The Reader Sept. 29 - Oct. 5, 2011 by Pioneer Publishing

Sept. 29 - OCT. 5, 2011 VOL.18

culture15 Survival Story

picks13 It’s Mat’s Week

on the cover from Left to Right: Frank Partsch, A’Jamal-Rashad Byndon and Terri McFarland

music20 Label Luck

fOOD FOR TALK

Everyone’s welcome at Table Talk, where food for thought and sustainable race relations happen over breaking bread together sports38

cover story by leo adam biga • cover photo by dale heise

Rockin’ Saturday Night OMAHA JOBS 2

Weird 34

MOjo 40

FUNNIES 4

Full-time Full-time Director, Sustainable Design Services. The primary duties include leading the oversight of and/ or development of work processes, procedures and tools necessary to deliver Sustainable Design Services within the company. For more information visit OmahaJobs.com.

HELP WANTED! Home Cleaning. 20 hrs. per week. Must have reliable transportation. Paid weekly $9-12 per hour. Must speak English. Experience required. Mandatory drug test and background check. Call 402.708.5052 today or email bonnie@nepersonalassistant.com.

Nursing Faculty. Faculty positions are available with teaching responsibilities in gerontology, community health, women's health maternal/childchildren's health, medicalsurgical, nursing administration and acute care. For more information visit OmahaJobs.com.

L a b o r - U t i l i t y Physical requirements include having the ability to lift up to 50 pounds and have full range of motion and good hand dexterity. For more information visit OmahaJobs.com.

Residence Director/Administrator. If you can successfully manage a variety of key operating metrics and are talented at occupancy development, you will benefit from much success at Assisted Living Concepts. For more information visit OmahaJobs.com. Writer/Producer Looking for a dynamic and experienced writer/producer to add to our creative team in both our Omaha and Lincoln, NE offices. For more information visit OmahaJobs.com. Lead Metal Worker. We are looking for a person capable of performing all tasks necessary to fill orders. Metal shop is a new department of a larger manufacturing company. For more information visit OmahaJobs.com. Strategic Account Lead Develops new accounts and grows existing accounts. Develops and executes strategy to cultivate relationships to acquire new business. For more information visit OmahaJobs.com.

Full-time

Full-time Full-time

Full-time

Streck. Inside Sales Representative. Contact tpreister@streck.com. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

Coreslab Structures Omaha Inc. Contact hgreiner@coreslab.com. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

The Work Connection. Sales Professional. Contact jseibert@theworkconnection.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.

Lift Solutions. Parts Professional. Contact kvaughn@lsi.bz. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

Peak Pathways. Independent Marketing Director. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

Humboldt Specialty. Accounting Department. Contact Dmccarty@humboldtspecialty.com. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

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Tip Top Tux Assistant Manager/MIT & Part time Sales Associate. Contact Sharon@tttux.com Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

Nebraska Technical Services. Sales. Contact joe@nts.omhcoxmail.com. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

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!

Kitchen Clerk. Provides prompt, efficient and friendly customer service in all customer interactions and treating customers as the most important people in the store. For more information visit OmahaJobs.com. Assembly Position. We are currently seeking applicants to fill two positions in our assembly area. For more information visit OmahaJobs.com.

BCS Granite. Warehouse/Showroom Assistant & Bookkeeper/Secretary/Showroom Assistant. Contact matt@bcs-usa.net. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

Lifetime Fitness. Contact jberg@gmail.com. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information.

Humboldt Specialty. Assembly position. Contact Dmccarty@humboldtspecialty.com. Go to OmahaJobs.com for more information. Internal Audit & Compliance Associate. Provide internal audit and regulatory compliance activities focused on governance, business risk analysis, and internal control implementation and assessment, providing assurance to the stakeholders and executive management regarding the company's regulatory and internal control environment. For more information visit OmahaJobs.com. Corporate DirectorCoding Services. Seeking an experienced HIM Professional to provide leadership and direction to the Coding staff including both the remote coding and on site coding team. For more information visit OmahaJobs.com. $$$HELP WANTED$$$ 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)

sept. 29 - Oct. 5, 2011

CoPd

(Chronic obstructive Pulmonary disease) Opportunities include: • District SalesManager – NAPA Brakes

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

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| THE READER |

omaha jobs

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

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. 29 - oct. 5, 2011

PUBLICIS & HAL RINEY

5IVE

MINUTES INTO THE FUTURE bit.ly/mUdjj3 | SEPT. 29, 2011

and creating their own fragments

down in the near future as a new

that may be freely used by others.

metaphor for musicmaking takes

The web will serve as the equivalent

prominence. No longer will bands

of that early swamp, with sites

see themselves as musicians

designed to house and share music

covering other musicians, or

ﬁles that can be borrowed,

remixing other musicians. Instead,

adapted, and transformed.

the metaphor will come from the

Anybody may participate, so long

primordial swamp that produced

as they are willing to pay back in

life, when early single-celled

with original works and new

organism would freely swap

adaptations they have created,

proteins and genetic material. This

which likewise will be adapted and

approach, called Music DNA, will

transformed into new work.

have musicians pulling apart the creations of other musicians, creating new work out of fragments,

SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2011

by: DR. QUENTIN MARK MYSTERIAN and BUNNY ULTRAMOD

| THE READER |

news

topnews

Call For Fundamental Reform Packed OTOC immigration forum talks to people, leaders by John Heaston

t was standing room only at Our Lady of Guadalupe’s Social Hall last Monday night. The overflow crowd spilled into the circular driveway. State Senators Brenda Council, Burke Harr, Gwen Howard and Jeremy Nordquist observed the proceedings from a corner table. The evening unfolded in English and Spanish, much like the mixed audience. It was an event full of emotions and information, involving people affected by the immigration system. It included professors, faith leaders and law enforcement. Formed in 1995, Omaha Together One Community is a grassroots organization dedicated to community organizing, mostly through congregations, but also with like-minded organizations. “Democracy is not a spectator sport,” reads the group’s website at www.otoc.org. This event was organized by their Immigration Action Team, led by Sylvia Rodriguez and Maria Teresa Gaston. “Do you agree that we must reform our broken immigration system?” organizers Gaston and Rodriguez asked the crowd. Answers of “yes” and “si” filled the room. Stories of deportations opened the gathering. An uncle worried about his nieces and nephews without their father; a suburban tax attorney supporting a family whose father has been given permission to work here, but who is denied entry; an undocumented college student, the daughter of migrant farm workers, living in the shadows. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Director Armando Salgado addressed the economic benefits of immigration. “When you fill up your gas tank or pay your bill in the restaurant, do you tell the attendant that you don’t pay taxes because you’re an immigrant?” he asked to chuckles. “Immigrants pay more than they take out of the system.” According to the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia, the 2009 purchasing power of Latinos in Nebraska totaled $2.9 billion -- an increase of 754% since 1990. That growth is not without its challenges.

“As the result of new federal enforcement policies,” said Gaston, “an interaction with an Omaha police officer may be the first step for an immigrant into what can be, in Omaha, a year’slong nightmare, finally resulting in deportation.” “In Omaha there are approximately 140 immigrants held in the Douglas County Corrections Center at any time,” explained Molly Dellaria, who visits incarcerated immigrants. “About 75 percent of them have broken no other law except acquiring false documents that allow them to work and pay taxes.” Falsified documents can nonetheless be a federal felony, according to OTOC’s handout. Based on DCCC’s calculations, that costs $4.5 million per year. We need a specifier: “that costs [the economy? or the taxpayers] $4.5 million annually? Omaha Deputy Chief of Police Todd Schmaderer explained how to avoid this outcome. “The Omaha Police Department is against Arizona-style enforcement laws,” said Schmaderer. “We have spoken about this to the state legislature. We feel ... [it] hinders our community policing efforts. We rely on the public’s trust.” “As a normal course of business, the Omaha Police Department does not check immigration status. For that reason, we encourage victims and witnesses of crimes to come forward. “There are rare occasions when OPD will work with a task force on immigration matters. But those matters are only in the event of serious crimes and threats to public safety. He told the audience: “If you are operating a motor vehicle and are pulled over, the police must identify who you are. If you are a witness or victim of a crime, the OPD will not check your identity. We will take your word for it. “If you’re the driver of a motor vehicle, it is against the law not to have a driver’s license. If you’re pulled over, the officer must determine that you have a license. If you’re a passenger of the vehicle or walking down the street, an OPD officer should not be asking you for your identification, and you do not have to provide identification at that point. The only time you will have to provide identification is if you’re a driver or being detained as a suspect in a crime.” Rodriquez said many sources have said police officers in South Omaha will accept matriculation cards as identification, but that officers in continued on page 6 y

