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Kizzy, not to be confused with Tizzy.
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NEWS&CULTURE OUR HOUSE OF AFRICA Charlotte’s Juneteenth celebration is about more than ending slavery
BY KIA O. MOORE 9 EDITOR’S NOTE BY MARK KEMP 14 THE BLOTTER 14 THANK ME LATER BY SHERRELL DORSEY 15 CLOSER TO THE TARGET BY RYAN PITKIN 17 NEWS OF THE WEIRD
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MUSIC HIGHER CONSCIOUSNESS Th3 Higher are fomenting a spiritual/intellectual renaissance in Charlotte hip-hop
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Hip-hop, love, black empowerment — and stupid gun bills Whether you’re a hip-hop fan or not, WHEN I ARRIVED at the small makeshift if you’re capable of generating thoughts in studio of the Charlotte hip-hop duo Th3 your head, you’ll appreciate Th3 Higher’s Higher off Eastway Drive a few weeks ago, I mission: bringing thoughts to heads and expected to see a large room with a massive love to hearts. mixing board and all the accoutrements of Another Charlottean involved with contemporary studio wizardry. Instead, I saw laptops, mismatched bringing thoughts to heads and love to hearts is furniture, lots of wires, and big white boards Pape Ndiaye, owner of House of Africa in Plaza on the wall with big plans laid out on each Midwood. He launched Charlotte’s version one. (For you hip-hop stereotypers: I saw no of the Junteenth celebration which happens guns. In fact, guns at this duo’s crib would be across the U.S. every June to celebrate the absurdly inconsistent with their worldview, final day that slave owners in the South were but we’ll get to that later on in this editor’s informed that their slaves were to be freed, note.) in accordance with Lincoln’s Emancipation Tizzy, the wiry, animated, chatty Proclamation of 1863. member, laid out for me the master plan Juneteenth is celebrated in many ways for the group. Kizzy, his mellow sidekick, across the country, but to Pape Ndiaye it’s a provided the hallelujah ad libs to Tizzy’s day to celebrate the connections between every pronouncement. These guys are African-American youths and elders, true DIY musicians in the style of and the African diaspora in the original DIY punk rockers Charlotte. of another era. “Our aim at Juneteenth I’d run across the duo is not trying to recreate while crowd-sourcing for the past,” Ndiaye tells weed songs for Creative contributor Kia Moore Loafing’s 4/20 issue. The in “Our House of Africa,” song they submitted on page 10. “We need to was the one that most move further. Not just inspired me. There was focusing on slavery.” something very genuine, Ndiaye’s idea for very thoughtful about their MARK KEMP Juneteenth is to make sure endearing ode to ganja. I young African Americans, like thought, surely there must be the guys in Th3 Higher, understand more to Th3 Higher than just one why they’re able to feel and be so endearing reefer song. So I got in touch and confident in their endeavers in 2017. asked if they’d be interested in talking to me Sadly, not everybody possesses the about their music. I expected a short Q&A insight to understand or celebrate what with them — something to introduce the freedom really means. Those people are group to Charlotte hip-hop fans who didn’t more interested in freedom for teenagers to already know about them. be able to carry concealed weapons without I didn’t expect to do a full feature about permits — something that’s diametrically their big plan to take over the innerwebs and inconsistent with any interpretation of spread their love worldwide. Ambitious, yes. reason or freedom. In Ryan Pitkin’s news But that’s what I got when I drove to their story “Closer to the Target” on page 15, he home and sat entranced by them for two writes of a move to make it legal for people hours. They were prepared, with charts and 18 and older to hide their guns in public graphs, to tell me the philosophy of their without a permit. lives and career. And they did it with both This sort of nonsense has the potential confidence and humility. One meeting with to completely diminish and devalue the these guys and you can’t help but love them. beautiful lives of people in this city who are Love is what they’re all about, and you trying to make a positive impact — people can read about their ideas of love and their like Tizzy and Kizzy, who are making music spiritual journey in the music section this that brings people together in love, and issue. You’ll find out about their initial people like Pape Ndiaye, who has spent his meeting in high school, their need to continue career as a shop owner trying to reach young making music even after they both went off people and teach them the value of life. to separate colleges, their need to quit college and return to Charlotte to make music, their As attorney and anti-gun advocate John need to get more people in Charlotte involved Rudisill tells Pitkin, “This bill is the triumph in bringing hip-hop to larger venues, one of sheer lunacy in the name of fear ideology.” MKEMP@CLCLT.COM underground show at a time.
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PHOTOS BY KIA O. MOORE
NEWS
COVERSTORY
OUR HOUSE OF AFRICA Charlotte’s Juneteenth celebration is about more than ending slavery BY KIA O. MOORE
E
VERY DAY Plaza Midwood’s
walkable business district attracts Charlotteans from across the city to explore Central, Commonwealth and Pecan avenues. The local shops along the main strips include a tattoo parlor, guitar store, boutique clothing stores, a coffee shop, multiple pizza joints and various restaurants ranging from Caribbean to pub-style menus. In recent years, foot traffic in Plaza Midwood has been on the rise, and local business owners like it that way. One shop — set smack in the eye of the Plaza Midwood hurricane on Thomas Avenue, 10 | JUN. 15 - JUN. 21, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
just across from Thomas Street Tavern — is marked by a yellow canopy, framed by a windmill palm tree and a variety of shrubbery. It’s hard to miss. The closer you get to the canopy, the store’s sign comes into view: House of Africa. The door is almost always propped open and a mixture of frankincense and various other aromas strikes the nose, captures your sense of smell and pulls you in. This time of year, yet another pop of yellow connected to House of Africa demands your attention. A large Juneteenth Festival of the Carolinas (JFC) sign is posted directly across from the open-door African art gallery. From June 15 to June 18 this year, the celebration of
Juneteenth will take over the Plaza Midwood business district, as well as the nearby Elizabeth Traditional Elementary School. Juneteenth celebrates the final announcement of the end of slavery. In June 1865, Union General Gordon Granger led a regiment of Union troops into Galveston, Texas, to tell the last group of enslaved Africans and African-Americans they were now free men and women. With the Confederate Army rebellion by then defeated, enslaved Africans and African-Americans in the South now had legal free status. The celebration of all Africans and African-Americans knowing their free status was transformed into an
annual celebration on June 19; it was known as Juneteenth.
JUNETEENTH
CELEBRATIONS
happen all across the United States and even internationally, each with its own unique characteristics and attributes. In Charlotte, House of Africa and the JFC committee have kept the great American celebration of liberation going for more than 20 years. The founder and current president of the local Juneteenth Festival is the owner of House of Africa, Pape Ndiaye. His view of a Juneteenth celebration extends well beyond celebrating freedom from slavery.
“Our aim at Juneteenth is not trying to recreate the past. Because slavery was here and was one of the worst things that happened to humanity. But we need to move further,” Ndiaye says. “We need to be connecting the older generation to the next generation, teaching them. Not just focusing on slavery. “We have to connect the young generation to the old generation in teaching the next generation about their rich culture and powerful heritage so that they can move forward with their life and be great in life,” Ndiaye continues. “The next generation must understand we [people of color] are a great people. We come from great people. And that you [young people] come from great people.” The 20th Annual Juneteenth Festival of the Carolinas will take place from Thursday to Sunday. There will be four days of celebration filled with educational presentations, music, art, drumming, fashion, food, culture and more. This year, the festivities will move from its more recent venue in Independence Park to where it began, right in front of House of Africa on Thomas Avenue. “We are bringing Juneteenth back to where it started. We moved it to Independence Park because it was getting so big,” Ndiaye says. “But, we have to bring it back where it began to celebrate the 20 years.” All members of the community are welcome to come to the four-day event, which is free and open to the public. “It is not just saying black people, but black, white, burgundy, all people,” Ndiaye says, adding that the goal is to make sure the festival has a little something for everyone, from a Youth Day Camp at Elizabeth Traditional to a pop-up Frederick Douglass Library, to an International Drummers Circle and other live entertainment. The variety of activities and breadth of information provided remains as it always has been: a celebration of moving forward, an integral part of what makes this Charlotte Juneteenth event unique. The multi-day Juneteenth Festival started in 1997. Ever since Ndiaye, a Senegalese business man, decided to plant roots in Charlotte, his community work focused on celebrating African-American culture intermixed with the heritage of the African diaspora. In his thick Senegalese accent, Ndiaye shares the story of how the festival got its start. “I got to Charlotte in late 1996. I started with a Martin Luther King Birthday celebration. That was the first thing I planned in Charlotte. It brought out 600 people,” Ndiaye says. “Then [in 1997] I started to think what’s next. What am I going to do. I remember hearing about Juneteenth everywhere in the country. They were celebrating big time. When I asked people around here, I kept hearing, ‘We don’t know about it.’ That’s when I said, ‘Let me do Juneteenth.’” Since then, the Juneteenth Festival has grown from a two-day Saturday and Sunday party on Thomas Avenue to a fourday festival that is expected to draw 20,000 people this year.
WITH THE SCALE and variety of SEE
PHOTOS BY KIA O. MOORE
“THE NEXT GENERATION [OF AFRICAN AMERICANS] MUST UNDERSTAND WE ARE A GREAT PEOPLE. WE COME FROM GREAT PEOPLE. AND THAT YOU [YOUNG PEOPLE] COME FROM GREAT PEOPLE.” -PAPE NDIAY
AFRICA P. 12 u CLCLT.COM | JUN. 15 - JUN. 21, 2017 | 11
NEWS
COVERSTORY
AFRICA FROM P.11 t information and activities provided at the festival, Pape Ndiaye knew from the very start he would need to make this a communityinvolved effort to create a sustainable Juneteenth Festival in Charlotte. “I started Juneteenth Festival in 1997 right in front of House of Africa on Thomas Avenue with 2,000 people who attended that year,” Ndiaye explains. “The community was very, very supportive in helping to make the first Juneteenth happen. They were very helpful, because I could not do it by myself without the citizens of Charlotte and the community.” One such Charlottean who’s instrumental in pulling things together for this year’s festival is Rose Gregory. Gregory is the festival coordinator and, for many committee members, is seen as the glue that pulls everything together. Sankofa Baba, the festival’s history advisor, shares insight about the role of the festival’s lead event coordinator Gregory. “Rose is probably the most crucial part of helping to bring the entire Juneteenth event into an actualized vision. She is the main person that does the planning as well.” Gregory provides insight about those early days of Ndiaye working to pull the community in to make Juneteenth a reality. “Ndiaye had come here from Senegal. The African-American community leaders met with him and decided there was a need to form some unified event that would embrace the history, culture and heritage of the African-American community. When they met with Ndiaye they decided to [collaboratively] form a Juneteenth Festival of the Carolinas committee.” Gregory explains that the foundation and vision for the festival was born of something Ndiaye’s grandmother once said. “One thing we focus on is the quote from his grandmother, ‘When you are traveling, you need to get direction. Culture and heritage is the only way to go to get direction.’” Gregory continued, “Here in Charlotte, with Juneteenth, we work to cover culture, history, heritage, recognition and unity. We try to pull the community together. This year’s theme is cooperative unity.” With the diversity in the ethnicity of the crowd becoming a normal occurrence throughout the years, the cooperative unity theme this year is narrowing its focus on pulling in a younger demographic; primary school children and millennials. Ndiaye believes children are our future, so from the inception of the festival, a Children’s Day Camp has been integrated into the festival offerings. Children’s Day Camp committee member Mia Ross is looking forward to working with the little ones. The end goal is to help inspire a sense of pride and empowerment in the youngsters so they become little Juneteenth educators for their family and neighborhood. Ross is a teacher at West Mecklenburg High School and this is her first year serving 12 | JUN. 15 - JUN. 21, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF JUNETEENTH OF THE CAROLINAS
on the Juneteenth Festival of the Carolinas committee. She will be pulling double duty as a Children’s Day Camp facilitator and Welcome Center staffer. At the Children’s Day Camp, Ross says the kids can expect drum lessons, dance lessons, storytelling, crafts and more. “They will get to create little tangible things that they can take home to help them remember what they learned,” Ross said. “Our hope is that through all the lessons, crafts, and other great things at the festival that the children will be able to embody, take home, and teach other people.”
