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Technology, Health Care dominate ‘Best Jobs’ List? Nearly half the people in the U.S. will seek a new job this year. If you’re one of them, career website Glassdoor’s 25 Best Jobs in America, for 2016 might help. Glassdoor accounted for earnings potential, career opportunities and number of openings. Here are the results: Positions technology and health care dominated the list. Data scientist took top spot for 2016. It climbed from ninth to knock last year’s winner, physician assistant, down to seventh place. Tax manager, solutions architect, engagement manager and mobile manager rounded out the top five. Other jobs that cracked the top 25 include analytics manager, UX designer, mobile developer, marketing manager and electrical engineer. Glassdoor’s four “worst jobs for 2016” were BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD NE
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reporter, guest service manager, accounts payable and insurance agent. 5 Little-Known Facts About Student Loans It’s widely known student debt can be a crushing burden, often one that follows you into senility. Here are five bleak facts from CNN to illustrate how heavy that load really is: 1. Nationwide student loan debt totals $1.2 trillion, which could fund 30 million semesters, on average. 2. Student loan debt increases $2,853.88 per second. 3. There are more than 300,000 U.S. restaurant servers with bachelor degrees. 4. Nearly 30 percent of college students who take out loans drop out. 5. Almost 40 million Americans owe student debt. That’s more than the populations of Canada, Australia and 200 other countries. NEW YEAR, NEW AIRLINE CAREERS Get training as FAA certified Aviation Technician. Financial aid for qualified students. Career placement assistance. Call Aviation Institute of Maintenance 800-725-1563 (AAN CAN)
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Responsible for building a high performing team, providing an amazing customer experience and inspiring their team to be the best they can be.We expect our managers to create a culture within the store that is positive, upbeat, and enjoyable. Minimum 2-3 years of retail/restaurant management experience. Must be self-motivated and solution-oriented. Excellent merchandising skills and eye for detail. Ability to maintain good relationships with guests. Good communicator and motivator; able to work well with others and convey enthusiasm. Can train and inspire Team Members to excellence in their respective departments. Passion for the hospitality industry. For more information, visit OmahaJobs.com.
RESTAURANT GENERAL MANAGER
We are looking for a big leader who is able to build a team and further develop our existing team of top performers by training and developing skills, providing clear, consistent direction, and recognizing individual and team contributions. Candidate would oversee recruiting, training, management, P&L , and overall operations of corporately owned restaurant to ensure excellent customer service, high quality foods, people development, food safety, store cleanliness, and maximum profitability. For more information, visit OmahaJobs.com.
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omaha jobs
Chef Shortage Could Alter Dining Experience W Restaurants across the country have a hard time filling kitchen positions. In the past, chefs needed New York City or Los Angeles on their résumés to help launch a
career, but restaurant growth has exploded across the country. This makes it easier for chefs to find work in markets with lower costs of living. Intensifying the shortage are other industries luring chefs away. Jobs in research & development and food science attract cooks out of the kitchen for better pay and reasonable hours. Cooks also get hired by grocery stores looking to beef up their pre-made meals and big tech firms that offer on-site meals.
Peter Kiewit Foundation Grant to Help Establish Grassroots Leadership Development Program
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or the past 11 months, Julie Smith has traveled the streets of Omaha, attending close to 50 meetings in all corners of the city to determine what neighborhood groups need to survive, thrive and – in many cases – form where they’re needed the most. Smith, ONE Omaha program manager, said the responses she’s received overwhelmingly point to one area of concern – leadership training. “The No. 1 need in Omaha’s neighborhoods is recruiting and training new and existing leaders,” she said. The catch? Making these groups inviting to young and minority residents while valuing the contributions of a generation that’s literally been working for years – sometimes decades – to make their neighborhoods better places for all who live there. Thanks to a $70,000 grant from the Peter Kiewit Foundation (PKF), ONE Omaha is one step closer to establishing a grassroots program that will do exactly that. The ONE Grassroots Leadership Development Program, which also will be known as the ONE Academy, is a hands-on, yearlong program that will provide instructional training for current and potential neighborhood leaders and administer neighborhood programs that are understaffed and have little capacity, Smith said. It will be staffed by a full-time program manager who will be charged with developing the curriculum. “Omaha is a wonderful tapestry of vibrant and diverse neighborhoods,” said Jeff Kutash, executive director of the Peter Kiewit Foundation. “Peter Kiewit Foundation is proud to support ONE Omaha’s efforts to build civic leaders who engage their neighbors and undertake projects that improve their communities.” Smith said the ONE Academy will recruit neighborhood leaders from the city’s neighborhood alliances, neighborhood associations that do not participate in the alliance network, young professionals, academic institutions, housing development corporations, youth, minority and other diverse nonprofit organizations that ONE partners with in the community. The classes will be small, 15 to 20 residents each. In subsequent years, multiple cohorts will be trained simultaneously. “The participants will be chosen to balance the racial, gender, income and age mix in each cohort,” Smith said. There will also be a priority on creating cohorts of people who live in the same general geographic area to lessen the time commitment necessary to attend the training sessions.
The recruitment and training of young and minority residents is essential to the future growth of neighborhood groups in Omaha. Pictured above, a family of three enjoys the festivities at the Prospect Village Neighborhood Association’s 2015 National Night Out event. (photo by Little Guy Productions) In addition, the ONE Academy program manager will create workshops and trainings for businesses, nonprofits and other organizations on how to work with neighborhood groups and the benefits of doing so. “The workshops and trainings will be designed to raise the profile of Omaha’s neighborhood associations, acknowledging their value as resources while educating community leaders on how to effectively work with them,” Smith said. For example, the academy could create a workshop that provides assistance to businesses and nonprofits interested in moving into a certain neighborhood and how to effectively connect and engage with its residents.
The No. 1 need among Omaha’s neighborhood groups is the recruitment and training of new and existing leaders. Pictured above: a group from the Leavenworth Neighborhood Association takes five from 2015 National Night Out festivities. (photo by Little Guy Productions)
“We’re excited that ONE is creating a leadership development program for neighborhood leaders,” said Athena Ramos, president of the South Omaha Neighborhood Alliance. “Neighborhoods are the building blocks of strong communities. A leadership development program is essential to ensure that our neighborhoods remain strong and are able to integrate new people into leadership positions.” In its first year, the goals of the ONE Academy are: • To provide in-depth academy training to between 20 and 30 diverse Omaha residents that represent five to 10 existing neighborhood groups. • To provide a series of small, specialized workshops to 300 additional Omahans representing a variety of organizations and businesses. A longer-term goal of the academy, Smith said, is to begin building momentum for statewide policy support to address common neighborhood issues on a systemic level. “Strong neighborhoods are critical to the health of our city,” said Sara Woods, executive associate to the senior vice chancellor for community engagement at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and director of the Barbara Weitz Community Engagement Center on campus. “People that participate in neighborhood development are our future decision makers. The sense of commitment to neighborhoods is critical. To be a good leader, you need an understanding of what makes a neighborhood work and what makes a neighborhood successful.” The total cost of launching the ONE Academy is $127,000. Smith said ONE Omaha will use the PKF funding to attract additional grant dollars. She’s also created a crowd sourcing campaign to help raise $35,000. To donate, visit www.crowdrise.com/ omahaleadership. For more information about the ONE Academy, contact Smith at 402.547.7473 or Julie.smith@oneomaha.org.
ONE Omaha, a public/private partnership funded in part by the City of Omaha, is dedicated to actively facilitating the development of neighborhoods in Omaha through communication, education and advocacy. It is housed with Nebraskans for Civic Reform (NCR) in the Barbara Weitz Community Engagement Center at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. NCR is a group of dedicated and politically diverse Nebraska professionals committed to making civic institutions more inclusive among youth and historically disadvantaged and disengaged populations. It acts as One Omaha’s fiscal agent and oversees its daily operations.
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Movie Music Series Sponsors
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FEBRUARY2016VOLUME22NUMBER11 08 COVER STORY MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE 13 GREEN SCENE MOVING TO SOLAR 15 PICKS COOL EVENTS IN FEBRUARY 21 CULTURE OEAA PHOTO HIGHLIGHTS 26 HEALING A EAGLE IS DOWN 28 ART ON THE ROAD IN NEBRASKA 31 ART THE BEMIS’ NEW CAPTAIN 36 EAT POSITIVITY AFTER DISASTER 40 MUSIC SYMPHONY GETS BLUESY 42 HOODOO FEBRUARY HIGHLIGHTS 44 FILM HIDING IN OMAHA 46 FILM THE BEST AND WORST (HATEFUL 8) 49 OVER THE EDGE IT’S NIK’S TIME 50 MYSTERIAN DOCTOR IS IN
Publisher John Heaston john@thereader.com Creative Director Eric Stoakes eric@thereader.com Assistant Editor Mara Wilson mara@thereader.com Assistant Editor Tara Spencer tara@thereader.com CONTRIBUTING EDITORS heartland healing: Michael Braunstein info@heartlandhealing.com arts/visual: Mike Krainak mixedmedia@thereader.com dish: Sarah Locke crumbs@thereader.com film: Ryan Syrek cuttingroom@thereader.com hoodoo: B.J. Huchtemann bjhuchtemann@gmail.com music: Wayne Brekke backbeat@thereader.com over the edge: Tim McMahan tim.mcmahan@gmail.com theater: William Grennan coldcream@thereader.com SALES & MARKETING Dinah Gomez dinah@thereader.com Kati Falk kati@thereader.com DISTRIBUTION/DIGITAL
Clay Seaman clay@thereader.com OPERATIONS AND BUSINESS MANAGER Kerry Olson kerry@thereader.com PHOTO BY DEBRA S. KAPLAN
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contents
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Whether it’s the homeless
BY MAGGY LEHMICKE
PHOTOS BY DEBRA S. KAPLAN
woman you pass every day going to work, the new mother or a neighbor battling cancer, mental illness hides itself in many forms and behind many other conditions. Mental illness has been a pervasive issue in both rural Nebraska and metropolitan areas like Omaha. When Nebraska dismantled its regional system over a decade ago, it never fully funded the replacement, according to local experts, stressing mental health services and pushing the most severe cases into homeless centers and prisons. ...
Mind Under Mattered
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dding to a lack of services and increase in diagnoses, Nebraska’s is rapidly losing its mental health workforce. While nothing can replace a lack of community commitment and especially resources, new licensure efforts, first response treatments and growing community awareness provide some hope, even while the shortest route to mental health services might remain committing a crime and being incarcerated.
Community services and treatment
Nebraska made the switch from treating mental illness in regional institutions to community-based programs in 2004. The prospect of more humane services was a positive change, except the state never developed the programs that were promised, said William Spaulding, a psychology professor and researcher at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. “The people who really need the services aren’t getting them,” Spaulding said. Aileen Brady, the executive vice president of Community Alliance, said the community services were implemented to a very limited extent. “I don’t think we knew what we know now. We just need more people,” Brady said. Spaulding said misdiagnoses in mental health and overreliance on medication are huge issues in Nebraska, as well as on a national scale. In some cases, he said, no real diagnostic assessment takes place. This is particularly common among patients diagnosed with attention deficit disorders, he said. “They’re on six or eight medications and no one really knows what’s wrong with them,” he said. The state has invested heavily in practitioners with master’s degrees, Spaulding said, but it’s not up to them to make diagnoses.
WILLIAM SPAULDING
“The diagnostic system has changed and is still in the process of changing,” he said. Right now, he said, nobody can determine what’s “sane” and what isn’t. Spaulding said many of the programs to help treat schizophrenia and other severe mental illnesses were gutted when Nebraska altered its mental health system. Schizophrenia comes with huge costs, he said, ranking along with cancer in terms of economic burden. A potential solution could be the introduction of First Episode Psychosis (FEP) care, Spaulding said, a type of treatment that be used after a person experiences their first psychotic episode. According to National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), a psychotic episode typically involves a break from reality and is accompanied by visual or auditory delusions.
FEP care includes services such as illness management, medications, family psycho-education and substance use disorder treatment. According to a report by TriWest Healthcare Alliance in 2015, approximately 180 adults in the Omaha area experience a first psychotic episode each year. There is currently no known FEP care program in the region, despite Omaha having quality medical centers for implementing FEP efforts, the report said. Spaulding said specialists in the CHI psychiatric center at Creighton University are currently trying to implement an FEP program. Not only does FEP care have promising outcomes, but it is also extremely cost-effective, according to the TriWest report. Despite limited treatment options, there are programs to help assist and inform Nebraskans affected by mental illness, said Linda Jensen, board member of the NAMI in Omaha. NAMI developed a family education program for 2016 to help caregivers and family members support individuals with mental illness while maintaining their own well-being. The program provides information on getting medication, coping, family communication, and other types of resources available. The limited availability of services for individuals dually diagnosed with mental illness and addiction is another issue that needs to be addressed, Jensen said. About 50 percent of people with mental illness also struggle with addiction, she said. There need to be more organizations like CHI Health’s Lasting Hope Recovery Center, Jensen said. Lasting Hope is a psychiatric facility specializing in multi-occurring disorders, such
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The lack of funding limits the professional resources available, particularly in mental health. This includes locating resources for psychiatric evaluations, prescriptions, counseling and supportive housing
CANDACE GREGORY
as mental illness and substance abuse. The recovery center also recently held a conference on FEP treatment. “ I think the treatment has to work together to be most affective,” Jensen said. Homelessness and aging out
According to Candace Gregory, the president of Open Door Mission in Omaha, a lot of the burden of dealing with mental illness falls on nonprofits and homeless shelters. She said the lack of funding limits the professional resources available, particularly in mental health. This includes locating resources for psychiatric evaluations, prescriptions, counseling and supportive housing, she said. Mike Saklar, the executive director of the Siena Francis House in Omaha, said it’s extremely difficult to provide the
homeless population with the help they need. “Some of them are beyond our ability to help, but we take them anyway because there’s no alternative,” Saklar said. He said the only solution is more community-based programs with more providers and support staff. He said the Omaha area needs more group homes and programs like Lasting Hope, a recovery center offering various psychiatric services. Outreach workers and case managers are important to help homeless people navigate the system, said Brady of Community Alliance. It’s often that people have had bad experiences with the system and need help from someone they can trust. Through Community Alliance and other local agencies, homeless individuals have access to basic services and needs, such as emergency shelters. However, Brady said, there is still an extreme lack of resources. “For people who are homeless, there aren’t enough options,” she said. Within the community programs, Brady said it’s important to have services that address addiction in addition to mental health. Approximately 75-80 percent of the people Community Alliance serve have both a mental illness and addiction, she said. “The challenge is that many self-medicate themselves with street drugs,” said Gregory from Open Door Mission. More than 30 percent of Open Door Mission’s guests selfdisclose the need for mental health services, said Kate Fischer, the mission’s health and healing director. “Although 30 percent self-disclose, there are about 30 percent more that don’t,” she said. “They are the self-medicating ones.” Once they’re helped not to rely on drugs or alcohol, it’s easier to address their mental health needs and determine appropriate medication, Fischer said. “Once they get on the right medications and start feeling ‘normal’ for the first time in a long time, they will begin the process of learning how to cope with everyday activities sober,” she said. UNL’s Spaulding said the prospect of “aging out” is also a huge issue in Nebraska in terms of mental illness and homelessness. “On their 19th birthday, the state just walks away from them,” he said. “That’s been a huge probMIKE SAKLAR lem.” Gregory said Open Door Mission has seen a huge increase in the homeless population between ages 18 and 25. YES House, a street outreach center, provides help and shelter to a lot of Omaha’s homeless youth, Fischer said. However, the Mission has to accommodate for those individuals when YES House is full, she said. YES House is a wonderful resource for that demographic,
Fischer said, but not large enough to meet the growing need for those services in Omaha. Fighting the stigma
However, for many, the largest obstacle in treating mental illness isn’t access to treatment. “There is such a stigma with mental health that does not exist with physical health,” Gregory said. “A person with diabetes would take their insulin and no one would think any differently,” she said, “but once psychotropic or mood altering prescriptions are mentioned, it becomes much different.” Fischer said stigma is an issue that the Open Door Mission tackles daily. “Helping them understand that their mental health diagnosis is as real as their physical health problems can be a challenge,” she said. According to Saklar of Siena Francis House, it begins with education. “Awareness is important,” he said. “I think mental illness touches a lot of families.”
