Arkansas Times

ARKANSAS’S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF POLITICS AND CULTURE ■ APRIL 6, 2011

www.arktimes.com

David Sedaris and Charlaine Harris headline the annual Arkansas Literary Festival.

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Clemons surrenders law license

n When a promised donation of $500,000 to the Arkansas Arts Center ostensibly from a Dubai businessman was a no-show, the lawyer who’d promised the gift made himself scarce as well.

Now, Elgin Clemons, a former member of the Arts Center board and former attorney in the Wright, Lindsey and Jennings firm, has surrendered his Arkansas law license and suggests he himself may have been duped by persons representing Mohammed bin Ali Al Abbar.

Clemons surrendered his license to avoid a disciplinary hearing by the state Supreme Court’s Committee on Professional Conduct, which had information that could have constituted “serious misconduct,” including representing both buyer and seller in several business deals involving a group formed by Clemons, Al Abbar Group LLC. The Supreme Court granted the petition Feb. 24.

Clemons, a former governor of Boys State and a graduate of Princeton University and New York University Law School, said in his petition that “… somewhere on this journey I made some unfortunate choices as to those with whom I associated in legal and business matters and the problems described below arose.”

Among other rules violations that could have been found, the petition states, was that Clemons, in repeatedly promising the Arts Center, between November 2008 and January 2010, that a pledge by Al Abbar, to defray the costs of the exhibit “World of the Pharaohs,” was forthcoming, had engaged in conduct that “involved dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.” The petition says Clemons’ former firm investigated to verify that Clemons represented the real Mohammed Ali Al Abbar; the results of that investigation are under seal.

The Arts Center lost money on the exhibit and then-director Nan Plummer resigned shortly after the Arts Center wrote off the $500,000.

Clemons will also surrender his law license in New York, the petition says.

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n Secretary of State Mark Martin has added another Republican Party activist to his public payroll. Mark Myers, a Van Buren ad man who handled Martin’s campaign radio advertising, has been hired as a “project coordinator” for $58,711. What types of projects will he coordinate? Will he continue to live in Van Buren and “coordinate” from there?

These are questions Martin’s press person, Alice Stewart, has so far declined to answer.

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www.arktimes.com • APRIL 6, 2011 3

Smart talk

Contents

It’s not about the money

to rent two buses for each city. [Wichita and Dayton.] We won’t get reimbursed for that.”

The money distributed by the NCAA comes from television revenue. Since women’s teams generate little if any such revenue, they don’t win any money for winning games in the tournament. On the men’s side, the NCAA pays up for each game won. This year, the payoff was $210,000. If the UALR men had defeated UNC-Asheville, 75 percent of that $210,000 would have gone to UALR, and the other 25 percent to the Sun Belt Conference, for distribution to other conference members.

But playing in the big tournaments has intangible benefits, besides pride. It helps in recruiting new players, and it provides valuable exposure for the school. “Look at Gonzaga,” Lee said. Since Gonzaga started being a tournament regular a few years back, applications for enrollment have gone up sharply.

n So how much money did UALR make for putting two teams, men’s and women’s, in the NCAA basketball tournaments? Not much. The men’s team could have picked up some cash if they’d won a game; the women play strictly for pride. Both lost in the first round.

George Lee, chief financial officer for the UALR Department of Athletics, said he hasn’t done the final calculations yet on expenses and reimbursement, but he expects that UALR will come out very little ahead, if any. UALR pays expenses such as food and lodging, but it’s reimbursed $175 per person per day for NCAAauthorized personnel. That includes players, coaches, administrators, the band, and the dance team. The NCAA pays for chartered flights to the tournament sites, but that money goes to the provider, not the university. “They don’t pay for any local transportation once you get to the game site,” Lee said. “We had

It’s a cluster

NO JOKE: UCA’s plan for a purple and gray football field is real.

Proud of the purple and gray

n A lot of people thought UCA’s unveiling of the design for a new artificial turf football field last week was an April Fool’s prank. No such luck for traditionalists. The school will indeed play on purple-and-gray striped artificial turf in 2011. The annual savings from not having to water and otherwise maintain a grass field amount to $101,672.72, according to the school.

n A report on a new study just released by the Natural Resources Defense Council identifies and seeks causes for 42 so-called “disease clusters” in 13 American states. If you guessed the name of one of the states with a cluster begins with the letter A and isn’t Alaska, Arizona or Alabama, come on down and claim your prize.

The study looked at disease rates since 1976, when the Toxic Substances Control Act was passed. The TSCA regulates toxins used in products, industry and manufacturing. The Arkansas cluster mentioned is a group of testicular cancer cases that occurred in the town of Prairie Grove in Washington County from 1997 to 2001.

Three of the cases were in 14-year-old boys. While the study notes that the cause of the cluster has never been officially determined, the authors point out that the town lies near the now-closed Southwest Experimental Fast Oxide Reactor (SEFOR), an experimental nuclear reactor in operation from 1969 to 1972 and now owned by the University of Arkansas. In addition, the study points out that the town is close to “a low-level radioactive landfill, a poultry plant, and a manufacturer of poultry feed containing arsenic,” and that arsenic-contaminated chicken manure was often spread on fields near schools and homes there as fertilizer. Ain’t it great here in the Natural State?

To read the full report, go to: www.arktimes.com/diseaseclusters.

8 Legislative roundup

Who made an impact in the 88th General Assembly? — By Gerard Matthews

10 Lit love

Charlaine Harris, David Sedaris are among our picks for this week’s Arkansas Literary Festival. — By Lindsey Millar

34 Bistro lunch There’s much to admire at Terry’s the Restaurant. — Arkansas Times staff

DEPARTMENTS

3 The Insider

4 Smart Talk

5 The Observer

6 Letters

7 Orval 8-17 News

18 Opinion

20 Arts & Entertainment

34 Dining

37 Crossword/ Tom Tomorrow

46 Lancaster

Cover illustration by Hannah Alexander.

Words n “US jet crashes in Libya, both crew are safe” Maybe people have been doing this for awhile and I’m just now noticing, but in any case, I want it stopped. (The misuse of crew, that is, not the safety of American servicemen.) A crew is “a group of people working together.” A crew is not an individual any more than a team is.

“Four team scored in the game against Siwash.”? No. “Four players scored” or “four team members scored” would be correct. So would “both crew members are safe.” At one time, we’d have said “both crewmen are safe,” but everybody’s more gender-conscious these days.

As I said, “Both crew members are safe” would be OK. “A couple crew members are safe” would not be OK with me. I still write “couple of crew mem4 APRIL 6, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

Doug S mith doug@arktimes.com

bers.” Some people now use “couple” as an adjective and omit the “of.” Indeed, this usage has become so common I’ve generally quit protesting. Not William D. Lindsey, however. Prompted by an item in the Arkansas Times, he writes: “When I see a review in your paper that uses the word ‘couple’ in that trendy louche way, I immediately decide to pitch the review and ignore anything the writer is saying in it.”

Ignoring what Arkansas Times writers have to say is quite a sacrifice, but Mr.

Lindsey seems fully prepared to make it.

A sharp-eyed ophthalmologist, Dr. George T. Schroeder, found something to dislike in the Times also. “Spared the death penalty by only two jurors who held out against capitol punishment, he now sits in prison for life ...”

Dr. Schroeder wonders whether “capitol punishment” means “being confined to stocks in front the Capitol, or perhaps being compelled to sit through the legislative proceedings all day. ... Perhaps no one ever taught the writer that capitol refers to a specific building for the center of government.” Perhaps no one taught the writer, the editor and the proofreader that the death penalty is capital punishment.

More likely, we were distracted by the basketball tournament, in which some of us had as much as $5 invested.

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The Observer went out to

UALR to chat with him the other day on the advice of a friend. Call him M. Fearing for his family in Saudi Arabia and knowing that the reach of the Internet is long, that’s as much as he wants us to say. He’s a student now at UALR; 19, but with very old eyes. There’s no way to confirm much of the tale he tells, but we’ve seen the fragments of his blog archived online and other things, so we tend to believe.

Too, we’ve been at this awhile now, and hope we know a fibber when we see one. Still, the old reporter in us must say: take what you will from this and leave the rest.

It started when he was 12 years old, M said. That was the year he died.

It was a congenital heart defect that felled him, something that runs in his family. He was gone for several minutes before medics shocked him back to life. When he died and didn’t see God, M said, his faith flew away.

When he was well enough, he told his friends as much. While that might be taken with consternation here in the States, in his world it was met with revulsion. Word spread that M was a non-believer — first in school, then to his community. What started as bullying got steadily worse. Whenever he’d get up to go to the chalkboard or the restroom, he said, the other students in the class would spit on his chair, so that he had to wipe it down before he could sit again. There were constant threats.

Beatings.

When he was 13, he was walking down the street when a man pulled a knife on him and dragged him into an alleyway. Whether it was just for sex or over his refusal to believe, M doesn’t know. When the man put down the knife to unbutton his pants, M grabbed it and stabbed him. The police were called. When they got there, the man convinced them that M had tried to rob him. He was eventually sent to a children’s prison, a “filthy, dirty” place where he stayed for a year, surrounded by young street toughs who didn’t like him any more than the kids on the outside.

While in jail, M turned to writing poetry, and tried to think even more

deeply about his place in the world.

When he got out, he started a blog online. He kept writing, found a few friends who accepted him, and started making short films. On his blog, he wrote about the issues that concerned him: how religion is used to control people. the rights of women. One of his friends eventually wrote a fictionalized account of his life, which sold more than 10,000 copies in Saudi Arabia.

The book, in Arabic with M’s picture on the cover, exists. The Observer has seen it.

As you might imagine, the things he wrote on his blog didn’t sit well. He’s got a scar across his ribcage where he says a man tried to slash him open over something he’d written. He’s been shot at, beat up, cursed. Every day, he said, there was at least one e-mail threatening him, or his family. Finally, when he was 17, a group of men with the religious police showed up at his house, dragged him out and beat him. They made him sign a piece of paper renouncing his beliefs. If he didn’t take down his blog, they told him, he’d go to jail for nine years. He took it down.

At that point, M began scheming on getting out of Saudi Arabia. He says he Googled “cheap places to live in America,” and one of the first that popped up was Arkansas. That’s how life goes sometimes.

His blog was down, but his reputation as an apostate was known and the threats continued. Finally, last fall, M said he was sitting at a stoplight when a man approached, leveled a gun, and fired. He was able to drive quickly away, but he knew it was time to go.

He sold his car, and moved to Little Rock to live with a friend. He enrolled at UALR soon after.

So now he’s here, going to class, still writing, missing his family and his home while trying to make a life for himself. He’s seeking asylum, and doesn’t know if he’ll ever go back.

No place is perfect, but The Observer thinks this is one of the things America is good at: taking in those who have been cast away from somewhere else because of fear or plain prejudice. No matter the cause, welcome, M. Their loss is our gain. www.arktimes.com • APRIL 6, 2011 5

Letters arktimes@arktimes.com

SWEPCO’s power The passage of HB1895 shows the power of SWEPCO, its parent company AEP and the electric cooperatives in our state. SWEPCO wrote HB1895 for one purpose: to make null and void a hunt club’s case against SWEPCO now pending before the Arkansas Supreme Court.

HB1895 will grease the rails for ANY large utility company, such as AEP, to come into our state and site a power plant wherever they please.

The Arkansas Public Service Commission (APSC) is pretty much an insider’s ball game and the subtleties of process make it difficult to understand why these changes are so harmful, but HB1895 will alter and dilute protections the public has enjoyed for 35 years under current law. To be clear, landowners will suffer from the passage of this bill. Ratepayers will suffer from the passage of this bill. The environment will suffer from this bill. And, transparency and public participation at the APSC will suffer.

Here’s how: HB1895 authorizes the “need” for a power plant to be determined first, in a separate hearing that will undoubtedly be attended only by the APSC and the utility.

While a promise was extracted from John Bethel, executive director of the PSC’s general staff, by Sen. Percy Malone, who voted for the bill, that the public would be notified, it is an empty gesture. Since the “need” hearing will not include any discussion of where the plant is to be sited, no landowner will be aware that his land is threatened. This is exactly the process that was followed by the PSC in the case of Hunt Club vs. SWEPCO and that was declared illegal by the Arkansas Supreme Court. When the need docket for the Turk Plant was held, SWEPCO had not even announced whether the facility would be located in Arkansas. It is “fundamentally unfair,” Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson declared in the committee meeting yesterday.

HB1895 also reduces the environmental rigor of the law for the siting of power plants. The only permitting required will be by state agencies, like ADEQ. This permitting is minimal and relieves the PSC of one of its primary responsibilities in protecting the public’s interest in a rigorous investigation of environmental impact.

The 600 MW coal-fired Turk plant under construction now is sited next to one of the most important natural areas remaining in Arkansas. The Little River Bottoms, of which the famed Grassy Lake is a part, is an Audubon-designated Important Bird Area. The site generates bird populations for the entire region. Endangered species present did not slow down SWEPCO 6 APRIL 6, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

or the PSC in their siting nor their fullspeed-ahead construction efforts. This was another issue SWEPCO lost on before a federal court this past winter.

The sponsors state that HB1895 has nothing to do with the Turk plant, and yet it has everything to do with Turk, since its passage makes moot the legal issues related to critical PSC policy changes in litigation being considered now by the Arkansas Supreme Court.

I believe the Senate committee understood that, if HB1895 failed to pass, the Turk plant would continue to be built and that not one job would have been lost as a result of their not passing it.

Sen. Joyce Elliott, as expected, voted her conscience under great pressure. Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson led a penetrating discussion of the bill, and also voted against HB1895.

One of the more heartbreaking testimonies of the committee hearing was that of the superintendent of the Mineral Springs-Saratoga School District, Max Adcock, who spoke emotionally about the economic need for the plant, saying “I’m here for my kids, no other reason.”

What will he say in a few years when the levels of asthma and autism in his school are elevated and the fish pulled from the rivers and streams are so contam-

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inated that people cannot eat them?

SWEPCO will not consider burning natural gas at the Turk plant, despite the fact that other coal-fired plants around the nation are asking their public utility commissions for permission to convert to this fuel. Natural gas, which Arkansas produces, would be the far better choice for fueling the Turk plant. Natural gas is as cheap as coal, yet burns far cleaner, not spewing the toxins or mercury of coal. Better compliance with regulations for the extraction of natural gas can make the process far more palatable to Arkansans concerned about the environment. From an economic, health and environmental aspect, burning natural gas would be a far better choice for Turk. Why will SWEPCO not consider this alternative?

Ellen Fennell Interim Director Audubon Arkansas

Rod: Ease off

Some may know him as a member of the acclaimed band Ho-Hum and some know him as “that annoying political guy.”

Rod Bryan’s race as the 2006 independent gubernatorial candidate has been a catalyst for his political juices. He worked very hard to receive the appropriate signatures for the ballot and should be commended for his hard work. Although I’ve only met him a couple times, I feel he is a likeable and good hearted guy.

Ok, now that I’ve given Rod his props, can I say — Rod you’re starting to scare me!

During the recent legislative sessions, Rod has made it a point to schedule protests and speak on every issue known to man. That in itself is a freedom this country was founded on. However, Rod’s brash and often smart-a** approach is starting to wear a bit thin with legislators and common folk alike. Even if he has some valid points, few will find him to be a creditable source for argument. Rod has glorified his disrespect for many members in Arkansas government by refusing to shake Gov. Beebe’s hand during debate, comparing Gov. Beebe to Muammar Gaddafi, being restrained during public addresses and playing the role of class clown during legislative hearings. Why are these tactics necessary? Apparently, they’re not working and secondly, it’s not necessary.

Rod’s now producing an underground TV show where he posts videos of all his antics and offers an online live rant. Mr. Bryan, I’m starting to question your sincerity and I know A LOT of other people are as well. Please prove us wrong.

Shelly Bryant From the Internet

Submit letters to The Editor, Arkansas Times, P.O. Box 34010, Little Rock, AR 72203. We also accept letters via e-mail. The address is maxbrantley@arktimes.com. We also accept faxes at 375-3623.

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MARCH 30-APRIL 5, 2011 IT WAS A GOOD WEEK FOR …

ARKANSAS. The legislature mostly came to a close. Given the increased Republican contingent, the damage done was remarkably slight.

RETIREMENT. Col. Winford Phillips retired as director of the Arkansas State Police.

MCCAIN MALL. The 38-yearold granddaddy of Arkansas regional shopping malls announced a $5.5 million renovation plus return of a multi-screen movie theater.

PURPLE. The University of Central Arkansas announced it was switching from a grass football field to artificial turf done in alternating stripes of purple and gray, the school colors.

IT WAS A BAD WEEK FOR …

KUAR. A suspicious fire, likely an arson, destroyed the public radio station’s transmitter. It resumed broadcasting on low power with an improvised backup.

PARTY DISCIPLINE. Internal Democratic disputes stymied approval of a congressional redistricting plan. Nobody ever accused a Republican of lacking party discipline.

MOUNT HOLLY CEMETERY. An out-of-control SUV smacked into the stone and iron fencing of the historic graveyard. It’s unclear if insurance will cover the damage, in the tens of thousands of dollars.

PHILANDER SMITH COLLEGE. Its popular and dynamic president, Dr. Walter Kimbrough, is on the short list of candidates for chancellor of the much larger Southern University in Baton Rouge.

ALSO:

H. Maurice Mitchell, one of Little Rock’s legal giants, died at 85. He was a founding partner of Mitchell, Willliams, Gates, Selig and Woodyard, one of the state’s biggest law firms, a progressive Democrat and a gentleman.

8 APRIL 6, 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 ■­

Chairmanships key to Democrats’ agenda ■

■

Moore had ‘right people in the right places.’

BY GERARD MATTHEWS

n Redistricting aside, the 2011 legislative session came to a close last Friday with both sides claiming victory and lauding bipartisanship in a process where the former was not absolute and the latter a little more professed than practiced. Speaker of the House Robert Moore said he and his party accomplished all their major goals for the session, citing a state water plan, a highway funding proposal, ethics legislation and prison reform. Republicans touted tax cuts and reduced spending (though, overall, spending increased).

At the close of the session on Friday, Moore credited his accomplishments to a decision he made nearly four months ago, the selection of committee chairmanships.

“I don’t know whether it was luck or instinct or if I really knew what I was doing, but to a person, I had the right people in the right places on the chair,” Moore said.

“I think the three that dealt with the toughest issues were Clark Hall in [House] State Agencies dealing with the redistricting and the constitutional amendments, Linda Tyler in [House] Public Health with a myriad of contentious issues before that committee and Darrin Williams on [House] Judiciary who had the same thing, just a huge agenda with tremendous items of importance to so many people, but items that tended to divide.”

Tyler, D-Conway, chaired a Public Health Committee that heard 11 bills on abortion, from a measure aimed at prohibiting the procedure after 20 weeks to a proposal to impose stricter standards on the state’s only clinic that provides surgical abortions. Only one, a bill that would require a clinic that performed over 10 procedures in a year to be regulated by the state Health Department, was approved.

Although Tyler says she feels strongly about the issue, she credits the committee for asking tough questions and not shying away from a controversial debate.

“I wish it was such that women would not make those decisions,” Tyler says. “But I believe that a woman has the right to make that decision and it’s between a woman, her doctor, her family and her God and it should not be something that government should

MOORE (RIGHT): Speaking with Insurance Commissioner Jay Bradford before a controversial health care vote. be involved in.”

Rep. John Burris of Harrison, the Republican minority leader, agrees that Moore made good use of chair appointments, although he may take issue with some of the outcomes.

“Even though there are certain rules in terms of the majority of the committee voting a bill out, the interpretation of those rules is ultimately up to the chair,” Burris says.

“There are rules that govern the system, but it’s the chair’s job to apply and interpret those rules and for that reason, the position is very important. I think you saw that a lot in Public Health.”

Burris praised Moore for his ability to work with the Republican Caucus and touted his GOP picks to head committees like House Revenue and Tax, where Republican Davy Carter was the chair.

“During the speaker’s race the agreement was always that Republicans would have equal representation in committee chairs, so it was never a question of the number of chairs but who would fill those spots,” Burris says. “Putting Davy Carter in Revenue and Tax was a good move because he’s certainly widely respected. Everybody likes him, but more than that they trust him.

I think it was very smart to put him in there and say, ‘Okay this is your committee,’ and put someone there he could trust to do a fair job and sort of act as a bridge.”

Carter, of Cabot, says he and Moore had a “very professional relationship,” but the two, obviously, didn’t agree on everything.

BRIAN CHILSON

THE WEEK THAT WAS

“I certainly felt more responsibility, having the chair,” Carter says. “I was primarily focused on tax cuts and spending, along with a lot of other Republican members.

From that standpoint, I’m satisfied on how the math worked out in the end... Probably the most difficult position I was in during the session, was over the diesel tax. The speaker, that was one of his priorities and I did not support that.”

House Judiciary Chair Darrin Williams, D-Little Rock, says that Moore was handsoff and the real work was done by the committees themselves.

“I don’t remember a time when the speaker said to me as committee chair, ‘We need to kill this bill.’ I think the committee process did that. I think we stopped some bills that should have been stopped and there were some that, quite frankly, I wish we would have stopped and we didn’t stop.”

Williams’ committee heard a number of contentious bills including open-carry gun legislation, which was defeated, and the socalled “guns in church” bill which Williams personally opposed. It cleared his committee, but failed in the Senate.

“I did not try to play partisan politics in committee,” he says. “When there was a call that I had to make, for example on a voice vote, I called what I heard. When there were two hands for a roll call, we called the roll. I didn’t do that fast play.”

In his speech before the House on Friday, Moore touted Burris’s ability to work with Democratic leadership. Burris said communication between the two parties was better than expected, although there were some “shouting and cussing matches.”

“It was working relationship where I advocated for what I believed in and [Moore] did the same and at the end of the day he got a lot of what he wanted and I got a lot of what we wanted,” Burris says.

Ultimately, the policies put in place by both parties will be judged by voters. Moore says he thinks decisions reached in the 2011 session “speak well for Democrats.”

“We came in during what everyone thought was the most contentious of times, we took care of our business, we didn’t leave anything unattended,” he said. “Everything I asked them to do at the first of the session, we accomplished that... However, as you know, the leadership was diverse. I had a number of Republicans in leadership positions and their contributions were felt.

I’ve told the assembly, all of the members, that we do a good job, we do it effectively and in an efficient time manner and everybody goes home and they can put the spin on it they want to. But we’ve done good collectively, and I think it bodes well for the Democratic Party.”

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BOOK LOVE

Pop favorites, niche heroes and non-fiction standouts lead the way at this year’s Arkansas Literary Festival.

