The Reader May 2015

at can we do?

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WeWe shall shall shall shining a jewel.

Weallshall see evil and that all our pain disappear in shall theOur great shall enfold the world.

Ou seeangels. shining like aevil jewel.

We see evil and our pain disappear in the great pity enfold thethat world.

Our lifeand willgentle be as and pea gllthe like aheaven jewel.We Weshall shallsee seeheaven and all shall ourlike pain disappear in the great pity shall enfold the that world. lifepity will be as peaceful

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MAY 2015

3

Writing Job Postings

F

inding the right candidates or the right job takes some preparation, but that preparation can certainly pay off big time.

Your job posting is likely the first impression you will make on potential recruits. You want to write in order attract the best talent.

Postings have three main components – title, description and skills – but you may need to adjust those depending on where the posting appears.

Remember a few main points for each posting. For example, use certain key words to attract recruits.

Job seekers are likely searching the same words. If you use those in your posting, you will attract those seekers. Next, strike a balance between writing too much and being too brief. Balance attention-getting gimmicks with simply being “different.” Finally, go

visual. If the medium allows for it, try an infographic or image to stand out.

Resumes can be loaded with land mines – warning signs that a potential employee can implode once hired. There are certain red flags to look out for in every resume. If a candidate has gaps in employment, that could be a bad sign. A resume marked with poor grammar, improper punctuation and bad spelling may indicate a recruit who doesn’t pay attention to details. The same goes if a resume has inconsistent formatting or “XXXX” where dates should be.

A resume should show increasing responsibilities in a career. A job seeker with a plateaued career may be one you want to avoid. An easy way to weed out some candidates is to skip those who didn’t follow your directions. However, always treat resumes and

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Hiring is a tricky process. There are a few philosophies to interviewing. One of those is the “rules of three.” First, interview at least three people. Even if you have someone in mind, explore at least two options, if only to reinforce your decision. Next, interview your potential candidate in three different places. Someone’s personality can change from a formal conference room to an informal, off-site coffee shop. This may shed some valuable insight on your recruit. Finally, have the candidate interviewed by at least three different people. Then convene to compare notes and make sure everyone had a good impression.

Online job searching is a reality today. Once you’ve formatted your resume for electronic ap-

plications, you will want to tailor the language to match the keywords in the job descriptions. Keep an eye open for the skills employers are seeking. If you possess those skills or degrees, make sure your resume flaunts that.

Read the action verbs in the job description.

Your relevant experience should show that you’ve done those very same things, and then you can back that up with anecdotes in your interview.

Search other job postings so you can get an idea of what other companies are seeking. Conduct some research on what other skills or duties are being sought. Correctly utilizing keywords can take you from electronic oblivion to interview.

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| THE READER |

MAY 2015

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MAY2015VOLUME22NUMBER2 08 COVER STORY THE CAREERS ISSUE 18 ART MAKING A LIVING MAKING ART 22 ART HAIR-RAISING EXHIBIT 24 CULTURE SOUTH OMAHA STORIES 28 PICKS COOL STUFF TO DO IN APRIL 30 HEARTLAND HEALING THE GOOD DIRT 32 EAT CAVEMAN COMFORTS 36 MUSIC THE RETURN OF THE RENTALS 40 MUSIC TWINSMITH TURNS IT UP 44 FILM BUILDERS AND BROADS 46 FILM SOME LIKE IT HOT 50 HOODOO GET YOUR ROOTS FIX IN MAY 52 OVER THE EDGE WORKING ARTIST 54 MYSTERIAN DOCTOR IS IN

PHOTO BY DEBRA S. KAPLAN

Publisher John Heaston john@thereader.com Creative Director Eric Stoakes eric@thereader.com Assistant Editor Mara Wilson mara@thereader.com CONTRIBUTING EDITORS heartland healing: Michael Braunstein info@heartlandhealing.com arts/visual: Mike Krainak mixedmedia@thereader.com dish: Sarah Locke crumbs@thereader.com film: Ryan Syrek cuttingroom@thereader.com hoodoo: B.J. Huchtemann bjhuchtemann@gmail.com music: Wayne Brekke backbeat@thereader.com over the edge: Tim McMahan tim.mcmahan@gmail.com theater: William Grennan coldcream@thereader.com SALES & MARKETING Dinah Gomez dinah@thereader.com Kati Falk kati@thereader.com DISTRIBUTION/DIGITAL

Clay Seaman clay@thereader.com OPERATIONS

Kerry Olson kerry@thereader.com

MOREINFO:WWW.THEREADER.COM

contents

| THE READER |

MAY 2015

7

COLLEEN PLASEK career coach, Bellevue University (www.bellevue.edu/studentsupport/career-services/careerservices)

DEBBIE CHRISTENSEN business service representative, Nebraska Department of Labor (dol.nebraska.gov)

KRISTI HAMILTON ConAgra Talent Acquisition Group (conagrafoodscareers.com)

TERRY VICTOR vice president, Sheet Metal Workers International Association Local #3 (sheetmetalworkerslocal3.org), union member since 1989

MONIQUE CRIBBS career exploration and development manager, Metropolitan Community College

W

ork defines us. One of the first “get-toknow-you” questions people will ask is, “What do you do?” An individual’s social status is determined largely by factors stemming from his or her career success, and our entire educational system is built around making us contributing members of society. And while a great career can be financially and personally fulfilling, enriching your life and giving you something to look forward to every day, the wrong job can leave you feeling trapped and miserable for 40 or more interminable hours a week.

The Reader invited five of the above professionals from higher education, government, union and corporate sectors to contribute their viewpoints to a virtual roundtable on the subject of work: how to prepare for a career, what jobs are available, how to find better work and what employers can do to attract and retain good employees.

most impotant parts in finding a job. NE Works (neworks.nebraska.gov) is our site for companies to post jobs; we’re the only one that is free for companies to post jobs. It’s available to anyone. And of course we do have training programs.

What are the best resources locally and online for our local workforce to advance their careers?

Christensen: LinkedIn (linkedin.com) is very helpful to people—that whole site—and the business part of it is very good to help people network, which is one of the

8

MAY 2015

| THE READER |

COLLEEN PLASEK

cover story

Cribbs: We partner with the Nebraska Department of Labor, and we utilize their NE Works website (neworks. nebraska.gov). With their website having more than 20,000 active jobs and updating every 24 to 48 hours— it’s amazing—it allows for any job-seeker to access the system and start searching for a job once you put in your criteria. continued on page 10 y

| THE READER |

MAY 2015

9

KRISTI HAMILITON

y continued from page 8

Hamilton: Two of the best resources that can help you to advance your career are a strong leader/coach and a mentor. There are the traditional resources that one can leverage like achieving an advanced degree and gaining professional certifications. Without the help and guidance from someone who understands the landscape of your organization, you may find it hard to grow professionally.

Plasek: Careerlink (careerlink.com) is a great (local) resource. But I also use Indeed (indeed.com) a lot because they work in different ways. The nice part about Indeed is that it will search a lot of different sites but with Careerlink it has to be posted directly on Careerlink; so this kind of offers both for you. For Bellevue University students we have on online job posting system that we do in collaboration with some other local schools, so I always recommend that people get into that as well.

I talk about LinkedIn (linkedin.com) in almost every conversation I have with students and alumni because it’s such a valuable resource to find companies and people, and people who might work in the job field who might be able to provide some perspective on the job or how they got into the career path or field.

Victor: Once a year around May/June, we start the (apprenticeship) application and interview process…We look at our contractors and their upcoming work and labor demands, and we decide as a group with the contractors how many people we’re going to take in a year.

That number has been averaging between 20 and 28 apprentices in a year.

There’s no cost to the apprentice throughout the apprenticeship and you’ll end up making around $200,000 to $230,000 over a five-year apprenticeship program now…The average college student with a bachelor’s degree has $30,000 in debt when they come out of school. And the average bachelor’s degree (salary) coming out of school is right around $35,000 to $45,000 a year. Here you work the whole time you’re in school, you get raises, and over this five years you’re making

10

MAY 2015

| THE READER |

over $200,000 instead of going into debt. Not only do you have zero debt, you’re making a wage right now at about $70,000 per year.

What is the future of work in this area?

Christensen: We’re close to the point where there are more jobs than people looking. With our 2.9 percent unemployment, it’s getting more difficult for employers to find people. I get calls every day from companies begging us to help them find employees; that’s kind of a recent change in the last two or three months. The last four or five years has been the reverse and now it’s getting tight again. There are excellent growth opportunities in the city and certainly the state.

Cribbs: I had to do a paper on this, an analysis of our workforce, and I’ve been talking to some of my peers and employers about the future of employment in Omaha and what’s going on in this city. I liken it to a tale of two cities, because if you look at the Omaha Chamber of Commerce, when they market Omaha, it’s wonderful.

We have low unemployment, we have low cost of living, we have above average wages based on national standards, we have a higher percentage of adults achieving bachelor’s degree or higher, we have Fortune 500 companies here. Excellent.

But then when you look at a Heartland Workforce Solutions’ (hws-ne.org) report, it talks about our high levels

cover story

of high school dropouts, high rates of recidivism. Omaha ranks fifth in economic disparity between black and white populations and the city ranks 14th in poverty rate for black individuals; 32 percent of blacks live in poverty…there are true disparities. (http://www.selectgreateromaha.com/Regional-Data/Population-Demographics.aspx), (http://www.dol.nebraska.gov/answers/wia/ GreaterOmahaLocalPlan.pdf) Hamilton: The unemployment rate in Nebraska has historically been lower than the national average, and there is a lot of opportunity in the area.

Plasek: Right now there seems to be lot of people hiring.

It’s a wonderful time to be looking for a job. It’s a good time to be looking for a job now because it seems to be shifting back into a market where it’s an employee’s market. And I haven’t been able to see that in a long time.

Victor: The economy is wonderful right now and we’re directly affected by the economy in our business. When things are good, we’re all working and when the economy is down, things slow down. But in our line of work, the sheet metal industry, we’re pretty fortunate that everybody still needs our work whether the economy’s good our not.

continued on page 12 y

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APRIL 2015

11

MONIQUE CRIBBS

y continued from page 10

A problem we have is not many people know what a sheet metal worker is. Everybody knows what an electrician is, everybody knows what a plumber is, a lot of people know what a steamfitter is. We don’t really do anything to market ourselves. We’re nonprofit and we’re local, and a lot of our money is put into education. We’ve been trying to do more outreach with junior high and high schools, and hopefully in a few years we’ll see the impact of that.

Where are the jobs and how do we get ready for them?

Christensen: Medical, insurance, financial, education— those are all doing really well and there are lots of jobs.

But when you get to the physical types of jobs, there is a shortage in the hands-on type of work, the trained skills.

Particularly welders, electricians, diesel techs, CNC operators—that’s computer operated equipment—auto body, HVAC people, construction workers, truck drivers, and IT people at a very high level. (They need) education and for many of them, continuing education.

interests. And then we go from there. What is the end goal? Where do you want to land at the end? And then we figure out how to get there.

Cribbs: For our area, we have a lot of unmet need in IT. Also our trades, and it extends across so many different places: welding, truck driving, manufacturing, construction, transportation/distribution/logistics, the health care (sector). We have a lot of people retiring and/or you have open positions that require special training in certain skill sets; you can’t just walk in and say, “I’m going to wire your home.”

When you’re 18 or 20 years old, you’re probably not going to have one job for the rest of your life. You might not even have one career for the rest of your life…Bellevue University is a leader in adult learning and we have a lot of students who are changing careers in the middle for some reason or another. People are changing direction, so don’t stress out that this has to be a permanent choice, because it’s not.

Hamilton: Jobs are ever-changing and evolving. I recently heard that the skills you are taught in college will be irrelevant by the time you join the workforce. It will be important for companies to be open to attracting and hiring people based on their potential and training the necessary technical skills.

Victor: This mindset that was put in Americans, that our kids have to go college and that’s how you get a good job. I think that’s going away because of the cost of education and the cost of student loans. Wages have been stagnant and they haven’t made up for the kid who has $100,000 in debt and is only going to start out at $40,000 a year. I hope something changes, but for us in the trades, it’s an opportunity for us to get a lot of good help.

Plasek: Usually the first step that I recommend is that you have to identify what are your strengths, skills and abilities; what is it you’re good at and what are your

12

MAY 2015

| THE READER |

cover story

What are the biggest challenges holding the workforce back from career advancement?

Christensen: The number one thing I hear from employers that gets them crazy is the very basic soft skills that people don’t have anymore: people who can’t come to work every day, can’t come on time, can’t complete their work, are too busy playing with their gadgets at work… those very basic things you think everybody knows but apparently they don’t. And not getting along with their co-workers. More people get terminated for their soft skills. Most of them can do the work, but it’s those other things they have no responsibility for.

Cribbs: I think it’s going back to having that education, having those skills. If you don’t have the skill sets, then we can’t fill the positions.

Hamilton: Self-awareness is a big challenge for a lot of individuals. It’s important that you are honest with yourself and have an understanding of what your development opportunities look like, good and bad. Identify recontinued on page 14 y

S

Though coming of age in segregated Nacogdoches, Texas, she got opportunities denied many blacks. As a musical prodigy with an operatic voice she performed for well-to-do audiences. She graduated high school at 15 and earned her music teaching degree from Texas Southern University at 20.

She knew well the contours of white privilege and the necessity for she and fellow blacks to overachieve in order to find anything ilke equal footing in a titled world.

Her education about racialized America began as a child. She heard great orators at NAACP meetings in the basements of black churches. She read the words of leading journalists and scholars in black newspapers. She listened to iconic jazz and blues singers whose styles she’d emulate vocalizing on the streets or during recess at school.

Through it all, she gained a dawning awareness of inequities and long overdue change in the works. She credits her black professors as “the most positive mentors in my life,” adding, “They actually made me who I am today.

They told me to strive to do my best in all I do and to prove my worth. They challenged me to ‘be somebody.’”

She and her late husband Ozzie Wilson taught a dozen years in Texas, where they helped integrate the public school teaching ranks. When the Omaha Public Schools looked to integrate its own teaching corps in the 1960s, it recruited Southern black educators here.

Schools can’t do it alone, she says, “It’s got to start with church and home.”

She applauds the Empowerment Network’s efforts to jumpstart North Omaha revitalization.

“I love everything they’re trying to do because together we stand, divided we fall. If we can bring everybody together to start working with these ideas that’s beautiful.”

She’d like to see more financial backing for proven projects and programs making a difference in the lives of young people.

Since retiring as an educator, Wilson’s community focus has hardly waned. There was her four-year stint with the NAACP. She then approached Metro-president Randy Schmailzl to be a liaison with the North O community, where she saw a great disconnect between black residents and the college.

“We had students all around the Fort Omaha Campus

TOMMIE WILSON

The Wilsons, who came in 1967 as “a package deal,” were among them.

The couple’s diversity efforts extended to the Keystone Neighborhood they integrated. Tommie didn’t like Omaha at first but warmed to it after getting involved in organizations, including Delta Sigma Theta sorority, charged with enhancing opportunities.

“I’ve never shied away from finding things that needed to be done. I’m a very outspoken and vocal person. I don’t have a problem expressing what I feel. If it’s right, it’s right. If it’s wrong, it’s wrong, I don’t care who it hurts. That’s my attitude.”

She was often asked to lend her singing voice to causes and programs, invariably performing sonatas and spirituals.

Much of her life’s work, she says, has tried to prove “separate is not equal.” “I’m a catalyst in the community.

I try to motivate folks to do what they need to do.”

She feels the alarming rates of school drop-outs, violent incidents and STDs among inner city youth is best addressed through education.

“Education is the key. Children have to feel there’s love and care about them learning in the classroom. Teaching is more than the curriculum. It’s about getting a rapport with your kids, letting them feel we’re in this together and there’s a purpose. It has to be a personal thing.”

DEBRA S. KAPLAN

ocial justice champion Tommie Wilson experienced the civil rights movement as it happened. For her, the good fight has never stopped.