N E W

heartlandhealing

A G E

H E A L T H

A N D

W E L L N E S S

Good vibrations — the cure for Hysteria

ctress Maggie Gyllenhaal is bringing the story of a miracle cure to the big screen in a new movie titled Hysteria. The film documents a little-known area of Western medicine that the medical establishment would probably like to forget. By the early 1900s, Western medicine had succeeded in eliminating a scourge, once common in the 1800s, that struck women of child-bearing years, whether married or single, young or old. The disease was known as “hysteria.” This disease caused numerous visits to the doctor for temporary cures. In fact, by 1890 or so, hysteria patients comprised a significant proportion of many a physician’s practice. Most of us understand the word “hysterical” in its more modern sense. We take it to mean the idea of something uncontrollably funny or absurd or emotional to the extent of upset. That is the connotation only recently given the word in the last 50 years or so. Literally translated, hysteria means “out of the uterus.” For centuries in medicine, hysteria meant “womb disease.” The symptoms have been described and documented by famous physicians in medical writings dating to Hippocrates, Avicenna, Galen, and Celsus in the classical period; and Freud, Charcot and others in more modern times. Just as hyster-ectomy refers to the removal of the uterus, hysteria is a disease associated with the uterus. Thus, hysteria was a woman’s disease. The symptoms of hysteria were as you might think. According to medical descriptions past, hysterical women displayed irritability, anxiety, sleeplessness, nervousness, sensations of heaviness in the abdomen, lower pelvic edema and erotic fantasy. Medical reasoning presumed that the uterus had become engorged, causing discomfort. Doctors throughout history knew of only one cure for hysteria. The technical term for this cure was “uterine paroxysm,” literally a contraction of the uterus. A uterine paroxysm was the only known relief for the suffering of hysterical women and it would leave them relaxed and serene. A uterine contraction or paroxysm is known in other words as an orgasm. That’s right. The prescribed cure for the welldocumented disease known as hysteria was orgasm. Hysteria was the disease. Orgasm was the cure. Medicine is often clinical and sterile. Though medicine refrained from officially relating “uterine paroxysm” to sex, many medical recommendations referred bluntly to having a hysterical women go home and have her “husband take care of her.” In short, throughout the history of medical practice, female hysteria was thought to be the result of sexual deprivation. It wasn’t until 1952 that the American Psychiatric Association officially removed hysteroneurosthenic disorders from its list of modern disease paradigms. Get a buzz on. Scholar and author Rachel P. Maines has documented and accumulated details about this bizarre outlook on female sexuality and the strange practice of medicine that was common a hundred years ago. In her book The Technology of Orgasm: ‘Hysteria’, the Vibrator

B Y

M I C H A E L

B R A U N S T E I N

and Women’s Sexual Satisfaction, Maines provides a detailed look at a view of sexuality, health and technology. Maines describes the standard way of looking at sexuality as “androcentric” and correlates the identification of hysteria as a woman’s disease treated in a clinical fashion with a social mores that has been like a shackle for centuries. Absurdly, by the 1890s a diagnosis of hysteria brought millions of women (and dollars) to doctors. The cure was a treatment performed by the doctor in his office: literally manual massage of the female genitalia until “paroxysm” was reached. Doctors complained that sometimes that took upwards of an hour. Most doctors could take out an appendix faster than they could give a patient a “paroxysm.” But when accomplished, relief was nearly 100 percent — until the next time the patient became “hysterical.” A large part of many a physician’s practice in the late nineteenth century was made up of hysterical women. Maines notes that there is no evidence that the doctors enjoyed their work of giving women orgasms; in fact, quite the contrary. Doctors often lacked the patience or interest to spend the required time with patients to give them relief from hysteria. Assistants, nurses and office staff were enlisted to perform what doctors (and many husbands of the period) saw as a tedious task. Enter technology. Maines writes that doctors wanted to provide their hysterical patients with relief but not at the cost of the time and effort required. They resorted to technology to speed the process and eliminate the drudgery. The first method tried was focusing a stream of water to do the massaging. Hydriatic massage, as it was called, was successful but required considerable office modification and was messy. Mechanical devices using treadle power, spring power and even steam power were developed to provide a consistent vibration to the desired area of the body. Massage was therapeutic for other ailments besides hysteria, but doctors found the vibrating massage was perfect for producing orgasm or “uterine paroxysm.” One steam-powered device had a vibrating mechanism suspended beneath a therapy table with the operative attachment protruding through an opening where the patient would place the pelvic region. Most of these early vibrating devices were awkward and required a doctor’s capital investment that even a large patient-base of hysterical women couldn’t justify. But in 1880, British physician Joseph Granville developed a battery-operated electromechanical device that was easy to use and effective. There was a selection of “vibratodes” that allowed it to be used for any number of therapeutic purposes. Derivations of Granville’s invention became standard equipment in clinics throughout the Western hemisphere. Medical exhibits at the Paris Expo in 1900 displayed over a dozen therapeutic vibrators. Ads, articles and textbooks published around the turn of the century extolled the vibrator’s time-saving and labor-saving qualities, especially for gynecological massage. Doctors were getting exactly what they wanted: relief from a job they didn’t want to do. Thanks to Gyllenhaal, this good-vibe story is coming soon — to a theater near you. Be well. ,

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

National Coming Out Night October 11, 2011

Whether you’re lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or not, be proud of who you are as God created you. Come out as an active voice of support and equality.

5:30 pm Resource Fair 7:00 pm Rally You’re invited to join us for worship on Sundays at 8:30 and 10:50 am. 7020 Cass · fumcomaha.org

compassion.

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

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

heartland healing

| THE READER |

SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2011

topnews y continued from page 4

other parts of the city aren’t as familiar with metriculation cards. “Would you be willing to work with OTOC and the Consulate to train officers in other precincts on matriculation cards?” he asked Schmaderer. “We have a strong relationship with the Consulate and we would be happy to help on this issue,” Schmaderer replied. “We want to work with the community and I hope tonight is a good start.” Methodist Bishop Ann Sherer-Simpson and Nebraska Catholic Conference Executive Director Jim Cunningham talked of a faith response to a broken immigration system. “Jesus came to break down the dividing walls between us and to call us to be one people,” said Simpson. “We are called to advocate for justice for all persons ... therefore we long for there to be a pathway to citizenship for immigrants.” “For the last 200 years, immigration has been a federal issue,” said Creighton professor David Weber. “We all agree that we have a problem. We can choose a path. Some choose a race to the bottom. We’ve seen this in Arizona and Georgia. What does that leave us with? Communities that live in fear.” “We are the state furthest from any border of any state in the United States,” said Weber, “and here we are. We have the second lowest employment rate in the country. We need people.” Do we mean unemployment rate? The evening started to close with a call to action. The audience was invited to address their congressional and state delegations, to meet with the Omaha Police Department or to attend the next OTOC Immigration Action Team meeting on Oct. 16, 5:30 p.m. at Our Lady of Guadalupe Social Hall. To invite OTOC to present immigration information to your group or congregation, contact them at 402-344-4401 or email omahatogether@otoc.org. Senator Nordquist concluded the forum by calling for everyone’s help in repealing the law denying prenatal care to immigrants. “Government is very complex,” said Nordquist, “but broken down, it’s what we decide to do as a people.” ,

SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2011

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| THE READER |

news

coverstory

Food for thought

Everyone’s welcome at Table Talk, where food for thought and sustainable race relations happen over breaking bread together by Leo Adam Biga

he uneasy place which race inhabits in the collective American psyche leaves most discussions of the subject to academics, activists or attorneys. But its reality permeates much of the social-cultural fabric. Rhetoric about race is common. Conversation, less so. In these politically correct times, with a topic so tinged by the emotional weight of the past, no one wants to offend; therefore, often nothing is said. Except for brief periods, race has not been at the forefront of a national dialogue. Keeping it at bay adds to the angst, be it white guilt or minority outrage. In Omaha, where the geographic and socio-economic gulf between races is great, opportunities for exchange may be few. So it is not surprising a formal apparatus exists for bringing people together over the very thing that often divides them. Omaha Table Talk (OTT), now in its seventh year, is a forum for individuals, couples, friends, acquaintances and complete strangers to share personal testimonies, discuss issues, watch films and hear presentations that touch on race. It’s not alone, either. Since 2009 Progressive Omaha, First Unitarian Church, Nebraskans for Peace and other sponsors have sponsored BlackWhite Dialogues. Table Talk’s free, October 20, 6:15 p.m. to 9 p.m. signature event will find hundreds gathering at homes, community centers, places of worship, companies and restaurants to talk about race-ethnicity over dinner. The idea is that breaking bread with The Other allows you to get to know someone beyond assumptions or roles. Valerie Hankins signed up for a 2009 Table Talk to represent how a black woman like herself can be a professional and should not be reduced to a media image. A staffing specialist at Sterling Computers, she got about what she expected at the confab. “I truly felt there were people from diverse walks of life.” She says it was evident certain biases she and other black guests described were revelatory to some white participants. “I felt as if a lot of the things we discussed that night were things they were unaware

dale heise

From L to R: Frank Partsch, A’Jamal-Rashad Byndon and Terri McFarland

of -- they were oblivious to it. A lot of times people just don’t know what they don’t know.” An average of eight to 10 participants attend each dinner. There’s a host and a facilitator. A few set questions, such as ‘Why are you here?’ and ‘Have you experienced a racial incident?’ act as conversation starters. Phyllis Brown has become such a Table Talk advocate she now serves on the nonprofit’s board. “It just turns out each time I’ve attended, hosted or facilitated it was a great experience, it really was,” says Brown, Single Parent Displaced/Homemaker Coordinator at Metropolitan Community College. She enjoys the liberating forum OTT provides. “There’s things we may want to ask, things we may want to say, and you can really say it and do it in those settings,” Brown says. “Some of the subject matter is very heated. There’s some defensiveness. There’s yelling sometimes. But if you have a great facilitator who reminds people what we’re there for, you will walk away a changed person, you’ll take something away from that table. And if you don’t, you at least had that opportunity to have that dialogue.” Yes, tempers can fly, she says, “but at the end of the day whatever that commonality is that brought

us all together we end it on that. That’s the beauty to me.” OTT executive director A’Jamal-Rashad Byndon is convinced the program makes a difference. “Though it may seem insignificant, there’s great things that come from these events. We just have to figure out how to measure that. The end result of this is, How do I build a relationship with the people in the room and how can we maybe continue this? Our tag line is, ‘You come in as strangers, you leave as friends.’ It doesn’t take a lot but a meal to break the ice.” He says Table Talk off-shoot “groups are starting to get together.” Miriam Aviva Datya facilitates one called ALLIES. It grew out of a 2010 Table Talk she facilitated that, she says, “was such a positive experience…we decided we wanted to continue the discussion.” The topic-oriented group meets monthly. Datya says, “Some of our previous topics include white privilege, use of the N-word. We also watched a documentary, The Color of Fear. What makes the group successful is we are willing to challenge each other in a way that’s courteous.” Phyllis Brown says a dinner she hosted at her home led some women guests to invite her to join their book club.