LISA JONES
Saklar said he often gets calls from parents asking how to get help for their children. “That information needs to be out there,” he said. When referring to mental illness, Saklar said he’s not just talking about people who experience psychosis. It’s important to understand that there are many levels and types of mental illness, he said. Jensen of NAMI said the level of awareness is slowly improving. “It’s a difficult thing to work on,” she said. It helps when people come forward and are open about their illness, Jensen said. Programs that NAMI offers, such as “Say It Out Loud,” encourage young people to speak about their mental health. “It’s an illness, just like any other illness,” she said Prisons: the new asylums
Recent studies suggest approximately 15 percent of all inmates have a severe mental illness, according to a report published by Disability Rights Nebraska in 2014. A significant number of inmates are placed in solitary confinement or extreme isolation, the report stated, where their more MENTAL HEALTH on page 10 y
“Some of them are beyond our ability to help ... “ cover story
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HOWARD LIU
conditions typically worsen. “The largest mental health institution in the state is Douglas County Jail,” said Spaulding. He said the Nikko Jenkins case in 2013 exposed some of the major gaps in Nebraska’s mental health system. Jenkins committed four murders within a month of his release, leading to the formation of a special investigative committee by the Nebraska Legislature. Jenkins was dually diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder and personality-related disorder while incarcerated. Despite recommendations from a psychiatrist in the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (NDCS), Jenkins was never given a forensic evaluation or placed in a regional center, according to the committee’s report. “It brings up a lot of the urgent issues,” Spaulding said. “Psychological treatment and social support systems have been undervalued and we’re paying a big price for that now.” Lisa Jones, a psychologist in the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services, said she was drawn to the job because she thought there wasn’t any treatment going on. After being in private practice for 13 years, Jones said she was pleasantly surprised by the amount and quality of services available to prisoners in Nebraska. As a behavioral health administrator, Jones oversees programs provided by mental health, substance abuse, sex offender and social work. The department offers a violence reduction program run by specially trained mental health staff, serving the most violent offenders. Mental health staff provide services from basic anger management to domestic violence treatment, Jones said. Inmates within the program don’t face solitary confinement; they are required to live in the same residential unit. “It helps them be more accountable to one another,” she said. Aside from basic mental health services, Jones said Nebraska’s correctional department offers psychoeducational groups, coping skills, basic job training and more. “We recognize that this is a population that definitely could benefit from those skills,” she said. According to the Disability Rights Nebraska report, within the first two weeks after inmates are released, they are par-
ticularly vulnerable to fall back into old patterns. During this period, they are also 12 times more likely to die from health problems than the general population, said the report. Jones said the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services tries to get inmates established with a person or group in the community so that they have a support system. She said by establishing a relationship before they leave, inmates may experience a much smoother transition back into society. “Each inmate has his or her own special needs, so it’s not a cookie cutter approach,” she said. “But support is imperative.” Providing caseworkers and other support services for incarcerated patients is a step in the right direction, Jensen of NAMI said, but there is a downside. “People need to commit a crime to be in that program,” she said. Similar services need to be offered for people outside of the prison system, she said.
“We want to make sure that we get those professionals up and credentialed as quickly and efficiently as possible,” she said. Crawford said DHHS will continue to work through some of the smaller issues over the next couple years. This includes efforts to recruit and retain a workforce in Nebraska, she said, as well as helping them earn enough provisional hours. Liu is involved in some of the recruitment himself. As the director of BHECN, Liu helps encourage high school and college students in Nebraska to enter the mental health workforce. He said it’s important young people understand a career in mental health can be extremely rewarding. “There’s a positive piece,” Liu said. “It’s not all doom, gloom and depression.” BHECN was developed in 2009 to help address the need SUE CRAWFORD
Addressing the workforce shortage
“One of the biggest issues in mental health is the workforce crisis,” said Dr. Howard Liu, Director of the Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska (BHECN) and psychiatry professor at UNMC. Liu said approximately half of mental health care providers in Nebraska are nearing retirement age. Within the next 10 years, he said, current gaps in services are going to grow tremendously. There is already a shortage of providers in certain areas, Liu said, including addiction services and child psychiatry. One of the biggest issues potential mental health providers face in Nebraska is the licensing process, he said. “It takes some time to get licensure,” Liu said. “That’s something we’re trying to address.” In November, the Nebraska Legislature held a hearing on Legislative Resolution 185, an interim study to examine the licensing process for mental health professionals. Senator Sue Crawford of Bellevue said the resolution is still a work in progress. “We noticed there was a large number of people who were in that provisional status,” Crawford said. “That really initiated my concern.” She said a large part of the issue remained at the administrative level. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is engaged in some substantial process improvement, Crawford said, including changing how the phone is answered and monitoring the flow of documents.
for a skilled mental health workforce in Nebraska, according to the organization’s 2015 legislative report. Along with recruitment, BHECN helps train and retain current behavioral health workers as well as evaluate the state of the workforce in Nebraska. According to the same report, 32 counties in Nebraska do not have a behavioral health provider and 71 Nebraska counties do not have a psychiatric prescriber. Though metropolitan areas have a greater distribution of providers, these areas experience major access issues due to the limited number of professionals. “We desperately need a mental health workforce,” Crawford said.” , more MENTAL HEALTH on page 12 y
“One of the biggest issues in mental health is the workforce crisis ... ” 10
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u Tony K
d m in a t e o n y n s To shn er ’
mu sic
al
FEB. 12–MARCH 20, 2016
Book and lyrics by Tony Kushner | Music by Jeanine Tesori
Caroline, or Change is a sung-through musical set in Louisiana during the American civil rights movement. Caroline, an African-American maid, works for Rose Gellman, who enlists Caroline’s help in teaching her stepson, Noah, the value of money by allowing Caroline to keep any change he leaves in his pockets. Contains adult themes.
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From Patient to Provider One Man’s Journey of the Mind “It was like my mind was wrapped up in saran wrap,” he said. “There was a little fear when I came home from the hospital that my creativity had led to my illness.” Donlan’s first play, Open Door, was a four-year process that he completed with the help of the Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska (BHECN). He was presented with one of several grants BHECN provided to help break down stigma. “The biggest thing with mental health is the stigma involved,” he says. “People don’t like getting treated. They feel ashamed of it.” He said society has the tendency to separate the body at the neck: it’s fine to fix anything below the head, but fixing
Instead of feeling ashamed, Donlan says, it’s important that people rise above the stigma and learn to accept their diagnoses. It’s easy to want to blame something else, he says. “I had to accept my illness and I had to take responsibility to recover and thrive,” Donlan says. “Once I started doing that, I got better.” One of the best forms of treatment was his artwork, he says. He refers to his painting style as “goofy” and admits to often using his fingers and saliva to compose a piece. “I’m like a bear with a paint brush,” he says. Several of Donlan’s works are currently on display at Lincoln’s Nonprofit Hub, as well as other locations throughout the state. “It’s a reflection of where I’m at,” he says about his work. Despite being diagnosed with colon cancer in August, Donlan hasn’t slowed down. “I’ve been writing a lot lately,” he states. His most recent monologue, Red Bucket, illustrates the battle with his newly diagnosed illness. “Cancer changes you in knowing that you probably shouldn’t be here,” he says. “It makes you think a little differently.” To help him get through some of the treatment, he’s contemplated creating a cartoon character named “Chemo Bob.” “I’m allowed to because I have cancer,” he says. Though both of Donlan’s diagnoses are considered “illnesses,” they’re treated very differently, he says. He pulls up a comic on his computer featuring three bottles of glue: an ordinary bottle, a bottle of “super glue” wearing a cape, and bottle of “crazy glue” holding an axe and a decapitated head. “I don’t think I’m being overly sensitive to that,” he says. “There aren’t a lot of cancer jokes.” If Donlan has regrets about anything in his life, his mental illness is not one of them. “Normal is the setting on a dryer,” he says. “Nothing is normal.” People have a tendency to perpetuate their own misery with an imaginary idea of what their life is supposed to look like, he says. “Life is life,” he says. “It’s not a burden.” Donlan has been off of antipsychotics for about 10 years. Despite his recovery, he says he still has the tendency to second-guess himself. When he hears a strange noise, he’ll often look at his wife, who usually responds with, “Yeah, I heard it too.” , DEBRA S. KAPLAN
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obert Donlan is sitting across from an artificial fireplace, wearing jeans covered in paint. “I have found it best to always keep a light burning. I have no interest in being in the dark anymore,” reads an excerpt from Open Door, a play he wrote chronicling his battle with schizoaffective disorder. Donlan refers to his illness as “a mixed cocktail of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.” He says the main difference is that instead of mania, he experiences psychosis, often resulting in visual and auditory delusions. “He gets that extra kick,” says his wife, Teri. A 52-year-old Omaha native, Donlan experienced his first psychotic break at age 29 when he was living in Chicago. “I was under a great deal of stress,” he said. “That’s kind of the break point for ROBERT DONLAN people.” As with many mental health patients, Donlan was dual-diagnosed with addiction. He says he can’t be sure that he used alcohol and drugs as a way of self-medicating. “That’s a chicken and egg riddle I don’t care to solve,” he says. “But I became dependent on those things and had to stop.” To help with his alcoholism recovery, Donlan worked in a detox unit for a while before taking a job at the Spring Center as a behavioral tech. Unfortunately, the best training he had wasn’t something he could put on his resume, he jokes. “You have to keep that stuff to yourself,” he says. Donlan says his job as a behavioral tech gave him insight as to why the burnout rate of mental health workers is so high. “It’s too hard of work. It wears you down,” he says. “I have nothing but respect for people who work in that field.” Donlan says a large portion of successful treatment is up to the patient. It’s important to care for your mind in the same way you would care for a broken leg, he says. “Some people think the medication should do it all,” he says. “I learned very early on that it’s a percentage. It’s really up to me to thrive.” Donlan admits he had moments when he stopped taking his medications, particularly when he felt that they stunted his creativity.
the mind is a different issue. “I never really understood why my brother, who takes medicine for his diabetes and blood pressure, is regarded differently than me taking medicine for my mind,” Donlan says. He says the portrayal of mental illness in the media plays a role in reinforcing stigma. Every time there’s a mass murder, Donlan says, people point fingers at the mentally ill. “In some cases, it doesn’t look like mental health,” he says. “It’s a weird area we haven’t figured out.”
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PHOTO COURTESY NEBRAKANS FOR SOLAR
Brightfuture
‘poweredup: Nebraskans for Solar and Habitat for Humanity of Omaha installed this solar hot water system (equivalent to a 3-KW photovoltaic system or 12 250-watt solar panels) on a South Omaha Habitat for Humanity home in August 2014. This was one of four demonstration houses in the groups’ “Solar Powering Low-Income Housing” Program.
With basic installation and financing information, these homeowners went solar BY CHERIL LEE
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hinking about installing solar panels on your home? There are some key questions you need to ask yourself first including: What is the current cost of your electric bill? How much electricity are you using on a daily basis? How much solar energy do you need to generate to offset that usage? The number and placement of solar panels on your home will depend on the size of your house, the kind of surface area you have to work with as well as things like how many trees you have in your neighborhood. The primary question installation experts are going to ask, “What is your goal?” David Holtzclaw, president of Transduction Technologies, said most people are looking for some reduction in their electric bill. He said
many times they have had an interest in renewable energy for awhile but now the rebates that are in effect as well as the prices for installation sound good, so they take the leap and have a solar system installed in their home. In April, Denise, a homeowner in Ashland, had a 10.6-kilowatt system installed on her home. At the last Nebraskans for Solar (NFS) meeting, she shared that she and her husband have been net zero since they turned their system on, meaning they produce all the electricity they need with their solar system. “The most rewarding thing for me is watching online and seeing how much of my carbon footprint I am offsetting with solar,” she said. Denise and her husband took an IRA that wasn’t performing and invested the money in “themselves” with a solar installation. She explained for the next 10-25 years, whatever money she and her husband aren’t paying in electricity will be the return on their investment. Her system comprises 22 panels and cost $33,000 before the 30 percent federal investment tax credit rebate they expect to get back on this year’s taxes.
