the pulse 9.18 » may 3-9, 2012

May 3-9, 2012

Chattanooga’s Weekly Alternative

BÉLA+Banjo+cso bélA fleCk brings his ‘ConCerto for bAnjo’ to the tivoli

FINsTERFEST» CELEBRATING THE LIFE & ART OF THE REV. hoWArD finster

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2 • The Pulse • MAY 3-9, 2012 • chaTTanoogaPulse.com

chaTTanoogaPulse.com • MAY 3-9, 2012 • The Pulse • 3

EDITORIALPublisher Zachary cooperCreative Director Bill RamseyContributors Rich Bailey • Rob Brezsnychuck crowder • michael crumb • John DeVoreRandall gray • Dr. Rick Pimental-habib Paul hatcher • Janis hashe • matt Jones • chris Kelly D.e. langley • mike mcJunkin • David mortonernie Paik • alex Teach • Richard WinhamCartoonists max cannon • Richard RiceTom TomorrowPhotography Jason Dunn • Josh langlesha PattersonInterns Katie Johnston

ADVERTISINGSales Director lysa greer Account Executive Rick leavell

CONTACT Phone 423.265.9494 Fax 423.266.2335Email [email protected]@chattanoogapulse.comGot a stamp? 1305 carter st.chattanooga, Tn 37402

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

ThE FINE PRINT The Pulse is published weekly by Brewer media and is dis-tributed throughout the city of chattanooga and surrounding communities. The Pulse covers a broad range of topics concen-trating on culture, the arts, entertainment and local news. The Pulse is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. no person without written permission from the publishers may take more than one copy per weekly issue. We’re watching. The Pulse may be distributed only by authorized distributors.

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Béla Fleck Goes For Baroque• Richard Winham profiles the banjo master, who debuts his “concerto for Banjo” on Thursday, may 3, at the Tivoli Theatre with Kayoko Dan conducting the chattanooga symphony. » 6

since 2003

Chattanooga’s Weekly Alternative

On the cOver Béla Fleck debuts his “Concerto for Banjo” with the Chattanooga Symphony during a two-night stand beginning Thursday at the Tivoli Theatre. See Page 6

HIGHLIGHTS

COVER STORY

MAY 3-9, 2012 • voL. 9 No. 18InSIDe » artS The life and work of the late Rev. Howard Finster will be celebrated near the grounds of his Paradise Garden in Summerville, Ga., this weekend. Folk art, music and tours of the famed property begin on Saturday, May 5, in Dowdy Park. See Page 14

Trad Jazz Weekend• The 22nd annual chattanooga Traditional Jazz Festival swings into town on Friday, may 4, for an entire weekend of Dixieland and traditional jazz at the chattanooga choo choo. By Bill Ramsey » 10

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Indeed, the development of the river-front with the Aquarium as its center-piece, sparked a wave of investment and renewal in downtown Chattanooga and changed the way its citizens view their city and, equally important, how businesses, entrepreneurs, artists and other creatives view Chattanooga when they consider relocating. Chattanoogans have gained a

renewed sense of pride in their city, once famously derided as the dirtiest city in America, and enjoy a growing and diverse downtown filled with restaurants, clubs and entertainment venues. Outsiders (and the national press) now notice a city actively building a vibrant arts scene amid the natural beauty of the surrounding area that draws tourists and outdoors en-

thusiasts, while fostering an atmosphere of forward thinking that has earned the city new nicknames such as Gig City.

But as much has transpired over the past 20 years, Chattanooga is in no posi-tion to rest on its laurels. While we join in the celebration of the city’s revival and praise those who led the way, all that has occurred in this relatively brief period—and there is too long a list of positive developments to cite in this space—can now be viewed as just that—a remarkable renaissance that has paved the way for a new city that celebrates its renewal and looks forward.

As a free alternative weekly newspaper focusing on music and the arts, The Pulse could simply not exist without that renais-sance. Had city leaders and the visionar-ies behind the effort to revive downtown Chattanooga never come forward, the city might still resemble the town I left 30 years ago. That city was a very dif-ferent place—a crumbling, boarded up and deteriorating town that offered little to young people like myself at the time. When I reluctantly returned last year to my hometown, I happily rediscovered a city in full bloom, capable of supporting a publication dedicated to covering a scene that didn’t exist when I left.

In the Chattanooga of 1982, we lament-ed the city’s lack of much of anything to debate, besides its lack of luster. In the Chattanooga of 2012, we spend much time debating the merits of the city’s growing public art collection, the quality and appeal of acts appearing at such festi-vals as Riverbend and Nightfall, and trade ideas about the development of the city’s creative infrastructure.

Chattanooga’s challenge moving for-ward is to continue to embrace all that has improved the quality of life here and build upon that foundation. It takes more than tourists and a single project to make Chattanooga a vital, vibrant city on a dai-ly basis. Thankfully, there is no shortage of individuals and organizations devoted to doing just that, and we count ourselves among them.

This is more the anniversary of a re-birth than a simple milestone—and you’re only 20, Chattanooga. Happy Rebirthday. The best is yet to come. —Bill Ramsey

TALK OF ThE NOOGChATTANOOGAPULSE.COM • FACEBOOK/chaTTanoogaPulse

THEBOWLAge of AquariumLooking back, looking forward at 20this week, the tennessee aquarium marks its 20th anniversary, a significant milestone, but more than that a reminder of how far Chattanooga has come and the pivotal role the Aquarium has played in the city’s revitaliza-tion. As Chattanooga Land Co. president Bill Sudderth said on Sunday in the Times Free Press, “Where would we be without it? It’s almost unimaginable.”

MILESTONES


It’s funny how you get to a point working 12-day shifts (hang tight—I’ll explain why that’s awesome instead of horrible) and as weeks blur into months, the months into years … it becomes an all-con-suming quest. Even now, I’m writing this column and it’s all I’m thinking about: Sleep.

There are unlikely places to do it. Court comes to mind.

We sit on these intentional-ly uncomfortable, solid-wood, armless benches and have the mundane traffic offenses of the universe paraded before us while assistant district at-torneys use the time to begin the day’s work of negotiating sentences before they go be-fore the judges, and we’re do-ing this in a courtroom that starts an hour after our all-night shift has ended. What do I surmise from all this? They must want us to sleep, so who am I to argue.

The trick to sleeping in court is you learn to “zombify.” You slip just below conscious-ness, but above all-out snoring … programming your brain to respond to only one thing: Your name or badge number to bring you out of your haze, just as a hypnotist would snap his fingers to awaken a patient they’ve put under. The first time I installed an “app killer” on my smartphone, it imme-diately made me think of my brain in court. OK, except for the “smart” part, but this is how we can sleep damn near anywhere; it’s just perfected in the judicial environment.

We work 12-day shifts be-cause to work five and take two off like normal people, we’d spend one day asleep (or

zombified) from being up the night before, maybe have one full day off, then have to stay up all day then night that first night back, only to have your sleep ruined four days later all over again. With a 12-day “work week,” we combine those days off and get four off in a row. Oh, you still feel like baked hell, but you only ruin your sleep patterns twice a month instead of four times.

And sleeping at home? Single guys have it rough, but the ones living with some-

one (marriage, roommates, halfway house, etc.) are only slightly better off than those with kids.

Children are perfect, cheru-bic little sponges of knowledge and the beacon of hope for our collective futures, but to the third-shifter, they are little bags of earthquake-induc-ing germs with megaphones welded to each hand. Seem harsh? Well, then, you’ve nev-er worked midnights.

Daylight is the other ma-jor enemy. If I’d recycled the aluminum foil I’ve used over a 12-year period to block out sunlight from various rooms, I’d be named in Al Gore’s last will and testament.

At one particularly low point, I made a bed in a walk-in closet out of clothing cov-ered with a comforter. Why? No windows—and it was wonderful, except for the fact that I was a grown-ass man sleeping in a closet on a pile of clothes (and all the emascu-lating closet-related jokes that go with that from cop room-mates). But I did it.

