The Reader Oct. 30 - Nov. 5, 2014

NFOGROUP Telesearch Associate.

Contact Jennifer Watts at Jennifer.watts@infogroup.com. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information

INDUSTRIAL BATTERY PRODUCTS Rachael Menichetti at Rachael.menichetti@ IBPMidwest.com.

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MILITTI SALES & PROMOTIONS Sales Representative.

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SUREHOME INSPECTION COMPANY Home Inspector. Contact John Eggeberg at surehome@windstream.net.

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AAA Customer Sales & Service Representative.

Contact Kelly Hayduk at krhayduk@aaane.com.

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CABELAS Power Sports Service Mechanic. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

I9 SPORTS PROGRAM Youth Sports Program Manager. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

WEST CORPORATION Now Hiring Multiple Positions. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

THE GREEN SPOT Professional Pet Stylist.

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VAN METER INC. Lean Construction Coordinator. Contact Lindsay Perrien at lperrien@ vanmeterinc.com.

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ALEGENT HEALTH Now Hiring Multiple Positions. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

NOBBIES Retail Store Buyer/Seasonal and Halloeween Merchandise.

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EMS, INC. Customer Service & Technical Support Positions. Contact Janelle Hyman at jhyman@emscrm.com. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information

HPS Painter.

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PLANET FITNESS Assistant Manager. Apply online at apply@ pfomaha.com. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information

PARAGON SYSTEMS Construction Surveillance Technician. Contact Jeff Berthold at jberthold@parasys.com. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

LOCAL EMPLOYER Video/Social Media Person. Conact Becky Jungers at HMCListing@gmail.com. Go to OmahaJobs.com for info.

PRINTCO GRAPHICS Graphic Designer. Apply online at www.printcographics.com/about-us/ careers. Go to OmahaJobs.com for information.

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| THE READER |

omaha jobs

heartlandhealing N E W A G E H E A LT H A N D W E L L N E S S B Y M I C H A E L B R AU N S T E I N

Whole Foods a Game-changer

I

f you were watching game one of the World Series and paying attention, you had to be shocked.

Shocked, not because “Big Game” James Shields was rocked but because you saw a commercial in some ways as monumental as the famous 1984 Macintosh Super Bowl advert. Whole Foods Market has gone big time.

For the first time ever, the leading grocery store chain specializing in organic, real, local-ish, and “natural” food has dipped its toe into the waters of national marketing. A full-blown, full-length Whole Foods commercial ran on prime time network television, marking a departure from the company’s longtime (non-)marketing strategy. This is huge.

Though operating over 385 stores worldwide, with most of those in the US, Whole Foods has never mounted a full-fledged national advertising campaign. Rolling out full page ads in major papers and pricey commercials on network primetime is significant. How has it come to this?

Arguably, no other single corporation has done more to influence the eating habits of Americans for the better and provide healthier options than has Whole Foods Market. Founded in Austin, Texas, in 1980, Whole Foods wasn’t the originator of the health food / natural food trend but rapidly became a leader in the field, riding a slowly developing wave of interest that can trace its modern beginnings back to the efforts of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and the Battle Creek Sanitarium. Kellogg, (yes, as in corn flakes,) was a health food nut and aligned nutrition with health in a way never before presented in modern times. To be clear, health and nutrition have been linked by wise medical systems for all of history. Kellogg corporatized it. Whole Foods marketed it.

Wacky John Mackey Whole Foods is not without its detractors and foibles. Few successful companies are.

The Whole Foods critiques range from their derogatory nickname of “Whole Paycheck” to the head-scratching actions of its founder and CEO, John Mackey, who lurked on stock-watching message boards under an anonymous name. In 2006, Whole Foods manipulated a hostile takeover and vaporized its only competition in the industry, the Wild Oats chain, utilizing friendlies on the Wild Oats’ board of directors. The takeover was disallowed by the Federal Trade Commission and Whole Foods had to sell stores that it acquired.

The Securities Exchange Commission, meanwhile, investigated Mackey’s questionable online activities.

Mackey continued to be a lightning rod for criticism.

Disgruntled former employees lament the “drink the Kool-Aid” atmosphere and claim other company transgressions. Yet Whole Foods continually ranks near the top of Forbes’ “100 Best Companies to Work For List.” Again, leaders in a field are often easy targets. Taken on its canon of work, Whole Foods stands out as a champion of real food ideals.

Why now? So why is Whole Foods all of a sudden doing national advertising? Well, like most things, it can be viewed two different ways. One detractor wrote a piece in Fast Company that the Whole Foods advertising venture is in direct response to its flagging stock value. The writer claims Whole Foods is losing sight of its values because it’s valuing stock prices rather than food authenticity. How sour are the writer’s grapes? Well, the writer, one Joe Dobrow, was the one-time “national head-of-marketing” for Whole Foods and whines that he was stymied by John Mackey’s low opinion of broad marketing.

Talk about schadenfreude.

Indeed, WFMI stock has dipped in 2014. Many cite competition from a growing number of natural food providers and chains.

But the fact is, WF reported record sales in the first quarter. But profit margins were sluggish and that likely drove the Wall Street wonks to devalue the stock.

The good news. I have a different more optimistic take on why Whole Foods’ national outing is good. It signifies that healthy eating, non-GMO awareness, organic foods, natural choices, non-polluting, fair trade, humanely raised, socially aware food shopping is no longer a niche market. These tenets are mainstream and Whole Foods helped make it so. We’ve seen the idea of eating real food expand exponentially in the past decade or so and Whole Foods Market has been a beacon on that journey for America. If its past efforts to educate and provide had not been successful there would be no sense in spending the bucks to advertise to a broad audience. There would be no broad audience. What Whole Foods offers is not “fringe” but now mainstream and they are responsible for a great deal of that sea change.

On other notes: We have neither an Ebola epidemic nor a fear epidemic in the US. We have a “stupidity epidemic.” How much intelligence does it take for an infected person “feeling sluggish” on Tuesday to keep from riding the subway, going bowling and taking public transportation on Wednesday? Methinks that “Doctors Without Borders” needs some.

And: Meditators! There is a Transcendental Meditation intensive at Mahoney State Park on November 2. Visit HeartlandHealing.com/TM or call 402-637TMTM. Do it now.

Be well. ,

VISIONS FROM FIVE MINUTES INTO THE FUTURE • OCTOBER 31, 2014 • The Halloween of the far future will be a grisly affair. A perverse version of ancient paganism will rise up, leading to revival of public sacrifices, including murder. The day will be marked by bonfires of sacrificial victims, and the night will be one of violent excesses.

The streets will flow with blood, and, in the morning, the survivors will feast on flesh in ancient cemeteries, raising goblets of blood to savage gods. The cataclysm that causes this is still uncertain, but it is coming, and is inevitable.

HEARTLAND HEALING is a metaphysically based polemic describing alternatives to conventional

methods of healing the body, mind and planet. It is provided as information and entertainment, certainly not medical advice. It is not an endorsement of any particular therapy, either by the writer or The Reader. Visit HeartlandHealing.com for more information.

heartland healing

| THE READER |

OCT. 30 - NOV. 5, 2014

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A DAY OUT IN THE ORCHARD: FALL’S THE TIME FOR FRUIT

F

BY CHERIL LEE

all means colorful leaves crunching under foot, warm apple pies and spooky, carved pumpkins.

Fortunately, whether you’re interested in one or all three of the above things, one of the best places to find them is at a local orchard.

And you’re in luck because our region has lots of great places to find that perfectly shaped pumpkin or ripe, juicy apples all while walking on leaves and, in some cases, taking a ride over some hay.

For those who aren’t sure where to begin, I put together this list for you of a few local places and some of the fun they provide.

Vala’s Pumpkin Patch Twenty miles west of Omaha is Vala’s Pumpkin Patch where you can find the perfect pumpkin for carving and a whole lot more. Vala’s offers a couple of mazes, hayrack rides, spooky attractions and a train ride. Younger visitors will enjoy the opportunity to build a scarecrow, make s’mores and pet the animals. Paintball, live entertainment and gemstone mining round out some of the more grown-up fun. Vala’s is a place where you can spend an afternoon or a whole day. They are open every day through Halloween. Vala’s Pumpkin Patch - 12102 S. 180th Street, Gretna, 402.332.4200 Bellevue Berry Farm & Pumpkin Ranch Family-owned for more than 30 years, Bellevue Berry Farm & Pumpkin Ranch boasts a variety of produce you can pick yourself including three different varieties of raspberries: purple, red and black. Right now they are harvesting sweet corn and offer that for sale in their shop.