While president of the local NAACP she brought a lawsuit against then-Gov. Dave Heineman over redistricting legislation that would have re-segregated Omaha schools. As Community Liaison for Public Affairs at Metropolitan Community College she chairs a monthly Table Talk series discussing community issues close to her heart, especially reentry resources. A grandson did time in prison and his journey through the system motivates her to advocate for returning citizens.

“I’m interested in how we can help them to have sustainable, productive lives,” says Wilson, who often visits prisons. “You know what they call me in prison? Mommie Tommie.”

Giving people second chances is important to her. She headed up the in-school suspension program at Lewis and Clark Junior High and the Stay in School program at the Wesley House.

“It took the kids off the streets and gave them the support they needed to be able to go back into school to graduate with their classes.”

who had never even stepped foot on campus.”

She feels Metro is “a best kept secret” for first generation college students,” adding, “For affordable tuition you can get all the training and skills needed to be successful and have a sustainable life.”

The veteran volunteer counts her 15 years as a United Way Loaned Executive one of her most satisfying experiences in helping nurture a city that’s become dear to her.

At 79, Tommie Wilson finds satisfaction “being able to share my innermost passions, talking to people about their issues, trials and tribulations and teaching and guiding people to change their lives.”

What’s a good day for her?

“A good day is when I make a difference in the lives of others. Hardly a day goes by somebody doesn’t ask for advice.” , Read more of Leo Adam Biga’s work at leoadambiga.com.

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DEBBIE CHRISTENSEN

believer that not all job titles are created equal. Try to explore the opportunities by talking with the hiring manager or recruiter before writing off a job because the title didn’t fit what you were expecting.

Plasek: It almost always takes longer than you want and you want it yesterday. Also, you want to be actively working on your search and you want to be doing something every day, but that doesn’t mean you have to do everything every day. Hopefully, if you’re doing a lot of networking that can help things go faster because you have a lot of people championing your cause.

Victor: We have a very technical trade and the biggest part of our trade is trigonometry and algebra. When people think that I’m just some guy that wears a hard hat and swings a hammer and pushes a broom all day, well it’s a lot more technical than that. How to make people see that? I don’t know.

y continued from page 12

sources that can help you close any gaps you may have in your development and stay committed to soliciting and addressing feedback.

Plasek: Sometimes it’s fear of the unknown; the idea of having to investigate what’s out there is scary. (If you’re) comfortable in your current job, taking the next step a risky proposition. I see people at all stages of their lives making changes and anything is possible.

What do you wish job-seekers knew better as they aim to advance their careers?

Christensen: The physical jobs are most needed and paying better. They’re giving bonuses and they’re paying for their tools and paying for their education. It’s incredible. And (the employees) are very much needed, so it’s not like you won’t have a job someday; those are always jobs that are paid well no matter what the economy is.

If they’re going to college, really think about what they’re doing and figure out what they can do with their degree when they’re done.

Cribbs: Our tagline is “Discover your passion.” Discover what you love to do and find out your natural abili-

What do you wish employers knew better as they seek talent?

ties and talents. And then we ask students to engage in their education, meaning now you’re in a program of study but it’s more than reading the book and doing the homework. It’s doing an internship and finding an entry-level position into that field you’re interested in. And lastly is to navigate your career. That’s where it comes to networking with employers, using NE Works, using Intern Nebraska (internne.com). We have resources, we have employers who want to hire, but they also want people with relevant work experience.

Hamilton: I’d go back to self-awareness. If you have a career in mind, then you need to understand the skills that it will take to get you there and determine which areas you personally need to continue to develop. Sometimes you are better off considering a lateral move— or even a step backward—to gain the experiences and skills necessary to advance your career. I am also a firm

Do you remember the times of your life?

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Christensen: Something that’s important right now is looking at the pay that people are getting. That’s a huge issue now that the economy is turning around and people are going to be looking for the most pay.

The other thing: the truth is they’re going to have to look at other people, like people they laid off, or people who have criminal background or people who have health issues; (employers) are going to have to be a little more flexible and look at the requirements and see if they could work with those people. It used to be they could take the brightest and the best and well-trained, but we’re getting down to where (candidates) are not all in that category.

Hamilton: Potential is not on a resume. I encourage employers to dig deeper and ask the right questions to get at the intangibles, what really sets the candidate apart. continued on page 16 y

DEBRA S. KAPLAN

will be first generation high school graduates. So when they are talking about college, some of these kids may get scared. Antonio said they sometimes freak out because they are worried they will be alone in college and will not have the same level of support.

Some are not sure they can make it through, “Parents may not understand the pressure the student is under.

They may expect the student to work full time and do well in college too and sometimes that’s not possible,” he said.

Another challenge is the school’s high mobility rate.

Kids come and go all the time at South Omaha Magnet. Antonio said they had 400 new students since the beginning of the school year and more than 130 have since left. He believes it’s the highest mobility rate of any school in the district.

At his school, Antonio said student interest seems to be high in the healthcare field, specifically nursing. Other

ANTONIO PEREZ

B

efore kids even get to high school they are assigned a career cluster code in middle school. Antonio Perez, career counselor at South Omaha Magnet High School, those codes are run through a college and career readiness software system called Naviance so students may be matched up with potential career options.

But that’s not all, career counselors go into the classrooms, conduct lessons and offer students strength finders, career exploration surveys and interest surveys. It’s all meant to help students find a few choices for their future.

Some of this work is done inside of class and some outside, in both larger groups and small group settings.

“At the end of the day, making sure kids graduate from high school is great but the ultimate goal is to get them to that next step, whatever it is,” said Antonio.

He acknowledges not every student will do well on the same path and college isn’t for everyone. That’s why he feels it’s important to explore all the possibilities with his students.

Each and every one has the potential for a great future. He said they just need to find the road that’s right for them.

And that’s where Antonio comes in, “I tell my students what I see on your transcripts doesn’t tell me what you’re capable of and college is not necessarily the right choice for everyone. At South we do a good job of trying to explore all the avenues,” he said.

Students may take classes at the TAC building’s Career Center in subjects like auto tech, photography, broad-

casting and nursing. With these courses, students get hands-on experience and get a break from doing book work all day.

South Omaha Magnet also works with the Career Academy at Metro. Students enrolled there spend a half day in class at South and a half day doing hands on work at Metro.

Job Corps is another avenue available to students.

Where some kids are disciplined enough to go to a two year or four year college with less structure, some kids need more structure. Job Corps provides more assistance but still has the college type feel where students can work at their own pace.

Antonio helps those that have good grades and want to go to a four year school achieve their dreams. And he also helps those that maybe don’t have the best grades find some other possibilities to consider. He explained he wants make sure they have all the information they need to make the best decision possible.

South Omaha Magnet holds individual planning sessions with students every year. When they meet with juniors, the parents are invited to attend the session so that all choices may be considered for the student’s future.

“When I meet with them I ask what they want to do or what they are interested in, specifically what they can see themselves doing for a long time,” said Antonio.

He said there are some challenges specific to South Omaha Magnet High School. In their senior class, 40%

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career options that are popular include auto mechanics, business and the IT field.

He said kids are being properly educated in English and Spanish in the school’s dual language program.

Flexibility is key when thinking about a career. Antonio advises kids to think about what they are interested in but also to remain flexible. He recently talked with one student who wanted to become a nurse but after some quick research realized she could be paid more with less schooling as a pharmacy technician, a career field she had not even considered. So he tells students not to get stuck on one thing.

The school offers students the opportunity to job shadow each fall for juniors and seniors but Antonio said he is happy to set up job shadowing whenever a student wants to do it. It’s a great way to find out if a particular career may be right for a student.

Antonio said his favorite part of the job is helping kids be successful.

“I love to be a small part of it. They do the work and I help point them in the right direction,” he said. ,

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TERRY VICTOR

y continued from page 14

Plasek: It’s easy to overlook someone if they don’t make it through a training program or they don’t have exactly what’s in that job description, but it doesn’t mean they can’t do that job. They can pick it up, but it just takes some more training.

Victor: The biggest thing (contractors) are looking for is young, ambitious kids who are ready to learn a career and not just a job, and are ready to make a commitment. Is that who they always get? No. Some of the older apprentices have just done marvelous…it shows a lot of drive and desire.

What are employers doing to retain their current staff?

seekers who are trying to better or enrich their lives, but I think anything that you can do to meet students’ needs and support them through the process is a plus.

Christensen: Flexible hours. Young people like that; they don’t want weekends and holidays, so if you can figure out how that can be or avoid those. And of course everybody wants day shifts, which is not always easy, either. People want more input on their work to give their ideas and that type of thing.

Hamilton: Retention plans look very different across organizations based on the business model. Some employees stay because of their work/life balance, the benefits, the pay, et cetera, and others stay because of the development opportunities they are provided. The companies who recognize that there are a variety of reasons why employees are loyal to an employer are more likely to be successful at retaining those individuals.

Cribbs: What I’ve heard from many employers is that they’re offering the flexible scheduling, they have a tuition reimbursement program, they promote from within.

We have employers who are highly cognizant of job-

Plasek: Encourage (employees) to learn more and develop themselves as professionals by providing opportunities to get promoted; people are really looking for that. And being willing to let them change directions if

Get back to where you once belonged.

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they want to—I know that’s hard, because if you’re really good in one role they want to keep you where you are.

Victor: It isn’t money that will make you change from one contractor to the next; a lot of it has to do with the work environment…It’s the way you are treated, and I think the old-school management style of fear and intimidation doesn’t work. And maybe the management style of giving somebody a pat on the back and showing them appreciation for the work they do gets a guy to give the extra effort for them. That’s how you’re going to retain your workforce. , For the full text of the interviews, please visit thereader.com.

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art

artclass:

Art instructor Jamie Burmeister works with model and students in his sculpture class at Metropolitan Community College.

artfullysustained Editor’s Note: In April, Reader ran a feature on sustainable art, that is, art dedicated to drawing attention to social, economic and environmental issues. Beginning in May, we are publishing a two-part story on an issue even nearer and dearer to all in the creative class, artist sustainability. Part one below concentrates on non-degree colleges, programs and venues that enable especially emerging artists in their struggle to make a living with their art. Part two in June will concentrate more on other non-profits that help more established artists accomplish the same.

“S

tarving artist. Will paint for food!”

Whether a myth or a sign of the times, that thought must enter your mind every time you cross the intersection of 11th and Howard in the Old Market. Portrait painters, gangly guitar pickers and plaintive sax players, engaging magicians and the latest version of the Von Trapp Family aren’t there just for your amusement.

Sustainable art and performance for the benefit of society and the environment gets most of the attention today, but for all of the above competing for attention and more, making a living is an even bigger, more immediate issue.

The U. S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that in 2012 there were well over two million artists working in America. Only 10 percent of them labeled as fine artists including painters, sculptors and illustrators.

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art

MCC, UCA share common goal of helping emerging artists make a living, making art

BY MICHAEL J. KRAINAK

The National Endowment for the Arts says of the 200,000 or so fine artists, roughly 35 percent of them are self-employed, that is, making a living primarily with their art. The BLS estimates another 25 percent work within art museums and centers or as curators and gallery owners, or in other arts related fields even as they create art. Some 30 percent have jobs in nonrelated fields or are supported by their spouses, families or patrons.

The remaining under-employed artists one assumes — as statistics here are vague — work part-time in an arts-related job or can often be heard saying: “Can I supersize that for you?” or “Two percent or non-fat with your latte?”

Despite these sobering statistics, four-year colleges graduate more than 120,00 arts majors annually in all fields according to Strategic National Arts Alumni Projects (SNAAP). Though the NEA reports that full-time fine and studio artists make 15 percent less than comparably educated professionals in other fields consider this.

In a 2011 Economist article, Alex Tabarrok, a George Mason University economist said that in 2009 the U.S. graduated 89,140 in the visual and performing arts alone, more than in computer science, math and chemical engineering combined. And more than double the number who graduated in 1985.

Even as their numbers continue to increase, the main goal of each fine and studio arts major is sustainability: how to make a living selling their art. Yet, though their degrees may have shaped their skill and talent, many hopeful and emerging artists soon learn that viability in the market place is another matter often not addressed with their BFA or MFA. Sustainability requires adapting to a changing market where showing and selling one’s art has changed radically. For that knowledge many emerging artists of all ages are turning to non-degree or non-profit programs in order to avoid being that “starving artist.”

Two such resources, at times working together toward similar goals, are the Metro Tech Community College and The Union for Creative Art. MCC offers its Certificate of Achievement in Entrepreneurship for artists and UCA makes available several programs including internships, Support for Artist workshops, fellowships and an exhibition program.

MCC’s certificate includes courses specifically designed to prepare artists for a professional career as a studio artist such as Creative Careers, Art Gallery Management, Internship and Portfolio Development and Professional Practices. In addition to these art courses, the certificate also includes business entrepre-

neurship courses that help students develop a specific business plan.

“This is one of the few programs in the area specifically designed to provide artists with business skills,” said Anne Burton, MCC arts instructor in Creative Careers. “The certificate provides business and marketing skills for artists who are looking for help dealing with the practical issues related to making a living as a creative professional.

“MCC is in a unique place to offer art education for artists at all points in their careers. We have students who are straight out of high school, students with a four year degree who are looking for some additional career and professional readiness, to people who are long practicing artists and want to stay up to speed with business and/or technology.”

Burton, a printmaker and painter herself, said that information is key to succeeding as an artist. As an art student she did not understand the context of the art world.

“It was all very mysterious,” she said. “How do I show my work? How does anyone make a living this way? Like so many artists, I felt like I made it all the way through my MFA without actually ever learning about practical survival as an artist. After leaving the nurturing, but also highly theory based, programs at many schools the financial reality of being an artist can be pretty scary.”

Burton helped MCC develop the Professional Practices course which helps one put together a professional looking portfolio. Students learn about practical issues like photographing their artwork, writing an art-

ist statement, creating a website, using social media to market their work and how to submit their work to galleries. And they visit professional artists’ studios and galleries here in Omaha to connect with the reality of life as an artist in the Omaha area.

Those interested can also take Art Gallery Management where students participate in all aspects of running the Gallery of Art and Design at MCC on the Elkhorn campus. This includes the entire curatorial process from selecting artists to hanging the work as well as writing press releases and marketing the exhibition.

Jamie Burmeister, a successful exhibiting artist who teaches Professional Practices and Portfolio Development at MCC, knows from personal experience that most professional artists spend 50 percent of their time making art and the other 50 percent of their working time doing documentation, promotion, networking and book keeping. Though his class concentrates on both, he says there are two main obstacles each artist faces in order to be sustainable, and the solution to the first can’t be taught.

“First, the artist must be able to wake up each day and have the motivation to make his or her work,” Burmeister said. “Second, they must be able to find a way to make enough money that they can continue to wake up each day and have the motivation to make their work. There are no rules about how to do this.

We visit many professional artists so the students can see how others sustain an art practice. I like to emphasize that the only artists that succeed are the ones that keep making art.”

Abe Jackson is an artist who Burmeister believes has made a successful career after MCC because “he consistently finds ways to make and exhibit great art.” A large part of that success is due to Jackson’s determination to incorporate art into both his personal and business life. For him art is less a means of economic sustainability and more a way of feeding something else.

“Art is a special part of my life and defines a lot of who I am,” Jackson said, “ but I decided early in my life that I would not be dependent on art to meet my financial needs, at least while I was raising a family.”

A mixed media artist by choice, by trade he is a data analyst who “looks for those opportunities to make (art) a part of my job. Maps, graphs, custom program interfaces, etc. are acceptable visual art forms that make my daily work life creative and appreciated.” He credits MCC for giving him the tools to make this possible.

“It was especially helpful for me to learn how to use the graphic art software and the updated printing equipment,” Jackson said. “Understanding how to use the Internet and communicate through computers is really helping me now. The Metro Community College offers a course in printing 3D objects, and that class is on my (to do) list.”

Besides expanding one’s knowledge and skills on the job or in school, Jackson advises artists to be “a part of some creative group. It is important to be able to share ideas with others. I may have completed a milestone at school, but I will always consider it an important source for learning new ideas, methods and expanding relationships.”

