The Reader Sept. 15-21, 2011

Sept. 15 - 21, 2011 VOL.18

dish14 Fall Flavors

urban village’s Gerald S. Reimer and Scott semrad (left) photo by jason mcclaren

theater19 Together Again

music24

On the Same Page

urban Development

Omaha’s getting an urban makeover cover story by jessica clem-mcclaren and leo adam biga ~ page 11

sports36

Electrifying Abdullah OMAHA JOBS 2

Weird 34

MOjo 36

FUNNIES 6

30

Full-time Full-time Lifetime Fitness.

Contact jberg@gmail.com.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

Continuum Financial/ Mass Mutual Group Small business specialist.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

Tip Top Tux. Asst. Manager.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

BCS Granite.

Warehouse/Showroom Assistant & Bookkeeper/Secretary/Showroom Assistant.

Contact matt@bcs-usa.net.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

Full-time

Full-time

Full-time Full-time

Pro Turf Lawn Service Chemical Applicator. Contact jarid@ p ro t u r f l a w nt re e. c o m .

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

Hood Products, LLC. Hood Exhaust Technician.

C o n t a c t brad@hoodfilters.com. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

Pawz Pet Services.

Pet Services Specialist.

Contact Nicole@pawzpetservices.com.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

TenderHeart ChilDcarE Seeking Help! Must be bilingual.

Have flexible hours. Please apply in person at 12315 Westwood Lane.

Coreslab Structures Omaha Inc. Drivers & Safety Coordinator Bilingual.

Contact hgreiner@coreslab.com.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

Humboldt Specialty.

Lead Metal Worker. Contact Dmccarty@humboldtspecialty.com.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

Sylvan Learning Center. Teacher/Tutor. Contact LoriRoh@NebraskaSylvan.com.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

Star Enterprises.

Outside sales persons and project Managers. Contact staromaha@gmail.com. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

AFLAC. Customer Care Rep. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

Beauti Control Beauty Consultant. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

Sitel. Customer Care Representative.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

ITEX. Telemarketer. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

Full-time

Full-time

Sempeck’s Bowling & Entertainment. Food & Beverage Hospitality General Manager.

Contact steve@sempecks.com. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

Streck.

Inside Sales Representative.

Contact tpreister@streck.com. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

State Farm. Service & Office Manager.

Contact kyle.emsick.rnol@statefarm.com.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

ICON. Study Participant.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

Roberts Advertising Embroidery Operator. Contact todd@robertsadv.com.

Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

The Work Connection.

Sales Professional. Contact jseibert@theworkconnection.com. Go to OmahaJobs. com.

TriCity Auto Transport.

Driver.

Contact tricity@gtmc.net. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

CoPd

(Chronic obstructive Pulmonary disease) for Chronic Bronchitis/emphysema patients you must be over 40 and be a current smoker or a former smoker.

Call today to find Current studies {Compensation for time and travel may be available}

Working for Quality Medical Care for the Future

10040 regency Circle suite 375 omaha ne 68114 402-934-0044 fax 402-934-0048 www.QCromaha.com

2

sept. 15 - 21, 2011

| THE READER |

omaha jobs

Want your school to win a share of $1,000,000? Start voting.

Help your school be one of 18 winners in the U.S. Cellular Calling All Communities program. ®

Education is facing lots of challenges. So we’re giving the school with the most votes $150,000 and the next 17 schools $50,000 each.

To vote for your school, go to a U.S. Cellular® store and get an online voting code. Vote daily from 9/9 through 10/6/11.

It’s a great way to get involved with your school and community—and be with the happiest customers in wireless.

Nettelhorst Elementary used last year’s Calling All Communities winnings to renovate their science lab. Here students enjoy the improvements.

To learn more, visit U.S. Cellular’s Facebook® page and uscellular.com or call 1-888-BUY-USCC. Calling All Communities: NO PURCHASE OR SERVICE NECESSARY TO PARTICIPATE. Must be 18 or older (19+ in Alabama and Nebraska) and legal resident of the 48 eligible United States/D.C. Void in Florida and New York, outside the eligible states and where prohibited. Other restrictions on participation apply. Any public or private school (K–12; home schools excluded) within the 48 eligible states and D.C. is eligible (except previous winners). One vote per person per day. Voting ends 11:59:59 p.m. (CT) on October 6, 2011, at which time codes expire. The 18 winning schools with the most votes will be announced by November 2011.

School with highest number of votes wins $150,000; others win $50,000 each. Ends October 6, 2011. This offer is subject to the complete Official Rules, by which all participants are bound. See Official Rules at uscellular.com or in-store. ©2011 U.S. Cellular.

USC-PH-11-001

Document

| THE READER |

Burst_10_Upper_A

sept. 15 - 21, 2011

3

PUBLICIS & HAL RINEY

4

sept. 15 - 21, 2011

| THE READER |

• Horticultural Lighting • Fully Automated Growing Systems • Complete Line of Hydroponic Equipment • Greenhouse Supplies

• Environmental Controls • Nutrients, Supplements & Organics • Soil & Soiless Growing Media • Specialty & Urban Gardening

PGTA

Progressive Gardening Trade Association

8949 J Street • Suite 5 Omaha, Nebraska Phone: 402.339.4949 Fax: 402.339.4898

Store Hours Mon-Fri 11:00-7:00 Saturday 10:00-5:00 Sunday 11:00-5:00

Innovative Purveyors of Progressive Gardening ProductsTM

www.paradigmgardens.com

| THE READER |

SEPT. 15 - 21, 2011

5

5IVE

MINUTES INTO THE FUTURE bit.ly/mUdjj3 | SEPT. 15, 2011

We've reached the end of the era

increasingly demonstrate an

of contemporary art. The phrase

obsession with the tools of our era,

contemporary art was developed to

which are, more and more, digital

describe art movements that came

tools, shared through electronic

after the era of modernism,

systems. Artists will not so much

including performance art, pop art,

reference previous art movements

and video art. However, we've

as previous technological eras,

reached a moment when the new

borrowing sounds from early

art being produced is too far

computing and techniques from

removed from the art of the past to

early video games. Art will make

share its name. New artists are

use of technology to transform

making their work in collaboration

based on interactions with the

with computers, and using computer

viewer. It is a new era of art, as yet

networks to make art in

unnamed.

collaboration with artists around the world. The art of our era will

6

SEPT. 15 - 21, 2011

by: DR. QUENTIN MARK MYSTERIAN and BUNNY ULTRAMOD

| THE READER |

news

topnews

Beating the Odds South Omaha’s Gomez Heritage excels

N

by Robyn Wisch

ew test scores from Nebraska’s public schools recently showed a big drop in math scores, as the state adjusts to new testing requirements. In the first of a series of reports on how Omaha schools are performing, we stopped by South Omaha to talk to a principal who’s beating the odds.

As Principal John Campin walks the brightly colored halls of Gomez Heritage Elementary School, he points out a family room, where parents are writing and working on computers, their youngest children at their feet. There’s a positive, and generally happy, atmosphere at Gomez that is hard to ignore.

Parental involvement at school is essential for student achievement, Campin said. And it’s his job to make opportunities available to parents for them to spend time at the school. In fact, he logs their hours and awards prizes for participating in family room projects, school concerts, or even for time spent taking care of the grounds.

A big part of that can be seen in what Campin has built, along with parents and teachers, outside.

Set against a backdrop of wooded hills is the Gomez Elementary Outdoor Classroom. There’s a mini stage, wooden bridges crossing over carefully-maintained gardens, a stone walking path and a designated “messy” area — a big pile of dirt for the littlest kids to play around in and look for bugs. “The kids can come out here and be creative.” It helps create an atmosphere where students and teachers enjoy being at school, he said. “If everyone’s happy when they come to school, it’s a lot easier to learn.”

And Campin’s approach is seeing results. Dr. ReNae Kehrberg, the Assistant Superintendent in the Curriculum and Learning Department at Omaha Public Schools, said Campin is doing a lot right. “Having that positive relationship, feeling emboldened and eager to embrace the challenges that come with serving kids from all backgrounds, I think is powerful,” she said.

85.2 percent of the kids at Gomez Elementary are living in poverty – that’s based on the number of kids who receive free or reduced-price lunches. And just under 65 percent are English language learners. That’s a challenge that sets many schools back in terms of test scores. But at Gomez, 75 percent of fourth-graders are proficient in reading, by the latest 2011 numbers — exceeding OPS’ average by 15 points. Gomez is also one of the few schools that made “Adequate Yearly Progress” last year, as required by the federal education law No Child Left Behind.

“Targeted performance goals (are) a very positive, healthy thing,” Kehrberg said. “What becomes unhealthy is when those targeted goals for adequate yearly progress are no longer reasonable within the context of what’s doable.”

Kehrberg said despite Gomez’ success, there are many OPS schools labeled failing that don’t deserve to be cast that way. In fact, the majority of schools in the OPS district are failing to meet NCLB standards, according to the latest federal assessment. The second largest district in the metro, Millard Public Schools, also failed to meet federal standards for its middle and high schools in 2009-2010. Kehrberg says a lot is being lost in the numbers, and NCLB standards are inflexible and unfair. She says they demand unattainable improvement each year, with the ultimate goal of reaching 100 percent proficiency by 2014.

“If I said for all U.S. Senators, we’ll have 100 percent of you all running the 50 yard dash at proficient. Well, there’s a possibility that some are actually proficient runners, and some may have certain disabilities … that doesn’t allow them to run at a proficient level. So it’s no longer realistic to think that we’re all the same at the same time.”

But while NCLB may be setting unrealistic targets, there’s still room for improvement in Omaha’s test scores. Last year’s OPS reading scores averaged out to 68.64 percent for grades 3-11. Writing scores topped out at 94.43 percent for grade 11. But this year, schools fell sharply statewide in math, including Gomez, which fell from 97.6 percent to 65 percent proficiency for fourth graders. Kehrberg says this was the first year for the statewide math test — as Nebraska moves away from localized STARS testing — and she says she’s confident those math scores will improve.

“I do think it’s more difficult when labels don’t really reflect what’s happening in the school,” she said.

“But on the same side, we want to be really honest.

When we look at our data, in terms of what is working and not working, and how we can push towards student achievement, we want to do it in a way that’s fair and honest and very straight forward.”

Back at Gomez, Campin says he depends heavily on data to drive instruction. In fact, he has a regular “data night” where teachers share graphs and stats with parents and kids. But the key, he says, is keeping it positive.

“My philosophy is about collaboration,” he said.

“I’m working for the teachers, I’m working for the students, I’m working for the community and parents.

So rarely I’m telling them what to do.”

Campin said providing opportunity for involvement, and relying on data, along “with the positive attitude, teamwork, collaboration between staff, students and parents, and the community, it’s really paid off and our results have shown that.” ,

El Aguila Restaurant

The

BEST margarita in town!

Mexican cuisine

Happy Hour 3 - 6 pm Monday - Thursday

Weekdays Lunch Specials Open 7 Days a Week

1837 Vinton Street (402) 346-7667

Patio Open!

| THE READER |

SEPT. 15 - 21, 2011

7

heartlandhealing

N E W

A G E

H E A L T H

A N D

W E L L N E S S

Farmageddon is upon us — the film anyway

I

IC E AGE

The Real Story

Now open through Sept 30 Fontenelle Forest Nature Center

The Real Story Learn why the Ice Age was much more than snow and ice! Meet extinct creatures on a forest walk. Investigate the life of a saber-toothed cat. Discover a baby mummified mammoth. Explore a bone hut and creativity cave. Dig for fossils.

Open Daily Fontenelle Forest Nature Center 1111 North Bellevue Blvd Bellevue, NE 68005 402-731-3140 fontenelleforest.org

t scans like a scene from an Al Pacino cop flick: A SWAT team in vests with automatic weapons drawn is seen on security camera footage busting into what looks to be a small warehouse. One after another they train their guns around the room, ready to fire at any perceived threat, obviously in pursuit of something or someone. What could it be? Is it a hostage scenario? Is a terrorist plot afoot? Cocaine, meth, counterfeit money, stolen jewels? No. They seek to apprehend store employees and confiscate the organic raw food on the shelves of a small, private grocery store.

The raid was real. The location was the Venice, Calif., food co-op known as Rawesome Foods. (View the raw footage at http://youtu.be/Pqi75eHxWOs) Rawesome Foods is a membership-only buying club where members can purchase raw milk and other untreated fruits and vegetables. Advocates of raw milk consumption claim that in its unadulterated state, fresh, clean, safely produced untreated milk is beneficial to health, safer to consume and without unusual risk. Only the current unsanitary, industrialized production of milk and the underlying commercialized profit motive make the processes of homogenization and pasteurization the norm. If commercial milk were still produced in sanitary conditions in small, manageable dairies, the full nourishment present in wholesome milk would persist and those nutrient-depleting processes would be unnecessary.

All across the United States, individual family farms are under siege from police and local and federal agents using strong-arm tactics to enforce dubious regulations and laws. It’s not just raw milk proponents who are seeing this kind of abuse; it includes farmers growing organic, non-genetically modified crops, and others who raise chickens, beef, pork and other livestock on small, family farms. If you don’t toe the company line and hoe the GMO row, you are likely to draw exceptional scrutiny from government agents. The farms raided are small operations that form the grassroots movement toward real food. Enforcement of the laws and regulations appears to be capricious and oppressive. And it’s happening locally.

On the silver screen Kristin Canty is the director and producer of a film to screen in Omaha Sept. 22. Farmageddon: The Unseen War on American Family Farms documents the plight of independent family farmers facing forceful interventions by police-state agents. In many cases, the raids are shown to be without cause and an extreme application of force in response to questionable food policies. Canty is a first-time filmmaker, a smallfarm advocate, fresh milk drinker and a mom. When she learned that farmers and co-ops nationwide were increasingly getting raided, she set out to make a film about it, hoping to stir a tide of public pressure so that our government stops harassing and adding costly burdens to small-scale, organic farms.

B Y

M I C H A E L

B R A U N S T E I N

The screening is sponsored by several groups and local farmers. It will feature locally produced appetizers and a post-screening panel discussion. Some locals have had experiences with over-zealous regulatory bodies.

Laura Chisholm is among local farmers helping to present the screening at the Aksarben Cinema.

Along with her husband Andy and their five children, they farm near Elmwood, Neb. They use a rotational pasture-grazing method (the old-fashioned way) to raise livestock. They use holistic methods growing crops and producing milk and meat. Laura Chisholm feels Farmageddon speaks to the heart of food availability.

“Our farm, Chisholm Family Farm, is a small grassbased dairy,” Chisholm wrote in response to an email.

“We sell cheese made from our grass-fed jersey herd, grass-fed and finished beef and lamb, pasture-raised pork, and pastured eggs. All of our sales are direct to customers either here on the farm, at farmers markets around Omaha, (we are at Village Pointe Farmers Market every week) and through Nebraska Food Coop, the online year-round farmers market.

“Buying local is important for many reasons,” she wrote. “First off, the food is fresher, more flavorful and healthier. Secondly, it keeps Nebraska’s money in Nebraska! Supporting local farmers is a wonderful way to boost the local economy.”

Chisholm says there is more at stake than the local economy.

“More and more as a nation we have moved towards an industrial-based food market and factory-farmed foods,” she wrote. “It has certainly provided for cheaper foods at the grocery store but it has come at a cost to our health and with the loss of the family farm. Small towns across Nebraska and the Midwest are becoming more and more like ghost towns as farms fold.”

The Food Police Another area farmer whom we’ll call “Peter,” (he didn’t want his name used to avoid repercussions from government agents) detailed how he was roused early one morning by the USDA. Peter processes chickens legally in a state-approved and inspected facility located on his farm in a southern Nebraska county about 90 minutes from Lincoln. He was just getting up before dawn when he saw lights and activity near his processing building. When he politely approached the trespasser, the man said he was from the USDA and on site to inspect his facilities. He had no warrant and no invitation. Since Peter was on his way for an appointment off-farm, he said he would happily comply by scheduling a future time to show the agent. At that point, the man, described as large, imposing and well over six-feet tall, flashed his badge and with an air of intimidation declared that the inspection was to take place “now” with implied threat of “or else.”

There are many more “horror stories” depicting the way America’s family farms are being threatened by an abuse of policing power. The very right to choose what you eat is being threatened. Visit VoteRealFood.com for more information and view the screening of Farmageddon to learn more.

Be well. ,

HEARTLAND HEALING by Michael Braunstein examines various alternative forms of healing. It is

provided as a source of information, not as medical advice. It is not an endorsement of any particular therapy, either by the writer or The Reader. Access past columns at HeartlandHealing.com

8

SEPT. 15-21, 2011

| THE READER |

heartland healing

The Arts Center presents

The Four Bitchin’ Babes The multi-talented Babes are back to perform their popular musical revue Diva Nation... where all songs are sung with pride, attitude & terrific accessories!

Saturday, Oct. 1 ~ 8:00 p.m.

BOX OFFICE: 712.388.7140 800.432.5852, ext. 7140 artscenter.iwcc.edu

Iowa Western Community College

| THE READER |

SEPT. 15 - 21, 2011

9

10

sept. 15 - 21, 2011

| THE READER |

coverstory

urban development Building a Village in Midtown

We all paused to glance at a woman walking by on her phone as she balanced her lunch from Catina Laredo.

“I really have never wanted to work with anything besides apartments,” said Reimer, laughing.