Bellevue Berry Farm & Pumpkin Ranch has a ghost town, mines and caves for kids to explore as well as their Ranch of Terror haunted house. Other attractions include zip lines, slides and a pirate’s swing. If you want to find that perfect pumpkin, hop on board the hayrack ride through the Berry Farm’s spooky forest. Their pumpkins are priced by size rather than weight! The fun

crumbs ■ READ IT & EAT IT The Omaha Public Library is hosting a series of Read It & Eat It demonstrations and author talks. Kate Lebo, author of “Pie School: Lessons in Fruit, Flour, and Butter” will appear along with some other food authors and local restaurateurs on November 1 from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the W. Dale Clark Main Library. Kate will share some secrets about crafting the perfect pie. It’s free to attend. omahalibrary.wordpress.com ■ EAT WHERE YOU WANT Modern Love Omaha just announced that they’re now offering takeout. This means that you can get your swanky vegan comfort food to go and eat it at home, in your car or at a baseball game for all they care. You have to order at the restaurant, but they hope to eventually allow take-out orders via their website or by phone. www.modernloveomaha.com

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OCT. 30 - NOV. 5, 2014

| THE READER |

dish

continues through Nov. 1. Bellevue Berry Farm & Pumpkin Ranch, 11001 S. 48th Street, Papillion, 402.331.5500 Kimmel Orchard & Vineyard If you decide you want to make a day of it, take a ride out to Kimmel Orchard & Vineyard. You have the option to enjoy pre-picked apples, including Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Jonathan and Jonagold or pick your own apples. Frozen, pitted cherries are also offered. Or select your own pumpkin for Halloween. The best part of a visit to Kimmel Orchard is that you can also take advantage of the vineyards and nab yourself a bottle of white, red or fruit wine for a fall evening in front of the fireplace. Wine tastings are available if you’re not sure what type of spirits you want. Don’t spend all day in the kitchen just say you did! Kimmel Orchard sells caramel apples, fresh apple cider and homemade apple pies. Kimmel Orchard & Vineyard, 5995 G Road, Nebraska City, 402.873.5293 Trees, Shrubs & More Located in Bellevue, Trees, Shrubs & More has an orchard. The focus of their orchard is offering you the opportunity to pick your own fresh fruit. Trees, Shrubs & More gives visitors the choice of many “juicy, crisp, tree-ripened fruits,” like apples, pears, peaches, blackberries, blueberries, gooseberries and plums. And if you don’t feel like doing it yourself but still want to enjoy the fresh fruit, they also offer pre-picked options in their shop. Orchard tours are available by appointment and include fruit samplings. Some tours highlight how to make apple cider with a hand crank and these also include a tasting. Trees, Shrubs & More - 3803 Cornhusker Road, Bellevue, 402.291.9374 Wherever you choose to go, this is a great time of year to enjoy that last bit of nice weather before the dreaded white stuff begins to fall. Whether you have kids or are a kid at heart, take advantage of a local orchard this fall and get back to nature. , ■ FREE WINE TASTING You read that right. Salt 88 hosts a free, weekly wine tasting every Thursday from 3 – 6:30 p.m. The wine they offer varies, but every week you have the opportunity to stop by for a meal or happy hour and add to it some wine tasting without an extra cost. Just visit the bar and ask to try whatever they’re sampling out that week. salt88.com ■ PIZZA RECOGNITION Dante Ristorante Pizzeria is boasting inclusion in FlipKey’s list of the best pizza places in each state. As the sole Nebraska pizzeria included within the list, you can imagine they’re pretty pleased with themselves, especially considering the FlipKey article says it’s worth a trip to go try the pizza at Dante’s. www.dantepizzeria.com — Tamsen Butler Crumbs is about indulging in food and celebrating its many forms. Send information about area food and drink businesses to crumbs@thereader.com.

| THE READER |

OCT. 30 - NOV. 5, 2014

5

A

t the end of the day, voters want a choice.

If nothing else, the tight Nebraska 2nd Congressional District race pitting incumbent Lee Terry against challenger Brad Ashford gives voters a distinct option.

Pre-election surveys indicate a neck-and-neck battle between these local boys made good from high profile Omaha families. Politicos have long viewed Terry as a vulnerable target. He nearly lost to John Ewing in 2012. The GOP poured millions into his campaign and even though the national Democratic Party declined to support Ewing, the challenger lost by only two percent of the popular vote. Ashford is getting some support from his national party headquarters in this race but his campaign’s still being outspent thanks to the Terry camp’s deep coffers and the GOP sinking big money into the race.

Terry is the 52-year-old hard-line Republican whose eight terms in the U.S. House of Representatives give voters a 16-year resume to consider. This Boomer weaned on the right wing philosophies of his father, former Omaha television anchor and commentator, Lee Terry Sr., and shaped by the doctrine of his political hero, Ronald Reagan, tows the traditional Republican Party line.

“I have a basic pro business, job creation conservative view and I’ve always stayed pretty loyal to that philosophy,” says Terry, who worked as a private practice attorney and served on the Omaha City Council before entering Congress in 1998.

Terry, with endorsements from law enforcement and veterans groups, is a staunch law and order guy and big military advocate. Given his father’s strong GOP leanings, Terry doesn’t have to look far for influences.

“My father’s a huge influence. But for my father I wouldn’t be in Congress or probably even care about politics,” he says. “As a kid my parents were very active in political work. I remember handing our fliers at polling places probably in the first grade and getting political lectures from my dad about how Ted Kennedy was going to hurt small businesses with his whatever legislation. That was our dinner table talk.”

“My dad knows his stuff, he does his research and he develops very strong opinions. When I was growing up he would tape his Sunday morning political show on Saturday and I would always go down to the station when they would film it.”

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At one taping Terry met Sen. Roman Hruska, RNeb. Hruska’s autograph went up next to Evil Knievel’s on his bedroom door at home.

Meeting Hruska, under whom Ashford served as an intern, was big but Terry says “someone that is legendary to me is Ronald Reagan.” Though he never met the two-term President he says the 1984 Reagan presidential campaign offered him a job but he turned it down to pursue a law degree at Creighton University.

| THE READER |

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Like Terry, the 64-year-old Ashford is a CU law grad.

His wife, Omaha attorney and businesswoman Ann Ferlic Ashford, was a law classmate of Terry’s. The two men go back and they once shared the same party in common, though in sharp contrast to Terry, Ashford’s unbound by party affiliation. For this race though he’s a Democrat after previous forays as a Republican and Independent.

Where Terry was steeped in conservative Republican values, Ashford was immersed in his Republican

family’s progressive social views. His grandfather Otto Swanson started the now defunct family business, Nebraska Clothing Company, and co-founded the National Conference of Christians and Jews (now known as Inclusive Communities) to counteract a boycott of local Jewish businesses. This social justice legacy became more than an anecdote for Ashford.

“It was a big part of how we were brought up,” he says. “We were tutored on how to watch for discrimination and intolerance. We didn’t live it in the sense that we suffered from it but we certainly were schooled in it and told that was a high value proposition – that when you see it you should try to find out what’s causing it and try to eradicate it.”

He grew up in Augustana Lutheran Church, which moved from conservative to liberal in the aftermath of the documentary A Time for Burning that focused on the rupture within the congregation when its new pastor attempted interracial fellowship there.

Ashford’s rising-tide-lifts-all-ships attitude formed from his family’s principles and business practices.

“For everybody to do well everybody has to have a bite at the apple. The economic growth of the country after World War II did pervade in society and today it’s not the case. You have very few people gaining economic power and most everybody else kind of struggling along. That’s really what’s happening. People have to have a better shot at success and there’s all sorts of obstacles to that, like student loans that are higher than mortgages and the banks getting bailed out while the middle class didn’t.

“Government has a role in evening out the inequality a little bit, making sure the middle class isn’t left out. If they’re left out than you can’t buy a tie and shirt from the clothing store and then the clothing store goes out of business and all the people that work there are unemployed.”

His 16-year record in the nonpartisan Nebraska Unicameral includes building coalitions that created tax credits for corporations when Omaha was at-risk of losing big business, advocating for intervention resources to help at-risk youth and crafting juvenile justice reforms.

Ashford’s prison reform work, including expansion of mental health programs and vocational training and finding community-based alternatives for nonviolent offenders, has been a target of Terry and his supporters. Pro-Terry ads by the National Republican Congressional Committee have raised ire for linkcontinued on page 8y

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7

y continued from page 6 ing Ashford’s support of the good time law with the murders Nikko Jenkins was convicted of committing shortly after his early prison release in 2013. The tattooed face of Jenkins, an African-American, and blunt references to his horrific crimes strike many as exploitative. The ad’s been sharply criticized as being in poor taste, even by some prominent Republicans.

Terry’s own campaign is running ads with Jenkins’ image that suggest Ashford’s prison reform actions lead to “assault, robbery and murder.” Ashford is deeply offended the Terry camp has taken a reactionary approach playing on people’s emotions.

“I don’t understand how he cannot disavow such racially-charged ads,” Ashford says. “I mean, he’s really taken us back to the Bush-Dukakis race and the Willie Horton ads. In a town like Omaha that’s trying so hard to overcome decades of racial issues, he’s trying to mine the fears of people. That’s a hard one for me to accept. Why would we want to revisit those days? And that’s what he’s doing.

“I can’t imagine ever doing an ad that would cause people to be fearful or I would never stand for such a thing.”

Terry says he does disapprove of the NRCC ad: “That’s a horrible ad, I hate it, I wouldn’t have done that. I totally disown that Nikko Jenkins ad.” Despite calls from outside his campaign for it to be removed, it’s kept running. Terry offers no apology for his own ads that use similar loaded images and language that blame Ashford for violent crime.

“Everything I’ve brought up in my commercials has been about his record. We’ve used good time but if you go back and look at my ads that I paid to produce and put on the air, we never mention Jenkins’ name and we never talk about that crime, and that’s out of respect for the victims’ families as well as the fact I didn’t want to glorify a mass murderer.

“But we always talk about how he (Ashford) bottled up good time and bad consequences occurred. That’s fair to talk about.”

Ashford believes it’s a crass strategy to distract voters.

“He’s trying to divert attention away from his lack of productiveness into trying to create fear among the electorate with his ads. He’s trying to convey that the laws of Neb. allow violent criminals to walk out willy nilly, which is absolutely not true. That’s a complex issue. It’s hard to answer that in a 30-second ad, so what we’re trying to say is we do have a good record on public safety.”

Ashford, who often uses “we” to mean “I,” defends his own record.

“Certainly prison reform, the one issue they’re criticizing me on, is probably one of our greatest successes.

We took an issue the governor had literally turned his back on and created a series of bills that will I think for a generation set the course for a prison system that’s smarter on crime and that will keep the public safer.

That was very hard to do in the wake of Nikko Jenkins but we had actually started prior to that.

“When someone says you’re soft on crime it really doesn’t matter if you are or aren’t because if they have enough money to say you’re soft on crime than people will say, “He’s soft on crime.’ We’ve had a very balanced approach in the Legislature, we’ve been tough on gang crimes and sexual predators but we’re trying to find a way to get non-violent offenders into community-based services so they won’t get further into the system.”

