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VOLUME 44, NUMBER 42

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WEEK THAT WAS

Tweets of the week “Nancy Pelosi introduces her campaign committee for the take back of the House.” [With the picture above attached:] “Bigotry. On the menu at Red Hen Restaurant in Lexington VA. Or you can ask for the “Hate Plate”. And appetizers are “small plates for small minds” — Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMike Huckabee) tweeting on the same day. The tweet about the Red Hen Restaurant came after Huckabee’s daughter, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, was refused service at the restaurant.

No sense of history Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense toured an unused federal site in Kelso (Desha County) and the Little Rock Air Force Base for possible use holding immigrants amid the Trump administration’s border crackdown. Kelso is about a five-minute drive away from the Rohwer internment camp at which over 8,000 Japanese-Americans — many of them children — were held captive by their own government during World War II.

LR board declines to endorse restructure Last week, the Little Rock City Board defeated Director Erma Hendrix’s proposal to refer to voters an ordinance that would eliminate the three at-large city directors on the city board and go to a seven-member, ward-only board. Only City Director Ken Richardson voted for the ordinance. Hendrix didn’t vote. The other eight were nays. The directors themselves didn’t discuss the ordinance. Though the outcome was expected, many turned out to debate the question. 4

JUNE 28, 2018

ARKANSAS TIMES

Business establishment speakers favored the current setup. They said having directors with a citywide vision was important. Some local activists also endorsed the concept, both black and white. Director Joan Adcock, an activist at-large director, got several compliments. At-large Directors Gene Fortson and Dean Kumpuris, not so much. Others, particularly black speakers, said the poor wards were overlooked by the at-large directors and their representatives frequently ignored. Perhaps the most persuasive argument: Several said if the at-large directors and their supporters are so sure their way is the best, what’s to fear about a vote? The fear on the establishment’s part is a loss of control. Still to come: Possibility of a petition campaign to put a change-of-government ordinance on the ballot. The business establishment can’t stop that. But if it gets there, they’ll spend big time to beat it. Chris Burks, a lawyer and active Democrat, struck a third-way note. City government structure might need changing, but simply eliminating the

at-large directors isn’t enough. The ward structure might need work, but so does the structure of government, currently a blended semi-strongmayor/city manager form.

Longtime Municipal League leader dies Don Zimmerman, the longtime leader of the Arkansas Municipal League, died Sunday at 75. He was a genial, accessible and astute leader of the powerful city government lobby in Arkansas. And though he endeavored to work with all sides, he was not afraid to take on powerful forces. He pushed for a gas severance tax increase, for collection of taxes on internet sales and departed from conventional highway department thinking in suggesting a new Arkansas River bridge crossing in Little Rock. Lately, he played a key role in the alliance of city government and

county government in a class-action lawsuit against drugmakers over the opioid scourge (engendering great unhappiness from Attorney General Leslie Rutledge). Generally speaking, the Municipal League held a more progressive outlook than some of the other entrenched lobbies and politicians at the Capitol. The differences might have been subtle, but in this generally regressive state, they were important. This was particularly true in the league’s successful opposition to city-killing legislation aimed at, among other things, protecting rural dwellers from such things as sound planning practices. If cities don’t have all the home rule they deserve in Arkansas, to the extent they retain some Don Zimmerman gets plenty of credit. He’d worked for the league for 52 years and led it since 1974.

OPINION

Who’s coming for dinner?

housands of children, stripped from their families at the border, remain hostage to a U.S. government using them to coerce illegal-entry guilty pleas from their parents. The U.S. wants to make criminals of many seeking legal asylum. The U.S. Supreme Court is now controlled by a critical justice produced by Republicans holding the U.S. Senate hostage for the last year of Barack Obama’s presidency. The GOP rewards have been rich. Gay discrimination. Racial gerrymandering. Anti-abortion law. AntiMuslim travel bans. Against this awful news, more words may have been written on social media and uttered on cable TV about where Sarah Huckabee Sanders went to dinner last Friday night. It was funny to me that it happened in Lexington, Va., where I spent four college years in what amounted then to a haute cuisine desert. A footlong chili dog at Estelle’s Grill was the finest food available.

Sanders and her husband and friends headed for dinner Friday night at the Red Hen, a cute place MAX famed for farm-to- BRANTLEY maxbrantley@arktimes.com table dining. The staff didn’t want to serve President Trump’s press secretary. They had moral objections to the likes of his cruel treatment of immigrants. Some were gay and have felt the lash of his discrimination against LGBT people. The owner decided it was time to stand on principle. She quietly asked Sanders to leave and comped their cheeseboard. Word leaked out on social media. Sanders used her White House Twitter account to report the eviction while claiming that she had always treated people with respect. Video of her sneering condescension to the White House press corps provides evidence to the contrary. She’s also regularly disrespected the truth.

Constitution on hold

oaring that the Mongols are at the gates is an election strategy that may work in the home of the free as well as it has with desperate people in the long ugly history of nativism. President Trump, at least, thinks that stoking fears of murderous brownskinned people swarming across the land, raping and pillaging as they go, accounts for his bump in the polls the past three months and the improving prospects that his party can hold onto Congress in the fall election. But there is equal evidence that he has underestimated the strength of the old story of America as the beacon for the rights of man. His staff reported that he was shocked by the reaction, even in the Republican Party, against snatching the children of immigrants and asylum seekers at the border and also against taking away their due-process rights. Aides reported that he was furious that they had coerced him into rescinding the policy of snatching away immigrants’ kids and holding them in internment camps. Finally, in the midst of the chaos at the White House, Homeland Security and the Justice Department just scrapped the whole “zero tolerance” policy on immigrants and went back

to the Barack Obama system. For the moment. The president tweeted that he wanted border agents and troops to round up immigrants and haul ERNEST them back across DUMAS the border and perhaps to where they came from (his syntax was confusing) without any legal proceedings. But even Jeff Sessions’ Justice Department is familiar with the Fifth and 14th amendments, which say they have the right to due process under the laws, just like us citizens. Fearing that the Republican Congress might pass some sort of immigration reform that might salve the controversy, he told it not to bother. The immigration war, he has figured out, is his best chance to keep Democrats at bay in November by blaming them for a vast wave of immigrant crime. Americans are not that different from people in every community around the globe — we tend to want to be surrounded and governed by people who look and sound like us and have the same religious and political inclinations. As Sarah Huckabee Sanders and a few gay couples have discovered and blacks

Still, this was not an easy call. That ton Post editorial page was among leftie has made for robust public debate. The sources harrumphing about Sanders’ Trump people thrive on seeing them- restaurant eviction. Can’t we get along, selves as victims of the elites and the lib- they asked? tards. Let Robert De Niro curse Trump Really? The MAGA snowflakes wearor let an independent restaurant “86” ing “She’s a Cunt” T-shirts and burning Sarah Sanders and you know the alt- tiki torches are triggered by denial of a right, the Trump tribe and Russian bots meal? Gentility should be extended to a will have a field day. Their caterwaul- pugnacious and dishonest mouthpiece ing is politically useful. It drowns out for a man who thrived on abusive speech the cries of Honduran toddlers fleeing and encouraged supporters to do viogang violence. lence to opponents? My own first impression was, gee, I Still. I’d have served Sarah Huckawish they’d served Sanders. How can bee. But I can’t help but recall that her you protest denial of service to gay staunchest defender, her dear old racepeople and deny service to her? But, of baiting dad, Bro. Gov. Mike Huckabee, course, that was the Red Hen’s reverse refused routine press services to the point. How can Sanders defend a moral Arkansas Times because of our criticism ground for refusing to serve gays and of him. This was not only uncivil, but then be surprised to encounter a prin- probably unconstitutional. (The curcipled objection to serving someone who rent Republican administration does bears false witness and brings pain to supply press releases, but it harms us others? A former government ethics more directly with financial retribution official also said incidentally that Sand- through advertising embargoes.) ers — and later the president — were in Though I’d have served Sarah, I violation of ethics rules by using offi- would not boycott the Red Hen should cial accounts to attack a tiny business I find myself in Lexington again. Unless in Lexington, Va. I found Estelle was still serving up those Then there’s civility. The Washing- footlongs.

before them, many also prefer not to even do business with them. So Trump has manufactured a national crisis: Hordes of criminally inspired people are flooding into the country at unprecedented rates, fostering a crime wave like the nation has never seen and endangering national security with terrorists and saboteurs. All of it is manifestly untrue. Crime rates are close to historical lows, and crime statistics show that immigrants actually are less criminally inclined that we native-born. Brownsville, Texas, just across the border from Matamoros and the cradle of the border controversies, offers a good analogy. Brownsville’s population has soared from 99,000 in 1990 to 190,000. Brownsville’s murder rate surged last year to six, up from four in 2016. Let’s match it with a comparable city in our parts — say, Little Rock, which has almost exactly the same population. Last year, Little Rock had 52 murders, nearly 10 times the Brownsville rate. Rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults compared similarly. Police Chief Orlando Rodriguez said Brownsville’s crime rate had been trending downward the past few years. But Trump’s strategy is working, to a point. Polls show that 90 percent of Republicans stand with him, even if independents and Democrats do not.

Trump cut class when they took up the chapter on the country’s founding. Founders like Madison, Jefferson, Hamilton and Franklin were devotees of the Romantic philosophers Bentham and Mill, who said every human on earth was born with natural (God-given) rights, which Jefferson and others described in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution’s preamble and the Bill of Rights as a batch of freedoms, including speech, press, religion, association, life, health, the pursuit of happiness and, of course, equality. In practice, the freedoms didn’t apply to black people or women, but subsequently the country clarified those matters with the 13th, 14th and 19th amendments. Liberty and equality were the right of every human, and once a person stepped on American soil the government would protect that person’s rights, including due process and the equal protection of the laws — everyone’s rights, including those of blacks, Muslims, gays, immigrants and even someone accused of breaking the law. For two centuries, guaranteeing the rights of man made the United States the most admired and envied country on the planet, the refuge of the oppressed, the home of the Statue of Liberty and asylum for Salvadorans and their children. The president asks that we put that on hold until after the election.

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Sociopath-in-chief

ociopaths live as permanent im- are best understood as one of nature’s posters. They function largely by bewildering little tricks, like ticks and imitating the behavior of others. water moccasins. Amoral and utterly lacking in normal The classic emotional bonds, such individuals know study is Hervey right from wrong, but just don’t give a Clinkley’s 1941 damn. Their world divides into user book “The Mask and used; morality consists of fear of of Sanity.” But it’s GENE getting caught. And whatever happens, when the mask LYONS somebody else is always to blame. slips that things The formal term is “narcissistic per- can get strange. sonality disorder,” defined by the Mayo My God, she had a champagne party Clinic as “a mental condition in which and invited Channel 4? people have an inflated sense of their Who knew, for example, that milown importance, a deep need for exces- lions of Americans would react with sive attention and admiration, troubled shame and horror to the policy of tearrelationships, and a lack of empathy ing brown-skinned urchins “invading” for others. But behind this mask of the United States from their mother’s extreme confidence lies a fragile self- arms? Not Donald J. Trump, for whom esteem that’s vulnerable to the slight- such children are equivalent to vermin est criticism.” “infesting” the country, like cockroaches Sound like anybody in the news? and rats. How such individuals often selfMy God, he kidnapped 2,500 childestruct is by venturing out past the dren and held them hostage? boundaries of imitable behavior. My Utterly lacking in normal human book “Widow’s Web” describes the compassion, Trump had no way of anticbizarre antics of an Arkansas woman ipating how his barbarous policy would who murdered her husband in his bed, look to ordinary citizens. His clumsy concocting a series of wild alibis involv- efforts to lie his way out of the political ing hit men out of Chicago that detec- trap his cruelty and incompetence cretives never credited for a minute. But ated only made things worse. they also never found a murder weapon. Anyway, it looks as if a line may have Friends and family didn’t know what been crossed. Esquire’s political blogto think. ger Charles P. Pierce writes that: “You That is until four months after her can feel the difference in the air. The husband’s death, when the widow members of the governing party, uneasy threw a champagne party celebrating about the prospects for this year’s midher nonindictment and called in the terms anyway, are fairly trembling at the press. See, just as the relentless skepti- moment, seeing in their mind’s eyes a cism of homicide cops was new to her, hundred 30-second spots of weeping she’d no idea how to act the challeng- toddlers behind chain-link walls … ing role of victim’s wife. Photos of her “The country’s head is clearing. The gleefully popping champagne with her country’s vision is coming back into new boyfriend on the front page of the focus and it can see for the first time statewide newspaper stunned relatives the length and breadth of the damage and friends who’d been previously been it has done to itself … The hallucinatory unable to imagine her guilt. effect of a reality-show presidency is Then they got scared, fearing they dispersing like a foul, smoky mist over could be next. Indeed, Mary Lee Orsini a muddy battlefield.” was only getting started. George F. Will, The Washington More from the Mayo Clinic: Socio- Post’s longtime Republican columpaths typicallycharacteristically nist, has had it, urging readers support “behave in an arrogant or haughty man- Democrats in November to protect the ner, coming across as conceited, boastful Constitution from Trump: “[T]o vote and pretentious,” and “react with rage against his party’s cowering congresor contempt and try to belittle [critics] sional caucuses is to affirm the nation’s to make themselves appear superior.” honor while quarantining him.” “Moral Imbeciles” was the 19th GOP campaign consultant Steven century term. Penitentiaries are full of Schmidt has formally renounced the them. Also, any institution where con- Republican Party, no longer the party scienceless kissing up, kicking down and of Lincoln, but the party of Trump. shameless prevarication pays off. Alas, Trump’s mask is definitely slipthere’s no known treatment. Sociopaths ping.