“I’m a change agent who hates change!” ,

urban village’s Scott semrad (right) and Gerald S. Reimer

Urban Village redevelops Omaha’s historic core

By Jessica Clem-McClaren

jason mcclaren

“T

he location in Midtown wasn’t a problem as far as getting renters to move inwards,” said Scott Semrad, part owner of midtown-based Urban Village. “We had the product, but it was trying to push the location of that product that was the problem.”

It was a gorgeous day at Delice in Midtown Crossing. The hustle of the area was exciting; young professionals grabbing lunch, ladies enjoying their coffees and magazines, all with the impressive Mutual of Omaha development in the background. Midtown Omaha is turning into the great place to work and play.

Thanks to the dedication of developer and rental company Urban Village, more people are finding midtown to be the perfect place to live as well.

Semrad and Jerry Reimer met through chance in 2008. “I saw this area on St. Mary’s and took it to a friend of mine who was a real estate agent,” said Semrad. “I wanted to see if it was a worthwhile investment, and, if it was fixed, would anyone want to live in it. That’s when he introduced me to Jerry.” The deal never materialized, but the partnership with Jerry created a business that came to successful fruition: Urban Village.

“I came from Denver working in neighborhoods,” said Semrad. “I actually lived in an area that reminded me quite a bit of midtown Omaha with lots of character. I had no experience with apartments, which is where Jerry came in.”

Reimer shook his head and tapped his pen against the table. “I actually was against working in midtown,” he said quietly. “We had done a project out west and I was planning on staying out there, but Scott said midtown would be a better area. I guess he was right!”

Urban Village is unique in that it only invests and rents in properties that are within a six-block radius from Midtown Crossing. Instead of managing one huge apartment complex, Reimer and Semrad invest in smaller properties within an area, and run them as one complex. “This makes it easier for us and our maintenance guy,” said Reimer. “This way we can address issues and problems in a more efficient manner.” The risk with owning a number of

smaller properties instead of one large complex is lower as well. “If you have an incidence at a bigger building, it can really damage you,” said Reimer.

“Since we spread our apartments out a bit, if there are any issues they are not as serious. We really have never had any major problems.”

Midtown Omaha has characteristics that make it a great investment for property owners, and Semrad realized immediately the value of the location. “I saw it as a great area, with three Fortune 500 companies, educational institutions and downtown in walking or biking distance.” With the multi-million dollar Midtown Crossing development, renters are noticing an improvement in the area that is attracting young professionals at a shocking rate. While improvements were being made, Semrad still noticed a void in the general midtown area. “Omaha was missing that walkable, medium density neighborhood,” he said. “It still seemed right, but we weren’t sure of what was going to come of the investment.”

Reimer shook his head. “There were a lot of sleepless nights, but luckily we kept going.”

By combining the practicality and appeal of stainless steel furnishings, hardwood floors, and oil-rubbed cabinet handles, Urban Village is seeing a new migration of renters from west Omaha to Midtown. In a rush of moving trucks, a wave of young professionals ready to be immersed in a truly diverse experience, and stepping away from sparse, suburban areas.

“So what was your inspiration to work in real estate?” I asked, before a breeze nearly took away my notebook.

“I didn’t have that epiphany about working in development,” said Semrad. “I just happened into real estate. Living in Denver, I always enjoyed urban living and being in a diverse community.”

After earning his MBA in Boulder, Semrad took on an internship that would alter the course of his career. “I worked on a market study with Black Castle Capital,” he said, tipping back in his chair. “I was also taking real estate classes and working at the same time. My wife is from Lincoln, so we moved and I was looking for consulting work in Omaha. Apartments seemed to make the most sense.”

Young professionals seem to make up the bulk of new renters in the midtown area, mixing well with established working class and ethnically diverse residents, with women being the new primary leaseholders. “We don’t have a single one bedroom available,” said Reimer. “Young, educated single women are moving from west Omaha and into our properties. Young women seem to be the most adventurous. It’s safe here and a great place to live. And women see that.”

Urban Village currently manages 15 properties with 220 modern apartments, complete with amenities that have led to a new project. Eight new buildings with 137 apartments are underway in the Park Avenue neighborhood, a thriving and diverse community.

One of Reimer’s earliest memories of apartment management was when he was eight years old. “My parents owned an apartment building,” he said. “We mowed lawns, painted and really got involved in the property. I learned the business end of management from my parents. It seemed like a better option than drywall.”

Several years pass, along with them expat jobs, college, and then next thing Reimer knew he was designing apartments in Tokyo. “I was a migrant worker,” he laughed. “I was on scholarship from the Ministry of Education. I was a financial analyst for about four years in Japan. I also worked in Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix and finally Omaha.”

cover story

A Decent House for Everyone

Brother Mike Wilmot Builds Affordable Homes for the Working Poor

E

by Leo Adam Biga

arly in his life as a brother in the Society of Jesus, his superiors asked Mike Willmot what kind of work he wanted to do. The former Marquette (Milwaukee, Wis.) University High School three-sport athlete said he wanted to coach. Perhaps as a lesson in obedience or humility, the Jesuits instead had him learn cabinet making and welding.

It was hard to see the practicality of it. But the roughhewn Wilmot eventually became a teacher, coaching basketball and football and serving as dean of students at Omaha Creighton Prep. “Looking back on it I’m glad that happened because I’ve used in my coaching and in my teaching those construction skills for many projects, and I’m still using them,” he says. “I’m still building and welding.”

Among other things, he integrates railroad spikes and other found metal in creating welded sculptures. A large cross he made adorns the grounds at St. James Catholic Church. His home-building mission came into focus when, during a mid-1990s sabbatical serving Sudanese refugees in Northern Uganda, he helped construct a school and thus fulfilled a basic tenet of his Jesuit calling.

“In anything that any of us do we want to make the world a better place to live in by spreading the kingdom of God and bringing that to all people, and housing-shelter is one of the ways you can do that,” he says.

His small Gesu Housing Inc. nonprofit is the latest manifestation of putting his building know-how to work in service of his faith. Acting as a developer, Gesu (Italian for Jesus) builds affordable, energy efficient homes for the working poor in north Omaha. Now in his 70s, Wilmot walks with a hitch in his step after decades of jogging wore out his hips and necessitated replacement surgeries.

| THE READER |

continued on page 12 y

sept. 15 - 21, 2011

11

coverstory

brother mike wilmont outside property located at 43rd and Burdette

“The mission of Gesu housing is to put people into houses and to make the neighborhoods better neighborhoods,” says Wilmot.

Ten completed Gesu homes, all but one occupied, stand out from older homes on a two-block stretch of Burdette Street from 43rd to 42nd. He expects to start four new houses this fall. He says the well-built homes, which feature extra thick walls and insulation, get lots of play from interested buyers. Gesu has until now built concrete homes, but is embarking on wood frame construction to see which offers the most cost and energy efficiency.

Unlike many who serve social justice needs in north Omaha but live elsewhere, Wilmot lives in the Clifton Hills neighborhood where he works. He and four Jesuits reside at Mulumba House, a Creighton University satellite Jesuit community with a dedicated inner city presence.

“We felt this was the place we wanted to live,” says Wilmot. “We thought it would be a good idea to live with the people that we’re working for.”

Gesu partially funds its projects through the federal Housing and Urban Development monies through the Omaha City Planning Department. The three-bedroom homes cost $180,000 to construct and sell at wellbelow market rates to qualified first-time home buyers through Omaha100, a consortium of public-private partnerships dedicated to making home ownership possible for families with low to moderate income.

When Eva Powell and her three foster children took possession of their Gesu home August 20 it marked the gratifying end to a two-year process of searching and applying for a home.

“Oh, it was awesome. It was emotional,” says Powell, who works at International Gamco Inc. “It’s my own. It’s my house.”

She enjoys the two-car attached garage and a wraparound porch and plentiful closet space among other features. She plans turning the unfinished basement into a rec room. Powell praises the way she was treated in the home qualification process, says of Omaha100 loan processor Carlene Lewis: “When I was getting frustrated she was always there to lift my spirits up and keep me going. She just really reassured me I would have a house. Without her I don’t know if I’d have hung in there this long.” The support Gesu provided also impressed her. “Once Brother Wilmot knew I was serious about wanting the corner lot, he told me, ‘Well, that’s your lot -- just hang in there.’ He was great, too.”

Buyers like Powell receive a $60,000 subsidy loan that comes off the cost of the home, keeping fixed monthly payments at about $600.

Money from HUD and buyers doesn’t cover everything. For each home Gesu builds, Wilmot must raise $40,000 to cover the difference. Asking for money isn’t his favorite chore, but it is vital it Gesu is to continue its work.

“We couldn’t survive without it. It’s hard work but it’s very interesting and you meet a lot of really good people,” he says. “Many things in this country are completed because of fund raising -- like education. There’s a gap between what it costs and what people pay for it, so you’ve got to raise the gap, and the same here ....”

12

sept. 15 - 21, 2011

jason mcclaren

y continued from page 11

He recently secured $250,000 in matching grant money to allow Gesu to finish its most recent crop of homes.

To find those stop-gap dollars and keep construction costs low, Wilmot enlists support from of his extended Prep family. For example, Dan Hall of Hallmarq Homes, the general contractor for Gesu projects, played ball for Wilmot at Prep. After one meeting with his old coach, Hall says, “I bought in. It’s a great thing we’re doing down here -- we’re changing the neighborhood one house at a time. I love doing it.”

Replacing vacant lots with new homes encourages existing homeowners to spruce up their own places. “There are other houses on this block since we started doing this that have been rehabbed, which is a good idea. Other people are fixing up their houses,” Wilmot says.

Hall says residents get involved in the revitalization, even going out of their way to protect new construction sites. “Everybody seems to know me and my truck now because I’ve been down here hundreds of times,” he says.

“And there are some folks that watch houses for me. It goes a long way, you know, in establishing a relationship.

You get some security out of it when you get people involved. If somebody isn’t supposed to be here they’ll run them off or they’ll call me.”

Whether it’s their place or someone else’s, he says, people “just want a nice house.” And a nice neighborhood.

Wilmot formed Gesu nearly a decade ago after working on a series of construction projects. They included additions to the then-Jesuit Middle School, now Jesuit Academy, at 2311 North 22nd Street, and to the Mulumba House at 4308 Grant. He was the school’s first assistant principal. But when he got involved building things using a fast, cost effective poured concrete process, he found inspiration for his new path.

“I worked closely with a friend of mine who’s another Prep alum, Phil McKeone of Daedalus Construction, and I said, ‘Phil, we’ve got to do something

| THE READER |

cover story

with this technology to build some houses, and he was dumb enough to go for it.”

Sister Marilyn Ross, director of Holy Name Housing Corp., urged him to start the home construction nonprofit. He did, and focused on the neighborhood where he lives. Gesu relies on donated and discounted labor and in-kind services.

Much of north central and northeast Omaha have a glut of vacant lots, condemned homes and unkempt rental properties that deflate property values of the area’s nice homes and solid neighborhoods. He says he once counted at least 25 vacant lots in the Clifton Hills section. With for-profit developers ignoring the district, nonprofits like Gesu and Holy Name fill the void for new home construction.

“I do know there’s not necessarily a lot of people breaking their necks to build houses down here,” says Wilmot. “I’m sure economics comes into it. All over this country I think we have to rebuild our cities from the inside out. We can’t just keep going out to 200th and plowing ground. There’s gotta be renewal and rebuilding.”

The inner city provides an attractive landscape for first-time home buyers with its affordable housing and proximity to Omaha’s cultural hub, parks and commercial corridors. He views the racially-ethnically diverse Clifton Hills community as a kind of test case for what urban living should be.

“There’s a lot of people that don’t want to move out to west Omaha,” he says. “They want to live close to downtown. There’s a lot of good neighborhoods here. We’re not just helping people get into houses but improving neighborhoods. It’s about people living together. The best neighborhoods are diverse -- economically, culturally, ethnically. It’s whites, blacks, Hispanics, Asians living together.”

Gesu uses lots where homes previously stood, filling vacant properties with single-family homes.

“We work with the city very closely,” says Wilmot.

“They identify lots and they do some of the site work and stuff like that and then they give it to us.”

The land Gesu uses isn’t always ideal. Some lots are rough and hilly; others choked by overgrowth and refuse. He points to a lot just west of a newly completed Gesu house and says, “There was a house here that was torn down and instead of throwing the debris away they threw it in a hole and covered it up. Now we have to get rid of that junk and take down a lot of this overgrowth.”

“We have to deal with the land the way we get it, and it costs money to do all the cleanup and hauling.”

And headaches come with construction. “It rains when you don’t want it to rain, it doesn’t rain when you want it to rain, all that stuff,” he says. “You’re at the mercy of the weather.”

Eventually, the hassles are worth it.

“When you get done closing that house and you tell someone like Eva (Powell), ‘Congratulations, you’re a homeowner,’ that’s a real key time, and a joyous time.”

With more resources, Gesu could expand its reach. “Right now this is the area we’re working in but we’re not locked in here,” he says. “But we are locked into north Omaha.”

Wilmot is by all accounts a mellower man than the owly disciplinarian who patrolled the sidelines and hallways at Prep, and who continues coaching parttime at Omaha Roncalli.

“Coaching is teaching,” he says.

He doesn’t do as much hands-on construction work as he did at the start, but he’s still every bit as committed to Gesu’ social justice mission.

“Everybody should have a decent place to live, but it’s not the case, at least for a lot of people it isn’t. That’s what we’re trying to do.” , Visit www.gesuhousing.com or call 402-991-0138. Read more of Leo Adam Biga’s work at leoadambiga.wordpress.com.

| THE READER |

sept. 15 - 21, 2011

13

Fall Flavors Tips and tricks to enjoy the season

M

by Summer Miller

y garden met an untimely demise this year.

The squash beetles killed my zucchini, and well, all my squash. The early rain and overly hot summer nearly destroyed my tomatoes. I have five beautiful plants loaded with green tomatoes and nary a red one in sight. The movie may have made green tomatoes famous, but my desire to be relatively healthy prohibits me from frying so many of the oddshaped orbs. I, along with many seasonal eaters and gardeners this year, have found myself in a bit of a fallflavor pickle. However, necessity being the mother of invention, a seasonal eater can turn a troubled year for produce into a delicious fall and winter.

Ripening Green Tomatoes Years ago I had an elderly neighbor, who didn’t garden, yet every fall when the weather turned too cool to ripen what was left on my tomato plants I could, and did, expect a knock on my front door from that sweet lady. She always made sure I was finished with my plants and if I would give her the green tomatoes that remained. I always did and now that we have moved and she is gone I miss her visits. She would come over with an old cardboard box and a stack of newspapers. I pulled them from the vines and she would wrap them in newspaper, set them in the box, which once full, would find its home in her basement for the rest of the season.

She said she ate my garden tomatoes well into December. I have to be honest. I never tried it, but being the journalist I am I thought I would call the Douglas/Sarpy County Extension Office to see if the master gardeners had heard of such a thing.

14

sept. 15 - 21, 2011

“Well, sure it would work, ” said Bob Elkins, master gardener. “She used newspaper, but you could use a paper sack and do the same thing.”

Tomatoes release Ethylene Oxide; a natural gas in produce, which when trapped inside a paper bag will ripen the tomato. If you want to store and ripen your green tomatoes well into the snow-covered months of winter its important check on them every couple of weeks. If you want to ripen your green tomatoes

faster so you can use them in other recipes, Elkins recommends storing them in a brown paper bag with an apple or two. The accompanying produce will reduce the ripening time and you should have ripe, red tomatoes in a matter of weeks.

Oven Dried Tomatoes Once those tomatoes turn red or you are clever enough to stock up on them during the final few weeks of the farmers market, use the cool days of fall to keep your oven on and your house smelling of the sweet sugars of summer’s mistaken fruit. Oven dried tomatoes are easy, can be frozen for up to three months and make great additions to salads and pastas or a simple and healthy snack. Preheat oven to 225 degrees, slice tomatoes a quarter-inch thick or less, spread on a jellyroll pan lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper.

| THE READER |

dish

Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with kosher salt and basil (dried or fresh). Wait one-and-a-half to two hours.

Let cool and eat right away or store in refrigerator in airtight container or freeze for up to three months.

Roasted Veggies If oven-dried tomatoes aren’t reason enough to love your oven, roasting veggies should be what puts you over the top. Roasting is my favorite way to prepare vegetables. Roasting imparts a totally different flavor upon food. Yes, I swear, if you don’t like raw or boiled broccoli roasting it will make you rethink your taste buds. I serve roasted vegetables in all seasons. I eat them right away as a side dish or put them in the fridge and add them to salads for lunch. When the sky looks more grey than blue and the outdoors force me to switch from a t-shirt and shorts to a sweater and jeans, I leave the lettuce leaves behind and toss roasted veggies in a vinaigrette then add them to quinoa for room-temperature winter side. Roasting vegetables before adding them to soup can add a new depth and dimension. Roasted cauliflower and broccoli develop a wonderful nutty flavor. The easiest way to roast is chop your veggies, toss them in olive oil; kosher salt and pepper, spread them on a jellyroll pan in a single layer, then pop them in the oven at 375 for about 20 to 25 minutes. Flip them once halfway through. Once you get comfortable with this basic recipe, mix it up by adding different herbs and spices.

I’m particular to roasting cauliflower with curry powder, butter and garlic.