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OCT. 30 - NOV. 5, 2014

When it comes to their respective records in public office, Ashford feels his achievements as a Neb. lawmaker far surpass anything Terry’s done as a congressman, saying of his opponent. “He can’t touch me.”

“Lee is not an effective representative. He has a very slim record.”

Ashford gained an unusually strong endorsement from the Omaha World-Herald that could have been written by his campaign.

“Well, they’ve been watching me,” he says of the paper. “One thing about the Legislature, we’re under the microscope of the press every day. We’re a very open, transparent kind of place unlike Congress where so much is done behind the scenes. So my record’s pretty much out there. I enjoy working on issues and I stick with issues. I don’t like taking partisan votes unless the partisan vote is something I believe in.

“Terry doesn’t have a record of any real consequence.

The only thing he has is to attack. He’s a party guy.

That’s the game he plays. I think that’s the main difference – I don’t care about parties. I don’t care really at all about parties other than I realize it’s a mechanism to get elected. I agree with the Democrats on lots of issues, certainly social issues, gay rights, immigration, but I’m sure I won’t agree with them on everything.”

Ashford almost goes so far to say Terry is a Republican mouthpiece.

“You can take a guy like Lee Terry who’s totally ineffective and get him elected simply by dumping $3 or 4 million into a place like Omaha and trashing the opponent. That’s what he’s done for two or three elections that I’ve followed closely.”

Terry takes exception to suggestions he’s done little in office and is strictly a party man.

“I handed an 18-page paper to the Omaha WorldHerald showing all the things I’ve been able to accomplish, including pass six bills out of the House this year. Sometimes being effective means not letting a bill go forward. There’s two instances in the last session where the leadership wanted to bring up a bill and when I went in and educated them on how bad each bill really was they pulled the language out. One was Medicare supplemental and the other one was cyber security.

“Sixteen years ago I wouldn’t have had the credibility or the relationship or the knowledge to be able to just walk into the Speaker’s office or the Majority Leader’s office and say, ‘Here’s where you’re wrong.’

Not only did I walk in, but I also brought it up in conference in front of everybody and took on the Majority Leader in front of all my colleagues. Now I didn’t run to the press and brag about that because I also believe in Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment – Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.”

In terms of crafting legislation Terry, who’s chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, says much of what he’s done “started as a bill but ended up an amendment to a different bill or to a bigger bill of the same theme.” As committee chair he and Democrat Jan Schakowsy from Chicago pushed through the Global Investment in American Jobs Act of 2013. The bill tasks the Department of Commerce to lead an interagency review and make recommendations to Congress on ways to make the U.S. more competitive in attracting foreign investment.

“When people say I don’t get along with the other side, well I worked with the most partisan, liberal

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person on our committee and got a bill done, negotiated, passed through committee, passed through the House. It’s sitting on (Senate Majority Leader) Harry Reid’s desk right now.”

Ashford has pledged to be led by what his local constituents say rather than be swayed by special interests and to build coalitions with colleagues from both parties as a wedge to help break gridlock.

“What I’m trying to tell people is that it is possible to make change by making government more responsive. That linkage between people and their government has been interrupted by special interests on all sides of the political spectrum. It’s really cut off individuals from their government.”

He says he’s interested in “developing policies around what’s going to help the entire society.” Even though he feels the Democrats were wrong “to push the Affordable Care Act through the way they did” he advocates fixing glaring problems with Obamacare and knocks Terry for repeatedly voting to repeal the law, which he says “only perpetuates the problem.”

Terry, who like Ashford favors universal access, concedes he’s voted for ACA’s repeal but he says most of his votes concerning the law have been to amend it.

Ashford considers immigration reform an issue that will help the entire society “because it will bring more dollars into circulation,” adding, “Immigrants are hard workers, they’ll pay taxes, they’ll lend their efforts to the general prosperity of the country.”

He favors a stepped approach to immigration reform.

“You have to build a bill from the ground up in a bipartisan way, like the Senate bill on immigration reform, which identifies different classes of immigrants. Each class of immigrant would have certain legal status and with that status comes certain rights and responsibilities. So a DREAMer would have certain rights and obligations that are different from adults, for example, that would clearly show what they have to do to gain legal status. The same with adults and with people that just want to get work permits. I think it has to be very carefully constructed.”

Terry says his own view has evolved from forced expulsion to a more stepped approach that leads to citizenship for some and work permits for others, for example.

“In the last year or two since there’s been a lot of discussion and we now realize there’s a great deal of overlap and it’s not as divided as it appears or appeared in the past.”

On the other hand Terry says “there are four or five issues where it is really tough” to find bipartisan consensus on “because we are principally completely different.

Like raising taxes just so you can bring up more revenue so you can spend more. I’m not going to support that. Now if you say, ‘OK let’s find a way to a balanced budget and let’s put everything on the table,’ then we could probably come up with a plan to get us to a balanced budget. But when you sit there and say we need more revenue and we need to increase taxes, you’re right, I’m going to differ with that and I’m just going to say no.”

The 2nd District foes agree that movement on big issues will only come when elected officials stay out of their ideological silos long enough to hear what the other side says and make necessary concessions.

Terry says, “We have to be able to get together on these. Reasonable people

from both sides of the aisle can sit down and come to an agreement on these big deals, and the only way to get us to a balanced budget and really secure Medicare and Social Security for the future is if both parties are at the table.”

“In any of these issues in order to make change you have to convince your colleagues of the basic assumptions and if you can’t get people to do that you’re not going to be effective in making legislation,” says Ashford, who feels global warming is a good example. It turns out he and Terry share similar views on the subject.

“It does exist and we in Nebraska should be extremely worried about it,” Ashford says, “because our economic driver is ag and agriculture relies on the environment and as the environment changes our ability to produce products, crops, whatever it is, also is impacted. There’s so much to learn about it. You have to be open-minded about it and understand there is no one answer.”

Terry says, “I’m not the naysayer, I do believe there is climate change. I do believe mankind has responsibility in this. I will not go to man-is-100-percent-responsible. Now I am not in the camp that says we should just shut off fossil fuels. I do think we should be more energy efficient. I think we should use less of our resources and use resources like natural gas which have less emissions than gasoline.”

With the Nov. 4 election looming large each candidate is dealing with campaign fatigue, his own and voters’.

Ashford is upbeat, encouraged by a surge of Democrats who voted early. “It’s a close election, it’s expensive, my opponent has more resources than we do. But I think our message is getting out there. We have a chance to win, I’m hopeful we’re going to win, I believe we’re going to win.”

Meanwhile, Terry isn’t even considering the possibility he won’t be returned to office by voters. “I refuse to even think about it. The reality is my gut’s telling me things are going our way. When I’m out and about there’s an urgency in the feedback I’m getting of you’ve got to get out there and do this. The last three weeks I’ve really felt a shift.”

Should he not win re-election, does he have any plans? “No, there is no plan. My plan is to work my ass off and win.” , Read more of Leo Adam Biga’s work at leoadambiga. wordpress.com.

NOV 4&5 ONLY!

CenturyLink Center Box Office 800-745-3000 ticketmaster.com | THE READER |

OCT. 30 - NOV. 5, 2014

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hen singer-songwriter Orenda Fink sings, it’s easy to get lost in the emotion she is so vibrantly feeling. In a way, it transports you to that same place she must have been when constructing the song. As an Omaha-transplant, Alabama native, former half of Azure Ray, and current wife of The Faint’s Todd Fink, her immersion in the craft is undeniable. She lives and breathes music one note at a time. Her latest solo effort, Blue Dream, is more evidence of her evolution as an artist. For this one, she reached deep inside to pull out some of her most personal lyrics to date. The album revolves around the death of her beloved dog of 16 years, Wilson, and her exploration of her subconscious as she searches for answers to her questions about death itself. Prior to writing Blue Dream, Fink endured what

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she called her “lost year,” a trying time when she was suffering from an intense depression stemming from Wilson’s death. During this period, she sought out a psychotherapist who suggested keeping a dream journal. In this journal, she explored her dreams every day for a year. It was essential to walk through the grief she felt after Wilson’s death, something that was very challenging for her.

“It was hard on me even before he died,” Fink explains. “I had him for 16 years and I loved him a lot.

As he started getting older, I started having this anxiety. I realize this now that I always had this low running anxiety that he was going to die. I didn’t want him to die. I remember saying stuff like, ‘I don’t want him to die’ or ‘I’m not going to let him die. If he dies, I will die.’ It would really worry Todd [laughs].

| THE READER |

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“There was even a point when we lived in Los Angeles when we took him to the vet and he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure,” she continues.

“He lived four years after he was diagnosed. I was crying and crying and crying. They said dogs can live for years with it. I asked the vet if there was a support group where you could go for pet loss. And she goes, ‘Yes, but it’s usually after the dog dies [laughs].’ I told Todd and he was dying laughing so that became a running joke. In hindsight, I didn’t want to lose him, but there was something bigger about the fear and death in general; a fear of not being able to control death.”

When Wilson finally did pass away, she had an awakening she wasn’t quite prepared for. She was left with a lot of questions that she didn’t have any

n The latest rendition of the Joslyn Castle Literary Festival is called Shadows at the Castle and focuses on life, works, and times of Bram Stoker.

Stoker is best known for his horror masterpiece Dracula, which was first published in 1897. The festival said the story was so significant because it was set “against a backdrop of late-Victorian industry and invention, burgeoning medical and scientific advancement, and volcanic social change. It is a wild story of vampirism, romance, mysterious folklore, dark gothicism and strange science fiction that has captivated the human imagination with unrelenting fervor since its first publication, spawning over 700 films and never going out of print.”

This led the festival to ask, “What about this dark tale has held our fascination for so long? How was Stoker’s story a window into his own time, and how is it still pertinent today?”

The festival seeks to explore and maybe answer some of those questions through a combination of drama, lecture, musical performance, film, as well as an exhibit by the Durham Museum at the Castle, and a Halloween night Vampire Ball.