cover story

“I now am a member of a great book club,” she says. “We do outings together. Some friendships have been forged from it. It’s probably a group I would never have connected with on any other level. I’m telling you, it has just been a beautiful experience. There’s some other groups I meet with that are spinoffs from Table Talk.” These sprouts, say Brown and Byndon, are evidence the spirit of Table Talk can and does find new expressions. “If you come with an open mind it can just lead to some wonderful things -- whatever you really want to do with it,” says Brown. There is a preaching to the choir element to it all, as OTT attracts progressive, educated folks who already embrace racial harmony and support inclusion. Some, like Byndon, an activist and educator, work on the front lines. Ironically, OTT itself has lagged in diversity says Byndon. “Our goal was to have one third to one half of participants be people of color, and that has not always been the case. That’s one of our biggest shortcomings.” He says African-Americans comprise the vast majority of racial minority participants, followed by Latinos. Numbers aside, everyone is there to affirm interracial-multicultural unity. Board Member Terri McFarland concedes “there is that perception you’re only preaching to the choir,” but adds, “Maybe you’re going to have a conversation you didn’t know you could have or you’re going to learn how to handle a conversation in a more meaningful manner. You maybe now have a different comfort level addressing issues.” “In some ways,” says McFarland, “you might be preaching to the choir, but you never had the chance to find out there’s other people in the same choir, right? You didn’t know there were other choir members from around the city at the same table. Omaha’s perceived as a city of towers, but when you come to the table you find out there are other people that don’t see that the city has to be that way, and that you can make a difference in your neighborhood.” Inspired by a column syndicated journalist Leonard Pitts Jr. wrote about the Dallas Dinner Table diversity program, Table Talk began as an outreach of the Catholic Charities of Omaha social justice committee in 2004. Byndon, then senior director for public policy with Catholic Charities, joined fellow committee members McFarland and Partsch and chair Kathleen Jeffries in forming OTT. Before going public, Catholic Charities staff and invited guests convened a trial dinner. That

| THE READER |

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sept. 29 - oct. 5, 2011

coverstory y continued from page 7

first dinner led to a couple more and before long OTT became a citywide event with ever increasing participation. While the numbers are no longer doubling as they did the first few years, Byndon says a record 500-plus folks met to eat and opine last year. He expects more participants this year. As many as two-thirds who participate today are repeats, says Byndon, who followed the program when it left Catholic Charities in 2009 to become a freestanding nonprofit housed at the Neighborhood Center, 115 S. 49th Ave. What makes OTT a draw, he says, is the nonthreatening framework it offers for addressing things that too often are not discussed. “Omaha is a very racially divided, silo community with our north, south, east, west divide. We’ve had a lot of issues and incidents, you name it, and people repeatedly say they want this type of venue or platform to share some of their positive and negative experiences. There aren’t a lot of organizations and entities who bring people from the grassroots and the treetops levels together to break bread and have conversations.” Byndon, whose late mother, Lerlean N. Johnson, was among a group of Omaha parents who brought the lawsuit forcing the city’s public schools to implement mandatory desegregation, says he was reared to promote integration and racial accord. “I think Table Talk is a small way for some people to do that; to walk the talk,” Bynden says.

sept. 22 - 28, 2011

“I think there’s probably an unmeasured but very great hunger in this and every other community to do the right thing, and this is a painless way to do the right thing,” says Patrsch, retired Omaha World-Herald editorial page director. The by-registration-only event allows participants to self-select what level of dialogue they desire: entry, intermediate or advanced. “The people that come to the table have varying levels of experience and different levels of comfort in talking about racial issues,” says McFarland. “I think it’s very important Table Talk has expanded its levels to take on deep business, because you don’t want to take an entry level person and give them one exposure and say, OK, go out and thrive,” says Partsch. “That’s not enough probably in most cases. But if we’re ever going to make a difference, it’s going to be to find the people who are on the sidelines now.” McFarland says she long yearned to connect with people of color, who were not where she worked, shopped, prayed or lived. Table Talk gave her that entree. She says it’s not so vital what level you sign up for as simply being willing to listen and share. “This is not a lecture system,” she says. “The premise of this is to allow everybody that comes to the table to have a voice, and that’s the purpose of the facilitator, to not let one person run the conversation and get on their own platform.” “You have a facilitator to be sure the train doesn’t come off the tracks,” adds Partsch.

| THE READER |

cover story

If a facilitator does it right, OTT organizers say, participants feel they have permission to say what’s on their mind without censoring themselves. “It’s really an opportunity for people to tell their personal experience, where they’ve been, where they’ve come from, and then ask other people about their experiences, and not judge them but actually have a dialogue,” says McFarland. “It’s an opportunity for people to take their coat off, loosen their tie and not be judged and have stones cast at them for asking some of those questions that are taboo. It gives people a chance to have a voice with that stuff and to share it.” Cathy Nelson recalls everyone at the 2010 Table Talk she attended leading with their weakness, sharing some vulnerable moment from their lives, from the man who served time to the college student who came out to his family as gay. She appreciates how “authentically” people communicated that night. Partsch says participants like himself are invariably “visibly affected” by the sharing. Organizers say there’s almost always a nervous admission by one or two guests that it is the first time they’ve sat down to dinner with a person of another race or visited the home of someone of a different race. Others acknowledge they are visiting a part of town they’ve never been to before. And for still others Table Talk may be the first occasion they’re discussing race outside their own home or inner circle.

Nelson says, “Race was the least of issues for me. Going to dine with strangers was more of an issue. Who wants to go have dinner with people you’re not really comfortable with or you don’t have experience with?” But the Blackburn High School teacher appreciates the importance of pushing beyond her comfort zone to learn new realities. “People have got to get out of their neighborhoods and see what this city has to offer. We have to be open to each other.” McFarland says OTT has a way of teaching tolerance. As a result, she says, “My world has way opened up.” Partsch says, “If it has changed me it has made me a lot more optimistic about the community and its future, seeing the amount of goodwill that’s out there.” Byndon says, “One of the things I’ve learned from doing Table Talk is to have patience. Back in the day, if you didn’t agree with me you weren’t right. But I’ve learned you can be from the same racial group or a different racial group and have a different lived experience, and we can validate that. If we come with that notion, that there’s going to be different perspectives and different world views, then we can move forward.” , For online registration, visit www.omahatabletalk. com. For a schedule of OTT panel discussions, open dialogues and other events, call 402-561-7594 or email omahatabletalk@gmail.com.

SEPT. 16â&#x20AC;&#x201C;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

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SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2011

Fall Food Fundraisers Three big local food events mark the return of autumn

by John Horvantinovich

ast week I was storming around the house looking for something, but could not quite remember where to look. I opened this door and that door, gazing between here and there, but no luck. I then asked my wife and of course, she knew. “It’s upstairs, in the board game closet,” she said with confidence. The search for my jacket was an abrupt reminder that summer is officially ending. The weather is changing, the temperature in the metro is falling, but there are some indoor fundraisers, centered on my favorite friend, food.

Mekiney of Vivace and M’s Pub; Chef Aldo Cruz & Chef Kendra Shaft of the Old Mattress Factory; and Patricia Barron “Big Mama” of 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, to form the first and only team consisting of past champions. Te event will be at the Ramada Plaza Omaha Hotel & Convention Center, formerly CoCo Key Convention Center, off 72nd and Grover. Sunday, Oct. 2,

Signature Chefs Auction

Comfort Food Classic The fifth annual Comfort Food Classic, a chef competition to benefit Ted E. Bear Hollow, will pit eight chefs against each other to make their rendition of a gourmet lasagna. You will get to taste and vote for your favorite and bid on silent and live auction items. Ted E. Bear Hollow is a center for grieving children, teens and their families. Hundreds of youths are served every year through support groups, day camps and other services. Children from approximately ages 3 to 19 years are eligible. Services are free. Donors and fundraisers such as the Comfort Food Classic cover the costs of Ted E. Bear Hollow. First time participating chefs are Clayton Chapman, The Grey Plume; Matt Hallberg of V.Mertz; Bobby

from 5 - 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $75, visit comfortfoodclassic.com for more information.