BY LINDSEY MILLAR

L

ast year, we bemoaned the lack of recognizable, high-profile names at the Arkansas Literary Festival. We certainly can’t repeat that gripe about this year’s festival, which kicks off on Thursday. Writers don’t get much bigger than our cover stars, Charlaine Harris, the queen of the undead/mystery/romance novel, and David Sedaris, surely the smartest humorist writing today. And while they don’t transcend their niches in quite the same way, blogger/memoirist/cookbook writer Ree Drummond and fantasy author Peter S. Beagle are as big as they come in their circles. Furthermore, festival organizers have secured an impressive slate of reporters and non-fiction authors — Eliza Griswold and Isabel Wilkerson, especially— and a near comprehensive assemblage of Arkansas writers who are doing interesting work.

All in all, it’s a line-up with something for just about any reader. With a broadened schedule that runs all the way until next Wednesday and an expanded number of venues, including several in North Little Rock, you’ll have more opportunities to take part. Keep reading for our picks for the festival, including a special section on our suggestions for Arkansas writers to see; a profile on Magnolia’s Charlaine Harris; a complete festival schedule; a feature on Starving Artist Cafe’s “Tales from the South” reading series and a preview of “Pub or Perish,” the Times annual salute to libation and literature.

10 APRIL 6, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

THURSDAY, APRIL 7

DAVID SEDARIS

➧ Longtime Boston Globe reporter Curtis Wilkie (Clinton School for Public Service, 6 p.m.), who co-wrote “Arkansas Mischief” with Jim McDougal, returns to Arkansas to talk about “The Fall of the House of Zeus: The Rise and Ruin of America’s Most Powerful Trial Lawyer,” his 2010 book about Mississippi attorney Richard “Dickie” Scruggs, known at one time as the “King of Torts,” but now serving a fiveyear sentence on federal bribery charges.

FRIDAY, APRIL 8

➧ Hobnob with festival authors over hors d’oeuvres and booze at the Author! Author! Party (Concordia Hall, Arkansas Studies Institute, 7:30 p.m.), $25 in advance (available at any CALS branch or by calling 501-918-3009) or $40 at the door.

SATURDAY, APRIL 9

➧ A Book Fiesta (Main Library Youth Services, 10:30 a.m.) gathers children’s authors Matt de la Peña, Darcy Pattison, Carla Killough McClafferty, Mimi Vance, Melanie Bowles and Linda Williams and features a piñata and prizes. ➧ Cooking with Vikings (300 Third Tower, 18th Floor, 11:30 a.m.) pairs Elizabeth Heiskell, lead culinary instructor at the Viking School in Mississippi and author of “Somebody Stole the Cornbread from My Dressing,” with Capitol Hotel chef Lee Richardson in a demonstration of what’s being billed as “simple and spectacular

ELIZA GRISWOLD Southern dishes.” Tickets are $15 and can be reserved by calling 501-918-3309. ➧ Ree Drummond’s (Darragh Center, Main Library, 1 p.m.) massively popular blog, ThePioneerWoman.com, documents her transition from city life in Los Angeles, where she attended college, to returning to her home state of Oklahoma and marrying and starting a family with a rancher.

A mix of slice-of-rural-life stories, photography and recipes, it’s spawned two No. 1 New York Times bestsellers, “The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl” and “The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels — A Love Story.” Reese Witherspoon is attached to a film adaptation of the latter. Get there early; this one is bound to be packed. ➧ Dogs who read! Well, not quite, but the canines of Tail Waggin’ Tutors (Fourth and Main Streets, North Little Rock, 1 p.m.) are trained to sit patiently in front

of children who may be too shy to read in front of their peers, but willing to read to a dog. It’s all about confidence building. And teaching dogs to read. ➧ Novelist John Brandon (Cox Creative Center, third floor, 1 p.m.) may’ve taken some geographic liberties in his debut novel “Arkansas” — he sends a character through Jonesboro heading north to Memphis and describes Pine Bluff as “craggy” — but he also managed an excellent read, an existential crime tale that sticks with you. The New York Times Book Review called his latest novel, “Citrus County,” “terrific.” ➧ A poet and an investigative reporter whose work has been published in the Atlantic, the New Yorker and Harper’s, Eliza Griswold (Darragh Center, Main Library, 2:30 p.m.) visits the festival to talk about her recent best-selling book, “The Tenth Continued on page 11

SIGRID ESTRADA

CHARLAINE HARRIS

SMALL-TOWN SAVANT Magnolia’s Charlaine Harris is tapped in to her audience.

BY SAM EIFLING

T

he Arkansas Literary Festival’s unofficial headliner this year, Charlaine Harris, is by some metric she recalls in conversation with a reporter, the 11th-best-selling writer in the United States. Without having a faint clue who the 10 ahead of her are, it’s still safe to say they’re all lugging bigger egos than the author of the Sookie Stackhouse books, among dozens of others. The pride of little Magnolia, Ark., by way of Tunica, Miss., Harris writes books not considered particularly taxing reading even by the standards of the soap-horror genre that she dominates, and makes no bones that she writes for a decidedly popular audience.

To illustrate: She recently attended an awards gala in New York at which PFLAG, the advocacy group for lesbians and gays, recognized her with a Straight for Equality award in literature, a first for

BOOK LOVE

Continued from page 10 Parallel: Dispatches from the Fault Line between Christianity and Islam,” which examines combustible areas in the 10th Parallel, the circle of latitude near the equator that includes countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia, and the Philippines. ➧ Peter S. Beagle (Darragh Center, Main Library, 4 p.m.), author of books like “The Last Unicorn,” “Tamsin” and “A Fine and Private Place,” is a bona fide fantasy icon and one of the finest writers around, according to Kevin Brockmeier, who is moderating Beagle’s dis-

the organization. And she had this to say about it: “I felt pretty good that they call it ‘literature.’ ” What you cannot call her, even though you’ll be tempted, is a writer of vampire novels, because as Harris — oh, what the hell are we saying — as Charlaine will tell you, she does not write vampire novels. As anyone who has watched HBO’s “True Blood,” the series now approaching its fourth season based on Charlaine’s Southern Vampire Mystery series, Sookie is a human woman who merely falls for a vampire. More precisely, Sookie is a telepathic human woman who’s intrigued by these supernatural creatures whose minds she can’t read. “She’s drawn to them,” Charlaine says, “even though it’s not a good idea to hang around creatures who want to eat you.”

Perhaps Sookie’s adventures are not vampire novels per se, but we may as

well note that novels that prominently feature vampires — colloquially known, because of the scarcity of the creatures outside of said literature, as “vampire novels” — are anomalies of horror fiction, in that they seem dominated by the fair sex. Women write them (cf. Anne Rice, Stephenie Meyer, Laurell K. Hamilton, their lesser imitators), star in them (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) and buy them by the coffinload. When it’s suggested to Charlaine that Sookie’s situation probably resonates with any young woman intrigued by mysterious older men who are sufficiently mature that she cannot see immediately through them, Charlaine says, “It’s that idea taken to the nth degree.” As in, older by 140 years.

The nerve she touched (vein she tapped?) has been epic, with global sales of 25 million books — 20 million of those in the Sookie series — translated across 30-something languages. Gothic Southern horror and mystery transcends borders. “About 12 years ago, I got the idea for writing the first Sookie,” Harris said. “It took my agent two years to sell it. It got turned down several times, and in very unflattering terms.” Lucky for Ace Books, a Penguin imprint, that it saw the book’s potential (and that of the subsequent 10 in the series, all with “dead” in their titles). “You can’t help but go ‘ha, ha!’ ” she says, but now that Charlaine’s an industry, she feels the pressure of supporting livelihoods other than her own.

These days an awful lot of New Yorkers depend on big things out of Magnolia.

That her books transcend the small town where she writes them, or the small town where she sets them (Sookie’s own Bon Temps, La.) harkens to the reason she began writing in the first place. When you’re from a place as poor and isolated as Tunica — which has boomed since

cussion. “He’s a writer of such tremendous vision and great craft, and such a complex and absorbing sense of what it means to be alive, that I find myself returning to his books again and again for replenishment,” said Brockmeier. ➧ Ghostwriter and celebrity profiler Alanna Nash (Main Library, fifth floor, 4 p.m.) has contributed articles to magazines like Entertainment Weekly, People and Vanity Fair and written popular books like “The Colonel: The Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis Presley” and “Behind Closed Doors: Talking with the Legends of Country Music.” Her latest is “Baby, Let’s Play House:

Charlaine’s childhood, to the point that it now has stoplights — stories are the currency of imagination, and writing is a way out in more ways than one. “It helps you escape,” Charlaine says, laughing.

“There are big pluses to growing up the way I did, but there’s also the fact that if you’re a thinking person and a reading person you do come to the conclusion that you’re living in a bygone era as far as the rest of the world goes.”

To a child with small-town naivete, even the mundane seems foreign. Adultery? That was something that happened only on soap operas. “It was inconceivable to me that people could be so dishonorable,” she says. “It still gives me the jim-jams to think about it.” Homosexuality? It seemed exotic, until she saw people covering up their true lives by dating people just to hide their identities.

“They were trying to conform to a norm they shouldn’t ever have to conform to,” Charlaine says, and if you’re picking up on a vampire parallel, you win free garlic sauce. “Even though I’m a religious person, I just couldn’t believe that’s what God wanted.”

You could chalk up Charlaine’s success to her canny choice of genre, or to sheer prodigious output, or to a decidedly big-tent prose style. What you simply cannot ignore, in wondering how the daughter of a Mississippi farmer once counted nine of her books on New York Times bestseller lists at the same time, is how brilliantly she has sublimated the moral conundrums of modern rural America into guilty-pleasure pop culture.

There are plenty of Sookies out there — good Christian girls stuck in dead-end towns and dead-end jobs wishing they could meet someone undead. Give Charlaine this: She knew her audience, then she went for the jugular.

Elvis Presley and the Women Who Loved Him.” ➧ In a can’t-miss appearance (fortunately, there are no other competing sessions), Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson (Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, 5:30 p.m.) talks about “The Warmth of Other Suns,” her widely praised account of the “Great Migration” of African Americans out of the South in the mid-20th century. ➧ Another can’t miss event: The annual lubricated literary event sponsored by the Arkansas Times: Pub or Perish (8 p.m., Big Whiskey’s party room). Poets and authors and a lucky Continued on page 16 www.arktimes.com • APRIL 6, 2011 11

ARKANSAS LITERARY FESTIVAL 2011 THURSDAY, APRIL 7

6 p.m.: Curtis Wilkie on “The Fall of the House of Zeus.”

Moderator: Skip Rutherford. Choctaw Station, Clinton Presidential Center.

7 p.m.: “Spoken Word Live!” Poetry competition. Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, followed by after-party at New Mediums Art Lounge, 521 Center St. 7 p.m.: Mary Kwas on “A Pictorial History of Arkansas’s Old State House: Celebrating 175 Years.” The Old State House.

Family sessions All day: Literacy on the Lawn. With First Lady Ginger Beebe and authors. Arkansas Governor’s Mansion.

All day: Patricia McKissack, “Days of Jubilee.” Clinton Presidential Center.

6:30 p.m.: “Super Family Fun Night.” With illustrator Rich Davis, teaching Pick and Draw game. Youth Services Room, Main Library.

FRIDAY, APRIL 8

Noon: “Literature at Lunch.” Kevin Brockmeier on “The Illumination.”

Moderator: Jeff Baskin. Argenta Community Theater, NLR. 6 p.m.: “A Prized Evening.” Awarding the Porter and Worthen Literary Prizes and Thea Foundation scholarships. Darragh Center, Main Library.

7:30 p.m.: “Author! Author!” Cocktail reception with authors.

Concordia Hall, Arkansas Studies Institute.

Family sessions All day: The WITS Initiative. Authors in the schools, also April 11 and 12.

SATURDAY, APRIL 9

9 a.m.-5 p.m.: Street Festival. Musicians, sidewalk chalk art, Community Wall of Poetry, local artists selling wares, roaming storytellers, book-signings. Fourth and Main Streets, NLR. 10 a.m.: “Garden Grows.” Panel with Janet Carson, “In the Garden,” and Chris Olsen, “Five Seasons.” Darragh Center, Main Library.

10 a.m.: “Your First Time.” Panel with Eleanor Brown, “The Weird Sisters,” and Kyran Pittman, “Planting Dandelions.” Moderator: Amy Bradley-Hole. Room 124, Arkansas Studies Institute.

10 a.m.: Caleb Smith on “The Prison and the American Imagination.” Moderator: Bobby Richards. Fifth floor, Main Library.

10 a.m.: “Portis.” Panel with Graham Gordy, Jay Jennings and Kane Webb. Third floor, Cox Creative Center.

10 a.m.: “Teacher Training on Arkansas History I.” With Tom Paradise, “Arkansas: An Illustrated Atlas.” Moderator: Kay Bland.

Ottenheimer Theatre, Historic Arkansas Museum.

10 a.m.: “Innocence and the Accused.” Panel with Mara Leveritt, “Devil’s Knot”; Fred B. McKinley, “A Plea for Justice”; and Cristi R. Beaumont. Moderator: John Hardin. Argenta Community Theater, NLR. 10 a.m.: “Fact into Fiction.” Workshop with Laura Parker Castoro, “Love on the Line,” and Phillip McMath, “The Broken Vase.” The Creative Space, Fourth and Main Streets, NLR. 10 a.m.: Live music by Steve Bates. Fourth and Main Streets, NLR. 11 a.m.: Live music by Lyle Dudley. Fourth and Main Streets, NLR 11:30 a.m.: Michael Takiff on “A Complicated Man.” Moderator: Kane Webb. Darragh Center, Main Library.

11:30 a.m.: Laura Browder on “When Janey Comes Marching Home.” Moderator: Philip Martin. Room 124, Arkansas Studies Institute.

11:30 a.m.: Si Kahn on “Creative Community Organizing.”

Moderator: Bob Russell. Fifth floor, Main Library.

11:30 a.m.: “Non-fiction Graphic Novels.” Panel with Josh Neufeld, “A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge,” and Sean Fitzgibbon, “DomestiCATed.” Moderator: Randy Duncan. Third floor, Cox Creative Center.

11:30 a.m.: “Teacher Training on Arkansas History II.” With Janis Percefull, “Cedar Glades Express.” Moderator: Kay Bland.

Ottenheimer Theatre, Historic Arkansas Museum.

11:30 a.m.: “Perspectives in Poetry.” Panel with Mary Angelino, 12 APRIL 6, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

Antoinette Brim, Angie Macri, Shin Yu Pai and Laura Newbern. THEA Center for the Arts, NLR. 11:30 a.m.: Laura Freeman-Hines on the “Nikki & Deja” series.

Moderator: Quantia Fletcher. Mosaic Templars Cultural Center.

11:30 a.m.: “Cooking with Vikings.” Workshop with Elizabeth Heiskell, “Somebody Stole the Cornbread from My Dressing,” and Lee Richardson, “Wild Abundance.” 18th floor, 300 Third Tower.

Noon: Live Music by Mockingbird Hillbilly Band. Fourth and Main Streets, NLR. 1 p.m.: Ree Drummond on “The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels.” Moderator: Lisa Fischer. Darragh Center, Main Library.

1 p.m.: “The Sports Book.” Panel with John Rodwan Jr., “Fighters & Writers,” and Bob Reising, “Chasing Moonlight.” Moderator: Rex Nelson.

1 p.m.: Matt de la Pena on “I Will Save You.” Moderator: Graham Gordy. Fifth floor, Main Library.

1 p.m.: John Brandon on “Citrus County.” Moderator: Ty Jaeger.

Third floor, Cox Creative Center.

1 p.m.: “Memoirs of Arkansas.” Panel with Pat Carr, “One Page at a Time,” and Jo McDougall, “Daddy’s Money.” Moderator: Phillip McMath.

Ottenheimer Theatre, Historic Arkansas Museum.

2:30 p.m.: Eliza Griswold on “The Tenth Parallel.” Moderator: Clea Bunch. Darragh Center, Main Library.

2:30 p.m.: Ace Collins on “Jefferson Burke and the Secret of the Lost Scroll.” Moderator: Garry Craig Powell. Room 124, Arkansas Studies Institute.

2:30 p.m.: Raul Ramos y Sanchez on “House Divided.”

Moderator: Michel Liedermann. Fifth floor, Main Library.

2:30 p.m.: “Read This.” Panel with “We Ate the Book.” Moderator: Katherine Whitworth. Third floor, Cox Creative Center.

2:30 p.m.: Melanie Bowles on “The Dogs of Proud Spirit.”

Moderator: Ann Nicholson. Ottenheimer Theatre, Historic Arkansas Museum.

2:30 p.m.: James Marsh on “Snapshots of Vietnam.” Moderator: Jeff Baskin. Starving Artist Cafe, 411 Main St., NLR. 2:30 p.m.: Thomas Chatterton Williams on “Losing My Cool: How a Father’s Love and 15,000 Books Beat Hip-Hop Culture.”

Moderator: Jennifer “Coffy” Davis. Mosaic Templars Cultural Center.

2:30 p.m.: “Baked.” Workshop with Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, “Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Revisited.” 18th floor, 300 Third Tower.

3 p.m.: Live music by Steve Davison. Fourth and Main Streets, NLR. 4 p.m.: “Fantasy and Light.” With Peter S. Beagle, “Sleight of Hand.”

Moderator: Kevin Brockmeier. Main Library, Darragh Center.

4 p.m.: Live music by Lark in the Morning. Fourth and Main Streets, NLR. 4 p.m.: “Primary Source Research.” Workshop with Carla Killough McClafferty. Room 124, Arkansas Studies Institute.

4 p.m.: Alanna Nash on “Baby Let’s Play House: Elvis Presley and the Women Who Loved Him.” Moderator: Karen Martin. Fifth floor, Main Library.

4 p.m.: Brock Thompson on “The Un-Natural State.” Moderator: Bill Worthen. Ottenheimer Theatre, Historic Arkansas Museum.

4 p.m.: Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone With the Wind.” With Ellen Brown. Moderator: Bill Worthen. Ottenheimer Theatre, Historic Arkansas Museum.

4 p.m.: “The Music Session I: Folk.” Len Holton of the Little Rock Folk Club opens for musician Si Kahn. Argenta Community Theater, NLR. 4 p.m.: Jay Jennings on Carry the Rock: Race, Football and the Soul of An American City. Moderator: Spirit Trickey. Mosaic Templars Cultural Center.

5 p.m.: “The Music Session II: Country.” David Frizzell sings classics. Argenta Community Theater, NLR. 5:30 p.m.: “The Great Migration.” With Isabel Wilkerson, “The Warmth of Other Suns.” Moderator: Shareese Kondo. Mosaic Templars Cultural Center.

6 p.m.: “We Ate the Book with a Vintage Red.” Readings by We Ate the Book. Zin Wine Bar, 300 River Market.

7 p.m.: “Charlaine Harris After Dark.” Discussion with the author of the Sookie Stackhouse series. Christ Episcopal Church.

8 p.m.: “Pub or Perish.” Readings by festival authors and open mic, sponsored by the Arkansas Times. Big Whiskey’s, 225 E. Markham.

Family sessions 9 a.m.: Radio Disney’s “Rockin’ Road Show.” Main Library, Count

Pulaski Way. 9 a.m.: “Super Seuss Saturday.” Alyse Eady, Miss Arkansas 2010, reads her favorite Dr. Seuss book. (RSVP to 748-0472.) Clinton Presidential Center.

9:30-noon: Shuttlecocks/Trolley Troupe. Impromptu performances by Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre and We Ate the Book during rides on designated trolley.

9:30 a.m.: The Kinders unplugged. A short, acoustic performance from the original duo. Youth Services, Main Library.

10 a.m.: “Wolfe at the Door” puppets. Master puppeteer Jan Wolfe performs. Youth Services, Main Library.

10:30 a.m.: “A Book Fiesta.” Kids party to introduce 2011 Festival children’s authors in an interactive way. Youth Services, Main Library.

1 p.m.: Children’s Activity Hour. Crafts for kids. Youth Services, Main Library.

1 p.m.: “Tail Waggin’ Tunes.” Obedience-trained dogs that help children read in a non-threatening environment. Fourth and Main tent, NLR. 2 p.m.: “Arkansas Shakespeare-ience.” Actors from the Arkansas Shakespeare Theater company bring the works of the Bard to life. Youth Services, Main Library.

2 p.m.: Midwest Winds. The Air Force Band’s woodwind quintet performs. Fourth and Main tent, NLR. 3:30 p.m.: Youth Poetry Competition. Finalists chosen from CALS competitions compete for a grand prize. Youth Services, Main Library.

6:30 p.m.: “Super Fun Family Night” Speed drawing from Rich Davis. Youth Services, Main Library.

SUNDAY, APRIL 10

1:30 p.m.: David Frizzell on “I Love You a Thousand Ways.”

Moderator: Stephen Koch. Darragh Center, Main Library.

1:30 p.m.: “Loyalty, Failure and Honor.” Panel with Carl Moneyhon, “Edmund J. Davis of Texas”; Mark Christ, “Civil War Arkansas 1863”; Lorien Foote, “The Gentlemen and the Roughs.” Room 124, Arkansas Studies Institute.

1:30 p.m.: “Magamorphosis.” Workshop with Paul Reyes, “Exiles in Eden.” Fifth floor, Main Library.

1:30 p.m.: “Mysterious Insane Crocodiles.” Panel with Suzanne Arruda, “The Crocodile’s Last Embrace,” and Sheldon Russell, “The Insane Train.” Moderator: Sharon Lee. Third floor, Cox Creative Center.

1:30 p.m.: Janie & Wyatt Jones on “Arkansas Curiosities.”

Moderator: Maribeth Murray. Second floor, Main Library.

1:30 p.m.: “Making Good Songs Better.” Workshop with folk musician Si Kahn. East Room, Main Library.

1:30 p.m.: “Toad Suck Review.” Panel with the editors of Toad Suck Review. Ottenheimer Theatre, Historic Arkansas Museum.

1:30 p.m.: Tanner Critz on “End to Ending.” Moderator: Joe Jacobs. Witt Stephens Jr. Nature Center.

1:30 p.m.: Daniel Seddiqui on “50 Jobs in 50 States.”

Moderator: Lance Turner. Youth Services, Main Library.

3 p.m.: John O’Hara on “A New American Tea Party.” Moderator: Allen Kerr. Darragh Center, Main Library.

3 p.m.: “Write that Children’s Book.” Workshop with Darcy Pattison, “The Scary Slopes.” Room 124, Arkansas Studies Institute.

3 p.m.: Alex Vernon on “Hemingway’s Second War.” Moderator: Jay Ruud. Fifth floor, Main Library.

3 p.m.: “Developing Intriguing Characters.” Workshop with Suzanne Arruda, “The Crocodile’s Last Embrace.” Third Floor, Cox Creative Center.

3 p.m.: Robert L. Brown on “Defining Moments.” Moderator: Jajuan Johnson. Second floor, Cox Creative Center.

3 p.m.: William Downs Jr. on “Stories of Survival: Arkansas Farmers during the Great Depression.” Moderator: Neal Moore.

East Room, Main Library.

3 p.m.: “Zombie/Austen Mashup.” Panel with Robin Becker, “Brains,” and Joan Ray, “Jane Austen for Dummies.” Moderator: Stacey Jones. Ottenheimer Theater, Historic Arkansas Museum.

