The Pulse 9.17 » April 26-May 2, 2012

2012

Chattanooga’s Weekly Alternative

In the MUSICAL Garden of the

April 26-May 2

Shaking Ray Levi Society

FOR MORE THAN 25 YEARS,THE SRLS HAS been bringing unique music

AND ARtists TO THE CITY. MEET THE CREATIVE DUO BEHIND THE SOCIETY

2 • The Pulse • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • chattanoogapulse.com

Since 2003

Contents

INSIDE » MUSIC

Chattanooga’s Weekly Alternative ChattanoogaPulse.com • Facebook.com/ChattanoogaPulse

EDITORIAL

The Distribution is (from left) Carl Cadwell (keyboards), Joshua Caleb Green (drums), Travis Knight (bass), Johnny Cate (guitar), Mary Higgins (vocals) and Nikki Ellis (vocals).The band performs as part of The Destroyers Club showcase at Velo Coffee on Friday. See Page 17

APRIL 26-may 2, 2012 • vol. 9 no. 17 COVER STORY

Photo • Lesha Patterson

Publisher Zachary Cooper Creative Director Bill Ramsey Contributors Rich Bailey • Rob Brezsny Chuck Crowder • Michael Crumb • John DeVore Randall Gray • Dr. Rick Pimental-Habib Paul Hatcher • Janis Hashe • Matt Jones • Chris Kelly D.E. Langley • Mike McJunkin • David Morton Ernie Paik • Alex Teach • Richard Winham Cartoonists Max Cannon • Jesse Reklaw Richard Rice • Tom Tomorrow Photography Jason Dunn • Josh Lang Lesha Patterson Interns Britton Catignani • Kinsey Elliott Molly Farrell • Rachel Saunders

Shaking Ray Levi Society • For more than 25 years, the Shaking Ray Levi Society has brought a wealth of nontraditional music, artists and performance to Chattanooga. Meet the duo behind the society.

By Chris Kelly » 9

ADVERTISING Sales Director Lysa Greer Account Executives David Barry • Rick Leavell

MUSIC

CONTACT

Trigger Hippy

Phone 423.265.9494 Fax 423.266.2335 Email info@chattanoogapulse.com calendar@chattanoogapulse.com Got a stamp? 1305 Carter St. Chattanooga, TN 37402

• The rock ‘n’ soul supergroup fronted

by Joan Osborne returns with its Southern-tinged takes on classic R&B, rock and soul.

By Richard Winham » 16 • The Destroyers Club » 17

letters

Please limit letters to 300 words or less. Letters to the editor must include name, address and daytime phone number for verification. The Pulse reserves the right to edit letters for space and clarity.

the fine print

The Pulse is published weekly by Brewer Media and is distributed throughout the city of Chattanooga and surrounding communities. The Pulse covers a broad range of topics concentrating on culture, the arts, entertainment and local news.

The Pulse is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. No person without written permission from the publishers may take more than one copy per weekly issue. We’re watching. The Pulse may be distributed only by authorized distributors.

arts

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

© 2012 Brewer Media BREWER MEDIA GROUP President Jim Brewer II

On the cover

Dennis Palmer and Bob Stagner, musical partners and the creative force behind the Shaking Ray Levi Society. Photo by Lesha Patterson.

honest music

• Photographer David Ruiz and artist Mary Margaret LaVoie launched PPRWRK to create whimsical, musicinspired temporary murals. Their work is all over town this week as part of MakeWork’s 10x10 HATCH showcase.

By Bill Ramsey » 20

local and regional shows

Spoon with Jung and Sunny Tyler ($3)

Wed, Apr 25

9pm

Roshameaux with Brian Hensley and the Wild Kind ($3)

Thu, Apr 26

9pm

The Darren Johnson Effort with Emily Hearn ($3)

Wed, May 2

9pm

Free Irish Music Sunday Nights at 7pm. Apr 29: Molly Maguires

Full food menu serving lunch and dinner.

11am-2am, 7 days a week.

35 Patten Parkway * 423.468.4192 thehonestpint.com * Facebook.com/thehonestpint

chattanoogapulse.com • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • The Pulse • 3

BOWL

THE TRANSIT

TALK OF THE NOOG

facebook/chattanoogapulse • email: CREATIVE@chattanoogapulse.com

Pedaling Into the Future Once implausible, new bike transit system an exciting reality alloyed, modern, chattanooga bicycle transit System (CBTS) stations have now been placed throughout the downtown area. These 30 stations, strategically placed in areas of greatest potential use by commuters, workers and visitors, will be stocked with 300 bicycles beginning on April 25 (as this edition hits the streets).

Out of all the developments in the past 20 years in our downtown area, this is one that would have seemed the most unlikely among Chattanooga’s major revitalization efforts.

If you consider what must transpire for something like a bicycle transit system to become feasible for a city, we would seem like a distant candidate even just a few years ago. A mix of a somewhat concentrated urban area, the right number of destination points through that area, a concentration of residents, workers and visitors who would have the greatest potential to use the system. All this must be in place to make the system viable.

Beyond the infrastructure and hardware needs of a bicycle transit program, perhaps even more important to a successful implementation is the desire of a community to see it happen, and the belief in its transformative effect on a city.

This is key. No matter how many developmental factors are in place for such a thing, if the desire among city leaders, interest groups and the public it intends to serve is not there, nothing else matters.

4 • The Pulse • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • chattanoogapulse.com

Let’s take advantage of the new system and use it as intended— as a practical alternative to automobiles.

The sport-cycling community has existed for many years in Chattanooga. That vibrant set of enthusiasts and the services to it from cycling shops around the city have developed a strong presence in the city and region. The 3-State 3-Mountain Challenge and the Tour de Cure are both upcoming events that highlight this enthusiastic and active component of the area’s outdoor activities.

There is little doubt that this presence has helped move the bicycle into the consciousness of the city as not only a sporting or wellness venture, but a form of practical transportation.

That’s the idea of CBTS and their operational partner, Alta Bicycle Share, Inc. That bicy-

cles are a practical, inexpensive, environmentally friendly way to get from Point A to Point B. Alta Bicycle Share has operations in Boston, Washington D.C., Chicago and New York City, to name a few, with overseas operations in places such as Melbourne, Australia. Chattanooga is the first city in the Southeast to have a full deployment of the bike system. That’s a nice badge to be wearing and it’s an impressive development in terms of urban transportation as well as capital investment in our infrastructure.

“Planning for a project of this magnitude took months of coordination with the city, private business owners, nonprofits, and individuals,” said Jeremy Pomp, general manager of Bike Chattanooga, adding future expansion is in mind as well. “As with our other operations, we do expect expansion to occur based on an increase in demand after our first year of operation.”

During the unveiling ceremonies of the CBTS station map and installment of the first station at Outdoor Chattanooga last week, I spoke to one of the board members of Bike Chattanooga. As that ceremony was taking place, he said another “major announcement” around the concept of biking and alternative transportation was being planned for release on May 5. Pushing him further to reveal any details, he said,

“

Planning for a project of this magnitude took months of coordination with the city, private business owners, non-profits, and individuals.

Jeremy Pomp

Bike Chattanooga “I obviously can’t give you any details now, but I will say this—it’s a game changer. And not just for Chattanooga. It’s groundbreaking nationwide.

It’s huge.” Intriguing words, certainly. We’ll be all ears come May 5.

Any future project that brings to the city new transportation options that are publicly shared and truly alternatives to the automobile are welcome. We have the opportunity to take advantage of the momentum of the bike share transit system and we have the perfect-sized downtown to make it a practical for everyday, quick transportation. It could prove to be one of the most enhancing and transformative developments the city has experienced so far.

—Zachary Cooper

On the Beat

alex teach

On Truth: A Police Chief Speaks i’d like to begin this with two observations.

The first is that I have difficulty tolerating “The Media” in general (insert collective gasps of surprise here.) I find it vapid and uninterested in the truth, more often than not. I believe it panders to people’s emotions rather than serving as a vehicle of fact as it portrays itself to be, and I think it does so for two reasons: One, the emotion “sells.”

Two, researching facts requires investigation, and investigation costs money … and you would be shocked at just how cheap news organizations really are, and how poorly paid their rapidly dwindling staffers are. (Like cops, they don’t have to pay people too much to do something they really love.)

The second observation is the fact that I work for the newspaper you are holding (or surfing), making this both ironic and hypocritical.

This is all a bit dramatic of me, but consider my perspective: The truth means more to cops than most people.

Police work, at its essence, is a search for the truth (and free coffee, but that’s another story). Even justice is secondary to that; that is the purview of the judiciary—we just start it in motion. But truth? When another business treats it like a punch line it offends a cop’s senses. Particularly when cops themselves are being used as those punch lines, as is the case here.

On the national platform, I think we’re seeing what has happened to the Trayvon Martin bandwagon that is losing wheel after wheel on its increasingly treacherous journey.

“

Releasing facts and evidence of such a case prior to trial is as rare as an attractive hooker in Chattanooga, but Chattanooga’s police chief has done just that: Shown evidence to local media members.

At the least, a veteran police chief lost his job simply for being employed that morning. His department actually wanted to arrest the accused shooter, and their district attorney’s office refused, but he was fired after a no-confidence vote by their city council nevertheless. And at its worst, in my opinion, we have seen the president of the United States further fan fires of rage by taking a side without the facts, rather than expressing wishes of peace and healing as a president should.

Parasites like the good Revs. Jackson and Sharpton are irrelevant to me; they are

lampreys selling a product people have already bought or rejected. Nothing new there.

But a sitting president pandering to race rather than bringing peace because it’s an election year? That’s damage. And with previously unreleased pictures of Mr. Zimmerman’s bleeding head and the description of his back being wet as if someone was straddling him while beating his head into the pavement … I’m not seeing as many “Hoodie Occupations” now all of a sudden. Release of those photos (part of the investigation usually reserved only for court) hasn’t quite turned the tide, but the waters are definitely a lot calmer now and we have had “white Hispanic” added to our lexicon of racebaiting canon, to boot.

On the local level, we have a gambler shot for pointing a pistol at a cop while fleeing a police raid. This has gone from what it was, to a young, unarmed man trying to make a living as a caterer who was shot for “no reason whatsoever” after he was forced to run for his life while no doubt looking for a church to pray in or a child that needed to learn to read.

The investigation of a police-involved shooting of a suspect is as large, if not larger, than you can imagine. Releasing facts and evidence of such a case prior to trial is as rare as an attractive hooker in Chattanooga, but seeing what has unnecessarily erupted in Sanford, Fla., Chattanooga’s police chief has done just that: Shown evidence to local media members.

While they were not allowed to record or otherwise release the video (lest our own district attorney blow a proverbial gasket), represen-

tatives of the majority of the local media were given a full hour to digest a five-minute video of the entire incident from start to finish that literally contradicted everything that was being said about the event from family members and even gamblers present that night themselves, including the notion that he was even a caterer that night.

As of press time I believe we have hit the 30 mark for black-on-black shootings in this town (including the white cop and black suspect in this gambling incident), and some major events in the future such as the Bessie Smith Strut that have the local AfricanAmerican community seething over its initial cancellation because of these shootings.

So rather than let it fester, the chief had the guts to put a pin in that balloon and pop it rather than let this wound fester from infectious gossip and outright lies.

I’m not impressed by the responses of most of those who viewed the video (in fact, only local radio host Jeff Styles and Times Free Press reporter Beth Burger gave an actual account of what they saw, while the broadcast outlets missed the point completely by only quoting the chief), but he did it. He rolled the dice and proactively reacted to this thing, and that just doesn’t happen.

