

It’s the sort of studied, exaggerated aggression that might have seemed anarchic and exciting a decade ago, as in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels or The Boondock Saints; the first 20 minutes or so of this movie are saturated with that stuff. But strangely, the tone changes pretty quickly, and The Guard doesn’t end up being nearly as growly as all that.

A hulking man, with a sculpted mess of red hair above his protruding ears, Gleason looks like the quintessential Irishman. Harry Potter fans may know him as Alastor “Mad Eye” Moody. Here, he plays Sergeant Gerry Boyle, the grumpiest (and apparently only) cop in a sleepy West Irish village.

Or at least he’s pretty crusty in the beginning, when he’s introduced to his short-lived partner, McBride (Rory Keenan), and the two investigate a murder. But when that murder ties in with a large drug-trafficking investigation that brings FBI agent Everett (Don Cheadle) to Ireland, Boyle inexplicably loses much of his edge and turns into a big, harmless lug.

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So Boyle, the provincial veteran, is our fallguy and the whip smart city-cop Everett is our straight man. But the most tiresome retread has to be our nefarious drug-slingers, made up of the well-dressed and well-read Clive (Mark Strong) and Francis (Liam Cunningham), and their doltish associate Liam (David Wilmot).

For a crime movie, there’s surprisingly little excitement: things generally plod along exactly the way we expect them to, just with less violence. But The Guard does have Gleason, and a few bits of bone-dry wit here and there. Few being the operative word here, though; it isn’t half as funny as some may lead you to believe.

If you see it, see it for Gleason. Even though the writing somehow makes it seem like everything Boyle does is out of character, Gleason’s performance is irresistibly charming. Cheadle also helps to breathe some fresh air into the all-too-familiar character types and genre style. But his performance, in tune with the rest of the picture, is off as well. His agent Everett is performed without the kind of bold confidence we’ve come to expect from his previous work, as if he wasn’t quite able to figure out exactly who this character is.

The ways in which it fails to be a comfortable retread of the crime comedy genre unfortunately yield nothing new to praise. So all in all, The Guard is a long chain of clichés made interesting only by the fact that none of them are executed convincingly.

In other words, if all the pieces had moved together the way we can assume they were intended to, it’d be less striking but definitely more entertaining. ,

GRADE: D+

planetpower w ee k l y

h oroscopes

H

appy Full Moon in Pisces! Hell yes! Let’s party all weekend! Tell the judge your astrologer told you to. Things will not be as they seem; it will be more like a dream. Hey, that just makes for a REAL party (Pisces)! Do the work first, with the Sun (brilliantly), Mercury (intelligently) and Venus (beautifully) all in Virgo! This be the truth, from Michael P. —MOJOPOPlanetPower.com f VIRGO (8.23-9.22) By the time you read this, your ruler Mercury will be in Virgo ’til the 25th.

Time to redo everything that misfired during the first week of August, when Mercury tried to initiate this same transit and/but went retrograde. Fix the details and re-communicate with the principles/ principals you were most concerned with at that time. Now, it can/will work. Communication is/ will be the key, as always with/for thee. g LIBRA (9.23-10.22) One more week for you to get the details together (along with the rest of us), and then you’re welcomed into 7th Heaven. Do the work first/now. Venus, love and art are scheduled to return you in one week, when next we speak. h SCORPIO (10.2311.22) Plutonians: Kick it into gear next Friday, the 16th. It won’t be easy. It’ll take/ be hard work, since luck is/will not be with you (Jupiter is in your opposite sign of Taurus). Martians: One more week in the barrel, matey. Stay at home, low-profile, visit your mom for a while, and decide how you can make her smile. Your relationship with your mother is/parallels your relationship with the/ your universe. i SAGITTARIUS (11.23-12.21) The Full Moon on the 12th squares your Sagittarius planets, presenting you with vague difficulties that you, yourself, are somehow responsible for. Sometimes we can be/become our own worst enemies. Guess how the MOJO knows? Wait ’til Christmas for your luck to (re)turn. Ho, ho, ho? j CAPRICORN (12.22-1.20) You’ve got a month ’til your father, boss, mentor, teacher, landlord, the I.R.S. or some other authority figure calls on you for an accounting. What do/would you think would be your best course of action? Maybe try getting the/ your work done NOW? k AQUARIUS (1.21-2.19) The Moon is in your sign ’til 2:26 p.m. (Omax time) on Saturday, the 10th. Friday is very good for you, and Saturday climaxes around noon with the beginning of a/your

