Arkansas Times

ARKANSAS’S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF POLITICS AND CULTURE ■ MARCH 9, 2011

www.arktimes.com

Kids’ Play SPRINGS ARTS GUIDES 2011: Art, Music, Movies, Theater

The Rep’s young artists headline the spring slate.

BY LINDSEY MILLAR PAGE 14

CONGRATULATIONS

TYRANNOSAURUS

CHICKEN!

2011 MUSICIANS SHOWCASE WINNER THANKS TO ALL THE FINALISTS:

The Year of the Tiger, Sea Nanners, Mandy McBryde and the Unholy Ghost, This Holy House THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS FOR DONATING PRIZE PACKAGES

www.arktimes.com

THE INSIDER Do as I say

We did some web-surfing this week on Teresa Oelke, the Arkansas director of Americans for Prosperity, the organization funded by the billionaire Koch brothers to advocate their low-tax, low-regulation gospel through Tea Party organizing. She’s one of at least three full-time workers for the Kochs in Arkansas now.

In the 2010 election, she ginned a steady stream of news releases against Democratic candidates for not opposing the Obama stimulus package. Typical Oelke quote: “It costs over $280,000 to create one stimulus job.”

Now a little more background on Mrs. Oelke, a Rogers resident. She’s the daughter of the founder of Crossland Construction Company, based in Columbus, Kan. She has identified herself in times past as an executive of the company. Her husband Tim is a vice president of the company.

Recent Crossland Construction work according to a cursory web search? A $3.75 million contract to build a fish hatchery in Neosho, Mo., with – yes! – Obama stimulus dollars. There’s also a $3.8 million elementary school in Fort Smith with – correct! – Obama stimulus dollars. In Oklahoma, a $2 million contract with – you guessed it, stimulus money! — for a health center. There’s more, but you get the idea.

Stimulating.

We called Oelke to talk, as she likes to do, about what the government is doing with your tax dollars. So far, no return call.

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In addition to promoting low taxes for rich people, Oelke has been working of late in opposition to legislation that would collect the state sales tax on Internet sales.

Strictly speaking, a use tax is owed on that merchandise already. The failure to collect it helps Internet merchants such as Amazon against in-state merchants that collect the sales tax, including on their web sales.

Arkansas grocers, retail merchants and Walmart are pushing the legislation to level the playing field. The Tea Party, with Oelke’s help, has other ideas.

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Rep. Ed Garner of Maumelle, the bakery owner who’s been in trouble with the state periodically for failure to remit sales taxes and who’s working to cut tax rates on the wealthy, seemed to demonstrate a lack of respect for another law the other day. He posted on his Facebook page: “Today, the bird seed pirating squirrels on the deck were introduced to a new product...the AirSoft pistol my daughter got me for Christmas. They kept looking back as if to say ‘What the heck?!’ A new sport is born...” After seeing his note on our Arkansas Blog, a reader looked up the relevant Continued on page 20

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www.arktimes.com • MARCH 9, 2011 3

Smart talk

Contents

Babe Ruth joins the parade

Hog crime

n Every year, Hot Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau, led by PR dynamo Steve Arrison, seems to add a new wrinkle to Hot Springs’ annual World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

For the upcoming eighth annual event on March 17, not only is there a celebrity grand marshal — “Sex in the City’s” John Corbett — there’s also an appearance by the “World’s Tallest Leprechaun”; a wreath ceremony to honor two-time Congressional Medal of Honor winner John King, an Irish American buried in Hot Springs; something called “Romancing the Stone” that involves “smooching the Arkansas Blarney Stone,” and an official measurement of a nearly century-old home run by Babe Ruth.

Baseball historian Bill Jenkinson will do the measuring in the Weyerhaeuser Corporation parking lot at 847 Whittington Avenue, site of the former Whittington Park baseball field. According to Jenkinson, Babe Ruth “altered the course of baseball history,” playing there with the Boston Red Sox during an exhibition game against the Brooklyn Dodgers on St. Patrick’s Day 1918. In the sixth inning, as Jenkinson writes on billjenkinsonbaseball.webs.com, Ruth “unloaded a stupendous drive to right field that passed so far over the fence that it landed across the street in an alligator farm. The blow was so amazing that even the Dodgers stood up and cheered. None of them had ever seen anybody hit a baseball with such astonishing force. It is likely…the longest that had ever been hit (to that time) in the history of baseball.”

n Arkansas football is ranked second in a new top 25 from Sports Illustrated and CBS. In this case, that’s not a positive thing. The report, available online and in the last week’s issue of Sports Illustrated, ranks football programs in Sports Illustrated’s 2010 preseason top 25 in terms of how many players had criminal records.

Arkansas’s team tied for second with Iowa’s with 18 players charged. But beyond breaking down numbers in the aggregate, the report didn’t distinguish between student athletes who were charged versus those who were convicted, nor did it distinguish the nature or severity of charges. That put Razorback players in a “misleading context,” according to a statement released by athletic director Jeff Long.

Among the 18 violations on the football team, Long said seven were traffic violations, three were for driving under the influence, five were for minor in possession of alcohol, two were for marijuana possession and one involved shoplifting.

Riding the CAT

BRIAN CHILSON

n As gas prices have gone up, so has ridership on the buses of Central Arkansas Transit Authority. Betty Wineland, executive director of CATA, said that ridership on the buses usually averaged around 8,500 trips a day, but in recent weeks, with gas prices well over $3 a gallon, ridership has averaged around 9,000 trips a day, and reached 9,577 on one day that the Authority measured. “Three dollars seems to be the price that will move people from their cars to public transportation,” she said. CATA business picked up when gas prices peaked around $4 a few years back, she said. Some of those riders went back to their cars when the price went down, but some have stayed with CATA, at least a couple of days a week, she said.

8 God, gays and

Harding

An anonymous zine created by current and former Harding University students about their experience as homosexual students provokes a swift reaction from the Church of Christ university in Searcy.

— By Gerard Matthews

10 Spring arts guide

A preview of the coming arts, film, music and theater seasons and a profile of The Rep’s young artists program.

— By Lindsey Millar, Leslie Newell Peacock, John Tarpley and Werner Trieschmann

26 Showcase recap

Genre-defying duo Tyrannosaurus Chicken is the winner in our annual battle of the bands. — By John Tarpley

DEPARTMENTS

3 The Insider

4 Smart Talk

5 The Observer

6 Letters

7 Orval 8-20 News

22 Opinion

26 Arts & Entertainment

36 Dining

39 Crossword/ Tom Tomorrow

46 Lancaster ON THE COVER: Mary Katelin Ward.

Words VOLUME 37, NUMBER 27

n Sheerly repellent: Your tax dollars at work, in the form of a news release from the secretary of state.

“Secretary Martin’s Office Reports ‘No Apparent Damage’ From Lightening Strike; Roofing Crew Repels Outside Capitol Dome” “Little Rock, Ark. — Secretary of State Mark Martin’s office confirms initial reports that last Thursday’s lightening strike on the Capitol dome did not cause any apparent damage to the building. Immediately following the storm, Capitol grounds crews surveyed the interior of the dome for damage, and today Butch Hyatt of Roberts-McNutt Waterproofing/Roofing repelled down the outside dome. “ ‘After our roofing expert repelled down the outside of the Capitol dome and we’re pleased to report there is no apparent 4 MARCH 9, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

Doug S mith doug@arktimes.com

damage to the building,’ Deputy Secretary of State Alice Stewart said. ‘Crews were looking for any cracks, holes or residue that would do further harm to the historical structure. It seems that due to the radius of the oval, the lightening sheared off the structure, causing no apparent damage to the building.’ ” Well, they did spell capitol right, though not much else. n “Melissa Doe was arrested Monday and charged with hindering the arrests

of Hiram Roe and his brother Joe Roe at the Greasy Spoon Restaurant. Police responded at 3 a.m. Feb. 25 to a report of a drunk and disorderly man at the restaurant. While attempting to arrest the brothers, Hiram Roe grabbed Hogtown officer Doris Doright’s baton and began striking her on the head ... ” Let’s see if I’ve got this straight. Hiram Roe was attempting to arrest himself and his brother — sounds drunk and disorderly, all right — when he grabbed Officer Doright’s baton and started hitting her on the head. No, this “news” item is just gibberish; it was the officer who was trying to arrest the brothers when one of them started hoisting her with her own petard. Some people nowadays seem to believe that as long as you get all the right words into the sentence, it doesn’t matter what order they’re in. But it does.

ARKANSAS TIMES (ISSN 0164-6273) is published each week by Arkansas Times Limited Partnership, 201 East Markham Street, 200 Heritage Center West, P.O. Box 34010, Little Rock, Arkansas, 72203, phone (501) 375-2985. Periodical postage paid at Little Rock, Arkansas, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to ARKANSAS TIMES, P.O. Box 34010, Little Rock, AR, 72203. Subscription prices are $42 for one year, $78 for two years. Subscriptions outside Arkansas are $49 for one year, $88 for two years. Foreign (including Canadian) subscriptions are $168 a year. For subscriber service call (501) 375-2985.

Current single-copy price is 75¢, free in Pulaski County. Single issues are available by mail at $2.50 each, postage paid. Payment must accompany all single-copy orders. Reproduction or use in whole or in part of the contents without the written consent of the publishers is prohibited. Manuscripts and artwork will not be returned or acknowledged unless sufficient return postage and a self-addressed stamped envelope are included. All materials are handled with due care; however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for care and safe return of unsolicited materials. All letters sent to ARKANSAS TIMES will be treated as intended for publication and are subject to ARKANSAS TIMES’ unrestricted right to edit or to comment editorially.

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he m!

Meet tim Sw Tea While the big-time pundits are going on about the loss of civility in America, The Observer has noticed a rise in what might be called commercial civility. (This habit of noticing the wrong things may be what has kept The Observer out of big-time punditry.) In recent weeks, The Observer has received birthday cards from both his dentist and his auto insurance agent, the first time he’s gotten birthday wishes from either of these sources.

Maybe it’s the economy.

Then The Observer underwent a medical procedure at a Little Rock hospital, and a few days later he received a handwritten thank-you note.

“Thanks for choosing the cath lab at ______,” it said. “Your cath team,” followed by the names of the three cathteam members.

This too was the first time The Observer had received such a communication, and the recent procedure was not The Observer’s first cath-lab rodeo.

He didn’t get anything from the doctor who procedured him, though.

The economy’s not that bad.

Speaking of civility, one of The Observer’s many deputies called in last week with a report from the halls of the Capitol building. There was an unpleasantness sparked by a bill that would require smaller towns to fluoridate water supplies.

It seems a House member supportive of the legislation found himself engaged in debate with an anti-fluoridation female by the elevator on the first floor. Finally, he’d had enough of her logic.

“You are a stupid motherf***er,” the lawmaker told the woman.

A man standing next to the woman jumped quickly to her defense, saying, “Did you just call my wife a stupid motherf***er?”

Sayeth the legislator: “If you’re with her, you’re a stupid motherf***er, too.”

As the story goes, a police officer happened to be standing nearby and separated the antagonists before physical mayhem occurred.

What the heck is in the water at the

state Capitol?

Sunday morning found The Observer right in the middle of roughly 5,000 others who gathered to run the Little Rock Marathon and half marathon.

For the second year, we were in the latter category.

There were a few things that set this race apart from last year’s. For one, it was downright chilly. The temperature, somewhere in the mid-30s, left us with purple hands by the end of the race. Last year’s weather was much better — sunny, maybe even hot.

For another, this year we ran the race as a member of the opposite sex.

No, The Observer did not have a recent operation. However, we did wait until it was too late to sign up for the event.

Instead of just joining in the run without paying, we found someone who was signed up, yet unable to attend, and bought her registration.

That we were buying a woman’s registration made absolutely no difference to The Observer. We just wanted to be counted among the ranks of those that braved the cold, all in the name of fitness, competition and possibly stupidity. Who cares if the name listed in the final results was our own or that of Jane Doe? Some things were exactly like they were last year, though. There were the throngs of cheering crowds (who will shout for you even though they really showed up to see their boyfriend, wife, daughter, son, mother or whoever), the friendly volunteers who hand out cups of Gatorade and water to parched runners, and the camaraderie of those legging it out, just trying to make it across that finish line.

When it was all said and done, we were curious to see how we stacked up against all the other women in the race.

Turns out we didn’t do that great (not bad, just not great). We came in closer to the bottom of the pack than the top — around 1,040 or so out of 1,723.

Males are taught since birth that, whatever happens, you can’t let the girls win. If that’s a true measure of manhood then The Observer is in trouble, because we let a lot of girls win on Sunday.

hols

Laura P. Nic

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www.arktimes.com • MARCH 9, 2011 5

Letters arktimes@arktimes.com

What culture?

The Times bills itself as “Arkansas’s weekly newspaper of politics and culture.”

Does it actually cover politics? You bet! It often is the first news medium to bring interesting connections to light. How about culture? Does it in fact cover the culture scene in Arkansas? Well, after a fashion.

Visual arts, film, drama, and pop music can always count on good publicity.

The Times helps sponsor the annual literary festival. Movies even get reviews. But classical music? Well, perfunctory treatment at best. And when did the Times last review a performance of classical music?

One gets the impression that classical music, despite the wealth of first-rate performers in central Arkansas and an avid audience, is the Times’ red-headed stepchild. Does the editorial staff think only Republicans enjoy classical music?

Bill Shepherd Little Rock

such properties.

I was not given notice that such an ordinance was being considered and therefore had no real opportunity to participate in the rationale, formation or enactment of the ordinance.

The letter informing me of this ordinance and its requirements does not make clear what management and or administrative benefits will accrue to me as a rental property owner, nor does it make clear to me how the funds accumulated by the city of Little Rock will be used to benefit me as such a property owner. Neither does the letter offer any explanation of the fee schedule relationship between single rent-

al property owners and multi-unit owners.

The ordinance does not make clear that any consideration was given to the relative property values of rental units being charged a fee. It is unfair to charge the same amount per unit on properties which are likely to have widely variant values.

I received two identical letters of billing on sequential days. Therefore, waste in the administration of this ordinance is already occurring, which causes me to question the capability of the administrators of this ordinance to use any funds collected in a wise and frugal manner.

Lois Meyer Little Rock

R

VICTIM INFORMATION AND NOTIFICATION EVERYDAY

Defends South Carolina I’m writing in response to the piece, “Don’t know much about history.” As a native South Carolinian now residing in Arkansas for three years, I chuckled at your first attack on South Carolina; however, your last comment, “We’re skeptical of any ranking in which South Carolina finishes first. Especially history,” was insulting and rude!

I’ll have you know, that as a product of South Carolina public schools, I learned South Carolina history in middle school and European, World and American history in high school. Furthermore, I distinctly recall history lessons embedded in my English, French and music classes.

While you may find it difficult to comprehend that South Carolina finished with an A ranking in this poll, I must say, I’m not the least bit surprised. I moved to the great Natural State to teach and I immediately realized that attitudes, by students, about learning are sickening and attitudes about teaching are outdated and unsatisfactory. Needless to say, I have since quit teaching and I refuse to teach again until I return to South Carolina.

You may have inserted the insults as light humor, but I’m someone who can personally tell you, Arkansas could stand some curriculum learnin’ from South Carolina!

Vanessa Chukwu North Little Rock

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Ordinance protest This is a formal protest of the recent Little Rock ordinance requiring rental property owners to register and pay an annual fee for being licensed to own and rent 6 MARCH 9, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

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This project was supported by Grant No. 2007VNCX0006 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the Office for Victims of Crime. Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the author and do not represent the official position or policies of the United States Department of Justice.

Taxing question In all of the fuss about the flagrant and routine corruption within the Little Rock National Airport management and commission, we seem to have missed the real story, which is, why would a donation to buy turf for the football field of a private religious school be tax deductible?

I would think that the Tea Twits would be on this question like flies at the doggie walk. What possible reason do we as taxpayers have to be subsidizing the cost of turf for a rather exclusive religious-based school’s football field? Is that field in any way open to the public for general parklike activities? If not, why are we being asked to help pay for it?

Maybe the Tea Twits are on to something with their demand to take a good look at our tax codes.

Herb Hawn Little Rock

Cottage food safe food?

There is a new law that allows certain food processing operations to be exempt from any Health Department regulations as long as the food is prepared in a person’s home. In other words, the home owner will not have to verify that the residence has an approved water source, hot and cold running water, hand-wash sinks, utensil sinks and adequate restroom facilities.

In the past, such food processing operations were required to meet Health Department regulations. I know this because I was an inspector for the department for 35 years.

It is true that the foods defined in the law and prepared in these facilities will not promote bacterial growth. What is not true is that these foods cannot make you sick.

These foods will make you sick if they become contaminated during processing, canning or packaging. Contamination is commonly caused by individuals not washing their hands after visiting the restroom and returning to the food preparation area, or by people placing a product on a surface that has been improperly cleaned after preparing other foods such as raw chicken. These foods can also be contaminated by a person with an active bacterial infection.

In a Feb. 25 article in the DemocratGazette, an attorney with the Health Department, Robert Brech, stated that, “farmers markets, municipalities or counties can have more restrictive cottage food product laws.” In other words, the Department won’t require compliance but local governments can.

I think a voluntary home inspection program conducted by Health Department personnel at no cost to the owner could reduce the possibility of causing food-borne illness.

Lex Dobbins Bryant

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THE WEEK THAT WAS MARCH 2-8, 2011 IT WAS A GOOD WEEK FOR ...

CORPORATE ARKANSAS. If you don’t like court rulings, what do you do?

You outlaw court intervention. So it was that popular legislation was introduced to stop the courts from reviewing power plant site and environment decisions and also to return workers comp legislation to the dark ages by reversing protection for workplace injuries suffered on restroom and other breaks.

DEMAGOGUERY. Legislators filed a torrent of unnecessary legislation at the filing deadline. It ranged from the silly – targeting saggy britches – to the pernicious, aimed at punishing immigrants, pregnant women and anyone who feels safer with fewer, rather than more, concealed weapons around.

RELIGIOUS BIGOTRY. A Garland County Republican Committee member sent an email touting the superiority of the GOP candidate for House of Representatives because the Republican was a Christian and the Democrat a Jew. IT WAS A BAD WEEK FOR ...

LU HARDIN. The former president of University of Central Arkansas pleaded to felony fraud and money laundering charges for his scheme to use forged documents to hurry up his receipt of a $300,000 bonus. He needed the money to cover gambling debts on high-dollar slot play in Mississippi casinos.

The HIGHWAY TAX PLAN. Polls show voters oppose a doublebarreled $2 billion tax increase to build highways. And speaking of taxes: Polls also show the voters favor a grocery tax reduction over the Republican plan to give a tax break to a handful of wealthy people in the form of a capital gains tax break.

LITTLE ROCK NATIONAL AIRPORT. Despite a covey of expensive lobbyists, the airport couldn’t beat legislation to outlaw the punitive excise fee the airport attempted to put on a private parking lot that competes with the airport’s ruinously expensive parking places. Airport Director Ron Mathieu’s recent expense account scandal, for which he essentially escaped punishment, didn’t win many friends in the legislature.

8 MARCH 9, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

The Arkansas Reporter

Phone: 501-375-2985­ Fax: 501-375-3623 Arkansas Times Online home page: http://www.arktimes.com E-mail: arktimes@arktimes.com ■

■­

■

Subversive literature Will Harding gay rights zine have a lasting impact?

BY GERARD MATTHEWS

n Last week five Harding University students set off a firestorm of discussion about gay rights on the private, Christian school’s campus, as well as in local and national media outlets, after the publication of a zine called “The State of the Gay at Harding University.” The pamphlet was authored anonymously, and soon gained widespread attention after university officials blocked the publication’s website from university computers.

“The State of the Gay” was released late Wednesday afternoon in PDF format by the Harding University Queer Press, which is made up of “a variety of queers with various affiliations with Harding University,” according to the group’s website.

The authors shared deeply personal experiences about hiding who they are, feeling guilty about their “sin,” coming out to friends, trying to pray their feelings away and finding out who their real friends are.

Within days, news of the publication popped up on the Huffington Post, the New Yorker blog, The Advocate and others.

Harding’s president, David Burks, addressed the issue at chapel service, calling the publication “offensive and degrading.”

Burks reiterated the school’s position, outlined in the student handbook, that “sexual relationships are unacceptable to God outside the context of marriage.” He also said that bullying would not be tolerated.

“C” and “Evey,” as two of the zine’s authors identified themselves, said they didn’t expect the response from the president.

“I didn’t think he was going to say anything about it because it would give us more publicity,” said C. “But I thought it was the best we could have hoped for from him. One thing

BY ANONYMOUS: To protect families. he said was, ‘We’re not trying to control your thinking on this.’ But it seemed to me that they are culture,” she said. “I don’t want them to trying to control our thinking on this and think I’m a horrible person.” every other issue, so it didn’t ring true to That has become an issue for some, me.” who’ve said the students should have come The zine was published anonymously, forward publicly. Jared Potts, a third-year Evey says, not for fear of retribution from student at Harding, said he agrees with the the administration, but because of a desire zine’s message, but disagrees with how it to protect the authors’ families. was published.

Continued on page 20 “My family is very steeped in Harding

Broadway Bridge needs more than a touch-up, AHTD says No estimate given on cost to repair.

BY DOUG SMITH

n The state Highway and Transportation Department has said that the Broadway Bridge has deteriorated to the point that it should be replaced by a new bridge, at an estimated cost of $45 million. Some people have asked what it would cost merely to repair the old bridge to an acceptable standard. No such estimate is available.

“This bridge is soon to be 90 years old,” Randy Ort, a spokesman for the highway department, said. “You reasonably expect a bridge to last 50 years.” To simply do repairs would be to ask the bridge to last 140 years, he said.

“Our engineers don’t feel that’s the best option,” Ort said. “We have to use their

professional judgment.”

A Sept. 8, 2009, memo from Tony Sullivan, a highway department maintenance engineer, to Emanuel Banks, assistant chief engineer for operations, sums up the situation from Sullivan’s viewpoint: “The Broadway Bridge was constructed with concrete girder approaches and concrete arch main spans in 1923. Two concrete arch spans over the main river channel were removed and replaced with a steel arch span in 1974 [to accommodate barge traffic on the Arkansas River].

“The estimated replacement cost of this structure is $26 million [sic]. Maintenance cost on this bridge over the last 5

years has been $384,000.

“This bridge has become impractical for maintenance forces to repair due to the large amount of deteriorating concrete in the deck, sidewalk, superstructure and substructure. Rusting of the main reinforcing steel in most all members of the concrete structure is causing wide spread cracks and delamination [concrete falling off] ...

“This bridge is structurally deficient ...

The deck, superstructure and substructure are rated poor. It is recommended that this bridge be programmed for rehabilitation or replacement based on the current structural condition and high cost of maintenance.”

Continued on page 20

Take a pleasant drive over to historic downtown helena and Discover the Delta at the Delta Cultural Center!

We believe deeply in the stories of the Delta and its people.

Experience our award-winning exhibits on the music and musicians of the Delta, the arrival of Arkansans in this fertile land by the Mississippi River, the Civil War, and much more. Drop by a live broadcast of the nation’s longest-running blues radio show, “King Biscuit Time,” with legendary host “Sunshine” Sonny Payne weekdays at 12:15 p.m. in our DCC Visitors Center at 141 Cherry Street.

Wild hog musicfest & motorcycle rally – apr. 21-24, 2011 arkansas Delta family Gospel festival – may 28, 2011 mother’s Best music fest – Jun. 4, 2011 king Biscuit Blues festival – oct. 6-8, 2011 Gallery hours at the DCC Visitors Center at 141 Cherry Street and the nearby DCC Depot at 95 Missouri Street in Helena are 9am to 5 pm Tues. - Sat. Admission is free.

The DelTa CulTural CenTer is a museum ofThe DeparTmenT of arkansas heriTaGe

(870)-338-4350 toll free at (800)-358-0972 or visit www.deltaculturalcenter.com.

www.arktimes.com • March 9, 2011 9

SPRING ARTS

HE’LL ‘SHAKE YA TAILFEATHER’: St. Louis rapper Nelly is one of Riverfest’s biggest gets this year.

Spring gets sprung From Texas country and Memphis rap to eccentric Canadian pop acts, Arkansas offers a lot of strange sounds this season.

BY JOHN TARPLEY

T

he spring music season unofficially kicks off next week with two concerts that couldn’t be more dissimilar. Lady Marmalade herself, Patti LaBelle (March 17, Statehouse Convention Center), comes downtown for a “Vegas revue” of highlights from her 50 years as one of R&B’s greatest divas. The following night offers the return of Memphis rap monsters 8 Ball & MJG (March 18, Revolution), who’ll hopefully live up to their last Little Rock show in October 2009, when they were backed by a live band in Hill Country Revue.

Another red-eyed icon makes his return to Little Rock the next day, with poet, essayist, pot-advocate and blues brainiac John Sinclair (March 19, White Water Tavern) scatting and bopping his way through the Delta blues.

10 MARCH 9, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

Hot Springs offers a week-long festival of D.I.Y., experimental, indie and country music with the seventh annual installment of the Valley of the Vapors Independent Music Festival (March 20-26, Low Key Arts), featuring an amazing line-up of bands, including Brooklyn’s A Place to Bury Strangers, Japan’s Peelander Z, Dr. Mad Vibe of Fishbone, New York City spazz-rockers Japanther, and many more.

Always a favorite, ’90s college rockers G-Love & Special Sauce (March 23, Revolution) swing into town with more hip-hop dusted roots music, this time from their forthcoming Avett Brothers-produced album “Fixin to Die.” Fresh off of releasing what may be his most acclaimed album in a long, winding series of releases,

Canadian cult experimentalist and member of The New Pornographers Dan Bejar, alias Destroyer (March 23, Stickyz), comes to town for a hotly-anticipated and absolutely unexpected show.

Two punk-rock legends who traded in electric instruments and anger for acoustic guitars and serenity come to town: Kevin Seconds (of hardcore greats 7 Seconds) and Exene Cervenka (of X, arguably one of the best rock bands ever) play at White Water Tavern on April 3 as part of a tour to support their new albums.

In Fayetteville, Maceo Parker (April 8, Walton Arts Center), the funk and soul saxophonist for James Brown and Parliament/Funkadelic, brings his backing band and famous licks to the groove-hungry crowds.

Little Rock gets a dose of melodic post-punk straight

SPRING ARTS from the U.K. when British Sea Power (April 15, Stickyz), which is responsible for a couple of great albums from the early aughts, comes to town in support of a widely-praised new album, “Valhalla Dancehall.”

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra ends its 20102011 season with performances of Ravel, Mozart and Mussorgsky in “Pictures at an Exhibition” (April 1617, Robinson Center Music Hall).

The Arthur Russell-influenced experimental bassist for Dirty Projectors, Nat Baldwin (April 19, Dreamland Ballroom) brings his acclaimed fusion of music and multimedia to the gorgeous, historic downtown space.

The Little Rock Wind Symphony welcomes springtime back to Arkansas with “Wildflowers” (April 17, Second Presbyterian Church), which features the Brazilian tones of Ney Rosauro and two new works by young American composers Carter Pann and Frank Ticheli.

April winds down with what’s probably the biggest show of the season when the easy-listening, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer James Taylor (April 29, Verizon Arena) brings his timeless, Grammy-winning oeuvre to North Little Rock.

The following night, on the other hand, should get wild when “taildraggin’ ” Delta legend T-Model Ford (April 30, White Water Tavern) returns to the stage for another reliably unbelievable show full of dirty Delta blues.

Fayetteville gets a country music fan’s dream doubleheader with alternative country goddess Lucinda Williams and Texas outlaw country icon Billy Joe Shaver (May 1, Arkansas Music Pavilion) co-headlining the night’s bill.

After being booted from Harding for making people dance, Robert Randolph and the Family Band (May 10, Revolution) bring out the gospel-inspired, pedal steel-driven roots-funk that put the band’s front man on Rolling Stone’s “100 greatest guitarists of all-time” list.

Speaking of gospel, soon after the Family Band leaves town, the Gaither family swings into town for “A Gaither Family Homecoming” (May 20, Verizon Arena), the Christian music concert tour fronted by Southern gospel king Bill Gaither.

And, of course, Riverfest (May 27-29, Riverfront Park) is set to return for another long weekend of fried food, sunshine and music from, this year, ’80s hair metal act Poison, aging (gracefully, relatively) rockers REO Speedwagon, California funk-rappers Digital Underground and, in the prerequisite big-name rapper spot, the best-selling, Grammy-collecting St. Louis rapper Nelly.

The first week of June provides two great excuses to get up to the mountains and into some music festivals when the Eureka Springs Blues Weekend (June 2-5, downtown Eureka Springs) returns for its 2011 installment with former John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers member Coco Montoya, Oklahoma guitar god Elvis Bishop and many more.

The other festival, Wakarusa (June 2-5, Mulberry Mountain, Ozark), brings four days of camping and an amazing lineup of outdoor-friendly music from one of the best American bands around, My Morning Jacket, college favorite Ben Harper, throwback soul diva Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, the up-and-comers Mumford & Sons, who backed Bob Dylan during the 2011 Grammys, the winning duo of this year’s Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase, Tyrannosaurus Chicken, and more than 100 others.

SWEET BABY JAMES: Massively popular singer/songwriter James Taylor comes to Verizon at the end of April.

MMJ ON THE MOUNTAIN: Widely beloved contemporary rock ‘n’roll act My Morning Jacket headlines the Wakarusa camping and music festival on Mulberry Mountain near Ozark. www.arktimes.com • MARCH 9, 2011 11

SPRING ARTS

SPRING ARTS CALENDAR GREATER LITTLE ROCK COMEDY

MARCH 16-19: Bud Anderson. The Loony Bin, 8 p.m.; March 18, 8 and 10:30 p.m.; March 19, 7, 9 and 11 p.m., $6-$9. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 228-5555. www.loonybincomedy.com.

MARCH 23-25: Drew Thomas. The Loony Bin, March 23-24, 8 p.m.; March 25, 8 and 10:30 p.m.; March 26, 7, 9 and 11 p.m., $6-$9. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 228-5555. www.loonybincomedy.com.

MARCH 23: Sommore, D.C. Curry, Damon Williams. Robinson Center Music Hall, 7:30 p.m., $35-$65. Markham and Broadway. www.littlerockmeetings.com/conv-centers/robinson.