And to you other chiefs, and future police chiefs out there: I believe it worked.

The truth. How sad that it is now a novel concept—but it does indeed sometimes work.

Alex Teach is a full-time police officer of nearly 20 years experience. The opinions expressed are his own. Follow him on Facebook at facebook. com/alex.teach.

chattanoogapulse.com • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • The Pulse • 5

Dizzy Town A blog in print about politics, media & other strange bedfellows

Uncovering the Night it’s no secret that social media is more media than social. Facebook is littered with media organizations and personalities, as well as businesses, startups and individuals all hoping to “monetize” the platform. Some use it to advance a cause or plight, to galvanize support around a worthwhile event or to expose an injustice.

Jason Russell, a California filmmaker and Evangelical Christian, used YouTube to launch perhaps the most successful viral video campaign of all time in March with his film, “Kony 2012.” The film details the history of abuses, abduction and sex trafficking of children by Ugandan guerilla military leader Joseph Kony and logged more than 100 million views in six days. Many of those who watched the video were inspired to support the organization behind the video, Invisible Children, co-founded by Russell, which has lobbied the Ugandan and United States governments to bring Kony to justice for war crimes and crimes

against humanity, for which he has been indicted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

All well and good, we figure. Kony is a beast in the mold of Idi Amin, it appears. But too few took time to investigate the organization behind this cause, at least initially.

One local artist did, however, as the Kony 2012 camp prepared to capitalize on the success of the video with its “Cover the Night,” campaign, a nationwide effort promoted via social media to encourage young people to plaster urban areas with posters and stickers promoting their efforts to expose Kony.

“I was initially skeptical of the video due to the rate at which it went viral and the cult-like vibe and body language I sensed from Jason Russell,” said Angelique Jones, who wrote The Pulse and photographed several of the sites downtown where volunteers littered walls with Kony 2012 posters on April 20.

Trouble was, by the time the event took place,

Invisible Children and Russell himself had been exposed themselves— with Russell literally exposing himself during an embarrassing mental breakdown in San Diego last month, in which he was found naked, yelling and masturbating in public.

Russell’s breakdown was blamed in part on the increased criticism the organization has suffered, much of which Jones detailed in her email, including links to reports and videos. Much of that criticism concerned the organization’s distribution of funds, with critics charging that the group spends much of its money on staff salaries rather than the focus of its cause.

When Cover the Night supporters hit the streets of downtown and the campus of UTC, another group, Uncover the Night, followed, covering the Kony posters with their own stating the campaign was nothing less than evangelical right-wing propaganda.

“It was a small group of UTC students who defaced the Kony posters

NEED EXTRA CASH? CHATTANOOGA’S #1 GOLD BUYER wants to give you MONEY for your jewelry!

Get paid TOP-DOLLAR just like Rick’s thousands of satisfied customers!

WWW.RICKDAVISGOLDANDDIAMONDS.COM

RICK DAVIS GOLD & DIAMONDS 5301 Brainerd Rd at McBrien Rd • 423.499.9162 6 • The Pulse • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • chattanoogapulse.com

said.

Jones may be a bit too late in uncovering Kony 2012. While supporters did come out for the April 20 campaign, the big event largely fizzled.

“The hyped event’s meager turnout could have a number of causes: our fleeting digital attention spans, or viral content’s fireworks-tofizzle trajectories, or the challenges of translating online activism to realworld change, or Invisible Children’s failure to capitalize on the attention it had once it still had it, or Invisible Children’s own pivot when it came to the stated goal of the event, or the widespread backlash that brought phrases like ‘the white savior industrial complex’ newly, and powerfully, into the mass consciousness,” wrote The Atlantic’s Megan Garber in her blog on the magazine’s website on Tuesday.

While we applaud Jones’ efforts in targeting the exploitation of social media, it seems at least in this case the message was the messenger, namely Russell. And who wants to “like” a crazy man masturbating in public?

Achtung, Douchebags! elsewhere, in state politics, the General Assembly continues its quest to make itself the biggest laughingstock in

the country. When state leaders aren’t pushing religion in schools and creating anti-gay legislation, they’re backing NRAbased measures designed to allow gun owners to carry weapons in vehicles in the parking lots of private companies, schools, colleges and universities.

That pro-gun legislation, which Gov. Bill Haslam predicts will fail, has raised the ire of none other than Volkswagen in Chattanooga, who claim the measures violate their property rights and jeopardizes employee safety.

“That’s a sort of thing that makes us a bit nervous,” VW Chairman and CEO Frank Fischer told the AP. Or, as we might put it: Achtung, Douchebags!

Could it be that when Volkswagen tells these legislators they’re going too far, the hammer falls?

Even if that’s not the case, we can imagine any pressure from the likes of the German car company—a prize in Tennessee’s economic revival bucket—makes a difference.

We’d like to think there’s a big red “NEIN” button on the governor’s phone that lights up whenever this happens. “OK,” we like to imagine Haslam telling his cohorts, “VW says we have to stop being douchebags, so let’s move on to something else.”

Thanks, VW!

Stagehands & Riggers Needed to work concerts, festivals and corporate events.

• Must have reliable transportation.

• Experience in the industry or construction preferred.

Please go to www.crew1.com and fill out a contractor proposal under the freelance opportunity tab for Chattanooga.

THE PULSE IS HIRING

who were inspired to take this action after hearing about Uncover the Night, a group that is trying to expose the propaganda being spread by Invisible Children,” Jones wrote.

“Social media can be used for the greater good of democracy, but in the hands of power players it can be used to manipulate and control people,” she continued, “so I feel it is important to shed some light on the situation.”

Jones said the students did not formally participate in the Uncover the Night movement via petitions, but instead chose to deface the posters acting as a small group of underground students who hoped to awaken people to the possibility that there may be more to Kony 2012 than meets the eye.

Inspired by these actions, Jones created the website stopsocialmediapropaganda.org to encourage scrutiny of such social media and viral video campaigns and the organizations behind them. Jones said she is also filing the paperwork to become a nonprofit entity.

“While the FCC places regulations on television and radio to control propaganda, to my knowledge no such legislation has been enacted to protect the Internet from covert propaganda,” Jones

Account Executive Account Executive (Chattanooga) Position Available at The Pulse Permanent Full-Time

The Pulse wants YOU! We’re seeking talented Sales Account Executives to join our high-performing team in print and online media sales.

You will be responsible for hunting out new leads, making fancy presentations, managing existing accounts, and selling new business. The ideal candidate has been a successful sales person, loves Chattanooga, and excels in cultivating relationships with area businesses. Qualified candidates will possess: Excellent written and verbal command of the English language; Organization of time with a laser focus attention to detail plus amazing follow through; audience- and needs- based selling approach (and knowing what that means); Outgoing and influential personality with a positive attitude (save your drama for your momma); Ability to generate your own business and likes to think creatively for your clients.

The position offers you product training, a base salary plus commission on all sales, bonuses, and the ability to get free passes to already free events! We also have a few radio stations you can represent as well. To be considered, please email a cover letter, resume, and salary history to : SalesJob@ChattanoogaPulse.com Subject: “Sales Job” The Pulse Advantage: With the most comprehensive news, arts and entertainment coverage in Chattanooga, the Pulse has become the most reliable media resource for an extremely diverse readership. Each and every week, more than 30,000 active, educated, affluent and highly influential consumers make many of their purchasing decisions based on advertisements they see on the pages of the Pulse.

Brewer Media is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

chattanoogapulse.com • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • The Pulse • 7

DRAWING CLASSES • DESIGN & COMPOSITION

Experience a New Way of Expressing Yourself

News

‘Band Aid’ for Bradley County Rock the Relief benefits East Tennessee tornado victims

Box Out Brittany performs during Rock the Relief in May 2011.

By Randall Gray

4121 HIXSON PIKE • 423.605.1632 Find us on Faceboook

PAINTING • COLOR THEORY • ALL OF IT!

REDEFINE YOUR WEEKEND. REDEFINE YOUR PROPERTY. REDEFINE YOUR IMAGE. CALL US TODAY OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE TO START IMPROVING YOUR HOME

423.667.2662 REDEFININGLANDSCAPES.COM

GREEN IS OUR BUSINESS. WE RECYCLE.

on april 27, 2011, a wave of five tornadoes ripped through Cleveland and Charleston, Tenn., in Bradley County, leaving nine people dead, 135 homes destroyed and another 485 homes with major to minor damage. In the aftermath of the ferocious storms, neighbors, volunteers and rescue and relief personnel were quick to respond, operating with a strong sense of community, but the devastation was so great that the affected communities realized that things would never be the same. With this mindset and determined to raise awareness, Brian Jackson founded Rock the Relief, a nonprofit organization which he envisioned sponsoring live-music events to help the storm victims.

Exactly one year to the day the storm hit, on Friday, April 27, Rock the Relief 2012 will kick off two days of rock ‘n’ roll performed by 13 area bands, with plenty of food, drink and fun. Childrens’ activities will be featured, and camping will be facilitated.

Proceeds from the event will go to the Bradley Long-Term Recovery Organization. The two-day festival will be held at Pappy’s in Charleston. A map can be found on the Rock the Relief 2012 website at rocktherelieftn.com.

“Most people will go back to their lives as they were before April 27,” the Rock the Relief 2012 website states. “But for

8 • The Pulse • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • chattanoogapulse.com

“

We want to raise awareness of the needs of those individuals and the agencies serving those families.

Brian Jackson those who lost so much it will never be the same. We want to raise awareness of the needs of those individuals and the agencies serving those families.”

Jackson said the initial plan of festival organizers was to donate all funds to the LongTerm Recovery Organization, but the group has since had its interest sparked by a Habitat for Humanity build. He said funds are allocated on the basis of grant requests and verified individual need.

Two festivals have already been sponsored by Rock the Relief. Both were held in May of last year. The two events

raised $2,000 and 1,300 pounds of nonperishable food items. Jackson said that within weeks after the two festivals ended the Long-Term Recovery fund had amassed over $250,000 in donations, validating Jackson’s belief that awareness of the overwhelming extent of the damage was critical to recovery.

Arriving from Los Angeles for the festival will be Steve Watson, a Cleveland native and the host of HGTV’s homeimprovement show “Don’t Sweat It.” Watson will serve as emcee for the event, a hat he previously wore for the second Rock the Relief event.

“Steve is a great speaker and knows how to keep the crowd energized,” Jackson said. “He’s definitely an asset to our cause.”

Watson was in Cleveland two days after the storm and said the sight of his stomping grounds ravaged beyond recognition broke his heart.

“This was where I’d grown up,” Watson said via email. “I didn’t recognize it anymore.

I got lost in my old neighborhood because all the landmarks were gone. I shed a few

tears the first few days, but then I noticed the community coming together in ways I never dreamed possible.”

Watson learned of Rock the Relief after he began making contact with friends and family in Cleveland. He teamed up with three high-school buddies to discuss what they might do to aid the cause.

When Watson volunteered to serve as emcee for the second Rock the Relief festival, Jackson said, the festival planners were thrilled. “He ensured that it would be a success,” he said.

Friday’s slate of acts will include One Shot Down, Jamie Higdon, The Collins Brothers, Emily Pate and Kings of the Killerfish. On Saturday, the acts include Old Boy Folklore, Poobah and McClung, Code Blue, Dog and Pony Show, Jared Elledge, Gold Room, Blues Hammer and Robo Sapien.

The list of food vendors includes Dixon’s Dawgs, Diner On 1st, G-Daddy’s BBQ, Kona Ice and Salvation Army coffee.