ROSS’ GOAL FOR the Children’s Day Camp reflects the direction of evolution in the festival that long-time JFC marketing committee chair Sandra McMullen has noticed over the years. “The educational piece has become more important. The books made available and the area for the children to go to. The cultural fare where children learn more about their heritage is very important also. They learn things they are not going to learn in school. I think that was an important addition.” McMullen sees education as the place to begin a growth process for an understanding and appreciation for heritage, culture, tradition and information. “Knowing your history is important. The idea of knowing where you come from and your roots [is important]. If you have knowledge of your roots, it helps you to understand what you come from, and what you can become.” Nokisha Barringer, a nurse for Novant Health, is an example of what the folks with the festival are working to do with its education of self goal for the festival. Barringer, now 36,
started going to Juneteenth as a teen. “I was introduced to Juneteenth by Marilyn Turner, who is my godmother. She is good friends with Pape,” said Barringer. “Ms. Turner was also the chairman of Juneteenth. I think that was just her heart, every time I would see her, was to talk Juneteenth and the House of Africa.” She continued, “I just remember, as a little girl, going over to Ms. Turner’s house to see my best friend [Ms. Turner’s daughter]. We would go over to her house and just play and Ms. Turner would have all these interesting things that Pape gave her. There were African masks and everything! We would always ask questions. And Ms. Turner would tell us about our history. She was really big on wanting us to know where we came from and our history. That is when she introduced us to Pape.” Ndiaye got Barringer involved in the Juneteenth Festival as a child model in the annual fashion show. Barringer points to the front of the store with a smile, her eyes glazed with nostalgia as she holds her 5-month-old on her lap with her other arm. “I remember when, right here outside of the store, when he had his first Juneteenth. We did the fashion show right outside there.” She pauses and smiles, “I just remember that as a kid.” Those fond memories surrounding Ms. Turner, Ndiaye, the Juneteenth Festival and learning about her history and heritage is something she plans to pass down to her 9-year-old and 5-month-old as they grow. Barringer said that she most definitely plans to bring her kids to Juneteenth year after year. “I know that I can get my kids involved, because I want them to know their history. Know where they came from and know what it is all about.” While continuing to help educate and
engage her little ones on their history at Juneteenth each year, Barringer also continues to attend the festival to honor her community elders. “My best friend, she moved away for a while, she is back now. I told her we have to come to Juneteenth this year in honor of her late mother, Ms. Turner. It will be a way to kind of celebrate, because I know that is what her mom would really want for us to do.” Marilyn Turner’s legacy is impacting other youth in relation to the Juneteenth festival as well. JFC awards a scholarship named after Turner to a college-bound youth every year. The scholarship is just one more way the committee is showing its commitment to education and spreading the knowledge of self. Although JFC contributes to education, at the festival itself, education comes in many forms. It comes from learning a new move from a Afro-Brazilian dancer as you join in the Kick-Off Parade and wind your hips to the drum cadence. It comes in the form of a long-time committee member mentoring a millennial during their first year of coordinating and facilitating the Children’s Day Camp. It comes from a 9-year-old teaching their parents the meaning of the markings on the African mask they created during the day camp. It comes during a Juneteenth community town hall where neighborhood ambassadors come to share good news and voice concerns about their community. Juneteenth Festival of the Carolinas is a reflection of the perspective of the event founder Pape Ndiaye, “We are all related. Although blood may be thicker than water, it is the water of life that keeps us all connected. When I am free. You are free.” BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF JUNETEENTH OF THE CAROLINAS
ACTIVITIES GUIDE TO THE 20TH ANNUAL JUNETEENTH FESTIVAL OF THE CAROLINAS WITH SO MANY things to do at the Juneteenth Festival of the Carolinas, Creative Loafing decided to put together a little activites guide to help you decide what to get into June 15 - 18. However, if you want to get all the details of what is going on each day, be sure to stop by the Juneteenth Festival Welcome Center located at the House of Africa (1215 Thomas Ave.) each day of the festival. There will be a volunteer and information available to let you know where and when things are happening during the festival. Thursday, June 15th | Youth, History, Heritage CL Recommends: Children’s Day Camp The kiddos will have a day full of education and entertainment at the Junteenth of the Carolinas’ Children’s Day Camp. The camp will be held at Elizabeth Traditional Elementary School (1601 Park Dr.). Your littles will experience the art of storytelling with professional storyteller Mother Minter. They will learn the significance of the markings on African masks as they create their own during an arts & crafts workshop. They will explore the art of tie-dye and its connection to African culture. Plus, a day with Juneteenth of the Carolinas would not be complete without African drum lessons and dance lessons to get those little bodies moving and grooving.
Juneteenth Festival Activities Thursday: Children’s Day Camp Celebration of History Craft Workshops Heritage Hour Heritage Performances & Music
on
Friday, June 16th | Drums, Talent Show & Fellowship CL Recommends: Juneteenth Festival Drum Circle When it comes to the drums, Juneteenth of the Carolinas has got you covered. African drummers, latin drummers, hip hop drummers, marching band drummers, all the drummers. If you like to create rhythms by hitting our tapping on a surface, or you just like to hear those rhythms, then the Juneteenth Festival Drum Circle is for you. This is an international fellowship for the cadence makers and cadence lovers. It is a symbolic call to the ancestors and to communicate the jubilation has begun. Juneteenth Festival Activities on Friday: Drum Circle International Drummers Annual Talent Show Community Fellowship Saturday, June 17th | Parade, Street Festival, & More
CL Recommends: Juneteenth Festival Parade The Juneteenth Parade is a festival kick-off event where the sideline onlookers quickly become parade procession walkers. All are invited to join in the parade, which will stream from Central Avenue to Commonwealth Avenue to The Plaza. In the parade, you can expect representation from all aspects of the the African diaspora. Vibrant colors! Beautiful outfits! Big smiles! Expect to see it all and be a part of it all to help kick-off the celebration of freedom, culture, heritage and the legacy of AfricanAmericans and Africans who finally learned they were no longer enslaved in 1865, two years after the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth Festival Activities on Saturday: Juneteenth Festival Parade Junteenth Street Festival Food & Entertainment: Food Vendors, Music, Drama, Dance, Storytelling African Dancers Fashion Show Talent Show Children’s Village Health Fair & First Care Health Clinic HIV/AIDS Seminar & Screenings Sunday, June 18th | Education, Faith, & Father’s Day CL Recommends: Juneteenth Festival Sunday Service The church and the mosque come to the streets of the Juneteenth Festival, an outdoor stage located near Commonwealth Avenue, University Park Ministries and representatives from area mosque will come together to share inspirational words and teachings from religious text. The diversity in religious teaching on the stage is designed to be a reflection of the diversity of religious beliefs across Africa and within the AfricanAmerican community. Come worship on the streets with Juneteenth of the Carolinas. You don’t have to necessarily subscribe to the religion to join in the act of fellowship and goodwill toward others.
Juneteenth Festival Activities on Sunday: Juneteenth Festival Sunday Service Gospel Explosion Empowerment Stage Tribute to the Fathers & FatherDaughter Dance Marilyn Turner Scholarship Award Youth Seminar Talent Show If you have questions about the events visit JuneteenthOfTheCarolinas. com.
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NEWS
VIEWS
BLOTTER
BY RYAN PITKIN
SIBLING RIVALRY A 28-year-old man
called police to his home in east Charlotte last week after a knock-down, drag-out fight with his brother. The man said he was arguing with his brother when things got physical, and then quickly elevated well past the rough and tumble days of their childhood. The victim told police that during the fight, his brother began punching him in the face, and then threw a flat-screen television — not at him, as one would expect, but according to the report, “on the victim’s head.”
MILDLY INCONVENIENT A 46-year-old
woman filed a report for harassment last week, but instead of the normal repeated calls to her home or workplace, this time the creep got creative. The woman told officers that the suspect first began ordering multiple pizzas to be sent to her southeast Charlotte home. Then, he stepped things up by calling Duke Energy and requesting service to her home, so that a representative showed up and she had to send them home. Then, the suspect called a carpet cleaning company and booked an appointment for her house, which she again turned away when the cleaners arrived. The woman told officers that she had lost no money due to the harassment, and she did not believe she was in danger, but she would rather it stopped because it is annoying.
WEIRD WEAPONS A 41-year-old man called police last week after he was threatened with a simple arts and crafts tool in southeast Charlotte. The man told officers that the suspect “confronted him in a threatening manner” while holding a pair of scissors. It must not have been too threatening of a manner, because the victim was able to disarm the suspect on his own and call police from a neighbor’s phone. A 35-year-old woman would have loved for her attacker to be holding scissors compared to what she had to deal with in the University area last week. The woman told police she was in an argument when the suspect punched her in the face and then poured urine on her. It’s unclear from the report why the person had urine at the ready in a container that could be poured out. CLOSE CALL Police officers in “Snoopy,”
the CMPD’s helicopter, found Charlotte’s skies to be none too friendly when they were flying near Uptown last week, as they survived a near miss that they didn’t see until the last moment. The officers reported that they were flying about 600 feet above South Mint Street at around 9 p.m. when suddenly they realized they were on a crash course with a drone, which could realistically hit a propeller and crash the chopper. The officers said the drone got within 20 feet of the helicopter before the CMPD pilot was 14 | JUN. 15 - JUN. 21, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
able to veer away. Ground units searched nearby for the person controlling the drone but were unable to find them.
ROLLING OUT The most disheartening
thing about being disabled can often be the way able-bodied people avert their glance when they see someone in a wheelchair, but one person in southwest Charlotte decided to use that unfortunate fact to their advantage last week. Employees at DSW Shoes in Carolina Pavilion called police after they caught a disabled person and their ablebodied partner trying to use their wheelchair to shoplift. The employees told officers they stopped the duo coming out of the store with three pairs of shoes hidden underneath the seat of the wheelchair.
FUCK YOUR FOOD An 18-year-old man went to police after an ongoing beef with a local man in east Charlotte ended up ruining a meal for him. The young man told officers that he was walking down the street with a bag of food in his hand when a man rode up behind him on a bicycle and knocked the bag out of his hands, spilling the food on the road. He told police he had exchanged some words with the suspect at a prior date. On the bright side, that’s better than shooting the poor kid, which is how folks seem to settle their arguments more often than not these days. CAN’T FIND COMFORT A police officer
filed a report about an attempted theft after witnessing the crime in action while patrolling in Uptown last week. The officer said he was driving along Poplar Street near 9th Street when he saw a man walking off a patio and onto the sidewalk holding a set of large seat cushions. The officer found this odd, so he continued to follow behind the man and soon enough, the owner of the home whose patio the suspect had just left came running out yelling for him to drop the cushions. The man dropped the cushions and tried to run, but soon thereafter stopped when he realized a cop was already behind him. He was arrested and the victim was able to keep his large, if now dirty, seat cushions.