One such venue for professional and artistic growth in these areas is The Union for Creative Art, dedicated to, among other things, serving emerging artist needs not necessarily met by traditional, educational programs in the Metro. Artist sustainability is key to its mission. UCA Program Manager Paige Reitz says that the idea of a “starving artist” stems from the historical tradition of undervaluing artists and their work.

“While there are many successful artists and ways to make means meet as a full-time artist, there is still a common struggle among artists that feel like they are not valued, or their work isn’t valued, or that they cannot make a comfortable living off their work,” Reitz said. “Just a small example, of all the Union Fellows we’ve served, only two were full-time artists making a modest living off their art.

“We can work to empower local artists and offer them opportunities to dig deeper into their creative practice and provide a community of cheerleaders to continued on page 20 y

art

| THE READER |

globetrotter: Artist Abe Jackson shares his varied world travels and global vision with painting, “Montparnasse.”

showtime:

Union Fellow Luke Polipnick (at right)chats with a curious visitor during Open Studios at The Union for Contemporary Art.

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offer support and advice and connect them to resources in Nebraska…and possibly feed them through that growth in their creative work.”

She realizes that The Union will never fully change how society values and views the role of artists. But she thinks UCA’s Support for Artists workshops that focus on providing professional development, such as building an online portfolio, finding grant resources and preparing taxes, go a long way toward building confidence and how artists value themselves.

“These provide information that can help local artists grow the side of making art that is less creative,” Reitz said, “but possibly more self-sustaining in terms of finding more monetary support.”

Besides its workshops and fellowships, UCA collaborates with MCC by accepting its interns who get firsthand experience in networking in the Metro community with the sort of “arts group” that Jackson advised emerging artists seek out. One such intern is student Shelby Bockman, a painter/printmaker, who says she has made the most of her opportunities.

“I have been lucky enough to observe how a co-op organization is run,” Bockman said. “I also help with its Saturday’s youth outreach art club, overlook the Wanda Denise Ewing gallery (UCA), as well as a plethora of other jobs the non-profit organization has for me. Since studying art at Metro, my work has evolved and my ability to create and talk about the art I make has immensely improved.”

The 21-year-old Bockman will graduate this fall with her Certificate of Achievement and like many emerging artists she is eager for but wary of what the future holds for her and her art.

union girl: “Untitled,” a work by Shelby Bockman, a former student of Metro Tech art instructor Anne Burton and fellow artist at The Union for Contemporary Art.

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art

“My biggest challenge is not knowing where I’ll be in five months or five years,” she said. “As a young artist just entering this cruel world of dismissal, I’ll admit I’m scared. Can I make a living creating art? I don’t know.

But why wouldn’t I try before I give up?”

Bockman and other arts students of all sorts shouldn’t be too discouraged about life after graduation as The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the unemployment rate for fine artists in 2013 to be 4.6 percent, well under the 6.6 percent overall. The SNAAP DataBrief also says, whether self-employed or not, arts graduates are “lucky, they start businesses work multiple jobs, work across sectors and disciplines. In short, arts graduates approach their careers the way they approach their art — they use every tool available to them, every resource, every connection in order to exert their will and their vision in the world.”

And what’s more, according to SNAAP, artists are among the happiest professionals, happier than lawyers, financial managers and high school teachers. For many artists, there is very little relationship between satisfaction and the amount of money they earn. It appears that artists of all ages are starving for something more.

“Artists are starving, yes, but they are not starving for food,” Bockman said. “They are starving for success and hungry for acceptance within the world of art.”

As for the veteran Jackson, “I’m enjoying my life as an artist. I’m 64 and feel like I’m just starting. At this point I get to choose my projects, and I have several in process.”

All he says he needs is “time and space to create my art.” ,

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‘gethairy: These two pieces are featured in Catherine Ferguson’s exhibit, “Hair,” currently at the Garden of the Zodiac gallery in the Old Market Passageway until May 11.

Hairraising

art

Y

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MAY 2015

ou don’t have to be a market analyst to know that we love us our hair. Worldwide, tens of billions of dollars are lavished annually on hair care products alone; add to that the amount then spent on the industry of stylists who keep us looking well groomed and handsomely coifed, and you have numbers larger than the GNP of many countries.

It is also a medium that vexes us. For every property about it we may prize, we spend a great deal of time working to overcome those aspects we don’t, whether it be color, volume, or placement as well as the host of qualities that come under the heading of “manageability.”

This is not a new obsession. For millennia, the hair on our bodies has represented an ever-changing standard of beauty, power and wealth. It is the stuff of stories from the ages. The seductive Delilah robbed Samson of his strength by conspiring to cut off his locks.

Rapunzel’s golden tresses were (obliquely) her ladder to freedom. Though the tax-protesting purpose of her ride is long forgotten, there’s also Lady Godiva, who infamously rode horseback through town naked, clothed only in her own mane of hair.

Perhaps what this preamble demonstrates is that hair is important to us and reveals a great deal about ourselves and how we project ourselves to the

| THE READER |

art

Ferguson’s 3D tresses tease all things hirsute B Y J A N E T FA R B E R

world. So it should stand to reason that hair used as a medium in art might raise questions about the who, what, where and why of the person from whom it might have come. Or at least that’s what compelled artist Catherine Ferguson in her latest explorations for the Moving Gallery, now on view at the Garden of the Zodiac.

Omaha-based Ferguson is a sculptor and installation artist who has in her considerable career challenged herself to create new bodies of work at frequent junctures. She has worked in glass, bronze, steel, willow, rock, light, sound and found materials, to name but a few. Though hair is a new direction, it reminds that her work often entwines organic elements with the associated cultural memories of objects to create evocative sculptural art.

The sculptures and assemblages in this show are all recent, but the result of an idea that intrigued Ferguson nearly three years ago. A relic from this time (word chosen quite intentionally) is the untitled piece consisting of a white-painted braid laid into a narrow wooden box and hung on the wall. It has the distinct quality of a memento, a reliquary—of something special, meaningful, even sacred that lives on by being preserved and kept as a treasure.

We have various time-honored rituals involving the saving of a loved ones tresses, whether sweet

evidence of baby’s first haircut, or a snipping from a husband or son going off to war. Though clearly contemporary, many of Ferguson’s works—especially the boxes of coiled braids—call to mind the hair art of the Victorian period in which the creation of woven jewelry, small sculptures and elaborate framed wreaths made (primarily) from the hair of a deceased family member achieved highly desired, fine craft status.

In fact, the second gallery of the show is hung with a number of investigations into the conjunction of hair and wood. Each organic material, Ferguson points out, is capable of regeneration when cut, although such growth is only implied in the works themselves.

In some works, the hair cascades loosely from a box, delicately wafting in the air currents created

by HVAC and passers-by. In others, hanks peek out or appear to be caught in crevices or tightly closed lids. There’s also an interesting tension in these pieces between formal control (the structure of boxes and styled hair) and the emotive qualities of sentiment and remembrance that they conjure.

Two strong sculptural works also inhabit this back space. C-Hair is a small wooden chair that has been covered in thick tufts of dark hair and bristles with a strong energy. Similarly, Cabinet of the Hunter turns a found dartboard box, animallike furniture legs and a hide-like pelt of hair into a sly and charming totem.

These improbable combinations with their untamed wildness, hirsute sensuality and dark humor call to mind much Surrealist sculpture, especially Meret Oppenheim’s classic Fur Lined Teacup. “Art has to do with spirit, not decoration,” the Swiss artist once said, and in these works, the animism is especially strong.

In the front gallery, Ferguson uses hair as her sole medium. Because the strands lose the association with their box “receivers” (to use an antique term for a hair-saving jar), these works are more decidedly conceptual and edgier. Mound is a great nearly hemispherical armature of blonde braids and dreads, with a corresponding tangled pile of plaits on the floor off to the side.

The mass of its twined tresses gives it a certain Medusa-like vibe.

Ferguson also explores the idea of hair creating a drawing effect on the wall, like shadowy pencil or charcoal gestures. Toward that end, Net is a grouping of cascading and delicately woven strands; Inkspots is a linear wall installation in clumps of black hair.

Of course, what hasn’t been said is just this— HAIR in art? Real or synthetic (and most of the works in the show use artificial hair), there is just something about its separateness from the body that is either intriguing and attractive or eerie and repulsive to viewers. To be sure, there is a definite sense of play, mystery, surreal tension and open-endedness to the works that does not resolve easily to those for whom the cuttings are just too creepy. For those willing to tease it out, there’s much to ponder amid these familiar yet disquieting forms. , Catherine Ferguson: Hair continues at the Garden of the Zodiac until May 11 at 1042 Howard Street in the Old Market Passageway.

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PHOTOS BY MARINA ROSADO

‘workinit: A diverse cast of ac-

culture

tors works on the plays for the next GPTC under the direction of M. Michele Phillips.

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fisouthstories P

erhaps more than any geographic quadrant of the city, South Omaha owns the richest legacy as a livestock-meatpacking industry hub and historic home to new arrivals fixated on the American Dream.

Everyone with South O ties has a story. When some playwrights sat down to interview four such folks, tales flowed. Using the subjects’ own words and drawing from research, the playwrights, together with New York director Josh Hecht, have crafted a night of theater for this year’s Great Plains Theatre Conference’s Neighborhood Tapestries.

Omaha’s M. Michele Phillips directs this collaborative patchwork of South Omaha Stories.

The 7:30 p.m. show May 27 at the Livestock Exchange Building ballroom is part of GPTC’s free PlayFest slate celebrating different facets of Neb. history and culture. In the case of South O, each generation has distinct experiences but recurring themes of diversity and aspiration appear across eras.

Lucy Aguilar and Batula Hilowle are part of recent migration waves to bring immigrants and refugees here. Aguilar came as a child from Mexico with her undocumented mother and siblings in pursuit of a better life. Hilowle and her siblings were born and raised in a Kenya refugee camp.

They relocated here with their Somali mother via

| THE READER |

culture

Theater conference’s Neighborhood Tapestries returns to the south side

BY LEO ADAM BIGA

humanitarian sponsors. In America, Batula and her family enjoy new found safety and stability.

Aguilar, 20, is a South High graduate attending the University of Nebraska at Omaha. GPTC associate artistic director and veteran Omaha playwright Scott Working interviewed her. Hilowle, 19, is a senior at South weighing her college options.

Harlem playwright Kia Corthron interviewed her.

A Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) work permit recipient, Aguilar is tired of living with a conditional status hanging over head. She feels she and fellow Dreamers should be treated as full citizens. State law has made it illegal for Dreamers to obtain drivers licenses.

“I’m here just like everybody else trying to make something out of my life, trying to accomplish goals, in my case trying to open a business,” and be successful in that,” Aguilar says.

She’s active in Young Nebraskans for Action that advocates restrictions be lifted for Dreamers.

She follows her heart in social justice matters.

“Community service is something I’m really passionate about.”

She embraces South O as a landing spot for many peoples. “There’s so much diversity and nobody has a problem with it.”

Hilowle appreciates the diversity, too. “You see Africans like me, you see African Americans,

Asians, Latinos, whites all together. It’s something you don’t see when you go west.”

Both young women find it a friendly environment. “It’s a very open, helpful community,” Aguilar says. “There are so many organizations that advocate to help people. If I’m having difficulties at home or school or work, I know I’ll have backup. I like that.”

“It’s definitely warm and welcoming,” Hilowle says. “It feels like we’re family. There’s no room for hate.”

Hilowle says playwright Kia Corthon was particularly curious about the transition from living in a refuge camp to living in America.

“She wanted to know what was different and what was familiar. I can tell you there was plenty of differences.”

Hilowle has found most people receptive to her story of struggle in Africa and somewhat surprised by her gratitude for the experience.

“Rather than try to make fun of me I think they want to get to know me. I’m not ashamed to say I grew up in a refugee camp or that we didn’t have our own place. It made me better, it made me who I am today. Being in America won’t change who I am. My kids are going to be just like me because I am just like my mom.” continued on page 26y

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y continued from page 24

She says the same fierce determination that drove her mother to save the family from war in Somalia is in her.

About the vast differences between life there and here, she says, “Sometimes different isn’t so bad.” She welcomes opportunities “to share something about where I come from or about my religion (Muslim) and why I cover my body with so many clothes.”

Aguilar, a business major seeking to open a South O juice shop, likes that her and Hilowle’s stories will be featured in the same program.

“We have very different backgrounds but I’m pretty sure our future goals are the same. We’re very motivated about what we want to do.”

Similar to Lucy, Batula likes helping people.

She’s planning a pre-med track in college.

The young women think it’s important their stories will be presented alongside those of much older residents with a longer perspective.

Virgil Armendariz, 68, who wrote his own story, can attest South O has long been a melting pot. He recalls as a youth the international flavors and aromas coming from homes of different ethnicities he delivered papers to and his learning to say “collect” in several languages.

“You could travel the world by walking down 36th street on Sunday afternoon. From Q Street to just past Harrison you could smell those dinners cooking. The Irish lived up around Q Street, Czechs, Poles, and Lithuanians were

‘M.MICHELE PHILLIPS

mixed along the way. Then Bohemians’ with a scattering of Mexicans.”

He remembers the stockyards and Big Four packing plants and all the ancillary businesses that dominated a square mile right in the heart of the community. The stink of animal refuse permeating the Magic City was called the Smell of Money. Rough trade bars and whorehouses served a sea of men. The sheer volume of livestock meant cows and pigs occasionally broke loose to cause havoc. He recalls unionized packers striking for better wages and safer conditions.

Joseph Ramirez, 89, worked at Armour and Co. 15 years. He became a local union leader there and that work led him into a human services career. New York playwright Michael Garces interviewed Ramirez.

Ramirez and Armendariz both faced discrimination. They dealt with bias by either confronting it or shrugging it off. Both men found pathways to better themselves – Ramirez as a company man and Armendariz as an entrepreneur.

While their parents came from Mexico, South Omaha Stories participant, Dorothy Patach, 91, traces her ancestry to the former Czechoslovakia region. Like her contemporaries of a certain age, she recalls South O as a once booming place, then declining with the closure of the Big Four plants, before its redevelopment and immigrant-led business revival the last few decades.

Patach says people of varied backgrounds generally found ways to co-exist though she acknowledges undocumented immigrants were not always welcome.

New York playwright Ruth Margraff interviewed her.

She and the men agree what united people was a shared desire to get ahead. How families and individuals went about it differed, but hard work was the common denominator.

Scott Working says the details in the South O stories are where universal truths lay.

“It is in the specifics we recognize ourselves, our parents, our grandparents,” he says, “and we see they have similar dreams that we share.

It’s a great experience.”

He says the district’s tradition of diversity “has kept it such a vibrant place.” He suspects the show will be “a reaffirmation for the people that live there and maybe an introduction to people from West Omaha or North Omaha.” He adds, “My hope is it will make people curious about where they’re from, too. It’s kind of what theater does – it gives us a connection to humanity and tells us stories we find value in and maybe we learn something and feel something.” , The Livestock Exchange Building is at 4920 S. 30th St. Next year’s Neighborhood Tapestries event returns to North Omaha. For PlayFest and conference details, visit www.mccneb.edu/gptc. Read more of Leo Adam Biga’s work at leoadambiga.com.

If Your Neighbor Smokes,

SO DO YOU. Live smoke-free at RentSmokeFree.org

www.midtownlivingtour.com

Green Slate Development ◦ Urban Village ◦ Spaces Apartments ◦ Midtown Crossing Discover midtown Omaha’s dynamic urban lifestyle with guided tours of condominium and apartment models. Produced in partnership with Midtown Crossing, Green Slate Development, Spaces Apartments and Urban Village Development.