MARCH 30-APRIL 2: Steve Hirst. The Loony Bin, March 30-31, 8 p.m.; April 1, 8 and 10:30 p.m.; April 2, 7, 9 and 11 p.m. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 228-5555. www.loonybincomedy.com.

APRIL 7-APRIL 9: Tracy Smith. The Loony Bin, through April 7, 8 p.m.; April 8, 8 and 10:30 p.m.; April 9, 7, 9 and 11 p.m., $6-$9. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 228-5555. www.loonybincomedy.com.

APRIL 8: Mike Epps & Friends. Robinson Center Music Hall, 8 p.m., $52. Markham and Broadway. www.littlerockmeetings.com/convcenters/robinson.

APRIL 13-17: The Sandman. The Loony Bin, April 13-14, 8 p.m.; April 15, 8 and 10:30 p.m.; April 16, 7, 9 and 11 p.m.; April 17, 8 p.m. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 228-5555. www.loonybincomedy.com.

APRIL 28-30: Larry Reeb. The Loony Bin, April 27-28, 7 p.m.; April 29, 8 and 10:30 p.m.; April 30, 7, 9 and 11 p.m. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road.

228-5555. www.loonybincomedy.com.

MAY 4-7: Tim Gaither. The Loony Bin, May 4-5, 8 p.m.; May 6, 8 and 10:30 p.m.; May 7, 7, 9 and 11 p.m., $6-$9. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road.

228-5555. www.loonybincomedy.com.

EVENTS

MARCH 19: Ballet Arkansas: “Come Dancin’.” Ballet Arkansas’s annual fund-raiser returns with musical accompaniment by The Dizzy Seven, auctions, dinner and cocktails. For tickets or more information, call 223-5150 or visit balletarkansas.com. Argenta Community Theater, 6:30 p.m., $80, $600/table of 10. 405 Main St., NLR. 353-1443. argentacommunitytheater.org.

APRIL 1: Eggshibition XX: “Evolution of the Egg.” The annual fund-raiser auctions off eggs decorated by artists and celebrities. All proceeds go to Youth Home. 7 p.m., Jack Stephens Center, UALR, $50. 2801 S. University Ave. youthhome. org.

APRIL 2-3: The Autism Dance Project with “Walk Now for Autism Speaks” and “Lilium

Modern Dance Co.” Dance companies celebrate World Autism Awareness Day. 7 p.m. April 2, 3 p.m. April 3, Arkansas School for the Blind, 2600 W. Markham. theautismdanceproject.eventbrite.com.

APRIL 7-13: Arkansas Literary Festival 2011. Little Rock’s eighth annual literary festival features authors, panels, performances, workshops and talk by featured guest David Sedaris. arkansasliteraryfestival.org.

APRIL 9: Girl Talk Teen Conference 2011: “Getting Ready for Our World.” A day-long conference about education, networking, finance, peer pressure, self-esteem, health and more. Hilton Garden Inn, 4100 Glover Lane, NLR, abhprojects. com/girl-talk.html.

APRIL 16: “Blooms!” Festival. A celebration of springtime in Arkansas with guided garden tours, demonstrations, food and live entertainment. 10 a.m., Wildwood Park for the Performing Arts, 20919 Denny Road. $10, $5 kids. 821-7275, wildwoodpark.org.

APRIL 16: Heifer’s Hunger Awareness Event. Experiential educational event. 6 p.m., Heifer Village, 1 World Ave. $20. 907-2852, heifer. org/heifervillage.

APRIL 21: Arkansas a la Carte. Tastings of dishes from 20 Arkansas restaurants and a silent auction to benefit Arkansas Children’s Hospital.

Chenal Country Club, 6:30 p.m., $100. 10 Chenal Club Blvd. 821-4141, 364-1476 archildrens.org.

APRIL 23: Arkansas Earth Day Festival. For more information, visit arkansasearthday.org. North Shore Riverwalk, 10 a.m. Riverwalk Drive, NLR. www.northlittlerock.org.

APRIL 29: Foamfest 2011. Sample over 100 varieties of beer and wine while listening to live local bands. Proceeds benefit the Arkansas Arthritis Foundation. For more information, visit arthritis. org. River Market Pavilions, 6 p.m., $25 adv., $30 d.o.e. 400 President Clinton Ave. 375-2552. www. rivermarket.info.

MAY 6: “Craws For a Cause.” The state’s largest crawfish boil features over seven tons of crawfish, drinks and music from Boom Kinetic.

Dickey-Stephens Park, 7 p.m., $45 adv., $55 d.o.e. 400 W. Broadway St., NLR. 501-664-1555. crawsforacause.com.

MAY 7-8: Quapaw Quarter Association’s “Spring Tour of Historic Homes” 2011. 5:30 p.m. May 7, 1 p.m. May 8, $18 adv., $20 after May 1.

MAY 15: Jewish Food Festival. The Jewish Federation of Arkansas’s annual celebration of ethnic food and culture. For more information, visit jewisharkansas.org. River Market Pavilions.

400 President Clinton Ave. 375-2552. www.rivermarket.info.

MAY 20-22: Greek Food Festival. The largest ethnic festival in the state, with food, drinks and live entertainment. Annunciation Greek Orthodox

A SEDARIS SEQUEL: Humorist and best-selling author David Sedaris (“Me Talk Pretty One Day,” “Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim”) returns to Little Rock as part of the Arkansas Literary Festival, April 7 through 13. This time, he speaks at Pulaski Academy’s Connor Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 13. Tickets are $40 to $50 and are available via arkansasliteraryfestival.org or at any Central Arkansas Library System branch.

“most customers don’t realize how much their smoking affects me. “

KATE MORAN, Waitress

LET’S CLEAR THE AIR

Everyone deserves a smoke-free workplace. Comprehensive smoke-free policies do not hurt business.

To learn more, visit ClearTheAirArkansas.com 12 MARCH 9, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

SPRING ARTS Church. 1100 Napa Valley Drive. 221-5300. greekfoodfest.com.

FILM

MAY 26: Riverflicks: “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.” North Shore Riverwalk, 7 p.m., free.

Riverwalk Drive, NLR. www.northlittlerock.org.

JUNE 1-5: Little Rock Film Festival 2011.

The annual festival returns for a week of film, workshops, parties, visiting filmmakers, galas and more. For more information, visit littlerockfilmfestival.org.

JUNE 2: Riverflicks: “Grease.” North Shore Riverwalk, 7 p.m., free. Riverwalk Drive, NLR. www.northlittlerock.org.

MUSIC

MARCH 17: Patti LaBelle. Statehouse Convention Center, 7:30 p.m., $43.50-$61. 7 Statehouse Plaza.

MARCH 17: Matt White, Brendan James, Lauren Pritchard. Juanita’s, 9 p.m., $10 adv., $12 d.o.s. 1300 S. Main St. 372-1228. www. juanitas.com.

MARCH 18: 8Ball & MJG. Revolution, 9 p.m.

300 President Clinton Ave. 823-0090. revroom. com.

MARCH 19: Arkansas Symphony Orchestra: “St. Patrick’s Day Celebration.” Robinson Center Music Hall, 8 p.m. March 19, 3 p.m. March 20, Markham and Broadway. www.littlerockmeetings.com/conv-centers/robinson.

MARCH 19: John Sinclair. White Water Tavern, 10 p.m. 2500 W. 7th. 375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com.

MARCH 19: Trampled By Turtles. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m., $10. 107 Commerce St. 372-7707. www.stickyfingerz.com.

MARCH 20: Days of the New. Juanita’s, $15 adv., $20 d.o.s., 10 p.m. 1300 S. Main St. 374-3271, juanitas.com MARCH 21: Cory Branan. White Water Tavern, 10 p.m. 2500 W. 7th. 375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com.

MARCH 23: G-Love & Special Sauce.

Revolution, 8:30 p.m., $20 adv., $25 d.o.s. 300 President Clinton Ave. 823-0090. revroom.com.

MARCH 27: Destroyer, The War on Drugs.

Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 8:30 p.m., $10 adv., $12 d.o.s. 107 Commerce St. 372-7707. www.stickyfingerz.com.

APRIL 3: Exene Cervenka (of X), Kevin Seconds (of 7 Seconds). White Water Tavern, 9 p.m. 2500 W. 7th. 375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com.

APRIL 6: Cage the Elephant, Biffy Clyro.

Revolution, 8:30 p.m. 300 President Clinton Ave. 823-0090. revroom.com.

APRIL 8: Arkansas Chamber Singers: Bach Cantata. St. James United Methodist Church, 7:30 p.m., $15 general, $10 seniors and students. 321 Pleasant Valley Drive. 225-7372. www.stjames-umc.org.

APRIL 15: British Sea Power. 9 p.m., $10.

Stickyz, 107 Commerce St. 372-7707, stickyfingerz.com.

APRIL 16-17: Arkansas Symphony

Orchestra: “Pictures at an Exhibition” season finale. Robinson Center Music Hall, 8 p.m. April 16, 3 p.m. April 17. Markham and Broadway. www.littlerockmeetings.com/convcenters/robinson.

APRIL 17: Little Rock Wind Symphony: “Wildflowers!” Second Presbyterian Church, 3 p.m., $10 general, $8 seniors, $5 students. 600 Pleasant Valley Drive.

APRIL 19: Nat Baldwin. 6 p.m., $5. Dreamland Ballroom, 800 W. 9th St. 255-5700, dreamlandballroom.com.

APRIL 26: Arkansas Symphony Orchestra: “The Soldier’s Tale.” Clinton Presidential Center, 7 p.m., $22. 1200 President Clinton Ave. 370-8000. www.clintonpresidentialcenter.org.

APRIL 29: Arkansas Choral Society Spring Concert. First Baptist Church of Little Rock, 6:30 p.m. 62 Pleasant Valley Drive. 227-0010.

APRIL 29: James Taylor. Verizon Arena, 8 p.m., 1 Alltel Arena Way, NLR. $45-$69.50. 975-9001. verizonarena.com.

APRIL 30: T-Model Ford. White Water Tavern, 10 p.m. 2500 W. 7th. 375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com.

MAY 5: Robert Randolph and the Family Band. Revolution, 8:30 p.m., $20 adv., $25 d.o.s.

300 President Clinton Ave. 823-0090. revroom. com.

MAY 20: “A Gaither Family Homecoming.”

Verizon Arena. 7 p.m., $26.50-$36.50. 1 Alltel Arena Way, NLR. 975-9001. verizonarena.com.

MAY 20: “Jazz for Peace.” Featuring Nick DellaRatta and local jazz musicians. Dreamland Ballroom, 7 p.m., $35. 800 W. 9th St. 255-5700.

MAY 21-22: Arkansas Symphony Orchestra: “The Piano Men.” Pianist Jim Witter performs Billy Joel and Elton John’s hits with the ASO. Robinson Center Music Hall, 8 p.m. May 21, 3 p.m. May 22, Markham and Broadway. 666-1761, arkansassymphony.org.

MAY 27: Riverfest 2011. With Nelly, Digital Underground, Charlie Daniels Band and more.

Downtown Little Rock, $25. downtown.

JUNE 4: “Willie Nelson’s Countr y Throwdown.” With Willie Nelson, Jamey Johnson, Randy Houser, Lee Brice, Brantley Gilbert and more. North Shore Riverwalk, 2:30 p.m., $34-$74. Riverwalk Drive, NLR. www.northlittlerock.org.

SPORTS

MARCH 19-20: UALR Men’s Baseball vs.

Arkansas State. UALR, 4 p.m. March 19, 1 p.m.

March 20. 2801 S. University Ave. 569-8977.

MARCH 26: South Central Bike Polo Championships. Little Rock hosts 36 teams from the U.S., Canada and Mexico for the first annual regional bike polo championship. For more information, visit lrbpolo.blogspot.com. MacArthur Park. 503 E. 9th St. MARCH 26-27: Arenacross. Verizon Arena, 7 p.m. March 26, 10 a.m. March 27, $15-$20. 1 Alltel Arena Way, NLR. 75-9001. verizonarena.com.

APRIL 3: UALR Men’s Baseball vs. Western Kentucky. UALR, 1 p.m. 2801 S University Ave. 569-8977.

APRIL 5: UALR Men’s Baseball vs. Oral Roberts. UALR, 6 p.m. 2801 S University Ave. 569-8977.

APRIL 14-16: Arkansas Travelers vs Midland Rockhounds. Dickey-Stephens Park, 7:10 p.m. April 14-15, 6 p.m. April 16, $6-$12. 400 W. Broadway St., NLR. 664-1555. www.travs.com.

APRIL 25-28: Arkansas Travelers vs. Tulsa Drillers. Dickey-Stephens Park, 7:10 p.m. $6-$12. 400 W. Broadway St., NLR. 664-1555. www.travs.com.

APRIL 30-MAY 2: Arkansas Travelers vs.

Northwest Arkansas Naturals. DickeyStephens Park, 7:10 p.m. April 30, 2 p.m. May 1, 11 a.m. May 2, $6-$12. 400 W. Broadway St., NLR. 664-1555. www.travs.com.

MAY 6: MacArthur Park 5K. MacArthur Park, 7 p.m., $25 adv., $35 d.o.e. 503 E. 9th St. 375-0121, macarthurpark5k.com.

MAY 14: Cycle for Sight. The third annual endurance ride to raise awareness and funding for eye research and outreach. North Shore Riverwalk, NLR, 8:30 a.m., $35. uamshealth.com/ cycleforsight.

MAY 14: Fight For Air Climb. The American Lung Association’s annual stairclimb features a vertical race to the 39th floor of the Metropolitan Tower. 8 a.m., 452 W. Capitol Ave. $25 registration.

975-0758. fightforairclimb.org.

MAY 14: Take Steps for Crohn’s and Colitis.

An evening fund-raiser walk to raise awareness about the digestive diseases. Clinton Presidential Center, 5 p.m., free. 590-8948. cctakesteps.org/ littlerock.

MAY 18-19: Arkansas Travelers vs.

Springfield Cardinals. Dickey-Stephens Park, 7:10 p.m. $6-$12. 400 W. Broadway St., NLR. 664-1555. www.travs.com.

MAY 23: Arkansas Lighthouse for the Blind Golf Classic. Country Club of Arkansas, 11 a.m., $135. 3 Country Club Circle, Maumelle. albgolf. eventbrite.com.

JUNE 11: CARTI Tour de Rock. Cycling enthusiasts ride between 10 and 100 miles. Burns Park, 7 a.m., $30 adv., $35 d.o.e. 2700 Willow St., NLR. 791-8537. carti.com.

THEATER

MARCH 22-APRIL 13: “Southern Hospitality.” The Futrelle Sisters (of “Dearly Beloved” and “Christmas Belles”) have to save Fayro, Texas, their beloved hometown, from extinction. Murry’s Dinner Playhouse. $23-$33.

6323 Col. Glenn Road. 562-3131, murrysdinnerplayhouse.com.

MARCH 24: “What My Husband Doesn’t Know.” A successful, urban couple is torn apart by an affair. Robinson Center Music Hall, 8 p.m., $39.75. Markham and Broadway. www.littlerockmeetings.com/conv-centers/robinson.

MARCH 29-31: “The Aluminum Show.”

Robinson Center Music Hall, 7:30 p.m. Markham and Broadway. www.littlerockmeetings.com/ conv-centers/robinson.

APRIL 8-MAY 1: “Hairspray.” A round, cheery Baltimore teen’s dream comes true when she lands a spot dancing for the popular Corny Collins

Show. Based on the cult classic by John Waters.

Arkansas Repertory Theatre, 7 p.m. 601 Main St. $20-$40. 378-0405. www.therep.org.

APRIL 8-9, 15-16, 22-23: “The Last Night of Ballyhoo.” While Hitler is invading Poland in 1939, the Frietags, an elite family of German Jews in Atlanta, are more concerned with Ballyhoo, the upcoming social event of the season. By Alfred Uhry. The Weekend Theater, 7:30 p.m. 1001 W. 7th St. 374-3761. www.weekendtheater.org.

APRIL 20-24: Disney on Ice: “Princess Wishes.” Verizon Arena, 7 p.m. April 20, 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. April 21, 7 p.m. April 22, 11 a.m., 3 p.m., 7 p.m. April 23, 3 p.m. April 24. $15.75$45.75. 1 Alltel Arena Way, NLR. 975-9001. verizonarena.com.

APRIL 26-MAY 11: “Chapter Two.” George, a young widower, meets a young, charming woman.

The two fall in love, but soon find that the memory of George’s late wife presents an obstacle to their relationship. By Neil Simon. Murry’s Dinner Playhouse. $23-$33. 6323 Col. Glenn Road.

562-3131, murrysdinnerplayhouse.com.

APRIL 29-MAY 15: “There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom.” No one likes Bradley, the class bully and the oldest kid in the fifth grade. But with the help of Carla, the new school counselor, Bradley learns to believe in himself. Arkansas Arts Center. 501 E. 9th St. 501-372-4000. www. arkarts.com.

MAY 6-7, 13-14, 20-21: “Good Boys and True.” An all-male boarding school is torn apart when a disturbing videotape involving a respected prep-school senior is found on campus. By Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. The Weekend Theater, 1001 W. 7th St. $14 general, $10 students and seniors. 501-374-3761. www.weekendtheater.org.

MAY 20-22: “Alice in Wonderland.” Arkansas Festival Ballet presents the storybook ballet classic. Arkansas Arts Center, 7:30 p.m. May 20-21, 2 p.m. May 22, $20 general, $15 children and students. 501 E. 9th St. 372-4000, 227-5320, arkansasdance.com.

MAY 24-JUNE 8: “Always Patsy Cline.” A revue of the legendary country singer’s greatest hits as told through her correspondence with fan Louise Seger. Murry’s Dinner Playhouse, 6323 Col. Glenn Road. $23-$33. 562-3131. murrysdinnerplayhouse.com.

MAY 24-26: “Beauty and the Beast.”

Disney’s classic re-telling of the classic fairy tale. Robinson Center Music Hall, 7:30 p.m. May 24-25, 1 p.m., 7:30 p.m. May 26. Markham and Broadway. www.littlerockmeetings.com/convcenters/robinson.

JULY 1-3: Arkansas Shakespeare Festival: “As You Like It.” Shakespeare’s comedic masterpiece follows Rosalind, the daughter of a banished duke, as she falls in love with Orlando, a disinherited family friend, and exiles herself in the Forest of Arden. For more information, visit arkshakes.com. Argenta Community Theater, July 1-2, 7:30 p.m.; Sun., July 3, 2 and 7:30 p.m. 405 Main St., NLR. 501-353-1443. argentacommunitytheater.org.

Continued on page 17

www.arktimes.com • MARCH 9, 2011 13

BRIAN CHILSON

SPRING ARTS

HIGH STEPPING: (From L to R) Mary Katelin Ward, Taylor Quick, Stacy Hawking and Samantha Kordsmeier.

The kids are all right Rep’s summer program turns out pros.

T

he artists of the Arkansas Repertory Theatre’s Summer Musical Theater Intensive, ages 10 to 23, don’t expect you to understand. They know that you think that “young artists” is a euphemism for “kids who sing and dance” with the emphasis on “kids.” They know you expect their annual performance on The Rep’s main stage to be a glorified school musical, something charmingly raw at best. They know all this, and they relish it.

“I like proving adults wrong,” said Taylor Quick, 16, a junior at Little Rock Christian, a week before SMTI’s “Review the Revue” debuted March 2 at The Rep. “It’s the best feeling.”

“I feel like they doubt our capability,” added Mary Katelin Ward, 16, a junior at North Little Rock West High School, inspiring murmurs of affirmation from cast mates.

“I have to explain to family or friends who come for the first time, ‘This is a bigger deal than it seems,’ ” said Stephanie Holiman, 16, a Central High junior. “Afterwards, they’re always like, ‘Are you kidding me, kids can do that?’ ” At the preview performance of “Review the Revue,” among the things these 65 kids could do that others probably cannot: Breathe life into “Brown-Eyed Girl” and bar14 MARCH 9, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

bershop quartets with sweet, pure vocal harmonies (that one member of the quartet has perfect pitch didn’t hurt).

Credibly pay tribute to Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” perhaps the most theatrical pop songs of the last 30 years, without devolving into parody. And, above all, execute steps and notes and blocking near flawlessly while still exuding personality.

The kids and teen-agers and young adults that make up the production all retain their youth — they’re sometimes goofy and sometimes awkward — while still hitting their marks. There are no stage automatons among this group.

“The program’s taken off,” Nicole Capri, director of SMTI and resident director and director of education at The Rep, said before the preview. “Because motivated kids really like to be thrown a challenge. They’re on fire to see if they can pull it off.”

“Review the Revue,” as the title suggests, looks back at the highlights of the program’s five years of performances. At its most basic level, it’s a story of SMTI’s quick success. The first auditions for the summer training program drew 150 kids. This year’s brought out around 500, out of which roughly 80 were selected. The first year, the program’s two divisions — ages 10 to 15 and ages 16 Continued on page 20

BRIAN CHILSON

BY LINDSEY MILLAR

THRILLER: Hannah Fairman gets ghoulish in tribute to Michael Jackson.

www.arktimes.com • March 9, 2011 15

SPRING ARTS

ORIGINAL IN BATESVILLE: Ozark Foothills Film Fest scored the uncut version of Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis.”

Movie milestones The Ozark Foothills FilmFest and Little Rock Film Festival celebrate sustained success.

BY LINDSEY MILLAR

T

his is a momentous year for Arkansas’s two spring film festivals. Both the Ozark Foothills FilmFest, scheduled for March 23-27 in Batesville, and the Little Rock Film Festival, set for June 1-5, celebrate milestone anniversaries that are all the more impressive considering how much each has defied expectations.

The Little Rock Film Festival, which turns five this year, appears perched on the edge of becoming a regional juggernaut. In four years, it more than tripled its audience, jumping from 3,000 in its opening year to around 25,000 in 2010. After introducing a $10,000 Oxford Americansponsored award for Best Southern Film last year and attracting Southern standouts like “Winter’s Bone” and “American: The Bill Hicks Story,” the festival is settled on a focus.

Now, according to festival director Jack Lofton, the LRFF is set on becoming the “premiere” film festival in the South.

“With the Oxford American Award, with the buzz that’s now on the film circuit with MovieMaker magazine saying we’re a top 25 festival with an entry fee, we’re able to make the argument a lot easier this year to filmmakers that this is the place to be and that they should come here first before they go anywhere else.”

The Ozark Foothills FilmFest, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, doesn’t draw the crowds like the LRFF. FilmFest founder Bob Pest said he hopes for around 3,000 to climb Batesville’s foothills to see this year’s slate, which includes about 50 films, fewer than half the number that LRFF will show.

But Pest makes a quality over quantity argument for his event.

“We’re not the biggest, in fact we may well be the smallest, but we’re indisputably one of the best film festi16 MARCH 9, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

vals in the country,” he says in a statement on his website.

As he proudly points out, Pest’s is the smallest festival that receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which last year gave the festival $10,000 and $2,500, respectively.

Cinephiles should be salivating at Pest’s big get this year — an original cut of Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis.” The silent masterpiece bombed with audiences upon its initial release in 1927, so the studio recut it, shaving off about 30 minutes of footage. That the original cut survived was considered the stuff of urban legend until 2008 when an Argentine museum turned up a copy, which has been screening at major festivals and theaters throughout the world since 2010.

To add to the allure of seeing the original “Metropolis,” Pest has secured Boston’s Alloy Orchestra to play its new score to the film live on stage in Batesville. The three-man ensemble, which also appeared at the third and fourth festival, scores silent films using a wide array of percussion instruments, found items and state-of-the-art keyboards and other electronic gizmos (Roger Miller, front man for post-punk royalty Mission of Burma, is responsible for keyboards and other gizmos).

Other highlights of the FilmFest line-up: “When I Was Younger: A Weekend with the Beatles,” a short documentary on the time The Beatles flew into Walnut Ridge that first screened at the festival 10 years ago; a program of independent French shorts that marks the festival’s second year working with the French cultural attache in Houston, and a (sold-out) workshop with screenwriter Gordy Hoffman (“Love Liza”), the brother of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman.

The Little Rock Film Festival has announced that

“The Last Ride” — Harry Thomason’s feature film on the final days of Hank Williams, shot largely in Arkansas — will be its opening night film at a new venue, the Argenta Community Theater. The rest of the schedule will be announced May 1.

Festival director Lofton expects to bring around 120 films to town, about 20 percent more than last year. Ensuring that the festival has room to continue to grow is a priority, according to Lofton. He and the festival cofounders have been working since year one to entice city leaders in either downtown Little Rock or North Little Rock to build the LRFF a multi-screen permanent home.

“It will happen,” Lofton said. “It’s just a matter of how soon and where.”

In the meantime, Lofton is taking on two LRFF-tied projects, the Arkansas Film Society and the Arkansas Film Institute.

The former will begin presenting monthly screenings of films of all type, often with an accompanying panel discussion with the director, starting in April. Lofton said the series will always show at least one film in Central Arkansas (at Argenta Community Theater for at least the first few months), but he also plans to take screenings throughout the state and, possibly as soon as this year, package a best-of-the-LRFF to screen around the state post-festival.

Ultimately, the Arkansas Film Institute will be the umbrella organization under which the festival and the film series operate, Lofton said. Its primary aim will be to bolster Arkansas’s film community — by helping grow the film industry, providing education, providing venues and giving out grants to filmmakers. Funding for the institute will come from grants, donations, sponsorships and state funding, Lofton said.

CALENDAR

Continued from page 13

FILM

MARCH 23-27: Ozark Foothills Film Festival 2010. Batesville’s film festival celebrates its 10th year with screenings, workshops, visiting filmmakers and a special screening of the recently completed and restored Fritz Lang classic, “Metropolis,” with live musical accompaniment from Alloy Orchestra. University of Arkansas Community College, other venues. ozarkfoothillsfilmfest.org.

EVENTS

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APRIL 8-10: Arkansas Scottish Festival 2010. The 32nd annual festival features bagpipe bands, vendors, food, drinks and the traditional Highland Games. For more information, visit lyon. edu. Lyon College, free. 2500 Highland.

CONWAY BOOKS

APRIL 14: “An Evening with Alan Michael Parker.” The Pushcart Prize-winning poet and author of “Cry Uncle” speaks in Reves Recital Hall.

Hendrix College, 7:30 p.m. 1600 Washington Ave. www.hendrix.edu.

COMEDY

APRIL 9: “An Evening with Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood.” The “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” comedians visit UCA as part of the school’s “Night-Out Series.” Reynolds Performance Hall, University of Central Arkansas, 7:30 p.m., $30-$40. 201 Donaghey Ave.

DANCE

APRIL 28: Russian National Ballet: “Cinderella.” Reynolds Performance Hall, University of Central Arkansas, 7:30 p.m., $30-$40.

201 Donaghey Ave.

THEATER

APRIL 14-22: “Urinetown.” The Tony-winning musical explores a dystopian future in which water is scarce, expensive and monopolized by the corrupt Good Urine company, which puts the people in a “pay to pee” scenario. Snow Fine Arts building. University of Central Arkansas, 7:30 p.m. $10. 201 Donaghey Ave. uca.edu.

APRIL 21: “Legally Blonde.” Elle Woods, a cheery undergrad, leaves the sorority house and heads to Harvard Law. Based on the movie of the same name. Reynolds Performance Hall, UCA, 7:30 p.m., $30-$40. 350 S. Donaghey.

JUNE 17, 24, 26, JULY 1-2: Arkansas Shakespeare Festival: “The Tortoise and the Hare.” A children’s theater retelling of Aesop’s timeless fable about a foot race between a cocky hare and a deliberate turtle. Reynolds Performance Hall, UCA, 10 a.m. June 17, 2 p.m.

June 24, noon June 26, 10 a.m. July 1-2. 201 Donaghey Ave. JUNE 23-24, 26, JULY 1-2: Arkansas Shakespeare Festival: “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” Webber and Rice’s classic rock musical retells the Biblical story of Joseph, the boy who is sold into slavery and escapes to find more trials and tribulations on his way back home. Reynolds Performance Hall, UCA, 7:30 p.m. June 23-24, June 26; 2 p.m. July 1-2, 2 p.m. 201 Donaghey Ave. arkshakes.com.

JUNE 25-26, 29-30: Arkansas Shakespeare Festival: “Othello.” William Shakespeare’s great tragedy explores ambition, fame, jealousy, sex and war during the Venetian/Turkish wars of the 1500s. Reynolds Performance Hall, UCA, 7:30 p.m. June 25, 29-30; 2 p.m. June 26. 350 S. Donaghey.

Continued on page 18 www.arktimes.com • MARCH 9, 2011 17

SPRING ARTS

Spring drama The coming theater season brings ‘The 39 Steps,’ ‘Les Mis,’ Shakespeare.

BY WERNER TRIESCHMANN

A

rkansas’s spring theater schedule will be hard pressed to match the one-two punch — both in box office and critical approval — of the fall’s staging of “Wicked” by Celebrity Attractions and “Hamlet” by the Arkansas Repertory Theatre. The spring list of shows isn’t just chock full of recognizable titles, which ought to prove more fun for the adventurous theatergoer.

For new theater rides, The Rep’s comedy thriller “The 39 Steps” (June 10-26) looks to be most intriguing. The adaptation of the Alfred Hitchcock movie arrives in Little Rock with a briefcase full of good notices from productions at regional theater companies around the country.

The show, touted as a spy novel with a dash of Monty Python, has a great theatrical trick at its center — the 150 characters in the show are played by 4 actors.

If a three-minute video is any indication, “The Aluminum Show” (March 29-31), coming to Little Rock thanks to Celebrity Attractions, should be a cross between “Stomp,” “The Blue Man Group” and an alien abduction.

You probably couldn’t win the argument that “The Aluminum Show” is theater in a pure sense — but it’s a dumb argument anyway.

In the time it has taken you to read this far Neil LaBute has written a new play. The insanely prolific playwright keeps crankin’ them out and impressive theater companies like Fayetteville’s TheatreSquared keep putting them on stage. “Reasons to be Pretty” (April 15May 1) is the third play in LaBute’s trilogy about physical appearance.

“The Hanging of David O. Dodd” (March 11-26) at The Weekend Theater is a brand new Civil War tragedy written by Little Rock novelist, playwright and law-

yer Phillip McMath.

