CLCLT.COM | JUNE 8 - JUNE 14, 2017 VOL. 31, NO. 16
1 | DATE - DATE, 2015 | CLCLT.COM
l
Y A D R U T SA
a u n n A h t The 4
a t i r a g r a M s Wa r
Rooftop 210
h t 4 2 JUNE 7pm m p 2 present
Its Tequila Time ! SAMPLE MARGARITAS FROM
EVENT SPONSORS
SM
Ticketswww.clclt.com on Sale Now! 2 | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
ed by
at the epicentre
CLCLT.COM | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | 3
LOVES CHILDREN
&OTHER PETS...
FOR DINNER
NEED A PET SITTER? ADVERTISE WITH A CREATIVE LOAFING CLASSIFIEDS AD! email pmoran@clclt.com
4 | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
CLCLT.COM | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | 5
CREATIVE LOAFING IS PUBLISHED BY WOMACK NEWSPAPERS, INC. CHARLOTTE, NC 28206. OFFICE: 704-522-8334 WWW.CLCLT.COM FACEBOOK: /CLCLT TWITTER: @CL_CHARLOTTE INSTAGRAM: @CREATIVELOAFINGCHARLOTTE
STAFF
PUBLISHER • Charles A. Womack III publisher@yesweekly.com EDITOR • Mark Kemp mkemp@clclt.com
EDITORIAL
NEWS EDITOR • Ryan Pitkin rpitkin@clclt.com FILM CRITIC • Matt Brunson mattonmovies@gmail.com THEATER CRITIC • Perry Tannenbaum perrytannenbaum@gmail.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS • Jasmin Herrera, Corbie Hill, Erin Tracy-Blackwood, Vivian Carol, Charles Easley, Allison Braden, Page Leggett, Alison Leininger, Sherrell Dorsey, Dan Savage, Aerin Spruill, Chuck Shepherd, Jeff Hahne, Samir Shukla, Courtney Mihocik, Debra Renee Seth, Vanessa Infanzon
ART/DESIGN
GRAPHIC DESIGNER • Dana Vindigni dvindigni@clclt.com CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS • Justin Driscoll, Brian Twitty, Zach Nesmith
ADVERTISING
To place an ad, please call 704-522-8334. SALES MANAGER Aaron Stamey • astamey@clclt.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Candice Andrews • candrews@clclt.com Melissa McHugh • mmchugh@clclt.com ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Pat Moran • pmoran@clclt.com
FREE STUFF! CLCLT.COM/CHARLOTTE/FREESTUFF
Creative Loafing © is published by CL, LLC 1000 NC Music Factory Blvd., Suite C-2, Charlotte, NC 28206. Periodicals Postage Paid at Charlotte, NC. Creative Loafing welcomes submissions of all kinds. Efforts will be made to return those with a self-addressed stamped envelope; however Creative Loafing assumes no responsibility for unsolicited submissions. Creative Loafing is published every Wednesday by Womack Newspapers, Inc. No portion may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. First copy is free, all additional copies are $1. Copyright 2015 Womack Newspapers, Inc. CREATIVE LOAFING IS PRINTED ON A 90% RECYCLED STOCK. IT MAY BE RECYCLED FURTHER; PLEASE DO YOUR PART.
A MEMBER OF:
6 | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
20
PHOTO BY JEFF HOWLETT.
Patois Counselors rock Snug Harbor on June 14.
We put out weekly
10
NEWS&CULTURE CMPD LACES UP IN HIPSTER HAVENS New Plaza and NoDa walking beats welcomed by some, jeered by others BY RYAN PITKIN 9 EDITOR’S NOTE BY RYAN PITKIN 12 NEWSMAKER: GREG SCHERMBECK BY RYAN PITKIN 13 THE BLOTTER 14 MUSLIM IN CHARLOTTE: RAND ZAFER BY LARA AMERICO 15 NEWS OF THE WEIRD
16
FOOD A TASTE OF SOUL FROM HOME AND AFAR
The Kinfolks Soul Food Festival was a good time for taste buds BY SHAMEIKA RHYMES 19 THREE-COURSE SPIEL: RJ MILLER BY DEBRA RENNE SETH
22
MUSIC JUNIOR ASTRONOMERS BLAST OFF
Terrence Richard and his space cadets pen a lovehate letter to Charlotte BY MARK KEMP 20 TOP 10 THINGS TO D0 24 MUSICMAKER: BROOKE “COBRA” HOMER BY RYAN PITKIN 26 SOUNDBOARD
28
ARTS&ENT HUMMINGBIRD, DON’T FLY AWAY Arthur Brouthers creates multicolored visions of lives in Charlotte BY GREY REVELL 31 LIBRARY FILM SERIES: BY MATT BRUNSON 30 FILM REVIEW: WONDER WOMAN BY MATT BRUNSON 33 ARTSPEAK: VANCE CARIAGA BY RYAN PITKIN
34
ODDS&ENDS 34 MARKETPLACE 34 NIGHTLIFE BY AERIN SPRUILL 35 CROSSWORD 36 SAVAGE LOVE 38 HOROSCOPE BY VIVIAN CAROL
GO TO CLCLT.COM FOR VIDEOS AND MORE!
COVER DESIGN BY DANA VINDIGNI PHOTO BY KEVIN CONDIN CLCLT.COM | JUNE 8 - JUNE 14, 2017 VOL. 31, NO. 16
Website: www.clclt.com Facebook: /clclt Pinterest: @clclt Twitter: @cl_charlotte Instagram: @creativeloafingcharlotte YouTube: /qccreativeloafing 1 | DATE - DATE, 2015 | CLCLT.COM
CLCLT.COM | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | 7
8 | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
VIEWS
EDITOR’S NOTE
POLICING PRIVILEGE Who deserves to be protected and served? BY RYAN PITKIN
THIS WEEK I found myself pondering
and Catawba Brewing Company recently opening at its east. The hip, young, white about policing, gentrification and how both crowd has already slowly started moving into play into this city’s power structure. the neighborhood, and within a year or two In my news feature, found on page 10, I the foot traffic will pick up between the two discuss the implementation of new “walking breweries and any other tattoo shop or tavern beats” by CMPD in Plaza Midwood and that pops up in that time. NoDa, in which three police officers in each In this city’s field of hipster dreams, the neighborhood will make the rounds on foot expression goes, “If you build breweries, during the late-night and early-morning hours. safety measures will come.” I first became aware of the new plan The fact is, however, that families like on Wednesday, May 31, when CMPD Reid’s who have been in Belmont for 20 representatives held a press conference years and often more, will be pushed out by announcing the new strategy. On the surface, calls to code enforcement or offers from real it seemed like a simple enough story, one that estate companies that appear too good to TV reporters would cover in three-minute turn down but offer pennies on the dollar clips and would be old news by the time we that will be available once the neighborhood sent another issue to print a full week later. is majority white. But I immediately knew there would The other inescapable irony be more to this one. facing me as I worked on this The implementation of a story was that I am one of the community policing strategy above-mentioned hipsters in two rapidly gentrifying, who will benefit from if not gentrified, these new walking beats. neighborhoods would I am a NoDa resident of surely elicit reactions eight years, and although from community leaders it’s hard to view myself who have fought for years as a gentrifier, as I will to see such efforts made in surely be priced out of the their own neighborhoods neighborhood by the coming and districts — areas that RYAN PITKIN Blue Line extension sooner are less safe, but take in less than later, if I’m being honest money for the city. with myself, the gentrification was A quick look at Twitter found done before I moved here. I was right, and questions weren’t only I have been a victim of violent crime being raised from the grassroots level. Mayor while walking home on North Davidson Pro Tem Vi Lyles, who’s running for Mayor Street. I have friendships with multiple Jennifer Roberts’ job this year, took to social business owners who have been burglarized media to voice concerns about why these two over the last year. I can hardly argue that the neighborhoods were chosen while others are presence of three consistent police officers in such dire need. on foot will be bad for the neighborhood. Community leaders like amalia deloney But I have also worked for years in the (lowercase letters by amalia’s request), were communities that get left behind, reporting quick to raise questions about why “familyfriendly” policing projects like the walking on residents like deloney, who helped set beats were being rolled out in neighborhoods up a community land trust in the west side like NoDa while more aggressive strategies like to fight against the inevitable effects of Operation Avalanche were launched in lowerdisplacement by urban sprawl, or leaders in income areas just a few miles away (to be fair, Hidden Valley, where real estate companies CMPD experimented with walking beats in the have for years bought abandoned homes and troubled Beatties Ford corridor in 2016). left them empty, patiently waiting for the I spoke with neighbors like Teresa Reid Blue Line extension to come through and of the Belmont Community Association, who bring the white people with it. wondered why police can’t walk a few blocks These are communities that have for from NoDa to her neighborhood, where she’s decades gone without decent roads, schools been asking for their help in cleaning up drug and other infrastructure, but will surely see dealing, loitering and other issues for decades. such things arrive just as they’re priced out The depressing irony in Reid’s pleas for of the land. help was that help is surely coming for her So my question to folks like myself is neighborhood, but at what cost? this: As our city grows, how do we use Belmont now finds itself bookended by two what privilege we have to make sure whole sure harbingers of Charlotte gentrification, communities don’t get left behind? RPITKIN@CLCLT.COM with Birdsong Brewing Company at its west CLCLT.COM | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | 9
A police car hangs out on in NoDa on the evening of May 31.
NEWS
RYAN PITKIN
FEATURE
CMPD LACES UP IN THE HIPSTER HAVENS New Plaza and NoDa walking beats welcomed by some, jeered by others BY RYAN PITKIN
B
LAKE BARNES walked out of Common Market, the beer shop and deli he owns in Plaza Midwood, on the morning of May 31 and saw a multitude of TV cameras aimed at a man in a police uniform preparing to address the press. The scene was reminiscent of what happens following a murder or other highprofile crime, something Plaza Midwood had dealt with late in 2016 and had no interest in seeing again. But there was no bad news in the neighborhood to be reported that day. The CMPD was announcing the launch of new “walking beats” in Plaza Midwood and 10 | MAR. 17 - MAR. 23, 2016 | CLCLT.COM
NoDa. Beginning that night, three officers — the same three each night — would walk the streets of NoDa and Plaza Midwood between 6 p.m. and 4 a.m. Wednesday through Sunday. The announcement was a welcome one for Barnes and other area business owners, who hadn’t known about the roll out of these new beats until that morning. For others, the news didn’t sit so well. As TV news stations broadcast the story throughout the day, community leaders in other parts of the city wondered why resources were being pushed to these particular parts of town. The announcement came on the heels
of a bloody Memorial Day weekend that saw murders occur in Rozzelles Ferry and Sugar Creek road corridors, both long troubled areas. CMPD spokesperson Rob Tufano said the new walking beats are in no way related to a rise in violent crime throughout Charlotte this year — during which the murder rate has nearly doubled — but have been in CMPD’s plans for some time. The recent budget proposed by city manager Marcus Jones includes money to hire 62 more officers over the next year, and Tufano said this investment allowed CMPD to implement the walking beats.
“This gives us the opportunity now to be a little bit more creative and a lot more proactive in the way that we police,” Tufano said. Maybe so. But some neighbors say they feel left behind by the department’s priorities. Teresa Reid, 68, has been living in the Belmont neighborhood between NoDa and Plaza Midwood for 23 years. Reid said that when she moved to Belmont in 1994, police would walk the neighborhood on a daily basis, but shortly thereafter, the walking patrols stopped. As a board member in charge of community engagement on the Belmont Community Association for many
NEWS
FEATURE
years, Reid said she continuously asked for CMPD to resume such tactics. “They do come around and they get involved, like if I called them I get a good response out of them, I really do, but it’s just that sometimes they’re not as visual as they used to be,” Reid said. “They get a situation done and that’s it, we don’t see them anymore for a while. It’s probably because they’ll be going over to another neighborhood. If they stay more visible and vigilant, we wouldn’t have as much problems as we do, with [people] hanging on the corners and selling drugs.” Reid said residents discussed the need for more police engagement at their monthly neighborhood meeting in May, before they were aware that police would be walking the neighborhoods to the north and east of them within a matter of days. “I would love for them to spread it around a little more,” Reid said. “I do hope they’re including us in with that.” Police won’t be stretching their walking beats to Belmont this summer, however. Tufano said he is unsure of any imminent plans to expand the walking beats, but pointed out that the program was piloted in the troubled Beatties Ford Road corridor in 2016. Mayor Pro Tem and 2017 mayoral candidate Vi Lyles expressed similar concerns with CMPD’s priorities when she heard the news on May 31. She took to Twitter: “While I’m encouraged by this initiative, it does raise questions. There are other neighborhoods where we need to build relationships [with] CMPD.” Liles later told Creative Loafing that she had a phone discussion with CMPD Chief Kerr Putney, who told her that the department’s plan was to continue expanding walking beats in needed spots throughout the city as police analyzed results from the Beatties Ford, Plaza Midwood and NoDa walking beats. “As more of these opportunities are presented by the community and that increases the level of security and safety — both perceived and real — that will be an important thing for us to do,” Lyles said. “The whole thing right now in Charlotte is to feel that safety, and that’s not just about policing; it’s a lot about traffic calming, it’s a lot about getting some geography for biking and walking, anything to get people out on the streets. So that’s what I think is really important, that we’re trying.” For some, however, the walking beats leave a sour taste regardless of any promises of future expansion. When amalia deloney (who does not capitalize her name) first saw the story about walking beats on television, she was struck by how openly the police admitted the choice was about protecting “entertainment districts.” A resident of Seversville in west Charlotte, deloney said the decision to put foot officers in Plaza Midwood and NoDa is indicative of how choices are made throughout the city. “I think the first thing it struck me as is that the deployment of these police in
these two neighborhoods isn’t actually about protecting the people in the neighborhood, it’s about protecting the financial benefits that will come to this city from the money spent in that area,” deloney said. “So let’s dispel with the myth that this is about the people of NoDa or Optimist Park or Belmont or Plaza. It’s about the dollars that the establishments are generating that go into the city. “What it means is that areas that are part of the city of Charlotte that are not seen as revenue generators get substandard treatment in all areas of the deployment of city resources: substandard schools, substandard sidewalks, substandard lighting, all of it. This is what it looks like to be in a city in the 21st century where everything is absolutely based on capital and the places that are seen as generating more wealth for
“No, we get an authoritarian, heavyhanded, ‘I am the hammer, you are the nail,’ policing, and ‘You are a problem and I’m here to catch you doing something I assume you’re already doing,’” deloney added.