Single-day tickets are priced at $15 for non-campers. A $25 single-day ticket includes admission to the festival and a camping spot. An all-access ticket costs $75 and includes admission for both days, camping accommodation, four meals from any of the festival’s food vendors and five nonalcoholic drinks. Beer will be sold separately.

Rock the Relief 2012 $15-$75 • April 27-28 Pappy’s Charleson, Tenn. rocktherelieftn.com

rs, a e y 5 2 n a h t e r For mo d n a r e n g a t S b o B e v a h r e m l a P Dennis e u q i n u g n i g n been bri m o r f s t s i t r a d n a music to d l r o w e h t d n arou e h t s a a g o o n a Chatt e h t d n i h e b e creative forc

y a R g n i k Sha y t e i c o S i v Le

By Chris KePlalytterson Photo by Lesha

chattanoogapulse.com • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • The Pulse • 9

D

ennis Palmer is a man whose love of music goes well beyond music itself. He just loves sounds—any kind of sound. As a child, he would order animal calls from his father’s hunting magazines. Duck calls, crow calls, predator calls, even squirrel calls, and they are still used in his performances to this day. When he was young, the Chattanooga native began to tinker with his aunt’s piano as well. This love of sound, sound effects and music eventually led him to purchase a Moog synthesizer and put a band together with a friend he had known since the first grade, percussionist Bob Stagner. That partnership eventually led to the Shaking Ray Levi Society, a collective-run nonprofit that supports, produces and presents diverse genres of music, film and performance art through festivals, recordings and the Internet, still going strong after 25 years. But be warned, Palmers says: “If you do not like listening to bird songs, you will probably not like our music.”

One reviewer described the Shaking Rays as “Accomplished masters of the warp speed sound bite.” Their avantgarde, improvisational style has a following as far away a New York City and even London and their music has led them to play with a diverse array of artists. One such upcoming performance will be on Friday, April 27, in Detroit at the Museum of Contemporary Art, where the Shaking Rays will provide the soundtrack to the life of Chattanooga-born artist Wayne White. White, best known for his work on “Pee Wee’s Playhouse,” will be playing banjo and telling the story of his life.

That show will also be coming to Chattanooga later this summer in conjunction with a screening of the new documentary on White’s life and career, “Beauty is Embarrasing.”

But before embarking on their latest musical journey, the duo sat down to talk about their own lives, careers and the Shaking Ray Levi Society. Palmer began, speaking of his early years as a fledgling musician.

“My father’s side of the family was very musical and I picked up a lot from them,” he said. “And being Southern, I was always looking for bands and music that were from somewhere else. Jimi Hendrix, ELO, Pink Floyd, Yes and King Crimson were bands that I was really attracted to as well as the Art Ensemble of Chicago, who used a variety of percussion and whistles and other sound effects.”

This musical foundation led Palmer to form his first band, Bend Sinister. “We were an all original band that was a derivative of art rock,” he said. “It was the early 1980s when we formed and synthesizers were unusual in the South. Even in the universities that had them, most people had very little idea about how to

10 • The Pulse • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • chattanoogapulse.com

“

It’s a journey into the unknown. Music is a very intense form of communication that accepts diversity.

Dennis Palmer play them.”

Along the way, Palmer and Stagner marveled at the eclectic variety of musical styles performed in other cities around the country and the duo wanted to share their discoveries with Chattanooga. In 1986, the Shaking Ray Levi Society was born as an ongoing collaborative project that breaks all the rules, performing all of the world and bringing unique musical performances to their hometown.

Since its inception, the SRLS has presented such diverse acts as England’s improvisational guitar pioneer Derek Bailey, West African kora player Foday Musa Suso, classical Indian violinist L. Shankar, National Public Radio correspondents Andrei Codrescu and David Sedaris, New York jazz violinist Leroy Jenkins, multi-wind instrumentalist J. D. Parran, saxophone legend Anthony Braxton, the last traveling minstrel performer Abner Jay, and the late folk artist Howard Finster.

So far this year, SRLS has hosted Trevor Dunn’s acoustic jazz fusion band, Endangered Bood, at the Barking Legs Theatre; the 4th Ward Afro Klezmer Orchestra at the Faux Bridges Festival; and rock legend Col. Bruce Hampton, also at Barking Legs.

In 1994, the society was awarded a No. 1 rating as a “presenter of adventurous music” by Einstein’s Guide to the Musical Universe, a nationally recognized database.

The SRLS Performance Series has brought a wide variety of artists to Chattanooga stages who might otherwise never perform here, including performance artists such as Laurie Anderson and the Shelley Hirsch, independent rock artists such as Olivia Tremor Control, Cat Power and David Pajo, and multicultural music such as the Tibetan Monks of the Drepung Loseling Institute and Djalma.

Funded locally by a grant from Allied Arts of Greater Chattanooga, SRLS has also been supported by a variety of arts organizations supporting their projects. The society’s community involvement is not limited to performance, documentation and production, but also offers educational programs in area schools. Many of the society’s guest artists hold workshops for students on jazz instrumentation, composition and improvisation.

In the classroom, the Shaking Ray Levi duo directly involve the students in designing, discovering and playing musical instruments. Their curriculum is multidisciplinary in nature, created with the goal of helping students to develop valuable skills such as problem solving, group cooperation, active listening and effective use of available resources.

With sonic sounds and an expert, tasteful, yet wildly executed improvisational format, Palmer has compared their music to the paranormal phenomenon.

“It’s a journey into the unknown,” he said “Music is a very intense form of communication that accepts diversity.”

Shaking Ray Levis with bassist Evan Lipson.

Photo • Asher Love

the shaking ray duo’s musical stylings can best be described as non-idiomatic. This term describes an improvisational form of music which follows no written rules of music theory. The idea is about what is presented by the musicians in the moment of performance. They just start playing »P12

good foR massages, aRomatheRaPy aNd

one great mom.

m sU ot n He da r’ y, s d m a ay y i 13 s

massage envy giFt cards: New ways to Relax foR the mom who does it all. Ready to gift foR motheR’s day, may 13, at massage eNvy.

39

$

buy 3 get 1 free! introDuCtory CustoMiZeD 1-Hour MassaGe session*

49

$

introDuCtory FaCiaLs

reGister on FaCebook or in tHe CLiniC For a CHanCe For 2 MoMs to win a Free FaCiaL anD MassaGe! 345 Frazier ave • Next to RegioNs BaNk 423.757.2900 • Massageenvy.coM • Walk-ins Welcome Convenient Hours• open 7 Days: M-F 8aM-10pM, sat 8aM-6pM, sun 10aM-6pM chattanoogapulse.com • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • The Pulse • 11

Shaking Ray Levis with Derek Bailey at the Chattanooga Regional History Museum in 1988.

Photo • Gary Hamilton

12 • The Pulse • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • chattanoogapulse.com

something—anything—and journey into the realm of the often unchartered bounds of music.

The duo record on the Incus Records label, the oldest musician-run record label in Great Britain. Founded in 1970 by legendary improvisational guitarist and free-form music pioneer, Derek Bailey, the label has garnered a prestigious reputation among experimental musicians.

“We were knocked out when we found out the Incus records was interested in us,” recalled Palmer.

Palmer’s experience with the band has brought him some memorable moments in his career as a musician.

“I’ve been incredibly fortunate to play with some great musicians,” he said. “We played with [improvisational saxophonist] Jack Wright last month, and we haven’t played with him in 20 years or so—and it was incredibly magical. There was this amazing energy and excitement about the unknown.”

While the duo have traveled the world, Palmer and Stagner still call Chattanooga home.

“

Here in Chattanooga, we wanted to make something happen where nothing ever happens.

Bob Stagner “I have no interest in living anywhere else,” Palmer said.

“The arts scene here has really improved. You can find any kind of music here, and that’s unusual for a lot of cities. But now, the whole musical gamut is covered in Chattanooga.”

While the society has become a well-known and much-lauded element of Chattanooga’s arts community, many still have one question: Who is Shaking Ray? “We created the band’s name after a folk hero we made up that was along the lines of Johnny Appleseed,” Stagner said. “Shaking Ray was a guy who spread music

and told stories about heat lightning and hoop snakes. The name has a lot of shelf life. The British thought we were a Hasidic Jewish society, and the Japanese thought we were rockabilly!”

Stagner’s interest in music began when he was 10 years old and got his first guitar. The guitar was cheap and very difficult to play so he started bouncing pencils off it, in the way one might play a hammer dulcimer. The rhythms he produced prompted a suggestion and an epihany the led to Stagner’s transition to percusison.

“My sister’s boyfriend was watching me and said, ‘You don’t need that guitar, you need to be playing drums,’ ” he said. “I got my first set when I was 14.”

Stagner drew inspiration from acts from across the musical spectrum. He listened to Herb Alpert and Johnny Cash as well as R&B and jazz acts. Later, he discovered British percussionist Roger Turner, who became a heavy influence on Stagner’s style of playing and he now embraces the improvisational form in the same way Palmer does.

SRLS On the road

home game

SCHEDULE Wed, April 25 • 7:15 PM vs. Mobile

Thu, April 26 • 7:15 PM vs. Mobile

Fri, April 27 • 7:15 PM Fireworks Friday!

vs. Mobile

Sat, April 28 • 7:15 PM Chattanooga Zoo Night

vs. Mobile

Sun, April 29 • 2:15 PM SunTrust Sunday

vs. Mobile

Be sure to check out the Shaking Ray Levi duo’s performances when the chance arises. The band will be in town May 13 for a performance and drum workshop at Who-Fest in Coolidge Park and at the Barking Legs Theatre on June 5. Here’s a look at the upcoming schedule: • Wayne White and the Shaking Ray Levis (includes a screening of “Abstractiony Jones”), April 27, Detroit.

• Shaking Ray Levis at Finster Fest, May 6, Howard Finster’s Paradise Gardens, Summerville, Ga. • Shaking Ray Levis at WhoFest, May 13, Coolidge Park.

• Shaking Ray Levis and Evan Lipson, May 18, Philadelphia.

• Gino Robair, Thomas Lehn, John Butcher, June 5, Barking Legs Theatre.

Check out the entire SRLS schedule online at shakingray.com

Downtown

Mad Hatter Mondays $1 OFF ALL BEERS ALL DAY!

Mystery Bucket Tuesdays $12 LET US SURPRISE YOU OR YOU PICK!

Mystery Bucket Tuesdays

Perfect 10 Wednesdays

Perfect 10 Wednesdays

Mad Hatter Deal

40 BEERS ON TAP!

64 BEERS ON TAP!

$12 LET US SURPRISE YOU OR YOU PICK! Stagner spoke about fan of the duo in Great Britain who said, “You have a really different sound and approach to music, but you really know how to bring it to the people.

The music is very accessible and not trapped in a museum or concert hall.”

Stradling the line between accessiblity and unconventional musical experience is key to the duo’s performance goals.

“Here in Chattanooga, we wanted to make something happen where nothing ever happens,” Stagner said, recalling the original aim of the society. “People don’t realize it, but so much of what happens here in the arts scene has been impacted or indirectly influenced by us.”

Palmer is full of hope about music. As far as his own band goes, he said, “Given the current cultural climate of intolerance, our music serves as a model for global relations. Improvisation asks both creators and audience members to participate in and embrace the unknown—risk! The thing that really excites me is anyone that comes out to our shows wants to experience the celebration of improvisational music to diverse populations and people of all ages.

“We can take our music to anyone of any age because it’s mostly sounds, and not so much defined music. We want to take our music to all people.”