She said when you meet with an installer they will let you know where you can get the biggest bang for your buck in terms of placement as well as talk with you about how many kilowatts you really need for your home. When asked if there was anything she would change about the panels, Denise said she wished they had wipers on them to remove the snow because snow covers the panels and that snow isn’t going to fall off unless you purchase the panels on a swivel. If not, you wait for the snow to melt. Installing a solar system made sense to Denise and her husband because their heating and cooling systems are both electric. She said they don’t have a gas backup, just a heat pump and regular electric heat. Though Denise and her husband have a large solar system installed, smaller systems offer many benefits as well. A woman living in Iowa who attended the meeting said she had six panels installed at her home and they have helped her energy efficiency. She said you don’t need a large array to really make a difference in what you’re burning up as far as your carbon footprint. Her system cost $3,000 after the 30 percent federal investment tax credit and the 18 percent Iowa tax credit. Currently, Nebraska offers no tax credits for the installation of solar energy. How do you know just how many panels you need? Well, the first thing is to figure out how much electricity you use. Holtzclaw said you approximate your cost of usage by taking your monthly bill and dividing it by 30 to give you a daily total. Taking it a step further, if you divide that number by 50 percent, you get a perspective of the energy you’re consuming during the day that you can offset. “There is a one-to-five ratio. For every kilowatt of energy you have of solar, you can expect it to generate five kilowatt hours a day. So if you have 10-kilowatt hours a day of need, then you would have to get a 2-kilowatt system. And since it’s not always sunny, you might actually need a slightly bigger solar system,” he said. The average OPPD customer uses about 11,500 kilowatt-hours of electricity a year. A four-kilowatt system in Omaha will produce around 5,7005,800 kilowatt-hours per year. Holtzclaw explained people historically were trying to cover their baseload, or the amount of energy their property consumed at any one time, from their lights and TVs to their computers and refrigerators. “Typically, 40 percent of your energy consumption is in baseload, with another 40 percent in your heating and cooling systems,” he said. More people these days want to install solar not only to cover their energy consumption but also due to environmental concerns. The more energy consumption people hope to cover with solar, the bigger the system will have to be and the bigger the challenges become. “When it’s running, a three ton air conditioner uses 11 kilowatts. So if you decide to go off the grid completely and run a standard A/C unit, you won’t be turning on anything else. When going off the grid, your cost jumps hugely because there’s a big difference between covering ALL environmental impact versus baseload,” said Holtzclaw. And utilities don’t pay you much for what you do feed the grid. You are buying at retail but giving energy back to the utility at wholesale. Right now, residential customers are paying about .11 cents per kilowatt-hour but are only selling it back at a little over .04 cents per kilowatt-hour. Installing a solar system may not be cost effective on that front. In addition to the federal investment tax credit of 30 percent (extended through the end of 2019) and the 18 percent tax credit in Iowa, there are
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Feb. 5 through April 23
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Kaneko, 1111 Jones St., Free thekaneko.org/water Kaneko’s new exhibit, WATER, which opens Friday, Feb. 5, utilizes both science and art to enlighten the public to the future importance of arguably Earth’s greatest resource. Artists showcased in WATER include Omahans Susan Knight, known for her fiber work, ceramicist Iggy Sumnik, figure and nature photographer Kat Moser, and mixed-media artist Ying Zhu. Those outside the region include Connecticut artist Suzan Shutan, native Nebraskan photographer for National Geographic, Joel Sartore, Kan-
sas City installation artist Matthew Dehaemer, Minnesotan photo/encaustic artist Clare O’Neil, Korean installation artist Ran Hwang and French photographer Pierre Carreau. All have dealt with the impact on water and the environment in their artwork. Knight’s Water Bank Boogie is a small section of hand-cut paper of one of her colorful two-piece presentations. Ying contributes a double fish tank piece that demonstrates the concept that only three parts of contaminate per billion can harm water. Shutan has teamed with a local Omaha high school art class to create a collaged map of Nebraska, which incorporates pom poms to indicate the state’s underground water-well densities—an interactive display. Nearby, Ran Hwang will show six exquisite wall panels of crystals on Plexiglas in a chandelier effect. In the large hall entry Carreau presents
four large and elegant high-speed photos of waves to demonstrate the power of oceans. On the west end Clare O’Neill has selected 30 of 1,500 images to display with her verbal commentary adjacent to Kat Moser’s atmospheric and elemental photos, which ask for written responses from Kaneko visitors during the exhibit. Not forgetting the scientific component, the east Bow Truss area will feature the science of water, along with a working hand-built water tower similar to those built in Africa. The second floor will display ideas to make more food with less water in the future. A profusion of nonprofit organizations have joined in this building-wide educational effort. Valmont Industries, the major sponsor of this exhibit, features a center pivot irrigation sculpture as-
sembled by Dehaemers to highlight the company’s commitment to water management. An aquaponics display will show the combined raising of fish to feed plants. The east area will also show time-lapse videos of river changes and wall dialogue displays. This building-wide exhibit offers information for a much-needed dialogue about water locally as well as globally. Only 2 percent of the world’s water is now accessible and safe to drink. Understanding this issue is the first step towards innovation and solutions. Water, which is free to the public, continues at Kaneko, 1111 Jones St., through April 23. The WATER public opening will be held Friday, Feb. 5, from 6 – 9 p.m. For details and visiting hours go to thekaneko.org/water. — Eddith Buis
SUSAN KNIGHT
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ATTIC LIGHT - PHOTO BY J&L PHOTOGRAPHY
February 1 and 2 UMAR JOHNSON UNO Weitz Community Engagement Center, 6001 Dodge Street 5:00 p.m., $10 donation www.unomaha.edu
Saturday, February 6 SATCHEL GRANDE WITH CARSON CITY HEAT The Waiting Room Lounge, 6212 Maple Street 9:00 p.m., $8 www.waitingroomlounge.com Feeling the need to get out and about with some proper booty shakin’? The perfect cure to some wintertime blues will be found in the cozy embrace of the Waiting Room. Known for their top-notch performances and large fan base, Satchel Grande once again takes control of Benson with a show that will warm your heart and soul with a killer mix of styles that demand a packed dance floor. Kicking off the jams will be fellow OEAA award winners Carson City Heat, with a well-dressed set of soulful tunes. — Wayne Brekke
DR. UMAR JOHNSON
MAD DADS O.N.E. presents this noted Pan-Afrikanism advocate and author of the book Psycho-Academic Holocaust: The Special Education & ADHD Wars Against Black Boys. Johnson is a nationally certified school psychologist who practices privately in Pennsylvania and lectures throughout the country. He is a blood relative of Frederick Douglass, the great Black abolitionist and orator. This expert on learning disabilities and their effect on black children assists schools and parents modify challenging behaviors that can lead to disruptive behavior disorder diagnoses in black boys. Such diagnoses can adversely impact student achievement. Johnson argues these special education practices are part of institutionalized, systemic racist strategies designed to oppress black male youths. His talk is entitled “Understanding the Mid-Education Machine.” — Leo Adam Biga
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Friday, February 12 TARA VAUGHAN WITH THE HOTTMAN SISTERS AND SARAH BENCK The Waiting Room Lounge, 6212 Maple Street 9:00 p.m., $7 www.waitingroomlounge.com We’re willing to bet there won’t be a more fetching line up in the city this night. Some of Omaha’s finest songbirds will gather in Benson for a night of beautiful harmonies, inspired songwriting, and impeccable musicianship. Sarah Benck returns to the Waiting Room along with The Hottman Sisters in support of Tara Vaughan, one of the hardest working women in our scene. With a new album, video, and touring schedule, Vaughan gathers her peers for a show that’ll warm your winter chill. — Wayne Brekke Saturday, February 13 ALL YOUNG GIRLS ARE MACHINE GUNS & MESONJIXX & CJ MILLS & MIXTAPE SWAP Milk Run, 1907 Leavenworth Street 9:00 p.m., $7 www.facebook.com/milkrunomaha
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Looking for something different to get you out of the house, something with music, art, mixtapes, and a purge? Check out this event that puts a twist on the standard show. Not only will you see live performances by AYGAMG, Mesonjixx, and CJ Mills, you’ll get a chance to swap mixtapes like back in the day. While swapping, check out the art exhibit and dump some baggage at the Old Flames Purging Bin. From the event page: “Bring those old love letters and doodles and pro/con lists (do people actually make those or is that just Ross?!) and teddy bears and tee-shirts, and we’ll ceremonially burn them in a fire.” — Wayne Brekke Saturday, February 13 ATTIC LIGHT O’Leaver’s Pub, 1322 South Saddle Creek Road 9:30 p.m., $5, 21+ www.atticlightmusic.com Valentine’s Day this year doesn’t have to be filled with flowers, candied hearts, chocolate and a nice romantic candlelit dinner with soft music in the background. Instead, switch it up this Hallmark holiday weekend and jam out to the sound of Kansas City rock band, Attic Light. The talented men that make up this rocking group are vocalist and guitarist Nathan Bowman, guitarist Mi-
TARA VAUGHAN
chael Pittman, bassist Patrick Rippeto and Joseph Dillman on drums. This tour and show at O’Leaver’s Pub is in support of the band’s upcoming album, which was recorded in Nashville, “Exile EP.” You can listen to the first single “Exile” on the Attic Light website. If you like what you hear, on Friday, Feb. 12, “Whiskey Love” will be released and, bonus, this will help you prep for the concert. The first time I listened to “Exile,” I was trying to sing along. It was as if I had heard the song before, but not in an unoriginal way, quite the contrary. Attic Light somehow mixes familiarity with originality creating a song you know you have never heard, but already love. Based on the reviews and fans of this band, the concert will be entertaining to say the least. The energy they bring to the stage is said to be not only contagious, but a vigorous, true to the meaning of rock and roll, performance. Joining Attic Light will be reggae rock bands Faded and Stonebelly. You don’t have to go to a quiet dinner or stay at home this Valentine’s Day, but maybe you should buy flowers and candy so your sweetheart will dance close to you during this concert. — Mara Wilson February 16 SON OF THE CONGO SCREENING Film Streams, 1340 Mike Fahey Street 7:00 p.m., Free www.filmstreams.org As American hoops has taken on a decided international flavor there are players from certain African nations who’ve experienced things their teammates in the States can’t imagine. Serge Ibaka, a native of Congo, is a case in point. The Oklahoma City Thunder star escaped the chaos and violence of his homeland thanks to his talent and hard work. But he’s never forgotten his people or their plight. He makes frequent visits there to do what he can and those encounters with the desperate needs of people who look just like him can be wrenching. That’s the story of this gripping documentary produced by Bill Simmons and ESPN/Grantland (30 for 30) series. Director Adam Hootnick and Omaha Talons Academy founder-director Koang Doluony, who helps fellow Suda-
his works stems from painting, printmaking, video and bookmaking. This specific exhibit, Horizons and Patterns, features paintings with the theme of traveling, isolation and change through simple, sometimes primal subject matter. By mixing abstraction and representation, Ballarin hopes those viewing the work will find the paintings, specifically from the brushstrokes, as a comforting quality to contrast the reflection idea of our human reaction to find peace or beauty when faced with struggle or pain. Ballarin used a combination of painting and printmaking to allow the viewer to search through the layers and patterns of each piece and discover there may be more than meets the eye. There will be a gallery talk Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 7:00 p.m. — Mara Wilson “WINDOWS IN THE SKY” PAINTING ACRYLIC ON CANVAS BY SHAWN BALLARIN
nese players in Omaha navigate life and school, will speak after the screening. — Leo Adam Biga Through February 21 DISNEY’S NEWSIES The Orpheum Theater, 409 South 16th Street Opens Tuesday, Feb. 16 Tues.-Thurs. 7:30 p.m., Fri. 8:00 p.m., Sat. 2:00 & 8:00 p.m., Sun. 1:30 & 7:00 p.m., $40-$125 www.omahaperformingarts.org Disney’s Newsies stomps into town landing on its feet on the Orpheum stage for a vigorous albeit brief stay. It’s off and running after a breakneck break-through on Broadway for 29 months, collecting a pair of Tonys and six also-rans. Despite the youth of many kids in the story, the history-based musical actually isn’t all that young, having been born 24 years ago as a Disney movie. This version spins off from it with songs from the original plus fresh ones. They are by eight-time Oscar- grabbing composer Alan Menken who shared a Tony with lyri-
cist Jack Feldman. Choreographer Christopher Gattelli nabbed a Tony too. The book is by four-time Tony-winning Harvey Fierstein. Quite a team. The dance-filled zip and flash, billed as a family-friendly show, has “enough raw vitality to command the attention and even stir the blood,” noted the New York Times. It comes inspired by a newspaper delivery boys’ strike at the turn of the 20th Century. Alan Menken has turned out scores of scores for Disney brand films and stage versions thereof: The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Poca-
hontas among them. Plus more music for Little Shop of Horrors, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, and The Shaggy Dog. Disney has also seen and heard the services of lyricist Feldman,with Oliver & Company, The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride plus. You could have recently gotten a kick out of a Harvey Fierstein’s Tony-winner Kinky Boots, hoofing its stuff at the Orpheum four months ago. The newsboys of the story certainly made news. So did this lively version of their struggle and victory. — Gordon Spencer Friday, February 26 THE BRUBECK BROTHERS QUARTET Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas Street 8:00 p.m., $25 www.omahaperformingarts.org Two of Dave Brubeck’s sons have been doing their thing, his kind of thing, for more than 16 years in the Brubeck Brothers Quartet. Clearly, they’ve got it all together. Their most recent CD Lifetimes was one of the 2013 Top Ten Jazz Radio Airplays. The Quartet jumps into town for just one gig at the Holland Center’s 1200 Club to continue such musical evocations of their paternal inspiration. Brothers Dan on drums and Chris on bass meld with long-time partners guitarist Mike DeMicco and pianist Chuck Lamb. DeMicco had been an enduring member of electric jazz quartet, The Dolphins. As for Lamb, he’s been at keyboards with Bela Fleck, the Woody Herman Orchestra, and more. The BBQ, as it is sometimes known, has been hot stuff all over: e.g. major festivals including Montreal, Detroit, Monterey, Newport. Moreover it has shared stages with the Utah Symphony, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Russian National Symphony Orchestra. Nuff said. — Gordon Spencer
Sunday, February 28 JANE LYNCH Holland Performing Arts Center, 13th and Douglas Streets 7:00 p.m., $20-$63 www.omahaperformingarts.org Jane Lynch is most likely a name you recognize, whether from the TV sensational character Sue Sylvester in “Glee,” her performances in the abundance of other shows and movies or from being the host of NBC’s “Hollywood Game Night.” Maybe you have read her autobiography, “Happy Accidents” or perhaps you saw her Broadway debut as Miss Hannigan in Annie. Whichever iconic role you know Lynch from, her comedic, sarcastic and outgoing roles stick in your mind. For one night only she will be in Omaha performing her musical comedy tour, Jane Lynch: See Jane Sing. Yes, not only is this woman drop-dead hilarious, but she can sing! This Emmy® and Golden Globe® award-winning actress, famous for so many different aspects of Hollywood, began her acting career in Chicago and since then has grown to hold not only iconic roles, but play recurring characters in many TV shows and a wide array of roles in films. Joining Lynch on stage will be Kate Flannery, who played Meredith on “The Office” and the man who arranged the music on “Glee,” Tim Davis. Backing these three talented people will be the Tony Guerrero Quintet. Audience members lucky enough to snag tickets to this event can expect a musical comedy with the signature wit you know from Lynch, on top of a demonstration of her love for the American standard show tune. Attend this event
THE BRUBECK BROTHERS
to find out if this show includes any songs from Christopher Guest’s mockumentary folk band New Main Street Singers from A Mighty Wind. — Mara Wilson Through February 28 FROST/NIXON Blue Barn Theatre, 1106 South 10th Street Opens Thursday, Feb. 4 Thurs.-Sat. 7:30 p.m., Sun. 14, 21, 28 6:00 p.m., $25-$30 www.bluebarn.org Building, enhancing, and enriching self-image becomes the focus of Peter Morgan’s rewind of history in Frost/ Nixon. The 2006 play explores the backstories and those out front when, in 1977, three years after resigning from his stained presidency, Richard Nixon consented to a series of TV interviews with British journalist and media personality David Frost. Logically you could think this is all about that collapsed leader of the free world. Yet it turns out, as revealed at Bluebarn Theatre, it’s equally about the TV celebrity, who…updating…left the public scene three years ago, dying at age 74. Frost was at a lowebb in his career at the time of the tale. He’d sought to overcome his insecurities by re-making a name of himself. In a sense, Morgan has it look as if both of these foundering men found mutual affinities. That’s there for you to ponder and explore. Frost/Nixon has multiple dimensions. Eleven other characters swirl in and out of
Through February 27 SHAWN TESEO BALLARIN: HORIZONS AND PATTERNS Gallery 72, 1806 Vinton Street Opening Reception: Friday, Feb. 5, 5:00-9:00 p.m. Gallery Hours: Wed.-Sat. 10:00 a.m-6:00 p.m. www.gallery72.com Shawn Ballarin is a multimedia artist living in Lincoln. After receiving his BFA from the University of Nebraska, he attended graduate school at Illinois State University. Ballarin can be defined as a multimedia artist because
JANE LYNCH: SEE JANE SING
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places and moments, in a traveling montage, which is sometimes narrated, sometimes punctuated by expository comments en route. You may know about how Frost achieved a major reputation by prodding Nixon to admit some kind of remorse, but it’s the trip to get there that gives us pause. You might also read into the title that these events have become frozen in time. Or that Nixon was stopped cold. Maybe so. But what’s behind the scenes has much more to say. — Gordon Spencer
CINDY RAE MATHIASEN
Through February 28 OLDIES & NEWSIES 2 The Artist Co-op Gallery, 405 South 11th Street Opening Reception: Friday, Feb. 5, 6:00-9:00 p.m. Gallery Hours: Sun., Tues., Wed. noon-6:00 p.m. and Thurs.-Sat. 11:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m. www.artistscoopomaha.com The Artist Co-op Gallery, located in the Old Market, will feature this month its Iowa members who put an unusual spin on that old chestnut, “something old, something new.” Oldies & Newsies 2 includes several artists who will show work from early in their art careers while others will focus on their newest pieces. Duane Adams, Griswold, will display paintings and ceramics “that were part of Co-op shows from thirty years ago — maybe longer.
