VOL. 16, ISSUE 12 • MARCH 21, 2019
Chattitude A Chattanooga State Of Mind the spirit of the city is all around us
CHATTANOOGA'S WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE • CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM
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FROM THE EDITOR VOLUME 16, ISSUE 12 • MARCH 21, 2019
BREWER MEDIA GROUP Publisher James Brewer, Sr. FOUNDED 2003 BY ZACHARY COOPER & MICHAEL KULL
EDITORIAL Managing Editor Gary Poole gary@chattanoogapulse.com Assistant Editor Jenn Webster City Editor Alex Curry Music Editor Marc T. Michael Film Editor John DeVore Contributors Rob Brezsny • Steven W. Disbrow Matt Jones • Tony Mraz Ernie Paik • Rick Pimental-Habib Alex Teach • Michael Thomas Editorial Intern Jason Dale Cover Photo Matt McLelland Cartoonists Jen Sorenson • Tom Tomorrow
ADVERTISING Director of Sales Mike Baskin mike@brewermediagroup.com Account Executives Rick Leavell • Cindee McBride Libby Phillips • John Rodriguez Danielle Swindell
CONTACT Offices 1305 Carter St. Chattanooga, TN 37402 Phone 423.265.9494 Email info@chattanoogapulse.com Website chattanoogapulse.com Facebook @chattanoogapulse THE FINE PRINT: The Pulse is published weekly by Brewer Media and is distributed throughout the city of Chattanooga and surrounding communities. The Pulse covers a broad range of topics concentrating on music, the arts, entertainment, culture and local news. The Pulse is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. No person without written permission from the publisher may take more than one copy per weekly issue. The Pulse may be distributed only by authorized distributors. Contents Copyright © 2019 by Brewer Media. All rights reserved.
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A Chattanooga State Of Mind Signs tend to be subtle. And Subarus typically don’t break down. But on one chilly night in January, my sweetheart and I sat marooned in St. Elmo waiting for a tow truck. We’d been pseudo house hunting when her clutch stuck to the floorboard and the stick-shift locked into second gear.
JAMES BEARD FINALIST
10
SPEAKING TO THE HEART
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After seeing some exciting news about a fellow Chattanoogan, I decided to take a last-minute 180 and change the topic of today’s story to discuss her good news.
I sat down to listen to the newest release from the Bohannons, titled Bloodroot, and waited for inspiration to strike. In truth, it gets harder to write about one of the area’s most solidly great bands
BEHIND THE CURTAIN
The historic Tivoli Theatre is without a doubt the crown jewel of Chattanooga’s performance spaces. Nestled in the heart of downtown, the city’s most beautiful venue hosts a variety of events.
SOMETHING DIFFERENT
There’s really nothing like a big swashbuckling battle where heroes shoot rainbow-colored jets of energy out of their fists. Or maybe share dramatic smooshy-wooshy kisses all over the big screen.
7 JUST A THEORY
15 FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
18 MUSIC CALENDAR
12 ARTS CALENDAR
15 JONESIN' CROSSWORD
21 NEW IN THEATERS
12 HEALTH & WELLNESS
17 MUSIC REVIEWS
22 ON THE BEAT
CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • MARCH 21, 2019 • THE PULSE • 3
CITY LIFE · BETWEEN THE BRIDGES
Cons ider This w ith Dr. Rick
Chattanoogan Is Finalist For James Beard Award St. John’s own Rebecca Barron ranks among nationally known chefs By Alex Curry
“Normal is an illusion. What is normal to the spider is chaos for the fly.” — credited to Morticia Addams I was recently having a political discussion with a good friend. She believes our world would be more peaceful, and nations would be better run, more ecologically healthy and provide more basic benefits to their citizens if more women were in charge. “We think it’s ‘normal’ for men to be top dog,” she said. “It’s not normal, it’s just what we’ve been conditioned to believe, and what we’ve allowed.” Not five minutes later I came across this from Gloria Steinem: “Women grow radical with age. One day an army of gray-haired women may quietly take over the earth.” Consider this: “When you do something from a place of truth, it works out where it is the right thing for a lot of other people as well.” — Ellen DeGeneres — Rick Pimental-Habib, Ph.D.
Pulse City Editor
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I tricked her into letting me spend time in her kitchen, watching her work and create, attempting to learn and absorb everything I could.”
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A
FTER SEEING SOME EXCITING NEWS ABOUT A fellow Chattanoogan, I decided to take a last-minute 180 and change the topic of today’s story to discuss her good news and how it affects the Scenic City and its budding scène de la gastronomie. I’m going to spend a bit of time talking about an old man who seemingly has nothing to do with Chattanooga and about what his legacy means for our friend and our grumbly tummies. That old man, named James Beard, died ten months before I was born, yet his legacy carries on, a quintessential hero of American gastronomy, and the inspiration for countless chefs, gourmands, restauranteurs, and sommeliers across the country. One of those chefs is Rebecca Barron, known by any seeker of deliciousness as one of the cities preeminent kitchen masters.
I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Chef Barron for a story last year; I was immediately taken with her expansive passion for perfection and technique-driven cooking. Since then I tricked her into letting me spend time in her kitchen, watching her work and create, attempting to learn and absorb everything I could from her and her excellent team in hopes of one day cooking a decent meal of my own. Mostly, I succeeded at being in the way, like a pebble thrown into a well-oiled machine, always occupying the exact space where someone else needed to be and stealing bites of food while nobody was looking.
EDITOONS
The success of that machine is the success of a chef. So much more than simply putting properly cooked food on a plate, the charge of an executive chef is to polish the bigger picture. To make the kitchen work together as a seamless whole, from sourcing ingredients to the finished bite. This skill is where Barron’s expertise sets her apart. Her work invokes the same precision as a master craftsperson; like a carpenter methodically sanding a sailboat plank or a welder laying a perfect bead. As it turns out, I have not been the only one watching Chef’s mastery. The spirit of James Beard, embodied in the foundation under his name, has been watching too. The James Beard Foundation hosts an annual awards ceremony recognizing the best on offer from the culinary world. Chef Rebecca Barron has made the list as a semi-finalist for the Best Chef: Southeast category. The James Beard awards are on par with other prestigious accolades such as the Tony’s and the Emmy awards. It is, without a doubt, a very big deal. To win such an
award is a massive validation of the life’s work of a chef. To be nominated is an award in and of its own, but in the shadow of larger cities like Atlanta and Nashville, Chattanooga currently has zero of these coveted trophies. “The James Beard nomination shows that Chattanooga is a contender in the culinary world,” says Michelle Richards, General Manager and Sommelier of St. John’s. And a contender it is. As we steadily become more of a destination food city, the nomination speaks volumes on Chattanooga’s progressive state-of-cuisine. “When I was young, I read James Beard’s ‘Delights and Prejudices’. I loved reading about his enormous appetite—for life and for food,” reminisces Barron. She has spent her life in the kitchen and has found a path of dedication and success that most people never achieve, despite their chosen profession. “From the time I knew what a James Beard award was, I knew I wanted one!” she goes on. But the award, if she wins it, will not make her a better chef. She is already one of the greats. CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • MARCH 21, 2019 • THE PULSE • 5
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COLUMN · JUST A THEORY
The Engine That Moves Us Forward Our resident scientist asks some still-unanswered questions
H Steven W. Disbrow Pulse columnist
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I thought I’d take a look at some of the current unanswered questions in Science, and see where they might lead us in the future.”
Steven W. Disbrow is the proprietor of “Improv Chattanooga” on the South Side of town. He also creates e-commerce systems and reads comic books when he’s not on stage acting like a fool.
ERE’S THE THING ABOUT Science: It’s never afraid to admit when it doesn’t know the answer to a question. In fact, saying, “I don’t know” is the fuel that allows the engine of Science to creep our civilization forward. The simple act of humbly admitting when you don’t know something, combined with a desire to actually know that thing, along with the scientific method, is what’s taken us from caves to space stations in the span of less than 10,000 years. With that in mind, I thought I’d take a look at some of the current unanswered questions in Science, and see where they might lead us in the future. WHAT ARE DARK MATTER AND DARK ENERGY? The universe is massive. But, as far as we can tell, there’s not enough actual visible mass in it for gravity to hold it all together. Remember a couple months back when we talked about how gravity is the weakest of the fundamental forces? That’s the issue here. There has to be way more mass out there to generate the gravity needed to hold the galaxies together in the shapes we see. As far as we can tell, the mass we can “see” makes up just about five percent of the universe. The rest is some sort of invisible matter that’s undetectable via the electromagnetic spectrum. What is it? Nobody knows. But there is a lot of research underway to figure it out. As if that weren’t bad enough, there’s also an invisible force that’s “blowing up” the universe, causing its bits and pieces to fly away from each other at greater and greater speeds. Imagine, if you will, a balloon (our uni-
verse) that’s getting bigger and bigger, but you can’t see where the new air inside is coming from. Not only that, but more air is being added more quickly all the time! This mysterious, repulsive force was discovered fairly recently (the 1990’s) and is called “dark energy.” Here again, nobody knows exactly what’s causing the expansion, but there are a lot of people trying to figure it out. WHAT IS CONSCIOUSNESS? Seriously. What is consciousness? I mean, it’s a thing that you are doing right now as you read this. And I was doing it as I wrote this. So in a way, right now, you are inside my consciousness… but what is it? Is it biochemical? Is it a side effect of quantum processes? And why are those philosophy students over there laughing at me? (Don’t get cocky… You philosophers have had way more time to work on this than Science, and you know even less.) There are some who think dissecting consciousness is going too far. After all, we humans started out as the divinely crafted pinnacles of creation. But, over the centuries, Science has shown us that we’re really just water and some different cuts of meat, stretched
over a ridiculous-looking stick figure made of rocks. If we reduce the seemingly divine spark of consciousness to the equivalent of “Windows Me” running on the lumps of fat in our skulls, what does anything matter anymore? On the other hand, actually understanding consciousness would let us hack, modify, and improve it, just like we’ve done to every other part of our bodies. So, I say, bring it on. KNOW IT ALL Of course, there are lots of other unanswered questions out there. And, believe it or not, there are even some scientists who think it’s impossible for us to answer all of them. Personally, I think those scientists suffer from a lack of imagination and should be laughed at. We may just be electric rock monsters hauling around meat sacks with a lump of fat in our heads, but we’ve used that electrified fat to crack the atom, create digital watches, and send robots out to the stars. I firmly believe that, given enough time, there’s absolutely no question we humans can’t eventually answer, and that one day, we will, as a species, know it all.