Waterside

$10 PITCHERS · $10 MEALS

$10 PITCHERS · $10 MEALS

$1 OFF ALL BEERS 4-6PM MON-FRI

chattanoogapulse.com • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • The Pulse • 13

SPECIAL GUEST

BETTIE GRIND

04.28.12

DOORS OPEN 7PM • SHOWTIME 8 PM • BOX OFFICE: 423.266.6627 • HOURS: M-F 10AM - 5PM HOSTED BY: NOLIMIT LARRY • FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL: 216.333.6709 • ONLINE: WWW.TICKETTRACKS.COM TICKETS: FAST STOP SHELL GAS• M&J SHOE STORES • 423.894.911 OR 423.821.9495 FOLLOW US — TWITTER: @GREGGREGNICE @RICKROZAY @THE _LILPHIL• FACEBOOK.COM/RICKROSS

14 • The Pulse • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • chattanoogapulse.com

LIST

THE CALENDAR

04.26-05.02

» pulse picks

HANNAH MILLER TUE 05.01 • Nashville-based indie blues singer.

The Camp House 1427 William St. (423) 702-8081 thecamphouse.com

» pulse pick OF THE LITTER: TRIGGER HIPPY

THU04.26 MUSIC Leftover Salmon • Backcountry bluegrass.

8 p.m. • Track 29• 1400 Market St. (423) 521-2929 • track29.co

EVENT NPR’s “From the Top” • Popular radio show highlights young local classical musicians.

7:30 p.m. • Tivoli Theatre • 709 Broad St. (423) 757-5050 • chattanooga.gov

FRI04.27 MUSIC The Dirty Guv’nahs • Tennessee’s top roots rock band returns.

9 p.m. • Track 29 1400 Market St. • (423) 521-2929 track29.co

EVENT “All This and Moonlight” • Romantic comedy set in New York City.

7:30 p.m. • Chattanooga State 4501 Amnicola Hwy. • (423) 697-3207 chattanoogastate.edu

SAT04.28 MUSIC Iron and Wine • Singer-songwriter Sam Beam.

8 p.m. • Tivoli Theatre 709 Broad St. • (423) 757-5050 etix.com

EVENT Party at the Peaks After Party • Cocktails and dancing at the aquarium.

9 p.m. • Tennessee Aquarium 1 Broad St. • (423) 648-2496 tnaqua.org

W

hen you hear the term “supergroup,” visions of ASIA begin to form. What often sounds like a great blend of talent so often is not. This is happily not the case with Trigger Hippy.

Foremost is the introduction of the considerable vocal talents of Joan Osborne, whose best-known song, “One of Us,” is not generally covered by the likes of, say, the Black Crowes, members of whom form the backbone of this band. The group formed as a casual collaboration

between Audley Freed (Black Crowes), bassist Nick Govnik and Crowes drummer Steve Gorman in 2009. Joining later were singer-songwriters Will Kimbrough and Jackie Greene, and Widespread Panic guitarist Jimmy Herring. Osborne was recruited last year, while Herring and Freed have left due to other commitments.

Osborne’s blues and soul passions are being discovered on her own new release, “Bring It On Home,” and her collaboration with this hard-rocking

quartet should further underscore those credentials. Trigger Hippy provided one of the best shows at Rhythm & Brews last year. Now they return with a new album and a collection of originals and covers.

Richard Winham charts the bands evolution this week in Music on Page 16.

Conductor: Kayoko Dan Dance Suites • Bela Bartok Les Preludes • Franz Liszt Concerto for Banjo • Bela Fleck

Trigger Hippy 8 p.m.

Friday, April 27 Rhythm & Brews 221 Market St. (423) 267-4644 rhythm-brews.com chattanoogapulse.com • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • The Pulse • 15

richard winham

Old-School Soul Shakers trigger hippy is coming back to rhythm & brews on Friday. The band featuring Joan Osborne, along with singer/ songwriters Jackie Greene and Will Kimbrough, former Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman, and bassist Nick Govrik first played in Chattanooga last summer.

A number of videos from various stops on that brief tour, including several shot in Rhythm& Brews, are available on YouTube.

Trigger Hippy is a rock ‘n’ roll band coming from an old R&B and soul background.

Former Black Crowes guitarist Audley Freed, who was a part of the band last summer, left soon after playing on the recent sessions for a forthcoming album. Drummer Gorman, lamenting his departure in a note on the band’s website, notes that “juggling schedules and commitments with new projects is a bitch.” Indeed, and in light of that comment, you have to

16 • The Pulse • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • chattanoogapulse.com

wonder about the continued viability of this little band already being tagged a “super group” on some websites. On his website, Will Kimbrough talks about playing with the group “for a week” this month, and “then I guess we’ll see what we do after that.”

For her part, Joan Osborne has just released a blinding new album of vintage R&B with her regular touring band, and she has dates set with them throughout

the summer. Given their busy schedules it may well be that this show will be one of the few opportunities to see this funky little quintet for a while.

Describing the band in a recent interview, drummer Gorman called it a “rock ‘n’ roll band coming from an old R&B and soul background.

Joan is such a student of that music and a lifelong singer of those things.” Watching the video clips of their performances from last summer it’s clear that the band offers each of these busy people an opportunity to relax and have a good time.

You can hear the current line-up on “Cave Hill Cemetery,” a song from the forthcoming album, available as a free download on their website. A steaming gumbo driven by Greene’s greasy organ and Kimbrough’s guitar hero licks, it features Osborne singing as if she’s having the time of her life fronting these old-school soul shakers. Listening to it certainly helps explain why these busy people

would risk jangled nerves juggling their schedules to make room for a handful of dates, not to mention the sessions for the album.

Commenting on her role within the band in a recent interview with Connect Savannah, Osborne said, “For me, it was fun to be part of a band instead of being a solo artist and having to sort of be the prime mover behind everything. Everybody’s coming up with songs, and taking equal responsibility for it. You share the fun and you also share the stuff that’s not so much fun.”

Given that the band began as a side project for Gorman and Freed, both veterans of The Black Crowes, it’s perhaps not surprising that Trigger Hippy has more than a trace of that band’s Faces/ Stones sensibility. The Stones came down to Muscle Shoals in the late ’60s searching for the sound they’d heard on the classic cuts made in Rick Hall’s tiny Fame studio. You can hear it on “Sticky Fingers,” and you can hear it again in Trigger Hippy. But then again, at this point the music has bounced back and forth across the Atlantic so many times that their take on it, as Osborne observed, has a very tangled genesis. “It’s got a real Southern tinge to it. It has that British blues/rock aspect, but it’s filtered through a very Southern sensibility.”

Trigger Hippy featuring Joan Osborne $15 • 8 p.m.

Friday, April 27 Rhythm & Brews 221 Market St. (423) 267-4644 rhythm-brews.com

Richard Winham is the host and producer of WUTC-FM’s afternoon music program and has observed the Chattanooga music scene for more than 25 years.

Music

Party at the

Constant Creative Mayhem Multi-media creatives forge Destroyers Club for art, music and a touch of mystery

By Ernie Paik “banged out cutlery from a slang-mouthed region”— this seemingly nonsensical phrase serves as the slogan for The Destroyers Club, a recently formed Chattanoogabased group of multi-media creatives who strive to present exemplary art and music with vigor and a touch of mystery.

“It’s a twist on a line from an EL-P song that connotes rawness and a pride and truth in where you come from,” explained Carl Cadwell, one of the co-founders of The Destroyers Club, along with videographer Drew Belz and 2-D artist and designer Michael Mahaffey, during a roundrobin interview conducted recently via email. “We tend to be drawn to the raw, the simple, and the forceful. We like to do it with our bare hands.”

Cadwell, a keyboardist and producer, is known as a member of the soul-funk group The Distribution, a former member of the electro-postrock outfit Infradig, and the studio wizard brainchild behind the synth-pop project Summer Dregs.

“All of us are producers, collaborators by nature, and tangled up in the Chattanooga scene,” Cadwell said. “One day we were collaborating together and I said, ‘You know, we’re all in Chattanooga, I respect your work, and I’d like to be associated with you if you

The Destroyers Club presents The Distribution (above) and DJ KRRS24 on Friday, April 27, at Velo Coffee. Photo • Lesha Patterson

feel the same way … and then Drew was like, ‘Hey, that’s a good idea, but how about we get an organization together whose website is bigger than us, puts on the occasional party and show, and generally builds up Chattanooga.’”

“The way Drew explained it to me in the beginning was: we want to tear shit up, lift Chattanooga up on high, and have an amazing time all the while,” recalled Mahaffey.

Belz and Mahaffey met several years ago while working at CreateHere, after

which Belz formed the video production company Fancy Rhino and brought Mahaffey aboard as art director.

“Mahaffey is the most down-to-earth guy and completely on point. It informs his work, which is simple and inspired at once,” Cadwell said.

“My design for The Destroyers Club is strong and iconic, but most importantly playful,” Mahaffey said. “The idea is that we take our work very seriously, but don’t take ourselves so seriously.”

The portfolio of The Destroyers Club is a growing collection of diverse projects, including the 2011 dual-EP CD release from Reeve Hunter and John Perry produced

by Cadwell, Mahaffey’s impeccable designs for Track 29 concert posters for the likes of M. Ward and Wanda Jackson, and Belz’s music video for the Jumbling Towers track “The Ramifications of an Exciting Spouse,” a meticulously created 1930s period piece which ends in a stylish barroom gambling brawl.

The video “There’s a Fire Down Here,” which documents the East Lake neighborhood with a series of beautifully framed shots, is another standout and a Destroyers favorite.

Another current video project involves The Distribution tackling an assortment of “warped and joyful” cover songs, according to Cadwell, including tracks from Daft Punk and The Black Keys.

To announce The Destroyers Club’s presence, an idea emerged to throw a party and one-off show by The Distribution. The band willl appear at Velo Coffee on Friday, April 27.

So what’s in the future for The Destroyers Club?

“Constant creative mayhem,” Belz said. “Our goal is to help Chattanoogans and those outside of the city experience the best media and art Chattanooga and Chattanooga’s friends have to offer,” Cadwell said. “Of course we’re not there yet, but at least it’s a goal.”

The Destroyers Club presents The Distribution, DJ KRRS24, Famous Nater’s Sandwich Truck $12 (includes beer) • 21+ 9 p.m.

Friday, April 27 Velo Coffee 509 E. Main St. (423) 718-8161 thedestroyersclub.com

All Week Long!

Mon & tue LIVE DJ

Wii on the Big Screen wednesdays OPEN MIC thursdays LOCAL LEGENDS

HOUSE PARTY WITH 5 DJS

WEEKEND

PARTY ZONE!

FRI $1 BEER 10-11PM LIVE MUSIC WITH

PATRICK SCOTT BAND

sat $1 BEER 10-11PM LIVE MUSIC WITH

JACOB & THE GOOD PEOPLE Party on Two Floors!