Among the many festival events include: Durham Museum at the Castle: Vampires and Victorians - From now until Nov. 1, rarely-seen from the deep vaults of the Durham Museum and private collections will be on display for the general public. The exhibit features historic artifacts and images relating to Victorian funerary customs, the horror genre, Transylvanian folk art and lore, the changing role of the Victorian woman, and vampirism in pop culture.

Dracula: The Journal of Jonathan Harker - The one man Dracula adaptation tells the story of Jonathan Harker When he ascends his attic stairs to break the seal on his dusty journal of past experiences, he is swept into the heart of his harrowing tale of supernatural terror!

The Jewel of Seven Stars - Laura Leininger and crew draw the audience into a story of mystery and horror in readings inspired by Stoker’s 1903 novel about all things Egyptian and occult. Collector of Egyptian antiquities, Abel Trelawny, invites his guests to witness a Great Experiment: an ancient Egyptian religious ritual that will resurrect the corpse of Queen Tera.

Each of the two drama events will be presented together from now until the end of the month.

More information on all of the festival events can be found at www.joslyncastle.com.

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

answers to and this sent her spiraling into her “lost year.” As Fink continued this exploration into her subconscious and sorting through fears she had been holding on to for so long with her therapist, she was eventually able to start writing again.

“In the beginning, Wilson was alive and always happy and then he’d be in some kind of mortal danger,” she recalls. “At the end of the dream, I’d be kissing him and hugging him then I’d wake up and be sad again. continued on page 12 y

TOY DRIVE THE 12TH ANNUAL

FOR PINE RIDGE BENEFIT CONCERT Grand Marquis Too Slim & The Traildraggers Christy Rossiter & 112 North Duck

Friday,

Nov. 21

Admission $15 at door $10 in advance through BSO or OJB

Sokol Hall Grand Ballroom 2234 S. 13th St. Donations of new, unwrapped toys appreciated

www.ToyDriveForPineRidge.com | THE READER |

OCT. 30 - NOV. 5, 2014

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Mahler’s epic work for vocal soloists, chorus, and massive orchestral forces is a transcendent monument to

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y continued from page 10

Then it turned into dreams about me having to put him to sleep, which is what I had to do in real life. In those dreams, I kept repeating having to make the decision over and over again in weird manifestations. I think that’s when the grief healing started taking place.”

Once the Wilson dreams faded, however, dreams addressing the nature of life and death started to happen; a type of mortal consciousness. These were incredibly intense for Fink and one day, she asked her therapist how to make them stop.

“At the height of them, I was probably having six or seven extremely emotional, vivid dreams a night,” she says. “They were profound dreams. Suddenly, they got too intense and I had to ask them to stop. I had been thinking about death for a solid year. When I asked for them to stop, I went to bed that night and in my dream, I was in a pair of adult footie pajamas with pigtails riding a motor scooter that had a popcorn machine on it [laughs]. I woke up laughing so I thought, ‘something is getting my messages.’ Like, you want a light dream? Here’s a light dream [laughs].”

That was the day she knew her therapy for Wilson was over. The work she needed to do to get past the pain she was experiencing was done. She was writing songs again. In fact, she would stay inside her home and just write, and write and write. The result is Blue Dream, a nearly 40-minute manifesto of that arduous year set to ethereal sounding pop. With her husband’s encouragement and Saddle Creek Records’ support, Blue Dream came to life in a way Fink is extremely happy with. From lead single “Ace

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of Cups” to the very heartfelt ode to Wilson, “Poor Little Bear,” Fink lays it all out there in such a brutally sincere way it’s impossible not to hang on to every word she utters. While it’s a clear departure from her last folk-inspired solo effort, 2009’s Ask the Night, it’s the next chapter in Fink’s musical evolution and something she clearly had to do for closure on a difficult period in her life. The album came together at ARC Studios in Omaha with the help of producers Ben Brodin and Todd Fink (of course), and drummer Bill Rieflin (Ministry, Swans, R.E.M., King Crimson).

Her relationship with her husband is clearly a source of inspiration and when asked if they collaborate, there was no hesitation in her voice.

“That’s all we do [laughs],” she says. “I think our brains both are going and always thinking of some kind of scheme or project or something to do. It’s really great. I trust his taste a lot so he’s great to bounce things off of. I run everything by him first now just to hear what he thinks.”

Although Fink is from Alabama, she says Omaha is as much her home as Birmingham, Athens or even Los Angeles, where she still has many friends.

The team at Saddle Creek Records has always been a close-knit family and she is grateful to be a part of it.

For Fink, a chapter has been closed and she can now continue down a path of acceptance as she shares her pain, love, joy, and everything in between with the rest of us in the most beautifully honest way. , Orenda Fink, Nov. 1, at Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St., 9 p.m. Tickets are $8/ADV and $10/DOS. Visit www. theslowdown.com for more information.

Bruce Crawford presents a tribute to

Friday, November 7th, 7:00 p.m., Joslyn Art Museum Witherspoon Hall - on the stage-wide screen!

2200 Dodge St., Omaha, NE 68102 Tickets $23.00 on sale NOW at Omaha Hy-Vee grocery stores Doors Open at 6 p.m Limited tickets also available at the door

A Benefit for the Nebraska Kidney Association. For more information call 402-932-7200.

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8 DAYS

HALLOWEENevents Ghosts and ghouls come out to play on All Hallows Eve. Halloween night isn’t just for trick or treating and this year there are options for all of the superheroes, villains, comedic innuendos, aliens, decade beauties and kings and queens of the night. Where will you spend your ghostly evening in Omaha?

Check out these venues if you want to spend the night with your family for a bit of extra trick-or-treat fun: the Bass Pro Shop, Omaha Children’s Museum, Toddler Trick-or-Treat at Sump Memorial Library, Healthy Trick-orTreat at Natural Grocers West, Salvation Army Kroc Center, La Vista Community Center, Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, Echo Coffee Shop and Spot’s Halloween Party at Barnes and Noble Oakview. For more information go to the website above.

Perhaps you and your werewolf want to spend the night doing the monster mash and rock jams or participate in a costume contest with the other crazy vampires, Frankenstein’s and zombies of the city, then head over to one of the local bars. Here are just a few of your options: Garage Of Terror, the Joslyn Castle Vampyre Ball, The Boo Goo at Slowdown, Secret Weapon’s 8th Annual Halloween Bash at The Waiting Room and Halloween at the Bourbon Theatre. See, Halloween doesn’t have to be all about the trick-ortreat, make your pick or visit them all. If you dare! — Mara Wilson

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A WRINKLE IN TIME

Through Nov. 30

AN ILIAD

Brigit Saint Briget Theatre 1002 Dodge St. Fri- Sat: 7:30 p.m. Sun: 2 p.m.

Halloween: 8:30 p.m., Tickets $20-$25 bsbtheatre.com “Pride, honor, jealousy ... Aphrodite ... some game or other,” thus says The Poet seeking to unravel time, telling an immortal tale. He stands; he sits; he paces, underscored by The Sage plucking, strumming, bowing a glowing bass. They delve into the folly of the Gods and of humans immersed in the gore of the Trojan War. They remind us: men killing men is an eternal curse. So proceeds An Iliad, Homer’s story vivified in the present, developed and adapted by Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare, from Robert Fagles’ translation of The Iliad. Mark Bennett’s music is explored by Max Stehr and the main thrust of the text comes to life as spoken by Daniel Dorner. Cathy Kurz is the director.

“Explosive, altogether breathtaking... with touches of the most caustic dark humor suddenly shifting into unimaginable pathos.” Hearken to those words from the Chicago Sun-Times, daring you to bear witness.

The Trojan War is evoked anew in Brigit Saint Brigit’s space with a contemporized version

by Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare, from Robert Fagles’ translation of Homer’s The Iliad. Daniel Dorner is the prime story teller while Max Stehr walks the string bass and talks the talk. — Gordon Spencer

| THE READER |

WEDNESDAY5 TENNIS WITH PURE BATHING CULTURE

SATURDAY1 Through Nov. 16

A WRINKLE IN TIME

The Rose Theater, 2001 Farnam St. Fri: 7 p.m. Sat: 2 & 5 p.m. Sun: 2 p.m.

Nov. 2: 2 & 5 p.m., Tickets $18 rosetheater.org The Wrinkle is a fifth-dimensional phenomenon leading to a fold in the fabric of space and time. In Madeleine L’Engle’s famed ground-breaking tale, three children go on an adventure exploring black and white dimensions of good and evil accompanied by benign supernatural beings. Searching for Meg’s vanished scientist father, a sinister force, thriving on planets about which they’ve never heard, threatens the children and all humankind. Fortunately, Meg’s five-year-old genius

TENNIS

picks

brother Charles can do and see things to leap beyond the bounds of normal human limitations. L’Engle’s deep religious faith underpins her writing. And she explored new literary territory by putting a girl at the core of a science-fiction tale for children. Playwright John Glore, with many scripts of his own, adapted the book for the stage. The Rose points out that this uninterrupted hour’s experience is best for children above the age of seven. — Gordon Spencer

The Waiting Room Lounge 6212 Maple St. 9 p.m., Tickets $12 onepercentproductions.com

Tennis started off as a joke in 2011 and has morphed into something much more than that. Husband and wife duo Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley originally met in college while studying philosophy, presumably fell in love, took off on a sail boat for seven months down the Eastern Atlantic Seaboard, came back to their home base of Denver, and started a band. Boom. Done.

They’re on Fat Possum Records and Patrick Carney of The Black Keys is producing their music. It seems simple, right? Things got a little more complicated over the last year or so when they decided to leave Fat Possum for Communion and work with Spoon’s Jim Eno. Soon those whimsical, surf-pop songs they so lovingly embraced became a little rougher around the edges.