LATER ON MAY 31, as the sun set on North Davidson Street a little after 8 p.m., it looked like any other spring night in NoDa. A police car was parked in front of the fire department near the middle of the neighborhood, but that is a common enough sight. A firefighter was leaning into the cruiser window, chatting up the two officers in the car. But soon the two officers would do something not so ordinary: they’d get out and patrol the NoDa streets. The act seemed simple enough, common in urban
“This is what it looks like to be in a city in the 21st century where everything is absolutely based on capital...” -AMALIA DELONEY
the city are treated better and they’re treated differently. ” In January, CMPD launched “Operation Avalanche” in response to the rise in violent crime during the first days of 2017. The department flooded four parts of the city with police in patrol cars, making nearly 80 arrests in the first three weeks of the operation. Tufano said that, although details are not yet available, CMPD is currently discussing a summer operation to fight back against violent crime that could look similar to one implemented a few years ago in which rolling units are deployed not to a specific division but to spots in the city where crime has spiked within recent days or weeks. For deloney, the difference in tactics between the operations Tufano spoke of and the new walking beats is the difference between aggression and truly protecting and serving. “It’s not that places like the west side don’t get policing; we get policing, but the kind of policing we get is not family-friendly,” deloney said. “It’s not two people on horses or walking patrol where the power dynamic is more like, ‘We’re all in this together.’
neighborhoods throughout the country, but it was the first scheduled foot patrols in NoDa since before it was even known as NoDa. Scott Lindsley, co-owner of NoDa Company Store, heard about the foot patrols on social media and welcomed the news. The Company Store closes earlier than many other bars in the area, and it faces a street with less traffic than the busy North Davidson Street just a block over. Last summer, Company Store was among a string of businesses burglarized late at night by one or more suspects who had been smashing through windows and breaking into businesses along the popular strip of bars and businesses. Recently, the store was burglarized again, once in March and again in April. Before moving to NoDa with his husband, Company Store co-owner Joey Hewell, the two lived in South End, where Lindsley said they had a “neighborhood police officer” who would ride a Segway around and was familiar with most nearby residents and business owners. He believes having three officers consistently walking around NoDa will be a help to business owners. “I don’t have any kind of false hope that
it will solve all the problems, but in my experience those officers get to know the neighborhood and the people and because they’re not just driving through in a car, they recognize things that are unusual or unfamiliar,” Lindsley said. “I actually think community policing is probably one of the best things they can do.” Just a couple miles away in Plaza Midwood, some residents and visitors are still antsy about a particularly violent end to 2016, during which a number of high-profile crimes included the murder of Katherine Jones in October — for which no arrest has yet been made — and the shooting of Bruce and Joanne Parker on December 16. CMPD responded by boosting patrols in the area, and violent crime has dropped in the neighborhood since — just one violent crime, a sexual assault, was reported in the Plaza Midwood area between Jan. 28 and May 31 of this year, according to CMPD. Barnes said he’s noticed a drop in violent behavior in the neighborhood lately, but remains overwhelmed by the sheer number of people patronizing his business. “I’ve been here 15 years, and I’ve really had to adjust over the last couple years with all these apartments,” Barnes said, referring to the thousands of new condos and apartments that have popped up in the area recently. “I’ve had to deal with the volume of human beings — and I’m not complaining, it’s awesome — but I’ve got all these people who are not from the neighborhood coming in. We welcome all that, but it’s just like, wow.” A coalition of Plaza Midwood business owners has already been paying off-duty police officers to set up on Thomas Avenue in front of Thomas Street Tavern, and Barnes pays an off-duty officer to hang out at his store, as well. The influx of people has brought what could only be referred to as an influx of sketchy behavior. Barnes said he’s seen an increase in shoplifting in his store, car breakins outside of his store and some other bizarre crime, as well. “We’ve got a lot more people, I wouldn’t say they’re homeless, but people who are just hanging out. They don’t really spend anything, you don’t know what they’re up to. I have noticed an uptick in that,” Barnes says. “With me you’re not paying a cover to get in, people are on and off my patio all the time, which is why I’m keeping an off-duty guy at my place because it’s so hard. They’ll sit there and next thing you know they’re drinking somebody else’s beer when they set it down — all kinds of weird stuff like that. When you get a large mass of human beings like that, they’ve got to prey on everybody.” Barnes said he will continue to pay the officer to watch over his shop, and he knows the Thomas Avenue contingent will remain as well, at least until local business owners become familiar with the three officers assigned to the Plaza Midwood walking beat. “The outfit in front of Thomas Street, if there’s any issue, we have their cellphones and we call them and, bam, they’re right where they need to be,” Barnes said. “With the walking thing, I don’t know. Are they going to be around me? Who knows where they’re going to be?” One thing is for sure — whether on foot or in patrol cars, whether readily welcomed or not so much — they’ll be around. RPITKIN@CLCLT.COM CLCLT.COM | MAR. 17 - MAR. 23, 2016 | 11
NEWS
NEWSMAKER
THE EXECUTOR Greg Schermbeck is not all talk when it comes to educational equality RYAN PITKIN
G
REG SCHERMBECK may head up a consulting firm, but don’t call him a consultant. The founder of Charlotte-based SchermCo Consulting is well aware that of the estimated $488 billion of estimated revenue to be brought in by the consulting industry this year, a miniscule percentage will go toward actually implementing solutions. The rest, Schermbeck says, could be called “smoke and mirrors.” Schermbeck, 31, said he had no intention of being the high-priced consultant who will “pitch templated PowerPoints, say, ‘Good luck’ and then leave,” when he launched SchermCo in 2014. His firm’s goal was to not only find solutions to educational issues — especially those facing low-income and under-resourced students — but to help implement them. One of SchermCo’s local projects aimed at doing just that came to fruition this week after six months of work with Mayor Jennifer Roberts and the city of Charlotte. On June 6, local nonprofit MeckEd launched an interactive web-tool to help connect kids in all parts of Charlotte to accessible afterschool programs as part of its Charlotte NEXT project that was shaped in part by SchermCo. A few days before the launch, Creative Loafing sat down with Schermbeck to discuss the issues facing Charlotte schools and how he hopes to help. Creative Loafing: Have you always been interested in education and equal opportunity? Greg Schermbeck: I grew up in a fairly low-income area, but didn’t know it was low-income as a child. I grew up in a trailer park until about fourth grade, which we always thought was normal growing up. I think some people tell you it’s not normal the older you get, but I had great parents who both worked jobs, I came from a really good military family, and so service in that way — at least in the military — was always really important to my family and is still important to me. Growing up in Toledo, Ohio, which was still very much a Rust Belt city with a lot of manufacturing jobs, you were exposed to a lot of different things, different people, different cultures, different ways of living, and I think that was really influential for me growing up. As you get older you realize not all cities are like that — not all neighborhoods are like that — which then you can kind of extract 12 | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
PHOTO BY RYAN PITKIN
into why certain things are the way they are. I think because of my upbringing, and I was the first person in my family to go to college, because my parents and my grandparents sacrificed so much for that, and so I never thought I’d actually be in education, but I think even from a young age I really valued at least the importance of when they told me how important education was. Out of college, you joined Teach for America (TFA), which brought you to West Charlotte High School as a teacher. You’ve said Charlotte was your first preference when applying to TFA. Why is that? Charlotte’s a really interesting case study in that, in the ‘70s and ‘80s, Charlotte was actually one of the premiere cities for school integration. There were a number of really strong leaders, regardless of race and culture, in the 1970s who came together in Charlotte to really push for integrated schools for all the reasons we now know are true; that all kids, when you go to school with kids who look differently from you, there’s a number of benefits — not even just test scores, but social skills and life trajectory. So Charlotte you could argue was on this pinnacle, and we’ve seen over the past 30 years — Charlotte specifically, but also other cities — have kind of regressed in a way that’s become more segregated. How do you hope SchermCo can help in some of the issues Charlotte’s schools
face today? Public education is tough. There’s so many layers and so many facets to it — in Charlotte but also across the country — and I think everybody has ideas but what it comes down is the execution of those ideas. What I’m hoping we can bring folks together around is scaling what works and talking about what works and naming what doesn’t and doing away with things that don’t work in public education. I think in any other market — business, banking, etc. — an organization that’s doing something that isn’t working for 10 years, it would stop. It wouldn’t get to 10 years. And the business would innovate or try something new. I think CMS [Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools] has done a good job of that, and charters have done a good job of that, but I think it takes a continual amount of execution to do that. I think of adults working together — whether it’s school integration, charters working with districts, districts working with charters. I think we put a lot of emphasis on labels in education, but not emphasis on what works for kids, and I honestly want all of us to really consider what is really good for kids and why is it good for kids and then figure out how to make sure every kid has access to that. All those things I’m saying, it always comes down to the execution. So generally everybody agrees from the most southern part of Charlotte to the northern part of Charlotte that schools should be integrated, it’s just the how. And it’s hard. Adults struggle
with change. Organizations struggle with change. I think the school district is doing a very noble thing in trying to do this, but now it’s just the execution of doing it. And any change is going to cause ruffles. If you look at the ‘70s and ‘80s there were a lot of issues too, but I think the sacrifice was worth the results. I think it’s about maintaining what’s good for kids and fighting until we get what’s good for kids. What have your thoughts been as you watch the debate going on around integration and a new assignment plan in Charlotte? I think we’re getting closer. I think, like anything, it was a compromise in a good way. I’m very proud honestly that the school district took a step in this direction, because yes, they have it in their mandate every seven years to review the policy, but they don’t have a mandate to do something about it. And not just to throw out false praise, I think they need a lot of credit for actually trying to do this. I think the plan has some really strong merits and some things that I personally would have liked to see them get more aggressive in integrating but I honestly think it’s a step in the right direction and if we can continue to push in that way then progress can be made. I still think, as well, that schools will need to continue to be integrated, but then we get to more nuanced questions of what does perfect integration look like? But also, once schools are perfectly integrated, I don’t think
that magically means all kids will learn now. We still have a lot of things in education outside of that that are really important. What are some of those outlying issues that don’t get discussed as much? I don’t think kids or families are ever the issue. I think the systems in which we work are. I’ve never met a student, I’ve never met a parent who didn’t want to learn or who didn’t want their children to do well. There’s some obvious things and some less obvious around what this utopian society of education looks like. I think one is that teacher pay is really bad. It’s really hard — male or female — to have a family and provide for a family if you make $31,000 a year your first year and you teach 20 years and by year 20 you make $49,000 a year. And so I think that is one very nuanced thing. I’m under no disillusion that money will solve all the issues. But I do think we need to step back as a society — as well as look at other countries — and ask ourselves how we value this profession. The second part to that is working conditions. CMS right now is asking for a lot of money to improve facilities, which I think is right. You’re asking teachers to work eight to 10 hours a day to essentially have 30 kids show up every 90 minutes to your door and then leave and another 30 kids come and to serve them at a really high level, but you’re putting them in buildings that aren’t working. They don’t have access to a bathroom in between breaks or a clean break room. I think working conditions really need to be improved. So I think all these things are just generally around the condition that teachers and principals work in, and that really isn’t a Charlotte thing, we could argue it’s on the state level. North Carolina is one of the lowest states in the country for per-people funding, which essentially means schools have less money to work with. And again, I don’t think money will solve it, but I think we need to get to a reasonable amount to help support schools. How did the Charlotte NEXT project come about and what was SchermCo’s role? Mayor Roberts noticed a recurring issue where people who run afterschool programs were struggling to find students to serve. As she was running for mayor, she was also hearing feedback from parents and families that they couldn’t find afterschool programs to attend, so there was a big disconnect. I had experience working in some afterschool spaces before, where we were hearing that there just weren’t enough programs for kids to take part in. So we kept hearing all this diversion of feedback around afterschool programs, so she tapped our firm to help learn what was going on and see what the solution was. Essentially what we came with is building an out-of-school time intermediary, which is a fancy word for an organization that helps support and drive more afterschool programs. So that work is now an initiative called Charlotte NEXT, and Meck Ed, a nonprofit in town, is running that work. So essentially the premise of Charlotte NEXT is to ensure that every middle school student in a Title I school in Charlotte has access to
NEWS
BLOTTER
BY RYAN PITKIN
PROXY WAR A 26-year-old man filed a police report last week after his ex-girlfriend stole from him through a third party. The man told officers that he and his girlfriend had broken up, but that she needed to get her stuff out of his home in the Belmont neighborhood. Not trusting her to come back into his home, he told her to send a friend to do the job for her. She sent a man to collect her belongings, and while he was there, he stole a $400 laptop and a $400 TV from the victim. PHOTO COURTESY OF GREG SCHERMBECK
afterschool programs. What SchermCo will do is begin to collect data about where programs are occurring and then understand where the gaps are and understand where we need to help navigate Program A to School A, to make sure students have access to afterschool programs. How will the launch of the new web tool help with that? Anybody in Charlotte can type in their address to search for afterschool programs to enter, and then all the afterschool programs within the radius of their neighborhood will show up. So we’re hoping that tool will begin to drive the conversation on how we increase access to afterschool programs for parents and families. And that data at the city level will help us get a sense of, “Ok, where are programs existing or where aren’t they existing, and now how do we drive resources?” You’ve spoken about your desire to build bridges between charter schools and district schools. Is that something you aim to do in Charlotte? Yup, every day. I think running quality schools is the hardest thing anybody can do, and I believe in open sourcing; my work and other people’s work. If we as a country honestly believe that every student in our country should have access to a quality education, we should open source every secret, every system, every part of running a quality school that we have. And there are incredible schools in CMS and there are incredible charter schools. And, frankly, adults are arguing a lot about which one is right and if any city is going to have this utopian city of education for students, charters have to work together, districts need to work together, private schools need to work together, nonprofits need to work together, and the fact that they’re kind of throwing stones and not reaching across the aisle to shake hands, it only hurts kids. Visit clclt.com for a full version of this interview.
TOSSED SALAD In more troubled relationship news, a 47-year-old woman was attacked by a family member of her boyfriend and couldn’t get away even after the suspect was arrested. The woman told police that her boyfriends’ niece threw a salad bowl at her, then grabbed a pack of cigarette from her hands. The victim told officers that she ended up with lacerations on her shoulder during the altercation, but wasn’t sure how. Police also reported that the suspect attempted to kick the victim even after she had been arrested and was in handcuffs. Next time, just ask nicely for a cigarette.
NO FUCKS GIVEN While shoplifting a
single beer is one of the more common crimes seen in the CMPD police reports on a daily basis, two suspects in west Charlotte last week were especially brazen with their theft. According to the report, two men walked into a Compare Foods on Freedom Drive and walked directly to the beer aisle. They picked out a 12-ounce can of Bud Light and opened it, then passed it back and forth right there in the store, drinking it until it was done. When a security officer confronted the men as they walked out of the store, one of the suspects stated that he was going to return to the store and shoot it up, then pushed the guard.
SUCKERED Carolina Panthers lineman Trai Turner has a certain hashtag that he uses regularly on Instagram and Twitter, #Svckafree, which represents the way he lives his life. It looks as though one recent visitor to his home did actually take him for a sucker, however, as the person walked out with more than $10,000 worth of Turner’s jewelry. Turner reported that a known suspect stole a gold rope chain with a diamond pendant reading “Svckafree” on it worth $6,000 and a white gold link chain also with a “Svckafree” pendant worth the same amount from his home in north Charlotte.
INTO THE MIST A police officer responded
to Eastway Middle School after a kid was put in timeout but decided to have some fun with it. Staffmembers told the officer that a teacher placed the misbehaving child
outside of the class by himself — probably not the best idea — in order to cool off. The kid took that “cooling off period” a bit too literally, however, as he then took a fire extinguisher off the wall and sprayed it throughout the hallway before fleeing the scene. After watching the surveillance footage, administrators found the child and he was disciplined further by the school.
BUGGING OUT A 51-year-old man in southwest Charlotte called police after his bizarre threat against the person he lives with didn’t carry the weight he thought it would. The man admitted he was arguing with the suspect when he threatened to spray Raid Ant and Roach Killer into the suspect’s eyes, “blinding him for life.” According to the report, the victim then put down the Raid (big mistake), and the suspect picked up a gun — which can do a hell of a lot more than blind someone for life — and pointed it at the victim. Finding no match for this new threat, the victim picked up his phone and said he was calling police, at which time the suspect drove off and did not return for as long as police were on the scene.