Privileged civility

ARKANSAS TIMES

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y now, we have all seen take after have told their stories of loss, fear and take from journalists and politi- escape. Mothers who have lost their cians about the events last Friday sons to police violence have cried and night at the Red Hen in Lexington, Va., shown pictures of their fatherless where White House Press Secretary grandchildren. Gold Star families have Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked to described the pain of losing a child leave the restaurant after the owner and to war only to find out that the very the staff decided they did not want to country their child serve her. This came just days after died fighting for Sanders explained that the Bible sup- would ban them ported separating children from their from entering as parents at the border and joined Sec- refugees. Turns retary of Homeland Security Kirstjen out, the only peoAUTUMN Nielsen at a press conference where ple who gain any TOLBERT the latter lied to the American people sympathy from about the administration’s decision to the cult of Trump are fellow Trumpers. house thousands of children in camps We’ve tried religion. Fighting fire and other detainment facilities. with fire. The evangelical Trump supFor every column or tweet praising porters have moved on from picking and the staff of the Red Hen for refusing to choosing their favorite parts of Leviticus serve a lying member of Trump’s inner to picking and choosing their favorite circle, there are a chorus of those who, parts of Paul’s Letters to the Romans. not coincidentally, are overwhelmingly All this has me beginning to think the older, white and male, calling for deco- only required reading in the Huckabee rum, civility and respect. These are the household were daddy’s books. anthems of the privileged. These are It seems we’ve tried it all, but last the anthems of those who have noth- week a group of Democratic Socialists ing to lose. Or at least they believe they of America in D.C. tried something else. have nothing to lose. They’ll see. Just After Neilsen had the audacity or ignoas the soybean farmers, many of them rance to go eat at a Mexican restaurant, Trump supporters, learned this week the DSA went into the restaurant and up that his trade-related tantrums have to her table to call her out. Guess what? real-life impact. The next day, a new executive order But until they do find themselves was prepared by Nielsen and presented on the receiving end of one of Trump’s to Trump. I’m not saying the protestcruel or just plain stupid policies, they’ll ers were the only cause, but I’d be surcontinue to be tone police and wag their prised if Nielsen wasn’t shaken by the fingers at those who speak up. They’ll incident. Of course, the new executive make false equivalencies between the order is still terrible, but it seems like Masterpiece cake case and the Sanders the optics of the incident may have hit incident (as others have pointed out, home. We can only hope that Sanders sexual orientation is often a protected is also realizing that the good citizens of class, being a liar is not). They’ll quote this country aren’t going to let her keep their grandmothers and tell us we can shoveling whatever she wants at our feet catch more flies with honey than we can and expect us to politely nod and ask with vinegar. They’ll tell us to be patient, for more. We can hope that Trump will to not be so direct and to just vote in be left standing alone with his cruelty. November and this will all be fine. Well, Of all the advice the privileged give we have seen the results of what hap- about civility, I can most appreciate pened when we were nice and patient the advice about catching more flies while Trump’s GOP stole a Supreme with honey. It is good advice. It just Court seat. isn’t the right advice for right now. We We’ve tried facts. We ran Secretary are way past the point of being civil of State Hillary Clinton, a policy wonk, to those who wake up every morning who explained in the debates how bad and choose to go to work to further the it would be if we elected Trump. Mem- dangerous and deeply immoral agenda bers of his cult, ignoring reality, demand of this administration. We are way past the families seeking asylum go through the point of being civil to the members some simple, mythical immigration pro- of Congress who prop it up through cess to “do it the right way.” Any news both their action and their inaction. We critical of Trump, his policies, or his aren’t out to catch any flies. We are out family is “fake news.” to fight fascists. For that task, vinegar We’ve tried emotion. Immigrants will work just fine.

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he challenge of a weekly publica- responsible for surtion with a Tuesday deadline as rendering more it pertains to the sporting world runs (seven) than is that with the Arkansas Razorbacks the starters (four) baseball team locked in a fight with Or- as the Hogs have egon State for the national champion- comfortably won ship over a three-day span, this column all three games by BEAU WILCOX is going to be one of three things by the at least three runs. time it publishes: prescient, misguided And for those that would offer that or some combination of both. Knight, Murphy and Campbell couldn’t At the risk of being that homer that record an out past the sixth inning of you all love to hate, and at the risk of any start, the fact that the three of them going against the bettors’ beliefs, I’m also fired 21 strikeouts and only three proclaiming this the first national title- walks meant that command and life winning Razorback team — outside of on the hard stuff was at its apex at the track and field, natch — since Scotty right time of the season. The relievers Thurman sank a high-arcing three in are helping bring it home, but Knight Charlotte in 1994. and Murphy are a formidable 1-2 for • Arkansas’s opener against Texas Oregon State’s vaunted hitters to face, was delayed for nearly three hours, and likely better than most Friday-Saturall the Hogs did was march right out day matchups that the Pac-12 offers. and pop the Longhorns between the • Lastly, while Oregon State does eyes for six runs when the tarp was have a terrific attack, it boggles the finally lifted. Then the Hogs’ second mind why Arkansas’s squad — fourth in game against Texas Tech was pushed the country in home runs with 98, balback a full day, and that didn’t matter anced against a .302 team batting avermuch, either, because Arkansas gener- age and a commendable enough team ally dominated that game (a 7-4 final) strikeout-walk ratio (it’s basically right save for a sketchy ninth-inning. In at 3:2) — gets overlooked. What this other words, when the Best-of-Three lineup lacks in high draftees it makes series with the Beavers was delayed by up for with a newfound sense of drastorms in Omaha, all the commentary matic timing, anchored by sophomore from ESPN talking heads suggested outfielder Dom Fletcher and freshman that this played into Oregon State’s third baseman Casey Martin, both of favor as it gave Heimlich another day whom have shown off a clutch stick of rest. Well, the weather has affected in Omaha. Fletcher became the fifth every team in Omaha from the get-go, Hog with 10 or more homers this year and Heimlich was going to be working with a big moon shot against the Gators, on ample rest anyway, so what gives and Luke Bonfield could make it six if with this concocted advantage? It is he drives one this week off the Beaver this columnist’s brazen opinion that staff. Arkansas catcher Grant Koch has the folks in Bristol, Conn., love even a scuffled a bit and Eric Cole has disapcontroversial redemption story, which peared at moments, but other than that, Heimlich’s triumph would be, and they this lineup is well charged for the final believe Arkansas doesn’t have the SEC stretch and completely unintimidated championship cache that really drives by the Beaver arms, largely because ratings. the Hogs have beaten Florida’s Brady • The Hogs are the only unbeaten Singer three times in three starts the (3-0) team since arriving in the Midwest, past two seasons, and taken considerdespite all this furor over Oregon State, able shots at other exalted prospects which looked really shaky for about 14 all year long. innings in this CWS before unleashing This is, let’s be blunt, the time for the bats against Washington after a Arkansas to run a championship profour-plus-hour rain delay in that game. gram out there and for that team to They’ve come by that record honestly, simply embrace the opportunity. This too: The offense tallied a healthy 23 isn’t to suggest the Hogs will be perfect, runs over those three games, includ- because the margin for error against ing four more homers, and the start- a team like Oregon State is slim. But ing pitching of Blaine Knight, Kacey we’re predicting that it won’t be a runMurphy and, yes, Isaiah Campbell was ner-up finish here at Pearls, and we’ll collectively nothing short of fantastic. own it if we misfire. Arkansas 7, Oregon The bullpen, in fact, has been its usual State 5 (Game 1); Arkansas 10, Oregon outstanding self but has actually been State 4 (Game 2).

Control

he Observer is ancient enough to remember when there was some semblance of civility in politics — when you could talk about a subject in mixed company without devolving into tribalism, each member eventually backing away slowly with their respective knives unsheathed and at the ready, each resolving to let the other stay mired in his or her stupidity. No, this isn’t another essay tut-tutting about Sarah Huckabee Sanders getting tossed out on her ear by the owner of a 25-seat restaurant in Virginia. If Sanders ever walks into an outfit we’re running, you can bet she’s going to get the bum’s rush outta there as well. All politics aside, her casual, sneering lies in service of an even bigger and more sneerful liar have managed to reveal a character that would make Yours Truly unable to trust her in the presence of the silverware. And besides: That’s what we call “property rights,” dear Trumpies. Let them eat KFC! All we’re saying is: It wasn’t always like this. But then Bill Clinton made George the First a one-termer, ending what the GOP felt sure would be a Republican in the White House for generation upon generation after St. Ronnie. After that, it all went to hell in a hand basket. It really doesn’t matter who started it. But let’s name names regardless. Someday, in the light of the flickering campfires outside the ruined cities, the children might want to know the goddam truth for once. There are a lot of culprits on both sides, but the original seed was planted by the insufferable prig and know-it-all Newt Gingrich, a man so reptilian he’s literally named after a reptile. You might call The Observer a hypocrite for throwing verbal spitballs at Newt in the midst of a treatise on bygone civility, but he is, in fact, an insufferable, reptilian prig and know-it-all. These are facts that can be proven by history, the public record and maybe even advanced string theory. You see, way back in 1996, Gingrich released his infamous GOPAC training memo, “Language: A Key Mechanism of Control.” In it, he gave a long list of words for Republican candidates to apply to themselves and their ideas. Principled! Pro-flag! Citizen! Pristine! In the same document, he also gave a corresponding list of words that should be used to demonize and belittle the works and character of the opposing side. Let’s share the whole list in this space, so you can know where the germ of this

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THE OBSERVER NOTES ON THE PASSING SCENE

national affliction came from. Here goes: Abuse of power, anti-flag, anti-family, anti-child, anti-jobs, betray, bizarre, bosses, bureaucracy, cheat, coercion, compassion is not enough, collapsing, consequences, corruption, criminal rights, crisis, cynicism, decay, deeper, destroy, destructive, devour, disgrace, endanger, excuses, failure, greed, hypocrisy, ideology, impose, incompetent, insecure, insensitive, intolerant, liberal, lie, limits, machine, mandates, obsolete, pathetic, patronage, permissive attitude, pessimistic, punish, radical, red tape, self-serving, selfish, sensationalists, shallow, shame, sick, spending, stagnation, status quo, steal, taxes, they/them, threaten, traitors, unionized, urgency, waste and welfare. Was it any coincidence that in October 1996, the same year Gingrich released his helpful blueprint for turning American politics into “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome,” Fox News went on the air? Probably not. The Devil always shoots loaded dice. Recently, the same man who advocated that Republican candidates should seek to link members of the party of JFK to the words “pathetic,” “traitors,” “disgrace,” “betray” and “steal” took to Twitter to sadly shake his head over the “nastiness” of Sanders being denied her artisan cheese sampler. That’s right: The man who wrote the monster-shouting incantation that was repeated and repeated and repeated until those words managed to conjure up an actual monster and install him in the White House spoke, in public, about how a small-business owner depriving Sanders of a meal after she’d spent the day advocating for putting immigrant children in cages is the REAL problem. But we digress. No matter which side of the fence you’re on, The Observer encourages you to hit the Googlebox, find and read Newt’s memo. Then, ask yourself: Do I really believe that the work-a-day Americans who disagree with me politically are liars, traitors and un-American scum? Or am I still caught in the teeth of Newt’s “Mechanism of Control”? While we all like to believe we are the ultimate captain of our own beliefs, you probably already know the answer in your heart.

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arktimes.com JUNE 28, 2018

THE

Inconsequential News Quiz:

BIG Trumpocalypse Now edition PICTURE

Play at home, while figuring out what the hell we’re going to do with 105 million bushels of unwanted soybeans.

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of Arkansas

1) A Pine Bluff waitress got a big surprise recently at the restaurant where she worked. What, according to police, was the surprise? A) She threw Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ lying ass out of the restaurant, and Sanders didn’t later take to Twitter to whine about it. B) “Meat and three” plate contained actual meat. C) A man allegedly tried to pay for his meal with her own credit card, which had been stolen when her car was broken into two days before. D) President Trump came in and gave her a huge tip. The tip was: “Never trust Donald Trump, because he’s a lying conman.” 2) Ron Horsey, Central Arkansas vice president for Baldwin & Shell Construction, recently spoke to the Bryant School Board to explain why bids for a new fine arts center at Bryant High came in around $4 million higher than expected. What was one of the reasons Horsey gave for the greater-than-expected cost? A) Immigrant children forced to make bricks and fiberglass insulation in abandoned Walmart stores all over Texas just aren’t giving it their all. B) The building had to be outfitted with ventilation and laboratory space because in Saline County, meth-making is considered one of the fine arts. C) The first attempt at constructing the building had to be torn down after it was discovered an unscrupulous contractor had built it entirely of tongue depressors and paper mache. D) Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum. Horsey told the board, “What we’re seeing is the tariffs, right or wrong, that have been implemented. ... Now we’re a couple months down the road and those real increases are hitting.” 3) When patch of federal land near the Desha County community of Kelso was reportedly considered for the “honor” of housing immigrant children, several noted the site would include an extra helping of cruel irony if selected. What was different about the site? A) The address is the same one given to all plaintiffs trying to sue Trump University. B) Local Trump-supporting racists have been emotionally torn for weeks over whether they should celebrate the opening of the camp or protest the arrival of more brown people. C) The site was knocked off the list after Trump took to Twitter to gripe about the area’s lack of golf courses for him to visit during his “Make Concentration Camps Great Again” tour this summer. D) The site was around three miles from the former Rohwer Internment Camp, to which over 8,000 Japanese-Americans, many of them children, were forcibly relocated during World War II. 4) On June 21, 1st District U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford crowed on Twitter that “soybean exports are up 21%” because of Trump’s monumentally stupid tariffs. As noted by Crawford’s Democratic opponent Chintan Desai, however, Crawford left out a few things about the state of American soybeans while helping Trump take a victory lap. Like what? A) The same day Crawford wrote his tweet, soybean prices sank to a 10-year low, having dropped by 12 percent since March. B) Sixty-two percent of American soybeans — Arkansas’s largest row crop, with over 150 million bushels produced annually in the state — are exported to China. C) A recent Purdue University study estimated that levying a 30 percent tariff on Chinese goods could cause Chinese imports of U.S. soybeans to fall by over 70 percent. D) All of the above. ANSWERS: C, D, D, D