McMath’s play tells the story of Dodd, the doomed 17-year-old Confederate soldier (a figure much loved by the daily newspaper) and a set of fictional women who await his fate.

Revolution and singing urchins are at the heart of the ever-popular “Les Miserables” (May 3-8) coming to Fayetteville’s Walton Arts Center as part of a 25th anniversary production ‘THE ALUMINIUM SHOW’: Plays Little Rock March 29-31. tour. Revolution of the rock ’n’ roll variety is at the center of The Rep’s New Play Fest, and The Rep. The Rep will stage its por“Hairspray” (April 8-May 8). In case you were keeping tion of the Fest in the brand new Argenta Community score, John Waters’ little Baltimore fable has been a film, Theatre in North Little Rock. a stage musical and then a film again. Weekend Theater’s The Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre, now in its fifth “The Last Night of Ballyhoo” (April 8-23) is set in 1939 year, will take over Conway’s Reynolds Performance and deals with “Gone with the Wind,” the Atlanta social season and the impending world war.

Hall for productions of “Othello,” “As You Like It” and The future is all in the Arkansas New Play Fest (May “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” (June 19-22), a series of staged readings of a yet-to-be deter16-July 3). New this year, the Shakespeare festival will mined slate of new work by writers from the state. This also stage a play in North Little Rock: the Argenta Comyear the festival offers a promising, first-time collaboramunity Theater hosts “As You Like It” July 1-3. Shakespeare, of course, never goes out of style. tion between TheatreSquared, original producer of the

CALENDAR

Continued from page 17

CABOT EVENTS

MARCH 22-23: “Strawberries!” Carnival.

Carnival rides, pageants, food, entertainment, vendors and Cabot’s very own strawberries. juniorauxiliaryofcabot.com/strawberryfest.html. Cabot Community Center, 508 N. Lincoln.

THEATER

PARADING IN SPA CITY: Television star John Corbett (“Northern Exposure,” “Sex and the City”) is the celebrity grand marshal of the 8th Annual World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Hot Springs. The festivities begin at 4:30 p.m. in downtown Hot Springs on Thursday, March 17. The parade begins at 6:30 p.m. Post-parade, The John Corbett Band will offer a free performance on Bridge Street.

18 MARCH 9, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

APRIL 8-16: “Harvey.” A 1950s community goes abuzz after a friendly, unassuming neighborhood man becomes best friends with an imaginary, 6-foot-3inch rabbit named Harvey. Cabot Community Theatre, Cabot Community Center, 6:30 p.m. 508 N. Lincoln. 501-941-2266, cabotcommunitytheatre.com.

All day. Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge, Hwy. 23 S. 479-253-6596.

APRIL 8-10: Annual UFO Conference.

Three-day symposium of lectures, workshops and extraterrestrial fans and scholars reconvenes in Eureka Springs. Best Western Inn of the Ozarks, 207 W. Van Buren. 800-552-3785. ozarkufo.com.

MAY 1-31: Eureka Springs May Festival of the Arts. Exhibits, gallery walks, receptions, demos, live music and more all throughout the month of May downtown. mayfestivalofthearts. com.

MUSIC

JUNE 2-5: Eureka Springs Blues Weekend.

Featuring Coco Montoya, Elvin Bishop and more.

Various venues. eurekaspringsblues.com.

FAYETTEVILLE COMEDY

EUREKA SPRINGS

MAY 25-26: Ron White. 7 p.m., also 9 p.m. May 26, $46-$76. Walton Arts Center. 495 W. Dickson St. 479-443-5600.

EVENTS

EVENT

MARCH 26: Eureka Springs Kite Festival.

APRIL 12: “An Evening with David Sedaris.”

SPRING ARTS

High on art Collaboration produces exhibition of Impressionist works at Arts Center.

BY LESLIE NEWELL PEACOCK

T

wo paintings that have been described as the best Monets in the collection of the High Museum of Art in Atlanta will be part of the “The Impressionists and their Influence” exhibit opening April 1 at the Arkansas Arts Center.

Claude Monet’s 1903 “Houses of Parliament in the Fog” (one of many paintings he made of the buildings) and “Autumn on the Seine Argenteuil” will travel along with other works from the High to Arkansas, where they’ll join pieces from the Arts Center’s collection in an exhibit designed to illustrate the progression of the Impressionist movement, begun in Paris in the 19th century by artists who broke from traditional painting constraints.

Among the 49 works the High is contributing is its recently acquired Renoir, “Woman Arranging Her Hat.” Director of collections and exhibitions David Brenneman selected the works from the High in collaboration with Arts Center interim director Joe Lampo.

The Arts Center will complete the show with contributions from the Jackson T. Stephens Charitable Trust for Art — they will be familiar to Arts Center regulars — and private collectors. Visitors will get to see Arts Center holdings that aren’t exhibited often because of the nature of the media, including “The Blue Dancer” pastel by Degas from the Stephens trust, a Corot etching, a Corbet oil on paper and a pastel by Paule Gobillard (Berthe Morisot’s niece).

Lampo said the exhibition will set the stage with work by forerunners to the movement, including a pencil on paper by Barbizon school artist Charles-Francois Daubigny, and will show the Impressionists influence in America with works by artists Mary Cassatt, Theodore

Walton Arts Center, 7 p.m., $33-$49. 495 W. Dickson St. 479-443-5600.

LECTURES

MAY 11: His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Walton Arts Center, 9:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. 495 W. Dickson St. 479-443-5600.

MUSIC

MARCH 18: The Pink Floyd Experience presents “Animals.” Walton Arts Center, 8 p.m., $24-$60. 495 W. Dickson St. 479-443-5600.

MARCH 19: Arlo Guthrie with the Burns Sisters. Walton Arts Center, 8 p.m., $26-$52. 495 W. Dickson St. 479-443-5600.

MARCH 30: Hayes Carll. George’s Majestic Lounge, 9 p.m., $12. 519 W. Dickson St. 479-5276618, georgesmajesticlounge.com.

APRIL 8: Cage the Elephant. George’s Majestic Lounge, 9 p.m., $20. 519 W. Dickson St. 479-527-6618, georgesmajesticlounge.com.

APRIL 8: Maceo Parker. Walton Arts Center, 8 p.m., $25-$75. 495 W. Dickson St. 479-443-5600.

APRIL 17: American Legacies: the Del McCoury Band and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Walton Arts Center, 7 p.m., $32-$52 495 W. Dickson St. 479-443-5600.

MAY 1: Lucinda Williams, Billy Joe Shaver.

Robinson, Childe Hassam, Maurice Prendergast and others. There will also be other Renoirs, work by Manet, Cezanne, Bonnard, Vuillard, Van Gogh and Gaugin, “a beautiful Glackens” and “a couple of knockout Pissaros,” Lampo said. The ratio of paintings to works on paper will be about half and half, Lampo said; a brochure will be printed for the show.

Lampo said the collaboration with the High Museum may develop into a more formal relationship that would include collec‘WOMAN ARRANGING HER HAT’: The High Museum of Art is sending this tion sharing and professional painting and 48 other pieces, including two Monets, to the Arts Center. development for Arts Center curators. He described the Impressionist show as an “exploration” of how such a relationship, which might May 19). Three French films, “Under the Roofs of Paris” include a fee to the High, would work. Crystal Bridges (1930) (7 p.m. April 7), “The Story of Adele H.” (1975) Museum of American Art, being built by Alice Walton in (7 p.m. May 5) and “Seraphine” (2008) (7 p.m. June 2), Bentonville, may, according to some reports, also enter will be shown in the lecture hall. There will be a Family into a collection-sharing agreement with the High.

Fete with activities for children on April 9 and a “Fete de There will be a $10 admission charge to non-memMere” for Mother’s Day on May 8. bers of the Arts Center ($8 seniors). The Arts Center Major sponsor for “The Impressionists and Their Influence” is Stephens Inc. Other sponsors include Dr. has several events scheduled around the show, including Terry Jefferson, the Bailey Foundation, Ruebel Funeral lectures by curator Brennamen (6:30 p.m. April 21) and Home and Barbara and Steve Bova.

Kimberly Jones of the National Gallery of Art (6:30 p.m.

Arkansas Music Pavilion. 8 p.m., $16-$77. 4201 N. Shiloh Drive. 479-442-2776, arkansasmusicpavilion.com.

MAY 27: Primus. Arkansas Music Pavilion, 8 p.m., $16-$77. 4201 N. Shiloh Drive. 479-4422776, arkansasmusicpavilion.com.

THEATER

APRIL 15-MAY 1: “Reasons to be Pretty.”

When an off-handed remark by a young, working class Manhattanite gets around to his girlfriend’s social circle, a group of close friends are pulled into the argument. By Neil LaBute. For more information, visit theatre2.org. Walton Arts Center, Nadine Baum Studios. 8 p.m., $22-$24. 495 W. Dickson St. 479-443-5600.

MAY 3-8: “Les Miserables.” The musical masterpiece based on Victor Hugo’s novel of the same name follows a band of French students, prostitutes and proletariat as they fight for revolution. Walton Arts Center, 8 p.m., $22-$24. 495 W. Dickson St. 479-443-5600. visit waltonartscenter. org.

MAY 20-22: Arkansas New Play Festival.

Staged readings and workshops from playwrights from around the state. Walton Arts Center, Nadine Baum Studios. 8 p.m. 495 W. Dickson St. 479-4435600.

HOT SPRINGS EVENTS

MARCH 17: The World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The quirky celebration returns with John Corbett (“Sex and the City”) serving as Grand Marshal. Bridge Street.

MUSIC

MARCH 20-26: Valley of the Vapors Independent Music Festival. A week of workshops, film screenings and live music from A Place to Bury Strangers, PeeLander A, Surf City and more. Various locations. valleyofthevapors. com.

JUNE 5-18: Hot Springs Music Festival. 200 international musicians come together to produce 21 concerts and over 250 open rehearsals. Most events free, some $5-$25. Various locations. hotmusic.org.

APRIL 15: Bobby Rush. Maxine’s, 8 p.m., $30 adv., $35 d.o.s. 700 Central Ave. maxinespub. com.

THEATER

MARCH 24-APRIL 3: “The Best Times of the Heart.” Four one-act plays directed by Karina

Martinez, Ann Wilson, Katie Garner and Linda Rickel. Pocket Community Theater, 7:30 p.m.

March 24-26, 31, April 1-2, 2:30 p.m. March 27, April 3. $5-$10. 170 Ravine St. MAY 4: “Marilyn: Forever Blonde.” The iconic beauty tells her own story in song. Central Theater, Central Ave. 501-922-6899. arktwks. org.

OZARK MUSIC

JUNE 2-5: Wakarusa 2011. Four days of camping by the Mulberry River with more than 75 bands including My Morning Jacket, Ben Harper, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Mumford & Sons and more. $69-$595 (VIP), camping fees. Mulberry Mountain. wakarusa.com.

SEARCY MUSIC

April 21-23: Harding University Spring Sing. Annual student musical variety show. 7 p.m.

Thu.-Fri.; 2 p.m., 7 p.m. Sat. Benson Auditorium, 870-279-4255. hardingtickets.com. www.arktimes.com • MARCH 9, 2011 19

REP

Continued from page 14 to 23 — staged spare versions of “Schoolhouse Rock” and “Godspell,” respectively.

Now, as it has been since year two, SMTI is on the main stage with perhaps The Rep’s most elaborately costumed production.

Last year, SMTI polled the audience on its favorite numbers from past productions, which after the first year have taken on a theme, such as holiday traditions, Hollywood’s love affair with Broadway and history through the lens of music. All the productions, therefore, have felt like jukebox musicals of musical and theatrical history, none more so than this year’s greatest hits collection, which mashes together everything from “Annie Get Your Gun” to “South Pacific” to “Chicago” to “Wicked” to Leiber and Stoller’s “I’m a Woman” to MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This.”

Between the song and dance numbers in “Review the Revue,” a handful of the young performers deliver monologues that look back at their time in the program. In the first act, Mary Katelin Moore, one of the few performers who’s been in SMTI since it began, told the audience she recently learned that she’s set a record for performing in more shows at The Rep than anyone else under the age of 20.

“I have the best support system that

HARDING

Continued from page 8 “I do agree that Harding does need to revise how they deal with those that come forward and say they’re homosexual,” Potts said. “Like any group of people, if there is a problem, what do you do? You go to that group of people and you say, ‘What is the issue?’ That dialogue has not happened.

One, because of the anonymity, but two, simply because they haven’t come forward, in a personal sort of way, to say, ‘I have this problem and Harding is not addressing it correctly. What can I do?’ ” C and Evey were quick to point out that not every article in the zine is negative, although that’s what most people have tended to focus on. They both said they’ve met great people, including professors, at Hard-

BRIDGE

Continued from page 8 Ort said Sullivan had gotten the “$26 million” figure from a memo sent in 2005 by another highway department engineer.

That estimate has been affected by inflation, he said, and furthermore that estimate was based on replacement of the old bridge with a bridge just like it. The bridge that is now proposed would be much wider than the old bridge — 74 feet to 59 feet — and would have to meet new structural standards that weren’t around when the 20 MARCH 9, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

INSIDER

anyone in this business could ever hope to have,” she said. “I love this stage. I’ve mopped this stage. I’ve bled on this stage.

And I’ve sung my heart out on this stage.

It’s a part of me.”

Capri talks often about how close-knit the actors are and how important it is for SMTI to provide a safe environment in which kids can thrive. But, ultimately, she said, the primary focus is building talent.

“First and foremost, our goal has to be that we want to create a training program where kids are going off to college or out into the professional world to people who’re asking, ‘What’s in the water in Little Rock, Arkansas?’ ” After just five years, Capri’s alumni include a member of the Joffrey Ballet in New York who recently danced the lead in “The Nutcracker,” an actress who recently toured with a national production of “Annie,” an “American Idol” contestant who made it to Hollywood week, and a number of actors and vocalists in college programs across the country. Moreover, Capri said SMTI is influencing the types of shows The Rep decides to stage. “A Christmas Story” was filled with SMTI kids. The cast of “Hairspray,” which debuts at The Rep on April 8, is full of SMTI members and alumni.

Caroline McCormick, a 17-year-old senior at Mount Saint Mary Academy and

another five-year vet of SMTI, ascribes the program’s success to the demands it puts on young performers.

“We’re not just a bunch of kids who’re coming here because we have nothing else to do. We’re treated like equity actors.

We have to be here on time. We have to remember our choreography. That’s why we’re able to make that transition. When we get out in the professional world, we know what’s expected of us.”

For those interested in being a part of the program, auditions are coming up April 1-2 at Wildwood Park for the Arts (The Rep will be undergoing renovations), with callbacks on April 3. Call 378-0405 or email nleopoulos@therep.org to make an appointment.

Tuition to the program is $400 with a $15 costume fee. Scholarships are available. Capri said SMTI has never turned away a kid because he or she couldn’t afford it. In fact, in five years, the program has given away over $35,000 in scholarships.

Capri said the next production is going to be about the ’80s. “We could call it something like, “We Weren’t Born Yet,” she joked.

“Review the Revue” continues at The Rep with performances at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday.

ing who are supportive.

Only one professor was specifically mentioned in the text: Joe Brumfield. Brumfield is a licensed marriage and family therapist who teaches courses on family issues. One student found Brumfield’s course material on homosexuality offensive and excerpted sections of a book used in the class. One heading read: “Homosexuality: How can it be prevented?” It encouraged mothers not to hold their children too tightly and fathers to wrestle with their sons.

“I don’t think that anything made anybody feel any way,” Brumfield said. “I cannot make you mad. I can slap you, but that does not make you hit me or does not make you mad. It is wrong of me if I did it, but you get to choose whether to be mad or you could choose to turn the other cheek. Jesus said a lot about that.”

Brumfield made it clear he was speaking for himself, not the university. When asked if there was a place at Harding for openly gay students, he said that was probably for someone else to answer.

“The question is, is there a place in the Army for someone who doesn’t want to cut their hair? Well, if you don’t want them to cut your hair off then maybe you shouldn’t go into the Army,” Brumfield said.

“You can say that you’re gay,” C said, “you just can’t have discussions about it.”

“And that’s the hardest part,” Evey said.

“Because you still have to sit through classes with professors saying you’re what’s wrong with America and you’re going to hell.”

Potts said discussion on campus has died down for the moment. C and Evey said they don’t expect things at Harding to change immediately, but they hold out hope that Hard-

ing will become a more welcoming place for gay and lesbian students in the future.

The HU Queer Press is on hiatus, but might publish other issues in the future. The authors said they have no regrets, although they fear they may have “skipped an issue.”

“Most of the country seems to have gotten past the issue of equality for women,” C said. “And I think that equality in that area is a step toward getting over homophobia.

One issue here is that we haven’t gotten over the women’s issue. We haven’t even begun to address it. So a lot of people here are still stuck in the 1950s, that men have to be manly and masculine and women have to know their place. So, that is another issue that needs to be addressed and maybe it has to be addressed before we move on with this one. Or maybe we could do it at the same time.”

old bridge was built.

Ort emphasized that the bridge is not unsafe for the way it’s being used now. “If it were unsafe, we’d close it.”

Still, $45 million sounds like a lot of money at a time when money’s tight. (The federal government would pay 80 percent of the cost of a new bridge, the state 20 percent.) Jim von Tungeln of Little Rock, an urban planner, said he’d like to see the highway department hire an outside consultant to advise on whether a new bridge is needed. Ort was cool to the idea. “It’s our bridge, and our responsibility,” he

said. The bridge is part of Highway 70.

Some people would be willing to spend even more than $45 million. June Freeman, director of the “art of architecture” lecture series at the Clinton School of Public Service, has been advocating for an “iconic” new bridge at Little Rock for years, something on the order of a showy new bridge being built on the Trinity River at Dallas. She says there’s a groundswell of interest by local officials and others.

One of those interested is County Judge Buddy Villines. The Pulaski County Courthouse sits at the southern foot of

the Broadway bridge. The highway department does not yet have a design for the proposed new bridge, nor even hired a designer. Villines said he hoped the final design would have eye appeal, as well as being functional. “Form really is important in an urban setting,” Villines said. “It helps create a place where people want to be.”

A showpiece bridge presumably would require more money than the $45 million the highway department has proposed. The difference would have to be raised from other sources, private and/or pubic.

Continued from page 3 Maumelle ordinance. It prohibits discharge of weapons in the city limits “including but not limited to guns of any type, pistols, air rifles, pellet guns, crossbows, bows and arrows, slingshots and similar instruments.” Garner didn’t respond to our e-mailed question.

2nd district candidate?

Retired Circuit Judge Marion Humphrey, 61, said he’s “taking a look” at running as a Democrat for Congress from the 2nd District in 2012. “It’s time for a progressive to step forward,” said Humphrey, who talked at length of the negative impact of “reactionary” Republicans in Washington such as U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin.

Humphrey said the shape of the potential field more than the outcome of redistricting would influence his decision. He said, however, that since he once lived in Pine Bluff that the addition of Jefferson County would be a plus. Humphrey, a Presbyterian pastor, already has one potential hot button issue to deal with. He supported parole for Maurice Clemmons, who years later killed four Washington police officers.

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: 2nd Friday Art Night at the Tower Building

Lunch: Tuesday - Saturday, 11am - 3pm Dinner: Friday - Saturday, 5pm - 9pm Dinner And A Show: Tuesday, 5pm - 8pm

Visit our galleries, listen to live music and shop for the best of Arkansas Made in the Museum Store. !!!"#$%&'()'*%'("+(,

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Christ Episcopal Church

ArtLounge

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200 East Third Street 501-324-9351 www.HistoricArkansas.org A museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage

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411 Main St. · In The Heart Of The Argenta Arts District Downtown North Little Rock

come ride the free trolleys!

starvingartistcafe.net · 501.372.7976

There s a reason they re called PUBLIC charter schools.

There are many misconceptions when it comes to public charter schools. Since the level of education received by students often rivals that of private schools, it’s believed that public charter schools cost money to attend. But the reality is that public charter schools get the majority of their money the same way traditional public schools do – through state funding. So students do not have to pay to attend.

speak up for schools BETTER SCHOOLS FOR A BETTER ARKANSAS

IT’S TIME TO LEARN THE TRUTH ABOUT PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS. LEARN MORE AT SPEAKUPARKANSAS.COM. www.arktimes.com • March 9, 2011 21

EYE ON ARKANSAS

Editorial n Northwest Arkansas used to send pretty fair legislators to the Capitol. Serious slippage has set in; now they send Justin Harrises and Charles Collinses.

Representative Harris, R-West Fork, is sponsoring a bill to discourage any legislator from exposing the misconduct of a colleague. Harris has been so exposed, of course, and may well be exposed again, depending on how long he serves. Sen. Sue Madison, D-Fayetteville, a throwback to the old days, asked the Department of Human Services about children attending Harris’s pre-school operation. DHS replied that about a dozen children who lacked documentation of American citizenship were attending Harris’s pre-school, which receives both state and federal grants. When the DHS info appeared in blogs and the news media, Harris was embarrassed. While accepting both public money and undocumented students at his own school, he’s also sponsoring a bill that would prohibit state colleges and universities from allowing illegal aliens to pay in-state tuition, considerably cheaper than out-of-state tuition.

So Harris introduced HB 1602. It would require that any custodian of public records notify a legislator whenever another legislator asks for records pertaining to the first one, giving the offender time to threaten the whistle-blower, and destroy evidence.

Getting the goods on errant legislators deserves encouragement, not interference. People need to know what Justin Harris is up to. House and Senate leaders might even want to consider the establishment of cash rewards for members who uncover bad apples in their midst. Certainly they should stop HB 1602.

Representative Collins, R-Fayetteville, is the sponsor of HB 1479, which would allow faculty and staff to carry concealed handguns on state college and university campuses. Collins purports to believe that more guns will result in less shooting.

Hardly. The more people who are carrying guns at a particular location, the more likely it is that a gun will be fired there. Police officers and representatives of colleges and universities opposed HB 1479 before the House Education Committee. The bill failed to get a favorable recommendation, which is good, but it failed by only three votes, which is scary. And it can be brought up again.

Rogue jurist n Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas broke federal law by failing to report $700,000 that his lobbyist wife was paid by a conservative think tank. He says he didn’t understand that the law’s reference to “outside income” meant “outside income.”

Paul Campos, a University of Colorado law professor, writes: “Bill Clinton was impeached — and subsequently disbarred — for defending his false statements about his affair with Monica Lewinsky with an excuse that wasn’t as incredible as the one Thomas is now employing.”

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22 MARCH 9, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

BRIAN CHILSON

Political decline

TOUGH STROLL: Lu Hardin, accompanied by wife Mary and son Scooter, listens to his attorney, Chuck Banks, on his way into federal court Monday. Hardin, former president of the University of Central Arkansas, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering for a scheme that took place during his tenure at UCA.

The Lu Hardin story n Lu Hardin made a punishing walk in front of photographers into federal court Monday morning with his wife and son. Minutes later, he pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering in a scheme to accelerate payment of a $300,000 bonus voted him by the University of Central Arkansas Board of Trustees.

The rest of the story comes when he is sentenced.

Hardin and his attorney, Chuck Banks, both seemed to hold out hope this week that he’ll escape jail time for felonies that could carry up to 30 years in prison.

He has no prior record. He made restitution long ago of money received fraudulently. His case file will bulge eventually with testimonials to Hardin’s past good works, his acceptance of responsibility, the pain he’s suffered.

By sentencing, too, full details should be revealed of the reported gambling addiction that drove him into personal debt. Sources say he was desperate for money to meet the demands from Mississippi casinos for payment on the markers he’d signed. Hardin has not yet talked publicly about it, but these sources have told me of spotting him frequently in the Tunica casinos, sometimes wearing sunglasses. Friends tell me he favored the expensive slot machines, up to $100 a pull. The “whales” who play such machines are catered to by casinos, sometimes with private rooms for their sport always with many attendants on hand.

The jingling slot was a financial death vise. Hardin had to deplete his retirement fund to make payments. He drew on credit lines at several banks. The full extent of his losses isn’t known, but they must have been huge. He retains a state pension, but likely not much else.

It is a sad story for someone whose charm was legendary. But, at the bar of justice, he should receive no more consideration than the crackhead who stole a Social Security check to feed a damaging habit. A person in a position of public trust might even deserve a harder look.

I don’t know. But I do think the court will have to

Max Brantley max@arktimes.com

think of Lu Hardin as more than the victim of a vice who ultimately caused no public monetary loss in the specific case.

As president of UCA, he forged two documents to get the money. He instructed an employee to destroy the evidence. He drew the money from illegal public sources. He was not charged, despite an ongoing investigation, in a scheme in which he seems to have participated in a way to peel off money from a school advertising contract to illegally fatten the paycheck of the UCA football coach.

There’s much more in this considered life. Hardin favored students with political connections with comparatively plush campus housing. He managed the campus so poorly he dug a financial hole from which it is not yet fully extricated. He spent lavishly on advertising meant to build his own brand for a run for governor as much as it built the UCA brand. He pumped enrollment by any means, including a concurrent enrollment deal with high schools that other universities had long questioned.

Critics were seen as merely jealous. When the financial problems surfaced, Hardin’s supporters tended to dismiss them as pains from unparalleled go-go growth. Hardin was a risk-taker, no doubt, and not always in a bad way. He supported college for undocumented immigrants with good high school records. He provided the seed money to save the Oxford American.

Few people are one-dimensional. There will be much to consider when Lu Hardin’s sentence is pronounced by a federal judge. A lot of it will be good.

A lot of it won’t.

BRIAN CHILSON

Huckabee’s whoppers n Mike Huckabee may have set a record for the number of fibs told by a presidential aspirant in a single week, or perhaps in a year, which raises a question.

Was it a good week or a bad week for Huckabee?

Pundits seem to think it was a disaster that torpedoed the former governor’s standing as the leading contender for the Republican nomination in 2012. George Will, the doyen of conservative thought, wrote that sensible Americans had to be detecting “vibrations of weirdness” in the Republican Party with the nutty pronouncements of Huckabee and Newt Gingrich, who is not terribly far behind Huckabee in Republican polls.

But Huckabee would be hurting only if justice and good sense were the prevailing factors in the chase for the Republican nomination, and they are not. Truth is not part of the equation.

The last week of February was an especially good one for Huckabee because he told the true believers, who are the gravitational force in the Republican Party, what they want to hear, and the fact that he was caught lying only gave him a bigger megaphone.

Let’s take all the whoppers Huckabee told on the New York radio show of Steve Malzberg, a Glenn Beck wannabe who spouts all the crazy conspiracies of the right.

Because he told a bunch of provable falsehoods, Huckabee’s words spread across the country. If he had told the truth, no one but

Ernest Dumas Malzberg’s rapt listeners would have heard the slanders.

Huckabee said President Obama grew up in Kenya under the influence of his Muslim father and grandfather so he has a different worldview from that of real Americans.

He said the president had a different view of “the Brits” than Americans because he sympathized with the Mau Mau revolution against British colonial rule in the 1950s.

Obama demonstrated it, he continued, by removing a bust of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office and returned it to Great Britain, “a great insult to the British.” Because he grew up in Kenya, he went on, Obama didn’t get healthy influences like the Boy Scouts gave Americans.

Not a phrase of it was true. Obama saw his father only briefly as a child and never met his grandfather. He was born in Hawaii and spent the first five years of his life there, then spent several years in Indonesia with his mother and her new husband, and returned to Oahu, Hawaii, where he was raised by white grandparents and went to school. He went to Kenya for the first time in 1987, at the age of 26, to visit a sister.

And Obama did not return the Churchill bust to England but moved it to the family

Socialized telephones n On the day I had a column decrying a bill for socialized telephone service that props up AT&T’s government subsidy, furthering corporate welfare and hypocrisy, the bill — HB1525 — passed the House of Representatives with nary any debate and 90 votes.

So if you would like to get a bill passed, you probably ought to see if you could get me all riled up to the point that I rail against it in a column.

I suspect the column didn’t much show up on any House member’s radar that morning before state Rep. Bobby Pierce of Sheridan — a utility contractor, mind you, and speaker pro tem of the House — pushed through this little measure on the premise that its purpose was merely to help the poor rural man get broadband service to his isolated house.

I do know that AT&T lobbyists were saying that my column was an attack on the concept of helping poor country folks and that my complaint about locking in AT&T’s subsidy amount was misguided in that all phone companies with landlines were similarly getting locked into their current sub-

John Brummett jbrummett@arkansasnews.com

sidy amounts — only, you see, so that they would continue to get the money they get now to help the rural folks.

All right, then. Let’s run through this one more time.

Existing law says that users of all phones in Arkansas, landline and wireless, must pay in their bills a little tax to go into a pot to subsidize rural broadband installation — with recipients of the subsidy placed into categories of funding based on the number of landline customers.

AT&T is in the highest category of subsidy but likely is about to drop below the number of landline customers required for continued eligibility in Category 1.

The amount of tax we all pay on our iPhones and Blackberries fluctuates according to the eligibility of recipients. It is capped at the current $22 million. But, if

wing of the White House. He replaced it in the Oval Office with a bust of Abraham Lincoln. The Brits evinced no choler about it.

Oh, and Obama was in the Boy Scouts in Indonesia.

The head of Huckabee’s political-action committee issued a statement explaining that Kenya was only a slip of the tongue.

Huckabee meant to say Indonesia, not Kenya. He knew that Obama never lived in Kenya.

But what was all that stuff about the Mau Maus? There were no Mau Maus in Indonesia, an island nation that is oceans away.

That was on Monday. A day earlier, Huckabee was a guest on Chris Wallace’s Sunday show on Fox News. Wallace said that if Huckabee ran for president the media would throw out “gotcha stories,” such as the charges that when he was governor of Arkansas Huckabee raised taxes. How would he respond to that? By arrangement with Huckabee, obviously, Wallace flashed on the screen three of the many Huckabee tax increases — the ones Huckabee wanted to talk about.

That state income tax surcharge, Huckabee said, was “a misnomer.” He opposed the tax but the legislature passed it anyway and he flatly did not sign it, Huckabee said.

As it has been pointed out many times — by no less than the Arkansas Democrat Gazette (then, not lately) — that is a lie.