AER-HEAD While spraying aerosol
chemicals in someone’s face can be seen as a threat to most, for some it’s simply leisure. Police responded to a call at a Walmart on North Tryon Street regarding a man who was allegedly hanging out in a car in the parking lot huffing aerosol cans. The suspect was transported to a nearby hospital by Medic, but later signed out against doctor’s orders and refused medical treatment. In his defense, it’s doubtful he has a great health insurance plan.
COLD BLOODED A 76-year-old man
suffered a scary incident in southwest Charlotte, but perhaps more scary was the realization he was forced to make later that his daughter is evil. The man was transported to the hospital by ambulance during a medical emergency one night, but before he left, he gave his wallet to his adult, live-in daughter for safekeeping. Apparently that was the wrong person to give it to, because when he returned home his daughter was nowhere to be found, and when he checked his bank account he found that someone used his debit card to spend $150.
JACKED UP A 64-year-old man in west
Charlotte called police last week after someone threw a car jack through his windshield during an argument and then left the scene. The suspect fled before anyone could inform them that that is not the proper use of a car jack. CLCLT.COM | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | 13
NEWS
MUSLIM IN CHARLOTTE
“Working at a news channel has been mostly great. However, I’ve had my share of struggles, especially when stories are about Muslims or especially when you have these stories about attacks, specifically terrorist attacks, because automatically Muslims become linked to those attacks because they have been carried out by people who’ve hijacked the religion. When we’re covering those types of stories, it does get a little bit mentally and emotionally difficult for me. So many words get thrown around. Islam. Muslim. Even hijab. Just anything that relates to the religion gets linked to terrorism. So it does get difficult for me. But sometimes I have to separate my emotions from my job and recollect myself. My colleagues have been very, very supportive. They come to me after work or whenever they have a break and show me their support. They tell me that a lot of the stories do get misrepresented on TV because you have people who aren’t very qualified telling these stories because they’re not Muslim, they didn’t live in the Middle East, they don’t have the proper knowledge. Sometimes the stories are delivered incorrectly and the entire religion gets misrepresented. Another thing I really appreciate about working here is people are very open-minded. Whenever they have questions about Muslims and Islam, they come to me and ask me. That changes the way they tell their stories. They’re very cautious about how they deliver any message that pertains to the Muslim community.”
BREAKING STEREOTYPES & NEWS BY LARA AMERICO Last year, CL contributor Lara Americo debuted her photo series “Trans & Queer in the Workplace” in Creative Loafing between August and December. The series was eventually picked up by Huffington Post and served as the basis for Americo’s Chrysalis exhibit at C3 Lab. This year, Americo has decided to highlight another marginalized and misunderstood population, the local Muslim population. Every other week, we will be running a photo and some insights from another Muslim Charlottean, as they discuss their work, personal lives and the judgement they often live with. This week, we begin with Rand Zafer. Rand Zafer is an associate news producer at NBC News in Charlotte who’s deeply connected to her Muslim community in Charlotte. Her experiences in the newsroom and in her work shape how she sees the world and interacts with the people in it.
14 | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
NEWS
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
BY CHUCK SHEPHERD
TROUBLING AIRWAVES A country-and-
western radio station in Benson, Arizona, owned by Paul Lotsof, has periodically run “public service announcements” about one of Lotsof’s pet peeves: the harsh sentences usually given to mere “collectors” of child pornography. Many, he believes, are nondangerous, daydreaming hermits — but often imprisoned for long stretches. Thus, his PSAs publicize tips for avoiding the police, such as saving child porn only on an external computer drive and hiding the drive securely. Despite recent community outrage — causing Lotsof to retire the announcements — he remains defiant that, since he personally avoids child porn, he is merely exercising a free-speech right.
CAN’T POSSIBLY BE TRUE The
inexplicable ease with which foreign hackers attack U.S. computers and security systems is finally grabbing the attention of officials. In a March Washington Post report, a technology expert from Britain’s King’s College London told a reporter of his astonishment to realize that the “security chips” on Congressional staff members’ identification badges are fake: The badge “doesn’t actually have a proper chip,” he said. “It has a picture of a chip.” Apparently, he added, “It’s (there) only to prevent chip envy.”
BAD LUCK Suzette Welton has been in prison in Alaska for 17 years based almost solely on now-debunked forensic evidence, but the state’s lack of a clemency process means she cannot challenge her life sentence unless she proves “complete” innocence. Evidence that the fire that killed her son was “arson” was based not on science but on widely believed (but wrong) folklore on how intentional fires burn differently than accidental ones. The bogus arson “trademarks” are similar to those used to convict Texan Cameron Todd Willingham, who suffered an even worse fate than Welton’s: Willingham was executed for his “arson” in 2004. SMELLY PISS Reverence for the lineage of
asparagus continues in epic yearly Anglican church festivities in Worcester, England, where in April celebrants obtained a special blessing for the vegetable by local priests as a costumed asparagus pranced through the street praising the stalks as representing “the generosity of God.” Critics — including clergy from other parishes — likened the parades to a Monty Python sketch, and “an infantile pantomime,” with one pleading plaintively, “Really, for (God’s) sake,” can’t the Church of England offer “more dignified” worship?
LEADING ECONOMIC INDICATORS
(1) Andrew Bogut, signed as a free agent by the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers in March and
expected to be a key player in the team’s quest to defend its league championship, checked into his first game and played 58 seconds before crashing into a bench and breaking his leg. For that 58 seconds, the Cavs owe Bogut $383,000. (2) Jose Calderon signed as a free agent with the Golden State Warriors in March, but the NBA-leading Warriors changed their mind for unforeseen reasons two hours after the deal and released Calderon. For his 119 minutes as a Warrior (6:06 p.m. to 8:05 p.m.), Calderon was paid $415,000.
POLICE REPORT In May, as Taunton, Massachusetts, police were about to arrest Amy Rebello-McCarthy, 39, for DUI after she left the road and crashed through several mailboxes — with the crash causing all of her tires to deflate — she laughingly told officers there was one other thing: She had a bearded dragon in her bra, where it was riding while she drove. The lizard was turned over to animal control. OUTED Felicia Nevins complained to reporters in May that the Pasco County (Florida) Sheriff’s Office had improperly drawn attention to her on a matter of a purely personal nature — that she had called for help, concerned that the sperm she was storing for in-vitro fertilization — kept under liquid nitrogen in a thermos — might explode. Deputies had placed the details — but not her name — on the office’s Facebook page, but the Tampa Bay Times deduced her name from public sources. FINE POINTS OF THE LAW In a
legislative battle waged since a 1979 state court decision, some North Carolinians tried once again this year to change a state law that explicitly states that once a person — almost always, of course, a “female” — has “consented” to an act of sexual intercourse, that consent cannot be withdrawn, even if the encounter turns violent. The violence might be prosecuted as an “assault,” but never the more serious crime of “rape.” Said state Sen. Jeff Jackson, whose bill to change the law failed in April to get a legislative hearing, “We’re the only state in the country where ‘no’ doesn’t mean ‘no.’”
SKILLS (1) In May, the British tribunal dealing with student cheating rejected the appeal of a law student who was caught taking an in-class exam with her textbook open (permitted) but containing handwritten notes in the margins — not permitted, but written in invisible ink legible via the UV light on her pen. (2) On testing day in March for Romania’s 14- and 15-year-olds, administrators of the country’s popular DEX online dictionary, acting on suspicion, changed the definitions of two words likely to be improperly looked up by cheaters during the exam. “(H)undreds” of school searches for the words took place
that morning, but administrators were still mulling an appropriate punishment for the cheaters — who were, of course, easily identified by their misapplication of the suspect words.
BRIGHT IDEA With limited trade, investment and ownership rights, many Cuban producers are forced to improvise in order to bring products to market — like Orestes Estevez, a Havana winemaker, who finds condoms indispensable, according to an April Associated Press dispatch. The “most remarkable sight” the reporter saw was “hundreds of (open) bottles capped with condoms,” which inflate from gases as the fruit ferments. When fermentation is done, the condom goes limp. The AP also noted that fishermen use condoms to carry bait far from shore and which also increase tugging resistance when nibbling fish fight the line.
AWESOME! India’s Supreme Court approved an order recently that forced bars and liquor stores to close down if they were located less than 500 meters (1,640 feet) from state or national highways. India Times reported in April that the Aishwarya Bar in North Paravoor, Kerala, is still legally operating at its old location even though it is clearly within the 500-meter restricted area. The owner explained that since he owns the land behind the bar, too, he had constructed a “serpentine” wooden maze in back and front that requires any entering customer to take the equivalent number of steps it would take to walk 500 meters. A tax office official reluctantly accepted the arrangement. ROAD TRIP Canadian Anton Pilipa,
39, who suffers from schizophrenia, was discovered safe in the Amazon rainforest state of Rondonia, Brazil, in November 2016, which was the first sighting of him since his disappearance in March 2012. He was unable to communicate well and had no ID or money, but his family has actively been searching for him and believe the only way he could have traveled from the family home in Scarborough, Ontario, to Brazil (6,300 miles) was by hitchhiking or walking. Bonus: The area in which he was found is noted for alligators and snakes.
NOTW CLASSIC (November 2013) When
Michelle Esquenazi was asked by a New York Post reporter in September (2013) why her all-female crew of licensed bounty hunters — Empire Bail Bonds of New York — is so successful at tricking bail-jumpers into the open, she offered a five-letter-long euphemism for a female body part preferred by our president. “It’s timeless,” she counseled. “Of course he’s going to open his door for a nice piece of (deleted). The thing about defendants is no matter who they are (of whatever color), they’re all dumb. Every single last one of them is stupid.”
your delicious weekly alternative news source
CLCLT.COM | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | 15
FOOD
FEATURE
Sweet potato fries from Tastes Like Chicken (above) and a Fan Plate from L’s Concession Stand (below).
A TASTE OF SOUL FROM HOME AND AFAR The Kinfolks Soul Food Festival was a good time for taste buds BY SHAMEIKA RHYMES
T
HEY HAD GREENS, beans, potatoes, chicken, fish — you name it. No, this wasn’t the Shirley Caesar challenge, but the 8th annual Kinfolks Soul Food Festival, which touched down in Concord at the Route 29 Pavilion June 3 to kick off Black Music Month in the greater Charlotte area. The Kinfolks Soul Food Festival was a musical and food mashup of (what else?) soul, music and food varieties. It was one big block party with hundreds of fellow music and food lovers. Imagine a plate full of fried chicken, fried shrimp, fried frog legs, fries, collard greens and a large dose of throwback sounds to help aid your digestion — that’s what this festival was all about. This year’s festival featured old-school artists including Cameo, the SOS Band, 69 Boyz, Ruff Endz and Ready for the World, sprinkled in with the newer soulful sounds from Noel Gourdin and Vivian Green. The event was hosted by legendary BET Video Soul host Donnie Simpson. Luckily, Mother Nature cooperated, with clear skies and temperatures hovering over 85 degrees. A light breeze put the finishing touch on the perfect recipe for a festival to remember. The aroma of smoke from grills, grease popping from the fryers and funnel cake goodness filled the air as the musical selection strolled down memory lane from the ’70s to the present. About a dozen vendors from near and far pulled into the pavilion to provide music fans with helpings of soul food to go along with their concert experience. With prices ranging anywhere from $4 for a non-alcoholic drink to $16 for a plate of food, it was going to take some amazing food to make up for the coins customers had to spend. Challenge accepted. “I enjoyed the performances, and the great food combined together,” said Charlotte resident Tiffanie Webster. “Although a little pricey, the food was excellent.” While some of the vendors came from other parts of the country, a few just had to drive the short trip up I-85 from the Queen City. D&R Catering Events was one of them. 16 | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
SHAMEIKA RHYMES
Owner Ricky Carson takes the “catering” part of his company’s name literally, as he explained what made D&R stand out in such a large of a crowd. “Quality, taste and customer service is what makes our food stand out. Customer service is everything; without it, you don’t have anything,” Carson said.
YOU CAN’T underestimate personality. That’s what added to the experience at another Charlotte-based vendor, Jo Ann’s. The family business was created in honor of co-founder Angela Glenn’s mother, Jo Ann, whose brother, Kelvin Stroud, is Glenn’s partner. Full of personality and charm, the duo provided a welcoming experience that made strangers feel like they were stepping into their favorite aunt and uncle’s home. Stroud wasn’t shy in his use of superlatives to describe Joe Ann’s food. “We have the best chicken and best fish plates, not only in Charlotte, but here at the Soul Food Festival,” he said. The offerings included several items: chicken, fish, baked beans, cole slaw, potato salad and more. Straying a bit from the Charlotte scene,
The lineup at L’s Concession Stand. Tastes Like Chicken (TLC), from Columbia, S.C., offered more than just food; it offered a complete dining experience. Owner Phillip Smith said it’s important for him to create a comfortable environment for those who treat themselves to his food. “People want to come and taste the food and they are standing around, so we just decided to add a couple of tables and chairs so they can actually sit down and enjoy the meal,” Smith said. TLC also offered up a different type of menu that included bags of seasoned pork rinds and finger-licking good barbecue. “Our pulled pork is a big deal, and because we make it fresh, that’s our biggest seller. Our fried mushrooms are another big seller. My wife makes this really great batter for the mushrooms.” Bringing things back to the home state, Mot’s Kitchen, from Greenville, N.C., set up shop at the Soul Food Festival hoping to give attendees a taste of some Down East fried delicacies. After all, owner Martha Whitaker knows a little bit about giving soul food that special touch. “I’m a southern woman and I cook downhome stuff that our people like,” she boasted. “It’s made with lots of love and seasoning and makes you want to keep coming back. “My best dish is collard greens, banana pudding, really just everything overall,” Whitaker added. “You name it, I can cook it.” Judging by the line in front of Whitaker’s
SHAMEIKA RHYMES
tent, folks just might be inspired to make the trek east to Greenville to get more of Mot’s Kitchen’s down-home cooking. Big Mama’s Soul Food from Augusta, Ga., spanned several tents to give those in the VIP area an extra-special dose of the soul food experience. With a big grill smoking off to the side and several workers lined up to serve up helpings of food, Bib Mama’s always had a line as the chefs fried the chicken to order. “I asked them to fry my chicken wings kind of soft, and they did it just right,” attendee Tony Star said. Martha Johnson, of Big Mama’s, noted that while her restaurant was the only vendor in VIP, it was able to provide the offerings of several vendors all in one. “We have all the good soul food you need. Our most popular dishes are the catfish and ribs,” Johnson said. Milling about backstage between performances, some of the artists also got to taste Big Mama’s. Soul singer Noel Gourdin appreciated Johnson’s southern hospitality and said the food just added to the experience. “It was good eatin’,” Gourdin said. “Great beans, ’tater salad and slaw.” L’s Concession was among the vendors that was farthest from home, but making cross-country treks from Indianapolis, Ind., to give folks a little taste of Midwestern soul food is just a way of life for owner Larry Henderson. “People can’t really find us in
Owners and staff at JoAnn’s. one spot. I’m always on the road,” Henderson said. “We go from city to city with our food.” Henderson wouldn’t reveal the intimate secrets to his success, but he did spill the tea on what makes his food one of the most sought-after at every festival. “It’s the seasoning that makes our food stand out,” he whispered. “It’s seasoned to perfection.” Charlotte resident Abosede Copeland agreed that L’s has discovered a great balance between seasoning its food and following it up with a colorful variety of lemonades to wash it down. Copeland had an order of the fried chicken wings and a strawberry lemonade. “The lemonade was the perfect thirst quencher with an equal balance of tart and sweetness,” Copeland said. The lemonades — served in deluxe-sized cups — also contained slices of fresh fruit, making it a must-have to beat the heat. There were also liquor, wine and beer vendors to quench your alcoholic desires. After all, what’s a two-steppin’ party without a few good drinks? “Crown [Royal] and cranberry juice is an excellent way to get the party started and to keep it going,” Concord resident Leesha Bailey exclaimed while dancing.