JUNE 28, 2018

ARKANSAS TIMES

CANNABIZ

BY BENJAMIN HARDY

he Arkansas Supreme Court Associate Justice Rhonda Wood last week reversed Pulaski authored the opinion and Chief JusCounty Circuit Judge Wendell tice Dan Kemp wrote a brief concurring Griffen’s March ruling that declared opinion that agreed with the majority the state’s awarding of five marijuana- that Griffen’s court lacked subject matcultivation permits null and void, saying ter jurisdiction but also seemed to sugthe circuit court had no subject-matter gest the commission should consider jurisdiction in the case. reevaluating its system for awarding That means the Arkansas Medi- licenses. Kemp wrote: cal Marijuana Commission is back to “The MMC has a constitutional duty where it was in early March, when it to adopt rules necessary for its ‘fair, first announced five winning applicants. impartial, stringent, and comprehensive However, the commission will not act administration’ of the Arkansas Medical on the court’s ruling until the Supreme Marijuana Amendment. See Ark. Const. Court’s ruling takes effect, perhaps next amend. 98, § 8(d)(3). I urge the MMC week, said Scott Hardin, a spokesman to review its rules and procedures and for the Department of Finance and to cure any deficiencies.” Administration (which serves as staff The majority opinion cited the sepato the commission) said. ration of powers in its conclusion that Hardin released Griffen erred, stata statement from ing that the judithe commission ‘I urge the MMC to review cial branch should applauding the not take it upon court for overturn- its rules and procedures and itself to review “the ing an injunction that day-to-day actions blocked the issuing to cure any deficiencies.’ of the executive of permits and saying branch.” The opinion it would announce its acknowledged the next steps once the state Administrative Supreme Court’s rul— Justice Dan Kemp Procedures Act coning is declared final. tains a mechanism In February, the commission completed to subject executive agency decisions its scoring of a long list of cultivation to judicial review. However, the juslicense applicants. Several of the losing tices said that should only occur after applicants filed suit, alleging that the an agency has conducted an adjudicacommission’s process was fatally flawed tion. Wood wrote: and that at least two commissioners had “Appellees cannot identify anything undisclosed conflicts of interest. that occurred at the agency level that Undeterred, the commission was was an adjudication as defined by set to award licenses to the five win- statute. Neither can we. The legislaners March 14, but Griffen issued a tem- ture identified quasi-judicial decisions porary restraining order before that involving ‘adjudications’ as appropriate meeting could take place. On March for judicial review. The MMC’s [medi21, Griffen issued a preliminary injunc- cal marijuana commission’s] decision tion and declared the commission’s scor- simply was not quasi-judicial. Thereing “null and void.” The judge found fore, we find that the circuit court did that the state had acted arbitrarily in not have subject matter jurisdiction over some aspects of the scoring process and the action disputing MMC’s decision to agreed with the plaintiffs that finan- grant the five identified licenses under cial connections between two of the section 212 of the APA.” top-five applicants and commissioners The justices noted that the Medical Carlos Roman and Travis Story were Marijuana Commission’s own Rule 19 “enough to create a reasonable suspi- explicitly allows for applicants to appeal cion of unfairness, even if it does not to the circuit court if they are denied an establish actual bias.” application by the commission. HowThe state appealed Griffen’s order ever, the Supreme Court said it was preand the Supreme Court heard oral argu- mature to make that argument since ments June 7. denial letters had yet to be written.

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Arkansas Reporter

THE

ADEQ PIO fired After ex-employee’s comment critical of agency posted. BY BENJAMIN HARDY

n May 8, the Arkansas 37 introduces an entirely new statewide Department of Environ- trading program without considering mental Quality fired its pub- the costs in terms of resources and staff lic information officer, Kelly to ADEQ to administer such a program,” Robinson. A week earlier, Robinson’s per- Carpenter wrote. “ADEQ has undergone sonnel file contained no negative evalu- significant reorganization in the past two ations or disciplinary action over the to three years. New management posicourse of her 13 years of employment at tions have been created in the Director’s ADEQ. But starting May 3, her supervisor, Office, most of the senior managers who ADEQ Communications Director Don- were career employees either are no lonnally Davis, began writing Robinson up ger with the agency or are no longer in for a series of alleged infractions. the program area over which they have Robinson’s personnel records, extensive experience, and a large number obtained through a Freedom of Infor- of staff positions occupied by those who mation Act request to ADEQ, state that perform the agency’s work on the ground she was terminated for “insubordination went unfilled during 2017[.]” and failure to follow policy” and referCarpenter cited budget figures, ence “a pattern of withholding important including a 50 percent decline in peninformation and sharing that informa- alties assessed by ADEQ since Director tion amongst other ADEQ employees.” Becky Keogh assumed leadership in 2015. However, the records only contain Penalties declined from $662,000 in FY mention of a single incident, on May 2, 2015 to $328,000 in FY 2017, according to in which Robinson allegedly withheld the state’s budget transparency website. ADEQ HEAD KEOGH: Downplayed disappearance of critical comment from web, information from her supervisor. That Carpenter attached screenshots to her defended agency’s reorganization. day was the deadline for public com- email illustrating these and other numment on a new water quality regulation bers, including an apparent increase in being considered by the Pollution Con- the number of employees earning high and costs ... places the cart before the inbox May 2, along with 30 or so others. trol and Ecology Commission, the body salaries between 2015 and 2018. horse,” she wrote. All were posted online over the course that oversees the ADEQ. “In 2015, five employees of ADEQ Carpenter’s comment didn’t men- of the day. In the runup to the May 2 deadline, made more than $85,000/year (the direc- tion the names of specific employees, What happened next is a matter of dozens of environmental advocates and tor, chief deputy director, deputy direc- but it hinted at a complaint circulating dispute. A narrative by Davis included organizations submitted comments tor, and two career employees). In 2018, among some ADEQ staffers for years: in Robinson’s termination documents opposing “Regulation 37,” which would 13 employees now make over $85,000/ That veteran employees have been concludes that Robinson was aware of establish a credit-based trading program year. Of these 13 employees, it appears replaced by individuals with personal the potentially sensitive nature of the to regulate nitrogen and phosphorus that only 2 have worked more than 10 connections to Governor Hutchinson’s comment, yet intentionally withheld that from agricultural runoff and other activi- years at ADEQ,” Carpenter’s comment office or the Republican Party of Arkan- information from her supervisor. Instead, ties. (Trading programs are a common said. As of June 22, the state transpar- sas. For example, Senior Deputy Direc- Davis said, Robinson surreptitiously told means of regulating pollutants through ency website shows 14 employees that tor Julie Linck, the agency’s second-in- another ADEQ employee about Carpeneconomic incentives, with carbon cap- make over $85,000 annually. command, is married to Kelley Linck, a ter’s comment. Davis appears to have and-trade perhaps the best-known exam“Although I hope I am wrong, it former Republican state representative learned about the comment only later ple.) Most of the comments expressed appears that a significant portion of now serving as legislative affairs chief that afternoon, after which she consulted concern that the standards for the pro- ADEQ’s working staff might have been for the Department of Human Services. with her supervisor, Julie Linck. posed nutrient water-quality trading pro- sacrificed to support the management Davis, the ADEQ communications direcThe next morning, May 3, Davis called gram were too vague and lacked numeri- reinvented at ADEQ since 2015,” Car- tor, is married to J.R. Davis, the gover- Robinson into her office, demanding to cal targets. penter continued. The point of includ- nor’s communications director. Director know if she’d shared the comment with But one critical comment, submit- ing such information in her comment Keogh is the sister-in-law of Doyle Webb, others. “When asked by her supervisor ted May 2 by former ADEQ employee on Regulation 37, she said, was to raise the chair of the state GOP. about the situation, Ms. Robinson lied,” Ellen Carpenter, also marshaled publicly questions about the agency’s capacity to *** Davis’ written narrative says. “Ms. Robavailable figures to question whether implement a new program. “ADEQ has As public information officer, Robin- inson was provided the opportunity to the agency was capable of establishing no experience with any trading program son was responsible for receiving com- explain her actions, but she chose to a complex new system. and creating a trading program before ments and posting them to the ADEQ keep the truth from her supervisor. … “The proposed draft Regulation No. understanding the staffing requirements website. She received Carpenter’s in her Her actions were both intentional and 12

JUNE 28, 2018

ARKANSAS TIMES

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insubordinate.” Asked whether someone at the agency first. “Never have I been asked to have public, definitely look at it.’ … We would Robinson, who is contesting her ter- had temporarily removed the comments, those reviewed before I send them out, make the director aware, but the commination, said this is false. She maintains ADEQ Chief of Staff Mitch Rouse said unless an attorney asks me to hold onto ment wouldn’t be treated — wasn’t she was unaware of the details of Car- their disappearance was due to agency it,” Robinson said. “Why, all of a sudden, treated — any differently than the other penter’s comment throughout the day. staff’s reviewing the timeliness of the did [Davis] have an interest?”) 20-plus comments we received that day,” “I was doing what was in my job comments. “It was also because a lot of The consequence on each infraction Davis said. description,” she told the Arkansas Times. our IT staff was out, and so we didn’t was the same: recommended termination. Keogh agreed. “We had eyes on the “As I received comments, I’d post them to have the knowledge of how we usually The forms were presented to Robinson comments as they were coming in on the the website.” Robinson said she would do that operation,” Rouse said in an inter- on May 8, and she was offered the chance website, and there was some awareness always skim comments for profanity but view. “The next day when our IT staff to resign. She refused and was fired. that there was information about the wouldn’t review them closely; her job came in … all those comments were put A few days later, Robinson filed a agency operations that … didn’t speak was to ensure the comments were made back online.” grievance with ADEQ, saying she was to the elements of the nutrient trading public, not to vet them for content. “I did Director Keogh said in an interview unjustly terminated “based on misrep- proposal but spoke to the organization as not have the time nor the luxury to read that she was not in the office May 2 resentations and falsehoods” that could a whole. I have a policy — I don’t really every public comment that came through and did not see any of the Regulation affect her future employment. “I was want to be surprised, and so I want to my email,” she said. 37 comments until later. However, she unfairly targeted as the ‘fall guy,’ ” due make sure that we make sure that that Carpenter’s May 2 comment did stand downplayed the significance of their to displeasure over Carpenter’s com- information is shared with me. But it was out, she said, because it was lengthy — temporary absence. “My understand- ments, Robinson wrote in an attached accepted as a comment on the record and 27 pages including attachments — and ing was comments were back online … narrative describing her version of events. is still available, I think, on the website because Carpenter herself had been a very shortly after the start of business the “In effect, my supervisor began ‘building for public review,” she said. key player in water-quality regulations. next day,” she said. a case’ against me Robinson, in a later interview, said it Before her retirement in 2016, Carpenter “Honestly … that’s over a short period was not typically part of her job to alert was the chief of ADEQ’s water division. a fairly new pracRobinson filed a grievance of time, precipitated the director’s office about comments, Thus, Robinson said, she contacted the tice of the agency, I by the Regulation but she agreed that Carpenter’s merited ADEQ’s office of water quality to let their believe … to make with ADEQ, saying she was 37 public comment being flagged. “Had I known what all was director know a potentially significant sure the comments made by Ms. Car- in there, I would have,” she said. But she comment was coming down the pike are posted durunjustly terminated “based penter that was again insisted she was unaware of its full from Carpenter. Robinson said she also ing the comment viewed unfavorably contents until later that day. notified Charles Moulton, the adminis- period itself, rather on misrepresentations and by the ADEQ direc“Never, ever have I received anything trative law judge for the Pollution Con- than waiting until tor’s office.” less than a stellar evaluation, whether trol and Ecology Commission, which is the end of the comfalsehoods” that could affect Her grievance it was in the private sector or in state responsible for approving new regula- ment period.” hearing was in late government,” she noted. “I just find it tions such as the proposed nutrient tradCarpenter said her future employment. May and lasted for kind of curious why, all of a sudden, I ing program. she printed off a several hours. On just seemed to turn into a bad person — Robinson said she did not lie when screenshot of the Friday, June 22, she enough to warrant termination.” Davis confronted her later. Communi- website at 6 p.m. to document the tem- received a letter from Keogh saying she Robinson said she believes the agency cating with Moulton and ADEQ staff porary absence of the comments. “I just was upholding the termination decision. has implied that she colluded with Carabout incoming public comments was had a feeling that — they were up, they Robinson said she plans to appeal to the penter to publish potentially embara routine part of her job, she explained. were down and somebody was going to State Employee Grievance Appeal Panel. rassing information, which she found “When she asked me, ‘Who did you tell get in trouble for posting my comments,” Davis and Keogh said the agency was especially distressing. “I love my job. about Ellen’s comments?’ … I thought she told the Arkansas Times. unable to comment on a personnel mat- I’d planned on retiring from ADEQ in she must be talking about somebody in Over the next several working days, ter when asked in a June 5 interview why another 10 or 15 years. Why would I shoot the media. And I said, ‘Nobody, no one.’ Robinson accumulated a series of disci- Robinson was fired. Asked in general myself in the foot like that, especially ” Davis took this as evidence of deception. plinary actions. On May 4, Davis wrote whether ADEQ has a protocol or policy when I have a passion for what I do? On the afternoon of May 2, not long her up for the public comment inci- that requires flagging certain public com- ADEQ was not a stepping stone for me after Davis became aware of the situation, dent. The following Monday, May 7, ments for review, Davis said it was the like it is for other people in that agency,” all the public comments on Regulation 37 Davis wrote her up for speaking again job of the office of communications to she said. disappeared from the ADEQ website for to Moulton after Davis had allegedly flag important information for agency “[Carpenter] submitted FOIAs. I was several hours. Carpenter said she discov- told her not to do so. On Tuesday, May leadership. “This particular comment the FOIA coordinator at the time. I proered this when she attempted to print off 8, Davis wrote her up for sending out addressed the director’s office, so it goes vided her information through the FOI her comments later that evening. Rob- responses to two FOIA requests without without saying that that should definitely request. She also got information from inson said Davis, along with Linck and Davis’ approval. (The agency’s media be brought to the executive team’s atten- the [Transparency website]. … She made a member of the agency’s IT staff, met protocol explicitly lists responding to tion,” Davis said. her own case. I did not work with Mrs. after reading the comment on the after- FOIA requests as a duty of the pubAsked whether a comment like Car- Carpenter and I’m highly offended they noon of May 2. “What they did behind lic information officer, and Robinson penter’s would be treated differently insinuated that,” Robinson said. “It’s closed doors, I don’t know … but the pub- said she responded to 25 or 30 requests from others, though, both Davis and appalling.” lic comments all came down,” Robinson per month on average. She said she’d Keogh said no. *** said. The comments reappeared by the responded to FOIAs for years without “It’s just, ‘You need to be made aware As for the substance of Carpenter’s next morning. seeking approval from her supervisor this is out there, it’s going to be made comment, Keogh defended her reorgaCONTINUED ON PAGE 19 arktimes.com JUNE 28, 2018

‘It’s all

good, y’all’

Richard Glasgow left corporate law to open a ‘punkrock’ Thai restaurant that’s one of Little Rock’s best. BY LINDSEY MILLAR

A FOOD XEROX, NOT A CHEF: That’s how Richard Glasgow jokingly describes what he does at his authentic Thai restaurant, kBird.