As I moved up in residenc-es, I actually built out a room in a basement below my actu-al bedroom. Why? Same thing as the God-forsaken closet: No windows. Just imagine what it would take to ignore a California king and instead choose an air mattress on a thinly covered concrete floor below it all. Add Enya and a box fan for ambient noise? Ba-bies don’t sleep that good.

For legal reasons I won’t go too far into sleep aids, but there too we are experts. Di-phenhydramine, melatonin—worthless. Hangover inducing pills that actually deny you any good REM sleep, just making you feel like a different “kind” of shit that the “regular” feel-ing of shit that goes with sleep

deprivation. And you can’t drink yourself to sleep every morning because not only is that absolutely cost-prohibi-tive, but what does drinking result in? A constant need to pee. Imagine, finally achiev-ing sweet, sweet sleep and having your bladder start knocking on your brain like it owes it money. Ugh.

(For the record? The mak-ers of Ambien need to be giv-en a Nobel Prize.)

Sleep. Completely wasted on the young and so easily taken for granted. There are few things less cruel that don’t involve spiders than sleep deprivation, so if you know of someone working Zom-bieland, please fire off a little prayer for their psyche. And if you are in their company and you see a cat-like third eyelid slip over their cornea and that polite smile emits an occa-sional snore ... just let it go.

Goodnight, folks.

Sleep? Welcome to My NightmareOn the Beat ALEx TEACh

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

sleep. i’ve spent a sizeable amount of my career on the midnight shift, and of all the excitement, all the different things I’ve seen and done, that is the one word that comes to mind.

“If I’d recycled the aluminum foil I’ve used over a 12-year period to block out sunlight from various rooms, I’d be named in Al Gore’s last will and testament.

“The trick to sleeping in court is you learn to ‘zombify’ ... programming your brain to respond to only one thing: Your name or badge number to bring you out of your haze.


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Reclining in an easy chair, his banjo lolling in his lap, a relaxed Béla Fleck smiles out from the posters advertising the “Concerto

for Banjo” scheduled for Thursday and Friday, May 3 and 4, at the Tivoli Theatre. In contrast, in an in-terview about the event, Kayoko Dan, Chattanoo-ga Symphony conductor and Fleck’s partner in the performance, seems considerably less sanguine. “At first I didn’t know what to do because I’ve never accompanied the banjo before,” she said. “I’m kind of nervous, but in a good way.”

BéLa FLECk goEs For BaroquEorIgInaTIng In THE BaroquE

PErIoD, THE ConCErTo Is IDEaL For FLECk’s rEsTLEss CrEaTIvITy. so WHy noT THE

Banjo? By rICHarD WInHaM


A mild case of nerves is hardly sur-prising. The event will only be the third time Fleck has played the piece since its premier with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra last September. And the mu-sic itself presents a unique set of challenges. The result of a collaboration between Fleck—whose music is demanding and complex—and musicians with the Nashville Sympho-ny, it features some unusual percussion instruments (that were apparently just “lying around” back stage in Nash-ville), including sea urchin chimes.

Despite the challenges, CSO’s musicians are excited to play with Fleck. “What’s fun about commissioning a work, and working with the composer,” said Dan, “is that you can ask them questions.”

Originating in the Baroque period to feature a soloist (or soloists) along with the or-chestra, the concerto is ideal for Fleck’s restless creativity. In the 20th century, concerti have been written for almost every instrument in the or-chestra including alto sax, marimba, tuba and trombone.

So why not the banjo? “I’m a fan of music, and I’m curious,” Fleck said of his inspiration for the piece. “I want to know how music that I love works. And I also love the banjo, which is my vehicle to understand music through.”

Growing up in New York City, Fleck first played the guitar, but switched to the banjo after hearing Earl Scruggs play the theme song to “The Beverly Hillbillies.” Listening to Scruggs’ banjo “was like sparks going off in my head,” he said later.

But when he enrolled in The High School for Music and Art, banjo wasn’t an option, so he took up the French horn. That was a mistake. His teachers

told him he had no aptitude for music. Undeterred, he took lessons from local banjo players Tony Trischka and Erik Darling, both of whom encouraged him to develop his own voice.

Fleck played with a couple of groups after high school before joining Sam Bush and John Cowan in New Grass Revival in the early 1980s. Formed in the early 1970s, the group’s inten-tion was to take bluegrass where it had never been before. Adding elements of jazz, blues and rock to bluegrass, they created a distinctive hybrid they called “new grass.” From the time Fleck heard Chick Corea’s Return To Forever in New York in the early ’70s, he began mixing bop with bluegrass. He was a natural fit

with Sam Bush and John Cowan in New Grass Revival.

The band’s first album featuring Fleck made it clear that this would not be Bill Monroe’s bluegrass, even though it fea-

tures the mandolin, banjo and guitar, as well as traditional three-part, high-tenor-har-mony vocals. The band had at least two distinctive voices in Bush and Cowan, but Fleck’s contribution, a banjo instru-mental called “County Clare,” signaled his already innova-tive approach.

Within two years, Fleck had come into his own, as evidenced by the heady in-strumental “Seven By Seven” (nominated for a Grammy in 1987) on the album New Grass Revival. Featuring Fleck and Bush on banjo and mando-lin—trading licks like Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker in full flight—this was a blue-grass group, but one as far from Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys as Monroe’s music was from the old-time banjo and fiddle tunes he’d heard his mother and uncle Pen play in Ken-tucky in the 1920s and ’30s.

Fleck stayed with New Grass Revival until the group broke up in the late ’80s. Al-most immediately, he formed The Flecktones, a quartet of prodigiously talented vision-aries who developed a fresh

and original approach to the music. In 1988, Dick Van Kleek, artistic director for PBS’ “Lonesome Pine Series,” based in Louisville, Ky., had offered Fleck a solo show. The show became The Fleck-tones’ first gig. Fleck had met Howard Levy, the group’s keyboard and har-monica player, at a festival in Canada the previous summer. Soon after he was introduced to bass player Victor Lem-onte Wooten, who introduced him to his

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“I’m a fan of music, and I’m curious. I want to know how music that I love works. And I also love the banjo, which is my vehicle to understand music through.”

béla fleck


brother, drummer Roy Wooten. Roy, there-after known as “Futureman,” had devel-oped an instrument he called a drumitar.

Shaped like a guitar with buttons in-stead of strings, the drumitar plays pre-recorded percussion samples unlike any-thing played by a traditional drummer. Even Elvin Jones would’ve had trouble re-producing these patterns. Futureman and his brother play like other siblings sing—it’s hard to tell where one’s thoughts start and the other’s stop. Take a tune like “Stomping Grounds,” an airy, Return To Forever-ish blast of free jazz melody and harmony with a bottom end worthy of Funkadelic. Victor opens the tune with a funky, jittery run un-til Fleck joins him playing a parallel melod-ic line. Soon after, Futureman’s percussive samples begin to skitter in and around his brother’s bass and Fleck’s keening banjo. Melody and rhythm fuse in a breathless, relentless stomp. They call it “blubop.”

It’s another giant step from New Grass Revival—and a world away from Monroe—and yet it’s as quintessentially American as Monroe’s mountain music. This is truly the melting pot. A roiling gumbo drawing on every indigenous strand from the blues to bop to rock and beyond—it’s a unique fu-sion of past, present and future.

But the problem for the musicians, as always, is keeping it fresh. Levy left in the

early 1990s, and has only recently returned. They were a trio for a time, and then saxophonist Jeff Coffin brought in a whole new set of colors. But as Fleck told an interviewer for Nashville Scene recently, “It’s really a trap when you’re successful in a group like that. When everybody decides to really like you and you’re working a lot, it gets harder to keep it fresh. It’s always been one of my challenges as the leader to try and make sure everybody’s into it and intrigued, making sure that I’m keep-ing enough new, challenging information coming at everybody, whether it’s mine or theirs, so that people don’t just become complacent. Because anything can just turn into a gig.”

