TCB Aug. 1, 2019 — Peach, please! by Triad City Beat

Greensboro / Winston-Salem / High Point August 1-8, 2019 triad-city-beat.com

Peach, please!

FREE

The grande dame of stone fruits comes into season

PAGE 11

Is aggressive panhandling a problem? PAGE 6

The legislative session that never ends PAGE 10

Aug. 1-8, 2019

EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

The bard and the bartender, starring Ted Lange

Ted Lange sits Marley, they automatically get it.” on the bottom He talks about Ira Aldridge, the first steps of the black Shakespearean actor who died just concrete spiral a couple years after the Civil War ended; staircase, back remembers the slave plays he’s put on at on his elbows, an Oakland inner-city cultural center; tells tucked into the showbiz stories about Robert Townsend shade. He’s got and Robin Givens; remembers fondly his by Brian Clarey his director’s copy piece of network television’s final Golden of Twelfth Night on his lap, a hardbound Age. edition with a page of script taped to each “There was always one black guy,” he leaf, with big margins for notes. says. “’Barney Miller’ — one black guy. Lange has spent a hell of a lot more Lucille Ball had one black guy. ‘Maude’ had time working in the Shakespearean tradia black woman and they spun it off. tion than he did in the role of Isaac the “’Welcome Back Kotter’ had one black bartender on “The guy,” he finishes. “In a Love Boat,” which show about a ghetto Twelfth Night or, What You dominated Saturdayschool? How is that Will, Mon runs Thursdaynight television from possible?” the moment it debuted Saturday night at 6 p.m. in Right now he’s got in 1977 until its sudden a young, talented cast the Winston Square Park demise in 1986. But on his hands, mostly amphitheater, part of the that’s what everyone local, and they trickle National Black Theatre Fesremembers him for. into the sun-drenched But the stage, partic- tival. The event is free and amphitheater in ones, ularly in the context of twos and threes. While open to the public. William Shakespeare, the band sets up, has always been his Lange gathers the cast thing, going back to the 1960s in Oakland, for the final abridgement of the script. at San Francisco City College and the New “Cut the line with Sir Toby,” he says, Shakespearean Co. in the 1970s. He went crossing it out on his page. “’I will deliver to the Royal Shakespeare Academy in the his challenge by word of mouth.’ Cut that.” 1980s, wrote a prequel to Othello that ran He brings them out to the oval slab of at the NBTF in 2017 and has been working a stage and shows them how to extend steadily in the canon as writer, director and the play into the audience, demonstrates actor for decades. a couple stage-fight moves and a piece “I’ll do Shakespeare straight up,” he says, of blocking that looks like a do-si-do. “but if I come up with a novel concept, I’ll Surveying the scene from underneath his pitch that. straw chapeau, he gives a satisfied nod and “I’m trying to interest black folks in stands, claps. Shakespeare,” he continues. “That’s my “Top of the play!” he announces, and main goal. So you tell ’em it’s on the island the music, also known as the food of love, of Jamaica, that the soundtrack is Bob plays on.

BUSINESS PUBLISHER/EXECUTIVE EDITOR Brian Clarey brian@triad-city-beat.com

PUBLISHER EMERITUS Allen Broach allen@triad-city-beat.com

OF COUNSEL Jonathan Jones

ART ART DIRECTOR Robert Paquette

EDITORIAL SENIOR EDITOR Jordan Green

robert@triad-city-beat.com SALES

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Sayaka Matsuoka

gayla@triad-city-beat.com

jordan@triad-city-beat.com

sayaka@triad-city-beat.com

SPECIAL SECTION EDITOR Nikki Miller-Ka niksnacksblog@gmail.com

1451 S. Elm-Eugene St. Box 24, Greensboro, NC 27406 Office: 336-256-9320 COVER: The peach, sweetest STAFF WRITER Lauren Barber of the stone fruits. Photo shoot lauren@triad-city-beat.com styled by Sayaka Matsuoka, Nikki STAFF WRITER Savi Ettinger savi@triad-city-beat.com Miller-Ka and Robert Paquette. EDITORIAL INTERN Cason Ragland [Photo b Sayaka Matsuoka]

KEY ACCOUNTS Gayla Price CONTRIBUTORS

Carolyn de Berry, Matt Jones

Aug. 1-8, 2019

August 17th Izzy True w/XR August 30th Megan Jean & the KFB September 22nd Fiona Silver w/ J. Timber 221 Summit Ave Greensboro, North Carolina 3

Aug. 1-8, 2019

CITY LIFE Aug.1-4, 2019 by Cason Ragland

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THURSDAY August 1

Highlights on Holy Ground: Celebrating Black Theatre @ Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts (W-S), 9 a.m. The National Black Theatre Festival is going strong and the NC Black Repertory Company will host an exhibition at the Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts in Winston-Salem. The exhibits will cover consequential productions, founders of black theater companies and individuals who helped further the movement. The event’s page on Facebook has more details.