Eating seasonally is about making good use of what is available. It can and often does lead to exploring new flavors. The insects and weather may have taken a good share of fall’s harvest but they left plenty for the creative cook. This season take stock in what you have and create something tasty with it. , For roasting tips and recipes email miller.summer@gmail.com.

crumbs

dish

Something New Brewing in Nebraska: Dunkin’ Donuts announced it is recruiting franchisees for Lincoln and Omaha as well these markets: Denver and Colorado Springs, Colo.; Houston and Waco, Texas; Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Okla.; Santa Fe and Albuquerque, N.M. The company expects restaurants in these markets will begin opening in early 2013.

Hilton Garden Inn under New Management: Through an agreement with Apple Real Estate Investment Trust, White Lodging has assumed the management contract of the Hilton Garden Inn downtown. This marks White Lodging’s first foray into the Nebraska market and brings the number of properties in the company’s portfolio to 156. The Hilton Garden Inn is a 178-room hotel that also houses Spencer’s Steak and Chophouse. White Lodging Services Corporation was established in 1985 and is headquartered in Merrillville, Ind. White Lodging is a fully integrated hotel ownership, development, and operations company.

Comfort Food Classic: The fifth annual Comfort Food Classic, a chef competition to benefit Ted E. Bear Hollow, will be Sunday, Oct. 2, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Chefs will compete for the best gourmet lasagna. You’ll get to taste and vote for your favorite and bid on silent and live auction items. First time participating chefs are Clayton Chapman, The Grey Plume; Matt Hallberg, V.Mertz; Bobby Mekiney, Vivace and M’s Pub; Chef Cruz and Chef Shaft, Old Mattress Factory; and Patricia “Big Mama” Barron, Big Mama’s Kitchen & Catering. Paul Urban, the inaugural Comfort Food Classic winner from 2007, will team with fellow New York Chicken & Gyros chef and 2009 Comfort Food Classic winner, Jessica Joyce. The Comfort Food Classic will be at the Ramada Plaza Omaha Hotel & Convention Center, formerly CoCo Key Convention Center, off 72nd and Grover. Tickets are $75, visit comfortfoodclassic.com for more information.

— John Horvatinovich Crumbs is about indulging in food and celebrating its many forms. Send information about area food and drink businesses to crumbs@thereader.com

a modern chicken midtown crossing • 3157 farnam st #7113 • omaha

ne 68131 •

402.502.3686

blancburgers.com | THE READER |

sept. 15 - 21, 2011

15

8 day s TOPTV “New Girl”

Tuesdays, 8 p.m. (Fox)

“New Girl” offers the role of a lifetime to Zooey Deschanel, who lets her inner nerd run free. The “new girl” is Jess, an incurable lame-o who moves into an apartment with three male strangers (Jake Johnson, Max Greenfield, Damon Wayans Jr.). They’re as dorky as she is, but all four of them try to pass for cool in the singles world — an effort that fails delightfully, again and again. “New Girl” is a paean to awkwardness, but it doesn’t sneer at its characters. They remain likable even at their dumbest moments. After blowing yet another date, Jess laments, “Well, I guess I can’t hide my crazy.” She’ll keep trying, though, and that will make New Girl irresistible.

—Dean Robbins

t h e re a der ’ s e nt e r tainm e nt pic k s s e pt . 1 5 - 2 1 , 2 0 1 1

FRIDAY16 Sept. 16

Stone Temple Pilots

PICKOFTHEWEEK

Stir Concert Cove Harrah’s Casino, Council Bluffs 9 p.m., $40 www.harrahscouncilbluffs.com Considering what lead singer Scott Weiland has been through over the years, it’s a feat in itself that Stone Temple Pilots still exists. The San Diego natives earned prominence in the ’90s with their harder take on “alternative rock.” While criticized for biting the “grunge” sound, they were among the most successful rock bands of all time, selling more than 40 million records worldwide. Weiland became the sole focus of the group when he was arrested for heroin and cocaine possession in 1995, resulting in public knowledge of his intense struggle with addiction.

STP broke up several times due to his dependency, but eventually mended their relationship. After a brief relapse, Weiland is back touring with the other fellas — a seventh studio album is rumored to be in the works. Hopefully, STP gets it right again this time around.

—Kyle Eustice

This Week

Omaha Stormchasers

PCL Championship vs. Sacremento view online at www.milb.com

T

his Stormchasers season has officially ventured into the once-in-a-lifetime class.

Having a new-look team in a new-look ballpark was enough to keep interest high at Werner Park throughout the summer. But then Omaha put out their best team in more than a decade. VP/GM Martie Cordaro was named the Pacific Coast League Executive of the Year. The Stormchasers won the American Division championship series on an extra innings, walk-off home run. Did you expect anything else? By the time you read this, Omaha will be in Sacramento taking on the River Cats with a PCL championship on the line. You can watch the series on MiLB.com. The way this season has gone, it’s must-see streaming.

—Brandon Vogel

stone temple pilots

Sept. 16

Bemis 13th Annual Art Auction Opening Reception Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts 724 S. 12th St. Reception 6-9p.m., FREE 402.341.7130, Bemiscenter.org,

More than 250 artists worldwide are participating in Bemis’ cyclical fundraising event which directly ben-

16

sept. 15 - 21, 2011

| THE READER |

picks

efits all Bemis programs and projects. Since 1981 the Bemis Center has supported over 600 artists.

This year the artists-in-residence nonprofit organization built five studios and expanded the residency program to 36 per year. Bemis continues renovation of a 13,000 square-foot sculpture and fabrication facility just east of the main venue. The four-week auction exhibitions continue the momentum, providing nearly 400 works in Bemis Center’s first floor and Underground galleries including multi-Bemis

t h e

r e a d e r ’ s

entertainment

resident Christopher Romer’s “Darling, You Can Do It!” an oak, beech and paint installation; and Austinbased oil painter (and trained neuroscientist) Jennifer Balkan’s “Your Intuition Will Help Guide You,” an oil on wood with maps, thread and Chinese fortune to name just two.

—Sally Deskins

The nine-day tour will offer a chance for attendees to choose their favorite designs and win their dream design for a room in their home.

—Jessica Stensrud

SATURDAY17

Sept. 19

Sept. 17-18, 24-25

River Dreams

Riverfront Place, Tower II 444 Riverfront Plaza 10 a.m.-5 p.m., free www.riverdreamsomaha.com Omaha’s contemporary art community exists, tangibly, in the beloved Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts. Local and national artists alike showcase their work and have studio spaces in this long-cherished institution located just south of the Old Market. Starting this weekend (Sept. 17-18 and 24-25), River Dreams is offering the chance to give back to the local art community and keep the Bemis alive.

This 10-day event is hosted by the Riverfront Place and partnered with D3 Interiors, Designer’s Touch and The Interior Design Firm. It will benefit the Bemis, as well as showcase the talent of the three design firms. Each firm was given a budget and created their own unique vision of high-rise living, experimenting with the latest trends in contemporary architecture and design for riverfront living.

MAN/MIRACLE

MONDAY19 Man/Miracle with Ties

The Waiting Room Lounge 6212 Maple St. 9 p.m., $8 at the door www.waitingroomlounge.com For NPR music aficionados, you may recognize indie quartet Man/Miracle from their “All Songs Considered” show and blog. Back in February, the band was featured on the music blog and the group’s praises were sung in the form of quotes like, “My advice when you listen? Turn it up real loud.” Critics were describing the song, “Up” from M/M first full-length album, The Shape of Things. Even the oft brutal music blog, Pitchfork, commended lead singer Dylan Travis’s “mean set of pipes.” M/M have played in many shows in their stomping grounds of Oakland, Calif., as well as the beloved Texas music festival, SXSW. The group’s new EP, Valleys, is due out Sept. 26, and a new LP will shortly follow. As part of their fall national tour, M/M hit the Waiting Room Lounge next week, performing songs from the band’s first album, as well as the new EP. It will be a night of self-proclaimed “weird and loud guitar pop.”

—Jessica Stensrud

pic k s

sept .

1 5

-

2 1 ,

2 011

THREEUPTHREEDOWN Sept. 18

MC Chriw wiht MC Lars, Megaran and Adam Warrock Waiting Room Louge, 6212 Maple St. 9 p.m., tickets $13 at the door www.waitingroomlounge.com

M

C Chris is quite possibly the tiniest emcee to ever live (aside from The Geto Boys’ Bushwick Bill who is actually a “little person”). It suits the diminutive rapper’s schtick. His lyrics are littered with humor and cover everything from Star Wars characters to G.I. Joe. With his knack for comedic delivery, MC Chris earned a loyal following in “nerdcore” hip-hop circles and as a regular writer/voice actor for The Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim series, most notably “Aqua Teen Hunger Force.” Don’t be fooled by his size, though. He’s got a big voice, spitfire lyrical execution and endless wit packed into his story tale rhymes. He shared a few sentiments before hitting The Waiting Room stage once again this Sunday.

MC CHRIS

Why does it seem like you don’t like people?

I got made fun of a lot. I had asthma, and when you’re little, I think you’re pretty much defined by your physical prowess, what you’re capable of and what you can do. I couldn’t do anything physical. I was really bad at every sport, so what I did a lot of the time was I just stayed indoors and I drew and I wrote. I did all the things I actually do for a living today. So it was good that I was mistreated because it made me into who I am today.

Did you originate the “nerdcore” genre? Do you approve of the label?

I don’t know if I started it. I wouldn’t call it nerdcore. Me and my DJ, we joke and call it “emo-hop.”

The whole reason I got into rapping was because I needed to brag about myself even though I didn’t have a lot of confidence in myself. I needed to kind of cheer myself up.

Are you happy with your career?

I couldn’t be happier!

picks

— Kyle Eustice

| THE READER |

sept. 15 - 21, 2011

17

www.oldmarket.com

presented by:

SPONSORED BY: SECURITY NATIONAL BANK, HYVEE, PHYSICIANS MUTUAL, THE READER, BLUE CROSS AND BLUE SHIELD OF NEBASKA AND AKSARBEN CINEMA

omahafarmersmarket.org

25 Y E A R S

PREMIUM HOMEMADE

12th & Jackson Old Market 341-5827 Ice Cream made the Old-Fashioned way using Rock Salt & Ice

18

SEPT. 15 - 21, 2011

Best Ice Cream Shop

| THE READER |

NOw ACCEPTINg

Top talents return for Chicago’s razzle-dazzling

A

by Warren Francke

The musical doesn’t include the flashy tap dance that Richard Gere performs in the Oscarwinning film. Melanie, on the other hand, was already into dance at age 3, long, long before she started as a theater major in Kearney.

The three co-stars appeared in Thoroughly Modern Millie at the Playhouse, and Walters joined Fox in Company, then performed this

star was born when Kirstin Kluver played Adelaide last spring in the Omaha Community Playhouse musical Guys and Dolls. She’s back as Roxie Hart in Chicago and sharing top billing kirstin Kluver (left) and Melanie walters in Chicago with two long-proven performers, Melanie Walters and Seth Fox. When Melanie plays the other homicidal hoofer, Velma Kelly, it becomes “my first show back” after giving birth 11 months ago to baby Leo. Her infant son could be heard expressing himself in the background as we talked about her return to the stage. Walters, who worked on the staff of the Playhouse until leaving to become a mother, kept teaching until three weeks before Leo’s arrival.

“There weren’t too many shows that would get me out of the house this time of year,” she said. But she’s been cast in Chicago before and loves the Bob Fosse-Fred Ebb-John Kander creation set in the Roaring Twenties. The time of year she refers to is football season, when husband Andy is so busy directing the Lewis Central High School marching band that he’ll miss her Friday, Sept. 16, opening night.

For Seth Fox, Chicago is a new opportunity to tackle the razzledazzle attorney, Billy Flynn, “a role I’ve always wanted to play.” Like Walters, Fox accumulated lots of Playhouse credits in musical roles, from Zombie Prom in 2004, followed by the likes of Hair, The Full Monty, Annie Get summer with Kirsten Kluver in the month-long Your Gun and as Rooster where he tried to keep Bronte Festival at Joslyn.

While Melanie was raising baby Leo, Seth the sun from coming out tomorrow in Annie.

But, like co-star Melanie, he says he “took has been working at a Montessori pre-school, a big breather from theater” after playing Bob- doing an after-school drama program.

He watched old films, like “Broadway Melby in Company. Unlike Walters, Fox doesn’t consider himself a dancer, but enjoys stage ody of 1929,” to work on Flynn’s rapid-fire diamovement, which for Billie Flynn “is not ter- logue. “I went to the audition and played him as a fast talker, machine-gun fire.” His favorite scene ribly complicated.”

puts Billy in the courtroom arguing “They both reach for the gun” as he defends Roxie in her trial for shooting her lover.

Though Flynn has three songs, Melanie’s Velma has to work harder in two solo numbers. “I Can’t Do It Alone” is a strenuous, non-stop songand-dance. Then there’s the famous chair routine and, of course, the memorable “All That Jazz,” which Kirsten also performed last year in the Kander-Ebb revue, The World Goes Round.

Director Carl Beck, aided by music director Jim Boggess and choreographer Roxanne Nielsen, has cast seasoned dancers such as Nielsen and Michelle Garrity as the killer chorines, with Mary Beth Adams as the prison matron Mama Morton, whose palm must be regularly greased by anyone who wants her favors.

But the role that drew the most aspirants to audition shouldn’t be surprising to anyone who has seen the show and heard Amos Hart, Roxie’s sad sack husband, sing “Mr. Cellophane.”

It was first sung memorably at the Playhouse years ago by the award-winning Frank DeGeorge as the cuckolded Amos, who complains that people see right through him.

Beck cast a newcomer to Omaha, Eric Quam. Walters suggests, “He makes you want to go and give him a big hug.”

Another character, Mary Sunshine, an apparent sobsister journalist, has often been identified in a way that crossed gender lines, but the Playhouse lists Joey Galda in this great little cameo role. , Chicago runs Sept16-Oct. 16, 7:30 p.m., Wednesdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays (no Sunday evening performances) on the Howard and Rhonda Hawks Mainstage Theater at the Omaha Community Playhouse. Tickets are $40 for adults, $24 for students; $29 and $18 for groups. Call 402.553.0800 or visit omahaplayhouse.org or TicketOmaha.com.

culture

n I don’t want to spoil the suspense if you’re attending Children of Eden this weekend at the Bellevue Little Theatre, but I suspect you know how this one comes out.

Maybe director Julian Adair has a few tricks up her sleeve, but I’m afraid Eve’s apt to let the serpent talk her into eating the apple and Adam won’t have much luck when he tells God to blame “that woman you gave me.”

There’s no hint in any of the advance publicity to suggest that the first couple will be Biblically correct by appearing nude in the opening scenes, but that could be BLT discretion to avoid accusations of titillation. Maybe they’re wearing fig leaves from the get-go, implying that shame set in pre-snake.

If the story is familiar, it’s a chance to see a promising cast in a musical new to Omaha by driving to downtown Bel- Children of eden levue, starting with a Thursday night preview, then running Sept. 16-Oct. 2, at one of the rare theaters still beginning shows at 8 p.m. n You’ll hear more about this one next week, but Unbound Perspective opens the musical Crazy Just Like Me next Wednesday, so here’s a quick heads-up.

This new company features such familiar names as Seth Shirley (recently Sky Masterson at the Playhouse), Ariel Ibsen and Gary Planck, performing at 7:30 p.m. at the PS Collective in Benson Sept. 21-22, 28-30 and Oct. 1-2. Tickets are $18 and $15. Call 402.680.7525. n The Omaha Community Playhouse plans its 6th annual Theatre Career Expo from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 27. Lara Marsh encourages high school and college students and educators, but emphasizes it’s “open to everyone.”And it’s free with participants invited to attend at any time during the day and stay “however long you like.”

One station will provide resume critiques, posting good and bad examples. Workshops range from puppetry to dialects, including “an interactive exercise in Standard British,” from sound and lighting to scenic painting, including demonstrations by “one of the top scenic painters in Omaha.” Call Marsh at 402.553-4890 ext. 135 or visit lmarsh@ omahaplayhouse.com.

—Warren Francke

coldcream

Together Again

culture

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

| THE READER |

sept. 15 - 21, 2011

19

SEVEN AD 5 x 5

Hair and makeup by Seven Salon // three2three photography 3117 N. 120 ST // OMAHA, NE 68164

402.934.2177

www.sevensalon.com

of reusable bag company 1 Bag at a Time. “In initial conversations hearing Lisa Foster describe this initiative with such enthusiasm, determination and vision got me excited right off the bat,” Vitale said. “I love working with clients who really believe in what they are doing and have authentic passion for their work.”

Through the vision of Vitale and Foster, the stylish and sustainable bag line known as SnapSac was born. The line officially launched last week at SnapSac.com, offering 6 styles of reusable bags made with 35-percentg thicker fabric than average grocery bags.

In the past few weeks, SnapSac bags have made their way from Omaha to New York and beyond. They were used by both local designer

20

sept. 15 - 21, 2011

| THE READER |

culture

— Sarah Lorsung Tvrdik Sarah Lorsung Tvrdik is a stylist, costumier, wife and freelance writer based in Omaha, Neb. Her style blog can be found at fashflood.com.

A “People’s Choice” award is to be determined by voting at the gallery through Sept. 23. n Andrew Peters’ On Familiar Ground: New Heartland Paintings opens this Friday at Anderson O’Brien Fine Art-Old Market. The show featurings Peters’ paintings from the past two years of regional landscapes from the Missouri River to Nebraska Sandhills. The artist will give a talk Sept. 24 at 3 p.m. n Loom Weaves Joslyn Sculpture Garden Sept.