MAY 2015

| THE READER |

An initiative of

This project is supported in part by Region 6 Behavioral Healthcare through funding provided by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services/Tobacco Free Nebraska Program as a result of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement.

www.midtownlivingtour.com

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It’s not just the odor, smoking can release harmful chemicals into the air you breathe. Even if you don’t share an apartment with someone who smokes, you share the air with your neighbors who do. Smoke-free apartments throughout the Omaha metro are just a click away at RentSmokeFree.org

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O m ah a R ol le rg ir ls vs . P ik es P ea k D er by D am

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*details regarding Booster Club incentives will be provided prior to game day | THE READER |

MAY 2015

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Through May 24 THE DESIGNATED MOURNER Opens Friday, May 8 The Mastercraft Building, Suite 106, 1111 North 13th Street Fri.-Sat. 7:30 p.m., Thurs. (14, 21) 7:30 p.m., Sun. (17, 24) 2:00 p.m., $20-$25 www.bsbtheatre.com

Friday, May 1 SEALED WITH A KISS 2005-2010 Sweatshop Gallery, 2727 North 62nd Street 7:00 p.m. www.sweatshopgallery.com Take every option available for May’s Benson First Fridays celebration and make it second on your list compared to what Sweatshop Gallery has in store. Their next show, Sealed with a Kiss 2005-2010, features a five-year visual correspondence between two Omaha art staples, Kenneth Adkins and J.J. Carroll, who do not show work regularly. This is a rare chance to look into a long-time friendship and the things they felt comfortable drawing on postcards and envelopes before dropping them in the mail for some poor postal worker to deliver. It should also be mentioned that this pair have almost no filter between them and this type of dirt-bag art rarely gets

DOUBLE VISION

Through May 10 CHARLOTTE’S WEB The Rose Theater, 2001 Farnam Street Fri. 7:00 p.m., Sat. 2:00 p.m. & 5:00 p.m., Sun. 2:00 p.m., $18, www.rosetheater.org Back in the early 19th Century when Little Miss Muffett abandoned her tuffet, foregoing her curds and whey, few people had ever heard of arachnophobia. For many decades such creatures were despised and destroyed. Yet ancient Asian cultures cherish them as sacred guardians of homes and hearths. In 1952 E.B. White came up with a story for young people about a benign spider, Charlotte, who cherishes the goodness of a pig named Wilbur and weaves a magic web to save him from becoming food for humans. As Charlotte’s life inevitably ebbs, Wilbur protects her newborns who all love him as much as she did.

Perhaps you know this story. There can be beauty and there can be heartbreak in such a circle of life.

— Gordon Spencer Tuesday, May 12 - May 17 ONCE Orpheum Theater, 409 South 16th Street 7:30 p.m., $30-$85 www.ticketomaha.com

SEALED WITH A KISS

an audience in this town. The opportunity to get an intimate look at what two artists, who have made countless questionable life decisions, drew for each other is to good to waste. Their Facebook event page says it best, “5 years of mail between two degenerates.”

— Joel Damon

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MAY 2015

Maybe you tried to buy show tickets on Broadway a few years ago and discovered that only two hits demanded full price: Book of Mormon and ONCE. All the rest were half price and that’s about what you’ll pay now in Omaha to see this award-winning love story of the Irish musician and Czech immigrant. A half dozen groups that hand out accolades for the best musical picked this romance where the actors all play their instruments on stage. After a run of 1,100 performances in Manhattan, it makes the local debut of the music and lyrics of Glen Hansard, which won an Oscar for the film version. The book by Enda Walsh has also won honors, combining with Hansard’s songs to celebrate life and love that grows from the couple’s musical collaboration.

— Warren Francke

| THE READER |

picks

Sunday, May 17 WATIE WHITE MURAL, YOU ARE HERE Park Ave Tower, 1340 Park Ave 2:00 p.m.

Opening Reception: Wednesday, May 20 4:00 p.m. www.watiewhite.com Fresh off community-based art projects in North Omaha in the last three years, artist Watie White is ready to launch his latest effort on behalf of Midtown, specifically in the Park Avenue area. On May 17, a mural, 80’ tall and 40’ wide and created by White, will be unveiled on the north face of the Park Ave Tower. It will take place in conjunction with a neighborhood block party from 2:00-5:00 p.m. co-sponsored with InCommon, an organization dedicated to uniting and building stronger Omaha neighborhoods. The mural features 28 portraits of specific people who live on or work on Park Ave, all nominated by other residents of the community. It also depicts specific contemporary trees of Hanscom Park as well as its neighborhood setting. White says the mural is the result of extensive community interviews, “a personal process of trying to find the area of common ground between the values of the diverse people and perspectives I encountered. The result is an attempt to make those values as specific as possible-the individual people and personalities which give Park Avenue its flavor, which steward it to an optimistic future and share the history of the community.” Initially, the artist designed and printed 10 posters based on portraits of the people he met and interviewed. The posters were a mix of drawn elements, photographs and first person text where the models would talk about their lives in the neighborhood, their perspectives and hopes. Then White held a series of public forums to have a slightly different conversation with larger groups of residents and business owners, all with the intention of getting a grasp of how the community saw itself, what they loved and wanted to hold onto most.

— Michael J. Krainak

You might contend that plays by Wallace Shawn are an acquired taste. He dwells in long conversations, words and thoughts from self-contemplative minds. In the case of the three souls revealed in 1996’s The Designated Mourner the ruminations subtly but gradually reveal some kind of perverted version of our own society. You may have seen the 1997 David Hare-directed film starring Mike Nichols, Miranda Richardson, and David de Keyser. Now it comes to life here via Brigit Saint Brigit Theatre Company, used to taking risks, used to the unusual. Bear in mind that, at this stage, our lives are not condemned, but rather we are forced to look inside one man’s increasingly guilty assessment of his participation in his society. A culture of secretive public monitoring of private lives. By talking directly to us, his words tell us how we could turn into someone like him, even if our society has not yet reached the horrible dimensions of his.

He is Jack. He loves Judy. He secretly resents her father Howard. Each of them will talk to you. Sometimes even talk to each other. Witnessing is a form of participation.

Once outside in the night, see if what you’ve seen gives you chills.

— Gordon Spencer Through May 30 BETWEEN THE LINES Modern Arts Midtown, 3615 Dodge Street Opening Reception: Friday, May 1 6:00-8:00 p.m.

Gallery Hours: Tues.-Sat. 11:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. www.modernartsmidtown.com Between the Lines, the May exhibit at Modern Arts Midtown, highlights Lincoln artist Judith Burton and includes current works by artists John Andrews, Gary Day, Michael Tegland and Colin Smith. This show offers a continuing opportunity for viewing outstanding contemporary regional work. Burton’s aesthetic focuses on the formal

issues of painting: namely exploration and reinvention of form, surface texture, muted color and close value changes. Her images while often WATIE WHITE MURAL representational usually lie somewhere between the tangible and the abstract. Within those boundaries, she says she is “concerned with the subtle discoveries about the natural world.” She is well known and honored regionally and nationally for her prolific career in modernist painting. Her work is in both public and private collections including the Museum of Nebraska Art in Kearney and Sheldon Museum of Art in Lincoln.

— Eddith Buis Through May 30 PETE WROBLEWSKI Connect Gallery, 3901 Leavenworth Street Opening Reception: Friday, May 15 5:00-9:00 pm Gallery Hours: Wed.-Sat. 11:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. www.connectgallery.net Pete Wroblewski’s latest bronze sculpture exhibit opens May 5 with an opening reception May 15. Wroblewski’s long-time production of figurative work continues in this venue until May 30, with the added use of descriptive words (ex: languid and attitude) to enrich the resulting approach.

Starting with sketches on paper, his ideas are then realized in either clay or wax. After being cast in bronze at Les Bruning’s foundry at Hot Shops Galleries, Wroblewski takes over to grind, polish and add the patina (color) to complete the extensive process on each piece. Wroblewski spent seven years in Greece while in the Air Force and was able to frequent the Palace of Knossos and the Parthenon as well as the Minoan ruins innumerable times. What a great background for a future sculptor to have. Then being assigned to Offutt Air Base, he started working in studio art to earn his BFA at Bellevue College. He found his calling: sculpture.

— Eddith Buis Through June 7 OUR TOWN Blue Barn Theatre, 614 South 11th Street Opens Thursday, May 7 Thurs.-Sat. 7:30 p.m., Sun. 6:00 p.m. (no shows May 10 and 24), $20-$25 www.bluebarn.org This Thornton Wilder classic hit Broadway in 1938, Omaha in 1939, film and radio in 1940 with Orson Welles in the stage manager role and now Nils Haaland plays that lead in the final play in the Old Market before the Blue Barn moves to its new space next fall. Over the decades, the likes of Hal Holbrook, Paul Newman and Frank Sinatra preceded Haaland on television. Here he joins a cast directed by Susan Clement Toberer featuring Ron Chvala and Julie Huff as Mr. and Mrs. Webb, with Mike Markey and Moira Mangiameli as Dr. and Mrs. Gibbs. Even the “town people” include such stellar players as Dennis and Susie Collin, and Mark Thornburg. Once the Soviets banned it in Berlin as too depressing, but they missed the power that brings it back and attracts these talents after more than 75 years. Now a new generation can meet the folks who live in Grover’s Corners.

— Warren Francke

Through June 7 WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? Omaha Community Playhouse, 6915 Cass Street Opens Friday, May 8 Thurs.-Sat. 7:30 p.m., Sun. 2:00 p.m., $22-$36 www.omahaplayhouse.org A song from Walt Disney’s Three Little Pigs seems an unlikely title for a dark, searing, epithet-laden play about two nasty, battling wedded protagonists. But so be it. Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962) explores those craggy rocks. And evidently does it so memorably that it garnered a Tony Award for Best Play and the similar New York Drama Circle Award. Two actors in the cast also won Tonys and two Oscars went to members of the 1966 movie. Clearly there’s a whole lot of earth-shaking going on. Omaha Community Playhouse digs into it. As the middle aged husband and wife slug out marriage frustrations, they involve a previously innocent younger couple.

“It exploded like a stealth bomb on Broadway, establishing Mr. Albee as the most important American playwright of his generation and setting a brave new standard for truth-telling — not to mention expletive-spewing — in the decorous world of the commercial theater” wrote Charles Isherwood in the New York Times. It was up for a Pulitzer but lost votes due to what was then considered too much profanity and too much sexual provocation. In these modern times it’s labeled as “intended for mature audiences.”

Fasten your seatbelts; it’s going to be a bumpy night.

— Gordon Spencer Through June 7 DOUBLE VISION RNG Gallery, 157 West Broadway, Council Bluffs Opens Saturday, May 9 6:00-9:00 p.m. www.dixiequicks.com The artist and gallerist Rob Gilmer created his alter ego Dressor Newton as a vehicle for asking questions as well as exhibiting new work. How is our response to a work of art shaped by our sense of the artist who created it? How much do the conventions of art affect our view of the world around us? Gilmer and Newton (the boundaries between the two are still being negotiated as of this writing) surfaces again and adds another layer to this inquiry by invoking the role of curator. What is being curated, however, is not a collection of art works (or is it?) but rather a large stash of photographs taken by insurance company photographers to document the properties subject to their policies. Gilmer’s own photographs, often of ancient structures in exotic places, are juxtaposed with more prosaic images of real estate from the insurance files. These often quite formalist depictions have been chosen by “Newton” with the intention of setting off visual echoes where one might least inspect them.

Murphy at Project Project in April, followed by Gallery 72 with its upcoming offering Art in Motion: Animations by the AniMutts, beginning May 22 with a reception from 5-9pm at 1806 Vinton Street. The exhibition will feature computer and stop-motion animations by the AniMutts collaborative group, made of up artists Rebecca Hermann, Peggy Reinecke and Tom Sain. Additionally, animation photographs will be shown. This threesome is known in the area for their individual efforts in painting and installation (Hermann), creative design, drawing and sound (Sain), and visual and verbal storytelling (Reinecke). They came together in the spirit of play to experiment with the creative potential of animated media. The AniMutts debuted their work at the Film Streams Local Filmmakers Showcase in 2010 and presented new work recently at the Fred Simon Gallery.

— Janet L. Farber Through June 21 CALENDAR GIRLS SNAP Productions, 3225 California Street Opens Thursday, May 28 Thurs.-Sat. 8:00 p.m., Sun. 6:00 p.m. and Sun. June 21 2:00 p.m., $10-$15 www.snapproductions.com “Snap!” could be the sound of a garter being fastened. Or unfastened. Or it could be the unhooking of a bra. You’re likely to hear such sounds; SNAP Productions is offering a comedy about English women stripping. Older women.

Doing so for good causes, you see. Calendar Girls is about an actual Yorkshire charity project, a fundraiser, which, of course, also raised eyebrows. This is a comedy about middle-aged ladies, “possibly the least fashionable, least pursued, most disregarded of all demographics” according to The Guardian. And is based on what became a true national sensation, attracting heaps of newspersons to a small village where such massive attention and fame unsettled those well-meaning women. First it surfaced as a 2003 hit film grossing $96,000,000 worldwide following its theatrical release on this side of The Atlantic. Then cowriter Tim Firth aimed for more cash flows by adapting it for the stage in 2008. That broke the all time British box office record for a play and has since spanned the globe. And it has raised massive funds for charities, as was the original calendar’s intention. Hearts of gold. FYI: Firth is also the co-writer of the play Kinky Boots, likewise based on a real life story. Don’t expect full frontal nudity, eh, chaps?

— Gordon Spencer

“BLUE LADY” - ANIMUTTS

Through June 28 SPAMALOT Omaha Community Playhouse, 6915 Cass Street Opens Thursday, May 28 Wed.-Sat. 7:30 p.m., Sun. 2:00 p.m., $25-$40 www.OmahaPlayhouse.org “There’s simply not a more congenial spot, for happilyever-aftering than Camelot.” They dine well there, eat ham and jam and spam a lot. As does Lancelot. (Apologies to Frederick Loewe.) I say! How did Spam get into Camelot?

Did they serve canned meat at the Round Table? Certainly they had can openers. To get out of their armor. But Armour foods had nothing to do with that ham by-product.

That was Hormel. Forsooth. Let’s get down to the real meat of the matter before you embark on your quest to discover hilarity at Omaha Community Playhouse. Monty Python’s Eric Idle transformed the 1975 movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail into this 2005 triple-Tony Award winning musical. Python lovers may recognize snips and snaps of such indelibles as the Ministry of Silly Walks, the Dead Parrot Sketch, the Lumberjack Song, the Fisch Schlapping Song and “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” where Brian formerly hung out with a cross.

— Gordon Spencer

JUDITH BURTON’S “THE PINK BOWL”

— David Thompson Through June 13 ART IN MOTION: ANIMATIONS BY THE ANIMUTTS Gallery 72, 1806 Vinton Street Opening Reception Friday, May 22 5:00 p.m.

Gallery Hours: Wed.-Sat., 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. www.gallery72.com In a world filled with YouTube, Vine, Vimeo or whatever the latest and greatest source of shared video, it seems increasingly odd that we don’t get to see much in the way of anything calling itself Video Art in the Metro. Vinton Street seems to be coming to the rescue, first with R.T.

picks

| THE READER |

MAY 2015

29

heartlandhealing and get high: happy dirt is nature’s Prozac

BY MICHAEL BRAUNSTEIN

R

HEARTLAND HEALING is a metaphysically based polemic describing alternatives to conventional methods of healing the body, mind and planet by MICHAEL BRAUNSTEIN. It is provided as information and entertainment, certainly not medical advice. Important to remember and pass on to others: for a weekly dose of Heartland Healing, visit HeartlandHealing.com. .

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ecently we wrote about the human proclivity to kill everything. We called the cause of this behavior “biophobia” or a fear of life. We stomp on bugs, sometimes just because we can. We hunt giant mammals and shoot them for sport. We kill other humans for a variety of reasons. And everywhere, we try to eliminate every bacteria or virus we possibly can in the mistaken belief that it will keep us safe and healthy. The unvarnished truth is that the more we kill, the less healthy we become. And that goes for killing bacteria and viruses.

One common bacteria in particular (and logic would deem others) improves our mood, increases our ability to learn and boosts our immune system. One need not venture further than the back yard or a stroll through a verdant countryside to meet up with this germ.