Stuff the bus! @ the Salvation Army of High Point (HP), 7 a.m. Backpacks and other supplies can be quite expensive and the folks at the Salvation Army of High Point ask that you donate anything you can to those who need some help in this regard. In fact, any Salvation Army in the Triad will take school supplies as well. If you feel like giving a monetary donation, you do so through the North Carolina Salvation Army website.

SATURDAY August 3

Parents Night Out: Glow the Night Away @ a Joyous Transition Inc. (GSO), 7 p.m. Kids are cute and all but sometimes parents just need to take a break. That’s why a Joyous Transition Inc. will offer to look after your little one(s) while you can have a night out on the town. If you’d like to know more details, the event’s page on Facebook can fill you in.

FRIDAY August 2

YES we read! Book & Literacy Festival @ Sprague Street Community Center (W-S), 11 a.m.

A Tru Old School Party @ Best Western Plus University Inn (W-S), 10 p.m. Mr. Bill’s Production will play all the funk, disco, Motown and more. The Best Western Plus University Inn is on the shuttle route from downtown Winston-Salem. Tickets can be purchased through Eventbrite.

This festival will bring a diverse group of authors and children together in order to kindle an interest in literature and learning. Many children and people of color struggle to find accurate representations of themselves in children’s literature and that’s what this festival plans to confront. Check out all the details on Facebook.

The Marketplace on Tate Street @ New York Pizza (GSO), 1 p.m. More than 15 vendors will line the commerciaawsl area of Tate Street near UNCG this weekend. No cover, so you can save your money and peruse the various trinkets, paintings and jewelry provided by the vendors. If you’d like to know more, take a look at the Facebook page for the event.

North Point Grill hosts

Shot in the Triad

Nik Snacks Restaurant Takeover

sponsored by Triad City Bites on Saturday August 10, 2019 5 pm-9 pm. The dinner menu features award-winning dishes straight from Nikki Miller-Ka’s blog,

Nik Snacks including: Fried chicken tenders with white cheddar and chive biscuits Pickled blueberry salad with basil vinaigrette Philly Cheesesteak Cheesecake

Puzzles

Red Wine Cream Cheese Brownies with seasonal ice cream

All entrees are a la carte

7843 North Point Blvd, Winston-Salem, NC Call 336-896-0500 or visit northpointgrill.com for more information

What It Takes screening @ 1605 N. Main Street (HP), 5 p.m. Kelly Vanryan, a transgender artist and model, created a short documentary, “What It Takes,” about her transition. After the documentary, Vanryan will host a Q&A to talk about the transition process, how to find good doctors and funding for operations. If you’d like to know more, take a look at the event’s Facebook page.

SUNDAY August 4

Wild NC — Destination Photo Tour @ 5945 Lake Brandt Rd. (GSO), 4:30 p.m. Seems like everyone’s got a camera these days but not everyone’s a photographer. That’s where REI’s Outdoor Program comes in. Some of their professional photographers will be there to show you how to take a proper photo of a gorgeous landscape. More details can be found on Facebook. Inflation Theory @ Earshot Music (W-S), 3 p.m. Justin Holt, coordinator of Inflation Theory, brings musicians together from all over North Carolina every month for a freeform concert at Earshot Music. This month’s show will feature Michael Thomas Jackson, Judson Clinton, Aurora Echo and many more. You can find out more information via Facebook.