Huckabee called a special legislative session in 2003 to raise taxes. In his address to the Senate and House of Representatives he pleaded with the legislators to pass a tax bill and send it to him. He suggested an in-

come tax surcharge, a sales tax or a tobacco tax. He said he would sign any tax bill they sent to him. The legislature sent him a bill imposing an extra 3 percent charge on individual and corporate incomes for two years and an increase in tobacco taxes. He signed it into law on May 8, the same day it passed the Senate, and praised the legislature for passing it. It’s all in the record.

Wallace and Fox never pointed out the lie.

Huckabee also implied that the Arkansas Supreme Court made him raise the sales tax, which also was not true.

Three days earlier, meeting with national political reporters in Washington, Huckabee was asked about freeing an Arkansas inmate who went to Lakewood, Wash., and slaughtered four policemen in a coffee shop in 2009. Police gunned him down in a shootout later.

Huckabee said he would do it all over again. The kid was only 16 and had been sentenced to 108 years in prison for a burglary, he said. If Maurice Clemmons had been white and had a good lawyer, Huckabee said, he would not have served even one day in prison and would be working on Wall Street today. Clemmons wrote Huckabee a letter saying he had found Jesus.

Clemmons was not 16, he would have been eligible for parole after serving fewer than 20 years, not 108, and his crimes and prison misconduct were numerous and violent, not just a little burglary. All of that was documented.

That’s only four days of prevarications.

There’s not space for Natalie Portman’s pregnancy or the promotions for his new book of tired bromides.

AT&T drops into Category 2 and competes with CenturyTel for a lesser amount of subsidy, then it loses its assurance of $3 million and all of us see our phone tax cut a little because the fund goes down to $19 million.

It’s a tax cut, dear Tea Party radical.

So this bill, while professing to do other stuff, basically says AT&T can continue to get the high subsidy based on its customer base on Dec. 31, 2010, which means that all phone users will continue to be taxed at a rate producing $22 million rather than $19 million, with the $3 million going straightaway to a supposedly private company, AT&T, presumably so it can use the money to get broadband to Hickory Knot.

But neither existing law nor this bill sets up any kind of accountable system for how the money gets used.

Here’s my point: Let us not pretend to be conservatives devoted to lower taxes, lower spending and the glories of the free marketplace while we charge some poor sap a tax on his cell phone so that AT&T can continue enjoying ad infinitum a current level of public subsidy.

You could amend out the date and continue this rural subsidy program under the rules of existing law, to the tune of $19 mil-

lion rather than $22 million, and save a few nickels on everyone’s phone bill.

Here is what this is like: We could set a subsidy paid out of a government pot compiled of a few-cents tax on newspaper advertising sales. The money would be for distribution to newspapers to help them deal with burdensome costs of delivering newspapers in rural areas.

We could base the subsidy allotments to individual newspapers on the number of subscribers. And we could lock in those circulation figures from a time when they were high, in, oh, December 2004, so that the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette could continue to get the highest level of subsidy no matter how many subscriptions it might lose to the future vagaries of the great American marketplace.

Somebody get Walter Hussman on the phone. I just thought of a way to make him millions from a tax on all advertisers in all newspapers across the state.

John Brummett is a columnist and reporter for Stephens Media’s Arkansas News Bureau. You can read additional Brummett columns in The Times of North Little Rock. www.arktimes.com • MARCH 9, 2011 23

arts entertainment

This week in

Heypenny to White Water

Ryan Bingham to Rev Room

PAGE 28

PAGE 29

and

TO-DO LIST 28

CALENDAR 30

‘It’s psychedelta! ’

MOVIES 34

DINING 36

JUDGES

Tyrannosaurus Chicken bests the rest, wins Showcase, finally gets an awesome buzzword.

BY JOHN TARPLEY

W

BRIAN CHILSON

hile Smilin’ Bob Lewis So what pushed Tyrannosauand Rachel Ammons of rus Chicken over the edge? From Tyrannosaurus Chicken the judges’ points of view, nothwere occupied with setting up ing speaks louder than the fact their foot-powered drum conthat their notes, at points, all turn traptions and plugging in a mess into cuss-filled, all caps shock: of guitars and fiddles, a certain Says one: “Damn son! This shit’s giddiness in the crowd began to for real!” Another: “It would take take root. The floor started filling one seriously miserable son of up with folks double-clutching a bitch not to love this.” Yet andrinks and, for those of us who’d other, in bold caps: “Who are the seen Tyrannosaurus Chicken bepoor bastards that have to follow fore, we were most excited about that?!” all those people in the room who Yep. It’s really that good.

WINNER: Rachel Ammons, one half of were about to have their first exStill, big, huge, enormous Showcase champ Tyrannosaurus Chicken. perience with the … well, what ups are due to the other finalists, do we call them? as well. Mandy McBryde and We’ve thrown around the term “deconstructed blues the Unholy Ghost brought what the judges agreed was party music,” but that’s a bit cumbersome. And it doesn’t their best gig, thanks to the band’s wonderfully realized, sound fun, which Tyrannosaurus Chicken most definitely sonically experimental take on Americana. This Holy is, in spades. Seeing as how their energy is pure white light- House, the last addition to the night’s line up, managed ning moonshine and the energy they inspire in the crowd is to improve on an already killer set from the night before, right out of a rave, we tried “hickstacy” for a bit, but that’s drawing on eclectic touchstones from Bad Brains to Muse disparaging in spite of our best intentions. and whipping through a daring set of spectacle and volSo when my friend and better musical half Marshall ume. Sea Nanners not only rocked but charmed the crowd drilled my shoulder with his fist and said “hey — I’ve all the way through a dynamic set full of wanderlust-y road got this! They’re ‘psychedelta!’ ” the term was instantly music and quirky brio. These guys get exponentially better coined, gilded and ready to fly. each gig. Can’t wait to see what ideas the band will be runAnd psychedelta it was. From the Jew’s harp that ning with a year from now. And finally, Mike Mullins saw opened their set in the most disorienting way imaginable, his second Showcase finals in a row, leading The Year of to the constant four-on-the-floor porch-stomp kick-drum- the Tiger through a terrifically chunky, synth-stunned set ming, to the vocals — Lewis’ blown-out, distorted hollers of futuristic rock anxiety, replete with an overhead projecand Ammons’ hilly Karen Dalton squeak — one thing was tor blasting hyperactive anime. clear: We got shipped off to Trippytown.

And thanks yet again to our judges for their weekly But of all the thrilling features of the band, it’s truly support, to Chris King, Suzon Awbrey and Maestro for amazing how they can effortlessly balance between such being such great hosts at Stickyz and Revolution and, as oppositional forces. They’re primal and progressive, for- always, to all of the folks who came out and supported our eign and familiar, abrasively gritty and technically brilliant. unbelievable local bands.

The last duo to have that type of thing written about them In the meantime, catch Tyrannosaurus Chicken as soon was the newly defunct White Stripes. as you humanly can.

26 MARCH 9, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

ANDY WARR WHO? Frontman for Brother Andy and His Big Damn Mouth, ATMS 2010 winners; Little Rock’s newest icon.

ON TYRANNOSAURUS CHICKEN. “Charming as hell and fun to watch. The Sonic Youth of the blues.”

BONNIE MONTGOMERY WHO? Local songwriter/chanteuse, the mind behind “Billy Blythe.”

ON TYRANNOSAURUS CHICKEN. “Love this! It’s organic and anthemic.”

TRAVIS HILL WHO? The head of Last Chance Records, creator of the “Live from the White Water Tavern” album series.

ON TYRANNOSAURUS CHICKEN. “Risky, original and bad ass: and the crowd’s peaking right now!”

MIKE BROWN WHO? Owner of Green Grass Bodega in the River Market, founder of RSVP Society, renowned DJ. ON TYRANNOSAURUS CHICKEN. “Original and untouchable! I love this room right now: there’s energy like no other!”

An argument in favor of drinking n “Wine does of a truth moisten the soul and lull our griefs to sleep.”

Pardon the Socrates, but it was the best pro-drinking quotation I could find. Maybe it comes as a surprise, but you have to move pretty far back through the history of literature in order for such pro-alcohol statements to be commonplace. In today’s world, our version is a deranged TV star talking about having Tiger Blood and how many ounces of cocaine he can do at one sitting.

We’re living in an age where our intoxication is as polarized as our politics with teetotaling on one side, bingeing on the other, and little room in between. Meanwhile, social drinking has kind of taken its seat quietly in the back of the class. The idea of going to a bar and having a few drinks over a couple of hours is outmoded. We’re in a time, in other words, where we’ve lost what’s good about a tavern.

Bars are places where people indulge, yes, but they were once a place where people also relaxed and ideas were shared. There used to be no option, but also no need, for the dozen 50-inch HD televisions to keep us diverted from one another. How many bars can you name where instead of live music, or trivia, or karaoke, the patrons are the centerpiece? I love those distractions as much as anyone, but isn’t there something in always being so damn active that’s antithetical to a bar?

Bars have gradually become that way only because they are, like us, susceptible to our culture at large. Drinking couldn’t beat our productivity-consumed society, so it decided to go ahead and blend with it, literally. In vodka/Red Bulls and the like, the sedative of alcohol is mixed with caffeine and taurine, pushing drinking further into benders and the realm of a contest.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe even overindulgence is good from time to time.

We can disengage from the daily hand-tohand combat of life for a few hours, and even if it means leaving the best of your night in the alley or on the floorboard of someone’s car (though not a cab since we don’t seem to have those in downtown Little Rock), it can feel like cleaning out

Graham Gordy the pipes, physically and mentally. Even the after-effects, the proverbial hangover, can be refocusing. Yet, years ago, it seemed the drinking culture changed.

Young people started looking forward to a Friday night so they could “rage,” and drinking became an indulgent weekend bacchanal where, within a matter of a few hours, we almost-violently blunt out our work weeks.

Either that or, like most things that lose any practical value in our society, drinking became an art form, a professional hobby populated by dapper connoisseurs.

Something precious and expensive, where the premium small-batch vodka you’re overheard ordering mustn’t be any less impressive than the car the valet brings to you at the end of the evening.

So, then where is there left for the social drinker to go? I guess there’s always the coffeehouse, but have you noticed that the ideas are different there? Coffee isn’t social. It’s invigorating, yes, but it’s also agitating, and not all of us are in the mood for revolution on a bone-tired Thursday afternoon.

During Prohibition, consumption of beer, wine and whiskey jumped by 63 percent. For every bar that was shut down, it’s said that three speakeasies popped up in its place. There’s a different kind of Prohibition now. Social drinking is antithetical to everything else we do and, therefore, doesn’t stand much of a chance when diluted and deluged by the competitive spirit that fuels all of our other endeavors as Americans.

We spend all our workdays being engaged, prodded and measured, so we now want it no different in our leisure or our homes. But I ask you to cast off that conditioning, my friends. If not, just consider this is a dirge for the tavern and a toast to long, slow bottles of beer.

A& E N EW S

New on Rock Candy n The Riverfest lineup is closer to being filled this week with the announcement that Widespread Panic will play the Clinton Center stage on Friday night and Barenaked Ladies

will play the same stage on Saturday night. Acts already booked include Poison, REO Speedwagon, Digital Underground, Nelly, The Charlie Daniels Band, Pat Green, Papa Roach and Pat Green. The festival is May 27-29.

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501-753-8700 www.arktimes.com • MARCH 9, 2011 27

once recalls the astral soundscapes of Flying Lotus, the erudite thoroughness of The Books and the creative ferocity of the late, (beyond) great J Dilla. Live, he brings to mind a geekier, younger brother to Girl Talk. On stage, Wiesenfeld jerks and jives in time to his beats, chopped on the spot with unbelievable dexterity on a drum machine/laptop combo. In short, this guy’s a box full of surprises you don’t want to miss. Baths is joined by electronic, highenergy Sacramento act Gobble Gobble.

JT

S U N D AY 3 /1 3

THE SMALL PONDS/ GLOSSARY 8 p.m., White Water Tavern. $5.

TUNE IN: Fixtures of Nashville’s non-country music scene, Heypenny brings its ambitiously poppy music and raucous live show to White Water Tavern.

■ to-dolist

BY JOHN TARPLEY AND LINDSEY MILLAR

THU R SD AY 3/ 10

HEYPENNY

10 p.m., White Water Tavern.

n Formed in Fayetteville as an indie rock/ jam fusion band and uprooted to Tennessee, Heypenny has remained a Nashville favorite since releasing the relentlessly catchy CopCar EP in 2009. But if you’re out for even a shred of Nashville country twang, look elsewhere. This is pure, bright colored pop music in the vein of Of Montreal’s cartoon-y rhythm or OK Go’s inexplicably alluring marching band fetishism.

In fact, these guys are known to crank out the jams while decked out in pastel showband suits and faux rabbit fur hats.

Heypenny arrives fresh off the release of its long-delayed second album, “A Jillion Kicks,” a textbook “grower” full of endearingly weird Beach Boys antics and some of the most ambitious, monstrous production to come from a Southern indie release in recent memory. Check the album out in its entirety at heypenny.com. The popwarriors play with Bonnie Montgomery, the multi-talented songstress who offers up her melodic, Tennessee Three-style country shuffle to the night. JT 28 MARCH 9, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

F RID AY 3/11

‘THE HANGING OF DAVID O. DODD’

7:30 p.m., Weekend Theater. $10-$14.

n On Friday, the Weekend Theater celebrates a rare world premiere. A two-act drama of historical fiction by Little Rock author Phillip McMath, “The Hanging of David O. Dodd” centers around a Confederate sympathizer determined to save her wounded son and a Union supporter who is fixed on trying to save the life of 17-year-old David O. Dodd, sentenced to hang as a spy.

“I like to mingle history and fiction because fiction frequently provides intimacy without context and history the opposite,” McMath said in a statement on the Weekend Theater website. “In combining the two in a historical-fictional drama, I hope to connect the two – the subjective with the objective, the existential with the collective.” Libby Smith portrays Confederate sympathizer Medora Pilgrim, Deb Lewis is Union supporter Philomena Tottenburg and Aron Long plays Dodd. The play is part of the Arkansas Civil War Sesquicentennial celebration. It continues through March 26. LM

album from electronic musician Will Wiesenfeld’s glitchy alter-ego, Baths, landed in my hands last summer with a note that said something along the lines of “stop being stubborn about chillwave: this album is great.” And it’s true: I’ve managed to keep my ears out of the hyper-trendy, atmospheric pop known as “chillwave” without losing much sleep over the last couple of years. But this music is so much more expansive and, no need to split hairs, amazing than any affixed subgenre would lend you to believe. Gorgeous, laid back and full of rolling glitch beats, wobbly pitch shifts, Prince-aspiring falsetto and cut-and-paste acoustic samples, Baths at

n As we’ve written before, Travis Hill is increasingly pushing his Little Rock label Last Chance Records into the national spotlight. His latest advance? An official SXSW showcase for The Small Ponds, a Raleigh, N.C.-based act that includes folkrock heroine Caitlin Cary (Whiskeytown, Tres Chicas), Matt Douglas (The Proclivities) and Skillet Gilmore (Whiskeytown).

On the way to SXSW, Small Ponds show off their easy-breezy, sweet vocal harmonies in an early gig that pairs them with another band en route to SXSW, Glossary, a Murfreesboro, Tenn., rock ’n’ roll outfit that has a huge following in Little Rock.

LM.

M ON D AY 3 /1 4

WILD FLAG/TIMES NEW VIKING 8:30 p.m., Stickyz. $10.

n Even though they didn’t release a proper recording of a song until last weekend, when NPR broke the Britt Danielproduced “Glass Tambourine,” the indie rock godmothers of Wild Flag have been

S ATURD AY 3/12

BATHS

9 p.m., Stickyz. $10.

n A burned copy of “Cerulean,” the debut

INDIE ROCK ROYALTY: Stickyz hosts the new, buzzy supergroup Wild Flag, featuring members of Sleater-Kinney, Helium and the Minders.

■ inbrief

THURSDAY 3/10

EARLE-Y BIRD: Oscar-winning songwriter Ryan Bingham lands in Revolution this Tuesday night with his backing band, the Dead Horses. the subject of much rock crit drooling for months, piquing interest by way of grainy YouTube videos, not to mention their lineup. Supergroup alert: The band is made up by Carrie Brownstein, Mary Timony, Janet Weiss and Rebecca Cole, members of The Minders, Helium, Quasi and Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks. Also, do you remember how Sleater-Kinney is, like, probably one of the best American rock bands of all time? Yeah, we never forgot, either. With Brownstein and Weiss, Wild Flag is half Sleater-Kinney. You’re pretty much required to go to this one. Also playing: fellow Merge Records band Times New Viking, the ever-amazing lo-fi pop trio who are currently the fourth most-listened-to artist on my last.fm charts and, on some days, my favorite active American band, period. If you haven’t given “Move to California” a spin, you’re missing out on one of the best songs of the century, period. Oh my God, y’all. This is a big one.

JT

DAMIEN JURADO/ VIVA VOCE

10 p.m., White Water Tavern. $15.

n When Damien Jurado released “Arkansas,” a Shirelles by-way-of “Hallelujah” requiem to a lost love in the Natural State, Black Oak Arkansas’s “When Electricity Came to Arkansas” and Bruce Springsteen’s “Mary, Queen of Arkansas” had to make a little room for another great, twang-y ode to the greatest state in the whole dang country. And it was about time the Seattle native had a chance to sit at a table with the greats. For the better part of two decades, Jurado has released a flood of evocative, moody Americana, spun from the sweatier, muddier corners of the rural landscape. His latest album, “Saint Bartlett,” his 20-somethingth release, takes his one-man lyrical ambition and sets it in front of wintery orchestra-

tion to gorgeous results. Likewise, the signature Viva Voce combination of folk and psychedelic pop is executed skillfully, release after release, by the husband/wife duo, whose music is more expansive than Jurado’s claustrophobia, but no less affecting. The out-of-towners get local support from Adam Faucett, whose latest album, “More Like a Temple,” should make Jurado-sized waves any day now. All ages. JT

THE BODY

8 p.m., Downtown Music Hall. $7

n Why do we write about this metal duo every time they come through town? Is it because of Lee Buford and Chip King’s roots in North Little Rock? Is it because of their long, faithful service to Arkansas’s music scene? Is it because The Body has established itself everywhere from specialty doom metal blogs to the newsstands? Is it because every time they play a show in their hometown, something insane and unexpected happens? (Their last show at Juanita’s didn’t even make it to the 20-minute mark before the insanity started to push smoke, not noise, out of an enormous house speaker.) Yes. And no. It’s because their last album, “All of the Waters of the Earth Turn to Blood,” is still one of the best, most daring albums of any genre to come out in recent memory, anywhere, and their live show lives up to the expectations. Only adventurous listeners need apply. JT

TUES D AY 3/15

NICHOLAS SPARKS

7:30 p.m., Reynolds Performance Hall, UCA. $5-$10.

n I’m not sure what Nicholas Sparks, one of the biggest selling fiction authors of our day, plans to talk about in his UCA

lecture. He has a new book called “Safe Haven” about a woman “with [a] dark secret” who gets involved in a love triangle that he’ll sign after he speaks. But I suspect he’ll talk mostly about himself.

A scan of his terrifically chatty 5,000word web autobiography suggests a few possible topics: his pet turtle committed suicide when he was a kid; his third grade teacher wore Nile-green evening dresses; he got a track scholarship to Notre Dame, where he set a school record in the 4-by800 relay (which still stands); his parents were killed in tragic accidents years apart; he’s a Capricorn; the end of “Cheers” inspired him to write “The Notebook”; when Warner Books bought the rights to “The Notebook” for a million dollars, he proposed to his wife again; he has twin daughters and twin sons, including one who was incorrectly diagnosed with autism; in 2001, he started a massive landscaping project at his house — the possibilities are endless! LM

RYAN BINGHAM & THE DEAD HORSES 9 p.m., Revolution. $20.

n Yes, his song “The Weary Kind” (from “Crazy Heart”) won him a Golden Globe and an Oscar last year. It’s a designation that will follow him around for the rest of his life. Heck, we’re even going to run it as a caption to his picture on this page. But Bingham’s modern take on faithful Americana leans hard toward the worn and dirt-tanned country sounds of his native Texas. If the music itself was a person, it probably wouldn’t give a damn about an Oscar. Like his forebears in Steve Earle and Guy Clark, authenticity is something he’s never had a problem with. And it’s hard to knock a guy whose music is still as honest and roots-rooted as it was when he was sleeping in his van on tour. JT

n The yearly Youth Rock Orchestra show brings 100-plus high school students to the Robinson Center Music Hall stage for a night of orchestrated rock songs from Led Zeppelin, Michael Jackson and more, 7 p.m., $19-$31. “Review the Revue,” an evening of classic Broadway numbers as performed by the Rep’s Young Artists program, returns to the Arkansas Repertory Theater stage, 7 p.m., $20. It’s been a while since they’ve played, but boogie-woogie old time folksters Damn Bullets return to the stage at Stickyz, 9 p.m., $5. Laman Library hosts a free show with local jazz and R&B crew Rodney Block & the Real Music Lovers, 7 p.m., free.

Mountain View kicks off its three-day Spring Bluegrass Festival with Grasstowne, Timberland Drive and more, $55 three-day pass, $20 one-day pass.

FRIDAY 3/11

n White Water Tavern gets a night of metal from local heavies Iron Tongue and Atlanta’s Royal Thunder, 10 p.m.

The electro-heavy “Zodiac Party” swings into Revolution again with DJs Huda Hudia, Excell, Jon House and more, 9 p.m., $10. It’s a family affair when Amy McBryde and her older sister, Showcase finalist Mandy McBryde, bring their twang to Reno’s Argenta Cafe, 9 p.m., $5. Dreadlocked Hendrix alum Graham Wilkinson strums, hums and hollers at Stickyz with local wunderkind Chris Denny, 9 p.m., $5. At Cornerstone Pub in Argenta, local emcee Epiphany hosts a local hip-hop showcase in “The O.D.,” 8:30 p.m.

SATURDAY 3/12

n At UCA, Dr. Wayne Stengel screens and discusses recent Woody Allen dramas “Match Point” and “Vicky Christina Barcelona” in “Watching Woody Allen, Seriously,” to be held in the BrewerHegeman Conference Center, 1:30 p.m., free. Later, in Conway, the Sunset Ballroom hosts rockabilly legends Sonny Burgess and the Legendary Pacers, 7 p.m., $8. Even later, in Little Rock, deranged Sons of Sonny, Josh the Devil and the Sinners, bring their psychobilly thrash to Midtown Billiards, 12:30 a.m., $8 non-members. Revolution offers long-time local rock outfit Kingsdown with Tennessee’s The Dirty Guv’nahs and modern rockers Haven Hill, 8:30 p.m., $7 general, $10 under 21. Vino’s gets a big night of loud post-hardcore from Emery, Hawkboy, To Speak of Wolves, belair., and EKSB, 8 p.m., $12 adv., $15 d.o.s. And at the Fox and Hound, Showcase semi-finalists Cody Ives Band plays with Jacksonville’s Se7en Sharp, 10 p.m. www.arktimes.com • MARCH 9, 2011 29

www.arktimes.com

afterdark

All events are in the Greater Little Rock area unless otherwise noted. To place an event in the Arkansas Times calendar, please e-mail the listing and all pertinent information, including date, time, location, price and contact information, to calendar@arktimes.com.

COMEDY

SPORTS

UALR Men’s Baseball vs. Southeast Missouri State. UALR, 3 p.m. 2801 S University Ave. 501-569-8977.

THURSDAY, MARCH 10 MUSIC

4 Elements (headliner), Crash Meadows (happy hour). Cajun’s Wharf, 5:30 and 9 p.m., $5 after 8:30 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf.com.

Bonnie Montgomery, Hey Penny. White Water Tavern, 10 p.m. 2500 W. 7th. 501-375-8400. www. whitewatertavern.com.

Brian Martin. Maxine’s, 8 p.m., free. 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs. maxinespub.com.

D-Mite and Tho-d Studios Showcase.

Cornerstone Pub & Grill, 8:30 p.m. 314 Main St., 30 MARCH 9, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

EVENTS

“Duck Duck Goose” Clothing Consignment.

The consignment sale for children’s clothing returns.

For more information, visit littlerock.duckduckgoosesale.com. Arkansas State Fairgrounds, March 10-12, 7 a.m., $3. 2600 Howard St. 501-372-8341 ext. 8206. www.arkansasstatefair.com.

SPORTS

FRIDAY, MARCH 11

MUSIC

Jason Russell. The Loony Bin, 8 p.m.; March 10, 9 p.m.; March 11, 8 and 10:30 p.m.; March 12, 7, 9 and 11 p.m., $6-$9. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road.

501-228-5555. www.loonybincomedy.com.

COMEDY

Dr. Jon Taylor, hypnotist. For more information, visit drjoncomedyhypnosis.com. MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History, 6:30 p.m. 503 E. 9th St. 376-4602. www.arkmilitaryheritage.com.

Jason Russell. The Loony Bin, March 10, 9 p.m.; March 11, 8 and 10:30 p.m.; March 12, 7, 9 and 11 p.m., $6-$9. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road.

501-228-5555. www.loonybincomedy.com.

Horse racing. Oaklawn, $2.50-$4.50. 2705 Central Ave., Hot Springs. 501-623-4411. www.oaklawn. com.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9 Acoustic Open Mic with Kat Hood. The Afterthought, 8 p.m. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-6631196. www.afterthoughtbar.com.

Bolly Open Mic Hype Night with Osyrus Bolly and DJ Messiah. All American Wings, 9 p.m. 215 W. Capitol Ave. 501-376-4000. allamericanwings. com.

Brian & Nick. Cajun’s Wharf, 5 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf.com.

David Mayfield Parade. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m., $5. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyfingerz.com.

Jim Dickerson. Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www. sonnywilliamssteakroom.com.

Karaoke at Khalil’s. Khalil’s Pub, 7 p.m. 110 S. Shackleford Road. 501-224-0224. www.khalilspub. com.

Karaoke. Hibernia Irish Pub, 9 p.m. 9700 N Rodney Parham Road. 501-246-4340. www.hiberniairishtavern.com/index.html.

Karaoke with Big John Miller. Denton’s Trotline, 8 p.m. 2150 Congo Road, Benton. 501-315-1717.

“Lavish” with DJs Deja Blu, Hy-C. Papa Sushi, 9:30 p.m. 17200 Chenal Parkway. 501-821-7272.

Lucious Spiller Band. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9:30 p.m., $5. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyfingerz.com.

Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 5 p.m., free.

111 Markham St. 501-374-7474. www.capitalhotel. com/CBG. Westley Hartley and the Traveling Trees, Adam Faucett and the Tall Grass, William Blackart. Maxine’s, 8 p.m., $3. 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs. maxinespub.com.

Young the Giant, The Apache Relay, Kitten.

Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m., $8 adv., $10 d.o.s. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www. stickyfingerz.com.

The Youth Rock Orchestra, The Mark Wood Experience. Robinson Center Music Hall, 7 p.m., $19-$31. Markham and Broadway. www.littlerockmeetings.com/conv-centers/robinson.

MUSIC

BOOMING: Royal Thunder, one of the best bands to come from Georgia’s great metal scene, brings its sludgy, bluesy, femme-fronted metal psychedelia to White Water Tavern alongside local heavies Iron Tongue at 10 p.m. Friday, March 11.

NLR. 501-374-1782. cstonepub.com.

Damn Bullets. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m., $5. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyfingerz.com.

“V.I.P. Thursdays” with DJ Silky Slim. Sway, 8 p.m., $3. 412 Louisiana. 501-907-2582.

Dr. Rex Bell Jazz Trio. The Afterthought, 8 p.m., $5. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www. afterthoughtbar.com.

Jim Dickerson. Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www. sonnywilliamssteakroom.com.

Karaoke. Zack’s Place, 8 p.m. 1400 S. University Ave. 501-664-6444. www.zacks-place.com/.

Ol’ Puddin’haid. Thirst n’ Howl, 7:30 p.m., free.

14710 Cantrell Road. 501-379-8189. www.thirst-

n-howl.com.

“Posh” with Louisiana Cash, Kronic, Young Taz, Gutta T.V., DJ Swagga. Revolution, 9:30 p.m., $10 early admission. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. revroom.com.

Rodney Block & the Real Music Lovers. Laman Library, 7 p.m. 2801 Orange St., NLR. 501-758-1720. www.lamanlibrary.org.

Spring Bluegrass Festival. For tickets, lineup and more information, visit mountainview-bluegrass. com. Ozark Folk Center State Park, March 10-12, $55 three-day pass, $20 one-day pass. 1032 Park Ave., Mountain View.

Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 5 p.m., free.

111 Markham St. 501-374-7474. www.capitalhotel. com/CBG.

Turbo Fruits, Ginsu Wives, Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, PUJOL, Blastoids. ACAC, 9 p.m., $8. 608 Main St. 501-244-2974. acacarkansas. wordpress.com.

Billy Jones Revue. West End Smokehouse and Tavern, 10 p.m. 215 N. Shackleford. 501-224-7665. www.westendsmokehouse.net.

Chris Henry. Flying Saucer, 9 p.m. 323 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-7468. www.beerknurd.com/ stores/littlerock.

Crisis (headliner), Andy Tanas (happy hour).

Cajun’s Wharf, 5:30 and 9 p.m., $5 after 8:30 p.m.

2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf.com.

Damn Bullets, Family History. Maxine’s, 8 p.m., $5. 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs. maxinespub.com.

DJ Ja’Lee. Sway, 8 p.m., $5. 412 Louisiana.

501-907-2582.

Gin River Outlaws. Fox And Hound, 10 p.m., $5.

2800 Lakewood Village, NLR. 501-753-8300. www. foxandhound.com/locations/north-little-rock.aspx.

Graham Wilkinson, Chris Denny. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m., $5. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyfingerz.com.

Grayson Shelton. Cregeen’s Irish Pub, March 11-12, 9 p.m. 301 Main St., NLR. 501-376-7468. www.cregeens.com.

Honeyshine. Midtown Billiards, March 12, 12:30 a.m., $8 non-members. 1316 Main St. 501-3729990. midtownar.com.

Jessica Seven, A Faith Forgotten, DJ Vampiregut. Vino’s, 9 p.m. 923 W. Seventh St. 501-375-8466. www.vinosbrewpub.com.