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They are part of my personal collection and are very nice works that I am proud of producing.” N. Byram, Council Bluffs, a painter, collage artist and weaver, will show a progression from some of her earliest paintings to her most recent. Her abstract acrylic paintings deal with metaphysical aspects of ourselves and our environment. Sculptor Jeff Davis, Woodbine, creates work in metal. Joan Fetter, Logan, a painter, will exhibit a piece from early in her membership at the gallery and a new work. Thomas Hamilton, Council Bluffs, will show the first pot he ever made along with newer bowls. Virginia Ocken, Council Bluffs, paints aspects of the human figure in acrylic. Marcia Joffe-Bouska plans to exhibit a drawing from that period, plus a selection of her nest sculptures and a recent relief piece. Cindy Rae Mathiasen, Council Bluffs, will feature paintings inspired by a recent trip to Hawaii, offering many shades of green in the midst of February. Dottie Seymour, Woodbine, paints, makes paper and creates artworks using mixed media. Darlys Vande Voort, Council Bluffs, will show paintings in which she continues, “to try new avenues in my work while keeping an emphasis on strong colors.” — Michael J. Krainak Through February 29 PAINTER J.K. THORSEN Connect Gallery, 3901 Leavenworth Street Opens Wednesday, Feb. 3 Gallery Hours: Wed.-Sat., 11:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. www.connectgallery.net Painter J.K. Thorsen is the featured artist at Connect Gallery for February, opening to the public this Wednesday, Feb. 3. Combining the use of earth-friendly art materials with a theme of nonviolent play, Thorsen promises saturated and glowing oil colors untouched by plastics or chemically-changed media. Along with Thorsen’s signature loose painting style, we will often discern suggestions of a cyclist, golfer, or people somewhere in the compositions. Because the paints Thorsen has researched and developed are from organic oils, Himalayan salt and ultra-fine sand, this artist says something about her convictions without being provocative. And these are paints that dry slowly enough to be adjusted and moved, as well as being gentle to our earth. All new work will be shown by this prolific painter. Several of the pieces feature a grid that offers a “window” for the color field behind. “Relationship with Nature,” shown, features lovely blues and greens of a Nebraska landscape, an appropriate example of Thorsen’s personal philosophy. As an added bonus to the public, Thorsen will work at Connect Gallery, which will be offering complementary wine and cheese or coffee and cake. And you might even plan to join her noon bicycle ride Saturday, Feb. 20 on the Field Club Trail behind the gallery. — Eddith Buis February-March “PICTURING THE WEST” FILM SERIES Film Streams, 1340 Mike Fahey Street Select dates and times, Regular admission www.filmstreams.org
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Eclectic describes this series of 12 Westerns, some period, some modern, with works by two of the genre’s key interpreters as well as unknowns. Myths loom large in Westerns and there are enough here to go around. A recurrent theme is the anti-hero in conflict with society or monied interests or changing times. There’s also the connection to and struggle with the wild. The protagonists rue the vanishing frontier and the onset of civilization’s boundaries. If you haven’t seen them, be sure to watch Lonely Are the Brave (Feb. 21, 23), The Misfits (Feb. 27, 29, Mar. 2) and Hud (Mar. 19, 20, 22). Rare for Omaha screenings of the uncut Heaven’s Gate (Mar. 12, 13, 15) and the epic Giant (Mar. 26. 27, 29) are also on tap. Making its Omaha premiere is Meek’s Cutoff (Mar. 6, 8). The series echoes Joslyn Art Museum’s Go West exhibition and the citywide “Westward O” celebration. — Leo Adam Biga Through March 5 CLOUD 9 UNO Theatre, 6001 Dodge Street Opens Wednesday, Feb. 24 Wed.-Sat. 7:30 p.m., $6-$16 www.unomaha.edu Cloud 9, Caryl Churchill’s controversial comedy is on the near horizon. It arrives full of provocative portrayals of sexuality, obscene dialogue and rains down icy hail on colonialism, social norms and conventions. Call it a farcical. Call it fanciful. This play has been hovering over stages for 35 years but can still stir passions. Identity issues which she raises, out-of-mainstream life choices and so on would, by now, seem to be so much a part today’s day- to- day that Churchill’s take on what seems like long ago would be outdated. Same-sex relationships, transgendering, closing the closet. Hey. What else is new? Yet, evidently, her P. O. V. stays timeless. In 2016, concerning how we define ourselves and our social status by what we do in bed when not sleeping, her 1979 could feel not like yesterday but today. Two acts counterpoint each other. The first is set in British colonial Africa, Victorian era. The second, modern times in London. First, there’s a gender-bending satirical parody of standard comedies. Then the next part lays into what can happen when society’s and theatre’s parameters are tossed aside, an urban search for identity in an ever-changing world. To add to deliberate mixing-up, performers take on different roles, even though the characters are the same across time. Keep your program notes handy; you may not be able to tell the players without a score card. There’s a student cast in this very adult experience. Mature audiences are advised to ponder understanding. — Gordon Spencer Through March 20 CAROLINE OR CHANGE Omaha Community Playhouse, 6915 Cass Street Opens Friday, Feb. 12 Thurs.-Sat. 7:30 p.m., Sun. 2:00 p.m., $25-$40 www.omahaplayhouse.org Multi-award winners playwright Tony Kushner and composer Jeanine Tesori merged their talents to create an exceptionally original musical off-Broadway in 2002 Caroline or Change. This sung-through experience meaningfully dwells on a relationship between put-upon black housekeeper (Caroline) and an emotionally needy white boy (Noah). Within that frame, change (indeed) is in the air as the civil rights movement surfaces and
aspirations for a better America are wounded with the death President John F. Kennedy. The title also refers to how marginally-paid Caroline, with Noah’s stepmother’s encouragement, keeps loose coins in Noah’s trousers when they’re to be washed. Misplaced money, however, overturns relationships. Among Kushner and Tesori’s imaginative conceptions, Caroline, in a dank, oppressive basement in southern Louisiana, feels as if the appliances surrounding her have so much presence that they seem like characters in her life. Thus the washer, the dryer and the radio are personified in singing roles. Likewise the moon and a bus seem human. N.B. Even with a young boy in the story, there’s an adult advisory. — Gordon Spencer Through February 29 and March 25 HARRISON MARTIN AND JAMIE HARDY Petshop, 2725 North 62nd Street Opening Reception: Benson First Friday, Feb. 5, 7:00-10:00 p.m. By appointment, petshopgallery@gmail.com The combining of the north and south galleries of the Petshop Gallery may unexpectedly underscore its two new exhibits. With a small bridge-way between the two spaces, one can literally move between Harrison Martin’s journalistic photography and Jamie Hardy’s abstract light installations. While Hardy’s focus on the in-between is captured in flashes of light and Martin’s relies on the captured moments of real people, the two near-opposite mediums find a connective thread in awareness to small changes and surprises. Filmmaker and photographer Harrison Martin will open Images of Thailand, a collection of photographs from a recent year living in Bangkok and surrounding cities. The wide array of subjects reveal the eccentricities of Thai culture--stepping in-between family shops and brothels, beaches and cities. The rich, color-saturated images will set the tone
“RELATIONSHIP WITH NATURE” - J.K. THORSEN
for his narrative style. Across the bridge in the north gallery, installation artist Jamie Hardy creates an abstracted experience that seems worlds away from the Thai street life in the other room. The as-yet-untitled show features light manipulation that calls attention to the passing of time and highlights the “choice we can make in every moment.” Images of Thailand will be on view through Feb. 29 and Jamie Hardy’s installation through Mar. 25. — Melinda Kozel
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Have you been wanting to try
Here’s your chance.... Join us for FREE
Zumba Classes
Wednesdays – 6:30 - 7:30 pm The Commons Community Center Enter through door #4 on the east side of the building
January 13, 20 & 27 February 3, 17, 24 (No February 10 Ash Wednesday) March 2, 9, 16, 30 (No March 23 Holy Week) April 6, 13, 20, 27 May 4, 11, 18, 25 7020 Cass Street Omaha, Nebraska 68132 (402) 556-6262 www.fumcomaha.org
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PERFORMING ARTS
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he bitter cold outside Sunday night gave way to warm greetings and well wishes from all over the theatrical spectrum at the 10th Annual Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards, held inside the Downtown Doubletree Hotel on January 17th. Omaha World-Herald columnist Mike Kelly hosted the newly reformatted awards night honoring the city’s musical, visual, and performing arts. Speaking of the new format, this year’s event attempted the more streamlined process of dividing the night into four sections. A series of montage videos for each season (fall, winter, etc.) of Omaha’s artistic happenings included interviews from local artists commenting on the year that was in artistic expression. For theatre, we saw comments from nominees Laura Leininger and Steve Krambeck along with his wife Debbie. It was nice to see the year-in-review montage of events. You forget how much theatre was created in the span of 12 months in this city and taking a brief trip down memory lanes allowed for plenty of ‘Oh yeah! I forgot about that!’ moments. That’s not to say the montages don’t need improvement. Often times, voice overs were too soft to hear in the large reception hall and several theatres/productions had photos that were mismatched or just plain wrong. When I asked a couple of producers if they OEAA reached out to them for photos, say said no one contacted them. It’s a small oversight in the grand scheme of things that hopefully will be corrected in the awards shows to come. As for the awards themselves, Blue Barn Theatre came away as the big winner for the evening, taking home six honors including five for the Best Drama winner OUR TOWN. The final show in the Blue Barn’s old performance spaced also took home Best Director-Play (Susan Clement-Toberer), Best Supporting Actress (Julie Huff), Outstanding Lighting Design (Carol Wisner), and Outstanding Sound Design (Martin Magnuson). Accepting the award on Blue Barn’s behalf was Amy Reiner, who took home her own OEA Award for her Outstanding Prop Design on Blue Barn’s AMERICAN BUFFALO. Creighton University had a strong showing as well behind the strength of their Best Musical winner CABARET. The Broadway classic also earned honors for Best Director-Musical (Amy Lane), Best Supporting Actress (Judy Radcliff), and Best Music Direction (Stephen Sheftz). Creighton also reigned in an award for Best Dance Production for A NIGHTMARE’S HOLIDAY. Omaha Community Playhouse garnered 3 awards for the evening including honors for Best Comedy (I HATE HAMLET), Best Actress (Melanie Walters), Best Supporting Actor (Mathcontinued on page 22 y
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y continued from page 21 ias Jeske), and Outstanding Choreographer (Melanie Walters). The later three were for the Monty Python musical SPAMALOT. SNAP Productions’ HARBOR took home a host of acting awards including Best Actress (Kaitlyn McClincy), Best Supporting Actor (Noah Diaz), and Best Youth Performer (Ryleigh Welsh). The University of Nebraska-Omaha Theatre Department took home a pair of honors for Outstanding Scenic Design (Steven L. Williams for HEDDA GABLER) and Outstanding Costume Design (Sharon Sobel for FREAKSHOW). Other theatrical awards that evening included Best Premier of a New, Original, Local Script (Ellen Struve for PRINCE MAX’S TREWLY AWFUL TRIP TO THE DESOLAT INTERIOR), Best Actor-Play (Daniel Dorner in Brigit St. Brigit’s AN ILLEAD), Best Actor-Musical (Dan Chevalier in The Candy Project’s GUTTENBERG! THE MUSICAL!), and Outstanding Featured Dancer (Matthew Carter in Ballet Nebraska’s GISELLE). Also in the performing arts category, Zedeka Poindexter took home the award for Best Performance Poet while Rachel Ware took home Best Comedian. The long-running comedy troupe The Weisenheimers snagged the award for Best Comedy Ensemble. Those folks following the awards on social media were quick to point out that women took home 14 of the 22 individual performing arts awards, including 10 out of 14 non-gendered honors. Attendees remarked that it was an encouraging development to see so many strong female representatives in the theatrical community. During the awards show, members of comedy troupe The Backline treated audiences to a risqué bake sale number that was one of the evening’s funnier moments. Felica Webster and Michelle Troxclair also gave riveting poetry performances touching racial identity and struggle on the eve of Martin Luther King Day. Overall, this year’s iteration of the Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards was an improvement on years past. For better or for worse, the OEAAs always try something new with one aspect never changing: the feeling of celebration for all of our city’s creative pursuits. — Bill Grennan
VISUAL ARTS
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he Visual Arts categories at the 10th Annual Omaha Entertainment & Arts Awards revealed a strong mix of emerging as well as experienced artists. In a year that saw the beginnings of new projects and a growing breadth of work from local artists, the award winners acknowledged a new pace for the Omaha art scene that highlights a diversity of perspectives and mediums. The Wanda D Ewing Gallery at the Union for Contemporary Art housed two exhibition win-
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ners this year: Neil Griess solo show, Pleated Field, showcased 2D & 3D work that illustrated the city as artifact and Reggie LeFlore & Jeff King’s hip-hop inspired The Subconscious Element. Best group show honors that night went to Art Seen at the Joslyn Art Museum which featured 37 artists from Omaha and Lincoln curated by Karin Campbell. Abstract painter and local favorite Kim Reid Kuhn was awarded Best 2D Artist and Best 3D Artist winner Fredy Rincon has been building momentum with his mixed media sculpture this year. Best New Media Artist went to installationist Nicholas Jacobsen who also took home Best Emerging Visual Artist for creating meticulous structures from salvaged materials. Watie White’s “You Are Here”, a 100 ft tall mural project with inCOMMON Community Development on Park & Woolworth, was named Best Public Art while textile artist Mary Zicafoose took home top honors for Best Visual Artist of the year. If this year’s award results can clue us in to what to expect in the Omaha Visual Arts Scene in 2016, it will be more growth in independent venues & curators. As the conversation about Omaha’s growth continues, the role of the arts in that conversation will grow as well. Expect to see interesting collaborations and new voices emerge as part of the dialogue. — Melinda Kozel
MUSIC
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ne of the best things about the Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards is the way it brings together an eclectic group of musicians for a single night of camaraderie. It’s a time where band members can congregate, catch up with other musicians, see a few friends, and possibly, take home a shiny recognition for all their hard work over the past year. From country to cover band, each category was packed with nominations of some of Omaha’s best musical talent. The new format of the ceremony showcased the seasons with four segments that highlighted each category and nominee with a video that also included commentary from local performers. And though the videos were lengthy, they were interesting to watch, with all winners of the segment announced after the presentation. The pre-show cocktail hour killed it this year with DJ Shor-T, as she got everyone in a great mood with signature style that blended perfectly with the atmosphere and cocktails. Mariachi Zapata kicked off the event with an inspiring live performance that set the stage for an exciting evening. There were a lot of memorable moments this year regarding the music discipline. As always, the nominations were packed with heavy hitters in each category. Live perforcontinued on page 24 y
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y continued from page 23 mances featured rock, hip hop, and slam poetry stylings, ending the evening with a stellar collaboration of all three that kept the audience entertained until the very end. The night included many memorable moments. BOTH took home Best Hip Hop/ Rap and Artist Of The Year and charmed the audience with their humble and hilarious acceptance speeches. Local music icon Dereck Higgins took home Best Progressive/Experimental/ EDM for his first OEAA. Higgins acknowledged the Omaha music scene with true class, encouraging people to support the scene and musicians to keep inspiring audiences. A touching moment occurred when Reader Columnist B.J. Huchtemann received quite the surprise as she watched Josh Hoyer take the podium to announce the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award. Those of us in the know happily watched Huchtemann as she realized the award was being given to her. Smiles, tears and a moving testimonial video paid tribute to her dedication to local music and the Blues scene. The night was capped with a collaborative musical performance that blended rock, hip/hop, slam poetry, soul, and indie band members. The mix was a perfect end to a night that put the spotlight on local music. After the show, Kait Berreckman and Shark Week helped celebrate the night with an after party at the Slowdown. Below is a complete listing of the music award winners. BEST ROCK: FREAKABOUT
BEST HARD ROCK: Screaming For Silence BEST ALTERNATIVE/INDIE: See Through Dresses BEST SINGER-SONGWRITER: John Klemmensen BEST DJ: Dojorok BEST COUNTRY: Belles & Whistles BEST AMERICANA/FOLK: The Electroliners BEST R&B/SOUL: Josh Hoyer & Soul Colossal BEST HIP HOP/RAP: BOTH BEST BLUES: Hector Anchondo Band BEST JAZZ: Omaha Guitar Trio BEST PROGRESSIVE/EXPERIMENTAL/EDM: Dereck Higgins BEST ETHNIC: The Prairie Gators BEST COVER BAND: Secret Weapon ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Twinsmith-Alligator Years ARTIST OF THE YEAR: BOTH BEST NEW ARTIST: Rothsteen BEST RECORDING STUDIO: ARC Studios BEST LIVE MUSIC SOUND ENGINEER: Dan Brennan – Slowdown LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT: B.J. Huchtemann
— Wayne Brekke
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RequiemforRockandRoll
All the dudes are leaving the bandstand. As my friend Mark Stein from Vanilla Fudge wrote me, “The gates of heaven are wide open…” Bowie, Glenn Frey, Lemmy…. BY MICHAEL BRAUNSTEIN
heartlandhealing
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HEARTLAND HEALING is a metaphysically-based polemic describing alternatives to conventional methods of healing the body, mind and planet by MICHAEL BRAUNSTEIN. It is provided as information and entertainment, certainly not medical advice. Important to remember and pass on to others: for a weekly dose of Heartland Healing, visit HeartlandHealing.com. .