Up Front News Opinion

My grandma loved to dance. She loved to sing. She drank smelly herbal teas and she dence, struggles throughout the film to was a damn good cook. reconcile her love for her grandmother and Watching Lulu Wang’s latest comedy-drama, The Farewell, brought back a flood of her desire to tell her the truth with honormemories and feelings that I haven’t thought about or felt in years. ing her family’s wishes and going with their Last year, I lost my grandma — my A-chan — after she had a stroke. The last time I saw Eastern value of carrying a heavy burden for her was on Facetime. I truly thought she would outlive us all. the greater good. In the film, breakout actress and rapper Awkwafina portrays the protagonist, Billi, a In a January interview with Variety young twentysomething not unlike myself, who visits China after she finds out that her magazine, Wang describes the complicated grandma has been diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. Her family — who spans across duality of having one foot in each culture. the world in the United States, where Billi lives, in their homeland of China and in Japan, “I always felt the divide in my relationship to my family versus my relationship to my where her uncle and cousin live — decides to gather and visit China one last time to see the classmates and to my colleagues and to the world that I inhabit,” she said. “That’s just the grandma, or Nai Nai, before the end. nature of being an immigrant and straddling two cultures.” The only problem is that no one has told Nai Nai that she is dying. The family tells her Still, anyone who watches the film, immigrant or not, can sympathize and relate to the that they’re coming for a wedding between Billi’s cousin and the feeling of being torn between two cultures, two lives. Family versus Japanese girl he’s been dating for three months. The Farewell will be screening at society. Career versus relationships. Self versus the whole. The story is a bizarre and captivating one that stems from Wang’s a/perture cinema in Winston-SaThough the film only lasts an hour and a half, the intimate own life. The writer and director shared her story on the popular interactions between Billi and Nai Nai can be felt long after the film lem starting on Friday. More info NPR show “This American Life” in 2016 about her family’s own ends. Scenes where Nai Nai tells Billi to eat more, asks if she has a at aperturecinema.com. real-life lie in which they staged a wedding to say farewell to a dying boyfriend yet, tells her to watch out for scammers or encourages grandmother without letting her know of her own fate. her to partake in her morning exercises with her, are all too familiar. The film balances heart-wrenching moments, often shown through the subtle but imWe never seem to eat enough for our grandmothers. pactful facial expressions and emotions portrayed by Nai Nai’s family members, with humor My A-chan used to always say I was fat compared to the skinny girls in Japan. Still, she that comes from all-too familiar family interactions. All of the family members, including would constantly encourage me to eat more. I wish I could taste her cooking now. Billi, struggle with the secret they are keeping from the ailing grandmother, in an attempt Like Crazy Rich Asians and Always Be My Maybe, it’s long past time for Asian and Asianto keep her last months lively and happy, rather than filled with pain and fear. American stories to hit the big screen. But whether you’re Asian or not, stories like The “They have a saying in China,” says Billi’s mom. “When you get cancer, you die. It’s not Farewell that expertly navigate the complicated feelings about family is instantly universal. the cancer that kills you; it’s the fear.” Plus, everyone has a grandma. Still, Billi, who grew up in the States with Western values of individualism and indepenGo call yours for me wouldja?

Aug. 1-8, 2019

The Farewell by Sayaka Matsuoka

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Aug. 1-8, 2019

NEWS

W-S downtowners disagree on aggressive panhandling claims by Sayaka Matsuoka A major developer and the president of the Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership both claim that there is an increasing problem with aggressive panhandlers in downtown WinstonSalem. Interviews with those who live, work and frequent downtown paint a different picture. On Saturday, Darrell Lyles, a black homeless man, walked from table to table on Fourth Street, asking patio diners if they had three dollars to spare. Lyles is just one of several panhandlers — exact numbers are vague — working the downtown area. He said that he sometimes follows people for money but that he hasn’t seen other panhandlers doing the same thing. Lyles said he does it so he can get food to eat. “I like to do the same thing they do,” he said, pointing to the diners enjoying their sandwiches and salads on Restaurant Row. “I think it’s nice.” Bobby Finch, a partner at Triad Commercial Properties, and Jason Thiel, president of the Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership, have recently said that aggressive panhandling is an increasing issue in downtown Winston-Salem. “I have been shocked by the level of harassment I’ve experienced personally on Fourth Street coming and going from lunch meetings recently,” Finch wrote to City Manager Lee Garrity on July 23. “If I owned a business or property downtown, I would be outraged at the lack of prevention and action to stop the people who are loitering and aggressively panhandling.” Thiel said in an email to TCB that the city has “seen an increase in aggressive panhandling in downtown over the past year.” Thiel qualified that “the topic of aggressive panhandling is separate from the topic of homelessness,” adding that the partnership is “asking the city to look at ways to address these stakeholder concerns.” Reflections of local homeless advocates, a bike-patrol police officer and even a local downtown business owner contradict the notion that there’s any uptick. They say aggressive panhandling is rare and has even gone down over the years. In an interview with TCB, Mayor Allen Joines described aggressive panhandling as a situation in which a person who is asked for money says no, and the panhandler continues to badger the