Mandy and Amy McBryde. Reno’s Argenta Cafe, 9 p.m., $5. 312 N. Main St., NLR. 501-376-2900. www.renosargentacafe.com.

Nevertrain. Juanita’s, 9 p.m., $5. 1300 S. Main St. 501-372-1228. www.juanitas.com.

“The O.D.” with Epiphany. Cornerstone Pub & Grill, 8:30 p.m. 314 Main St., NLR. 501-374-1782. cstonepub.com.

Rodney Block & the Real Music Lovers. The Afterthought, 9 p.m., $10. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd.

501-663-1196. www.afterthoughtbar.com.

Royal Thunder, Iron Tongue. White Water Tavern, 10 p.m. 2500 W. 7th. 501-375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com.

Spring Bluegrass Festival. For tickets, lineup and more information, visit mountainview-bluegrass.com.

Ozark Folk Center State Park, through March 12, $55 three-day pass, $20 one-day pass. 1032 Park Ave., Mountain View.

Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 9 p.m. 111 Markham St. 501-374-7474. www.capitalhotel.com/ CBG. Thomas East. Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, March 11-12, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-3242999. www.sonnywilliamssteakroom.com.

Tragikly White. Denton’s Trotline, March 11-12,

9 p.m. 2150 Congo Road, Benton. 501-315-1717.

The Trustees. Markham Street Grill And Pub, 9 p.m. 11321 W. Markham St. 501-224-2010. www. markhamst.com.

“Zodiac Party: Pisces Edition” with Huda Hudia, Sex With Robots, Jon House, ramon, Excell, Crawley, Stetra, DJ Explicit, Blade.

Revolution, 9 p.m., $10. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. revroom.com.

COMEDY

Jason Russell. The Loony Bin, March 11, 8 and 10:30 p.m.; March 12, 7, 9 and 11 p.m., $6-$9. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-228-5555. www. loonybincomedy.com.

EVENTS

LECTURES

Donald Kelly. A leading expert on Russia and the Soviet Union delivers his lecture, “Behind Kremlin Walls: Putin, Medvedev and Russia’s Future.” For reservations or more information, call 683-5239 or e-mail publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu.

Clinton School of Public Service, 12 p.m., free. 1200 President Clinton Ave. 501-683-5239. www.clintonschool.uasys.edu.

SPORTS

Horse racing. Oaklawn, $2.50-$4.50. 2705 Central Ave., Hot Springs. 501-623-4411. www.oaklawn. com.

BOOKS

Spring Book Sale. Faulkner County Library, March 11, 6 p.m.; March 12, 9 a.m. 1900 Tyler St., Conway.

501-327-7482. www.fcl.org.

SATURDAY, MARCH 12 MUSIC

Baths, Gobble Gobble. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m., $10. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyfingerz.com.

Brothers With Different Mothers. Cornerstone Pub & Grill, 9 p.m. 314 Main St., NLR. 501-374-1782. cstonepub.com.

Cody Ives Band, Se7en Sharp. Fox And Hound, 10 p.m., $5. 2800 Lakewood Village, NLR. 501-7538300. www.foxandhound.com/locations/north-littlerock.aspx.

Conway Symphony Orchestra: “Songs of the American West.” Reynolds Performance Hall, UCA, 7:30 p.m., $6-$38. 350 S. Donaghey, Conway.

Dead Celt Society. Reno’s Argenta Cafe, 10 p.m.,

COMEDY

Jason Russell. The Loony Bin, 7, 9 and 11 p.m., $6-$9. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-2285555. www.loonybincomedy.com.

EVENTS

Arkansas Pen and Watch Show. A three-day show featuring fine pens and watches. Wyndham Riverfront Hotel, through March 13. 2 Riverfront Place, NLR. 501-371-9000. www.wyndham.com.

City Wide Cleanup. Little Rock recognizes the nationwide Great American Cleanup with a morning of volunteers cleaning up local parks. River Market Pavilions, 9 a.m., free. 400 President Clinton Ave. 375-2552. www.rivermarket.info.

“Duck Duck Goose” Clothing Consignment.

See March 10.

Falun Gong meditation. Allsopp Park, 9 a.m., free. Cantrell & Cedar Hill Roads.

National Street Rod Association Appreciation Day. Street rodders and muscle car enthusiasts from across the state convene for a day of competition, a chili cook-off and a raffle to benefit Treatment Homes, Inc. For more information, visit camscarclub. org. Pulaski Technical College - South Campus, 9 a.m., free. Exit 128, I-30.

F r e e vA l e t PA r k i n g P i A n o B A r t u e s - s At inquire ABout our P r i vAt e C o r P o r At e lunChes

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Arkansas Pen and Watch Show. A threeday show for collectors and vendors. Wyndham Riverfront Hotel, March 11-13. 2 Riverfront Place, NLR. 501-371-9000. www.wyndham.com.

Cruisin’ in the Rock. For more information, visit cruisinlittlerock.com. River Market Pavilions, 6 p.m.

400 President Clinton Ave. 375-2552. www.rivermarket.info.

“Duck Duck Goose” Clothing Consignment.

See March 10.

LGBTQ/SGL Youth and Young Adult Group.

Diverse Youth for Social Change is a group for LGBTQ/SGL and Straight Ally Youth and Young Adults age 14 to 23. 800 Scott St., 6:30 p.m. For more information, call 244-9690 or search “DYSC” on Facebook.

Where Little Rock Goes To Taste Perfection

W

MARCH 18: 8Ball & MJG. 9 p.m. Revolution, 300 President Clinton Ave. 823-0090, revroom. com.

MARCH 27: Destroyer. 9 p.m., $10 adv., $12 d.o.s. Stickyz, 107 Commerce St. 372-7707, stickyfingerz.com.

APRIL 6: Cage the Elephant/Biffy Clyro. 9 p.m., $20. Revolution, 300 President Clinton Ave. 823-0090, revroom.com.

APRIL 29: James Taylor. 8 p.m., $47-$71.

Verizon Arena. 975-9000, verizonarena.com.

MAY 24-26: “Beauty and the Beast.” 7:30 p.m. Robinson Center Music Hall, Markham and Broadway. 244-8800, celebrityattractions.com.

MAY 27-29: Riverfest 2011. Downtown Little Rock. riverfestarkansas.com.

yes, it is As good As it looks.

’e re telling

Concert tickets through Ticketmaster by phone at 975-7575 or online at www.ticketmaster.com unless otherwise noted.

s.

UPCOMING EVENTS

$5. 312 N. Main St., NLR. 501-376-2900. www.renosargentacafe.com.

DJ Ja’Lee. Sway, 8 p.m., $5. 412 Louisiana.

501-907-2582.

Elise Davis Band. White Water Tavern, 10 p.m.

2500 W. 7th. 501-375-8400. www.whitewatertavern. com.

Emery, Hawkboy, To Speak of Wolves, Belair.

Vino’s, 8 p.m., $12 adv., $15 d.o.s. 923 W. Seventh St. 501-375-8466. www.vinosbrewpub.com.

Grayson Shelton. Cregeen’s Irish Pub, 9 p.m. 301 Main St., NLR. 501-376-7468. www.cregeens.com.

Jeanne Hurst and Lisa Miller, pianists.

Women’s Progressive Club, 2:30 p.m. 333 Merriman St., Wynne.

Josh the Devil and the Sinners. Midtown Billiards, March 13, 12:30 a.m., $8 non-members.

1316 Main St. 501-372-9990. midtownar.com.

Justin Sane (disco); Lady Phat Kat, Roxie Starlite, Dominique Sanchez (theater); VJ g-force (theater); Mayday by Midnight (band).

Discovery Nightclub, 10 p.m., $12. 1021 Jessie Road. 501-664-4784. www.latenightdisco.com.

Karaoke at Khalil’s. Khalil’s Pub, 7 p.m. 110 S. Shackleford Road. 501-224-0224. www.khalilspub. com.

Katmandu. The Afterthought, 9 p.m., $12. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www.afterthoughtbar.com.

Kingsdown, Dirty Guv’nahs, Haven Hill.

Revolution, 8:30 p.m., $7 general, $10 under 21. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. revroom.com.

The Living Daylights (headliner), Jim Mills (happy hour). Cajun’s Wharf, 5:30 and 9 p.m., $5 after 8:30 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf.com.

Matt Joyce. Flying Saucer, 9 p.m. 323 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-7468. www.beerknurd.com/ stores/littlerock.

Minute Genius. West End Smokehouse and Tavern, 10 p.m. 215 N. Shackleford. 501-224-7665. www.westendsmokehouse.net.

Motive for Movement, Deadhorse, Hermit Thrushes. Maxine’s, 8 p.m., $5. 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs. maxinespub.com.

Moving Mountains. Downtown Music Hall. 211 W. Capitol. 501-376-1819. downtownshows.homestead.com.

Ryan Couron. Juanita’s, 10 p.m. 1300 S. Main St. 501-372-1228. www.juanitas.com.

Spring Bluegrass Festival. For tickets, lineup and more information, visit mountainview-bluegrass. com. Ozark Folk Center State Park, through, $55 three-day pass, $20 one-day pass. 1032 Park Ave., Mountain View.

Sonny Burgess and the Legendary Pacers.

Sunset Ballroom, 7 p.m., $8. 1611 Oak St., Conway.

Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 9 p.m. 111 Markham St. 501-374-7474. www.capitalhotel.com/ CBG. Thomas East. Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, 7 p.m.

500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www. sonnywilliamssteakroom.com.

Tragikly White. Denton’s Trotline, 9 p.m. 2150 Congo Road, Benton. 501-315-1717.

DINNER AND SHOW

AT STARVING ARTIST CAFE IN THE ARGENTA ARTS DISTRICT CALL TO RESERVE YOUR TABLE

501-372-7976

WWW.TALESFROMTHESOUTH.COM

Continued on page 32 www.arktimes.com • MARCH 9, 2011 31

CALENDAR

Continued from page 31 “Rock To North Little Rock” St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The annual parade marches across the Arkansas River with marching bands, Irish music, clowns, floats, antique cars and more. For more information, visit irisharkansas.org. Downtown Little Rock, 1 p.m., free. downtown.

FILM

“Watching Woody Allen, Seriously.” Dr. Wayne Stengel discusses late-period Woody Allen dramas “Match Point” and “Vicky Christina Barcelona” in the Brewer-Hegeman Conference Center. For more information, visit uca.edu/outreach/world. University of Central Arkansas, 1:30 p.m., free. 201 Donaghey Ave., Conway. www.uca.edu.

SPORTS

Horse racing. Oaklawn, $2.50-$4.50. 2705 Central Ave., Hot Springs. 501-623-4411. www.oaklawn. com.

BENEFITS

Hope Ball. Live and silent auctions, dinner, cocktails and dancing until midnight. For more information, visit hopeawayfromhome.org. Statehouse Convention Center, 6 p.m., $200. 7 Statehouse Plaza.

BOOKS

Spring Book Sale. Faulkner County Library, 9 a.m.

1900 Tyler St., Conway. 501-327-7482. www.fcl.org.

SUNDAY, MARCH 13 MUSIC

Glossary, The Small Ponds. White Water Tavern, 10 p.m. 2500 W. 7th. 501-375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com.

Karaoke. Shorty Small’s, 6-9 p.m. 1475 Hogan Lane, Conway. 501-764-0604. www.shortysmalls. com.

Kelley Ponder, Candyce Hinkle, Bob Bidewell.

First Presbyterian Church, 3 p.m., free. 800 Scott Street.

Kopecky Family Band. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 8:30 p.m., $8. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyfingerz.com.

“S.I.N. Sunday” with Nevertrain, Mayday by Midnight, Josh Green. Ernie Biggs, 10 p.m. 307 Clinton Ave. 501-372-4782. littlerock.erniebiggs. com.

School Boy Humor, Free Micah, The Supporting Cast, Dylan Duggar, 16th Walk, The Dreamweavers. Revolution, 5 p.m., $7-$10.

300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. revroom. com.

Sunday Jazz Brunch with Ted Ludwig and Joe Cripps. Vieux Carre, 11 a.m. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www.vieuxcarrecafe.com.

The Yipps, Whale Fire, Booyah! Dad. Reno’s Argenta Cafe, 10 p.m., $5. 312 N. Main St., NLR. 501-376-2900. www.renosargentacafe.com.

Zach Myers, And Then There Was Bear, Afternoon Delight, Bodydrop. Juanita’s, 8:30 p.m., $10 adv., $15 d.o.s. 1300 S. Main St. 501-3721228. www.juanitas.com.

EVENTS

Arkansas Pen and Watch Show. A three-day

32 MARCH 9, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

show featuring fine pens and watches. Wyndham Riverfront Hotel, through. 2 Riverfront Place, NLR. 501-371-9000. www.wyndham.com.

“God Created Me Natural” Hair Expo.

Statehouse Convention Center, 12 p.m., $15 adv., $20 d.o.e. 7 Statehouse Plaza.

“Unforgettable” Bridal and Formal Fair. Pine Bluff Convention Center, 12 p.m., $7. 500 E. 8th Ave., Pine Bluff.

SPORTS

JV Rock n’ Renegades of Central Arkansas Roller Derby vs. ThunderDollz of Green Country Roller Girls (Tulsa). With halftime performance from The Ugly Stuff. A portion of the proceeds goes to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arkansas.

For more information, visit littlerockrolelrderby.com.

Skate World, 5 p.m., $10. 6512 Mabelvale Cut Off.

MONDAY, MARCH 14 MUSIC

Arrah and the Ferns, Dinosaur Feathers, Motel Motel, The Armchairs, The Spooks, Fangtooth. ACAC, 8 p.m., $7. 608 Main St. 501-244-2974. acacarkansas.wordpress.com.

The Body. Downtown Music Hall, 8 p.m., $7. 211 W. Capitol. 501-376-1819. downtownshows.homestead.com.

College Night with Barry McVinney. The Afterthought, 9 p.m., $5. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd.

501-663-1196. www.afterthoughtbar.com.

Damien Jurado, Viva Voce, Adam Faucett.

White Water Tavern, 10 p.m. 2500 W. 7th. 501-3758400. www.whitewatertavern.com.

Harvard Glee Club. Walton Arts Center, 7 p.m., $10-$25. 495 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-4435600.

Karaoke. Thirst n’ Howl, 8:30 p.m. 14710 Cantrell Road. 501-379-8189. www.thirst-n-howl.com.

Meg & Dia, Kinch. Juanita’s, 9 p.m., $10 adv., $13 d.o.s. 1300 S. Main St. 501-372-1228. www. juanitas.com.

Traditional Irish Music Session. Khalil’s Pub, Fourth and second Monday of every month, 7 p.m.

110 S. Shackleford Road. 501-224-0224. www. khalilspub.com.

Wild Flag, Times New Viking, Yellow Fever.

Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 8:30 p.m., $10.

107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyfingerz.com.

FILM

“Woodruff: A Lesson of Non-Violence.” Laman Library, 6 p.m., free. 2801 Orange St., NLR. 501-7581720. www.lamanlibrary.org.

CLASSES

Sign Language Classes. Bonny Hill will teach classes on finger spelling, high frequency signs, key phrases, health, time, food, people and more.

Faulkner County Library, 6 p.m. 1900 Tyler St., Conway. 501-327-7482. www.fcl.org.

TUESDAY, MARCH 15 MUSIC

Dinosaur Feathers, Motel Motel, Yourself and the Air, Chaperone. Maxine’s, 8 p.m., free. 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs. maxinespub.com.

Jim Dickerson. Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www. sonnywilliamssteakroom.com.

Karaoke Night. Cornerstone Pub & Grill, 8 p.m.

314 Main St., NLR. 501-374-1782. cstonepub.com.

Karaoke Tuesday. Prost, 8 p.m., free. 120 Ottenheimer. 501-244-9550.

Karaoke with Big John Miller. Denton’s Trotline, 8 p.m. 2150 Congo Road, Benton. 501-315-1717.

Kevin Devine, River City Extension, Father Maple. Juanita’s, 7:30 p.m., $10 adv., $12 d.o.s.

1300 S. Main St. 501-372-1228. www.juanitas.com.

Lucious Spiller Band. Copeland’s, 6-9 p.m. 2602 S. Shackleford Road. 501-312-1616. www.copelandsofneworleans.com.

The Romany Rye, Elise Davis. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m., $5. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyfingerz.com.

Ryan Bingham & the Dead Horses, Liam Gerner. Revolution, 9 p.m., $20. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. revroom.com.

Sod Hauler. Downtown Music Hall, 8 p.m., $7.

211 W. Capitol. 501-376-1819. downtownshows. homestead.com.

Tuesday Jam Session with Carl Mouton. The Afterthought, 8 p.m., free. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd.

501-663-1196. www.afterthoughtbar.com.

Two Cow Garage, Cheap Girls, Laura Stevenson. White Water Tavern, 10 p.m. 2500 W. 7th. 501-375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com.

DANCE

“Latin Night.” Revolution, 7 p.m., $5 regular, $7 under 21. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. www.revroom.com.

EVENTS

Charity Bingo Tuesday. ACAC, 6:30 p.m. 608 Main St. 501-244-2974. acacarkansas.wordpress. com.

LECTURES

Nicholas Sparks. The author of “The Notebook” and “A Walk to Remember” speaks as part of UCA’s Distinguished Lecture series. For tickets or more information, call 501-450-3265 or visit uca.edu/ tickets. Reynolds Performance Hall, University of Central Arkansas, 7:30 p.m., $10 general, $5 staff and students. 201 Donaghey Ave., Conway.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16 MUSIC

Acoustic Open Mic with Kat Hood. The Afterthought, 8 p.m. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-6631196. www.afterthoughtbar.com.

Bolly Open Mic Hype Night with Osyrus Bolly and DJ Messiah. All American Wings, 9 p.m. 215 W. Capitol Ave. 501-376-4000. allamericanwings. com.

Brian & Nick. Cajun’s Wharf, 5 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf.com.

Conditions. Juanita’s, 8:30 p.m., $7 adv., $10 d.o.s.

1300 S. Main St. 501-372-1228. www.juanitas.com.

Drag the River, Austin Lucas. White Water Tavern, 10 p.m. 2500 W. 7th. 501-375-8400. www. whitewatertavern.com.

Jim Dickerson. Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www. sonnywilliamssteakroom.com.

Karaoke at Khalil’s. Khalil’s Pub, 7 p.m. 110 S.

Shackleford Road. 501-224-0224. www.khalilspub. com.

Karaoke. Hibernia Irish Pub, 9 p.m. 9700 N Rodney Parham Road. 501-246-4340. www.hiberniairishtavern.com/index.html.

Karaoke with Big John Miller. Denton’s Trotline, 8 p.m. 2150 Congo Road, Benton. 501-315-1717.

Lucious Spiller Band. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9:30 p.m., $5. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyfingerz.com.

Scott Lucas and the Married Men, Sean Ashby, The Summer Pledge. Maxine’s, 8 p.m., $3. 700 Central Ave., Hot Springs. maxinespub.com.

Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 5 p.m., free.

111 Markham St. 501-374-7474. www.capitalhotel. com/CBG.

COMEDY

Bud Anderson. The Loony Bin, March 16-17, 8 p.m.; March 18, 8 and 10:30 p.m.; March 19, 7, 9 and 11 p.m., $6-$9. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road.

501-228-5555. www.loonybincomedy.com.

GALLERIES, MUSEUMS NEW EXHIBITS, ART EVENTS

ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER, MacArthur Park: “Young Arkansas Artists 50th Annual Exhibition,” March 15-April 17, Atrium, Sam Strauss and Stella Boyle Smith galleries; “Currents in Contemporary Art,” “Masterworks,” “Paul Signac Watercolors and Drawings,” ongoing. 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Tue.-Sat., 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun. 372-4000.

ARKANSAS STUDIES INSTITUTE, 401 President Clinton Ave.: “Norwood Creech: Selected Works from the Northeastern Arkansas Delta,” March 11-June 25, Mezzanine Gallery; “Book Arts,” handmade books and journals, March 11-May 28, Atrium Gallery; “Anticipating the Future — Contemporary American Indian Art,” work from the collection of Dr. J.W. Wiggins. Open 5-8 p.m.

March 11, 2nd Friday Art Night. 9 a.m.-6 p.m.

Mon.-Sat. 320-5791.

BOSWELL-MOUROT FINE ART, 5815 Kavanaugh Blvd.: Mixed media by Lisa Renz and Evan Pardue, ceramic vessels by Winston Taylor, opening reception 6-9 p.m. March 12, show through April 2. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tue.-Fri., 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sat. 664-0030.

CANTRELL GALLERY, 8206 Cantrell Road: “Brazil: An Endangered Beauty,” watercolors and pastels by Kitty Harvill, March 11-April 9, reception 6-8 p.m. March 11; portion of proceeds to benefit Audubon Arkansas, Society for Wildlife Research and Mater Natura Environmental Studies Institute.10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat. 224-1335.

CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 509 Scott St.: Kathy Thompson, needlepoint, oils, watercolors and mixed media, through April 4, open 5-8 p.m. March 11, 2nd Friday Art Night. 375-2342.

CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL CENTER, 1200 President Clinton Ave.: “The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss,” through May 22; program with curator Bill Dreyer, 6 p.m. March 16, Sturgis Hall, reserve at operationslr@clintonfoundation.org or 748-0425; Super Seuss Saturdays 10 a.m.-2 p.m. March 12, 19, 26; “Revolution and Rebellion: Wars, Words and Figures,” two original engravings of the Declaration of Independence produced by Benjamin Owen Tyler in 1818 & William J. Stone in 1823, through May 22;

“Historical Figures of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars,” figurines by George Stuart, through May 22; exhibits about policies and White House life during the Clinton administration. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. $7 adults; $5 college students, seniors, retired military; $3 ages 6-17. 370-8000.

HISTORIC ARKANSAS MUSEUM, 200 E. Third St.: “Signs and Signals: Claire Coppola, Michael Davis Gutierrez and Marilyn Nelson,” mixed media, through May 8; “Game Face Rituals,” paintings by Liz Nobel, through April 3; “Model Trains of Bill Albright,” Eclectic Collector show, through March 14.

9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. $2.50 adults, $1.50, $1 children for tours of grounds. Open 5-8 p.m. March 11, 2nd Friday Art Night. 324-9351.

LAMAN LIBRARY, 2801 Orange St., NLR: “Visions of the Universe,” drawings and diagrams by Galileo and other astronomers, images by the Hubble Space Telescope, March 16-May 20; “The Painted Word: Calligraphic Paintings by Charles Pearce,” through March 13. 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.-Thu., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 771-1995.

MEDIUMS, 521 Center St.: “Splash of Rhythm,” paintings by Angela Green, 6-9 p.m.

March 11, 2nd Friday Art Night. 374-4495 or 612-4723.

TOWER BUILDING, 4th and Center Sts.: “5 Women 5,” paintings by Endia Gomez, Jennifer Coleman, Susie Henley, Dee Schulten and Betsy Woodyard, 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. and 5-8 p.m.

March 11, 2nd Friday Art Night.

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT LITTLE ROCK: Demonstration of bladesmithing with Jerry Fisk, Jim Crowell, Lin Rhea, 9 a.m.-noon March 12, Fine Arts 153; talk by Sylvia Rosenthal, visiting artist in applied design, 6 p.m. March 14, University Plaza 300; “Home Girl,” paintings by Liz Noble, UALR artist in residence, Gallery II, Fine Arts Center, through March 18; “Women Call for Peace: Global Vistas,” work by Emma Amos, Siona Benjamin, Chakaia Booker, Judy Chicago, Linda Freeman, Irene Hardwicke Olivieri, Leila Kubba, Grace Matthews, Faith Ringgold, Aminah Robinson, Betye Saar, Flo Oy Wong, Helen Zughaib, Gallery I, through March 10; work by graduate students Emily Wood Moll, Endia Gomez, Lauren Sukany, Dan Thornhill, Ted Grimmett, Nida Javed, Nathaniel Roe, Sandra Sell, Gallery III, through March 18. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Sat., 2-5 p.m. Sun. 569-8977. n Conway UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL ARKANSAS: “Annual Student Competitive Exhibition,” March 10-31, Baum Gallery. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.Wed., Fri, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Thu. n Hot Springs BLUE ROCK STUDIO, 262 Hideaway Hills: “Art, Artifacts (bang pots) and Chocolate,” fiber art, pottery by Barbara Cade and encaustic paintings

by Carol Small, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. March 12, www. barbaracade.com for directions.

ART CLASSES

ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER: “More Pysanky: Stained Glass Ukrainian-Style Eggs with Lorrie Popow, March 12-13, $179 (discount for members).

Register at www.arkarts.com/artclasses.

CALL FOR ENTRIES

n The Little Rock Workforce Investment Board is accepting entries for its 2nd biennial “Little Rock Is Working” photography contest and exhibit.

Photographs must be turned in by 5 p.m. April 15 to Bedford’s Camera and Video in Little Rock or North Little Rock. Prizes of $500, $300 and $200 will be awarded. For more details and contest rules go to lrwib.org n The Center for Artistic Revolution (CAR) is seeking artists to create art with blank wooden hearts to be auctioned for CAR’s fund-raiser “Corazon.”

Hearts are provided by CAR (call 244-9690 or e-mail artchanges@yahoo.com) and are due by March 27. The 7th annual Corazon (Heart) Art Auction will be held April 2 at the ACAC, 608 Main St. Proceeds go to support CAR’s work to educate and support lesbian, gay, transgendered and bisexuals, both youth and adult.

ONGOING EXHIBITS

GALLERY 26, 2601 Kavanaugh Blvd.: Work by Julie Holt, Susanna Kirk, Fred Nash and Jason Smith, through March 12. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tue.-Sat. 664-8996.

GREG THOMPSON FINE ART, 429 Main St., NLR: “15-Year Anniversary Exhibit,” work by Kendall Stallings, Benini, Glenray Tutor, William Dunlap, Barry Thomas, Gary Bolding and others, through March 12. 664-2787.

HEARNE FINE ART, 1001 Wright Ave.: Stained glass by Charly Palmer, lithographs by Samella Lewis and others. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Thu., 9 a.m.-6 p.m.

Fri., 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat. 372-6822.

LOCAL COLOUR GALLERY, 5811 Kavanaugh Blvd.: Art and jewelry by members of artists’ cooperative. 501-265-0422.

KETZ GALLERY, 705 Main St., NLR: “Winter Art Show” and Sale, featuring works by John Kushmaul, Rene Hein, Jenell Richards and Melinda Smith. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Fri., 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sat. 529-6330.

STEPHANO’S FINE ART, 5501 Kavanaugh Blvd.: Paintings by new gallery member Eric Painter.

The To-do lisT

➤➤➤

The comprehensive list of everything worth doing this weekend from Times entertainment editor, Lindsey Millar. Whether it’s live music, dance, theater or an exhibit, Lindsey steers you to the best. The To-Do List email newsletter arrives in your in-box every Wednesday afternoon with an eye toward planning for your weekend.

The To-Do List is a sure bet for your active life!

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MUSEUMS, ONGOING EXHIBITS

MOSAIC TEMPLARS CULTURAL CENTER, Ninth and Broadway: “Southern Journeys: African American Artists of the South,” works by 55 AfricanAmerican artists, including Romare Bearden, David Driskell, Jacob Lawrence, Elizabeth Catlett, Hughie Lee-Smith, Leroy Allen, Benny Andrews, Radcliffe Bailey, Richmond Barthé, Beverly Buchanan, Clementine Hunter, Faith Ringgold, Charles White and Dean Mitchell, through Aug. 11; exhibits on African-Americans in Arkansas, including one on the Ninth Street business district, the Mosaic Templars business and more. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat. 683– 3593.

MUSEUM OF DISCOVERY, 500 President Clinton Ave.: “Illusion Confusion,” optical illusions, through March; interactive science exhibits. 9 a.m.5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. Admission: $8 adults, $7 children ages 1-12 and seniors 65 and up, children under 1 free, “Pay What You Can” second Sunday of every month. 396-7050. www. museumofdiscovery.org.

OLD STATE HOUSE, 300 W. Markham St.: “Arkansas/Arkansaw: A State and Its Reputation,” the evolution of the state’s hillbilly image; “Badges, Bandits & Bars: Arkansas Law & Justice,” state’s history of crime and punishment, through March. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 324-9685.

WITT STEPHENS JR. CENTRAL ARKANSAS NATURE CENTER, Riverfront Park: Exhibits on wildlife and the state Game and Fish Commission.

Live Music

support your community Small Town

THURSDAY, MARCH 10 BONNIE MONTGOMERY W/ HEY PENNY (NASHVILLE, TN) SATURDAY, MARCH 12 ELISE DAVIS & THE ROBINS W/ CHRIS MILLIGAN & CHRIS MILAM SUNDAY, MARCH 13 GLOSSARY W/ THE SMALL PONDS (FEATURING CAITLIN CARY OF WHISkEYTOWN) & MY COUSIN THE EMPEROR CHECk OUT ADDITIONAL SHOWS AT

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NOW SERVING LUNCH FRIDAY’S 11-2PM myspace.com/whitewatertavern Little Rock’s Down-Home Neighborhood Bar

7th & Thayer • Little Rock • (501) 375-8400 www.arktimes.com • MARCH 9, 2011 33

HELP WANTED ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS

CELEBRATING OUR 11th YEAR!

Friday, March 11 -Thursday, March 17 CASINo JACk R 2:15 4:25 6:45 9:00

Kevin Spacey, Barry Pepper, Kelly Preston, Jon Lovitz, Rachelle Lefevre. Golden Globe Nominee

The CoMPANY MeN R 2:00 4:20 7:15 9:15 Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper, Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones. Satellite Awards

BIuTIFuL R 1:30 4:15 7:00 9:30

Javier Bardem, Maricel Alvarez, Hanaa Bouchaib 2 Oscar Nominations

FRee wI-FI IN The LoBBY

BARNeY’S VeRSIoN R 1:30 4:15 7:00 9:30

Paul Giamatti, Dustin Hoffman, Minnie Driver, Rosamund Pike, Rachelle Lefevre, Scott Speeman. Oscar Nominee

The wAY BACk PG13 1:30 6:45

Ed Harris, Colin Farrell, Jim Sturgess, Saoirse Ronan Oscar Nominee

127 houRS R 4:15 9:20

James Franco, Kate Mara, Amber Tamblyn 6 Oscar Nominations

Deliverance • PG • Tues 4/12 • 7Pm • Only $5 9 PM ShowS FRI & SAT oNLY

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‘BATTLE: LOS ANGELES’: R&B star and Camden, Ark., native Ne-Yo co-stars in this sci-fi action flick as Cpl. Kevin Harris, one of a platoon of Marines charged with the task of defending Los Angeles during a world-wide alien invasion that has devastated major cities across the globe.