b y

mo j opo

dream come true. Then the Moon enters your money (2nd) House, and after you get done feeling sorry for yourself around dinnertime, it blo$$om$ into a/ the Full Moon Moonday! l PISCES (2.20-3.20) Happy Full Moon in your sign on Sunday night, Moonday morning — or probably/hopefully the whole weekend! It all starts around noon on Saturday, with a lunar conjunction with your mystical ruler Neptune. How deep — how high — can you dream if you know things are not as they seem? a ARIES (3.21-4.20) Please read Scorpio. You’ve got one hell-of-a-Full Moon in your sign coming up on October 11th. More about that next week, when next we speak. Meditate ’til then… b TAURUS (4.21-5.20) You’re a week away. Have fun ’til this week is done. Love is in the air… By the way, who do you care to/plan on “wintering” with, anyway? It all starts with a “kith.” (Anything for a rhyme, any time!) Art is fine! Beauty pays duty!

Love is love — and you are it! Start acting like it. You do like it, don’t you? When can you tell an actor isn’t acting?

Maybe I’ll remember by next week, when once again we speak… c GEMINI (5.216.21) Thank you for existing. You add so much to our lives here on Earth, with your wit, your intelligence, your humor, your quickness and the work you do with all your gifts and your beloved hands. We continue to need your lightness and input. It’s a much colder Earthly experience without you. Poetically, you are “the breath of spring.” Time to work on your house. d CANCER (6.22-7.22) Dream seeker: The Full Moon in Pisces is on Moonday the 12th, at 4:20 (give or take 7 minutes) a.m. You’ll be dreaming(?), of course, but of what? The dream started/starts on Saturday, the 10th, around noon. Start a dream diary. Date ’em, so a person like me could relate ’em to a person like thee. Dream this, the truth, from Michael P. e LEO (7.23-8.22) A$trologically, there are 2 kind$ of money: Your$ (the 2nd Hou$e) and other people’$ (the 8th Hou$e). The $un (your ruler), Mercury (the planet of mentality) and Venus (the planet of love, art and beauty) are tran$iting your 2nd Hou$e. The Pisce$ Full Moon conjunct it$ my$tical ruler, Neptune, on the early cu$p on the 10th are $prouting from your 8th House. If you can’t figure it/that out, I’m taking away your $cepter and you’ll be $tuck on thi$ planet like the re$t of u$ poor, broke mortal$. ,

planet power

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newsoftheweird

t h e wo r l d g o n e f r e a k y b y c h u c k s h e p h e r d w i t h i l lu s t r at i o n s b y t o m b r i s c o e

Mad cat

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he heavy hand of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service landed on 11-year-old Skylar Capo and her mom in June, after an agent happened to spot Skylar holding a baby woodpecker in her hands at a Lowes home improvement store in Fredericksburg, Va. Actually, Skylar had minutes before saved the woodpecker from the primed teeth of a house cat and was providing temporary TLC, intending to release the bird when the trauma had passed. The agent, apparently, was unimpressed, reciting a provision of the Migratory Bird Act, and two weeks later, another Fish and Wildlife agent knocked on the Capos’ door (accompanied by a Virginia state trooper) and served Mrs. Capo a citation calling for a $535 fine. (In August, Fish and Wildlife officials relented, calling the agent’s action a mistake.)

Compelling Explanations

Though a university study released in June linked birth defects to the controversial mining industry practice of mountaintop removal, lawyers for the National Mining Association offered a quick, industry-friendly rebuttal: Since the area covered by the study was in West Virginia, any birth defects could well be explained merely as inbreeding. (A week later, the lawyers thought better and edited out that insinuation.)