The result is Ritual in Repeat, a nod to ‘60s and ‘70s pop music, which Tennis is currently touring around North America. —Kyle Eustice

eventcalendar For more information about these events and more, go online to:

www.thereader.com/events

Upload your events online at thereader.com/events Questions: listings@thereader.com ONGOINGCULTURE Joel Hauschild - On the Trail - Outdoor Photography - 2:00 pm | Free Howlin Hounds Coffee Specializing in the beauty of our American west, this self-taught photographer maintains the fundamentals of years of traditional landscape photography, forgoing the inclination of modern overproduction. Runs through Nov. 12th.

The Whipping Man - 7:30 pm | $16-$36 Omaha Community Playhouse At the end of the Civil War, Caleb, a wounded Jewish Confederate soldier, finds his parents’ ruined home, but his family has fled, leaving their former slaves, Simon and John, to care for the property. This drama weaves a complex web of revelations that bond this family.

Intended for mature audiences.

Mickey & Sage - 8:00 pm | $10-$15 The Shelterbelt Theatre Mickey’s dad and Sage’s mom are really, really good friends. So every day after school, the two kids are forced to play together in Sage’s tightly fenced-in backyard while the parents are ‘hanging out.’ They spend endless hours rationalizing adult behavior, making sense of the cosmos and spying on their disturbing neighbors.

Time Stands Still - 7:30 pm | University of Nebraska-Lincoln Sarah and James, a photojournalist and a foreign correspondent, are trying to find happiness in a world that seems to have gone crazy. Theirs is a partnership based on telling the toughest stories, and making a difference.

A Wrinkle In Time - 2:00 & 5:00 pm | $0-$18 The Rose Performing Arts Center It’s a ‘dark and stormy night’ when the very strange Mrs. Whatsit comes to see Meg with frightening news: her father, a gifted scientist, has been kidnapped!

Meg embarks with her brother, Charles Wallace, and their friends on a dangerous quest traversing time and space to rescue her dad from evil forces on another planet. Travel with Meg on this remarkable adventure through the fifth dimension with this imaginative adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s award-winning story.

Digital Hands - All Day | Free Creighton University Lied Art Gallery The Creighton University Lied Art Gallery will host Ceramic 3D Printing artists John Balistreri and Greg Pugh’s ‘Digital Hands’ art exhibition Oct. 31 - Dec. 7. A reception will be held from 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Friday, Oct. 31.

Pugh will give an artist lecture from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., on Nov. 7, in the Epply Building, Room 115.

Freakshow - 7:30 pm | $30 Apollon Join us for death defying feats and unimaginable horrors as our artists recreate one of the most exciting and terrifying experiences from days gone by - the circus freakshow. It’s a unique evening of themed food, performance, and art including fortune telling, make-your-own voodoo dolls, contortion, and fire eating. Encore Performance, Saturday, Nov. 1st Dinner menu: Abracadabra Salad Candied walnut and apples on a bed of mixed greens with a zesty dressing Fire Eaters Entree Bread bowl with andouille sausage & chicken, red beans, and rice. Dare Devil Grand Finale Chocolate devil’s food cupcake filled with caramel and peanuts, topped with chocolate ganache and Snickers.

Katie Frisch - All Day | Free Fred Simon Gallery Textile artist Katie Frisch, of Lincoln, exhibits her latest works in this solo show.

Walking with Dinosaurs - 7:00 pm | $29.50$71.50 CenturyLink Center Omaha Internationally renowned designers have worked with scientists to create 20 life-size dinosaurs, including the terror of the ancient terrain, Tyrannosaurus rex!

Be amazed and thrilled as the greatest creatures ever to walk the earth return before your eyes.

It’s a dazzling $20,000,000 arena spectacle of unprecedented size and quality set to captivate young and old alike. Marvel at the story of their 200 million year domination of life on earth.

Watch them walk. Hear the roar. Be there as they fight for survival and supremacy. From the ripple of their skin to the glint in their eye, you will know the dinosaurs really are back.

THURSDAY OCT 23

Bread & Jam - 1:00 pm | Free Western Historic Trails Smooth Jazz Thursdays w/Chad Stoner 6:30 pm | Free Ozone Lounge Reggae Night - 8:00 pm | Free The Hive Lounge

Night of the Witch - 7:00 pm | Free House of Loom On the eve of Halloween, come early for new wave favorites alongside the monthly Omaha Vegan Drinks meet-up. Stay late for magical electronic melodies. Spellbinding Spins by Cemetary Gates & 99golems 21+ after 9pm / no cover An Evening with David Sedaris - 7:30 pm | $49 Holland Performing Arts Center Comedian and best-selling author David Sedaris returns to Omaha with his sardonic humor and incisive social critique. Sadaris’ unique standup style, with wickedly witty observations is guaranteed to deliver insights and laughs. Tickets start at $49 Alton Brown Live! - 7:30 pm | $49.25-$129.25 Orpheum Theater-Omaha With his upcoming tour, Alton Brown Live! The Edible Inevitable Tour, Alton Brown brings his brand of quirky humor and culinary-science antics to the stage. The ninety minute show is a unique blend of stand up comedy, food experimentation, talk show antics, multimedia lecture, and, for the first time...live music.

Audience interaction is strictly enforced throughout the evening though; if you’re called upon as a culinary assistant, you’ll definitely want to take the lab coat Brown offers as things tend to get messy. Brown has worked his weird magic on live audiences across the nation for over a decade but this is the first time he’s actually hit the road with a live tour. The entire family will have a blast, especially as you sing along with Brown’s soon to be hits ‘Airport Shrimp Blues’ and ‘TV Cookin Ain’t Like No Other Cookin’.

Live Jazz Pianist Mark Misfeldt - 7:30 pm | Free The Omaha Lounge Happy Hour from 4pm to 7 pm and 10pm to Midnight.

Abba Mania - 8:00 pm | $15 The Slowdown Omaha Featuring a special concert presentation, which celebrates the music of ABBA in a respectful and enjoyable way, reviving special memories of when ABBA ruled the airwaves. ABBA MANIA brings ABBA fans old and new a night not to be missed. If youre looking for an excuse to party, reminisce or simply be entertained by the best music ever, then ABBA MANIA is for you! Join in and enjoy all of your favourites including: Mamma Mia, Voulez Vous, Dancing Queen, Winner Takes It All, Super Trouper and many more. So dig out those platforms, dust down those flares and thank ABBA for the music.

Live Bandaoke with Sh*thook - 9:00 pm | Free Duffy’s Tavern Lincoln Come sing your favorite songs with a band backing you as you belt out the tunes.

Bennie and the Gents - 9:00 pm | $7 The Waiting Room Lounge Bennie and the Gents return to Transexual Transylvania for their second Rocky Horror and Hedwig and the Angry Inch themed Halloween Show at The Waiting Room Lounge.

Expect plenty of Rocky and Hedwig along with glam rock hits from the 70’s including Lou Reed, David Bowie, Queen, T-Rex, The Sweet, The Runaways, Iggy Pop many more. It will be a bit of a mind flip.

Durty Thursday - 9:00 pm | Free Bar 415 21+ Comedy Stiles Open Mic - 10:00 pm | Free Stiles Public House Freestyle Battles/Ladies Night - 7:00 pm | $5 The Underground Bar & Grill Structured Chaos - 8:00 pm | Free Backline Improv Theatre

FRIDAY OCT 31

Garage Of Terror - 6:30 pm | Free will donation Garage Of Terror Crawl, Fly or Creep on over to the Garage Of Terror. Bring a few friends or just yourself if you’re brave enough. Disguise yourself in your best costume or come as you are and be prepared to be scared so come if you dare.

Vampyre Ball - 7:00 pm | $30 for Castle Members, $40 GA Joslyn Castle The Vampyre Ball will be the party to end all parties this Halloween. Enjoy the night in the perfectly crenellated confines of Joslyn Castle, surrounded by a bevy of vampire hosts and hostesses, tarot and palm readings, live performance, readings from the spookiest Bram lit, delectable food, exciting dance performance and a costume contest. Come to this divine dance party for the un-dead.

Live Jazz Pianist Kevin Lloyd - 7:30 pm | Free The Omaha Lounge Halloween Party - 9:00 pm | $5 Bar 415 21+ R Style - 9:00 pm | Free Arena Bar & Grill

Live Music - 9:00 pm | Free Horseshoe Council Bluffs Casino Boo Goo - 9:00 pm | $10 The Slowdown Omaha Omaha’s original hot mess, Goo was founded in 2007 at a time when the merging of indie rock and dance music was peaking. The frivolously themed dance party came out with a roar, churning out a new and fresh party scene. Goo was the catalystic-glue in Omaha that solidified a new generation of dancers. Founders Derek Pressnall (of the bands Tilly & The Wall, Flowers Forever, Icky Blossons) along with Todd Fink & Jacob Thiele (of The Faint & Depressed Buttons) threw parties that were completely focused on fun. No ego to the DJs skills, no telling what random corner of forgotten pop music they’d throw down, and definitely no telling what off-the-wall theme, decor and theatrics they’d manifest.

Secret Weapon’s 8th Annual Halloween Bash - 9:00 pm | $8 The Waiting Room Lounge Don’t miss out on what always ends up being one of our most fun shows of the year. Come out, dress up, drink on, let loose and have some fun. We will have a new batch of goodies plus a costume contest.

“Interrogated” - 10:00 pm | Free Backline Improv Theatre Arena: Champions vs. Challengers - 11:00 pm | Free Backline Improv Theatre Halloween at the Bourbon - 10:00 pm | $5-$10 The Bourbon Theatre Come celebrate Halloween with us and awesome music featuring FREAKABOUT!, Thirst Things First, Spooktacular Aerial Carnevil. Don’t miss it.

SATURDAY NOV 1

University of Nebraska Football - 7:00 pm | Free University of Nebraska-Lincoln Athletics Live Jazz and Blues Guitarist George Walker - 7:30 pm | Free The Omaha Lounge Jarrod Turner - 7:00 pm | Free Fox Hollow Coffee and Wine Bar Singer-songwriter, Jarrod Turner is an artist firmly rooted in American Roots music.