BRIAN CHILSON

JUNE 28, 2018

ARKANSAS TIMES

BRIAN CHILSON

KHANTOKE DISHES: Khao gan jin, steamed rice with pork and pork blood (clockwise from top left); naem heung, steamed fermented sour pork in a banana leaf; kanom jeen nahm ngiew, pork rib curry; nahm phrik noom, green chili, shallot and garlic dip; and yam makhrvea yao, smokey eggplant salad topped with quail eggs.

ne of Little Rock’s best restaurants serves authentic Thai food made by a white guy from North

months. He said he’s spent time working in nice places that made a lot of things Louisiana who’s spent the majority of his professional career practicing law. There’s no sign by hand over the course of his more than 30 years in the restaurant business, but in front of kBird to announce itself to passersby — not that anyone would pass by an other- never to the extent on which Glasgow insists. “Every day I tell him to get a wise residential stretch of western Hillcrest in search of a restaurant. The building once housed a general fucking Cuisinart and a spice grinder,” Brown said. But Glasgow refuses to take store and several other eateries, but with clapboard siding and a fenced-in backyard, it still looks more like shortcuts. Doing so, “for a white person making Thai food, would be disrespecta house than a restaurant. Look closely and you might see an open sign — if it’s lunchtime on a weekday or ful,” he said. Besides, he says, a food processor slices ingredients into tiny a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday evening — and a painting of a flock of chickens on the front door. pieces; using a mortar and pestle to pulverize ingredients causes them to bind together to create more flavor. “It’s very Inside, you’ll find mismatched tables tattoo of a large black bird (a Mississippi curries with enough layers of flavor to incrementally better, but better,” he said. and chairs, a parquet floor that, like many kite) peeking out from under his T-shirt suggest mystical powers. “Hard fucking work and paying attention” of the homes in Hillcrest, tilts notice- is Richard Glasgow, the corporate lawyer Some of that deliciousness might owe is one of his mottos. (That’s a Guy Clark ably and is held together by duct tape in turned Thai cultural evangelist. to the fact that kBird’s curry paste gets quote about legendary Texas singer/ spots. On one wall, someone has handGlasgow treats Thai food with rever- made every day with all the ingredi- songwriter Townes Van Zandt’s genius: written a Mark Twain quote in marker — ence. He’s assiduous in his devotion to ents mashed together with a mortar and “Everybody thought it was magic. That’s “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and making it like they do in Thailand. That pestle, which takes about an hour and a bullshit. It was hard fucking work and narrow-mindedness” — under a map of means always finding the best and cor- half. There are no electrical appliances, paying attention.”) Thailand with a hand-drawn render- rect ingredients — never substituting aside from a fridge and deep freeze, to Before he started kBird, which began ing of the Malay Peninsula taped to the onions for shallots, brown sugar for palm be found in the restaurant, even though as a food trailer, Glasgow worked as a bottom of it. A handful of people work sugar or ginger for galangal. It means a food processor could knock out the lawyer for Dillard’s. It was a dark time in an open kitchen — chopping, grind- finding flavoring agents like dok ngiew, paste in seconds. for him. He bottomed out, to the point ing out curry paste with a giant mortar the dried flower stamens of the red cotBrandon Brown, who owned the late, that leaving the corporate world to sling and pestle, or working the stockpots ton tree. It means pad Thai with Chinese beloved Hillcrest Artisan Meats and is a Thai food out of a trailer hidden in an and woks on the stove. The lanky guy broccoli, longbeans and kabocha squash longtime friend of Glasgow’s, has worked alley in Hillcrest seemed perfectly rea— a flurry of motion — with glasses and and no sweet peanut sauce. It means in the kBird kitchen for the past eight sonable. That was 2012. arktimes.com JUNE 28, 2018

BRIAN CHILSON

Glasgow said he initially hid for two reasons: 1. As a white guy endeavoring to cook Thai standards like a grandma might in Thailand, he wanted to make sure that people came to him because they’d heard good things about the food, not because they’d seen a sign or seen a social media post. 2. He was scared he’d get overwhelmed and freak out and run away if too many people came. That plan worked out. He turned customers into evangelists themselves. The food truck now gathers cobwebs behind the restaurant, which opened in late 2014 at the corner of Tyler and Woodlawn streets. It’s not unusual to drive by kBird a little after 1 p.m. and see a “sold out” sign in the window. In 2015, Glasgow hosted his first khantoke, a reservation-only dinner featuring more than a dozen Northern Thai dishes that aren’t on the menu. Each year since, he’s increased the number of khantokes he hosts. In 2016, he hosted six, then nine in 2017 and he plans to do 10 in 2018. Each dinner accommodates 30-40 people. Glasgow takes reservations for three khantokes at a time. In an effort to be as fair as he can in the process, he requires people to make their reservations at 2 p.m. on a designated day. In May, on the day reservations were due for the three khantokes scheduled for the first half of the summer, the nearly 100 spaces were filled by 2:07 p.m.

people out in front of you. If you try to speak Thai and you’re horrible at it, people will tell you you’re great. It’s the same small-town kind of stuff, but just a different world. … You ever been somewhere where you felt like you belonged, but you didn’t really belong, but you were treated like you belong? It’s like that.” Glasgow sees a deep connection between Thailand and his native Louisiana. He calls it his unified theory. There are distinctive regions in Thailand, just like Louisiana. Northern Thailand is just like North Louisiana, he said. It’s full of rednecks, which Glasgow identifies as. “They’re pork, pork, pork. They fry in lard and eat pork rinds in sauces.” The people in Northeastern Thailand are “ethnically Lao, they speak Lao, but live in Thailand. They eat the hottest food. They’re the poorest. They eat bugs, snakes, crickets. They have the most fun and are great partiers. They’re the Cajuns.” Central Thailand, the broad alluvial plain of the Chao Phraya River, where the Siamese Ayutthaya Kingdom was based for thousands of years, produces two rice crops every year. It’s Baton Rouge in Glasgow’s telling. Bangkok, the country’s capital, sits mostly on former swampland. The Chao Phraya River runs through the city before emptying into the Gulf of Thailand. It’s, of course, New Orleans. Southern Thailand on the narrow Kra Isthmus is like Grand Isle, La., the narrow barrier island in South Louisiana. ‘HOW I’M LEARNING TO When the Glasgows started thinking STOP WORRYING AND about having kids, they picked Little COOK THAI FOOD’ Rock, a place about which they knew lasgow grew up in Rus- little, because it was closer to home, ton and Oak Ridge, La. (he but not too close. They had a daughter, says he claims “dual citi- who’s now 11. Her nickname is kBird. zenship”), among a family After working for a couple of years of farmers and cooks. He got an econom- in private practice, Glasgow spent five ics degree from Louisiana State Univer- years at Dillard’s. That company is “as sity, spent nearly a decade working for much to thank for the existence of kBird a title company in Washington, D.C., than just about anybody,” Glasgow said. and then got a law degree from Catho- After spending that much time in the lic University in D.C. In 2001, he and business world, the idea of kBird was a his wife, Aimée, who he met in D.C. but thumb of the nose toward the corporate who is from Monroe (or “Mun-row,” and restaurant establishment and conas Glasgow says), La., saved up enough ventional notions on how one starts and money to travel around the world. They runs a restaurant: “You’ve got to have spent two months in Thailand and else- a bunch of money to open a restaurant. where in Southeast Asia and fell in love You gotta have a wait staff. You need with the region. to advertise. Those are all reasonable “It’s like a bizarro-world Ameri- things, but,” Glasgow said, that route can South,” Glasgow said of Thailand. “wouldn’t have been me.” “The same veneer of civilization exists. Instead, if fine dining is arena rock, You wave at everyone; they wave back. a genre associated with bands in the You smile at someone; they smile at ’70s, ’80s and ’90s that brought big stage you. You’re constantly rewarded for shows to large arenas, kBird is punk being nice. You say ‘ma’am’ and ‘sir’ and rock, Glasgow said. In his metaphor, ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ and let older with arena rock (fine dining), “you

PREPPING: Hanglae curry (from top); Glasgow samples with Chris Shippey looking on; sticky rice cakes in the fryer. 16

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ARKANSAS TIMES

gotta have a big ol’ band and have a loud didn’t quit a pretty well-paying job to about myself and my life in this adven- fully taken root. “Fear and anxiety” have sound, and it’s gotta look good from a start something out of absolute noth- ture.” If his life were a movie, in a nod always fueled kBird. Though he conlong way away.” That all costs a lot, and ing to bring it where it is to not be here.” to “Dr. Strangelove,” Glasgow joked it cedes that, based on the restaurant’s means, among other things, expensive The other unique thing about kBird might be called “How I’m Learning to growth, “an objective person would say, rent and a large staff, which translates is that it closes for about a month from Stop Worrying and Make Thai Food.” ‘You’re probably going to be able to coninto higher prices for the concertgoer or mid-January to mid-February for “All of this is an effort to become inte- tinue to do business,’ ” he says he’s still diner. “Punk came as a reaction” to that, Glasgow to travel to Thailand. He’s been grated into Thai culture, so I’ll begin to “scared to say something like that out Glasgow said. D. Boon from the punk seven times since 2001. He visits the understand their mindset and somehow loud.” Every Monday, he remains a nerband Minutemen said, “Our band could Naan province in Northern Thailand, it will rub off on me.” vous wreck, fretting that no one will be your life.” “They said, ‘Start your own where he’s made a number of friends On his left arm, Glasgow has the darken his door that week. band,’ ” Glasgow said. “That’s what I did. over the years. His itinerary is to “not phrase “baaw bpen yang” tattooed in He knows he could do more business It just wasn’t a band; it was a restaurant.” walk fast, talk to little old ladies and Thai letters. It’s a country dialect version being open even for lunch on Saturday, Glasgow describes kBird as “egalitar- laugh,” he said. He also cooks a lot and of a common Thai phrase, mai bpen rai. but that would get in the way of one of ian — everybody gets the same plate of watches people cook. Last year, Glasgow “In Thailand, it means everything from the highlights of his week: shopping food. It’s reasonably priced. It’s a lot of got to be one of the first farang (white ‘you’re welcome’ to ‘I forgive you for at Sam’s Oriental Store every Saturday food. Ingredients are way better than people) to stay overnight in a remote your actions.’ It goes all the way across morning. The venerable Asian grocery what you’d expect they are. Some audi- Northern Thailand village thanks to the board. If you’re in an embarrass- on South University Avenue is teemence participation is required.” That a Thai friend who works in tourism. ing situation or you’ve fucked up, more ing with essential items for all sorts of means customers order at the counter Several years back, during one of his often than not, the Thai person will look far-flung cultures that make the market, that divides the dining room from the trips, Glasgow went to the market one at you and say, ‘mai bpen rai.’ It means especially on Saturdays, when a new open kitchen. Though Glasgow and his morning to buy supplies for breakfast. it doesn’t matter, what are we going to shipment of produce arrives from Dalstaff are humping it, sometimes it takes He’s somewhat conversant in Thai. do about it now? A car wreck? Spill- las, as diverse of a gathering place as a bit for your order to come up. The When he was paying, he said he told ing some lady’s stuff? Mai bpen rai. It you’ll find in Little Rock. On a Saturhours — 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. on weekdays a woman selling groceries at a booth, “ doesn’t matter. I grew up in a house day in early June, Glasgow talked to or and 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. Monday through ‘Today, I’m making rice curry.’ She said, where everything mattered. To have a stood in line with Hmong, Viet, Korean Wednesday — aren’t designed for peak ‘No pay.’ It was like, ‘You understand group of people say, don’t worry about and Filipino people. An African priest dining-out times; they’re what Glasgow this; you can have it.’ That’s why I’m so it — for me, excited and anxious all the had traveled several hours for fufu powcan do while still spending time with excited and excitable [about Thai food time — when another person tells you der. The owner of La Bodeguita in Hot his family and not working himself to and culture], and also why I’m so very that, it means a lot.” Glasgow says baaw Springs was there, making his weekly the ground. Though he concedes he’s worried about not being respectful. I bpen yang identifies him with the coun- stop to buy mangoes. Jose, a longtime “a control freak,” the idea of delegating want to do right by these people. It’s not try people of Northern Thailand. “It’s Salvadoran employee, greeted Glasgow: to others to run the restaurant when a question of my integrity. These people the ‘it’s all good, y’all’ version.” “Hey, Rich-ee.” he’s not there doesn’t appeal to him. “I changed my life. I’ve learned so much That’s not to say that philosophy has Glasgow’s list was long and different

BRIAN CHILSON

DELIGHTS: Scooping curry paste from a mortar (clockwise, from left); the khantoke meat platter; fried catfish salad.

arktimes.com JUNE 28, 2018

BRIAN CHILSON

SURVEYING THE FEAST: Diners at the June 2 khantoke prepare to dig in.

from usual because the second khantoke of the year was happening later that day. Among the items on his list that you’re probably not going to find at Kroger: galangal (in the ginger family), banana leaves, Chinese broccoli, Kaffir lime leaves, kombucha squash (aka Japanese pumpkin), water spinach, quail eggs and pig’s blood. Amid his shopping, Glasgow

stopped to show the owner, Sam Choi, a picture on his phone of a maeng da, a giant water bug that’s commonly used as a flavoring agent in nam phrik sauces. It’s sold around the world packaged in plastic. Choi was sure he could get them. The khantoke dinners give Glasgow a chance to cook Northern Thai dishes that otherwise would not appear on the

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Founded in 1982 and the largest of its kind in Arkansas, Wolfe Street Foundation provides facilities, education and outreach for the community for people and families seeking recovery from alcoholism and addiction. 18