Bands, Booze and BBQ Food and Spirits Magazine presents the second installment of Bands, Booze and BBQ on October 3 at The Waiting Room. The food competition and barbecue throw down benefits the local chapter of the American Culinary Federation and scholarship program. For $15 attendees can taste some of the best barbecue in town while listening to live music from Matt Cox at 7:30 p.m. and The Willards at 8:30 p.m. Restaurants will enter in three new categories: ribs, specialty meats and hot sides. The beauty of

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sept. 29 - oct. 5, 2011

the thing is you don’t have to spend all day walking around tents or buying multiple food tickets. The atmosphere is energetic and the barbecue is unique. As an attendee and judge, I encourage you to experience this great event. The Food and Spirits judging panel will also grade participants in six categories. Attendees can vote the People’s Choice award in this battle-of-thebands-style competition. Bands, Booze and BBQ. Monday, October 3. Doors open at 6 p.m.

| THE READER |

dish

The Signature Chefs Auction is a casual evening of incredible food prepared by Omaha’s finest chefs and served at stations surrounding the ballroom. A silent auction offers gifts. The program ends with a live auction featuring private dinners, parties, trips and special events with your favorite chefs. Now in its fifth year, Omaha’s Signature Chefs event has raised $625,000 for the organization’s Prematurity Campaign to give every baby a healthy start. Money goes to research, community services, education and advocacy efforts. It is among the top 10 March of Dimes Signature Chefs Auctions in the country. The lineup of restaurants is impressive with food and drinks from 29 businesses in the Metro. They include 7M Grille, Liberty Tavern and The Grey Plume. Having participated as a chef a few years back, I thoroughly enjoyed the event. This year’s Signature Chefs Auction is Thursday, October 13 at the Hilton Downtown from 5:30 - 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $150. Call 402.496.7111 for more information. , Contact the writer j_horvatinovich@yahoo.com

crumbs

dish

Something new popping with Orville Redenbacher’s Popping Corn Orville Redenbacher’s Popping Corn, a brand of ConAgra Foods, is shaking up microwave popcorn by adding a flavorful twist to one of America’s favorite snack foods. The popcorn brand has introduced Orville Redenbacher’s Flavors, individually wrapped bags of microwave popcorn that come with separate seasoning packets, allowing users to sprinkle on just the right amount of flavor – in White Cheddar, Extra Cheese, or Sea Salt and Vinegar. The popcorn giant has even turned to beverages to pair the flavorful twists. Beverages like oldfashion lemonade, red wine and even root beer floats are recommended. Orville Redenbacher’s® Flavors are available at select food and mass retail outlets. Food Network Star: Food Network Star is casting season 8, conducting interviews in Charlotte, Boston, Miami and NYC. Finally they are stressing the importance of “looking for chefs and all those with an incredible amount of culinary skill,” said Jennifer Sullivan Casting. The company has worked for Food Network for years and recruits contestants for reality television shows. Check out foodnetwork.com to submit information for an audition. Local Author Releases Recipe Book: Ann R. B. Summers, local author and regular contributor to Food & Spirits Magazine, has updated and released her lunch idea, nutrition and recipe book, Healthy Lunch, Healthy Mind for e-readers. In its second edition, and having sold more than 200 copies locally and through the Nebraska Food Coop (a group of growers selling and promoting local food) Healthy Lunch, Healthy Mind is now available on Amazon Kindle for $7.99. Recipes in HL,HM include ethnic foods, flavorful make-ahead recipes, basic nutrition (specifically children’s nutrition) and ways to keep the whole family invested in eating well. You can purchase and review the book at http://tinyurl.com/3txohe6 or read more from the author at her blog: annrbsummers.com.

— 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

| THE READER |

sept. 29 - oct. 5, 2011

8 days TOPTV “Prohibition”

Sunday-Tuesday, 7 p.m. (PBS)

Documentarian Ken Burns has found another big subject that allows him to zoom in and out of black-and-white photographs from his favorite era, the 19th and early 20th centuries. “Prohibition” displays all the Burns affections we’ve come to know from “The Civil War,” “Jazz” and “Baseball.” “Prohibition” is an ambitious work that ken burns attempts nothing less than a history of American alcohol consumption. Burns starts in the early 1800s, when easily available whiskey turned a nation of drinkers into a nation of problem drinkers. On his way to 1920s Prohibition, he explains dissolute saloon culture and the sometimes overthe-top attempts to curb it. We hear of such colorful reformers as Carrie Nation, whose unsubtle approach to temperance involved busting up saloons with a hatchet. Her motto: “smash, smash, smash.” —Dean Robbins

sept. 29 - oct. 5, 2011

t h e r e ad e r ’ s entertainment picks sept . 2 9 - O ct . 5 , 2 0 11

THURSDAY29

THREEupTHREEdown

Sept. 29

Oct. 5-6

Joslyn Art Museum, 2200 Dodge St. Reception 6p.m., Program 7p.m., FREE Joslyn.org, 342.3300

The Kaneko, 1111 Jones St. 7:30 p.m., Tickets from $15 to $40 402-341-3800, www.thekaneko.org

daOMA Presents Michael Rock

Michael Rock, professor of design at Yale University School of Art, will help keep the Omaha design community connected to the outside world Wednesday. Rock will discuss his wide range of projects including strategy for Prada and Conde Nast, and environmental graphics and media design with Prada New York Epicenter Store. His multifaceted resume includes a fellowship with the Jan Van Eyck Akademie in Maastricht, The Netherlands, editing and graphic designing at I.D. Magazine in New York and writing for publications such as Print, AIGA Journal and receiving the 1999/2000 Rome Prize in Design from the American Academy in Rome. He is a founding partner and creative director of 2x4 Inc., a multidisciplinary studio focusing on design for art, architecture, fashion and cultural clients worldwide. —Sally Deskins

SATURDAY01 Oct, 1-2

Omaha North Hills Pottery Tour

Big Table Studios 17171 County Rd 25, Herman Too Far North Wines and Wine Tasting 111 N. 14th St., Fort Calhoun Dennison Pottery 13210 N. 47th St., Omaha Florence Mill 9102 N. 30th St., Omaha FREE, Omahanorthhillspotterytour.com Catch the fall breeze and maybe a teapot this weekend at the annual pottery tour featuring 16 regional and national potteries within a 30-mile stretch. The potters are in their own digs; you may chat with them, watch them throw clay, and you can shop and taste local wine. Liz Vercruysse and John Martelle show off their Japanese anagama-style kiln, creating contemporary forms with ancient wood-fire techniques.

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picks

Portals

n April program at KANEKO offered a preview of the mixed media work, Portals. Virtuoso violinist Tim Fain and filmmaker Kate Hackett provided tantalizing glimpses of a phantasmagoric experiment in performance and social media. KANEKO director Hal France and the Portals creative team also laid the groundwork for a residency in the collaborative arts. There’s great anticipation for the finished piece making its Midwest premiere here. The two shows follow on the heels of the work’s Sept. 25 world premiere in New York, where Portals was well-received. It’s hard not being cu- tim fain rious about a work that integrates multiple mediums and styles into a seamless experience. There’s music by acclaimed composers Philip Glass, Aaron Jay Kernis, Nico Muhly, Kevin Puts, Lev Zhurbin and William Bolcom. Images are by Hackett and Benjamin Milliepied, whose choreography is also featured. There are the words of Leonard Cohen. And the musicianship of Fain and pianist Nicholas Britell. So, what is Portals exactly? Think of it as a performance piece bridging the divide between real and virtual, live and digital, all expressed through a merging of set design, lighting, music, video, dance, literature, spoken word and the Web. It’s about finding new portals of communication and connection between old and new forms. New York Times reviewer Allan Kozinn felt Fain “succeeded admirably” in finding “new ways to frame the music.” Where does the social media aspect come in? During the concert Fain will perform live on stage, as will his accompanist, but he will also interact with several performers, even a virtual version of himself, seen via rear-projected videos that give the impression of social networking exchanges. It’s meant to be an immersive, sensory, boundaries-breaking, genre-bending experience. KANEKO, along with Silicon Prairie News and local universities, is hosting a Live Social Media event that seeks “experimenters” to participate in the Portals experience and offer feedback. To sign-up, visit www.siliconprairienews.com. What about the team residency? Portals principles will conduct free previews, lectures, master classes and conversations in Omaha and Lincoln. Students from local universities are encouraged to attend. To register, visit thekaneko.org/portals/education. —Leo Adam Biga

They’ll host Minnesota ceramisists JD Jorgensen and Zac Spates and Iowan Doug Schroeder at Big Table Studios. Down the road at Dennison Pottery, John Dennison and guests Mike Bose of Iowa and Missourians Naomi Keller and David Harris display sculpted lizards, geometric forms, hidden chambers and birded libs with live jazz to boot. Florence Mill hosts Susan McGilvrey, Tom Quest, Julie Kinkade and Tracy Shell of Omaha and Bill Gossman of Minnesota with styles from bright earthenware to sculpted horses, vases and stamped plates. Too Far North hosts Eric Knoche of North Carolina and his sculptural work and Travis Hinton of South Dakota and his expressive functional ware, with a wine tasting too. —Sally Deskins

Oct. 1

Megafaun w/Doug Paisley

The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. 9 p.m.; $10 www.onepercentproductions.com Based in Durham, North Carolina but hailing from Wisconsin, the psychedelic rock trio, Megafaun, knows a thing or two about traveling. They are almost always on tour. Brothers Phil and Brad Cook met percussionist Joe Westerlund in 1997 while they were all at the H.O.R.D.E. Festival, apparently sharing in their mutual love for bands like Neil Young, Primus and Leftover Salmon. Combin-

t h e r e a de r ’ s e n t e r tai n m e n t p ic k s s e p t . 2 9 - oct . 5 , 2 0 1 1 ing melancholic finger-picking, eloquent harmonies and raw instrumentation, Megafaun is like a rougher sounding Fleet Foxes. While they aren’t exactly well-known, they have shared the stage with such notables as Akron/Family and The Mountain Goats. Currently on tour in support of their third self-titled studio release, the trio hits Omaha for a night of finger-lickin’ good guitar pickin’. — Kyle Eustice