Jarrod combines country, rock and blues to form Modern-Vintage Roots Rock.

Masquerade Ball - 8:00 pm | The Hive Lounge Live Music - 9:00 pm | Free Horseshoe Council Bluffs Casino Orenda Fink - 9:00 pm | $8-$10 The Slowdown Omaha Throughout her time with Azure Ray and over the course of her solo career, Orenda Fink has never shied from exploring the darker edges of spirituality and the human condition. On her debut solo album Invisible Ones, Orenda explored traditional Haitian ritual and mysticism. She then followed that up with an examination of the Southern Gothic subconscious on Ask the Night.

Needless to say, death has been visible in much of her music. On her latest album, Blue Dream, she looks deeply at the subject, reflecting upon a year-long meditation on death that started with a dog named Wilson and the words of Laurie Anderson. That year she found herself on a deeply personal search for the meaning of death. Pieces of answers, coded in riddle, came to her in dreams.

Her dreams began to tell a story - about life and death and the afterlife, reality, and the fine line between the conscious and subconscious world.

The Matt Wallace Fusion Force - 9:00 pm | Free Harney Street Tavern Matt Wallace began playing the alto saxophone at the age of 10 because ‘W’ was at the end of the alphabet and every other instrument was taken. He played his first professional gig with the popular big band ‘Resurrected Swing’ at age 13 on baritone saxophone and it was jazz clubs by night, junior high by day.

At 16 he appeared on the front page of the daily’s entertainment section with Dizzy Gillespie.

Bourbons Scary Skeleton Soiree - 10:00 pm | $5-$10 The Bourbon Theatre G & G Smoke Shop presents Massive Beats and Bass at the Bourbon! Featuring DJs: SharkWeek, Buckhunter, Trill Ferrell and String Theory Music plus special lighting design by Temperature0 Productions aka Craig Mustard.

SUNDAY NOV 2

Healing Tender Hearts - 11:30 am | Free Stinson Park, Aksarben Village Eat Healthy - Stay Fit Zumba Fitness Takeover. Have fun while working the cardio.

MasterSingers Soup, Sip, and Song Fall Fundraiser - 5:30 pm | $25 per person or $40 for two people, cash or check The Arboretum This is the annual fall fundraiser for the MasterSingers of Omaha. Price of admission include beverages, soup, bread, and dessert. Wine and beer will be served. Members of the MasterSingers will provide entertainment throughout the event. Reservations are required and can be made in advance to mastersingersomaha@gmail.com.

Salsa Sundays - 7:00 pm | $5 House of Loom Jay Leno - 7:30 pm | $57-$119.50 Orpheum Theatre Sioux City Acclaimed TV late night show host, admired stand-up comedian, best-selling children’s book author, much-in-demand corporate speaker, lovable TV and movie voice-over artist, pioneering car builder and mechanic, and philanthropist it’s no wonder that Jay Leno has always been widely characterized as ‘the hardest working man in show business.’

Chamber Singers - 7:30 pm | Free Sheldon Museum Of Art The University Chamber Singers will present ‘BLESSINGS OF BLUE’, the first concert in their Sheldon Museum of Art 2014-2015 Concert Series.

Live Jazz and Blues Pianist Ray Williams 7:30 pm | Free The Omaha Lounge Mary Lambert with Jillette Johnson - 8:00 pm | $17-$20 The Waiting Room Lounge Luigi, Inc. - 9:00 pm | Free Mr. Toad’s Pub Omaha Breathe Carolina - 9:00 pm | $18-$20 The Slowdown Omaha Since first bursting on to the scene in 2008, Breathe Carolina has struck an inimitable alchemy between electronic music and rock, vaulting them continually ahead of the curve and into a lane of their own.

MONDAY NOV 3

Live Jazz Guitarist Matt Thiem - 7:30 pm | Free The Omaha Lounge Concahnce with Black Jonny Quest, Kethro, & Dojorok - 9:00 pm | $5 The Waiting Room Lounge Open Mic - 9:00 pm | Free Barley Street Tavern Sign up at the bar after 7pm.

Monday Night Comedy - 9:00 pm | Free Duffy’s Tavern Lincoln

TUESDAY NOV 4

Artist Reception - 5:30 pm | Cover Charge Connect Gallery In This Moment - 7:00 pm | $25 Sokol Auditorium Change. Some people welcome it. Others resist it. Some seek it out. Others fear the unknown.

Sometimes it happens beyond our control. Whatever ones mindset, change is inevitable. The challenge comes with how we face it and deal with the consequences. For vocalist Maria Brink and guitarist Chris Howorth, the duo at the heart of In This Moment, change came unexpectedly when they found themselves rebuilding the walls around their foundation. Stripped down to their essence, the core of In This Moment is on fire with their fourth album, aptly titled Blood.

Science Cafe and Pub Quiz - 7:00 pm | Free The Slowdown Omaha Science Cafes involve a face-to-face conversation with a scientist about current science topics. They are open to everyone (21+). For the pub quiz gather up a team of 5 or less people and get ready to have your wits tested with 40 questions from the Quiz Masters.

Live Jazz and Blues Guitarist Ron Cooley 7:30 pm | Free The Omaha Lounge Amon Amarth: Deceiver of The Gods Tour - 8:00 pm | $20 The Bourbon Theatre Not many bands can claim their ninth album as the most powerful, dynamic, and downright aggressive of their career, but then Amon Amarth have consistently upped their game with every successive release. Having exploded onto the Swedish melodic death metal scene with 1998’s Once Sent From The Golden Hall every album has arrived bursting at the seams with power, melody and immersive storytelling centered around the richness of Norse mythology. Deceiver Of The Gods captures the quintet at the peak of their powers.

WEDNESDAY NOV 5

Live Jazz Pianist Ben Tweedt - 7:30 pm | Free The Omaha Lounge Ray’s Piano Party - 7:00 pm | Free Mr. Toad’s Pub Omaha The Werks vs. Zoogma - 9:00 pm | $12-$15 The Bourbon Theatre The Werks have quickly emerged as a national powerhouse. As a result of their eclectic individual influences, The Werks produce a dance party that can be appreciated by a majority of musical tastes. Known for fusing psychedelic shredding guitar, wailing organ of jam and classic rock with funk slap bass, synthesizers, and modern dance beats. Their unique style of performing is affected and manipulated by the energy of the audience, guaranteeing that each show will be different and memorable.

Comedy Open Mic - 10:00 pm | Free Barley Street Tavern

listings

| THE READER |

OCT. 30 -NOV. 5, 2014

15

BY B.J. HUCHTEMANN

2 Headed Dogs & Vampyres

U

Pioneer Publishing, the parent company of El Perico and The Reader, has co-working space available near the heart of South Omaha for creative professionals looking for a great work atmosphere for as little as $75/ month, including internet service. Perfect studio space available for the right person.

Please contact Clay Seaman, clays@thereader.com or 402-341-7323 x108 if you are interested.

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OCT. 30 - NOV. 5, 2014

| THE READER |

hoodoo

pcoming shows at The 21st Saloon include the funky blues of Biscuit Miller & The Mix Thursday, Oct. 30, 6-9 p.m. Highenergy showman Miller is the 2012 Blues Music Award Winner for Bassist of the Year. See biscuitmiller.com.

Performing Thursday, Nov. 6, is the Jeff Jensen Band, a 2014 nominee for Blues Blast Magazine’s Sean Costello Rising Star Award.

Blues Blast Awards The Blues Blast Magazine Music awards were held Oct. 23 in Champaign, Ill. Josh Hoyer was in attendance, nominated for the Best New Artist Debut Album. Shawn Holt & The Teardrops took home that Best New Artist Debut Award. See bluesblastmagazine.com for the list of winners.

13th Floor Halloween Veteran musicians Dave Robel, Allan Weber, Mike Keeling, Mark Simpkins and Brian Johnson are 2 Headed Dog. The band’s Halloween set list includes spooky songs from the iconic music catalog of zombies, aliens and spirits written by Austin’s famous punk-pop-rocker Roky Erickson.

Their name comes from one of Erickson’s songs. See rokyerickson.net and facebook.com/2headeddog.

They play Friday, Oct. 31, 5-7 p.m. at Lincoln’s Zoo Bar and again after 9 p.m. with Red Cities.

Cramps Stomp Reverb Lounge hosts a dance party

hoodoo

Thursday, Oct. 30, 9 p.m. with music inspired by The Cramps. DJ DeLux Ivy (Lunchbox Benny) & Surreal The MC present The Cramps Ultra Twist Soirée spinning Cramps’ platters along with other rockin’ roots music. Admission is $3.

Halloween Ball There’s no roots music involved but the Halloween event with arguably the most spine-tingling, spooky possibilities is the Vampyre Ball at the historic Joslyn Castle, Oct. 31, 7 p.m. It’s one of the concluding events of Jill Anderson’s Stoker Literary Festival celebrating Dracula literature and legends. General admission is $40 or $30 for castle members. See joslyncastle.com.

Sean Benjamin’s Services The Zoo Bar’s benefit for Sean Benjamin’s final expenses was reported to be a great success. The celebration of life for Benjamin is Monday, Nov. 3, 1 p.m., at St. Paul Methodist Church, 1144 M St., Lincoln. A musical gathering follows at Duggan’s Pub, 440 S. 11th St., 4 p.m. till closing.

Benjamin passed away of natural causes on Oct. 15, 2014.

Hot Notes California’s Life Leone hits Barley Street Tavern Saturday, Nov. 1, on his national tour. Leone’s jangly garage-Americana got its start when he met Kinks’ guitarist Nicky Hopkins. See lifeleone.com.