NICE FIND Police responded to the Optimist
Park neighborhood near Uptown last week after someone was apparently rummaging through the bushes along Brevard Street and found what was described as a “onehanded sword.” If you have the time in your day to go rummaging through random roadside bushes, you must be praying to find something as cool as a sword. So why then turn around and turn it in to police? These are the big questions of our time.
THANK ME LATER
AN OPEN LETTER TO BLACK COMPUTER SCIENTISTS It’s not too late for you TEALS recruits, trains, mentors and THIS IS THE STORY of a girl who got places industry volunteers into high school stuck in an HTML course her freshman year classrooms as part of a co-teaching effort of high school unwittingly. with the classroom teachers. Charlotte will My mom signed me up for an afterschool be the 26th state in the program to join program at an obscure storefront office in bringing computer science classes to space with other brown kids from Seattle’s “inner city” ready to learn the early starts of hundreds of schools across the nation. technology and software development. West Charlotte and Phillip O’Berry high Once we secured the basics, we moved schools will be the first schools to implement on to harder languages. Twice weekly, we’d the program in the coming school year. Students frustrate ourselves with JavaScript, active there will learn foundational programming server pages, C# programming and network skills and have access to advanced placement administration. Our instructors were smart computer science courses. and dedicated. They helped us shape our Ideally, this new partnership could spark college essays, taught us how to interview additional efforts toward ensuring all of for a job at a tech company, and went above our students are developing the necessary and beyond to expose us to local-area college skills needed to enter the workforce with programs so that our sights were set high. in-demand tech skills; particularly our For the entirety of our high local workforce, where many of the school academic career, my existing, available IT jobs go peers and I gained exposure unfulfilled in our county. to an industry and a skill According to a Charlotte set we would never have Observer report from last received anywhere else. June, North Carolina has Learning these skills was more than 19,500 open supposed to make us computing jobs last year, better people, help us but in 2014, only 1,224 get into college and land people graduated with us summer internships at computer science degrees in major tech companies. That SHERRELL the state. one free program I began in Jessup believes the DORSEY the early 2000s accomplished TEALS program is an exciting all of the above. opportunity to open new pathways Now, 17 years later, we’re fighting and career opportunities for our city’s high to place computer science in our public school tech talent. schools where it can be best put to use by the Alongside the opportunity for students, students facing a work and life environment this new initiative poses an opportunity for where technical skills will be non-negotiable. professionals to be a part of the movement In Charlotte, city leadership is planning — particularly, diverse software engineers to help roll out a new program in conjunction and programmers looking to volunteer to with the city’s tech and innovation initiative plans to be a catalyst in bringing hardcore help make the program successful. programming training into the classroom, There is a stark need for engineers and and I’m completely here for it. programmers of color to volunteer and make According to David Jessup, training themselves visible within our schools. The and innovation manager with the city underlying idea: representation matters. of Charlotte, the city will partner with Students need to see themselves in the work Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and a of technology. program called Technology Education and I was fortunate to have a bevy of Literacy in Schools (TEALS) to carry this instructors from different backgrounds as plan out during the 2017-18 academic year. my role models in technology. This diversity Launched in 2009, the TEALS program, gave me the perspective that with the right supported by Microsoft’s deftly named training and commitment to the material, philanthropic arm Microsoft Philanthropies, anyone could become a computer scientist. “helps high schools build and grow I encourage those interested in helping sustainable computer science programs Charlotte become a city that cultivates and through partnerships between classroom encourages talent to sign up as volunteers. teachers and tech industry volunteers,” We’ll need all hands on deck if we plan to according to its website. be the kind of city that looks after it’s own.
If passed as law, HB 746 would eliminate the need for the eight hours of training that comes along with obtaining a concealed carry permit.
NEWS
PHOTO BY JAZZY GEOFF/ISTOCK
FEATURE
CLOSER TO THE TARGET Republicans move to eliminate the concealed carry permitting process BY RYAN PITKIN
I
MAGINE FOR A moment that you’re at a concert in Charlotte at one of any number of smallto-midsize venues that don’t explicitly prohibit guns inside by posting a sign at the door. Shots ring out at the other side of the venue, some disagreement near the bar that escalated far too quickly. You instinctively move toward the exit to get away. What you don’t realize is that between you and that exit is a group of teenagers, and now to everybody’s surprise, they’re returning fire in the interest of saving innocent lives. These are the good guys with guns you hear so much about, waiting in the wings with weapons concealed ready to play hero if they’re needed. There’s one big problem, however, and it’s a terrifying one: none of these teens has
ever fired a gun — save for playing Call of Duty on their PlayStation 4 — and their first experience with doing so is in a dark room under chaotic conditions, with your life at stake. Nobody knew this group of newly minted adults fresh out of high school was packing, and if they had known, most folks would have been out of that exit long ago, but they were kept in the dark, literally and figuratively, and could very well die in the dark because of a new law that lowered the age for folks allowed to carry concealed handguns and did away with certain provisions that ensured those carrying them would know how to handle them. The story told above is an obviously farfetched hypothetical one. You’re no more likely to be cut down by confused gamers
with guns while watching your favorite local band you are to fall victim to a mass shooting in Walmart at the hands of some radical extremist (neither is going to happen), and yet it’s reminiscent of the type of fear mongering Republican lawmakers have used to try to pass laws like the one described above which passed through the N.C. House on Thursday, June 8, in a 64-51 vote. Among other things, House Bill 746 — also known as the Omnibus Gun Changes bill — would do away with the concealed carry permitting process, allowing anyone 18 and over to carry a gun hidden in their clothes. While gun control advocates and law enforcement agencies across the state have taken strong stances against the bill, Republicans such as Chris Millis of Pender County have simply insisted that opponents
haven’t read the bill, while Rep. John Blust of Guilford County tweeted a drawing of “bad guy” stick figures pointing guns at unarmed “good guys” to explain how we are all in imminent danger if we’re not all armed.
CHRISTY CLARK OF Huntersville is the
North Carolina chapter leader for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a group created to lobby legislators, companies and educational institutions for gun reform. Clark is involved with the local Charlotte group, and along with leaders from more than 10 chapters across the state has been encouraging supporters to call their local representatives and speak against HB 746 since its inception. SEE
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FEATURE
TARGET FROM P. 16 t Clark said her biggest concern is the elimination of the concealed carry permitting process, which mandates that gun owners go through eight hours of safety training before receiving the permit. “Our main issue with the bill is that it will repeal the requirement for the people to have safety training, and that would allow people to carry hidden, loaded guns in public places with no safety training and possibly never having even fired a gun ever,” she said. To be clear, North Carolina is an opencarry state, meaning gun owners 18 years old and up can already carry a gun in plain sight without having gone through any permitting process. Current law states that a person has to be 21 or older to obtain a concealed carry permit. Carrying any gun — openly or concealed — is restricted for people who are otherwise prohibited from owning a gun for reasons that include having been convicted of a felony or having been deemed mentally unfit to own a gun. That would remain so under HB 746. For Clark, the existing open-carry laws don’t justify the creation of relaxing concealed carry laws that were working fine. “It is concerning that now they like to say, ‘Oh well it’s going to be where people can already carry guns, because open carry is allowed there already,’” she said. “My issue with that is that we shouldn’t be allowing more people to carry guns without safety training. We want to make North Carolina more safe, not less.” John Rudisill, a Charlotte attorney who’s involved with multiple anti-gun organizations including Everytown for Gun Safety, has been watching in dismay as the bill has already moved further through the state legislature than previous efforts to eliminate the concealed carry permitting process. “This bill is the triumph of sheer lunacy in the name of fear ideology,” Rudisill said. “All the law enforcement organizations are against it, and the only parties that will benefit from it are the funeral homes and the hospitals, both of whom have enough business.” As Rudisill mentioned, gun control advocates are not alone in their opposition to HB 746. Law enforcement agencies across the state have been overwhelmingly against the bill, stating that it will put both police officers and residents in greater danger. Two of the state’s largest three police associations — the North Carolina Association of Police Chiefs and the North Carolina Fraternal Order of Police — have taken official stances against the bill. The third, the North Carolina Sheriff’s Association (NCSA), has not officially endorsed or denounced the bill, although the organization has stood against earlier efforts to repeal the concealed carry permitting process, and its leadership has been openly critical of HB 746. 16 | JUN. 15 - JUN. 21, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
Members of Moms Demand Action North Carolina chapter say they will continue to show up in Raleigh on a daily basis to fight against HB 746. In a legislative report released June 2, the NCSA noted that one aspect of the new law would require that people applying for a concealed carry permit (permits would still be available for reasons that include helping along the process of purchasing a firearm) to have a current diagnosis or ongoing mental disorder to be denied a permit. As it stands now, the sheriff’s office has access to any available mental health evaluations and mental health orders for applicants, and analyzes them before deciding if that applicant can obtain a permit. “This proposed change has the potential to allow individuals with serious mental illnesses who have not yet been diagnosed to be eligible for a concealed handgun permit,” reads the NCSA report.
CHRISTOPHER KOPP, a sergeant with the
Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department and owner of Lockdown International, for which he travels the country teaching classes related to gun safety in active shooter situations, explained why the law is viewed by many as being unsafe for police officers. “For us to stop and frisk somebody, we have to have a legitimate fear that they’re possibly carrying, that they’re armed, and we have to articulate why we felt we had to pat them down,” Kopp said. “Now, if it’s legal to carry concealed, that takes away law enforcement’s ability to what I would consider deescalate a situation. It can quickly turn
a voluntary contact into a very dangerous situation.” Kopp, who spoke with Creative Loafing not as a representative of the CMPD but as a business owner familiar with gun safety, downplayed the effects of cancelling the permitting process, which includes safety training. “Everybody goes through the training, but you only go through eight hours once every five years,” Kopp said. “Think of the last eighthour training session that you’ve gone to. Five years later, do you remember everything that was told to you? Even our current concealed policies that we have in the state are kind of subpar.” Kopp believes it’s up to each gun owner to educate themself on gun safety and to do it consistently. “It really comes down to the individual themselves actively going out there and training themselves with it,” he said. “If you’re going to carry the gun, no matter if you go to get a [concealed carry permit] or you want to open carry it, you better know how to use it for safety purposes.” Carolina Sporting Arms offers the eighthour classes currently required for someone to get a concealed carry permit, but store manager Donald Ingram isn’t as concerned with the potential loss of revenue as he is with bolstering the rights of his customers. “They’re basically saying constitutionally you should have the right to carry a concealed
PHOTO COURTESY OF CHRISTY CLARK
weapon if you’re legal to do so — permit or otherwise,” Ingram said. “It allows you to do that without jumping through the hoops of the permit. So I’m OK with it, and most people in the industry are for it.” Ingram agreed with Kopp that the responsibility of educating one’s self should fall on the individual, rather than the mandates of the government. “Regardless of whether [HB 746] goes though or whether it’s changed, in anything we all do, it’s incumbent upon you as a participant to be as educated as you can about it,” Ingram said. “I guess you could say there’s the potential of someone carrying without knowing the legal ins and outs — what they can and can’t do — and if they don’t take that responsibility, they’ll pay the cost for violating the law.” It’s still unclear whether HB 746 will pass through the Senate, and if it does, Gov. Roy Cooper may still shoot it down. Cooper has voiced mild concern with the bill, but has not stated whether he plans to veto it should it pass through the N.C. Senate. Judging by the margin with which it passed though the House, it does not currently seem as if the bill could survive a veto. However, it’s a safe assumption that if (or when) Republicans miss the mark on this one — as has been the case before — they’ll only keep firing. RPITKIN@CLCLT.COM
NEWS
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
BY CHUCK SHEPHERD
THE NEW POWER NAP If high-schoolers
seem stressed by active lifestyles and competitive pressures, and consequently fail to sleep the recommended nine to 10 hours a day, it must be a good idea for the federal government to give grants — including to Las Cruces High School in New Mexico — to purchase comfy, $14,000 “nap pods” that drive out the racket with soft music, for 20 minutes a shot during those frenzied classroom days. A May NPR report based on Las Cruces’ experience quoted favorable reviews by students, backed by a doctor and a nurse practitioner who pointed to research showing that adequate sleep “can” boost memory and attention and thus “can” improve school performance, and therefore must be a great use of federal education dollars.