17, a multicultural festival starting at 2 p.m. with yoga on the green, and through the evening with other music, dance, body painting, live art, yoga and dance performances. There will be booth vendors, food and drink for purchase, hoop jam and more through 11 p.m. There will be an after party at House of Loom, 1012 S. 10th St.. until 2 a.m. American Landscape: Contemporary Photographs of the West opens the same day at the museum 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. n Sunday, inCommon hosts a Backyard Art Show at their South 13th Street location, 2-10 p.m.

Sept. 18 with live music, food and drink for purchase, open studios and art exhibition including live graffiti.

mixedmedia

n The Hardware Gallery opened Abstractions by Michael Pysh and Spasm by Dale Heise last weekend, featuring abstract paintings and digital manipulations

by Pysh and fashion-based photography by Heise.

Jane Reed’s impressionist and abstract landscapes line the walls of Silver of Oz Gallery this month in Benson. In Lincoln at sp ce, Nebraska native and Chicago-based artist Jake Gillespie shows his paintings and video art collaborations with Lauren Payne.

In Nebraska City, Nicole Gustafsson opened Through the Thicket at Kimmel-Harding-Nelson Center for the Arts, including new gouache paintings creating imaginary landscapes for familiar woodland creatures. n The same weekend the Bemis Center opens its auction exhibitions, the 2011 River Dreams Design Tour benefiting Bemis. It resides on the Omaha riverfront community, showcasing custom condominiums, giving visitors a glimpse at the latest trends in contemporary art, architecture and design, designed by Omaha firms D3 Interiors, Designer’s Touch and The Interior Design Firm. The event is Sept. 17-25. Free and open to the public. Riverdreamsomaha.com. n Flood Waters 2011, an exhibit showcasing local photography capturing the recent regional historic flooding, is on display through Oct. 2 at Florence Mill ArtLoft. It features 25 winning images including those from Lyndy Stratbucker, Sarah Bryan and Joe Brym.

Princess Lasertron at Omaha Fashion Week and at New York Fashion Week in the GBK gift lounge, as gift-filled “swag bags”.

When asked about her favorite bag from the collection, Vitale said, “The Mega Tote” without hesitation. “This size was totally missing from the reusable bag market and offers such versatility. From my own personal snapsac grocery habits and research of others, I was amazed by the number of bags one needed to carry out their purchases. Instead of 4-5 smaller bags, one could load up one or two bigger bags comfortably.”

And while the environmentally-conscious mission behind SnapSac is hard to beat, the most attractive feature is their appearance. This season’s collection comes in lattice, zigzag and polka dot patterns in fashionably neutral shades like navy, white and yellow. With prices running from $1.99 to $9.99 a piece, these bags definitely live up to their motto: “SnapSac totes are the next evolution in reusable bags!”

Shoppers can visit SnapSac.com for free shipping on any purchase through Sept. 30.

fashflood

n Local Designer Spotlight: SnapSac Let’s face it, many reusable bags aren’t stylish. In fact, most are fairly hideous. The trunk of my car is filled with royal blue, grocery store-branded bags that could never be used for any purpose other than transporting groceries.

Enter local designer Lisa Vitale, the face behind Brand Hero Creative and Lisa Foster, owner

—Sally Deskins Mixed Media is a column about local art. Send ideas to mixedmedia@thereader.com.

| THE READER |

sept. 15 - 21, 2011

21

art

OpeningS

ANDERSON O’BRIEN FINE ART OLD MARKET, 1108 Jackson St., (402) 884-0911. ON FAMILIAR GROUND NEW HEARTLAND PAINTINGS: New work by Andrew Peters, opens Sep. 16-Oct. 2, reception Sep. 16, 6 pm, artist talk Sep. 24, 3 pm.

BEMIS CENTER - CONTEMPORARY ARTS, 724 S. 12th St., (402) 341-1122. 13TH ANNUAL AUCTION EXHIBITION: A celebration of contemporary art, opens Sep. 16, 6 p.m., Curators and Artists tours Sep. 22, Sep. 29 and Oct. 6, 6 p.m.

BIRDHOUSE COLLECTIBLE, 1111 N. 13th St., Suite 123, biz@ birdhouseinteriors.com. AND HE LABORED TO REALIZE THE ENDLESSNESS OF THE SKIES: New work by Caolan O’Loughlin, opens Sep. 16-Nov. 5, reception Sep. 16, 7 pm.

INCOMMON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ILLUMINATION STREET GALLERY, 1258 S. 13th St., (402) 933-6672. BACKYARD ART SHOW: Group show featuring new work by Amy Morin, Dave Nelson, Josh Powell, Kim Reid Kuhn, Joel Damon, Mike Bauer, Watie White, Kent Bellows Studio, Big Gardens, and Emerging Terrain, opens Sep. 18, 2 p.m.

JOSLYN ART MUSEUM, 2200 Dodge St., (402) 342-3300.

AMERICAN LANDSCAPE CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE WEST: Featuring the work of fourteen photographers, opens Sep. 17-Jan. 8 KIMMEL HARDING NELSON ARTS CENTER, 801 3rd Corso St., (402) 874-9600. NEW WORK: New work by Nicole Gustafsson, opens Sep. 5-Oct. 20, reception Sep. 17, 2 p.m.

ONGOING

THE 815, 815 O St. Suite 1, (402) 261-4905. ARTISTS ON THE EDGE: New work by photographer Eddie Gentry, continues through Sep. ANKENY ART CENTER, 1520 SW Rd., (515) 965-0940. NEW WORK: New work by Jacklin Stoken, this show continues through September.

ARTISTS’ COOPERATIVE GALLERY, 405 S. 11th St., (402) 3429617. TURNING AND RETURNING: New work by Doyle Howitt, N. Byram Luth and Margie Schimenti, this show continues through Sep. 25.

DUNDEE GALLERY, 4916 Underwood Ave., (402) 505-8333.

SPEAKING OF COLOR: New work by Karen Schnepf, through Sep. 18.

DURHAM WESTERN HERITAGE MUSEUM, 801 S. 10th St., 444.5071, durhammuseum.org. GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER: The life and work of an extraordinary man, through Oct. 30.

EISENTRAGER-HOWARD GALLERY, Stadium Dr. & T. St, (402) 472-5522. EMBLAZONED CIPHERS: Group show featuring the work of Barry Anderson, Rickey Allman, Julie Farstad and Linnea Spransy. through Oct. 6.

ELDER ART GALLERY, 5000 St. Paul Ave.. TWO PLUS ONE: New work by local Lincoln artists, this show continues through Oct. 2.

FRED SIMON GALLERY AT THE BURLINGTON BUILDING, 1004 Farnam St., (402) 595-2334. NEW WORK: New work by Janet Eskridge, through Oct. 7 GALLERY 9 PROFESSIONAL ARTISTS AFFILIATION, 124 S. 9th St., (402) 477-2822. CREATURES AND SCENARIOS: New work

by Carol Devall and Roy Stoner, this show continues through Oct. 2.

GOVERNOR’S RESIDENCE EXHIBITION, 1425 H St., (402) 5952334. NEW WORK: New work by Judith Jonston, through Oct. 7.

GREAT PLAINS ART MUSEUM, 1155 Q St., Hewit Plc., Lincoln, 472.0599, unl.edu/plains/gallery/gallery.shtml. PORTRAITS OF THE PRAIRIE: Watercolor paintings and ink sketches by Richard Schilling, inspired by Willa Cather, this show continues through Sep. 15.

H. DON AND CONNE J. OSBORN FAMILY GALLERY AT CRISS LIBRARY, 6001 Dodge St., (402) 554-3206. THE ART OF THEATRICAL DESIGN: Fantastical set designs, handmade hads and costumes, continues through Sep. 27.

HANDMADE MODERN, Parrish Prjoect, 1416 O St., Lincoln, sarabucy.com. PEOPLE YOU SHOULD KNOW: New work by Kelly Smith, through Sep. 30.

HISTORIC GENERAL DODGE HOUSE, 605 3rd St., Council Bluffs, 501.3841, dodgehouse.org. IN MEMORY OF... THE ART OF MOURNING: Examines a family’s response to loss

22

sept. 15 - 21, 2011

and mourning in the late Victorian period, this show continues through Oct. 23.

HOT SHOPS ART CENTER, 1301 Nicolas St., (402) 342-6452.

NEW WORK: New work by Charlene Potter, through Sep. 27.

NEW WORK: New work by Scott Papek,through Sep. 27. STUDIO STORIES: WORKS ON CANVAS AND PAPER: New work by James Freeman, through Sep. 27.

THE INDIAN OVEN, 1010 Howard St.. FOOD WINE AND ART: New work by Cameroon born artist Gerard Pefung, continues through September 29. Closing Reception Sep. 29.

INTERNATIONAL QUILT STUDY CENTER AND MUSEUM, 1523 N. 33rd St., Lincoln, 472.7232, quiltstudy.org. NEBRASKA QUILTS AND QUILTMAKERS: Group show, through Oct. 2. ELEGANT GEOMETRY: AMERICAN AND BRITISH MOSAIC PATCHWORK: Through Jan. 1, 2012.

KIECHEL FINE ART, 5733 S. 34th St., Lincoln, 420.9553, kiechelart.com. CONTEMPORARY SUMMER SHOWCASE: Group show, through Oct. 7.

KRUGER COLLECTION, UNL Architecture Hall, 10th and R, Lincoln, 472.3560, krugercollection.unl.edu. DESIGN PROCESS: Explores the steps a designer takes, runs through Mar. 16, 2012.

LAURITZEN GARDENS, 100 Bancroft St., 346.4002, omahabotanicalgardens.org. OUTSIDE KANEKO: Through Sep. 15, over 50 sculptures and drawings by Jun Kaneko.

LUX CENTER FOR THE ARTS, 48th and Baldwin, Lincoln, 434.2787, luxcenter.org. TREELINE: NATURE’S ICONIC FORM: Group show that pays homage to the noble stature and presence of trees, through Nov. 1. RECLAIMED: ART MADE OF RECYCLED MATERIALS: Group show that examines and questions the state of our throw-away culture/society, featuring new work by Jake Balcom, Elizabeth Frank, John Garrett, Daphnae Koop, Jennifer Maestre and Conrad Quijas, this show continues through October 29.

MODERN ARTS MIDWEST, 800 P St., (402) 477-2828. MODERN ARTS MIDWEST: Oil paintings and pastels by Don Williams, through October 1.

MORRILL HALL, 307 Morrill Hall, Lincoln 472.3779, museum. unl.edu. AMPHIBIANS VIBRANT AND VANISHING: Photographs

by Joel Sartore, through Nov. 30.

MUSEUM OF NEBRASKA ART (MONA), 2401 Central Ave., Kearney, 308.865.8559, monet.unk.edu/mona. THE NEBRASKA SUITE: New work by Enrique Martinez Celaya. NEBRASKA NOW: Photography by Dana Fritz, through Oct. 2.

THE NEW BLK, 1213 Jones St., 402-403-5619, info@thenewblk. com. THE TITLED SERIES: Original Art by Nina Barnes, continues through Sep. OLD MARKET ARTISTS GALLERY, 1034 Howard St., (402) 3466569. NEW WORK: New work by Kris Hammond, Andy Chaudhur and Rhoni Moore, through Sep. 30. Money raised will benefit UNMC Eppley Cancer Center.

OMAHA’S CHILDREN’S MUSEUM, 500 S. 20th St., 342.6163. ocm.org. DINOSAURS DAWN OF THE ICE AGE: Stomping and roaring robotic dinosaurs are invading the museum, through Jan. 8.

PASSAGEWAY GALLERY, 417 S. 11th St., (402) 341-1910.

CLAY, SILVER, & STONE: New work by Paul Nichols, Sandi Nichols and Meridith Merwald-Gofta, this show continues through Sep. 30.

PEERLESS, 3517 Farnam St., Ste. 7108, contact@wearepeerless.com. READINESS IS ALL: New work by Ying Zhu, through Sep. 30.

SHELDON ART GALLERY, 12th and R, UNL, Lincoln, sheldonartgallery.org. THE HARMON AND HARRIET KELLY COLLECTION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN ART: Works on paper, opens through Sep. 25. DECISIVE LINE: Drawings by Dan Howard, through Sep. 18. NEW WORK: Grant Wood, through Oct. 2. HISTORIES: Works from the Sheldon Permanent Collection, through Jul. 15, 2012.

SILVER OF OZ, 6115 Maple St., (402) 558-1307. NEW WORK: New work by impressionist painter Jane Reed, opens Sep. 2, 6 p.m., continues through Sep. 27.

TUGBOAT GALLERY, 1416 O St., (402) 477-6200. TUGBOATERS II: Group show featuring new work by Joey Lynch, Jake Gillespie, Peggy Gomez, Nolan Tredway, Alex Borovski, Bryan Klopping and Peter Worth - the original founders and people currently involved with Tugboat Gallery. This show continues \ through Sep. 24.

| THE READER |

art/theater listings

check event listings online!

UNL HILLESTAD TEXTILES GALLERY, 35th & Holdrege St., (402) 472-2911. DRAWN: New work by Texas-based artist Beili Liu, continues through Sep. 9.

UNO ART GALLERY, 6001 Dodge St., (402) 554-2796. HARDCORE PAINTING: CONFESSIONS AND PREMONITIONS: New work by Julie Farstad and Jessie Fisher, continues through Sep. 28.

WORKSPACE GALLERY, 440 N. 8th St., workspace.gallery.lincoln@gmail.com. POSTMORTEM: A STUDY IN DECOMPOSITION: New work by Darryl Baird, this show continues through Nov. 3.

theater oPENING

AUDITION: CHRISTMAS CAROL, Omaha Community Playhouse, 6915 Cass St., (402) 553-4890.Omaha Community Playhouse, 6915 Cass St., (402) 553-4890. Opens Sep. 17, Sep. 19, Sep. 20, FREE BABES IN TOYLAND, Bellevue Little Theater, 203 Mission Ave., (402) 291-1554. Opens Sep. 16, Sep. 17, Sep. 18, 7:30 pm.

BECKY’S NEW CAR, Omaha Community Playhouse, 6915 Cass St., 553.0800, omahaplayhouse.com. Opens Aug. 19-Sep. 18, Thu.-Sat., 7:30 p.m., Sun., 2 p.m., $35, $21/students. An unpredictable comedy/drama that begins with the titular character interacting with the audience.

CHICAGO, Omaha Community Playhouse, 6915 Cass St., (402) 553-4890. Opens Sep. 16, Sep. 17, Sep. 18, Sep. 21, Sep. 22, 7:30 pm, Adults: $40; Students: $24 FERDINAND THE BULL, Rose Theater, 2001 Farnam St., (402) 345-4849. Opens Sep. 16, Sep. 17, Sep. 17, Sep. 18, 7:00 pm, $16. The classic children’s tale about a bull who would rather smell flowers than figh has finally been adapted for the stage JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING COLOR DREAMCOAT, McDonald Theatre, 53rd St. & Huntington Ave., (402) 465-2384, theatre@ nebrwesleyan.edu. Opens Sep. 22, 7:30 pm, $15; Seniors: $10; Students: $7.50 NEXT FALL, SNAP! Productions, 3225 California St., (402) 3412757. Opens Sep. 15, Sep. 16, Sep. 17, Sep. 18, 8:00 pm, $15 TEENS ‘N’ THEATRE PRESENTS THE INTERN PROJECT: LILY PLANTS A GARDEN, Rose Theater, 2001 Farnam St., (402) 345-4849. Opens Sep. 15, Sep. 17, Sep. 18, 7:00 pm, N/A UNBOUND PERSPECTIVE PRESENTS CRAZY JUST LIKE ME, Pizza Shoppe Collective, 6056 Maple St., (402) 932-9007.

Opens Sep. 21, Sep. 22, 7:30 pm, $18; Students: $15

poetry/comedy thursday 15

HARRY EDWARDS, Nebraska Wesleyan 51st & Huntington St., (402) 465-2395. 10:00 am, FREE. Part of Visions & Ventures Symposium: “More Than A Game: Economics, Ethics and Politics of Sports”, lecture entitled “Handicapping The Race: The Management and Impact of Black Images in the Mainstream Sports Media” takes place in O’Donnell Auditorium.

24TH BIENNIEL OMAHA PRODUCTS SHOW, CenturyLink Center Omaha 455 N. 10th St., (402) 341-1500. 10:00 am, N/A. One of the largest and diversified business expos in the Midwest. http://www.showofficeonline.com/products.htm ROB BAADE, Nebraska Wesleyan 51st & Huntington St., (402) 465-2395. 1:30 pm, FREE. Part of Visions & Ventures Symposium: “More Than A Game: Economics, Ethics and Politics of Sports”, lecture entitled “Getting Into The Game: Is the Gamble on Sports as a Stimulus for Urban Development a Good Bet?” Lecture takes place in O’Donnell Auditorium.

AS THE WORM TURNS BOOK GROUP, The Bookworm 87th & Pacific St., (402) 392-2877. 6:30 pm, FREE. Group will discuss 1984 by George Orwell. Group meets every third Thursday.

VIC HENLEY, Funny Bone Comedy Club 17305 Davenport St., (402) 493-8036. 7:00 pm, $12-$17. Stand-up who has been showcased on Comedy Central Presents.