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COVER STORY
Chattitude: A Chattanooga State Of Mind Funky yet old school, the spirit of the city is all around us
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IGNS TEND TO BE SUBTLE. AND SUBARUS TYPICALLY don’t break down. But on one chilly night in January, my sweetheart and I sat marooned in St. Elmo waiting for a tow truck. We’d been pseudo house hunting when her clutch stuck to the floorboard and the stick-shift locked into second gear. By Jason Tinney
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Pulse contributor
Chattitude is a state of mind that projects an intuitively friendly, laid-back spirit that flows like the Tennessee River through the heart of town. ”
With no job prospects and not a soul we knew in this city, it was as if we stood on the edge of the surrounding bluffs contemplating a leap of faith—to uproot our lives in Baltimore and move to Chattanooga based on little more than instinct. Then someone knocked on the car window. A young, dark-haired woman had come out of her house to check on us. We explained our situation and chatted about the neighborhood. “I’d invite y’all in but I’m on my way out,” she said. “You know what? I’ll be right back.” She went back inside the house and returned with her phone number and a survival kit of two SweetWater IPAs and mini bags of Cheeze-Its. “Y’all need anything, give me a
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call.” That was the night I conceptualized, dare I say created, a word which this woman personified: chattitude. That was two years ago. If the woman from St. Elmo is reading this, I’d like to say, ‘preciate ya. I’d also like to officially lay claim to a word that captures the soul of the city. In Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “August: Osage County”, Beverly Weston quotes T.S. Eliot, “Life is very long...he’s given credit for it because he bothered to write it down. He’s not the first person to say it...certainly not the first person to think it. Feel it. But he wrote the words on a sheet of paper and signed it...so if you say it, you have to say his name after it.” I am not so delusional as to think I actually invented a word. But I would like to “T.S. Eliot” it and attempt to articulate its meaning. I’ve even added it to my dictionary so the computer knows that chattitude is, in fact, spelled correctly.
Chattitude is a state of mind that projects an intuitively friendly, laidback spirit that flows like the Tennessee River through the heart of town. It’s old-school Southern charm imbued with generous dollops of funky urban electricity. It’s steeped in eclectic, wild frontier inclinations of reinvention. Respectful of imperfection, it is weighted in authenticity like worn leather. It’s a little weird, a little crazy—but doesn’t care. Quite often I’ll use the word as a tool of encouragement, a way of saying everything is okay. In moments of stress, duress, or when life in general is overwhelming, I offer this advice. “Find your chattitude.” A month after our car broke down we signed the dotted line on a 19th century Victorian in North Chatt. I began dropping chattitude in conversations and was surprised to find that both born-and-raised Chattanoogans and rambling spirits drawn here had never heard the word before. I mean, this is a city that loves to play on its name—Chatta-Cakes, Taconooga, etc. “People have been using ‘chatt’ and ‘noog’ in different ways trying to pin down this thing. There’s this great dialectic dynamic that’s happening here and has been,” says Chris Babb, a New Yorker who moved to the area in 2004. In addition to being among the cheesemongers at the Bleu Fox Cheese Shop, Chris is also a tarot card reader and Kung Fu instructor. And subscriber to chattitude. “Chattanooga was ‘Nooga-strong’ or Nooga-this. It’s like a catchphrase,” Chris says. “Chattanoogans have always been very proud. Now Chat-
tanooga is getting amazing. We’re finally getting the stuff we didn’t have. That’s a cultural thing that should happen. I mean Chattanooga was a nexus point and should carry on that tradition. It’s a historical responsibility. It’s part of our genes.” Trademarking chattitude has crossed my mind. But way beyond my budget. And that just doesn’t feel right. Friends have suggested making t-shirts but that too seems to go against the very nature of the word. I ran the t-shirt idea by my neighbor, Mandi Abercrombie. Mandi is also the general manager of Aretha Frankenstein’s—a restaurant that unapologetically oozes chattitude. “I don’t know,” she says. “Maybe if you did ‘em with Sharpies. You know, DIY.” Aretha Frankenstein’s is a microcosm of chattitude. On Sundays a diverse cross-section of patrons will wait (usually without complaint) over an hour for a seat and a stack of Aretha’s legendary pancakes. “Our clientele is so vast,” Mandi says. “We’ve got the after-church crowd, families, softball teams, girls from GPS, real estate agents, and we’ve got the musicians and gutter punks traveling through with their tiedup crusty dogs.” My first Sunday morning visit to Aretha’s provided one of the many illustrations of chattitude the tiny cafe embodies. A 16 oz. PBR is cheaper than a cup of coffee. And for the morning regulars who gather on the wraparound porch, both go hand-inhand starting at 7 a.m. “It’s one of the only places in town that you can get a beer that early,” Mandi says. “We started doing a lot of stuff for third shift nurses and emergency workers. It’s one place they can go for beer and food and can also sit and decompress.” But they aren’t alone. “Then we have people that come in every day and it’s their thing. They start
the day with coffee and a beer—on their days off at least.” She adds, “Our crew of regulars can sometimes look like a biker gang—a motley crew that would kind of scare you to approach them. But they are the friendliest, best people in the world that will help you any time you need it.” Mandi points out another aspect of chattitude: “I like how you said it,” she adds. “It’s a little rough around the edges. A little bit crazy—but I don’t care. Not straight-jacket crazy, but fun crazy.” She sees that spirit play out. “There’s also an empathy vibe. I definitely feel like people are more authentic. There’s a realness. You’ll have somebody tell you their ugly business when you first meet them, but not in a bad way. More like, this is me, take it or leave it. I love that about people, especially at Aretha’s. All of us are crazy and we let it all hang out. But we don’t hold that against each other.” Our realtor, a native Chattanoogan, didn’t question or find it odd that we broke down here and decided to stay. “I think chattitude does apply and it’s strange to hear it, mostly because growing up here there was not that,” says Lindsey Yerbey, Affiliate Broker at Weichert Realtors-Yerbey Realty.
“Growing up, me and my friends always figured we would leave Chattanooga. We’d move away and it wouldn’t be a big deal because it’s not the greatest place on earth. A lot of us have come back because we realized how cool this city is and how much it has to offer.” Not only did Lindsey help us find our home, she is the first person I introduced chattitude to and she gets major chattitude points for being a killer hula-hooper. “There is that feeling of something you can’t quite put your finger on but it’s just—it’s family oriented, it’s comfortable like a big, warm blanket. You just can’t get it anywhere else really.” As people from here move back and transplants move in, there’s a common desire to hold onto the chattitude. “That feeling and personality is what I hope we don’t lose with all the people moving here. I hope people join in on this chattitude, that they don’t change it. We have a wide variety of people coming here. People coming for industry are a totally different personality from all the millennials that are moving downtown,” Lindsey says of the booming market. “I hope we all mesh together.” Brandon Estrada, Account Execu-
tive for Presagia, moved here from California in 2001 and has witnessed firsthand transplants melding and embracing the chattitude. He and I met on one of those days all the neighbors end up on someone’s porch. “You have a lot of different groups of people who are merging together here that make it a whole different attitude than the rest of the South,” Brandon says. “I have friends from Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, and they’ve all migrated here. They’ve all lost their Northern attitude and mentality and adapted to calming down. They say this place has made them have better attitudes—they feel more peaceful here.” He adds, “Even myself, when I go back to California I get very agitated. Then I come home. The minute you touch down and land in Chattanooga you’re like, ‘Ahhh’. And it smells different here too. It smells fresh. It’s a place I call home.” Chattitude abounds in this city, in subtle signs, in the little things. Kids frolicking in the fountains by the Aquarium or in Coolidge Park. Strolling couples attempting to mambo on Frazier Avenue. Neighbors dropping by with freshly made iced tea to sit on the porch and tell stories. Pausing to gaze at the same sun that rose on the river and now hangs suspended, almost held hostage by Lookout and Signal Mountains, holding on and squeezing every ounce of light. I don’t know what my legacy will be. I hope someone will say he loved and was loyal. And he found chattitude. Jason Tinney is the author of "Ripple Meets the Deep" and co-author of the play, "Fifty Miles Away". He takes great pleasure in porch sitting, sweet tea, and perfecting a state of chattitude.