person or threaten them with physical violence. Joines said that the city has received more complaints recently but that there was no recorded data to back up this claim. “It’s a concern,” he said. “I wouldn’t call it a major problem, but we are taking it very seriously.” Joines said that only nine police reports have been filed for aggressive panhandling since January. Despite the low reports, Joines said that the city will be immediately increasing their police as well as bike-patrol presence in downtown. Joines hesitated to give an exact count of the number of officers that will be added to the downtown rotation, but said that there would be “a significant presence for a while.” “I think what we’re seeing is a few individuals who are coming in and being much too aggressive,” he said. Zak Southerland, a bellhop who has been working for Indigo Hotel for the FILE PHOTO There have only been nine police reports filed for aggressive panhandling since January, according to Mayor Joines. last five months, said he hasn’t seen any behavior that he would consider aggresaren’t educated on how to interact with “The more you interact with these sive. homeless folks. These are just human people,” she said. “That fear is gone.” “Most people I see are respectable,” beings and they are no more dangerous Winston-Salem resident Mary Hemphe said. “I haven’t seen no problems. We than any other human being. We have to hill said she has taken the bus downtown don’t have guests complaining. [Panhave a more compassionate stance and every day for the last 25 years. Like handling] does happen a lot. I got asked be better informed.” others, Hemphill said she has never today. A guy asked for 50 cents and he In his email Finch proposed moving encountered aggressive panhandling. didn’t follow me. They don’t ask for a the Campbell Transit Center and Insight “Most of the time, the people I see, lot. You have to understand, anywhere Human Services, a drug-treatment they’re going on about their business,” you go, you’re gonna run into someone center, out of downtown as a way to alshe said. “When they ask me, I don’t feel that’s got a problem. Everybody got leviate the situation. like it’s aggressive.” problems.” “The bus station and methadone clinic When asked what she thinks about Krista O’Connell, the organizational need to be relocated and are likely creatthe proposal to move the transit center, administrator for City With Dwellings — ing most of the traffic,” Hemphill put it simply. a nonprofit organization Finch states. “The bus station was here first,” she in the city that works to “There’s a lot of O’Connell said she said. “I don’t see how that would solve end homelessness — said fundamentally disagrees the problem. There’s still gonna be many panhandlers and unnecessary fear with the assertion that people downtown.” homeless individuals sufbecause our commoving these locations Joines said on Tuesday that the city fer from mental illness, would solve any perceived had no plans to move the bus depot. problems with addiction munities aren’t problems with homeless“I do not believe that the transit center and other unfortunate cireducated on how to ness or panhandlers. has anything to do with panhandling,” cumstances. She said she “That’s very unproduche said. “We will not be even considering wishes the public knew interact with home- tive,” she said. “You’re moving the transit center.” more about the disadvanless folks.” not providing a solution; As far as the drug clinic, Joines said he taged community instead you’re just trying not to isn’t sure what impact, if any, the facility of fearing them. – Krista O’Connell look at the problem. It’s has on aggressive panhandling. “Fear comes from just this idea of ‘Let’s get Phillip Carter, a volunteer with Houspeople who don’t have these people out of our eyesight.’” ing Justice Now — a housing-rights any interactions with homeless people O’Connell said City With Dwellings is advocacy group in Winston-Salem — and think they just have to walk straight planning programming to help the pubsaid that the changing demographics of by them,” O’Connell said. “They think lic better understand the circumstances downtown causes negative sentiment like that people smiling or just saying hello is that can lead to homelessness as well as the ones expressed in the news piece. an act of aggression. There’s a lot of unhow to interact with those in vulnerable “It’s becoming a community for the necessary fear because our communities situations. upper crust,” Carter said. “It’s more eco-

News

substance abuse help, Winston-Salem became one of the first 27 cities in the country to end homelessness among veterans. “We were even recognized by then First Lady Michelle Obama,” Joines said. Samuel Gavurin, the alternate chairman of the Homeless Caucus of Winston-Salem, said the city could do more to help those in need. He said that while resources in the city exist, many of them are preferential and are only available for women or women with children or families. “A lot of these managers and officials with the city and the county, they have been involved in assisting the homeless for so long that they’ve become almost bureaucratized,” he said. “They’re trying to fit a one-size-fits-all strategy.” In the meantime, Carter said he hopes that people show a little compassion to those they encounter on the streets. “Their homelessness is not due to themselves,” he said. “There are other things in this city that could be done to lift homeless folks up. They’re citizens, too.”

Up Front Opinion

or not the number of panhandlers has increased over the years. “There’s an ebb and flow,” he said. “It’s not necessarily up or down. It’s more like a wave.” He said there hasn’t been an increase in the number of reports of aggressive panhandling over the last couple of months. “It’s the same as it always is,” he said. Jake Bertch, the manager at King’s Crab Shack on Fourth Street, said he thinks the number of panhandlers has gone down over the last few years. “It was worse a couple of years ago,” he said. “It goes up and down.” And while Bertch said that the problem can be bad for business, the Chicago transplant said that it’s an issue most cities have. On Tuesday, Mayor Joines said the city had decreased chronic homeless by 92 percent in the last 10 years. “We have a 10-year plan to end homeless,” he said. “There were 200 people who were chronically homeless when we started, and we now have about 32.” Joines noted that a rapid housing plan helped pair chronically homeless individuals with homes and combined with other resources like job seeking, and