3 p.m.: “Fishtacular.” Panel with Mark Spitzer, “Season of the Gar,” and Keith Sutton, “Pro Tactics Catfish.” Moderator: Steve “Wildman” Wilson. Witt Stephens Jr. Nature Center.

3 p.m.: Stacy Pershall on “Loud in the House of Myself.”

Moderator: Sally Browder. Youth Services, Main Library.

MONDAY, APRIL 11

Noon: “Literature at Lunch.” Benjamin Hale on “The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore.” Moderator: Ross Cranford.

TUESDAY, APRIL 12

12:15 p.m.: “Literature at Lunch.” Nate Powell, “Swallow Me Whole.” Moderator: Mark Barnes, Jr. 5:30 p.m.: “Tales from the South.” Radio show with writing contest winners. Starving Artist Cafe, 411 Main St., NLR.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13

7 p.m.: “An Evening with David Sedaris.” Readings by the author of “Me Talk Pretty One day” and “Naked.” Connor Performing Arts Center, Pulaski Academy. $40-$50.

www.arktimes.com • APRIL 6, 2011 13

TRUE GRITS Restaurant puts ‘Tales from the South’ on the airwaves.

BY JAMAN MATTHEWS

O

n the first Tuesday in February, more than 100 people crowded into a North Little Rock restaurant to listen to lies. Fishing stories, to be exact.

“Tales from the South,” a weekly radio program of personal stories read by the authors, records live at Starving Artist Cafe, a Main Street eatery occupying a former furniture store; the ceiling is pressed tin and the floors are concrete. The art on the walls is largely amateur, with a preponderance of birds, flowers, fruit and horses. A price tag dangles from each.

The guest writer that week was to be Jerry McKinnis, long-time host of ESPN’s “The Fishin’ Hole.” But McKinnis had to cancel at the last minute (though he no doubt would have approved of the mahimahi on the specials board), and actress Natalie Canerday, best known for her role as the mother in the movie “Sling Blade,” stepped in to fill the spot.

Tucked into a corner by the bar, out of the flow of waiters and diners but visible from every table, was the reader’s corner — a stool, high table and retro-style radio

mic. Flanking the nook is appropriately Southern-themed art — V.L. Cox’s screen door art, complete with soda-cracker signs and raccoons.

Paula Morell, “Tales from the South” host and creator and co-owner of Starving Artist, stepped to the microphone amid the din of conversations and clanking forks and asked everyone to turn off their cell phones. Then she gave them instructions: “If things are funny, laugh; if they’re sad, groan.” Tonight’s diners are not only here for the food; they are also the radio show’s live audience.

With introductions out of the way, Canerday stepped to the mic amid applause and, by way of disclaimer, said, “I only found out about this at 2:37.” But the disclaimer proved unnecessary. Her free-form story, “From God’s Country to Hollywood,” was a rapid-fire, comical Portrait of the Actress as a Young Woman that recounted the hijinks of Canerday’s early career, from child extra in “The Russellville Story,” an ultra-local production, to the set of the Mike Nichols-directed

film “Biloxi Blues.”

In the Q-and-A session after the reading, Canerday, knowing her audience and the focus of the show, assured everyone: “I liked living in California, but I like living in Arkansas better.”

•• The next Tuesday evening, before the dinner crowd poured in, Morell stopped her preparations long enough to relate the history of “Tales from the South.” The program started six years ago, almost by accident, she said from her perch on one of Starving Artist’s barstools. Morell was teaching an online English course when a fellow professor mentioned that he was starting a radio show that would feature true personal stories. Morell sent out a call to writers she knew in the area and received several stories. But then the radio show never materialized.

“Suddenly I had 10 really good stories on my hands, and I thought, hey, we should try to get a one-time show,” Morell said.

So she cold-called KUAR and asked Ron Breeding, the station’s news and program director, if he’d be interested in airing a few stories read by the authors. That first show brought such a positive response that KUAR asked Morell to do a regular show, and “Tales from the South” ran once a month for the first five years.

After the first year, the show began recording live at Starving Artist, then located in downtown Little Rock. It was a smaller affair than it is today — 30 to 40 people, drinks only, no dinner. In late 2008, Starving Artist moved to its present location in Argenta, downtown North Little Rock. When the restaurant moved across the river, the show naturally came with it.

Then in 2010, the William F. Laman Public Library, a branch of which is housed in a converted firehouse one block up Main, approached Morell to see if she’d be willing to turn it into a weekly project.

“I said, I can’t do that without some funding.” The Laman Library came through with the funding, and the show went weekly in September 2010. “We’ve been pretty much standing room only since

“everyone deserves a smoke-free workplace. even bartenders. VEO TYSON, Bartender “

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 14 APRIL 6, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

we started the weekly format.”

•• Joanna J. Seibert is a recognizable voice to regular “Tales from the South” listeners.

Seibert, a pediatric radiologist at Arkansas Children’s Hospital and a deacon at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, has appeared on the show four or five times, by her count, beginning the very first year. She has read stories for Christmas and Mother’s Day, and stories inspired by her own family and by her work with sick children.

“I think maybe the first time I was nervous,” Seibert said of reading for “TFTS,” but she quickly discovered the experience to be fun and rewarding. “You engage with the audience, and that’s a real rare opportunity — to read your work and see what you thought was funny or serious, and maybe the audience thinks it is or not.”

Seibert’s route to “TFTS” was different from most readers’, who submit stories to the show’s website for consideration.

Seibert is a writer with several books under her belt, and Morell — who in addition to being a restaurateur, radio host and teacher also runs the small press Temenos Publishing — has published several of Seibert’s books. During the editing process, Morell would mine the manuscript for nuggets.

According to Seibert, as Morell read them, she would say, “Oh, this would be a good story for the radio show.”

For Seibert and her family, “TFTS” has always been a family affair. “Our family used to gather around and listen to it,” Seibert said, and her daughter has also read for the show several times. “It’s fun listening to it on the radio, but it’s more fun being there.”

“TFTS” is still focused on these personal stories from lesser known writers, but isn’t afraid to try something new.

Canerday’s story is part of a new TFTS series, the Tin Roof Project. “I thought, what if we get well-known people doing this?” said Morell. So once a month, she invites noted Southerners — writers, actors, athletes — to tell their stories.

The series started last September with Continued on page 17

www.arktimes.com • APRIL 6, 2011 15

PUB OR PERISH 2011!

Eighth year for Times’ bar reading.

BY DAVID KOON

W

ROBIN BECKER

BOOK LOVE

Continued from page 11 few chosen for the mini-open mic will entertain for two hours. More on page 16.

MONDAY, APRIL 11

➧ Novelist Jonathan Ames calls Benjamin Hale (Main Library, Darragh Center, noon) “the most talented and intriguing young writer I’ve met in years.” Hale’s debut novel, “The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore,” about the relationship between a talking chimpanzee and his primatologist caretaker, received glowing reviews upon publication in February. The Washington Post called it a “brilliant, unruly brute of a book.”

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13

➧ After a weekend plus of mostly free events and readings, you might be wary of dropping $40 or $50 to watch someone read, even someone as hilarious as David Sedaris (Pulaski Academy’s Connor Performing Arts Center, 7 p.m.). But remember, ticket sales benefit the festival and Sedaris is a famously good reader. Ira Glass discovered him reading his diary in a Chicago club and put him on the air, first on a local Chicago station and then on NPR’s “Morning Edition.” Those radio pieces helped him land his book deal, and though he’s become known as author first, he still does high profile readings; he might be the only writer to regularly read on Letterman.

ARKANSAS WRITERS TO SEE FRIDAY, APRIL 8

➧ Kevin Brockmeier (Argenta Community Theater, noon), surely Arkan16 APRIL 6, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

ith the Arkansas Literary Festival rolling around again, it’s time once more for the Arkansas Times’ Pub or Perish, our annual salute to literature and libation, featuring poetry, fiction and non-fiction, plus our famous semi-open mic.

This year we’ll be in the back room at Big Whiskey’s American Bar and Grill from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, April 9.

It’s been eight years since we started Pub or Perish with a borrowed sound system and a homemade lectern, and

the intervening years have seen PoP feature some of the best writers to ever grace the Arkansas Literary Festival.

It’s always a draw with a packed house, so get there early. Given the caliber of this year’s lineup, PoP 2011 should be no different. On the bill this year: UCA professor Robin Becker, author of the HarperCollins novel “Brains: A Zombie Memoir”; Bryan Borland, whose transcendent book of poetry “My Life as Adam” was recently included in the American Library Association’s “Over the Rainbow” list of the best gay and les-

sas’s most renowned novelist, imagines a world where pain radiates, visibly, from all humans in his latest novel, “The Illumination.” ➧ This year’s Porter Prize, awarded annually to an outstanding Arkansas writer, will go to Fayetteville novelist, short story writer and screenwriter William Harrison, and the Worthen Prize for best book of the year by an Arkansan will go to Phillip McMath, author of “The Broken Vase,” at the “A Prized Evening” ceremony at 6 p.m. in the Darragh Center of the Main Library at 6 p.m.

➧ Long time civil rights activist, union organizer and musician Si Kahn, who got his start working in St. Francis County, participates in three panels: The first (Main Library, fifth floor, 11:30 a.m.) focuses on community organizing, the second is a folk concert (Argenta Community Theater, 4 p.m.) and the third is a workshop on songwriting (Main Library East Room, 1:30 p.m.). ➧ We Ate the Book, the young collective of often experimental poets, novelists and graphic artists, is all over the festival on Saturday. Members will be reading on the shuttle bus that travels between Little Rock and North Little Rock, 9:30 a.m. until noon on Saturday; at the Cox Creative Center at 2:30 p.m. and at Zin Wine Bar, 300 River Market, at 6 p.m. ➧ Arkansas native Brock Thompson (Cox Creative Center, third floor, 4 p.m.) discusses “The Un-Natural State,” the history of gay and lesbian life in Arkansas that the Times excerpted last year. ➧ Little Rock native Jay Jennings (Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, 4 p.m.) returned home in 2007 after working for Sports Illustrated to write “Carry the Rock: Race, Football, and the Soul of an American City,” a book that weaves a season-in-the-life of the Central High football team with a fantastic racial history of Little Rock. ➧ Massively popular novelist Charlaine Harris (7 p.m., Christ Episcopal Church) speaks about Sookie and such.

More on page 11.

SATURDAY, APRIL 9

➧ In the Portis panel (Cox Creative Center, third floor, 10 a.m.), Little Rock journalist and author Jay Jennings (“Carry the Rock”), Democrat-Gazette “Voices” editor Kane Webb and screenwriter and Arkansas Times columnist Graham Gordy gather for a freewheeling discussion on beloved Little Rock novelist Charles Portis, with Gordy weighing in on what’s drawn filmmakers to “True Grit,” Webb discussing Portis’ Arkansas-centric point of view and voice and Jennings talking about the love a big swath of the writing community has for Portis and how it helped revive his career. ➧ Times contributing editor and the author of “Devil’s Knot” Mara Leveritt (Argenta Community Theater, 10 a.m.) shares a panel with attorney Cristi R. Beaumont, an attorney and the co-chair of The Innocence Project, and Fred B. McKinley, the author of “A Plea for Justice: The Timothy Cole Story,” a non-fiction examination of a wrongly convicted Texas man.

SUNDAY, APRIL 10

➧ Famous for recording the song “You’re the Reason God Made Okla-

bian literature of 2010; Little Rock poet and activist Randi Romo; Tanner Critz, owner of Little Rock’s Unity Martial Arts and the author of the memoir “End to Ending” about his 2,000-mile-plus hike on the Appalachian Trail; Poets in the Streets founder and Little Rock slam poetry legend Amoja “Mo-Man” Sumler, and other great local and festival authors.

In addition, as has been our custom and privilege from the start, Pub or Perish will feature two- to three-minute slots at our semi-open mic for three or four people. The slots are available on a first-come, first-served basis; to be one of the lucky few, send an e-mail titled “Pub or Perish 2011” at 9 a.m. sharp on Friday, April 8, to: david@arktimes. All e-mails sent before 9 a.m. will be deleted. Move quick. Slots go fast.

In short, come one, come all. Now’s your chance to be a part of a Little Rock literary semi-institution, not to mention a dang good time. homa,” El Dorado native David Frizzell (Main Library, Darragh Center, 1:30 p.m.) talks to “Arkansongs” host Stephen Koch about “I Love You a Thousand Ways,” his biography about his country legend brother, Lefty Frizzell. ➧ Former Oxford American editor Paul Reyes (Main Library, fifth floor, 1:30 p.m.), who turned his National Magazine Award-nominated article for Harper’s into the book, “Exiles in Eden,” about the housing crisis, leads a panel called “Magamorphosis.” ➧ Perhaps a riff on the book “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” the “Zombie/Austen Mashup” (Historic Arkansas Museum, Ottenheimer Theatre, 3 p.m.) pairs UCA professor Robin Becker and her funny, postmodern take on the zombie genre, “Brains”; with Joan Ray’s “Jane Austen for Dummies,” which is just what it sounds like, an introduction to Austen’s methods and themes. Worth going if only to see how the moderator holds it all together.

TUESDAY, APRIL 12

➧ Little Rock native Nate Powell (Pulaski Tech, Connor Performing Arts Center, 12:15 p.m.) won the Eisner Award, the highest prize for a graphic novel, for “Swallow Me Whole,” a story about adolescence and mental illness. Powell’s an engaging speaker.

Don’t miss him, comics fans. ➧ Contest winners read their stories at “Tales from the South” (5:30 p.m.) at Starving Artist Cafe in Argenta. See more on page 14.

TRUE GRITS

Continued from page 14

FOUND

$5.50

ONLY AT

Grif Stockley, a historian and writer. Morell approached him about appearing on the show. “He said, ‘I’ve got some stuff. You want me to read that, or do you want me to write you a new story?’ ” It was an easy answer for Morell. “He wrote me a brand new story. So from that point forward, everybody” — including P. Allen Smith, Janis Kearney, Suzi Parker and Lawrence Hamilton — “has written us a new story.”

•• After six years, “Tales from the South” has become a mainstay of the Central Arkansas literary scene, but the show is always searching for new ways to widen its audience.

On April 12, “TFTS” is partnering with the Arkansas Literary Festival for a special show. “We’re actually doing a contest,” said Morell. The submitted stories will be judged by a panel of writers, editors and professors, and the writers of the top three stories will receive $100 each and read their stories on the April 12 show.

“TFTS” also finds itself in the midst of a renaissance in downtown North Little Rock and a showpiece in efforts to rebrand the area as the Argenta Arts District. Recently, one of the developers, and a fan of the show, stopped Morell. “He actually came to me and he said, ‘From a marketing perspective, your show is ideal for putting us on a national platform.’ ” Apparently, it’s working. Southern Living will feature the neighborhood, including the radio program, in an upcoming issue.

The show is also extending beyond the Central Arkansas airwaves. In November 2010, Morell pitched TFTS to the World Radio Network, a satellite distribution service that boasts 130 million listeners worldwide, which picked up the program. More recently, PRX, Public Radio Exchange, began distributing it.

But all the innovation and attention are incidental, said Morell. “It’s great that it markets the restaurant; it’s great that it gets the area [some notice],” she said. “But ultimately the show is about giving the writers a chance to tell their stories.”

•• “Tales from the South” is recorded before a live audience at 7 p.m. every Tuesday at Starving Artist Cafe, 411 Main St., North Little Rock. Dinner begins at 5. Reservations are not required but are highly recommended. The show airs at 7 p.m. Thursdays on KUAR and at 9 a.m. Sundays on the World Radio Network. An archive of recent broadcasts can be found online on the “TFTS” website (www.talesfromthesouth. com), on KUAR’s website and on iTunes.

An archive of all past shows will soon be available at the Laman Library website.

BENNETT’S

302 MAIN STREET • LITTLE ROCK

501.372.2944

MON.-SAT. 9-5 www.bennettsmilitary.com

2801 Orange Street North Little Rock, AR 72114 501-758-1720 www.lamanlibrary.org

Rock Tradition.

Rock Tradition.

TRUNK SHOW: Friday & Saturday April 15-16 TRUNK SHOW: Friday & Saturday April 15-16 www.arktimes.com • APRIL 6, 2011 17

EYE ON ARKANSAS

Editorial

n Until near the end, when Republicans rose up demanding that state government yield to federal bureaucrats, the 2011 legislative session was not as fractured along party lines as observers had feared, though it was still largely disappointing.

Even with the Republicans having achieved near parity in numbers, for the first time in living memory, and thus easily able to block passage of budget bills requiring a three-fourths majority, as most of them do; even with Republicans full of beans after their success in last year’s election, clamoring for sharp cuts in both taxes and spending, a policy ruinous for all but the richest Arkansans; even with the first openly Confederate member serving in the House of Representatives, even with all that, most of the routinely essential bills got through, allowing state government to continue functioning. It’s something. Congress may not do as well.

The last-minute crisis of partisanship came over the appropriation bill for the state Insurance Department, blocked by Republicans because it included money to set up a health insurance exchange of the sort required by the new federal health care law. “Death Before Obamacare,” Republicans cried, and their intransigence eventually resulted in a compromise of sorts: the exchange will be created but by the federal government rather than the state. This meek submission to federal authority should have brought Rep. Loy Mauch to his feet, saber in hand, but the Lincoln-hating, Lee-loving Republican from Bismarck was oddly inattentive as the feds won another one.

Corporations enjoyed their usual hearty dining at the taxpayers’ table; they, not political parties, direct legislative actions. The legislators approved bills to lower still further the sales tax on energy used by manufacturers, who already pay a lower rate than residential consumers. Not even an outbreak of earthquakes could persuade the legislature to impose greater supervision on the companies drilling for natural gas in the Fayetteville Shale.

Seven regulatory bills were introduced; all failed, as did a bill to collect more severance tax from the gas companies. The legislators approved bills to assist big truckers, at the public schools’ expense, and to let polluters re-write state anti-pollution laws.

One of the few corporate bills that didn’t pass was a Chamber of Commerce proposal to make it more difficult for injured workers to be compensated.

On the brighter side, several malicious anti-abortion bills died in committee, and the legislature declined to force guns into churches or Bibles into schools. There were a few more, but it’s a short list.

Still unresolved at press time was the question of congressional redistricting. None of the competing plans offered assurance that the present poor quality of Arkansas’s representation would be significantly improved.

201 East Markham Street, 200 Heritage Center West, P.O. Box 34010, Little Rock, Arkansas 72203 Home page: http://www.arktimes.com • E-mail: arktimes@arktimes.com PUBLISHER Alan Leveritt EDITOR

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WELCOME BACK: The Little Rock National Airport welcomed back the American Eagle mainline air service between Little Rock and Dallas-Fort Worth with a water cannon salute Tuesday.

Sound and fury n The Arkansas General Assembly still has congressional redistricting to resolve, but otherwise has completed another furious round of high-volume legislating.

Inside the bubble of the Capitol and the circle whose livelihood depends on legislative activities, it can seem ever so important.

Take a few steps back, though, and you sometimes wonder what all the fuss was about.

Democrats and Republicans alike will tout tax cuts. But a $35 million trim for a state government that spends $25 billion all told is hardly momentous.

That $35 million looks particularly small against the almost $3 BILLION in taxes that legislators want to raise from an increased sales and diesel tax over 10 years to pay for road construction. Wait, legislators say.

THEY didn’t raise those taxes. They merely asked voters to do it. That’s not much of a fig leaf. If you oppose the taxes you don’t put them up for a possible affirmative vote. If you think they are necessary expenditures, you vote for them.

The legislature, thanks to Gov. Mike Beebe’s leadership, did hold on to the principles established by the Arkansas Supreme Court for what constitutes a sufficient and equitable public schools system. Without that court requirement, government spending certainly would have been cut more. However, the legislature also took the lid off charter schools — nothing more than tiny, independent school districts that, you’d think, wouldn’t fit the efficiency model intended through minimum enrollment standards.

Higher education will see its percentage share of state revenue continue to slide downward. And after only one year, the amount paid out per student in lottery scholarships is going down. It’s easy to see where this is going. College costs will continue to rise sharply.

Even the better students who qualify for lottery scholarships will find it increasingly less affordable. The dream of increasing college enrollment and graduation with gambling proceeds seems ever more impossible.

Arkansas legislators talked a lot, but essentially did nothing about the looming financial crisis for Medic-

Max Brantley max@arktimes.com

aid or implementing the federal health care law. Gov. Beebe insists the state DID do something about the prison crisis. Sentencing changes and more community-based programs for non-violent offenders are seen as a way to stop the expensive prison growth curve.

Good community programs cost money, too, however.

By any measure, the emergence of a two-party system was the big news of the legislative session. Republicans are near parity and they vote with discipline and narrow focus on survey-tested issues. Democrats are, well, Democrats. They range from rural Dixiecrats to urban liberals. They herd as well as cats. House Speaker Robert Moore’s coalition building was a monument more to his political skills than any readily identifiable Democratic Party ethos.

But, for this year, Republicans remained in the minority. The Republicans’ national cookie cutter agenda —punitive anti-choice laws designed to make abortion, if not illegal, impossible to obtain; immigrant bashing; cost-cutting no matter the damage (even the School for the Deaf’s $6,000 budget increase wasn’t immune from attack); gun nuttery; religion masquerading as education; vote suppression — met defeat time and again though this agenda has many Democratic sympathizers. The GOP was not beaten by liberal ideologues, but by conservatives, moderates and business people swayed by facts and constitutional imperatives, not raw emotion.

So, before I write off 2010 in Shakespearian terms — sound and fury signifying nothing — the little victories are worth noting. If Republicans take control in 2012 (and they are acting like it’s a foregone conclusion), 2010 may be remembered as the high water mark of courage and reason at the Arkansas legislature.

BRIAN CHILSON

Could have been worse

They come for the oldsters n We are shortly to find out just how perceptive the American people are, or maybe just us oldsters.

The new Republican budget for 2012, which will rest on privatizing Medicare and maybe Social Security and shifting Medicaid to the states, should supply the truth of whether people can be sold one lie and then be made to like the lie they hated. Sound deceptive? It ought to be. The great deficit holy war is all about deceit.

All the tension in the new Tea Partyinfused Congress has been over the House Republican effort to cut $60 billion from discretionary programs this year, as if that had anything seriously to do with the $1.4 trillion deficit. The deficit campaign so far is a ruse for halting health and environmental regulations that some Republican constituencies find objectionable. They couldn’t win the battle by saying they wanted to protect mercury and greenhouse gas poisoning and cease the government’s interest in promoting healthy pregnancies and family planning.

They may yet shut down the government over the discretionary budgets, but that will soon be over and Armageddon begins.

That is when the real deficit issues, medical care and defense, will be addressed. It affords the Republicans the best chance they have had for undoing the three big government programs the party always hated, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Se-

Ernest Dumas curity, and maybe the fourth, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009.

Rep. Paul Ryan’s big budget reform, which the party shunned before the elections, it has now adopted. It will attack all four programs.