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Going Behind The Scenes At The Tivoli Behind the curtain at the city's theater jewel Nature Through A Mirrorless Camera Vinny Colucci is a photography veteran: he’s been peering into a viewfinder since 1979, though he started his professional work in 1995. His work primarily captures nature’s grandeur, with visually stunning images of vast landscapes and the wildlife breathing within them. And this Thursday, Colucci will be in Chattanooga to offer insight into a key element of his photographic process: the mirrorless camera. In his presentation, “Packing Light: A Wildlife & Nature Photographer’s Change to Mirrorless”, Colucci will demonstrate his rationale to move from a DSLR to a mirrorless camera, to guide others who are thinking of switching or are ambivalent about the advantages of doing so. For those unaware of the differences between the two, a mirrorless camera lacks a reflex mirror—which would typically filter light through the optical viewfinder—so the camera utilizes a digital or electronic viewfinder instead. Even if you’re not determining whether or not to make the transition, Colucci’s presentation will still allow a perspective into how an experienced photographer such as himself approaches capturing the natural world’s essence through a unique camera lens. In collaboration with the Photographic Society of Chattanooga, Vinny Colucci will present “Packing Light: A Wildlife & Nature Photographer’s Change to Mirrorless” this Thursday at 7 p.m. at St. John’s Methodist Church. For more information, call (423) 344-5643,or email president@chattanoogaphoto.org. — Jason Dale
By Tony Mraz Pulse contributor
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In addition to being crucial for local culture, the Tivoli has a massive economic impact on the city. The financial effects of the events are widespread.”
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T
HE HISTORIC TIVOLI THEATRE IS WITHOUT a doubt the crown jewel of Chattanooga’s performance spaces. Nestled in the heart of downtown in the 700 block of Broad Street, the city’s most beautiful venue hosts a variety of musicals, operas, ballets, symphonies, concerts, comedy events, and more. The space is maintained by The Tivoli Theater Foundation, which was created by Mayor Andy Berke back in 2015 to preserve it, along with the Walker Theater and Memorial Auditorium. Built in 1921 by Reuben H. Hunt with an interior decorated by Rapp & Rapp out of New York, the Tivoli is a rare gem. It might be more beautiful from the stage than from the seats, and a lot of performers and sound engineers love it because of the sound. It is a “short throw” theatre, with
cylindrical alcoves at the front and a dome at top designed to push the sound back. The house has great acoustics, and sound reinforcement speakers in back of the seating area for certain shows. In addition to being crucial for local culture, the Tivoli has a massive economic impact on the city. The financial effects of the events are widespread, benefiting employees of the theater, performers, and employees of the various productions, restaurants and hotels who get business from theater patrons, and
a milieu of others, like people who print ads and make signage, television, newspaper, and radio ads. The space creates a lot of jobs in town, one of the most interesting of which is that of technical director James Durham. James oversees almost everything behind the scenes at the theatre, and does lighting design for symphony concerts. The backstage is an enormous space with 65-ft ceilings which is mostly occupied by the grid. The grid is essentially a huge metal rack with holes for cables and ropes to go through. It is used to bring up and attach steel rigging, set pieces, lights, speaker systems, and anything else that needs to be hung for productions. A 96-step spiral staircase gives access to this and the fly system, which is used to raise and lower the curtains. “The curtains allow us to mask the sides and control how deep the stage area is,” James explains. “There is a lot of weight on each curtain, and each is raised and lowered by hand. To do this, we use stage weights of different sizes that fit into slots to counterbalance them. It takes twice the weight to counterbalance each curtain, so for a 500-pound curtain you would need a thousand pounds to move it. This takes a specialized person.”
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Everybody who works back here is specialized in their fields, and all of them are an important part of Chattanooga.” The side stage curtain that masks the backstage is called a leg. When a performer goes on stage, passing the leg curtain, that is called “breaking a leg”. “Many stage terms come from sailors, because these men often found work as theater employees,” James elaborates, sharing his knowledge of theatre nomenclature. “Sailors have the perfect skill set to accomplish the rigging. Before they had counterbalanced metal weights, they would use sandbags as counterbalances and their own body weight, climbing over each other to raise and lower equipment and curtains.” Just like on a boat, in backstage terms, “bring the curtain in” means lower it, and “bring it out” means raise it. “Stage left” is to the left if you’re facing the audience, “stage right” is to the right, “stage down” is closer to the audience, and “up stage” is away from the audience. “This is because in early theaters, the stage was inclined, literally going up in back to increase visibility,” James notes. The stage at the Tivoli is perfectly
level, allowing it to accommodate the orchestra shell. This monstrous sound engineering marvel is 21 feet tall and very heavy, made of a series of six foot sections on casters. When assembled, it amplifies and focuses the sound of the orchestra. The theatre works a lot with the symphony, who rents it out as a rehearsal space and has a storage area in the next building. The amount of staff needed to operate the backstage varies between shows, but on average just four people can handle the symphony. For other shows, that number goes up, when the skills of a monitor engineer, front-of-house sound engineer, lighting director, spotlight operator, etc. are needed. For an opera, there might be twenty or more people involved in the production; set and wardrobe designers, hair stylists, makeup artists, stage managers, directors, and choreographers. “Everybody who works back here is specialized in their fields, and all of them are an important part of Chattanooga,” James sums it up.
THU3.21
FRI3.22
SAT3.23
Theology On Tap
Of Mice and Men
Strides of March
Dr. Craig Bartholomew leads a discussion on the place of God in conetmporary culture and the modern world. 6:30 p.m. The Camp House 149 E. MLK Blvd. thecamphouse.com
John Steinbeck's classic novel comes to life with an unfogiving view of the harsh realities of the Great Depression era. 7:30 p.m. Back Alley @ Mars Theater 117 N. Chattanooga St. bapshows.com
Join Cempa as they celebrate the strides made in the fight against HIV, with live music, food, and lots of fun! Noon Renaissance Park 54 Manufacturers Rd. cempa.org
CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • MARCH 21, 2019 • THE PULSE • 11
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT CALENDAR
Ruby Falls Lantern Tours
THURSDAY3.21 Red Wolf Revival Film Screening Noon Reflection Riding Arboretum 400 Garden Rd. (423) 821-1160 reflectionriding.org Urban Farmers Market and Marketplace 3 p.m. Miller Park 910 Market St. millerparkmarket.com Naughty Knights Chess Meetup 5 p.m. Hutton & Smith Brewing Co. 431 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 760-3600 huttonandsmithbrewing.com Urban Story Ventures 5:30 p.m. Urban Story Ventures 736 Georgia Ave. (423) 498-2513 urbanstoryventures.com Theology On Tap: Dr. Craig Bartholomew 6:30 p.m. The Camp House 149 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 702-8081 thecamphouse.com PSC Presents Vinny Colucci 7 p.m. St. John’s United Methodist 3921 Murray Hills Dr. (423) 892-2257
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stjohnumc.org TRIXX 7:30 p.m. The Comedy Catch 1400 Market St. (423) 629-2233 thecomedycatch.com Alcoholics Not Anonymous Comedy Open Mic 8 p.m. Barley Taproom 235 E. MLK Blvd. (423) 682-8200 chattanoogabarley.com Country Line Dancing Class 8 p.m. Westbound Bar 24 Station St. (423) 498-3069 westboundbar.com
FRIDAY3.22 Red Wolf Revival Film Screening Noon Reflection Riding Arboretum 400 Garden Rd. (423) 821-1160 reflectionriding.org TRIXX 7:30, 9:45 p.m. The Comedy Catch 1400 Market St. (423) 629-2233 thecomedycatch.com Of Mice and Men 7:30 p.m. Back Alley @ Mars Theater 117 N. Chattanooga St.
(706) 996-8350 bapshows.com Improv “Movie” Presents: Buddy Cop Movie 8 p.m. Improv Chattanooga 1800 Rossville Ave. (423) 843-1775 improvchattanooga.com The Matrix: 20th Anniversary Screening 8 p.m. Palace Theater 818 Georgia Ave. (423) 803-6578 chattpalace.com Video Game Night 8 p.m. Stone Cup Cafe 208 Frazier Ave. (423) 521-3977 stonecupcafe.com Ruby Falls Lantern Tours 8:30 p.m. Ruby Falls 1720 S. Scenic Hwy. (423) 821-2544 rubyfalls.com Good, Old-Fashioned Improv Show 10 p.m. Improv Chattanooga 1800 Rossville Ave. (423) 843-1775 improvchattanooga.com
SATURDAY3.23 Coffee Tasting and Evaluation 10 a.m.