Michael Jones, 50, told a magistrate in Westminster, England, in May that he did not “assault” a police officer when he urinated on him at a railway station a month earlier. Jones claimed, instead, that he was “urinating in self-defense” in that the water supply had been “poisoned by the mafia.” The magistrate explained that Jones’ argument “is not realistically going to be a viable defense.”

Inmate Kyle Richards filed a federal lawsuit in July against Michigan’s prison system because of the no-pornography policy in effect for the Macomb County jail (a violation of Richards’ “constitutional rights”). Other states permit such possession,

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weird news

claimed Richards, who further supported his case by reference to his own condition of “chronic masturbation syndrome,” exacerbated by conditions behind bars. Additionally, Richards claimed to be indigent and therefore entitled to pornography at the government’s expense -- to avoid a “poor standard of living” and “sexual and sensory deprivation.”

Ironies When Laura Diprimo, 43, and Thomas Lee, 28, were arrested for child endangerment in Louisville, Ky., in June, it appeared to be yet another instance of a mother leaving an infant locked in a hot car (91-degree heat index outside) while frolicking elsewhere (drinking with Lee at the Deja Vu club). According to a report on WDRB-TV, while the two were in the police car en route to jail, Lee complained that the back seat of the cruiser was uncomfortably warm.

Undignified, Ironic Deaths: (1) A 55-year-old man participating in a protest of New York’s mandatory-helmet law was killed after losing control of his motorcycle and hitting his head on the pavement, even though doctors said he surely would have survived had he been wearing a regulation helmet (Lafayette, N.Y., July). (2) An 18-year-old man, celebrating on the evening of May 21 after it had become clear that the world would not end as predicted by a radio evangelist, drowned after jumping playfully off a bridge into Michigan’s Kalamazoo River.

The Continuing Crisis

Save the Environment: (1) Germany’s Green Party temporarily transcended mainstream environmental goals in June and specially demanded that the government begin regulating sex toys such as dildos and vibrators. Those devices, it said, contain “dangerously high levels of phthalates” and other plastics that can cause infertility and hormone imbalances. The party called for sex-toy regulation that is at least as strong as the regulation of children’s toys. (2) “This is a clear case where making something environmentally friendly works for us,” said Lt. Col. Jeff Woods,

COPYRIGHT 2011 CHUCK SHEPHERD. Visit Chuck Shepherd daily at NewsoftheWeird.blogspot.com or NewsoftheWeird.com. Send Weird News to WeirdNewsTips@yahoo.com or P.O. Box 18737, Tampa, FL 33679. Illustrations by Tom Briscoe (smallworldcomics.com).

the U.S. Army’s product manager for small-caliber ammunition. He told Military.com in May that new steel-core 5.56mm cartridges not only “penetrate” (kill) more effectively, but are less environmentally toxic than current lead-core ammo.

Judge Giuseppe Gargarella has scheduled trial for later this month in L’Aquila, Italy, for seven members of Italy’s national commission on disaster risks who (though supposedly experts) failed to warn of the severity of the April 2009 central-Italy earthquake that killed 300 people. Judge Gargarella said the seven had given “contradictory information” and must stand trial for manslaughter. (One commission member had even recommended a high-end red wine that citizens should sip as they ignore small tremors -- which turned into a 6.3 magnitude quake.)

The veterans’ support organization Home for Our Troops had recently started to build a 2,700-square-foot house in Augusta, Ga., to ease life for Army Sgt. 1st Class Sean Gittens, who had suffered concussive head injuries in Afghanistan and is partially paralyzed. However, in June, the Knob Hill Property Owners Association, which had provisionally approved the design, changed its mind. “The problem is,” one association member told the Augusta Chronicle, there are “5,000-square-foot homes all the way up and down the street” and that such a “small” house would bring down property values. “It just doesn’t fit.”