In an effort to find new challenges Fleck took off for Africa in 2005. For a month he met and jammed with musicians in Mali, The Gambia, Tanzania and Uganda. In a note about the trip on his website, he wrote: “My goal was to collaborate with in-credible African musicians, and look into the origins of the banjo and banjo music.”

Fleck has also collaborated with bassist Edgar Meyer on a couple of projects. The

first was an album called Perpetual Motion, a collec-tion of classical pieces by Bach, Scarlatti and Debussy and others; they later wrote a double concerto for banjo and bass that made its pub-lic debut with the Nashville Symphony in November 2003. In 2009, Fleck wrote a second concerto with Meyer and the Southern Indian percussionist, Zakir Hussein. They recorded the piece they called a “triple

concerto” with the Detroit Symphony on an album with a title that neatly summarizes all of Fleck’s work, The Melody Of Rhythm.

Fleck began work on his own concerto in October 2010. In part, he wanted to “prove” he could do it. In an email to me about the two concerti, he bemoaned the fact that “when we performed these pieces, people tended to assume that Edgar really wrote them. He certainly led the approach,” he went on, “but Zakir and I contributed sig-nificantly. So for my self-respect, I had to see if I could do it without my big brother!” He added that Meyer “knows what a great inspiration he is to me, so I think he was happy to see me go do it myself too.”

After his debut performance with the

Nashville Symphony, a reviewer wrote that the concerto “offered an intriguing glimpse into Béla’s path as a musician.” The concer-to, he wrote, “had moments of swing, Ger-shwin, contemporary classical, and more. If anything predominated, many moments of orchestration sounded like a symphony playing Flecktones-style music.”

Fleck, describing his writing process, said, “The way I chose to write was to cre-ate lots of short ideas, and then choose from them to find my main themes, and sonic landscapes to build from. Then I ex-panded the strongest ones.”

The concerto form is designed to allow a conversation between the soloist and the orchestra. CSO Conductor Kayoko Dan said that when she looked at the score she noticed that some of Fleck’s sections were not notated to allow for him to improvise in performance. “It’s hard. It’s really challeng-ing for the orchestra,” she said. “But,” she added, “I’m confident that the musicians will rise to the challenge.”

For his part, Fleck hopes the perfor-mance will help the audience “appreciate the banjo apart from the stereotypes that surround it, and simply enjoy what it brings to the orchestra—a unique sound and set of properties that no other instrument can duplicate.” If his work so far is anything to go by, it will do just that.

“It’s hard. It’s really challenging for the orchestra. But I’m confident

that the musicians will rise to the

challenge.”kayoko dan

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Cherub• Avant-garde electro pop duo. 9:30 p.m. • Rhythm & Brews221 market st. • rhythm-brews.com

EVENT

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Sangria on the Southside• Cultural event highlighting Latino heritage. 7 p.m. • The mill1601 gulf st. no. 100(423) 634-0331sangriaonthesouthside.org

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Football is back in chattanooga. But it’s only may, you say?

oK, we’ll call it soccer, which is what the rest of world knows as football.

Join hardcore soccer fans the chattahooligans for the chattanooga Foot-ball club’s home opener on saturday against the Knoxville Force at Finley stadium.

Wearing new jerseys, the club outplayed the nashville metros during an april 28 scrimmage at Finley. Beginning its fourth season with saturday’s match, the club is hoping for a big crowd.

“There’s a tournament in town, Volkswagen is going to encourage the people to come to the game and with cinco de

mayo, it just seemed like, ‘let’s go for it,’ “ the club’s Krue Broke told the Times Free Press last month.

Besides its new jerseys, the club has a new coach in Bill elliott, the men’s soccer coach at the university of West Florida. another new element is free parking, which was previously $5.

The team hits the road after this game, but will return on may 26 for a match against Rocket city united.

Chattanooga Football Club vs. Knoxville Force $5 7 p.m. saturday, may 5Finley stadium1826 carter st.chattanoogafc.com

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That show is this week-end, when fans of tradi-tional jazz, particularly New Orleans-style Dix-ieland jazz, welcome a feast of music during the 22nd annual Chat-tanooga Traditional Jazz Festival, where the bands will swing and sway from morning to night from Friday to Sunday in the appropriate setting of the Chattanooga Choo Choo.

For this, jazz lovers can thank Mike and Astrid Griffin, both longtime traditional jazz aficio-nados from the midwest who moved to Chattanoo-ga from Ohio in 1985.

Mike has a long and abiding interest in jazz, dating back to 1947, when he witnessed the legend-ary Norman Granz’s Jazz at the Philharmonic tour-ing bands in Grand Rap-ids, Mich., and Chicago. He went on to work at the Grand Rapids Civic Audi-torium, where he brought his passion for jazz and his skill as a promoter to the forefront. In 1956 and 1958, he brought Louis Armstrong and his All Stars to Grand Rapids, the 1956 show now avail-able on the CD, Jazz is Back in Grand Rapids, on G.H.B. Records.

When he later moved to Ohio, Mike met As-trid, a Dutch native and former KLM flight atten-

dant who worked in the front offices of the North Ohio Opera Association. They married in 1978 and, when the couple re-located to Chattanooga in the mid-1980s, they com-bined their love of jazz music and skills to create a festival here.

“When we came to Chattanooga, we didn’t realize Bessie Smith was from here,” remembers Mike. “We were kind of excited and decided to create a jazz festival to honor her in the spirit of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.”

That first festival in 1990 was dubbed the Bessie Smith Traditional

Jazz Festival, organized to raise seed money for what is now known as the Bessie Smith Cultural Center. Twenty-two years later, the festival, since re-named the Chattanooga Traditional Jazz Festival, has been a huge hit each year, attracting fans from all over the country for a weekend of traditional jazz by some of the best bands in the business.

The Griffins are proud of the traditional jazz they’ve brought to Chat-tanooga each year, but this year’s festival is “our last hurrah,” says Mike. “We’ve been very suc-cessful, but after 22 years we’ve decided to move on and do other things.”

Hopefully, this Chatta-nooga jazz tradition will continue under new lead-ership, but for now the Griffins plan to join the crowd and jam the week-end away.

For ticket information, a complete list of bands and more information on the festival, visit chatta-noogajazzfestival.com.

Chattanooga Traditional Jazz FestivalFriday-sunday, may 4-6chattanooga choo choo1400 market st.(423) 266-0944chattanoogajazz-festival.com

Trad Jazz WeekendBy Bill Ramsey

despite being known as the home of bessie smith, chattanooga has never really been known as a jazz town. There is a solid fan base, as evi-denced by fans who organized Jazz Appreciation Month in April, and venues such as Barking Legs bring in jazz artists on a regular basis. But most are one-shots and core enthusiasts are left waiting for the next big show.

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Bob Schulz’s Frisco Jazz Band performs this weekend during the Chattanooga Traditional Jazz Festival.


Between the Sleeves ERNIE PAIK

Minutemen lead singer and guitarist D. Boon died that year in a van accident, leaving bassist Mike Watt and drummer George Hurley devastated and largely uninspired to continue making music, until guitarist Ed Craw-ford, a hardcore Minute-men fan in his early 20s, convinced them to form a new trio.

This group, fIREHOSE, is often overshadowed by Minutemen in indie-rock history, with a somewhat more conventional style and less of an emphasis on political themes, but the fIREHOSE catalog is consistently rewarding and could be seen as the logical extension of the direction toward which Minutemen was heading. After three records on in-die powerhouse SST Re-cords, fIREHOSE joined the major label migration wave of the early ’90s and signed with Columbia Re-cords.

The two-disc compi-lation lowFLOWs: The Columbia Anthology (’91-’93) arrives conveniently in conjunction with the band’s reunion tour, col-lecting remastered ver-sions of the 1991 album Flyin’ the Flannel, the live EP Live Totem Pole from 1992, and the 1993 album Mr. Machinery Operator, plus the rarity “Max and Wells,” a few unnecessary tracks (two instrumental mixes and an edited ver-sion of “Witness”), and four additional live songs.