Mad Priest Coffee & Cocktails 719 Cherry St. (423) 541-1395 madpriestcha.com Sip TN Chattanooga Wine Festival 2019 Noon First Tennessee Pavilion 1829 Carter St. (423) 266-4041 finleystadium.com Strides of March 2019 Noon Renaissance Park 54 Manufacturers Rd. (423) 643-6096 cempa.org Red Wolf Revival Film Screening Noon Reflection Riding Arboretum 400 Garden Rd. (423) 821-1160 reflectionriding.org Landscape Painting Demo with Victoria Pearmain 1:30 p.m. River Gallery 400 E 2nd. St. (800) 374-2923 river-gallery.com Carnivale 6 p.m Mad Priest Coffee & Cocktails 719 Cherry St. (423) 541-1395 madpriestcha.com Contra Dance for All! 7:30 p.m. Brainerd United Methodist Church
Red Wolf Revival Film Screening 4315 Brainerd Rd. (423) 698-6951 brainerdumc.org TRIXX 7:30, 9:45 p.m. The Comedy Catch 1400 Market St. (423) 629-2233 thecomedycatch.com Of Mice and Men 7:30 p.m. Back Alley @ Mars Theater 117 N. Chattanooga St. (706) 996-8350 bapshows.com Your Stories 8 p.m. Improv Chattanooga 1800 Rossville Ave. (423) 843-1775 improvchattanooga.com Whose Line Chattanooga 10 p.m. Improv Chattanooga 1800 Rossville Ave. (423) 843-1775 improvchattanooga.com
SUNDAY3.24 Hunter Undergraduate Student Symposium 1 p.m. The Hunter Museum of Art 10 Bluff View (423) 267-0968 huntermuseum.org Bobby Stone Film Series: If Beale Street Could Talk 2 p.m., 6 p.m.
Tivoli Theatre 709 Broad St. (423) 757-5580 tivolichattanooga.com Of Mice and Men 2:30 p.m. Back Alley @ Mars Theater 117 N. Chattanooga St. (706) 996-8350 bapshows.com The Creation of Fiddler on the Roof 3 p.m. Girls Preparatory School 205 Island Ave. (423) 634-7600 gps.edu TRIXX 7:30 p.m. The Comedy Catch 1400 Market St. (423) 629-2233 thecomedycatch.com
MONDAY3.25 Winter Belly Dance Session 5:45 p.m. Movement Arts Collective 3813 Dayton Blvd. (423) 401-8115 movementartscollective.com Joggers & Lagers 6 p.m. Chattanooga Brewing Co. 1804 Chestnut St. chattabrew.com River City Dance Club 7:45 p.m. Peace Strength Yoga
3800 St. Elmo Ave. (813) 731-9581 rivercitydanceclub.com
TUESDAY3.26 Wake Up & Run 6 a.m. Fleet Feet Sports 307 Manufacturers Rd. (423) 771-7996 fleetfeetchattanooga.com Red Wolf Revival Film Screening Noon Reflection Riding Arboretum 400 Garden Rd. (423) 821-1160 reflectionriding.org Chess K-night 5 p.m. Mad Priest Coffee Roasters 1900 Broad St. (423) 393-3834 madpriestcoffee.com Tuesday Night Chess Club 6 p.m. Downtown Library 1001 Broad St. (423) 643-7700 chattilibrary.com Paths to Pints 6:30 p.m. The Tap House 3800 St. Elmo Ave. taphousechatt.com English Country Dance for All! 7 p.m. Heritage House Arts Center 1428 Jenkins Rd.
(423) 855-9474 chattanooga.gov
WEDNESDAY3.27 Red Wolf Revival Film Screening Noon Reflection Riding Arboretum 400 Garden Rd. (423) 821-1160 reflectionriding.org Main Street Market 4 p.m. 522 W. Main St. mainstfarmersmarket.com “From My Perspective” Art Exhibition 6 p.m. Trousdale School 3171 Hewitt St. (423) 479-7130 trousdaleschool.org Naughty Knights Chess Meetup 7:30 p.m. The Bitter Alibi 825 Houston St. (423) 362-5070 thebitteralibi.com Free Kittens Comedy 8 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia 231 E. MLK Blvd. jjsbohemia.com Map these locations on chattanoogapulse.com. Send event listings at least 10 days in advance to: calendar@chattanoogapulse.com CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • MARCH 21, 2019 • THE PULSE • 13
HEALTH & WELLNESS
Cempa Cares For The Community Celebrating an anniversary and a successful new program
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shley Ewald, program manager for STEP TN (Syringe Trade and Education Program), Cempa Community Care’s harm reduction program, works with people in difficult circumstances, yet as I speak with her, she’s celebrating her job. Often, as she introduces new clients to STEP TN’s syringe exchange program, she finds them asking about treatment and coming clean. “Every day, I get at least one person who comes to talk to me about a treatment center,” she says. “It may be a client I’ve had for months. I see them go through denial, contemplation, preparation… it’s amazing to witness the transition from the first time they come in and the changes they go through.” Every transformation is a blessing on top of the successes directly related to STEP TN’s primary mission. STEP TN aims to reduce the spread of HIV, Hepatitis C, and other bloodborne infections that can be spread through sharing needles used to inject drugs, as well as provide safe disposal of needles and syringes. Often, users of illegal drugs know they need to look after their health, but they’re afraid of meeting shame or dismissal at the doctor’s office. “The population we serve faces stigma,” Ewald says. “Doctors may distrust them and they face judgment when they go in for health needs. My job gives me the opportunity to humanize them.” About four percent of people addicted to pain medication turn to heroin, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. These people are vulnerable to diseases that come through needle-sharing, especially HIV and Hepatitis C.
“The population we serve faces stigma. Doctors may distrust them and they face judgment when they go in for health needs. My job gives me the opportunity to humanize them.” Besides reducing the spread of disease through needle exchange, STEP TN works to connect these people to treatment when they’re ready, as well as supply Naloxone kits, which can be used to reverse an overdose of opioid drugs. Additionally, the program also tries to reduce needle-stick injury for law enforcement officers, supplying them with puncture-proof receptacles for syringes they encounter in their line of work. So far, STEP TN has served more than 650 clients and collected over 80,000 used syringes since
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its inception last March, says Melanie Connatser, Development Administrator at Cempa Community Care. Through the program clients have the opportunity to be tested for HIV and other bloodborne diseases, including Hepatitis C; so far, STEP TN has put one person with HIV and 40 with Hep C on the path to treatment. If a client tests positive for HIV or Hepatitis C, STEP TN ensures treatment options are provided immediately. After a confirmatory test, instead of being given a referral, the patient is walked directly to Cempa Community Care’s clinic so they can get started on medication the same day as part of the new Rapid Start Program. If you need to make a needle exchange or are seeking testing for HIV, Hepatitis C, or sexually transmitted infections, Cempa can help. Cempa also offers primary care to HIV clients and all-around support for people
living with HIV. Testing and needle exchange are confidential and no identifying records are kept of people who visit for needle exchange. “If people test positive for HIV or Hepatitis C, we can refer them to the clinic in-house,” Connatser says. “We can provide them with treatment options immediately. For any service Cempa doesn’t offer, we can link people with our community partners.” It’s just a year since Chattanooga C.A.R.E.S. was renamed Cempa Community Care and added STEP TN to its mix of programs. STEP TN has been supported by AIDS United: The Syringe Access Fund, Samaritan Ministry, and the Tennessee Department of Health. On April 3, Cempa is hosting an impact reveal from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at 1042 East 3rd Street. Come celebrate their ongoing mission or make a donation at cempa.org or steptn.org. — Jenn Webster
JONESIN' CROSSWORD
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY ARIES (March 21-April 19): During the coming weeks, everything that needs to happen will indeed happen only if you surprise yourself on a regular basis. So I hope you will place yourself in unpredictable situations where you won’t be able to rely on well-rehearsed responses. I trust that you will regard innocence and curiosity and spontaneity as your superpowers. Your willingness to change your mind won’t be a mark of weakness but rather a sign of strength. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In the animated kids’ film Over the Hedge, ten talking animals come upon a massive, towering hedge they’ve never seen. The friendly group consists of a skunk, red squirrel, box turtle, two opossums, and five porcupines. The hedge perplexes and mystifies them. It makes them nervous. There’s nothing comparable to it in their previous experience. One of the porcupines says she would be less afraid of it if she just knew what it was called, whereupon the red squirrel suggests that from now on they refer to it as “Steve.” After that, they all feel better. I recommend that you borrow their strategy in the coming weeks. If a Big Unknown arrives in your vicinity, dub it “Steve” or “Betty.”
you want happiness, what are you wanting?” asks aphorist Olivia Dresher. The repeat of an event that made you feel good in the past? A sweet adventure you’ve thought about but never actually experienced? Here’s a third possibility. Maybe happiness is a state you could feel no matter what your circumstances are; maybe you could learn how to relax into life exactly as it is, and feel glad about your destiny wherever it takes you. In my opinion, Leo, that third approach to happiness will be especially natural for you to foster in the coming weeks. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): There are old traditions in many cultures that pay special attention to the first brick or stone that is laid in the earth to initiate the construction of a future building. It’s called a cornerstone or foundation stone. All further work to create the new structure refers back to this original building block, and depends on it. I’m pleased to inform you that now is a favorable phase to put your own metaphorical cornerstone in place, Virgo. You’re ready to begin erecting a structure or system that will serve you for years to come. Be sure you select the right place for it, as well as the best building materials.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): I urge you to locate a metaphorical or very literal door that will give you access to a place that affords you more freedom and healing and support. Maybe you already know about the existence of this door— or maybe it’s not yet on your radar. Here’s advice from Clarissa Pinkola Éstes that might help. “If you have a deep scar, that is a door,” she writes. “If you have an old, old story, that is a door. If you love the sky and the water so much that you almost cannot bear it, that is a door. If you yearn for a deeper life, a full life, a sane life, that is a door.”