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ARKANSAS TIMES

menu, aside from a special rather than boiled. A vegetable plate with here and there. For this din- steamed pumpkin, bok choy and chayote ner, Glasgow and Co. started squash and fresh cabbage, Chinese brocpreparing almost a week ear- coli, chives, long bean, cucumber and lier, boiling and scraping fat water spinach. A meat plate with the off pig skin and dehydrating steamed and fermented pork, the pork it to get it ready to be turned rinds and cracklings, fried chicken wings into pork rinds and crackling. and muu thaawt makhwaen, fried strips Sour pork (naem heung) spent of pork loin seasoned with makhwaen days fermenting in the sun; it’s seeds from the prickly ash tree. Two chili tasty and safe enough to eat dips, the green chili dip Sithong made that Glasgow and a reporter and nahm phrik ong, a pork, tomato and take bites after it’s finished chili combination that Thai folks often fermenting, but hours before eat with vegetables. Two salads — one the dinner, it gets steamed in a smoky grilled eggplant topped with banana leaves on the grill to steamed quail eggs and the other fried make doubly sure it’s ready. catfish topped with fried basil and lime Brown doesn’t work on leaves. Then there’s a bowl of hanglae weekends, but the other full- pork curry with ginger and peanuts and a time staff, Chris and Jessica pork rib curry made with pork blood and Shippey, come in around mid- dok ngiew, the dried flower stamens of day to help with prep. So does the red cotton tree. A tower of steamed Joe Sithong, a friend with a rice with pork and pork blood tastes a catering background who volunteers lot like rice with boudin rouge, Glasgow his services. His father was Lao, but he tells the crowd in case anyone knows died when Sithong was young. “I have about the Cajun delicacy. For dessert, all the cravings, but none of the culture,” there’s coconut milk custard cooked in he said. Cooking and eating Thai food a tiny Asian pumpkin and a sticky rice “is almost like church,” he said. “It’s sat- cake topped with palm sugar caramel. isfying and makes you feel better about Glasgow has regulars from Thailand. yourself.” One invited friends from Northern ThaiHe mashed roasted green chili pep- land who live in the U.S. to fly in for a pers, shallots and garlic in a mortar and khantoke. Glasgow overheard someone pestle to make nahm phrik noom, a popu- ask her if the food was like what she got lar Northern Thailand dip that pairs with at home. “She said, ‘Sort of, but with all pork rinds and other meats. Meanwhile, this stuff, it’s like a double birthday!” He Glasgow chopped up 12 pounds of river took that as a high compliment. catfish Sithong picked up from Love’s But he’s quick to deflect praise for Fish Market on John Barrow Road. “I the food. “I didn’t make any of this up. grew up trotlining,” Glasgow said. “I’ve This ain’t mine. To the extent I can take been knowing about this a lot longer what people make in Thailand and make than I’ve been knowing about Thai food.” it here, I’m good at that. I’m not a chef.” The fish goes outside into a giant gas If he has a skill, it’s as a “food Xerox,” he cooker filled with oil — “way more than said. “I have a really good taste memory. anyone would ever tell you to put in at I’m able to eat something and fix it in my one time.” There’s so much water in the mind and replicate it.” fish that has to evaporate, and the frying Going from the corporate world to takes almost an hour. opening and running kBird has been a Five hours later, the feast is prepared journey, he said. Does he feel like he’s and plated and the lucky dozens start arrived? “No, but I feel like I’m a lot filing in with bottles of wine in tow (it’s closer than I was. I’m now in a position B.Y.O.B; kBird’s zoning prevents it from to get there. There’s a lot of self-doubt selling alcohol). Glasgow offers some that takes years to build up. There’s quick greetings in Thai and explains an episode of ‘The Simpsons,’ where what all the food is before retreating to at some point Homer does something the kitchen for beer. He’ll need one and really great and nice and makes hima half and prodding from Sithong before self look good. And Bart looks at Lisa he can go mingle and answer questions. and goes, ‘I’ve got this really strange The diners consider the feast with big feeling.’ And she goes, ‘Pride?’ I’m still eyes and big smiles. Glasgow encourages at that point. I don’t ever want to be everyone to pull out their phones when there. I don’t think you’re ever going the full spread is on the table and then to be there. That’s a metaphysical quesit all gets passed family-style. There’s tion. I don’t think you’re ever going to the equivalent of about three meal-sized be there. That’s the answer to the Big portions per person on the table: Sticky Question. But you can set yourself up rice, which is steamed in woven baskets, to make yourself happier.”

AR REPORTER, CONT. FROM P.13 nization of the agency. penter said the agency saved some $3.5 positions saved the agency money; she past five years, from $47,106 in FY 2013 When Hutchinson appointed her to million by not filling those positions and placed the figure at “roughly $2.5 million to $46,110 in FY 2018. run ADEQ in 2015, she said, “the orga- questioned whether that helped pay for in salary savings over a two-year cycle.” As for the 50 percent drop in penalties nization was broken up into siloed pro- upper management. But she said it was appropriate for ADEQ assessed on polluters, Keogh said that grams that were difficult often for other Davis said the agency’s employment to budget conservatively in recent years, shouldn’t be interpreted as a reduced government entities or legislators or the cap, which is set by the governor’s office, given recent talk of declining federal commitment to environmental protecgeneral public to understand. … [I’m] try- is actually 365, not the 405 positions grants from the EPA under the Trump tion. “We do not believe that penalties ing to reduce some of the barriers inter- formally appropriated by the legislature. administration. (So far, severe budget equate to environmental compliance,” nally to be able to deliver our programs Writing June 1, she said ADEQ has 346 cuts haven’t materialized.) Keogh also she said. “Our ability to communimore effectively, to modernize what we employees. “We have approximately 20 claimed the salary savings allowed ADEQ cate what the requirements are and to do and to ensure that we’re using the positions that are being advertised or to increase pay for engineers and other be helpful to those that are regulated best science.” have closed that will be hired soon,” she technical staff without greater cost to [ensures] that when they get permits, Keogh had worked at ADEQ before added. Turnover at the agency is low, she taxpayers. However, figures provided they understand them, [which] leads becoming director, including a 10-year said — about 14 percent. by Davis show the average employee ultimately to better compliance for the stint as deputy director under former Keogh acknowledged the unfilled gross salary declined slightly over the state.” Gov. Mike Huckabee from 1996 to 2006. At the time of her most recent appointment, she was working in Houston for BHP Billiton, a multinational mining and petroleum company. Before Keogh took over, ADEQ had 12 divisions, each headed by a “chief” that reported to one of two deputy directors. Keogh oversaw the consolidation of several divisions — solid waste, hazardous waste, mining — into a single Office of Land Management and reorganized the top level of management so that the division chief positions were replaced by “program directors” reporting to her. Such a structure was consistent with changes in other states’ environmental regulations and the federal Environmental Protection Agency, she said. Carpenter, though, said more has changed at ADEQ than the management structure: Many senior employees themselves left. She wrote that out of 11 division chiefs at ADEQ in 2015 (there was one vacancy at the time), eight are no longer employed with the agency. ROSE REGGAE WINES Asked by email what accounted for Yellow Tail $8.99 White $6.99 such high turnover among senior staff, Cupcake $9.59 Blush $6.99 Davis said, “The division chief vacanLittle Black Dress $10.99 Red $6.99 cies were a result of retirement, reloNoble Vines 515 $11.99 Margarita $12.99 Charles & Charles $13.29 Sangria $12.99 cation, or opportunities at other state agencies and private industries. These vacancies allowed ADEQ to reorganize the structure of the agency to better align programs with statutory and federal funding streams.” Davis and Keogh both said ADEQ now has greater flexibility to allocate staff and resources to programs where they’re most needed. Carpenter’s comment also said 84 out of about 400 positions appropriated for ADEQ were unfilled as of Jan. 1, 2018, according to an FOIA request. REDS SPARKLING WINES “The unfilled positions included inspecAllegrini Palazzo Della Tore $20.49 TOSO Brut $9.99 Ruffino Riserva Ducal Chianti Classico $27.89 tors, engineers, ecologists, enforceRiondo $13.39 Cooper & Thief Red Blend $28.59 La Marca $15.29 ment analysts and administrative staff, The Prisoner Red Blend $44.39 Freixenet Ice Cuvee $17.39 among others. The positions and numStags Leap Red The Investor $61.29 bers changed from 2017 to 2018, but both lists … included the type of staff Edwards is fully stocked with your favorite wines at LOW prices. one might think of as doing the actual 7507 CANTRELL RD • 501-614-3477 • WWW.EDWARDSFOODGIANT.COM work of the agency,” she wrote. Car-

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Arts Entertainment THE ART OF THE SCAM AND

‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels’ is light, irreverent. BY KALLY PATZ

ometime between a wrestle with a pack of sailors and an Electric Cowboy-style dance number, I was overcome with the desire to empty my pockets and hand over my purse to Harold Dean, the actor playing the con man at the center of The

after I saw the way he handled a feather in a pinch, Harold Dean had my heart. Here’s the story: Dean’s character, Lawrence, is a con man who has gotten a little bit too good at his game. He sees the artistry in an impeccably executed hoax; when considering a particularly tricky

Just to spice things up, he lets a Frenchman with oily hair and a sparse black mustache follow him around muttering about what a bad idea everything is. In the grand tradition of stuffy Frenchmen, André (Drew Ellis) is a real spoilsport, of the variety perhaps best represented by that notoriously uptight candle in “Beauty and the Beast,” Lumière. In situations he deems dangerous — seductions of any kind, for example — Ellis’ eyes delightfully flit to the left and right like a weasel in distress. Occasionally, when André’s protests get to be too much or Dean needs some

GRIFT, WITH JAZZ HANDS: Stefanie Johnston (Muriel), Donalda Cobb (Lenore), Joshua Campbell (Freddy), Katy Fraley (Sophia) and Hannah Hill (Usherette) counter Harold Dean and Drew Ellis in The Weekend Theater’s “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.”

Weekend Theater’s “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.” It didn’t matter that I’d already seen Fanny of Omaha conned into funding his character’s nonexistent military campaign, or that I’d witnessed the Soap Queen telephone for $50,000 to be used on an exceedingly painful and complicated medical treatment only Dean’s character could perform. The man was a scoundrel, no question about it, but 20

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ARKANSAS TIMES

plan, he’s pensive and somber, adopting the stance of someone observing a painting in a gallery. With the allure of the Most Interesting Man in the World, and the grandfatherly charm of the father figure in a Jane Austen novel, he’s practically irresistible. (And, when the heiresses of the French Riviera are chasing you down with their checkbooks, the pursuit is almost too easy.)

ference with his lips, which flicker when he’s distressed by something exceptionally stupid, like the boy-man with calflength socks and dreams of “Great Big Stuff” who thinks he can compete with him, a man capable of playing foreign prince and Viennese doctor at once. When Dean talks to such people, he’ll smile at them in the way an adult smiles at a small child, looking over their head to catch the eye of another adult who can join in a shared joke over the delightfully stupid things ignorant children do (the only available adult in this situation being the audience, to whom Dean will occasionally direct a pointed glance, just to confirm that he has not been too harsh, and that the other characters in the play are indeed beyond hope). At their best, directors Sarah Scott Blakey and Brandon Nichols get in on the joke. We’re talking about a musical in which jazz hands reign supreme and there are not one, but two can-can lines, and Blakey and Nichols aren’t above throwing in a good old-fashioned grapevine when the number calls for it. They’re also not trying to disguise the fact that this is community theater, and their general irreverence smooths over the limitations of the cast. After all, the only person on stage who needs to be convincing is Harold Dean, and he is — until something horrible and unforgivable happens. With that plot pivot, something changes onstage, too: Suddenly, it seems like an exceptionally bare set, with fluorescent lighting and a whole lot of people linking arms for no particular reason. You start to feel funny, empty, something like the oil-baron heiress at the moment she realized her diamonds weren’t going to the war effort. Dean withdrawal notwithstanding, though, the actual storyline (a stage adaptation of the Steve Martin/ Michael Caine vehicle) is beside the point. Deceptions, miscommunications and musical numbers — all of them light as dinner theater — are to be taken no more seriously than the promises of a con man on the hunt.

time away from his admirers, the con man retreats to the spotlight at stage right, gazing off at a spot in the far corner of the black-box theater, crunching his eyebrows and squinting his eyes to show you that the thoughts he’s having “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” plays at The are exceptionally deep ones. Weekend Theater at 7:30 p.m. Thu.-Sat. Some of the show’s best dialogue and 2:30 p.m. Sun. through July 8, with takes place right there, across Harold an 8 p.m. curtain time July 6. See weekDean’s face. His eyebrows go into con- endtheater.org for tickets.

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JUly 2018 in Hot Springs

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JUNE 30 GARVAN GARDENS TREE HOUSE SOFT OPENING Join Garvan Gardens as they celebrate all that summer has to offer, including the new Tree House in the Evans Children’s Adventure Garden. Stroll through the Gardens and enjoy their summer annuals. Children’s craft booths (included with admission) will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Visitors will be able to walk through the new Tree House! 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Free for members, regular Garden admission applies to all others: $15 ages 13 and up, $5 ages 4-12, free ages 0-3.

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SPA-CON ANNOUNCEMENT BUTCH PATRICK, who became a worldwide

TV star at the age of 7 and went on to play werewolf Eddie Munster on “The Munsters”series, will be a special celebrity guest at the THIRD ANNUAL SPA-CON CONVENTION SEPTEMBER 21-23.

JULY 1 SALUTE TO AMERICA FIREWORKS Magic Springs Theme and Water Park hosts Arkansas’s biggest fireworks display, starting at dusk! Parking is free after 8 p.m. JULY 3 SPA BLAST CELEBRATION Spa Blast, presented by Budweiser, is back for the 27th year at Oaklawn on Tuesday, July 3. Gates open for this free, family-friendly event at 5 p.m. Come enjoy live music, the Kids Zone, a petting zoo, the best fireworks display in town and so much more. Featuring Led Zepagain, a tribute to Led Zeppelin. The completely entertainment lineup will be announced soon. Blankets, chairs and small umbrellas are permitted. JULY 4 THE RED, WHITE, & YOU PICNIC IN THE PARK Friends of Hot Springs National Park and the National Park Service are hosting “Red, White, & You,”a free, family-focused old fashioned patriotic “Picnic in the Park” on July 4, from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., rain or shine. All

the excitement will be on Arlington Lawn, directly across from the Arlington Hotel in downtown Hot Springs. Entertainment includes magician Maxwell Blade, musician Jacob Flores, juggler Justin Chastan, folk singer Laura Lee Williard and more! All are invited to dress in red, white and blue. Family activities include the Evans Construction Bounce House, games, face painting, temporary tattoos, and education exhibits. Burgers and hot dogs, cooked by local chefs on the First Security Bank grill, will be available for purchase along with beverages, featuring beer from Superior Bathhouse Brewery. The annual free public Independence Day fireworks display on Lake Hamilton will be held Wednesday at dark. The fireworks will be shot from the middle of Lake Hamilton from barges located on the east side of Highway 7 at the first Highway 7 bridge opposite the Clarion Hotel. For more info call Steve Arrison at 501-321-2027.

the Magnolia Room at Garvan Woodland Gardens. The food and beverage event is served in the traditional English style with patrons enjoying assorted scones, finger sandwiches and desserts, all accompanied by a variety of flavorful teas. Children are encouraged to dress as Fairies or Wizards for this fantasyfilled afternoon while the Gardens’ tea fairy, Susan Harper, entertains with a short lesson in tea etiquette, followed by stories to delight the young patrons in attendance. $32 members, $37 non-members, $15 for children 12 and under. Reservations required. Call 800-366-4664.