SUNDAY02 Sunday, Oct. 2

DevilDriver w/ Skeletonwitch, ChthoniC & Cursed By Moonlight

Sokol Underground, 2234 S 13th St. 7 p.m.; $15 ADV, $17 DOS www.sokolunderground.intuitwebsites.com If you’re into the metal scene, then your face will most definitely be melted into an overly dramatic puddle of evil mush at the DevilDriver concert. Although, the use of the word “concert” might be better replaced with the more epic word choice “organized chaotic dark ritual for the festering masses.” The melodic death metal band from Santa Barbara, Calif., is currently touring for their latest studio album, fittingly titled Beast, released back in February. Why the delay for the tour? Well, being in a hardcore metal band comes with certain dangers, such as rehab for drug addiction. We don’t need to get into details but, let’s just say these guys are brutal on stage and in this thing we call life. —James Derrick Schott devildriver

PICKOFTHEWEEK Sunday, Oct. 2

Kearney says being serious about life with another person forced him to deal with some of the defense mechanisms he had developed. Living diminishes one’s sense of innocence. “I think you learn how to distrust,” he says. Sokol Auditorium, 2234 S. 10th St. All the outside events of life, love, relationships and family all can lead 8 p.m.; $17 ADV, $20 DOS to being hardened, and not in the most positive ways, Kearney says. “Laying yourself out there for someone to onepercentproductions.com see you is a terrifying but beautiful experience,” he says. at Kearney set his acoustic guitar aside during Kearney says he plays out his the songwriting sessions for his new album, own experiences on Young Love, Young Love. writing painful, but hopeThe Nashville-based Kearney instead created ful songs. There’s a certain tunes by starting with programming beats and amount of risk in telling grooves on a computer, then building songs those stories, he says, addaround the rhythmic skeleton. ing that he only knows “It’s probably not the most traditional alhow to be honest about bum I’ve ever made,” he says. the people in his life. Kearney says it can be paralyzing to create The record wraps songs with only an acoustic guitar. This time, with “Rochester,” a song he drew on a hip-hop production influence. from the perspective of “Songs would be born out of me dancKearney’s father. It tells ing around the room to a groove,” Kearney of an abusive father, Kearsays. “It’s actually incredibly exhilarating.” ney’s grandfather, who also He says starting with the dance/hip-hop beats ran illegal gambling interests brought a different way of writing music and telling in New York. stories. He was working with a fresh perspective. While working the album, “You have a whole new avenue to create someMat kearney Kearney’s contract with Aware Rething with,” Kearney says. cords was transferred from Columbia “Hey Mama,” the album’s lead-off track and first single, kickto Universal Republic. He says the process started Kearney’s fresh approach. It began with a small fight he had was a little nerve-wracking, but he enjoyed the with then-girlfriend Annie. The chorus came to him when he went for a walk. He got home, programmed an 808 kick drum beat, recorded some hand feeling of being freshly signed. “It was exciting to be the new kid,” he says. claps over it and built a groove from there. Soon, the song was finished. The album was recorded in and around Kearney’s home of Nashville. “It was so easy and it was so visceral,” Kearney says. In part, the song declares “Singing, hey mama, don’t want no drama/ Robert Marvin, who collaborated on Kearney’s breakthrough Nothing Left Just a kiss before I leave/ Hey lady, don’t say maybe/ You’re the one that I To Lose in 2006, returns on Young Love. “It was just us again, back in his room,” Kearney says. can believe/ Hey lover, don’t want no other/ Finger for my ring.” The previous album, 2009’s City of Black and White, was a full-band, Kearney says Annie thought the song was cute. An engagement soon followed and they are now married. Thoughts of love and innocence, lost professional studio concoction that Kearney says was overwhelming. He and found, shaped much of the songwriting, guided by Kearney’s journey didn’t want to repeat that process. “I was really hungry to take a step back and go back to how we kind of as his romance with Annie blossomed. “That whole journey was happening around me while I was writing the began,” he says. —Chris Aponick record,” he says.

Mat Kearney w/Leagues

picks

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sept. 29 - oct. 5, 2011

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John Sorensen’s decadeslong magnificent obsession with the Abbott sisters

by Leo Adam Biga

directed it. A 7 p.m. free preview screening is set Thursday, Oct. 6, at Film Streams. The doc follows a group of Sudanese girls in Grand Island making a story quilt with the help of master quilter Peggie Hartwell and the town’s local quilters guild. The resulting story-blocks illustrate the African home the girls’ families left and the American home they’ve adopted. The quilt expresses the girls’ memories and dreams

ohn Sorensen is like many Nebraska creatives who left to pursue a passion. The Grand Island native and longtime New York City resident Detail of story quilt from The Quilted Conscience worked with master filmmaker Alexander MacKendrick (The Sweet Smell of Success) and Broadway legends Lewis and Jay Presson Allen (Tru). He founded a New York theater troupe. He’s developed a radio series. He’s written-edited books and study guides. What sets him apart is a two-decade venture combining all those mediums. The Abbott Sisters Project is his multimedia magnificent obsession with deceased siblings, proto-feminists and early 20th century social work pioneers, Grace and Edith Abbott, from Grand Island. As Abbott champions, Sorensen and University of Nebraska at Omaha professor Ann Coyne were instrumental in getting the school last fall to rename its social work unit the Grace Abbott School of Social Work. for the future. Sorensen seamlessly interweaves Sorensen has found a saga of strong, visionary Grace Abbott’s minority rights advocacy with women engaged in social action. These early Suf- the girls’ cross-cultural experience to create a fragists and University of Nebraska-Lincoln gradu- rich, affecting tapestry full of dislocation and inates were part of the Progressive wave that sought tegration, loss and hope. to reform the Industrial Age’s myriad social ills. A Q & A with Sorensen and some of the girls They trained under Jane Addams at Hull follows the screening. The “Dreams and MemoHouse, they taught at universities, they widely ries” story quilt the girls completed will be on published their views, they advised Congress display. The film is expected to eventually air on and sitting presidents and served on prestigious public television. boards, all in helping shape policy to protect imGrand Island public school teacher Tracy migrants, women and children. Much feted dur- Morrow, whose students worked on the story ing their lives, the sisters are arguably the most quilt, says, “For many of the girls it has been influential Omaha women of all time. The pair a life-changing experience. They put so much remained close, often consulting each other. work into it. I feel like John’s ... educating the “I think from an early age, the sisters recog- Grand Island community about the Sudanese nized they were each somehow mysteriously made and educating the Sudanese about Grand Iswhole by the other — that together they could land and America.” learn things, experience things and do things imAs Grand Island connects Sorensen to the possible for either on her own,” says Sorensen. Abbotts, his project is allied with the public His latest Abbott work is a documentary, schools and library. The city’s refugee population The Quilted Conscience. He wrote, produced and is living context for applying Abbott values.

Sorensen has promoted the Abbotts for years, but it’s only recently his efforts have borne fruit. The story quilt has toured the state. He’s formed a immigrant-student quilt workshop. He co-edited The Grace Abbott Reader and helped get Edith’s memoir published posthumously. The sisters’ accomplishments are told in a new children’s book. The Grand Island Independent sponsors an Abbott scholarship. All of it affirms that his epic odyssey to bring the Abbotts to the masses has been worth it. Even when his efforts gained little traction, he persisted. “I just did whatever I could to keep transforming it and keeping it in people’s faces,” he says. “I could see I was having success in raising awareness — that people were slowly getting to know around the state who these women were. And that this more than the study of people from 100 years ago; this is the study about things that can help us to live better today.” His devotion to the Abbott legacy is complete. “I simply love the sisters,” he says. “I also admire their work for children and women and immigrants, and I feel a family-like connection and perhaps responsibility to them from sharing a hometown. I could no more turn my back on them, their legacy and their story than I could my own family. That love, that sense of faith is unconquerable.” Even though he didn’t intend making it his life’s work, he’s grateful his Johnny Appleseed project is finally sprouting. “It’s become clear in the last three or four years that it has no end for me. It’s become so embedded in my existence that I can’t stop -- also because now it’s actually starting to unfold.” Sorensen, who “never felt at home” growing up in Grand Island, is today a celebrated favorite son for his project’s rediscovery of two town legends. It feels like “a kind of destiny,” he says. , Seating is limited for the free Quilted Conscience screening. Reservations are recommended and may be made by emailing maggie@filmstreams.org or visiting the theater box office, 1340 Mike Fahey Drive. For more details, call 402-933-0259 or visit www.filmstreams.org. Read more of Leo Adam Biga’s work at leoadambiga.wordpress.com