DONNA LOPIANO, Nebraska Wesleyan 51st & Huntington St., (402) 465-2395. 7:00 pm, FREE. Part of Visions & Ventures Symposium: “More Than A Game: Economics, Ethics and Politics of Sports”, lecture entitled “Forty Years After Title IX and Still Not Close to Gender Equity” takes place in O’Donnell Auditorium CARROLL R. PAULEY LECTURE, Great Plains Art Museum 1155 Q St., (402) 472-0599. 7:30 pm, FREE. Thomas G. Andrews will present “Killing for Coal: America’s Deadliest Labor War.” BACKLINE IMPROV, Studio…Gallery 4965 Dodge St., (402) 660-0867. 8:00 pm, $5.

MOJO JOKEHOUSE COMEDY SURPRISE, Mojo Smokehouse & Ales 2110 South 67th St., (402) 504-3776. 10:30 pm, FREE.

FRIDAY 16

NO NAME READING SERIES WITH KAREN BABINE AND JASON HERTZ, Zen’s Lounge 122 N. 11th St.. 4:00 pm, FREE. Presented by UNL Graduate students.

VIC HENLEY, Funny Bone Comedy Club 17305 Davenport St., (402) 493-8036. 7:00 pm, $12-$17. Stand-up who has been showcased on Comedy Central Presents.

SATURDAY 17

SENATOR BEN NELSON, Mammel Hall 67th & Pine St.. 9:00 am, FREE. KIM LOUISE AND CATHERIN RICHMOND, The Bookworm 87th & Pacific St., (402) 392-2877. 1:00 pm, FREE. Author Kim Louise will sign Anytime. Author Catherine Richmond will sign Spring for Susannah.

VIC HENLEY, Funny Bone Comedy Club 17305 Davenport St., (402) 493-8036. 7:00 pm, $12-$17. Stand-up who has been showcased on Comedy Central Presents.

Sunday 18

ROGER ADEN, Bennett Martin Public Library 136 S. 14th St., (402) 441-8500. 2:00 pm, FREE. VIC HENLEY, Funny Bone Comedy Club 17305 Davenport St., (402) 493-8036. 7:00 pm, $12-$17. Stand-up who has been showcased on Comedy Central Presents.

monday 19

I SHOULD HAVE READ THAT IN SCHOOL, The Bookworm 87th & Pacific St., (402) 392-2877. 6:30 pm, FREE. The group will continue their discussion of Moby Dick by Herman Melville.

KWAME DAWES, Crescent Moon Coffee 8th & P St., (402) 4352828. 7:00 pm, FREE.

tuesday 20

INTERIOR DIALOGUE, A PANEL DISCUSSION ON PSYCHOLOGY AND CREATIVE WRITING, University of Nebraska-Lincoln 12th & R St., (402) 472-2072. 3:00 pm, FREE. Panel discussion featuring novelist Timothy Schaffert and David Hansen, chair of the Department of Psychology.

INTERNATIONAL INTRIGUE BOOK GROUP, The Bookworm 87th & Pacific St., (402) 392-2877. 6:30 pm, FREE. Group will discuss About Face by Donna Leon. Group meets every third Tuesday.

JON SCIESZKA, W. Dale Clark Library 215 S. 15th St., (402) 444-4800. 6:30 pm, FREE. Author of “The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales” will discuss his latest project, “Guys, Read,” which has helped open the world of literature to boys of all ages.

OPEN MIC POETRY, Indigo Bridge Books 701 P St. Suite 102, (402) 477-7770. 7:00 pm, FREE. SHOOT YOUR MOUTH OFF III, The Hideout Lounge 320 S. 72nd St., (402) 504-4434. 9:00 pm, FREE. The best free show in town.

Wednesday 21

ANNUAL BOOK CLUB OPEN HOUSE, The Bookworm 87th & Pacific St., (402) 392-2877. 12:00 am, FREE. Discover great new books for your book club.

911 EYEWITNESS HOBOKEN, McFoster’s Natural Kind Cafe 302 S. 38th St., (402) 345-7477. 7:00 pm, FREE. Part of The People’s Film Festival.

POET SHOW IT, 1122 D St., Lincoln, 8:00 pm, FREE. Wine, coffee and words.

THE MIDWEST POETRY VIBE, Arthur’s 222 N. 114th St., (402) 393-6369. 9:00 pm, FREE. OK PARTY COMEDY PRESENTS EXPLOSIVO, Slowdown 729 N. 14th St., (402) 345-7569. 9:00 pm, FREE.

| THE READER |

sept. 15 - 21, 2011

23

On the Same Page Gomez bring a cohesive vision to their latest album

O

by Chris Aponick

ver the course of six albums, Gomez have built a reputation for warping their Brit-pop sound with plenty of genre-hopping tics and off-kilter arrangements.

But the band had a new vision for its seventh album, the recently-released Whatever’s On Your Mind, guitarist/vocalist Tom Gray says.

It’s a very melodic record, he says. It’s a refined, streamlined take on what the band does.

smashed into classic Brit-pop melodies, while the band deconstructed and stretched their songs beyond simple structures.

Since 2006’s How We Operate, the band has worked with Dave Matthews’ ATO Records imprint, which helped introduce the band to new American fans.

So while previous Gomez records could come sound more like a compilation or cuts from a well-curated jukebox, this time the band sought to jump genres while holding to the entire record’s melodic directness.

“It’s a Gomez album so it’s all over the place,” Gray says. “So in the Gomez world, it’s quite a normal record.”

gomez

The band decided to follow where the music was taking them without over-intellectualizing.

“More than anything else, the songs that were being written led the way,” he says.

Gomez produced the record, with Phantom Planet’s Sam Farrar on hand to help. Gray says Farrar brought the melodic sensibility to make sure the band didn’t deviate from their new straightforward course.

“We brought Sam in to police us a little bit,” Gray says.

Gomez first turned heads when their 1998 debut record Bring It On won the Mercury Music Prize, a UK music award given to the best Irish or English music recording of the previous year.

That album came marked with many of Gomez’s trademark moves fully-formed. Folk and blues

24

sept. 15 - 21, 2011

Gray says Gomez tries to avoid repeating themselves in the studio. With the song-first approach, it felt like they were doing something different.

With three singers and four songwriters, there’s plenty of material coming in. Gray says there can be conflicts and confusion with so many creative inputs.

“It can get very messy,” he says.

While often the songwriters seem to be traveling in different orbits, this time the orbits ran closer together, Gray says.

“Everyone was kind of on the same page,” he says.

Other times, the songwriters play off of each other, taking one member’s song and providing rewrites or arrangement ideas. Gray says the process always seems to be fluid and ever-changing.

| THE READER |

music

“It’s never become formulaic,” he says. “One of the things we are squeamish about is falling into those patterns.”

“After the messiness something exciting can be formed.”

The songwriting arrangement means that record to record, different members can find their time to lead the way. People work in creative cycles, so when one songwriter isn’t as productive, another one can step in.

“Your time will come as a heavy lifter,” Gray says. “That’s the great thing about having so many writers in the band.”

Seeming incongruity has also been the name of the game for Gomez’s touring life, especially when it comes to Omaha.

The band has played the city multiple times. The last time was headlining a 2009 young adult-focused concert in Memorial Park, where they met then-Mayor Mike Fahey.

“We were slightly disappointed in meeting the mayor that we didn’t get a key to the city,” Gray jokes.

Prior to that show, Gomez had built a sizable Omaha cult after several successful club gigs. Gray says one of the things he’s always enjoyed is the fact that the band has built unlikely followings across the world. Gomez is on a short list of UK bands that could regularly play club gigs in Nebraska.

Meanwhile, the band could be headlining in a 500-person rock club, a larger theater or in a field for a festival.

Gray says he relishes the troubadour life, playing wherever. He still enjoys the intimacy of a club show. The band tends to sense the instant reaction of their songs on smaller stages.

“People tend to dance more in clubs,” he says. , Gomez w/ Kopecky Family Band play the Waiting Room Lounge, 6212 Maple St., Wednesday, Sept.

21st at 9 p.m. Tickets are $17 in advance, $20 dayof-show. For more information, visit onepercentproductions.com.

n O’Leaver’s Pub, 1322 S. Saddle Creek Road, welcomes back Deleted Scenes Thursday, Sept. 15. The Washington, D.C.-based indie rock band has seen favorable reviews for both of its albums in multiple outlets, including Pitchfork. The latest album, just released on Sockets Records, earned a 7.8 rating from Pitchfork, which grades on a 10-point scale.

The band’s bio sheet describes them as “it’s something like the Dismemberment Plan playing underwater. It’s weird, rhythmic, and unbelieveably honest.” The band also cut a clip with local video crew Love Drunk Studios when they were in town earlier this year. Check that video out at lovedrunkstudio.com. n Yuppies have scheduled an official release show for their split 12-inch album with UK band Bitches, released earlier this year by Palmist. The show is set for Friday, Oct. 21, at the Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St. and will only be $5.

Hominoid and Gus & Call open.

backbeat

music

keri hilson

n Lil Wayne’s Wednesday night show at the exQwest Center/CenturyLink Center, 455 N. 10th St., was proof-positive of the rapper’s current status as one of the world’s biggest hip-hop acts. The entire show was a grab-bag of associated styles, starting with the modern R&B of Lloyd, who worked best he worked in rap verses than when tried for sultry grooves. Far East Movement party-hop flowed from three emcees, who also picked up instruments throughout their set. Think LMFAO-lite done by guys who also have studied the Beastie Boys. Keri Hilson held close to the themes of her 2010 album No Boys Allowed. Her voice powered her through rap moves and slower grooves too. There’s two distinct sides of Hilson, who seems torn between the aspirations of a diva and that of a rap star. The kitsch of her girl power theme mixed oddly with her dirty-girl rap side, coming off like Lil Kim fronting the Spice Girls at times. Rick Ross burst onto stage with plenty of energy, then dropped the ball after his first few verses.

His performance was cut up with breaks, banter and the sample of his label, Maybach Music, played repeatedly. Lil Wayne straddled all of his identities with a skilled, seasoned performance.

— Chris Aponick Backbeat takes you behind the scenes of the local music scene. Send tips, comments and questions to backbeat@thereader.com.

60852.4_Omaha Reader_09-15-2011

STone Temple piloTS* SepTember 16

Gordon liGhTfooT SepTember 25

Girl Talk ocTober 6

Tickets available at stircove.com or by phone at 1-800-745-3000. *Tickets for the Stone Temple Pilots show on July 17 will be honored at the rescheduled show on September 16. Entertainment schedule subject to change. Must be 21 or older to enter Stir Concert Cove. Know When To Stop Before You Start.® Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-BETSOFF (In Iowa) or 1-800-522-4700 (National). ©2011, Caesars License Company, LLC.

| THE READER | V1_60852.4_10x10_4c_Ad.indd 1

SEPT. 15 - 21, 2011

25

9/12/11 9:49 AM

lazy-i t h e

o m a h a

m u s i c

More questions (and answers) with The Faint

T

his week continues last week’s interview with Todd Fink and Jacob Thiele of The Faint, who, along Clark Baechle, also make up Depressed Buttons. DP had its world premier at House of Loom last Friday night.

I figured while I had Fink and Thiele on the line, I should ask a some questions that have been on my mind a lot time: Why did it take so long — sometimes between three to four years — for The Faint to put out a record? Will writing music for Depressed Buttons be faster than writing music for The Faint?

“Yes,” Fink said. “But anything would be faster, absolutely anything. Writing a symphony would be faster.”

The story goes that The Faint has always been run like a democracy — nothing gets done without unanimous consent from every band member, which also includes guitarist Dapose and former bassist Joel Petersen. And as we all know by watching our own government, democracy can bring progress to a grinding halt.

“We could bang out a song quickly,” Thiele said, “but then a couple months later, we would decide that we should probably do a version with a different bass line, and then do a whole new version.”

“The fact that we were too democratic was a problem,” Fink said. “There were too many people who were full of themselves. If there was a bully in the band, it was probably me. Making records is tough if you want them to be any good. Having a record done is always so awesome, but it started to become more work than it was worth. It got harder each time, and less fun.”

Fink, who wrote The Faint’s lyrics,said coming up with the words could be tough, especially since he has a rather random thought pattern. “It’s kind of hard for me to write songs that make linear sense,” he said. “I don’t think the words themselves are hard if you have something to say, but I don’t like to write when I don’t have anything on my mind.”

So why not simply tour with old material? Are you afraid you’d be milking your past success?

“When you go on tour and don’t have a new record, you lose momentum,” Fink said. “Your name is not out there as much, and you’re not in people’s consciousness.

It’s inevitable that you’re attendance will go down. And that could be fine, but that is milking it, and eventually you end up with no more milk.”

Still, Fink and Thiele said you’re more likely to see The Faint on stage before you hear a new Faint album.

“We love playing shows,” Thiele said. “At this point, we’re putting our efforts into Depressed Buttons. But I’m guessing someday something will come up and someone will want (The Faint) to play a show.”

“It’ll probably be a festival tour,” Fink added. “It’s a big deal for us to get to the point where our show is ready to

Lazy-i

s c e n e

b y

t i m

m c m a h a n

go. There’s a lot more involved than anyone understands. If we’re going to do a show, were going to do a tour; it would be a huge cost time-wise to do just one show.”

In fact, Fink said The Faint may never make another album. “It seems more likely that we’d just play shows and record a couple songs, because albums … I don’t know about albums,” he said. “It would be cool if you could put them out on vinyl, but otherwise I don’t know why everyone has to put out a collection. We knew when we made the last CD that it would be our last CD, even though we weren’t planning on breaking up.”

If recording is now going to take a back seat to performing, then what about Enamel, the 100-year-old brick building renovated as a state-of-the-art recording studio in downtown Omaha, owned and operated by The Faint?

Thiele said Enamel was always former member Joel Petersen’s idea. “It was sort of his project, his idea to spend our money on it,” Thiele said. “He was recording and mixing bands there for awhile. But he didn’t want to stick around and do it.” Petersen, as mentioned last week, has moved to Los Angeles.

Thiele said the band now uses Enamel for personal projects, including Depressed Buttons, and also rents the space to other bands -- a process that resulted in one band’s engineer blowing up some of their sound equipment. Fink said once the studio is back up and running, bookings will resume “and maybe (we’ll) get someone in there that takes it on full-time. We’ll use it when it’s not being used.”

Finally, whatever happened to Goo, the off-the-hook dance party series that launched at The Slowdown shortly after the club opened in 2007?

Fink said Goo parties were hugely successful, that is until Slowdown decided to make the parties 21-and-over. “We thought that room would be too big to do without (the under-21 crowd),” Fink said. “That’s where the energy is -- the kids that show up early and start dancing. We were worried that it would become a crappy party, so we only do Goo for holidays and special events, which has been awesome. We’ve decided not to do anymore at Slowdown for now, and are going to try restarting it at Loom on Oct. 28 for Halloween.”

The Halloween connection makes sense, since costumes have always been a part of Goo, whose DJs also included Derek Pressnall (Tilly and the Wall, Icky Blossoms) and Nater Smith. “The difference between Depressed Buttons and Goo is that Goo is kind of a dress-up party centered around themes,” Fink said. “We play classic stuff, some ridiculous things, some indie remixes, some hip-hop, even some commercial-type stuff. Goo is the gateway to actual electronic dance music.”

“For Goo, we’ll play whatever it takes to make a great moment, even it’s the theme song from Team America or MC Hammer,” Thiele said. “We kind of live to see who can play the craziest shit sometimes.”

“Depressed Buttons is more of an artistic expression,” Fink said. “We listen to hundreds of thousands of electronic producers and come up with the best things on the planet (according to us) and share that vision and sound.”

For even more with Fink and Thiele, check out thereader.com. ,

is a weekly column by long-time Reader senior contributing writer Tim McMahan focused on the Omaha music scene. Check out Tim’s daily music news updates at his website, lazy-i.com, or email him at lazy-i@thereader.com.

26

sept. 15 - 21, 2011

| THE READER |

lazy-i

B L U E S ,

R O O T S ,

A M E R I C A N A

A N D

Swing and soul

T

he award-winning trio of siblings, Trampled Under Foot, takes the stage at The 21st Saloon Thursday, Sept. 15, at 5:30 p.m. Based in Kansas City, the band is built around the powerful, soulful vocals of Danielle Schnebelen. See tufkc.com.

Also Sept. 15, after 9 p.m., 2011 International Blues Challenge winner the Lionel Young Band plays a show at Gator O’Malley’s. The Denver-based band has won Best Blues Band in weekly paper Westword’s Best of Denver Awards. Young is a classically-trained violinist who has also performed with the Denver Chamber Orchestra. Visit lionelyoung.net.

Cowtown Jamborama: Meanwhile, the ninth annual Cowtown Jamborama kicks off with up-and-coming Minneapolis band Davina & The Vagabonds. They have become favorites of the blues crowd with their infectious mix of jump-blues, New Orleans jazz and swing, featuring Davina’s versatile vocals, keyboard riffs and a horn section. Their new CD, Black Cloud, has received great reviews around the country. Elmore magazine calls Davina “a modern-day female version of Louis Armstrong,” adding, “This is killer stuff, played with aplomb, humor, grace and passion.” Davina & The Vag-

hoodoo

M O R E

B Y

B . J .

H U C H T E M A N N

abonds performs at the Eagles Club ballroom, 24th & Douglas, at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15. The Jamborama weekend includes a Saturday show by Meschiya Lake & the Lil’ Big Horns. Lake was honored in the Big Easy Awards as Female Performer of the Year. There is latenight music Friday and Saturday. Other bands include The Careless Lovers and The Grand Marquis. Swing dance sessions from beginning to advanced are offered during the day. See jamborama.com for all the details.