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stopped smoking pot in 1969. Glenn Frey didn’t know that when he turned toward me in the control room of Studio B during the making of “One of These Nights.” In his outstretched fingertips was a smoldering joint he had just rolled and ignited. “Here, man. This is da kine. Tommy had to go all the way to Tarzana for this.” “No, Glenn, I can’t smoke that stuff anymore. It gets me too fucked up,” I argued. He looked taken aback. His hand lowered just an inch or two and his eyes narrowed imperceptibly as he gazed through a rising haze. Tilting his head ever-so slightly, he uttered a phrase that catapulted me back to the safe womb of my college apartment and the heady sounds of Traffic on the turntable. He said, “For old times’ sake.” For. Old. Times’. Sake. A wistful smile crossed my face. I was powerless, nodded my head, took it and toked. My next conscious thought found me sitting in the corner of the control room, knees pulled to my chest, rocking to and fro. The sound of 2-inch tape gently slapping against the outgoing tape guides of the 3M-79 24-track hammered at my mind. With a heavy sense of drugged panic I stood. I was alone in a now-silent studio. Me, the engineer. The guy who’s supposed to represent the “control” in control room, with not an Eagle in sight. Learn this word. Glenn Frey died in a New York hospital Monday, Jan. 18. News reports identified “complications from chronic colitis, rheumatoid arthritis and pneumonia.” When I saw “rheumatoid arthritis” I suspected what killed him: pharmaceutical meds. “Iatrogenic” is a word I learned in high school out of curiosity. I saw it in practice when I worked as a respiratory therapist at a university teaching hospital during my pre-med days. “Iatrogenic” means simply “illness or demise caused by medical treatment.” Reading reports of Glenn’s death, I drew a connection between a depleted immune system and the kinds of drugs used to treat RA. That connection is real and predictable. It would not be a leap to describe Glenn Frey’s death as the result of iatrogenic illnesses. See, pneumonia, though a serious and sometimes fatal disease, is curable in 95 percent of hospitalized cases — unless there is some other complication that is defeating the body’s natural ability to heal, depressing the immune system. And drugs to treat RA are famous for that. Throw together the presence of intestinal problems (again, something easily caused by medications), the role of the intestinal biome in immunity, RA drugs and pneumonia, and an otherwise healthy 67-year-old has the cards stacked against him. Several studies have assessed the fatalities caused by medical treatment. One of the broadest, amassing grave amounts of data, gives the number 999,936 as the number killed yearly by medical treatment in the United States alone. These are peer-reviewed meta-analyses that are virtually inarguable. American medicine is too often a dangerous experiment. Saving lives, too. Make no mistake. American medicine holds out many marvels. There is little better in history when it comes to addressing acute, massive trauma. It’s chronic disease that baffles. And the pharmaceutical industry is a leading culprit in killing. Drugs to address chronic pain or inflammatory diseases, metabolic illness and other conditions, often not even diseases, have devastating consequence. All you have to do is listen to the litany of side effects that take up most of any drug commercial on television. And, of course, one should realize that the United States is the only country in the world aside from New Zealand(?) that allows direct-to-consumer drug ads.
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Another take. There are viable alternatives to American medical treatment for every illness. It’s senseless to go back and deconstruct the treatment path that Glenn chose. He’s gone. But it’s important to recognize the role that medical choices have in wellness — or in causing sickness and death. Reductionist medicine, that kind that separates systems in the body to be treated individually as if the “team of doctors” is like an acrobatic troupe balancing plates up in the air, is very often disastrous. It’s more than “the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing.” Often, the protocols the left hand prescribe contraindicate the protocols the right hand maintains. It’s a trick bag and a slippery slope. Bob Seger, a musical collaborator, and Eagles manager Irving Azoff, who both were very close to Glenn and the situation he was dealing with, mentioned the pain his RA was causing him. Azoff went so far as to actually say the RA medications were at fault. The choices Glenn made to treat his infirmities were his alone and it’s pointless to second-guess. But that doesn’t make it easier to accept. In a world that is rapidly legalizing medical marijuana and other alternatives to harsh pharmaceuticals and radical surgical interventions, I wish that this time I could have reached out to offer Glenn something “for old times’ sake.” Be well. ,
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ART
DEBRA S. KAPLAN
talkshots:
When Stuart Chittenden couldn’t meaningfully connect with others he and his wife Amy began hosting conversation salons in their Midtown Omaha home. That led to Chittenden starting a business, Squishtalks. And that led him to embark on a project, 830 Nebraska, that saw him travel the state to explore making community and conversation. His photos and audio recordings of people he met and spoke with are now an exhibit.
photoquest
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ast August Stuart Chittenden traversed Nebraska to test drive the idea that interpersonal communication is intrinsic to building community. He called the project “A Couple of 830 Mile Long Conversations.” With support from Humanities Nebraska, the Nebraska Cultural Endowment, the Omaha Creative Institute, plus Indie GoGo funding, he set out to meet Nebraskans where they are. He communed in bars, bakeries, cafes, outside storefronts, at campsites, farms, ranches, fairgrounds. The Omaha resident intentionally went to the great wide open spaces that make up Nebraska to find the connective thread of community running through cities and towns, the Sand Hills, the Panhandle, the Bohemian Alps and the Platte River Valley. Wherever he pitched his talking tent, people happened by and conversation ensued. He was both facilitator and participant. The photographs and audio recordings he made of these meet-ups, including the stories people told about their lives and communities, plus the trials, joys and lessons bound up in them, comprise a new interactive exhibition at the W. Dale Clark Library. Simply titled 830 Nebraska, the exhibit is curated by Alex Priest. It features 20 8” x 10” photographs of the people and places documented. Viewers can
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Making community and conversation where you find it B Y L E O A DA M B I G A
also listen to audio excerpts from the conversations, thereby putting voices and words to faces. Hitting the highway in search of something has a nomadic romance about it. But this was no existential On the Road personal freedom ride fueled by sex, drugs, rock‘n’roll. No, this was a buttoneddown ex-pat Brit in an RV following a pre-determined path, albeit open to some detours along the way. Some of the folks he documented were encountered in the natural flow things and others pre-selected. That’s not to say Chittenden, whose day job is chief curiosity officer at Omaha branding company David Day Associates, doesn’t harbor a bohemian soul. In terms of exploring conversation, he’s both creative entrepreneur and mad amateur social scientist. He’s fascinated by the power of dialogue. So much so he and his wife Amy hosted conversation salons in their mid-town home. The salons begat a business, Squishtalks, that sees him package conversation programs for clients. Through guided talk sessions he helps organizations navigate public and community concerns. The exhibit culled from his 830 Nebraska experiment follows a series of statewide talks he’s given in which he’s shared his takeaways from the project, The Reader recently caught up with Chittenden to
get a fresh take on what he found out there, what he brought back and how it’s all part of his own quixotic journey of self-discovery. This serial daydreamer’s youth in Great Britain was preoccupied by flights of fancy, his reveries often revolving around the very American archetypes he tapped decades later. The pull of the American West once led him to live in Colorado. Though he’s resided in Neb. several years, living in Omaha made him feel isolated from much of the state. His travels for the project confirmed the divide between Omaha-Lincoln and the greater rural reaches. If his urban origins and British accent put off folks, he didn’t sense it. Indeed, he found he received the same good vibrations he put out. Call it the law of attraction “If you approach any environment with a sincere openness and willingness to appreciate someone else’s voice, if you’re open to them, then it is door opening,” he says. In that same communal spirit he found no doors closed, but rather heaping doses of hospitality and conviviality, though some folks politely declined going on the record. Whether shooting the bull with the boys at the bakery or chewing the fat with the guys at the barbershop, he was welcomed as a continued on page 30 y
y continued from page 13 also grants for farmers who want to install solar. Additionally, people have the option to take advantage of 10-year loans with a 2.5 percent interest rate through the Nebraska Energy Office. Eric Williams is the president of NFS. With help from Michael Shonka, Owner of Solar Heat and Electric (also a member of NFS), he installed a three-kilowatt system on his house a little over a year ago. Over the course of the first year, he said his system produced 92 percent of the net electricity he and his family used in their home. Williams worked with Shonka and a few other NFS members to do the rack install himself. They mounted panels on the roof, paid a licensed electrician to do the connection to the breaker panel and pulled the permit with the city of Omaha. “It was a rewarding process. In November 2014 we were on the Green Home Tour and a student visited our home and left feedback indicating he was excited to actually see solar panels and see how they worked,” said Williams. Williams’ said he is specifically interested in sharing information about his experience with others who want to install their own systems. He encourages anyone who is interested to come by and take a look at his Dundee residence. Shonka said the typical price per watt installed is $3.50 to $4 for residential, smaller scale systems. He said that’s because there are fewer watts to spread the dollars across. When you have a five to 25 kilowatt system, you have a lot more equipment so you can spread the cost around. He said the cost for a 10-kilowatt system could be around $3 a watt. To get an idea of the size of system you would need for your home as well as the amount of energy generation you can expect, check out this easy online tool: pvwatts.nrel.gov “When you hire a solar installer, they will tell you where you are at with your consumption, where you should be, what solar will do for you and what it won’t do for you,” Holtzclaw said. ,
SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
RalstonArena.com • 402.934.9966 • 7300 Q Street • Omaha | THE READER |
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y continued from page 28 friend, not a stranger, and people expressed appreciation for his interest and invitation to just talk. “That affirmation has buttressed my belief that conversation is not only something of benefit to communities and individuals but that this is my calling.” By intent and intuition, he got people to say what’s on their hearts and minds in regards to what makes community. “The more people talked the more other elements started to come out that suggested to me that community is a paradox. From the outside, if you try to create it, that is a very difficult thing to do. Community instead is a deliberate individual choice to behave and do things in ways that invest in something that is not directly related to you.” Chittenden found a mix of rural communities, ranging from vibrant cultural enclaves such as Dannebrog to robust Western outposts such as Chadron, and bedraggled hamlets in between. “I had this expectation that rural life would be decimated and somewhat tired and there are those towns that do appear to be in a position of uncertainty,” he says. “You can feel they’re in stasis. They don’t know what circumstances are going to do to them and so they feel in flux, tired a little bit. “Then there are those other towns that aren’t allowing circumstances to dictate what happens, they are looking at the available resources they have – people or place or history or whatever – and managing those things in ways that make them sustainable.” He says residents in remote places like Scottsbluff or Valentine “don’t have any other choice but to fix things or make things – you do it for yourself or it doesn’t get done,” adding, “Several people demonstrated this zest for self-determination, for sustaining themselves and coming together as they need to as people. They credit that spirit to the legacy of the pioneers.” For Chittenden, there are larger implications for what conversation and community can mean to certain underserved and underrepresented populations. In Wayne, Neb., for example, he spoke with an openly gay couple who run a business in town. They told Chittenden they find more acceptance there than they do among young professionals in Omaha, where they get the feeling they’re not taken seriously because of the stigma that paints rural denizens as unsophisticated. More pernicious yet, Chittenden says, are the silos erected by different groups to talk over each other, not to each other. “The more I look around me in our community in Omaha and in communities across the nation I see increasing division and inequality and I am morally outraged by that situation. As offended as I am by all the various types of inequality I see, wrapped up in very casual stereotypes and bigotry to those people on the other side of the fence, I’ve begun to see that my contribution to the better health of our society is just to increase understanding of the other. And the way to do that is to engage people in conversation. “You don’t have to like them, you don’t have to agree with them but if you can do anything to increase rapport and understanding, you’ve already taken very bold steps to a more cohesive society.” He says as he’s come to accept his role as conversation starter or convener, he’s reminded of an old saying he once heard that goes, “the point about conversation is that it has no point.” Thus, he’ll tell you, the real fruits of an exchange only come when the parties forget ego or agenda and genuinely listen to each other. In a world starved for rich authentic content, it doesn’t get any richer or truer than that. , The exhibit, which runs through February 29, is in the Michael Phipps Gallery on the first floor of the downtown library, 215 South 15th Street. The show is open during normal library hours. For more details, visit omahalibrary.org/w-dale-clark-library or call 402-444-4800. Follow this wayfaring conversationalist at www.facebook.com/stuart.chittenden. Read more of Leo Adam Biga’s work at leoadambga.com.
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DEBRA S. KAPLAN
Art Allabouttheartists
newcaptain:
New leadership puts its brand on Bemis Center’s 35-year-old core values
Chris Cook, new executive director for the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, and a new curatorial staff bring their own experience in residency and exhibition programs on behalf of the venues’s 35-year-old core values.
B Y DAV I D T H O M P S O N
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n the job less than six months, and working in concert with two new senior staff whose hiring preceded his arrival, new Executive Director Chris Cook is launching the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts into a year of experimentation from every angle— programmatically, curatorially and institutionally. Cook comes to Bemis with a background that is diverse in both geography and subject matter. His first position after graduate school at the Art Institute of Chicago was as curator at the Sioux City Art
Center. After four years there, he moved to another curatorial position at the Kemper Museum of Art in Kansas City, and then in 2009 he became Executive Director and Curator at Salina Art Center in Kansas. Prior to his arrival at Bemis, Cook headed the arts organization Cannonball in Miami which emerged from a strategic planning and rebranding process offering residencies, grants, commissions for new works and partnerships with other Miami arts organizations. Likewise, Cook describes Bemis as an “organization that takes being artist-centric as a core value.”
For Cook, it’s not so much a matter of where artists come from—or what kind of work they make—but of what artists as a community need, and of the kinds of organizations and programs that fulfill these needs. When it comes to artist residencies—the centerpiece of the Bemis mission since its founding in 1981--the venue will be reaching out to artists in a variety of ways over the course of 2016. In addition to two cohorts of its traditional opencall residency—one that started last month and one continued on page 32 y
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FLASHBACK:
Pictured here is a photo of the recreation room at the Bemis Bag Company, circa 1916 by Lois Bostwick, part of the Bemis Center’s year-long anniversary show, Time + Space: Beginnings.
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y continued from page 31 that will arrive in June—Bemis will be hosting two other residencies, one in the spring that is mediumspecific and one in fall 2016 that is topic-specific. The first is an interesting addition conceived by Artistic Director of Residency Programs Ellie Kevorkian. Lasting from April 28 to May 10 and called “Liveness is Critical,” this short residency will invite performancebased artists to Bemis for dialogue about contemporary performance. Bemis’s fall thematic residency will be on the topic “Sci-Fi and the Human Condition.” This is the second of Bemis’s forays into the world of thematic residencies. The first was 2015’s “The Future of Food,” which was also accompanied by an exhibition, “Power of People, Power of Place,” by the Los Angeles-based collective Fallen Fruit. Cook and his two artistic directors are casting a wide, interdisciplinary net with this year’s residency, as suggested by the latter’s call for artists whose work deals with “magical realism, dystopian and utopian futures, robots, alternate timelines, transhumanism and bodily transformation, space opera, afrofuturism, [or] futuristic identity as explored by costume and dress,” just to name a few of sci-fi’s possible applications. Inspired in part by the work of the innovative and sometimes controversial sci-fi writer Samuel Delany, this residency is particularly intended to attract artists for whom the tools of science fiction are useful in exploring themes of race, class, sexuality, and the mind/ body continuum.