JULY 14 TESLA FEST Come to the Mid-America Science Museum for electrifying Tesla Shows and celebrate inventor Nikola Tesla’s 162nd Birthday! Featuring Tesla-themed science experiments and

activities in the Tinkering Studio! There will be a prize for the 162nd Facebook checkin and guests are encouraged to dress up like Nikola Tesla! For more information, visit midamericamuseum.org.

ON JULY 20, OAKLAWN’S 2018 FINISH LINE THEATER CONCERT SERIES PRESENTS THE COMMODORES! Tickets go on sale July 3 at 9 a.m. Concert starts at 7 p.m. Ticket prices: $50 or $60.

JULY 10 FAIRY AND WIZARDS TEA Children are the honored guests at this superpopular annual summertime tea, hosted in

LOW KEY ARTS presents the 8TH ANNUAL HOT WATER HILLS MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL ON OCTOBER 5 AND 6, 2018! Friday night’s headline will be LARKIN POE, with more confirmations coming soon! ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT www.arktimes.com JUNE 28, 2018 21 arktimes.com JUNE 28, 2018 21

Follow Rock Candy on Twitter: @RockCandies

BY STEPHANIE SMITTLE

MAGNOLIA PICTURES

THE TO-DO LIST

NOTORIOUS RBG: Betsy West and Julie Cohen’s documentary “RBG” screens twice at the Clinton Presidential Center this weekend.

THURSDAY 6/28, SUNDAY 7/1

‘RBG’

6 p.m. Thu., 2 p.m. Sun. Clinton Presidential Center. Free.

Every time the “Black Lives Matter” mantra is met with an “All Lives Matter” counterpoint, we are reminded again: It is difficult to go about the business of fighting discrimination if everyone does not agree that it exists. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, one of only nine women in her Harvard Law

School class of hundreds, had to lay some similar groundwork on the gender discrimination front, proving her mettle at a time when women were hired only as clerks — or, more often, not hired at all. She took that sharp affinity for fairness and argued her way up to a Supreme Court appoint-

ment in 1993, helping secure majority rulings on issues like gender-exclusive college admissions policies, same-sex marriages and gender-based pay disparities — and writing firm dissents when she thought the majority was in the wrong. And, sure, this film from directors Betsy West and Julie Cohen tackles all the range of RBG’s career before she acquired meme status, but it

also takes a warm look at “Notorious RBG’s” relationship with her husband and devoted champion, Marty Ginsburg. So, if you missed the flick during its run at Riverdale 10 Cinemas, consider these two free screenings from the Clinton Center. Concession snacks will be available for purchase. RSVP at wjcf.co/RBG or by calling 501-748-0425.

THURSDAY 6/28

SCIENCE AFTER DARK: DANGEROUS SCIENCE

6 p.m. Museum of Discovery. $10.

When we checked in with the Museum of Discovery last week to see what exactly it considered “Dangerous Science,” staffers were still work22

JUNE 28, 2018

ARKANSAS TIMES

ing out the specifics for this adult-only science-but-with-beer event. They did, however, mention a few prospects: something called Shock Tato Extreme,

lasers, weapons throwing, a micro forge, “a large explosion demo, handheld fireballs, fireworks painting, laser demos, liquid nitrogen and probably dangerous animals.” So, consider spending Thursday night with some folks who dabble in the “don’t try this

at home” milieu regularly enough to keep you from actual danger while still getting you close enough for some serious science jollies. Beer from Stone’s Throw Brewing will be available for purchase, along with pizza from Damgoode Pies.

IN BRIEF

THURSDAY 6/28

Joy/polyrhythm peddlers Couch Jackets play a free show at Maxine’s in Hot Springs, with Deep Sequence, Sabine Valley and Guys on a Bus, 9 p.m. Dazz & Brie, Black Horse and Monsterboy perform at Stickyz Rock ’n’ Roll Chicken Shack for Tiny Desk Arkansas, a fundraiser for KUARFM, 89.1, 8 p.m., $10. The Arkansas Travelers take on the Corpus Christi Hooks, with fireworks after the Friday night game, 7:10 p.m. Thu.-Fri., 6:10 p.m. Sat., Dickey-Stephens Park, $7-$13. Club Sway is open with no cover charge for the “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Watch Party, 6 p.m. Johnnyswim and Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors share a bill at Robinson Center Performance Hall, 8 p.m., $34-$40. Dave Miller & Rocktown Revival bring “Big Boy, Big Breakfast” and other ditties to the White Water Tavern, 8 p.m. Lance Daniels plays for the happy hour crowd at Cajun’s Wharf, 5:30 p.m., free, or come later for a set from Mayday By Midnight, 9 p.m., $5. Nathan Bell sits in with the Clyde Pound Trio at the Ohio Club in Hot Springs, 7 p.m. Patrick Melton goes for laughs at The Loony Bin, 7:30 p.m. Thu.-Sat., 10 p.m. Fri.-Sat., $8-$12. “Despicable Me 3” screens at the Hot Springs Farmers Market, sunset (8:29 p.m.), free. Down in El Dorado, Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase 2018 champs Jamie Lou & The Hullabaloo take the stage at The Griffin, 8 p.m., free.

POTLUCK AND POISON IVY: SPOKEN WORD

FRIDAY 6/29

Some of the century’s finest musicians aspired to be poets first and foremost, and some poets make their music without the help of instruments or melody. Count the folks on stage for this month’s Potluck and Poison Ivy among the latter. On the lineup for this installment of the Argenta dinner-meets-storytelling series are LeRon McAdoo (also known as Ron Mc), a hip hop advocate, musician, educator and founder of a poetry troupe called Foreign Tongues; Bud Kenny, the founder of the Wednesday Night Poetry series in Hot Springs (since 1989!) and other long-tenured slams, who once set out on foot peddling poetry from Hot Springs to Maine with his wife and a pack mule named Della; Karen Hayes, the sprightly mind behind the improvisational “Poetry on Demand” project and keeper of the manual 1971 Olivetti typewriter on which it occurs; Caroline Earleywine, an educator who, in her words, “tries to convince teenagers that poetry is actually cool”; and Zachary Crow, a filmmaker and powerful speaker who also serves as executive director of decARcerate, a grassroots coalition focused on ending mass incarceration in Arkansas. Add to that this Thursday’s musical guest, Harry Blanton, the seamless bass-baritone voice behind country tunes like “Bury Me Close to a Tavern” and “You Sure Know How To Do Wrong So Right.” Grab tickets at potluckandpoisonivy.org.

Make it a comedy doubleheader: Jay Jackson hosts “Lattes & Laughs” at Guillermo’s Coffee, Tea & Roastery, with sets from Doug Gillon, Basial and Richard Douglas Jones, 8 p.m., $5. Then, Brett Ihler hosts Late Night Stand-Up Comedy at The Joint Theater & Coffeehouse, with sets from Kayla Esmond, Josh Ogle, Russell Rogers and more, 10:30 p.m., pay-what-you-can admissions. Magic Springs Theme and Water Park in Hot Springs hosts a show from Kansas, 8 p.m., see magicsprings.com for passes and entry details. Stephen Neeper & The Wild Hearts take the stage at Stickyz, 10 p.m., $6. Dazz & Brie play Gigi’s Soul Cafe & Lounge, 9 p.m., $15-$20. The Sideshow Tragedy, a potent rock duo out of Austin, Texas, plays a set at White Water, 9 p.m. Oakland fastcore rockers Violent Opposition take the stage at Vino’s Brewpub, with AK47 and more, 8 p.m., $8. Mother Hubbard kicks off the weekend with a set at Cajun’s, 9 p.m., $5, or come before dinner and catch Richie Johnson, 5:30 p.m., free. The Karla Case Band performs at Thirst N’ Howl Bar & Grill, 8:30 p.m., $5. Trey Johnson takes his smiling blues set to Kings Live Music in Conway, 8:30 p.m.,

THURSDAY 6/28

SUPERSUCKERS 8 p.m. Four Quarter Bar. $12.

If throat cancer hasn’t halted Eddie Spaghetti and the Supersuckers, Spaghetti’s rolling front of booze and brawl, probably nothing will. Their long history is characterized by a soft spot for meta-fame antics like “fake encore” stage exits and an album titled “How the Supersuckers Became the Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World” and an even softer spot for the West Memphis 3’s struggle for redemption. With hard-driving barnburners like “Born With A Tail,” they’re burning rubber toward Texas for an “Austin City Limits Live” appearance, stopping at Four Quarter Bar along the way. Speedealer and OC45 kick things off.

POETRY, FRONT AND CENTER: LeRon McAdoo (also known as Ron Mc) speaks as part of Potluck and Poison Ivy’s “Spoken Word” show this Thursday night at The Joint.

FRIDAY 6/29

WILLIE NELSON AND FAMILY 4:30 p.m. Verizon Arena. $28-$100.

Maybe it’s that he’s got Arkansas roots, but Willie Nelson told Rolling Stone in 2014, “The other night in Arkansas was the best show we’ve ever done.” It bodes well for this weekend, though Nelson did concede a bit of shortterm memory loss after that comment, as he’s wont to do when caught in acts of grand hyperbole, or when he’s hazily recounting some of his more certified outlaw moments — smoking dope on the roof of the White House after being arrested in the Bahamas for marijuana possession, for example, or getting crossways with the IRS over tax debt. Hyberbole notwithstanding, Nelson and his team have pretty much guaranteed a solid night of cold hard country at Verizon Arena as part of this “Outlaw Music Festival,” bookending the pigtailed tenor’s trademark warmth and enigmatic oneliners with an eclectic hotpot of a bill that includes fellow rabblerouser Sturgill Simpson, folk rock outfit The Head and the Heart, a gravel-voiced California cowboy named Ryan Bingham, sons Lukas Nelson and his band Promise of the Real and fringe rocker Micah Nelson as Particle Kid. This one’s a marathon; doors open at 3:30 p.m. for a 4:30 p.m. show that’s bound to stretch into late night territory. Plan a midday siesta Friday if you’re able.

7 p.m. The Joint Theater & Coffeehouse. $35.

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THE TO-DO LIST

BY STEPHANIE SMITTLE

FRIDAY 6/29

THE SWORD

8 p.m. Maxine’s, Hot Springs. $18.

“How Heavy This Axe,” indeed! The Sword, of The Sword’s earlier love affair with science an Austin-based assault of double guitar har- fiction, and cue up the pixellated video game monies, Blue Cheer-style mixed meters and Or- face-off that accompanies its 2018 title track ange loudness, is headed to Maxine’s for a hard “Used Future” for a whiff of the band’s current, rock show with New Jersey’s Atomic Bitchwax. cleaner sound. Revisit 2010’s beloved “Warp Riders” for a taste

FRIDAY 6/29

COFRESI

9 p.m. Rev Room. $12-$15.

You know that super satisfying part of a house track where the percussion kicks into double time and the bass drops like a behemoth hot potato? Chicago producer Cofresi’s work has lots of that, too, except that in lieu of a track, dude actually plays the drums. Check

out his flipped, chopped, dexterously live remix of “Mr. Sandman” on YouTube, and keep it in mind for the next time the notion is floated that EDM performers don’t have any musical talent. Z Dougie, Fractal Sky, Trixx and Kramer Live open up the show. LAUREN GREENFIELD

RADIO 1090 FOR THE PEOPLE: Arkansas Sounds celebrates the legacy of KAAY-AM 1090 at CALS Ron Robinson Theater.

FRIDAY 6/29

CELEBRATION OF THE MIGHTY 1090 KAAY 7 p.m. CALS Ron Robinson Theater. Free.

Born of a 50,000-watt AM station with the call letters KTHS (“Kum to Hot Springs”), the figure-eight-shaped signal of KAAY-AM, 1090, reached all the way to Cuba, transmitting a mish-mash of farm reports, parody, jingles, weird news and weirder music until it went dark in 1985. Much of the latter rang out to night owls courtesy of longtime “Beaker Street” host Clyde Clifford, who broadcast rarities and oddities from the RCA BTA-50F transmitter site in Wrightsville while doubling as the station’s licensed engineer — one of which the FCC required to be on duty at all times. Clifford, along with fellow on-air personalities Bob Robbins, Sonny Martin, Bob Steele, David B. Treadway and Barry Mac, celebrate the station’s legacy as part of the Central Arkansas Library System’s Arkansas Sounds series. Tom Wood moderates; special guest is Barbara Raney, whose rendition of “Cindy’s Cryin’” with a band called Deepwater Reunion epitomizes the ’60s-era folk-tinged, fringe-tinged tunes Clifford sent out into the world on “Beaker Street.”

JUNE 28, 2018

ARKANSAS TIMES

CAPITALISM UNDER THE LENS: Lauren Greenfield’s opus on luxury and appetite, “Generation Wealth,” screens at CALS Ron Robinson Theater this Saturday evening.

SATURDAY 6/30 and a documentary film of the same name, to be screened here as a collaboration between the 6:30 p.m. CALS Ron Robinson. $20. Arkansas Cinema Society, the Women’s FoundaRampant materialism certainly isn’t a new tion of Arkansas and the Hot Springs Documenphenomenon, but the way news of it travels is; tary Film Festival. Greenfield began work on it in a few search engine-generated clicks, the in 2008, but it’s the culmination of a catalogue of 99 percent can lay eyes on a $25,000 taco from older pieces “about gender, about fashion, about the Grand Velas Las Cabos with Kobe beef and consumerism, about how our values have been gold leaf, or a network of London “luxury base- exported,” as she told NPR in 2017: “It wasn’t ments” outfitted with infinity pools and car until the 2008 financial crash I realized that the carousels that lift and lower vehicles accord- stories that I’d been doing for a couple of decades ing to the driver’s daily whims. In “Generation were all connected, and kind of formed a moralWealth,” filmmaker Lauren Greenfield explores ity tale.” A Q&A with Greenfield follows the the cultural (wealth-obsessed) zeitgeist that got screening, and an after-party is scheduled at the us here, and she does so by way of multiple plat- soon-to-be-shuttered downtown branch of Zin forms. There’s an elaborate coffee-table book, a Urban Wine & Beer. museum exhibit with 42 first-person interviews

‘GENERATION WEALTH’

IN BRIEF, CONT.