MARCH 11-13

movielistings All theater listings run Friday to Thursday unless otherwise noted.

Check www.arktimes.com for updates. Market Street Cinema showtimes at or after 9 p.m. are for Friday and Saturday only.

Northside WomeN’s Boot Camp is the QuiCkest, easiest Way to Jump-start your FitNess program.

A specialized program of fitness instruction, nutritional counseling provided by Certified Class Instructor/ Personal Trainer Kaytee Wright.

LoCATIon: Lakewood nLR, classes at 5:15am and 8:30am M,W,F

call Kaytee Wright 501-607-3100 For more information and the Women’s Boot camp calendar, visit www.northsidefitness.net

Northside A c h i ev e . B e l i ev e . S u cc e e d.

FitNess 34 MARCH 9, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

NEW MOVIES Battle: Los Angeles (PG-13) – When Earth is brutally attacked by extraterrestrial forces, a platoon of Marines must defend Los Angeles, the final stronghold on the planet. With Aaron Eckhart, Ne-Yo. Breckenridge: 1:45, 4:20, 7:15, 10:00. Rave: 10:15, 11:00, 12:30, 1;15, 2;00, 3;30, 4:15, 5:00, 6;30, 7;15, 8:00, 11:00. Riverdale 10: 11:45, 2:10, 4:45, 7:15, 9:45.

Casino Jack (R) – Kevin Spacey stars as crooked lobbyist Jack Abramoff, whose taste for an expensive good time turns sour when he finds himself tied up in the mob. Market Street: 2:15, 4:25, 6:45, 9:00.

Cedar Rapids (R) – A naive insurance salesman is sent to Iowa for an industry convention and winds up with three convention veterans who are no stranger to trouble. With Ed Helms, John C. Reilly.

Rave: 12:20, 2:45, 5:10, 7:40, 10:05.

The Company Men (R) – An ultra-successful company man has to trade in his nice house and Porche for a job in construction after a round of corporate downsizing. With Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones. Market Street: 2:00, 4:20, 7:15, 9:15.

Mars Needs Moms (PG) – A kid finds out how much he needs his supposedly annoying mom after she’s abducted by aliens to mother their kids.

Voiced by Joan Cusack, Seth Green. Breckenridge: 1:10, 4:05, 7:00, 9:30 (3D). Rave: 11:10, 1:30, 4:10, 6:45 (2D); 11:55, 2:15, 4:55, 7:30, 10:00 (3D).

Riverdale 10: 11:10, 1:10, 3:10, 5:10, 7:10, 9:10.

Red Riding Hood (PG-13) – In a medieval village that’s haunted by a werewolf, a girl falls for an outcast orphan even though her parents arranged her to marry a wealthy young man. With Amanda Seyfried, Gary Oldman. Breckenridge: 1:25, 4:30, 7:25, 9:45. Chenal 9: 11:20, 2:00, 4:45, 7:25, 10:00.

Rave: 12:15, 1:40, 3:00, 4:40, 5:45, 7:25, 8:30, 10:10, 11:15. Riverdale 10: 11:30, 2:00, 4:30, 7:05, 10:00.

RETURNING THIS WEEK 127 Hours (R) – Based on the true story of a mountain climber who resorts to desperate measures after being trapped under a boulder. With James Franco. Market Street: 4:15, 9:20.

The Adjustment Bureau (PG-13) – A man soon to be elected to the U.S. Senate falls in love with a ballet dancer, but mysterious men keep them apart.

With Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. Breckenridge: 1:50, 4:45, 7:40, 10:10. Chenal 9: 11:25, 1:45, 4:10, 7:30, 9:50. Rave: 10:40, 1:20, 4:20, 7:10, 8:10, 9:50, 10:50. Riverdale 10: 11:20, 1:40, 4:20, 7:00, 9:25.

Barney’s Version (R) – A hard-drinking, dirtymouthed television producer reflects on his life, his family and his many marriages. With Paul Giamatti.

Market Street: 1:30, 4:15, 7:00, 9:30.

Beastly (PG-13) – A modern-day, teen-age retelling of “Beauty and the Beast,” using New York City as the backdrop. Breckenridge: 4:40, 7:10, 9:35. Rave: 12:05, 2:25, 5:25, 8:05, 10:25. Riverdale 10: 11:50, 1:55, 3:50, 5:50, 7:45, 9:40.

Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son (PG-13) – FBI agent Malcolm Turner (Martin Lawrence) makes his son (Brandon T. Jackson) join him in going undercover in drag at a performing arts school.

Breckenridge: 1:15, 4:10, 7:05, 9:40. Rave: 10:20, 4:05, 10:20.

Biutiful (R) – A man entrenched in the seedy underworld of modern-day Barcelona tries to reconcile his business with his role as a family man.

With Javier Bardem. Market Street: 1:30, 4:15, 7:00, 9:15.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (PG) — The latest adaptation of the beloved C.S. Lewis fantasy series. Movies 10: 12:00, 2:35, 5:10, 7:45, 10:20.

Country Strong (PG-13) – In the world of country music, a rising star and a burn-out cross paths, both musically and romantically. With Gwyneth Paltrow and Tim McGraw. Movies 10: 7:10, 9:35.

Drive Angry 3D (R) – A father escapes from hell to avenge his daughter’s death and granddaughter’s kidnapping. With Nicolas Cage, William Fichtner.

Rave: 9:10.

The Fighter (R) — A look at legendary Irish welterweight Mickey Ward (Mark Walberg), his halfbrother and trainer, Dickey (Christian Bale), and their rise out of crime and drugs. Movies 10: 12:30, 4:15, 7:30, 10:10.

Gnomeo and Juliet (G) – Romeo and Juliet with gnomes. Voiced by James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Michael Caine. Chenal 9: 11:35, 1:40, 4:00. Rave: 11:40, 1:55, 4:35, 6:55.

The Grace Card (PG-13) – After a death in the family, a rising policeman resorts to bitterness and self-pity. With Michael Joiner, Louis Gossett Jr. Breckenridge: 1:05, 6:55.

Gulliver’s Travels (PG) – Jack Black and a pack of shameless producers neuter Jonathan Swift’s brilliant, biting satire. It barely even resembles the original story. Couldn’t they have at least changed the name out of respect? Movies 10: 12:40, 2:45, 4:50, 7:15, 9:30.

Hall Pass (R) – The Farrelly Brothers (“There’s Something About Mary”) return with this comedy about a two couples engaging in mutual, extramarital booty calls. Breckenridge: 1:30, 4:25, 7:30, 9:55. Chenal 9: 11:15, 1:30, 7:10. Riverdale 10: 11:40, 2:15, 5:15, 7:35, 10:05.

I Am Number Four (PG-13) – A teen-age fugitive with special powers is on the run from agents trying to kill him. With Alex Smith and Timothy Olyphant.

Chenal 9: 7:15, 9:45. Rave: 12:00, 2:40, 5:20, 8:35, 11:25.

Just Go With It (PG-13) – On a weekend trip to Hawaii, a plastic surgeon convinces his long-time assistant to pretend she’s his wife in order to fool his younger girlfriend. With Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston. Breckenridge: 1:15, 4:15, 7:05, 9:45. Chenal 9: 11:30, 2:05, 4:40, 7:20, 10:00. Rave: 10:55, 9:20.

Justin Bieber: Never Say Never 3D (G) – Justin Bieber being Justin Bieber. With young Justin Bieber and teen-age Justin Bieber. Rave: 1:10, 7:20.

The King’s Speech (R) – After being crowned George VI of an England on the verge of turmoil, “Bertie” (Colin Firth) works to fix his debilitating speech impediment with help from eccentric Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). Breckenridge: 1:00, 4:00, 6:50, 9:30. Chenal 9: 11:30, 2:05, 4:40, 7:20, 10:00.

Riverdale 10:11:25, 1:50, 4:15, 6:40, 9:05.

Megamind (PG) — A blue maniacal supervillain turns into a restless mess when his sworn superhero enemy is accidentally killed. Voiced by Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Brad Pitt. Movies 10: 12:20, 2:40, 4:55.

Rango (PG) – A quixotic chameleon has to succeed at being the daredevil he thinks he is after winding up in an old West town. Breckenridge: 1:20, 4:20, 7:35, 10:05. Chenal 9: 11:20, 1:45, 4:15, 7:00, 9:35.

Rave: 10:15, 10:45, 11:30, 1:00, 1:45, 2:30, 4:00, 4:45, 5:30, 7:00, 7:45, 9:45, 10:30. Riverdale 10: 11:00, 1:15, 3:30, 5:45, 8:00.

Season of the Witch (PG-13) – A band of 14th century knights discover an evil witch’s black magic may be the source of the Black Plague. With Nicolas Cage. Movies 10: 7:20, 10:05.

Take Me Home Tonight (R) – Four post-grads get into a heap of trouble during one crazy weekend in the late ’80s. With Anna Faris, Topher Grace.

Breckenridge: 4:25, 9:40. Rave: 9:15.

Tangled (PG) — Daring bandit Flynn Rider, Princess Rapunzel and Rapunzel’s 70 feet of hair find adventure and romance during their journey through the outside world. Voiced by Mandy Moore. Movies 10: 12:40, 3:20, 5:40, 10:235 (2D); 2:15, 7:00 (3D).

Tron: Legacy (PG) — The reboot of the 1982 classic has Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) entering the virtual gladiator arena to find his lost father (Jeff Bridges). Movies 10: 1:30, 4:30.

True Grit (PG-13) — Rugged U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) helps a stubborn girl track down her father’s killer. Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Riverdale 10: 11:35, 2:05, 4:40, 7:20, 9:55.

Unknown (PG-13) – A man wakes up from a coma, discovers that his identity has been stolen and that no one believes he is who he says he is. With Liam Neeson and January Jones. Breckenridge: 1:35, 4:15, 7:20, 9:50. Chenal 9: 4:20, 9:40. Rave: 10:25, 2:10, 5:15, 8:15, 11:05. Riverdale 10: 11:55, 2:25, 4:50, 7:25, 9:50.

Unstoppable (PG-13) — Denzel Washington has to stop an unmanned freight train full of explosives and poisonous gas from wiping out a city. Movies 10: 12:10, 2:30, 5:05, 7:35, 9:55.

The Way Back (PG-13) – During the dawn of World War II, prisoners of a Soviet labor camp escape and flee across thousands of miles across Siberian terrain. With Ed Harris, Colin Farrell. Market Street: 1:30, 6:45.

Yogi Bear (PG) — A devastating 4-hour epic about the decline of a 19th century Hungarian farm cooperative and the interpersonal complications that arise in its wake. Not really: It’s just Yogi Bear.

Movies 10: 1:15, 3:15, 5:25, 7:25, 9:25 (2D); 12:15, 4:35, 10:15 (3D).

Chenal 9 IMAX Theatre: 17825 Chenal Parkway, 821-2616, www.dtmovies.com.

Cinemark Movies 10: 4188 E. McCain Blvd., 9457400, www.cinemark.com.

Cinematown Riverdale 10: Riverdale Shopping Center, 296-9955, www.riverdale10.com.

Market Street Cinema: 1521 Merrill Drive, 3128900, www.marketstreetcinema.net.

Rave Colonel Glenn 18: 18 Colonel Glenn Plaza, 687-0499, www.ravemotionpictures.com.

Regal Breckenridge Village 12: 1-430 and Rodney Parham, 224-0990, www.fandango.com.

Come ebrate Cel s!

Wi t h U ‘RANGO’: Johnny Depp voices the titular chameleon.

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■ moviereview Quick draw Animated, funny ‘Rango’ a film to make your eyes bug out. n George Lucas’ Industrial Light & Magic has created live and digital effects for seemingly every movie to so much as detonate a firecracker since the late ’70s. IMDB. com lists some 300 special effects credits for the company, with half of those in the past decade; the firm has 15 Oscars to its credit, for the likes of “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” “Jurassic Park” and “Titanic.”

Surprisingly, given that Pixar began as an ILM division, “Rango” is its first animated film. Yet, undoubtedly it rivals any previous visual achievement in ILM’s history. In its realism, cinematography, lighting and sheer innovation, “Rango” is outstanding. It’s also brilliantly scripted for both kids and adults, smashingly acted and may be the funniest Western since “Blazing Saddles.”

Part vision quest, part environmental parable, “Rango” follows a chameleon voiced by Johnny Depp as he’s forced to wander into the desert after his ill-secured terrarium bounces out of a vehicle during a move through the Mojave. This isn’t the first time director Gore Verbinski has transformed Depp into a cartoon, if you count the star’s turn as the flouncy Jack Sparrow in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise.

But whereas loony-toony bravado burbled out of Sparrow’s every sashay, Rango, a dweeby glee-club sort, struggles against a tide of evidence that he is in fact not leadinglizard material.

Directions from a mystic armadillo (Alfred Molina) lead Rango to intersect with a rancher’s daughter as plain as her name, Beans (a hard-drawling Isla Fisher). She tolerates the chatty chameleon long enough to drop him at the outskirts of Dirt, a crumbling frontier village populated by some of the roughest and toughest-talking animals ever inked. Rango, realizing his peril as an outsider, spins tall tales — with him as the hero — for the townspeople.

But as George Costanza would tell you, pretending to be a marine biologist

is all well and good until a whale washes up with a golf ball in its blowhole. Once trouble threatens, first in the form of some toughs who shake down water-poor landowners, Rango decides his only recourse is to walk the walk. He swallows a lit cigar and chases it with a shot of cactus liquor. He agrees to a quick-draw shootout. He lives by the old Cary Grant formula for becoming Cary Grant: “I pretended to be somebody I wanted to be until finally I became that person. Or he became me.” His legend grows accordingly after he survives a couple of harrowing run-ins with a fearsome hawk (whose steel-tipped beak is ornately etched in six-shooter style, one of the film’s myriad visual flourishes). When the mayor, a shady old turtle (voiced by Ned Beatty) with a crooked sneer, pins a sheriff’s star on Rango’s chest, it’s akin to a kiss of death.

Rango, swept up in the giddy momentum of the lies, falls ever forward, and as a quartet of mariachi owls likes to remind us, he’s bound to die.

Dirt’s fate depends on learning who’s diverting its scarce water, and in this, “Rango” slyly tackles a modern resource conflict through the medium of the spaghetti Western. Rango meanwhile seeks to find his own identity through his tangled grandstanding, embarking at times on surrealistic sojourns that recall Homer’s “insanity pepper” desert meditations from one the most memorable of “Simpsons” episodes. That emotional arc doesn’t carry the heft of, say, “Toy Story 3,” and two brief (inside-jokey) encounters with humans show how far digital animation still has to go in rendering pitch-perfect people. No matter; the animals, plants, textures (glass, water, dust, fire, wood, etc.) and landscapes of “Rango” are nothing shy of wondrous. It’s a rare feat for a film this silly to also inspire such awe. Your eyes, like those of the titular chameleon, will absolutely bug.

— Sam Eifling www.arktimes.com • MARCH 9, 2011 35

n Chef Lee Richardson of Ashley’s at the Capital and Capital Bar & Grill has been selected by readers in Food and Wine Magazine’s competition for Top New Chef of 2011: Midwest. n The first issue of “Arkansauce, the Journal of Arkansas Foodways” is out. Planned as an annual production of the University of Arkansas Libraries’ special collections department production, the issue is available free of charge by emailing verobert@uark. edu. Rex Nelson guest-edited the first issue, which includes stories on beans in Arkansas history, small town mom and pop hamburger joints and Arkansas barbecue. Eat Arkansas’s Kat Robinson contributes a piece on cooking fried green tomatoes. n Masala Grill + Teahouse has closed. Owner Amman Abbasi, who also works as a filmmaker and a musician, said he’d gotten busy with other projects.

Restaurant capsules Every effort is made to keep this listing of some of the state’s more notable restaurants current, but we urge readers to call ahead to check on changes on days of operation, hours and special offerings. What follows, because of space limitations, is a partial listing of restaurants reviewed by our staff. Information herein reflects the opinions of the newspaper staff and its reviewers.

The newspaper accepts no advertising or other considerations in exchange for reviews, which are conducted anonymously. We invite the opinions of readers who think we are in error.

Restaurants are listed in alphabetical order by city; Little Rock-area restaurants are divided by food category. Other review symbols are:

B Breakfast

L Lunch

D Dinner

$ Inexpensive (under $8/person)

$$ Moderate ($8-$20/person)

$$$ Expensive (over $20/person)

CC Accepts credit cards

LITTLE ROCK/ N. LITTLE ROCK AMERICAN 65TH STREET DINER Blue collar, meat-and-two-veg lunch spot with cheap desserts and a breakfast buffet. But hurry — breakfast closes down at 9 a.m. on the dot, and the restaurant doesn’t reopen until 10 a.m. for lunch. 3201 West 65th St. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-562-7800. BL Mon.-Fri. ACADIA A jewel of a restaurant in Hillcrest. Wonderful soups and fish dishes. Extensive wine list. Affordable lunch menu. 3000 Kavanaugh Blvd. Full bar, CC. $$-$$$. 501-6039630. LD Mon.-Fri. D Sat. BIG ROCK BISTRO Students of the Arkansas Culinary School run this restaurant at Pulaski Tech under the direction of Chef Jason Knapp. Pizza, pasta, Asian-inspired dishes and diner food, all in one stop. 3000 W. Scenic Drive. NLR. No alcohol, All CC. $. 501-812-2200. BL Mon.-Fri. BLACK ANGUS Charcoal-grilled burgers, hamburger steaks and steaks proper are the big draws at this local institution. 10907 N. Rodney Parham. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-228-7800. BLD Mon.-Sat. BOBBY’S CAFE Delicious, humungo burgers and tasty

Continued on page 37 36 MARCH 9, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

■ dining Toasting Italy Salut changes menu with rich results. n Salut Bistro in the Prospect Building in the Heights has changed its allegiance a bit and is now saluting Italian cuisine (and the culture of owner Dave Bisceglia’s forebears), using the talents of nearly-new chef Mike Jones.

Jones himself came to our table recently when one in our party inquired, after practically drinking the sauce the mussels were steamed in with a straw, about the possibility of getting cioppino on the menu. He was excited that a customer had asked about the dish, and said he would think about adding the fish stew when the right season rolled around. He seemed truly gratified that a cioppino-lover had come to try Salut’s new menu, and proud, too, of the fare he was turning out.

This is to say that there is a certain energy emanating from the kitchen of Salut.

There are also a lot of rich ingredients coming out as well, so that almost every dish on the menu is an indulgence.

The mussel broth — though we prefer a simpler brew ourselves for mussels — was indeed delicious enough to drink, being made of roasted tomatoes, caramelized onions, garlic, basil, saffron and white wine. A bowl of the broth and a loaf of bread and a bottle of wine might be our idea of a lovely way to pass an hour or two.

Yet, review we must, so rather than lingering over the mussels we kept going, dipping, literally, soft bread and garlic toast into four creamy go-befores of tomato, garlic and bell pepper and a sinful artichoke concoction. We felt it our duty to try the calamari, as well, and we must say we’ve had better; the ratio of calamari to its fried jacket was too slim to detect the squid.

On to the main courses we marched, not overfull since one of our number was a gentleman with a bottomless pit of a stomach and he’d helped out a lot with the hors d’oeuvres. Hence our appetites were not spoiled for what was to come next: shrimp and grits, a spicy sausage and tortellini dish, spaghetti alla carbonara, and the beef tenderloin and risotto for Mr. Bottomless Pit. We’ll pause here to praise the wine, a BV Coastal Chardonnay, no we don’t know what year. No, it’s not so out of the ordinary but it was light and lovely and filled enough of our glass that we could only get through one before the meal was over, sad to say. And only $6.

Back to the grub, and we’re going to go first to our main beef: the diced Italian bacon. The carbonara was loaded with chunks of this too-chewy, too-bold per-

BRIAN CHILSON

what’scookin’

SOUTHERN DETOUR: Salut includes shrimp and grits on the menu. suasion of pancetta, and it suffered for it.

OK, maybe we’re philistines and too used to using regular old bacon in our carbonara. Just saying we weren’t wild about the texture. A less significant beef was the beef — it was tender, but not particularly flavorful, though perhaps the $23 price tag clouded our thinking, making us expect something astonishing.

The shrimp and grits were delicious, particularly the grits, which were baked into a wickedly rich cake, a disc of decadence. The shrimp was beer battered and fried and delicious but less tender than we wanted with this particular dish, which we like with more forkable shrimpers. The oil-butter-crustacean-corn calorie count was more than we’re comfortable thinking about, or even eating, so we took half the dish home for Mr. B.P.’s future dining pleasure.

Raves came from opposite our plate, repeated raves, as our third companion exclaimed over his spiced sausage. He offered bites all around and it was, indeed, delicious.

So the bottom line on the food — it’s every bit delicious as the application of animal and vegetable fats was generous.

Which made us wonder — is there something a little lighter, less stupor-inducing on the menu?

Well, the pizza Margherita might fill that bill, or the rosemary and thyme roasted chicken. Or you could simply stop with the mussels (though caramelized onions draped over the mussels was a bit much)

and the aforementioned loaf and bottle.

Having made the obligatory protestations over the oversumptuousness, what we did we do after finishing our rich repast? Ordered dessert of course, something the waitress confessed later that she and the chef found extraordinary, delighting in our voraciousness. The chocolate creme brulee and a chocolate espresso cake were excellent — but nowhere near the treat Salut once offered on an old menu, the flourless chocolate cake. Perhaps the cake will reappear ... cioppino and chocolate cake, we’ll drink to that. Salut!

Salut

1501 N. University Suite 160 (ground floor, north side of the Prospect Building) 660-4200 Quick bite

The decor doesn’t match the food. No tablecloths and sound-system components crammed into the corners seemed a tad informal, given our $140 tab (four diners, two glasses of wine, three appetizers, four entrees, two desserts … well, maybe that’s not quite white-tablecloth-worthy, but we could appreciate a fix-up in the looks of the joint nevertheless). Also: the late night component continues, with the bar open until the last man can no longer stand Wednesday through Saturday.

Hours

Lunch 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, dinner 5 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, bar 9:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. Wednesday through Sunday.

Other info

Full bar, all credit cards accepted, dining patio.

BRIAN CHILSON

Continued from page 36

homemade deserts at this Levy diner. 12230 MacArthur Drive. NLR. No alcohol, No CC. $. 501-851-7888. BL Tue.-Fri., D Thu.-Fri. BOSCOS This River Market brewery does food well, too.

Along with tried and true things like sandwiches, burgers, steaks and big salads, they have entrees like black bean and goat cheese tamales, open hearth pizza ovens and muffalettas. 500 President Clinton Ave. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-907-1881. LD daily.

BOUDREAUX’S GRILL & BAR A homey, seat-yourself Cajun joint in Maumelle that serves up all sorts of variations of shrimp and catfish. With particularly tasty red beans and rice, jambalaya and bread pudding. 9811 Maumelle Blvd.

NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-753-6860. L Sat., D Mon.-Sat. BOULEVARD BREAD CO. Fresh bread, fresh pastries, wide selection of cheeses, meats, side dishes; all superb.

Good coffee, too. 1920 N. Grant St. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$.

501-663-5951. BLD Mon.-Sat. 400 President Clinton Ave. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-374-1232. BL Mon.-Sat. 401 W. Markham St. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-526-6661. BL Mon.-Fri. BROWN SUGAR BAKESHOP Fabulous cupcakes, brownies and cakes offered five days a week until they’re sold out. 419 E. 3rd St. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-3724009. LD Tue.-Sat. BUTCHER SHOP The cook-your-own-steak option has been downplayed, and several menu additions complement the calling card: large, fabulous cuts of prime beef, cooked to perfection. 10825 Hermitage Road. Full bar, All CC. $$$.

501-312-2748. D daily.

CAJUN’S WHARF The venerable seafood restaurant serves up great gumbo and oysters Bienville, and options such as fine steaks for the non-seafood eater. In the citified bar, you’ll find nightly entertainment, too. 2400 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-375-5351. D Mon.-Sat. CAMP DAVID Inside the Holiday Inn Presidential Conference Center, Camp David particularly pleases with its breakfast and themed buffets each day of the week.

Wonderful Sunday brunch. 600 Interstate 30. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-975-2267. BLD daily.

CAPERS It’s never been better, with as good a wine list as any in the area, and a menu that covers a lot of ground — seafood, steaks, pasta — and does it all well. 4502 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-868-7600. LD Mon.-Sat. COAST CAFE A variety of salads, smoothies, sandwiches and pizzas, and there’s breakfast and coffee, too. 400 President Clinton Ave. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-3710164. BL Mon.-Sat. COMMUNITY BAKERY This sunny downtown bakery is the place to linger over a latte, bagels and the New York Times. But a lunchtime dash for sandwiches is OK, too, though it’s often packed. 1200 S. Main St. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-375-7105. BLD daily. 270 S. Shackleford. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-224-1656. BD Mon.-Sat. B Sun. COPPER GRILL Comfort food, burgers and more sophisticated fare at this River Market-area hotspot. 300 W. Third St. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-375-3333. LD Mon.-Sat. CRUSH WINE BAR An unpretentious downtown bar/ lounge with an appealing and erudite wine list. With tasty tapas, but no menu for full meals. 318 Main St. NLR. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-374-9463. D Tue.-Sat. DAVE’S PLACE Downtown’s premier soup-and-sandwich stop at lunch, and a set dinner spot on Friday night to give a little creative outlet to chef supreme David Williams. Beef, chicken and fish are served with continental flair. 201 Center St. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-372-3283. L Mon.-Fri., D Fri. DAVID FAMILY KITCHEN Call it soul food or call it downhome country cooking. Just be sure to call us for breakfast or lunch when you go. Neckbones, ribs, sturdy cornbread, salmon croquettes, mustard greens and the like. Desserts are exceptionally good. 2301 Broadway. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-371-0141. BL Sun.-Fri. DELICIOUS TEMPTATIONS Decadent breakfast and light lunch items that can be ordered in full or half orders to please any appetite or palate, with a great variety of salads and soups as well. Don’t miss the bourbon pecan pie — it’s a winner. 11220 Rodney Parham Road. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-225-6893. BL daily.

DIZZY’S GYPSY BISTRO Interesting bistro fare, served in massive portions at this River Market favorite. 200 River Market Ave. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-375-3500. LD Tue.-Sat. THE FADED ROSE The Cajun-inspired menu seldom disappoints. Steaks and soaked salads are legendary. Also at Bowman Curve. 1615 Rebsamen Park Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-663-9734. LD daily. 400 N. Bowman Rd. Full bar. $$-$$$. 501-224-3377. LD daily.

FERNEAU Great seafood, among other things, is served at the Ice House Revival in Hillcrest. With a late night menu Thu.-Sat. 2601 Kavanaugh Blvd. Full bar, All CC. $$$-$$$$.

501-603-9208. D Tue.-Sat. FLYING SAUCER Beer, with dozens on tap, is the big draw at this popular River Market venue, but the food’s good, too.

Sandwiches, including a great Reuben, salads, quesadillas and the bratwurst are dependable. 323 President Clinton Ave. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-372-7468. LD daily.

FOX AND HOUND Sports bar that serves pub food. 2800 Lakewood Village. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-753-8300.

■ UPDATE BROWN SUGAR BAKESHOP Consider the not-so-humble cupcake. Could it be the perfect dessert? Pretty, all dressed up in its frilly paper pantaloons, topped with a dollop of icing (and maybe, if you’re lucky, sprinkles) for what usually amounts to the perfect icing/cake ratio. Get a fresh one, and there’s pretty much nothing better on the face of the earth. Several cupcakeries have sprung up all around the country in the past few years, some more successful than others. One of the successes: Brown Sugar Bakeshop. Once located in a small space in the River Market, Brown Sugar has moved to a snazzy new sit-down storefront on Third Street near Dugan’s Pub. Opening the door is to be smacked in the face with the most heavenly smell this side of paradise. The problem (at least for us), is the price: $2.50 for each cupcake. That’s fine if you only want one. Buy six or a dozen, however, and you’re talking some real money. That said, if you’re jonesing for a cupcake to call your own, these are fine: fresh, moist, with fun flavors like red velvet cake and (our personal fave) limoncello. If that’s not your thing, Brown Sugar also sells tasty cookies and cakes. Definitely worth a late-in-the-week indulgence. 419 E. Third St. 501-372-4009. 10:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Tue.-Sat. All CC.

t e f f Bu

BRIAN CHILSON

Restaurant capsules

LD daily.

FRANKE’S CAFETERIA Plate lunch spot strong on salads and vegetables, and perfect fried chicken on Sundays.

Arkansas’ oldest continually operating restaurant. 11121 N. Rodney Parham Road. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-2254487. LD daily. 400 W. Capitol Ave. No alcohol, All CC. $$.

501-372-1919. L Mon.-Fri. FRESH START CAFE Breakfast and home-cookin’ are the specialties at this space in the ground floor of the Metropolitan Bank Building. 401 W. Capitol Ave. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-372-2237. LD Mon.-Fri. FRONTIER DINER The traditional all-American roadside diner, complete with a nice selection of man-friendly breakfasts and lunch specials. The half pound burger is a twohander for the average working Joe. 10424 Interstate 30. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-565-6414. BL Mon.-Sat. FROSTOP A ‘50s-style drive-in has been resurrected, with big and juicy burgers and great irregularly cut fries. Superb service, too. 4131 JFK Blvd. NLR. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$.

501-758-4535. BLD daily.

GADWALL’S GRILL & PIZZA Once two separate restaurants, a fire forced the grill into the pizza joint. Now, under one roof, there’s mouth-watering burgers and specialty sandwiches, plus zesty pizzas with cracker-thin crust and plenty of toppings. 12 North Hills Shopping Center. NLR. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-834-1840. LD daily.

GELLATTES Coffee and gelato served up next door to Blue Coast Burrito. 14810 Cantrell Road. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-868-5247.