1st Floor: Live Music • 2nd Floor: Dancing

Raw Sushi Bar

Restaurant & Nightclub 409 Market Street •423.756.1919

chattanoogapulse.com • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • The Pulse • 17

Music

CHATTANOOGA LIVE

Thur 04.26

Wednesday • April 25

Guilty Pleasures Dance Party

Thursday • April 26 Gold Plated Gold The Water Brothers Don’t Pet Hatchet

Friday • April 27

How I Became The Bomb Shark Week

Saturday • April 28

The Morons • Hidden Spots Kreamy ‘Lectric Santa Zippers to Nowhere

Sunday • April 29

Franz Nicolay (Hold Steady)

Wednesday • May 2 Red State

Thursday • May 3

Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun

LIVE MUSIC CHATTANOOGA APRIL

25 CRAIG MORGAN THU. with ROBBY HOPKINS 7p 26 FRI. 8p 27 TRIGGER JOSH GILBERT+RYAN OYER DOUBLE BILL—TWO SERIOUS VOICES

WED. 9p

US 101 PRESENTS

BENEFITTING TC THOMPSON HOSPITAL CHILDREN’S CANCER UNIT

DOUBLE BILL: FIRST AT 8 PM

HIPPY JOAN OSBORNE featuring

AT 11 PM

THE FUNK & SOULD SOUNDS OF

SOUL MECHANIC

COUNTRY, ROCKABILLY & THE AWEFUL DREADFULL SNAKES & MORE!

PEE WEE MORE

28

SAT. 9:30p

COMING MAY 2: LETICIA WOLF • MAY 3: CHERUB IN MAY MAY 4: SAME AS IT EVER WAS ALL SHOWS 21+ UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED • NON-SMOKING VENUE

221 MARKET STREET

HOT MUSIC • FINE BEER • GREAT FOOD BUY TICKETS ONLINE • RHYTHM-BREWS.COM

Craig Morgan, Robby Hopkins 7 p.m.

Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St. (423) 267-4644 rhythm-brews.com Rosedale Remedy 8 p.m.

The Palms at Hamilton, 6925 Shallowford Road (423) 499-5055 thepalmsathamilton.com Charlie Wilson 8 p.m.

Acoustic Café, 61 RBC Drive, Ringgold, Ga. (706) 965-2065 ringgoldacoustic.com Roshameaux, Brian Hensely and the Wild Kind 9 p.m.

The Honest Pint, 35 Patten Pkwy.

(423) 468-4192 thehonestpint.com Gold Plated Gold, The Walter Brothers, Don’t Pet Hatchet 9 p.m.

JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd.

(423) 266-1400 Leftover Salmon, Keller Williams 9 p.m.

Track 29, 1400 Market St. (423) 521-2929 track29.co

Fri 04.27 The Fog 8 p.m.

Acoustic Café, 61 RBC Drive, Ringgold, Ga. (706) 965-2065 ringgoldacoustic.com Trigger Hippy featuring Joan Osborne 8 p.m.

Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St. (423) 267-4644 rhythm-brews.com Dave Pope Quartet 8 p.m.

The Foundry, 1201 Broad St. (423) 424-3775 Slim Pickins

18 • The Pulse • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • chattanoogapulse.com

THE DIRTY GUV’NAHS • Tennessee’s top roots rock band returns with Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors. Considering the Guvs recorded their last album at Levon Helm’s studio, expect some sort of tribute to the late Band drummer.

FRI 04.27 • Track 29 • 1400 Market St. • (423) 521-2929 • track29.co

8 p.m.

The Camp House, 1427 Williams St. (423) 702-8081 thecamphouse.com How I Became the Bomb, Shark Week 9 p.m.

JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd.

(423) 266-1400 Patrick Scott Band 9 p.m.

Raw, 409 Market St. (423) 756-1919 Bud Lightning 9 p.m.

Sugar’s Ribs, 507 Broad St. (423) 508-8956 sugarsribs.com Snake Doctors 9 p.m.

The Office, 901 Carter St. (423) 634-9191 The Dirty Guv’nahs, Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors 9 p.m.

Track 29, 1400 Market St. (423) 521-2929 track29.co Soul Mechanic

(423) 499-9878 budssportsbar.com

Sat 04.28

IRON AND WINE • Singer-songwriter Sam Beam visits to sing songs of love and loss.

SAT 04.28 8 p.m.

Tivoli Theatre 709 Broad St. (423) 757-5050

11 p.m Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St. (423) 267-4644 rhythm-brews.com Soul Survivor 10 p.m.

Bud’s Sports Bar, 5751 Brainerd Road

Brody Johnson and the Dirt Road Band 8 p.m.

Acoustic Café, 61 RBC Drive, Ringgold, Ga. (706) 965-2065 ringgoldacoustic.com Holly Mcormick 8 p.m.

The Camp House, 1427 Williams St. (423) 702-8081 thecamphouse.com Dave Pope Quartet 8 p.m.

The Foundry, 1201 Broad St. (423) 424-3775 Iron and Wine 8 p.m.

Tivoli Theatre, 709 Broad St. (423) 757-5050 The Morons, Hidden Spots, Kreamy ‘Lectric Santa, Zippers to Nowhere 9 p.m.

JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd.

(423) 266-1400 Mark Holder

Music

regular gigs

Thursdays Open Mic: Mark Holder 9 p.m.

The Office, 901 Carter St. (423) 634-9191 Thursday Night Fever with DJ Barry 7 p.m. Sugar’s Ribs, 507 Broad St. (423) 508-8956 • sugarsribs.com Jimmy Harris 7 p.m. The Palms at Hamilton, 6925 Shallowford Road • (423) 499-5055 thepalmsathamilton.com

Fridays Johnny Cash Tribute Band 5 p.m.

Chattanooga Choo Choo, 1400 Market St. (423) 266-5000 • choochoo.com Jimmy Harris 7 p.m. The Palms at Hamilton, 6925 Shallowford Road (423) 499-5055 thepalmsathamilton.com Bluegrass Night 8 p.m.

The Camp House, 1427 Williams St. (423) 702-8081 • thecamphouse.com amilton.com

Saturdays

IRON DIPLOMAT • The heavy rock band—Joe Neale, Wayne Cordle, Rick Gehrke and Vic Attlee—will be performing along with Speedball Alice on Saturday at Moccasin Bend Brewing Company.

SAT 04.28 • Moccasin Bend Brewing Co. • 4015 Tennessee Ave. • bendbrewingbeer.com

9 p.m.

The Office, 901 Carter St. (423) 634-9191 WTM Blues Band 9 p.m.

Sugar’s Ribs, 507 Broad St. (423) 508-8956 sugarsribs.com Joe Tucker 9 p.m.

Southside Saloon & Bistro, 1301 Chestnut St. (423) 757-4730 southsidesaloonandbistro.com Jacob and The Good People 9 p.m.

Raw, 409 Market St. (423) 756-1919 Peewee Moore & The Aweful Dreadful Snakes, Brennen Leigh & Noel McKay 9:30 p.m.

Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St. (423) 267-4644 rhythm-brews.com Soul Survivor 10 p.m.

Bud’s Sports Bar, 5751 Brainerd Road (423) 499-9878 budssportsbar.com

Sun 04.29 Molly Maguires 7 p.m.

The Honest Pint, 35 Patten Pkwy.

(423) 468-4192 thehonestpint Franz Nicolay (Hold Steady) 9 p.m.

JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd.

(423) 266-1400

Mon 04.30 Rick Rushing 7 p.m.

Sugar’s Ribs, 507 Broad St. (423) 508-8956 sugarsribs.com

Tue 05.01 Hannah Miller 7 p.m.

The Camp House, 1427 Williams St. (423) 702-8081 thecamphouse.com

Five Finger Death Punch, Trivium 8 p.m.

Track 29, 1400 Market St. (423) 521-2929 track29.co

Wed 05.02 Red State 9 p.m.

JJ’s Bohemia, 231 E. MLK Blvd.

(423) 266-1400 The Darren Johnson Effort, Emily Hearn 9 p.m.

The Honest Pint, 35 Patten Pkwy.

(423) 468-4192 thehonestpint Leticia Wolf 9:30 p.m.

Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St. (423) 267-4644 rhythm-brews.com

Map these locations on chattanoogapulse. com. Send live music listings at least 10 days in advance to: calendar@ chattanoogapulse.com.

Johnny Cash Tribute Band 5 p.m.

Chattanooga Choo Choo, 1400 Market St. (423) 266-5000 • choochoo.com Jimmy Harris 7 p.m. The Palms at Hamilton, 6925 Shallowford Road (423) 499-5055 thepalmsathamilton.com

901 Carter St (Inside Days Inn) 423-634-9191

Thursday, April 26: 9pm Open Mic with Mark Holder

Friday, April 27: 9pm Snake Doctors

Saturday, April 28: 9pm Mark Holder

Tuesday, May 1: 7pm

Server Appreciation Night $5 Pitchers $2 Wells $1.50 Domestics ●

All shows are free with dinner or 2 drinks!

Stop by & check out our daily specials!

Happy Hour: Mon-Fri: 4-7pm $1 10oz drafts, $3 32oz drafts, $2 Wells, $1.50 Domestics, Free Appetizers

Facebook.com/theofficechatt

Mondays Live Classical Music 7:30 p.m.

The Camp House, 1427 Williams St. (423) 702-8081 • thecamphouse.com Big Band Night 8 p.m. The Palms at Hamilton, 6925 Shallowford Road (423) 499-5055 thepalmsathamilton.com

Tuesdays Open Mic Night 7 p.m.

Vaudeville Café, 138 Market St. (423) 517-1839 • funnydinner.com

Wednesdays Jimmy Harris 6:30 p.m. The Palms at Hamilton, 6925 Shallowford Road (423) 499-5055 thepalmsathamilton.com Ben Friberg Trio 6:30 p.m. Market Street Tavern, 850 Market St. • (423) 634-0260 marketstreettavern.com Folk School of Chattanooga Old Time Jam 6:30 p.m.

The Camp House, 1427 Williams St. (423) 702-8081 • thecamphouse.com Open Mic Night 7 p.m. Acoustic Café, 61 RBC Drive, Ringgold, Ga. (706) 965-2065 • ringgoldacoustic.com

Nightly Specials Mondays 50¢ Wings • $3 Yazoo

Tuesdays $1 Tacos 1/2 Price Margaritas

Wednesdays Wine Night + Live Jazz!

Thursdays Burger & Beer Night

Saturdays $2 Domestics 4pm to Midnight

850 Market Street• 423.634.0260 Facebook.com/marketstreettavern

chattanoogapulse.com • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • The Pulse • 19

IT’S MARTINI TIME!

FRIDAYS $5 HOUSE MARTINIS

Arts

visual art

ENJOY cOOl cOckTAIlS

Carolina and created artworks for a permaculture farm in Austin, Texas.

The HATCH Festival and 10x10 offered the couple an open urban landscape in downtown Chattanooga and enhances their “legal guerilla” aesthetic.

Ruiz is drawn to such daredevil artists as Banksy, but he finds getting permission makes his life much more tolerable.

“It started in a guerrilla way, but if you just ask permission, a lot of places will let you do it,” he said. “Why not just ask?”

During HATCH, which ended Sunday, PPRWRK’s murals have popped up on the walls of such businesses as Good Dog and Hair of the Dog, where a seven-foot giraffe temporarily graces the wall.

The murals are determined by the client and feature either Ruiz’s photographs or LaVoie’s illustrations. Working together, Ruiz and LaVoie first print out thumbnail images for a client to select and, depending upon the size, a mural can go up in less than a day.

While the work can be decidedly commercial and promotional in nature, it’s less advertising than art as attraction. “It’s more about the sparkle, less about advertising,” Ruiz said.

Next up, the duo are heading for Asheville, N.C., to create promotional murals for the The Festival of Gnarnia, a music and arts celebration.

In the meantime, enjoy the team’s murals around Chattanooga. Just don’t wait too long.

ON THE PATIO Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

By Bill Ramsey

MITH’S BlAck S B &B ISTRO

AR

3914 St. Elmo AVE. (423) 702-5461

Find uS on FAcEbook blacksmithstelmo.com

most muralists create their epic-scale works of art for perpetuity, intended to be enjoyed and studied for generations. Not David Ruiz.