culture

The Blue Barn calls the play Bug “a psycho thriller,” and others have called it “every bit as sleazy and violent’ as Killer Joe, another drama by Tracy Letts. One source warned against “violence, nudity and cigarette smoke,” while another simply said, “Don’t bring anyone who likes clean escape entertainment” to this “blood-drenched thriller.” And 24 hours before it was to open off-Broadway, Amanda Plummer abandoned the lead role over “artistic differences.” Which makes it likely that director Susan Clement-Toberer and her Blue Barn cast will turn it into a powerful experience lifted well above such sordid stuff. She wanted “to do this show since I saw it off Broadway,” the director says, “but the right blend of cast was not around.” Now she has her college classmate, Kim Gambino, in that lead role of Agnes, “the lonely waitress with a tragic past,” and Brian Zealand in his Barn debut as Peter the paranoid drifter. Kevin Barratt plays her nasty ex-hubby, with Erika Zadina as R.C., her lesbian biker buddy, and Nick Zadina as Dr. Sweet. Letts’ controversial story fits the Barn’s goal of being “highly challenged, a little afraid to approach the script,” which Susan describes as “very wellwritten,” its intensity balanced by levity. Gambino agrees. The Equity actor shared four years of shows with the director when they were classmates at the State University of New York in Purchase. She also shared my notion that any synopsis makes the story sound formidable, maybe even a real downer. “I was thinking of that, too…a crackhead waitress on a crack binge for days and pretty much losing her mind.” But it can be saved by superb writing and performance. Both Susan and Kim reject one critic’s claim that the play’s nudity is “in your face.” To the director, “It’s not anything distasteful; both times are wellwarranted to propel the story.” “It’s certainly not a sex scene,” the actress adds, “when Agnes and Peter jump out of bed looking for the bugs that are biting them.” She’s also not new to performing nude after touring Europe with Hair for eight months. But the role remains a stretch for her “to say the least.” For starters, “I don’t smoke crack; I have one glass of wine and I’m done.” Agnes and Peter battle the bugs by hanging strips of flypaper, prompting her ex-convict former husband to quip, “Y’know, if I was a roach, I believe I’d take the hint.” Bug runs Sept. 29-Oct. 23, 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 6 p.m. Sundays in the Old Market. —Warren Francke

coldcream

Survival Story

culture

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

| THE READER |

sept. 29 - OCT. 5, 2011

SEVEN AD 5 x 5

402.934.2177

www.sevensalon.com

n The Museum of Nebraska Art recently opened The Oregon Trail: Francis Parkman’s Collection of Native American Cartes de Visite running through Dec. 17. The exhibit includes journals detailing the artist’s Oregon Trail visit. Why Is It Art? through April 2012 explores how styles in art have evolved and what influences artists; with selections from the museum’s collection. MONA celebrates the 100th anniversary of the building and 35th of its collection with From Postage to Paintings featuring newly acquired photographs documenting the construction, and a selection of work marking significant moments of acquisition such as the oldest piece, “The Stag,” by Titian Ramsay Peale. n Omaha based artist and Peerless co-director Caleb Coppock’s Graphite Sequencer Project is included in DATA/FIELDS a new media installation exhibition at Artisphere, an urban arts center in Arlington, Va. It runs through October. The artist is working with other Peerless directors curating their own show, Breathing Room, opening Oct. 7. n Omaha-based artist Brion Poloncic recently completed a body of work; he is selling pieces for $100 each on his website, brionpoloncic.com, to raise money for a film he is producing. n University of Nebraska-Lincoln art professor Francisco Souto won honorable mention for “After

Uno y Universo II” at the 2011 International Mezzotint Festival at the Ekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts in Russia. n Jim’s Seek and Save Antiques on the corner of Leavenworth and Saddle Creek commissioned artist Mike Giron to paint a 60-foot long mural on the west side of the building. The drawing that began Sept. 21 displays an array of antique items. “We’re shooting for realism with artistic flair,” Giron said. The mural is to be completed by Oct. 1. n On Sept. 20, students from University of Nebraska-Omaha Art in Public Places professor David Helm’s class displayed 10 invented or modified clip art road signs on campus. “The idea is to address public language, public context and audience response,” said Helm. “The response exceeded my expectations.” The provocative images included a silhouette of a woman pole-dancing, a banana peel on a yellow diamond-shaped sign and a human heart inside a heart-shape on a red octagon sign.

— 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.

miixedmedia

3117 N. 120 ST // OMAHA, NE 68164

Sleep” or telling someone to “Stay Gleaming.” A little lost? Head to The New BLK, an Old Market gallery, Oct. 7 for a night of all things Steve Gordon, the designer behind the alias “RDQLUS” and all the memorable mottos referenced above. Gordon’s show, titled “MSSNGR” will include “original large and small format design work on canvas, multimedia pieces and selections from his influential Dropshots series of photography shot lovingly — and completely — on his iPhone,” says the event invite. This event is not to be missed, especially if you’re a fan of Gordon’s clothing line RDQLUS Goods & Cloth. His T-shirts, hats and impressive personal sneaker collection will surely appear somewhere in his show. The evening kicks off at 7 p.m. at The New BLK, located at 1213 Jones Street. Visit rdqlus.com or thenewblk.com for more information on this event.

fashflood

Hair and makeup by Seven Salon // three2three photography

Fiery Fashion: Hosted by Miss Colorado North America 2012 Maegon Coble, Fashion on Fire will take place Saturday, Oct. 1. In addition to a fashion show, admission includes cocktails, appetizers, music, art, a silent auction and more. Featured designers include Fella, Shawntelle Kuhlmann, Lameesha Stuckey, Buf Reynolds, Juantiesha Christian, Karen Gaines, Rasheena Nichols, Monnie Winslow and Olajide Cooper. Photographic works from Anthony Gaines, Andrew J. Baran and paintings from Gerard Pefung will also be featured. All proceeds will benefit the local chapter of the International Association of Black Professional Firefighters, a service organization meeting the needs of the at-risk community they serve in Omaha. Fashion on Fire kicks off at 6 p.m. and at 2028 Lake Street. Visit facebook.com/fashiononfireomaha for information on advanced tickets starting at $10 for general admission/$20 VIP. Any unsold tickets will be available at the door the night of show starting at $15 for general admission/$25 VIP. MSSNGR: You know you’ve been hit with a case of RDQLUS when you start referencing the “Hvy Crwn,” exclaiming “OMA goodNEss,” claiming that you “Earn Your

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

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sept. 29 - OCT. 5, 2011

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culture

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sept. 29 - oct. 5, 2011

ART

OPENINGS

BEMIS CENTER - CONTEMPORARY ARTS, 724 S. 12th St., (402) 341-1122. A celebration of contemporary art, Curators and Artists tours, Sep. 29 and Oct. 6, 6 p.m. EL MUSEO LATINO, 4701 S. 25th St., (402) 731-1137. GRAPHICS OF LATIN AMERICA: Group show exploring the graphics of Latin America, through Dec. 28. FRED SIMON GALLERY AT THE BURLINGTON BUILDING, 1004 Farnam St., (402) 595-2334. OPENING RECEPTION: New work by Janet Eskridge, through Oct. 7. HOUSE OF LOOM, 1012 S. 10th St., (402) 505-5494, info@houseofloom.com. DRINK N DRAW OMAHA: Two models pose. You draw. Opens Sep. 29, 7 p.m. KIMMEL HARDING NELSON ARTS CENTER, 801 3rd Corso St., (402) 874-9600. NEW WORK: New work by Nicole Gustafsson, through Oct. 20. MORRILL HALL, 307 Morrill Hall, (402) 472-3779. FIRST PEOPLES OF THE PLAINS: TRADITIONS SHAPED BY LAND AND SKY: This modern exhibit explores the enduring traditions of Native American cultures of the Great Plains. UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER, 985230 Nebraska Medical Center, (402) 559-4200. RHYTHMS OF INDIA/ BHARAT MELA AT TRUHLSEN CAMPUS EVENTS CENTER: A family event featuring food vendors serving Indian food, displays of Indian arts and Indian dance. Opens Oct. 2, 2 p.m.-10 p.m.

ONGOING

SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2011

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art/theater listings

SUNDAY 2

DR. QURIK’S COMEDY SHOW, Duffy’s Tavern 1412 O St., (402) 474-3543. 9:00 pm, FREE.

MONDAY 3

CHECK EVENT LISTINGS ONLINE! 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

TEENS ‘N’ THEATRE: ANIMAL FARM, Rose Theater, 2001 Farnam St., (402) 345-4849. Opens Sep. 29, Oct. 1, Oct. 2, 7:00 pm, N/A JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING COLOR DREAMCOAT, McDonald Theatre, 53rd St. & Huntington Ave., (402) 465-2384, theatre@ nebrwesleyan.edu. Opens Sep. 29, Sep. 30, Oct. 1, Oct. 2, 7:30 pm, $15; Seniors: $10; Students: $7.50 THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR, Weber Fine Arts Building, 6001 Dodge St.. Opens Sep. 28, Sep. 29, Sep. 30, Oct. 1, 7:00 pm, $15; Seniors: $10; UNO Students: FREE CHICAGO, Omaha Community Playhouse, 6915 Cass St., (402) 553-4890. Opens Sep. 28, Sep. 29, Sep. 30, Oct. 1, Oct. 2, Oct. 5, 7:30 pm, Adults: $40; Students: $24 UNBOUND PERSPECTIVE PRESENTS CRAZY JUST LIKE ME, Pizza Shoppe Collective, 6056 Maple St., (402) 932-9007. Opens Sep. 28, Sep. 29, Oct. 1, Oct. 2, 7:30 pm, $18; Students: $15 A DOLL’S HOUSE, Haymarket Theatre, 803 Q St., (402) 4772600. Opens Sep. 29, Sep. 30, Oct. 1, Oct. 2, 7:30 pm, $18; Seniors: $15; Students: $10 KILLER JOE, Temple Building, 215 Temple Building, 402-4722072 . Opens Sep. 28, Sep. 29, Sep. 30, Oct. 1, 7:30 pm, $6 CHILDREN OF EDEN, Bellevue Little Theater, 203 Mission Ave., (402) 291-1554. Opens Sep. 30, Oct. 1, Oct. 2, 8:00 pm, N/A RADIO GOLF,.John Beasley Theater, 3010 R. St, (402) 5025767. Opens Sep. 29, Sep. 30, Oct. 1, Oct. 2, 7:30 pm, $27 BIG RIVER, O’Donnell Auditorium, 50th St. & Huntington Ave.. Opens Sep. 30, Oct. 2, 7:30 pm, $18 BUG, Blue Barn at The Downtown Space, 614 S. 11th St., (402) 345-1576.Blue Barn at The Downtown Space, 614 S. 11th St., (402) 345-1576. Opens Sep. 29, Sep. 30, Oct. 1, 7:30 pm, $25; Students and Seniors: $20