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Born under the sign of Libra, Ivan Kharchenko (1918–1989) was a military officer and engineer for the Soviet army. His specialty was disarming explosive devices before they detonated. Over the course of his career, he defused an estimated 50,000 bombs and mines. Let’s make him your patron saint for the coming weeks. Why? Because I suspect you will be able to summon a metaphorical version of his power: an extraordinary capacity to keep volatile situations from blowing up. You’ll be a virtuoso at waging peace and preventing strife.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Musician Carole Kaye is the most famous bass guitarist you’ve never heard of. Over the course of five decades, she has plied her soulful talents on more than 10,000 recordings, including gems by Frank Zappa, Stevie Wonder, Frank Sinatra, Simon and Garfunkel, and the Beach Boys. Twenty-seven-time Grammy winner Quincy Jones has testified that Kaye has written “some of the most beautiful themes I’ve ever heard in my life” and that she “could do anything and leave men in the dust.” I trust this horoscope will expand the number of people who appreciate her. I also hope you’ll be inspired to become more active in spreading the word about the gifts that you have to offer the world. It’s high time to make sure that people know more of the beautiful truth about you.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): There was a time, less than a century ago, when pink was considered a masculine color and blue a feminine hue. In previous eras, many European men sported long hair, wore high heels, and favored clothes with floral patterns. Franklin D. Roosevelt, one of America’s most prominent twentieth-century presidents, sometimes wore skirts and feather-bedecked hats as a child. With these facts as your keystone, and in accordance with astrological omens, I encourage you to experiment with your own gender expressions in the coming weeks. It’s prime time to have fun with the way you interpret what it means to be a man or woman—or any other gender you might consider yourself to be.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “When
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): According to estimates by population experts, about 109 billion humans have been born on planet
Earth over the millennia. And yet I’m quite sure that not a single one of those other individuals has been anything like you. You are absolutely unique, an unmatched treasure, a one-of-a-kind creation with your own special blend of qualities. And in my prophetic view, you’re ready to fully acknowledge and celebrate these facts on a higher octave than ever before. It’s high time for you to own your deepest authenticity; to work with extra devotion to express your soul’s code; to unabashedly claim your idiosyncratic genius. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): We don’t know as much about European history between the sixth and ninth centuries as we do about other eras. Compared to the times that preceded and followed it, cultural and literary energies were low. Fewer records were kept. Governments were weaker and commerce was less vigorous. But historians don’t like to use the term “Dark Ages” to name that period because it brought many important developments and activities, such as improvements in farming techniques. So in some ways, “Lost Ages” might be a more apropos descriptor. Now let’s turn our attention to a metaphorically comparable phase of your own past, Capricorn: an era that’s a bit fuzzy in your memory; a phase about which your understanding is incomplete. I suspect that the coming weeks will be an excellent time to revisit that part of your life and see what new evidence and insights you can mine. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Why do some American libraries ban certain books, ensuring they’re unavailable to local readers? The reasons may be because they feature profanity or include references to sex, drug use, the occult, atheism, and unusual political viewpoints. Marjane Satrapi’s "Persepolis" is one of the most frequently censored books. Others are Maya Angelou’s "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", "Beloved" by Toni Morrison, and "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini. In my astrological opinion, these are exactly the kinds of books you should especially seek out in the coming weeks. In fact, I suggest you commune with a variety of art and ideas and influences that are controversial, provocative, and intriguing. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): At the age of 97, Piscean cartoonist Al Jaffee is still creating new material for the satirical Mad magazine, where he has worked since 1964. There was one 63-year stretch when his comic stylings appeared in all but one of Mad’s monthly issues. I nominate him to be your role model during the next four weeks. It’s a favorable time for you to access and express a high degree of tenacity, stamina, and consistency.
“It’s an Honor to Be Nominated”—yet they never won. ACROSS 1 “Who’s there?” reply 6 Sitcom set in suburban Houston 10 Org. overseeing summer and winter competitions 13 NASCAR participant 14 “___ Through the Gift Shop” 15 “It’s ___ sham!” 16 Maker of the 2600 17 Late arrival 19 “1984” actor with 7 Oscar nominations and no wins 21 President between Roosevelt and Wilson 23 “Carte” or “mode” preceder 24 “Watchmen” actor Jackie ___ Haley 25 Go to hell ___ handbasket 26 Jost cohost 27 Practice figures, for short? 29 Committed response 30 Chocolate source 32 Most negligible 34 Composer/lyricist
of “Godspell” with 6 Tony nominations and no wins (not counting an honorary Tony) 40 Lacking enthusiasm 41 Lift with force 42 Brandenburg Concertos monogram 45 Freestyle, perhaps 46 “Ballers” network 48 “All Songs Considered” network 49 Compensate 51 Mediterranean or Baltic, e.g. 52 Othello foe 53 “Back at One” R&B singer with 16 Grammy nominations and no wins 57 Involving both sides of the body 58 “Camelot” collaborator 61 Idyllic setting 62 Ride share amount, maybe 63 Distraught 64 Cranberry color 65 Go along with 66 Allots, with “out”
DOWN 1 George Gershwin’s brother 2 Inked art, for short 3 1983 Pacino pic 4 Raise reason 5 “Tim and ___ Awesome Show, Great Job!” 6 Consignment shop transaction 7 Especially 8 Part of the Woodstock logo 9 Run up ___ (drink at the bar) 10 “Allow me ...” 11 Soccer stadium chant 12 “Bette Davis Eyes” singer Kim 15 “Slumdog Millionaire” locale 18 Milton Bradley game featuring facial features 20 “Yeah right!” 21 Muscular contractions 22 Art sch. class 26 Intelligible 27 12th of 12 28 Crowd noise 31 On point
32 Timothy Leary’s hallucinogen 33 ___ kwon do 35 Org. that’s supposed to be green 36 Little drink 37 Did some diagnostic work, maybe 38 “Modern Family” rating 39 One of many in a googol 42 Talk incessantly 43 Giant step 44 Prepared, as water for pasta 46 “The End of the Innocence” singer Don 47 “The Crow” actress ___ Ling 50 Bread from a tandoor 51 Take to the rink 52 “Fingers crossed” 54 “Desus & ___” (2019 late-night Showtime TV show) 55 Seafood dip ingredient 56 Dour 59 Tiny 60 Romulans, e.g.
Copyright © 2019 Jonesin’ Crosswords. For answers to this puzzle, call: 1-900-226-2800, 99 cents perminute. Must be 18+ to call. Or to bill to your credit card, call: 1-800-655-6548. Reference puzzle No. 928 CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • MARCH 21, 2019 • THE PULSE • 15
THE MUSIC SCENE
Bloodroot Speaks To The Heart Growing older (and wiser) with the Bohannons
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SAT DOWN TO LISTEN TO THE NEWEST RELEASE from the Bohannons, titled Bloodroot, and waited for inspiration to strike. In truth, it gets harder to write about one of the area’s most solidly great bands. By Marc T. Michael Pulse Music Editor
“
Matt, Marty, Mike and Billy are flat-out the best around and what can I add to that to make it any clearer?”