“Everything about our work is meant to be temporary,” said Ruiz, one half of the PPRWRK creative team whose whimsical and often music-inspired wheat-paste murals are appearing all over town as part of MakeWork’s 10x10 installations for the HATCH Festival.

“We prefer the impermance of it, it creates a buzz—it’s almost like job security.”

Indeed, Ruiz and his partner and girlfriend, artist Mary Margaret LaVoie, have been making a living and names for themselves creating temporary murals featuring Ruiz’s

20 • The Pulse • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • chattanoogapulse.com

David Ruiz and Mary Margaret LaVoie create temporary art adorning walls all over Chattanooga. photography and LaVoie’s charming cartoonish illustrations for a variety of artsrelated projects and clients across the country.

The duo’s creative collaboration was inspired by a TED Talk by French artist JR, who won the organization’s 2011 prize for pasting huge murals of extreme close-ups of faces he’d photographed on urban

surfaces all over the world.

Like JR, Ruiz wasn’t interested in approaching galleries or investing in the expensive printing and framing it took to present his work.

“That’s too much extra stress,” he said. “His [JR’s] concept really inspired me and my girlfriend to try it.”

Their first pieces included large faces, such that of DJ Tyler Wallin, whose face was photographed and transferred to a 15-foot wheat-paste mural in an alley off Frazier Avenue near Coolidge Park.

During a four-month tour across the U.S., Ruiz and LaVoie have created an eightfoot fly swatter in the basement of a punk rock squat in New York, promoted the tour of Eliot Lipp with huge headshots of the DJ in North

“Irrashaimase!”

Nestled in the heart of downtown Chattanooga, Sekisui

offers authentic Japanese sushi along with a kitchen featuring a Pacific Rim fusion cuisine. With a relaxing ambiance coupled with great food and friendly service, you are sure to enjoy your dining experience.

Sushi Bar

Importing fresh seafood from Japan, Europe as well

as from all over the United States, our sushi bar features over 20 different kinds of fish and shellfish. We regularly buy fish such as Japanese Red Snapper (madai), fresh sea urchin (uni), fluke (hirame), as well as other seafood that happens to be in season.

Kitchen

Our kitchen menu features a Pacific Rim cuisine which is

predominantly Japanese but is fused with American and East Asian cuisines.

These combinations result in entrees like our popular soba dish (sauteed buckwheat noodles with various seafood in a spicy chili broth), our Atlantic salmon breaded in panko with 12 asian spices, and our teriyaki burger!

Bar

You’ll enjoy it even more with our special pricing through the week.

Every day we have half-price hot sake and draft beers from 5-7 p.m. Then from 7 to closing on Sundays through Thursday we have special pricing on select cocktails and wines!

Monday-Thursday 11:30 am-2 pm & 5-9:30 pm • Friday 11:30 am-2 pm & 5-10:30 pm • Saturday 5-10:30 pm • Sunday 5-9 pm

1120 Houston Street • 423-267-4600 • sekisuichattanooga.com

“...wickedly wonderful...” Kim Jackson is “haunting.” Patrick Sweetman is “unforgettable.” Director Scott Dunlap demonstrates “creative genius.” “...one of the most creative twists Chattanooga audiences will witness.”

—Chattanooga Times Free Press

Reimagined and directed by Scott Dunlap

7 p.m. Thursday (featuring real-time captioning) • 8 p.m. Friday & Saturday 2:30 p.m. Sunday • Tickets: 423.267.8534 or TheatreCentre.com Join us for Girls’ Night Out pre-show Friday sponsored by Brewer Media

April 27 & 28

Reading of Following Orion

by Dakota Brown April 25 & 26

The Leopold Project Workshop

by Jim Pfitzer chattanoogapulse.com • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • The Pulse • 21

Arts & Entertainment Thur 04.26 Charles Squared 6 p.m. Hunter Museum, 10 Bluff View (423) 266-0944 huntermuseum.org Free Women’s Build Workshop 6 p.m. Lowes, 5428 Hwy. 153 (423) 756-0507 Jazz and Beyond 7 p.m. BMW Chattanooga, 6806 E. Brainerd Road (423) 738-2036 Lookouts vs. Mobile 7:15 p.m.

AT&T Field, 201 Power Alley (423) 267-2208 lookouts.com NPR’s “From the Top” 7:30 p.m.

Tivoli Theatre, 709 Broad St. (423) 757-5050 chattanooga.gov Michael Mack 7:30 p.m.

The Comedy Catch, 3224 Brainerd Road (423) 629-2233 thecomedycatch.com

Fri 04.27 Home School Workshop 10 a.m. Hunter Museum, 10 Bluff View

“OUR TIME HAS COME” • Tamyra Gray (above) and Darius McCrary star in the timely production

by Sylvester Stephens chronicling the rise of a black man from poverty to the presidency.

FRI 04.27 Tivoli Theatre 709 Broad St. (423) 642-TIXS chattanooga.gov

(423) 266-0944 huntermuseum.org Western Day 10 a.m. Creative Discovery Museum, 321 Chestnut St. (423) 648-6043 cdmfun.org Women of Distinction Awards Luncheon 11:15 a.m.

Chattanooga

LOOKOUTS VS. bay bears • The Chattanooga Lookouts begin a five-night home stand against the Mobile Bay Bears beginning Wednesday, April 25.

04.25-29 AT&T Field • 201 Power Alley • (423) 267-2208 lookouts.com

22 • The Pulse • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • chattanoogapulse.com

Convention Center, 1150 Carter St. (423) 756-0001 lung.org Social Media Tutorial Noon. AVA, 30 Frazier Ave. (423) 265-4282 avarts.org River Giants Member Night 6 p.m. Tennessee Aquarium, 1 Broad St. (423) 648-2496 tnaqua.org Wine and Pearls: A Toast to Hope 6 p.m. The Mill, 1601 Gulf St. (423) 634-0331 minniepearl.org Chattanooga Harp Ensemble Concert 7 p.m. Unitarian Universalist Church, 3224 Navajo Drive chattanoogaharpensemble.com “Freshman Year” 7 p.m. Barking Legs Theatre, 1307 Dodds Ave. (423) 624-5347 barkinglegs.org Masterworks Concert 7:30 p.m.

Chattanooga State, 4501 Amnicola Hwy. (423) 697-3207 chattanoogastate.edu “The Last Romance” 7:30 p.m.

Tennessee Valley Theatre, 184 W. Jackson Ave., Spring City (423) 365-7529 tennesseevalleytheatre.com “RENT” 7:30 p.m. Roland Hayes Hall, 725 Vine St. (423) 425-4601 utc.edu/music Michael Mack 7:30 p.m.

The Comedy Catch, 3224 Brainerd Road (423) 629-2233 thecomedycatch.com “All This and Moonight” 7:30 p.m.

Chattanooga State, 4501 Amnicola Hwy.

“FROM THE TOP” • The popular NPR program, hosted by Christopher O’Riley (above) and heard locally on WSMC-FM 90.5, comes to the Tivoli for a live show and taping featuring young local classical musicians.

THU 04.26 Tivoli Theatre • 709 Broad St. • (423) 642-TIXS chattanooga.gov

(423) 697-3207 chattanoogastate.edu Festival of New Plays Staged Readings 8 p.m. Chattanooga Theatre Centre, 400 River St. (423) 267-8534 theatrecentre.com Mark Poolos and Owen Thomas 9 p.m. Vaudeville Café, 138 Market St. (423) 517-1839 funnydinner.com

Sat 04.28 Choices PRC Walk for Life 8 a.m. Tennessee RiverPark, 4301 Amnicola Hwy. National Cornbread Festival 9 a.m. 221 S. Cedar Ave. South Pittsburg (423) 837-0022 nationalcornbread.com Day Out with Thomas: Mystery on the Rails Tour 9 a.m. Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, 4119 Cromwell Road (423) 894-8028

tvrail.com Oral Cancer Awareness Walk 10 a.m. First Tennessee Pavilion, 1826 Reggie White Blvd. (423) 266-4041 Blue Moon Spring Cruises Noon. Ross’s Landing, 100 Riverfront Pkwy chattycrafty.com “All This and Moonlight” 2 p.m.

Chattanooga State, 4501 Amnicola Hwy. (423) 697-3207 chattanoogastate.edu “Freshman Year” 3 p.m. Barking Legs Theatre, 1307 Dodds Ave. (423) 624-5347 barkinglegs.org Chattanooga Night Market 5 p.m. Ross’s Landing, 100 Riverfront Pkwy. chattycrafty.com “The Last Romance” 7:30 p.m.

Tennessee Valley Theatre, 184 W. Jackson Ave., Spring City, (423) 365-7529 tennessee

Church, 503 N. Market St. (423) 238-2619

Tue 05.01 Spring is in the Art Exhibit Opening 11 a.m. In-Town Gallery, 26A Frazier Ave. (423)267-9214 intowngallery.com Hannah Miller 7 p.m. The Camp House, 1427 Williams St. (423) 702-8081 thecamphouse.com

Wed 05.02

RIVER GIANTS • The new exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium features a remarkable collection of freshwater fish such as the manatee (above) that grow to incredible proportions.

SAT 04.28 Tennessee Aquarium • 1 Broad St. • (423) 648-2496 • tnaqua.com

valleytheatre.com Festival of New Plays Staged Readings 8 p.m. Chattanooga Theatre Centre, 400 River St. (423) 267-8534 theatrecentre.com Party at the Peaks After Party 9 p.m. Tennessee Aquarium, 1 Broad St. (423) 648-2496 tnaqua.org Mark Poolos and Owen Thomas 10:30 p.m. Vaudeville Café, 138 Market St. (423) 517-1839 funnydinner.com

Sun 04.29 Day Out with Thomas: Mystery on the Rails Tour 9 a.m. Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, 4119 Cromwell Road (423) 894-8028 tvrail.com

Ballet in Cinema: “The Bright Stream” 11 a.m. Majestic Theatre, 311 Broad St. artsedcouncil.org Blue Moon Spring Cruises 1 p.m. Ross’s Landing, 100 Riverfront Pkwy. chattycrafty.com “The Last Romance” 2 p.m. Tennessee Valley Theatre, 184 W. Jackson Ave., Spring City (423) 365-7529 tennesseevalleytheatre.com 5th Annual Chocolate Fling & Silent Auction 2 p.m. Pier 2 at The Landing, 201 Riverfront Pkwy. (423) 634-1772 CSO Wind Quintet Concert 2:30 p.m. The Public Library, 1001 Broad St. (423) 757-5310 lib.chattanooga.gov “Outsiders;

Extremists; and Children” Opening Reception 6:30 p.m. N4 at Invasion, 1200 McCallie Ave. “All This and Moonlight” 6:30 p.m.

Chattanooga State, 4501 Amnicola Hwy. (423) 697-3207 chattanoogastate.edu Native American Flute Music and Stories 7:30 p.m. Barking Legs Theatre, 1307 Dodds Ave. (423) 624-5347 barkinglegs.org Michael Mack 7:30 p.m.

The Comedy Catch, 3224 Brainerd Road (423) 629-2233 thecomedycatch.com

Mon 04.30 “Forks Over Knives” 7 p.m. North River Seventh-day Adventist

CSO Overture Luncheon 11:30 a.m. The Walden Club, 633 Chestnut St. (423) 756-6686 waldenclub.org Tennessee Bike Summit 1 p.m. Mariott Hotel at the Chattanooga Convention Center, 2 Carter Plaza (423) 756-0001 Wine Wednesdays 5 p.m. Back Inn

HANNAH MILLER • Nashville-based indie folk and blues singer visits Chattanooga for a concert.