Jimmy Thackery: Guitar star Jimmy Thackery plugs in at Lincoln’s Zoo Bar Wednesday, Sept. 21, 6 p.m.-9 p.m. he then gigs at The 21st Saloon Thursday, Sept. 22, 5:30-8:30 p.m.

Jon Dee Graham Interview: Thanks to Rick Galusha for letting me hijack a segment of Pacific Street Blues on 89.7 The River. I chatted with Austin legend Jon Dee Graham prior to his local shows. The interview will air on Galusha’s Sept. 18 radio show. Until then, you can here our conversation at kiwrblues.podomatic.com/ entry/2011-09-10T07_25_04-07_00. Graham plays the Zoo Saturday, Sept. 24, at 10 p.m. with Sons of 76. He returns to the Sunday Roadhouse Sept. 25, 5 p.m., at The Side Door Lounge, 35th & Leavenworth. See sundayroadhouse.com.

Hot Notes: Omaha blues-rockers Matt Gagne & The Blues Experience are at McKenna’s Saturday, Sept. 17. ,

Brought to you By:

Sept. 17-Oct 2 12:00pm-8:00pm Closed Mondays and Tuesdays Location: 199th and Pacific www.streetofdreams.org

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

Sponsored by:

SEPT. 16–OCT. 16

Book by Fred Ebb & Bob Fosse; Music by John Kander; Lyrics by Fred Ebb; Based on the play Chicago by Maurine Dallas Watkins

(402) 553-0800 | (888) 782-4338 | WWW.OMAHAPLAYHOUSE.ORG sponsors:

orchestra sponsor:

media sponsor:

hoodoo

| THE READER |

SEPT. 15 - 21`, 2011

27

2234 South 13th Street Omaha, NE 68108 346 - 9802 www.sokolundground.com

livemusiccalendar

SEND CALENDAR INFORMATION — including addresses, dates, times, costs and phone numbers — to The Reader’s calendar editor. Mail to or drop off information at P.O. Box 7360 Omaha, NE 68107; email to listings@thereader.com; fax to (402) 341.6967.

Deadline is 5 p.m. the Thursday prior to issue date.

9/15/2011

fri 9/16/2011

sat 9/17/2011

sun 9/18/2011

fri 9/23/2011

TRAMPLED UNDER FOOT, (Blues) 5:30 pm, 21st Saloon,

$10.

READER RECOMMENDS

unScene patrol w/ in love and chriS doolittle Show @ 7:30 SidewiSe w/ vitoSuS, riSe from ruin and faded black Show @ 7:00 afton preSentS: Suddengone, eventide, van gogh on the run, Synchronized fate, the mindleSS freakS, logan vamoSi, core, alliance of the overSeaS, eScape clauSe Show @ 6:30 afton preSentS: aj the dread, myke gettem, bt, huSalot, StolkS g, fondue, red city, i-80, red “tha don”, dj joonie c, monSta, lil ace & more Show @ 6:30

Omaha Symphony Orchestra Sunday, 8AM “Mahler’s 7th”

Your Classical Companion on the FM dial, 90.7 KVNO Since 1972 WWW.KVNO.ORG

28

thursday 15

faded w/ god complex, caligula and tba Show @ 7:30

sept. 15 - 21, 2011

MIDTOWN MARAUDERS, DIRTY DIAMONDS, SLURCH Y.U.N.G., TRANSIT CREW, (Hip-Hop/Rap) 9 pm,

Bourbon Theater, $5.

STEVE KELLER, (Folk/Singer-Songwriter) 7 pm, Crescent

Moon Coffee, FREE. SHITHOOK, (Cover Band) 10 pm, Duffy’s Tavern, FREE. LUKE JOHNSON, (Cover Band) 9 pm, Firewater Grille, FREE. TECH, CICIO, NIERIKA, (DJ/Electronic) 9 pm, House Of

Loom.

R AND B ZONE, (Jazz) 6 pm, Jazz, A Louisiana Kitchen.

EVERGREEN GRASS BAND, EMMETT BOWER BAND, (Folk/

Singer-Songwriter) 9 pm, Knickerbockers.

SUSIE THORNE, (Jazz) 9 pm, Myth Martini Bar, FREE. THE BENNINGTONS, DELETED SCENES, BETSY WELLS,

(Folk/Singer-Songwriter) 9:30 pm, O’Leaver’s Pub, $5.

SMOOTH JAZZ THURSDAY FEATURING NEAL DAVIS,

(Jazz) 6:30 pm, OzoNE Lounge at Anthony’s

Steakhouse, FREE.

thr

READER RECOMMENDS

DIM LIGHT, SLOW SKATE, BLUE ROSA, (Rock) 9 pm,

Slowdown, $6.

FADED, GOD COMPLEX, CALIGULA, (Rock) 7 pm, Sokol

Hall & Auditorium, $8.

CRUEL HAND, A LOSS FOR WORDS, MAKER, THE

GREENERY, (Rock) 7 pm, The Commons, Advance:

$10; DOS: $12.

GUNK PRESENTS SKINNY FRIEDMAN WITH KOBRAKYLE AND SPENCELOVE, (DJ/Electronic) 9 pm, Waiting

Room, $5.

DAVID ALLAN COE, (Country) 8 pm, Whiskey Roadhouse

(Horseshoe Casino), $25.

ROCK ROSE, PANDA FACE, SAS, (Rock) 9 pm, Zoo Bar, $4.

FRIDAY 16

ON THE FRITZ, (Cover Band) 9:30 pm, Arena Bar & Grill,

FREE. XV, FREAK ABOUT, GABE, (Hip-Hop/Rap) 9 pm, Bourbon

Theater, Advance: $13; DOS: $15.

BRENDAN RILEY, SEAN CONWAY, (Folk/Singer-Songwriter)

8 pm, Brazen Head Irish Pub. TAXI DRIVER, (Cover Band) 9 pm, Brewsky’s Park Drive,

FREE. KATY PERRY, JANELLE MONAE, DJ SKEET SKEET, (Pop)

7:30 pm, CenturyLink Center Omaha, $37-$47.

5 SIMPLE FOOLS, (Rock) 9:30 pm, Chrome Lounge.

THE RESONATORS, (Rock) 8 pm, Crescent Moon Coffee,

FREE.

READER RECOMMENDS

GHE BAND, (Cover Band) 10 pm, Dinker’s Bar, FREE. DOWN AND DESPERATE, (Cover Band) 9 pm, Firewater

Grille, FREE. LOOM WEAVES JOSLYN PRE-PARTY, (DJ/Electronic) 9 pm,

House Of Loom, FREE. STREET RAILWAY COMPANY, (Jazz) 7 pm, Jazz, A

Louisiana Kitchen.

POWER, WRECK, BENT LIFE, DIAMONDZ R 4 EVA, (Rock)

6 pm, Knickerbockers.

LEECHES OF LORE, AMERICAN GUNFIGHT, BEAVER DAMAGE, (Rock) 9 pm, Knickerbockers.

HIFI HANGOVER, (Cover Band) 9 pm, Loose Moose.

MISFIT TOYS, (Rock) 7 pm, Louis Bar and Grill.

THEMOTHERDUDES, (Cover Band) 10 pm, Mojo

Smokehouse & Ales, FREE. GRAND THEFT GIRLFRIEND, (Cover Band) 9 pm, OzoNE

Lounge at Anthony’s Steakhouse, FREE.

| THE READER |

music listings

READER RECOMMENDS THE RUNNING MATES, JARROD TURNER, GUILTY IS THE

BEAR, (Rock) 9 pm, Pizza Shoppe Collective.

SECRET WEAPON, (Cover Band) 9 pm, Red9.

ANCHONDO, WE BE LIONS, MIA LEBLON, (Rock) 9 pm,

Slowdown, $8.

MARK IRVIN BAND, (Cover Band) 7 pm, Soaring Wings

Vineyard, $5.

UNSCENE PATROL, IN LOVE, CHRIS DOOLITTLE, (Rock) 7

pm, Sokol Hall & Auditorium, $8.

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS, (Rock) 8 pm, Stir Concert Cove,

Advance: $40; DOS; $45.

ALTER EGO, (Rock) 11 pm, Stir Live & Loud, FREE. BURN HALO, (Rock) 7 pm, The Grove, $10.

READER RECOMMENDS

NIGHTMARE PARADOX, EASTWOOD, GRIMER, AURELIUS, (Rock/Punk) 7:30 pm, The Hole, $6.

ROGER CREAGER, EMMETT BOWER, (Country) 9 pm,

Uncle Ron’s.

SAILOR JERRY PINUP PAGEANT WITH THE FILTER KINGS, THE BLACKTOP RAMBLERS, THE MATT COX BAND,

(Rock) 6 pm, Waiting Room, $7.

THE SLANGS, (Cover Band) 9 pm, Whiskey Roadhouse

(Horseshoe Casino), FREE. THE TIJUANA GIGOLOS, (Blues) 5 pm, Zoo Bar, $5.

HEAR NEBRASKA FUNDRAISER: TAKE COVER (LINCOLN),

(Rock/Folk/Singer-Songwriter) 8 pm, Zoo Bar, $5.

SATURDAY 17

MR. HAND, (Cover Band) 9:30 pm, Arena Bar & Grill, FREE.

READER RECOMMENDS

DJ KOBRAKYLE’S GETTIN DUSTY SOUL NIGHT, (DJ/

Electronic) 9 pm, Barley Street Tavern, $2.

NASTYNASTY, MACHINEDRUM, (DJ/Electronic) 9 pm,

Bourbon Theater, Advance: $12; DOS: $15.

JOHN DOE, (Rock) 9:30 pm, Chrome Lounge.

THE YELLOW KITES, AMBER KONZ, STEPHANIE JUNE,

(Folk/Singer-Songwriter) 8 pm, Cultiva Coffee, FREE.

READER RECOMMENDS

LOOM WEAVES JOSLYN’S SCULPTURE GARDEN, (DJ/

Electronic) 2 pm, Joslyn Art Museum, FREE. GYPSY HAWK, EVERYDAY EVERYNIGHT, HONEY AND DARLING, ALL MY FRIENDS ARE DINOSAURS,

(Rock) 9 pm, Knickerbockers.

BEERS BANDS AND BBQ WITH THOSE GUYS, ROBODOJO, A DIFFERENT BREED, RED VIBE, FOR EDWARD,

ORVILLE, (Rock) 4 pm, Louis Bar and Grill, Advance:

$10; DOS: $12.

SAUDI ARABIA, DIM LIGHT, LEECHES OF LORE, (Rock)

9:30 pm, O’Leaver’s Pub, $5.

LEMON FRESH DAY, (Cover Band) 9 pm, OzoNE Lounge at

Anthony’s Steakhouse, FREE. JOHN WATT, JORDAN REBMAN, (Folk/Singer-Songwriter) 9

pm, Pizza Shoppe Collective, $5.

ECKOPHONIC, (Cover Band) 9 pm, Red9, FREE. AFTER THE FALL, AGAINST THE ARTIFICAL, THE CURTAIN

CALLS, CANNONISTA, (Rock) 9 pm, Slowdown, $7.

SIDEWISE, VITOSUS, RISE FROM RUIN, FADED BLACK,

(Rock) 7 pm, Sokol Hall & Auditorium, $8.

PORKBELLY, (Rock) 9 pm, Stir Live & Loud, $5.

DECKER, (Rock) 8:30 pm, The Grove, $5.

I APPARATUS, TINY MOVING PARTS, IT CAME FROM THE SEA, MACHINE GUN VENDETTA, BIG ELEPHANT,

MORE, (Rock/Punk) 6 pm, The Hole, $8.

READER RECOMMENDS

SUN SETTINGS, DADS, CAT ISLAND, CHEAP FURS, (Rock/

Indie) 9 pm, The Sandbox, $8.

EMMETT BOWER, (Country) 9 pm, Uncle Ron’s, FREE. SONO A BENEFIT FOR MENTAL HEALTH AMERICA WITH ANNIVERSAIRE, FUNK TREK, FLESH EATING SKIN

DISEASE, (Rock/DJ/Electronic) 9 pm, Waiting Room,

$5.

QUARTUS, (Cover Band) 9 pm, Whiskey Roadhouse

(Horseshoe Casino), FREE. COWBOY DAVE BAND, (Blues) 9 pm, Zoo Bar, $5.

PIANO HAPPY HOUR WITH VINCE MILLER, (Blues) 5 pm,

Zoo Bar, FREE.

SUNDAY 18

1415 BASS PLACE, (DJ/Electronic) 9 pm, Bourbon Theater,

FREE. WHISKEY FOXTROT TANGO, (Rock) 9 pm, Duffy’s Tavern.

READER RECOMMENDS

CAROLINE SMITH & THE GOOD NIGHT SLEEPS, (Rock)

9:30 pm, O’Leaver’s Pub, $5.

JEFF TOMES, (Live Theater/Folk/Singer-Songwriter) 2 pm,

Soaring Wings Vineyard, FREE. SUDDENGONE, EVENTITE, VAN GOGH ON THE RUN, SYN

CHRONIZED FATE, THE MINDLESS FREAKS, LOGAN

VAMOSI, (Rock) 6:30 pm, Sokol Hall & Auditorium,

Advance: $8; DOS: $12.

MC CHRIS, MC LARS, MEGARAN, WARROCK, (Hip-Hop/

Rap) 8 pm, Waiting Room, $13.

AUDITION NIGHT, (Cover Band) 7 pm, Whiskey Roadhouse

(Horseshoe Casino), FREE.

MONDAY 19

SONGWRITER SHOWCASE AND OPEN MIC, (Folk/

Singer-Songwriter) 9 pm, Barley Street Tavern, FREE. OPEN STAGE, (Rock/Folk/Singer-Songwriter) 9 pm,

Bourbon Theater, FREE.

READER RECOMMENDS

BIG BAND MONDAY FEATURING MIKE GURCUILLO AND HIS LAS VEGAS LAB BAND, (Jazz) 6:30 pm, OzoNE

Lounge at Anthony’s Steakhouse, FREE. MAN/MIRACLE, TIES, (Rock) 9 pm, Waiting Room, $8.

PIANO HAPPY HOUR WITH EMILY BASS, (Blues) 5 pm,

Zoo Bar, FREE. BLUE MONDAYS FEATURING THE ZOO BAR HOUSE BAND,

(Blues) 7 pm, Zoo Bar, $3.

TUESDAY 20

TONY CHURCH, (Folk/Singer-Songwriter) 7 pm, Crescent

Moon Coffee, FREE. HONOR BY AUGUST, RUNNING MATES, GUILTY IS THE

BEAR, (Rock) 9 pm, Knickerbockers.

ACOUSTIC TUESDAYS FEATURING DOWN AND DESPERATE, (Folk/Singer-Songwriter) 6:30 pm,

OzoNE Lounge at Anthony’s Steakhouse, FREE. ANDREW VIRGA, (Folk/Singer-Songwriter) 7 pm, Pizza

Shoppe Collective.

ANDREW VIRGA, (Folk/Singer-Songwriter) 10 pm, Side

Door Lounge.

READER RECOMMENDS

SLEEPER AGENT, BAZOOKA SHOOTOUT, (Rock) 9 pm,

Waiting Room, $8.

HEAD FOR THE HILLS, BOLZEN BEER BAND, (Blues) 9 pm,

Zoo Bar, $7.

THE JAZZOCRACY, (Jazz) 6 pm, Zoo Bar, FREE.

Wednesday 21

DUB LOUNGE, (DJ/Electronic) 9 pm, Bourbon Theater,

FREE; Under 21: $5.

DICEY RILEYS, (Folk/Singer-Songwriter) 7 pm, Brazen Head

Irish Pub.

READER RECOMMENDS

SWINGMATISM, (Jazz) 7 pm, Crescent Moon Coffee, FREE. VITOSIS, (Rock) 9 pm, Knickerbockers.

NOSTALGIA WEDNESDAY FEATURING HIGH HEEL,

(Cover Band) 6:30 pm, OzoNE Lounge at Anthony’s

Steakhouse, FREE. GOMEZ, KOPECKY FAMILY BAND, (Rock) 8 pm, Waiting

Room, Advance: $17; DOS: $20.

READER RECOMMENDS

JIMMY THACKERY, (Blues) 6 pm, Zoo Bar, Advance: $12;

DOS: $15.

TSUMI, BU DAH TAH, (Rock) 9 pm, Zoo Bar, $5.

0

gibson ~ emg ~ dimarzio ~ zildian crate ~ epiphone red bear ~ hamer

50% oFF

shure 58

with stand

onlY $99

UPCOMING SHOWS

When it came time to record their seventh studio album, the eclectic, beautiful Whatever’s On Your Mind, the members of Gomez found themselves in a bit of a “long distance writing relationship.” Spread out on opposite corners of the world, the band – who had once shared a house.

Wednesday, 9/21/11 8:00PM @ The WaiTing RooM

GOMEZ

www.RainbowMusicOmaha.com

David Allan Coe September 15

The English Beat September 30

Robert Cray October 5

ThuRsday, 9/15/11 9:00PM @ The WaiTing RooM - 18+ gunK PResenTs: sKinny FRiedMan

FRiday, 9/16/11 6:00PM @ The WaiTing RooM - 18+ saiLoR JeRRy PinuP PageanT

w/ Kobrakyle & $pencelove

w/ The Filter Kings, The Blacktop Ramblers, & The Matt Cox Band

w/ We Be Lions & Mia Leblon

saTuRday, 9/17/11 8:00PM @ The WaiTing RooM - 18+ sono

saTuRday, 9/17/11 9:00PM @ sLoWdoWn aFTeR The FaLL

sunday, 9/18/11 8:00PM @ The WaiTing RooM MC ChRis

Tickets available at whiskeyroadhouse.com, Ticketmaster.com or by phone at 1-800-745-3000.