UNCLEAR ON THE CONCEPT Florida
Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam argues that his “hands are tied” by “federal food laws” and that fresh, “all-natural” milk with the cream skimmed off the top cannot be sold in Florida as “milk” or “skim milk” but must be labeled “imitation milk” — unless the “all-natural” milk adds artificial vitamin A to the product. A family farm in the state’s panhandle, Ocheesee Creamery, decided to challenge the law, and Putnam, who recently announced his candidacy for governor, said he would try to resolve the issue soon.
NEWS YOU CAN USE (1) Briton Fred Whitelaw, 64, who has bowel cancer, recently began working “therapeutic” breast milk into his diet, but only that supplied by his daughter, Jill Turner, who recently gave birth and said she is happy to double-pump to assure both Fred and baby Llewyn adequate supplies, although husband Kyle is trying it out for his eczema, as well. (2) Scientists writing in the journal of the American Society for Microbiology recently recommended that parents not discourage children from picking their noses because snot contains a “rich reservoir of good bacteria” beneficial to teeth and overall health (fighting, for example, respiratory infections and even HIV). INEXPLICABLE (1) It recently became necessary for Candace Frazee and Steve Lubanski to acquire a bigger home in the Los Angeles area because their 33,000 “bunny”-related items — stuffed bunnies, antique bunnies, bunny paintings, bunny dinnerware, etc. — needed more space. (2) The world’s only museum devoted to the “house cat” allows self-guided tours in Sylva, North Carolina, where curator Harold Sims displays 10,000 artifacts including a genuine petrified cat with whiskers and all pulled from a 16th-century English chimney. (3) Brantford, Ontario, real estate agent Kyle
Jansink, speaking for unidentified sellers, said he accepted the challenge of selling the meticulously maintained home “as is” — still packed with the sellers’ clown-related items, including dolls, miniatures, porcelain statues and paintings.
COMPELLING EXPLANATION They’re
could not hear the doorbell, or burglars, and therefore would feel unsafe. At his May hearing, he objected to the characterization that the “sex sounds” were from videos; on the day in question, he said, he had a prostitute in the room. “It was not porn,” he insisted, confusingly. “It was live!”
“therapists,” not “strippers,” argued New York City’s Penthouse Executive Club, creatively characterizing its dancers to avoid $3 million in back taxes, but the state’s appeals board ruled against it in April. Penthouse had insisted that its performers were more akin to counselors for lonely men, and that the club’s “door charge” was an untaxable fee for therapeutic health services.
OOPS In May, Cincinnati Mayor John
GOOD PARENTING James Pelletier, 46,
BAD AT READING Winneshiek County
was arrested in Hollis, Maine, in May after he fired a BB gun point-blank at his two sons, ages 9 and 11 — but only, he said, as a “rite of passage” into maturity (perhaps thinking the experience would help them become as mature as their father). He said if the kids knew how it felt to get shot, perhaps they would not be so quick to fire their own guns.
(Iowa) Engineer Lee Bjerke said he had no idea how the driver of the loaded 18-wheeler had missed the “Load Limit 3 Tons” sign at the entrance of the small, rickety bridge near Cresco in May, but in seconds, the span was wiped out, and the tractor-trailer had become part of the Turkey River. The loaded grain truck weighed more than 30 tons.
THE CONTINUING CRISIS In contrast
ARMED AND CLUMSY Still more
to the exciting work of the TV series (near the top of broadcast ratings for the last decade), real agents in the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) have labored over computer screens eight to 10 hours a day for two months now employing their facial-recognition software — just to scour websites to identify victims of nude-photo postings of military personnel that came to light earlier this year. “(Y)ou get pretty burned out,” said the NCIS director. A simple word search of “uniformed military nude” got nearly 80 million hits, according to a May Associated Press dispatch from the Quantico Marine base, where the 20 investigators labor side-by-side.
ODD ALLIES (1) In April, three days after
ISIS fighters reportedly executed 25 villagers about 50 miles south of Kirkuk, Iraq, the three murderers were themselves killed and eight more wounded when a pack of wild boars overran their position and gnawed them into martyrdom. (2) In April, a Russian naval reconnaissance ship sank in the Black Sea off of Turkey (likely op: Syria-related) when it collided with a livestock barge flying the flag of Togo. All aboard the Russian ship were rescued; the much-heavier Togolese vessel suffered barely a scratch.
PERSPECTIVE An elderly German man, unnamed in news reports, was fined the equivalent of $110 in May for “terrorizing” neighbors in the town of Hennef by violating a 2015 agreement to lower the sound of his pornographic videos. He demanded sympathy because of his hearing disability, arguing that if he wore headphones, he
Cranley apparently mindlessly signed the proclamation designating a special day for the late Tre Hummons, submitted by his grieving father, to honor the son’s “sacrifice”. Tre Hummons was killed in 2015 by a police officer — but only after Tre had just shot and killed another Cincinnati police officer.
incidents in which people — make that, “men” — accidentally shoot themselves: a National Rifle Association staff member, 46, training on a firing range (Fairfax County, Virginia, April); a fleeing robber, run over by his victim, with the collision causing the robber’s gun to fire into his own mouth (Hawthorne, California, March); two boys, 17 and 19, “practicing” loading and unloading a handgun, managing to hit each other (Houston, March); a homeless man, 45, in a now-classic waistband-holster-crotch malfunction (Lake Panasoffee, Florida, Oct.); U.S. Park Police officer, shot his foot in a confrontation with a raccoon (Washington, D.C., Nov.); man, 48, shot himself, then, apparently angry at how it happened, shot his bed (Oceana County, Michigan, July). [Burke Patch, 4-7-2017]
NOTW CLASSIC Just another October (2013) day in Kelso, Washington: At the courthouse, a woman carrying a cake was approached by Robert Fredrickson, a stranger who was also in the building on business. Without warning, Fredrickson attacked — not the woman, the cake — grabbing it with both hands and stuffing his face. As he washed up a minute later at a drinking fountain, a deputy who witnessed the scene attempted to bring Fredrickson to justice, yelling, “(S)tand right there. Don’t move.” As soon as the officer looked away, however, Fredrickson returned to the cake and clawed at it again. Finally, several deputies subdued him and charged him with theft and resisting arrest.
your delicious weekly alternative news source
CLCLT.COM | JUN. 15 - JUN. 21, 2017 | 17
FEATURE
FOOD
SMASHING AVOCADOS Let’s hear it for the ‘toast’ of the rental units BY ARI LEVAUX
A
VOCADO TOAST is having
quite the moment. Toast, in general, is figuratively on fire, the carb darling du jour at coffee shops everywhere. And avocado is in the midst of a boom all its own. Worldwide, we are eating 18 | JUN. 15 - JUN. 21, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
more avocados than ever. Avocados have lots of fat and hardly any carbs, making them a favorite among the lowcarb dieters. As evidence of their fat content, the texture is buttery, and it spreads perfectly on the sharp, pocked surface of hot toast, where it forms a new material altogether, its
own creamy, crunchy layer of food that you are happy to chew and swallow. In Charlotte, some of the favorite spots for avocado toast include Not Just Coffee and Tupelo Honey (see sidebar). But beware. There are dangers lurking beneath the crispy, possibly pre-buttered
surface of that avocado toast. An injury known as “avocado hand” has emerged recently in England, where avocado consumption leapt by more than 25 percent annually in recent years. The broad diagnosis of avocado hand includes various form of selfinflicted knife injuries, some of which require
“THE REAL QUESTION IS: WHICH IS MORE IMPORTANT, A NEW HOUSE OR AVOCADO TOAST?” -LEVAUX’S AVOCADO-LOVING BUDDY surgery, that occur in pursuit of avocado pit removal. “People do not anticipate that the avocados they buy can be very ripe and there is minimal understanding of how to handle them,” plastic surgeon Simon Eccles told The Times (UK). “We don’t want to put people off the fruit, but I think warning labels are an effective way of dealing with this.” Eccles recalls treating as many as four cases of avocado hand in a single week.
ON THIS SIDE of the pond, things have not reached epidemic stage, although Martha
Stewart admits to more than one avocadorelated injury. I see on the internet that she now holds the pit-containing half with a folded kitchen towel, which protects her hand from the occasional epic fail. I now watch avocado toast videos in a state of suspense, which only builds as the avocado waits quietly on the cutting board. Flinchy moments are not hard to come by. One hostess announced, “And now I’ll take the pit out, by stabbing and twisting.” Another commanded her viewers not to sue if their own attempts went horribly wrong. As if avocado hand isn’t enough to worry
about, the avocado toast world recently learned about yet another hazard avocado toast lovers must face: a lifetime of tenancy. “When I was trying to buy my first home,” recalled Australian real estate tycoon Tim Gurner to Australia’s 60 Minutes in a now infamous interview, “I wasn’t buying smashed avocado for $19 and four coffees at $4 each.” Predictably, Gurner was maimed on social media and in the news. Several teams of journalists crunched their local housing and avocado toast numbers to determine how many average-priced orders it would take to forego the average house. Others looked at
the math of making avocado toast at home, where one would have to add caviar and poached dodo egg to get the price tag above five bucks for two slices. Meanwhile, it is entirely possible to pay a lot more for toast in the city than the $19 figure Gurner tossed out. Perhaps he had a point. Speaking of price, avocados are likely to be expensive this year, thanks in part to severe floods in the avocado-rich countries of
SEE
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AVOCADOS FROM P. 19 t South America. But not to worry, because in Mexico, huge swaths of old-growth jungle are being clear-cut in order to plant more avocado trees, all so millennials, especially European millennials, can mutilate their hands. I first heard about avocado toast years ago — before most hipsters even knew what a macchiato is — from an aspiring coffee shop owner whose wife had just returned from a trip to Los Angeles. I thought it was the silliest thing ever. Now, a decade later,
my friend lives in a house that was paid for, basically, by avocado toast — his best-selling slab. When I asked my friend if he found it troublesome that millennials are trading their dreams of home ownership for some overpriced calories made by some dude with a beard, he was philosophical. “The real question,” he suggested, “is: Which is more important, a new house or avocado toast?”
FORGET THE HOUSE! Five spots in Charlotte where you’ll find great avocado toast DON’T WORRY, millennials, that royally stupid comment from Australian millionaire Tim Gurner on 60 Minutes — you know, the one you may have read about in The Charlotte Observer (breaking news, folks!) about millennials not being able to buy houses because they eat too much avocado toast? — was hilarious at best, utter hogwash at worst. [Adopt haughty tone] “When I was trying to buy my first home, I wasn’t buying smashed avocado for $19 and four coffees at $4 each,” Gurner groaned. Oh, hush. You weren’t buying anything, you stingy bastard. So in honor of avocado toast in Charlotte — both the overpriced and economical varieties — here’s five spots where you can enjoy it. Some of these places, like Not Just Coffee, dress their avocado toast up real pretty!