IF SOUL FOOD dripping in grease and
SHAMEIKA RHYMES
options — or, rather, ideas to bring home. Some attendees learned ways to make healthier versions of soul food in the comfort of their own home, although festival-goers weren’t able to see or touch the food, since there wasn’t any on the site. Handing out pamphlets to curious onlookers, Dylan Ricci from the Pennsylvaniabased Passanante’s Home Food Services talked about the benefits his company offers for healthy living. “We are a home-service delivery service and we supply you with all organic natural foods,” Ricci said. “That means there’s no hormones, no GMO’s, so this is very healthy food that’s perfect for making your own soul food at home.” Overall, the Kinfolks Soul Food Festival was a chomping success. “This was my first time attending and I had an awesome time,” said Webster, who is already making plans to attend next year. By the time the sun set Saturday evening, hundreds had left the event, presumbably ready to take on their respective afterparties with full stomachs. For those who missed it, Soul Food travels too fast to catch up with. The fest will already be in Dallas, Tex., by the time this weekend rolls around. But there’s alwasy next year. BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM
batter isn’t your thing, there were other CLCLT.COM | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | 17
18 | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
FOOD
THREE-COURSE SPIEL
PIE IN THE CAROLINA SKY Three questions with RJ Miller of Vapiano DEBRA RENEE SETH
IF YOU WALK into Vapiano Charlotte and
happen to see a huge pizza whirl by your head, don’t worry, that’s just RJ. Culinary pro and restaurant manager RJ Miller went from tossing towels around his apartment to tossing pizzas at one of Uptown’s trendiest eateries and is now enjoying a succesful career doing what he once dreamed of as a kid: sending pizzas in the air expert style. Of course, pizza tossing automatically gets you cool points in our book, but combine that with the fact that RJ’s pizzas are just as exciting to eat as they are to watch him make and we decided we had to find out more. So Creative Loafing caught up with Miller to find out how he’s stacking up his dough both literally and figuratively while serving one of the world’s most popular foods. Creative Loafing: When we found you, you were actually covered in flour and spinning pizza dough. You’re really serious about this, huh? RJ Miller: (Laughs) Yea, I guess you could say I am. I love making pizza and of course I’ve loved eating it ever since I was a child. Who didn’t? I think my first pizza memory is of me watching a pizza tossing competition on The Food Network. I was immediately fascinated by the tricks and all I remember thinking to myself was there was no way that was real food! I figured it had to be magic. Now that I’m trained in culinary arts and more mature, I realize, yea, that was real food, its just a matter of having the right ingredients combined with the right skills. That’s where the magic comes in. You make pizza for other people all the time and one of the great things about the dish is the ability to really make it your own. How many pizzas would you say you’ve made for people and what ingredients would you put on your own “perfect” pizza? At this point I’ve made way too many pizzas to even think about counting. I should have started sooner, but it’s been a lot. As for my own perfect ingredients for the ideal pizza that would have to be olive oil and garlic base; fresh, wholesale mozzerella; thinly shaved, marinated steak; oven-roasted tomatoes; pickled red onion; and chimichurri drizzle. I’m getting hungry just talking about it! Ok so you shared your perfect pizza but everyone has a different definition of perfection. What’s the strangest pizza order you’ve ever gotten and how
PHOTOS BY DEBRA RENEE SETH
did you handle the challenge? The strangest order we’ve gotten was for a Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Flavored Pizza. For a second we were scratching our heads like, “OK....” but eventually we came up with a traditional pizza crust with a tomato sauce base, mozzerella and parmesan blended cheeses, a few dashes of Texas Pete, sliced chicken breast topped with Flamin’ Hot Cheetos after it was done baking. For now I’m still sticking with my own personal favorite choices for toppings, but those types of orders definitely make for a unique pizza and a great conversation. CLCLT.COM | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | 19
THURSDAY
8
TEGAN AND SARA What: We know that you don’t know which is which when you look at a picture of this Canadian indie pop duo — it doesn’t matter, they’re both equally awesome. As the two identical twins are founders of the Tegan and Sara Foundation, which advocates for LGBTQ women and girls, this show could be the perfect warm-up for Sunday’s Equality March (keep reading). Regardless of the reason you attend, the pair will reward you with a solid set-list spanning a 22-year career. When: 7 p.m. Where: The Fillmore, 820 Hamilton St. More: $18-28. fillmorecharlottenc. com.
20 | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
THURSDAY
8
THINGS TO DO
TOP TEN
“Tom Hanks” SATURDAY PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ARTIST
THURSDAY
8
FRIDAY
9
FRIDAY
9
FINAL DRAUGHT
CHANCE THE RAPPER
4X4CLT RELEASE PARTY
IRON MAIDEN
What: This new speaker-themed quarterly series begins with a popular enough topic: food and drinks. You’ll get to hear about food, talk about food, and of course, taste some of it. A panel of experts — Bonnie Warford of Earl’s Grocery and Carpe Diem, James Yonder of Not Just Coffee, Courtney Buckley of Your Mom’s Donuts, and Dalton Espaillat of Sabor and Three Amigos — will discuss the changing face of Charlotte’s food culture. Moderator will be the always perspicacious Tom Hanchett. Chow down.
What: In our Summer Guide, we said that Kendrick Lamar would be the show to see this summer, but that’s only because this Chance the Rapper show is technically still in spring. Chance has been everywhere over the last year, and rightfully so. From the critically acclaimed release of The Coloring Book mixtape (ok, just over a year) to his $1,000,000 donation to Chicago Public Schools, Chance the Rapper can do no wrong as of late, so join the zeitgeist while it’s hot.
What: Poetry is not dead, it’s just hiding on art posters. This collection will feature poems by Gabrielle Calvocoressi, who will be on hand to read her work, partnered on posters with the paintings of Kate Vasseur. The event will also highlight work by photographer Greg Banks, who will be there to discuss his work as well. What’s the matter, Kate? Too busy? We want to hear from you, too. This is a monthly Knight Foundationfunded event, so check back in July, as well.
What: In the last two days we’ve seen not one, but two Iron Maiden references. One was on the T-shirt of one of the guys in Junior Astronomers, this week’s cover story. The other was in an interview with a founding member of Public Enemy, who said, “We always liked the way rock ’n’ roll built up its heroes. Like Iron Maiden – they’re cult heroes. The way the whole concept is built around that huge mummified figure.” Do they even still do that? Guess you’ll find out.
When: 8 p.m. Where: PNC Music Pavilion, 820 Hamilton St. More: $72 and up. charlottemusicpavilion.com.
When: 6:30-8 p.m. Where: The Light Factory, 1817 Central Ave. More: Free. lightfactory.org.
When: 7:30 p.m. Where: PNC Music Pavilion, 707 Pavilion Blvd. More: $48 and up. charlottemusicpavilion.com.
When: 6-8 p.m. Where: 7th Street Public Market, 224 E. 7th St. More: $10. finaldraughtclt.com.
Chance the Rapper THURSDAY
Teagan and Sarah THURSDAY
Val Kilmer as Mark Twain TUESDAY
NEWS ARTS FOOD MUSIC ODDS
‘COLORING BOOK’ ALBUM COVER
SATURDAY
10
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE FILLMORE
SATURDAY
10
SUNDAY
11
FOUR80EAST
TOM HANKS
THE EQUALITY MARCH
What: This so-called electrojazz duo out of Canada is not as inconsequential as your average smooth-jazz Joe, but Four80East is no Dzihan & Kamien, Jazzanova or Flying Lotus. Rob DeBoer and Tony Grace bring a few new tricks to the game, but nothing you’ll remember after you leave the park. Still, for an afternoon of free music, you really can’t go wrong, especially if you happen to be hanging around Uptown anyway. Just don’t expect a wildly creative improvisational experience. Expect politic.
What: Ha! Gotcha there, didn’t we? No, Tom Hanks isn’t doing an in-store at some tiny record shop in Charlotte. This is much better: Virgina’s “Tom Hanks” is a tribute to the great Tom Waits and Hank Williams. The performance features members of all kinds of indie bands you’ve never heard of (or maybe you have): Shagwüf, Appalucia, Shenandoah Alley, Hectagons, Jaguardini, El Malpais, bla-bla-bla. Just roll them bones on out the door and take the “Downtown Train” to “A Mansion on the Hill.”
What: Living under Trump is to always feel threatened for the country’s most marginalized people, but Sunday will be a day for folks in those communities and their allies to come together and show resilience. This march and others across the country will aim to give voice to, support, uplift and bring attention to those in the communities that are targeted due to immigration status, ethnicity, religion, skin color, gender, sexual orientation, age and disability.
When: 6-9 p.m. Where: Romare Bearden Park, 300 S Church St. More: Free. bit.ly/2qQDNuE
When: 5-7 p.m. Where: Repo Record, 3325 Commonwealth Ave. More: Free. www.reporecord.com.
When: 12-2 p.m. Where: First Ward Park, 301 E. 7th St. More: Free. womenscenter.unc.edu/ event/equality-march-charlotte/.
PHOTO COURTESY OF COMEDY ZONE
TUESDAY
13
WEDNESDAY
14
VAL KILMER (ARTS-TUES. JUNE 13)
PATOIS COUNSELORS (MUSICWED. JUNE 14)
What: While we will always continue to think of him as Jim Morrison, Val Kilmer has recently been performing as a whole different type of American icon: Mark Twain. In “Citizen Twain,” which Kilmer performed at several performing arts venues in Los Angeles, he played the “First American.” Kilmer will be on hand at Comedy Zone not to perform the play but to introduce a film screening of one of his earlier performances. I guess that will do for now.
What: Here’s the residency we’ve been waiting for: The dizzyingly amazing Charlotte band Patois Counselors, featuring Bo White, he of Calabi Yau and Don Telling and all kinds of other wildly experimental musical explosions, will be peforming at Snug every Wednesday in June. And every time this writer gets the notion to complain about the lack of “real jazz” in Charlotte, he’s gonna blast the noisy “Free Jazz Complaint,” from the Counselors’ 7-inch on Bandcamp, as loud as possible. This is great news, noise fans.
When: 6:30 p.m. Where: Comedy Zone, 900 N.C. Music Factory Blvd., Suite B3 More: $30-70. cltcomedyzone.com.
When: 10 p.m. Where: 1228 Gordon St. More: $2. snugrock.com.
CLCLT.COM | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | 21
PHOTO BY MARK KEMP
Terrence Richard.
MUSIC
FEATURE
JUNIOR ASTRONOMERS BLAST OFF Terrence Richard and his space cadets pen a lovehate letter to Charlotte BY MARK KEMP
W
“SOME DAYS I STILL LOVE CHARLOTTE AND THEN SOME DAYS I’M LIKE, ‘I DON’T KNOW WHO YOU ARE ANYMORE.” -TERRENCE RICHARD 22 | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
WHEN TERRENCE Richard and his older sister Crystal were kids growing up behind what was then called Ericsson Stadium in Charlotte’s Third Ward, their dad would turn the family’s road trips into fun and educational music-trivia games. Billy Joe Richard, a radio disc jockey and son of the legendary Greensboro-based gospel jock Alfred G. Richard, would choose a musical style and stay with it, song after song, throughout the drive, teaching his children everything he knew about one specific genre of music that he loved — until the next outing, when he’d choose another. “We called them genre trips. We’d have a whole trip based on a different genre every time we’d go somewhere,” Terrence remembers. “On one trip he’d play country, and on another he’d play R&B.” Songs by artists ranging from Garth Brooks to Stevie Wonder would mesmerize the siblings, who would absorb every nuance until they knew the songs and artists inside out. “I learned a lot about all kinds of different music that way,” he says. His sister Crystal concurs. “We were exposed to all the greats — B.B. King, the Beatles, Stevie Wonder,” she says. As the children grew up and graduated from elementary school to middle school and on to high school, they began exploring music on their own. “I got exposed to Led Zeppelin and all the heavier bands that followed, like Slayer and Metallica,” Crystal says. “Terrence didn’t really take to the heavier stuff like I did. He was kind of late to that. He was into R&B. He just loved R&B. That was our mom’s influence. She really digs that kind of music.” Terrence did eventually take to the heavier stuff, and today he fronts the Charlotte postpunk band Junior Astronomers, which has been chewing up and spitting out the last morsels of bratty, in-your-face, emo-tinged rock for nearly a decade. The band is about to drop its second full-length album, Body Language, and after a tour down the east coast — from New York to Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Raleigh and Chapel Hill — they’ll be back home in the Queen City on June 9, the day of the album’s release, to throw a big, celebratory bash at the Neighborhood Theatre. Crystal, of course, will be there, front and center. “My soul lights up seeing him out there on stage,” she says. “Some of the happiest moments of my life have been watching Terrence grow as a musician and seeing him play.”
THE GENESIS of Junior Astronomers goes
back to Myers Park High School, where in the mid-2000s Crystal Richard was a member of the school choir with future JA guitarist Philip Wheeler and bassist Colin Watts. JA drummer Eli Pittman’s older brother Christian was also part of that circle. Though Terrence was a couple of grades behind, he was fascinated by his sister’s friends. “Eli had a band called Landa and Colin had a band called Social Riot, and I used to go see them,” Terrence remembers. “But we never really connected fully until we formed Junior Astronomers.” By then, Terrence had been converted to rock via the gateway drug of Prince, ultimately discovering the Strokes. In ninth grade he began venturing out to all-ages punm shows at Tremont Music Hall. He still vividly remembers the night he decided he wanted to be part of the action. “I had gone to a ‘battle of the bands’ at Tremont and Phil was playing in this band called Another Day,” Terrence says. “I just remember seeing them and thinking, ‘I wanna do that. I wanna play music.’” Within two years, Richard, Wheeler and the others would move into a yellow house off Pecan Avenue in Plaza Midwood, where they partied, played music, partied some more, played more music, and generally annoyed the hell out of at least one neighbor. “We would just throw parties all the time and hang out, talk about music, play music, try to find girls — all that stuff,” Richard remembers. “Our neighbors hated us. . .” He pauses, and then adds, “Well, not every neighbor — we had a lot of cool neighbors — but there was one neighbor in particular who just hated us.” Richard began writing songs — like “Neighbors?,” a slam-bang punk rocker that eventually appeared on Dead Nostalgia, Junior Astronomers’ debut full-length album, in 2013. “That’s what all our older music is about, really — those times,” he remembers. “Just growing up and kind of trying to figure out what you want to do with your life. The first thing we put out was [the six-song EP] I Had Plans for Us and the second was [the foursong EP] I Just Want to Make a Statement. Those two were just culminations of all these ideas I had at the time because, you know, at that age you just want to be heard.” By the turn of the decade, Junior Astronomers’ name was bubbling up on the national music scene. “If you haven’t heard of Junior Astronomers already… well, you’re probably one of many,” high school music scribe Joey Dussault wrote of I Just Want to Make a Statement, in 2010, on the New
York City-based website Mind Equals Blown. “These Charlotte, North Carolina natives are catchy and calculated, but also loud and impulsive, like Ted Leo being played by Bloc Party.” Within two more years, Junior Astronomers’ music was maturing quickly, and the band gained a following far beyond Charlotte and the underground punk scene. As Paste magazine wrote of a session the band did in Nashville in 2012, “There’s anger and disappointment. There’s pain and there are problems, but Terrence Richard, Philip Wheeler, Jeffrey Saer, Colin Watts and Elias Pittman present these moments like therapeutic lifelines.” When Dead Nostalgia finally appeared the following year, Junior Astronomers had made their statement. Music fans across the country were listening. So now what? “Now I’m like, ‘OK, people are listening, I’m being heard,’” Richard says. “‘But what do I want to say?’”