I-29 South, Exit 1B | horseshoe.com Must be 21 years or older to attend shows or to gamble. Know When To Stop Before You Start.® Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-BETS-OFF (Iowa) or 1-800-522-4700 (National). ©2011, Caesars License Company, LLC.

9/12/11 1:34 PM

FRiday, 9/16/11 9:00PM @ sLoWdoWn anChondo

A Benefit for Mental Health America

w/ Against The Artificial, The Curtain Calls, & Cannonista

w/ MC Lars, Megaran, & Adam Warrock

Monday, 9/19/11 9:00PM @ The WaiTing RooM Man/MiRaCLe

Tuesday, 9/20/11 9:00PM @ The WaiTing RooM sLeePeR agenT

ThuRsday, 9/22/11 9:00PM @ The WaiTing RooM Kosha diLLZ

w/ Ties

V3_61095.1_4.9x7.47_4c_Ad.indd 1

SPOtlIGHt SHOW

w/ Kopecky Family Band

9/22/11 NEEDTOBREATHE 9/23/11 QUARTUS 9/24/11 ELECTRIC SIX 9/25/11 SCHOOL OF ROCK 9/26/11 MUSIC QUIZ 9/26/11 PLAIN WHITE T’S 9/27/11 THE WOOD BROTHERS 9/27/11 THE FAMILY VACATION TOUR 9/27/11 EOTO 9/28/11 HELMET

w/ Purveyors of the Conscious Sound, Holla K & J Cron, Ellmatiq P-Tro, & Surreal The MC

9/28/11 TRUTH & SALVAGE CO. 9/28/11 BLUE OCTOBER 9/29/11 CONDUITS 9/30/11 THE MATADOR CD RELEASE 9/30/11 CIRCA SURVIVE 10/01/11 MEGAFAUN 10/02/11 MAT KEARNEY 10/02/11 GRIEVES / BUDO 10/04/11 WILD FLAG 10/04/11 THE CHRIS ROBINSON BROTHERHOOD

More Information and Tickets Available at

WWW.ONEPERCENTPRODUCTIONS.COM

music listings

| THE READER |

SEPT. 15 - 21, 2011

29

30

sept. 15 - 21, 2011

| THE READER |

E D I T E D

Contagion encourages us to cover our cough, or die trying

N

CONTAGION

by Ben Coffman

ot to advocate violence, but anybody who cannot control their coughing while publicly watching Contagion, a movie about super sniffles that nearly destroy humanity, is either too sick to be around others or desperate for negative attention—that is to say, they’re either sick or “sick.” You know who I’m talking about, people.

With that off my chest, director Steven Soderbergh (Oceans 11, 12 and 13) begins his latest film with a single, audible cough as Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) sips beer at an airport bar and realizes that she feels like death, literally. What she doesn’t realize is that she’s “patient zero” in a soon-to-be-worldwide viral epidemic that will make the Spanish Flu look like the Spanish Slap and Tickle. In just a few movie minutes, she’s discharging Cujo-esque amounts of foam via her nose and flopping like a grounded trout.

Another Earth C+ Old-fashioned laughs without slapstick puking? It can’t be!

Attack the Block AA sci-fi comedy, action, thriller featuring British-slang spewing teens? Believe, bruvva!

The Guard There’s no pot of gold at the end of this Irish tale.

READER RECOMMENDS

Hanna Be glad your tween loves Bieber and not homicide.

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

D+ A

But not before infecting her own son, who also succumbs to a gruesome death, not to mention a whole airport of other folks whose only crime is not having enclosed themselves in a plastic bubble filled with hand sanitizer before venturing out into this cruel world.

Beth is married to Mitch Emhoff, played by a chubbed-up Matt Damon. Mitch is the closest thing we get to a main character in Contagion, mostly because (A) he’s most likely the roundest character in the movie and (B) he’s done himself the favor of being immune to the ragin’ contagion.

Meek’s Cutoff (ON DVD) B You think helping your friends move is hard, try moving via the Oregon Trail.

Point Blank BA French blend of Taken and The Fugitive devoid of originality.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes A re-imagined reboot that uses real imagination.

B

Thor (ON DVD) B Even Norse Gods can’t defeat romantic comedy cliches.

The rest of Contagion’s narrative is as tangled as a plate of spaghetti, with all but a forkful of its subplots being related only via the film’s invisible main character: the virus itself. There’s Laurence Fishburne, who plays a CDC big shot; Jude Law plays a blogger popular with the conspiracy theory crowd; Kate Winslet plays an epidemiologist sent to the front lines to try to contain the early spread of the disease; Marion Cotillard plays Dr. Leonora Orantes, who, uh, gets kidnapped; and Demetri Martin plays a guy with a really bad haircut. Or maybe he’s a doctor—there are about a million of them in the film. Even Dr. Sanjay Gupta answered the all-physicians-on-deck call, playing himself.

So with all this star power, where does Contagion go wrong? Well, first off, it doesn’t, at least not completely. Its overstuffed cast means that, while loaded with high-dollar talent, the scenes are short and the plot is propulsive. This is great for the ADD crowd, but it doesn’t allow much time for the characters to really cast shadows.

Soderbergh and writer Scott Z Burns (who teamed up with both Soderbergh and Damon for 2009’s The Informant!) invested heavily in realistically detailing the world’s response to a viral catastrophe rather than chronicling the outcome (like, say, 28 Days Later). This preapocalyptic approach is just what the doctor ordered, even if the movie occasionally—don’t take this the wrong way—feels like a viral version of 2012 (the Roland Emmerich earthquake movie with John Cusack). ,

GRADE: B

B Y

R Y A N

S Y R E K

■ For years, the only thing that stood between me and the Nike Air Mag, the autolace-up, glowing shoes Marty McFly wore in Back to the Future Part II, was the tiny fact that they didn’t exist. Now the only thing that stands between me and these monuments to capitalist excess is thousands of dollars.

You see, Nike is auctioning off the only 1500 pairs of these shoes that will ever be made for charity, specifically Michael J. Fox’s Parkinson research organization. So not only do I get to be mad that I don’t make phat rapper money and can’t afford to plop down the $10,000 that this footwear has demanded, but I get to feel bad about feeling mad because it’s going to such a good cause. The future is such a tease.

■ Please know, this is the sort of story you can’t make up. Mel Gibson is lining up to direct a movie based on a script from Joe Ezterhas, the writer of Showgirls, about Judah Maccabee, who as a legendary Jewish leader who led a revolt around 160 BCE. Again, that’s the guy who told a cop “Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world,” buddying up with the Showgirls author to direct a movie about a revered Jewish hero. This is a real thing. Sometimes, the set-up is so funny, I don’t even need to write a clever take on it.

■ While Hollywood may be celebrating a summer box office that exceeded last year, there’s a catch: attendance was the lowest in almost 15 years. Inflated 3D ticket prices masked the fact that only 543 million tickets were sold, the lowest total since 1997, when 540 million were sold. Clearly, Hollywood needs a congressional bailout. I mean, it’s that or make better movies, and we know that’s not likely.

CUTTINGROOM

Purell Madness

film

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

This Week Sarah’s Key First-Run (PG-13) Directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner and starring Kristin Scott Thomas. Based on the novel by Tatiana de Rosnay.

Now showing!

Point Blank First-Run

Directed by Fred Cavayé.

Through Thursday, September 22 “Grips you at frame one and doesn’t let go.” —Kenneth Turan, LA Times

Screwball Comedies Bringing Up Baby 1938 - New 35mm Print!

Directed by Howard Hawks.

Two days only! September 18 & 21

Upcoming Free Events Reserve advance tickets (recommended) by emailing maggie@filmstreams.org.

An Evening with POV Exec.

Director Simon Kilmurry

Family & Children’s Series Little Women 1994

Thursday, September 15, 6:30pm.

Presented with NET Television.

Directed by Gillian Armstrong.

Sept 10-22 (Saturdays, Sundays, Thursdays)

Reel Injun 2009 Actor Gary Farmer In Person!

Tuesday, September 20, 7pm. Presented with NAPT’s VisionMaker Film Festival & the Native American Studies Program at UNO.

film

| THE READER |

SEPT. 15 - 21, 2011

31

r a C t n i r p S e g n e l l a Ch September 16th - 17th Races Start: 7pm

$3,000 To Win Each Night! www.I-80Speedway.com 32

SEPT. 15 - 21, 2011

| THE READER |

planetpower w ee k l y

h oroscopes

L

ast week in the sign of Mother Nature; Virgo. Get the work done first (Virgo) and see what kind of harmony (Libra) you can be. This be the truth from Michael P. Next week/ month/sign, let’s talk about music and how the lessons of music can relate to and improve your life.

Are we in harmony yet? Dress pretty, girls, and see what happens… There are no mistakes. Peace and love shall conquer all!

—MOJOPOPlanetPower.com f VIRGO (8.23-9.22) Welcome into the last week of Virgo. It’s a short trip… See you next fall?

One more week to get/let your trip together before autumn concerns consume us all — whether we’re ready or not for fall. Pack up your garden and move inside, you all. It’s time for you to hide. Your money/ parental/mental maturity/responsibility for this winter’s security culminates in and around the New Moon in Libra on September 27th. More on that next week, when once again we speak. ’Til then, hope you had a happy birthday! From Miguel Jose. g LIBRA (9.23-10.22) Gear up for the New Moon in your sign at dawn on September 27th. Take care of as much work as you can this coming week (Virgo), and by then (the 27th) you can/will take a peek at the harmony you seek (Libra). It’ll prove to be your busiest/best day yet in 2011. Do the work first, or your harvest basket will be filled only with regret. It’s always 50/50 with you, isn’t it? See… Michael P. h SCORPIO (10.23-11.22) Martians: What kind of thing will it bring, if I work for a/the king? What kind of scene can I create/be for thee, my queen?

You don’t/won’t get/be lucky this weekend. Plutonians: You do! Find yourself a Taurus and join ’em in their chorus. Taurus rules the throat! Who you gonna winter with? Pluto moves direct after lunch on the 16th, affecting December Capricorns and you. Is it Jesus time already? Merry Krinkleness! i SAGITTARIUS (11.23-12.21) On Friday morning, without warning, you get an idea! It has a pretty girl in it, and it won’t bear fruit ’til Christmas — if you’re good little boys and girls. Somebody wants to play “sexretary” for/with you, and right now you’re getting soooo lonely… How does the MOJO know? j CAPRICORN (12.22-1.20) Aren’t you guys having fun? Here comes regeneration marching through, especially affecting December Capricorns unto oblivion. Your motto is “regenerate

b y

mo j opo

or die!” Do your/the work before you’re tested on the September 27th/28th Libra New Moon. Ever think about yoga? k AQUARIUS (1.21-2.19) This is the last week of Virgo, which is the sign of spiritual exaltation for your ruling planet, Uranus. Genius (the planet Uranus) is BIG and sweeping; yet its performance ratio depends on details correctly administered (channeled through Virgo). Then, it’ll be time (Saturn in trine in Libra) to plug it in… Electricity! l PISCES (2.20-3.20) Are you still afloat, or did you discover another stowaway/hole in your rowboat? Mistakes were running rampant last week as you “celebrated”(?) your half-birthday — and who was that you woke up with? Ugggh…? “Where are my clothes?” (Sound familiar?) How do the MOJO “knows”? (Anything for a rhyme, any time.) P.S., I put your crotchless panties in my lost and found, for the next time you come around! a ARIES (3.21-4.20) Please read the first part of Scorpio. Mars enters Leo ’til November around sunset on Sunday. Time for you to cut your winter wood, or Yule be sorry…

Ho, ho, ho… b TAURUS (4.21-5.20) Where (who?) do you want to be at/during/adoring Christmas? With your Aries friend? He/she’ll be gone by then, and you’ll have to start all over again, and again, and again, and again, and… You’ll never win. You’ve got to (learn to) love yourself first.

I’m not talkin’ mirror worship. I’m talkin’ beyond your acceptance and knowledge of (your) life and death. Join me and become your loving SELF for all time; for true love is eternal. c GEMINI (5.21-6.21) Mercury is in Virgo ’til the 25th. Keep working on the pad ’til the New Moon in Libra on September 27th. Weather changes on the 29th. Scared? Work now — harmony then. d CANCER (6.22-7.22) You’re feelin’ awfully lovey-dovey on Thursday/Friday, with the Moon in Taurus conjunct Jupiter. And then…BAM! Pluto goes direct in Capricorn in mid-afternoon (in opposition to Cancer), and you just feel downright horny as a goat! BAM! How does the MOJO know? (Hey! Did you forget my number?) e LEO (7.23-8.22) Here comes an Aries as your Arthur, and a Scorpio as your Merlin. Are they going to fix ya (Aries physically, Scorpio mentally/ spiritually), fight ya (Aries) or **** ya (Scorpio!)?

We’ll see next week, won’t we? This be the truth, from Michael P. ,

planet power

| THE READER |

sept. 15 - 21, 2011

33

newsoftheweird

t h e wo r l d g o n e f r e a k y b y c h u c k s h e p h e r d w i t h i l lu s t r at i o n s b y t o m b r i s c o e

Stovetop nuke

M

ichael Richard Handl, 31, was arrested in southern Sweden in July after a raid on his home. He had been trying for months to set up a nuclear reactor in his kitchen, but became alarmed when a brew of americium, tritium and beryllium created a nuclear meltdown on his stove.

Only then, he said, did it occur to him to ask the country’s Radiation Authority if what he was doing was legal, and the subsequent police raid answered that question. No dangerous radiation level was detected, but Handl still faces fines and a maximum two-year prison sentence for unauthorized possession of nuclear materials.

Entrepreneurial Society For the Self-Indulgent: (1) The fashion designer Chandrashekar Chawan recently created gold-plated, diamond-studded contact lenses that make eyes “sparkle” (not always a good thing, admitted Chawan, citing reviews calling the look “cringeworthy” and “demonic”). According to an MSNBC report, the “bling” part never actually touches the cornea. (2) Among the trendiest avant-garde beauty treatments are facial applications made from snail mucus, according to a July report by London’s Daily Mail. South Korean glamour consultants were the first to use mollusk extract’s generous moisturizing properties, though a dermatologist warned (on NBC’s “Today” show) that no “controlled” studies have yet demonstrated snail-goo superiority.

Leading Economic Indicators

Augustin James Evangelista is only 4 years old, but he nevertheless has certain financial needs -- which amount to about $46,000 a month, according to the child-support request filed by his mother, “supermodel” Linda Evangelista. A Wall Street Journal reporter concluded that the figure is about right for rich kids in New York City, what with needing a driver, designer clothes, around-the-clock nannies and various personalized lessons. And soon, according to a consultant-to-the-rich interviewed in August by the

34

sept. 15 - 21, 2011

| THE READER |

weird news

Journal, Augustin James will become even more expensive, as he graduates from his exclusive preschool and enters his exclusive kindergarten.

The highest-paid state government employee in budget-strapped California in 2010 was among the least productive workers in the system, according to a Los Angeles Times investigation reported in July. Jeffrey Rohlfing is on the payroll as a surgeon in the state prison system (base pay: $235,740), but he has been barred from treating inmates for the last six years because supervisors believe him to be incompetent. Last year, Dr. Rohlfing earned an additional $541,000 in back pay after he successfully appealed his firing to the state’s apparently easily persuaded Personnel Board. Currently, Dr. Rohlfing is assigned records-keeping duties.

No, Thanks!

(1) Colorado inmate Daniel Self filed a federal lawsuit in July against the Sterling Correctional Facility because prison personnel saved his life. They revived him after he had stopped breathing from an attack of sleep apnea, but he contends he had previously demanded to officials that he never be resuscitated, preferring to die rather serve out his life sentence. (2) Terry Barth complained to hospital officials that he was “kidnapped” by paramedics and thus cannot be liable for the $40,000 he has been billed by Enloe Medical Center in Chico, Calif., where he was brought by ambulance following a motorcycle crash in August 2010. Barth said he had insisted at the scene that paramedics not take him to a hospital because he had no medical insurance.

(Paramedics are legally required to take anyone with a serious head injury.)

Medical Marvels The first published instance of a woman’s nipple appearing on the sole of her foot was noted in a 2006 report in the journal Dermatology and reprised in a series of U.S. and British press reports in July 2011.

The reporting physicians, led by Dr. Delio Marques

COPYRIGHT 2011 CHUCK SHEPHERD. Visit Chuck Shepherd daily at NewsoftheWeird.blogspot.com or NewsoftheWeird.com. Send Weird News to WeirdNewsTips@yahoo.com or P.O. Box 18737, Tampa, FL 33679. Illustrations by Tom Briscoe (smallworldcomics.com).

Conde, acknowledged that out-of-place breast tissue, while extremely rare, has shown up before on the back, shoulder, face and thigh. The foot nipple was “well-formed,” with areola and sebaceous glands.

British college student Rhiannon BrooksbankJones, 19, recently had her tongue surgically lengthened just so she could better pronounce the Korean letter “L.” London’s Daily Mail reported in August that the student had become fascinated with Korean culture and intends to live and work in South Korea eventually -- and would need to speak like a native to succeed. She is now satisfied that she does.