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As if to set the stage for the fall’s multidisciplinary conversation among residents, and to establish continuity with residents past, Bemis will be exploring science fiction on the exhibition front as well in Time and Space: Futures. This summer show will bring together work by Bemis alumni that similarly reflects an interest in science fiction and “futurist impulses.” Time and Space is actually a two-part exhibition that celebrates Bemis’s thirty-five years of supporting artists. Part one, Beginnings, is one of three exhibitions opening this week. Beginnings juxtaposes works by past residents— as well as two of Bemis’s founders, Jun Kaneko and Tony Hepburn—alongside photographs and other materials documenting the organization’s early days, when it was known as Alternative Worksite and catered in particular to artists who worked in clay and industrial materials. It is interesting to note how, over the course of thirtyfive years, Bemis has evolved from an “alternative” worksite to one that offers time, space, and conversation to artists from around the world. As a practicing artist from the west coast, Kevorkian says she is now seeing how the program’s reputation translates into a flood of worthwhile applications from deserving artists. “Bemis exists at the level of global conversation,” she says. The two other shows opening on February 4 in addition to Time and Space: Beginnings are solo shows conceived primarily by Artistic Director of Exhibitions and Public Engagement Nicole Caruth.
The first features Derrick Adams, a New York-based artist whose incredibly diverse artistic output ventures into, and brings together, photography, sculpture, video, performance, and even works on paper. For his Bemis exhibition, Adams will set up a variation on the “radio station” project that he has exhibited in other cities. In the Omaha iteration, entitled Crossroads: A Social Sculpture, the radio equipment will be connected to an “interactive game board” that will respond to requests made by the public as they walk on the board. A diagram of Crossroads can be found on Bemis’s website. The occupant of the disc jockey’s chair will also change over the course of the exhibition, allowing local artists of various kinds and the general public to make the piece a true crossroads. Also opening Feb. 4 is a modest but evocative piece of video art entitled “A Third Version of the Imaginary” by Benjamin Tiven. Throughout his career, Tiven has explored issues of history, visual technology, and language as they play out in various national contexts. “A Third Version of the Imaginary” focuses on Kenya, where Tiven worked in 2012 as a teacher of video editing. Tiven was allowed to visit the archives of the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation in Nairobi, and what he found were rows and rows of old videotapes, each accompanied by a document listing not just what government events and activities did appear on the tapes but also what had been erased to make the video cassettes reusable. The events in “Third Version” (low-key as they are) unfold over the course of an existential narration about the ambiguous role of the “image” both as a concept in Kenyan culture and a word in its official language, Swahili. The ordinary but crucial work performed by a lone technician in this piece may be difficult for anyone born in the age of the smart phone to understand. Bemis patrons can also anticipate a special Juried Group Exhibition that opens June 16, 2016 that awarded 11 artists who participated in last years’ Benefit Auction. Artists had to submit their artwork via SlideRoom during the open call for the auction, and live within a 100-mile radius of Omaha. Caruth, Kevorkian, and Alex Priest, Exhibitions Manager selected the final group of artists. Those chosen include Heron Bassett, Phil Hawkins, Roberta Leaverton, Joey Lynch, Liana Owad, Kristae Peterson, Chris Prinz, Craig Roper, Barbara Simcoe, Michael Villarreal, and Mary Lawson/Mesonjixx. As part of this year of exploration, Bemis has for the moment put the brakes on certain aspects of its programming. The most notable of these is the residency program housed at the Carver Bank building at 24th and Lake Streets in North Omaha. Bemis has struggled to integrate Carver into its overall mission since the satellite space opened in March 2013, and attendance at Carver events suggests that there is a lot of room to grow when it comes to connecting with North Omaha residents. Yet, new leadership is anxious to retool Carver to increase its vitality. Figuring out the next steps for Carver is a top priority for Caruth who points to this experiment in urban redevelopment through art as continued on page 34 y
balletnebraska.org
momentum:
go west! April 1, 2016: Joslyn Art Museum • April 3, 2016: Iowa Western Arts Center Featuring the world premiere of Erika Overturff’s new ballet Go West! Season Sponsor:
Major Support:
Additional Support:
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HOTSEAT: “A Gathering of Friends” epitomizes the everyday itembased sculpture of Linclonite Liana Owad, chosen by Bemis Center for its special group show in June.
CUTTINGEDGE: “Cutouts,” a multilayererd, geometric sculpture by industrial designer Chris Prinz of Omaha who is also featured in Bemis’ group show in June.
y continued from page 32 one of the reasons she was attracted by the opportunity to work at Bemis. Expanding its educational goals is also high on Bemis’ priority list. Caruth would like to strengthen cooperation with Omaha Public Schools and see more kids taking in what the organization has to offer. Kevorkian wants to explore teaching opportunities for artists, although she is cautious about overburdening the artists who come to Omaha in search of unstructured creative time. “Artists are often made complicit with administrative goals,” Kevorkian notes. Cook is also quick to emphasize that Bemis is not a service organization in the same
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way that Miami’s Cannonball is, but he is eager to spend time on the ground in Omaha’s arts scene and explore whatever possibilities might make a positive difference in this particular pocket of the arts ecosystem. “It’s our responsibility to understand what artists’ needs are,” Cook emphasizes, “and how we, as an organization with a mission to support artists, can support them in imaginative and unexpected ways.” What Bemis has in store for 2016 is indeed imaginative and unexpected, and Omaha’s arts community has good reason to be optimistic about how the organization will be evolving in the months and years ahead.,
FEBRUARY SHOWS FEB 3-6
BRAD WILLIAMS
FEB 8
KEL MITCHELL SPECIAL ENGAGEMENT
FEB 11-14
TAMMY PESCATELLI
FEB 18-20
BERT KREISCHER SPECIAL ENGAGEMENT
Brad started out by attending a Carlos Mencia live comedy show, where Mencia made jokes about dwarfs. People around Brad were scared to laugh, Mencia noticed this & asked Brad to join him on stage. Brad cracked a few jokes & impressed Mencia so much that he asked Brad to be his opening act on both “Mind of Mencia” Tour & the popular “Punisher” Tour. Brad’s ability to make humorous observations that make everyone comfortable with the differences in people. Kel most recently begun doing stand up comedy & is on a nationwide tour preparing for his one hour special. He continues to do voice work for multiple cartoons. Kel speaks to youth across the country encouraging them to follow their dreams. He is also involved in putting on & hosting uplifting concerts in inner cities teaming up with major gospel & Christian music artists. Kel & his wife were recently honored with an award for their work in the city of Compton providing a safe program for kids to show off their creative talents.
Comedian Tammy Pescatelli is the kind of woman you wish was your sister or your best friend. Like a good sister, she‘s always ready with a good joke or lively quip. Tammy learned her funny skills growing up in a large, crazy, Italian family outside of Cleveland. Her most recent one hour special, “Finding the Funny” was released recently in an exclusive deal with NETLFIX. Tammy’s eye for actually finding the funny in all situations, is what is already bringing the project critical acclaim from fans & peers alike.
An American stand-up comedian, actor, & reality television host. In 1997 he was featured in Rolling Stone as “the top partier” at Florida State University, the “top party school in the US”, while he was in his sixth year of college. The Rolling Stone article was the inspiration for the 2002 movie Van Wilder. From 2000 to 2001, he was the co-host of the FX Network variety show The X Show.
FEB 21
OMAHA’S CLASH OF THE COMICS
Local & regional comedian’s give the best 5 they have – winner at the end of the evening gets a one night paid spot in front of a nationally touring headliner right here at the Funny Bone!
FEB 24
DREW LYNCH SPECIAL ENGAGEMENT
Drew Lynch is a comedian, actor, writer, & comma user. A few years ago Drew moved out to LA to become an actor. Sometimes things don’t go according to plan i.e. you get hit in the throat with the occasional softball, & you have to adapt. And that’s just what he did! After finding comedy as an outlet, he began performing regularly. And irregularly. Since then, he has been seen on the Dr. Oz show &most notably was runner-up on season 10 of America’s Got Talent.
FEB 25-28
SARAH COLONA
Sarah served as a full time writer on “Chelsea Lately” as well as a producer, writer & star on “After Lately”. Her first book, “Life as I Blow it” debuted at #5 on New York Times Bestseller list, her second book, “Has Anyone Seen My Pants” was released in 2015. She tours across the country headlining comedy clubs & has appeared in TV shows.
MONDAY FEB 1 Gooch & His Las Vegas Big Band TUESDAY FEB 2 Billy Troy WEDNESDAY FEB 3 The Grease Band THURSDAY FEB 4 Clark & Company FRIDAY FEB 5 On The Fritz SATURDAY FEB 6 Eckophonic MONDAY FEB 8 Gooch & His Las Vegas Big Band TUESDAY FEB 9 Pete Fucinaro Group
WEDNESDAY FEB 10 The Brits
SATURDAY FEB 20 Mosynth
THURSDAY FEB 11 Jules & Joe
MONDAY FEB 22 Gooch & His Las Vegas Big Band
FRIDAY FEB 12 The Six SATURDAY FEB 13 Soul Dawg MONDAY FEB 15 Gooch & His Las Vegas Big Band TUESDAY FEB 16 Billy Troy WEDNESDAY FEB 17 Fam & The Pearls THURSDAY FEB 18 Knuclehead FRIDAY FEB 19 Hi-Fi Hangover
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TUESDAY FEB 23 Scott Evans WEDNESDAY FEB 24 Bozak & Morrissey THURSDAY FEB 25 Hegg Brothers FRIDAY FEB 26 Rough Cut SATURDAY FEB 27 Secret Weapon MONDAY FEB 29 Gooch & His Las Vegas Big Band
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sunnyside: Nick Bartholomew keeps an extremely positive attitude regarding the devastating fire that damaged his Market House restaurant.
DREAMONFIRE
Nick Bartholomew: A Study in Taking it (Over) Easy P H OTO S B Y S A R A LO C K E | P H OTO S B Y D E B R A S . K A P L A N
H
aving seen the scarred remains of 11th and Howard first hand, I thought for a long time about what I would say to Market House owner Nick Bartholomew when I met him for lunch at his West Omaha eatery, Over Easy. I had decided the tragedy of it all has been well communicated and was resolved not to discuss the damage or any of what he lost, but to focus instead on his other ventures. I knew he was planning a second location for Over Easy, and that he is working on a cocktail lounge in Dundee, but there isn’t often much to say about someone that a simple Google search couldn’t tell you. Stockbroker turned breakfast joint owner. Restaurant Startup. What else could there be? Answer: I should have brought a bigger notebook. The Things That Pop Up Around Here
I sat with my two toddlers taking in the chatter of the full dining room as we waited for a table at the
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trendy restaurant on 168th and Q. A young couple engrossed in a conversation paused any time a plate was brought to a nearby table, taking lustful inventory of each dish. A flock of well-dressed 20-something women examined files to go over during a light working lunch. Parents grinned at their small children
digging gleefully into their meal as an elderly couple sipped coffee and grinned at the parents. I could have watched forever, but soon we were ushered to our table. Within minutes, a decadent Nutella PopTart was delivered, alongside a cinnamon roll topped with warm brown butter frosting for one of my dining companions. My 3-year-old son made an instant claim on the Pop-Tart by licking it, and was soon covered cheek to cheek in hazelnut, cocoa, and a smile. Our patient waitress visited our table three times to inquire if we were ready to order, but we found that choosing between the locally sourced, gravy covered, batter dipped items was anything but overeasy. I finally settled on the chicken salad sandwich with hash brown rounds and a side of balsamic ketchup. The Reader’s photographer, Debra Kaplan, selected vegetarian biscuits and gravy, while my 3year-old (who got to order a meal of his own for the first time), picked battered chicken fingers and continued on page 38 y
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FEBRUARY 2016
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y continued from page 36 fries. Bartholomew himself had difficulty choosing his favorite before an order of breakfast tacos was finally settled on. I would love to tell you that the hash brown rounds were as delicious and crisp as they looked, but they were stolen from my plate by my short, dark, and handsome date before I had the opportunity to sample one. He declared them “Oh yum, Mom!”, and he’s got an honest face, so I opted to believe him. I’m not going to waste a whole lot of time getting flowery about the food. We know Nick Bartholomew only backs good food. Everyone knows. Gear Magazine knows and named one of Bartholomew’s local ventures one of the 25 best restaurants in the country — so to get this out of the way, the food was good. It was very good. I’ll be back often and you should too.
On The Topic of Philanthropic
As the “sometimes vegetarian” sunk his teeth into his lunch of pulled pork and scrambled egg tacos, he involuntarily let out several appreciative “mmmm” sounds, which I couldn’t help smiling at. Between bites, he spoke at length about his team’s efforts to locally source their menus. A chalkboard in the dining area proudly displays Over Easy’s current roster of local farms and suppliers. It’s not the most cost effective way to handle a business, and by no means is it the easiest way, but Bartholomew humbly brushes it off as “the right thing to do”.
He Speaks For The Trees
The Fearless Feeder
brightfuture:
Shortly after the Old Market fire, Bartholomew posted this quote on Facebook: “I survived because the fire inside me burned brighter than the fire around me.”
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The meat of this story is Nick. I expected a hangdog, tired and circumstance-worn man to meet me that day. In light of his tireless work to lovingly convert Vivace to Market House, knowing he was facing a complete tear down to the studs and a monthslong rebuild, an air of temporary defeat would have been forgivable. Instead, the gregarious 34-yearold bounced energetically from table to table, greeting guests and playfully tousling the hair of the children throwing French fries in his beloved restaurant. “They’re great!” he grinned, “they’re just enjoying themselves. We love kids. Don’t worry!”
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infect others with a love of hard work and sustainable mindedness. As the easy conversation wandered to my little ones sitting beside me, his obvious love of children bloomed into the revelation that, in spite of not having any children of his own yet, he coaches little league in what I will laughingly refer to as his ‘spare time’. “The kids are great, and it’s so fun to watch them work and try so hard… The Gladiators!!!” he beams. “They know they’re not my kids, so they know I’m not rooting for just one of them to win. They all have to try their hardest because nobody gets special treatment from me.”
A brief discussion ensued about how he became a young business owner, and his work to inspire and reach others came to light. UNO’s CEO program (Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization) employs such pioneers as Nick to speak to students hoping to follow in his footsteps. Rather than seeing them as seedling competition, he sees an opportunity to
In addition to supporting local farmers and mentoring youth, Bartholomew is a regular Lorax. In December of 2013, he petitioned the court to save a 200 year old tree near his restaurant. Stopping just shy of chaining himself to the trunk, he was unable to save the 20,000 pound cottonwood. The dining room wall at Over Easy is a beautiful mosaic shrine to such reclaimed wood, and Nick can tell you where it all came from. An old church or a dilapidated barn from somewhere deep in Nebraska’s farmland artfully lives on through a transplantation process clearly dear to Nick. “I love Omaha, and if you can’t do something to better your community, what are you doing here?” He reasons in the face of flattery. The community is clearly just as fond of Nick, seeing the plethora of support being thrown at him from every side. His
family at Market House has been parceled off to neighboring restaurants, guest bartending, waiting tables, and hosting pop up events at extended-family-fooderies while they wait for their home to be reconstructed. I mention to Nick that the Omaha food community seems to be a really incestuous business. He laughs in agreement, “We’ve all worked with and for each other at some point. Those are the people you want to hang out with because they’re the ones who get what you’re spending all of your time on. We’ve all dated each other, hated each other, but that’s just what a family does.” Stacking The Deck
While he works to open a second Over Easy at Aksarben Village, and patiently waits for Market House to be sound enough to begin the rebuild, Bartholomew sets his eyes on Dundee. The corner of 50th and Underwood will get a facelift this summer, and a cocktail lounge with a rooftop patio will take up residence in the former home of Beer and Loathing. “The universe likes to shuffle and reshuffle”, he says with an easy smile, “I can’t wait to see how it reshuffles us.” But the universe has a little help by the deck Nick supplies, stacking it with amazing people and a real talent to back up his passions. In response to the instant support his Facebook was bombarded with the day of the fire, Nick simply replaced his profile picture with the quote: I survived because the fire inside me burned brighter than the fire around me. And if you’re not careful in his presence, you may just catch fire, too. ,
Iowa Western Community College
with Omaha native BILLY MCGUIGAN Part rock concert…part rock tribute…all rock n’ roll. Rock Legends combines all of these elements to create a show that is the only one of its kind. The audience votes for the songs and music they want to hear. The options are extensive, covering rock ‘n roll from the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.