There’s only so many times you can say the guitar is blistering, the rhythm section is rocking, the vocals, soaring. It’s the price of being the best. Or so I assume. People grow to expect every note to be brilliant and when it is, well, that’s just those boys doing what they do, so what’s to say that hasn’t already been said? Don’t take this as sarcasm; I mean it. Matt, Marty, Mike and Billy are flat-out the best around and what can I add to that to make it any clearer than it already is? “Well I see her at Christmas, maybe twice a year, when somebody is married, or buried here.” And then that lyric hit me, like a ton of bricks. Never mind that the backing music was just delicious or that Marty’s delivery was, well…nobody else could deliver it any better. Those things, as I’ve said, are practically a given already. Those words, though…in a flash I was acutely aware of how old I am, how far re-
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moved from the places I grew up, the family and friends I used to know and how it seems more and more that the last lingering connection I have with where I am from comes in the form of funerals and weddings. And there, ladies and gentlemen, is the hook, the thing I can say about a band whose praises I’ve already sung plenty over the years. With this latest release, the Bohannons have hit a new high water mark with the resonance, with the truth of their work. Please bear with me on what’s going to seem like an odd comparison at first. At the tender age of seventeen, Bob Seger’s “Turn the Page” was, to me, the epitome of life on the road for a working musician…because I hadn’t been one yet. See, there’s a hint of truth underlying the dusty old tune, but mainly it’s more what a seventeenyear-old might imagine life is like for a musician, a caricature with exaggerated features and made-up, overly dramatic bits. I’m not ragging the tune or the artist, but I will say that anyone who’s actually spent time on the road and in the
industry (myself included) hears that song and gets a wry grin or maybe an eye-roll, because we know what it’s trying to approximate, can even appreciate the effort, but we know how close it doesn’t get. Bloodroot, on the other hand, nails it. And it isn’t just a “life on the road” album, it’s a “life” album. “It’s inspired by our home, family, friends, and this indelible planet,” Marty explains. “The songs are vignettes of this wild journey…” So there you have it, the album is as much as series of observations gleaned from thirteen years of touring and living, delivered with a subtlety so fine, you don’t even recognize that’s what they’re doing until after they’ve done it. The music itself covers a lot of ground. “Howler” isn’t precisely psychedelic, but it has a haunting aspect I find very appealing. “Hungover Hills” sounds deceptively light-hearted, yet there is a darker element just beneath the surface that never entirely reveals itself but leaves you with a feeling that there’s more going on behind the scenes of the carnival than clowns and elephants. “My Dark Roots” is just some by-god great rock and roll. “Sister Twister”, “Cold Case”, Nice and Slow”, every track has something a little different to offer musically. It’s all brilliant. But the takeaway for me, the common element binding the tracks together, is the plain and simple truth of it all. The Bohannon’s lyrics have never been lacking, but there is something here in this latest release that goes further and deeper than they’ve done before, and so I will attest that an LP that was bound to be great before the first track was laid has yet again raised the bar for the brothers. Bloodroot isn’t just a hell of an album; it’s an album that I will be thinking about long after the last note sounds.
ERNIE PAIK’S RECORD REVIEWS
Various Artists SLR30 7” Single Series (Slumberland)
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his writer feels like a crotchety, rake-shaking old man each time he explains to some young, earnest vinyl collector that back in the ‘90s, the standard price for an indie-rock/pop 7-inch single was $3 and an LP was usually around $8, while today, singles are $7–10 and new LPs are $20– 30. The 7-inch single format thrived in indie realms then, and for good reason—for just a few bucks, you could take a chance on something and own a tangible art object, and there’s a certain immediacy and joy when you find that single you simply want to play over and over. It made musiclistening an activity; lifting the stylus every three minutes forced you to interact and be engaged. The pop-centric label Slumberland Records began in December 1989, initially concentrating on the small yet
mighty 7-inch single. It’s notable just how enduring and inspired some of those early ‘90s singles are, with standouts from Black Tambourine and Swirlies and some absolutely essential newcanon classics from Stereolab (“John Cage Bubblegum”) and Velocity Girl (“My Forgotten Favorite”). Slumberland never stopped putting out great records, even after the ‘90s indie-pop heyday faded, and within the last decade, it fostered impressive new talent from acts such as Procedure Club, Veronica Falls, Gold-Bears, and Young Guv. Approaching its 30th year, Slumberland wanted to celebrate by returning to the format with which it launched, with the SRL30 7” Single Series, which includes 13 singles to be released gradually throughout 2018 and 2019. However, rather than spotlight Slumberland bands, the series will mix things up by mostly featuring non-Slumberland (yet aesthetically like-minded) bands. So far, four singles have been released in the series, from The Suncharms, Rat Columns, David Lance Callahan, and Dolly Dream, and it seems appropriate that the first is from the British band The Suncharms, since it formed in 1989, sharing the same birth year as Slumberland. Their single “Red Dust” b/w “Film Soundtrack” harks back to ‘90s shoegaze acts and ‘80s British indie-jangle pop, and will appeal to fans of bands that mixed
shoegaze and pop, like 14 Iced Bears and Moose. Australian David West’s rotating-lineup group Rat Columns delivers a bouncy momentum on “Sometimes We’re Friends”, and while it’s not exactly ground-breaking, it does have a pleasing freshness to it; it’s backed by the brief, low-key ballad “Astral Lover” and “Waiting to Die”, offering an unusual breeziness with a choppy rhythm. David Lance Callahan is known as the singer of the ‘80s pop band The Wolfhounds and the co-founder of the sample-heavy, unclassifiable group Moonshake (if Eva Luna and Big Good Angel don’t blow your mind, this writer can’t help you), and his solo single sounds completely different from those two bands, with pastoral singing, acoustic guitar lines and bright glockenspiel notes. This direction is completely unexpected, and although his two tracks are growing on this critic, he can’t help but think that Callahan’s talents aren’t fully on display here. So far, the best of the bunch is Dolly Dream’s single, an unabashedly nostalgic amalgam of mid-century reverberating bliss, with gliding exotica, a Link Wray-esque guitar and Meg Remy (U.S. Girls) channeling Ronnie Spector with her carefully stylized vocals on “The Way to Heaven”, while “Slip Thru Hell” is a short, disquieting mindtrip—something that’ll make you
wonder “What the hell did I just listen to?” and compel you to pick up the stylus to play the song again.
Yanga Libérate, Volumen 1 & 2 (Names You Can Trust)
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t first blush, the southern California group Yanga serves up well-executed Afro-Caribbean stylings—focused on those from the Colombian coastal region— with ample drive and energy. But upon repeat, more attentive listenings to Libérate, Volumen 1 & 2, one hears some mysterious details and can appreciate the care that went into these pristinely recorded and mixed tracks. Released as a duo of 7-inch singles plus digital downloads, including instrumental versions of all four tracks, Libérate weaves a web of polyrhythms on a variety of traditional percussion instruments—the tambora (twoheaded Dominican drum) played
by Daniel McCormick, the conga-like tambor alegre played by Eduardo Valencia, quecharaca (gourd scraper, similar to a güiro) sounds from Edgar Modesto, shakes of the shekere (gourd covered with a beaded net) from vocalist Eddika Organista, along with handclaps. Also providing momentum are the spirited call-and-response vocal exchanges between Organista and the backing singers, and every so often there are some truly odd background vocal exclamations and outcries, providing a chilling element that bridges the natural with the supernatural. The smooth, funk-inflected electric bass lines from Tony Martin have a soft touch, and key notes are accented with tambora drum beats; Valencia’s tambor alegre beats nudge their way to the forefront at times, with nuanced, enthusiastic playing. One of the band’s main composers, John D’Alessandro, occasionally steps into the spotlight with his accordion melodies, but his sound is sometimes treated so that there is a slight warble to it—it’s not exactly psychedelic or distorted, but the manipulation is present just enough, as if to signal that things aren’t entirely normal here. The subtle peculiarities are there for careful listeners, giving Yanga a slightly off-kilter flavor that carries the group’s traditional sources into an altered sonic wilderness.
THU3.21
FRI3.22
SAT3.23
Butthole, Chainwave, Planet Terrestrial, Tessa Lynn Plank
Milele Roots
The Cane Creek Tragic, Ten Year Flood, The Electric Shaman
Sometimes you just need your rock loud, fast, and in your face. 9 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia 231 E. MLK Blvd. jjsbohemia.com
And then sometimes you just want to chill out and jam with some sweet reggae and rock with the M'Roots. 9 p.m. WanderLinger Brewing Co. 1208 King St. wanderlinger.com
Or maybe you want it really, REALLY loud and utterly unforgiving. 9 p.m. Music Box @ Ziggy’s 607 Cherokee Blvd. ziggysbarandgrill.net
CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • MARCH 21, 2019 • THE PULSE • 17
LIVE MUSIC CALENDAR THURSDAY3.21 James Crumble Trio 6 p.m. St. John’s Meeting Place 1278 Market St. stjohnsrestaurant.com Danimal & Friends 6 p.m. WanderLinger Brewing Co. 1208 King St. wanderlinger.com New Grass Express 6:30 p.m. Whole Foods Market 301 Manufacturers Rd. wholefoodsmarket.com Ryan Oyer 6:30 p.m. Westin Alchemy Bar 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com Megan Howard 6:30 p.m. Westin Dorato Bar 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com Jesse Jungkurth & Friends 6:30 p.m. Mexi-Wing VII 5773 Brainerd Rd. (423) 296-1073 An Evening with Little Texas 7 p.m. Songbirds North 35 Station St. songbirdsguitars.com Big Band Swing 7 p.m. The Honest Pint 35 Patten Pkwy. thehonestpint.com Lew Card vs Randy Steele 7 p.m. The Woodshop 5500 St. Elmo Ave. thewoodshop.space Webb Barringer Band 7 p.m. Edley’s Bar-B-Que 205 Manufacturers Rd. edleysbbq.com Toby Hewitt 7 p.m. Backstage Bar 29 Station St. backstagechattanooga.com Stephen Busie 8 p.m. The Social 1110 Market St.