Our Animal Sidekicks Ruth Adams called on Northampton College in central England to measure the purring sound of her gray-and-white tabby cat, Smokey, aiming for a Guinness World Record. The result, she told The Associated Press in March, was 73 decibels, many multiples louder than the average cat’s purr and about as noisy, according to the AP, as “busy traffic, a hair dryer or a vacuum cleaner.” (According to cat-ologists, Smokey’s purring could reflect either extreme happiness or extreme stress.)

What took them so long to think of this? “Most wineries rely on the human nose [to detect out-ofplace odors],” said the vintner of the Australian boutique wine Linnaea, “but that is time-consuming, costly, and nowhere as reliable as Belle.” Miss Louisa Belle is a 7-year-old bloodhound possessing, of course, a nose that is reportedly 2,000 times more sensitive than the human nose. Her primary job, the vintner told Melbourne’s Herald Sun in July, is to sniff out tainted corks during the bottling process.

Pervs on Parade At a medical board hearing in Manchester, England, in August, anesthesia consultant Dr. Narendra Sharma was accused of placing the hand of a sedated female patient underneath the operating table so

that he could fondle his own private parts using a “stranger’s” touch. Two medical workers claimed to have seen him, one of whom said she saw Sharma “exposed.” Sharma explained later that his pants had inadvertently fallen down during one procedure because a previous patient had kicked loose the tape holding them up.

Least Competent People (1) Police in Roseville, Mich., arrested a 24-year-old roofer in August and charged him with reckless driving after he hit four cars. He had noticed that his brakes had failed but unadvisedly tried to drive on, anyway, by extending his left leg out the driver’s side door and braking “manually” (yes, as in “The Flintstones”). According to police, the man was completely sober. (2) In Durango, Colo., Sean Ogden, 19, was seriously burned in July when he tried to break down fireworks he had purchased in order to build even bigger ones. He was mixing them in a coffee-bean grinder.

Update Two hundred ethnic groups in Cameroon still practice painful “breast ironing,” affecting one-fourth of the puberty-age girls in the country, according to a July CNN dispatch. The situation has barely changed from when News of the Weird mentioned it in 2006. Mothers flatten their daughters’ breasts with a fire-hot pestle to make them less sexually desirable and thus more likely to stay in school and avoid early pregnancy. (In America, ironically, The New York Times reported two weeks later that spaindulgent women are complaining about “creases” in their breasts -- from sleep posture that creates unsightly “cleavage wrinkles” visible in low-neckline fashions. Several remedial products are available to help women keep their breasts separated, and thus smooth, at night.) ,

Happy Hour

Mon thru Fri 2-7 try our WorLD FAMouS Bloody Marys 4556 Leavenworth st. • 402-551-4850 weird news

| THE READER |

SEPT. 15 - 21, 2011

35

sports

Electrifying Abdullah

“It’s not about the money. It’s about how much.”

That old expression sure does make a lot of sense when applied to the world of business. And as the big picture landscape of college football continues to erode, it’s a phrase that I think explains everything.

Texas A&M wants to leave the Big 12 for money…Baylor threatens litigation over money…the SEC wants more teams for more money…Oklahoma says nothing about the money while being ranked number one which could make them money...and in the meantime we all spend our money to support the big money that has become a college football system that doesn’t produce a champion through a playoff because of money grubbing bowl directors.

What a mess this has all become.

We wait so long around here for the football season to start and now that it’s here, instead of talking about the three Big 12 teams ranked in the top 10 (No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 7 Oklahoma State, No. 8 Texas A&M), we’re talking about if the Big 12 can even continue to exist.

Somewhere a very unspiteful man named Tom Osborne is smiling on the inside.

And somewhere else not very far away, Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe is likely not sleeping very well.

One year ago, when Nebraska and Colorado decided to leave the Big 12, Beebe held the Big 12 together with 10 teams, TV money and some bubble gum. Now because of his apparent lack of strong leadership, Baylor has at least become able to factor into the future of the conference. BAYLOR. Now, it’t not your grandfather’s Baylor anymore, but we are still talking about Baylor here. This is a school who is raising a stink not because of the money, but because of the amount of money.

And go ahead and put schools like Iowa State and Kansas St in the same fold… programs who have on occasion risen up, but ultimately rely on the success of other schools in the conference to help pay the bills.

This is where and why fans like us are all in for a long, confusing, speculative haul.

The rudderless ship that is the NCAA has no control over the conferences and member institutions which is why the words “super conference” have been thrown around like a forgone conclusion.

But here’s that phrase again…it’s not about the money, it’s about how much. How much does Iowa State lose from its athletic budget if schools like SMU and UNLV are the conference opponents making the trip to Ames instead of Texas and Oklahoma. And how much will it ultimately affect the economy in cities like Ames, Manhattan and Waco if visiting teams don’t bring fans and don’t bring local interest.

A study done in 2010 about the economic impact of Iowa football games on Johnson County showed that each home game was worth about $14.5 million dollars to the community. Each game. Money from hotels, restaurants, gas stations and whatever other expenses fans find worth their dollar. Imagine a super conference world…is your money worth the trip to watch Kansas St. play Tulsa?

Don’t think for a second that government and community don’t factor into how these so called super conferences form if they in fact do. Antitrust laws are set up to prevent monopolies and if Indiana can make money because they compete in a super conference, but Missouri can’t because they don’t, someone important in the world of big government or big money would certainly have some big issues with it. (They already have issues with the BCS.)

36

sept. 15 - 21, 2011

| THE READER |

sports

J

by Mike Babcock

amal Turner had a feeling Ameer Abdullah would get in the end zone before the night was done.

And that feeling was reinforced by Abdullah.

Or so Turner says.

Prior to Nebraska’s 42-29 victory against Fresno State, Adbullah “actually told me, ‘I’m going to score one today,’” Turner said Monday. “I was like, ‘All right, man, go out and do it.’ I kind of slapped him ameer abdullah on the butt, and he actually scored. I mean, he’s a good player.”

Both are good players. And both are true freshmen, among five who have played for Nebraska in the first two games. All five are on offense. Plus, Abdullah has returned kicks.

That’s how he scored, in fact, on a kickoff return – a 100-yard kickoff return.

Fresno State had just cut the deficit to 28-26 on a 26-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter. Clearly, the 5-foot-9, 180-pound running back has a sense of the dramatic, as well as speed.

“It couldn’t have come at a bigger moment,” said Husker special teams coach John Papuchis. “That was a momentum changer, and that’s one of our goals every week on special teams, is to gain or change momentum of the football game.”

A Nebraska special-teams breakdown figured into Fresno State’s first touchdown, on a 67-yard punt return midway through the first quarter. Abdullah’s return offset that.

As did Turner, Papuchis sensed such a return by Abdullah. “Ameer’s an electric guy,” Papuchis said.

“Give him enough opportunities and he’s going to break one. I kind of felt like he was on the verge of breaking one either on punt return or kickoff return the last two games.”

In the opening game against Tennessee-Chattanooga, Abdullah returned five punts, the longest of

the returns 28 yards. He also fumbled away a punt when he collided with teammate P.J. Smith. Even though Smith was “nudged” into him, “I felt like I was in the wrong,” said Abdullah, who was named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week for the Fresno State performance.

Freshmen are likely to make mistakes. But “electric” talent can offset occasional miscues.

Abdullah’s 100-yard kickoff return was just the fourth in school history, and the second-longest. His 211 total yards on five kickoff returns were a school record.

“He’s a quiet guy, but once you get to know him, he’ll talk to you and you’ll love him to death, really funny, really caring,” Turner said. “He’s really a good person. He’s a good friend of mine, a really good, bestfriend level guy. So I can talk to him if I needed to.”

Abdullah also is “a humble person,” said Turner. “He doesn’t talk much. He’s one of those people who are going to go out and do it. He’s going to show you with his athleticism.”

Nebraska has several talented and athletic freshmen, including Turner, a quarterback turned wide receiver; running backs Braylon Heard and Aaron Green; and wide receiver Kenny Bell, a redshirted freshman.

All of them “are pretty electrifying,” Abdullah said.

Though “electrifying” isn’t usually used to describe an offensive tackle, Tyler Moore is a talented and athletic true freshman as well, the first to start a seasonopener in the Husker offensive line since the NCAA restored freshman eligibility in 1972.

Turner, Heard, Green and Bell, along with junior Tim Marlowe, are among those who competed for kickoff- and punt-return jobs during spring practice and fall camp. “Pretty much anybody back there can do it,” Abdullah said after the opener. But “there can only be one person back there at a time.”

Marlowe dropped back on one punt early in the second half against Fresno State. However, Abdullah is No. 1 on punts as well as kickoffs for now. And the 100-yarder showed why.

“I wasn’t surprised,” Turner said after the Fresno State game. “He does it all the time at practice. I knew he was going to take one back today. I was just waiting on the moment.”

The moment couldn’t have been better. Abdullah has a sense of the dramatic, too. , courtesy huskerextra.com

Husker freshman is a natural at returning kickoffs and punts

Michael gray

Petey Mac

MIchIgan Penn St. Iowa Purdue MInneSota MIchIgan St. northweStern S. caroLIna St wISconSIn arIzona St. MIaMI nebraSka 34-10

Iowa MIchIgan Penn St. Purdue IndIana notre daMe MInneSota wISconSIn northweStern arIzona State ohIo St. nebraSka 36-17

Iowa MIchIgan notre daMe MInneSota northweStern arIzona IndIana MIaMI Penn St. Purdue

Iowa MIchIgan MIchIgan St. MInneSota northweStern S. caroLIna arIzona MIaMI Penn St. Purdue

nebraSka 42-14

nebraSka 38-17 nebraSka 38-10

Iowa MIchIgan notre daMe MInneSota arIzona St. northweStern S. caroLIna St MIaMI S.e. MISSourI St Penn St wISconSIn nebraSka 27-24

Iowa MIchIgan MInneSota MIchIgan St northweStern arIzona St ohIo St IndIana Purdue Penn St wISconSIn nebraSka 35-10

Iowa MIchIgan MIchIgan St MInneSota northweStern arIzona S. caroLIna St. ohIo St Penn St. Purdue wISconSIn nebraSka 42-27

northern ILLInoIS

wISconSIn

Iowa MIchIgan MIchIgan St MInneSota northweStern ILLInoIS IndIana ohIo St Purdue teMPLe wISconSIn nebraSka 28 -17

PIttSburgh MIchIgan MIchIgan St MIaMI northweStern arIzona S. caroLIna ohIo St Penn St. Purdue wISconSIn

Iowa MIchIgan notre daMe MInneSota arIzona State northweStern S. caroLIna St ohIo St Penn St Purdue wISconSIn nebraSka 28-21

| THE READER |

sept. 15 - 21, 2011

37

omahabillboard.com AAAA** DONATION. Donate Your Car, Boat or Real Estate. IRS Tax Deductible.

Free PickUp/Tow. Any Model/Condition.

Help Under Privileged Children Outreach Center 1-800-419-7474.

(AAN CAN) CASH FOR CARS: Any Car/Truck. Running or Not! Top Dollar Paid. We Come To You! Call For Instant Offer: 1-888-4203808 www.cash4car.com (AAN CAN) HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA! Graduate in just 4 weeks!!!

FREE Brochure. Call NOW! 1-800-532-6546 Ext. 97 continentalacademy.com (AAN CAN)

MEET LOCAL SINGLES Listen to Ads FREE!!

Respond To Ads FREE!! 402341-8000 Use Free Code 7752 MegaMates.com, 18+ *LOCAL SEXY SINGLES* Listen to Ads & Reply FREE! Straight 402-341-8000 Gay/Bi 402-341-4000 Use Free Code 7751, 18+

PREGNANT? CONSIDERING ADOPTION? Talk with caring agency specializing in matching Birthmothers with Families nationwide.

LIVING EXPENSES PAID. Call 24/7 Abby's One True Gift Adoptions 866-413-6293 (Void in Illinois)(AAN CAN)

HOT GAY & BI SINGLES Browse & Respond FREE! 402-341-4000 Use Free Code 5910, 18+

FREE TO TRY! HOT TALK 1-866-601-7781 Naughty Local Girls! Try For Free!

1-877-433-0927 Try For Free! 100’s Of Local Women! 1-866-517-6011 Live Sexy Talk 1-877-602-7970 18+ (AAN CAN)

LOCAL DATA ENTRY/TYPISTS needed immediately. $400 PT - $800 FT weekly.

Flexible schedule, work from own PC. 1-800-5019408

FREE PHONE SEX with Kelly's 4th Call Free.

866-450-HOTT (4688) or meet with local sexy girls 866-605-MEET (6338) 18+ (AAN CAN)

omahadigs Buy,Rent

FOR SALE

ATTENTION: Be your own boss and obtain extra money. FOR SALE: 3 blow up bouncy houses. They are semi-new and ready to be rented. For more information, please call 308-8506207 or 308-850-1648.

ROOMMATES.COM Browse hundreds of online listings with photos and maps. Find your roommate with a click of the mouse!

Visit: http://www.Roommates.com. (AAN CAN)

38

FOR SALE

FOR RENT

BIG BEAUTIFUL AZ LAND. $99/month. $0 down, $0 interest, golf course, national parks. 1 hour from Tucson Int’l airport. Guaranteed financing, no credit checks. Pre-recorded msg.

800-631-8164 code 4057 www.sunsiteslandrush.com

ALL AREAS HOUSES FOR RENT Browse thousands of rental listings with photos and maps. Advertise your rental home for FREE! Visit: www.

RealRentals.com (AAN CAN)

OWN 20 ACRES. Only $129/mo. $13,900 near growing El Paso, Texas (safest city in America!)

Low down, no credit checks, owner financing. Free map/ pictures 866-257-4555 www.sunse-tranches.com (AAN CAN)

SEPT. 15 - 21, 2011

TAKEOVER PAYMENTS On Existing Loans 20-50% OFF thousands of homes available. No Credit requirements. CALL Today 805-683-8600 - Please no section-8.

| THE READER |

1994 HONDA GOLDWING GL1500 Aspencade, 133,700 miles. Many extras, very clean, all maintainence including new brakes, new timing belt, new water pump and newer tires. READY FOR THE ROAD! Call today 308.627.2721 ACTORS/MOVIE EXTRAS Needed immediately for upcoming roles $150$300/day depending on job requirements. No experience, all looks. 1-800-5608672 A-109 for casting times/locations. (AAN CAN) EARN $75-$200 HOUR (Now 25% Off), Media Makeup & Airbrush Training.

For Ads, TV, Film, Fashion.

1 wk class & Portfolio.

AwardMakeUpSchool.com 310-364-0665 (AAN CAN)

GAY & Bi CRUISE LINE HOOK UP FAST!

FREE

PAID IN ADVANCE! Make $1,000 a Week mailing brochures from home!

Guaranteed Income! FREE Supplies! No experience required. Start Immediately! homemailerprogram.net (AAN CAN)

classifieds

Tell-AFriend

Refer a Friend Get Rewards!

REWARDS

to Listen and Reply to Personal Ads

HOT

t Try i E!* FRE

402.341.4000 USE FREE CODE 2074

singles!

402.341.8000

For other local numbers call

1-888-MegaMates

TM

1-888-634-2628 | MegaMatesMen.com

24/7 Friendly Customer Care 1(888) 634.2628 18+ ©2011 PC LLC *Most Features Free. Some Fees Apply.

F R EnE&

to li s te s! re p ly to a d E USE FRE 5 8 6 1 CODE

For other local numbers call

$$$HELP WANTED$$$ Extra Income! Assembling CD cases from Home! No Experience Necessary! Call our Live Operators Now! 1800-405-7619 EXT 2450 easywork-greatpay.com (AAN CAN) 2011 FEDERAL POSTAL POSITIONS$13.00$36.50+/hr., Full Benefits plus Paid Training. No Experience plus Job Security.

Call Today! 1-866-477-4953 Ext .152. NOW HIRING!

NEW

1-888-MegaMates

TM

www.MegaMates.com

24/7 Friendly Customer Care 1(888) 634.2628 18+ ©2011 PC LLC

DISCLAIMER: All real estate advertising within this publication is subject to the fair Housing Act, which makes it unlawful to publish any advertisement that indicates any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, handicap or family status. The Reader will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate, which is in violation of the law. If you believe you have been a victim of housing discrimination you should contact the Fair Housing Center of Nebraska at 934-6675 or the U.S department of Housing and Urban Development at 402-492-3109.

AMERICAN LANDSCAPE

Contemporary Photographs of the West Opens Saturday This exhibition presents work by fourteen photographers who have explored the geography, history, and culture of the West over the past three decades, creating a direct and clear-eyed appraisal that incorporates the entire landscape – picturing not only its topography, but also the evidence of exploration, settlement, and development.

Curator Gallery Talks Thursdays @ 6:30 pm: September 22, October 27, January 5 Along the Elkhorn River: Understanding our Local Watershed Saturday, October 1; 1–3 pm Prints in Landscape: 3-Film Series Tuesdays @ 7 pm: November 1, 8, 15 at Film Streams Artist Panel Discussion Sunday, November 13; 1–3 pm William Wylie, Looking North, near Udall Natural Area (detail), 1996, gelatin silver print, courtesy of the artist

MAJOR SPONSORS: Douglas County Contributing Sponsor: Additional Support provided by: Joslyn’s Bodmer Society, Joslyn’s Contemporary Art Society

www.joslyn.org | (402) 342-3300 | 2200 Dodge St. | Omaha, NE | THE READER |

SEPT. 15 - 21, 2011

39