GRAMPA’S CATFISH HOUSE A longtime local favorite for fried fish, hush puppies and good sides. 9219 Stagecoach Road. 501-407-0000. LD. HAYESTACK CAFE Southern cooking, po’boys and hearty breakfasts with an emphasis on family recipes. 27024 Kanis Road. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-821-0070. BLD Tue.-Sun. HONEYBAKED HAM CO. The trademark ham is available by the sandwich, as is great smoked turkey and lots of inexpensive side items and desserts. 9112 N. Rodney Parham Road. No alcohol, All CC. 501-227-5555. LD Mon.-Sat. HUNKA PIE A drive-up diner with burgers, salads, soups and a number of different pies, available whole or by the slice, fresh baked daily. 7706 Cantrell Road. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-612-4754. LD Mon.-Sat. (closes at 7 p.m.).

KIERRE’S KOUNTRY KITCHEN Excellent home-cooking joint for huge helpings of meat loaf and chicken-fried steak, cooked-down vegetables and wonderful homemade pies and cakes. Breakfasts feature omelets, pancakes, French toast and more. 6 Collins Place. NLR. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-758-0923. BLD Tue.-Fri., BL Sat. MARKHAM STREET GRILL AND PUB The menu has something for everyone. Try the burgers, which are juicy, big and fine. 11321 W. Markham St. Full bar, All CC. $-$$.

501-224-2010. LD Mon.-Sat. MCBRIDE’S CAFE AND BAKERY Owners Chet and Vicki McBride have been serving up delicious breakfast and lunch specials based on their family recipes for two decades in this popular eatery at Baptist Health’s Little Rock campus. The desserts and barbecue sandwiches are not to be missed.

9501 Lile Drive. No alcohol, All CC. $. 501-340-3833. BL Mon.-Fri. OLD MILL BREAD AND FLOUR CO. CAFE The popular take-out bakery has an eat-in restaurant and friendly operators. It’s self-service, simple and good with sandwiches built with a changing lineup of the bakery’s 40 different breads, along with soups, salads and cookies. 12111 W. Markham St. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-228-4677. BL Mon.-Sat. BR Sun. RED DOOR Fresh seafood, steaks, chops and sandwiches from restaurateur Mark Abernathy. Smart wine list. 3701 Old Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-666-8482.

L Mon.-Fri. D daily.

RIVERFRONT STEAKHOUSE Steaks are the draw here — nice cuts heavily salted and peppered, cooked quickly and accurately to your specifications, finished with butter and served sizzling hot. 2 Riverfront Place. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-375-7825. D Mon.-Sat. RUDY’S OYSTER BAR Good boiled shrimp and oysters

on the half shell. Quesadillas and chili cheese dip are tasty and ultra-hearty. 2695 Pike Ave. NLR. Full bar. 501-771-0808.

LD Mon.-Sat. SHAKE’S FROZEN CUSTARD Frozen custard, concretes, sundaes. 5508 John F Kennedy Blvd. NLR. No alcohol, All CC. $. 501-753-5407. LD daily.

SO RESTAURANT BAR Call it a French brasserie with a sleek, but not fussy American finish. The wine selection is broad and choice. Free valet parking. Use it and save yourself a headache. 3610 Kavanaugh Blvd. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$.

501-663-1464.

STARLITE DINER Breakfast and the ice cream-loaded shakes and desserts star here. 250 E. Military Road. NLR. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-353-0465. BLD. STICKYZ ROCK ‘N’ ROLL CHICKEN SHACK Fingers any way you can imagine, plus sandwiches and burgers, and a fun setting for music and happy hour gatherings.

107 Commerce St. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-372-7707.

LD Mon-Sat. TEXAS ROADHOUSE Following in the lines of those loud, peanuts-on-the-table steak joints, but the steaks are better here than we’ve had at similar stops. Good burgers, too. 3601 Warden Road. Beer, All CC. $$. 501-771-4230. D daily, L Sat.-Sun. 2620 S. Shackleford Rd. Beer, All CC. $$. 501-2242427. D daily, L Sat.-Sun. TOWN PUMP A dependable burger, plus basic beer food.

1321 Rebsamen Park Road. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-6639802. L Mon.-Sat. D daily.

TRIO’S Fresh, creative and satisfying lunches; even better at night, when the chefs take flight. Best array of fresh desserts in town. 8201 Cantrell Road. Full bar. $$-$$$. 501-221-3330.

LD Mon.-Sat. TROPICAL SMOOTHIE CAFE Besides the 30 different fruit smoothies on the menu, the cafe also serves wraps and sandwiches (many of them spicy) and salads. 12911 Cantrell Road. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-944-4307. BLD daily.

THE UNDERGROUND Bar food — hamburgers, chicken strips and such. 500 President Clinton Ave. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-375-2537. D daily.

VIEUX CARRE A pleasant spot in Hillcrest with specialty salads, steak and seafood. The soup of the day is a good bet.

At lunch, the menu includes an all-vegetable sandwich and a half-pound cheeseburger. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-663-1196. LD Mon.-Fri., D Sat., BR Sun. WHOLE FOODS MARKET Good sandwiches, soups and hummus to go; an enormous number of hot and cold entrees from the deli; extensive juice bar. 10700 N. Rodney Parham Road. All CC. $-$$. 501-312-2326. BLD daily.

WILLY D’S DUELING PIANO BAR Willy D’s serves up a decent dinner of pastas and salads as a lead-in to its nightly sing-along piano show. Go when you’re in a good mood. 322 President Clinton Ave. Full bar. $$. 501-244-9550. D Tue.-Sat. YOUR MAMA’S GOOD FOOD Offering simple and satisfying cafeteria food, with burgers and more hot off the grill, plate lunches and pies. 220 W. 4th St. No alcohol, All CC. $.

501-372-1811. BL Mon.-Fri. ZACK’S PLACE Expertly prepared home cooking and huge, smoky burgers. 1400 S. University Ave. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-664-6444. LD Mon.-Sat.

ASIAN CHI’S CHINESE CUISINE No longer owned by Chi’s founder Lulu Chi, this Chinese mainstay still offers a broad menu that spans the Chinese provinces and offers a few twists on the usual local offerings. 5110 W. Markham St. All CC. $-$$. 501-604-7777.

CRAZY HIBACHI GRILL The folks that own Chi’s and Sekisui offer their best in a three-in-one: tapanaki cooking, sushi bar and sit-down dining with a Mongolian grill. 2907 Lakewood Village. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-8129888. LD daily.

FANTASTIC CHINA The food is delicious, the presentation beautiful, the menu distinctive, the service perfect, the decor bright. 1900 N. Grant St. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-663-8999.

LD daily.

GENGHIS GRILL This chain restaurant takes the Mongolian

Continued on page 38

• GREAT FOOD • GREAT SERVICE • GREAT EXPERIENCE Buffet & Lunch Mon-Sat 11-3:30 aduLtS $7.35 chiLdren (3-5) $3 (6-10) $4.50 dinner Mon-Sat 4-9:30 aduLtS $10.95 chiLdren (3-5) $4 (6-10) $5.50 Sunday all day $10.95 • SeniorS 60+ 10% diScount Party rooM avaiLaBL e

Shackleford Crossing Interstate 430 2604 South Shackleford, Suite G Little Rock, AR 72205

(501) 224-8100

www.arktimes.com • MARCH 9, 2011 37

50% OFF 2ND ENTREE *

WITH PURCHASE OF FULL ENTRÉe

eat local

Half off least expensive entrée

Breakfast • Lunch • Dinner Dine in • Take Out • Patio • full Bar Mon. -Fri. 10-10 • Sat. 9-10 Sun. 9-9

400 President Clinton Ave. (In the River Market)

Hours: 8 am 5:30 pm Mon - Sat 501-280-9888 372-6637 6820 Cantrell • 9am -10 pm The BesT AuThenTic MexicAn seAfood in Town Full Bar • Take out • Dine in For Gourmet Seafood lovers

501-868-8822 Monday • Friday: 10-10 • 18321 Cantrell Rd. • Hwy. 10 Saturday: 9-10 • Sunday: 9-9 *Must present coupon. One per party.

Not valid with any other offers. Offer Expires 3/31/11.

Small Town

support your community

Restaurant capsules Continued from page 37

grill idea to its inevitable, Subway-style conclusion. 12318 Chenal Parkway. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-223-2695.

LD daily.

LILLY’S DIMSUM THEN SOME Innovative dishes inspired

by Asian cuisine, utilizing local and fresh ingredients. 11121 N. Rodney Parham Road. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$-$$$.

501-716-2700. LD daily.

MT. FUJI JAPANESE RESTAURANT The dean of Little Rock sushi bars offers a fabulous lunch special and great Monday night deals. 10301 Rodney Parham Road. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-227-6498. LD daily. 10301 N. Rodney Parham Road. 501-227-6498.

OSAKA JAPANESE RESTAURANT Veteran operator of several local Asian buffets has brought fine-dining Japanese dishes and a well-stocked sushi bar to way-out-west Little Rock, near Chenal off Highway 10. 5501 Ranch Drive, Suite 1. $$-$$$. 501-868-3688. LD. PAPA SUSHI Hibachi grill with large sushi menu and Korean specialties. 17200 Chenal Parkway. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$.

501-821-7272.

SAIGON CUISINE Traditional Vietnamese with Thai and Chinese selections. Be sure to try to authentic pho soups and spring rolls. 6805 Cantrell Road. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-663-4000. L Tue.-Fri., D Tue.-Sun. SUSHI CAFE Impressive, upscale sushi menu with other delectable house specialties like tuna tataki, fried soft shell crab, Kobe beef and, believe it or not, the Tokyo cowboy burger. 5823 Kavanaugh Blvd. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$.

501-663-9888. L Mon.-Sat. D daily.

BARBECUE

C o M e T R y D i n n e R F e aT u R e s P R e Pa R e D B y GuesT CHeF

Fabrizio Castangia

CHATZ CAFE ‘Cue and catfish joint that does heavy catering business. Try the slow-smoked, meaty ribs. 8801 Colonel Glenn Road. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-5624949. LD Mon.-Sat. CORKY’S RIBS & BBQ The pulled pork is extremely tender and juicy, and the sauce is sweet and tangy without a hint of heat. Maybe the best dry ribs in the area. 12005 Westhaven Drive. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-954-7427.

LD daily. 2947 Lakewood Village Drive. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-753-3737. LD daily, B Sat.-Sun. WHITE PIG INN Go for the sliced rather than chopped meats at this working-class barbecue cafe. Side orders — from fries to potato salad to beans and slaw — are superb, as are the fried pies. 5231 E. Broadway. NLR. Beer. $-$$.

501-945-5551. LD Mon.-Fri., L Sat. WHOLE HOG CAFE The pulled pork shoulder is a classic, the back ribs are worthy of their many blue ribbons, and there’s a six-pack of sauces for all tastes. A real find is the beef brisket, cooked the way Texans like it. 516 Cantrell Road. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-664-5025. LD Mon.-Sat. 12111 W. Markham. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-907-6124.

LD daily 150 E. Oak St. Conway. No alcohol, All CC. $$.

501-513-0600. LD Mon.-Sat., L Sun. 5107 Warden Road.

NLR. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$. 501-753-9227.

EUROPEAN / ETHNIC

$60 Per Person Reservations Required Tax and Gratuity not included Limited to 60 guests each evening 1501 Merrill Drive Little Rock

501.225.0500

VesuvioBistro@gmail.com

38 MARCH 9, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

AMRUTH AUTHENTIC INDIAN CUISINE Indian restaurant with numerous spicy, vegetarian dishes. 11121 N. Rodney Parham Road. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-224-4567. LD daily.

CAFE BOSSA NOVA A South American approach to sandwiches, salads and desserts, all quite good, as well as an array of refreshing South American teas and coffees. 701 Kavanaugh Blvd. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-614-6682. LD Tue.-Sat., BR Sun. DUGAN’S PUB The atmosphere is great, complete with plenty of bar seating and tables. There’s also a fireplace to warm you up on a cold day. The fried stuff is good. Try the mozzarella sticks. 403 E. 3rd St. Full bar, All CC. $-$$.

501-244-0542.

GEORGIA’S GYROS Good gyros, Greek salads and fragrant grilled pita bread highlight a large Mediterranean food selection, plus burgers and the like. 2933 Lakewood Village Drive.

NLR. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-753-5090. LD Mon.-Sat. HIBERNIA IRISH PUB This traditional Irish pub has its own traditional Irish cook from, where else, Ireland. Broad beverage menu, Irish and Southern food favorites and a crowd that likes to sing. 9700 N Rodney Parham Road. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-246-4340.

LAYLA’S Delicious Mediterranean fare — gyros, falafel, shawarma, kabobs, hummus and babaganush — that has a devoted following. All meat is slaughtered according to Islamic dietary law. 9501 N. Rodney Parham Road. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-227-7272. LD daily (close 5 p.m. on Sun.). 612 Office Park Drive. Bryant. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-8475455. LD Mon.-Sat. MASALA GRILL AND TEAHOUSE A delicious traditional Pakistani buffet, plus menu items like a chicken tikka wrap (marinated broiled chicken rolled in naan) and a chutney burger. 9108 Rodney Parham Road. No alcohol, All CC. $$.

501-414-0643. D Tue.-Sat., BR Sat.-Sun. TAJ MAHAL The third Indian restaurant in a one-mile span of West Little Rock, Taj Mahal offers upscale versions of traditional dishes and an extensive menu. Dishes range on the spicy side. 1520 Market Street. Beer, All CC. $$$. (501) 881-4796. LD daily.

TERRACE ON THE GREEN This Greek-Italian-Thai-and-

whatever restaurant has a huge menu, and you can rely on each dish to be good, some to be excellent. Portions are ample. Patio for warm-weather dining. 2200 Rodney Parham Road. Full bar. $$-$$$. 501-217-9393. L Mon.-Fri., D Mon.-Sat. YA YA’S EURO BISTRO The first eatery to open in the Promenade at Chenal is a date-night affair, translating comfort food into beautiful cuisine. Best bet is lunch, where you can explore the menu through soup, salad or half a sandwich.

17711 Chenal Parkway. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-8211144. LD daily, BR Sun.

ITALIAN BRAVO! CUCINA ITALIANA This upscale Italian chain offers delicious and sometimes inventive dishes. 17815 Chenal Pkwy. Full bar, All CC. $$$. 501-821-2485. LD daily.

BR Sun. BRUNO’S LITTLE ITALY This more-than-half-centuryold establishment balances continuity with innovation in delicious traditional and original fare. The pizza remains outstanding. 315 N. Bowman Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$.

501-224-4700. D Mon.-Sat. GRAFFITI’S The casually chic and ever-popular Italianflavored bistro avoids the rut with daily specials and careful menu tinkering. 7811 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$.

501-224-9079. D Mon.-Sat. OLD CHICAGO PASTA & PIZZA This national chain offers lots of pizzas, pastas and beer. 4305 Warden Road. NLR. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-812-6262. LD daily. 1010 Main St. Conway. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-329-6262. LD daily.

PIZZA CAFE Thin, crunchy pizza with just a dab of tomato sauce but plenty of chunks of stuff, topped with gooey cheese. Draft beer is appealing on the open-air deck — frosty and generous. 1517 Rebsamen Park Road. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-664-6133. LD daily.

PIZZA D’ACTION Some of the best pizza in town, a marriage of thin, crispy crust with a hefty ingredient load.

Also, good appetizers and salads, pasta, sandwiches and killer plate lunches. 2919 W. Markham St. Full bar, All CC. $-$$. 501-666-5403. LD Mon.-Sat. RISTORANTE CAPEO Authentic cooking from the boot of Italy is the draw at this cozy, brick-walled restaurant on a reviving North Little Rock’s Main Street. Familiar pasta dishes will comfort most diners, but let the chef, who works in an open kitchen, entertain you with some more exotic stuff, too, like crispy veal sweetbreads. They make their own mozzarella fresh daily. 425 Main St. NLR. Full bar. $$-$$$.

501-376-3463. D Mon.-Sat. ROCKY’S PUB Rocking sandwiches an Arkie used to have to head way northeast to find and a fine selection of homemade Italian entrees, including as fine a lasagna as there is. 6909 JFK Blvd. NLR. Beer, Wine. $$. 501-833-1077.

LD Mon.-Sat. SHOTGUN DAN’S Hearty pizza and sandwiches with a decent salad bar. Multiple locations, at 4020 E. Broadway, NLR, 945-0606; 4203 E. Kiehl Ave., Sherwood, 835-0606, and 10923 W. Markham St. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$.

501-224-9519. LD Mon.-Sat., D Sun. VINO’S Great rock ‘n’ roll club also is a fantastic pizzeria with huge calzones and always improving home-brewed beers. 923 W. Seventh St. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-3758466. LD daily.

ZAZA Here’s where you get wood-fired pizza with gorgeous blistered crusts and a light topping of choice and tempting ingredients, great gelato in a multitude of flavors, call-yourown ingredient salads and other treats. 5600 Kavanaugh Blvd. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-661-9292. LD daily.

1050 Ellis Ave. Conway. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-3369292. BLD daily.

MEXICAN BLUE COAST BURRITO You will become a lover of fish tacos here, but there are plenty of other fresh coastal Mex choices served up fast-food cafeteria style in cool surroundings. Don’t miss the Baja fruit tea. 14810 Cantrell Road. Beer, All CC. $-$$. 501-868-3770. LD Mon.-Sat, L Sun. 4613 E. McCain Blvd. NLR. Beer, All CC. $-$$. 501-945-8033. LD Mon.-Sat., L Sun. CANTINA LAREDO This is gourmet Mexican food, a step up from what you’d expect from a real cantina, from the modern minimal decor to the well-prepared entrees. We can vouch for the enchilada Veracruz and the carne asada y huevos, both with tasty sauces and high quality ingredients perfectly cooked. 207 N. University. Full bar, All CC. $$$.

501-280-0407. LD daily.

JUANITA’S Menu includes a variety of combination entree choices — enchiladas, tacos, flautas, shrimp burritos and such — plus creative salads and other dishes. And of course the “Blue Mesa” cheese dip. 1300 S. Main St. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-372-1228. L Mon.-Fri., D Thu.-Sat. RUMBA Mexi-Cuban spot in the River Market area, this restaurant and bar has a broad menu that includes tacos and enchiladas, tapas, Cuban-style sandwiches. Specialty drinks are available also. 300 President Clinton Ave. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-823-0090 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090.

SENOR TEQUILA Authentic dishes with great service and prices, and maybe the best margarita in town. 10300 N. Rodney Parham Road. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-224-5505.

LD daily 9847 Maumelle Blvd. NLR. 501-758-4432.

TACO MEXICO Tacos have to be ordered at least two at a time, but that’s not an impediment. These are some of the best and some of the cheapest tacos in Little Rock. 7101 Colonel Glenn Road. No alcohol, No CC. $. 501-416-7002.

LD Wed.-Sun.

AROUND ARKANSAS

No. 1014

TACOS GUANAJUATO Pork, beef, adobado, chicharron and cabeza tacos and tortas at this mobile truck. 6920 Geyer Springs Road. No alcohol, No CC. $. LD Wed.-Mon. TAQUERIA THALIA Try this taco truck on the weekends, when the special could be anything from posole to menudo to shrimp cocktail. 4500 Baseline Road. No alcohol, No CC. $. 501-563-3679. LD Wed.-Mon.

BENTON

CONWAY DOMOYAKI Hibachi grill and sushi bar near the interstate. Now serving bubble tea. 505 E. Dave Ward Drive. Conway. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-764-0074. L Mon.-Fri., D Mon.-Sat. EL CHARRITO Decent spread of Mexican items. 502 Oak St. Conway. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-450-6460. LD Mon.-Sun. THE FISH HOUSE The other entrees and the many side orders are decent, but this place is all about catfish. 116 S. Harkrider. Conway. 501-327-9901. LD Mon.-Sun. 2125 Harkrider. Conway. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-329-8586. D Thu.-Sat., L Sun. JADE CHINA Traditional Chinese fare, some with a surprising application of ham.

559 Harkrider. Conway. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-329-5121. LD Mon.-Sat. LAS PALMAS IV “Authentic” Mexican chain with a massive menu of choices.

786 Elsinger Boulevard. Conway. Full bar, All CC. $$. 501-329-5010. LD Mon-Sat. OAK STREET BISTRO The Conway eatery known for its creative flair with sandwiches and salads is now open for dinner and has a liquor license. Check out the massive menu; the desserts are excellent. 713 Oak St. Conway. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-450-9908. L daily, D Thu-Sat. SHORTY’S` Burgers, dogs and shake joint. 1101 Harkrider. Conway. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-329-9213. LD Mon.-Sat. STOBY’S Great homemade cheese dip and big, sloppy Stoby sandwiches with umpteen choices of meats, cheeses and breads. 805 Donaghey. Conway. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-327-5447. BLD Mon.-Sat. 405 W. Parkway. Russellville. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-968-3816. BLD Mon.-Sat. STROMBOLI’S Locally owned purveyor of NY style pizzas and strombolis. 2665 Donaghey. Conway. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-327-3700. LD daily.

TIFFANY’S SOUL FOOD Opened in 2010, this eatery specializes in soul food classics like fried chicken, smothered pork chops and hot water corn bread. 1101 Mill Street. Conway. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-327-7685. LD Mon.-Fri. TOKYO JAPANESE RESTAURANT Besides the hibachi offerings, Tokyo also has tempura, teriyaki and a great seaweed salad. Their combination platters are a great value; besides an entree, also comes with soup, salad, harumaki (spring rolls) and vegetable tempura. No sushi, though. 716 Oak St. Conway. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-327-6868. BL daily.

U.S. PIZZA CO. CONWAY Part of the U.S. Pizza Co. chain 710 Front Street.

Conway. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-450-9700. LD Mon.-Sun.

■ CROSSWORD

BENTONVILLE RIVER GRILLE Great steaks, fresh seafood flown in daily, and some out-of-thisworld creme brulee. But though some offerings are splendid, others are just average.

Service is outstanding. Prices are outrageous. 1003 McClain Road. Bentonville. Full bar. $$$-$$$$. 479-271-4141. L Mon.-Fri., D Mon.-Sat.

Edited by Will Shortz

DAN’S I-30 DINER Home cooking and blue plate specials are the best things to choose at this Benton diner. Check out the daily special board for a meat-and-twoveg lunch — and if chicken stuffing’s on the menu, GET IT. 17018 Interstate 30.

Benton. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-778-4116. BL Tue.-Sat. LA VALENTINA There are touches of authenticity on La Valentina’s “real Mexican” menu, including specialties like palmadas meat pies, but otherwise you’ll find tacos, burritos, chimichangas and the like here. 1217 Ferguson Drive. Benton. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-776-1113. LD daily.

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60 Some muscle cars

For answers, call 1-900-285-5656, $1.49 a minute; or, with a credit card, 1-800-814-5554.

Annual subscriptions are available for the best of Sunday crosswords from the last 50 years: 1-888-7-ACROSS. AT&T users: Text NYTX to 386 to download puzzles, or visit nytimes.com/mobilexword for more information.

Online subscriptions: Todayʼs puzzle and more than 2,000 past puzzles, nytimes.com/crosswords ($39.95 a year).

Share tips: nytimes.com/wordplay.

Crosswords for young solvers: nytimes.com/learning/xwords.

FAYETTEVILLE 36 CLUB Diverse menu — more than 80 items — of good food, ranging from grilled shrimp salad to spicy tandoori chicken, in a lively setting. Next door, sister restaurant Bistro V, offers a quieter atmosphere. 300 W. Dickson St. Fayetteville. Full bar, CC. 479-442-9682. L Tue.-Fri., D Tue.-Sat. AQ CHICKEN HOUSE Great chicken — fried, grilled and rotisserie — at great prices. 1925 North College Ave. Fayetteville. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 479-443-7555.

LD daily. 1206 N. Thompson St. Springdale. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 479-4437555. LD. BORDINOS Exquisite Italian food, great wines and great service in a boisterous setting. Now serving Nova Scotia mussels. 310 W. Dickson St. Fayetteville. Full bar, All CC. 479-527-6795. D. COPELAND’S New Orleans-based chain features tasty Cajun and Creole delights as well as top steakhouse-quality steaks. The top grossing restaurant in the market in 2003. 463 N. 46th St. Fayetteville. 479-246-9455. BLD. ELENITA’S MEXICAN CAFE Some of the most flavorful and reasonably priced authentic Mexican food in town. 727 S. School St. Fayetteville. 479-443-6612. LD. GRUB’S BAR AND GRILLE A commendable menu that includes pub fare and vegetarian both is full of tasty offerings. The Hippie Sandwich and the Santa Fe burger come to mind. But what’s really great about Grub’s is the fact that kids under 12 (with their parents) eat free, and there’s no stale smoke to fill their little lungs, thanks to good ventilation. 220 N. West Ave. Fayetteville. 479-973-4782. LD.

SHERWOOD CHANG THAI AND ASIAN CUISINE One of the few Thai restaurants in Central Arkansas. Skip the pan-Asian buffet and order off the menu. Don’t miss the exotic mieng kham appetizer; you won’t find anything that covers as many taste sensations in one bite. 9830 Highway 107. Sherwood. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-835-4488.

LD Sun.-Fri., D Sat. CHINESE PAVILION HUNAN RESTAURANT A longtime favorite in Chinese restaurant polls, it’s one of the earliest Asian eateries on the north shore. 8000 Hwy. 107. Sherwood. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-835-8723. LD Tue.-Sun. JO-JO’S BAR-B-Q The smoky aroma of Jo-Jo’s standard ‘cue has shifted from Levy to Sherwood. 117 Country Club Road. Sherwood. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$.

501-834-9696. D daily.

JUST LIKE MOM’S Daily specials include mom’s goulash, lemon pepper chicken over rice and garlic roast beef, with generous sides of pinto beans, cornbread, potatoes. 3140 E. Kiehl Ave. Sherwood. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-833-0402.

BLD Mon.-Fri. B Sat. SAKURA Standard Japanese steakhouse and sushi fare — it’s hard to go wrong choosing from the extensive menu. Also in Bryant. 4011 E. Kiehl Ave. Sherwood.

No alcohol, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-834-3546. LD daily. www.arktimes.com • FEBRUARY 16, 2011 39

Food for Thought

a paid advertisement

To place your restaurant in Food For Thought, call the advertising department at 501-375-2985

AMERICAN

SEAFOOD Cajun’s Wharf 2400 Cantrell Road 501-375-5351

Food and fun for everyone when you pair Cajun’s Wharf’s succulent seafood and steak with the ever-evolving live entertainment. Enjoy the fabulous fresh seafood or aged Angus beef while listening to the rolling Arkansas River on the famously fantastic deck! They also boast an award-winning wine list.

Black Angus

Homemade Comfort Food Daily Specials • Monday: Spicy Shrimp Stir-fry. Tuesday: Pot Roast.

Wednesday: Meatloaf. Thursday: BBQ Plate or Shepherd’s Pie. Friday & Saturday: Fried Catfish.

Capers Restaurant

Indulge in the culinary creations and intimate environment that define Capers Restaurant. Food and wine enthusiasts agree Capers’ sophisticated approach to dining is key to it’s many accolades including receiving the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for six years running.

Copper Grill

Whether you’re looking for a casual dinner, a gourmet experience or the perfect business lunch, Copper Grill is the choice urban restaurant for Little Rock’s food enthusiasts. It’s where you can let go and relax in the comfortable dining room, enjoy a glass of wine at the lively bar or share a spread of appetizers outside on the street-side patio. No matter if you’re on the go or off the clock, Copper Grill is your downtown dining destination.

Butcher Shop

Tremendous steaks, excellent service, fair prices and a comfortable atmosphere make The Butcher Shop the prime choice for your evening out. In addition to tender and juicy steaks, The Butcher Shop offers fresh fish, pork chop, 24 hour slow roasted Prime Rib, char grilled marinated chicken and fresh pasta. Ideal for private parties, business meetings, and rehearsal dinners. Rooms accommodate up to 50-60 people.

Flying Saucer

“A great place to hangout, experience great beer and authentic German specialties”. The Flying Saucer definitely offers a unique range of domestic and international draft and bottled beers, carrying over 80 beers on draft and 120+ different bottled beers, many which are seasonal.

Accompanying their unique beer line-up is a menu packed with flare. Bratwurst is the house specialty served with German coleslaw, or you can try Brat Con Queso or Beer Brat Nachos. Be sure to leave room for dessert: Young’s Double Chocolate Stout Ice Cream Float offers the best of both worlds.

Buffalo Grill

The crispy off the griddle cheeseburger and hand-cut fries star at this family friendly stop and will keep you coming back. The casual atmosphere will have everyone feeling right at home. The options are endless for whatever dining mood you are in. Grilled Tuna Steak sandwhich to a loaded foot long hotdog to the crispy chicken tender salad. Buffalo Grill does not disappoint. Fast and friendly staff. Very affordable prices!

10907 N. Rodney Parham Mon-Sat 10:30am-9pm Breakfast 6-10:30am 501-228-7800

BISTRO Lulav

220 West 6th St. 501-374-5100 Breakfast Mon-Fri 6:30 am -10:30 am Lunch Mon-Fri 11am-2pm Dinner Tues-Sat 5-10pm V Lounge til 1am, Thurs-Sat

Dizzy’s Gypsy Bistro

200 S. River Market Ave., Suite 150 (501) 375-3500 Tues-Thurs 11am-9pm Fri & Sat 11am-10pm dizzysgypsybistro.net

Fresh seafood specials every week. Prime aged beef and scrumptious dishes. Wine Spectator Award of Excellence, over 30 wines by the glass and largest vodka selection downtown. Regular and late night happy hour, Wednesday wine flights and Thursday is Ladies Night. Be sure to check out the Bistro Burger during lunch. Jump start your day with bistro breakfast from Lulav featuring scrumptious omlettes, pancakes and more.

For the salad lover, Dizzy’s is an absolute paradise. Its list of eleven “Ridiculously Large Entrée Salads” runs the gamut of what you can do with greens and dressing. For example Zilpphia’s Persian Lime Salad, featuring grilled turkey breast, tomato, cucumber, onion, lime and buffalo mozzarella over romaine. For another: Mary Ann’s Dream, with grilled chicken breast, baby spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, cranberries, mandarin oranges, bourbon pecans and bleu cheese. Don’t that sound good?

chinese Fantastic China

Sharing good things with good friends is the motto at Fantastic China. A Central Arkansas favorite offering the Freshest Chinese Food in town. It’s made to order with 100% Vegetable Oil. The presentation is beautiful, the menu distinctive, and the service perfect. Fantastic China is one of the heights most reliable and satisfying restaurants and a local favorite. Full bar.