Dirty secret. Each year about this time, as winter fades into memory and we spend more time outdoors, I’ll find myself with an opportunity to mention Mycobacterium vaccae in casual conversation. Myco, as I’ll call it, is one of the majority of bacteria on the planet that harbors us humans no ill will. In fact, Myco is not only benign but in fact, benevolent. As a non-pathogenic bacteria, it’s nothing to fear or try to kill off with sterilizing chemicals. If we resist the urge to purge life from our soil with RoundUp and the like, we’ll be rewarded with a dirty high.

In 2005, Dr. Mary O’Brien, an oncologist at Royal Marsden Hospital in London played a hunch. She was experimenting with the idea that certain bacteria may boost the immune system and wanted to see if it helped some of her lung cancer patients. What she found is amazing.

Using M. vaccae, she found that her patients’ immune systems responded well. But not only that, they seemed to be happier and depression, often associated with severe disease, began to ebb significantly. Other research followed and found that indeed, M. vaccae, our friendly bacterium is in the running for Man’s best friend.

M. vaccae is nearly everywhere outside. It lives a simple life in the dirt of your yard and garden.

It colonizes the forest floor and fields and riverbanks all over the world. Unless you pour poison on the dirt and kill it. If your garden is relatively free of deadly chemicals and poisons that too many humans use, you’ll find M. vaccae in every spadeful of dirt you turn, in every handful of soil you clutch.

MAY 2015

| THE READER |

Something special happens when you let M. vaccae in that handful of dirt into your personal space: you get happy. Dr. O’Brien went through a detailed scientific process to get Myco into her patients. She fragmented the bacteria and injected it. Luckily, we don’t have to do that. All you need to do is dig in the dirt and you’ll breathe in some of the effects of Myco.

Happy hormone.

Neuroscientist Christopher Lowry at the University of Bristol took Dr. O’Brien’s findings even further.

He and colleagues found that Myco not only improved mood and boosted the immune system but found that certain allergies, like skin rashes, were alleviated by exposure to Myco. Being a brain doc, he found a reason he could understand.

“What we think happens is that the bacteria activate immune cells, which release chemicals called cytokines that then act on receptors on the sensory nerves to increase their activity,” he says.

Research found that serotonin-producing neurons in a specific region of the brain — the dorsal raphe nucleus became more active. “That’s important,” Lowry says, “because cells in that part of the raphe project to parts of the brain that regulate mood, including the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus, which is also involved in mood regulation and cognitive function.”

They also found increases in serotonin itself in the prefrontal cortex.

Grounds for happiness. Myco generates our natural “feel good” hormone, serotonin. Lowry, lead author on the paper from Bristol University, said: “These studies help us understand how the body communicates with the brain and why a healthy immune system is important for maintaining mental health. They also leave us won-

heartland healing

PHOTO COURTESY EXPLORING THE INVISIBLE

‘DIGIT

dering if we shouldn’t all be spending more time playing in the dirt.”

In another study, researchers found that exposure to the bacteria enhanced learning ability. ”Mycobacterium vaccae is a natural soil bacterium which people likely ingest or breath in when they spend time in nature,” reported Dorothy Matthews of The Sage Colleges in Troy, New York, who conducted the research with her colleague Susan Jenks.

Experimenting with mice, they found learning improved significantly. It is known that serotonin lowers anxiety and lower anxiety results in better learning ability.

So Myco helps us learn. Who knows what else good Myco does for us?

Humans should spend more time harmonizing with Nature rather than trying to dominate or kill it. Or haven’t we learned that yet?

Be well. ,

FRIDAY MAY 1 The 402 SATURDAY MAY 2 Hi-Fi Hangover MONDAY MAY 4 Gooch and his Las Vegas Big Band

MONDAY MAY 11 Gooch and his Las Vegas Big Band TUESDAY MAY 12 Billy Troy WEDNESDAY MAY 13 DayBreak

WEDNESDAY MAY 20 The Brits THURSDAY MAY 21 Old Money FRIDAY MAY 22 Rough Cut SATURDAY MAY 23 Peace, Love, Etc.

TUESDAY MAY 5 Scott Evans

THURSDAY MAY 14 Knucklehead

WEDNESDAY MAY 6 The Grease Band

FRIDAY MAY 15 On The Fritz

TUESDAY MAY 26 Spontaneous Combustion

THURSDAY MAY 7 Josh Hoyer & The Shadowboxers

SATURDAY MAY 16 Eckophonic

WEDNESDAY MAY 27 Bill Chrastil

FRIDAY MAY 8 Soul Dawg

MONDAY MAY 18 Gooch and his Las Vegas Big Band

THURSDAY MAY 28 Fusion Force

SATURDAY MAY 9 Red Delicious

TUESDAY MAY 19 Billy Troy

| THE READER |

SATURDAY MAY 30 Bozk & Morrissey

MAY 2015

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I turn the box of gluten free crackers over to read the label. Rice flour, soybean oil, and high fructose corn syrup are the first three ingredients. This is where the second level of paleo diners, often referred to as “primal” would toss it in their cart. For some, rice and high levels of sugar don’t greatly affect them. For me, my joints will ache for days until my body has rid itself of inflammation. It never fails. I always walk out of the gluten free section empty handed.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY DEBRA S. KAPLAN

Perimeter Check

‘mindfullysavage: Guest writer Abe Wagner applies logic to every bite.

cavemancomforts Primal guy hunts for dining options in Omaha

eat

Editor’s Note: Our guest writer for this month’s feature is Abe Wagner. Abe is a mixed martial artist, former cast member of season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter, a guest blogger for TUF and Mark’s Daily Apple, and a huge proponent of the Paleo lifestyle.

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MAY 2015

“P

aleo” has become something of a buzzword among the health minded individuals of Omaha, on both sides of the debate. Proponents love to tell you about chronic illnesses that eased up or vanished, while opponents fear the high cholesterol and fat intake. Primal evangelists cite studies correlating low fat, high grain diets and basically everything that’s wrong with the human body. I’ve done my homework and feel comfortable having this discussion with anyone who wants to, but this article isn’t about the science of the diet. It’s about troubleshooting your food intake.

Honestly, all of the information can be very overwhelming. It’s been about 5 years since my conversion and I’ve boiled down some of the information and found ways to dine out without

| THE READER |

eat

BY ABE WAGNER

bumming everyone out. Let’s face it, the only thing worse than having a gut ache from your dinner is sitting with the guy having a half hour conversation with the server before he orders. No, I don’t have an allergy to gluten. Yes, I really need to know what’s in the sauce. No, margarine is not ok.

How Paleo Can You Go?

My first stop at the grocery store is always the meat counter. Today, they’re sampling gyro meat. It’s a great night to grill, so I ask to see the ingredients which should say something like: ground lamb, ground beef, seasonings. The fourth ingredient: flour. This is where the first level of carnivores will stop and take a bite. For me, it will lead to a 4 day gut ache and waking up to a flare up of eczema.

I politely decline and continue my search.

It never fails. I’m always drawn to the “Gluten Free” section of the grocery store. Gluten is in just about everything you want to eat, from the obvious (pasta) to the wtf? (soy sauce and some brands of ice cream)

As the checker rings up my purchases, she asks what I’m celebrating. I see her point- 40 pounds of ground beef and something close to 12 pounds of steak. A few chuck roasts. The 30 pounds of bacon throws her slightly, but she tries not to judge. Red peppers, cauliflower, and a brick of Mozzarella. I fall somewhere between the 2nd and 3rd levels of paleo. The third level is home to the hard core- no dairy, grain, legumes, or soy. All organic, non gmo, hormone free and grass fed. No extra sugar, fruit in season and moderation, nothing processed. EVER. In short, if historians haven’t found it drawn on the inside of a cave, it won’t be on the inside of a paleo shopping cart. Truthfully, staying out of the aisles is just about the only way to stay compliant. Stick to the perimeter of the store- meat, produce, sometimes dairy. Daddy’s Neighborhood Market and Tomato Tomato both have excellent selections of grass fed organic meat to choose from.

Cut Out The Middle Man

The truth is that I’m a fat kid at heart. Every time I walk into a grocery store, it’s a battle between me and the bright red orange displays of Doritos. I find it easiest to avoid walking into a grocery store if at all possible. Every spring, I join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) to keep myself stocked on locally grown organic produce, hormone free eggs, and grass fed meat. Dealing directly with the farmer ensures that my money goes right back into the farm.

The fact is, if you are what you eat, you are what you eat eats. If I don’t want it in me, I don’t want it in my food. I joined Pawnee Pride’s CSA 4 years ago. The beef is grass fed and ethically raised. Paul, the farmer behind Pawnee Pride, will even offer to tour you around his facility.

He’s a guy you want to trust with your food.

Caving In, Dining Out

It’s not always reasonable to enjoy your life and completely avoid dining out. It’s also not worth your time to dine out if you’re ordering a spinach salad with no dressing and glaring across your table at your friends, who seem to really enjoy those hot wings fried in soy bean oil.

Paleo is not new. To be fair, it’s been around for about 2.5 million years — but the eating habits of our ancestors have had quite the renaissance in the last decade. This being the continued on page 34y

Be part of MCC “The education I received at MCC will go toward supporting my family and creating a better life.”

-Jeff Vasquez

Apply today: mccneb.edu/future Summer quarter starts June 5.

| THE READER |

MAY 2015

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‘cru’mbs

l PETITION FOR PROPER PORK: It’s not too late to join over 29,000 people in sign-

ing the Change.Org petition urging the Hormel plant in Fremont Nebraska to stop their unsafe inspection practices. Both the health of the workers and the safety of the meat have been put at risk by a program that speeds up inspection lines, sending 83 pounds of pork flying past inspection per second. Workers urge you to help them put a stop to contaminated meat being served to your family. To read the affidavits or sign the petition, visit www.change.org/p/stophighspeedhogs l GET SPIELBOUND: Greg Harries and Spielbound Board Game Café (3229 Harney St.) are teaming up with Minnesota company Trivia Mafia to host a weekly Trivia night. The event will take place every Wednesday evening. Sign up for the email list at Triviamafia.com to get a heads up on subjects, themes, and extra point questions! Not into Trivia? Sip your coffee over any of the café’s endless library of board games! If your date night routine or après work cocktail hour are feeling stale, swing by the café adjacent to Midtown Crossing. l A FOUR CORPSE MEAL: Don’t you just love when your meal is drop-dead delicious? The Dinner Detective Murder Mystery (www.thedinnerdetective.com/omaha) is an experience to die for! Dinner packages include hors d’oeuvres, salad, entrée, dessert, an interactive murder mystery show, and for a small extra fee you can frame your friends! Shows are already sold out through April, so make your reservations in advance. The company also offers private shows for your one of a kind team building exercises and work functions. Dinner is hosted at The Downtown Doubletree at 1616 Dodge st. The full bar is cash only with an atm on site. l COOK LIKE THE BEST OF OMAHA! Want a taste of Omaha’s finest restaurants in your own home? The farm that supplies Le Bouillon, Dante, Grey Plume, La Buvette, Boiler Room, Kitchen Table, Over Easy, French Bulldog, V.Mertz, and Localmotive is ready to supply your kitchen! Rhizosphere Farm (rhizospherefarm.org) is accepting reservations for their 2015 CSA shares. Delivery of your weekly produce selection will run from June to October. Hungry for Rhizospere but afraid of commitment? Fear not.

The natural heirloom growers will have stands at both the Aksarben Village and Old Market Farmer’s Markets this year!

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

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case, several dining establishments have incorporated it into their menu.

Kitchen Table

Kitchen Table in the Old Market (1415 Farnam St.) is known for their farm-to-fork philosophy, but they’re also known for their commitment to the vegetarian community.

Co-Owner Jessica is vegetarian herself and knew how it felt to be limited in your options when sitting down at a restaurant, so she expanded the menu to include many paleofriendly dishes. The meals are delicious, and knowing that the food was all locally sourced keeps me a frequent diner.

Rodizio Grill

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eat

If you are familiar with churrascaria, or Brazilian Steakhouse dining, stop reading now and just head to Rodizio Grill (737 P St.) in Lincoln. If you’re not familiar, it goes something like this: You sit down and ask for the ‘full Rodizio’. You will then head to the most extensive salad bar you have ever seen. Exotic curry salads and marinated olives with buffalo mozzarella- this alone could satisfy a hungry cave kid. When you return to your

seat, you will have been given a token that looks like an hourglass, but will be red on one side and green on the other. Flipping your token to green summons a parade of gauchos- waiters with skewers of meat. Beef tri-tip, spicy chicken, pork tenderloin, and filets are carved onto your plate one at a time.

Hearty white fish and marinated chicken hearts slide off of skewers until you have had enough and finally flip your token to red.

Evolve Paleo

In early March, Kansas City-based Evolve Paleo opened in West Omaha. Evolve delivers paleo meals right to your door! They offer an incredible variety, so it’s just about impossible to get bored with your food. You place your orders weekly, but if you forget or need a pick-me-up, you can stop into their store front on 180th and Q to grab a premade lunch or some trail mix.

Having these options doesn’t mean you can just sit and dine with reckless abandon, but that’s not the point. Paleo is about mindfulness, and knowing your food and how it fuels you. That said, it’s a rare caveman comfort to be able to relax a little as my dining options continue to grow. ,

2014-15

May 16 7:00 PM Countryside Community Church 8787 Pacific

SUE MONK KIDD

Lecture & Book Signing “Sue Monk Kidd has written a conversation changer. It is impossible to read this book and not come away thinking differently about our status as women and about all the unsung heroines who played a role in getting us to where we are… “ — Oprah Winfrey, O The Oprah Magazine $10 tickets in advance or at the door

Call 402-391-0350 or email kellyk@countrysideucc.org.

Students with IDs free. | THE READER |

MAY 2015

35

BRANTLEY GUTIERREZ

music

‘comeback: The Rentals Matt Sharp talks about the latest version of his band, their new album Lost in Alphaville, and the challenges of getting their music heard 20 years after their first hit single.

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therentalsreturn M

att Sharp likes to mix things up. The frontman and chief songwriter behind synth rock act The Rentals has been inventing and reinventing their sound since he formed the band as a side project to his then main gig in Weezer way back in 1995.

The Rentals enjoyed a hit right out of the gate with a slice of MTV-fueled candy called “Friends of P” off their debut album, Return of the Rentals (Maverick/Reprise, 1995). But the demands of juggling two hit factories at once — Weezer and The Rentals — eventually forced Sharp to commit to only one project shortly after Weezer’s Pinkerton album was released in the fall of 1996.

Sharp left Weezer to concentrate on The Rentals’ sophomore album Seven More Minutes, release on Maverick/Reprise in 1999. The record failed to produce a hit as big as “Friends of P,” and Sharp put The

MAY 2015

| THE READER |

The Rentals are back, again, bringing their classic sound to the Waiting Room May 15

BY TIM MCMAHAN

Rentals on ice for a few years to focus on solo work before revising The Rentals in 2005 with a different line-up.

More recordings — and an elaborate audio-visual art project — followed, and then The Rentals kind of disappeared again, only to return late last year with Sharp fronting yet another lineup for the release of Lost in Alphaville (Polyvinyl, 2014), an album that continued to capture that classic Rentals sound characterized by vintage synths, a pillow of female-voiced “oh’s” and “ah’s,” and Sharp’s own flat, deadpan vocals.

Despite the sonic consistency, Sharp said changing up musicians in the band has kept the project fresh.

“It’s not a traditional group and it never has been,” Sharp said via phone from his East Los Angeles home where he’s rehearsing for the tour that

music

will bring the band to The Waiting Room May 15.

“It’s never been that thing of, ‘Oh, it’s just the four of us and we’re in a rehearsal space and here we go.’ You don’t necessarily know what direction you could go in, or who you may necessarily be working with next.”

Sharp said a big part of The Rentals’ sound revolves around the different women involved in the band over the years. “In the very beginning it was just an excuse to work with the Haden Sisters (Petra and Rachel), who were in this band called That Dog,” Sharp said. “They started singing when they were just little kids, and their group was so unique. Seeing them sing together was so effortless and beautiful, it was something I really was a huge fan of.”