But back to the lies. You will remember the health-care battle. Frank Luntz, the Republican pollster and consultant, gave the party a memo saying that whatever the Democratic health-care bill did, tell people that it would take away Medicare benefits and be a government takeover of health care. His polling showed that those phrases really riled people, especially the elderly, who loved Medicare, so every Republican speech and scores of millions of commercials and mailers hammered home those points.

Never mind that the act did neither of those things. It improved Medicare coverage and it cracked down on health insurance, not medical care. But the campaign worked. Polls showed that people over 55 who were on Medicare or approaching the day overwhelmingly opposed the healthinsurance reform, and that remains today the seat of most opposition. I’ve met with

The child comes last

n This may strike you as one of the more obvious and trite assertions ever. Apparently, though, it actually entails a remote concept.

So here goes: Education issues ought to be decided every time, without exception, on the basis of what is best for a child and never by giving greater weight to that which is bellowed by a turf-conscious superintendent or a huffy underpaid teacher or, in today’s specific case, a fundamentalist religious parent who insists on keeping a child at home for schooling.

I put something similar to the immediately preceding paragraph on Twitter on Friday morning, and, in a few seconds, someone sent this reply: “Good luck with that. Never seen it happen and don’t expect to.”

A few minutes after that, the House Education Committee, under the thumb of turfconscious school superintendents, narrowly voted down the bill — known as the Tim Tebow Law — to allow a home-schooled

John Brummett jbrummett@arkansasnews.com

child, if testing at grade level on an everysemester exam schedule, and if his parents pay all fees, to try out for and, if deemed worthy by performance, participate in behalf of the nearest school in extra-curricular or competitive activities, be they athletics or scholastics, such as football or band competition or debate tournaments.

Tebow, for the uninitiated, was a religiously home-school athletic super-hero who, under Florida law, got to play quarterback for the local high school. Then he played on scholarship for the collegiate Florida Gators, copping a Heisman Trophy and leading the team to two NCAA national championships.

If Tebow had been in Arkansas, our law

elderly groups. They like the new benefits they have seen but they still expect “Obamacare” to eventually scale Medicare back.

So what does the bold new Republican budget plan do? It shifts future health-care costs to them, and it will turn Medicare into exactly the kind of private-insurance mandate that the Republicans are suing everywhere to stop and getting Republican federal judges to condemn.

You say the Republicans would never be guilty of such perfidy? Here is how Ryan explains the plan: Medicare as we know it will end. The government will no longer pay medical bills. Instead, people will have to buy an insurance plan from one of the health insurance companies that would offer plans through an exchange run by the federal government. The federal government would supply a subsidy to help people buy the insurance and assure a good profit for the companies.

Sound familiar? That is “Obamacare,” only Obamacare is for people too young for Medicare. If it passes (no chance in this Congress), will someone sue on the ground that it violates the commerce clause to require people to buy a commercial product or is beyond the implied powers of the federal government? Will the Republican legislature try to stop its implementation in Arkansas, as the GOP cohort did this spring?

The Republican Medicare reform is based on the party’s 2003 prescription-drug law, the one that sent Medicare spiraling toward bankruptcy. It wrote the insurance companies into Medicare and supplied a hefty bonus of taxpayer money to be sure that the companies could match Medicare benefits and still reap a hefty profit. It costs the government and taxpayers about 14 percent more each time someone switches

to a private Medicare plan.

The Affordable Care Act curtails spending and trims future deficits partly by rolling back the big subsidies. The Republicans characterized it as cutting Medicare benefits, but they won’t apply that description to their own plan.

The theory behind it is the same as the Medicare Advantage plans of the 2003 law. Insurance companies should be better at holding down costs than the federal government, although all the evidence is exactly opposite.

Medicaid would be reformed under the Republican plan by turning it entirely over to the states and giving each a fixed block grant. When costs rose and the rolls grew, it would be up to each state to decide whether to kick people out of nursing homes, send the disabled home or cut off poor children.

Medicare costs—and the deficit— would balloon under the Republican plan but then presumably remain static. The elderly patients would begin to shoulder the extra costs either through rising and unsubsidized premiums or copays, the very prospects that people thought the new healthinsurance law imposed.

But all those people who were so livid about Obamacare will rise up, won’t they?

Ryan takes care of that. Everyone on Medicare now or who will be eligible within 10 years will get the same good old government-protected Medicare that people have now. We will get around to that deficit thing sometime after 2020.

For now, it’s just young people who have to worry, and they don’t.

It’s a cold-blooded, cynical political calculation, but they have gotten good at making it work. Frank Luntz is working on it right now.

and our public education establishment would have kept him locked in his little home-school room to punish him because we resented his parents’ religiously extreme and sadly polarizing decision.

That is to say we exacerbate that which we oppose.

Putting him on the local gridiron would go far toward correcting the very things we profess to find counter to his best interests. It would help to socialize him and to break through the religious polarization forced on him by his parents. It would introduce him to, among other things, the transformational influence of the secular cheerleader.

Seriously, let us pose and then answer the two general arguments against this law: 1. School superintendents complain that they would have to absorb insurance costs for transporting to competitive events these students who do not even attend the school. They complain that allowing these home-schooled students to participate in events for which his teachers trained regular students would erode the morale of both his teachers and the students.

So let us consider the central question:

What element of that complaint focuses on the best interest of the child?

It is not the part about the superintendent’s modest cost concerns incurred by transporting a child of a property taxpayer.

It is not concern about the teachers’ morale.

That leaves only the interests of a regular-schooled child who might get beaten out for halfback or for first-chair clarinet by a home-schooled interloper. But that’s the real world.

2. Public school advocates and liberalminded people say home schoolers should not be able to have it both ways, eschewing regular school but cherry-picking the extracurricular or interscholastic opportunities.

So let us again consider the central question: What element of that generally understandable gripe focuses on the best interest of the individual child?

The answer is that no part of it does.

Alas, it is harder than it sounds to think only about the child, isn’t it?

John Brummett is a columnist and reporter for Stephens Media’s Arkansas News Bureau. www.arktimes.com • APRIL 6, 2011 19

arts entertainment

This week in

Cage the Elephant to Rev Room

and

PAGE 22

Weekend Theater performs ‘Last Night at the Ballyhoo’ PAGE 23

TO-DO LIST 22

CALENDAR 24

MOVIES 32

DINING 34

’ y a r p s r i a ‘H e stage h t s t i h he Rep. T t a s n e p o adaptation M A N N s r te a W n The Joh RIESCH RNER T

ou have to love American musicals.

Only in American musicals can the problem of racism be confronted and solved in little more than two hours. Only in American musicals can a plus-sized girl win out over her blond, thin counterpart. Only in American musicals could an author as decidedly perverse as John Waters (director and author of the film “Mondo Trasho” among others) be deemed as suitable for the grand good time that is “Hairspray.”

“Hairspray,” which comes to town Friday for a month thanks to the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, hit Broadway in 2002, won eight Tony awards and has only picked up steam from there. Wildly popular national and international tours followed and then the subsequent film version in 2007 (which featured a starstudded cast, including John Travolta in drag) cemented the status of “Hairspray” as a modern iconic musical.

“Hairspray” has a direct connection to Arkansas as the fictional dance host Corny Collins is based on the real-life Winston “Buddy” Deane, who started out in radio in Little Rock before eventually becoming one of the early rock disc jockeys and host of a popular teen dance show in Waters’ hometown of Baltimore in the late 1950s. While the musical celebrates the successful integration of Corny Collins show, “Bud20 APRIL 6, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

‘Hairspray’

Arkansas Repertory Theatre Performances

Friday, April 8, through Sunday, May 8, with performances at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday. Preview performances on Wednesday and Thursday, April 6-7, will follow a pre-show discussion with directors Michael Barnard and Robert Kolby Harper at 6:15 p.m.

Tickets

$30-60 www.therep.org

dy” Deane’s show wasn’t integrated and was eventually pulled from the air.

Deane, who had a cameo in the 1988 “Hairspray” movie, died in Pine Bluff in 2003.

The Rep’s production, which is directed and choreographed by Michael Barnard (the producing artistic director of the Phoenix Theatre) and Robert Kolby Harper, features a number of cast members who happen to have “Hairspray” on their resume. Tommaso Antico, who plays the heartthrob Link Larkin, had the opportunity to be in “Hairspray” on an unusual stage.

“I did the show for six months on a cruise ship,” says Antico. “The Oasis of the Seas. It was the biggest cruise ship at the time but then they build another ship that was bigger. We did the Vegas version of the show, only an hour and

CINDY MOMCHILOV

Y

BY WE

‘HAIRSPRAY’: Lillian Castillo stars in the Arkansas Repertory Theatre’s production of Hairspray. a half long. It was my first time to even be on board a cruise ship. It took me a while to get used to it.”

Lillian Castillo, as the heroine Tracy Turnblad, comes back to the Rep after a non-English speaking turn as the maid in “Glorious!” Castillo, like all her fellow cast members, sees the musical as great fun. They all say that even though

the show has them dancing and singing from beginning to end that they find themselves energized and not exhausted by the end.

“It’s a fun show but it has a great message,” says Castillo. “Our director compares it to this piece of candy that has this crunch nugget inside. It has something to say to you that’s meaty and worthwhile.”

The irony and the hipster-y

HeLeNA

May 28

2011

aRKansas Cherry Street Pavilion

free

admission

There’s cool, and then there’s foolish. n On a late-night visit to a Los Angeles Whole Foods recently, a strange thing occurred. Bleary-eyed from an early morning flight and working all day, I looked around to find myself surrounded by hobos. I did a double take, rubbed my eyes.

Like a zombie movie, I was encircled.

They had hands and faces that looked like they were covered in tree sap. There were hobos alone and hobo couples. They all had shopping carts. It was 65 degrees outside, yet they were outfitted in multiple layers, flannel and winter hats.

After checkout, I stuck around to watch a few disperse. One left and began wandering the street. Two others got into Range Rovers and drove away.

I’d like to interrupt here to thank any loyal readers that may exist. Next, I’d like to apologize to those readers for cashing in my yearly rant chip with this column.

Here goes.

You want Flock of Seagulls hair? Fine.

You want to wear a chainmail cravat and a Choo Choo Charlie hat to that party? OK. You want to show how morose you are by walking like you have scoliosis? We’ll accept it. But tell me something, is the Dinty Moore Stew you’re eating ironic, or just the thermos from which you’re eating it?

What about the briefcase you’re carrying, or your elf boots, or the tater tot in your hair? And gravy? ... By the way, is that a tater tot with gravy in your hair?

Sometime in the late ’90s, grunge and emo had a very ugly bastard child. That baby grew up in a culture based on products, and wherever there was something confusing, it was meant to be mocked.

There is no originality in my bewailing the state of hipsterism. I’ve tried to avoid writing this for about a year now, but just when I thought the trend was ending, it has only gotten more extreme. A few years ago, hipster dudes were just wearing skinny jeans. Now they’re wearing their little sister’s jeans and their pubes are showing.

I write this with a heavy heart for a couple of reasons. First, I worry what happens when culture goes completely ironic.

Hipsters do still believe things because, when they do, we generally believe the same. I truly value the speeches about raising chickens in your backyard; I could just do without the big weird glasses with no lenses and the thrift store smell. We have the same taste in a lot of music and literature; they just appreciate them while wearing a bedazzled Christmas sweatshirt and riding a moped. And though I’m not sure I fully understand the tattoo I saw recently of the chipmunk with the barcode

Graham Gordy

11th AnnuAl ArkAnsAs DeltA

Fa m i ly G o s p e l F e s t deltaculturalcenter.com · facebook.com/deltaculturalcenter

WItH - Mavis Staples, The Holmes Brothers, Tim Rogers & the Fellas.

A few years ago, hipster dudes were just wearing skinny jeans.

Now they’re wearing their little sister’s jeans and their pubes are showing.

PluS - The Lee Boys, Gloryland Pastor’s Choir with Pastor Cedric Hayes, Rev. John Wilkins, The Dixie Wonders, The Fantastic Jordan Wonders, and Voices of Joy.

This festival is produced in part through a grant from the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council.

141 cherry st., Helena, aR. 870-338-4350 or 800-358-0972 on its stomach, I can appreciate anti-capitalistic/no-logo symbolism as much as the next guy. But what happens when nothing means anything anymore?

The other thing that weighs on me, though, is my guilt. We are the thing we hate and I’m a hypocrite. Was the Moon Pie T-shirt I had in high school ironic?

Yes and no. I liked Moon Pies, but I also thought the shirt was funny. Similarly, on a recent trip to Branson, I had to stop myself from buying a “Dixie Stampede” T-shirt.

Would I wear it to mock the Stampede or because I liked the horse on it? Also, what was I doing at the Stampede in the first place? Was my entire trip to Branson ironic? All I could feel was anger because I didn’t know. I’ve never known.

I am a product of the generation that ushered in what we’re in the middle of now. I too keep the world at a safe distance, full of patronizing sarcasm, free from the need to emotionally engage, because I feel safer there.

But when we lose all that is sacred, we don’t just lose the sacred, we also lose what’s left to be mocked. And we need irony, for God’s sake. Now more than ever. And our kids are going to need it even more than us.

With a handful of exceptions, the hipster extremes haven’t reached our fair state. But they will. And soon. Maybe what we’re witnessing is a culmination.

Hopefully shows like “Portlandia” and websites like LookAtThisFuckingHipster.com are the signs that the trend has reached the mainstream, and what we’re seeing are the last, desperate gasps. God willing, all that’s left then, in perfect 21st century fashion, is to sit back and laugh as we watch hipsterism disappear like a sperm count in too-tight jeans.

Delta Cultural Center is a museum of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

www.arktimes.com • APRIL 6, 2011 21

ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM: Kentucky swagger rockers Cage the Elephant land in the Rev Room to promote their latest album.

■ to-dolist

BY JOHN TARPLEY

W EDN E SD AY 4/ 6

CAGE THE ELEPHANT 9 p.m., Revolution. $20.

n Take a listen to Cage the Elephant and you may agree that the band is in a peculiar squeeze. The catchy Kentucky rockers make genre-squashing sounds that are too indie to be totally embraced by the mainstream forces that be (Clear Channel) and too mainstream to be adopted by fickle indie tastemakers. But here, from the middle, it’s a lot more rewarding to look at the band favorably because of what it is: a happily midfield gang of Southern swag-rockers who draw equally from late Red Hot Chili Peppers crackerfunk and early Beck folk-rap, making wiry, party-ready good tunes to be bad to. It’s a shock that the 22 APRIL 6, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

sonic hole they fill hasn’t been occupied before. At least not as successfully, that is. Singles like “In One Ear” and the band’s breakthrough song, “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked,” set the tone for the band, spastic, reckless and gleefully decadent. And “Shake Me Down,” their newest single, which debuted at the number-one spot on the iTunes store (the new golden standard for pushing units), is the uncommon example of an act that flipped its sophomore slump on its head.

On the first album, frontman Matthew Schultz sings “all the critics that despise us, go ahead and criticize us” with a defiant spit. This writer’s sitting out of the provocation. Heck, they’re a blast.

Opening: Biffy Clyro, the Scottish three-piece that, this year, joined Muse, Franz Ferdinand and Moby as winners of NME’s “Best Live Band” award. The group will return to Little Rock on May 18 as the warm-up for Foo Fighters and Motorhead at Verizon. Also, Sleeper Agent, a fellow band of manic Bowling Green, Ky., natives, tags along for the national tour. Why does that matter?

These guys should still be hungry. We’ll be showing up early for ’em.

T H U R S D AY 4 / 7

FETE DU FILM

7 p.m., Arkansas Arts Center lecture hall. Free.

n Little Rock may be a burgeoning hub for movie appreciation, but it’s still a rough place for staunch cinefiles. Netflix, Hulu, Mubi and, a new favorite, Fandor, are invaluable freeways for film geeks, but as our way of accessing hard-to-find greats gets easier and easier, one fact remains truer than ever: Movies are meant to be seen, studied, enjoyed and appreciated with others, at once, on a screen. That’s why I’m thrilled about Fete du Film, a small-but-mighty series of three French films, chosen by UALR’s Department of World Languages and the Arkansas Arts Center as part of the museum’s ongoing Francocentric exhibit, “The Impressionists and Their Influence.” The series begins on Thursday with an enormously entertaining classic from early master Rene Clair, “Under the Roofs of Paris.”

(No, I’m not typing out the French title; my pretentiousness actually does know an end, y’all.) The series returns on May 5

with “The Story of Adele H.,” new wave icon Francois Truffaut’s period piece about Victor Hugo’s daughter, and ends on June 2 with “Seraphine,” Martin Provost’s 2008 film about turn-of-the-century art figures Seraphine Louis and Wilhelm Unde, which took home the “Best Film” Cesar Award, the French equivalent of the Oscars.

‘SUPPORT SHOOG RADIO’ 9 p.m., Revolution. $8.

n Local rock radio is alive and well. And it’s in good hands! Every Monday afternoon from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., KABF 88.3 broadcasts “Shoog Radio” (think Nancy Gribble’s preferred term of endearment), a Little Rock-centric program dedicated to promoting the town’s numerous, ultraactive, gig-friendly bands. It’s hosted and programmed by Christy Ewing and Cheyenne Matthews, two local music boosters with the complete opposite of “radio face.” They’ll take to the stage to host “Support Shoog Radio,” a fundraiser for KABF that’s set to offer a killer five-band bill of local (and Times) favor-

to stain years of hard, complicated efforts like NORML to present marijuana policy (and use) in a mature, progressive way.

As a spokesman for the weed, a Robert Altman or Mark Emery he isn’t. But like it or not, Afroman actually does play an astonishingly important role in the history of music: The goof-rap one-hit wonder is generally acknowledged as the first musician whose success is indebted, in toto, to the Internet. After all, whose Napster library didn’t have “Because I Got High” in it? Yep. Afroman: the accidental technological/musical trailblazer to be forever regarded as the web’s first music meme.

Then again, I guess it’s no shock that he’s less Nas and more like Rebecca Black, Tay Zonday or that awesome “Pants on the Ground” guy. La de da, da, da, da ...

■ inbrief

‘THE LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO’

FRIDAY 4/8

7:30 p.m., The Weekend Theater. $14.

BECAUSE HE GOT HIGH: Afroman, the aughts’ novelty-rap sensation, returns to Little Rock for a show at Revolution. ites. In alphabetical order: Booyah! Dad, the buzzy hard-rock/dance trio; Ginsu Wives, the defining local cult band powered by X-rated synths, bracing vocal effects and deep booty beats; The Reparations, whose new album, “Ride or Die,” is 40 minutes of the rowdy, brainy Southern rockers at their best; Sweet Eagle, a local super-group that stays drunk on Nuggetsera garage rock and Dead Boys-style Midwestern punk; and Winston Family Orchestra, whose piano/drum/bass twist on pop makes up “Valloween,” a dangerously addictive album that rocks for the kid in everybody. Check out video of the bands and more on Shoog’s piece of Internet real estate at shoogradio.blogspot. com.

F RID AY 4/8

AFROMAN

9:30 p.m., Revolution. $10 adv., $15 d.o.s.

n Who would’ve thought, at the dawn of the century, that Afroman, of all people, would still be able, in 2011, to make a living off of his music. Especially after that one Biz Markie-style novelty single he did. You know, the one that needs no introduction at all. Don’t get it twisted: That song is great for what it is and may the Ganja Goddess strike us down if we didn’t all sing along to it back in 2000, if not as an anthem, then as a goofy, catchy tune.

But in three minutes, Afroman manages

‘BALLYHOO’: Jessica Smith, Jason Willey, Judy Trice and Regi Ott star as the Freitag family in the latest Weekend Theater production.

n This Friday, the Weekend Theater opens its doors for the season’s penultimate production, “The Last Night of Ballyhoo.”

The period piece, set in 1939 Atlanta, follows the Freitags, a Southern Jewish family whose concern about atrocities against the Jews in Europe is overshadowed by the holidays, the family business, the local premiere of “Gone With the Wind” and, notably, the upcoming Ballyhoo dance, the social event of the season. While heavy at times, as many of the black box theater’s productions are, director Andy Hall maintains that, at its core, the show is “an old-fashioned romantic comedy.”

Also, it’s written by the author of “Driving Miss Daisy,” Alfred Uhry, who knows a good little bit about smooth-but-potent Southern satire.

MIKE EPPS & FRIENDS 8 p.m., Robinson Center Music Hall. $38.50-$44.50.

n The biggest comedy club in downtown is opening its doors to another veteran of the “Friday” series (last week’s Sommore featured in the third) when Mike Epps, the comedian/actor/prolific Tweeter brings his national tour to Little Rock.

A by-the-numbers cut-up in the movies, Epps’ comedy twists to the goofy everyman shtick. A sweep of footage from his stand-up videos includes topics like: President Obama smoking weed, special ed classes, “The First 48,” Chris Brown and Rihanna. Also joining Epps: Capone, the “Gangsta of Comedy” and rotating host of “Showtime at the Apollo”; Shawty Shawty, “the Rockstar of Comedy” and “Wild ‘n Out” veteran, and, best of all, Lil JJ, the 20-year-old Little Rock-born comedian whose seven-year acting career has taken him to “All That,” a starring role on another Nickelodeon show, “Just Jordan,” and, now, a regular spot on TNT’s acclaimed “Men of a Certain Age.”

THURSDAY 4/7

n Grumpy’s Too offers up an evening of lilting Americana from Ashley McBryde (yep, that’s local chanteuse Mandy McBryde’s little sister), 8 p.m.

Bryan Frazier plays a free show at The Afterthought for the monthly Hillcrest Shop & Sip, 8 p.m. The regular “Posh” party is setting up shop at Juanita’s this week, featuring live music from Ambition, formerly known as 4 Play from rap/R&B group Pretty Ricky, 9 p.m. DJ Debbi T leads karaoke night at Zack’s Place, 8 p.m. Aggie country crooner Roger Creager takes his twang to Stickyz, 9:30 p.m., $8. n The Arkansas Chamber Singers fill St. James United Methodist Church with the sounds of Bach with their spring program, “Bach Cantatas,” 7:30 p.m., $15 general, $10 seniors and students. Juanita’s hosts a dance party in “Broken Science,” DJ’d by Cool Shoes regulars Wolf-E-Wolf, Kichen, Germz and Digital Love, 9 p.m., $7. Cody Belew, the local blueeyed crooner, brings his backing band, The Mercers, to The Afterthought one more time before his upcoming move to Nashville, 9 p.m., $7. Vino’s celebrates area up-and-comers with a Fresh Blood Night featuring music from Ah! Venice Ah! Venice, Hoop Dreams and All Is at an End, 9 p.m., $5. The wild rock and roll duo of Hosty returns to Little Rock, teaming up with Grace Askew for a night at Stickyz, 9 p.m., $6. Prolific local songwriter Elise Davis hosts a Singer/Songwriter Night at Town Pump, showcasing a slate of the town’s talent, 10 p.m.

And the winner of this year’s Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase, Tyrannosaurus Chicken, lands in Midtown Billiards, 12:30 p.m., $8 non-members.