Those live tracks are

decent but hardly essen-tial, and a better repre-sentation of the band’s live fury is on Live Totem Pole, with a motley as-sortment of charged cov-ers from Public Enemy, Wire and Blue Oyster Cult, among others. The excellent Flyin’ the Flan-nel launches with Watt’s

mightily thumping two-octave bass riff that opens “Down with the Bass” and plows through rock num-bers with ballad diver-sions and even a welcome cover of Daniel Johnston’s “Walking the Cow.”

Crawford sounds most comfortable singing his own lyrics rather than Watt’s unique folksy lingo, which suits Watt’s own low, gruff voice. Something seems off on Mr. Machinery Operator, although it has its stand-outs, and the guitar-heavy mix is problematic, since the Hurley/Watt rhythm section (which deserves a place in the pantheon) is key to the band’s iden-tity. The trio’s final album is flawed, sure, but not a sellout.

No Sellout“i got it! we’ll have them write hit songs,” says a tie-wearing record label exec on the cover of the legendary genre-defying punk band Minutemen’s Project: Mersh EP from 1985, poking fun at the notion of “sell-ing out.”

Read more of Ernie Paik’s reviews online at chattanoogapulse.com.

“The fIREHOSE catalog is consistently rewarding and could be seen as the logical extension of the direction Minutemen was heading.


Thur 05.03Rachel Pearl with Mary Ellen Kirk and Delnora Reed7 p.m. The camp house, 1427 Williams st. (423) 702-8081 thecamphouse.comBéla Fleck8 p.m. Tivoli Theatre, 709 Broad st. (423) 267-8583chattanoogasym-phony.orgCrossfire8 p.m. The Palms at hamilton, 6925 shallowford Road (423) 499-5055 thepalmsathamilton.comToday the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun8 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 e. mlK Blvd. (423) 266-1400hudson K with The Bears of Blue River9 p.m. The honest Pint, 35 Patten Pkwy. (423) 468-4192 thehonestpint.comCherub with This is Art and New Planet9:30 p.m. Rhythm & Brews, 221 market st. rhythm-brews.comPieter Meijers Trio6 p.m. hunter museum, 10 Bluff View(423) 266-0944huntermuseum.org

Fri 05.04Chattanooga Traditional Jazz Festival6 p.m. The choo choo city Jazz society, 1400 market st. (423) 266-0944chattanoogajazz-festival.com Blake Morrison8 p.m. acoustic café, 61 RBc Drive, Ringgold, ga. (706) 965-2065 ringgoldacoustic.comStereotype10 p.m., Raw, 409 market st.

(423) 756-1919Royal Bangs9 p.m. JJ’s Bohemia, 231 e. mlK Blvd. (423) 266-1400Wide Open Floor9 p.m. Barking legs Theatre, 1307 Dodds ave. (423) 624-5347barkinglegs.orgSame as it Ever Was: A Tribute to the Talking heads10 p.m Rhythm & Brews, 221 market st. rhythm-brews.comStrung Like A horse, The Brown Chicken Brown Cow String Band10 p.m. market street Tavern, 850 market st.(423) 634-0260Power Players Show Band9 p.m. sugar’s Ribs, 507 Broad st.(423) 508-8956sugarsribs.comAmber Fultz9 p.m. The office,901 carter st.(423) 634-9191Singer/Songwriter Competition7 p.m. The camp house, 1427 Williams st. (423) 702-8081 thecamphouse.com

Sat 05.05Long Gone Darlings with Zach DuBois and Bearhound7 p.m. The camp house, 1427 Williams st. (423) 702-8081 thecamphouse.comPower Players Show Band9 p.m. sugar’s Ribs, 507 Broad st.(423) 508-8956sugarsribs.comChattanooga Traditional Jazz Festivalnoon. The choo choo city Jazz society, 1400 market

st. (423) 266-0944chattanoogajazz-festival.comToneharm10 p.m. market street Tavern, 850 market st.(423) 634-0260Béla Fleck8 p.m. Tivoli Theatre, 709 Broad st. (423) 267-8583chattanoogasym-phony.orgClutch & hellYEAh7:30 p.m. Track 29, 1400 market st. (423) 521-2929 track29.coBobby Bare7:30 p.m. Tivoli Theatre, 709 Broad st. (423) 757-5050chattanoogaon-stage.comChanning Wilson and Nathan Farrow8 p.m. acoustic café, 61 RBc Drive, Ringgold, ga. (706) 965-2065 ringgoldacoustic.comThe Breakfast Club9:30 p.m. Rhythm & Brews, 221 market st. rhythm-brews.comStereotype10 p.m., Raw, 409 market st. (423) 756-1919hap henninger9 p.m. The office,901 carter st.(423) 634-9191 Sun 05.06

Chattanooga Traditional Jazz Festival10:30 a.m. The choo choo city Jazz society, 1400 market st. (423) 266-0944chattanoogajazz-festival.com Mon 05.07

Coheed and Cambria7 p.m. Track 29, 1400 market st. (423) 521-2929 track29.co

music ChATTANOOGA LIVE

Wednesday • May 2Red State • Timechild • Babar

Thursday • May 3Moonlight Bride (acoustic)

Today the Moon, Tomorrow the SunFriday • May 4

Royal Bangs • Nim Nims • Lew CardSaturday • May 5

Opposite Box • Baby Baby Groove Moose

Sunday • May 6All You Can Eat Comedy Buffet

featuring Andy AndristWhoremones • Fancytramp

Tuesday • May 8Eddie Bridges • Craft & Game Night

Wednesday • May 9Velvet Hand

Hangdog Hearts

MAY

ALL SHOWS 21+ UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED • NON-SMOKING VENUE

221 MARKET STREETHOT MUSIC • FINE BEER • GREAT FOOD

BUY TICKETS ONLINE • RHYTHM-BREWS.COM

LIVE MUSIC

CHATTANOOGA

MAY 11: FLY BY RADIO MAY 12: DMBTRIBUTE BAND MAY 13: SUNNY LEDFORD

4FRI.10p

2WED.9:30pLETICIA WOLF

3THU.9:30pCHERUB

with THIS IS ART and NEW PLANET

GRUNGE ROCKMEETS COUNTRY & MODERN INDIE

COMINGIN MAY

SEXY, AVANT-GARDE DANCE MUSICFROM THE FUTURE!

SAME AS IT EVER WASA TRIBUTE TO THE TALKING HEADS

5SAT.10:15pTHE BREAKFAST CLUB

ALL THE HITS OF THE ’80s

10THU.9:30pOLD MAN A TRIBUTE TO NEIL YOUNG

ALL THE GREAT SONGS!ALL NIGHT!


Chattanooga All Star Band Jam7 p.m. sugar’s Ribs, 507 Broad st.(423) 508-8956sugarsribs.com

Wed 05.09Prime Cut Trio8 p.m. The Palms at hamilton, 6925 shallowford Road (423) 499-5055 thepalmsathamilton.comGold Plated Gold with Crass Mammoth9 p.m. The honest Pint, 35 Patten Pkwy. (423) 468-4192 thehonestpintRoger Alan Wade7 p.m. sugar’s Ribs, 507 Broad st.(423) 508-8956sugarsribs.com

Regular Gigs

ThursdaysOpen Mic: Mark holder 9 p.m. The office, 901 carter st. (423) 634-9191Thursday Night Fever with DJ Barry 7 p.m. sugar’s Ribs, 507 Broad st. (423) 508-8956sugarsribs.comJimmy harris7 p.m. The Palms at hamilton, 6925 shal-lowford Road

(423) 499-5055 thepalmsathamilton.com

FridaysJohnny Cash Tribute Band 5 p.m. chattanooga choo choo, 1400 market st. (423) 266-5000choochoo.comJimmy harris 7 p.m. The Palms at hamilton, 6925 shallowford Road(423) 499-5055 thepalmsathamilton.comBluegrass Night 8 p.m. The camp house, 1427 Williams st. (423) 702-8081thecamphouse.comamilton.comSaturdaysJohnny Cash Tribute Band 5 p.m. chattanooga choo choo, 1400 market st. (423) 266-5000choochoo.comJimmy harris 7 p.m. The Palms at hamilton, 6925 shallowford Road(423) 499-5055thepalmsathamilton.com