SATURDAY 6/30

ADAM FAUCETT, ISAAC ALEXANDER

9 p.m. White Water Tavern. $10.

Real talk: Towns the size of Little Rock should count themselves lucky to have one songwriter with the breadth and bite of an Adam Faucett or an Isaac Alexander. Both musicians have chosen to call this place home, and they’re teaming up for this bill in celebration of Faucett’s newest full-length album, “It Took the Shape of a Bird,” out June 29. Pregame with “Like A Sinking Stone,” Alexander’s stellar 2017 release, and follow that up with one more spin of “Blind Water Finds Blind Water,” the 2014 Faucett record you’ll finally be able to shelve for a bit while this new one sets in.

SATURDAY 6/30

TRINITY TAYLOR: SWAY PRIDE 2018 9 p.m. Club Sway.

In a documentary on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” star Trinity “The Tuck” Taylor, images of a perfectly coiffed, leather-clad Taylor greeting a roaring Australian crowd are juxtaposed with echoes of the performer’s past: growing up in a trailer in Alabama, seeking acceptance from family, a slow transition from a love of painting to a love of drag and makeup. Trinity’s penchant for drama on the reality competition show — and her trademark (ahem) “tuck” — landed her at the forefront of a 2017 “Saturday Night Live” skit in which a breakroom full of macho car mechanics land on the decidedly un-bro topic of “Drag Race,” pussyfooting around about the drama therein until it becomes clear that their knowledge of what constitutes “fishy realness” runs truly deep. Now, armed with top shelf cosmetics, turns of phrase like “Trin-tastic-plastic injectable realness! ... I’m the mother-tucker, what can I say?” and a signature video game called “Stanky’s Big Adventure,” Taylor is serving that realness Friday night at Sway for a Pride Month celebration hosted by the fierce-maned (and conspicuously untucked) drag performer named Hairy-Kate Olsen. Envy S. Hart, Gogo Boy Kyle Ramirez and Miss Gay Arkansas America 2017 Cassandra Rae join Hairy-Kate on stage for the festivities; this one’s gonna get stanky.

$5. The Great Whiskey Rendezvous gives a concert at Four Quarter Bar, 9 p.m., $7. Moxie takes the stage at Oaklawn’s Silks Bar & Grill, 10 p.m. Fri.-Sat., free, and elsewhere in Spa City, the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre stages a family-friendly, one-hour performance of “Much Ado About Nothing” at the Hot Springs Farmers Market, 7 p.m., free.

SATURDAY 6/30 Self-described “Arkensemble Folkestra” The Whole Famn Damily shares a bill with Jamie Lou & The Hullabaloo at Stickyz, 9 p.m., $7. Me Like Bees, Turtle Rush and Youth Pastor congregate for a bill at Maxine’s, 9 p.m., $7. Illusionaut brings its spacey rock set to Vino’s, 8 p.m., $8. Cajun’s Wharf hosts a show from One Way Road, 9 p.m., $5, and earlier, from Alex Summerlin, 5:30 p.m., free. Jeff Crosby and the Refugees take the stage at Kings, 8:30 p.m., $5. Trumpeter Jeff Gray leads his 8-piece Crescent City Combo in an outdoor set at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville as part of the Forest Concert Series, 7 p.m., $10. Chucky Waggs and Friends jam at Four Quarter Bar, 10 p.m., $7. Hibernia Irish Tavern hosts the Veterans of Comedy show, 8 p.m., $10. Against the Grane plays a free show at Markham Street Grill and Pub, 8:30 p.m.

SUNDAY 7/1 The Arkansas Travelers face off in three games against the San Antonio Missions, 2:10 p.m. Sun., 7:10 p.m. Mon, 6:10 p.m. Tue., with fireworks after the Tuesday night game, DickeyStephens Park, $7-$13. Detroit rockers Kaleido take the stage at Stickyz, 8 p.m., $8-$10.

MONDAY 7/2 Old-school Detroit punk rockers Negative Approach graft a 2 a.m. Saturday morning spirit onto a Monday night at White Water, with Revenge Bodies and Motives A.D., 7:30 p.m., $15.

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WEDNESDAY 7/4 The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra gives its annual “Pops on the River” concert, with children’s activities, food trucks, the “Oh, Say Can You Sing?” contest and a fireworks show at dusk, 3 p.m., Riverfront Park, free. Comedian Nate Williams headlines the A-State Comedy Jam at Jazzi’s Lounge, 7 p.m. Wed.-Thu., $15-$30. The Historic Arkansas Museum hosts a Frontier Fourth of July, with a Revolutionary War battle reenactment, living history performances, music, crafting and territorial games, 10 a.m.-noon, free.

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arktimes.com JUNE 28, 2018

Dining WHAT’S COOKIN’

FANS OF THE LATE Southern Gourmasian food truck and its brick-and-mortar incarnation, and there are many, are able to fill bellies once again with food turned out by Justin Patterson and C.C. Key. They opened TAE (pronounced “tay” and standing for True Arkansas Eatery) this week in the Hotel Frederica at 625 Capitol Ave. (Yes, the hotel once named the Sam Peck and famous for its Bing Cherry Mold and jazz by the Art Porter Trio.) TAE’s menu is Southern; folks who twigged to the Pig and Swig event recently at Heifer International got to taste a tiny bit of TAE, bites of pulled pork and deeply refreshing pickled watermelon. Other Southern stalwarts, like cheese dip, boiled shrimp, fried green tomatoes, purple hull peas, tamales, chicken and dressing (Nealie May’s, a Patterson family recipe) and meatloaf are also on the menu, along with “Arkansas Toothpicks,” which aren’t Bowie knives but are deep-fried barbecued ribs. The restaurant is open 11 a.m.-2 p.m. for lunch weekdays, and, starting July 7, will be open for brunch 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, Patterson said. TAE will begin weekday dinner hours after it gets its liquor license in mid-July. TAE, which can seat 60, is on the first floor of the hotel on the east side of the building so that there is access to the parking lot. THE METEOR BIKE and coffee shop at the Stifft Station intersection of Kavanaugh Boulevard and Markham Street is hosting Food Truck Fridays from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. This Friday’s food truck is Pinches Tacos, the hot pink mobile Mexican eatery. The Meteor will sell $2 beer along with its other beverages, and the intoxicants can now be enjoyed on the patio off the parking lot. Stone’s Throw Brewing will also operate its Stifft Station Taproom in the building just behind The Meteor as part of the PopUp Stifft Station road diet demonstration. ZIN URBAN WINE & Beer Bar owners Troy Deal and Michael Puckett announced Monday that the bar’s last day of business at its downtown location, at 300 River Market Ave., will be Saturday, June 27. ZIN, which opened its downtown bar in 2010, will host a farewell party Friday night and an after-party for filmgoers at “Generation Wealth” screening at the Ron Robinson Theater on Saturday night. ZIN Wine Bar West at 11121 N. Rodney Parham Road will stay open. IRA’S, THE RESTAURANT in the making for 18 months in the Rose Building, 311 Main St., has once again delayed its opening. Owner Ira Mittleman did not give a new opening date, but said on Facebook that “I will let you know the minute I can” what that date is. 26

JUNE 28, 2018

ARKANSAS TIMES

CATHEAD’S ‘COUNTRY BREAKFAST’: Pulled pork, eggs, biscuit and gravy, fried chicken tenders and a donut on the side.

Fine diner

Cathead’s lives up to hype.

e love a good diner, a place that can be late-night raucous after the drag show empties out, or early-morning silent with nothing but old men shuffling newspapers and sipping coffee. That’s the kind of place we seek out at home and on the road. It’s where our kind of people go and where atmosphere (sometimes) matters more than food quality. So, imagine our surprise when we heard that local celebrity chef and fancy food slinger Donnie Ferneau was opening up a place called Cathead’s Diner. Hubba wha? The man who’d been behind the food at such trendy, tony places as Ciao Baci, Ferneau’s and the 1836 Club was opening a diner in the East Village area of Little Rock? After confirming that this was not fake news, we decided to investigate. Cathead’s is strictly a breakfast and

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lunch establishment, located in a mixeduse development known as the Paint Factory. We set out for an early meal on Cathead’s second day of operation last Thursday, were promptly greeted and seated inside a spacious dining room with an industrial feel and ordered up. The breakfast menu consists of five “entrees” that range in price from $9 to $14, including “Biscuits Benedict,” “Grillades & Grits,” the “Pancake Plate” and the “Blue Collar Breakfast,” along with five other “Biscuits and Burritos” options. We opted for “Cathead’s Country Breakfast” ($14) without properly reading the description. Folks, it was a mountain of delicious food: scrambled eggs, smoked pulled pork, a cathead biscuit with gravy, two fried chicken tenders and a salted caramel doughnut on the side. We did not come close to finishing it, but it was the kind of

breakfast that could carry a hungry man through the day. Let’s talk about these doughnuts. Cathead’s bakes its doughnuts onsite, under the eye of head baker Kelli Marks, and they are far beyond your dad’s glazed dozen. Think maple bacon, triple chocolate, topped with breakfast cereal or with a glistening and crunchy strawberry glaze. The doughnuts alone are worth a stop at Cathead’s. A return trip to lunch the following week revealed another surprise for a Ferneau establishment. Rather than table service, diners wend their way through a cafeteria-style line for a “meat and three” plate lunch on a tray ($11), dished up by the friendly and chatty Ferneau himself. From a variety of tempting choices, we enjoyed excellent fried chicken, some of the best mashed potatoes we’ve had in years, tender squash, purple hull peas that were perhaps too mushy and a fluffy cathead biscuit. For the chicken, Cathead’s offers a squeeze bottle of “Maple Hot” sauce that added a sweet and slightly spicy tang to the

BELLY UP

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STEAK•SEAFOOD•SUSHI WWW.BENIHANA.COM 2 Riverfront Place, North Little Rock, AR 501 374 8081

serving better than bar food all night long June A SOUTHERN ‘MEAT AND THREE’: Great fried chicken, squash, mashed potatoes and purple hull peas.

bird. We opted out of dessert, but should note that Cathead’s offers an array of cakes and pies ($4-$5) that are hard to say no to. On Saturdays and Sundays, Cathead’s offers only one option: a champagne brunch. For $25, diners may enjoy an “all you can eat” meal with a mimosa included (for those who don’t want the mimosa, the cost is $22.50). Diners were lined up outside the doors when we arrived on Saturday with three friends, and the wait was thoughtfully eased by the delivery of complimentary doughnuts to the line. Cathead’s brunch, also served cafeteria-style, leans heavily toward the “lunch” side of the portmanteau. While eggs can be made to order, offerings included items such as meatloaf, vegetables, peel-and-eat shrimp, fried chicken, barbecued ribs and salad, along with the expected grits, biscuits, bacon, pastries and fruit. Our table unanimously lauded the hot biscuits and rich chocolate gravy and the thick, flavorful bacon, cooked perfectly. Cathead’s offers creamy rice grits instead of the standard corn variety, and the result was enthralling enough to send us back for seconds. The tender and smoky barbecued ribs damn near made our table form a pact to make “ribs for breakfast” a thing.

Cathead’s Diner 515 Shall Ave. 801-0843 catheadsdiner.com Quick bite

Breakfast and lunch only; a champagne brunch is the only meal on Saturday and Sunday; house-made doughnuts are not to be missed.

Hours

7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

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29 - THE GREATWHISKEY RENDEZVOUD 30 - CHUCKYWAGGS AND FRIENDS

JULY

6 - COSMOCEAN 7 - DIRTFOOT 13 - JASON LEE HALE AND THE PERSONAL SPACE INVADERS Check-out the bands at Fourquarterbar.com Open until 2am every night!

415 Main St North Little Rock • (501) 313-4704 • fourquarterbar.com

Other info Full bar.

One member of our table ordered peel-and-eat shrimp, served, oddly, with sauce poured directly on the unpeeled shrimp. A vegetarian member of our table found not as many choices as he would have liked, but was pleased with Ferneau’s efforts to listen and find options for his plate. The service at Cathead’s is to be remarked upon — every single person on staff we encountered during our three visits was friendly, efficient and never too busy to help. In addition, our brunch team especially appreciated the roving band of servers offering additional doughnuts from table to table. We ate too many, and not only out of politeness. Head there soon.

Seafood Boils and Catering! Book your event today! 1619 REBSAMEN PARK RD. 501.838.3888 thefadedrose.com arktimes.com JUNE 28, 2018

MOVIE REVIEW

SUPERHERO/CAREGIVER: With superhero Elastigirl making headlines, Mr. Incredible plays demigod of the domicile.