SATURDAY 4/9

n A Fayetteville favorite returns when Benjamin del Shreve brings his roots-y, indie swagger to Juanita’s, 9 p.m. The Afterthought rocks with Redondo Beach, Calif., outfit Fallen Riviera, local garage group Haunted Pontiacs and boogie-woogie folk from former Damn Bullet Paul Morphis, 9 p.m., $7. Set the Controls (formerly seen on local bills as Eclipse) pays tribute to Pink Floyd at Revolution, 9 p.m., $10. And tickets are soon to be sold out at UCA for “An Evening with Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood,” the night of improv comedy from the “Whose Line is It Anyway?” stars, 7:30 p.m., $30-$40. www.arktimes.com • APRIL 6, 2011 23

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.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6 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.

Cage the Elephant, Biffy Clyro, Sleeper Agent. Revolution, 8:30 p.m. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. revroom.com.

Cary Hudson, Kevin Kerby. White Water Tavern, 10 p.m. 2500 W. 7th. 501-375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com.

Funky Motif. Cajun’s Wharf, 5 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf.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.

Liu Fang. Pipa (Chinese lute) virtuoso plays Chinese traditional classical music. Arkansas State University, 7:30 p.m., free. Jonesboro, Jonesboro. www.astate. edu.

“Local Showcase.” Downtown Music Hall, 8 p.m.

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

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. Trustees. Markham Street Grill And Pub, 9 p.m.

11321 W. Markham St. 501-224-2010. www. markhamst.com.

COMEDY

Tracy Smith. The Loony Bin, 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. 501-228-5555. www.loonybincomedy.com.

EVENTS

“Brewhaha.” Appetizers, beer and a special performance of “Hairspray.” Arkansas Repertory Theatre, 6 p.m., $30. 601 Main St. 501-378-0405. www.therep. org.

LECTURES

Dan Ben-Canaan. The professor gives a lecture about China’s changing role in the global economy.

To reserve seats, e-mail publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu. Clinton School of Public Service, 6 24 APRIL 6, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

p.m. 1200 President Clinton Ave. 501-683-5239. www.clintonschool.uasys.edu.

Dean Baquet. The Pulitzer-winning Washington bureau chief for the New York Times presents the annual Roy Reed Lecture. Janelle Y. Henbree Alumni House, University of Arkansas, 7 p.m., free. Maple Street and Razorback Road, Fayetteville.

THURSDAY, APRIL 7 MUSIC

Ashley McBride. Grumpy’s Too, 9 p.m. 1801 Green Mountain Drive. 501-225-9650.

Bryan Frazier. The Afterthought, 8 p.m., free.

2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www.afterthoughtbar.com.

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

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

Jocko Deal. Denton’s Trotline, 8 p.m. 2150 Congo Road, Benton. 501-315-1717.

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

Luscious Spiller. Mediums Art Lounge, 8 p.m.

521 Center St. 501-374-4495.

“Local Showcase.” Downtown Music Hall, 8 p.m.

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

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

14710 Cantrell Road. 501-379-8189. www.thirstn-howl.com.

“Posh.” Juanita’s, 9 p.m. 1300 S. Main St. 501-3721228. www.juanitas.com.

Raising Grey (headliner), Steve Bates (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.

Roger Creager. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9:30 p.m., $8. 107 Commerce St. 501-3727707. www.stickyfingerz.com.

“Support Shoog Radio.” With The Reparations, Ginsu Wives, Winston Family Orchestra, Booyah!

Dad, Sweet Eagle. Revolution, 9 p.m., $8. 300 President Clinton Ave. 501-823-0090. revroom.com.

Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 5 p.m., free. 111 Markham St. 501-374-7474. www.capitalhotel.com/CBG.

COMEDY

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.

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

DANCE

Compania Nacional de Danza II. Walton Arts Center, 7 p.m., $10-$25. 495 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-443-5600.

EVENTS

QUICK WITS: Colin Mochrie (left) and Brad Sherwood (right), stars of the long-running improv comedy show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”, bring their two-man road show Saturday to Reynolds Performance Hall, UCA, for a soon-to-be sold-out show. 7:30 p.m., $30-$40.

Hillcrest Shop & Sip. Shops and restaurants offer discounts, later hours, and live music. Hillcrest, first Thursday of every month, 5-10 p.m. P.O.Box 251522. 501-666-3600. www.hillcrestmerchants. com.

FILM

“Under the Roofs of Paris (Sous les Toits de Paris).” A screening of the 1930 film directed by Rene Clair. Arkansas Arts Center, 7 p.m., free. 501 E. 9th St. 501-372-4000. www.arkarts.com.

LECTURES

Dan Ben-Canaan. The professor delivers a lecture, “The Reality of Historical Memory: The Forgotten Legacies of Jewish Harbin — Jewish ‘Paradise?’”

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

SPORTS

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

BOOKS

Arkansas Literary Festival 2011. Little Rock’s eighth annual literary festival features authors, panels, performances, workshops and featured guest David Sedaris. For more information, visit arkansasliteraryfestival.org. April 7-13.

Curtis Wilkie. The author discusses “The Fall of the House of Zeus.” Book signing to follow. Clinton School of Public Service, 6 p.m. 1200 President Clinton Ave. 501-683-5239. www.clintonschool. uasys.edu.

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

APRIL 26: Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band. 7:30 p.m., $67. Verizon Arena. 975-9000, verizonarena.com.

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

Verizon Arena. 975-9000, verizonarena.com.

MAY 10: Robert Randolph and the Family Band. 8:30 p.m., $20 adv., $25 d.o.s. Revolution, 300 President Clinton Ave. 823-0090, revroom. com.

MAY 18: Foo Fighters, Motorhead. 7 p.m., $25-$49.50. 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.

FRIDAY, APRIL 8 MUSIC

Arkansas Chamber Singers: Bach Cantata.

St. James United Methodist Church, 7:30 p.m., $15 general, $10 seniors and students. 321 Pleasant Valley Drive. 501-225-7372. www.stjames-umc.org.

Afroman. Revolution, 9:30 p.m., $10 adsv., $15 d.o.s.

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

“Broken Science” with DJs Wolf-E-Wolf, Dichen, Germz, Digital Love. Juanita’s, 9 p.m., $7.

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

Chant (headliner), Chris DeClerk (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.

Cody Belew & Co. The Afterthought, 9 p.m., $10.

2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www.afterthoughtbar.com.

D-Mite and Tho-d Studios Showcase.

Cornerstone Pub & Grill, 8:30 p.m. 314 Main St., NLR. 501-374-1782. cstonepub.com.

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

501-907-2582.

Ed Burks. Sonny Williams’ Steak Room, April 8-9, 7 p.m. 500 President Clinton Ave. 501-324-2999. www. sonnywilliamssteakroom.com.

Fresh Scene Night with Ah Venice! Ah Venice!, Hoop Dreams, All is At An End. Vino’s, 9 p.m., $5. 923 W. Seventh St. 501-375-8466. www.vinosbrewpub.com.

The Groove Connection. Grumpy’s Too, 9 p.m.

1801 Green Mountain Drive. 501-225-9650.

Hosty Duo, Grace Askew. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m., $6. 107 Commerce St. 501-372-7707. www.stickyfingerz.com.

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

Lightnin’ Malcolm. White Water Tavern, 10 p.m.

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

Matthew Huff. Capi’s, 8:30 p.m. 11525 Cantrell Suite 917. 501-225-9600. www.capisrestaurant.com.

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

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

Singer/Songwriter Night. With Chad Conder, Mark Fry, Brandon Alanis, Mandy McBryde, Isaac Alexander, Kyle Mays. Hosted by Elise Davis. Town Pump, 10 p.m. 1321 Rebsamen Park Road. 501-6639802.

Taylor Made. Fox And Hound, 10 p.m. 2800 Lakewood Village, NLR. 501-753-8300. www.foxandhound.com/locations/north-little-rock.aspx.

Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 9 p.m. 111 Markham St. 501-374-7474. www.capitalhotel.com/ CBG. Tuxedo Flamethrower. West End Smokehouse and Tavern, 10 p.m. 215 N. Shackleford. 501-2247665. www.westendsmokehouse.net.

Tyrannosaurus Chicken. Midtown Billiards, April 9, 12:30 a.m., $8 non-members. 1316 Main St. 501-3729990. midtownar.com.

White Collar Criminals. Dugan’s Pub, 9 p.m. 403

E. 3rd St. 501-244-0542. www.duganspublr.com.

COMEDY

Mike Epps & Friends. Robinson Center Music Hall, 8 p.m., $52. Markham and Broadway. www.littlerockmeetings.com/conv-centers/robinson.

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

EVENTS

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, April 8-10, free. 2500 Highland, Batesville.

Jumbo Gumbo Cook-Off. All-you-can-eat gumbo and live music to benefit The Allen School. For more information, visit theallenschool.org. River Market Pavilions, 5 p.m., $15. 400 President Clinton Ave. 375-2552. www.rivermarket.info.

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. For more information, call 244-9690 or search “DYSC” on Facebook. 800 Scott St., 6:30 p.m. 800 Scott St. Scimitar Shrine Circus. Barton Coliseum, April 8, 7 p.m.; April 9, 10 a.m., 2 and 7 p.m., $10 adults, $5 children. 2600 Howard St. www.arkansasstatefair.com.

FILM

“Louisiana Story.” The petroleum industry intrudes into Cajun country, ultimately with benefits to the local population. With talk by Michael Swanda of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Part of the “Picture the Past Archeology and Film Series.” Winthrop Rockefeller Institute, 7 p.m., free. 1 Rockefeller Drive, Morrilton.

727-5435. www.uawri.org.

LECTURES

David Williams. The social scientist delivers a lecture, “Pathways to Promote Racial Healing and Equity in the American South: A Community Philanthropy Strategy.” To reserve seats, 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.

UALR Men’s Baseball vs. Middle Tennessee.

UALR, April 8, 6 p.m.; April 9, 4 p.m.; April 10, 1 p.m.

2801 S. University Ave. 501-569-8977.

BOOKS

Alexander McCall Smith. The best-selling author of “No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” speaks in the library’s Media and Magazine section. Fayetteville Public Library, 7 p.m. 401 W. Mountain St., Fayetteville.

Arkansas Literary Festival 2011. See April 7.

SATURDAY, APRIL 9 MUSIC

Adam Hambrick. Juanita’s, 9 p.m., $7 adv., $10 d.o.s. 1300 S. Main St. 501-372-1228. www.juanitas. com.

Benjamin del Shreve. Stickyz Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicken Shack, 9 p.m. 107 Commerce St. 501-3727707. www.stickyfingerz.com.

Big Stack. Fox And Hound, 10 p.m. 2800 Lakewood Village, NLR. 501-753-8300. www.foxandhound.com/ locations/north-little-rock.aspx.

The Canadian Tenors. Walton Arts Center, 2 p.m., $24-$38. 495 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-4435600.

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

The Dead Will Fall, Hourglass, Eddie and the Defiants, Livid. Vino’s, 9 p.m., $7. 923 W. Seventh St. 501-375-8466. www.vinosbrewpub.com.

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

501-907-2582.

DJs Mary Jane, Bobby Rainmaker, King Julian, Chameleon. Dreamland Ballroom, 8 p.m., $10. 800 W. 9th St. 501-255-5700.

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

Fallen Riviera, Haunted Pontiacs, Paul

Continued on page 26 www.arktimes.com • APRIL 6, 2011 25

Live Music WEDNESDAY, APRL 6 CARY HUDSON (BLUE MOUNtAIN) W/ KEVIN KERBY FRIDAY, APRIL 8 LIGHtNIN’ MALCOLM OF tHE JUKE JOINt DUO SAtURDAY, APRIL 9 WEAKNESS FOR BLONDES

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CALENDAR

Continued from page 25 Morphis. The Afterthought, 9 p.m., $7. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd. 501-663-1196. www.afterthoughtbar.com.

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

Karla Case Band (headliner), Some Guy Named Robb (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.

LaRue & Wagner. Grumpy’s Too, 9 p.m. 1801 Green Mountain Drive. 501-225-9650.

Ocie and the Heartstrings. Cornerstone Pub & Grill, 8:30 p.m. 314 Main St., NLR. 501-374-1782. cstonepub.com.

Pail. West End Smokehouse and Tavern, 10 p.m., $5. 215 N. Shackleford. 501-224-7665. www.westendsmokehouse.net.

Set the Controls (Pink Floyd tribute).

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

Stick to Your Guns, Close Your Eyes.

Downtown Music Hall, 6 p.m., $10 adv., $13 d.o.s.

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

Ted Ludwig Trio. Capital Bar and Grill, 9 p.m. 111 Markham St. 501-374-7474. www.capitalhotel.com/ CBG. Tonya Leeks & Co. Dugan’s Pub, 9 p.m. 403 E. 3rd St. 501-244-0542. www.duganspublr.com.

Weakness For Blondes. White Water Tavern, 10 p.m. 2500 W. 7th. 501-375-8400. www.whitewatertavern.com.

COMEDY

“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., Conway.

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

DANCE

VIP Dance Competition. For more information or to register, visit vipdanceonline.com. Robinson Center Music Hall. Markham and Broadway. www. littlerockmeetings.com/conv-centers/robinson.

EVENTS

12th annual African Drum and Dance Festival. Fund-raiser for Arkansas Hospicesponsored project in Seke, Zimbabwe, features the The Wesley Drummers with Larry Clark; Mabelvale Drummers; Anderson’s Taekwondo; an African musical performance by singers from churches and Philander Smith College; a marketplace, African food sampling, and films appropriate for the entire family.

A minimum donation of $5 per person or $10 per family is suggested. For more information call First United Methodist Church at 372-2256. African attire is encouraged. Philander Smith College, 5 p.m. 900 W. Daisy L. Gatson Bates Drive.

Arkansas Scottish Festival 2010. See April 8.

Drive-Thru Pet Vaccination. For $10, dogs and cats can get a rabies shot and an annual vaccination, courtesy of the Humane Society of Saline County and the UAMS House of Delegates. In the east parking lot. War Memorial Stadium, 4 p.m. 1 Stadium Dr. 501-663-0775.

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

Faulkner County Seed Swap. Sponsored by the University of Central Arkansas’s Department of Sociology’s “Conserving Arkansas’s Agricultural Heritage” program. A documentary, “Seed Swap,” follows at 3 p.m. Faulkner County Library, 10 a.m.

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

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. For more information, visit abhprojects.com/girl-talk.html. Hilton Garden Inn. 4100 Glover Lane, NLR. Scimitar Shrine Circus. Barton Coliseum, 10 a.m., 2 and 7 p.m., $10 adults, $5 children. 2600 Howard St. www.arkansasstatefair.com.

Touch-A-Truck Family Fun Fest. DickeyStephens Park, 10 a.m., $5. 400 W Broadway St., 26 APRIL 6, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

NLR. 501-664-1555. www.travs.com.

SPORTS

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

MS Walk. River Market Pavilions, 10 a.m. 400 President Clinton Ave. 375-2552. www.rivermarket. info.

Rock Soccer Challenge 2010. For more information, visit LittleRockFC.com. Burns Park, April 9-10.

2700 Willow St., NLR. 501-791-8537.

UALR Men’s Baseball vs. Middle Tennessee.

UALR, April 9, 4 p.m.; April 10, 1 p.m. 2801 S. University Ave. 501-569-8977.

BOOKS

Arkansas Literary Festival 2011. See April 7.

Dean Faulkner Wells. Williams Faulkner’s niece signs copies of her new memoir, “Every Day by the Sun: A Memoir of the Faulkners of Mississippi.”

WordsWorth Books & Co., 1 p.m. 5920 R St.

CLASSES

“Good Gardens.” A monthly garden program.

Laman Library, second Saturday of every month, through Oct. 6, 10 a.m. 2801 Orange St., NLR. 501-758-1720. www.lamanlibrary.org.

SUNDAY, APRIL 10 MUSIC

Hot Springs Flute Ensemble. Benefit for the Garland County Humane Society. Artchurch Studio, 3 p.m. 301 Whittington Ave., Hot Springs. 501-3186779. www.artchurch.org.

John Pizzarelli Quartet, Kurt Elling Quintet.

Walton Arts Center, 7 p.m., $10-$25. 495 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-443-5600.

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

“Margarita Sunday.” With Tawanna Campbell, Jeron, Dell Smith, Cliff Aaron and Joel Crutcher.

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

Sunday Jazz Brunch with Ted Ludwig and Joe Cripps. Vieux Carre, 11 a.m. 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd.

501-663-1196. www.vieuxcarrecafe.com.

EVENTS

Arkansas Scottish Festival 2010. See April 8.

Parents of Murdered Children Annual Memorial Ceremony. Clinton Presidential Center, 2 p.m. 1200 President Clinton Ave. 370-8000. www. clintonpresidentialcenter.org.

SPORTS

Rock Soccer Challenge 2010. For more information, visit LittleRockFC.com. Burns Park, through.

2700 Willow St., NLR. 501-791-8537.

UALR Men’s Baseball vs. Middle Tennessee.

UALR, 1 p.m. 2801 S. University Ave. 501-569-8977.

BOOKS

Arkansas Literary Festival 2011. See April 7.

MONDAY, APRIL 11 MUSIC

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

Richie Johnson. Cajun’s Wharf, through April 30: 5 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www. cajunswharf.com.

Steele Jessup. Grumpy’s Too, 9 p.m. 1801 Green Mountain Drive. 501-225-9650.

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.

FILM

“An Inconvenient Truth.” An environmental documentary on Al Gore’s global-warming awareness campaign. 2006. Laman Library, 6 p.m., free.

2801 Orange St., NLR. 501-758-1720. www.lamanlibrary.org.

BOOKS

Arkansas Literary Festival 2011. See April 7.

TUESDAY, APRIL 12 MUSIC

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.

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

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

Susan Gibson, Kat Hood, Shannon Boshears.

Denton’s Trotline, 7 p.m. 2150 Congo Road, Benton.

501-315-1717.

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

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

DANCE

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

EVENTS

“Bids by the Bridge.” A silent auction to benefit eight local Arkansas organizations. To RSVP, call 683-5239 or e-mail publicprograms@clintonschool. uasys.edu. Clinton School of Public Service, 6 p.m.

1200 President Clinton Ave. 501-683-5239. www. clintonschool.uasys.edu.

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

FILM

“Chinatown:’ 1974. Directed by Roman Polanski.

Market Street Cinema, 7 p.m., $5. 1521 Merrill Drive.

501-312-8900. www.marketstreetcinema.net.

LECTURES

“An Evening with David Sedaris.” Walton Arts Center, 7 p.m., $33-$49. 495 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville. 479-443-5600.

BOOKS

Arkansas Literary Festival 2011. See April 7.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13 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.

Fair to Midland, Periphery, Scale the Summit, From Which We Came. Juanita’s, 9 p.m., $12 adv., $15 d.o.s. 1300 S. Main St. 501-372-1228. www. juanitas.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. 501-3727707. www.stickyfingerz.com.

Steve Bates. Cajun’s Wharf, 5 p.m. 2400 Cantrell Road. 501-375-5351. www.cajunswharf.com.

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

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

COMEDY

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.

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

EVENTS

Annual Victim Services Recognition Ceremony.

With speakers Vicky Williams and Attorney General Dustin McDaniel. Clinton Presidential Center, 9 a.m.

1200 President Clinton Ave. 370-8000. www.clintonpresidentialcenter.org.

Healing Place Ministries’ Annual Crime Victim Survivors Memorial Service. In the Kendall Center.

Philander Smith College, 9 a.m. 900 W. Daisy L. Gatson Bates Drive.

“Sustainable Communities: Land use, Transit Patterns, Economic Recovery and the Vision for a Healthier Urban Environment.” A panel discussion on sustainable communities. To reserve seats, call 683-5239 or e-mail publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu. Clinton School of Public Service, 12 p.m. 1200 President Clinton Ave. 501-683-5239. www.clintonschool.uasys.edu.

BOOKS

Arkansas Literary Festival 2011. See April 7.

Stacey Pershall. The author signs copies of her new book, “Loud in the House of Myself.” WordsWorth Books & Co. 5920 R St.

THIS WEEK IN THEATER “Annie.” Little Rock Christian Academy, Fri., April 8, 7 p.m.; Sat., April 9, 2 and 7 p.m.; Sun., April 10, 2 p.m., $10 adults, $5 students. 19010 Cantrell Road.

“The Gondoliers.” Central Arkansas Opera Theater presents Gilbert and Sullivan’s two-act operetta, with 17 soloists and a 30-member chorus.

Reynolds Performance Hall, University of Central Arkansas, April 6-8, 7:30 p.m. 201 Donaghey Ave., Conway.

“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. For tickets or more information, call 378-0405 or visit therep.org. Arkansas Repertory Theatre, through May 1: Wed., Thu., 7 p.m.; Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2 and 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 and 7 p.m., $20-$40. 601 Main St. 501-378-0405. www. therep.org.

“Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical.”

A musical about a stuffed animal’s first trip in the laundry, a girl’s first words and more family-friendly firsts. Wildwood Park for the Performing Arts, Fri., April 8, 7 p.m., $10 adults, $5 children 12 and under.

20919 Denny Road.

“The Last Night of Ballyhoo.” While Hitler is invading Poland in 1939, the Frietags, an elite family of German Jews in Atlanta, is more concerned with Ballyhoo, the upcoming social event of the season.

By Alfred Uhry. For tickets or more information, call 374-1130 or visit weekendtheater.org. The Weekend Theater, through April 23: Fri., Sat., 7:30 p.m. 1001 W. 7th St. 501-374-3761. www.weekendtheater.org.

“Seussical.” Characters from “The Cat in the Hat,” “Horton the Elephant,” “Yertle the Turtle” and more hit the stage. Parkview Arts & Science Magnet High School, April 8-9, 7:30 p.m.; Sat., April 9, 3 p.m., $10 adults, $7 children. 2501 John Barrow Road.

“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, through April 13: Tue.-Sat., 6 p.m.; Sun., 11 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.; Wed., 11 a.m., $23-$33. 6323 Col. Glenn Road.

501-562-3131. murrysdinnerplayhouse.com.

GALLERIES, MUSEUMS NEW EXHIBITS AND EVENTS AT GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS

ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER, MacArthur Park: “The Impressionists and Their Influence,” paintings and works on paper from the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, private collections and the Arts Center Foundation collection, through June 26, $10 adults, $8 seniors, $6 youth, members free, “Family Fete,” activities for kids, tours of gallery, 1-4 p.m. April 9, $5; “Michael Peterson: Evolution/Revolution,” wood sculpture, through July 3; “Young Arkansas Artists 50th Annual Exhibition,” through 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.

HISTORIC ARKANSAS MUSEUM, 200 E. Third St.: “Empty Spaces,” digital media by Jasmine Greer, April 8-June 5, reception 5-8 p.m. April 8, 2nd Friday Art Night; “Signs and Signals: Claire Coppola, Michael Davis Gutierrez and Marilyn Nelson,” mixed media, through May 8. 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Mon.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. $2.50 adults, $1.50, $1 children for tours of grounds. 324-9351.