The Pervo-American Community First Things First: Alan Buckley, 44, on holiday from Cheshire, England, was arrested in Orlando in June and charged with taking upskirt photographs of a woman at a Target store. Buckley’s child had gotten sick and was admitted to Orlando’s Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, and Buckley was apparently killing time at Target after visiting with the child (and was later identified by witnesses because he was still wearing his hospital visitor’s sticker, with his name on it).

Least Competent Criminals Clue-Droppers: (1) Steven Long, 23, was arrested in South Daytona, Fla., in May on suspicion of theft

after a patrol officer spotted him pedaling his bike down a street with a 59-inch TV set on the handlebars. (2) Matthew Davis, 32, pleaded guilty to theft in Cairns, Australia, in June; he had been arrested on suspicion because police had noticed a large office safe protruding “precariously” out the back of his vehicle as he drove by. (3) Stephen Kirkbride, 46, was convicted of theft in Kendal, England, in June after a clothing store clerk, on the witness stand, pointed out that Kirkbride had in fact worn to court that day the very coat he had stolen from the store.

Update When News of the Weird wrote about the twin singers Lamb and Lynx Gaede (“Prussian Blue”), age 13, in 2005, they were singing Aryan-heritage songs at white-supremacist venues, under the guidance of their Hitler-admiring mother, April.

Nowadays, the girls are off the road, according to a July report on The Daily, and have almost completely renounced their political fervor (to April’s disappointment). Said Lamb, “I was just spouting a lot of knowledge that I had no idea what I was saying.

My sister and I are pretty liberal now.” Added Lynx, “Personally, I love diversity. I’m stoked that we have so many different cultures.” Both girls have struggled with illnesses since their fame and credit a new treatment that they praise for easing their conditions: medical marijuana.

Drawing, Drinks & punks!

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A News of the Weird Classic (May 2003) In April (2003), students at the all-women’s Smith College (Northampton, Mass.) voted to replace all of the female pronouns in the student constitution with gender-neutral pronouns. Although males are not admitted to Smith, many students believe, apparently, that they need to prepare for the day when students who were admitted as females later come to identify themselves as transgendered. (According to Dean Maureen Mahoney, a student admitted as a female but who later comes out as a male would still be welcomed at Smith.) ,

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SEPT. 8 - 14, 2011

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sports

Meredith’s Return Junior defensive end not overlooked by those who matter

College football fans throughout the Midwest had better be ready to embrace serious changes to their favorite traditions. From the GBR crowd to the Hawkeye faithful to the folks in places like Ames, Columbia, Topeka and Manhattan. Football is going to look and feel different this year all the way around.

Start with the 800 lb Gorilla – Nebraska. The Huskers blast into the Big 10 with the best defense in the conference, a second year QB in Taylor Martinez and enough preseason buzz to power the Haymarket for rest of 2011. The question here is whether Husker fans can be bothered getting worked up over this new set of rivals when the overwhelming notion is that Big Red will roll through the Big 10 like Moses parting the (pardon the pun) Red Sea? For me, the answer here is simple but counterintuitive. Husker fans will best embrace their new conference home but not until they suffer a loss. Getting the dander up for Big Red Nation will happen after the Huskers are on the wrong side of the scoreboard and set in motion just exactly the kind of bad blood that gets a good old fashioned college tradition going. With games against all of the traditional Big 10 powers in Wisconsin, Ohio State, Michigan State, Penn State, Iowa & Michigan it could happen at any week and the hollars from Lincoln will be deafening. This should also set up for a really good conference championship game which I believe will feature the Huskers on the Legends side of the conference.