Aug. 1-8, 2019

nomically sustained. More tourists are coming. It’s like a department, high-end retail store where you don’t want certain individuals coming into your store.” Carter argues that many of the panhandlers and homeless people in downtown also make an important contribution to the city. “These people have to pay taxes like sales taxes,” he said. “That comes back to the city to help build up commerce downtown. They have a right to be downtown. They spend their money downtown.” Carter stated that he has never experienced aggression from panhandlers downtown and thinks that the definition of aggressive is subjective. “When we have an idea of an individual, we overreact to how they act,” he said. “Maybe they need to check themselves to see if they are overreacting.” Cpl. JA Henry, a bike-patrol officer who has worked the downtown area for the last seven years, said most of the panhandlers he sees are not aggressive. “The majority are not aggressive,” he said. “There are a select few that are, maybe under 10. But all have mentalhealth issues.” Henry also couldn’t state whether

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Aug. 1-8, 2019

OPINION

EDITORIAL

The session that never ends We’ve got big plans for the end of the 2019 North

Carolina Legislative session: a big issue exploring all the bills our local reps sponsored, how they voted on key policies, which ones got through and which were left to die in committee. It’s a fantastic way to keep tabs on our elected officials and get some insight as to how they work, which is why we do it every year. North Carolina is one of a few states that has no limits set for the length of its legislative sessions, which means that we could be sitting on this thing until Thanksgiving. This term our state legislature has been characterized by an inability to govern, outside crowd-pleasing bills that allow dogs in breweries or better fireworks. They’ve created illegitimate districts, and the victors in these questionable elections have made changes to our state constitution, which may or may not be legal. They’re trotting out social issues that divide the electorThis term our state ate neatly in two — a hallmark of North legislature has Carolina politics, to be been charactersure — while ignoring the serious issues ized by an inability on which most of us to govern. agree, like clean water, quality education and jobs that pay enough so we can stay on top of things, and maybe get a little bit ahead. Right now, it’s the budget that’s jamming up the works, and the prospect of a Medicaid expansion that by all measures would be a great boon to millions of North Carolinians with inadequate healthcare, and for which the Republicans, on principle and promise, cannot vote. They need eight Democrats to cross the line, and that’s what we’re all waiting for. And so we’ve got divided houses in the General Assembly that thinly favor the GOP, a Democrat governor and an electorate with nothing to do about it until 2020, by which time the deck of public opinion will have been reshuffled several more times. Odd are we will still be pretty much divided in half. Perhaps this sort of stalemate is what the founders had in mind when they created the checks and balances, a means of preventing a slight majority from imposing sweeping changes on a significant minority. But the reality is that this session must eventually end; a budget, by law, must be passed. At some point, our government must start governing. And our 2019 legislative issue will find a home on the calendar, which at this point looks to be the middle of football season.