NoDa Bodega
1200 E. 36th St. noda.org
The Peculiar Rabbit 1212 Pecan Ave. therabbitspot.com
Not Just Coffee 222 S. Church St. notjust.coffee
HOME ALL WEEKEND!
Tupelo Honey
1820 South Blvd. tupelohoneycafe.com
Charlotte Knights vs. Louisville & Indianapolis
204 North Kitchen and Cocktails 204 N. Tryon St. 204north.com
THURSDAY
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SATURDAY Forget the house, why not sit down to a nice breakfast of avocado toast? And if you happen to be in Australia, that latte on the side can be served in an avocado skin. My friend’s avocado slab is built on a thick slice of toasted sourdough loaf. Half an avocado is smeared on, and dressed with salt, pepper and coconut oil. Personally, I prefer a good olive oil to most coconut oils available on the market. And I fancy a squeeze of lemon or lime. After the pit has been safely removed, I gently slice the flesh with a butter knife, while the peel is still on, and then squeeze it onto the toast and mash it around. Before adding the oil and lemon, consider adding whatever seasonal delicacies you can assemble. A thin slice of radish or turnip. Eventually,
PHOTO BY ARI LEVAUX
tomatoes. In the meantime, a poached egg is a decadent addition to anything, including avocado toast. Some leftover chicken, toasted on the bread sprinkled with cheese, can be smeared with avocado with glorious results. Spinach pesto, pickled jalapenos, capers. Salt and pepper, of course. And chile flakes. It all seems to work just fine with avocado toast. Just watch that knife.
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THURSDAY
15
SIZZLA What: Sure, you could go see the Swedish super-producer-group Miike Snow bring their style-oversubstance pop to The Fillmore, but why go for empty calories when you can be next door watching one of the most prolific reggae singers ever. Seriously, Sizzla has recorded more than 70 albums in his 27-year career. He’s slowed down a little lately, letting three years lapse between Nuh Worry Unu Self and last year’s 876, but the roots reggae is as tasty as ever. When: 9:30 p.m. Where: The Underground, 820 Hamilton St. More: $38-$59. fillmorecharlottenc. com.
22 | JUN. 15 - JUN. 21, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
FRIDAY
16
THINGS TO DO
TOP TEN
Elvis Costello WEDNESDAY
PHOTO BY MARY MCCARTNEY
SATURDAY
17
KISS-N-GRIND W/ TALIB KWELI
CONVERSATIONS VS. CONFRONTATIONS
What: One of the hottest parties in L.A. for years has been multitalented DJ and producder Vikter Duplaix’s Kiss-N-Grind events, which feature collaborations with artists ranging from Questlove to MC Lyte. If you’ve missed it, don’t worry: Duplaix’s party has hit the road again and he’s bringing along Talib Kweli to help create the vibe he’s long been known for: amazing music programmed for dancing, socializing or just chilling.
What: The Black Political Caucus of Charlotte-Mecklenburg recently elected long-time community organizer Colette Forrest as chair, and she’s not the type to sit on her hands while tensions remain among Charlotte’s black youth and police. The caucus’ social justice committee will discuss conflict resolution and the rogue element present in law enforcement, with a goal to ensure positive interactions between police and black youth.
When: 9:30 p.m. Where: The Underground, 820 Hamilton St. More: $15-$20. fillmorecharlottenc. com.
When: 12-2 p.m. Where: Trinity Episcopal Church, 750 E. 9th St. More: Free. facebook.com/ blackpoliticalcaucus.com.
SATURDAY
17
SATURDAY
17
BANDA MAGDA
IMAKECLT
What: Fronted by Greek-born, New York-based vocalist, accordionist and composer Magda Giannakou, Banda Magda crafts smooth jet set pop confections, which float on clouds of loungey bossa nova beats and Giannakou’s breathy, French vocals. But there is more to the combo than retro Franco pop and exotica. Greek folk melodies, Peruvian psychedelic cumbias, and the orchestral sweep of Serge Gainsbourg add a soupcon of grit and woozy weirdness to Banda Magda’s international mélange.
What: Ever wanted to fly a drone but don’t know how? Would you like to grow some veggies in your windowsill but don’t know where to start? At iMakeCLT, artists and makers will be leading interactive workshops for attendees interested in ... just about everything: STEM education, community art-making, urban hydroponics, hand sign painting, drone technology, 3D printing, printmaking, robotics, building birdhouses and more. A family-friendly event that could not possibly bore you.
When: 10 p.m. Where: Evening Muse, 3227 N Davidson St, More: $10. eveningmuse.com.
When: 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Where: C3 Lab, 2525 Distribution St. More: Free. c3-lab.com.
Carolina Shout’s Ethan Uslan MONDAY
Deftones TUESDAY
NEWS ARTS FOOD MUSIC ODDS
Blayr Nias WEDNESDAY PHOTO COURTESY OF PETRA’S
COURTESY OF BLAYR NIAS
MONDAY
19
CAROLINA SHOUT What: Silent movies were never truly silent. In their heyday they unspooled with a score and sound effects, courtesy of an on-site piano player. Pianist Ethen Uslan slips easily from juke joint stride to classical pieces, as he accompanies a selection of shorts. We caught Uslan last summer, providing a score to the 1928 Harold Lloyd comedy Speedy. Lloyd’s appeal is hard to fathom today, but Speedy came alive because of Uslan’s deft work on the ivories.
When: 7:30 p.m. Where: Petra’s, 1919 Commonwealth Ave. More: $5. petrasbar.com.
MONDAY
TUESDAY
COURTESY OF DEFTONES
WEDNESDAY
WEDNESDAY
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GHOST HOP IPA RELEASE PARTY
RISE AGAINST & DEFTONES
ELVIS COSTELLO
BLAYR NIAS
What: With songs like “Prayer of The Refugee” and “Hero Of War,” the mighty Rise Against remains one of the great conscientious hardcore voices able to stand and keep fighting through the Trump years. And on this night, they’re paired with Deftones, whose singer’s voice has morphed over the years from a screeched metal yowl into some metallic blending of Bono and Bjork.
What: Which Elvis Costello do you want to see – the spiky punk who got banned from Saturday Night Live for playing a song that criticized corporate broadcasting? The elegant musical polymath who dared to say that easy listening maven Burt Bacharach was good? Or any number of Elvises in between? They’ll all be on stage at CMCU on Wednesday. Sure, this is a nostalgia gig, but Costello is one of the best songwriters of this or any generation, and his aim will always be true.
What: Blayr is known for cultivating local and regional acts with her monthly Almost Famous show that she started in 2012, but Wednesday is her night, for her new show, “Pretty Funny for a Girl.” One of the best local comedians for years now, she’s opened local sets for Marc Maron and performed at Oddball Fest in 2014, which technically means she’s opened for an entire line-up of the best comedians in the world. But setting the stage for dudes doesn’t define Blayr, you need to go see her on her own.
When: 7:30 p.m. Where: CMCU Amphitheatre, 100 NC Music Factory Blvd. More: $19 and up. livenation.com.
When: 7 p.m. Where: Comedy Zone, 900 N.C. Music Factory Blvd. Suite B3. More: $15. cltcomedyzone.com.
What: It’s that time of year again where local breweries are releasing those lighter, more refreshing beers and beckoning you to leave work early on a Monday and go hit a patio. One party you can hit is at NoDa Brewery, where they’ll be relasing Ghost White IPA, described as having “the grain bill of an IPA, minus the color, and the hops of a true Northwestern IPA, all delicately fermented with Belgian Wit yeast.” If you know what that means, all the more power to you. When: 4-9 p.m. Where: NoDa Brewing Company, 2921 N. Tryon St. More: Free. nodabrewing.com.
When: 4-9 p.m. Where: Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre, 1210 E. Trade St., Ste. 104A More: $32 and up. charlottemetrocreditunionamp. com.
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PHOTO BY ADAM SHUTTER
Kizzy (left) and Tizzy smoke the mic.
FEATURE
MUSIC
HIGHER CONSCIOUSNESS Th3 Higher are fomenting a spiritual/intellectual renaissance in Charlotte hip-hop BY MARK KEMP
X
AVIER WALKER and DaQuan
Bolton, better known by their hip-hop names Tizzy and Kizzy, are pretty much joined at the hips. The two members of Th3 Higher, one of Charlotte’s more promising rap duos, do everything together. Right now, they’re sitting together in a small room in a small house just off Eastway Drive that serves as their recording studio and brainstorming lair. The two are animated, talking in great detail about their plans to take their Zen-style rap 24 | JUN. 15 - JUN. 21, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
to the masses. Surrounded by hugh white boards with specific dates and times when certain aspects of their most ambitious album to date, Super Symmetry, will be completed, the room is a glorious mess. On one white board are lists of collaborators. On another are columns headed “Track Listing,” “Where We Going,” “Press Box,” “Blog Control,” “YouTube Popularity” and “Soundcloud Dominance.” Under those headings are detailed plans on how to achieve their goals.
“We know exactly where we’re going with this,” says Tizzy, 25, who is razor thin with long dangling locks and glasses that give him the look of an intellectual on a mission to transform deep knowledge into ambitious, adventurous hip-hop. If anybody should know where they’re going, it’s Tizzy and Kizzy. The two have known each other since they met in Mr. Weaver’s Psychology class at Renaissance School of the Arts at Olympic High. Tizzy was in 11th grade and Kizzy was a senior.
Tizzy was the new kid at school and overheard Kizzy and another student talking about writing raps. Tizzy thought to himself, “Yeah, right.” “Yeah, right” was right. The dudes were good. The two laugh at the memory. “Tizzy told us he had a studio and was looking for people to rap with,” Kizzy remembers. “We went straight to his house after that and we would record day and night from 2:30 in the afternoon to 2:30 in the morning. We only stopped to eat.”
Actually, they haven’t stopped in the decade since that fortuitous meeting in psych class. The two have recorded a handful of releases — the 99 Cent EP (2013), Teal and Purple (2014), Trapabolic Time Chamber (2015), and the SoL EP, which drops this week. (Go to clclt.com for the premiere of their first video from the new EP.) But nothing has been as ambitious as the upcoming concept album Super Symmetry. You could say it’s a sort of Zen and the art of Hip-Hop. “This is is the culmination of all the lessons we’ve learned throughout our career,” Tizzy says. He’s standing next to the main white board in the duo’s makeshift studio/office space, crammed with equipment and mismatched furniture, pointing to each plan of action on the board. Right now, he’s going over the track listing. “The tape starts off with ‘Snakeway,’ produced by N.A.P Productions. It’s a letter to ourselves. It serves as a mental stake in the ground. As we go from here, we enter uncharted territory where self can be easily lost.” See what I mean? Zen. These dudes are doing nothing short of creating a master plan for living life in the moment; a sort of hip-hop self-help manual, Th3 Higher-style. “Each song serves as another dimension that we have the ability to tap into,” Tizzy goes on. “Our whole career we’ve been told to pick a sound or genre and stick with that. Songs like ‘Foot on the Gas,’ ‘Th3 Myth’ and ‘Sun at Night,’ featuring Matrix P, are just three songs on the 13-track project that showcase not only our ability to change style but also subject matter, tempo, and sound — completely! — and still perform them beautifully and effortlessly.” Did I mention that confidence is not in short supply inside Th3 Higher’s lair? “‘Moment’ serves as a constant reminder to ourselves as well as our listeners to never take anything for granted and to stay focused on living in the now. The tape closes with ‘Super Symmetry.’ The song serves as the Ouroboros: we survive because we live and move in love and positivity. Thus when the energy is reciprocated we must only make sure we are ready to receive the blessings that come our way.”