For Lost in Alphaville, the female vocals were handled by Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of the band continued on page 38y

JUDAS PRIEST WITH SAXON

MAY 20

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Schedule and artist subject to change. Must be 21 or older to gamble. Know When To Stop Before You Start.® Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-BETS-OFF (In Iowa) or 1-800-522-4700 (National). ©2015, Caesars License Company, LLC.

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4/24/15 2:07 PM

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Lucius. “A lot of what drove this latest record was working with Jess and Holly in a very similar way,” Sharp said.

For this latest tour he changed out the female vocalists yet again. Holding down the backing vocals will be Lizzi Ellison and Patti King of the band Radiation City (who also will be opening the May 15 show). “It’s different not only musically, but understanding how we interact with each other; what our dynamics are,” Sharp said of rehearsals with the new line-up. “Just seeing how the chemistry changes when one person comes in and another person goes out, I love that part of it.”

The downside, of course, is having to relearn the music. “That makes you crazy,” Sharp said, “like, I can’t believe we’re relearning the vocals for ‘Friends of P.’ Rounding out this version of The Rentals is Shawn Glassford of Starfucker on bass and synths, Ryen Slegr of Ozma and Ted Gowans of Tegan and Sara on guitars, and Jared Shavelson on drums. King and Ellison also will play synths, with King handling violin.

“The good thing about The Rentals is that if we can figure out how to make it work, there’s a home for all those different ideas,” Sharp said. “It also gives you a sense that you don’t really know where you’re going in the future, and that’s exciting — that there’s different possibilities that lie ahead of you.”

The songs on Lost in Alphaville have the same hooky appeal as anything off their hit debut, but that doesn’t mean the record will produce a hit as big as “Friends of P,” which peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Modern Rock Chart. Certainly Sharp is swinging for the fences as he did back in ‘95, bringing in veteran producer Dave Sardy (Rolling Stones, Jay Z, Tegan and Sara) to handle mixing chores.

“It was very important to me to put (the record) in somebody’s hands (who can) give it that possibility of getting heard,” Sharp said.

“The hope is that we’re able to get the songs to as many people as possible; people who

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music

have no idea about me or my background or what I might have done with Weezer.”

That said, Sharp knows that times have changed, and getting heard has never been more difficult. “If you go back to the ‘50s and Elvis, there were only a few channels for the entire country,” he said. “Everybody had such limited options; they experienced things together, like this universal experience of seeing The Beatles on Ed Sullivan.”

Today, with countless channels and outlets for media, is it possible for The Rentals to enjoy the kind of success that Weezer had?

“I severely doubt that,” Sharp said. “I don’t

even think that’s in the realm of thinking because that was a different time. For those kinds of moments to happen everything has to fall into the right place.”

When Weezer exploded nationally back in ‘95, MTV was a hot commodity, and so was the director of the band’s videos, Spike Jonze.

“He was at the peak of what he was doing, and we were fortunate enough to be friends with him,” Sharp said. “You can’t recreate those moments, in my opinion. You just go with whatever the universe is at the time.” , The Rentals play with Rey Pila and Radiation City, May 15, at The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Showtime is 9 p.m. Admission is $15 ADV., $18 DOS. For more information, visit onepercentproductions.com.

Omaha Performing Arts Presents

2016 SUMMER CONCERT SERIES

“Not your grandmother’s Tupperware Party!”

- NBC Today Show

May 28-30, 2015 Holland Center | Scott Recital Hall

TicketOmaha.com | 402.345.0606 ADULT CONTENT WARNING: Contains strong adult content and language. For mature audiences only.

| THE READER |

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‘Wayne’sword: If you haven’t heard of Twinsmith, you’ve been in solitary confinement. Their recent dominance of all media has been impressive. With international attention and a full touring schedule, the band is set to do great things.

Find out why at their album release show May 15 along with State Disco at Slowdown and check out interviews with both bands on the Worlds of Wayne podcast. — Wayne Brekke

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‘twinsmith W

ith blinds drawn and a dark, mostly wood-paneled interior, Burke’s Pub sits nearly empty on Monday night.

It’s a relatively dim dive in the heart of Benson, home to such well-lit and sharply decorated establishments as Lot 2, Krug Park, Benson Brewery, Infusion Brewing and 1912.

The bar feels like a final stronghold against tasteful white-washing.

The four members of Omaha indie rock band Twinsmith huddle at one end of the bar alternately joking with the bartender and drinking cheap beer. One of the bar’s few other patrons, the kind who looks like a regular, places a bet on a Keno game.

“I don’t think I’ve ever played Keno,” says vocalist-guitarist Jordan Smith. “I don’t even think I know how.”

Smith fronts the band, which releases its second album, Alligator Years at The Slowdown on May 15 with Healer and State Disco, and could arguably serve as Twinsmith’s mascot, too. His lighthearted ease of presence ex-

| THE READER |

music

Omaha band takes first steps toward sustainability with Saddle Creek

BY JACOB ZLOMKE

tends and envelopes those around him, not unlike Twinsmith’s own fun-first sound.

The rest of the lineup is made up by Matt Regner on guitar and keyboard, Bill Sharp on bass and Oliver Morgan on drums. Sitting with them, all earnest laughter mined from barely-uttered inside jokes, you could believe they started a band only as an excuse to keep hanging out with each other.

Morgan, the band’s elder statesman, takes it on himself to teach Smith the rules of Keno.

He grabs a card and begins checking boxes, explaining as he goes. Where for Smith, Regner and Sharp Twinsmith is a first effort at recording and touring seriously, at making a go of it, so to speak, Morgan has been here before.

He played drums in Omaha’s Landing on the Moon and drummed for Little Brazil from 2004 to 2012, the band’s most productive years, including three releases on Mt. Fuji Records and one on Anodyne.

After a thought, he decides he may as well play the Keno card he’s already filled out.

“Eight and 18, five bucks a game,” he tells the bartender.

Smith’s takeaway from the lesson: “So you don’t have to pay attention and you lose a bunch of money? I already do that.”

In a way, that sentiment resonates for a band who has spent the better part of 2015 out on the road, playing shows all over the country that swing between moderately wellattended and desperately empty depending on the weather, the local talent, the promoter, whatever else was happening in the city that night. When the goal on a several week venture is simply to break even, it must feel a bit like gambling.

On the other hand, Smith’s blithe remarks thinly veil the reality of being Twinsmith two weeks out from the release of Alligator Years.

Saddle Creek Records, Omaha’s strongest foothold in national relevance, announced in November they’d signed Twinsmith for the record’s release. They’ve had song premieres on AV Club, Culture Collide and Pure Volume continued on page 42y

JUNE 23 • PINEWOOD BOWL THEATER

Pioneers park in lincoln • 3201 s. coddington ave 6:30PM GATES • 7:30PM show • a food drive event • all ages

widespreadpanic.com • pinewoodbowltheater.com

TICKETS available at Pinnacle Bank Arena Firestone Farm Tires Ticket Office, all ticketmaster locations, and ticketmaster.com For special accommodations, please call 402.904.5600 no less than two weeks prior to event.

| THE READER |

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and a few weeks ago were featured on NPR’s “All Songs Considered.”

On the first leg of the 2015 tour, Twinsmith played eight nights on the west coast opening for Cursive. That meant sold out shows at ballrooms and venues, that, as the band puts it, “actually have bathrooms.”

The rest of the band’s spring dates included a stint on the east coast, a northeastern blizzard, cancelled shows and a broken-down van sprinkled among some meaningful successes: Atlanta and Chicago are two cities the band recalls fondly.

But even with its ups and downs, Regner says the band succeeded at treating the operation less like a vacation, as with shorter tours in the past, and more like an actual investment of time, money and energy.

“With Cursive, we started off on a really professional note,” Regner says. “Those guys run a tight ship. We carried that through the rest of our own tour. That was the first time we’ve ever done that.”

Maintaining that professionalism means playing well through the shows that were promoted poorly and always trying to build connections, even in the middle of tiring weeks on the road.

“It doesn’t matter if you’ve had a great show in a certain market a few months ago,” Morgan says. “It boils down to the relationships you make and solidify.”

Like the band’s nation-sprawling tours, Alligator Years finds Twinsmith bigger and more focused than the self-titled debut they scrambled to write and record two years ago.

“We had studio time booked for another band, Betsy Wells, and then Betsy Wells called it quits,” Smith says.

Regner says he, Smith and Sharp, who played together in Betsy Wells, had a choice: drop the studio time or form a new project with a different direction and write music for it in the few weeks before the scheduled studio time. They hadn’t played a show, they didn’t have a name, they didn’t even have a full-time drummer. The result is a record that, while promising, is rough and without direction.

“We really didn’t have an identity when we did that,” Regner says.

So in many ways, the new album feels like somewhat like a premiere: here is a band with a full lineup and a vision.

For Alligator Years, Twinsmith worked with Luke Pettipoole of The Envy Corps out of The Sonic Factory in Des Moines. Regner says Pettipoole became like a fifth member of the band for the record. The album feels sharp in its rhythms and quick-witted in its melodies.

It’s dangerous to call a sound, and more dangerous a band, on-trend. Those observations become passé at the moment of recognition.

But it’s hard not to look at Twinsmith in the context of the greater national indie scene and draw some comparisons. There are bits of early Vampire Weekend, syncopated and light. Smith’s propensity for using every vocal tool he has, from tuneful crooning to choppy yelps, recalls Future Islands. The album’s production feels, at times, as big as Arcade Fire scaled way-down in terms of self-seriousness.

Intentionally or not, the band is riding a wave.

That wave is part expectation too, or maybe hopefulness. All four members of the band say they don’t feel any pressure to succeed on behalf of Omaha.

“We’re super realistic,” Sharp says.

Regner says the only pressure they feel is internal, the pressure to reach a national level.

That’s their goal, after all. To make a living in a touring band. Doing that in any kind of sustainable way means reaching wide audiences.

“We’re not carrying a torch,” Regner says.

“We’re just doing our thing with a national mindset.”

But anytime a music act from a scene as lively and proud as Omaha’s gains momentum, flirts with a national spotlight, the thought is there.

Will this be the one to launch our scene into the national sphere of consciousness?

Maybe, maybe not. The music industry decimates dozens of bands every day as talented as Twinsmith. But it’s fun for a local music fan to think so.

And besides, that hopefulness is all part of the gamble.

Morgan returns to the band’s table with a wide grin after checking his Keno scores.

“No way,” Regner says. ,

‘back’beat

● New music in the metro: April kicked off the spring music season with a few notable releases from some of Omaha’s music scene and it looks like May will continue the trend. Clarence Tilton and Icky Blossoms both had music released and Hearnebraska.com released their thir annual compilation. This month, fans will see new music from artists like Saddle Creek’s Twinsmith and new band For1egn Body.

Listen to the Worlds of Wayne podcast for interviews with both these bands and check out the feature story on Twinsmith in this issue. ● Road Case Calendar: With weather getting warmer, the masses are drooling for some great music and events in the Big O. May is gearing up to be a showcase of some great gigs that’ll give you a full schedule to kick off your spring. Here are a few choice ones you won’t want to miss.

BANG YOUR HEAD AND TEASE THAT HAIR | MAY 8 | THE HIDEOUT Remember what VJs were?

Remember the Headbanger’s Ball on MTV? Well, Secret Weapon wants you to join them to celebrate an age where metal teetered on the knife edge of bad ass leather and glammed up hair. Where rock and roll was king and the groupies with the blow were queens of the after party. An age where hotels got as trashed as the musicians and metal videos featured chicks, cars, fire, leather, and spandex.

The Hideout will be hosting Secret Weapon as they premiere a night dedicated to all things 80’s metal. You’ll hear all the classics from bands like Ozzy, Ratt, AC/DC, Skid Row, Danzig, Twisted Sister, Whitesnake, Priest, and more. So girls get out those crimpers, paint on those jeans, and join Secret Weapon for a night of metal awesomness. Check out more info online for this show at the Hideout May 8th, with the head banging kicking off at 9:30pm.

BEARS AND WHISTLES | MAY 9 | WAITING ROOM LOUNGE On May 9th, the Waiting Room hosts a show including Pleiades & the Bear, Belles and Whistles, and Edge of Arbor. Pleiades & the Bear is a group of Omaha musicians offering intricate folk tunes with stunning harmonies, acoustic guitar, banjo, and percussion. The band consists of Karmen DeLancey, Victoria Blodgett, Jonathan Knobbe, Daniel Butler, and Roselle Ledesma. Belles and Whistles continue their conquest of the Omaha country scene with mother/daughter duo belting out harmonies and well-crafted songs backed by a seasoned band of locals. After this show date, look for the Belles on a June episode of Worlds of Wayne for a full interview and live performance. Edge of Arbor are vets of the Omaha scene and OEAA winners, who’ll be offering up their unique blend of indie/folk/rock to complement an evening of thoughtful music and keen musicianship. Members include Jessica Errett, Matthew Shrader, Jason Domonkos, James Gallup, and Matt Whipkey.

HIP HOP FOR PEACE | MAY 16 | 402 The 402 in Benson is set to host a night of hip hop and fundraising on May 16th. Showcasing DJs, hip hop artists, and live art, the night will bring the thump to the heart of Omaha’s music scene. The lineup includes: DJ Houston Alexander, Marcey Yates (Op2mus) / music, J. Crum / music, Both / music, Reggie LeFlore / live art, and Pensive / live art. Proceeds from the Omaha Gives! fundraiser will benefit our mission to enhance the quality of life in the black community, promote diversity within the police department, and foster a stronger relationship between the community and law enforcement. The event is all ages with a $5 suggested donation and starts at 7pm.

RADKEY BACK FOR MORE | MAY 29 | REVERB LOUNGE Radkey is back to chew bubblegum and rock your face off. And they’re all out of bubble gum. You saw them at MAHA last year, you watched their videos, and probably immediately sought out their music. Coming back to Omaha, this St. Joseph MO band will do nothing short of blowing the roof off the Reverb. You may end your May with a little hearing loss, but your soul will be richer with a sheen of punk rock glory. Noise-pop-synth rock band Low Long Signal kicks off the show.

— Wayne Brekke The Reader’s Backbeat column seeks to cover the local music scene from all corners of the sound spectrum. Whether it’s news of new bands, farewell shows, album releases or special events, The Reader’s music team wants to hear from you. Got a tip? Email it to backbeat@thereader.com.

When my soul was in the lost and found.

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FILM

‘building&bofffiing

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I

n The Pursuit of Happyness, a harmless movie everyone has dutifully and properly gone on to forget ever happened, Will Smith’s character quickly solves a Rubik’s Cube. The scene is a perfect example of visual shorthand, a way to show you how intelligent he is without having someone simply tell you. This way, you don’t spend valuable screen time with some laborious detailed demonstration of genius, like remembering all of the characters from HBO’s “Game of Thrones” without notes.

Whereas 99 percent of Americans must work to survive, movie characters don’t have that same need, being that they don’t actually exist. Thus, occupations become shortcut, a quick way to convey something meaningful about a character just by telling you what they do. I’m not talking about films in which the occupation and plot are intertwined, like say any movie about cops or the mafia. Hold on, is being in the mob an actual occupation? Do they have business cards? I know

| THE READER |

film

it’s not a box you check on an IRS form, but I’ve never considered whether “mobster” is a profession. I may be getting off track.

When thinking about movies and “work,” two occupations came into focus. Alone, each is interesting for what it suggests. Together, they tell an even more fascinating story about the messages we send through fiction to men and women. So let’s talk about the charming male architect and the female sex worker (who “shockingly” turns out to be a human being).