Hunan Oriental Cuisine

Hunan Oriental Cuisine is a Little Rock institution that has been serving great Chinese food for over 24 years. Come dine in a calm, relaxed atmosphere where the food can be enjoyed as it was meant to be enjoyed; fresh right out of the kitchen. Or, if you prefer to order takeout, be prepared to come pick up your food quickly, since most orders are ready in 10 to 15 minutes. Lunch Specials are available everyday. Try something different. You never know what you might come to like.

1900 N Grant St Heights 501-663-8999

Sunday 11:30 am to 9:30 pm Mon-Thur 11 am to 9:30 pm Fri 11 am to 10:30 pm Sat 11:30 am to 10:30 pm 11610 Pleasant Ridge Drive 501-223-9966

14502 Cantrell Road 501-868-7600

300 West 3rd Street 501-375-3333

Shackleford & Hermitage Rd. (501) 312-2748

323 President Clinton Ave 501-372-8032

mexican Casa Manana Taqueria

400 President Clinton Ave. 501-372-6637 6820 Cantrell Road • 501-280-9888 18321 Cantrell Road • 501-868-8822

Capi’s Nuevo Latino www.capisrestaurant.com

11525 Cantrell Rd, Suite 917 Pleasant Ridge Town Center 501.225.9600

Voted Best Mexican 2007. Featuring authentic fare from the Puebla region of Mexico, the selections seem endless at your choice of 3 locations in the Little Rock area. You will find an array of dishes ranging from the salient Shrimp Veracruzana at La Palapa out west to great Guacamole in the River Market Taqueria. Or try tasty Tostadas that share the name of the original Cantrell location, Casa Manana.

New South of the border comfort food menu with Southwestern and authentic Mexican specialties. Quesos, enchiladas, fajitas, quesadillas and tamales steamed in banana leaves.

Eclectic brunch menu Saturday and Sunday. Creative cocktails, exceptional wine list. Live music Friday nights at 8:30. Serving Tuesday - Sunday 11:00 to close.

Brazilian Café Bossa Nova 2701 Kavanaugh Blvd 501-614-6682 Tues-Sat 11am-9pm Sunday Brunch 10:30-2pm

Try something different! Café Bossa Nova serves up cozy atmosphere and unique Brazilian dishes guaranteed to satisfy and served with that special Latin flare. Don’t deny yourself one of the delectable desserts prepared fresh daily or for an A+ apertif, drink in the authentic flavor of the country in the Caipirinha~a perfect blend of lime, sugar and Brazilian sugar cane rum. Dine with them tonight!

brew pub Vino’s Pizza•Pub•Brewery 923 West 7th Street 501/375-VINO (8466)

Beer, pizza and more! Drop in to Vino’s, Little Rock’s Original Brewpub! and enjoy great New York-style pizza (whole or by-the-slice) washed down with your choice of award-winning ales or lagers brewed right on site. Or try a huge calzone, our new Muffaletta sandwich or just a salad and a slice with our homemade root beer. The deck’s always open, you don’t have to dress up and the kids are always welcome (or not).

Vino’s is open 7 days, lunch and dinner. You can call ahead for carry-out and even take a gal. growler of beer to-go. And guess what?? The bathrooms have just been re-done!

JAPANESE BENIHANA THE JAPANESE STEAKHOUSE

Enjoy the cooking show, make sure you get a little filet with your meal, and do plenty of dunking in that fabulous ginger sauce. Full bar.

2 Riverfront Place North Little Rock 501-374-8081 Lunch Sun.-Fri. Dinner daily

40 March 9, 2011 • ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE ARKANSAS TIMES

400 N. Bowman Rd 501-224-0012 1611 Rebsamen Park Rd 501-296-9535 11am-9pm 11am-10pm Friday & Saturday

steak Sonny Williams

If you have not been to Sonny Williams lately, get there immediately and check out the martini/wine bar. Now you can enjoy 35 wines by the glass, 335 selections of wine, 6 single barrel bourbons and all different kinds of Scotch from the many regions of Scotland. Of course, don’t miss out on the nightly entertainment by Jeff at the piano. Sonny’s is a River Market mainstay and perfect for intimate private parties; free valet parking! As always, Sonny Williams has the best steaks in town along with fresh seafood and game. No Skinny Steaks… Call ahead for reservations (501) 324-2999

Faded Rose

Featuring the Best Steaks in town with a New Orleans flair from a New Orleans native. Also featuring Seafood and Creole Specialties. As Rachel Ray says “This place is one of my best finds ever.” Back by popular demand…Soft Shell Crab and New Orleans Roast Beef Po-Boys.

500 President Clinton Avenue Suite 100 (In the River Market District) 501-324-2999 Dinner Mon - Sat 5:00 - 11:00pm Piano Bar Tues - Thu 7:00 - 11:00pm Fri & Sat 7:00 - Late

400 N. Bowman 501-224-3377 1619 Rebsamen 501-663-9734 Open Sunday

asian panda Garden

2604 S. Shackleford Road, Suite G 501-224-8100.

Fresh, flavorful, all-you-can-eat sushi. With fresh and authentic Chinese dishes, nice decor, great dessert choices and excellent sushi, Panda Garden raises the bar.

Mediterranean Layla’s

9501 N. Rodney Parham 501-227-7272

Enjoy regional specialties such as Lentil soup, a huge serving of yummy Hummus, Baba Ghannnouj or Tabbouleh.

And don’t forget about the Gyros, they’re sure to be heroes in your book!

MARCH 9, 2011

SMALL YET STYLISH

think BIG, live small

BY KATHERINE WYRICK PHOTOGRAPHY BRIAN CHILSON

O

ff of an alley in Hillcrest, in an (at-first-sight) unassuming garage apartment, exists a little an urban oasis, a place you’d expect to find in New York or some old-world city rather than in Little Rock. Only the charming patio outside the entrance— with its thriving rosemary bushes, vintage metal chairs and door awning— offers a hint at the tasteful, sophisticated abode within. “I’m an alley cat,” laughs the good-natured Doug Ramsey, who has very graciously invited us into his home.

Upon entering, you ascend a narrow staircase lined with art and photographs that set a cultured tone. Arriving at the top of the stairs, you feel as though you’ve been transported to a Parisian pied-à-terre. Everywhere you look, your eye meets with something curious and pleasing: a cat curled tight under a

table lamp, clusters of seashells artfully arranged, photographs of parties past, a stack of colorful dominos—and shelves of books. “My library runneth over,” Ramsey sighs.

“I’m a collector, and everything means something. Everything in here has a story,” he says; for instance, the sign over kitchen sink that reads “out of order” which Ramsay acquired from Tempelhof Air Force Base in West Berlin during his stint in the airforce in the early ‘70s.

In a delightful inversion, Ramsey upholstered the walls of the tiny bathroom with fabric with an Asian motif and put wallpaper, with a chic tiger stripe print, on the floor. Ramsey seems to relish contrast, placing a Christian iconography next to primitive masks, fine antiques next to whimsical flea market Continued on page 44

hearsay

➥ Paint the town red, or purple, or orange ... Don’t miss the official launch of LcB Nail

Lacquer at BOX TURTLE, March 11, 12- 3 p.m. where you can meet LaKhiva Blann, the creator, and check out her collection. ➥ Giving feathered hair new meaning. STUDIO 2121 now has “Featherlocks,” feather hair extensions available in an array of colors (and species?). ➥ FOREVER 21 added two designer lines on March 4, Petro Zillia and Rory Beca. ➥ Add spice to your life. KITCHEN CO. now have Maison Terre Herb and Spice candles in stock. These candles are 100% natural and handcrafted right here in Little Rock. Kitchen Co. also reports that Caldrea’s new fragrance, Mandarin Vetiver, just arrived and smells oh-soheavenly. Stop by for a free sample of the Dish Soap Liquid (while supplies last). Lots of cooking classes this month, including Aaron Walters’ St. Paddy’s Day Feast on March 17, 6-8 p.m. ➥ B. BARNETT hosts a Rena Lange Spring ’11 Trunk Show, March 29, 10 a.m. - March 30 at 5:30 p.m. ➥ BARBARA JEAN presents the Liz Logie Event, March 17-18. ➥ Get down and dirty. THE GOOD EARTH presents “Growing Green,” Saturday, March 19, 9-11 a.m. Bill Francis, Good Earth’s Organic Specialist, offers this hands-on basic introduction to organics. At $10, it’s a great deal. Plus, each participant will receive a $10 Good Earth gift certificate. To register, email info@thegoodearthgarden.co. ➥ Stop by the opening reception for Evan Pardue, Winston Taylor and Lisa Renz at BOSWELL MOUROT FINE ART, March 12, 6-9 p.m. ➥ The creative crowd. Openings at GALLERY 26 are always lively events with great art and fun people-watching. Stop by the opening reception for Dominique Simmons and David Warren, March 19, 7-10 p.m. The exhibit will run until May 14. ➥ Call of the wild. CANTRELL GALLERY presents “Brazil: An Endangered Beauty— Recent Watercolors and Pastels” by Kitty Harvill of Little Rock and Brazil. A portion of the proceeds benefits environmental organizations. Opening night reception Friday, March 11, 6-8 p.m. Exhibit continues through Saturday, April 9. ➥ Drop in for the Lafayette 148 trunk show on March 10-11 at BARBARA JEAN. ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE ARKANSAS TIMES • MARCH 9, 2011 41

bydesign

LaKhiva’s TopSeven

BY KATHERINE WYRICK PHOTOGRAPHY BRIAN CHILSON

by design (n.) A place where we check in with tastemakers about town, from decorators to clothes designers and others in between.

Faith Family Inspiration (new experiences, new places)

does

your

Lawn

POLISH WITH A PURPOSE A local entrepreneur celebrates women

Ambition Downtime/travel (Grand Wailea in Maui, Hawaii) Shopping (Box Turtle, Dillard’s, Macy’s, Saks and anywhere in SoHo, NYC).

My Blackberry and Dell laptop

need a

rescue W

?

check out our new lawn chemical program at thegoodearthgarden.com!

and more!

hen I meet LaKhiva Blann, creator of LcB Nail Lacquer, at Box Turtle, she offers a hug instead of a handshake; “This is what we do in our family!” she exclaims. Like the electric orange polish on her nails, Blann exudes warmth. Her VP of Sales and Marketing (and sister), Kimmie Blann-Anderson, soon arrives to lend support (and lip gloss for a prephoto touchup).

It’s obvious that Blann feels passionately about many things, including but not limited to nail polish.

Though in development for the past couple of years, her line, LcB Nail Lacquer, made its official debut with a launch party on February 12.

Blann created the collection with a sole purpose in mind: “to build self-esteem by taking a negative and turning it into a positive.” Growing up, she was sometimes called names because of her dark skin, and she drew on those experiences when creating this collection. Blann chose provocative names for the colors in this “Concept” line, including “Tar Baby” (a black purple), “Thin as Rail” (silver), “Pie Face” (lavender) and “Choc-La-Drop” (chocolate).

Blann, a successful career woman with a Masters of Public Health from UAMS, hopes to empower women and inspire them to be their best, most beautiful selves. She also hopes to give back to the community she loves and plans to donate a portion of LcB proceeds to local charities; two of her favorites include The American Heart Association and Centers for Youth and Families.

As for the line itself, well, let’s just say Blann nailed it. The LcB collection consists of 12 dreamy creams, shimmer and frost shades. The range of colors are of-the-moment and well-suited to year-round use. (Blann named the orange color she’s currently sporting “Kimmie,” after her sister.) Free of all the toxic stuff

42 MARCH 9, 2011 • ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE ARKANSAS TIMES

found in other polishes, her products are also fragrance free, water-resistant, long lasting, easy-to-use and fast drying. The nice bristle brush helps ensure precise application. Blann plans to expand her business to include emery boards, cuticle moisturizer cream and hand lotion. If this initial foray into the world of

LaKhiva Blann poses with her polish at Box Turtle.

beauty products is any indication, Blann’s future in the industry looks as bright as the polish she’s wearing.

Find LcB Nail Lacquer at Box Turtle and online at lcbnaillacquer.com. Join LaKhiva Blann for the Official Launch Event of LcB Nail Lacquer at Box Turtle March 12, 12-3 p.m.

a bag

trend g n i s s o r c s ’ t that he na tion

C

ross-body bags—from small to large, leather to canvas—are appearing on runways and city streets alike. There’s something about them that makes one feel ready for action and up for anything. They can be sized for lipgloss or a laptop. Here’s but a sampling from around town.

MILITARY CHIC Stylist and designer Lakey Sanford transformed this Bennett’s bag into a work of art.

Embellished with the Saint of Motherhood (made in Italy), cheesecloth, vintage rhinestones and a wallet chain found in a Charlotte, NC, bus depot. Contact lakey@lakeykristian. com.

Yoga Classes $10

(Package Rates available) Yoga class schedule on Website

M2 Gallery, 11525 Cantrell Road www.M2LR.com 501-225-M2LR

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Located in Crown Jewelry, where there is always a GIA Graduate Gemologist on site.

150 Brookswood Road Sherwood, AR

419 Main stReet no. little Rock, aR 72114

501-590-3238

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betWeen staRving aRtist & RistoRante

ECO-FRIENDLY This Re-Tread “Eco-Geek” bag from 10,000 Villages is made from recycled inner tube and handcrafted in India. Sized to hold a laptop, each bag is unique. Feel good about carrying it and look good, too.

ROCKIN’ Florals large and small are big this season.

Betsey Johnson’s “Floral Fiesta” cross-body bag has a chic grey floral print that looks lovely against the pink background. Find at Dillard’s.

WILD A generously sized and beautifully crafted Korto Momolu bag from Box Turtle.

DRESSY The BCBGeneration quilted “Roxy” Mini cross-body bag from Dillard’s is an eye-catching metallic that’s well-suited for a night out on the town.

ALL-PURPOSE Box Turtle has a great selection of bags, including this gorgeous green number from Hobo. That color is to dye for! And love the patent leather.

Come “Dress” for spring! shop box turtle local

a lifestyle boutique that offers jewelry, clothing & gifts.

2616 Kavanaugh Blvd. • Little Rock • 501.661.1167 • www.shopboxturtle.com ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE ARKANSAS TIMES • MARCH 9, 2011 43

A visit to Box Turtle offers a sneak peek at summer styles

We saw a multitude of pieces from the summer collection of two lines currently carried by Box Turtle, Language (shirt) and Charlie Jade (dress).

F

Truck shop

Miss Leona Helmsley, Ramsey’s 19-year –old cat, warms herself under a tablelamp.

LIVE SMALL Continued from page 41

finds. “I like to have all religions represented,” he teases.

True, Ramsey has covered almost every available surface of this 385-foot space, but the overall effect is cozy rather than cramped. “You know people who say, ‘I don’t know where I’d put it?’ That’s not in my realm of thinking,” he says.

Asked if he prefers living in one room, he responds, “Obviously I like a lot of stuff, so the bigger the space the more stuff I would have.” (Isn’t that a mathematical theorem? The amount of things one owns expands proportionally in relation to the amount of space one occupies?)

ment.) Once inside, however, any thought of tacos was replaced by the sheer thrill of being surrounded by so many new clothes.

So what’s hot this summer? Well, the bad news is that the tie-dye trend continues. Though I’m not a fan, it was interesting to see it reinterpreted in a modern way.

It was also fun to see a modern take on the traditional tee, some with mesh backs and other alluring textural elements.

But the cute sales girl, captain of this truck, saved the best for last. Tucked in a corner, glinting like mica in the shallows of a stream, hung a cache of gorgeous vintage inspired dresses. (Did I spy mirrors and sequins?) Leslie confirms that they ordered some pieces from this line, but when pressed on exactly what, she skirts the issue. Looks like we’ll have to wait and see(quin).

Souvenirs from the 1939 New York City World’s Fair, including a pencil sharpener and stamp, make a eye-catching assemblage.

Judging by his apartment, it’s not surprising to learn that Ramsey has a history in the design business. After moving back from San Francisco a decade ago, he got a job at Joyce Holt’s Window Works where he worked until his recent retirement. In a previous life, he worked at Lee Morgan Antiques and M.M. Cohn. He continues to do freelance design jobs and indulge his love of antiques by occasionally buying and selling them.

Ramsey has managed to live large in this small studio for ten years now, a refreshing thing considering that ours is an age of McMansions (and ofttimes appalling décor). Not only that, he’s made his surroundings uniquely—and chicly—his own.

44 MARCH 9, 2011 • ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE ARKANSAS TIMES

or years I’ve searched for the perfect denim skirt, one that’s the right length, somewhere between pixie and Puritan, and doesn’t “pooch out,” accentuating my midsection. I’m happy to report that I finally found it at Box Turtle.

The !iT skirt hits just above the knee, has a little give and flatters the figure. Others obviously agree because owner Emese Boone reports that they’ve been flying off the shelves.

But this stroke of serendipity was just a pleasant prelude to what lay in store that day. As I was leaving, Emese’s husband, Collin, directed me to a nondescript white truck that sat idling outside the shop. He informed me that said truck was full of clothes that Emese and co-worker Leslie Nelson were previewing for the next season. (I had secretly hoped it was taco truck and tried to conceal my disappoint-

A birthday gift from a friend, the bicycle seat and handlebar sculpture fashioned like a steer skull looks smashing above the bar.

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Cautionary tale n There were no hamsters in early Arkansas. Albert Pike, David O. Dodd and Hattie Caraway never heard of such a creature. Our first documented one turned up at Monticello around 1950. It was thought to be a male, had no companions or associates, and won a small amount of local notoriety only by his involvement in a sociology-psychology class experiment at Arkansas A&M College.

He was called Al, possibly short for Al-i Baba -- hamsters are native to Syria, and the Open Sesame hero also hailed from a dry country over there somewhere — so we know our Ur-hamster had a name, but we know little else about him. Where he came from, how he got here, who got him past the agricultural quarantine banning alien rodents that might threaten the job security of our home-boy moles and cotton rats. Nothing on any of that.

The Aggie classroom experiment in which Al was the guinea pig, so to speak, didn’t go well — or perhaps it went too well. It was a behaviorist endurance ordeal, based on John B. Watson. Al wore electrodes. He was said to have been urged on to spinning-wheel prodigies by the vigorous application of a tiny riding crop. Nasty stuff.

His minuscule ticker fatally bummed. His remains might’ve become brunch for the

Bob L ancaster on-campus Aggie goat.

Tales were told anon however that he had survived, with a considerably reduced mental capacity, though with hamsters it’s hard to tell about such things. When the first member of my clan enrolled at A&M in the late 1950s, the local legend was still abroad of a deranged or zombie-like hamster, perhaps humongously enlarged by atomic fallout, haunting the spooky pine flats out around Montrose.

This Alzilla legend later melded somewhat with the Boggy Creek legend, so that the Fouke Monster became a kind of halfhamster Sasquatch lurching around on its hind legs, overturning fog-wrapped house trailers including dozens of the Katrina rejects on the tarmac at Hope.

But for all that, Al might have been forgotten even sooner than he eventually was forgotten if not for Boyd Tackett and Clarence Taylor.

A Texarkana congressman, Tackett was our best-known Red baiter during the Mc-

Carthy epoch. Imagine his excitement when he got wind of a Semitic outside agitator on the loose in Drew County, assumed the rascal to be Muslim, then called Mohammedan, which meant anti-Christian, which meant, in that strange time, strange in a lot of the same ways as this one, Communist.

Tackett used Commie Agitator Al as a kind of whipping boy in his last campaign, and was invited to regale the celebrity outers at HUAC with wild tales of Al’s seditious initiatives, including a plot to poison the Smackover water supply with a mere drop of a diabolical and probably radioactive new toxin, called fluoride.

All pure slander. Al was a hamster, for crying out loud. Most likely a dead hamster.

But the Tail Gunner fervor scorned such details, and anyhow Tackett was soon reapportioned out of Congress, and, consigned to political eclipse, he quickly got to be more forgotten than Al was.

Arkies were painfully image conscious for a time after the big Little Rock Central deseg, and one dependable way to rile them was to find and publicize a category in which the state ranked embarrassingly low, 47th or 48th out of the 48 states, or, soon after, 49th or 50th out of the 50. And it’s at that point that Clarence Taylor revived the Al B. Hamster saga.

Clarence was farm editor of the Pine Bluff Commercial, and around 1960 he pieced together the old Al story and reprised it as Southeast Arkansas folklore.

C

He included in his account an Extension Service estimate that Arkansas ranked a dismal 50th among the states in the per capita ownership of hamsters as pets.

This was intolerable. It betrayed the official Arkansas booster gospel then in effect, called faugress. So the Arkansas Publicity and Parks Commission got busy cranking out feature stories meant to show that there was no “hamster gap” in Arkansas. Their literature alleged to have found pet hamsters in 15 of Arkansas’s 75 counties — a 20 percent showing! Moreover, our hamsters were superior to those in other states in several respects. One, because they had trace amounts of aluminum ore in their blood, their test results showed up better. Two, they could be effectively trained to root up woodland truffles and to tree squirrels. And three, you didn’t have to feed them expensive storeboughten bugs-‘n’-berries hamster food.

Just throw some old pine cones in the cage.

Did Publicity and Parks just make this s—t up? Well, it was at this same time that the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission was making up impressive numbers of new and expanded manufacturing plants.

Wholly imaginary manufacturing plants, as it turned out. Two of them in bucolic locales supposedly turning out high-dollar chromeplated hamster cages.

Coincidence? You tell me.

Last I heard of Al, his name turned up on the Falwell list of people (or non-people) that Bill Clinton had had whacked.

S

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Instructional CoordinatorScience Cluster (Little Rock, AR). Dev edu materials/content at 2 charter school campuses, plan programs, procedures. Advise, admin & eval staff.

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Research Assistant

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, AR is seeking a candidate who will be responsible for providing statistical expertise in the design, evaluation, and analysis of research studies.

• Assist investigators in the design and analytic plans of their research protocols and research grant proposals; and in the design of data collection instruments and databases for research data.

• Participate in evaluation of research results through statistical data analysis and interpretation of results.

• Assist in the presentation and publication of research findings. Knowledge of literature searches, data collection, data management, statistical data analysis, report writing and editing of grant and article manuscripts is required.

• Experience with computer databases such as MS Access and statistical software packages (SAS, SPSS, SPLUS, or STATA) is required. Master Degree in Statistics or Biostatistics and three years of related experience is required.

Please submit resume to: UAMS, Division of Medical Genetics, College of Medicine, 4301 W. Markham #580, Little Rock, AR 72205

46 MARCH 9, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES 46 March 9, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

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ARIZONA BIG BEAUTIFUL LOTS, $99/ mo., $0-down, $0-interest. Golf Course, Nat’ l Parks. 1 hour from Tucson Int’ l Airport. Guaranteed Financing. NO CREDIT CHECK! (800) 631-8164 Code 4054 www.sunsiteslandrush.com (AAN CAN) GREERS FERRY LAKE Spectacular views! 5 acres. Owner/agent. 501-8256200 www.enchantedbluffestates.com

Investment Properties

Lawn & Garden LEYLAND CYPRESS \endash Fastgrowing evergreen hedges. 100 trees, 8-12 inches, $88.94. 50 trees, 8-12 inches, $59.94. 12-18 inches, $82.94 per 50. Includes shipping. www.auckersnursery.com 352-528-3889 (AAN CAN)

Adoption Services *Adoption is love* Absolute devotion, close-knit family, lots of LOVE, security awaits 1st baby. Michele, Expenses paid 1-800-563-7964 Adoption: Adoring couple longs to adopt newborn. Will provide security, endless love. Expenses paid, Adam & Meredith. 888-501-4194

1104 B WEST 29TH STREET - 2BR/1BA fixer upper. Owner financing or cash discount. $350 down, $107 a month.

803-403-9555

Roommates ALL AREAS ROOMMATES.COM. Browse hundreds of online listings with photos and maps. Find your roommate with a click of the mouse! Visit: http://www.

Roommates.com. (AAN CAN)

FIND JOBS ONLINE @ WWW.ARKTIMES.COM

Miscellaneous

Employment

Macximize

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• Aid in choosing the right Mac for you and your budget • iMac, MacBook, iPad, iPhone • Troubleshooting • Wireless internet & backup

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MOVING TO MAC

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cindy@movingtomac.com • 501-681-5855

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AND GET A FREE FACEBOOK DISC OF YOUR PHOTOS

NO GIMMICKS • NO SITTING FEES • NO HIDDEN CHARGES CALL OR EMAIL NOW FOR BEST STUDIO TIMES!

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www.studio-1-photo.com

Couch for sale. Beautiful stain-resistant ultra suede sectional, 4 piece. Purchased at Cantoni in Dallas for $3,200. Barely used, asking $1,500.

Call 501-607-3100 can send pictures upon request.

Male dog @ kill shelter, needs home.

Great energy!

Call animal control: 870-942-5512

Kitten needs home she is very sweet and likes to be held. 2-3 months old.

Call 501-607-3100

MEDICAL JOBS

Psychic Reader & Advisor

— INTERVIEWING NOW — ALL CLINIC POSITIONS AVAILABLE CLINIC HRS. • HIGH $ GREAT BENEFIT PKGS. Submit an up-to-date, skills-detailed resume to:

Looks into Past, Present, Future Specialized Reading in Tarot Card-Metal Object-Shakra call & consult for an appointment

501-223-9046

The To-do lisT

20 years public experience All major credit cards accepted

medicalstaffing@comcast.net

Newest LocatioN DowNtowN LittLe rock river market

The To-do lisT

➤➤➤ The comprehensive list of everything worth doing this weekend from Times entertainment editor, Lindsey Millar. Whether it’s live music, dance, theater or an exhibit, Lindsey steers you to the best. The To-Do List email newsletter arrives in your in-box every Wednesday afternoon with an eye toward planning for your weekend. The To-Do List is a sure bet for your active life!

➤➤➤ The comprehensive list of everything worth doing this weekend from Times entertainment editor, Lindsey Millar. Whether it’s live music, dance, theater or an exhibit, Lindsey steers you to the best. The To-Do List email newsletter arrives in your in-box every Wednesday afternoon with an eye toward RIVERMARKET BAR & GRILL planning for your weekend. The To-Do List is a sure bet for your active life!

CLUBS, CONCERTS & MORE @ arktimes.com

TO-DO

LIST RIVERMARKET BAR & GRILL

FROM ROCK CANDY

TO-DO

AT THE BACKSTAGE PASS CLUBS, CONCERTS & MORE @ arktimes.com FROM ROCK CANDY

LIST

iT’s Free!

Go To ArkTimes.Com SubScribe for thiS local newS email!

S U B S C R I B E AT THE BACKSTAGE PASS

DAILY UPDATE

➤➤➤➤➤

WEEKLY ROCK CANDY

TO-DO LIST

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SMILES & CORN DOGS AT THE ARKANSAS STATE FAIR

SMILES & CORN DOGS AT THE ARKANSAS STATE FAIR

Established 13 yr. old company building team in AR in the health and fitness industry. High profile company with established “brand”.

Above average compensation plan, bonuses, on-going “earn while you learn” training.

Applicants must be upbeat, determined individuals who desire extraordinary income and are willing to work hard and follow a proven program to success.

KC Butler

The Nation’s Leading Wildlife Control Firm for over 28 Years Over 120 Offices Coast-to-Coast • Bats, Raccoons, Squirrels, Bees, Skunks, Opossum, Armadillo, etc.

• Animal Removal, Repairs, Prevention • Attic Cleanups, Deodorization & Insulation

www.CritterControl.com (501) 834-8727 1-800-CRITTER

Executive Recruiter-Certified Trainer

501-455-8538 office www.jointnt.net/kcbutler

Pick Me Up, I’m Free!

Go on, you know you want it.

SmallTown

Arkansas Times Tees White or Black, Men’s & Women’s Styles

$15 ONLT-Y SHIRT AVA I L A B L E AT

2616 KAVANAUGH HILLCREST 501.661.1167

Or call Phyllis at 375.2985 ext 364 or e-mail phyllis@arktimes.com

www.arktimes.com • March 9, 2011 47

RIDE THE

Featuring John Legend & The Roots

Robert Plant & The Band of Joy Jeff Beck John Mellencamp Tom Jones Dr. John Wyclef Jean Arlo Guthrie Kenny G The Decemberists Bon Jovi Keb’ Mo’ Mighty Clouds of Joy Justin Townes Irma Thomas Robert Cray Ricky Skaggs Ivan Neville’s

April 29, 30th and May 1

$675 per person !"#$%&'(#))$*+,)-(.(/012(34,5&'(3$**&'6',78

Price Includes:

Round-trip Transportation on the Arkansas Times Jazz Bus Three Nights at the Holiday Inn French Quarter Jazz Fest Tickets for Friday, Saturday and Sunday Louisiana Heritage Lunch On the Way to New Orleans Friday

Dumpstaphunk The Dixie Cups Vicki Winans Alejandro Sanz Jason Mraz Amos LeeRance Allen Ahmad Jamal The Avett Brothers Mumford & Sons…

And a hundred other great musicians and groups. Go to nojazzfest.com for the full line up! Your tickets get you in to see all these acts and more!

Escorted by Times publisher Alan Leveritt and music editor Lindsey Millar.

rve Reseseat yourday! to

s u B z z Ja To The

Registration deadline is March 15

The Arkansas Times Jazz Bus leaves Little Rock early Friday morning and will arrive at the French Quarter Holiday Inn about 5 p.m. You will receive Jazz Fest Tickets for Friday night, all day Saturday and all day Sunday. The Jazz Bus will depart New Orleans mid-morning Monday and will arrive Little Rock about 8 p.m. that evening.

MOTOR COACH TRANSPORTATION PROVIDED BYARKANSAS DESTINATIONS/LITTLE ROCK TRAILWAYS

Charge by phone (all major credit cards) at 501-375-2985 or mail check or money-order to Arkansas Times Jazz Bus, Box 34010, Little Rock, AR 72203.