SUN., FEB. 14 @ 7:30 pm TICKETS ON SALE NOW!
Call (712) 388-7140 Purchase online: artscenter.iwcc.edu
Omaha East / Council Bluffs
Major Sponsors:
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music
modernclassical
Omaha Symphony musicians explore blues and more BY GORDON SPENCER
“E
“Eko Nova.” New is here. Again. In the thus-named ongoing series, the Omaha Chamber Music Society presents Symphony artists playing modern scores for strings with roots in Appalachia, the Balkans, China and beyond. Billed as a “lighthearted classical jam session,” “Fiddle ’n Blues” delves into themes, chords and rhythms of jazz, country, Mozart and more. Mark O’Connor’s writing gets a double spotlight. Especially with the title tune from his hit record “Appalachia Waltz, ” No.1 for months on Billboard Magazine’s Classical music charts. O’Connor is famed for delving into old-timey, bluegrass, folk, and traditional European classical styles. Also on tap: his “Blackberry Mull” stirred by a visit to Scotland. Travel-wise as well, Aaron Jay Kernis’s trio item “Mozart En Route” was inspired by an epistle from the Austrian genius complaining about a carriage ride’s uncomfortable jostling. This becomes a trip: Salzburg to Nashville and back, melding quotes from Wolfgang A. with
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pop styles. Kernis, widely considered one of the leading composers of his generation, cites influences from Debussy to hip-hop. Shanghai-born Bright Sheng has crossed boundaries too. Living in the U.S since his late 30s, he wrote a revisit to his homeland called “Seven Tunes Heard in China” created for cellist Yo-Yo Ma. “I’m searching for a new idiom that doesn’t belong to preconceived categories,” Sheng said of this multi-level folk idiom exploration. Serbian-English Nicola Resonovic has had his works performed all over the world: the U.S., Europe, Asia, South America, Australia and Africa. No surprise then that he suggested a compass via violin and cello in “Four Points of View. ” He also suggests consideration of the four seasons, the four gospels and the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. It could be quite a ride. Blues specifically are evoked in African-American elements. Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s solo violin “Blue/s Forms” comes from an artist with a multi-colored palette, including baroque counterpoint, American romanticism, spirituals and more. This might dance; Perkinson’s been the mu-
sic director of Jerome Robbins’s American Theater Lab and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. And John Clayton’s “Bach to Blues” for solo bass walks funkily, sometimes suggesting the intricacies of a cello suite by J.S. himself. Bassist Clayton’s been a major jazz performer/composer/arranger for years including with his own big band as well as the Count Basie Orchestra and the Tonight Show band. Plus he had a five year stretch with the Netherlands Philharmonic. Eko Nova Artistic Director/Curator John Klinghammer and Assistant Principal Clarinetist in the Omaha Symphony, devised this program to evoke delight in such surprises and feature four colleagues: 2nd Associate Principal Violinist Elizabeth Furuta, Principal Cellist Paul Ledwon, Principal Violist Thomas Kluge and Bassist Danielle Meier. This is a time and place for music, as Klinghammer says, to “challenge preconceptions of genre and form.” , The Eko Nova concert is Feb. 29 at Kaneko, 1111 Jones St. Mon. 7 p.m. Tickets: $10-$15 http://www.omahachambermusic.org
TOMORROW HAPPENS HERE “For two weeks every year in March, Austin is transformed by an influx of knowledgehungry, cool-hunting, experience-seeking, entertainment-pushing trendsetters.” –The Irish Independent
Learn More: sxsw.com/NEtoSX follow us: @sxsw
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ly 2000s). The CD is Lost Time on YepRoc. Dave, Phil and The Blasters were at the epicenter of the American roots music revival that happened in Southern California in the late 1970s. See davealvin.net. They are making their first trip to Nebraska since The Blasters days with Dave’s band The Guilty Ones. They perform Wednesday, March 2, 7:30 p.m. in a Sunday Roadhouse show at The Waiting Room. Tickets are on sale now at sundayroadhouse. com. They hit Lincoln’s Zoo Bar Thursday, March 3, 6-9 p.m. I’m telling you now because these are don’t-miss gigs and by the time the March Reader comes out, tickets may be gone for these rare shows.
hoodoo COURTESY FACEBOOK.COM/NICKSCHNEBELENBAND
Hot Notes
FULLOFHEART
Kansas City’s Nick Schenebelen Band hits The 21st Saloon Thursday, Feb. 4, and Lincoln’s Zoo Bar Wednesday, Feb. 3. lues shows coming to The 21st Saloon inSchnebelen (second clude the return of a former BluesEd kid who from left) features Omais now part of Kansas City’s Nick Schnebelen ha’s Heather Newman Band. All grown up, Heather Newman has (second from right) as a been singing with Schnebelen, one of the founders of vocalist in the band.
CHIP DUDEN
B
HOODOO focuses on blues, roots, Americana and occasional other music styles with an emphasis on live music performances. Hoodoo columnist B.J. Huchtemann is a senior contributing writer and veteran music journalist who received the Blues Foundation’s 2015 Keeping the Blues Alive Award for Journalism. Follow her blog at hoodoorootsblues.blogspot.com and on www.thereader.com.
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the popular band Trampled Under Foot, for over a year. Catch The Nick Schnebelen Band featuring Heather Newman Thursday, Feb. 4, at The 21st. Another regional crowd pleaser, Kansas City’s Kelley Hunt returns to the venue Thursday, Feb. 11. Hunt’s soul-and-gospelinfused blues is always a big draw with fans. Hoodoo favorite and Chicago blues mainstay Studebaker John is a quadruple threat: an innovative songwriter, blistering slide guitarist, fine vocalist and excellent harmonica player. Make a point to catch Studebaker John & The Hawks Thursday, Feb. 18. Randy McAllister brings his big-voiced, blues-Americana back Thursday, Feb. 25. Popular blues-rock guitarist Chris Duarte returns Thursday, March 3. Thursday shows are 6-9 p.m. Lincoln blues guitarist, singer and songwriter Tim Budig steps out front with his new Tim Budig Band focused on scorching, classic blues sounds. They have a CD release party Saturday, Feb. 27, 8 p.m. at The 21st.
BluesEd Auditions
Speaking of the Blues Society of Omaha’s BluesEd youth performance program, the auditions for their
FEBRUARY 2016
| THE READER |
February Brings Old Favorites Back to Local Venues BY B.J. HUCHTEMANN
2016 program will be held Feb. 21. Audition registrations close Feb. 18. The program is entering its 15th year and is open to students 12-18 years old currently in middle school or high school. Find all the information at bluesed.com/audition-information.html Zoo Bar
Lincoln’s Zoo Bar also presents The Nick Schnebelen Band featuring former Omahan and BluesEd program alum Heather Newman Wednesday, Feb. 3, 6-9 p.m. Other notable shows coming up at The Zoo include Steepwater Band Saturday, Feb. 6, 6 p.m., The Bel Airs Wednesday, Feb. 17, 6-9 p.m., Moreland & Arbuckle Friday, Feb. 19, 5-7 p.m., Hector Anchondo Band Saturday, Feb. 20, 9:30 p.m. following guitarist Michael Charles who performs at 6 p.m. Earl & Them featuring Earl Cate and Baby Jason Davis are back Friday and Saturday, Feb. 26 at 5 p.m. & 27 at 6 p.m. Don’t forget the Zoo Bar House Band, featuring some of the best local players, takes the stage Mondays, 7 p.m. Alvin Brothers on the Horizon
Americana icons Dave Alvin and Phil Alvin are touring in support of their second recording together since Dave left The Blasters some 30 years ago (aside from some recordings around The Blasters’ reunion gigs in the ear-
hoodoo
JEFF FASANO
HOMETOWNGIRL:
The Harney Street Tavern mixes it up with a variety of music but often puts a spotlight on local roots, Americana and soul. Catch Josh Hoyer & Soul Colossal at Harney Street Tavern Friday, Feb. 5, 9 p.m. See facebook.com/harneystreettavern. The Omaha Lounge features a focus on smooth jazz and solo-duo blues, 7:30-10:30 Sunday through Thursday and 8-11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Check out their schedule at theomahalounge.com. Legendary songwriter and guitarist Peter Case plays a Sunday Roadhouse show Sunday, Feb. 14, 5 p.m. at Reverb Lounge. Case is a Grammy-nominated artist whose work has been covered by everyone from Dave Alvin and Alejandro Escovedo to The Go-Go’s. See petercase.com and sundayroadhouse.com. Remember to look for digital-only Hoodoo updates at thereader.com. ,
LOSTBROS:
Roots music champions Dave Alvin (L) and Phil Alvin (R) are making up for lost time with their second disc, Lost Time, and a tour run that finally brings them back to Nebraska in early March.
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Omaha Weekly Reader 02-01-16.indd 1
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10:49 AM
DEBRA S. KAPLAN
FILM
waxman:
Veteran Hollywood screenwriter and literary novelist John Kaye has lived under the radar in Omaha since late 2014 working on a new novel but he’s coming out of the shadows for a celebration of one of the movies he wrote, American Hot Wax (1978). It’s the story of rock‘n’roll’s crossover from fringe race music to mainstream popularity courtesy DJ Alan Freed. Kaye’s appearing at a Feb. 7 Film Stream screening.
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hidingout O
maha is the adopted home of veteran Hollywood screenwriter and literary novelist John Kaye, 74, whose memoirs are published by the Los Angeles Review of Books. The mercurial Kaye came 17-months ago from northern California to work on a new novel (his third) and immerse himself “deep” in a fictional Omaha subplot. “I wanted to take a risk with what I was doing. The best decision I made,” he said from his writing-reading perch at Wohlner’s in Mid-town. It’s not the first time he’s used Omaha as workplace and muse. In the early 1990s he researched here for an Omaha character in his first novel. Decades earlier he passed through hitching cross country on a personal Beat adventure. That drop-out, tune-in odyssey led him to Jamaica until Uncle Sam called. On Feb. 7 Film Streams will present a 1978 film he wrote, American Hot Wax, that tells the story of DJ Alan Freed, who introduced white audiences to rock ‘n’ roll. Until now Kaye’s kept a low profile here, but that changes when he does a Q&A after the 7 p.m. show. Kaye grew up in a West Los Angeles malaise of stale Hollywood dreams. He entered the ferment of 1960s social rebellion as a UC Berkeley and University of
FEBRUARY 2016
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were Manson girls – post-Charlie’s conviction. The incident sparked the idea for his first industry feature, Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins (1975). This nihilistic screwball comedy is a shambling, anarchic take on three broken people hooking up for a road and head trip. Sally Kellerman and Mackenzie Phillips teamed with Alan Arkin. Dick Richards directed. “It was a time when you could write a road movie,” Kaye says of its meandering, seriocomic style. The approach became his niche and hit its peak with Hot Wax. His friend Floyd Mutrux directed. Tim McIntyre, Fran Drescher, Jay Leno, Laraine Newman, Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis star. Kaye’s own counterculture leanings drew him to Gonzo hipster Hunter S. Thompson, whom he made the basis for his Where the Buffalo Roam (1980) script. Bill Murray plays Thompson. Kaye’s then-producing partner Art Linson directed. The serious take Kaye envisioned was hijacked by “a make it funny” decree from studio suits. Hanging out with Thompson in New Orleans, an old Kaye stomping ground, while placating moneymen hell-bent on laughs “turned out to be fun but really insane,” said Kaye. Unkind reviews “singled out” Kaye’s writing. “It was a blood letting. Very painful.” The experience, he said, gave him “thick skin” and taught him “not to be too invested in something.” Still he said, “It definitely set my career back.” He takes small consolation the movie has a cult following, even admitting, “I’m not sure it holds up as well as Hot Wax.” Kaye’s last screen credit came as writer-director of Forever Lulu, a 2000 film starring Melanie Griffith and Patrick Swayze. “I decided I wanted to write sort of a valentine to my ex-wife.” The lead characters have a college affair and years later she escapes a mental hospital to find her
An old Hollywood hand living in Omaha comes out of the shadows: Screenwriter John Kaye scripted American Hot Wax and more BY LEO ADM BIGA
Wisconsin (Madison) student. He served in the Marine Corps Reserves, where his Jewish, college-educated background made him a target. This child of Old Hollywood and New Journalism, “inspired by the galvanizing youth culture thing,” indulged in the era’s excesses. He was a researcher for David Wolper Productions, where colleagues included William Friedkin and Walon Green. He was an underground journalist, a CBS censor and a producer-writer for the KNBC late night sketch comedy show Lohman and Barkley. Anticipating Saturday Night Live, the show sped the careers of Barry Levinson, Craig T. Nelson and John Amos. “It was a fascinating moment.” Then Kaye got fired. Hedging that “disappointment” was the mentoring he received from “Mission Impossible” and “Mannix” creator Bruce Geller. Then Geller died in a plane crash. Kaye’s ex-wife and first love was institutionalized, leaving him to raise their son. She later committed suicide. “It was a very chaotic time,” he recalls. All the while he wrote scripts but sold none. “I was really struggling.” One day he picked up two young women thumbing rides in L.A. He ditched them after realizing they
old beau, now married, to inform him he fathered a child she bore and was forced to give up for adoption. The pair set out to visit the son who doesn’t know they exist. A negative trade review cost the film a theatrical release. The producers, he said, “kind of left me alone,” adding, “It was a great experience for me because I really felt I had stepped out and done something.” It’s the same feeling he had writing his first novel, Stars Screaming. “Spending eight years writing this book and getting it done, I realized I would not quit on something and that I had it in me to write it. Even though I wrote myself into complete poverty doing it, I finished it. I stepped through enormous amounts of fear to work to my potential.” Then came his second novel The Dead Circus. Even with his new novel nearly complete, he says he may linger on in Omaha awhile. “I’ve fallen in love with this town.” , For tickets to the Feb. 7 screening, visit www.filmstreams.org. Read more of Leo Adam Biga’s work at leoadambiga.com
OFF16-Reader4.9x10.pdf
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7:53 PM
11th Annual
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Village Pointe Cinema
FEA TU RE S
March 8 - 13, 2016
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CONFERENCE March 12-13, 2016
304 North 174th St
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LesstoLovebutMoreLoved T
ypically, assembling my “best films” list is a torturous process of deciding which films get culled after I do some mental Hunger Games with movies as tributes. This year? I actually had to reach into the second level and promote two “alsorans” into the rankings. The top of the list isn’t just good, it’s all-time good for me, filled with at least three movies I will watch until I get “jelly eyes.” What there was to love in 2015 was damn near perfect, there just wasn’t a huge amount to get super excited about. Honestly, that’s okay, quality over quantity is applicable to things other than sexual experiences. Now, before you can eat your yum yums, you have to scarf down your undercooked brussel sprouts. So here are the worst 5 movies I saw last year.