“You know I always wanted to pretend I was an architect.” – George Costanza

You haven’t noticed. I almost guarantee you haven’t. A stunning number of male characters on screen, disproportionately those featured in romance-based movies, are architects. Want a few? l Joseph Gordon Levitt – 500 Days of Summer l Zach Braff – The Last Kiss

On male architects and hookers with hearts of gold B Y R YA N S Y R E K

l Keanu Reeves – The Lake House l Liam Neeson – Love Actually l Tom Hanks – Sleepless in Seattle l Adam Sandler – Click l Matthew Broderick – The Cable Guy l Steve Martin – It’s Complicated For an inappropriate number of seasons, the lead character on “How I Met Your Mother” was an architect. Now, here’s the kicker, how many architects do you know? How many have you ever met? Tons of people have worked a service job or in retail, so why does Hunky McSmoldering in that generic rom com wind up with a career that’s relatively small? The American Institute of Architects has less than 84,000 members. If they were real, movie architects would represent a significant voting block.

There are obvious reasons why architect stands out as an option. It pays well (which is appealing to audiences), it has prestige, its mysterious (I don’t know how to architect, do continued on page 46y

SIMPLY THE BEST FILM ABOUT FASHION I’VE SEEN.”

“

-DAPHNE MERKIN, ELLE

DRAMATIC AND FASCINATING BEHIND-THE-SCENES LOOK AT ONE OF THE

“

INDUSTRY’S GREAT MASTERS: RAF SIMONS.” -DHANI MAU, FASHIONISTA

“BEAUTIFUL AND EMOTIVE STORYTELLING! ALL THOSE LOVELY AND REAL, HEARTFELT AND STRESSFUL, FUNNY AND COMPASSIONATE MOMENTS CAPTURED.” -JESSICA BUMPUS, VOGUE (UK)

M*A*S*H 1970 Omaha Steaks Classics

Great Directors: Robert Altman April 28 - June 8

A retrospective celebrating one of the most influential directors of the New Hollywood era.

Generously sponsored by Sam Walker.

April 24, 25 & 27 The Long Goodbye 1973

May 17 & 19 3 Women 1977

April 26 & 28 California Split 1974

May 22, 23 & 25 M*A*S*H 1970

May 1, 3 & 5 Nashville 1975

May 24 & 26 Short Cuts 1993

May 2, 4 & 6 The Player 1992

May 29 & June 1 Brewster McCloud 1970

May 8, 11 & 13 Thieves Like Us 1974

May 30, 31 & June 4 Popeye 1980

May 9, 10 & 12 McCabe & Mrs. Miller 1971

June 5 & 7 A Prairie Home Companion 2006

May 15, 18 & 20 Vincent & Theo 1990

June 6 & 8 Gosford Park 2001

All showings at Film Streams’ Ruth Sokolof Theater. Info & tickets at filmstreams.org.

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| THE READER |

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you?) and it doesn’t place logistical barriers to screenwriters in terms of place or time.

But that’s not the story here. The story here is the message it sends about who the character is. Few professions instantly exhibit both a creative and logical proclivity. You must be able to envision a beautiful building and understand the dimensions and steps necessary to build it. If you were workshopping the perfect man, you’d check both boxes, right? You’d want him to be imaginative and practical. Boom. Architect.

Reinforced in this decision is the loathsome and latent suggestion regarding the superiority of men. Think about it: Architects are, quite literally, builders of worlds. To expand the term to its furthest definition, God is the architect of humanity; thus, human architects in fiction are possessed of a fraction of godhead. It’s no wonder her pulse races when he’s around, right? This is the part where I remind you that a shortcut is cheating, and cheating is bad. You’ve watched decades of movies with male architects and never even noticed what it was saying.

The Tart with a Heart

The whore with a heart of gold is old. Very old. You can trace it back to biblical depictions of Mary Magdalene or ancient Sanskrit drama. In movies, it’s simply the role you take as a woman if you want to win an Oscar. Thirteen women have won Oscars playing prostitutes. Let that sink in. Unlike how architects stealthily crept by you, you know how often the lead female in a movie is a prostitute. l Julia Roberts – Pretty Woman l Kim Basinger – LA Confidential l Audrey Hepburn – Breakfast at Tiffany’s l Jodie Foster – Taxi Driver l Heather Graham – The Hangover And so on. I mean, at this point, it may actually be easier to list actresses who haven’t played hookers (yet). And if you open it up to professions that operate the same way in film (strippers for example), it grows even bigger.

Now, I don’t have to tell you why having men play successful architects and women play sex workers sends a rather awful message. I just want to tell you it’s worse than you think. The premise of the “hooker with a heart of gold” is that it’s a rarity. The entire trope is based on the idea that this being is a unicorn of sorts. It can only work as a theme if the assumption is that the character wouldn’t or shouldn’t typically have a “heart of gold.” Oh, and “heart of gold” is an umbrella term used to describe actually being a decent human being.

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So, on the one hand, you have the message that this device sends about actual, living sex workers. It’s a subtle reinforcement of the idea that most of them are inherently “bad” and “dirty.” How much easier it is to ignore disease in that community or human trafficking if the assumption is that most of them don’t have “hearts.” On the other hand, you have what it says about the film characters themselves. They are universally in need of salvation. The ultimate damsel in distress, the heart of gold is payment for freedom. They trade that prized possession for rescue from a man who they want to love so much they’ll do him for free.

What’s more, the lazy use of prostitute as an occupation builds shallow characters.

Not because actual sex workers aren’t dynamic, but because this profession is interesting enough to writers that they don’t feel the need to further consider these women as people. The men may be architects, but we don’t spend laborious scenes watching them as they use their calculator and protractor to draw a foundation for…okay I have no idea what architects actually do. But we do see the women having sex or looking for tricks. For the men, the architect use is mere window dressing. For women, being a prostitute is the sum total of their existence.

So there you have it, the work life of movie characters considered in context.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m about to write a script where a female architect falls for a male tart with a heart.

| THE READER |

‘cutting’room

l Hey you! Yes, you! Do you make movies? And given the Kardash-ification of Amer-

ica I should clarify: “Do you make movies that you WANT other people to see?” If so, Film Streams needs you! Filmmakers who are residents of (or full-time school attendees in) Nebraska, Iowa, or South Dakota are encouraged to send in their work for the Sixth Annual Local Filmmakers Showcase. You get a maximum of three submissions that must be received no later than July 23, 2015. The films can’t have been screened for a paying audience, so movies you forced loved ones to endure for free still count. You can send a DVD along with the submission form (http://j. mp/1OKJLgH) to Brooke Masek, PO Box 8485, Omaha, NE 68108. Or you can send a link to the film and the submission form to brooke@filmstreams.org. Not only is there no fee for entry, but if you do get chosen, you get to go to an opening night celebration and screening on Thursday, Oct. 8, and you get a percentage of the box office for the week-long run and an honorarium. Oh, and the showcase will tour the region, including Iowa and South Dakota. Man, that’s a lot of details that I included. I feel like the end of a pharmaceutical commercial. Do check with your doctor if this made you excited for more than four hours. l If you’re not a filmmaker, Film Streams still has something awesome for you. Together with PFLAG Omaha, the theater will hold a free screening of The Way He Looks at the Ruth Sokolof Theater Thursday, May 21, at 7 p.m. The film is about a blind boy who struggles with his dependence on others when he realizes certain things about his sexuality. I can’t imagine dealing with the emotional complexity of understanding one’s sexuality while simultaneously handling a disability. I’m a healthy straight dude and I barely made it out of puberty alive. PFLAG will lead a discussion along with representatives from Queer Nebraska Youth Network. One of those reps, Anthony Hughes, is a super cool dude I had the pleasure of meeting. You can watch his talk from TEDxUNO (unomaha.edu/tedxuno/videos.php). It’s a really moving speech, I highly recommend watching it and attending this screening! l The level of my excitement for Pitch Pefect 2 is probably best described as “mildly inappropriate.” Thus, it is with great pleasure I tell you that Aksarben Cinema is about to drop the mic on us. The event is $20 (includes a $5 concession voucher) begins at 6 p.m. May 14. It features DJ Shif-D and A Cappella Omaha. You’ll get an awesome cocktail and get to taste Justin Timberlake’s tequila, which I’m just going to guess tastes charming and knows it. You can get all dolled up by Beauty First and then get your picture taken by Pixel Box Photo Booth. Noted Boutique will be there for you to do some browsing and shopping. Did I mention there is a lip sync challenge? Because there is.

But don’t bother entering. My rendition of “My Humps” is unstoppable. I mean that, as they have legally tried to stop me but couldn’t.

—Ryan Syrek Cutting Room provides breaking local and national movie news … complete with added sarcasm. Send any relevant information to film@thereader.com. Check out Ryan on Movieha!, a weekly half-hour movie podcast (movieha.libsyn.com/rss), catch him on the radio on CD 105.9 (cd1059.com) on Fridays at around 7:30 a.m. and on KVNO 90.7 (kvno.org) at 8:30 a.m. on Fridays and follow him on Twitter (twitter.com/thereaderfilm).

film

! w o h s e h t y o j En

When we tell you,

...we mean it!

“Unlike some other theaters, we don’t believe in gimmicks to get you here. Instead, we focus on the motion picture experience. My family and I love movies, and we hope your event here is enjoyable.”

Bill Barstow, Owner 2110 S. 67th Street 402-502-1914

www.AksarbenCinema.com

| THE READER |

MAY 2015

47

‘freshfaces T

New sounds in the Old Market: Composers in their 30s have their day

BY GORDAN SPENCER

he Old Market is certainly known as Omaha’s happening place.

No surprise, then, that it’s a site for something new, entirely fresh: a concert on May 16 at Kaneko of music of today, works in progress, written by people still emerging into the light. They are composers in their mid-30s, whose studies continue even while their careers already show promise. They are the focus of Fresh Ink, a seven-year project fostered by the Omaha Symphony Orchestra dedicated to making sure such creations flourish and prosper.

A great reason to be there yourself is the presence of celebrated American composer John Corigliano, winner of a Pulitzer Prize, an Oscar, and five Grammys. And to hear his music as well. Live.

“I enjoy working with young composers,” Corigliano says. He has long admired and fostered careers of people from earlier generations.

As Composer-in-Residence in 1987 with the Chicago Symphony, aside from writing his own new works, he was charged with choosing new scores for performance by the Orchestra. “I think that we should be of assistance to all composers,” he told Chicago classical music broadcaster Bruce Duffie.

Corigliano will certainly talk about his own music at the concert, doing so with Omaha Symphony Music Director Thomas Wilkins. “But remember, the evening is not about John,” Wilkins points out. “It’s about these young people.”

Both men selected the music to be heard.

Through a national call for scores, the work of four emerging composers was chosen for the program.

Over the course of several days prior to the concert, they get the opportunity to develop and incorporate Corigliano-stimulated changes in what they’ve written before the final performances. This rare concept is actually a real-life laboratory which also involves the 39 member core of the Omaha Symphony.

Ticket holders are invited and encouraged to attend two day workshops to personally experience the creative process in action and to witness the evolution of something so new—from first reading to final performance.

Why here? “I’ve wanted the community to have a sense that we all can nurture such creative people to have an ownership of something not yet at all familiar, rather than being afraid of it,” Wilkins explains. “This completely changes how an Omaha audience approaches such music, seeing that, we are part of a vanguard.”

The idea for this project originated with him. “Years before I arrived here, the Symphony Guild sponsored a new music festival. I suggested that we do it again, but in a different way— to create a place where young composers could have their works realized under the watchful ear of a very well-established living American composer. We give them the time with the Orchestra and the support from the Guild.”

He and Resident Conductor Ernest Richardson made the overtures to the already established composer in what was first called “The New Music Symposium.” Michael Daugherty came in 2008, Joseph Schwantner in 2010. William Bolcom was the man in 2012 when the series was renamed “Fresh Ink.” That new title suggests many kinds of media in progress, appropriate to the setting of Jun Kaneko’s Old Market studios.

“The partnership is a natural fit.

It really allows us to elevate the program and create a unique experience,” com-

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| THE READER |

music

ments Adam Goos, the Symphony’s Vice President, Education and Community Engagement. He adds, “We’ve realized how interesting are the creative processes and new music to so many of our patrons and to the community at large. But, at the same time, at its core, this is an educational program, the primary concern being the experience for the composers.” Goos is responsible for administrative aspects of the event, saying, “At the end of the day, I’m just implementing Thomas’ vision with the rest of the staff.”

So, you may ask, “What’s new?” There is [pskh] by Chicago-based, Istanbul native Alican Çamci, inspired by 2013 protests in his homeland. He says that he derives his ideas from both inside and outside Western classical music.

He was born in 1989, three years after Brooklyn-based Brendon RandallMyers, who’s also a guitarist and likewise active in experimental rock and free improvisation. His piece is Indefatigable Optimism. Korean-born Yie-Eun Chun (1985) wrote A Little Puppet Play. She just had a premiere in April of Read My Riddle performed by Indiana University New Music Ensemble as well as Game of Fives by Munich’s Breakout Ensemble in January. And, from Bangkok, comes Arsid Ketjuntra (1983) who is much involved in digital sound synthesis, studying, he points out, Psychoacoustic and Music Cognition. He also writes acoustic pieces. Such as this one, Up On The Hill, Below The Clouds. FYI: This event’s requirements are for works solely for chamber orchestra or chamber ensemble. No electronics, MIDI, digital technology or “sound reinforcement.”

Note the composers’ ages. They match the requirements for submission of works: These people must have been born after January 1, 1980. Further, they have to be U.S. residents enrolled as full-time students in college or university degree programs. All of them have had other music performed elsewhere before coming here, including at the Asia-Europe New Music Festival 2014, the Bang on a Can Summer Festival, the Beijing Modern Music Festival 2013-2014, the Norfolk Summer Festival, USF New Music Festival 2014, and by such groups as the Eastman Sinfonietta, Musica Nova Ensemble, Tanglewood New Fromm Players, and the Yale Contemporary Percussion Ensemble.

As for how their music should sound, Corigliano notes, “I certainly try very hard not to let style be an influencing factor and try to find a piece that in some way speaks to the concert hall audience. For any composer to look at another composer’s work and try to be fair is a great problem; to be a composer is to be someone with strong views. If you don’t have strong views, you can’t write strong music of any kind. But the piece must speak to me as well.”

The concert portion of the “Fresh Ink” project also features Corigliano’s own Voyages for flute and orchestra from 1971. Appropriately, he wrote it when he was about the same age as these newcomers. “It will sound very tame in this context,” he adds. “But it doesn’t represent what I am doing today.”

“I’ve loved the demographics of our audiences,” Mr. Wilkins enthuses. “All over the place. From young to old. I had college kids who were cashiers in grocery stores telling me how much they’ve enjoyed this series. I think having this in the Old Market is especially drawing young people. By offering wine and beer during the performances, we’re creating a new gathering, rather than just a concert.”

Being in Kaneko, he adds, is “a good alternative to a concert hall. There are people who hang out in the Old Market but don’t go to concert halls. This is for them another place to get together.”

Of course, Mr. Wilkins is very familiar with Corigliano’s compositions, having led the Omaha Symphony in the fiery Gazebo Dances this past September. He also conducted the Grammy Award-winning Percussion Concerto Conjurer at San Diego in 2011 and another Grammy winner, the Symphony No. 1 with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 2007.

Wilkins doesn’t want anyone to think that this whole concept is his alone.

“Basically, it’s my colleagues in our offices who turned this idea into a happening. They deserve the credit. The last time we did it, it was the coolest thing in the world.” , Fresh Ink is May 14 & 15 (workshops) 7:00 p.m and May 16 (concert) at Kaneko, 1111 Jones St. 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $25. http://www.omahasymphony. org/series/special-concerts/fresh-ink/

I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now.

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away. | THE READER |

MAY 2015

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dle & The Mighty Jailbreakers. BluesEd youth band Mojo Bag opens at 3 p.m.