ON A SCORCHING weekday afternoon, just days before Junior Astronomers hit the road for their short tour up the coast, Richard is perched on a bench on Pecan Avenue outside Twenty-Two Gallery. That’s where he works as a bartender when he’s not on the road with his band wailing out “I Just Want to Make a Statement,” “Before Crimes,” or the more recent “That’s Why,” from Body Language. For the new album, Richard dug back to his early memories of those “genre trips” with his family. “My dad didn’t really care about genres,” Richard says, his sleepy eyes squinting in the bright sunshine through thick, black-rimmed glasses. “What he cared about were the stories the songs told. And that’s how I fell in love with music — I fell in love with the stories in songs of all kinds; the lyricism, the way a songwriter builds an image.” If Junior Astronomers’ earlier releases were collections of short stories centered on being snotty adolescents coming of age in Charlotte and coming to terms with their political ideologies and the world around them, Body Language is more like the band’s first novel. It’s a novel about Charlotte, told through songs that combine the tried-and-true guitar rock of the band’s established sound with a broader instrumental palette and more sophisticated lyrics that express his ambivalence about his hometown. “My whole life I loved being from Charlotte and I always thought I would stay here forever. But it’s kind of like the body language of this city has changed,” Richard says. “Some days I still love it and then some days I’m like, ‘I don’t know who you are anymore.’” Richard looks up, his long black locks resting on the shoulders of a T-shirt that sports the wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing logo of a fellow Charlotte band, Modern Primitives. He points down Central Avenue at the brand new condos that tower above the old dive bar Thirsty Beaver. “Look around Plaza Midwood, look around NoDa,” Richard says. “It’s unrecognizable in some places. And I mean, change is inevitable. I know that. But I believe you should have respect for what’s happened before, and I think we’ve lost that.
Junior Astronomers (from left): Elias Pittman, Philip Wheeler, Terrence Richard, Colin Watts
PHOTO BY KEVIN CONDIN
“IT’S NOT THAT PEOPLE IN CHARLOTTE DON’T LIKE LOCAL MUSIC, IT’S THAT THEY DON’T KNOW ABOUT IT.” -TERRENCE RICHARD It seems like we don’t nurture the right things in this city.” The themes on Body Language are bigger and more reflective than what’s become expected of Junior Astronomers. Most of the songs ride chunky, sometimes funky riffs that sound more traditional Rolling Stones than sledgehammer Ramones. And the lyrics come off like love letters — or break-up threats. There’s the stop-and-start discomfort of “Mood Ring,” in which Richard confesses: “You’ve seen me drunk, you’ve seen me bored, you’ve seen me throwing up on floors,” and later, “I’ve seen you grow . . . I’ve seen you move from place to place, building houses into new shapes.” There’s the darker “Pyramid Party,” in which Richard threatens to move on: “I heard your nights have been quiet / Doomed to dance with those less wild . . . Too bad this is my last party / Gonna leave while it’s exciting.” And then there’s “That’s Why,” in which Richard reconsiders his feelings about the dysfunctional relationship he’s been going
on about: “I went this long, I’ll probably see this through.” Richard laughs. “Isn’t that how relationships are?” he asks. “You stay with somebody long enough, their body language changes and you start nitpicking and figuring out what you don’t like about them and focusing on that. And at that point you have to make a choice: Either you stick with this person or you run away from and find something new.” Writing thematically was new for Richard. “Before we did the first LP, we’d only had two EPs and had never really tried doing the LP thing. So it’s been kind of a learning curve,” he says. “And while I love all the songs on Dead Nostalgia, there was no break in any of them — it was all in-your-face music the whole time. For Body Language we set out to make something that’s a little bit less punchyou-in-the-face.” Richard finally gets around to the “M” word. “I think it’s a more mature sound for us,” he says, and then laughs, catching himself
in the cliche. “I mean, I say ‘mature’ for lack of a better term, because I know a lot of bands say, ‘Oh, this is our more mature record’ when they’re getting older. But, I dunno… this really is more mature.” During the recording of the album, Junior Astronomers holed up with engineer and local producer Mike Pepe at legenday N.C. musician and producer Mitch Easter’s studio Fidelitorium Recordings, in Kernersville, where they lived and breathed the album for an entire month. “He has a house there that you can sleep in, and you’re just surrounded by all his old gear and everything,” Richard says. “It’s so cool; very inspirational. It was definitely one of my most inspirational experiences recording.” Junior Astronomer’s guitarist Wheeler says he felt like a drunk in a liquor store. “Fidelitorium is one of those places where you can tell he’s been recording for the past 40 years, because there’s just so much great equipment in there,” Wheeler marvels. “Like, CLCLT.COM | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | 23
MUSIC BLAST FROM
FEATURE P.23
t
JUNIOR ASTRONOMERS ‘BODY LANGUAGE’ RELEASE PARTY June 9, 7:30 p.m.; Neighborhood Theatre, 511 E 36th St.; $8; neighborhoodtheatre.com.
there was this first-generation Mellotron and Wurlitzer.” Wheeler is referring to the early effects machines often used on classic psychedelic Junior Astronomers and progressive-rock tracks such as the Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever,” David Junior Astronomers’ ace in the hole was Bowie’s “A Space Oddity” and Led Zeppelin’s Pepe, who’d recently worked with Charlotte “Kashmir” (in the case of the Mellotron) rockers Adam Lazzara and John Nolan of and Queen’s “You’re My Best Friend” (in Taking Back Sunday on that band’s gamethe case of the Wurlitzer, which gives the changing 2016 album Tidal Wave. song’s piano intro its distinctive “bark”). Lazzara remembers Pepe bringing a JA used the instruments on the gentle and sense of levity to the sessions and creativity spacey “Exit Policy,” a moody song about to the album, which was a departure for the halfway into Body Language that finds legendary emo band in terms of its musical Richard reconsidering his plan to leave his sprawl, from the full-on punk of the title dysfunctional relationhip, “Maybe I’ll stay song to the sweely delicate acoustic gutiars here for a while,” he sings amid the warbling and electronics that color “I Feel It Too.” music. “There aren’t a lot of people captuing
CHARLOTTE’S 15th ANNIVERSARY BASH
ALL DAY • JUN. 10
LIVE MUSIC & SPECIALTY TAPPINGS
Flying Saucer
9605 N. Tryon st., charlotte 704-717-8179 24 | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
PHOTO BY NICKI ROHLOFF
Junior Astronomers
the tones and feelings Mike is able to capture these days,” Lazzara says, adding that Pepe’s “unwavering positivity makes the time in the studio fly by faster than it typically does, which is saying a lot.” Richard agrees. “He’s just one of the happiest, most passionate music lovers you’d ever meet,” he says. “Mike has been a homie for quite some time, and initially he was just going to engineer. But we gave him producing credit because he came up with so many ideas. He helped steer a lot of the stuff. He was an extra ear and we trusted him and knew he wasn’t going to try and change anything completely.” For instance, the band had planned to include a track that Pepe suggested just didn’t work on the album. “So we cut it, based on his input, just for flow of the record, and it was the right thing to do,” adds Wheeler. “He’s just really encouraging voice, He’s really easy to bounce things off of. His strength is to encourage you to try everything and see what happens.” For Richard, expanding the band’s sound was sometimes scary. “This is the first record we’ve ever done where we’ve added more instruments than just guitars,” he says. “Because earlier, I always felt that a lot of music was going away from guitar rock and so that’s what I wanted to stick to — just guitar music. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve kind of accepted that music can be bigger and more vast. “And we have bigger ideas,” Richard adds. “I mean, the next record may have horns on it. And after that, we might have strings or a symphony on it. There’s no limit, really, and there shouldn’t be. But I want us to do it slowly, just so it doesn’t shock people who’ve been following us for a long time.” He grins. “Like, don’t expect us to be coming out with a full-on electronic record or anything like that.”
THE DOORS at the side of Twenty-Two Gallery open up, which means one thing: It’s time for Terrence Richard to go to work, mixing drinks for Plaza Midwood’s bar rats. In all of his talk and all of those songs expressing his disappointed in the direction Charlotte’s going in, Richard leaves on a note
PHOTO BY NICKI ROHLOFF
of optimism. He’s probably going to stick around. At least for now. “We’re at a tipping point in this city,” Richard says. “We have all these people coming here, we have all these transplants coming, and we need to figure out a way to grab these people and bring them into a culture that’s already here. You look at the breweries and see how successful they are, and it reminds me so much of a music scene. You support a local brewery because it’s local — you like it and you know it and you enjoy it and it makes you feel good about being from Charlotte. “So when all these new people — when they get here and they ask, ‘Where should I go?’ And you say, ‘Go check out this local brewery. You’re going to meet local people, you’re going to support local business,’ that’s great. But you should be saying the same about the local music scene.” He dismisses the idea that Charlotte is not a live-music town. “It’s not that people in Charlotte don’t like music,” Richard says, “it’s that they don’t know about it.” Richard points to the explosion of underground hip-hop scenes and other kinds of music, like the panoply of Latino bands, coming in to play at Plaza Midwood clubs alone. “There’s more kinds of music and stuff to do here now than there ever was, and more people feel comfortable coming in here and doing it because they see people like themselves,” he says. “And that’s the upside of all the growth.” He just wishes folks would talk about it more. “Yeah, I just don’t think the local music scene gets as much love as it should,” Richard says. “I mean, there’s bands like Foreign Air, Shadowgraphs, Modern Primitives, Cuzco, Patois Counselors — all these bands that are making brilliant music. And you don’t hear enough about it. To me, Charlotte is the music city in North Carolina now. It used to be Chapel Hill, but now it’s Charlotte. I guess it’s going to have to take somebody huge, somebody really blowing up, for anybody to notice it.” Junior Astronomers could be that somebody. MKEMP@CLCLT.COM
MUSIC
MUSICMAKER
SNAKE CHARMER ‘Cobra’ works behind the scenes so you can enjoy the show RYAN PITKIN
OFTENTIMES IN these MusicMaker columns we highlight the folks who make the music, while ignoring the folks who make the music happen. That’s where Brooke “Cobra” Homer, comes in. Cobra grew up going to concerts with her mother from the time she was 8 years old and fell in love with live music. As she grew older and began attending concerts on her own, she eventually got interested in what was going on in the “back of house,” behind the scenes of a show. For the last few years (who keeps count?), she’s toured as a manager and production assistant — among other roles — with bands ranging from Megadeath to Joe Jonas to the entire Warped Tour crew. About a year ago, Cobra got burnt out on the tour life and decided to begin focusing more on her interior design business, although she still picks up local gigs at The Fillmore and is open to returning to the tour scene if the situation is right. Before that happens and we lose her to the road, we caught up with Cobra to tell us some stories about the pros and cons of tour life. Creative Loafing: So what does your job consist of? Cobra: First there’s the pre-production, so that can take anywhere from like a month to three months, depending on how big the band is. Figuring out where we’re going, where we’re staying, if we have any friends in that town, everything. On the road, it’s early in, last one out. You’re the first one in the venue, and you’re the last one out after that bus call. It’s hectic, it’s busy, you’re always on your phone — sometimes it’s two phones and the internet. You’re making sure everyone gets exactly what they need. Smaller bands, not so much, they usually don’t get riders, but bigger bands, you’re making sure that the rider is filled. Does the job get exhausting, doing that day in and day out? Oh yeah, I think it would for anybody. It’s one of those things where tours can be so amazing in the beginning and then like two days after it starts, you’re over it. It’s like you’ve been around everyone for so long. I see people saying things like, “Oh yeah, oneweek tour, had so much fun.” Try doing that for three months. Try touring with Warped Tour and being a female living on a bus with like six dudes. That’s not fun.