The electrifying blues of Brandon Santini is up at Lincoln’s Zoo Bar Wednesday, Nov. 5, and the raw roots-blues of Moreland & Arbuckle takes the Zoo stage Thursday, Nov. 6, both shows 6-9 p.m. ,

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

| THE READER |

OCT. 30 - NOV. 5, 2014

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15th Annual Heartland Latino Leadership Conference

www.heartlandlatino.org

Octavio A. Hinojosa Mier HLL is honored to present Mr. Octavio A. Hinojosa Mier, Executive Director of the National Hispanic Corporate Council (NHCC), at this year’s conference. Octavio is responsible for providing day-to-day leadership, vision, & strategic direction in growing the organization's membership within Fortune 1000 corporations. Octavio is widely recognized for his vision & leadership in promoting the U.S. Hispanic community as a strategic partner for both domestic & international stakeholders. Join us on Tuesday, November 18th for an exciting panel with Octavio Hinojosa Mier!

Welcome Reception Monday, November 17, 2014, 5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Guaca Maya restaurant, 5002 S 33rd St, Omaha, NE 68107 Free & Open to the Public Professional Conference Tuesday, November 18, 2014, 7:00 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Embassy Suites, 12520 Westport Pkwy, La Vista, NE 68128 Must Register to Attend: http://www.cvent.com/d/54qv0d 18

OCT. 30 - NOV. 5, 2014

| THE READER |

overtheedge LIFESTYLE COLUMN BY TIM MCMAHAN

Searching for Latte in North O

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e drove north along 72nd Street headed to Ames Avenue where we took a right and sped into the heart of North Omaha on a sunny Sunday afternoon. The purpose: To snap photographs of a building just listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

It being 3 p.m., we both felt a jolt of coffee was in order. There is no better pick-me-up than a cold latte on a warm afternoon. I took out my trusty iPhone in an effort to track down the coordinates of a nearby Scooters, Starbucks and/or Blue Line equivalent by typing the word “coffee” into my Google Map. Zing.

Zap. Snap. Spin. The only result on my phone’s screen-map was our blue location dot, slowly moving to the right. Odd. So I opened Yelp and searched the “coffee and tea” category, but got the exact same result. Nothing. The nearest coffee was located way over in the Slowdown complex. Though it is nearly impossible to drive 100 yards in any other part of Greater Omaha without tripping over a coffee kiosk, there didn’t appear to be a single coffee outlet anywhere throughout the entirety of North Omaha other than a McDonald’s. How is that possible?

It is here where I stop writing and reread what I’ve just written and realize it is the epitome of First World Problems or White Whine.

Here we were, driving through neighborhoods where yellow abandonment signs and broken windows appear alongside election yard signs, driving in a 2014 Subaru with the satellite radio blaring classic New Order and our chief complaint was that the nearest Scooter’s drivethrough was located on the other side of town.

Certainly there are more pressing matters in North Omaha than the lack of quality coffee options. I get that. Just finding somewhere to buy groceries in North O can be a challenge. When a new Walmart opened on Ames Avenue, it was hailed as a salvation of sorts for the neighborhood. Compare that to the four grocery stores between Northwest Radial Highway and Center Street huddled along Saddle Creek Road.

What else is missing from North Omaha? What other retail options do we take for granted living in midtown that are scarce along north 30th Street? And why? Doesn’t everybody drink coffee?

Clearly people in North O spend money, but there’s a reason everyday businesses have avoided the area.

Are they afraid they can’t make a profit, or are they afraid of something else? If it’s something else, why is that fear allowed to exist when it wouldn’t be tolerated in any other part of the city?

I’m not a politician. I don’t know the answers.

I don’t know if anybody does. But in this political season where we are bombarded with one political commercial after another, I’ve yet to hear a single politician express any ideas about improving areas of Omaha that are in need of redevelopment.

The closest I’ve seen was a recent commercial by one of the gubernatorial candidates lauding how he gave money to keep a North Omaha catholic grade school open, while the same commercial labeled the neighborhood the school resides in as “one of the worst parts of town.” Some of the residents of that neighborhood complained about the characterization. The candidate pulled the commercial.

No one wants to be told they live in one of the worst parts of town. But was the characterization wrong? The person in the ad who made the statement (not the candidate) at least (probably) lives in the neighborhood.

The fact is, the voters targeted in that commercial probably haven’t stepped foot in North Omaha in years and have no idea what it’s like other than how the millionaire running for governor has characterized it.

The rest of Omaha always has closed its eyes to North Omaha. Despite the constant reporting of drive-by shootings and random acts of violence that plague that area, North Omaha might as well be in another state instead of a 10-minute drive from wherever you’re reading this right now. If we don’t drive through it, it doesn’t exist. Out of sight, out of mind. Call it racism. Call it apathy. Call it willful ignorance.

I would tell you to take a drive through North Omaha and see for yourself, but I know a lot of you are too afraid. You’re afraid you’ll get shot at or attacked or car jacked. I can say with a great deal of confidence that none of that is going to happen.

Just like the rest of the city, there are some scary parts of North Omaha. And there are some amazingly beautiful parts of North Omaha. The scary parts will never become beautiful until someone does something about it.

Who will it be? An ambitious politician with vision that goes beyond his or her own neighborhood? Don’t hold your breath. The fact is, people are doing amazing things to improve North Omaha right now. You’re just not hearing about it. It’s easier to simply believe the stereotype.

But there’s still a lot of work to do before businesses we take for granted start looking at North Omaha as a viable place to launch a commercial venture. A lot of broken glass still needs to be swept up; a lot of abandoned buildings need to be torn down. The shootings have to stop, and the politicians have to quit labeling it as the worst part of town. Maybe then I’ll be able to buy a latte along Ames Avenue. ,

OVER THE EDGE is a weekly 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. And be sure to check out his blog at Lazy-i.com

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over the edge

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| THE READER |

OCT. 30 - NOV. 5,10/24/14 2014

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4:48 PM

newsoftheweird

T H E WO R L D G O N E F R E A K Y B Y C H U C K S H E P H E R D W I T H I L LU S T R AT I O N S B Y T O M B R I S C O E

Eye of the Beholder

T

he Osiligi Maasai Warrior choir, from Kenya, in ornate, mystifying native costumes and uncalled-for headdresses, happened to be touring the U.K. this fall, coinciding with the recent Paris Fashion Week in which the most celebrated designers from the “developed” world exhibited their wares, which often seemed as excessive as the Maasais’. Examples: Rei Kawakubo’s “Blood and Roses,” a red KKK-type swaddling robe with face-obscuring, pointy hood. Sarah Burton’s skirt of oversized petals, accessorized with skull cap and chin strap. Junya Watanabe’s dress with huge plastic puff sleeves of red and blue -- and vinyl see-through helmet. Julie de Libran’s gown with earmuff-like chest coverings. The week ended with a street march of “Chanel girls” (most, Caucasian) dressed as garishly as the African Maasais. (Bonus: Some designers delightfully offered explanations of their often-inexplicable works.)

Government in Action Oops: The Rural Municipality of Hanover, Manitoba, has prohibited alcohol sales for more than a century -- or at least that’s what everyone in the community believed as recently as 2006 when the last attempt was made to repeal the ban (and failed by 30 votes). However, town officials finally decided recently to research the prohibition (examining records back to 1880) and in July revealed, astonishingly, that no city bylaw exists making the town dry. At least one restaurateur is expected to start serving booze soon.

-- In August, Katja Kipping, the leader of Germany’s largest opposition party (the liberal Die Linke), proposed to grant all welfare families a cash voucher of the equivalent of about $640 in order to allow each a summer vacation. “For me,” she said, “the holidays

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OCT. 30 - NOV. 5, 2014

| THE READER |

weird news

of my childhood are among the most beautiful memories,” and she is saddened that “3 million children this summer cannot experience what a holiday means.”

Wait, What!

In October in Gresham, Oregon, a 21-year-old man openly carrying a handgun he had just bought was robbed, at gunpoint, the same day. According to the police report, the robber apparently thought the victim’s gun was nicer than his own: “I like your gun. Give it to me.”

-- New World Order: In September, Dr. Sean Perry of the Marathon (Florida) Veterinary Hospital saved the life of Buttercup, an orange tabby who needed blood -- by giving him a transfusion from a West Palm Beach dog blood bank. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, 62 cats have been known to receive such “xenotransfusions,” and cats are apparently the only animals (besides dogs) that can safely process dog blood.

Too Much Information Pauline Chai and her estranged husband, Khoo Kay Peng (a Laura Ashley executive), are battling in a London courtroom in a very expensive divorce, with the current issue to determine whether the English judge has jurisdiction instead of courts in the couple’s native Malaysia. In the course of bringing the British judge up to date, Chai casually described how she has supported her husband’s relentless nature -- by revealing that he would do copious amounts of work (for four hours at a time) at home while sitting on the toilet.

Khoo “got backache there,” she said, “so I got the idea of (a) padded toilet seat” for him.

Leading Economic Indicators The former chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, revealed at an October conference in Chicago that even though his post-government income will be several times what he earned as Fed chairman,

COPYRIGHT 2014 CHUCK SHEPHERD. Visit Chuck Shepherd daily at NewsoftheWeird. blogspot.com or NewsoftheWeird.com. Send Weird News to WeirdNewsTips@yahoo.com or P.O. Box 18737, Tampa, FL 33679. Illustrations by Tom Briscoe (smallworldcomics.com).

he was nonetheless rejected recently when he tried to refinance his Washington, D.C., home. Mortgage-lending is so highly computerized, he was told, dictated by formulas, that he apparently got caught in an algorithm. Despite a probably seven-figure book contract and six-figure public speeches, he is no longer “employed” in a steady job, which apparently caused a computer program to signal him as too risky.

Cries for Help -- Victor Thompson, 46, arrested in St. Petersburg, Florida, in October for possession of the synthetic marijuana called Master Kush Spice (which he insisted is legal in his native New Hampshire), is apparently an out-of-control New England Patriots’ fan -- having tattooed his entire bald head with a painstaking replica of quarterback Tom Brady’s helmet.