CITIZEN GREEN

A vision of chaos on Election Day 2020

The Russian hacking of state exactly accurate as a representation of Pelosi either.) election systems during the 2016 The heavily redacted Senate Intelligence Committee election was described by Samuel report, entitled “Russian Active Measures Campaigns and Liles, then the acting cyber direcInterference in the 2016 US Election Infrastructure,” which tor at the Department of Homewas released on July 25, found that “the Russian governland Security, during his June 2017 ment directed extensive activity, beginning in at least testimony before the Senate Intel2014 and carrying into at least 2017, against US election ligence Committee as “analogous infrastructure at the state and local level.” The report also by Jordan Green to somebody walking down the cited an October 2018 Intelligence Assessment by the street and looking to see if you’re home. Department of Homeland Security finding, “We judge that “A small number of systems were unsuccessfully exploitnumerous actors are regularly targeting election infrastruced, as though somebody had rattled the doorknob but was ture, likely for different purposes, including to cause disrupunable to get in… [however] a small number of networks tive effects, steal sensitive data, and undermine confidence were successfully exploited,” Liles testified. “They made it in the election.” through the door.” To mangle Southern California pop-culture analogies, The analogy has an interesting resonance for an admindoes that make Mitch McConnell — who is scuttling elecistration that equates the nation with a family compound. tion security legislation this very moment — the equivalent During the most recent government shutdown in Decemof Robert Kardashian, the family friend scurrying to the ber 2018 and January 2019, Trump’s minions regularly cited Simpson residence to collect a garment bag with OJ’s various Democrat politicians whose homes were surroundbloody clothes? ed by walls as if it proved the hypocrisy of their refusal to The report issued by the Senate Intelligence Committee fund his border wall. — chaired by Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) — is chilling, and If the Russians are casing Casa Americana, it raises the the only reason to make light of the situation is that Trump’s question of whether a derelict homeowner Republican enablers have proven themis ready to hand over the housekeys to the selves incapable of shame through stern burglars. And if this is supposed to be a admonishment. If the US was a famfamily, it’s beyond dysfunctional. Trump The report found that Russian “cyber ily with a true interand his Republican henchmen don’t hate actors” had accessed “up to 200,000 voter anyone in the world as much as they do registration records in Illinois by the end est in securing its the Democrats. Even the administration’s of 2018. antagonism towards Iran, which threatens “The compromise resulted in the home, Trump would to hurl us into a catastrophic war, is only a exfiltration of an unknown quantity of be the patriarch and voter registration,” the report continues. byproduct of Trump’s deranged hatred of Barack Obama. “Russian cyber actors were in a position to Nancy Pelosi would If the United States was a family with a delete or change voter data, but the combe the matriarch. true interest in securing its home, Trump mittee is not aware of any evidence that would be the patriarch and House Speaker they did so.” Nancy Pelosi would be the matriarch. One unnamed Homeland Security This is what they actually said about each other in March staffer mused that with “the level of access they gained, after failing to hold a meeting about infrastructure. they almost certainly could have done more. Why they Trump: “Things are going well, and I said, ‘Let’s have didn’t… is sort of an open-ended question. I think it fits a meeting about infrastructure, we’ll get that done easunder the larger umbrella of undermining confidence in ily, that’s one of the easy ones.’ But instead of walking in the election by tipping their hand that they had this level of happily to a meeting, I walk in to look at people that had access or showing that they were capable of getting it.” just said I was doing a cover-up. I don’t do cover-ups. You Several former Homeland Security officials explained people know that probably better than anybody.” exactly what Russian operatives could do — namely, tamper Pelosi: “Now this time, another temper tantrum — again with voter registration databases. — I pray for the president of the United States…. I wish As Lisa Monaco, a former Homeland Security advisor, that his family or his administration and staff would have an explained, hackers could change her address from Smith intervention for the good of the country.” Street to Green Street, and then an election worker could You’d be hard pressed to come up with better dialogue question whether she was at the right polling place. for a scene from “Arrested Development,” the critically “And if that were to happen on a large scale, I was woracclaimed but short-lived sitcom that aired from 2003 to ried about confusion at polling places, lack of confidence 2006. (Let’s indulge for a moment in the idea of Trump as in the voting system, anger at a large scale in some areas, George Bluth Sr., the disgraced real-estate developer jailed confusion, distrust,” Monaco testified. “So there was a for defrauding investors, while recognizing that Lucille whole sliding scale of horribles just when you’re talking Bluth — described by Wikipedia as “ruthlessly manipulative, about voter registration databases.” materialistic, and hypercritical of every member of her famReady for 2020? Hindsight is 20-20, as the saying goes, ily, as well as perpetually drinking alcohol” — might not be but in this case so is foresight.

Aug. 1-8, 2019

Nik Snacks Life’s a peach and then you pie

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The freestone peach remains one of late summer’s absolute delights.

can enjoy that food year-round.” Food preservation, when done properly and safely, prevents spoilage as well as microorganism growth. But in my opinion, the best way to preserve peaches is to add them to ice cream. No-Churn Peach Ice Cream Makes 8 Servings

Place peaches, butter, brown sugar into a large skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir for 5 minutes, until peaches are softened and fragrant. Remove from heat and set aside to cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, add vanilla and heavy cream to a mixing bowl. Whip until soft peaks form. The cream should fold over itself when the beater is raised out of the bowl. Pour sweetened condensed milk into the mixing bowl with the soft whipped cream, stir to combine. Gently fold in peaches to sweetened whipped cream. Transfer to temperature-proof container and cover tightly. Freeze overnight, until ice cream is firm. Serve as desired.

Puzzles

Ingredients 2 cups peaches, diced 3 tablespoons salted butter 3 tablespoons light brown sugar 1 tsp vanilla 1 cup heavy cream 7 ounces sweetened condensed milk (1/2 of 14 oz. can)

SAYAKA MATSUOKA

Shot in the Triad

here’s nothing like biting into a ripe, juicy peach. Slurping and licking your way around the fruit is a great treat in itself. Sink your teeth into the soft flesh, munch on the by Nikki Miller-Ka soft, mottled skin that gives way to the golden-yellow or pale-pink interior. The initial tang of the juice melds with the rounded sweetness of the meat and the aroma of the fruit. Navigate around the craggy pit and chomp down on the ruby red center until every bit of the drupe is gone. Life’s a peach and then you pie. ’Tis the season for peaches in North Carolina. While the harvest runs May through August, this is the only time when peaches are celebrated nationally: National Peach Month, National Peach Day and National Peach Pie Day all fall during the 8th month of the year. It’s like a season finale wrap party. Peaches are a member of the rose family right alongside apples, pears, almonds, apricots and plums. These flowering trees also include nectarines, which are similar to peaches genetically but have a recessive gene that deletes the soft, fuzzy coating, lik a sleek velour suit that covers this voluptuous globe of nature’s bounty. “Simply put, peaches are fuzzy and nectarines are not,” explains Anna-Beth Williams, agricultural extension agent of NC Cooperative Extension in Guilford County. “Nectarines have a smooth skin,” she says. “They are typically more aromatic but also more susceptible to diseases.” Peaches are the only crop in North Carolina that are grown to go directly to the consumer. The largest availability of varieties in our area include Contender, Winblow, Norman, Sun Prince; nectarine varieties include Summer Beaut, Carolina Red and Fantasia The pits can be freestone or clingstone. The free stone falls easily away from the flesh while the cling stone pit stays stuck to the flesh. Both can be interchanged in cooking. Store peaches on the counter, stem side down, in a single layer to prevent the fruit from touching or bruising. Peaches produce a natural plant hormone called ethylene, which hastens the ripening process. You can also store very ripe peaches in a sealed container or bag in the refrigerator Keep in mind this can dehydrate the fruit and cause shriveling. Vincent Webb Jr, a family and consumer science assistant agent at NC Cooperative Extension, offers up advice on preserving fruit. “The goal of food preservation is to preserve the food that is in season so that we have food when we need it later,” he says,” and so that we