TUE 05.01 The Camp House 1427 William St. (423) 702-8081 thecamphouse.com

Café, 412 E. 2nd St. (423) 265-5033 bluffviewartdistrict.com “An Evening of 10 Minute Plays” 7:30 p.m.

Chattanooga State, 4501 Amnicola Hwy. (423) 697-3207 chattanoogastate.edu

Ongoing Children of Hangzhou: Connecting with China (thru May 13) 11 a.m. Creative Discovery Museum, 321 Chestnut St. (423) 648-6043 cdmfun.org Spring is in the Art (thru May 31) 11 a.m. In-Town Gallery, 26A Frazier Ave. (423)267-9214 intowngallery.com Pathways (thru April 30) 10 a.m. River Gallery, 400 E. 2nd St. (423) 265-5033 river-gallery.com Earth Dayz (thru April 29) 11 a.m. Rock City, 1400 Patten Road, Lookout Mountain, Ga. (800) 854-0675 seerockcity.com Multimedia Minis (thru April 30) 11 a.m. In-Town Gallery, 26A Frazier Ave. (423)267-9214 intowngallery.com No Crystal Stair (thru May 26) 10 a.m. Bessie Smith Cultural Center, 200 E. Martin Luther King Blvd. (423) 266-8658

Map these locations on chattanoogapulse. com. Send event listings at least 10 days in advance to: calendar@ chattanoogapulse. com. chattanoogapulse.com • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • The Pulse • 23

Screen

Nine45

Take the Leap into Something New! At Second Presbyterian

A New Path to a Timeless Destination

Informal worship with praise, prayer, music, discussion, and fellowship.

Each Sunday 9:45 am to 10:30 am

700 Pine Street (at the corner of 7th and Pine) An open, come-as-you-are environment for all ages

Summer SHE’S FABULOUS. SHE’S HOT. SHE’S EVIL.

SUMMER GUIDE 2012

coming may 24 “She’s Fabulous, But She’s Evil”

by Kelli Vance

24 • The Pulse • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • chattanoogapulse.com

JOHN DEVORE

Monkey Business i guess i’m just not that interested in chimps. i had quite a bit of difficulty staying awake during Disney’s new nature film, “Chimpanzee.”

I like nature documentaries, and this particular one had some spectacular shots. The film is beautifully done; these filmmakers put themselves through hell to bring us films like this. I have nothing but respect for them, and if anyone is deserving of a documentary, it’s these guys. The footage of the chimpanzees themselves is very personal and intimate, which must have taken great skill and patience.

But I still found myself nodding off. If it wasn’t for the relatively frequent, extremely loud, terrifying chimp battles, I might have missed most of the film. I just don’t know how much grooming, nut-eating, yawning and knuckle-walking a film really needs. As cool as the apes are in short bursts, an hour and a half is a little much. This doesn’t make it a bad film, just one that didn’t hold my attention.

“Chimpanzee” is very much geared towards younger viewers. The film is narrated by famed ape impersonator Tim Allen, who tells the story as something of a fairy tale. It follows the lives of a young chimp named Oscar and his mother, as they try to make a life in the African jungles of Uganda and the Ivory Coast. The heroes of the story belong to a group of apes who patrol and protect their territory, forage for food, and do other apelike things.

Much time is spent watching Oscar mimic the adults in the group, learning how to make break nuts, prepare food, make shelter and become part of the group. As with most fairy tales, the villains live outside the territory and are jealous of our heroes. An older group of males, led by a large older

chimp named Scar, wants to annex an important nut grove within Oscar’s territory. This leads to violent clashes, making Oscar an orphan. Amazingly, Oscar is adopted by the alpha male of the group, a behavior never before observed in chimpanzee society.

If any of that interests you, then by all means go see “Chimpanzee.” Tim Allen meanders through reading the script he was given, occasionally peppering the tedium with bland jokes and his trademark grunt. I might have been more entertained if he had used more of his own material (although this might not have been safe for the intended audience).

The scenery of the film is amazing. In fact, if this film had focused on the beautiful intricacies of the jungle it might have really been something. I love the night shots—the bioluminescent flora and fauna was like something out of “Avatar,” only this was created by nature and not James Cameron. But the

chimps didn’t seem to do much. I never felt the intended emotional attachment to them. I might as well have been watching birds in my backyard.

Younger viewers, no doubt, would be drawn into the film by Oscar’s antics. But it never really grabbed me.

Part of it may be that the cute factor of the chimpanzee was shattered for me when a woman in Connecticut was horribly disfigured by one being kept as a pet. I personally find the creatures more frightening than lions, tigers or bears.

They are deceptively human enough to appear nonthreatening. I don’t understand why we feel the need to invent stories about Bigfoot when these animals are so very real. They are fearsome and proud, powerful and dangerous. I don’t know that showing them as cute and cuddly does them any favors. The best thing we can do to protect the species is to leave them alone.

Those interested in the subject should know that some of the proceeds from this film during the first week will go towards the Jane Goodall Foundation, which helps protect chimpanzees and their habitat.

This is a noble cause, to be certain. I just hope Disney does something good with the rest of the money.

Sushi & Biscuits

MIKE MCJUNKIN

The Ambiguity of Authenticity authentic cuisine. that phrase gets thrown around as carelessly as “world famous,” “award winning,” and “I’ve never done this before,” but what does it really mean? What makes a dish authentic?

One of my all time favorite foods is Thai massaman curry. The mere mention of it sends my eyes rolling back into my head in an ecstasis rivaling Sunday morning snake handlers. The unmistakable aroma of roasted coriander, the juicy bites of seared meat, soft chunks of potato and peanuts lingering seductively in a complexly spiced, but slightly sweet coconut sauce that unties it all in a “Bohemian Rhapsody”-like chorus of goodness.

I regularly make a pilgrimage to Sawasdee Thai Restaurant to pay homage to this king of curries. Tucked into a small lot behind Manny Rico’s headstone emporium as you enter St. Elmo, this small restaurant makes the best massaman I have ever tasted.

Sawasdee also has one of the most confusing arrays of Yelp, UrbanSpoon, and Trip Advisor comments ranging from “The best Thai food in Chattanooga!!” to “This is not authentic Thai food! I’ll never go back again!”

Yes, the service at Sawasdee is sometimes just a step above Mel’s Diner, and if you catch the owner in a bad mood she may try to talk you out of a dish because she thinks you

“

There are so many factors that affect the choices a cook makes when creating a dish, the very idea of authentic food is at best reductionist and at worst misleading. won’t like it, but I have never had a bad meal there. But I have never questioned the authenticity of the food, even when my massaman is served to me garnished with slices of avocado while Tony Bennett Muzak plays in the background. Authentic cuisine is like porn or hipsters—hard to define, but I know it when I see it.

Your idea of what’s authentic about a restaurant’s food depends completely on your own ideas and preconceived notions about that cuisine.

The question then becomes

“authentic to who?” What do we base our judgment of authenticity on? Is it that the cooking techniques and ingredients are from the motherland? Is it inauthentic for a Thai restaurant to use a modern gas stove instead of a single propane burner? Should the cook sit on a low stool to prep the ingredients rather than using a Robot Coupe?

And what about regional variations? The differences in food between regions in Thailand are just as varied and distinct as the differences between Memphis dry and Kansas City wet barbecue or New York- and Chicago-style pizza.

There are so many factors that affect the choices a cook makes when creating a dish, the very idea of authentic food is at best reductionist and at worst misleading. It flirts with gastronomic imperialism that looks at restaurants like reservations where the “other” can serve food that that’s been preserved for our enjoyment. Food, just like the culture arises from, has variations that stretch across time, geography and individual tastes that cannot be boiled down to a list of criteria to check off like you’re buying car insurance.

More often than not, authentic tends to be a value judgment rather than a descriptor, but “authentic” and “good” are not necessarily the same thing. Growing up, I had a friend whose grandmother made very authentic southern cornbread but it had the flavor and texture of dry potting soil. On the other hand, an authentic tuna casserole wouldn’t use béchamel sauce, shiitake mushrooms, fresh bluefin tuna and handmade noodles, but it would probably taste amazing.

Finally there is the matter of restaurants that intentionally change a dish to meet the tastes and expectations of another culture or because certain ingredients are costly.

Mediocrity is a foundational principle of our capitalist economy leading many restaurant owners to believe that creating food to appeal to the masses is a proven recipe for economic success. This purposeful dumbing down of dishes to appeal to lowest common denominator’s taste buds is what those who cry for authenticity are usually upset about. That’s what turns ground beef seasoned with chilli powder and piled into a crunchy Doritos shell into a “taco.”

There’s something to be said for being able to enjoy a particular variation of a dish that’s informed by history and culture. Sure, it’s fun to hear a recording of one of Shakespeare’s plays that’s been updated to modern-day English; but seeing a live performance of the same play where the actors speak the words as Shakespeare wrote them adds another dimension to that experience. Neither way is necessarily “better” than the other. Each has its place and the same is true for food.

So stop sweating if food is 100 percent authentic or not. It’s too slippery of a concept to matter unless you’re a gastro-anthropologist or you’re trying to relive a particular dining experience. Just relax and enjoy your massaman, it’s delicious.

Mike McJunkin cooks better than you and eats quite a bit of once forbidden food.

Visit his authentic Facebook page (Sushi and Biscuits) for updates and recipes. You’ll thank us.

The Bohannons

The Sound of Chattanooga

Facebook.com/The Pulse Beat

chattanoogapulse.com • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • The Pulse • 25

WOMEN OF DISTINCTION 2012 Awards Luncheon Friday, April 27, 2012

Chattanooga Convention Center Ballroom The American Lung Association is proud to honor the

2012 Tennessee Woman of Distinction

Patsy Hazlewood

Chattanooga Women of Distinction

Vernia Baxter • Sandra Brewer • Missy Johnson Elliott • Kathie Scovee Fulgham Katherine S. Lindgren • Elizabeth (Betsy) McCright • Dr. Makta Panda Pam Schulman • Linda C. Thompson • Karen Walsh Young Women of Distinction Edith Logan Davis • Ja’Keena Dillard • Sarah Shaw Guest Speaker: Cathy Barker, Lung Cancer Survivor Registration: 11:45am • Lunch & Program: 11:45am-1:30pm TNWomenofDistinction.org • 423.629.1098

26 • The Pulse • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • chattanoogapulse.com

Comix

chattanoogapulse.com • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • The Pulse • 27

Free Will Astrology ARIES (March 21-April 19): “True life is lived when tiny changes occur,” said Leo Tolstoy. I agree. It’s rare for us to undergo rapid, dramatic transformations in short periods of time. That’s why it’s delusional to be forever pining for some big magic intervention that will fix everything. The best way to alter our course is slowly and gradually, by conscientiously revamping our responses to the small daily details. Keep these thoughts close at hand in the coming weeks, Aries. Be a devotee of the incremental approach. Step-by-step. Hourby-hour.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “What people really need and demand from life is not wealth, comfort, or esteem, but games worth playing,” said psychiatrist Thomas Szasz. I love that thought, and am excited to offer it up to you right now. You have been invited or will soon be invited to participate in some of the best games ever. These are not grueling games foisted on you by people hoping to manipulate you, nor pointless games that exhaust your energy for naught.