MondaysLive Classical Music 7:30 p.m. The camp house, 1427 Williams st. (423) 702-8081thecamphouse.comBig Band Night 8 p.m. The Palms at

hamilton, 6925 shallowford Road(423) 499-5055thepalmsathamilton.com

TuesdaysOpen Mic Night 7 p.m. Vaudeville café, 138 market st. (423) 517-1839funnydinner.com

WednesdaysJimmy harris 6:30 p.m. The Palms at hamilton, 6925 shallowford Road(423) 499-5055 thepalmsathamilton.com Ben Friberg Trio6:30 p.m. market street Tavern, 850 market st.(423) 634-0260 marketstreettavern.comFolk School of Chattanooga Old Time Jam 6:30 p.m. The camp house, 1427 Williams st.(423) 702-8081thecamphouse.comOpen Mic Night 7 p.m. acoustic café, 61 RBc Drive, Ringgold, ga. (706) 965-2065ringgoldacoustic.com

Map these locations on chattanoogapulse.com. Send live music listings at least 10 days in advance to: [email protected].

Party on Two Floors! 1st Floor: Live Music • 2nd Floor: Dancing

Raw Sushi BarRestaurant & Nightclub

409 Market Street •423.756.1919

LIVE DJ

Wii on the Big Screen

Mon & tue

OPEN MIC wednesdays

LOCAL LEGENDS

HOUSE PARTY WITH 5 DJS

thursdays

WEEKEND PARTY ZONE!

FRI

sat

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STEREOTYPE$1 BEER 10-11PM

CINCO DE MAYO PARTY! STEREOTYPE

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Party at the

All Week Long!

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Facebook.com/theofficechatt

All shows are free with dinner or 2 drinks!Stop by & check out our daily specials!

Happy Hour: Mon-Fri: 4-7pm$1 10oz drafts, $3 32oz drafts,

$2 Wells, $1.50 Domestics, Free Appetizers

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

Thursday, May 3: 9pmOpen Mic

with Mark Holder

Friday, May 4: 9pmAmber Fultz

Saturday, May 5: 9pmHap Henninger

Tuesday, May 8: 7pmServer Appreciation Night

$5 Pitchers ● $2 Wells$1.50 Domestics

850 Market Street• 423.634.0260Facebook.com/marketstreettavern

Live MusicFriday • May 4 • 10pmStrung Like A Horse

with The Brown Chicken Brown Cow String Band $5 cover

Saturday • May 5Cinco de Mayo Party

Tequila Specials after 4pmToneharm at 10pm $5 cover

Nightly SpecialsMondays 50¢ Wings • $3 Yazoo

Tuesdays $1 Tacos1/2 Price Margaritas

WednesdaysWine Night + Live Jazz!

ThursdaysBurger & Beer Night

Saturdays $2 Domestics 4pm to Midnight

Joel Sullivan • Owner/Engineer Josh Chuma • Chief Engineer665 Patterson Ave. • Fort Oglethorpe • Booking: 423.260.1902

email: [email protected] • breaker17.webs.com

BREAKER 17STUDIOBETTER SOUND FASTER

EXPERIENCED, PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS"Recently, I went in search of a studio in the Chattanooga area to record only one song for a movie soundtrack. Breaker 17 offers Pro Tools and the best in recording equipment and the BEST engineer you will ever work with. Needless to say, I won't be looking for a place to make quality recordings anymore. I found it. Josh Chuma and Breaker 17 Studio."

—Cody McCarver, Solo Artist/Ex Confederate Railroad

THE BEST ACOUSTICS IN THE AREA IN OUR 22’ X 28’ LIVE ROOM


By Chuck Crowder

nothing sums up the simplicity of southern culture better than folk art. And the Picasso of folk art, the late Rev. Howard Finster, deliv-ered the most noted repre-sentations of how many in the rural South view the outside world.

Inspired by God to spread the gospel through more than 46,000 pieces of art, Finster first came to widespread no-tice in the 1980s with his al-bum cover designs for bands such as R.E.M. and Talking Heads.

So great was his influence on the art world, and his hometown, that The Para-dise Garden Foundation is once again celebrating his life’s work at Finster Fest, to be held this weekend in Sum-merville, Ga.

Patterson Hood of the Drive-by Truckers, Roger Alan Wade and Lee Bains III & Glory Fires will join other musicians in downtown Sum-merville’s Dowdy Park to cel-ebrate Finster’s legacy and his most-prized creation, Para-dise Gardens, located just blocks down the street.

Even though his works hang in major galleries around the world, Finster’s best-known

art installation can be found right in his own backyard. Paradise Gardens is a won-derful maze of walkways, buildings and nooks filled with thousands of pieces of Finster’s visionary art. A pil-grimage destination for art-ists such as Keith Haring and musicians like R.E.M., these two sacred acres contain thousands of inspiring works of art that were originally conceived in the late seventies and continually honed until Finster’s death in 2001.

Since then, however, the Gardens have fallen into dis-repair, forcing Finster’s family to sell the tourist attraction a few years ago. Chattooga County purchased the site earlier this year with the help of donations from locals and a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission, a fed-eral economic development entity.

“Our goal is to save this lo-cal, national and internation-ally renowned art site while creating a sustainable heri-tage tourism destination to promote our local economy,” Chattooga County Commis-sioner Jason Winters said.

The new Paradise Garden Foundation, headed by Jor-dan H. Poole, the former res-

toration manager at George Washington’s historic Mount Vernon home, is developing a site-management plan and will direct a new fundraising campaign for restorations. The National Trust for His-toric Preservation has also agreed to help attract visi-tors, which organizers hope will maintain the momentum of interest generated at each year’s Finster Fest.

What began as Howard Finster Day in Summerville in the early 1980s has become internationally known as Fin-ster Fest, one of North Geor-gia’s most popular folk art and music festivals. In addition to performances from The Bo-hannons and the Shaking Ray Levi Society among others, Finster Fest 2012 will host artists from all over the coun-try, coming together to cel-ebrate Finster’s legacy. There will also be a recycled art project for all to participate in and enjoy. Tours will be held at Paradise Gardens during festival hours and shuttles will be available between the Gardens and Dowdy Park.

Finster Fest10 a.m. to 6 p.m., saturday, may 5noon to 5 p.m., sunday may 6Dowdy Parksummerville, ga.finsterspardisegardens.org

Entertainment• Patterson hood of the

Drive-By Truckers• Roger alan Wade• It’s hard to be lew card• lee Bains III glory & Fires• The Bohannons• new Binkley Brothers• shaking Ray levi society • molly conley

Folk Art in Paradisearts VISUAL ART

Finster Fest celebrates the visionary artist with folk art, music and tours of his famed Paradise Gardens

Finster’s Paradise Gardens (above) and his cover art for the Talking Heads’ 1985 album, “Little Creatures.”


“Irrashaimase!” Nestled in the heart of downtown Chattanooga, Sekisui

offers authentic Japanese sushi along with a kitchen featuring a Pacific Rim fusion cuisine. With a relaxing ambiance

coupled with great food and friendly service, you are sure to enjoy your dining experience.

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

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

Sushi Bar Importing fresh seafood from Japan, Europe as well

as from all over the United States, our sushi bar features over 20 different kinds

of fish and shellfish. We regularly buy fish such as Japanese Red Snapper (ma-

dai), fresh sea urchin (uni), fluke (hirame), as well as other seafood that happens

to be in season.

Kitchen Our kitchen menu features a Pacific Rim cuisine which is

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

These combinations result in entrees like our popular soba dish (sauteed buck-

wheat noodles with various seafood in a spicy chili broth), our Atlantic salmon

breaded in panko with 12 asian spices, and our teriyaki burger!