Aug. 1-8, 2019 Up Front News Opinion Culture Shot in the Triad Puzzles

CULTURE Winston-Salem artist questions ties to identity in new show by Sayaka Matsuoka

ittle fragments of rope fill a wicker basket in the gallery at the Sawtooth School for Visual Art. Strong and made of plastic, the same type of rope snakes around models in the large, dramatic photographs that line the walls. “Lynching rope.” That’s what artist Owens Daniels calls the rope but that’s not what it’s about. “Think about what the rope means to you,” Daniels says, as he hands me a 5-inch piece. “My job in my mind was to take away the negative thing about the rope. Take away the idea that this is about lynching, but still use it to shock you into saying, ‘What is this about?’” In “Look at Me,” a woman dressed in fine clothing adorned with pearls casts an icy stare at the onlooker, her eyes challenging the viewer to look away. She’s hovering over an armchair, and rope wraps around her body as she struggles to break free . The strands curl around her feet, her legs, her arms, until it wends its way to her hands, which grasp the coiled tendrils, struggling for, demanding, independence. “It’s this idea that this woman has to be perfect in two different ways,” Daniels explains. “Her heterosexual relationship has to be perfect. She wears pearls and leads a perfect life. The rope represents her other life in a really aggressive relationship with another woman. But she’s saying, ‘I want to be seen.’” While the imagery may not tell the full story that Daniels paints with his words, his exhibit, Common Ties That Bind, illustrates the different ways each of us is tied or bound to things in our lives. “The idea of being tied to something means you still have independence,” Daniels says. “You still have control but if you are bound to something, you have to submit to what you’re bound to.” The Winston-Salem-based artist said that the idea for the exhibit came from stories he’d see in the media and revolves around things like racism, the #MeToo movement, transgender rights and more. “This exhibit, when you first walk in, you feel compelled,” says Amy Jordan, the executive director at Sawtooth. “He wants you to ask those questions and think about those different labels and things that bind us. Every person has a different story and they’re gonna see something different.”

Common Ties That Bind, Owen Daniels’ exhibit at Sawtooth School for Visual Art, challenges viewers’ preconceived notions about art, identity and what makes us unique.

SAYAKA MATSUOKA

In “Zeus,” the rope exists within the photograph itself but as liberal or conservative or feminist or activist, but Daniels also pours out of the canvas and into our world. Like leaves urges people to take a step back and ask themselves what on a willow tree, the ropes that wrap around the black man’s those labels and ties mean. arms, neck and shoulders hang from holes cut in the canvas In doing so, he likens his life and his experiences to a tree. and pool underneath the work on the floor. “The top of the tree is way different than the bottom of the The protagonist represents Jesse Washington, a black man tree,” he says. “I feel tied because I’m an artist. I can see the who became famous as the victim of a brutal public lynching world from the top of the tree as an artist. When I’m a black in 1916. The event was one of the first well-documented lynchartist, male artist, that’s the trunk of the tree. I’m bound to ings in the country. that. Not in a negative way but that’s me. I question myself all Daniels says he titled the work the time: Are you growing?” “Zeus” to challenge the idea of WashDaniels says that as a black male ington as merely a mutilated body artist, he sometimes gets pigeonCommon Ties That Bind will be on and a product of horrific racism. holed into portraying life in a certain display at Sawtooth School for “What would he look like if he way whether that be about race or resurrected himself out of that bruslavery. But he says art gives him Visual Art until Aug. 23. Find out tality?” Daniels asks. “Would he look the freedom to pursue anything he more about the exhibit at sawlike Zeus, a Greek god?” wants. He isn’t bound to his identity. tooth.org. Daniels says Common Ties chal“Art to me is freedom,” he says. lenges preconceived notions that Lately, Daniels, who has mostly people might have about others, but worked in photography, has tried his also about themselves. hand at mixed-media work, which can be viewed in this exhibi“One of the biggest binds that I would find in life is your tion. generation,” says the 60-year-old artist. “Traditions and “The idea is to take this message of commonality,” he says. cultures are changing; they are fading away; they are burnt “You think, ‘Am I tied to the idea that it’s gotta be this way?’ before your eyes, they are melting away and you want to hold The commonality of our experience is visualized.” onto that. But you are bound to that when you’re inflexible.” These days identity politics has people labelling themselves