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publichousechattanooga.com Cat Power 8 p.m. Tivoli Theatre 709 Broad St. tivolichattanooga.com Ben Rector 8 p.m. Memorial Auditorium 399 McCallie Ave. tivolichattanooga.com Open Mic Night 9 p.m. The Office @ City Cafe 901 Carter St. citycafemenu.com Butthole, Chainwave, Planet Terrestrial, Tessa Lynn Plank 9 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia 231 E. MLK Blvd. jjsbohemia.com
FRIDAY3.22 Mockingbird String Quartet 6 p.m. Heaven & Ale Brewing Co. 300 Cherokee Blvd. heavenandalebrewing.com Preston Ruffing 6:30 p.m. Westin Alchemy Bar 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com Naomi Ingram 6:30 p.m. Westin Dorato Bar 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com
Tim Lewis 7 p.m. El Meson 248 Northgate Park elmesonchattanooga.com Rebel Union 7 p.m. Songbirds North 35 Station St. songbirdsguitars.com Stellar’s Jay 7 p.m. Oddstory Brewing Company 336 E. MLK Blvd. oddstorybrewing.co Cody Johnson w/Jacob Bryant 8:30 p.m. The Signal 1810 Chestnut St. thesignaltn.com Courtney Daly 8:30 p.m. Puckett’s Restaurant 2 W. Aquarium Way puckettsgro.com Randall Adams 9 p.m. The Office @ City Cafe 901 Carter St. citycafemenu.com The Get Right Band 9 p.m. HiFi Clyde’s 122 W. Main St. hificlydeschattanooga.com TIME 9 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia 231 E. MLK Blvd. jjsbohemia.com Mighty Sideshow with Seven
LIVE MUSIC SPOTLIGHT A fusion of Powerpop, Americana, Folk Rock, and Alt Rock featuring Jason's songwriting brought to life with guitar, cello, mandolin, percussion, and vocal layers. Jason Lyles Album Release Show Saturday, 9 p.m. WanderLinger Brewing Co. 1208 King St. wanderlinger.com
Stones 9 p.m. Songbirds South 41 Station St. songbirdsguitars.com Milele Roots 9 p.m. WanderLinger Brewing Co. 1208 King St. wanderlinger.com Jason Lyles 9:30 p.m. The Feed Co. Table & Tavern 201 W. Main St. feedtableandtavern.com John Carrol 10 p.m. The Social 1110 Market St. publichousechattanooga.com Rock Daddy 10 p.m. Bud’s Sports Bar 5751 Brainerd Rd. budssportsbar.com
SATURDAY3.23 Gopher Broke 12:30 p.m. Tennessee Aquarium Plaza 1 Broad St. publicmarkets.us David Anthony and Paul Stone 6 p.m. The Palms at Hamilton 6925 Shallowford Rd. thepalmsathamilton.com John Carroll 6:30 p.m. Westin Alchemy Bar 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com The Briars 6:30 p.m. Westin Dorato Bar 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com Forever Bluegrass 7 p.m. Westbound Bar 24 Station St. westboundbar.com Tim Lewis 7 p.m. El Meson 248 Northgate Park elmesonchattanooga.com Callista Clark w/Ava Grace 7 p.m.
Songbirds North 35 Station St. songbirdsguitars.com Cody Ray 7 p.m. Hutton & Smith Brewing Co. 431 E. MLK Blvd. huttonandsmithbrewing.com Rick Rushing 7:30 p.m. Jewish Cultural Center 5461 North Terrace jewishchattanooga.com Dancing in the Street: The Music of Motown 7:30 p.m. Tivoli Theatre 709 Broad St. tivolichattanooga.com Graham Nash 8 p.m. Walker Theatre 399 McCallie Ave. tivolichattanooga.com Flat Top Boxers 8 p.m. River Drifters 1925 Suck Creek Rd. riverdrifterschatt.com Amber Fults 9 p.m. The Office @ City Cafe 901 Carter St. citycafemenu.com The Bitteroots 9 p.m. HiFi Clyde’s 122 W. Main St. hificlydeschattanooga.com Jason Lyles Album Release 9 p.m. WanderLinger Brewing Co. 1208 King St. wanderlinger.com Lewis and Clark EP Release 9 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia 231 E. MLK Blvd. jjsbohemia.com Opposite Box w/Tribal Hoose 9 p.m. Songbirds South 41 Station St. songbirdsguitars.com Oweda, The Night Birds 9 p.m. The Moxy 1220 King St. moxy-hotels.marriott.com The Cane Creek Tragic, Ten Year Flood, The Electric Shaman
9 p.m. Music Box @ Ziggy’s 607 Cherokee Blvd. ziggysbarandgrill.net Matthew Paul Revere 9 p.m. Mayo’s Bar and Grill 3820 Brainerd Rd. mayosbarandgrill.com Cheering Tokyo 9 p.m. Trish’s Sports Bar 4762 Highway 58 (423) 269-8400 Jordan Miller 9:30 p.m. Leapin’ Leprechaun Pub 101 Market St. theleprechaunpub.com Rock Daddy 10 p.m. Bud’s Sports Bar 5751 Brainerd Rd. budssportsbar.com
SUNDAY3.24 Jordan Miller 11 a.m. Flying Squirrel Bar 55 Johnson St. flyingsquirrelbar.com Carl Pemberton 11 a.m. Westin Chattanooga 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com Danimal & Friends 12:30 p.m. The Feed Co. Table & Tavern 201 W. Main St. feedtableandtavern.com Laura Walker Trio 1:30 p.m. Flying Squirrel Bar 55 Johnson St. flyingsquirrelbar.com The Other Brothers 2 p.m. WanderLinger Brewing Co. 1208 King St. wanderlinger.com Bluegrass Jam 4 p.m. Fiddlers Anonymous 2248 Dayton Blvd. (423) 994-7497 Open Mic with Jeff Daniels 6 p.m. Long Haul Saloon 2536 Cummings Hwy.
(423) 822-9775 Percussion Ensemble Concert 7:30 p.m. Ackerman Auditorium 4881 Taylor Cir. southern.edu
MONDAY3.25 Open Air with Jessica Nunn 6 p.m. The Granfalloon 400 E. Main St. granfalloonchattanooga.com Pete Boubel 6:30 p.m. Westin Alchemy Bar 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com Monday Nite Big Band 7 p.m. The Coconut Room 6925 Shallowford Rd. thepalmsathamilton.com Blues Night Open Jam 7:30 p.m. Songbirds South 41 Station St. songbirdsguitars.com Year of the Adventist Composer Concert 7:30 p.m. Ackerman Auditorium 4881 Taylor Cir. southern.edu Very Open Mic with Shawnessey Cargile 8 p.m. The Well 1800 Rossville Blvd. #8 wellonthesouthside.com
TUESDAY3.26 Dustin Concannon 6:30 p.m. Westin Alchemy Bar 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com Danimal 7 p.m. Backstage Bar 29 Station St. backstagechattanooga.com Space Jam Open Mic with Xll Olympians 7 p.m. Barley Taproom 235 E. MLK Blvd. chattanoogabarley.com
Live Jam Session with Freddy Mc & Friends 8 p.m. Granfalloon 400 E. Main St. granfalloonchattanooga.com Open Mic with Mike McDade 8 p.m. Tremont Tavern 1203 Hixson Pike tremonttavern.com
WEDNESDAY3.27 Jonathan Wimpee 6:30 p.m. Westin Alchemy Bar 801 Pine St. westinchattanooga.com Jesse James Jungkurth 7 p.m. Backstage Bar 29 Station St. backstagechattanooga.com Jazz in the Lounge: Tim Ferguson Project 7 p.m. Barking Legs Theater 1307 Dodds Ave. barkinglegs.org Rev. Horton Heat & Kinky Friedman 7 p.m. Songbirds North 35 Station St. songbirdsguitars.com Randall Adams 8 p.m. The Office @ City Cafe 901 Carter St. citycafemenu.com Priscilla & Little Rickee 8 p.m. Las Margaritas 1101 Hixson Pike (423) 756-3332 Rhythm & Brews Open Jam 8 p.m. Songbirds South 41 Station St. songbirdsguitars.com Rough Work 9 p.m. The Palms at Hamilton 6925 Shallowford Rd. thepalmsathamilton.com Map these locations on chattanoogapulse.com. Send event listings at least 10 days in advance to: calendar@chattanoogapulse.com CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • MARCH 21, 2019 • THE PULSE • 19
FILM & TELEVISION
And Now For Something Completely Different A bizarre tale from the history of animation Having A Boo Radley Moment I have two cats named Scout and Boo Radley. So to say I’m a fan of Harper Lee’s classic novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” would be a bit of an understatement. The novel won Lee a well-deserved Pulitzer Prize and has touched millions of readers with its themes of innocence, strength, truth, and conviction. It is also one of the rare novels that withstood the transition from page to screen, and in fact became a film classic itself, so much so that the American Film Institute voted Atticus Finch, portrayed by the legendary Gregory Peck, the Greatest Movie Hero of All Time. Haven’t seen To Kill a Mockingbird since high school? Or (gasp!) never? Fathom Events teams up with Turner Classic Movies to bring a full restored version of the 1962 film back to the big screen this Sunday. Finch, a small-town lawyer in 1930’s Alabama, is raising two small children, Jem and Scout, when it falls to him to defend a black man accused of raping a white woman. Given the era, Finch could pay lip service—but he gives the case everything he’s got. Meanwhile, Jem and Scout are intrigued by their neighbors, the Radleys, and their mysterious, seldom-seen son Boo. Even if, like me, you’ve seen the movie and read the book countless times, you’ll still want to see it again on the big screen. And if you haven’t done either, trust me, you need to. To Kill A Mockingbird screens this Sunday at 1 p.m. at Hamilton Place 8, and at 1 and 4 p.m. at East Ridge 18. — Michael Thomas
T
HERE’S REALLY NOTHING LIKE A BIG SWASHbuckling battle where heroes shoot rainbow-colored jets of energy out of their fists, is there? Or maybe share dramatic smooshy-wooshy kisses all over the big screen? By Jenn Webster Pulse Assitant Editor
But possibly, just possibly, you’d like to take a break from BIGGER IS BETTER and sample the quirky, the obscure, the spidery ink line and the rainy watercolor wash? Oh, and how about a teaspoon of horror with that? Then why not sit down with The Triplets of Belleville (Les Triplettes de Belleville), Sylvain Chomet’s 2003 cartoon feature about a grandmother, Madame Souza, who crosses the ocean to res-