It takes a village Only villains work alone in ‘Incredibles 2.’ BY GUY LANCASTER

espite the 14-year hiatus since its predecessor was released, “Incredibles 2” begins right where the last movie left off — with the Parr family donning their outfits to take on the villainous Underminer (John Ratzenberger). However, the destruction their efforts wreak upon the city reminds everyone why “supers” were outlawed in the first place. To turn public opinion around, telecommunications billionaire Winston Deavor (Bob Odenkirk) enlists Helen Parr/Elastigirl (Holly Hunter) as part of a PR campaign, essentially funding her career as a hero. Meanwhile, her husband Bob/Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) is left with the domestic duties, overseeing the care of adolescent daughter Violet (Sarah Vowell), son Dash (Huck Milner) and infant Jack-Jack (Eli Fucile), the latter exhibiting a range of powers that makes parenting a nightmare. Bob, used to being the center of public attention, chafes under this arrangement at first but gradually 28

JUNE 28, 2018

ARKANSAS TIMES

comes to recognize the value of hands-on father- with heroics without descending into triviality and hood. Meanwhile, Elastigirl’s work brings her into bathos, and also explores the realistic consequences confrontation with the Screenslaver. A techno-hyp- of a superhero lifestyle without indulging in gritty notist capable of hijacking people’s minds through nihilism. Too, director Brad Bird’s action sequences any electronic screen, the Screenslaver views the put the viewer right in the midst of a motorcycle very existence of supers as part and parcel of the chase through city streets or arcing dizzyingly over same cultural trends that leave people passively skyscraper rooftops. Many superhero films offer consuming life rather than experiencing it first- fight scenes consisting of little more than prolonged hand. The Screenslaver, instead, wants people to beat-downs, but “Incredibles 2” actually employs rely upon themselves rather than mercurial supers the various powers its characters possess for some and thus unleashes a campaign of terror, one that truly creative sequences. threatens not only the Parr family, but all people Sometimes, though, the various themes of the with powers. movie trip over each other. Various superhuman Despite the immense competition, “Incredi- characters in the movie speak warmly of Elastigirl’s bles 2” proves itself the best superhero film on the recent work as having motivated them to stop hidmarket. While Marvel movies are rife with crossing their abilities — to come out of the closet, as it references, regularly interrupting narrative with were. The movie wants us to celebrate this, even franchise building, and DC films have replaced as it gives us the perfect argument to the contrary. character, continuity and clarity with CGI non- After all, Screenslaver’s motivation stems from the sense, “Incredibles 2” successfully combines humor growing visibility of heroes, which renders their

very presence part of a vicious dialec- alone, he also comes to value his “viltic that inevitably entails large-scale lage,” the family and friends who help property damage as heroes and vil- him get through difficult times. lains fight it out in the public square. In the end, though, Screenslaver But for a movie about the superhuman is right — superheroes are a distracubermensch, “Incredibles 2” commits tion from the lives we should be livitself to a vision of equality. Elastigirl, ing. As St. Thérèse of Lisieux said, for the first time in her marriage, rev- “To ecstasy, I prefer the monotony of els in the chance to play first fiddle sacrifice.” Even in a universe filled and reveal her fantastic abilities and with spandex-clad demigods, sociintelligence. As the buff strongman, ety is maintained, and more lives are Mr. Incredible often enjoyed the lime- saved, by the daily grind of folks just light at the expense of his wife, and doing unglamorous jobs. Batman can for much of the film he still believes punch real good, but Edward Jenthat he should be the one out there ner gave us the smallpox vaccine. It’s doing hero stuff. However, he comes something worth remembering as you to recognize and appreciate his wife’s go to see this latest Pixar offering, own abilities, and for the man who shown up on a bright, shining screen famously stated at the beginning of that will hypnotize you for two hours the first movie that he always worked of excitement and fun.

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SUMMMER SALE!

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JUNE 14 - JULY 1

523 S. Louisiana St., Little Rock 501.396.9146 arktimes.com JUNE 28, 2018

Hey, do this! On July 26, you’re invited to BEST OF ARKANSAS 2018: HOLLYWOOD NIGHTS! For the past 40 years, the Best Of Arkansas issue has been the biggest Arkansas Times issue of the year. Our readers vote for their favorites in a large variety of categories and this year, you’re invited to party with the winners! Enjoy great food, drink, music and a Hollywood-themed night of revelry at the beautiful Albert Pike Masonic Center. Guests are invited to wear black-tie, red carpet attire OR to dress up as their favorite movie character! Get creative with your outfit and have fun with it! Benefits the Arkansas Repertory Theater. Tickets are $40 individually and $75 for a couple. Get yours at centralarkansastickets.com.

JULY

Food, Music, Entertainment and everything else that’s

The third annual ALES FOR TRAILS CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL presented by Choctaw is going down July 7th at Riverfront Park in downtown Fort Smith! Sample from a selection of 400+ craft brews, enjoy live music, participate in Core Beer’s 5K Beer Run, win prizes by competing in the Baggo Tournament, and more! General admission is $10 and a Brew Pass is $35. Buy your tickets at ales4trails.com. ■ DIRTFOOT plays from 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. at Four Quarter Bar, $8.

JUNE 28, 2018

ARKANSAS TIMES

THROUGH JULY 7

First United Methodist Church of Little Rock presents their sermon series based on Broadway plays, THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO BROADWAY, each Sunday in July.

Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre presents MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. In this onehour Family Shakespeare adaptation, Beatrice and Benedick have sworn off love and each other. Their friends and family intervene to transform these sworn bachelors into a happy couple. Will these tricks finally put an end to their “merry war?” Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre is also happy to offer a sensory-friendly performance of Much Ado on July 5 at 2 p.m., to accommodate all individuals with sensory processing deficits, including those on the autism disorder spectrum. Tickets at tickets.uca.edu and more details at arkshakes.com/accessibility.

Come test your knowledge at United Cerebral Palsy of Arkansas’s SUMMER TRIVIA NIGHT! Held at Damgoode Pies at 500 President Clinton Avenue, this event raises money to directly benefit individuals with disabilities who are supported by UCP of Arkansas. Tickets are $100 for a team of 4 and include a pizza buffet, non-alcoholic drinks, door prizes and eight rounds of trivia. Doors open at 6:00 p.m., trivia starts at 7:00 p.m. Tickets at centralarkansastickets.com.

Early bird tickets to the KING BISCUIT BLUES FESTIVAL, Oct. 3-6, are on sale UNTIL JULY 12! Get yours at kingbiscuitfestival. com. This year’s festival headliners are Bobby Rush, Blackberry Smoke, and Dave Mason and Steve Cropper.

Murry’s Dinner Playhouse presents MENOPAUSE THE MUSICAL! Four women at a lingerie sale with nothing in common but a black lace bra and memory loss, hot flashes, night sweats, not enough sex, too much sex and more! This hilarious musical parody set to classic tunes from the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s will have you cheering and dancing in the aisles. Call 562.3131 for tickets!

JULY 5

THE WEEKEND THEATER presents DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS: THE MUSICAL. Two con men, a beautiful woman and the elite of the French Riviera collide in this sexy and irreverent farce. It’s hard to know who’s conning who and who the “bad guys” really are. And, in the end, we find that the “bad guys” can be “nice guys” until the next con comes along! Tickets at centralarkansastickets.com.

JULY 7

FUN!

MONTH OF JULY

JULY 1, 5-8

JULY 10

MUSIC @ THE GRIFFIN 6/30: Chris Loggins 7/5: Jason Eady 7/7: Molly Ringwalds (Griffin Music Hall) 7/12: Ernie Biggs Roadshow 7/14: Tunesmith 7/19: Rodney Block Collective 7/28: Neel St. Strummers Call-out box: VERIZON ARENA EVENTS 6/29: The Outlaw Music Festival Tour 7/7: Journey & Def Leppard 7/14: Godsmack & Shinedown with Special Guest Red Sun Rising Tickets at verizonarena.com.

JULY 11AUGUST 25

Murry’s Dinner Playhouse presents GREASE! Dust off your leather jackets, pull on your bobbysocks, and take a trip to a simpler time with Danny, Sandy, the T-Birds, the Pink Ladies and everyone else at Rydell High. Featuring all the unforgettable songs from the hit movie! Call 562.3131 for tickets.

JULY 6

COSMOCEAN plays from 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. at Four Quarter Bar, $7.

JULY 12

Quapaw Quarter Association presents their Preservation Conversations Lecture Series 2018: “MOSAIC STATE TEMPLE BUILDING”, by Ralph Wilcox. Reception starts at 5:30 p.m., lecture and tour at 6 p.m. Held at Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, 501 W 9th Street. Free and open to the public!

JULY 12-15, 19-22, 26-29 The Studio Theatre presents THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS! This happy-go-lucky view of small-town vice and statewide political side-stepping recounts the good times and the demise of the Chicken Ranch, known as one of the better pleasure palaces in all of Texas. There are many frequent visitors to Miss Mona’s bordello, until that Puritan nemesis Watchdog focuses his television cameras and his righteous indignation on the institution. Box office opens at 6:30, doors open at 7:00 and curtain is at 7:30 p.m. The Lobby Bar is open at 6:00 and you may take your drink into the theatre. Tickets at centralarkansastickets.com.

Rock ROCKRegion REGIONMETRO Hosts July Public METROTwo TENDRA Information Meetings TRES REUNIONS Rock Region METRO EN INFORMATIVAS isJULIO hosting two public information meetings in

JULY 13 Art lovers, don’t miss SECOND FRIDAY ART NIGHT, the after-hours art night held every second Friday of the month. Hosts include Historic Arkansas Museum, Matt McLeod Fine Art Gallery, Bella Vita Jewelry, Nexus Coffee and more! Get more info at facebook.com/2ndFridayArtNight.

JULY 15

Quapaw Quarter Association hosts SUMMER SUPPERS: URBAN DINING IN SOMA. Enjoy a QQA Boardsponsored dinner at the Root Café. The Root Café Summer Supper will consist of a five course dinner and wine pairing (vegetarian option available). A portion of all ticket prices is a taxdeductible donation to the QQA. 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. Tickets are $75, available at centralarkansastickets.com.

MARKETPLACE

Rock Region METRO está

JULY 18

SINNERS & SAINTS plays from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. at Four Quarter Bar. Free show.

JULY 20

Enjoy AN EVENING WITH ARKANSAUCE at Revolution Music Room. Doors open 8 p.m., show starts at 9 p.m. Tickets $8 over 21, $10 under. Standing room only ■ BIG DAMN HORNS plays from 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. at Four Quarter Bar, $7.

JULY 19

Enjoy a special preview presentation of BIG RIVER at The Argenta Community Theatre. This jaunty family-friendly journey provides a brilliantly theatrical celebration of pure Americana. Twain’s timeless classic sweeps us down the mighty Mississippi as Huck Finn helps his friend Jim, a slave, escape to freedom at the mouth of the Ohio River. Their adventures along the way are hilarious, suspenseful and heartwarming. All ticket proceeds benefit Wolfe Street Foundation, Arkansas’s largest resource for people and their families recovering from alcoholism and addiction. Tickets are $30. More info and tickets at centralarkansastickets.com.

Don’t miss ART ON THE BORDER at the Blue Lion in downtown Fort Smith. Art On The Border features a wide variety of styles and mediums from over 40 regional artists and artisans that create fine art, pottery, glassware, baskets, jewelry, ceramics, wood pieces, and sculpture art. All works original and for sale! 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ■ ADAM FAUCETT AND THE TALL GRASS plays from 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. at Four Quarter Bar, $7.

This year’s PEACEMAKER MUSIC & ARTS FEST, held in downtown Fort Smith, has a great lineup, including Grace Potter, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Anderson East and more! Tickets range from $39 for a Single Day Pass to $175 for a VIP 2 Day Festival Pass. Get your tickets and more information at peacemakerfest.com/tickets.

Little Rock tres andreuionés North Little presentando Rock next month. informativas en Little Rock y North Littleevents Rock el próximo mes. The allow community Estos eventos permitirán members to discuss que los miembros deannual las comunidades proposed service discutan lo propuesto sobre los enhancements, including servicios anuales, incluyendo la proposed changes propuestra de cambios to de four rutas of 25 bus routes. More de seis a 26. Para más información information can be found at visite: www.rrmetro.org/annualrrmetro.org/annual-serviceservice-enhancements. enhancements. Día y hora de reunions: Meeting dates, times and MIÉRCOLES, 19 DE JULIO, locations 5:30-7 p.m., are: Laman Library, Room 216, 2801MONDAY, Orange St., North Little 30, Rock JULY 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Central MARTES, 25 DE JULIO, Arkansas Library System 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Central Arkansas Main 100 S. Rock Library Branch, System Main Branch, 100 S.St., Little Rock Rock St., Little Rock

TO ADVERTISE IN THIS SECTION, CALL LUIS AT 501.375.2985

TUESDAY, MIÉRCOLES, 26 DEJULY JULIO,31,

5:30-7 p.m.,a.m.-1 Central Arkansas Library 11:30 p.m., North System Main Branch, 100 S. Rock St., Little Rock City Hall, 300 Little Rock Main St., North Little Rock

JULY 21

JULY 27-28

ARKANSAS TIMES

JULY 27

Get your tickets to THE ULTIMATE PRINCE TRIBUTE IV at Revolution Music Room, 9 p.m. Tickets are $15 at arkansaslivemusic.com or call 501-5485811 for VIP, tables or balcony. ■ BONE THUGS-N-HARMONY, LIL FLIP, & YING YANG TWINS are playing at Metroplex Live. Doors at 8 p.m., show starts at 9 p.m. Tickets are $35-$49. Get yours at metroplexlive.com!

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JULY 28

JASON D. WILLIAMS will be playing at the MAD Amphitheater in El Dorado, 7 p.m. This Arkansas native has spent a lifetime behind the piano connecting with country and rock ‘n’ roll greats while creating a persona that’s entirely original. Get your tickets at eldomad.com.

FOR MORE EVENTS, GO TO CENTRALARKANSASTICKETS.COM

DON’T MISS HOT SPRINGS HAPPENINGS ON PAGE 21! arktimes.com JUNE 28, 2018

Music Lineup

SILKS BAR & GRILL FRI. & SAT. 10 P.M.-2 A.M. JULY 6 & 7 AARON OWENS JULY 13 & 14 JOHN CALVIN BREWER BAND

… for Summer Fun? Because we’ve got plenty of it this month at the award-winning Oaklawn Gaming in Hot Springs! July 1 there’s $500,000 up for grabs at the Beach Ball Bash. The winning continues on July 4 with the $15,000 Reel Summer Spectacular. You could win up to $3,000 in Free Play. On July 20, come party with the Commodores at the Finish Line Theater. Tickets on sale beginning July 3 at oaklawn. com. And the summer fun heats up July 14 and 21 with Oaklawn’s exciting $30,000 Christmas in July! All this entertainment is close by in Hot Springs National Park. Are you in?

JULY 20 & 21 ELECTRIC 5 JULY 27 & 28 DOWNDAY

Weekly Events HUMPDAY KARAOKE WED. IN POP’S LOUNGE 7 P.M. - MIDNIGHT $2 WELLS, WINES & DRAFTS

LIVE TEAM TRIVIA THURS. & SAT. IN POP’S LOUNGE 7-9 p.m.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIVE KARAOKE FRIDAYS IN POP’S LOUNGE 7-10 p.m.

Special Events SUNDAY, JULY 1 $500,000 BEACH BALL BASH

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JUNE 28, 2018

ARKANSAS TIMES