POETRY/COMEDY THURSDAY 29

WRITING CENTER READING SERIES WITH BRENT SPENCER, Metro Community College 819 S. 22nd St.. 7:00 pm, FREE. Author of the novel The Lost Son and the collection Are We Not Men? will read. BACKLINE IMPROV, Studio…Gallery 4965 Dodge St., (402) 660-0867. 8:00 pm, $5. ALL YOUNG GIRLS ARE MACHINE GUNS, HOWARD, JAKE NOROFSKY, PATRICK SATHER, TESSE STEDNITZ, AND MORE, Slowdown 729 N. 14th St., (402) 345-7569. 9:00 pm, $5. COMEDY SURPRISE NIGHT, Mojo Smokehouse & Ales 2110 South 67th St., (402) 504-3776. 10:00 pm, FREE. Hosted by Nick Allen.

FRIDAY 30

JOHN SIEGFRIED, University of Nebraska-Lincoln 12th & R St., (402) 472-2072. 10:00 am, FREE. Professor of econimcs at Vanderbilt University will present “What does Intercollegiate Athletics do to (or for) Colleges and Universities?” 3RD ANNUAL GENEALOGY LOCK-IN, W. Dale Clark Library 215 S. 15th St., (402) 444-4800. 6:30 pm, FREE.

SATURDAY 1

THE CLEAN PART READING SERIES WITH LISA FISHMAN AND DANIELLE PAFUNDA, Drift Station Gallery 1746 N St., mail@driftstation.org. 7:00 pm, FREE.

EVOLVER OMAHA MOVIE SCREENING: THE QUANTUM ACTIVIST, Pizza Shoppe Collective 6056 Maple St., (402) 932-9007. 6:00 pm, N/A. I SHOULD HAVE READ THAT IN SCHOOL, The Bookworm 87th & Pacific St., (402) 392-2877. 6:30 pm, FREE. Group will discuss Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe. Group meets every first Monday. POETRY AT THE MOON WITH KATE KOSTELNIK, ADRAIN GIBBONS KOESTERS, Crescent Moon Coffee 8th & P St., (402) 435-2828. 7:00 pm, FREE.

TUESDAY 4

OMAHA SCIENCE CAFE, The Sydney 5918 Maple St., (402) 932-9262. 6:30 pm, FREE. Lecture entitled “Fizzle and Fret: 2009’s So-Called ‘Pandemic’ Influenza and 2010’s Ambivalence about a ‘New’ Influenza Vaccine.” OPEN MIC POETRY, Indigo Bridge Books 701 P St. Suite 102, (402) 477-7770. 7:00 pm, FREE. FIVE DOLLAR COMEDY NIGHT TUESDAY: 88 IMPROV, Pizza Shoppe Collective 6056 Maple St., (402) 932-9007. 8:00 pm, $5. SHOOT YOUR MOUTH OFF III, The Hideout Lounge 320 S. 72nd St., (402) 504-4434. 9:00 pm, FREE.

WEDNESDAY 5

STATE-OF-THE-UNIVERSITY ADDRESS, Strauss Performing Arts Center Recital Hall 6001 Dodge St.. 10:00 am, FREE. Presented by Chancellor John Christensen, reception in Milo Bail Student Center Ballroom immediately following remarks. WHAT ARE YOU READING? BOOK CHAT, The Bookworm 87th & Pacific St., (402) 392-2877. 12:00 pm, FREE. Join us to chat about your favorite reads. Group meets every first Wednesday. LUNCH AT THE LIBRARY WITH T. MARNI VOS, Bennett Martin Public Library 136 S. 14th St., (402) 441-8500. 12:10 pm, FREE. Humorist and author presents lecture “Always a Work in Progress.” VISITING WRITERS SERIES FEATURING LEE HYE-KYUNG, ZHANG YUERAN, DOROTHY TSEC, Nebraska Wesleyan 51st & Huntington St., (402) 465-2395. 6:00 pm, FREE. The Asian writers panel will be held in Callen Conference Center, located on the lower level of the Smith-Curtis Administration Building. 16TH ANNUAL GOVERNOR’S LECTURE IN THE HUMANITIES, Joslyn Art Museum 2200 Dodge St., (402) 342-3300. 7:30 pm, FREE. The subject of the lecture is “The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery,” presented by Pulitzer Prize winning historian Eric Foner. THE MIDWEST POETRY VIBE, Arthur’s 222 N. 114th St., (402) 393-6369. 9:00 pm, FREE.

HELP A KID 402.930.3095

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. 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, through Nov. 5. 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. 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 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. STU-

DIO 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. JOSLYN ART MUSEUM, 2200 Dodge St., (402) 342-3300. AMERICAN LANDSCAPE CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE WEST: Featuring the work of fourteen photographers, through Jan. 8 KIECHEL FINE ART, 5733 S. 34th St., Lincoln, 420.9553, kiechelart.com. CONTEMPORARY SUMMER SHOWCASE: Group show, through Oct. 7. KIMMEL HARDING NELSON ARTS CENTER, 801 3rd Corso St., (402) 874-9600. NEW WORK: New work by Nicole Gustafsson, through Oct. 20. 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. 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. 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. 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.

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sept. 29 - oct. 5, 2011

Label Luck Drag City-signed Ty Segall keeps finding cozy record label homes

by Chris Aponick

ick Lowe may have proclaimed his appreciation for his record company with his tongue-in-cheek ode “I Love My Label,” but San Francisco garage rocker Ty Segall genuinely is head over heels for his musical home, Drag City Records. “Drag City is the f--king best man. They’re really cool and they give a shit,” Segall says. Segall says its the sort of label where he can call them whenever, just to discuss ideas or talk shop. There’s a friendship there. And it’s something Segall has been blessed with before. Goner Records, which released two earlier Segall records and plans on doing a singles compilation, also is the sort of label that takes late-night calls. Segall is planning on doing a release with another favorite label, garage rock stalwart In the Red Records. Being able to work with labels he admires seems like a dream to the San Francisco-based Segall. “It’s totally mindblowing to be able to do that,” Segall says. Segall says he was about halfway through recording his latest album Goodbye Bread, which came out earlier this year on Drag City, when he decided to send portions of the new music to some people. Segall says the material was a departure from the straight-ahead garage rock of 2010’s Melted. He had already met Drag City’s Dan Kaye and was a member of Sic Alps when they signed to Drag City a year prior to Segall joining the label.

sept. 29 - oct. 5, 2011

On the basis of those first six songs, Drag City offered to release the record. “They wrote back right away and they were extremely excited,” Segall says. Meanwhile, Segall focused on making the rest of the record. He recorded with his friend Eric Bauer and pretty much just played everything himself. Segall says he usually records songs as he’s writing, so the steps are intertwined. “(I) get all intense and weird with recording,” Segall says. Goodbye Bread lent itself to that approach,

since it was so focused on songs and took a bit more to figure out. “We tried to tone down the effects and the level of distortion on top of it,” he says. Segall says he sought out more shimmery, shiny guitar tones and tweaked other parts of his playing. Instead of fuzz guitar, some songs saw Segall playing a 12-string. Effects were dialed down and vocal tracks were pulled up in the mix. Suddenly, Segall went from making garage re-

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music

cords to making something that pushed toward a songwriter vein. “It’s all about the little things you can do to make it like that,” Segall says. Segall says he’s accepted that he can make that change, because he’s not tied down by a band name or a core identity. Being a solo artist means there are no rules. He can make a garage record, a songwriter record or, if he wants to, a rap record. “I love that fact. You don’t get pigeonholed to a specific sound or genre,” Segall says. With that sense of freedom, Segall spent time working through his ty segall song-centered ideas and when he felt the record was done, that was it. When that moment hit, Segall was struck by the fact that he had been the only person to play on it. “I kind of just did it all on my own,” he says. “I really wanted other people to play on it.” He’s booked studio time so he and his touring band can cut some tracks together for a future release. And the songs on Goodbye Bread take on a new vibe with Segall and the band playing them live. It’s faster, more aggressive and of course, a lot louder. Segall says he seeks that difference in sound between studio and live performances. “I personally like seeing songs change a little bit when I see a band live,” he says. , Ty Segall w/ Mikal Cronin and Sun Settings play the Slowdown, 729 North 14th St., Wednesday, October 5th at 9 p.m. Tickets are $10. For more information, visit theslowdown.com.