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

Every day we have half-price hot sake and draft beers from 5-7 p.m. Then from

7 to closing on Sundays through Thursday we have special pricing on select

cocktails and wines!

Nine45Take the Leap into Something New!At Second Presbyterian

A New Path to a Timeless DestinationInformal worship with praise, prayer, music, discussion, and fellowship.

Each Sunday9:45 am to 10:30 am700 Pine Street(at the corner of 7th and Pine)

An open, come-as-you-are environment for all ages


Thur 05.03“hot Jazz in Stone and Steel”5:30 p.m. hunter museum, 10 Bluff View(423) 266-0944huntermuseum.orgChattanooga Traditional Jazz Festival6 p.m. The choo choo city Jazz society, 1400 market st. (423) 266-0944chattanoogajazz-festival.comExplore Israel Through Language6 p.m. Jewish Federation of chattanooga, 5461 n. Terrace Road(423) 493-0270jewishchatta-nooga.comBéla Fleck with the CSO8 p.m. Tivoli Theatre, 709 Broad st. (423) 267-8583chattanoogasym-phony.orgChattanooga Sports Ministries8 p.m. Pasha coffee & Tea, 3914 st. elmo ave. (423) 475-5482pashacoffee-house.com

Fri 05.04Southern Blooms Festival10 a.m. Rock city, 1400 Patten Roadlookout mountain, ga. (800) 854-0675seerockcity.com“A Doll’s house” 7:30 p.m.st. andrews center, 1918 union ave.(423) 987-5141ensembletheatreof-chattanooga.comArmed Forces Day Parade10:30 a.m. market street, Downtown chattanooga

Fresh on Fridays11 a.m. River city company, 850 market st. (423) 265-3700rivercitycompany.com“histories of Nature” Opening Reception6:30 p.m. River gallery, 400 e. 2nd st. (423)265-5033river-gallery.com Johnny Beehner7 p.m. Vaudeville café,138 market st.(423) 517-1839funnydinner.comMoccasin Bend Brewery Tour & Tasting6 p.m. moccasin Bend Brewing company, 4015 Tennesee ave. (423) 821-6392bendbrewingbeer.comChattanooga Traditional Jazz Festival6 p.m. The choo choo city Jazz society, 1400 market st. (423) 266-0944chattanoogajazz-festival.comSangria on the Southside7 p.m. The mill,

1601 gulf st. (423) 634-0331themillofchat-tanooga.com“Stellaluna”7:30 p.m. chattanooga Theatre centre, 400 River st. (423) 267-8534theatrecentre.comhenry Cho7:30 p.m. The comedy catch, 3224 Brainerd Raod(423) 629-2233thecomedycatch.comBéla Fleck with the CSO8 p.m. Tivoli The-atre, 709 Broad st. (423) 267-8583chattanoogasym-phony.orgWide Open Floor8 p.m. Barking legs Theatre, 1307 Dodds ave. (423) 624-5347barkinglegs.org

Sat 05.05Finster Fest10 a.m. Dowdy Park, summerville, ga.finsterspardis-egardens.orgChattanooga Football Club home

Opener vs. Knoxville7 p.m. Finley stadium,1826 carter st.chattanoogafc.comDo the Derby4:30 p.m. aT&T Field,201 Power alley(423) 757-5259kidsontheblock.net3-State 3-Mountain Challenge6:30 a.m. chattanooga Bicycle club, 736 market st. (706) 820-1157chattbike.comSouthern Blooms Festival8:30 a.m. Rock city, 1400 Patten Raodlookout mountain, ga. (800) 854-0675seerockcity.comChattanooga Traditional Jazz Festivalnoon. The choo choo city Jazz society, 1400 market st. (423) 266-0944chattanoogajazz-festival.comJohnny Beehner7 p.m. Vaudeville café,138 market st.(423) 517-1839funnydinner.comRacin’ @ Rubynoon. Ruby Falls, 1720 s. scenic hwy.(423) 821-2544rubyfalls.comMoccasin Bend Brewery Tour & Tasting1 p.m. moccasin Bend Brewing company, 4015 Tennesee ave. (423) 821-6392bendbrewingbeer.comSmith Family Melanoma Benefit Concert Starring Bobby Bare7:30 pm. Tivoli Theatre709 Broad st.(423) 757-5050chattanoogaon-stage.comRay Zimmerman

Book Signing2 p.m. Pasha coffee & Tea, 3914 st. elmo ave. (423) 475-5482pashacoffee-house.comCommunity Gathering2 p.m. Planet altered, 48 e. main st. (423) 400-4100planetaltered.com“Stellaluna”2:30 p.m. chattanooga Theatre centre, 400 River st. (423) 267-8534theatrecentre.comhenry Cho7 p.m. The comedy catch, 3224 Brainerd Raod(423) 629-2233thecomedycatch.com“A Doll’s house”2 p.m. st. andrews center, 1918 union ave.(423) 987-5141ensembletheatreof-chattanooga.com

Sun 05.06Finster Fest10 a.m. Dowdy Park, summerville, ga.finsterspardis-egardens.orgSouthern Blooms Festival10 a.m. Rock city, 1400 Patten Roadlookout mountain, ga. (800) 854-0675seerockcity.comChattanooga Traditional Jazz Festival10 a.m. The choo choo city Jazz society, 1400 market st. (423) 266-0944chattanoogajazz-festival.comCommunity Gathering11 a.m. Planet altered, 48 e. main st. (423) 400-4100

arts Entertainment&

SOME CALL IT SOCCERSAT 05.05 • The Chattanooga Football Club home opener against the Knoxville Force.Finley stadium • 1826 carter st. • chattanoogafc.com


planetaltered.comChattanooga Market11 a.m. First Tennessee Pavilion, 1801 carter st. chattanoogamarket.comRacin’ @ Rubynoon. Ruby Falls, 1720 s. scenic hwy. (423) 821-2544rubyfalls.comMoccasin Bend Brewery Tour & Tasting2 p.m. moccasin Bend Brewing company, 4015 Tennesee ave. (423) 821-6392bendbrewingbeer.com“Stellaluna”2:30 p.m. chattanooga Theatre centre, 400 River st. (423) 267-8534theatrecentre.comOpen Improvisational Jam3 p.m. Barking legs Theatre, 1307 Dodds ave. (423) 624-5347barkinglegs.orgLookouts vs. Montgomery5:15 p.m. aT&T Field, 201 Power alley(423) 267-2208

lookouts.com“A Doll’s house”5:30 p.m. st. andrews center, 1918 union ave. (423) 987-5141ensembletheatreof-chattanooga.com

Mon 05.07Music Monday7 p.m. Pasha coffee & Tea, 3914 st. elmo ave. (423) 475-5482pashacoffeehouse.comFree Organ Concert7 p.m. memorial auditorium, 399 mccallie ave. (423) 757-5156chattanoogaon-stage.comLookouts vs. Montgomery7:15 p.m. aT&T Field, 201 Power alley(423) 267-2208lookouts.com

Tue 05.08Chattanooga Writers Guild Editor’s Panel7 p.m. The Public library,

1001 Broad st. (423) 757-5310lib.chattanooga.govLookouts vs. Montomery7:15 p.m. aT&T Field, 201 Power alley(423) 267-2208lookouts.comLive Team Trivia7:30 p.m. Brewhaus, 224 Frazier ave. (423) 531-8490chattanoogatrivia.com

Wed 05.09Lookouts vs. Montgomery11:15 a.m. aT&T Field, 201 Power alley(423) 267-2208lookouts.comMain Street Farmer’s Market4 p.m. 325 e. main st. mainstfarmers-market.com

Map these locations on chattanoogapulse.com. Send event listings at least 10 days in advance to: [email protected].

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RACIN’ @ RUBYSAT-SUN 05.05-06 • Racin’ @ Ruby features Tony Stewart’s car onsite and many other NASCAR-themed activities, merchandise, food and displays.Ruby Falls • 1720 scenic hwy. • (423) 821-2544 • rubyfalls.com


By D.E. Langley

the popular trend for asian-themed restaurants these days is to go Pan Asian—that is, to take a list of greatest hits from multiple and disparate cuisines and offer them alongside one another on a single menu.