Photo by Ryan Pitkin. What’s the most arrogant or asshole thing you’ve witnessed from an artist on the road? [Editor’s note: Cobra informed us beforehand she could not name anyone she spoke negatively about, as she’s still in the business and under contract with a local venue.] It was the first time I ever quit. It was literally mid-show, mid-tour. My sister was bringing all the stuff to fill the bus, and he looked at her and said, “Who the fuck are you?” She had her hands full and she had her satin badge on, and she stood there and I heard him say that to her and I go, “Man, fuck him. Drop that shit. Fuck him, get the fuck out of here.” I know it’s really excessive with the language, but that’s the only way to express it. You’re not going to treat someone like shit for no reason. When you’ve seen this person all day long and just because you’re so-and-so, ya know. I’d love to name his name, but I can’t. That was probably the worst thing, and I just told them, “Man, I quit.” After that, I was done. You’re not going to treat someone who has worked for you for so long like shit for no reason. Luckily, we happened to be in Charlotte. [laughs] How about positive memories from the road that stick with you? I think the one that has stuck with me, it was The Struts, from England. When they played Carolina Rebellion last year, I saw this little girl, she’s wearing this little orange shirt and you can see her in the front. I had me, my best friend and my assistant with me, and we’re watching this girl go crazy, singing every single word to every single song. I went down and they had given her a set list, and I took it from her and was like, “Come with me.” Her dad was like “Don’t fuck my daughter!” but we just brought her back and she got to take a picture with all the boys. I took her backstage, there were all the boys there, she got to meet every single one. She’s sobbing. She got to meet her favorite band. She drove all the way from Florida. She was like 16 years old. She was so excited. Her parents were like, “How much do we owe you, what can we do for you?” I was like, “Just buy me a beer.” It’s what I do. It’s one of those things, I’m in this position where I can do that, and I’d much rather do that than give it to somebody who doesn’t care. Visit clclt.com for the full interview. CLCLT.COM | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | 25
MUSIC
SOUNDBOARD
JUNE 8 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH John Alexander Jazz Trio (Blue Restaurant & Bar)
COUNTRY/FOLK Willie Porter & Carmen Nickerson (The Evening Muse)
POP/ROCK BOB Awards Party (The Underground) Chance the Rapper (PNC Music Pavilion) Hillbilly Hobos (Comet Grill) Karaoke with DJ ShayNanigans (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Lisa DeNovo (RiRa Irish Pub) School of Rock (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Skinlab, IKILLYA, Product of Hate, Blackwater Drowning, Black Ritual (Milestone) Southern Experience (Tin Roof) Tegan and Sara (The Fillmore Charlotte) Tony Eltora (U.S. National Whitewater Center) Carmen Tate (Eddie’s Seafood & Raw Bar, Mooresville)
JUNE 9 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Jazzy Fridays (Freshwaters Restaurant) Live Music at Tavolo (Tavolo) Ronnie Laws, Walter Beasley (McGlohon Theater)
BLUES/ROOTS/INTERNATIONAL Gina Sicilia (Heist Brewery) The Trouble Makers Blues Band with Alex Myrick (Blue Restaurant & Bar) Good Vibes Song Release Party (Apostrophe Lounge, Charlotte) Steven Engler Band (Blue Restaurant & Bar)
COUNTRY/FOLK Jennifer Knapp (The Evening Muse) The Lenny Federal Band (Comet Grill) The Malpass Brothers (Don Gibson Theatre, Shelby)
DJ/ELECTRONIC DJ RWonz (RiRa Irish Pub) Player Made: An Ode To Southern Rap Of All Eras (Snug Harbor)
HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Ashanti (Morehead Street Tavern) San Holo (Label)
POP/ROCK 26 | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
40oz Mouse, Downhaul, Generic Terrors, Take The Fall (The Station) Banks (The Fillmore Charlotte) Bruce Hazel (NoDa Brewing Company) Drivin’ ‘N’ Cryin’, The Vinyl Gypsys Band (The Rabbit Hole) Fire Marshal Bill, Rinaldi Flying Circus, Lady Comes First (Petra’s) Iron Maiden & Ghost (PNC Music Pavilion) Junior Astronomers, Cold Fronts, Cuzco (Neighborhood Theatre) Mo Lowda & the Humble (The Evening Muse) Pass The Hat Songwriters Showcase featuring The Kyle Perkins Band, Earth That Was, Graham Hellderman, Kaitlyn Kennedy, Red Jesse (Milestone) Sarah Sophia (Vinyl Pi, Huntersville) SkatePark (The Underground) Thirsty Horses (Tin Roof, Charlotte) Tyler Boone, Late Night Special, See Water, Arc & Stones (Visulite Theatre) You Bred Raptors? (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Music Box Lunch (Romare Bearden Park)
JUNE 10 BLUES/ROOTS/INTERNATIONAL Zacarías Ferreira (Label)
HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B AfroPop Southeast Summer Tour (Morehead Street Tavern) Gina Robinson (Duke Energy Theater) Jermaine Dupri Presents SoSoSUMMER17 Tour: Miss Mulatto, Mani (Ovens Auditorium)
COUNTRY/FOLK The Way Down Wanderers (U.S. National Whitewater Center)
CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Jazzology (Comet Grill)
POP/ROCK August Burns Red, He Is Legend (Neighborhood Theatre) The Bald Brotherhood (Tin Roof) Big Mamas House of Burlesque: Strip-cation (Visulite Theatre) Blossoms, Wilderado (The Evening Muse) Dear Tatiana (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) FuncSHUN Festival (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Jay Taylor (Tin Roof) Kaleo (The Fillmore Charlotte) Late Bloomer, Washers, Vacation State, Placeholder (Milestone) Major & The Monbacks, The Eyebrows, Knowne Ghost (Snug Harbor)
Megan Jean & The KFB, The Hummingbirds, Heather Himes (Petra’s) Redleg Husky (Birdsong Brewery) Thirsty Horses (RiRa Irish Pub) The Wingnuts (Vinyl Pi, Huntersville)
JUNE 11 HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Money Man (Label)
POP/ROCK Cowboy Mouth (Neighborhood Theatre) Jared & The Mill, The Rocketboys (The Evening Muse) Joseph, Drugstore Ghost (Visulite Theatre) Omari and The Hellrasiers (Comet Grill)
JUNE 12 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH JazzArts Music Camp with Mark Braud (UNC Charlotte Main Campus, Robinson Hall)
HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Knocturnal (Snug Harbor) Motown on Mondays (Morehead Street Tavern) #MFGD Open Mic (Apostrophe Lounge)
POP/ROCK Open Mic with Jade Moore (Primal Brewery, Huntersville) Find Your Muse Open Mic with Brooks Dixon (The Evening Muse) Yashira, Planet Creep, Bathe, Joules (Milestone) Shannon Lee and Thomas Stainkamp Dueling Piano’s Night (Vinyl Pi, Huntersville)
JUNE 13 BLUES/ROOTS/INTERNATIONAL Jarabe de Palo (Neighborhood Theatre)
CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH JazzArts Music Camp with Mark Braud (UNC Charlotte Main Campus, Robinson Hall) Bill Hanna Jazz Jam (Morehead Tavern)
COUNTRY/FOLK Red Rockin’ Chair (Comet Grill) Tuesday Night Jam w/ The Smokin’ Js (Smokey Joe’s Cafe)
POP/ROCK Open Mic hosted by Jarrid and Allen of Pursey Kerns (The Kilted Buffalo, Huntersville) Music Box Lunch (Romare Bearden Park) Blame The Youth, Young Bull, Deion Reverie (Snug Harbor) Dirty Heads & Soja (Charlotte Metro Credit
Late Bloomer Union Amphitheatre) George Thorogood and The Destroyers (Knight Theater) Halo Circus featuring Allison Iraheta with special guest Ruby Rose Fox (The Evening Muse) Jason Atkins (Tin Roof)
JUNE 14 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH JazzArts Music Camp with Mark Braud (UNC Charlotte Main Campus, Robinson Hall) The Clarence Palmer Trio (Morehead Tavern)
DJ/ELECTRONIC Cyclops Bar: Modern Heritage Weekly Mix Tape (Snug Harbor)
HIP HOP/SOUL/R&B T.O.N.E.-z, Railz the Principle (The Evening Muse)
COUNTRY/FOLK Open Mic (Comet Grill)
POP/ROCK Bleachers, MUNA (The Underground) Iration, J Boog, The Movement (Neighborhood Theatre) Jettison Five (RiRa Irish Pub) Karaoke with DJ Pucci Mane (Petra’s) Michael Stefano (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Open mic w/ Jared Allen (Jack Beagles, Charlotte) Patois Counselors, Vanity Plates, Planet Creep, TKO Faith Healer (Snug Harbor) Songwriter Open Mic @ Petra’s (Petra’s)
PHOTO BY ALEX GIBBS
COMING SOON Muse, 30 Seconds to Mars (June 15, PNC Music Pavilion) Mall Goth (June 16, Snug Harbor) Trismalux (June 16, Petra’s) All Them Witches (June 16, Visulite Theatre) Cracker (June 17, Neighborhood Theatre) Aqualads (June 17, Snug Harbor) Treephort (June 17, Milestone) Deftones, Rise Against (June 20, CMCU Amphitheater) Elvis Costello and the Imposters (June 21, CMCU Amphitheater) Kris Lager Band (June 21, The Rabbit Hole) Old 97’s (June 22, Visulite Theatre) Holly Russ Johnson (June 23, Petra’s) Band of Heathens (June 24, Neighborhood Theatre) The Toasters (June 28, Milestone) Raviner (June 29, Milestone) Shadowgraphs (June 30, Snug Harbor) The Loudermilks (June 30, Neighborhood Theatre) Sturgill Simpson (July 7, CMCU Amphitheater) My Morning Jacket (July 8, CMCU Amphitheater) Crystal Garden (July 12, The Rabbit Hole) Spoon (July 18, CMCU Amphitheater) Friends at the Falls (July 18, Milestone) Boy Harsher (July 28, Snug Harbor) Frank Secich (July 29, Snug Harbor) Gillian Welch (August 4, Knight Theater) Gov’t Mule (August 5, CMCU Amphitheater) Apocalyptica (September 8, McGlohon Theater) John Prine (September 16, Belk Theater) Adam Ant (September 22, The Fillmore Charlotte)
6/9 TYLER BOONE-LATE NIGHT SPECIAL-SEE WATER-ARC & STONES 6/10 BIG MAMMAS HOUSE OF BURLESQUE 6/11 JOSEPH 6/16 ALL THEM WITCHES 6/18 JAMES MCMURTRY 6/22 OLD 97's 7/9 SIR SLY 7/20 JOHN MORELAND 7/28 YO MAMA'S BIG FAT BOOTY BAND 7/30THEROCKET SUMMER NEED DIRECTIONS? Check out our website at clclt.
com. CL online provides addresses, maps and directions from your location. Send us your concert listings: E-mail us at mkemp@clclt. com or fax it to 704-522-8088. We need the date, venue, band name and contact name and number. The deadline is each Wednesday, one week before publication. CLCLT.COM | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | 27
Arthur Brouthers at work in his studio.
ARTS
PHOTO BY ERIC HALILI
FEATURE
HUMMINGBIRD, DON’T FLY AWAY Arthur Brouthers creates multicolored visions of lives in Charlotte BY GREY REVELL
I
T’S A LITTLE after 2 a.m. in
the back of an abandoned church uptown, and Arthur Brouthers is about to collide a pair of hummingbirds with a fistful of exploding stars. In just a while, a carefully mapped-out combination of chemicals and colors will combine in a process, perfected after years of trial and error, that will reveal a depth of life that extends well beyond the photographic eye. At work in this 19th-century building for almost a year, surrounded by every modern institution of modern American life in Charlotte, 28 | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
from government to banking, Brouthers has been quietly creating a body of work that Charlotteans are slowly coming around to. The passion surrounding his work by the small but growing group of locals who know about it is mirrored in Brouthers’ approach to his process: quiet, but steady, and with an intense eye for an infinity of color and form. In the modern art world, the mega-city ports have always reigned as tastemakers for the country and world. San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami and New York long ago were informally declared the go-to spots for any aspiring artists — visual, literary or otherwise
— for testing their worth among the best. When painter Mark Kostabi laid out his four points for every artist to be a success, his first was: “Live in New York City.” An arrogant statement if it wasn’t apparently true — until recent times. The digital age has allowed artists to move in and out of these cities for the connections, while planting roots elsewhere. “The biggest challenge is making those connections and maintaining a network,” Brouthers says. Sitting with the artist in his studio, you can’t help but notice his sneakers: permanently stained with the most amazing juxtapositions of colors, much like his work.
Red fights with blue amid white and gold specks as he taps his toes while making his point. “It’s all about managing your time,” he continues, “and if you try to simply broaden your local network, well then you’ll be doing that forever. So go out and explore, see what’s out there in the rest of the art world.” Brouthers is no stranger to the larger art markets, but he chooses to remain in Charlotte because he loves the city and because it’s close to his family. Born and raised in Charleston, S.C., he came here to work, and he passionately supports Charlotte’s arts community, its institutions such as the
“Supta” by Arthur Brouthers.
“Hidden Ubiquity” by Arthur Brouthers. McColl Center and its developing scenes in new spots like Camp North End and C3 Labs. In early May, Brouthers’ work got an excellent reception as part of the Context New York show at Pier 94, and the artist is planning another group showing of his work at his own studio in Charlotte in September, before returning to New York City later that same month. In a recent spotlight of Brouthers, the contemporary art publication Hi-Fructose Magazine described his work as producing “wild textures that mimic celestial bodies and microscopic processes. In the artist’s figurative work, the human body takes on otherworldly form.”
BROUTHERS SHOWED an inclination
for art at an early age. By middle school, he was sketching with promise, but like many young people in the ’90s he felt the pull of music. The budding pre-9/11 rave scene that captured so many Gen Xers across the world took Brouthers’ imagination as well. “It was about being a part of something that was different, something that my parents didn’t get me into,” Brouthers remembers of his rave experiences. “And everything was OK at these parties; everything was accepted. People were expanding their minds, experiencing these vibrations and the music.” Passion for music led Brouthers to carve out a successful career as a DJ, with high-powered sponsors like Red Bull taking him around the world between 2001 and 2005. “I had started producing and DJing when I was 18 as a hobby,” he says. But he considered that simply getting paid to have a blast. “I got accepted to a few art colleges but my parents didn’t see art as a lucrative career,” he says. “So I went to school for graphic design and took what art classes I could to go along with the degree.” Through it all, Brouthers painted and sketched on his own time, and eventually began to seriously map out a plan for making a
living at it. “I painted on my days off from gigs and eventually started doing commissions for some Red Bull accounts, and did live painting at events through the company,” he says. An early push from some interior designers working with Airbnb got Brouthers’ work into some high-traffic lodging, which exposed his vision to a whole new group of people. Longtime supporter Heather Nikoncyk says, “I have always felt his art could resonate with any type of person, or add life to any living space.” Brouthers’ figurative works gave way to a more experimental approach in 2005, when a happy accident with paints unlocked possibilities for more abstract and non-linear approaches to color. Soon, he found himself on a path that provided a gestalt for all his passions: the non-verbal language of music, the spirituality of mediation, and the infinite possibilities of color and form. People around the artist began to notice as well. Brouthers’ work was picked by the Sozo Gallery in Charlotte, and art patrons across town began to ask for more samples. “Men and women are equally drawn to his work. It pulls you in from afar, as well up close,” Sozo Gallery owner Hannah Blanton observes. Jill Livick is a music educator with Charlotte’s successful School of Rock program. She stumbled across Brouthers’ work and was immediately taken by it. “I found it online and went to his art opening,” Livick remembers. “I was awestruck with its vibrancy and femininity.” For such otherworldy results, Brouthers’ process is quite workman-like approach. “Basically, I start out by taking a couple days to mix my colors, get the chemical ratios right; some colors get water some get certain types of oils, and I’ll spend a day or two mixing those up depending on the effects I want to get. The paint I mix on the same day will have more bubbles.
“So it really boils down to the effect I want,” Brouthers continues. “I’ve got it down to a science that I started about 10 years ago. It all started with an accident, the way the paints fell and blended together.” Accidents are key in Brouthers’ work, but so is experimentation. “Sometimes I’ll start the paint in the bucket,” he says, pointing to four large two-gallon buckets around his table. “I’ll separate the colors, and I’ll sort of throw them down, then maneuver the canvas around to try to get different effects without it looking muddy.” He shrugs. ”I try to get it to where the composition is somewhat pleasing to the eye,” he says. “So it’s really all about the planning, and then getting everything prepared.” Straightforward as his process sounds, the fruits of Brouthers’ planning and preparation are startling.
IT’S NOT HARD to understand what Jill Livick and Hannah Blanton see in Brothers’ pieces. One of his more recent works, Hidden Ubiquity (2017), is a hypnotic profile that arrests the eye with the gaze of its female subject, while pulling the viewer closer in with a subtle but masterful sense of shade and color, pulsing with its visual frequency. “I love how rich the color is in every piece; how the more you look at each piece the more you see,” Nikoncyk observes. Like the name suggests, Hidden Ubiquity offers a look behind the curtain of the physical world, into the energy and flow just under the surface of the subject. A glimpse into the infinity that’s in everything we see. Another piece, An Aerial View of Impermanence (2016), is a bird’s-eye study of an ever-shifting landscape, or a crashing wave, frozen in time by the artist’s eye, and a controlled collision of color and chemistry. A more recent piece, Still Visitation (2017), explores Brouthers’ current fascination with hummingbirds. “Their symbolism, particularly with ancient people and Indian tribes, as spiritual helpers has been an inspiration,” the artist says. “I’m definitely inspired by spirituality and psychedelic things. The shamans who consulted tea leaves and stones.” Still Visitation depicts a moment of quiet communication between a hummingbird in flight and a girl, whose hand is outstretched. Is it an offer or an inquiry? That’s up to the viewer. Brouthers takes into account the inclinations of his viewers. “Other people might be like, ‘Hey, I really like this piece because hummingbirds remind me of my
grandmother, or when I was kid,” he says. Brouthers says Charlotte will always be his home base as an artist. The advances in the city over the last decade, he says, allow artists to remain in close contact with the highenergy markets of New York and the West Coast, while remaining safe from skyrocketing rents and other hazards of fast city living. And it is in Charlotte’s best interest to keep and nurture its artists; to foster them and present new Southern painters and multimedia artists who challenge stereotypes about the kinds of creative people coming out of the South. “We’re on a pretty good path right now as far as murals and other public art projects,” he reflects. “Charlotte is on the right path because, five years ago, I would have said more public art was needed. Now I feel like it’s happening.” As the South and the country as a whole seems to be moving ever farther into a morass of discord and conflict, egged on by extremists, religious, political and otherwise, it’s the artists who remind us that we are all ultimately more than just similar in our makeup. As Brouthers’ work seems to suggest, we’re all part of the same stuff. We’re all held together by the same frequency.