OLD STATE HOUSE, 300 W. Markham St.: “ ‘General Acclamation Shook the Building to its Very Foundations’: Arkansas and the Firing on Fort Sumter,” talk by historian Michael

B. Dougan, noon April 6; “An Evening with Mary Kwas,” talk and booksigning of Kwas’ “A Pictorial History of Arkansas’s Old State House,” 7:30 p.m. April 7; “Arkansas/Arkansaw: A State and Its Reputation,” the evolution of the state’s hillbilly image.

9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 324-9685.

LAMAN LIBRARY, 2801 Orange St., NLR: “Visions of the Universe,” drawings and diagrams by Galileo and other astronomers, images by the Hubble Space Telescope, through May 20; “Our Lives, Our Stories: America’s Greatest Generation,” oral histories, April 6-May 25, reception 6-8 p.m. April 8. 9 a.m.-9 p.m.

Mon.-Thu., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 7711995.

PULASKI TECH, 3000 W. Scenic Drive, NLR: “The Business of Art,” honoring artist Pat Matthews and Sen. Mary Ann Salmon, 6:30 p.m. April 7, Campus Center Grand Hall, with auction of two Matthews flag paintings. $50. 812-2771.

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT LITTLE ROCK: “Painted and Posted,” thesis exhibition by Emily Wood, April 6-21, Gallery II; “Student Competitive Show,” Gallery I, through May 4; undergraduate work in Gallery III. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

Sat., 2-5 p.m. Sun. 569-8977. n Fayetteville FAYETTEVILLE UNDERGROUND, 1 E. Center St.: Randy Brodnax, ceramics; “Theft by Finding,” photographs by Steven Heaton and Rob Edwards, light boxes by John Spurgeon; “30 Days in the Life,” photographs of the Buffalo Wilderness Area

by Don House; “Always,” small paintings on board by Steven Wise, reception 5-8 p.m. April 7, First Thursday art walk. Fayettevilleunderground. blogspot.com.

STUDIO LEILANI, 112 W. Center St.: Student artwork, reception 5-7 p.m. April 7, First Thursday art walk. 479-442-4396.

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS: “Heavy Petting Zoo,” sculpture and clothing installation by MFA candidate Stephen Curtis, April 10-20, reception 4-6 p.m. April 15; “ヒロシマ: Hiroshima,” installation and sculpture by Hisae Kimura Yale about consequences of the bomb and ongoing nuclear energy issues, Fine Arts Center Gallery, through April 7; “Interwoven: Global Concord/Entretejido: Concordia Global,” drawings by LaDawna Whiteside, Fine Arts Center hallway, through April 29. 479-5757987. n Rogers ROGERS HISTORICAL MUSEUM, 322 S. 2nd St.: “Draw Me a Story: A Century of Children’s Book Illustration,” April 9-May 21. 479-621-1154. n Van Buren CENTER FOR ART & EDUCATION, 104 N. 13th St.: 12th annual “River Valley Student Art Competition,” reception at gallery for elementary students 1-4 p.m. April 9; at Van Buren Public Library for secondary students 1-4 p.m. April 10.

Exhibit through April 22.

ONGOING GALLERY EXHIBITS

ARKANSAS STUDIES INSTITUTE, 401 President Clinton Ave.: “Norwood Creech: Selected Works from the Northeastern Arkansas Delta,” through June 18, Mezzanine Gallery; “Book Arts,” handmade books and journals, through May 28, Atrium Gallery; “Anticipating the Future — Contemporary American Indian Art,” work from the collection of Dr. J.W. Wiggins. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Sat. 320-5791.

BOSWELL-MOUROT FINE ART, 5815 Kavanaugh Blvd.: Winston Taylor, ceramics; Lisa Renz, Evan Pardue, paintings. 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, through April 9, 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.

GALLERY 26, 2601 Kavanaugh Blvd.: Dominique Simmons, David Warren, recent works, through May 14. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tue.-Sat. 664-8996.

GREG THOMPSON FINE ART, 429 Main St., NLR: “Benini: The Painter’s Journey,” works from his “Courting Kaos: Face of God” and “Riding Kaos: Truth and the Journey” series, through May 18. 6642787.

HEARNE FINE ART, 1001 Wright Ave.: Stained glass by Charly Palmer, lithographs by Samella

Continued on page 29 www.arktimes.com • APRIL 6, 2011 27

April Books Calendar 9 Dean Faulkner Wells (“Every Day by the Sun: A Memoir of the Faulkners of Mississippi”), 1 p.m., WW. 12 Michael Lee West (“Gone with a Handsomer Man”), 7 p.m., TBIB. 13 Stacy Pershall (“Loud in the House of Myself”), 4 p.m., WW. 14 Rita Mae Brown (“Cat of the Century: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery”), 7 p.m., TBIB. 15 Bob Reising (“Chasing Moonlight: The True Story of Field of Dreams’ Doc Graham”), 6 p.m., FCL. 27 David Dosa (“Making Rounds with Oscar: The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Cat”) 6 p.m., CS. Area bookstores, libraries and venues: CS: Clinton School of Public Service, Sturgis Hall, 1200 President Clinton Ave., 683-5200.

FCL: Faulkner County Library, 1900 Tyler St., Conway, 501-327-7482.

LL: Laman Library, 2801 Orange St., North Little Rock, 501-758-1720.

ML: Main Library, 100 Rock St., 918-3000.

SAC: Starving Artist Cafe, 411 Main St., North Little Rock, 372-7976.

TBIB: That Bookstore in Blytheville, 316 W. Main St., Blytheville, 870-7633333.

WW: WordsWorth Books & Co., 5920 R St., 663-9198.

JoIn us or order a sIgned copy 800.844.8036 MysTery Fans alerT April 12, 7pm Michael Lee West’s 1st mystery Gone with a Handsomer Man April 14, 7pm Rite Mae Brown Hiss of Death

■ theaterreview ‘The Aluminum Show’

March 30, Robinson Center Music Hall

n First, a confession: I’ve never attended a rave. You know, one of those drug-fueled, dance-happy events where young hedonists gather together to party hard under an umbrella of industrial techno music?

But I think “The Aluminum Show,” which is playing at the decidedly non-rave-ish Robinson Center Music Hall, would have qualified had I ingested psychedelics instead of, ah, cheese dip before the show.

Was there lots of thumping techno music? Yep. Were there scantily clad dancers who hopped around on stage with abandon? Oh yeah. Did the audience toss around big, silver, pillow-shaped balloons? Yes. Were there buckets of strobe lights? Check. About the only thing missing rave-wise was somebody sucking on a pacifier — and I couldn’t see all the kids in attendance.

“The Aluminum Show” has been compared to those other popular performance art shows “Stomp” and “The Blue Man Group.” Those comparisons are fair in that “The Aluminum Show” is mostly spectacle — basically a group of dancers dance in and around various aluminum things, mostly tubes. There is something

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Hunka Pie Open 11am-7pm Tuesday-Saturday 7706 Cantrell Rd. • Little Rock 501.224.1104 www.hunkapie.com 28 APRIL 6, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

of a story about a small, slinky-like tube that is born and loses his bigger, slinky-like parents and, with the help of one of the more hyperactive dancers, is reunited with them again.

The program notes that “The Aluminum Show” had its debut in 2003, which is quite a while ago, but oddly enough it feels as if this show needs more work. There are bits that are truly mesmerizing. A dance number with two giant, headless aluminum figures near the beginning is just a giddy piece of work, a crazy cartoon come to life. When the Mylar balloons are tossed into the audience it’s such a simple thing but one that still made me smile.

But you have to wonder why the show continues after the little story of the lost slinky is finished. And you have to wonder if there wasn’t something for “The Aluminum Show” to do toward the end but have a five-minute segment that looks and sounds like it came straight from “Stomp.” Also, we have nothing against dance or dancers but you can tell when the inventiveness flags in “The Aluminum

Show” because that’s when you see extended dance routines.

Really the bar for the kind of wowinducing theater piece that “The Aluminum Show” strives to be has been set pretty high. There are moments when it clears that bar with ease. But there are other times when it feels like an especially trippy episode of “So You Think You Can Dance.” Perhaps the next time it’s in town the show will be tighter and bolder. Or I could just order the spicy cheese dip.

— Werner Trieschmann

A&E NEWS

New on Rock Candy n Taylor Swift, the teenybopper-donegood is bringing her “Speak Now” tour to Little Rock on Tuesday, October 4.

Christian rockers Needtobreathe open the night. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 8, at 10 a.m. $27-$71.50. n Bob Dorough, the geek-jazz icon and man behind the timeless music of “Schoolhouse Rock!” will be playing, now, three nights in a row in Little Rock this month. Already slated for a Monday night engagement at The Afterthought on April 18, Bob Dorough will perform April 16-17 at the Wildwood Park for the Arts for their annual “Blooms!” festival.

Also performing: The Muses, Lark in the Morning, the Dave Rogers Trio and Forté, the ASO’s Youth Ensemble. n This year, Magic Springs, the water and theme park is ratcheting it up with an admittedly tighter-than-anticipated lineup. Highlights include Blake Shelton, who joins Christina Aguilera, Cee-Lo Green and Maroon 5’s Adam Levine on the judge’s panel for NBC’s new reality talent show, ‘The Voice;’ Joan Jett & the Blackhearts who commemorate the 30th

anniversary of their signature song, “I Love Rock and Roll”; and the incredibly resilient modern rockers 3 Doors Down, who release their first new album in three years the week before their Hot Springs engagement. The season kicks off on May 28 with country kicker Easton Corbin. n Starting last week, local and area Walgreens will offer advance three-day passes to this year’s Riverfest at $15 a pop—half off of the $30 admission at the gate. A list of participating Walgreens locations are available at riverfestarkansas. com. This is, of course, a “while supplies last” sort of thing. The festival goes down Memorial Day weekend, May 27-29.

Also in Riverfest news: the festival is dropping the long-time “button as ticket” tradition in favor of harder-to-trade, harder-to-poke-people-with wristbands. n And don’t forget: Rock Candy is looking for your best cover/karaoke/dance interpretation/music video/musique concrete treatment of a Foo Fighters song. In exchange, we’ve got a handful of tickets to the band’s May 18 concert at Verizon Arena. We’ll accept submissions, in just about any digital form.

CALENDAR

A WAlk To Help puT Good Food on THe TAbles oF ArkAnsAns In need.

Continued from page 27 Lewis, LaToya Hobbs and Elizabeth Catlett. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Thu., 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Fri., 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

Sat. 372-6822.

KETZ GALLERY, 705 Main St., NLR: Michael Lindas, paintings, through April 11. 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

Tue.-Fri., 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sat. 529-6330.

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

M2GALLERY, 11525 Cantrell Road (Pleasant Ridge Town Center): “Fourth Anniversary Show,” new work by Michele Mikesell, Jason Twiggy Lott, William Goodman, Robin Tucker, David Walker, Nathan Beatty, Cathy Burns, Lisa Krannichfeld, Melverue Abraham, Selma Blackburn. 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Mon.-Sat. 225-6257.

STATE CAPITOL: “Arkansans in the Korean War,” 32 photographs, lower-level foyer. 7 a.m.-5 p.m.

Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sat.-Sun. STEPHANO’S FINE ART, 5501 Kavanaugh Blvd.: Paintings by new gallery member Eric Painter, also new series by Stephano, fused glass sculpture by Lisabeth Franco, paintings by Joy Schultz, Mike Gaines, MaryAnne Erickson, Stephano and Alexis Silk, jewelry by Joan Courtney and Teresa Smith, sculpture by Scotti Wilborne and Tony Dow. 11 a.m.6 p.m. Tue.-Sat., 1-5 p.m. Sun. 563-4218.

THEA FOUNDATION, 401 Main St., NLR: “2011 THEA Visual Art Scholarship Competition,” through April 10. 379-9512. n Benton SALINE COUNTY LIBRARY, 1800 Smithers Drive: “Young Arkansas Artists Exhibition,” winners from the 49th annual show, Bob Herzfeld Memorial Library, through April 15. 501-778-4766. n Fayetteville WALTON ARTS CENTER, Joy Pratt Markham Gallery: “Watermarks,” mixed media installation by Bethany Springer, through April 13. 9 a.m.-6 p.m.

Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat. 479-571-2747. n Hot Springs ALISON PARSONS GALLERY, 802 Central Ave.: “Art Vessels,” ceramics and glass by Lori Arnold, through April. 501-655-0604.

AMERICAN ART GALLERY, 724 Central Ave.: “Flora, Fowl and Fauna,” paintings by Jimmy Leach.

501-624-055.

FINE ARTS CENTER, 626 Central Ave.: Works by area artists in all media. 501-624-0489.

GALLERY 726, 726 Central Ave.: Trey McCarley, oils; Charles and Michael Riley, glass art. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat. 501-624-7726.

GALLERY CENTRAL, 800 Central Ave.: Equine bronzes by Jan Woods. 501-318-4278.

GARLAND COUNTY LIBRARY, 1427 Malvern Ave.: 6th annual “Traditional Art Guild Juried Exhibit,” through May 30. aoriginals@hotmail.com.

JUSTUS FINE ART, 827 A Central Ave.: New paintings by Donnie Copeland, also work by Robin Hazard-Bishop, Mike Elsass, Steve Griffith, Robyn Horn, Dolores Justus, Tony Saladino and Rebecca Thompson. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat. 501-3212335.

LEGACY GALLERY, 804 Central Ave.: Landscapes

by Carole Katchen. 501-624-1044.

peter brave, owner of brave new restaurant will embark on a 223 mile solo hike through the ouachita Trail, April 3-17, to raise funds and awareness on behalf of

support your community Small Town

and is asking for your help in making a daily difference in the lives of others by supporting the hike with a pledge to POTLUCK – Arkansas’ only food rescue organization and The Common Sense Link Between Those With Too Much Food And Thousands Of Arkansans With Too Little.

For more information about Potluck call 501.371.0303 • www.potluckfoodrescue.org

ONGOING MUSEUM EXHIBITS

CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL MUSEUM VISITOR CENTER, Bates and Park: Exhibits on the 1957 desegregation of Central and the civil rights movement. 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. daily. 374-1957.

CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL CENTER, 1200 President Clinton Ave.: “The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss,” through May 22; “Revolution and Rebellion: Wars, Words and Figures,” 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.

MacARTHUR MUSEUM OF ARKANSAS MILITARY HISTORY, MacArthur Park: “In Search of Pancho Villa,” through May; “Warrior: Vietnam Portraits by Two Guys from Hall,” photos by Jim Guy Tucker and Bruce Wesson, through April; exhibits on Arkansas’s military history. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Tue.-Fri., 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat., 1-4 p.m. Sun. 376-4602. www.arktimes.com • APRIL 6, 2011 29

■ artnotes The art everybody loves

TE SAvE THE dA20 11

Monday, April 18,

In the Arts Center’s ‘Impressionists.’

BY LESLIE NEWELL PEACOCK

Sponsored by

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Seating is limited. All proceeds go to the Arkansas Repertory Theater.

For tickets contact Bethany Hilkert Phone: (501) 378-0445 ext. 203 Email: bhilkert@therep.org

Chairs: Susan Cohen & Cathy Hooker Hostess Chair: LuAnn Ashley

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n There are 119 pieces of art — 120 if you ters on the edge of beauty, threatening to fall count the two-sided Toulouse-Lautrec — in into indifference, but stay with it a bit. the Arkansas Arts Center’s “The ImpresThere are four Monets in the exhibit, sionists and Their Influence” exhibit that arranged in chronological order to show opens Friday, and you will want to spend the artist’s evolution, interim Director Joe some time with virtually all of them.

Lampo explained at a press preview last No, there are no Monet haystacks here, week. The earliest is “Autumn on the Seine, or Tahitian Gaugins or Seurat pointillism.

Argenteuil,” 1873, also from the High, a Manet’s “Dejeuner Sur L’Herbe” remains beautiful canvas of yellows and pale pinks safely in France. But all those artists are repand blues and greens, the dabs of color givresented — the Monets are particularly fine ing the impression of leaves (to the horror of — and while the Arts Center hasn’t turned the Academy), the short strokes the impresinto the Musee d’Orsay, it has so much to sion of their reflection in the water. In beoffer in this exhibit that you’ll need to go at tween that and “Houses of Parliament” are least twice, if not three times, to take it all in. two richly painted Monets, one depicting an Everybody loves impressionist work, apple tree in full fruit and the other a river so it’s hard to conceive that when it was at dusk, both the property of the Stephens new, in the mid-nineteenth century, it was Trust and on loan to the Arts Center for sevas unacceptable to the eral years. critics as art, as cans Pissaro’s “Snowsof Campbell’s soup cape with Cows at were 100 years later.

Montfoucault” is a It wasn’t strictly repsmall beauty, also from resentational and its the High, painted in subject matter was whites and masterfully contemporary life, not subdued thalo greens, important moments in with the tidiest lines history. preserved for the cows “Everybody loves” IMPRESSIONIST’S LANDSCAPE: being walked down a is not an exaggeration, “Autumn on the Seine, Argenteuil,” snowy lane. Another which is why I can is part of the Monet grouping at the Pissaro, “Kensington write this review using Arts Center.

Gardens, London,” the artists’ last names from the Stephens and nobody wonders who I’m referring to.

Trust, is fascinating in its odd technique.

This popularity is perhaps on the minds of Painted 16 years after “Snowscape,” Pissaro those who run things at the Arts Center, still is experimenting here; he’s placed figures in recovering from its budget-busting “World saturated reds and greens and purples atop a of the Pharaohs” exhibit of Egyptian artiflatly-rendered field of sketchy green grass, facts that opened in the Early Dynastic Pelike cut-outs. In that same off-track vein is riod and ended last July. (It actually ran only one of the show’s many (and wonderful) seven and a half months, but surely seemed Vuillards, his “La Villa Les Ecluses, St. Jamuch longer to both Arts Center regulars cut, Brittany,” painted with big patches of and bean counters alike.) There will be no flat color. The Arts Center’s own “Le Peinsticker shock here — the tickets are a very tre Forain,” a 46-inch tall pencil by Vuillard, reasonable $10 tops (less for seniors, youth, one of my favorite works in the AAC colmilitary, etc.), free to members — and the lection, is tucked away here.

Arts Center can count on a good crowd to A surprise for those of us who have only see some very lovely drawings and paintskimmed the surface of impressionist art ings, from the Arts Center’s collection of history: Ker-Xavier Roussel and his “Sleepworks on paper, as well as paintings and ing Diana.” This painting by Roussel, who drawings from the collaborating High Muwas of the Nabi school rather than impressionism, is crazy fascinating, focusing not seum of Art in Atlanta, the Jackson T. Steon the rural, but the mythical, and not the phens Charitable Trust for Art, and private atmospheric but on wild combinations of collectors. hot bright reds with deep aquamarines. A The star of the show is Monet’s “Houses dark skinned woman robed in orange could of Parliament in the Fog,” 1903, a painthave stepped right from Gaugin’s work into ing so ethereal as to be barely there. Monet this canvas. painted parliament repeatedly, as he did his There’s much more here, including work haystacks and the cathedral at Rouen, to by the Americans — Cassatt, Hassam and capture the variety of light. This version of Glackens. The exhibit closes June 26.

“Houses of Parliament” from the High tee-

So many other comics have ripped off his cigarette puffing, angry-man persona by now that he might seem old hat, but his material is still fresh as a daisy in most cases: riffs on existentialism, LSD, the government, religion, UFOs and others, all delivered with his biting, pull-no-punches, audience-berating style.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This writer is a recent convert to the church of Netflix Instant, that great Blockbuster killer that has changed my life and made me shun cable TV to the point that if it weren’t for tornado warnings and my lovely bride’s addiction to TLC’s polygamists-r-us show “Sister Wives,” I’d swear off the whole mess altogether. The problem with Netflix Instant is just the sheer volume of it all. It can get a bit overwhelming.

Sometimes the biggest problem here in the future is that there’s no limit when it comes to entertainment choices, and that’s definitely our trouble with Netflix now. Sure, it’s a GOOD problem, but a problem. With that in mind, we thought we might start giving you a periodic head’s-up on some things on Netflix Instant you might wanna catch if you’ve got a couple hours to kill. It’s TV after all, no matter where it comes from. So, without further ado...

THAT EVENING SUN (2009)

Starring: Ray McKinnon, Hal Holbrook, Walton Goggins n Ray McKinnon has long been one of my fave actors, a guy who can play anything from a Southern dandy (“O Brother, Where Art Thou?”) to a greasy methhead (“Chrystal”) with equal quality and poise.

This film, shot in eastern Tennessee from a script based on a story by William Gay, is definitely one of McKinnon’s best roles.

It’s the story of Abner Meecham (Hal Holbrook), an elderly farmer who busts out of the old folks home and catches a ride back to his beloved farm, only to find that his son has leased the place out from under him to the local no-count, Lonzo Choat (McKinnon). Undaunted, Abner takes up residence in a nearby shack and vows never to leave.

While both McKinnon and Holbrook play their roles to the hilt, giving us periodic glimpses of the scared men inside them, neither Abner nor Lonzo is really likable.

I say that in the most loving way possible, given that I’m thoroughly tired of films (especially Southern films) with cookie-cutter villains and heroes. Abner, in particular, is prone to fall back on that very Southern idea of Bad Blood, and you wonder just how much of that kind of community-wide thinking in small towns goes into creating the psyche of guys like Lonzo. The best films, someone once said, are those in which both people are right but they wanna fight about it anyway. “That Evening Sun” falls into that mode, and the result is a really lovely study of age, anger and moving on.

Check it out.

BILL HICKS ON NETFLIX n Ask a comic — any comic — to name the five best standup acts of all time, and there’s a good chance Bill Hicks is going to be at or near the top of the list. What’s tragic about that is twofold: 1) Just how many Americans have never heard the name

or seen him perform. And 2) That Hicks died from pancreatic cancer in Little Rock (where his mother Mary still lives) when he was just 32 years old. The idea of what Hicks might have accomplished with a life as long as somebody like George Carlin kind of boggles the mind, but what he did manage to do with the little time he had is still pretty amazing. So many other comics have ripped off his cigarette puffing, angryman persona by now that he might seem old hat, but his material is still fresh as a daisy in most cases: riffs on existentialism, LSD, the government, religion, UFOs and others, all delivered with his biting, pull-no-punches, audience-berating style. Though Netflix still doesn’t have “Bill Hicks: American,” the groundbreaking documentary about Hicks’ life and comedy, they do have several of his sets. First up is “Bill Hicks Live,” which features three of his landmark concerts, and a documentary about his life, which (of course) covers a lot of the same ground as “American” while calling on some of the best comics in the business to provide their recollections of him. Also on Netflix Instant is Hicks’ excellent documentary/standup hybrid “Bill Hicks: Sane Man,” which features footage from a set Hicks performed in July 1989 in Austin. Definitely recommended for any standup fan, not to mention any sentient being in the known universe.