And there’s nothing wrong with that, not in the least. The diner is presented with a great number of options—but fusion can obscure the origins of a dish to those unfamiliar with it and serve to dilute the impression that a particular culture’s cuisine leaves on one’s palate.

Not so at Fuji Steak and Su-shi. As the name implies, they offer Japanese fare. Upon enter-ing, you are filled with a sense of what you can expect. Traditional Japanese visual elements blend with art-deco and pop-art influ-ences that convey in a very mod-ern sense exactly what Fuji is all about—delivering a truly Japa-nese experience with accents of American comfort.

Fuji finds different ways to offer its patrons the options so many Americans desire in a din-ing experience. When ponder-ing Japanese restaurants, many American minds conjure up sushi bars with their cool, sleek counters or teppanyaki cooking, with meticulously trained chefs performing spectacles of culinary dexterity at the table. Fuji offers both of those experiences—and then some.

A full dining area sits between the two, and it’s not a problem to order anything on the menu any-where you’d like to eat it. You can even enjoy the warming weather on their patio (which occasionally plays host to live, family-friendly acoustic music), or call ahead and

bring a crowd of up to 20 for the party room.

Specials offer more incentives to stop in, even if you’re not quite

in the mood for a sit-down meal. Half-price sushi is offered on Wednesdays and Sundays, and Fuji also has a full bar, which offers all-day, everyday specials like draft beers for less than $1 and two-for-one wine. Margari-tas and martinis are also offered at very reasonable rates. (And of course, there’s sake.)

I visited on a weekday after-noon, and a compartmentalized bento box, divided and filled with

all sorts of delicious choices, of-fered a fresh way to experience several of the tastes on offer. The meal began with a sweetly dressed ginger salad and salty and savory miso soup, which revved up my appetite even more.

Just as I was finishing my first course, out came the box. Even though I was expecting several items, I was genuinely surprised by the size of the box. Its contents were artfully presented, each

looking as delicious as the next, and they lived up to their appear-ances.

First up were fried gyoza, crispy dumplings filled with sea-soned pork. (They are also avail-able steamed and/or filled with veggies.) The entree portion of my box contained a perfectly prepared sautéed filet of cala-mari and a medium-rare steak sat atop a bed of peppers and on-ions, lightly dressed with teriyaki sauce.

I traded back and forth be-tween bites of these and the fried rice that had clearly been freshly prepared just minutes before in the kitchen. When I felt the need for contrast, I snagged a bite of the simple, refreshing Califor-nia roll (an iconic example of Japanese cuisine and American comfort meeting in the middle). A sliced orange finished off an ex-cellent light (if large) lunch.

Fuji certainly achieves its goal of bringing the best of Japanese hospitality and cuisine to an American restaurant, all while providing a wonderful comfort level for Chattanooga families. There’s nothing to be intimidated by and no pretense—just loads of options and an accommodating staff.

Just as I was getting up to leave, a young boy and his mother were sitting down to one of the flat-top cooking tables. He rubbed his hands in anticipation of the ar-rival of the chef, and it became evident that this was his choice of dinner for the evening, perhaps a reward for good behavior. I’d be hard-pressed to think of a better choice.

(And I did just finish a story … I think I’ll be paying them another visit tonight to reward my work ethic.)

Food&DrinkDINING OUT ChATTANOOGA

Traditional Meets Modern at Fuji

Fuji Steak and Sushi5437 hwy. 153 • (423) 531-3183fujihixson.comhours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., sunday to Thursday11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., Friday and saturday

Photos • Josh Lang


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Free Will astrology ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (March 21-April 19): On the one hand, you’re facing a sticky dilemma that you may never be able to change no mat-ter how hard you try. On the other hand, you are engaged with an in-teresting challenge that may very well be possible to resolve. Do you know which is which? Now would be an excellent time to make sure you do. It would be foolish to keep working on untying a hopelessly twisted knot when there is anoth-er puzzle that will respond to your love and intelligence. Go where you’re wanted.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): From an astrological perspective, it’s the New Year season; you’re beginning a fresh cycle. How would you like to celebrate? You could make a few resolutions—maybe pledge to wean yourself from a wasteful habit or self-sabotaging vice. You could also invite the universe to show you what you don’t even realize you need to know. What might also be interesting would be to compose a list of the good habits you will promise to cultivate, and the inge-nious breakthroughs you will work toward, and the shiny yet gritty dreams you will court and woo.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “My father-in-law was convinced that his sheepdogs picked up his thoughts telepathically,” writes Richard Webster in his article “Psychic Animals.” I happen to be-lieve that the human animal is also capable of picking up thoughts that aren’t said aloud. And I sus-pect that you’re in a phase when it will be especially important to take that into account. Be dis-cerning about what you imagine, because it could end up in the mind of someone you know!

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Your right brain and left brain have rarely been on such close speaking terms as they are right now. Your genitals and your heart seem to be in a good collaborative groove as well. Even your past and your future are mostly in agree-ment about how you should pro-ceed in the present. To what do we owe the pleasure of this rather dramatic movement toward inte-gration? Here’s one theory: You’re being rewarded for the hard work you have done to take good care of yourself.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): A South African biologist was intrigued to discover an interesting fact about the rodent known as the elephant shrew: It much prefers to slurp the nectar of pagoda lilies than

to nibble on peanut butter mixed with apples and rolled oats. The biologist didn’t investigate wheth-er mountain goats would rather eat grasses and rushes than ice cream sundaes or whether lions like fresh-killed antelopes better than Caesar salad, but I’m pretty sure they do. In a related subject, Leo, I hope that in the coming weeks you will seek to feed your-self exclusively with the images, sounds, stories, and food that tru-ly satisfy your primal hunger rath-er than the stuff that other people like or think you should like.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): There are only a very few people whose ancestors were not immi-grants. They live in Africa, where homo sapiens got its start. As for the rest of us, our forbears wandered away from their original home and spread out over the rest of the planet. We all came from somewhere else! In accordance with the astrological omens, I in-vite you Virgos to get in touch with your inner immigrant this week. It’s an excellent time to acknowl-edge and celebrate the fact that you are nowhere near where you started from, whether you gauge that psychologically, spiritually, or literally.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “When I’m good, I’m very good,” said Hollywood’s original siren, Mae West, “but when I’m bad I’m better.” I think that assertion might at times make sense com-ing out of your lips in the next two weeks. But I’d like to offer a variation that could also serve you well. It’s articulated by my reader Sarah Edelman, who says, “When I’m good, I’m very good, but when I’m batty, I’m better.” Consider trying out both of these attitudes, Libra, as you navigate your way through the mysterious and sometimes unruly fun that’s headed your way.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The Weekly World News, my favorite source of fake news, re-ported that the lost arms of the famous Venus de Milo statue were languishing in a cellar in Southern Croatia. Since her dis-covery in 1820, the goddess of love and beauty has been incom-plete. Will the Louvre Museum al-low her to be joined by her original appendages and made whole again? Let’s not concern our-selves now with that question. In-stead, please turn your attention to a more immediate concern: the strong possibility that you will soon experience a comparable development, the rediscovery of

and reunification with a missing part of you.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Seventeenth-century physi-cians sometimes advised their patients to consume tobacco as a way to alleviate a number of differ-ent maladies, from toothaches to arthritis. This bit of history may be useful to keep in mind, Sagittari-us. You’re in a phase when you’re likely to have success in hunting down remedies for complaints of both a physical and psychological nature. But you should be cau-tious about relying on convention-al wisdom, just in case some of it resembles the idea that cigarettes are good for you. And always dou-ble check to make sure that the cures aren’t worse than what they are supposed to fix.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Outer space isn’t really that far away. As astronomer Fred Hoyle used to say, you’d get there in an hour if you could drive a car straight up. I think there’s a com-parable situation in your own life, Capricorn. You’ve got an inflated notion of how distant a certain goal is, and that’s inhibiting you from getting totally serious about achieving it. I’m not saying that the destination would be a breeze to get to. My point is that it’s closer than it seems.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): When most Westerners hear the word “milk,” they surmise it has something to do with cows. But the fact is that humans drink milk collected from sheep, goats, camels, yaks, mares, llamas, and reindeer. I’m wondering if maybe it’s a good time for you to initi-ate a comparable diversification, Aquarius. You shouldn’t neces-sarily give up the primal sources of nourishment you have been depending on. Just consider the possibility that it might be fun and healthy for you to seek suste-nance from some unconventional or unexpected sources.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): You wouldn’t want to play a game of darts with an inflatable dart-board, right? If you were a smoker, you’d have little interest in a fire-proof cigarette. And while a mesh umbrella might look stylish, you wouldn’t be foolish enough to ex-pect it to keep the rain out. In the spirit of these truisms, I suggest you closely examine any strategy you’re considering to see if it has a built-in contradiction. Certain ideas being presented to you may be inherently impractical to use in the real world.