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cue her grandson, Champion, from a gang who’s using him for their cruel and bizarre gambling games? The story: Champion has lost his parents as a small boy and gone to live with his grandmother. Madame Souza finds one thing to cheer up the lonely orphan: cycling. As a grown man, Champion is kidnapped from a Tourde-France-like race and taken to an ugly country, a mashup of the worst of the U.S., where he’s drugged and forced to cycle for a betting game. Madame Souza
crosses the Atlantic on a paddle boat to find him, but loses the trail in Belleville, a city of hamburgers and ugly Americans. She’s helped by three elderly music hall performers (the eponymous Triplets), who were flapper darlings back in the day but now struggle inventively with poverty (picture frog suppers, courtesy of an old-school stick grenade that one of the Triplets tosses into an industrial sludge pond, using an umbrella to shield herself from the carnage). At last Champion is discovered and a rescue caper ensures—four old women, a fat beagle, and a couple of athletic-but-drugged cyclists against a horde of mafiosos. Who will win? The look: If you glimpse a Sylvain Chomet flick unexpectedly, you’ll wonder if it’s a Rankin-Bass movie you’ve missed. The lines are spiky as
Bilbo Baggins’ handwriting; the background is a misty color wash, almost like a sidewalk painting that’s been touched by rain. Then look closer. That softly nostalgic look is a rope-a-dope. Chomet has a taste for the bizarre, even the downright grizzly. Cityscapes fold into an M.C. Escher-like warren of impossible structures. Foul details creep up on you under the cover of sweetness and then punch you right in the lip. Or a dizzying swarm of images swirls and goes still, and your eye focuses in, just for a moment, on something truly nasty. You think: “Oh, too sentimental,” and then you think, “OMG WHAT did I just see and how do I unsee it?” Case in point: la fée de l’accordéon, the accordion fairy. You see the pop musician sweetly playing in a commercial. Adorable! Then in real life. Then close up. And—are those flies crawling around her teeth? Is she dead? Has someone propped up her decaying corpse just for the spectacle? But the viewpoint sweeps past, unquestioning. Chomet also uses CGI to nifty effect during chase and race scenes, enabling bizarre twists of
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Under the surreal imagery, The Triplets is a straight-up Joseph Campbell quest story, with Madame Souza as the hero and the Triplets as her three fairy godmothers.” focus and hyper foreshortening, though the shift from hand to computer rendering may be too obvious for contemporary tastes. The skinny: Under the surreal imagery, The Triplets is a straightup Joseph Campbell quest story, with Madame Souza as the hero and the Triplets as her three fairy godmothers. It’s also what we’d now, 16 years later, call an intersectional story. Madame Souza is elderly, ugly by conventional standards, socially awkward, and disabled. In fact, it’s her disability that saves the day. (But, spoilers!) The story can be read as one long critique of consumerism and of a culture that focuses on beauty and brawn. The athletes, the cyclists, are monstrous with their bizarre muscle structures. They are also wordless. Unable to comprehend or save themselves as they’re being captured by gangsters, they
go meekly along with their fate. We do hear Champion speak, but never during his career as a cyclist. There is exactly one elegant, healthy body in the movie—Josephine Baker, in an early cartoon cameo. But she’s soon mobbed by rich white patrons who turn into monkeys at the very sight of her. Everyone else is portrayed in various degrees of awkwardness, paucity, or excess—and the more privileged the person, the more grotesque the portrayal becomes. Casual violence is everywhere, so little noted by the narrative eye that sometimes it takes a moment to sink in. It’s the very least privileged, the elderly, disabled, and dispossessed, who show kindness, courage, and inventiveness. But is it enough? Is it ever enough? Watch The Triplets of Belleville and see what you think.
✴ NEW IN THEATERS ✴
A family's serenity turns to chaos when a group of doppelgängers begins to terrorize them. Director: Jordan Peele Stars: Lupita Nyong'o, Elisabeth Moss, Winston Duke, Anna Diop
Hotel Mumbai The true story of the Taj Hotel terrorist attack in Mumbai. Hotel staff risk their lives to keep everyone safe as people make unthinkable sacrifices to protect themselves and their families. Director: Anthony Maras Stars: Dev Patel, Armie Hammer, Nazanin Boniadi, Anupam Kher
CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • MARCH 21, 2019 • THE PULSE • 21
COLUMN · ON THE BEAT
The Cycle Is Broken What happens when a moral compass stops working?
I Alex Teach
Pulse columnist
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There’s no one to watch the watchers when bad ideas take root after working alone day after day and night after night. Bad stuff gets somehow ‘reasonable’ with these guys.”
When officer Alexander D. Teach is not patrolling our fair city on the heels of the criminal element, he spends his spare time volunteering for the Boehm Birth Defects Center.
T’S BEEN 72 HOURS SINCE A LOcal cop was fired. That’s not a big deal these days, but I was going to write this column based on the fact it had actually been almost two weeks since the last one until Monday’s news about a local chief being shown the door. But I figure “it’s a chief, so what?” Has the wave found its high water mark? Maybe, maybe not. But have we learned from it? I actually think so. We’ve learned that recruiting for police officers must be an absolute bitch right about now for one thing. We’ve learned that with this kind of volume of business lawyers can get their year-end bonuses in February. We’ve learned that there’s suddenly a surplus of gently used cop-gear in training department storage rooms everywhere. We’ve learned that there will be a budget surplus from all the vacant funded positions in public safety locally. See? Glass half full. The chief I mentioned was let go for, among other things, a lack of accountability. It wasn’t his fault in his mind (according to his now former boss’s walking papers). And with this I think we found a common theme. It gets away from you. The things done in case after case paint a familiar picture despite the different circumstances of each termination. The copper in each case didn’t hold him or herself in accordance with rules they could never plead ignorant to. I’m not talking about not knowing a speed limit in a random stretch of road—I’m talking about, say, “rape under color of law.” While extreme, it’s happened more than once in the last several months. How in the hell, right? A little insight: These guys are trained together, but their first day after training
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ends and every day thereafter, they work alone. They are handed tremendous responsibility with tremendous leeway to make tough decisions, and occasionally their moral compass needle doesn’t just get bent, it get ripped off the face of the instrument. There’s no one to watch the watchers when bad ideas take root after working alone day after day and night after night. Bad stuff gets somehow “reasonable” with these guys. That’s just my take on it, but however horrifying the missteps you must also bear in mind they are an extreme rarity. These bad operators represent a percent of a percent; a statistical anomaly, but obviously one that is amplified like sunlight through a magnifying glass. The only fix is to eliminate human error, and that’s just not going to happen. You can’t put a supervisor in each car and reasonable people can only operate under so much video scrutiny (since 24/7 body cams are occasionally brought up), so you’re left with what you’re seeing now: Wholesale employment evisceration on the front of the local newspaper and at the beginning of each broadcast. What’s being done to defend against
bad actors is to make the idea of getting caught so terrible that those bad ideas on long nights alone seem “darn unreasonable” once again. Will it work? Well, like I said...it’s been at least 72 hours since the last public hanging of a safety professional so I have a good feeling about this. I also noticed they’ve been pushing a recruiting drive (as if the public didn’t notice a wave of recent vacancies in the ranks, “LOL”) but this is a good thing too. If you’re thinking about being a popo these days, these cases are perfectly poised to give you second thoughts about signing up half-assedly. It’s not an easy job. It’s not a glamorous job. If done correctly, in fact, no one will ever know you’ve done it since a crime prevented is tough to measure. That said? It’s worth it, but how you exit the profession (barring random chance) is generally up you. Teach the new guys to keep their moral compass in good working order, and failing that? Show them newspapers from the last few weeks. Either way, do it quickly. Like them or not, we still need coppers, day and night.
CHATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • MARCH 21, 2019 • THE PULSE • 23