— David Koon

www.arktimes.com • APRIL 6, 2011 31

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‘YOUR HIGHNESS’: The celebrated, Little Rock-born director David Gordon Green (“Pineapple Express,” “Eastbound & Down”) returns to the big screen with “Your Highness,” a genre-mashing adventure/fantasy/stoner comedy about a valiant prince and his slacker brother teaming up to save the former’s bride-to-be. With James Franco (left), Zooey Deschanel (center), Danny McBride (right) and Natalie Portman.

APRIL 8-10

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

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FitNess 32 APRIL 6, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

Showtimes for Breckenridge were unavailable at press time. Check www.arktimes.com for updates.

Market Street Cinema showtimes at or after 9 p.m. are for Friday and Saturday only.

NEW MOVIES Arthur (PG-13) – A drunken playboy in heavy-duty arrested development has to choose between an enormous inheritance and the woman he falls for.

With Russell Brand and Greta Gerwig. Chenal 9: 11:25, 1:55, 4:25, 7:25, 10:00. Rave: 11:05, 12:00, 1:45, 2:45, 4:30, 5:30, 7:15, 8:15, 10:00, 11:00.

Riverdale 10: 11:10, 1:55, 4:25, 7:05, 9:40.

Born to be Wild (G) – A 3D look at the bond between the orangutans and elephants saved by a group of people who work to preserve endangered species. Narrated by Morgan Freeman. Chenal 9: 11:00, 12:20, 1:50, 3:15, 4:45, 7:00.

Hanna (PG-13) – A 16-year-old girl, raised by her CIA agent father to be a master assassin, embarks on a mission across Europe. With Saoirse Ronan and Cate Blanchett. Chenal 9: 11:30, 2:00, 4:35, 7:30, 9:55. Rave: 10:30, 1:15, 4:20, 7:05, 10:30.

Riverdale 10: 11:15, 2:00, 4:35, 7:10, 9:50.

Happy Thank You More Please (R) – In New York City, the lives of six young urbanites become entangled after a young writer returns a lost boy to his family. With Malin Akerman and Richard Jenkins. Market Street: 2:00, 4:20, 7:15, 9:15.

The Housemaid (NR) – An affair with the family housemaid leads a man, as well as his wife and children, to disastrous consequences. Directed by Sang-soo Im. Market Street: 2:15, 4:25, 6:45, 9:00.

Jane Eyre (PG-13) – The latest adaptation of the Charlotte Bronte masterpiece about the resilient young woman, Mr. Rochester and Thornfield Hall.

With Mia Wasikowka and Michael Fassbender.

Rave: 10:30, 1:25, 4:25, 7:20, 10:25.

Soul Surfer (PG) – In spite of losing an arm in a shark attack, a teen-age girl with a passion for surfing returns to the ocean. With AnnaSophia Robb and Helen Hunt. Chenal 9: 11:05, 1:40, 4:30, 7:10, 9:35. Rave: 10:45, 1:30, 4:10, 7:40, 10:15.

Your Highness (R) – A valiant young prince embarks on an adventure to save his bride-to-be, with assistance from his slacker, stoner brother.

Directed by David Gordon Green. With Danny McBride and James Franco. Chenal 9: 11:35, 2:05,

4:40, 7:05, 9:40. Rave: 10:35, 1:20, 2:30, 4:55, 5:55, 7:30, 8:30, 10:15, 11:15.

RETURNING THIS WEEK 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. Riverdale 10: 11:20, 1:40, 4:20, 7:00, 9:25.

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. Rave: 5:15, 8:05, 11:05.

Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son (PG13) – FBI agent Malcolm Turner (Martin Lawrence) makes his son (Brandon T. Jackson) join him in going undercover in drag at a performing arts school. Movies 10: 12:05, 2:35, 5:00, 7:25, 9:50.

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. Market Street: 1:45, 4:00, 7:00, 9:00.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules (PG) – “Wimpy” Greg and his bullying older brother Rodrick have to deal with their parents’ efforts to make a brotherly bond. With Zachary Gordon.

Rave: 10:40, 1:10, 4:00, 6:30, 9:15.

Drive Angry 3D (R) – A father escapes from hell to avenge his daughter’s death and granddaughter’s kidnapping in three dimensions.

With Nicolas Cage and William Fichtner. Movies 10: 12:20, 2:45, 5:10, 7:35, 10:00.

The Green Hornet (PG-13) – Playboy Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) starts a new career as a crime-fighter with help from his kung-fu expert chauffeur, Kato (Jay Chou). Directed by Michel Gondry. Movies 10: 1:00, 4:00, 7:05, 9:55.

Hop (PG) – The day before he’s scheduled to take over the family business, E.B., the teen-age son of the Easter Bunny, runs away to Hollywood to pursue his dream of being a rock drummer. Voiced

by Russell Brand and Hugh Laurie. Chenal 9: 11:15, 1:45, 4:15, 7:15, 9:30. Rave: 11:35, 12:35, 2:00, 3:00, 4:35, 5:35, 7:00, 8:00, 9:50, 10:50.

Riverdale 10: 11:05, 1:10, 3:15, 5:20, 7:30, 9:35.

Insidious (PG-13) – A realm called The Further

threatens to trap a comatose child. His parents learn to battle something that science can’t explain.

With Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne. Market Street: 2:00, 4:20, 6:45, 9:00. Rave: 10:30, 1:00, 3:50, 6:35, 9:05. Riverdale 10: 11:45, 2:10, 4:30, 7:15, 9:45.

The King’s Speech (PG-13 version) – 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). Rave: 11:15. Riverdale 10: 11:25, 1:50, 4:15, 6:40, 9:05.

Limitless (PG-13) – A metropolitan copywriter runs from a group of assassins after discovering and taking a top-secret drug that gives him superhuman abilities. With Bradley Cooper and Robert DeNiro. Chenal 9: 11:20, 1:50, 4:20, 7:20, 9:55. Rave: 10:50, 1:35, 4:05, 7:15, 10:10.

Riverdale 10: 11:40, 2:20, 5:15, 7:35, 10:05.

The Lincoln Lawyer (R) – A lawyer runs his firm out of the back of an old Lincoln while working on a high-profile case in Beverly Hills. With Matthew McConaghey and Marissa Tomei. Chenal 9: 11:05, 1:40, 4:30, 7:10, 9:50. Rave: 10:55, 2:05, 5:50, 8:40, 11:30. Riverdale 10: 11:55, 1:15, 3:30, 5:45, 8:00.

Paul (R) – Two sci-fi geeks on a cross-country pilgrimage to Reno meet and befriend a wisecracking alien on the lam from a top-secret military base. With Nick Frost and Simon Pegg. Rave: 11:20, 2:35, 5:10, 8:35, 11:20.

Rango (PG) – A quixotic chameleon has to succeed at being the daredevil he thinks he is after winding up in an old West town. Rave: 11:50, 2:40.

Riverdale 10: 11:00, 1:15, 3:30, 5:45, 8:00.

The Roommate (PG-13) – A deranged college freshman becomes obsessed with her roommate and, wouldn’t you know it, things get freaky. With Leighton Meester and Minka Kelly. Movies 10: 12:10, 2:25, 4:45, 7:15, 9:40.

Source Code (PG-13) – A celebrated soldier wakes up in a stranger’s body and discovers he’s part of a top-secret government mission to stop a bombing in downtown Chicago. With Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan. Rave: 11:45, 12:45, 2:10, 3:10, 4:45, 5:45, 7:10, 8:10, 9:45, 10:45. Riverdale 10: 11:30, 1:35, 3:35, 5:35, 7:45, 10:00.

Sucker Punch (PG-13) – A young girl escapes to a fantasy world after being locked in a mental asylum by her evil stepfather. Directed by Zach Snyder. Chenal 9: 8:10, 10:35. Rave: 11:00, 1:55, 4:50, 7:35, 10:35.

Take Me Home Tonight (R) – In the late 1980s, a brilliant MIT student walks away from his highpaying job to work as a video clerk. With Topher Grace and Anna Faris. Movies 10: 12:25, 2:50, 5:15, 7:45, 10:05.

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: 12:45, 3:20, 5:40, 8:00, 10:20 (2D); 2:15, 7:00.

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. Movies 10: 12:00, 2:30, 5:05, 7:40, 10:10.

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. Movies 10: 12:30, 4:10, 7:10, 9:45.

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, 7:30, 10:15 (2D); 12:15, 4:35, 9:25 (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.

A Premier Dining exPerience Where Little Rock Goes To Taste Perfection

‘SOURCE CODE’: Jake Gyllenhaal and Vera Farmiga star.

■ moviereview Transcending space and time, on a train

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 335 Wine seleCtions • fine sPirits from around the World i n q u i r e a B o u t o u r P r i vat e C o r P o r at e l u n C h e s

‘Source Code’ doesn’t make much sense, but that’s OK. n In the unexpectedly gripping “Source Code,” Jake Gyllenhaal plays an Afghanistan war vet named Colter Stevens who goes from flying helicopters to, next thing he knows, inhabiting the body of a dude riding a commuter train into Chicago.

About the time he begins to make sense of his surroundings, an explosion obliterates his train, and Stevens is thrust back into a capsule where he finds he’s taking orders on a military project that amounts to bargain-bin time travel. The train blew up that morning, and Stevens is being projected into the last moments of one victim’s life, to determine who blew up the train and abort a follow-up attack.

To explain how this macabre replay works, the inventor of the process (Jeffrey Wright) proffers a dusting of confectioner’s science — quantum physics!

And, uh, stuff! — to keep everyone out of the M. Night Shyamalan gutter. Basically, when someone dies, there’s a residue of physical, quantumnal energy that we can plug into, so even though the train has exploded and hundreds of people have been killed, enough of a halo remains that this Source Code thing can send Stevens back to investigate in a dramatic re-enactment.

It amounts to an airliner black box crossed with Choose Your Own Adventure, except when Stevens fails to solve the past, the whole shebang goes bang, and he has to return once again.

Once Stevens accepts the disorienting reality, he starts paying a little more attention and stops lollygagging around the doomed train. You’d think he’d be a little more focused on the task at hand — ferreting out the bomber, preventing the next attack, saving the lives of countless Bears fans — but it takes him a while to stop futzing around with the earnest brunette (Michelle Monaghan) across the seat from him.

A duty-bound but sympathetic officer (Vera Farmiga) keeps walking him through.

That Stevens dawdles at all, and that he gets incinerated on repeat without completely cracking up, and that the bomber, once found and confronted, blabs more than a Bond villain, and about a dozen other logical potholes all threaten to derail the experience. But these are questions that your brain keeps mostly quiet until you stumble out of the theater after 93 short minutes, because somehow “Source Code” transcends its nonsense. For every five dumb things the script throws in, you find yourself excusing four. Overall it ain’t a bad follow-up for director Duncan Jones (aka David Bowie’s son), whose mesmerizing feature debut in 2009, “Moon,” also tinkered with the concepts of memory and identity. Here he folds a terroristic whodunit into “Groundhog Day.” For his part, Gyllenhaal makes another turn as the sort of action-hero-next-door so common in American cinema during the past decade, since we started shipping non-Stallones and non-Schwarzeneggers to Afghanistan and Iraq, where they also have died, over and over, ostensibly to prevent the next terroristic threat. That the passenger Stevens drops into is a teacher, instead of a cop or retired FBI or similar, only underscores Gyllenhaal’s Everyman called to service.

Maybe Gyllenhaal deserves the credit for making this machine go. Or maybe it’s the iteration of the film, watching the same scenario unspool in different ways, playing detective along with Stevens as he scratches at his own obscured past. (Why him, anyway?) It’s hard to pin down exactly why a movie with this many flaws is this satisfying. Maybe it’s just impossible not to admire a good train wreck.

— Sam Eifling

5 0 0 P r e s i D e n t c l i n t o n Av e n u e ( i n t h e r i v e r m A r k e t D i s t r i c t ) C a l l f o r r e s e rvat i o n s 5 0 1 . 3 2 4 . 2 9 9 9 • w w w. s o n n y w i l l i A m s s t e A k r o o m . c o m

This Friday

: 2nd Friday art Night

!!!"#$%&'()'*%'("+(,

ArtLounge

Mediums

Gypsy Bistro

Christ Episcopal Church

come ride the free trolley! www.arktimes.com • APRIL 6, 2011 33

n Eastern Flames sushi restaurant, 7710 Cantrell, has closed. Meanwhile, owner Dong Lee plans to open Seoul, a Korean restaurant with sushi offerings, in the old Satellite Cafe location in the Heights possibly by the end of the week. Lee, who owned Hanaroo downtown before opening Eastern Flames, is of Korean heritage. Before moving to Little Rock, he owned three different restaurants in Austin, Texas, that served Korean and Japanese fare, so Seoul, which will serve bibimbap, Korean barbecue and sweet potato-based noodles, is a return to his restaurant roots.

Lee said he expects his hours to be 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. during the week and 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. He’ll close on Sunday. n Palio’s Pizza Cafe is now open at 3 Rahling Circle in The Village at Rahling Road. A Dallas-based chain with around 30 franchises, the restaurant separates itself from its competition through its dough, according to coowner Syed Jamal: Palio’s makes its dough fresh twice, sometimes three times a day, then they hand-toss it and stretch it over a screen. The result is a crust that is neither thick nor thin, Jamal said.

The restaurant serves beer and wine. For now at least, it opens at 11 a.m. daily. Jamal said his closing time will depend on customers. The phone number is 501-821-0055. The restaurant’s website is www.palioslittlerock. com, but a Facebook page currently has more information. n Times publisher Alan Leveritt and A&E editor Lindsey Millar will provide the entertainment at the next dinner/fundraiser for The Root Cafe, the local foods-oriented restaurant going in the old Sweden Creme location on South Main. The dinner, scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday, April 15, will preview the cafe’s homemade bratwurst and vegetarian bahn mi. The program will cover the history of the Times.

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:

34 APRIL 6, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

■ dining Try Terry’s Lunch at the Heights bistro won’t disappoint. n The restaurant at Terry’s Finer Foods might have the best food in Little Rock you’ve never tried. After less than a year serving dinner and a couple of months serving lunch, Terry’s still doesn’t seem to be on most local gastronomes’ “best of” short list.

We can only imagine that’s because they haven’t eaten there. Adding a weekday lunch mathematically doubles folks’ chances to go to the sharply appointed bistro that’s attached to the south end of the venerable boutique grocery in the Heights.

The lunch menu is approachable and affordable, and you can eat about as French as you want. Or not. Start with Jambon de Parme au Melon (Parma ham with melon — $7.95) or have a Caesar salad ($5.75).

Try leeks braised in chicken broth with beet vinaigrette ($4.50) or have a four-cheese pizza ($9.95) baked on Lavosh (unleavened flat bread).

For your main course, feast on a 6-ounce rib-eye with herbed butter ($14.95 with choice of fries, rice pilaf or fresh vegetables), a French café staple, or get a cheeseburger ($7.25). If you want to French that up, get yours topped with foie gras (which jacks the price to $14.95).

Our dining companion, a beet girl through and through, raved about the beet salad ($7.95), which teams pickled beets with goat cheese, pine nuts and caramelized onion, tossed with spinach and balsamic vinaigrette. The flavors work well together, the onion providing a unique zing. We started with the dreamily decadent “gratin of macaroni,” ($7.25) a large ramekin of the best macaroni-and-cheese you may ever put in your mouth. It’s simultaneously crunchy, creamy, buttery and cheesy.

For our main course we chose the item that those unfamiliar with French likely will have the hardest time translating: “Couscous Maison a L’agneau Roti, Merguez, Raisins, Pois Chiches, Legumes Frais.” It’s an elegant mix of flavors — a roasted lamb shank served atop couscous with a small link of Merguez sausage (a spicy sausage

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

BRIAN CHILSON

what’scookin’

FRENCH FOR LUNCH: Shrimp provencal is part of The Restaurant at Terry’s Finer Foods new lunch menu. that hails from North Africa but is popular in France), chick peas, fresh vegetables and golden raisins. It comes with a bowl of broth teeming with fresh vegetables, which serves as a sauce to bathe the meat. The lamb was rich and flavorful, and there was more than enough for a hearty serving. The sausage wasn’t too spicy but did offer a nice flavor counterpoint. At $15.95 it’s the highestpriced item on the Terry’s lunch menu.

Shrimp provencal ($12.95) teamed a half-dozen plump, tender shrimp with the magic melange of flavors so familiar in Provence — fresh tomato, garlic, onion, olive oil and thyme. It was delicate yet flavorful, a true delight.

Terry’s creme brulee is cheap at $3.75 and is on a par with the creamy delights you’ll find all over town. The tarte tatin ($6.25) is much more distinctive — apples caramelized with butter and sugar and then baked in a small pie shell and served upside down. It was well browned, the apples tender and with only butter and sugar added it was predictably wonderful.

The Restaurant at Terry’s is a wholly civilized place to dine. It’ll do for a quick business lunch, but it’s best experienced at a leisurely pace — and with a glass of wine.

The outstanding Reynolds Family Winery

has provided a private-label selection for Terry’s to serve as its house wine. You’ll get a truly fabulous Napa Valley red blend or chardonnay for a very reasonable $8.

Or splurge on a glass of one of Reynolds’ upper-tier selections or one of the many French varieties offered by the glass.

The Restaurant at Terry’s undoubtedly is among our city’s best. Try it and we’re sure you’ll agree.

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. $$-$$$. 501-603-9630.

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 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. 1417 Main St. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-3755100. BLD Mon.-Fri (closes at 6 p.m.), BL Sat.

The Restaurant at Terry’s Finer Foods 5018 Kavanaugh Blvd.

Little Rock 663-4152 Quick bite

Terry’s works fine for a quick business lunch but is best experienced at a leisurely pace — with a glass of the fabulous Reynolds Family house wine, only $8.

Hours

11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday; 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

Other info

Moderately priced. Credit cards accepted. Full bar and a diverse wine list with more than 20 by-the-glass selections.

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. 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. 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.

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. $$. 501-225-4487. LD daily. 400 W. Capitol Ave. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-372-1919. L Mon.-Fri. FRESH START CAFE An interesting sandwich and salad (and breakfast) place. It understands that some people want “healthy” food and some don’t. 401 W. Capitol Ave. No alcohol, All CC. $$. 501-372-2237. LD Mon.-Fri. FRONTIER DINER The traditional all-American roadside diner, complete with a nice selection of man-friendly breakfasts and lunch specials. The half pound burger is a two-hander for the average working Joe. 10424 Interstate 30. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 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.

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

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Continued on page 36 www.arktimes.com • APRIL 6, 2011 35

Restaurant capsules Continued from page 35

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. 501-7710808. LD Mon.-Sat. 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

36 APRIL 6, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES

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. 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. 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. 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. $-$$. 501-664-6444. LD Mon.-Sat. ZIN URBAN WINE & BEER BAR A snazzy, cosmopolitan yet comfortable, relaxed place to enjoy fine wines and beers while noshing on superb meats, cheeses and amazing goat cheese-stuffed figs. 300 River Market Ave. Beer, Wine, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-246-4876. D daily.

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.

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 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 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. $-$$. 501-5624949. LD Mon.-Sat. WHITE PIG INN Go for the sliced rather than chopped meats at this working-class barbecue cafe. Side orders — from fries to potato salad to beans and slaw — are superb, as are the fried pies. 5231 E. Broadway. NLR. Beer. $-$$.

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 AMRUTH AUTHENTIC INDIAN CUISINE Indian restau-

rant with numerous spicy, vegetarian dishes. 11121 N. Rodney Parham Road. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$. 501-2244567. 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. $-$$. 501-227-7272. LD daily (close 5 p.m. on Sun.). 612 Office Park Drive. Bryant. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-847-5455. LD Mon.-Sat. 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-andwhatever 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. $$-$$$.

501-821-1144. LD daily, BR Sun.

ITALIAN BRAVO! CUCINA ITALIANA This upscale Italian chain offers delicious and sometimes inventive dishes. 17815

MEXICAN 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.

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. 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.

No. 0302 Edited by Will Shortz

■ CROSSWORD

Chenal Pkwy. Full bar, All CC. $$$. 501-821-2485. LD daily. BR Sun. BRUNO’S LITTLE ITALY This more-than-half-century-old establishment balances continuity with innovation in delicious traditional and original fare. The pizza remains outstanding. 315 N. Bowman Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-224-4700. D Mon.-Sat. GRAFFITI’S The casually chic and ever-popular Italian-flavored bistro avoids the rut with daily specials and careful menu tinkering. 7811 Cantrell Road. Full bar, All CC. $$-$$$. 501-224-9079. D Mon.-Sat. PIZZA CAFE Thin, crunchy pizza with just a dab of tomato sauce but plenty of chunks of stuff, topped with gooey cheese. Draft beer is appealing on the open-air deck — frosty and generous. 1517 Rebsamen Park Road. Beer, Wine, All CC. $-$$.

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. $$-$$$. 501-3763463. 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. $-$$.

501-375-8466. 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-your-own 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. $$-$$$. 501-336-9292. BLD daily.

Across 1 Only patron on “Cheers” to appear in all 275 episodes 5 Honshu metropolis 10 Sound 14 Manitoba native 15 Needing nourishment 16 Over, in Oberammergau 17 “Taxi Driver” tagline?

20 Org. in a 1955 merger 21 Super Bowl XLV M.V.P. Rodgers 22 The Minutemen of the 1-Down 23 Buy-now-paylater arrangement: Abbr.

24 Cavaliers, on scoreboards 25 “Back to the Future” tagline?

31 Tapenade ingredient

32 Actor/composer Novello 33 Truckload 35 Catʼs tongue?

36 Bailiwicks 38 Dreyfus defender 39 Band of geishas?

40 Lipinski leap 41 Have a cow 42 “Titanic” tagline?

46 Archaic 47 Bumps hard 48 Like the Aramco oil company 51 Teem 53 Geller with a spoon-bending act 56 “Return of the Jedi” tagline?

59 Pitcher-turnedsportscaster Hershiser 60 Grammatically dissect 61 Marlonʼs “On the Waterfront” director

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE D O G G D I E U E L L E S J E T S U L Y S K A R O E T O S E L F R E P E E M O N E B L A Z E A T E D R E S

W O K S

H O O D I E

S P W O E P U Y P E N S

E M P D I E O D S S T T O S T I M I N O R T H S H S I T M A G O V A M E G

C H A A R D I D E S U T

H O G W A S H

U S U A L

R E A R S

L A S S O

A L R A I B E R M A D M P E W A Z I N L N I A E X

R O S I E

E T H A N

E S L E I T

62 Striped swimmer 63 Worked at home?

64 Dix halved Down 1 March Madness org.

2 “Carmina Burana” composer 3 Down-to-earth 4 Cousteauʼs milieu 5 Power failure 6 Sawed logs, so to speak 7 Big do 8 Gung-ho 9 Naval V.I.P.: Abbr.