THIS IS SOME heavy stuff, no? Th3 Higher may be Charlotte’s most philosophical hiphop act. They think about — no, actually, they plan, write, conceive and execute — every move they make. And every move involves bringing not just the hip-hop community together, but bringing humanity together into a swirl of spiritual oneness. It wasn’t always like that. Tizzy and Kizzy just liked to rap and make beats in the old days. Oh, they were smart guys with big ideas, but it wasn’t until they separated temporarily — Tizzy went off to college to study science at UNC Pembroke and Kizzy stayed back home to study graphic design at Kings College. “I had my studio with me in my dorm room but I would never use it,” Tizzy says of his time at Pembroke. “For some reason it just didn’t feel right. I transferred from UNCP to UNCC thinking that I’d do both but I was sadly mistaken. So I dropped out of UNCC. I called Kizzy up and was like, ‘Yo, we
PHOTO BY AYOPENZ
Tizzy at South by Southwest in Austin, 2017.
“[SUPER SYMMETRY] IS THE CULMINATION OF ALL THE LESSONS WE’VE LEARNED THROUGHOUT OUR CAREER.” -TIZZY
gotta get back to it.’ He came to my apartment and — boom — we’ve been back at it ever since. This was in 2010.” The duo’s biggest push came from a woman who is the unofficial mother of underground hip-hop in Charlotte; Ms. Bunny. “Ms. Bunny runs and operates the Underground. She called Tizzy one day and asked him to come check out her new house. She had a huggggggge basement and she
gave us permission to turn it out,” Kizzy remembers. “We painted all the walls black, put in lights and a stage and started throwing #MFGD (short for Mufucka Gahdamn).” The Underground, set up in Ms. Bunny’s basement, was a sort of a Charlotte underground hip-hop version of Showtime at the Apollo, where crowd acceptance or rejection dictated the day. “It was an open mic where artists were alotted one song,” Kizzy
continues. “If the crowd liked it, they say ‘MUFUCKA GAHDAMN!,’ and the artist was able to perform another song. If the crowd didn’t like it they’d simply say ‘GAHDAMN’ and the artist would leave the stage and try again the following week.” All this happened during a time when the more prominent Charlotte music venues wouldn’t give rappers that time of day. A booker would hear the word “rap” CLCLT.COM | JUN. 15 - JUN. 21, 2017 | 25
PHOTO BY AYOPENZ
Tizzy (left) and Kizzy hang out in front of some bitchin’ Austin mural art during South By Southwest 2017. and immediately say no. In the white music world, bookers and promotors didn’t seem to comprehend that the differences among
different genres of rap are about the same as the difference between, say, Justin Beiber, Metallica and the Strokes.
S
A
T
U
R
D
A
Y
JUNE 17 th 2017 DOORS OPEN AT 5:00PM | SHOW STARTS AT 6:00PM
TO PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS visit
TICKETMASTER.COM
P N C M u s i c Pav i l i o n B ox O f f i c e
or call 1-800-745-3000
BRIAN CULBERTSON “BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND”
MIKE PHILLIPS
WITH JEFF BRADSHAW
26 | JUN. 15 - JUN. 21, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
JEFF LORBER
YUNA
Kizzy (left) and Tizzy get Th3 Mayor Jennifer Roberts Higher. A handful of new and old rock-centric venues have opened their minds somewhat, but getting hip-hop booked in Charlotte is still a challenge. “There are a lot less music venues that book hip-hop,” Tizzy says. “We can book bars and taverns but a majority of the bigger venues in Charlotte don’t book hip-hop, and we get it, it’s based on things other acts did, but it’s just shitty when we come to book and get turned away, one-lined or flat-out ignored even after we present professional proposals. Just based on the fact that we’re hip-hop.” The Underground was an antidote to that. “The entire purpose of the Underground was to give artists a stage to not only perform but to hone their skills,” Tizzy says. “We’d been performing around Charlotte for a while but we knew there had to be way more people in the city and — BOOM! — we found them.” Everywhere, in fact. “Everybody who needed to be at the Underground found the Undergound,” he says. “It’s quite funny. All the artists found each other at the Underground and so much love was felt!”
LOVE. For Th3 Higher, that’s what it’s all about. The duo’s experience with the Underground shifted their focus. They’d always been conscious rappers, but now, with the upcoming Super Symmetry, consciousness is their mission. “Our current music is focused on shifting the consciousness of our listeners. We’re not preaching but we definitely are hitting on vibrations no other artists are hitting on,” Tizzy says. “We believe that we are here to learn and love. We’ve started to share what we’ve been learning over the last year. Our newer music is what we like to call Meta. If we’re forced to choose a genre we’ve chosen to create
PHOTO BY BLACK LINEN
TH3 HIGHER: ‘THE SOL EP’ PREMIERE June 21. Look to clclt.com for the EP’s exclusive premiere. Also, stay tuned shortly thereafter for the release of the full-lenggh Super Symmetry.
our own. Meta is abstract rap laced with metaphysics and knowledge. We hit all areas from the trap to the boom bap!” Oh, and one more thing: Don’t get it twisted. All the talk of metaphysics, spirituality and academics doesn’t mean these guys can’t rock a house hard. During the BOOM Fest in April, Th3 Higher had Petra’s in Plaza Midwood positively vibrating. Their performance was dynamic, stunning, engaging. Or, as Kizzy says, “Lit! We get on stage and literally black out and let the music take over. Much of it stems from being looked over on a lot of shows. We book a majority of our own shows because we have only been asked to perform at a handful. Us Southside rappers gotta stick together. So while we’re on stage we go as hard as we possibly can. We cannot stand negative energy, so when on stage we feel it our duty to turn up to the max to make sure the audience is entertained and having a good time. He pauses, adding, “Not to mention Tizzy still wants to stage dive. Can’t do that with a dead audience. I mean you can but.. yeah...” BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM
MUSIC
MUSICMAKER
CARNIVAL OF TERRORS! Dr. Cirkustien rocks the creepy sideshow vibe BY PAT MORAN
BEFORE THE SADISTIC clown became
a mainstay of our collective nightmares, there was the creepy carnival. Where do you think those evil bastards came from anyway? Sure, your average circus is wholesome, even corny, fun in the midday sun, but switch off the lights and the fairground turns eerie with the rising of the moon, a twisted warren of sideshow geeks, freaks, mummified monstrosities and grinning malevolent carnies. Charlotte six-piece Dr. Cirkustien has tapped into this fun and fearful spook show milieu for six years with creepy-cool music and a frequently elaborate and sinister stage show. CL talked with 37-year-old Cirkustien ringleader Kenneth Winchester (AKA Kendo Winstar) about taking audiences on an uncanny and wild ride. Creative Loafing: Is the band’s name pronounced Dr. Cirkus-STINE? Kendo Winstar: Cirkus-STEEN, CirkusSTINE, it doesn’t matter. It’s like a mandala. What you see is what it is. Who is in the band and what do they play? Jerry Lowery is our drummer. Jason Renegar is our singer. Bob Todd is our guitar player. Beau Carter is our trumpet player. I’m the keyboard player. John Johnson is our bass player. A Creative Loafing blurb from 2012 says you mix “Nick Cave ranting with Italian (horror movie) synths” and that you “crossbreed zombie ska with free noise.” Why did you take such an eclectic route? There were three of us originally and we all liked different stuff, and we just put it all together. Over time we developed our style. The whole band is all over the place. I’m into everything from The Specials to Deep Purple to Bach to Wu Tang Clan. The guitar player is heavily into metal. Our drummer likes jazz and Steely Dan. The singer is into Tom Waits. Can you describe a typical Dr. Cirkustien show? We’ve had everything from burlesque dancers to fire performers to whatever was available at the time. We usually stick to the circus theme, the vaudevillian look and feel. What drew you to that? The music went there, and it grew by itself.