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ROB BREZSNY Jonesin’ Crossword

ACROSS1. Ukrainian port7. They patrol Fisherman’s Wharf, for short11. Reason for an “R” rating14. They’re pairs of pairs of pairs15. Nobelist Wiesel16. It’s hailed on the street17. Japanese count of baseball hats?18. Lady of a thousand looks?19. Prefix meaning “egg”20. Sans opposite21. Express lane unit23. Kitchen glove material25. Spanish count for a chemist?28. Give the appearance of29. Salicylic acid target30. Latissimus ___ (back muscle)31. “___ Iron Man...”32. Sony’s ___-101 (first commercial compact disc player)

35. French count of superficial wounds?40. They’re in their last yr.41. Loaf in a “Seinfeld” episode42. “The King,” in Cordoba43. One side in an eternal battle45. Hold in47. German count of bottles under the kitchen sink?50. Christina’s panel-mate on “The Voice”51. “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” band52. Places to check your balance55. Broadway actress Salonga56. “B.J. and the Bear” sheriff58. Chinese count of a library item?60. Pitcher’s asset61. Make ___ for it62. Careless63. Toady’s response64. Just meh65. Finch relative

named for its call

DOwN1. Charlie Chaplin’s wife2. CCCII doubled3. List-ending summarizers4. “American Idol” guy5. NASCAR-sponsoring additive6. Help out7. Jason of 2011’s “The Muppets”8. Vitriolic postings9. Bacon source10. Seller of cars11. Stone Temple Pilots frontman Weiland12. Places for Christmas lights13. What the Kinect hooks up to22. Formula One driver Fabi24. Grasshopper’s fable mate26. Qatari ruler27. “Whoa ___!”28. Like grumpy expressions30. Chain restaurants with soft-serve, for short

31. Winter walking hazard32. Waltz on the big screen33. Butter-loving TV chef Paula34. ___-ops36. McCormack of “Will & Grace”37. Class outline38. Head of the Seine?39. Old-school actress known as the “It Girl”43. Electrophorus electricus, for one44. String section members45. Totally awesome46. Surround in a sac, in anatomy47. Tractor man John48. Stack by the copier49. ___ Lodge50. Art school material53. Show gloominess54. Cusack’s “Say Anything” costar57. Gold, in Mexico59. UN body dealing with worker’s rights

MATT JONES

Jonesin’ Crossword created By Matt Jones. © 2012 Jonesin’ Crosswords. For an-swers to this puzzle, call: 1-900-226-2800, 99 cents per minute. Must be 18+ to call. Or to bill to your credit card, call: 1-800-655-6548. Reference puzzle No. 0570.

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It’s easy to spot a jackass, though they will not always dis-play jackass behavior immediate-ly. For, if a jackass knew it was a jackass, it wouldn’t act like a jack-ass. No, this creature’s inability to recognize its own missteps only adds to its mysterious nature. It’s kind of like a dog. All dogs look like dogs, only some fetch and some bite. You just never always know which will do what at first glance.

There are some tale-tell signs to look for when determining whether an unknown individual has the propensity to be a jackass (even in disguise). Here are some obvious things to look for:

Headwear: The jackass is commonly seen sporting a base-ball cap turned around back-wards so that the only thing the bill is good for is keeping the neck from becoming even redder. Nev-er in my life have I heard an intel-ligent comment or seen accept-able behavior that wasn’t forced coming from someone wearing a backwards baseball cap. It’s Jack-ass 101. The hipster version, in

case you were wondering, is the loose fitting wool “Where’s Wal-do” toboggan worn regardless of outdoor temperatures.

Vehicle: The jackass prefers one of two types of transporta-tion. The first is a truck or jeep “jacked up” with lift kits and over-sized mud tires that defy street le-galities and good common sense. And, just to prove that the vehicle has been off the pavement some-time in its life, any mud streaks it adorns must never be washed … ever. The second type of pre-ferred vehicle is any late-model, American-made muscle car with after-market wheels, oversized window decals and of course, an alarmingly loud stereo system.

Sound System: Within their chariot of choice, the jackass

nearly always surmises that stock sound systems will in no way meet the demands for display-ing their prowess on the streets. Therefore, after-market stereos and speaker boxes with power capabilities normally reserved for the PA systems of small clubs must be crammed within the trunk and then cranked up in or-der to enable every car in a two-block radius of their current loca-tion to hear their favorite jams.

Favorite Songs: In addition to normal bass-thumping hip-hop, the Caucasian jackass likes to crank “The Road Goes on For-ever (and The Party Never Ends)” by Robert Earl Keen, “You Never Even Called Me By My Name” by David Allen Coe, any and every jam band, Kanye West’s complete catalog and any song that’s ever been played on Rock 105.

Now that we’ve determined some common visible (or audible) traits of the jackass, the only thing left to cover is the mannerisms of their breed. Jackasses want ev-eryone to know they’ve arrived. For example, their mating call at local watering holes starts with the infectious “I’m here to party” howl of “wooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!”

From there, things immediate-ly proceed downhill. With a Co-ors Light in one hand and a Marl-boro Light in the other, they bow up their one-size-too-small Ed Hardy T-shirts that conveniently

enable upper-arm tribal tattoos to blaze and strut around buying shots for unsuspecting females with heels higher than their IQs. They twirl pool cues in Ninja fashion, nearly always jump the cue ball off the table during the break and have an unquench-able desire to know “whassup” from anyone who approaches the pack. But I feel as if I’m picking on the meathead subspecies, so

let me tell a little story about a set of hipster jackasses I recently en-countered.

A couple dressed in nice cloth-ing and a photographer enter a locally owned coffee shop for an impromptu photo shoot. Without purchase, they proceed to use the interior of the space for cute shots that’ll probably be used for some sort of engagement announce-ment. They even borrow EMPTY coffee mugs from the establish-ment to use as props. Then I no-ticed that among their belongings was a half-full Starbuck’s cof-fee drink. Not cool. And, if that wasn’t enough to seal their sta-tus as thoughtless jackasses, one member of the couple in question actually approached the counter afterwards and asked for a job application. Seriously.

Being a jackass isn’t limited to the outward signs I outlined above. A jackass pure and simple is someone with exactly zero so-cial skills and a complete disre-gard for how their behavior might harsh the gig of those around them. Don’t be that guy.

Siren Song of the Jackassi’ve recently discovered a trend in the noog that’s probably always been present, just unnoticed and/or patiently tolerated by me until now. Some people are just plain jackasses. You know the species. The jackass, known for its cunning abil-ity to spread obnoxious behavior with thoughtless, unpredict-able accuracy in the paths of normal, savvy individuals who unknowingly happen to enter their domain.

Life in the Noog ChUCK CROWDER

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

“It’s easy to spot a jackass, though they will not always display jackass behavior immediately. For, if a jackass knew it was a jackass, it wouldn’t act like a jackass. No, this creature’s inability to recognize its own missteps only adds to its mysterious nature.

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the pulse 9.18 » may 3-9, 2012

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