10 G.M. brand discontinued in 2010 11 “Dancing Queen” group 12 Dregs 13 Slips up 18 Inscription on a Wonderland cake 19 Swiss who pioneered in graph theory 23 Bxe5 or 0-0-0, in chess 24 Corp. money execs 25 What an accused perpetrator needs 26 Palindromic car name 27 Triangular traffic sign 28 They travel down fallopian tubes 29 Bikini, for one 30 Figure out

1

2

3

4

5

14

6

7

8

9

10

15 18

19

20

21

22

23 26

27

35

48

28

32 36

49

30

33

37

34

38

40 42

29

13

24

31

39

12

16

17

25

11

41

43

44

46

47

50

51

45

52

53

56

57

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

54

55

Puzzle by David Poole

31 Spanish eye 34 “No way, laddie!”

36 Fired 37 “Michael Collins” actor 38 Microwaves 40 Ignore the cue cards, say 41 Short stop?

43 Mountain airs

44 Purpose of an ode 45 Like most runs, in baseball 48 Person who uses a sleeve for a napkin, say 49 Je ne sais quoi 50 Strings at luaus 51 E-mail from a Nigerian prince, probably

52 Cincinnati sitcom station 53 Aptly named fruit 54 It may hold your horses 55 Mesopotamia, today 57 Kwik-E-Mart owner on “The Simpsons” 58 I.B.M. competitor

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.

AROUND ARKANSAS BERRYVILLE

■ UPDATE

GRAV WELDON

302 ON THE SQUARE Nestled into the former ballroom of the Grand View Hotel in Berryville’s city square, this greenawning-shaded restaurant serves classic American dishes with Cajun twists. Not to be missed: the Louisiana Chicken and Rice ($7.50), a humble dish with notes of sage, thyme, marjoram and black pepper and a rich cream gravy over Arkansas rice. Simple, but if you were raised here it’ll take you back to your roots. Don’t skip out on the Dang Good Pie ($3.50), a rich and buttery pineapple-coconut pie in a hand-rolled shell with lovely brown sugar tones. 302 Public Square, Berryville. No alcohol. CC. $$. 870-654-3952. L Thu.-Mon., D Thu.-Sat.

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. GUSANO’S They make the tomatoey Chicago-style deep-dish pizza the way it’s done in the Windy City. It takes a little longer to come out of the oven, but it’s worth the wait.

2915 Dave Ward Drive. Conway. Beer, All CC. $$. 501-329-1100. LD daily.

HART’S SEAFOOD Southern fried fish and seafood buffet over the weekend. 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. SHORTY’S Burgers, dogs and shake joint. 1101 Harkrider. Conway. No alcohol, All CC. $-$$. 501-329-9213. LD Mon.-Sat. www.arktimes.com • APRIL 6, 2011 37

Eat, Drink and Be Literary! ¶

ome one, come all to Pub or Perish, the Arkansas Times’ 8th annual fiction and poetry smack down, featuring live readings by the best writers from Central Arkansas and the Arkansas Literary Festival schedule. Food, drinks, and BIG WHISKEY’S poetry: who could ask for AMERICAN BAR AND GRILL anything more?

225 E. Markham (corner of E. Markham and BRYAN BORLAND LaHarpe at the AMOJA “THE MO-MAN” SUMLER entrance to the AND OTHERS. River Market) Saturday, April 9 from 8-10 p.m.

With

Plus: Open Mic!

For more information about Pub or Perish or open mic, e-mail: david@arktimes.com. Open mic slots are very limited, and available on a first-come-firstserved basis the night of the show.

SPONSORED BY: THE ARKANSAS TIMES, THE ARKANSAS LITERARY FESTIVAL, AND BIG WHISKEY’S AMERICAN BAR AND GRILL. WWW.ARKANSASLITERARYFESTIVAL.ORG 2 JULY 1, 2004 s !2+!.3!3 4)-%3

APRIL 6, 2011

Birds of a Feather A new hair trend sends people flocking to salons

BY KATHRINE WYRICK

T

his issue is all about accessorizing, so we take it from the top with news of the latest trend in hair. If the mention of feathered hair conjures up images of a toothy Farrah Fawcett, it’s time to rethink things.

The of-the-moment sensation, Featherlocks, takes a cue from our avian friends (instead of an angel). These hair extensions are real feathers that can be easily and inexpensively applied to your hair to add subtle or dramatic highlights. They’re also a fast and fabulous way to add style. You can only get them through licensed hair stylists and salons, and around here that means Studio 2121. You could say they have a lock on the look. His voice almost drowned out by hair dryers, Victor Clay of Salon 2121 reports, “We’ve had an abundance of people call and ask about them. We’re the only ones in Little Rock who do this, and we’ve even had people from Fayetteville come down.”

Here, the Times’ very own Devon Dennis models Featherlocks applied by Michael David of Salon 2121. These extensions have also been spotted on celebs. Steven Tyler (of Aerosmtith and more recently “American Idol” fame) has them—though this may be more of a liability than a selling point—as well as Taryn Manning (of “Hustle & Flow” and “8 Mile”).

Stylists apply them with a new chemical-free technique that uses silicone bead technology. Featherlocks can be washed, dried, flatironed or curled. (In case you’re wondering, they cannot give you the ability to fly but can possibly be used to attract a mate.) While they can stay in hair for up to three months, Featherlocks last a lifetime and can be used over and over again without losing integrity or luster.

They’re available in a vast array of colors and patterns, are sold in lengths of 8-16 inches and can be cut just like hair.

Apply as many or as few feathers as you please, just a tuft or full on plumage.

DEVON DENNIS PHOTOGRAPHED BY BRIAN CHILSON

hearsay ➥ Plum plumage. It’s time to get that all-important derby day hat, and the place to get it is at VESTA’S. They’re hosting a special not-to-miss trunk show, Haute Dames of New Orleans, modern couture millinery and accessories, April 7-9. ➥ No teasing. Fashion forward hair stylist Charity Foster, formerly of Tease, has moved to RASPBERRIES in Hillcrest. ➥ Want to strike a balance between sexy and chic? Check out the Douglas Hannant Spring 2011 Trunk Show at B. BARNETT, Thursday, April 14, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. ➥ Party in Fayetteville! BARBARA JEAN takes it on the road with Carats & Couture: A Shopping Event, April 7, 1-8 p.m. and April 8, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at Romance Diamond Co. Back at home, April 12-13, they’ll host an Apriori Fall 2011 Event. This German brand is known for its elegant suits and casual wear. ➥ Celebrate with a celebrated chef. Lee Richardson, Voted Best New Chef for the Midwest by “Food & Wine Magazine” 2011, returns to EGGSHELLS for a night to remember, April 11, 6 p.m. ➥ Supporting children and families is always in style! CENTERS OF FASHION 23RD ANNUAL FASHION SHOW, “Springtime in Paris,” takes place at Argenta Community Theater, Sunday, April 17, but be sure to RSVP by April 7. Tickets $50 each, cocktails & hors d’oeuvres at 6 p.m., show at 7 p.m. The event benefits the Bess Chisum Stephens Community Center, the most recent program to join The Centers for Youth and Families. ➥ Young at art. Visit the ARKANSAS ARTS CENTER to see the Young Arkansas Artists 50th Annual Exhibition, Sunday, April 17. The exhibition showcases art works of all media created by students in kindergarten through 12th grade in Arkansas schools. ➥ Celebrate spring. On Saturday, April 16, the BLOOMS! festival at WILDWOOD PARK FOR THE ARTS celebrates springtime with garden tours, demonstrations, maypole dancing, kids crafts and activities, vendors, live music and food. Admission: $10 for adults, $5 for children 6-12, children 5 and under free. ➥ Get into the sauce. On April 7, join Aaron Walters at KITCHEN CO. for Happy Hour Apps from 6-8 p.m.

On April 11, Walters offers Stovetop Smoker from 6-8 p.m., and on April 12, Rhonda St. John teaches how to make Pork Tenderloin with Port Wine Sauce. ➥ Experience eco-conscious art and fashion. In conjunction with the end of Kitty Harvill’s “Brazil: An Endangered Beauty” exhibit, CANTRELL GALLERY will host a special event on Saturday, April 9, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.—a trunk show of the new spring line from Regalia Handmade Clothing. Regalia is designed and made in Eureka Springs by Mark Hughes. Preview party, April 8, 6-8 p.m. ➥ Big news for your lips. This month CHANEL introduces Rouge Cocco Shine, a hydrating sheer lipshine.

ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE ARKANSAS TIMES • APRIL 6, 2011 39

I

Accessorize Yourself

n this issue, two women at different stages of life offer their unique perspectives on fashion. Here Kathryn Heller and Katherine Wyrick, or K2 as they’re known, take a look at accessories for different occasions. Next week, CUE takes on clothing for modern gal. If you have suggestions or ideas send them to cue@arktimes.com.

work

Katherine Wyrick We love all things Orla Kiely. Jot down notes and to-dos in these sweet notebooks from Wordsworth.

I’m a busy working mom, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t like to keep a well-clad foot in the world of fashion. Sure, I’ve made some concessions to suburban domesticity (minivan), but I refuse to wear “mom” jeans, or at the other end of the spectrum those excessively embellished designer ones.

Kathryn Heller

Understated House of Harlow earrings from Scarlet look professional and cool.

These open toe heels from Solemates have a vintage look while remaining modern.

This Shiraleah clutch from Bella Boutique is right-sized and beautiful in bone.

Companions has cuffs to suit all tastes—even one with a magnetic clasp. Snap!

A beaded belt adds a little boho vibe.

Box Turtle

It’s easier to actually write down my lists and thoughts in this Anna Sui notebook from Wordsworth, rather than typing them out on my iPhone.

This Upper Hand Hobo bag from Box Turtle is the perfect size. Not so big that is looks sloppy but still able hold all the necessities.

I’m a full-time PR coordinator, part-time freelancer and grad student. I look for items that are sophisticated enough for the constant round of meetings and events but that are still fun and fashion-forward.

40 APRIL 6, 2011 • ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE ARKANSAS TIMES

This jewelry from Bella Boutique adds drama to more conservative work clothes.

I wonder if she knows... that Good Earth has the largest selection of pottery and perennials in Arkansas?

for

Spring!

Or that The Good Earth has been named one of the Top 100 Revolutionary Garden Centers in the US for 3 years in a row?

Or that Good Earth means the same thing as Great Experience?

Oh, I think she does!

weekend 15601 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, 501-868-4666

Bad hair days be gone with a Mike Gonzalez angel headband or San Diego straw fedora from Scarlet.

www.thegoodearthgarden.com

Throw on this delicate necklace from These classic Chuck Ts never go out Companions to dress up a of style, and this navy color goes casual look. with everything. Shoe Carnival

I would put these with a striped t-shirt or vintage cotton dress to look a little more put-together on a weekend. Catherine Page Selma earrings and Dolce Vita suede sandals from Beyond Cotton.

Zip-zip-hooray! This cheery yellow purse was a $2 estate sale score, proving it’s a bright idea to mix high and low end finds.

Now AvAiLABLe At With a bag as small as this Handcrafted Cleobella Mexican clutch, your arm won’t get tired even into the third hour of running errands and shopping. Vesta’s

2616 Kavanaugh Blvd. • Little Rock • 501.661.1167 • www.shopboxturtle.com ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE ARKANSAS TIMES • APRIL 6, 2011 41

night out Yoga Classes $10 (Package Rates available) Yoga Class sChedule on Website

Massage speCials

The Michael Stars Take to Air scarf has just the right weight for warmer months. Box Turtle

buY 3 Massages and get 4th one Free!

(give as a gift oR keeP foR YouRself)

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This edgy mesh wrap from Bella Boutique can function as a necklace or bracelet.

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Stuart Wetizman platform heels from Barbara Jean make you feel instantly sexy.

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These Messeca Colbee shoes stand out on their own but the neutral color will go with anything. Scarlet

INSTANT, CONFIDENTIAL CASH LOANS ON FINE JEWELRY

Let Us Help You! Located in Crown Jewelry, where there is always a GIA Graduate Gemologist on site.

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The long strap of this Rebecca Minkoff cross-body bag keeps my hands free for holding a drink or dancing. Scarlet

42 APRIL 6, 2011 • ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE ARKANSAS TIMES

This House of Harlow bracelet and ring combination will be a unique piece among all the other jewelry at the party. Scarlet

A vintage beaded clutch found at the Goodwill adds some sparkle.

eat arkansas

➤➤➤ Kat Robinson’s Eat Arkansas Blog is all things food. Contributing writers include local chefs, foodies and an assortment of people that just love to eat out. The Eat Arkansas email newsletter is delivered each Thursday with an eclectic mix of restaurant reviews, restaurant openings, great new menus and other eating and drinking news. The perfect foodie newsletter!.

t he right wine, t he right t ime

EAT

YOUR STORE NAME HERE

FORKS, CORKS AND MORE @ arktimes.com

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SubScribe for thiS It’s Free! local newS email! dripripple Go to arktImes.Com coffee & Tea

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drivers Please be aWare, it’s arkansas state laW: Use of bicycles or animals

Every person riding a bicycle or an animal, or driving any animal drawing a vehicle upon a highway, shall have all the rights and all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle, except those provisions of this act which by their nature can have no applicability.

overtaking a bicycle

The driver of a motor vehicle overtaking a bicycle proceeding in the same direction on a roadway shall exercise due care and pass to the left at a safe distance of not less than three feet (3’) and shall not again drive to the right side of the roadway until safely clear of the overtaken bicycle.

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NATIVES GUIDE

THE RIVER TRAIL

Urban hiking

W

ho says you have to trek up to Northwest Arkansas to find good hiking in Arkansas? In 10 minutes or less, all Little Rockers and North Little Rockers can get to an urban trail that’ll put them in a natural state of mind. Read on for our favorites.

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midtown dwellers itching to commune with nature, but reluctant to drive far, Allsopp is like heaven. Densely wooded, expansive enough that in spots you’ll forget you’re in the middle of the city and hilly to a point that you’ll feel like you’re exercising (but not so much that you need hiking boots), the 150-acre U-shaped park extends south from Kavanaugh in Hillcrest to the Edgehill neighborhood in the north. Easily accessible from a number of points along Kavanaugh or just off Cantrell, it features two main loops with a number of side paths weaving throughout. Most of the trails are ideal for mountain biking. Dog walking is popular, too. So stay vigilant if you fit in either of those groups; Allsop’s trails aren’t wide. Find the main entrance to the park at Cantrell and

Cedar Hill Road; trails spill out onto the park green all along the surrounding wooded area.

BURNS PARK At around 1,600 acres, Burns is easily the largest city park in Central Arkansas and one of the largest municipal parks in the country (Central Park, for instance, is half the size of Burns). With massive baseball, soccer and tennis complexes and 36-holes of golf, it’s easy to forget about the North Little Rock park’s wooded parts. Unless you’re a Boy Scout. For more than 40 years, local scouts have earned merit badges for hiking one of the Scout Trails. The looped paths cover either five or 10 miles and, among the park’s half a dozen or so trails, probably offer the best scenery. Stop at the Visitor’s Information Center off Military Road when you enter the park to get a free trail map. Take exit 150 off I-40 or from North Little Rock, take MacArthur north to Charles H. Boyer.

EMERALD PARK You’ll find arguably the best view of downtown Little Rock in this North Little Rock park near Fort

Roots. A largely paved trail follows a ridgeline that looks down on the River Trail and the Arkansas River. A number of well-worn paths go beyond the “DANGER” signs to cliff’s edge. Be careful; it’s a long way down. A rocky switchback breaks away near the parking lot entrance that goes down to the River Trail. Be prepared to sweat on the way up. Take Pershing to First Street, past Pulaski Tech, to Marge Gardner Lane.

GILLAM PARK If you’re looking for an end-of-days setting for your next movie shoot, try Gillam Park. Still officially listed among the Little Rock Parks Department’s offerings, but currently leased by Arkansas Audubon, this southeast Little Rock park is all but closed for most park activity. A gate blocks vehicular entrance to a paved drive that leads to an abandoned swimming pool, basketball court and extended green space. But hikers and bikers are still welcome. Park outside the gate and follow a paved walking trail past the pool into a wooded area.

If you stay straight, after about a half a mile, you’ll find an oxbow lake created

URBAN HIKING

ALLSOPP PARK

by Fourche Creek that’s prime birding territory. The trail is paved or covered by gravel to the lake. Beyond the lake and on a spur trail that goes upland, it’s a little more wild. Look out for snakes and ticks. And bring a buddy.

It can get lonely. Take Springer Boulevard (off I-440 one exit south of the airport) to Gillam Park Road.

KNOOP PARK Among the candidates for the best view of downtown Little Rock, this one’s the easiest to get to.

Unless it’s time for Fourth of July or Riverfest fireworks or there’s some clandestine outdoor dance party going on, the small park surrounding the Ozark Point Water Treatment Plant is rarely crowded. Mostly, you’ll find stroller-pushing parents, dog walkers and idling teen-agers along the short, paved semi-circle or hanging out along the stone-walled lookout at the apogee of the trail. Take Kavanaugh to North Martin and Ozark Streets.

PINNACLE MOUNTAIN STATE PARK In other parts of the country, it’d be a glorified hill, but here in Central Arkansas, we can’t get enough of Pinnacle Mountain’s 750-foot summit. When the weather’s nice, the 1.5-mile West Summit Trail can feel like waiting in line for the big ride at Disneyland. The East Summit, also 1.5 miles, is steeper and rockier and less crowded. As nice as the view is from the top, don’t let it keep you from exploring other parts of the 2,100-acre state park. You’ll find both a lowland trail along the ancient cypress-lined Little Maumelle and the eastern trailhead for the 225-mile Ouachita Trail

that goes all the way into Oklahoma.

Stop at the Visitor’s Center to get your bearings. Take Highway 10 to Pinnacle Valley Road.

THE RIVER TRAIL Already one of the great pedestrian trails anywhere, the River Trail is on the verge of a momentous summer with the scheduled openings of the former Rock Island Bridge by the Clinton Library and the bridge over the Little Maumelle River sometime this summer. In the meantime, enjoy the 13-mile loop and its two bridges, and if you’re feeling especially ambitious, build a bigger hike by hooking up to nearby Allsopp, Burns or Emerald Park. A warning: A nice day always guarantees you’ll find groups walking four abreast and selfimportant, pedestrian-scorning bikers riding at top speeds. You don’t want to be around when the two meet.

Catch the trail in the River Market or along Riverfront Drive in Little Rock or at North Shore Park or Burns Park in North Little Rock.

TWO RIVERS PARK This 1,000-acre tract, jointly owned by the city of Little Rock and Pulaski County, sits at the confluence of the Arkansas and Little Maumelle Rivers. Birders, bikers, strolling parents and horseback riders share the paths. Many are paved; those that aren’t are always less crowded, but in the spring, wear shoes you don’t mind getting muddy — the area turns boggy quickly. A good place to see deer, hawks and armadillos. Take Cantrell to Pinnacle Valley Road and turn right onto County Farm Road.

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Writ lit n Here at Pine Knot Abundant Life, our Sunday School class, God’s Go-Getters, agrees with the Arkansas legislators who want the Bible taught as literature in our public schools.

Of course the young people won’t get anything out of it — because literature is not something they care about. It’s from the old times, like vinyl records, newspapers, typewriters, dial phones, and pictures that people painted themselves with real paint instead of letting the computer do it with virtual paint.

Manners are a memory from the old times. Civilized discourse is from the old times. A belief in progress — even in the possibility of progress — that’s from the old times. Charity of several kinds that would cleanse your heart; public service when it really meant that. Knowing a little bit about what you’re talking about is from the old times, and being ashamed to hold and bray stupid opinions. Wars that had starts and finishes are from the old times.

I’m from the old times. Very soon now, if not already, Harry Potter will be from the old times. And the Bible is from way old times.

The Bible won’t go over in literature class any better than algebra does in algebra class, or abstinence in sex ed. But it can’t hurt anything. And there’s always the

Bob L ancaster chance that something will be quoted in there, or misquoted, that will inspire some teenager to put off having sex for a week or two. That’s the underlying point of all the legislation to re-Bible the schoolhouse anyway. It’s a longshot hope to persuade youngsters to put off sex until they’re out on their own and no longer in your keeping, because you know what can happen and they don’t. Or they act like they don’t.

Or they don’t care. Or if they do know and do care, they can’t help themselves.

How are young people supposed to know how to behave themselves if they don’t have Bible classes in the schools? You can’t force it on them at gunpoint, as Bro. Huckabee wants to do, because this is the United States, which disallows gunpoint instruction, even for young people and scoffers. You can’t beat it into them, although the monks of the older old times tried to flog temptation out of themselves, using cruel whips, and that might set a good example if we made absolutely sure it was voluntary and done on the honor system. Sunday

C

6, 6, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES 46 April APRIL 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES 46

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eliminate all the begats and verilys, and the boring characters like Jumping Jehoshaphat, Ahab the Arab and his 70 sons, and the endless cast of underachievers who frontweight the Chronicles, burying it to its axles in genealogical ennui. And strip-down stories would allow the lit teacher to avoid such embarrassing questions as should we still hunt down and kill witches and where Adam and Eve’s daughters-in-law came from.

The Writ-lit textbook I’d recommend would be “Heroes of the Bible” by Olive Beaupre Miller. She and her book are from the old times too. I use the 1940 hardback edition — mainly because its handsome illustrations make the mean lives of ancient Canaan goatherds look so clean and colorful. The first one in the book shows God and Abraham conferring, God trying to talk him into hitting the road, and Abraham looks like a younger Billy Crystal in a midnight blue bathrobe, and God, in leather flipflops and no-iron apricot raiment, is the spitting image of Col. Harlan Sanders.

Not the stand-in nephew Col. Sanders; the original recipe one.

With more up-to-date references, such as that might pique the young people.

That hardcover edition of “Heroes of the Bible” is long out of print and hard to find, and I’d bet you a mess of pottage that the Texas Board of Education has bought up all the copies of the 1991 paperback edition for use as primary sources in the Lone Star State’s public-school science classes.

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School is just once a week, and wears off

by Tuesday, and most Sunday Schools have become so lenient and modern that you can’t even criticize youngsters much less whup them or scare them straight with factual descriptions of what Hell is like.

Nads just don’t listen to reason.

It can’t just be the King James version, though. For one reason, because King James himself was such a rounder. He was bi, did you know that? What lesson would the youngsters draw from the flowery dedication to a rascal like that? You might as well be teaching “Tropic of Cancer” in your literature class. And the King James version has words in it that you wouldn’t want the youngsters exposed to — words like whoremongers and knob-gobblers.

Well, maybe not knob-gobblers, but St. Paul wasn’t shy about using the vernacular when a congregation needed stirring up.

You wouldn’t want Jesus turning the water into wine and then everybody in the class having a cooler or spodie-odie, either.

My suggestion to the Go-Getters was that we endorse Bible stories in the classroom rather than the straight text that God passed down to us. Straight King James can be harsh and lacking in positive reinforcement. If you’re stiffnecked, which most of these youngsters are, it’s on your case from start to finish.

Bible stories, on the other hand, bowdlerized, modernized, softened just a little, would be more classroom-friendly. They’d

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