Dr. Circustien (L-R) Jason Renager-lead vocal, Kenneth Winchester-keys, Beau Carter-trumpet, Jerry Lowery (top, no hat)-drums, John Johnson (bottom/hat)-Bass, Bob Todd-guitar Our singer wanted to start a jazz poetry project, and I signed up for it. I was going to play drums at the start, but the bass player turned out to be a better drummer, so I gravitated to the keys. The sound we created reminded us of a circus – the mixture of first and second wave ska mixed in with rock and jazz. The keyboard sound also contributes to that carnival feel. Why does the circus theme go over so well with the audience? It doesn’t resonate with everyone, but when it does, people really like it. I think the sound and the look draws them into a feeling that they had when they were kids at the circus, or maybe when they were a little older – the crazy celebration, the drunkenness of the carnival. You come from different types of music and have different tastes. How does that work out when you’re figuring out what to play? A lot of times it works itself out, and sometimes it doesn’t. We have lots of hits and misses. There are not too many bands that would pull in some of the stuff we do, or figure out a way to lace them together like we do. Who knew that you could do a mix of ska and progressive metal? It just happens naturally, and sometimes it doesn’t. We have to pick which (songs) we want to put fertilizer
PHOTO BY 33RD. DEGREE PHOTOGRAPHY
on, so to speak. Who writes the band’s lyrics? Jason (Renegar) writes most of the lyrics. He has a plethora of ideas, and he’s good at stitching stuff together. A lot of times the music is so happy and energetic, you don’t realize that the lyrics are pretty dark. That comes from Jason. He’s able to put on a smile and say these disturbing things. I think that how we get away with some of the songs we do. You have six people, all into different types of music. What’s the secret of keeping all you guys together? People in Charlotte start a band, and a year later they’re done. They record one album. They do one show a month, and then they hang it up. I really have no idea how we’ve been together as long as we have – other than just showing up on Thursday. That’s the rule. You have to be here every week for practice. Do you tour outside of Charlotte? We haven’t in the last year and a half. We used to tour regionally. We’d do circles through North and South Carolina to the beach and back, but we haven’t much as of late. Once you add more members, you add more schedules to deal with. There are six people. For everyone to take a week off, it all has to work out perfectly. All the planets have to align. We’re looking into
DOLLAR SIGNS, TREEPHORT, THE EMOTRON, DR. CIRKUSTIEN Milestone 3400 Tuckaseegee Rd. Charlotte, NC, 28208 Sat., June 17, 2017 9:00pm 11:59pm $5-7
doing more touring in the future after we record something with all of us on it, because we have no recordings with the horn player. Once we do that, and have something to sell, we’ll be able to fund a tour a little better. When you play the Milestone on June 17, will you be in circus costumes? Sometimes when we’re playing smaller shows we don’t get into costumes. Once we started adding more members, some of them didn’t do costumes but some of them do. We did a show a few weeks ago where we all dressed up as Cobra Commander soldiers (Terrorist villains from the from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline). It’s always a surprise. Who knows what’s going to happen? You’ll just have to come and see us. BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM
CLCLT.COM | JUN. 15 - JUN. 21, 2017 | 27
MUSIC
SOUNDBOARD
JUNE 15 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH The Jazz Room: Mark Braud Plays Traditional New Orleans Jazz (Stage Door Theater) JazzArts Music Camp with Mark Braud (UNC Charlotte Main Campus, Robinson Hall) John Alexander Jazz Trio (Blue Restaurant & Bar)
COUNTRY/FOLK Beavergrass Bluegrass Jam f. Jim Garrett (Thirsty Beaver)
DJ/ELECTRONIC Le Bang (Snug Harbor)
HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Sizzla, Pressure, Marlon Asher (The Underground)
POP/ROCK Alive After 5: Breakfast Club (EpiCentre) Bob Shirley (Comet Grill) Chris Trapper, The DuPont Brothers (The Evening Muse) Cicada Rhythym (U.S. National Whitewater Center) Jerry Jacobs (Tin Roof) Karaoke with DJ ShayNanigans (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern Little Bird, Kendall Street Company (Visulite Theatre) Miike Snow, Klangstof (The Fillmore Charlotte) Muse, 30 Seconds to Mars (PNC Music Pavilion) Natty Boh (RiRa Irish Pub) Shiprocked (Snug Harbor,) Someday, The Jimmie Chavis Band, Solemn Shapes, Glimpses (Petra’s) Carmen Tate (Eddie’s Seafood & Raw Bar, Mooresville) Music on Means (Historic Downtown, Concord) Turnpike Troubadours, Frenchie’s Blues Destroyers (Neighborhood Theatre)
JUNE 16 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH JazzArts Music Camp with Mark Braud (UNC Charlotte Main Campus, Robinson Hall)
BLUES/ROOTS/INTERNATIONAL Steven Engler Band (Blue Restaurant & Bar)
COUNTRY/FOLK Lady Antebellum, Kelsea Ballerini & Brett Young (PNC Music Pavilion) The Lenny Federal Band (Comet Grill)
HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Talib Kweli (The Underground) 28 | JUN. 15 - JUN. 21, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
POP/ROCK All Them Witches, Handsome Jack (Visulite Theatre) Below The Belt (RiRa Irish Pub) Crystal Fountains (Vinyl Pi, Huntersville) DJ Ragoza (RiRa Irish Pub) Faves and Raves (Duke Energy Theater) Jerry Jacobs (Tin Roof) Mall Goth, Elevator Jay, Dead Sea $crilla, Blossoms, Steven Pilker (Snug Harbor) Matt Mackelcan, David Higgins Band, Matt Minchew (The Evening Muse) Natty Boh (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Rich Challen (NoDa Brewing Company) South Side Punx, The Madd Hatters, Poison Anthem, The Commonwealth, Stray Cat Sideshow, Corporate Fandango, The Southern Madman Tom Stover (Milestone) Third Eye Blind, Silversun Pickups (Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre) Trismalux, Stephanie Morgan, Monty Mak (Petra’s) Vices & Vessels, Persistent Shadow, Innervisions, East Viridian, Arborlea (Neighborhood Theatre) Von Hunter (Birdsong Brewery) The Wormholes, Estuarie (The Evening Muse)
JUNE 17 DJ/ELECTRONIC Benny Benassi (Label) DJ Complete (RiRa Irish Pub)
CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH The Jazz Room: Mark Braud Plays Traditional New Orleans Jazz (Stage Door Theater) JazzArts Music Camp with Mark Braud (UNC Charlotte Main Campus, Robinson Hall) Queen City Jazz Fest: Brian Culbertson, Mike Phillips, Jeff Bradshaw, Jeff Lorber, Yuna (Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre)
POP/ROCK Almost Kings (The Underground) Tosco Music Beatles Tribute (Knight Theater) Aqualads, Blair‑Pongracic Band, Phatlynx (Snug Harbor) Banda Magda (The Evening Muse) Cracker, The Whiskey Gentry (Neighborhood Theatre) Dead 27s (The Rabbit Hole) Dollar Signs, Treephort, The Emotron, Dr. Cirkustien (Milestone) Faves and Raves (Duke Energy Theater) Holy Smokes & The Godforsaken Rollers, Vilai Harrington & The Hamptones, Elonzo Wesley
(Petra’s) Kaleb Hensley (Tin Roof) Laura Thurston (Birdsong Brewery) Matt Minchew (Tin Roof) Mike Strauss Band (Comet Grill,) The Mulligan Brothers (The Evening Muse,) Osara (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Tonya Wood Music Company (Vinyl Pi, Huntersville) Vilai Harrington & The Hamptones, Holy Smokes & The Goddam Rollers (Petra’s)
JUNE 18 BLUES/ROOTS/INTERNATIONAL
Deftones, Rise Against (Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre) Jesse Jazz Band Jam (The Evening Muse) Open Mic hosted by Jarrid and Allen of Pursey Kerns (The Kilted Buffalo, Huntersville) Lara Americo (Snug Harbor)
JUNE 21 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH The Clarence Palmer Trio (Morehead Tavern)
DJ/ELECTRONIC
Cane Mill Road, The Looping Brothers (The Evening Muse)
Cyclops Bar: Modern Heritage Weekly Mix Tape
DJ/ELECTRONIC
HIP HOP/SOUL/R&B
Soul Sunday: DJs Sir Chocolate Milk & Elon (Snug Harbor)
The Essence of Sound: The Work, Fushun (The
POP/ROCK Ivory Layne (Neighborhood Theatre) James McMurtry, Jonny Burke (Visulite Theatre) Nemesis, Black Mass, Death Of Kings, Old Scratch (Milestone) Omari and The Hellhounds (Comet Grill) Social DisChord 2: An ACLU Benefit Concert: The Local Odyssey, Good Bones, Melt, Sinners & Saints, Secret Guest, Chócala (Petra’s)
JUNE 19 HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Knocturnal (Snug Harbor)
POP/ROCK Find Your Muse Open Mic with Cameron Floyd (The Evening Muse) The Monday Night Allstars (Visulite Theatre) Open Mic with Jade Moore (Primal Brewery, Huntersville) Shannon Lee and Thomas Stainkamp Dueling Piano’s Night (Vinyl Pi, Huntersville)
JUNE 20 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Bill Hanna Jazz Jam (Morehead Tavern)
(Snug Harbor)
Peace Pipe, Charlotte)
COUNTRY/FOLK Stephanie Quayle, Out of the Blue (Coyote Joe’s) Open Mic (Comet Grill)
POP/ROCK Alarm Drum, Cheesus Crust, Pink Pots (Milestone) The Districts, Spirit of the Beehive (Visulite Theatre) Elvis Costello & The Imposters (Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre) Fair City Fire (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Karaoke with DJ Pucci Mane (Petra’s) Kris Lager Band (The Rabbit Hole) Los Colognes, Roadkill Ghost Choir (Neighborhood Theatre) Modern Heritage Weekly Mix Tape (Snug Harbor) Open mic w/ Jared Allen (Jack Beagles) Patois Counselors w/ Ernie, Dollhands (Snug Harbor) Pluto For Planet (RiRa Irish Pub)
COUNTRY/FOLK
Songwriter Open Mic @ Petra’s (Petra’s)
Red Rockin’ Chair (Comet Grill) Tuesday Night Jam w/ The Smokin’ Js (Smokey Joe’s Cafe)
Stoop Kids (The Evening Muse)
POP/ROCK
Underground)
The Bald Brotherhood (Tin Roof) Daniel Romano (The Evening Muse)
The Tosco Music Open Mic (The Evening Muse) Trapdoor Social, Mighty Mango (The
JUNE 21
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6/15 LITTLE BIRD 6/16 ALL THEM WITCHES 6/18 JAMES MCMURTRY 6/21 THE DISTRICTS 6/22 OLD 97's 6/25 ODDISEE & GOOD COMPNY 7/9 SIR SLY 7/20 JOHN MORELAND 7/21 YARN 7/28 YO MAMA'S BIG FAT BOOTY BAND 7/30THEROCKET SUMMER 8/12 Natural Wonder 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. 15 - JUN. 21, 2017 | 29
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF HEROES CON
ARTS
FEATURE HEROESCON 2017
HEROES AND VILLAINS Do you still got the jive to handle three days of HeroesCon comic book bliss?
June 16-18. Fri., 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sun., 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Charlotte Convention Center, 501 S. College St. 704-375-7462. heroesonline.com/heroescon.
BY GREY REVELL
H
EROESCON IS practically a
religion for Suzie Mason. She’s been attending the annual Charlotte comic convention faithfully since 2006, most of them with her little girl Madeleine, who’s attended every year of her life. “She’s never missed a year and she’s 7 now,” Mason says. “I used to carry her in a sling.” Mason’s enthusiasm is infectious, but it’s no secret that this is Mom’s thing, and both Madeleine and her mom are fine with that. 30 | JUN. 15 - JUN. 21, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
“She’s not into it as much as I am,” Mason says with shrug, motioning to the little girl who’s clearly more interested in the video games in the family’s living room. “She’s into the more cartoon-based stuff.” Cartoons aren’t exactly off this mom’s radar. In addition to indie comics, Mason, who’s smitten with all things Japanese, is a massive fan of the groundbreaking Afro Samurai animated series as well as Samurai Jack, created by the legendary artist Andy Suriano. At last year’s HeroesCon, Suriano made an appearance, and Mason was there. “I was super excited because Samurai Jack
blew my mind when it first came out,” says Mason, 35, whose day job is the Playstation representative for Sony Interactive Entertainment in the Southeast. She’s also been active in Charlotte’s music and creative communities for years, playing bass for bands including Zoe Vette and the Revolvers and Sunday Missile. Suriano obliged Mason with a signature in her Samurai Jack book, complete with a nice surprise. “He drew Aku in it for me!” Mason says, referring to the iconic villain of the series. She grins widely. “I was super excited. I was totally fan-girling!”
HeroesCon descends on the Queen City for the 35th time for three days beginning June 16, and an array of writers and artists were still being added to the roster at press time. The event takes place at the Charlotte Convention Center, so be on the lookout for pedestrians in costume while driving through the Uptown area that weekend. Karla Southern, the events organizer for the convention, reveals at least one special guest during this year’s HeroesCon. “I have it on good authority that none-other-than DMC himself (Darryl McDaniels of Run-DMC fame) will be in attendance, and might even jump in
on some hosting duties.” Like many of the organizers, Southern started 10 years ago as simply a fan. “I was just a dedicated HeroesCon attendee and volunteer,” she says. She remembers being “blissfully unaware of all that went into planning the show each year.” In those days, Heroes founder Shelton Drum and Dustin Harbin did everything. In 2011, after Harbin went to cartooning full-time, Drum brought in Rico Renzi, an artist who colored for Marvel, and a local rockstar of the comics scene, as Heroes’ creative director to handle the Artist Alley aspect of the show. A year later, he brought Southern in to coordinate the exhibitors and other aspects of the show. Even now, elbows-deep in the nuts and bolts of planning a major Charlotte convention, Southern still remains, at heart, a fangirl of the local team that has brought Heroes to life. “I can’t imagine how Shelton organized the show by himself for so many years, or how he and Dustin managed the task with just the two of them,” she says. Renzi and Southern both will work without a break from the end of March right up to the opening day of the show to get everything right. Planning for 2018 is already underway, and apparently there is no slowing down on the books for either of them anytime soon. Southern wouldn’t have it any other way, though. “It really is a 24/7 labor of love from the whole Heroes staff.”