The Worst 5 of 2015
5.) San Andreas – One of the most subtly morally repugnant films of 2015, this is a movie where a man shirks his sworn oath to
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protect citizens in order to selfishly only save his own family. Also, I’m calling it: No more “boat racing up a huge wave” scenes. We’ve used them all up. 4.) Spectre – Easily the worst Bond film in recent memory, the tone was spectacularly miscalculated. You can’t weave together “grim ‘N gritty” with “cat-stroking villainy” without the result being a confusing mess. Honestly, until just now, I forgot this even came out in 2015, and it was released in November. 3.) The Good Dinosaur – I would have actually put Inside Out on this list at number 5 if I didn’t think I’d have to take out a good life insurance policy against Bing Bong enthusiasts. Fewer people love (or even remember) this Pixar debacle. Uncharacteristically stale animation combined with a generic story and insipid message, the only people this may appeal to are creationists who believe man and dinosaur lived at the same time. 2.) It Follows – Boy, is It Follows lucky the number one film on this list came out. For
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The Best and Worst Movies of 2015 B Y R YA N S Y R E K
the life of me, I will never understand how one single person enjoyed any of this boring, poorly acted, slut shamy, lame endeavor. Am I getting Punk’d? Is everyone Punking me? If so, it’s not funny anymore. Bring out Ashton. 1.) The Hateful Eight – I’m confident placing this at the top of my worst films will not be met by any reaction from die-hard Quentin Tarantino fans at all. Oh, right, you can’t tell but I wrote that using my sarcasm keyboard. This ode to cynicism, misogyny and racism has been violently defended by those who don’t want to feel guilty about enjoying films that are cynical, misogynist and racist. Setting all that aside, it’s a boring and unpleasant three-hour waste of time. So it sucks even if it doesn’t suck for the reasons I think it sucks. The Top 10 of 2015
10.) Spotlight – Nobody tell Spotlight it almost didn’t make into the top 10, okay? I don’t want it to feel unloved. The truth is, this
one grew on me. It’s the story of how reporters at the Boston Globe exposed the systemic child abuse in the Catholic Church. What left me cold at first, the lack of any real depth or humanization to the reporters as characters, has served over time to be an asset; what stayed with me is the praise of journalistic pursuits, the power of information and the responsibility of good people to use facts to shine light in the darkest of places. 9.) Steve Jobs – Aaron Sorkin’s script is the single walkiest-talkiest thing he’s ever done, so of course I loved the crap out of it. Less an actual biography and more a Shakespearean investigation of the brutality of creative genius, Michael Fassbender absolutely stuns in a role that would get him an Academy Award in any year Leonardo Dicaprio didn’t crawl naked inside a horse. The film actually has one of my favorite tiny beats of all time in it, as the mournful frustration of Fassbender’s delivery on “I am poorly made” gives Sorkin’s words limitless power.
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8.) The Wolfpack – An insane documentary about a group of siblings kept in isolation and captivity by their father, this was a reminder of the vibrancy and potential of cinema. These kids had only the outlet of movies with which to survive. They didn’t just consume the VHS tapes and DVDs they were allowed to watch, they reenacted them, using those stories as a coping mechanism to deal with a cruel, dispassionate upbringing. If the triumph of these wills doesn’t move you, you’re unmovable. Jerk. 7.) The Look of Silence – This should be higher. Like, I know I’m going to look back on this list next year and curse myself, but here I am, doing it anyway. This companion piece to The Act of Killing establishes the documentary duo as the most compelling one-two cinematic punch to ever address such a significant event. The criticism leveled against the first film was its failure to include the families of victims and its failure to hold the perpetrators of genocide accountable. That is literally all this film is: a face-toface condemnation of brutal monsters by the family of victims. This should totally be higher on this list. Dammit… 6.) Ex Machina – I don’t think any movie last year surprised me quite as much as this one did. A slick, wellcrafted sci-fi meditation on creation and sexuality, this only works because the three leads (Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson and Alicia Vikander) turn in masterful, nuanced performances. The climax and resolution are so breathtaking, unflinching and important, some found themselves turned off. Me? That’s what elevated it to being among the year’s best. If you can’t smash the patriarchy, let it die in horrifying other ways. 5.) Dope – This movie is why I love movies. Full of life, filled with diverse, brilliant actors inhabiting diverse, brilliant characters, Dope was thrilling, riotously funny and possessed of a killer message. The fourth-wall breaking climactic speech about racial expectations may have been on-the-nose and didactic, but that didn’t stop me from literally clapping when it was done. In a perfect world, we get a dozen movies with this same spirit, energy and dedication to originality every year. 4.) What We Do in the Shadows – The funniest movie of the year somehow brought life back into one of the stalest tropes: the mockumentary. Actually, it was a vampire mockumentary, which means it should have been physically impossible for this to have made me laugh one time. And yet, I howled…frequently. Comedies are judged by their re-
watchability in terms of lasting legacy, and this gets funnier with every viewing. It’s also worth noting that small moments of sincerity in heart are welcome in even the most insane and ridiculous setting. The hardest you’ll ever laugh at a severed jugular. 3.) Creed – Let’s get something straight: When you talk about #OscarsSoWhite or mention the Academy’s lack of diversity, you must point people to Creed. It’s morally and intellectually repugnant that people assert there wasn’t good work done in film this year by people of color. Do we need more? You bet. But Creed was a goddamn powerhouse. A masterfully directed, perfectly scored, amazingly shot, beautifully acted, crowdpleasing, fist-pumping character study and meditation on legacy and self-worth, director Ryan Coogler should be digging his way out of a pile of awards right now, as should Michael B. Jordan. The next time some fool says there were no diverse nominations because none were deserving, throw a Creed-style roundhouse at them. 2.) Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Star Wars is back, y’all! Like, really for real back! A spiritual remake of A New Hope, this gorgeous entry brought back the fun, the awe and the joy that made the world fall in love all those years ago. With another iconic villain, a pitch-perfect heroine and a bad-ass couple of dudes, the characters popped off the screen with rare power. My memories of 2015 will likely always include two prolonged social media fights: One against Hateful 8 lovers, the other against Force Awakens bashers. I’m good with that. 1.) Mad Max: Fury Road – There’s a very real chance this is my new favorite movie of all time. Not since I was a kid did I see a movie this many times in theaters. It’s still on top of my Blu-Ray player months after its release. I didn’t know it was possible to do this, to make a movie with so much action, energy, passion and enthusiasm welded onto a cautionary tale of the patriarchal Armageddon hurdling our way. Furiosa (Charlize Theron) isn’t one of the best female characters of all time. She’s one of (if not) the best characters (full stop) of all time. I love every tiny bit of this movie, from the pasty warboys to the quotations it added to my vocabulary (“Mediocre!”). Fury Road is a miracle to me. When it comes time to pen a “best of the decade,” it’ll be there. And chances are very real that, whenever my run at reviewing comes to an end, it’ll make that final lifelong list too. ,
Stagecoach 1939
Omaha Steaks Classics
Picturing the West February 5 - March 29
Part of Westward O, a city-wide celebration of the West, corresponding with Joslyn Art Museum’s Go West! exhibition
1939
Johnny Guitar 1954
My Darling Clementine 1946
Meek’s Cutoff 2010
Stagecoach
March 5 & 7
February 5 & 7
February 6 & 9
March 12, 13 & 15
February 12 & 17
The Daughter of Dawn
1920
February 15 & 18
High Plains Drifter
March 6 & 8
Heaven’s Gate 1980
High Noon 1949
1973
February 20 & 22
Hud 1963
March 19, 20 & 23
Giant 1956
March 26, 27 & 29
Lonely Are the Brave 1962 February 21 & 23
The Misfits 1961 February 27, 29 & March 2
All showings at Film Streams’ Ruth Sokolof Theater. Info & tickets at filmstreams.org.
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‘mr&mrs: Nik Fackler (pictured about with wife Kat) is all about his wife’s, upcoming modern dance performance — Making Space, an evening of curated choreography Feb. 13 at Kaneko. It features performances by dance company Tbd. of works by Steph Huettner, Steph Kelley, Nichol Mason Lazenby and Kat Fackler, plus a screening of Nik’s latest short dance film.
Playing Music Instead of Playing the Game BY TIM MCMAHAN
t was 10 years ago this past January when I first met and interviewed filmmaker/rock‘n’roller Nik Fackler for a story for The Reader. At the time, Fackler was known only for his film making, thanks to the now legendary story of turning his back on the Los Angeles Film School at the tender age of 16, the youngest person ever to be accepted to the prestigious institution. Fackler didn’t want to taint his vision. Instead, at age 20 he focused his film making on music videos for local stars with national audiences, such as Conor Oberst, The Good Life and Azure Ray, before his first feature film, Lovely, Still, came along. But we’ll get to that in a moment. First, Fackler wanted to make sure I dedicated plenty of space in this column to the reason he reached out to me in the first place: His wife’s upcoming modern dance performance — Making Space, an evening of curated choreography Feb. 13 at Kaneko. It features performances by dance company Tbd. of works by Steph Huettner, Steph Kelley, Nichol Mason Lazenby and Kat Fackler, plus a screening of Nik’s latest short dance film. Perhaps the biggest change in Nik Fackler’s life over the past 10 years was marrying Kat back in September 2014, five years after first bumping into her in line at a local Baker’s supermarket and introducing himself. “Right after I met her I went to Africa to make a film, came back, we went on dates, and now we own a house,” Fackler said. Everything just fell into place, just like his career. “Getting my foot in the door was just a stroke of luck,” Fackler recalled. “The spotlight already was on Omaha because of Saddle Creek Records. I had made a website for myself, which a lot of people weren’t doing back then, and started making short films.” He sent one to director Paul Thomas Anderson, who put it online. A week later a representative from the William Morris Agency came calling. “He asked if I had a feature-length script, which was Lovely, Still,” Fackler said. “I still have the same agent today.” Lovely, Still, which starred Martin Landau, Ellen Burstyn, Adam Scott and Elizabeth Banks, would finally be released in 2010, earning a 71 percent Tomatometer reading from Rotten Tomatoes. Not bad. The movie continues to be played every Christmas, and last year, a Korean film company made a remake of Lovely, Still called Salut d’Amour. Fackler followed up Lovely, Still with Sick Birds Die Easy in 2013, a psychedelic documentary-style head trip shot in Gabon, Africa. While
all that was happening, Fackler formed rock band Icky Blossoms and got signed to Saddle Creek Records, who released the band’s debut album in July 2012. If there’s a flaw in Fackler’s formula, it could be his inability to focus on one thing at a time. “We were making the first Icky record while I was editing Sick Birds,” he said. “It tore me apart. I had the band asking for things and producers asking for things. In the end, Sick Birds got put on the back burner so I could go on tour with the band.” While Fackler likes making movies, he’s not fond of the entire movie-making process. “Getting a film out there is difficult,” he said. “Going to film festivals, finding a distributor and selling your film — you have to be committed to the very end, and that’s the part I’m not good at.” Still, Fackler is about to enter the fray all over again. After spending months on the road touring with indie band Of Montreal, members of Icky Blossoms are on a sort of hiatus, spending the winter putting out music videos, writing new songs and “getting caught up on shit that needs to get caught up on.” For Fackler, that means refocusing on film making. He just finished a new script that’s in the hands of William Morris and is being sent to actors, including Martin Landau. “This one is about the music industry,” Fackler said, adding that he wrote it with Lawrence musician Arthur Dodge. “It’s about my love and disdain for the music business, weaving in parts of the last five years of being in a band, which have been difficult.” Fackler said the music industry doesn’t have much respect for artists. “It chews them up and spits them out,” he said. “Musicians are the hardest working people in any industry. They drive in dangerous conditions all over the country and make a lot of money for the bars they’re playing at but not for themselves. They’re like teachers; they love what they do and because of that are taken advantage of.” Fackler said he has another script still in the writing phase that focuses on sustainable farming, as well as a third outline for a script that’s a psychological horror film. “I’m locking myself in a room for six months to get these written,” he said. Looking back, Fackler said he has no regrets about turning down that offer to go to film school. “The only thing I regret is spreading myself too thin,” he said. “I want to do too much because I’m easily bored. Right when Lovely, Still came out, I could have moved to Los Angeles and played the game. Instead I wanted to play music and travel the world. I may regret that a bit.” He also wishes he could have been more successful because it would have made it easier to get his films produced. “I wish Lovely, Still could have been seen by more people,” he said. “It’s not a regret as much as a disappointment. At the same time, I’m not disappointed at what I’ve accomplished for where I am. I’ve completed two feature films and three albums. Hopefully over the next 10 years I’ll have done twice as much.” , Making Space: An evening of curated choreography with Tbd. Dance Collective is Feb. 13, 7 p.m., at Kaneko, 1111 Jones St. Tickets are $10 at the door. For more information, go to thekaneko.org. Over The Edge is a monthly column by Reader senior contributing writer Tim McMahan focused on culture, society, music, the media and the arts. Email Tim at tim.mcmahan@gmail.com
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The End of Time
Water, Water Everywhere
Persistence of Poor Decisions
Our Insect Future
There is no tomorrow, and everything is tomorrow. There The future’s beverages will be spiked. Water will cease to will be no future. By this, I mean that humans are about to be potable in the next five years. A previously unknown undergo an enormous transition, in that we will cease to see pathogen will find its way into our water supplies, and, time chronologically and ever pushing forward. Instead, we despite our best efforts, will render drinking water unsafe. It will experience a transformation of consciousness that sees will be something that cannot be boiled out or strained out, all events happening simultaneously, and affecting each and will possibly be of extraterrestrial origin. However, the other. This sort of quantum understanding of time has long pathogen will not be able to survive in alcoholic drinks. We been the norm in science, will see the return of “small but out of reach of daily beer,” a lightly alcoholic ale, human understanding. This for everyday drinking, even will radically change the way for children. Even milk, with humans live their lives. We will its high water content, will become unmoored from the be unsafe unless mixed with clock, and from lives as we now alcohol, and even children will see them, as birth leading to grow up drinking fermented life leading to death. Instead, and intoxicating beverages. our actions will all seem to take For those whose religion place simultaneously, as they forbids traditional alcohol, must, without conscious will, they will drink mead, made and for the betterment of the from fermented honey, or universe. We cannot now know airag, made from fermented THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY BY SALVADOR DALI what this world will be like, but mare’s milk. The future will be we will, soon, and will realize this is how it has always been. intoxicating, but not in the way we expect.
Everything we write online today is being preserved and may haunt us tomorrow. The future will hold quite a few unpleasant surprises, and one of the biggest will be the persistence of comments made on social media. People who make thoughtless, ill-considered, or nakedly hateful comments will find themselves haunted by them for years. They will apply for jobs and not get hired, they will ask people out on dates and be rejected, and they will find themselves shunned by their social groups and not know why. New businesses will develop a promise to scrub the web of embarrassing past commentary, but the service will be expensive and never 100 percent effective. Instead, people will slowly learn a simple lesson: Never write anything online that you won’t be comfortable with people reading 20 or 30 years down the road.
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What’s that buzzing sound? The future will belong to the insects. Even now, unseen by men, enormous hives of insects are amassing under the earth, prompted by an evolving insect intelligence. Unlike ours, their intelligence is a group intelligence, and it is telling them that humans are an invasive, destructive species. We will soon be at war with the insects. They will rise from beneath us, and burrow into our homes, and consume our foods. For every hundred of them we kill with poisons, there will be a thousand more, and a million more behind them. They are the most populous creature on earth, and they will soon rule it. When the end comes for us, it will come with wings. For more on these predictions and others by Dr. Mysterian visit www.thereader.com.