IT’S GETTING close to 4 a.m., and Brouthers is finally closing up shop as the city begins to shift into another day. All around him, his work, in varying degrees of completion, testify to his passion for color, for unity, for form and freedom. The hummingbirds gaze back, now shimmering with a life previously unseen but evident in their movement and their inherent perfection, brought out by the eye of an artist who has discovered, like others before, that art is the ultimate product of the sciences, marrying the creative with the formulaic. Brouthers pauses for a moment to reflect on his journey to now, and the disparate pieces that fell together to form the symphonic controlled chaos of his colorscapes. I ask what may seem to be a loaded, complicated question: What, at the end of the day, informs him? He answers without the hint of a pause. “Music,” Brouthers says. “The old club scene in all its colors. And the tools I’ve gained through studying and meditating.” He thinks for a second, nods to himself, then continues. “We don’t have much time on this Earth,” the artist says. “We need to maximize what we’re capable of doing, without going off our path too much.” BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM
CLCLT.COM | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | 29
Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman (Photo: Warner)
FILM
ARTS
TRUTH, JUSTICE AND THE AMAZONIAN WAY Latest superhero saga is a true marvel BY MATT BRUNSON
T
HE
SUPERHERO
saga Wonder Woman (***1/2 out of four) is the right movie at the right time — and for all the right reasons. Following the underwhelming trio of Suicide Squad, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and especially Man of Steel, it’s the first movie in the DC Expanded Universe worthy of its guaranteed box office riches. Following the desultory likes of Catwoman, Elektra and (going waaaay back) Supergirl, it’s the first decent superhero film centered on a female protagonist. Following a rash of genre flicks that mistake nihilism for gravitas, it’s one of the 30 | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
few to unequivocally maintain that there’s still a place for uncompromised champions in our world. Following ... well, nothing, actually ... it’s the first major superhero film directed by a woman (unless one wants to make the argument that Punisher: War Zone, helmed by Lexi Alexander, was “major”). And following a seven-month-andcounting period which could be tagged Orange Is the New Bleak — during which a misogynistic Cretin-In-Chief and his army of racists, rapists, rednecks and reprobates continue to ratchet up the war on women — it proudly showcases a remarkable Gal who doesn’t suffer foolish men gladly. Just try grabbing her by the * ahem * and she’ll break
your arm in three different places. In the grand scheme of all things cinematically superheroic, Wonder Woman takes its cue from the greatest of all such films. Like 1978’s Superman, this new movie views its central figure as someone to admire without reservation. In true originstory fashion, it begins with Diana still a little girl on Themyscira, the island home of the Amazonians. Diana basically has two mommies: her actual mother, Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen), and her aunt Antiope (Robin Wright), who trains her to become a fierce warrior princess. It’s after Diana has become an adult (played by Gal Gadot) that she receives her first glimpse of the outside world. That’s due
to the sudden appearance of Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), an American pilot whose plane goes down in the surrounding waters. Rescued by Diana, he explains of the global conflict — World War I — that’s devastating the rest of the planet and how he himself was working undercover to infiltrate a German factory where a new strain of deadly gas was being manufactured. Believing that Ares, the God of War as well as the Amazonians’ Public Enemy #1, is behind this terrible conflict, Diana agrees to accompany Steve back to civilization in order to personally slay Ares and thus stop the war. What follows are some of the most involving sequences seen in a superhero saga in many a multiplex moon. Perfectly
embodied by Gadot, Princess Diana (tagged Diana Prince by Steve in an attempt to make her not stand out so much; good luck with that!) is compassionate and curious — a winning combination in any person. Her “Crocodile” Dundee-like introduction to bustling London life leads to some amusing interludes (a baby! ice cream! revolving doors!), and Pine expertly plays off her delight at new discoveries by having Steve respond with a disarming mix of amusement and admiration. Directed by Patty Jenkins (who previously guided Charlize Theron to a Best Actress Oscar for 2003’s Monster) from a screenplay by Allan Heinberg, Wonder Woman is more straightforward in its narrative spinning than most superhero flicks of late, with (aside from the bookend scenes) none of the crosspollination that has lately been turning these films into the big-screen equivalents of Dallas-Knots Landing or Buffy the Vampire Slayer-Angel. In many ways, though, this
streamlining places more urgency on the matters at hand, in effect charging them with greater emotional weight. The “No Man’s Land” sequence is superb not only in its staging as an action set-piece but also in its sociopolitical ramifications, as a visibly distraught Diana wages a battle for the displaced refugees that everyone else is either unable or unwilling to help. If there’s a significant flaw in Wonder Woman, it’s one that plagues the vast majority of these superhero yarns. After approximately two hours of smoothly mixing action and exposition, the end buckles under the weight of CGI overkill. Here’s another battle royale that wears out its welcome, and trimming it by even five minutes would have been appreciated. Still, that’s about the only complaint that can be lobbed at Wonder Woman, an exciting and empowering film that stops the current trend of only DC’s competition producing marvelous entertainment.
WARNER
John Dall, James Stewart and Farley Granger in Rope.
DAY BY DAY Latest library film series takes its time BY MATT BRUNSON It’s all in a day’s work when it comes to the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Main’s latest film series. Today Will Be Different: Twelve Movies in Reel Time focuses on cinematic stories that all take place within a 24-hour period. The series kicks off June 10 with American Graffiti and concludes December 16 with Groundhog Day. All movies will be shown at 2 p.m. Saturday afternoons. All films through August 12 will be screened in the Well Fargo Playhouse at ImaginOn, while all movies beginning September 16 will be shown in Francis Auditorium at Library Main. Screenings are free. June 10: American Graffiti (1973). Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard and Harrison
Ford are among the rising all-stars in George Lucas’ perfect film about drag racing, rock ‘n’ roll, and other small-town pursuits during the early 1960s. June 17: The Cure (1917) & Coney Island (1917). Two shorts from the silent era, one starring Charlie Chaplin as a drunk who heads to a spa and the other starring Fatty Arbuckle and Buster Keaton in a beachfront farce. July 29: The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974). The New York atmosphere is particularly pungent in this exceptional thriller about the hijacking of a New York subway car. SEE
DAY P. 32 u CLCLT.COM | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | 31
Spike Lee and Danny Aiello in Do the Right Thing.
UNIVERSAL
DAY FROM P. 31 t August 5: Run Lola Run (1998). Spunky, punky Lola (Franka Potente) has only a brief period in which to deliver a large sum of money in this kinetic thriller from Germany. August 12: Dog Day Afternoon (1975). Al Pacino and John Cazale deliver superb performances in Sidney Lumet’s classic after a bank robbery gone wrong. September 16: Do the Right Thing (1989). Spike Lee’s incendiary masterpiece looks at the events of one tumultuous day in the Bedford-Stuyvesant corner of Brooklyn. October 7: The Big Clock (1948). A magazine publisher (Charles Laughton) tries to pin a murder on his editor (Ray Milland) in this gripping thriller that was expertly remade 39 years later as No Way Out. October 28: Rope (1948). This Alfred Hitchcock delight stars James Stewart as a wily professor put to the test by two murderous students (John Dall and Farley
Granger). November 4: Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962). This French import from Agnes Varda centers on a woman (Corinne Marchand) waiting to learn from her doctor whether or not she has cancer. November 18: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966). Mike Nichols brilliantly brings Edward Albee’s searing drama to the screen, with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor unforgettable as the bickering (and hard-drinking) couple. December 9: After Hours (1985). Martin Scorsese’s black comedy about a guy stuck in Soho deep into the night stars Griffin Dunne as the hapless schmuck and features Rosanna Arquette and the team of Cheech and Chong in supporting roles. December 16: Groundhog Day (1993). Bill Murray is excellent in this disarming comedy about a weatherman forced to live
Snuggle Up with CL LET US SOLVE YOUR CAR REPAIR PROBLEMS FOR YOU! Honest and dependable service.
FREE ESTIMATES 9611 Idlewild Rd 32 | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
704-228-0020
tonight....
ARTS
ARTSPEAK
THE CRIME WRITER VIEW FROM THE COUCH
Vance Cariaga turns decades of real-life reporting into dark fiction
For reviews on the latest in home entertainment, visit
CLCLT.COM/CHARLOTTE/VIEW-FROM-THE-COUCH/
RYAN PITKIN
WHILE PORING OVER decades worth
of Creative Loafing issues in research for our recent 30th anniversary issue (April 27), about five years into CL’s existence I started to notice a name popping up again and again. Beginning around 1992, I noticed that a journalist named Vance Cariaga was pumping out an impressive amount of stories in his weekly MetroBeat column, along with a bulleted news column called MetroBits, the still-standing bizarre crime column The Blotter and impressive, in-depth, longform cover stories peppered here and there. Cariaga’s work added to the distinguished duo of John Grooms and Jerry Klein, and together the trio turned each week’s news section into an amazing collection of reporting, even for a reader 25 years later. I mentioned Cariaga in a column I wrote in that issue about my research and soon received a gracious email thanking me for the shout out. The humble Cariaga failed to mention that he had just released some new work — work that both differed greatly and held striking similarities to his CL reporting of years gone by. I later found out that Cariaga had earlier this year released Money Love and Blood, a collection of short stories that dips into the fictional world of crime that he had covered in real life as a reporter for nearly 30 years. I reached back out to Cariaga to obtain a copy of the book, a collection of 12 dark stories that hit you with machine-gun speed, and later we met at a local bar to talk about the old days at CL and why transitioning from journalist to author wasn’t as easy as he’d hoped. Creative Loafing: You had range in your reporting at CL, but a lot of it did come back around to crime and punishment. Has that always been an interest? Vance Cariaga: Yeah, I mean, what’s not to like about it? [laughs] There’s grit and blood and guts. I think when I was at the ‘Loaf, we didn’t really have a beat, so some of that stuff I just happened to notice. There was stuff going on with the police. There was really high crime back in the ‘90s, and it could be a pretty bloody place back then, so it was more looking at it from the perspective of: How did this happen? What contributes to it? What’s the relationship between the police and the people? There
Vance Cariaga
PHOTO BY RYAN PITKIN
was just some interesting angles to it. Back then, and this is still the problem now, there was this tension between certain neighborhoods and the police. The two sides were sort of speaking over each other, and so it created some really down-and-dirty shit that happened back then. What was it like for you working for Creative Loafing in those early days? It was actually a lot of fun. I think we surprised a lot of people. Everybody thought, “This is just an entertainment weekly,” and then we would hit some stories that sort of caught wind at a higher level and started making a little noise. Like I said, you didn’t have a beat, so we would just sort of cover what we thought was important. People would come to us or I would just go to certain neighborhoods and talk to people. It was fun just to stick a bug up Charlotte’s ass, you know what I mean? They’ve got all these sacred cows and they didn’t take us seriously until they had to; I mean the government, the corporate structure, the media. We did some stuff that really made a lot of noise, so in that respect it was a lot of fun. I had come up with daily papers and I know what it was like to work with them, and when you have some large corporation breathing down your neck and you have to do it this way or that way, of course Creative Loafing was much more freeform. It was fun, we had a good time. Of course, the pay sucked. What got you into writing fiction? I’ve always thought about it, like you probably think about it. Anybody who writes for a living thinks about it. You know when you’re writing fulltime for a paper, which I did all the way up until a year ago, the last thing you want to do when you’re off the job is write. I was kind of lazy in that regard, but then I just decided, I’m going to do it. So I’ve been doing it seriously for a couple of years now, but I’d always done it. Are any of the stories in this book inspired by real crimes you covered? In terms of crime reporting, yeah, all this information you absorb sort of feeds into that. Plus, some of the writers I really like are sort of the crime fiction, crime noir thing that I’m really interested in. So I kind of try to set
that mood in this book. And these stories are really short, so you don’t really go into too much “This happened, this happened, this happened,” it’s more like you’re setting a mood and capturing a moment. You write in the intro that you figured writing fiction would be easier than journalism, but it wasn’t. Well, it’s really hard, because when you’re a journalist you have the story in front of you. When you have to imagine it from point zero, it’s very difficult. And it’s not easy for me to construct a plot. That’s tough for me — it’s like walking through quicksand. Some people can knock it out and they’re good storytellers. I think I’m better with characterization and setting a mood, setting a scene. But in terms of actually telling a story, it’s very difficult. Are you working on more short stories? Yeah, but it’s getting pretty long. It’s a short story about — my wife is a big sci-fi fan, and I’ve never read or written sci-fi — but it’s sort of a story that takes place in this alley, and there’s this guy who’s a homeless guy and he imagines this nightclub and it gets into this whole thing of: Is he imagining it? Is it real? Is he going to die? I don’t know yet. Right now my problem is that I’ve stuck myself into something that I don’t know how to get my way out of [laughs]. From a plot standpoint it’s like, “Where am I gonna take this damn thing?” But I’m still sort of slogging along with that. Do you hope to move into full-length novels at some point? It’s something I aspire to, because that’s where the market is basically. Short stories, it’s limited. And I read a lot of novels. So I will probably work on some longer pieces, there’s no question about it, and I’ve sent this thing around and gotten a little bit of interest in doing other stuff, so we’ll see how it goes. Visit clclt.com for the full interview. RPITKIN@CLCLT.COM
CLCLT.COM | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | 33
ENDS
MARKETPLACE
ENDS
LOAFERS’ EXCHANGE 1000 N.C. Music Factory Blvd. Suite C2
WE ALL REFUSE TO WEAR SOCKS. CLCLT.COM
34 | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
Charlotte, N.C.