by Cason Ragland

Up Front News Opinion Culture

Hole No. 4 at the CVA’s interactive putt-putt exhibit, designed by Jamie Ledford and Phil Fuentes, features cowsnatching UFOs and a sasquatch.

CASON RAGLAND

Puzzles

back a rope that’s connected to the frame of a bicycle wheel. “We felt like, Okay, there has to be a possibility for the ball As the player pulls the rope, the wheel turns and pulls back a to go to a place where you don’t want it to go… but what if you small, wooden mallet. Once the rope is taut and released, the could have even more fun that way?” mallet whacks the golf ball up a ramp to fall inside one of two Michael Clapp didn’t want to bully players like Cravey, the structures that each create charming chimes while the ball wayward dad, with the hole he designed. However, just like falls through them. Then the ball rolls onto a small patch of any piece of art, the obstacle came to life through the player’s fake grass with the hole right in the middle. interpretation (or, in this case, misinterpretaThe design of No. 6 suits players of all skill tion). levels and ensures that anyone with an inter“One thing that games do well is keep the Reserve time on the est in putt-putt will have fun. Experienced player in a highly attentive state…” said Dixon. course at greensmini-golfers can try to get a hole-in-one by “Some art does that well, but art can be very boroart.org narrowly avoiding the traps on the checkerquiet, too. Sometimes it can require a lot of board bridge while newbies can have fun using gumption on behalf of the viewer to bring the pinball-inspired machine to knock their deep attention to the table.” ball up the ramp. Gate City Acres takes the interpretation process of viewing “We did a lot of online research,” said Dixon, who’s also an art in a museum and gamifies that challenge. Each hole proassociate professor of art at Guilford College. “And one of the vided by the Center for Visual Arts offers new experiences and things I [found out] was that it’s standard for the hole to be possibilities for the player. While Matthew may have struggled mean. By that I mean, [the player] wants the ball to go one at the beginning of the course, he still had eight more pieces way but [instead] it’ll go down a long hill. If you end up in that of art to contend with. situation a lot, you just end up feeling like you’re being bullied by the course.

Shot in the Triad

atthew Cravey furrowed his brow as he overshot one of his strokes, then watched the golf ball ricochet off a metal ramp and roll all the way to the gallery entrance. Cravey and his wife, Nancy, and son, Isaac, had just teed off on Michael Clapp’s deceptively difficult puttputt hole at the Center for Visual Arts in downtown Greensboro last Sunday. Nancy and Isaac keeled over laughing, leaning onto their putters. Matthew addressed the ball in the doorframe, about 20 feet away from the hole, and took another stroke. The ball careened across the cement floor and landed deeper in the rough, nowhere near Clapp’s structure. That was funny too. There’s a delicate balance to creating the perfect putt-putt course. Make the shots too difficult and the game becomes work. Too easy, and the game bores the player; taking them out of the experience. How can designers create a challenge that appeals to both rookie and veteran mini-golfers? Gate City Acres is part of a nationwide trend in which artists design their own mini-golf courses. The Walker Arts Institute hosts the most famous example during its annual putt-putt fundraiser in Minneapolis. The monthlong exhibit of nine putt-putt holes provides local artists with the challenge of combining beautiful aesthetics and clever game design. Golfers interpret each hole like attendees observing paintings in an art gallery. A good putt-putt course shows the golfer how to sink their ball in the hole without a word. Instead, each hole relies on the language of design to tell the player how they can succeed. Some of the holes at the Center for Visual Arts hide secrets or Easter eggs for the golfers to discover and discuss amongst themselves. Hole No. 6 stands out amongst the rest. Created by artist Mark Dixon and designer Tom Dawson, it sits near a set of large windows overlooking the courtyard of Café Europa. The first obstacle is a small bridge in a black-and-white checkerboard design. Holes of various sizes line the bridge and if the ball falls into one of these openings, it lands in a faux water feature where it will then roll into the bottom of an elaborate contraption. The structure, inspired by the plunger of a pinball machine, lets the golfer pull

Aug. 1-8, 2019

CULTURE Nine holes of art invite visitors to participate in Greensboro

Aug. 1-8, 2019

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Aug. 1-8, 2019

CROSSWORD ‘Inseparable’ — almost always one with the other. SUDOKU