n Two bits of Saddle Creek Records news from the past week. Big Harp, the Americana-tinged indie duo of Chris Senseney and Stefanie DrootinSenseney, released a video for “Everybody Pays” off their just-released debut album White Hat. The video, which premiered on IFC.com, was directed by Danny Drysdale and shot in the California desert. The band returns to Omaha with fellow Saddle Creek artist Maria Taylor Sunday, Oct. 30, for a show at the Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St. Meanwhile, Saddle Creek’s most recent signee PUJOL is set to release his EP, Nasty, Brutish and Short Tuesday, Oct. 18. The lead single “Stuff” was featured on NPR’s All Songs Considered. PUJOL will spend a chunk of the fall on tour with Ted Leo & the Pharmacists. Currently, there are no Omaha dates scheduled for PUJOL. n Mitch Gettman’s debut album We Are the Mad Ones is available as an MP3 download via Bandcamp, iTunes and CDBaby and is $8 at each website. The entire album is also streaming on the band’s profile page on Bandcamp. The 17-yearold Gettman and his band recorded the album with A.J. Mogis at ARC Studios. n Halloween is usually a night that bars clear out anything live music-related, hoping to pack their places with costume parties and dance music. However, this Halloween, which falls on a Monday, both the Slowdown and cold war kids the Waiting Room Lounge, 6212 Maple St., will host concerts. The Slowdown has indie-gone-alternative-radio-seeking Cold War Kids, while Lincoln native Joshua James and HoneyHoney will present a night of folky pop at the Waiting Room. My pick is the Cold War Kids, with the hope that songs from their slickly-produced latest album Mine Is Yours will come across with the soul and grit of the band’s earlier material. n Watch out for Youth Lagoon. The Boise, Idaho, indie pop band is set to release The Year of Hibernation on Fat Possum. The piano-and-guitar duo unfurl slow-burn anthems, augmented by basic programmed drum tracks that make them a sound that’s both sparse and big. The band played last week in Ames, Iowa, with indie-dance act Gardens & Villa. — Chris Aponick

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

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NOw ACCEPTINg

SEPT. 29 - OCT. 5, 2011

lazy-i T H E

O M A H A

M U S I C

The return of Fizzle Like a Flood

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L A r TIS eP TION A

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oug Kabourek didn’t look much different than when I first saw him slumped like a homeless college student in the back of Sokol Underground during a Her Space Holiday show, circa 1999. I had just begun going to rock shows alone — a big step for me, but one I knew I’d have to take if I wanted to continue seeing the indie bands I loved. I realized after finding Kabourek rolled up like a bum on the floor that others were in the same boat as myself, though he had an excuse for being alone — he’d just moved to Bellevue from somewhere in Iowa, and didn’t know anybody. I wouldn’t discover until months later, when I interviewed him about Golden Sand and the Grandstand that he was the local musician who went by the odd, awkward name Fizzle Like a Flood. Now here we were, 12 years later, talking about music over a basket of tortilla chips on the outdoor patio of Agave in Dundee. Pop hits of the ’80s (Huey Lewis & the News, The Outfield, Phil Collins) blared from hidden speakers as Kabourek slowly built a crystal wall of empty margarita glasses on the table between us. The reason for the reunion was the pending release of Choice Kills Response (Nectar and Venom Records), the first new Fizzle Like a Flood CD since 2005’s Love LP, which kind of/sort of marked the departure of Kabourek as Fizzle. Now available for download via his former record label, Ernest Jenning (home of O’Death, The Black Hollies and Chris Mills, among others) Love should have been Fizzle’s next step. “It was my most impressive record, and it took the most amount of time to make,” Kabourek said. “It was supposed to come out on Valentine’s Day 2006. But I was paying for everything; the label was only providing distribution. I couldn’t afford the $7,000 needed to actually release it.” But more than financials pushed Fizzle Like a Flood into an unplanned hiatus. “I never quit,” Kabourek explained. “It just that no one ever reacted to anything I did. I wanted it to ‘just happen,’ and it doesn’t ‘just happen’ in Omaha. You have to really try to make it happen, and even then it doesn’t happen.” Oh, there were a few write-ups, including an All Music Guide review that called Golden Sand “consistently aurally engaging.” The smattering of press caught the eye of Ernest Jenning, who rereleased that album in ’05 with new artwork by Frank Holmes, who did the art for Beach Boys’ Smile. But for the most part, the winsome, multi-layered one-man head trip — an homage to the demolished Aksarben horse track — went unnoticed. But no more so than its followup, Flash Paper Queen (The 4-Track Demos),

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with its parenthetical joke title that no one (including Pitchfork) got. Kabourek said after recording the Love LP, he moved on to other things, including The Dull Cares, a project whose music was modeled after “Earth Angel”-style ’60s pop, and At Land, a power trio featuring longtime friends Travis Sing (Black Squirrels) and James Carrig (Sarah Benck and the Robbers). “At Land recorded at Baseline, but never released anything,” Kabourek said. “I was drunk at every session. It was going to be sloppy, old-man rock, even though we knew we we’re old yet.” But while those projects kept him busy (and anonymous), Kabourek kept writing Fizzle Like a Flood music. “I finally got an itch to make this record this past winter,” he said. “Some of the songs go back to 2005.” It’s a return to form for Kabourek, and yet another example of his home-studio recording — and songwriting — prowess. The killer tracks are the ones that depart from his typical heart-on-his-sweater-sleeve approach, like the roaring, hollow-hearted rocker “Cutters,” that combines equal parts Pixies and early Weezer along with an excuse for Kabourek to use the word “masturbation” in his lyrics. “’Cutters’ was written for At Land, which to me is a ’90s tribute band but with our own songs,” Kabourek said. “(The song) is about the frustration of not having sex for a long time, which is the perfect theme for every ’90s song. Every big hit from 1994 had ‘masturbation’ in the lyrics.” Other tracks, like opener “Balcony” and “Great,” are Fizzle fixtures with crunching guitars and Kabourek’s trademark bells, while the unpronounceable “Ö[Æ]à[=]É” is a modern surf rocker, complete with horror-movie organ. Kabourek skimps on nothing on this recording, but since he now refuses to use backing tracks on stage, we’ll never hear it performed this way live. Not bad for a guy who at age 38 says he’s fallen out of the music scene. “I’ve gotten to the age where this is my music — the ’90s — I love that stuff,” he said. “If someone plays me something new, that’s fine, but I have enough old music to keep me happy.” He says he hasn’t been to Pitchfork.com since 2006. “I watched the Grammy’s two years ago,” he said. “What was the band with a thousand members and none of them play anything remotely catchy? Arcade Fire? I don’t get it. It’s OK, but I don’t like their stuff. And Radiohead on SNL last night? What I heard sucks.” In fact, you’re not going to find Kabourek hiding in the back of rock clubs anymore. “We like to go sing karaoke,” he said. “It’s more fun than going to a show.” Except for his show, of course. Fizzle Like a Flood’s CD release party is Oct. 7 at The Barley Street Tavern with The Whipley Three, At Land and Underwater Dream Machine. The show starts at 9 p.m., cover is $5. ,

LAZY-I 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.

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Alberta’s joyous blues

n the early 1980s I had the pleasure of seeing Alberta Hunter perform her captivating mix of bawdy blues, ballads and gospel tunes. Hunter was bewitching, her love of the music was infectious. She was in her mid-’80s. The last time I saw her perform she had to be helped onstage in a wheelchair, but when she sang the years melted away. The music was in her blood. In her first career the teenage Hunter started singing in brothels and bawdy houses, like many blues and jazz artists of the day. She became the toast of Chicago while still a teen, performing with King Oliver & his Creole Jazz Band featuring Louis Armstrong. She lived in New York during the Roaring ’20s and performed in France during the historic Jazz Age. She recorded for many jazz labels, had a radio show in the 1930s and performed on Broadway. She was also a songwriter. Her “Downhearted Blues” was a giant hit for acclaimed blues singer Bessie Smith. In the 1950s Hunter retired from music, trained to become a nurse and, at age 62, went

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to work at a New York hospital. She lived in relative obscurity until the late 1970s after she’d been forced to retire at the age of 81 from nursing. Then Hunter launched a second career, performing at famed New York jazz venue The Cookery. Downhearted Blues: Live at the Cookery is a reissue of a recording made of one of Hunter’s marvelous performances. Check it out at rockbeatrecords.com and discover or rediscover one of the great women of the blues. Hunter died in 1984. I still treasure memories of her live performances and the joy she brought to her audience. Hot Notes: The Iguanas have several shows in the area including Thursday, Sept. 29, at The 21st Saloon at 5:30 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 1, at Lincoln’s Zoo Bar. (See 8 Days.) On Thursday, Sept. 29, Alligator Records’ Guitar Shorty plays the Zoo 6 p.m.-9 p.m., followed by the Blues Orchestra featuring Honeyboy Turner and the Lil’ Slim Blues Band after 9 p.m. Matt Cox and Travelling Mercies gig at Harrah’s Stir bar on Friday, Sept. 30, at 9 p.m. Robert Cray is scheduled for the Horseshoe Casino’s Whiskey Roadhouse on Wednesday, Oct. 5. ,

VILLAGE POINTE FARMERS MARKET

V Harvest FestV Saturday, October 1 • 8am -1pm

End-of-Season Celebration Join friends and neighbors for a

celebration of nature’s bounty with festive fun for the whole family. Shop the final Farmers Market of the season and stock up on farm fresh goodness.

Free Festivities For the Kids: Hayrack Rides

Pumpkin Decorating • Bounce House • Giveaways For Everyone: Live Music • Arts & Crafts • Community Booths

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168th & West Dodge Road • 402-505-9773 • villagepointeshopping.com