704- 522- 8334
NIGHTLIFE
QUEEN CITY SPEAKEASY Uptown’s best-kept secret returns BY AERIN SPRUILL
THE WEEK OF April 1st, I received an
another door with a handwritten sign on a piece of scrap paper read: Welcome to The email from someone who worked for a Dock. White brick, corrugated metal on the marketing company based in New York. It read: ceiling, string lights, barrels for tables and a “I’m happy to share that The Dock small buffet toward the front contribute to returns this weekend! Starting Saturday the intimate, cocktail party-style vibe in the night April 1 at 9 p.m., Uptown speakeasy, small space. The Dock will once again throw open its The crowd was slightly more pompous doors. After renovations, The Dock is more than typical partygoers at SIP — the place easily accessible though guests will still have we ended up going after. But then again, to look for the light in the loading dock of why wouldn’t an elusive, underground bar the Charlotte Marriott City Center on N. with a limited drink menu attract a “more Church St. mature” crowd? Ever so tipsy and a wee “The Dock will be open every Saturday bit uncomfortable, we were dead set on night serving five Prohibition era cocktails, grabbing at least one drink before heading wine, beer and snacks… along with a few somewhere we could truly turn up. surprises. On other nights, the space will be We approached the buffet, where the Charlotte’s most unique private event space. bartender was literally turning up the “If you’d like to check out The Dock this heat on a Manhattan he was preparing. Saturday night (4/1), just arrive early and The drink menu was outlined in use the secret password – ‘April chalk on small board: Evening Fool’s’ (no joke!) – to skip the line.” Libations – Manhattan, Old This sounded too Fashioned, Sidecar, French good to be true. If you’ve 75 and Rum Punch. After followed along, you know waiting for a bit while he checking out The Dock handcrafted each cocktail, has been at the top of my we decided we’d just grab to-do list since I caught a glass of champagne. (Or wind of the new, secret maybe it was the fact that spot back in fall 2016. I’m we’d already “tied a few on” sure you’re wondering, “If and couldn’t handle a strong AERIN SPRUILL it was at the top of your list, cocktail?) We chatted with Aerin, why are you just now the bar manager while he mixed going? It’s June 2017, after all!” drinks about the recent changes they’d Sighs. A combination of too much to made, the drink menu and the bar’s limited drink on certain nights, inclement weather marketing strategy – you can’t find info on on others but mostly, they were shut down them anywhere outside of articles. by the fire department for a short while i.e. He explained that the concept for The “renovations.” Dock was inspired by Prohibition (not the Now back to this email. The more I talked about the contents of this email from a other Uptown bar, the time period). When stranger, the more I started to freak myself you think back to the 1930s and the illegality out about whether or not it was legit. Why of consumption, you don’t think about social New York? No marketing for The Dock on media or Google Plus pages. Instead, you his social? Was this really an April Fool’s think of keeping things on the hush, hush. joke? What if he was a creeper? Maybe I Spreading the good news about your secret watch way too many horror movies, but cocktail room via word of mouth. you’re not going to catch me walking around Overall? The Dock is a cool-ass space a part of Uptown I’m less familiar with for hosting a private event or coordinating looking for a secret entrance based on an the pregame before the pregame. Or maybe invite from an out-of-state stranger. you want to take your “Real Sidechick of I decided I wouldn’t go until I didn’t have Charlotte” — if you haven’t heard, GOOGLE to go by myself. Next thing you know, it’s IT NOW – to a quiet spot where no one will June and my girlfriends and I are planning a see you. Or maybe even find a Sugar Daddy girls’ night to check it out finally. Better late — don’t Google that one at work, things than never though, right? could get hairy. Whatever your reason for We hopped out of our Uber and going, experiencing it for yourself almost approached the stairs of the loading dock. Once inside, we rounded the corner and feels like a rite of passage in the Queen City.
ENDS
CROSSWORD
BASEBALL BATTY ACROSS
1 Pennsylvania resort mountains 8 Puts glittery metal strips on 15 Hollywood’s Hawke 20 Small cousin of the flute 21 Patronizes, as a store 22 Bit of poetry 23 Baseballer’s paranormal power? 25 Brown ink 26 Yalies 27 Island group near Fiji 28 Gillette brand 30 Phone no. 31 Posed 32 Baseballer doing roadwork? 37 Drops seen at dawn 38 Be litigious 39 Citadel of a North African city 40 Baseballer with film and TV roles? 47 Bygone ruler 49 Be obligated 50 Dog sounds 51 Catch on film 52 “Amazing!” 53 Narnia lion 55 “Green-eyed monster” 56 Yearly period when a baseballer is gleeful? 60 Strip off 61 Barn bag bit 62 Bow’s shape 63 Soup legume 64 Neophyte 65 Baseballer working as a highway patrol cop? 70 No-hitter king Nolan 74 Serengeti grazer 76 Prefix for “the same” 77 Always, to Keats 78 Paltry 79 What a baseballer plays in a band? 86 Nastase near a net 87 See 57-Down 88 Trailways transport 89 No-frills river vessel 90 Sought morays 91 -- laude 92 Pet food brand 94 Two things at a baseballers’ snack bar?
97 Kind of earring or tie 99 College coach Parseghian 100 FBI title: Abbr. 101 Baseballer’s hamper contents? 108 Bit of lifting lingerie 111 Up to, in ads 112 “Why am -- surprised?” 113 Huxtable family mom 114 Foot 115-Acrosses 115 Thumb, e.g. 117 Baseballer’s time to shine? 121 In the bag 122 Was uncaged 123 “-- Pie” (Oscar-winning short) 124 Nash of verse 125 Ursula of “Dr. No” 126 Absorption processes
DOWN
1 Pear and quince 2 City in Florida 3 “Hush!” 4 Table scraps 5 Naught 6 Not anybody else’s 7 Fallen angel 8 Groove for a lettershaped bolt 9 Start of a rumor report 10 Pre-Q queue 11 Health club 12 Grand home 13 Actress Christine 14 Lead-in to foam 15 Hectic hosp. locales 16 Letters after etas 17 Certain curve in math 18 From pretty far off 19 Pro-school org. 24 Typesetting widths 29 Crooner Paul 32 Middle marks 33 Not waste 34 Snarling dog 35 Wine server 36 “-- a good time for you?” 37 Make no sense 40 Cleaned with a broom 41 Brooklyn’s -- Island 42 Nomad 43 Be fuming 44 Give -- (heed)
45 Follower of Mar. 46 “Oy --!” 47 Wee kid 48 “Hush!” 52 Previously 54 Most unctuous 56 Iraqi city on the Tigris 57 With 87-Across, soonto-be-inducted city official 58 Round body 59 Dizzying designs 66 Smooch 67 Winter hrs. in D.C. 68 Hull hazards 69 -- -car (Hertz service) 71 Mello -- (soda brand) 72 Neighbor of Pisces 73 “I -- drink!” 75 Republic 79 Pilgrimage destination 80 Wailing in grief 81 Stiff, but not inflexible 82 Aptiva maker 83 Letters after mus 84 Mystifying Geller 85 Google Earth image 90 Skittish 93 Me, myself -94 Utter loudly 95 Linden of TV 96 Loses width 98 Cops 99 Wait upon 102 Prefix with mural or net 103 Realm in “The Lord of the Rings” 104 Summits 105 “-- Gold” (1997 film) 106 Delhi bread 107 “The same” 108 Boxing matches 109 Knot anew 110 Fire residue 114 Palm smartphone replaced by the Pre 115 Scooby- -116 KO count 118 Producer: Abbr. 119 Metal deposit 120 Opposite of masc.
SOLUTION FOUND ON P. 38.
CLCLT.COM | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | 35
Always FREE to listen and reply to ads!
ENDS
SAVAGE LOVE
GET OUT Sometimes it just ain’t worth the trouble BY DAN SAVAGE
WHO ARE YOU AFTER DARK?
Try FREE: 704-943-0057 More Local Numbers: 1-800-700-6666
redhotdateline.com 18+ FREE TRIAL
Discreet Chat Guy to Guy
980.224.4669
Always FREE to listen and reply to ads!
Dating Made Easy
Playmates or soul mates, you’ll find them on MegaMates Charlotte:
Charlotte:
(980) 321-7692
www.megamates.com 18+
(980) 224-4667
Meet sexy friends who really get your vibe...
Try FREE: 704-731-0113 More Local Numbers: 1-800-811-1633
vibeline.com 18+
36 | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
www.megamates.com 18+
REAL PEOPLE REAL DESIRE REAL FUN.
Try FREE: 704-943-0050 More Local Numbers: 1-800-926-6000
Ahora español Livelinks.com 18+
I hate how my boyfriend has sex with me. He is 40 years old. It used to be fine, but a year ago he started adding new moves he obviously got from porn: smacking my pussy with an open palm, vigorously rubbing my clit, wrapping his hands around my neck. I’m not antiporn; what bothers me is that even though I told him these moves don’t feel good on my body and hurt me, he doesn’t care. I’ve told him that it is painful when he slaps and manhandles my clit, and he responds that he likes it and I should feel happy that he still wants to fuck me six times a week. It’s not that I don’t want him to enjoy himself, but I don’t feel like his enjoyment should come at the price of mine. I don’t know how to get him to listen to me.
ridiculous humanness in the same medium that we view porn: online. That’s why MakeLoveNotPorn.com exists. We’re pro-sex, pro-porn, and pro-knowing the difference.” Gallop wants not only to balance out porn with socially shared #realworldsex, but to see the porn market flooded with porn made by women —which doesn’t mean porn made “for” women, she points out, but more disruptive, creative porn for everyone. “Seeing more innovative porn — porn that men would find just as hot — would result in everybody having a much better time in bed,” said Gallop. “Men need to see there is no bigger turn-on than being in bed with someone who you know is having an absolutely fabulous time because of you.” Unfortunately, PLEASE, you’re having an PORN LESSONS ERASING ALL SEXUAL ENERGY absolutely miserable time because of him. “PLEASE’s boyfriend is operating in his own closed Your boyfriend listened to loop,” said Gallop, “the belief you, PLEASE. You told him that sexual gratification is all you don’t like his porny about him. He has no idea new moves; he told you what sexual gratification he likes them and intends really could be. She needs to keep doing them. So to leave him.” this isn’t about listening You can find Cindy — it’s about caring. Your Gallop’s viral Ted Talk boyfriend is hurting you and a documentary about and “he doesn’t care.” Dump Make Love Not Porn at DAN SAVAGE the motherfucker already. ifundwomen.com/projects/ And while you’re not antimakelovenotporn. Follow her porn, PLEASE, and I’m certainly on Twitter @CindyGallop. not anti-porn, it would appear that porn — the default sex education for too I desperately wanted to be GGG in my past many people, young and old—is part of the relationship. My partner chronically problem. complained that I wasn’t giving him “The porn industry, like every other enough sex. I felt so guilty that I put area of popular culture, is dominated by a up with some very coercive situations. closed loop of white guys talking to white I became an orgasm dispenser for a guys about other white guys,” said Cindy dumbass whose beard prickled my clit Gallop, legendary advertising executive, painfully, who complained my G-spot consultant, and public speaker. “The most moved around, and who fell asleep easily accessed mainstream straight porn is fingering me. I put up with his shit for all about the man, with zero empathy for the far too long. It would have been helpful female experience, taken to ludicrous (and to be told that GGG needs to be MUTUAL for the woman, painful) extremes.” and feel good for both parties. SASSY UNCONQUERED BABE Like you and me, PLEASE, Gallop is not anti-porn. But she’s fighting shitty GGG — good in bed, giving of pleasure, porn—and the shitty expectations it can and game for anything within reason — is instill — with real-life contrast via her what we should be for our partners and our innovative #realworldsex site/platform partners should be for us. So it absolutely MakeLoveNotPorn.com. needs to be mutual, SUB, and there are “It’s a social sex-video-sharing platform definitely limits. designed to be a counterpoint to the porn On the Lovecast, can alcohol make you gay industry while promoting good sexual values for a night?: savagelovecast.com; follow @ and behavior,” said Gallop. “We need to fakedansavage on Twitter; mail@savagelove. be able to view great #realworldsex in all net.fakedansavage on Twitter; ITMFA.org. its messy, funny, beautiful, silly, wonderful,
CLCLT.COM | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | 37
LILLY SPA
ENDS
STARGAZER
704-392-8099 MON-SUN 9AM-11PM LOCATED NEAR THE AIRPORT EXIT 37 OFF I-85 WE ACCEPT ALL MAJOR CREDIT CARDS
SOUTH ON BEATTIES FORD ROAD THEN FIRST RIGHT ON MONTANA DRIVE (LOCATED 1/2 MILE ON THE LEFT | 714-G MONTANA DR)
SOLUTION TO THIS WEEK'S PUZZLE
60 MINUTES FREE TRIAL
THE HOTTEST GAY CHATLINE
1-704-943-0051 More Local Numbers: 800-777-8000
www.guyspyvoice.com
Ahora en Español/18+
FOR ALL SIGNS Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, turns direct on June 9, 2017 after a four month period of retrogradation. He is known as Zeus to the ancients, father figure to the others, and his better side symbolizes human expansiveness and spiritual wisdom. His negative qualities are ostentation, pomposity and expansion without discipline or roots. During his retrograde periods promises and expectations are often too optimistic and fall short of the mark. When he is direct, as he will be through next February, projected hopes are more likely to come to fruition. He continues in the sign of Libra now and will shift into Scorpio on October 10, 2016. Those of whatever sign he is in are given a boost of faith and usually better fortune.
ARIES This is a time in which your partner is on your side and things are flowing well between you. It is a good period for coming to agreement on circumstances that have been issues in the past. You may be especially enjoying music or the arts together. Intimacy brings you closer together now. TAURUS Venus entered your sign yesterday
and will travel “with you” through July 4, 2017. The subject of relationship will be very important as you move forward through this time. If you have issues with a partner, this is the time to lay them out on the table so the two of you can look at how better to deal with them. Negotiate but do not accuse or bring in secondary issues.
GEMINI THE TWINS (May 20 -- June
21) Mercury, your planetary ruler, entered your sign yesterday. Mercury travels rapidly through Gemini between June 6 and June 21, 2017. During this time there likely will be greater emphasis on communications, errands, and other short distance travels. Your mind will be quick and your attitude persuasive.
CANCER Mars, the warrior, entered your
sign on June 3, 2017 and will be traveling with you for seven weeks. This energy is especially helpful in defining our boundaries. Periodically we need to examine who we are as well as who we are not. Often something is eliminated. In general, it increases your courage and physical strength.
LEO This is a time of focus on your health and the routine maintenance of life’s routines. (Yawn) Fire signs rarely want to handle details in any form. However, the message is clearly there. You must attend to these areas or eventually pay a price for not doing so. VIRGO Your attention turns toward your
life direction now. For many this is reflected by the career path. You may be researching needed information or talking with others 38 | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
about where you are headed. Your work is noticed and you may be the recipient of compliments and support by the end of this week.
LIBRA Venus, your ruling planet, enters
the eighth sector and will remain there until July 4, 2017. This suggests favorable influences and opportunities related to debt payments, gifts, or other financial resources that come through other people. It includes investments, debts owed to you, and insurance payoffs. Relationships take on a more intense role.
SCORPIO Mars, one of your ruling planets, enters your ninth house for 7 weeks. You will notice a shift into a new direction. It will likely be related to contacting people at a distance, preparing to travel, seeking professional advice, or focused on education. This position of Mars leans us toward a heavy accelerator foot. Attend to driving within the speed limit.
SAGITTARIUS Give special attention to
the lead paragraph because Jupiter is your planetary ruler. Now that it is turning direct in your partnership house, making decisions concerning relationships will be much easier. The next few months may bring a beneficial business partnership, more clientele, or a marriage.
CAPRICORN You occasionally confuse
what you think with who you are. There are those who will disagree with you this week. Just don’t let it become a battle to the death. Your identity is not at stake in this situation. You may not like what is happening, but you can choose a better time later to argue the point.
AQUARIUS This is a week in which you
will tend to be thinking obsessively. It is an opportunity to learn how to better control your mind. Shift your attention to something less dramatic, such as whatever is happening this moment, rather than worrying over what might happen in the future.
PISCES You may feel as though you came from another planet this week. Communications may be misunderstood, snarled, or lost altogether. Compensate for this problem by concentrating on speaking the truth as you know it, and listening very carefully to what the other tells you. Then reflect what you heard, just to be sure.
Are you interested in a personal horoscope? Vivian Carol may be reached at 704-3663777 for private psychotherapy or astrology appointments. You may also visit her at www. horoscopesbyvivian.com.
CLCLT.COM | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | 39
40 | JUN. 8 - JUN. 14, 2017 | CLCLT.COM