Rather, they are fun challenges that promise to stretch your intelligence, deepen your perspective, and enhance your emotional riches.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Is it conceivable that you’ve gotten a bit off track? As I close my eyes and ask my higher powers for a psychic vision, I get an impression of you staring at a blurry image of a symbol that is no longer an accurate representation of your life goal. Now of course there’s a chance that my vision is completely unfounded. But if it does ring at least somewhat true to you—if it suggests a question worth asking yourself—I invite you to meditate on the possibility that you need to update your understanding of what your ultimate target looks like.

CANCER

(June 21-July 22): From an astrological point of view, it’s prime time for you to attend a networking extrav-

28 • The Pulse • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • chattanoogapulse.com

rob brezsny

aganza or collaboration spree.

Likewise, this is an excellent phase in your long-term cycle to organize a gathering for the close allies who will be most important in helping you carry out your master plan during the next 12 months. Have you ever heard of the term “Temporary Autonomous Zone”? It’s a time and place where people with shared interests and common values can explore the frontiers of productive conviviality.

It might be a dinner party in an inspirational setting, a boisterous ritual in a rowdy sanctuary, or a private festival for fellow seekers. I hope you make sure something like that materializes.

LEO

(July 23-Aug. 22): To begin one of his performances, comedian and musician Steve Martin ambled on stage and told his audience what to expect. “Before every show,” he said, “I like to do one thing that is impossible. So now I’m going to suck this piano into my lungs.” That’s the kind of brag I hope to hear coming from you sometime soon, Leo—the more outrageous the better.

Why? Because I’d love to see you cultivate a looser, breezier relationship with your actual ambitions. To make boastful jokes about wacky or farfetched goals might inspire you to be jauntier and friskier about those real ones. And that would rouse a burst of fresh motivational energy.

VIRGO

(Aug. 23-Sept.

22): The text for this week’s oracle comes from Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), a great American statesman who, after escaping slavery, became a leader of the abolitionist movement. “Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation,” he said, “are people who want crops without plowing the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning ... The struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, or it may be both. But it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand.”

Please apply these thoughts to your own situation, Virgo.

You have entered the liberation phase of your cycle.

when you’re not at home.

CAPRICORN

SCORPIO

(Dec. 22Jan. 19): One of the classics of ancient Sanskrit literature is the “Kama Sutra,” which gives practical advice about erotic love. The most popular edition of the book offers instructions on eight kinds of kisses and 64 sexual positions, with additional tips on styles of embracing and caressing. This would be an excellent time for you to get inspired by information like that, Capricorn. Your relationship with the amorous arts is due for expansion and refinement. You don’t necessarily need to rely on book learning, of course. You could accomplish a lot of empirical exploration simply by getting naked and firing up your imagination.

SAGITTARIUS

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Singer-songwriter Tom Waits was strongly influenced

by Bob Dylan’s down-to-earth album “The Basement Tapes.”

“I like my music with the rinds and the seeds and pulp left in,” Waits testifies. “The noise and grit” of Dylan’s rootsy, intimate songs, he says, creates a mood of “joy and abandon.”

That’s the spirit I wish for you in the coming weeks, Aquarius.

Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, get down to the gritty, organic core of things.

Hunker down in the funky fundamentals. Hang out where the levels of pretension are low and the stories are fresh and raw.

LIBRA

(Sept. 23-Oct. 22): I’m about to list some declarations that I hope will come out of your mouth at least once in the next three weeks. If for any reason you’re not finding yourself in situations where these words would make sense for you to utter, please rearrange your life accordingly. 1.

“There’s nothing else I’d rather be doing right now.” 2. “Is it okay with you if we take this really slow?” 3. “No one’s ever done that before.” 4. “Squeeze my hand when it feels really amazing.” 5. “It’s like we know what each other is thinking.”

6. “Can I have some more, please?”

(Oct. 23-Nov. 21): A political strategist told me one of her most important rules: To win an election, you have to help your candidate choose the right fights. I think that would be an excellent guiding principle for you in the coming weeks, Scorpio.

According to my reading of the astrological omens, you will be getting invitations to spar, joust, and wrangle. Although it might be exciting to leap into each and every fray with your eyes blazing, I suggest you show careful discernment. Try to confine your participation to those tangles that will downplay your weaknesses and highlight your strengths.

(Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In the famous children’s book “The Little Prince,” the hero lives on an asteroid with three volcanoes, two active and one dormant. One day he decides to leave home and travel to other realms. Before departing, he meticulously scours all three volcanoes. “If they are well cleaned out,” the narrator reports, “volcanoes burn slowly and steadily, without any eruptions.” I recommend that you take after the “Little Prince,” Sagittarius. It’s high time to attend to the upkeep of your volcanoes. Make sure they will burn slow and steady in the coming months, even

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): You’re not really breaking the rules, right, Pisces? It’s more like you’re just testing their elasticity; you’re helping them become more supple and flexible. I’m sure that sooner or later people will thank you for how you’re expanding the way the game is played. It may take a while, but they will eventually appreciate and capitalize on the liberties you are now introducing into the system. In the short run, though, you might have to take some heat for your tinkering and experiments. Try not to let that inhibit your eagerness to try creative risks.

Jonesin’ Crossword

matt jones

“Let’s Go Sigh-Seeing”—we won’t miss a thing.

Across

1. Practice in the ring 5. Country between Canada and Mexico, cheesily 10. Off-road rides 14. “A Shot at Love” reality star ___ Tequila 15. Lose one’s cool 16. Salad ingredient that stains 17. Home of the Runnin’ Rebels 18. It may be stuffed in a jar 19. Actress Sofer 20. “Come run the rapids at this specially assigned locale!”

23. Overly 24. Words following “doe” in song lyrics 25. It may be amassed 28. Emma Peel’s show, with “The” 31. “Come see the view, for all you nosy types!”

33. They’re in their last yr.

34. “Uh-oh, better get...” company 35. Ave. crossers 38. “Come see how

everything crystallizes during the winter!”

42. “Sure thing!”

45. More creepy 46. “Barracuda” band 47. Oktoberfest’s beginning mo., oddly 48. “Come to the sheltered spot you can’t wait to get away from!”

56. Ohio’s Great Lake 57. Actor Crawford of “Gossip Girl” 58. Defensive spray 59. Jazz great Horne 60. HBO founder Charles 61. Feels under the weather 62. “Dianetics” author ___ Hubbard 63. Fork over 64. Slot machine fruit

Down

1. Poker variety 2. Scent of a tree on a rear-view mirror 3. Superior athletes 4. Pillows on a plate 5. “___ my word” 6. Room in a Spanish house

7. “Put a bird ___” (“Portlandia” catchphrase) 8. “Take ___” (Dave Brubeck classic) 9. Scored 100% on 10. Shorten into one volume, maybe 11. The idiot box 12. Wood cover 13. Ringo and Bart 21. Seek out 22. Went off 25. Bathrooms, poshly 26. Continent on the Atl. 27. Subject for the Mark Twain Prize 28. Type of marble 29. Sotto ___ 30. Wear away gradually 32. Be bratty 35. Fail to appear in court, maybe

36. Ball prop 37. Georgia, once: abbr.

38. ___ Times (UK mag taglined “The World of Strange Phenomena”) 39. Frequent early “Hollywood Squares” panelist Lee 40. “___ we forget” 41. Local layout 42. “Darn it,” a little more strongly 43. Phobic sort 44. Place to place bets 49. Calculator displays 50. “Just ___, skip...”

51. Area between hills 52. “___ Has Cheezburger?”

53. Cell phone button 54. Gp. concerned with rights 55. Southern response

Jonesin’ Crossword created By Matt Jones. © 2012 Jonesin’ Crosswords. For answers to this puzzle, call: 1-900-226-2800, 99 cents per minute. Must be 18+ to call.

Or to bill to your credit card, call: 1-800655-6548. Reference puzzle No. 0569. chattanoogapulse.com • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • The Pulse • 29

Life in the Noog

chuck crowder

Passwords: The Condoms of Computing “ i was just denied access to my home file-sharing network because I couldn’t remember my password. This skeleton key access to my music, photos and files is the only roadblock keeping me from enjoying them across my very own wireless network—which is already password protected. What the hell?

I hate passwords. They suck.

What unencrypted information on my home file-sharing network is so damn important that my laptop needs top-level clearance to access my computer in the next room? Nothing.

Besides, passwords are not in fact the iron shield of security that keeps people from accessing your personal information. Those serious enough to steal your valuable data and digits have ways of doing so that can reduce mere passwords down to the equivalent using a wet paper bag for a condom. Passwords are simply an annoyance created by Trekkie computer nerds who all think somebody or something is out to get them.

I can see those bitter, sexually frustrated geeks at work now.

“Let’s make them enter every other letter as a cap and include at least three non-sequential numbers and maybe a symbol—that way they’ll never get laid, I mean, in.”

The main problem with passwords is that not all secure applications allow the same con-

figuration of letters, words and/ or numbers so you can’t use the same password for every single one of them like a normal person.

I have two passwords. One is for stuff that I don’t care about people gaining access to—like my home file-sharing network which is already password protected by my secure wireless network, so why does it even need one? And then I have a super-secret-squirrel password for financial accounts that is known only by me and has never been uttered aloud, ever. When a number is required for either, like all Americans, I use a 1 at the end.

Some sites and applications make you change your password every so often to keep identity bandits on their toes. This is where the real confusion starts.

30 • The Pulse • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • chattanoogapulse.com

Because, like a normal person, I simply change one aspect of the previous password or reverse it or create something that I truly believe will be intuitive when I return and remember that the password has been changed. “Oh, surely I just added a 1 at the end.”

No. There’s nothing intuitive about repurposing a once common password. It never works and even has the power to force the most sane of individuals to make that split-second decision between throwing their computer out the window and saving it for one more “forgot my password” attempt.

As soon as you enter the world of “forgot my password” security questions you’ve admitted defeat, for that is the time when your wits about working the puzzle of passwords is reduced to simply recalling your first pet’s name. It’s like being held back in the fourth grade … twice.

Maybe passwords should be as simple as “first pet’s name” or “street where you grew up” or “high school mascot.” Turn the security question answer into the password. That would really throw the thieves off. It’s one thing to figure out what a person might be using these days based on their career, interests or children’s names. But to make someone guess a bit of your history that even your closest friends might

As soon as you enter the world of “forgot my password” security questions you’ve admitted defeat, for that is the time when your wits about working the puzzle of passwords is reduced to simply recalling your first pet’s name. It’s like being held back in the fourth grade … twice.

not know—now that is secure.

Some of my closest friends— especially the ones who’ve provided tech support over the years—know my most common password by heart. And because they’re good, trusted friends, I don’t mind them knowing it.

However, there are a few others

who may or may not remember it that I sometimes worry about.

There comes a time in some relationships when couples exchange house keys to make visiting each other a little easier. But nothing lets someone into your life more than sharing your go-to password. It happens all innocent like. You’re helping your girlfriend fix a glitch on her machine or she’s using yours to check her email. Then some requirement from the million or so security clearances on various applications and sites prompts that fateful question: “Honey, what’s your password? It’s asking for one.”

Then in the blink of an eye, without even realizing it, you blurt out the key to your soul, your secrets, your Facebook.

You’ve given up the single phrase that once separated “what you know about me” from “what you can find out about me.” If trust is present in the relationship, you may just come out unscathed.

But if you’ve got secrets to keep, it may be time to “change password.”

Chuck Crowder is a local writer and general man about town. His opinions are just that. Everything expressed is loosely based on fact and crap he hears people talking about. Take what you read with a grain of salt, but let it pepper your thoughts.

chattanoogapulse.com • APRIL 26-MAY 2, 2012 • The Pulse • 31