For Iowa, be careful what you wish for. Hawkeye fans have wanted an annual shot at the Cornhuskers for years and believe that a regular series would help even recent history in which Nebraska has been dominant in head-to-head matchups. Well Iowa, you got it. Not only do you get an annual shot at Big Red but you get it in a nationally televised game the day after Thanksgiving in the middle of the afternoon. All eyes will be on this game in November and the opportunity to start a true college tradition is ripe for the picking. So is a chance to be a laughing stock. This game has already been tabbed The Heroes Game and it will be one of about a thousand Big 10 “Trophy Games” but in order for it to be a real rivalry it is incumbent upon the Hawkeyes to win their share. It is on the Hawkeyes to come into some of these games as the favorite. It is on the Hawkeyes to spoil Nebraska’s championship hopes in the last game of the regular season from time to time. This year the game is on the road, Nebraska is the favorite and the Huskers are tabbed as the highest nationally ranked team in the Big 10. What say you Iowa? If you want your stake in a brand new college tradition and bragging rights for the rest of the calendar year you need look no further than November 25th and that matchup in Lincoln.

You wanted your shot Hawkeye fans and now you have it. Be careful what you wish for.

For the supporting crews for Mizzou, Iowa State, Kansas & Kansas State this is going to be a very very nervous year for you. Nebraska and Colorado already left the Big 12 for bigger things (and bigger dollars) in the Big 10 and Pac 12. Texas A&M has submitted its’ resignation to the Big 12 and will be leaving the building after this football season. Oklahoma is rumored to be flirting with the idea of moving west as well and, as if that weren’t bad enough, taking Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State with them. This would leave your schools without a home. The Big 12 could seemingly dissolve at any moment and in this new day of college conference growth some or all of these schools could be left without a home. How excited for the coming year would Cyclones fans be if they were getting ready for games against Tulane, UTEP, the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the rest of Conference USA? The answer here is obvious for all the schools that are still happy just to be affiliated with Texas. For these unfortunate fans the new tradition is likely to one of nail biting.

Traditions will come and traditions will go every year and they may well change more this year than most. The good news is that college football is back and, at the end of the day, the smell of a fresh cut field, the pop of pads & the turning of the leaves is the most important tradition of all.

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by Mike Babcock

he scoring in Nebraska’s 40-7 victory was finished early in the fourth quarter.

But Tennessee-Chattanooga was looking for three more points, pride points, on a 37-yard field goal.

The attempt was blocked. Josh Williams was credited with the block, but Jared Crick claimed he got a piece of the ball. “A couple of other guys said they got a piece of it, too,” said Crick.

“We’ll have to watch the tape. Maybe it got batted by three dudes.”

The tape showed that a fourth, Cameron Meredith, got more than a piece of the deflected field goal. The defensive end grabbed the ball near the line of scrimmage and carried it 7 yards before being tackled at the Nebraska 26 – 74 yards from the Chattanooga end zone.

“I would have scored,” Crick said afterward. “It’s just a given I would have taken it to ‘the house.’ But that’s (for) another day, another time.”

Crick was joking, of course, offering some good-natured ribbing. The truth is, he was glad Meredith was playing. “After he got rolled up on, we were surprised he came back in the game,” said Crick, Nebraska’s All-America candidate at defensive tackle.

“I was just happy he was out there with us, let alone trying to return a blocked field goal.”

With 1:06 remaining in the first half, Meredith had to be helped to the sideline. But he was back on the field at the start of the third quarter, continuing to harass the visiting Mocs.

Meredith was credited with two quarterback sacks in the first half, then added the return of the blocked field goal and a pass interception in the second half. “I thought it was pretty productive,” he said of his performance. “I thought it was good day for the defensive line as a whole. I feel like there’s things we can get better at. But I thought for our first game, it was pretty good.”

Meredith’s performance reflected an off-season of commitment, coming back from surgery to repair a shoulder he “blew out” in the opener a year ago. Despite the shoulder problem, the junior from Santa Ana, Calif., started every game and earned second-team all-conference honors.

On a defense with three All-America candidates – Crick, linebacker Lavonte David and cornerback Alfonzo Dennard – Meredith could be overlooked.

“I don’t think opponents will overlook him,” said defensive line coach John Papuchis. “I think maybe he gets overlooked from a national perception, an outsider’s perspective, but we know how good he is, and I think our opponents certainly know how good he is.”

Those who compile watch lists for national awards also know how good he is. Meredith’s name is on watch lists for the Lombardi Award and the Hendricks Award.