There will also be more shows at Sumtur Amphitheater in Papillion competing for your entertainment dollar this summer. Saturday, May 30, Old Crow Medicine Show and Devil Makes Three tear it up. This show is a production of Mammoth Live out of Lawrence, Kan., for details see facebook.com/itsmammoth or mammothlive. com. Tickets are available via Ticketmaster.

hoodoo

21st Saloon Gigs

The 21st Saloon hosts some great acts this month aside from the special Cate Brothers show. Versatile Texas guitarist Jason Elmore & Hoodoo Witch is back at The 21st Thursday, May 7. The high-octane rockabilly of The 24th Street Wailers with new addition Elliot Sowell on guitar is back Thursday, May 14. One of blues harmonica’s most creative and celebrated young players, Jason Ricci, is back on the touring circuit. Catch him Thursday, May 21. See mooncat.org. The crowd-pleasing swing and jump-blues of show band the Gas House Gorillas takes the stage Thursday, May, 28. All shows are 6-9 p.m.

Hot Notes

CHIP DUDEN

O

HOODOO focuses on blues, roots, Americana and occasional other music styles with an emphasis on live music performances. Hoodoo columnist B.J. Huchtemann is a senior contributing writer and veteran music journalist who received the Blues Foundation’s 2015 Keeping the Blues Alive Award for Journalism. Follow her blog at hoodoorootsblues.blogspot.

ne of the stand-out shows for May is the return of The Cate Brothers, who perform Sunday, May 24, 6 p.m. at The 21st Saloon. Earl and Ernie Cate have deep roots in American music, from their own solo work to their long-term involvement in the evolving line-up of The Band. The Cate Brothers appearance at The 21st last year was one of the most jaw-dropping, brilliant shows of 2014, a heart-felt showcase of accomplished musicianship and the pure joy of music.

The Arkansas-based Cate Brothers broke on the national scene in the mid-1970s and enjoyed chart success. Cate Brothers’ drummer Terry Cagle learned his craft from his uncle Levon Helm. Look up more about the Cate Brothers’ history at allmusic. com.

The Cate Brothers band plays very few shows together these days because brother Ernie is largely retired. This will be a rare, special show for blues and roots music fans.

Zoo Bar Highlights

Lincoln’s Zoo Bar heats up with some great shows including a couple early in the month. On Monday, May 4, 6 p.m., the Zoo hosts blues stars Mark Hummel, Anson Funderburgh and “Little Charlie” Baty, who have teamed up with a powerhouse

MAY 2015

| THE READER |

From High-Octane Rockabilly to Old-School R&B, This Month is Full of Fine Roots & Blues Music

BY B.J. HUCHTEMANN

rhythm section. Blues-rock guitarist Coco Montoya hits the Zoo Tuesday, May 5, 6 p.m. and Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials are up Thursday, May 7, 6-9 p.m. The 24th Street Wailers play Wednesday, May 13, 6-9 p.m. and Billy Bacon comes to town Thursday, May 21, 6-9 p.m. and Friday, May 22, 5 p.m. Jessica Hernandez & The Deltas, who describe their sound as “dark soul and Gothic pop” are up May 22 after 9 p.m. Check jessicahernandez.net.

See zoobar.com for the full month’s schedule.

and special guests and July 2 rock with guitarist Albert Cummings. See complete lineups and details at playingwithfireomaha.net.

Remember to catch weekly updates in the digital-only Hoodoo at thereader.com. , REED R. RADCLIFFE, TRIPLE R PHOTOGRAPHY

Columbia, Missouri’s, roots-blues-R&B band The Bel Airs hits the metro for several area gigs this month.

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BELAIRS.COM

‘

may sgotroots

‘partystarters:

Playing With Fire is back for three big free shows at Midtown Crossing this summer. June 18 enjoy the gospel-steel guitar of The Campbell Brothers, June 25 catch Canada’s Paul Deslauriers

Outdoor Shows

Music moves outdoors this month with local, regional and national outdoor music events and festivals.

Lippy’s BBQ hosts their 4th annual old-fashioned, small-town blues celebration in Malcolm, Neb., near Lincoln, Saturday, May 23. Performing are Shawn Holt with the Lil’ Slim Band, Billy Bacon & His Porkestra, The Tijuana Gigolos, The Mezcal Brothers, The Geezers, Sh*thook, Sweeney / Stearley and The Bottle Tops. See facebook. com/lippysbbq.

The fifth annual Blues at Bel Air free festival at 120th & Center happens Sunday, May 31, 3-8 p.m.

Catch the eclectic roots music of The Bel Airs, plus Josh Hoyer & The Shadowboxers and Brad Cor-

hoodoo

‘goingsouth: Canada’s 24th Street Wailers is led by fiery singer-songwriter-drummer Lindsay Beaver (center) and features fine guitarist Elliot Sowell (second from left). They play Lincoln’s Zoo Bar May 13 and The 21st Saloon May 14.

CIGARETTES

MAY SHOWS

©2015 SFNTC (2)

MAY 7-10 PJ WALSH

PJ Walsh is known as one of the hardest working comedians behind the microphone. His boundless energy & the strength of his physical comedy have carried him around the globe. PJ’’s years touring with the stars of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour found him performing on celebrated stages including Radio City Music Hall, Universal Amphitheater and the Ryman Auditorium with legends such as Bill Engvall, Larry the Cable Guy, Ron White, and Jeff Foxworthy.

MAY 13 ALEX THOMAS SPECIAL ENGAGEMENT

After being influenced by the Wayans brothers on In Living Color, Thomas began to appear on every comedy show on TV. In 1994, Will Smith found Thomas as an amateur comedian at the world famous Laugh Factory in Hollywood & added him to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’s writing staff. As a member of the staff. While touring around the country as a successful stand-up comedian opening up for stars like Daman Wayans, Mark Curry and Bill Cosby.

MAY 14-17 MIKE VECHIONNE

At the end of 2003, Mike moved to New York City. He has appeared on Comedy Centrals Live at Gotham, Fresh Face Debates, & Russell Simmons Presents: Stand Up at the El Rey Theatre. In 2010, Mike won the People’s Choice Award for the New York Comedy Festival, was a semi-finalist on NBC’s Last Comic Standing, & was selected to perform at the prestigious Montreal Comedy Festival. Later that year, Mike went on to perform on the Tonight Show starring Jay Leno & shot his own Half Hour Special for Comedy Central.

*

MAY 21-24 AUGGIE SMITH

Auggie introduced himself to a new legion of fans in 2004, with a now legendary appearance on the nationally syndicated Bob & Tom Radio Show. It was a mix of signature rants & brilliant improv highlighting his sharp point-of-view. His outstanding debut has become one their most replayed treasures. This led to performing in theaters across the country on the very popular Bob & Tom Comedy Tour, where audiences quickly became aware that the only thing better then listening to Auggie on the radio was sharing the energy he creates in his live performance.

Visit NASCIGS.com or call 1-800-435-5515

MAY 28

MICK FOLEY SPECIAL ENGAGEMENT

He’s a three-time WWE champion, a hardcore legend & a member of the WWE Hall of Fame. Now, Mick Foley is unleashing the same trademark blend of wit & wisdom, wildness & warmth that made his books so beloved, into his one-man spoken-word stage show, “Tales From Wrestling Past”. Foley has wowed both crowds & critics alike with his unique stage show. Foley himself refers to “Tales From Wrestling Past” as “like being in the ring, without getting hurt”.

PROMO CODE 96087 *Plus applicable sales tax Offer for two “1 for $2” Gift Certificates good for any Natural American Spirit cigarette product (excludes RYO pouches and 150g tins). Not to be used in conjunction with any other offer. Offer and website restricted to U.S. smokers 21 years of age and older. Limit one offer per person per 12 month period. Offer void in MA and where prohibited. Other restrictions may apply. Offer expires 12/31/15.

MAY 29-31 JOSH SNEED

Josh Sneed has opened for such acts as Dave Chappelle, Dane Cook, & Lewis Black. Most recently, Josh finished 2nd out of 100 of Comedy Central’s top comedians in the Annual Stand-up Showdown, earning him a deal to record a new album on Comedy Central Records. In 2004, he performed at the Just For Laugh”s Montreal Comedy Festival in the “New Faces of Comedy” group, one of the highest honors that a comedian at his level can achieve.

| THE READER | Omaha Weekly Reader 05-01-15.indd 1

3/20/15 2:26 PM

MAY 2015

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overtheedge

workingartist B

‘ l oveslabor:

MIKE MACHIAN

For Dereck Higgins, living a life solely as a musician and artist is a struggle, but it’s worth it.

efore you turn the last page on this month’s topic — Work — let me tell you the story of Dereck Higgins, one of the area’s most celebrated and talented musicians and how Higgins’ work shifted from drudgery to art.

First, for those of you who don’t know Dereck, Higgins is a respected bass player and multi-instrumentalist whose body of work stretches back to the ‘80s, most notably as a member of Omaha New Wave / post punk band Digital Sex, which gained national attention with an album that came out in 1983. Since then, Higgins has been in a number of bands and continues playing today, both in bands and as a solo musician.

In fact, you may recently have seen Higgins’ handsome visage on the cover of a number of local magazines, the subject of feature articles. And while all of those articles were well-written, the writers left out one important part — the struggle Higgins faces to make a living with his music and art.

Higgins didn’t always make a living this way. Back in 2012 he worked as a licensed mental health specialist at Community Alliance, a local organization that provides support for individuals with mental illness. For 27 years he helped clients overcome some of life’s simplest everyday challenges, such as maintaining a schedule, meeting with doctors, meal planning, just keeping a weekly routine.

It was rewarding work and a steady income, but it also was stressful and frustrating, especially navigating a level of bureaucracy that Higgins said impeded his ability to address people’s needs in a realistic way. More and more often, the end result was tragedy.

So here was Higgins living two lives — one as a respected musician, the other providing community support. It was the classic “day job” model, working 40+ hours a week to support a dream until finally, at the age of 57, Higgins took the plunge and left Community Alliance. I remember reading about it on Facebook and wondered how he could afford to give up a well-paying career for his art.

“It was scary, but the thing was, I ended up in the hospital twice due to stress at my job,” Higgins said while stirring a cup of coffee in the kitchen area of Carver Bank, an art studio and gallery space at 24th and Lake where he would host a workshop later that afternoon. “I made calculations and realized most likely in a couple years I would be out of money, but I had to do it. I told myself, ‘Let me at least have tried to be what it is I want to be, which is a working musician and artist.’”

Giving him the courage to take the leap was the record label he runs out of his home — DVH Recordings. “The success of two limited edition vinyl releases, coupled with having enough money to pay off my house and turning in retirement early, helped me decide to take the risk of leaving the security of a paycheck and try to make the art work,” Higgins said.

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| THE READER |

Dereck Higgins faces plenty of bumps in the road while living his dream

BY TIM MCMAHAN

Three years later, he’s living a meager lifestyle. “You have to have a bottom line,” he said, “and I’ve gone below it recently. I have to try to maintain enough in the bank to pay my monthly bills and pay the taxes and insurance on my house.”

He does it through a combination of record sales, income from performances and selling his visual art, which consists mainly of intense, colorful collages. After a residency at Carver Bank last year, Higgins had several paying collaborations with artists through the Bemis. “Visual art is something I’ve added,” he said, mentioning that a local business person recently has taken interest in his work.

So he’s getting by, barely. He said his daily diet often consists of coffee, a bagel and a can of soup. “I come from a poor family,” Higgins said. “I’m not used to what most people are used to — which is a full meal or a couple full meals a day. I live on my own and sparsely.”

And there are bumps in the road. Higgins has a channel on YouTube with more than 8,000 subscribers. His videos usually consist of discussions about music, where he talks about his rather voluminous vinyl record collection. In one recent video, however, Higgins showed off his front tooth, which he held in his hand. His smile now has a large gap, and there’s a chance he’ll lose the other front tooth soon.

He shuns Obamacare. “My income is so unsteady, I would have to work to pay for Obamacare as opposed to just working to live,” he said. “To me, (Obamacare) was never about people, it was about the insurance companies.”

Don’t get him started.

After seeing the YouTube video, local artist and film maker Miguel Cedillo launched a GoFundMe campaign to generate funds to meet Higgins’ future dental bills that so far has raised more than $4,000 (Search “Dereck Higgins” at gofundme.com to donate). Depending on the kindness of his rather large network of friends and supporters is part of his life as an artist.

But he’s also making money. Higgins has a new record coming out in May, a split release between DVH Recordings and Greek label Kinetic Records called Myths…Realities. He’s performing in five bands — Strange Attractors, Working Man, his original punk band RAF, Saddle Creek band Son, Ambulance, and InDreama, as well as his ongoing solo efforts.

He’s toying with the idea of making his YouTube channel a subscription service. If he needs to, he could sell some excess music equipment. His record collection, however, is off limits. “I could sell records to live, but just because I’m poor doesn’t mean I don’t have the right to enjoy life and have nice things,” he said.

He also has a pending project with the Bemis to work with London artist Di Mainstone on a project that will turn the Bob Kerrey pedestrian bridge into a gigantic harp. And, he sold a couple collages last week, which is always tough because he loves them like his children.

I asked him if he’s happier now than he was working a day job, even though life is more of a financial struggle. “Doesn’t it show in my demeanor?” he asks with a toothless grin. “It’s 2015 and I’m still working as an artist.”

And that’s all he’s ever wanted. , Over The Edge is a monthly column by Reader senior contributing writer Tim McMahan focused on culture, society, music, the media and the arts. Email Tim at tim.mcmahan@gmail.com

You can tell everybody this is your song. | THE READER |

MAY 2015

53

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MAY 2015

New Generation

Meet the New Boss, Different than the

The New Dust Bowl

strange sea creatures, or discuss the strange intelligence of corvids.While heavy nettle will never surpass pop music, and songs about nature will never be more popular than love songs, it will give both a run for their money.

A new generation is about to enter adulthood. This is a Old Boss generation who were raised in a mostly digital world, where We are about to see an epochal change in civic participation. music and film existed as data on a computer or iPod and not The system we have now is inflexible and mired in bureaucracy, as a physical entity. It is a generation that grew up trading and which makes it hard to make necessary changes, much less sharing, rather than compulsively seeking to own. experiment with new ideas. The politics of the future will be This generation will create a future in which very different. Instead of a system of representatives possessing something is less important than making decisions for the rest of the country, a new experiencing it. Many will never bother system will arise called Open Gate Government. to buy a car. Many will not seek a This philosophy will argue it is the job of career, but instead move from job to government to get out of the way of citizens job. Many will not own homes, or governing for themselves, and the best will buy old houses at auction and thing a political system can do is provide rehab them, moving from property support and funding for projects citizens to property. The economy of develop for themselves. Unsurprisingly, any place they settle, however some established politicians will oppose briefly, will flourish thanks to the this. They will find themselves voted out of opportunities they create. These office, replaced by those who view themselves opportunities will often be disruptive as public servants, rather than bosses. to older business models, sometimes USDA/Public Domain eliminating them. This generation will be Heavy Nettle dismissed and feared by their elders as people A new genre of pop music is about to emerge called “heavy who break things that work, rather than make things that work nettle.” Despite its name, the music will tend to be folk-based. better. Every generation remakes the world in their image, even It will concern itself with the natural world. Songs will typically when it is unrecognizable to those who came before. detail, the day-to-day activities of, say, a fox, or list various The water is gone from Los Angeles, and from Southern California. This drought will continue, and worsen, until the city dies of thirst, and those who live in it pack their belongings and start the long journey to somewhere new. This will be known as the New Dust Bowl, and those who leave Southern California will be called the Backoakies, because they are reversing the journey of those who fled the Midwest and the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Just as that mass migration helped make Southern California great, the migration back into the Midwest will bring greatness there. Small Midwestern cities will become engorged with new residents, and they will bring with them schemes, and money, and the sort of big dreams that are currently synonymous with Los Angeles. And so these places will thrive.

Southern California will become a desert once again.

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The Long Tale

We are entering an era of extremely long-form storytelling.

While there was a time when a three-hour movie was considered long and a 600-page book was considered enormous, we are now in a time when stories can be told in a variety of formats as an ongoing concern. These will not be like the stories of old.

Instead, the stories will be serialized and tell single stories that are typically of epic proportions and covering years. The most famous example will be a single novel that takes place over hundreds of years and takes the author the better part of 60 years to write. , For more on these predictions and others by Dr. Mysterian visit www.thereader.com.