The attention to detail on the authentic design and colors is remarkable, including subtle add-ons such as the American flag, NFL logo and helmet manufacturer (“Riddell”). Not only is Brady’s “12” properly placed, so is the green dot identifying the “helmet” as radio-ready for messages from the sideline.

-- Police in Minneapolis arrested Nicholas Mullenmaster, 38, in October as the man who inexplicably flushed nails and other pieces of metal down toilets of several restaurants since August, causing “thousands of dollars” in damage. In most incidents, two to three pounds of nails clogged the toilets, requiring plumbing repair charges of up to $1,000 each, but at one Starbucks, a wall had to be removed.

Although witnesses and surveillance video seemed to identify Mullenmaster as the culprit, he denied any involvement, and thus no motive for the toilet attacks has emerged.

-- A Duck With Issues: After days of looking weary and walking lopsidedly, “Ducka,” the pet muscovy, finally gave owner Vicki Hicks of Sydney, Australia, a clue to its behavior by coughing up a nail. Veterinarian Hamish

Baron of the Avian Reptile and Exotic Animal Hospital ordered an X-ray, which revealed a small toolbox’s worth of nails, screws and washers in Ducka’s belly. The items had to be removed, one by one, in surgeries totaling five hours.

Dr. Baron told Sydney’s Daily Telegraph in October that though birds are attracted to shiny objects, Ducka’s case was severe.

Least Competent Criminals Two men ran out the door of a closed-forthe-night Houston Family Dollar store on Oct. 7 -- empty-handed, after a failed theft attempt. According to the surveillance video, one man had removed items from a bottom shelf while the store was still open, and crawled behind the shelf space just before his partner came by and restocked the shelf (thus hiding his buddy). The partner then made a purchase and left. After the last employee had closed up around 11 p.m., the “hidden” (and extremely patient!) man crawled out, surely intending to let his partner in and start snatching things, but the “hidden” man was only able to take a few steps before a motion-detector sounded an alarm, and both men fled on foot (not even bothering to grab an item or two on the way out).

A News of the Weird Classic (February 2010) Unless Stephen Gough, 50, changes his mind about wearing pants, he risks spending the rest of his life behind bars, according to a January (2010) ruling of Scotland’s Perth Sheriff ’s Court. Gough, Britain’s “naked rambler,” is a freelance nudist who for years has roamed U.K. countrysides, interrupted by numerous jail stints for violating public decency. He was released from Perth Prison in December (2009) after his latest stay, but seconds later shucked his clothes and was re-arrested. (In his most recent trial before that, Gough acted as his own lawyer and somehow persuaded an overly fair judge to let him be naked in court.) (Update: Gough has remained in character, having spent almost every day since this story was published incarcerated for violating a series of anti-social behavior orders requiring him to wear clothes in public.) ,

Upcoming Events Volleyball

Saturday, Nov. 1st, 6:00 PM vs.

Women’s Basketball Wednesday, Nov. 5TH, 7:05 PM vs.

Men’s Basketball Friday, Nov. 7TH, 7:00 PM vs.

For more information call or visit:

weird news

| THE READER |

OCT. 30 - NOV. 5, 2014

21

cuttingroom

J O H N

J

W I C K

A V E N G E S

ohn Wick killed three guys with a pencil.

John Wick is so good at killing, he had to bury his guns beneath a cement floor just so he wouldn’t keep murdering.

John Wick will shoot you in the face, even if his face is by your face. John Wick wants to shoot you in the face that much.

If you aren’t picking up on it, John Wick is ridiculous.

Directed by long-time stuntmen David Leitch and Chad Stahelski, it is exactly the sort of movie you would expect from long-time stuntmen: brutal, close-up fighting, nearly nonstop gunplay and the slightest story legally allowed. It’s giddy dumb and awesome stupid, the kind of movie where audiences feel free to audibly “ooh” and “ah” at the various ways John Wick reaps souls. Oh, and you can’t ever call him John or Wick. It’s John Wick. Every time.

There have been gossamer-plotted revenge movies, but John Wick lowers the bar even further. A former

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

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OCT. 30 - NOV. 5, 2014

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hitman nicknamed the Russian word for bogeyman, so named because he’s who you’d send to kill the bogeyman, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) quit mafia life for a lady. Then lady died. Sadface. Before she passed, she ordered John Wick a puppy to help him grieve. With lady dead, John Wick only loves his Mustang and his doggie.

At a gas station, a Russian punk (Alfie Allen) sees John Wick’s car and pup. He wants the car. John Wick says no.

So punk follows John Wick home, steals John Wick’s car and kills John Wick’s dog. You done messed up now, Russian punk! John Wick doesn’t care that Russian punk is the son of his former boss, mafia don Viggo (Michael Nyqvist). John Wick sets out to kill the entire Russian mob, while Viggo tries to get various hitpeople, including Marcus (Willem Dafoe) and Ms. Perkins (Adrianne Palicki), to save his Russkie hide.

Reeves can play two characters: confused and blank.

Literally, the only personality trait John Wick is said to have is “focus.” Calling John Wick a one-dimensional

S Y R E K

character is to round up from a quarter of a dimension.

But you don’t go see a movie like this to pull apart an intricate character, you go because “oh my God, John Wick killed that guy without looking at him while John Wick was killing that other guy.” It’s impossible not to marvel at the fluidity of the stunt work, the pace of the grappling and the variety in the action.

And yet, this isn’t the kind of film that encourages real-world violent thoughts. It’s the best kind of hyperviolence, in that it is joyfully unreal. Don’t laugh…movies like this are kind of like ballet. It’s a story told with bodies, punctuated with music and more concerned with a feel than plot progression. Leitch and Stahelski deliver what was promised: one relentless action sequence interrupted by people talking long enough to tell you what’s next. John Wick is comfortable being what it is, a rare trait these days. , GRADE = B

n We’ve been patient. But now, finally, we are getting the single most important product a movie ever promised us. Hendo Hover is determined to make real, usable hoverboards in 2015. You heard me. Marty McFly’s floating skateboard from Back to the Future is allegedly coming next year. I knew we had staved off the apocalypse to this point for a reason. n Oh snap! DC Comics and parent company Warner Bros. may be underachieving at the box office compared to the Marvel Comics goliath right now, but they just announced something that earns them mad props: They want the director of Wonder Woman to be─GASP─a woman! There is a certain degree of irony, in that the first major superhero blockbuster adaptation to be helmed by a woman started as a comic with S&M undertones, but still! Undoubtedly, Mimi Leder, Kathryn Bigelow and Lexi Alexander are being eyed, but I kind of hope a lesser known lady filmmaker gets the high-profile assignment in order to add another name to this way, way, way too short of a list. n Rumors launched this week after IMDB listed the running time of Ridley Scott’s upcoming Exodus: Gods and Kings as 200 minutes.

If you’re like me and think numbers are icky, I’ll tell you that’s almost three and a half hours long. The studio says the final cut will be around 140 minutes, but it’s unclear which is accurate.

All that has been confirmed is that this is going to be a long, long movie that features white people as Middle Eastern characters while minorities play slaves. What I’m trying to say is, I wasn’t about this crap anyway. n Director Jeremy Saulnier is following up his buzzy thriller, Blue Ruin, with something insane. Green Room is a movie about a young punk rock band who get trapped after seeing a horrible crime and must fight for their lives against a gang of white power skinheads.

Cool, right? You’re not ready… The leader of the skinheads will be played by Patrick Stewart. I only regret that I am not currently watching this movie.

—Ryan Syrek Cutting Room provides breaking local and national movie news … complete with added sarcasm. Send any relevant information to film@thereader.com. Check out Ryan on Movieha!, a weekly half-hour movie podcast (movieha.libsyn.com/rss), catch him on the radio on CD 105.9 (cd1059. com) on Fridays at around 7:30 a.m. and on KVNO 90.7 (KVNO.org) at 8:30 a.m. on Fridays and follow him on Twitter (twitter.com/thereaderfilm).

First-Run Films

Coming Soon

Halloween Screening

Pride First-Run

Birdman First-Run (R) Overnighters First-Run Force Majeure First-Run The Theory of Everything First-Run (PG-13)

Blood for Dracula 1974

Dir. Matthew Warchus.

Starts Friday, October 31 Inspired by the true Thatcher-era story of gay and lesbians who traveled to a remote village in Wales to support striking miners.

Dear White People First-Run (R)

Dir. Justin Simien.

Through Thursday, November 6

A biting social satire for the Obama age, this film follows groups of black students on college campus.

| THE READER |

film

Dir. Paul Morrissey.

Flesh for Frankenstein 1973

Dir. Paul Morrissey & Antonio Marghetti.

Friday, October 31, 7 & 9 pm

Met: Live in HD Bizet’s Carmen

Live: Saturday, November 1, 11:55 am Encore: Wednesday, November 5, 6 pm Presented with Opera Omaha.

Prelude Talk before live broadcast.

A ghoulish double feature of gory horror satires! See both for the price of one, or pick either.

Forever Young Welcome to the Space Show 2010 Dir. Koji Masunari.

November 1, 2, 6, 8, 9 & 13

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24/7 Customer Care 1(888) 634.2628 18+ ©2013 PC LLC 2562

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OCT. 30 - NOV. 5, 2014

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EARN OUR VOTE We change the status quo by voting for new energy.

Keystone XL will force farmers and ranchers to give up their land and risk our drinking water.

Clean energy builds communities and builds power.

PROVE THE NAYSAYERS WRONG. VOTE FOR NEW ENERGY ON NOVEMBER 4 th.

STAND UP AND SHOW OUR PIPELINE FIGHTING POWER AT THE POLLS.

GET YOUR VOTER GUIDE: WWW.NEVOTER.ORG PAID FOR BY NEW ENERGY VOTER PAC, A CROSS PARTISAN BLOC OF NEBRASKANS WHO GIVE A DAMN ABOUT LAND, WATER, CLEAN ENERGY AND STRONG COMMUNITIES. New Energy Voter PAC 207 S Burlington, Suite 324 Hastings, NE 68901