In any case, “I know he was hungry to get out there,” Papuchis said.

Because of the surgery, Meredith missed spring practice. In retrospect, however, “I thought I became better mentally in the game because I started helping the younger players learn their techniques, their plays, so I think that helped me in the aspect of a more mental football player,” he said.

Answering questions and teaching others can be a learning technique.

That learning complemented his physical development, particularly his upper body. “I knew Cam was going to be a dynamic football player for us this year,” said defensive coordinator Carl Pelini.

“He’s faster. He’s stronger, just more confident.”

Nebraska has more depth in the defensive line than it’s had during Bo Pelini’s first three seasons. The Huskers used four defensive tackles besides Crick: Baker Steinkuhler, Thad Randle, Terrence Moore and Chase Rome. And they used five defensive ends besides Meredith: Williams, Jason Ankrah, Eric Martin, Joe Carter and Alonzo Whaley.

The ends, as well as the tackles, can “all rotate in and there’s really no drop-off for (any) of us,” said Meredith, who estimated he played 55-to-60 percent of the snaps against Tennessee-Chattanooga. “So I think in order for me to get a break or, like, I got hurt on Saturday, someone can come in and replace me while I’m getting re-taped or something. That’s really helpful.”

As for Crick’s claim he would have scored on the return of the blocked field goal, “I don’t know what Jared’s talking about,” Meredith said.

“I don’t think he would have scored, but I don’t know. After the game, he kind of said, ‘Why didn’t you score?’

“I was like, ‘I tried to. I just couldn’t do it.’ ” ,

Michael Gray

Petey Mac

MICHIGAN ST IOWA WISCONSIN ILLINOIS OHIO ST ALABAMA NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA PURDUE VIRGINIA NOTRE DAME NEBRASKA 34-10

IOWA MICHIGAN STATE OHIO STATE WISCONSIN ILLINOIS NORTHWESTERN MINNESOTA ALABAMA PURDUE VIRGINIA NOTRE DAME NEBRASKA

IOWA ST MICHIGAN ST ILLINOIS OHIO ST WISCONSIN MINNESOTA NORTHWESTERN PENN STATE PURDUE VIRGINIA MICHIGAN NEBRASKA 48-10

IOWA MICHIGAN ST ILLINOIS OHIO ST WISCONSIN MINNESOTA NORTHWESTERN ALABAMA PURDUE VIRGINIA MICHIGAN NEBRASKA 52-10

IOWA MICHIGAN ST ILLINOIS OHIO ST WISCONSIN MINNESOTA NORTHWESTERN ALABAMA PURDUE INDIANA MICHIGAN NEBRASKA 42-10

IOWA MICHIGAN ST ILLINOIS OHIO ST WISCONSIN MINNESOTA NORTHWESTERN PENN STATE PURDUE VIRGINIA NOTRE DAME NEBRASKA 38-14

IOWA MICHIGAN ST ILLINOIS OHIO ST WISCONSIN MINNESOTA NORTHWESTERN ALABAMA PURDUE VIRGINIA MICHIGAN NEBRASKA 42-28

IOWA MICHIGAN ST ILLINOIS OHIO ST WISCONSIN MINNESOTA NORTHWESTERN ALABAMA PURDUE VIRGINIA MICHIGAN NEBRASKA 35-10

IOWA ILLINOIS MICHIGAN ST OHIO ST WISCONSIN MINNESOTA NORTHWESTERN ALABAMA PURDUE INDIANA NOTRE DAME NEBRASKA 42-17

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| THE READER |

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DISCLAIMER: All real estate advertising within this publication is subject to the fair Housing Act, which makes it unlawful to publish any advertisement that indicates any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, handicap or family status. The Reader will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate, which is in violation of the law. If you believe you have been a victim of housing discrimination you should contact the Fair Housing Center of Nebraska at 934-6675 or the U.S department of Housing and Urban Development at 402-492-3109.

| THE READER |

sept. 8 - 14, 2011

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& 4STAR GENERAL WESLEY CLARK