BUT HEY, MR. PEABODY, can we borrow the Wayback Machine, and take it all the way back to, say, about 1965? That’s where this story begins. A 10-year-old named Shelton Drum had a revelation when a copy of the classic Amazing Spider Man #1 sold for a thenunthinkable $10. Seeing the potential for commerce based on passion, even at that age, Drum immediately began purchasing three of every Marvel comic being published, using the extras to trade for holes in his collection. He was soon buying out the entire comic stock of pharmacies each month. By the early ‘70s Drum would set up shop once a month at the Metrolina Flea Market, where he built a regular clientele. In 1980, Drum rented the space that would become Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find, near the corner of Central and Pecan avenues in Plaza Midwood, as much to find a place to store his ever-growing collection as to sell anything. Within a few months, Drum’s enterprise (the name a twist on Fleetwood Mac’s 1974 album title Heroes are Hard to Find) was doing a brisk business. Soon the store moved a block over to Thomas Avenue, almost a third of the space devoted to warehousing comics and supplies. In 1982, Drum’s passion for comics and comic fandom was made bona fide with the establishment of the first Heroes Convention. Since 1982, Heroes has become a yearly must, first for the local Charlotte comic community, and increasingly for the entire Southeast region. Boasting its familyfriendly atmosphere and an emphasis on comic-books first and foremost, HeroesCon has built a stellar reputation among the artist and writer communities they showcase, leading to impeccable guest lists with some of the comic field’s most respected names. HeroesCon has become a “must see” on
many an East Coast fan’s summer itinerary, drawing creators and fans alike from every part of the country to Charlotte for one great weekend in June every year. Mason has her share of HeroesCon stories, and they’re all positive and unforgettable. Oh,
served to contrast and showcase the real heroes of HeroesCon: The artists and writers who, almost without fail, bring a lightness and a positivity to every interaction they have with their fans. “Comic book artists, they are the nicest people that you’ll ever
Suzie Mason
[ANDY SURIANO] DREW AKU FOR ME! I WAS SUPER EXCITED. I WAS TOTALLY FAN-GIRLING!” -SUZIE MASON
except for one. Unforgettable, but not so positive. A few years back, the convention had booked Rosario Dawson, then-star of Hollywood’s adaptation of Sin City. Mason was a fan of both the comic and the movie, and was there with her Sin City DVD to catch a moment with the Dawson. “I was the only girl in line - it was all guys,” Mason remembers, “and everyone was getting photos with her, and she wasn’t making anybody pay, it was totally cool.” Almost totally cool. “When I got up there, she tried to make me pay her $10 to get a photo with her.” Mason shakes her head in wonder, even now. “I even said, ‘But you didn’t make those guys pay...’ and she said, ‘Well for you, it’s $10.’” Mason laughs. “I was like, ‘You’re a jerk,’ but she still signed my DVD, so I was happy.” If spoiled Hollywood types can be counted on to sour any stew, the experience also
meet,” Mason attests without hesitation. “It’s totally different. They love their fans and they absolutely love talking about stuff. I’m sure they get asked the same stuff over and over, and they never seem numb to it. It’s just awesome.” Mason supports indie and local artists in the comics field with the same dedication she gave to music back in the day. HeroesCon’s similar dedication to the local artist pool isn’t lost on Mason. “The indie stuff and the local artists — I probably support them more than anyone,” Mason says.
SEAN HUTCHINGS has been a dedicated
supporter of HeroesCon for 10 years. An avid video game enthusiast and comicbook collector, he manages a GameStop in Matthews, and knows exactly who he’s looking for at the 2017 convention. This is the
first year that Hutchings’ favorite comic artist is appearing at HeroesCon. “Terry Dodson (Harley Quinn, Wonder Woman) has his own books he’s been putting out in Europe, but this will be the first time I get a chance to get a commission from him,” Hutchings smiles, hopefully. “Depending on if he approves of it, of course.” Artist commissions are a huge feature of HeroesCon these days. For a modest fee, fans can get original artworks made by request, hand-drawn by their artist of choice, if the artist is down. Mason got an original that a local artist did for her a few years ago. It still hangs on her living room wall — a beautiful, manga-inspired depiction of a girl holding a bloody katana blade against a Japanese screen, a dreamlike study of sexiness and brutality. Mason is looking forward to the commissions this year as always. “You can have them draw anything you want,” Mason says. “If you want Iron Man beating up Batman, you can have it. You can totally have them cross over. And you can get them from the actual artists that drew those characters for the majors.” Artists like the legendary Jim Shooter, the writer/artist for some of DC and Marvel comics’ most iconic characters including Superman, The Fantastic Four, Hulk, Iron Man as well as indie icons like Valiant Comics Shadowman series. And local luminaries like Babs Tarr, a Charleston, South Carolina, native who’s Japanese-influenced style caught the eye of DC comics in 2014; the company promptly picked the Carolinian to draw the art for Batgirl. “I’m a big supporter of Babs,” Hutchings says. “And a shout-out to Wolly McNair, for being a big influence. He goes every year, and puts out his own books.” Babs and Wolly will both be at HeroesCon this year.
THIS YEAR’S HeroesCon will, of course, be
clouded by the sad surprise loss of one major figure to fans everywhere. Adam West, legendary for many roles but mostly for his ‘60s TV version of Batman, died last week at 88, and the loss is being felt at HeroesCon. “We were all very saddened to hear of the great Adam West’s passing,” Southern says. “For many, he will always be Batman. I’m sure that many people will contribute their own unique memorials to this cultural icon.” There is already talk of a possible Adam West Tribute for the yearly “Cosplay Class Photo” on Saturday, June 17, at 1 p.m. So at the end of the day, what exactly does HeroesCon bring to Charlotte and its comics fan community? “You answered your own question,” Hutchings replies without a beat. “That word: community. Whether you liked comic books or other things, they’ve always figured out how to bring everyone together. The culture has become such a big part of everyone’s lives, you see all walks of life.” Mason can’t imagine her year without a June trip to HeroesCon. “Every year I look at the list, and I look to see who’s there and I see what I’ve gotten signed already, and I take all of my comics by that artist that I know is going to be there,” she says with contagious enthusiasm, “And I have them signed, and I tell them how much I love them.” BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM CLCLT.COM | JUN. 15 - JUN. 21, 2017 | 31
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UNIVERSAL SHAME Studio soils its own legacy with monstrous misfire BY MATT BRUNSON
A
PLASTIC
PRODUCT
made by mercenaries, pimps and profiteers rather than filmmakers who give a damn, The Mummy (* out of four) is the first official entry in what Universal is billing as Dark Universe, the studio’s attempt to duplicate the interconnected worlds showcased in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the DC Extended Universe. Of course, this isn’t the first time this century that the conglomerate has tried to milk profits from the exhausted udders of its classic horror line from the 1930s and 1940s: Previously, audiences had to suffer through 2004’s Van Helsing, 2010’s The Wolfman and 2014’s Dracula Untold. The last-named was supposed to be the opening film in this new world order, but it bombed so badly that the studio drove a stake through its publicity and opted to try again. With The Mummy, there’s no turning back — the film opens with the newly minted Dark Universe logo, and future films starring the likes of Johnny Depp (The Invisible Man) and Javier Bardem (the Frankenstein monster) have already been announced. But given the desultory picture on view here, here’s a tentpole project that has its work cut out for it. Thankfully, the only way is up. The titular monster in this case is Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella), an Egyptian evildoer whose pact with the god Set leads to her being buried alive. Cut to the present day, where her tomb is discovered by wacky adventurers Nick Morton (Tom Cruise) and Chris Vail (Jake Johnson) and furrowedbrow archaeologist Jenny Halsey (Annabelle Wallis). While transporting the coffin to London, where Dr. Henry Jekyll (Russell Crowe) is eager to examine its contents, our heroes allow Ahmanet to awaken and escape, whereupon she plays suck-face with hapless extras and drains them of their life force (speaking of which, at this point the movie briefly turns into Tobe Hooper’s ‘80s cult oddity Lifeforce, best remembered as that film starring Patrick Stewart and a beautiful space vampire who wanders around London butt-nekkid). It’s up to Nick to save the day, although he’s clearly overworked: He’s been picked by Ahmanet to serve as her Chosen One, and he’s forced to play Hyde-and-seek with an increasingly irate Jekyll. Universal already mined the Mummy terrain with 1999’s The Mummy, the hugely successful Brendan Fraser flick that 32 | JUN. 15 - JUN. 21, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
UNIVERSAL
Sofia Boutella in The Mummy. resulted in several sequels of diminishing returns. That daft film swiped more pages from Indiana Jones than Boris Karloff, but at least it was reasonably entertaining. The same can’t be said of this new version, which is so scattershot that it never retains any
FOX SEARCHLIGHT
Rachel Weisz in My Cousin Rachel.
forward momentum from one scene to the next. The comic relief, with a plot device lifted directly from An American Werewolf in London, is downright painful, and since the shuffling zombies look like they were imported from the music video for Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” it’s clear that here’s a monster movie that will be providing nothing in the way of thrills or chills. The CGI technicians are, as expected, kept busy busy busy, but the effects remain impersonal and ineffectual. Through movies both good and bad,
Cruise has always made his presence and star power known, but that’s shockingly not the case here. For the first time, the actor is entirely colorless and disposable — aside from a paycheck so loaded with zeroes that it was probably heavy to lift, there’s no reason for him to be here. Nick Morton is more a token hero than an actual character, so bereft of personality that we really don’t care when horrible things happen to his character. And following last year’s lamentable Jack Reacher sequel, it also shows that Cruise might finally be fully succumbing to his ego — he’s no longer playing mere mortals but instead supermen and gods revered by all. Along with Cruise, nobody else makes much of an impression — that includes Crowe, who can sometimes be the best thing in a bad movie (e.g. Man of Steel). In fact, it’s Crowe’s character — make that characters — that should prove particularly vexing to anyone who claims to care at all about what Universal is doing to its beloved legacy. Jekyll’s role in this picture is ridiculous — he’s an eccentric doctor who wants to locate, isolate and destroy the evil in the world — and further thoughts that the studio would provide him with a Hyde origin story in his own movie down the road are immediately dispelled when the filmmakers impatiently cram in a couple of transformation scenes. For the record, Hyde isn’t the frightening madman, the terrible creature, the tortured id audiences know and love and fear. Instead, Hyde is basically Russell Crowe in a bronze tanning spray, carrying on like an irascible drunk uncle who’s had too much spiked punch during the family Christmas party. Then again, a perpetual state of inebriation might
be the only way to get through something as grueling and ghastly as The Mummy. While several screen adaptations of Daphne du Maurier works remain highly revered by film fans and scholars — specifically, Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca and The Birds and Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now — the 1952 drama My Cousin Rachel has fallen by the wayside. Today, it’s mainly remembered for nabbing Richard Burton a ridiculous Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor — ridiculous not because he’s bad in the film, but ridiculous because he’s the lead actor and appears in almost every scene in the picture. The new cinematic take of the tale, also named My Cousin Rachel (*** out of four), finds Sam Claflin (Finnick in The Hunger Games franchise) cast in the Burton role — he’s Philip, a young Englishman who convinces himself that his beloved uncle and protector Ambrose, who succumbed to dementia and soon died of a brain tumor, was actually murdered by Ambrose’s new wife. That would be Philip’s cousin Rachel (Rachel Weisz), and the young heir plans to confront her when she arrives at his Cornwall estate for a visit. Instead, he immediately succumbs to her charms and proceeds to act in increasingly immature and irresponsible ways. On balance, both screen versions of My Cousin Rachel are of comparable quality. The 1952 version provides better ambience as well as a revelatory performance by Burton in his first American-made film. (Claflin isn’t bad, but let’s just say no one will be worrying whether to place him in the lead or supporting category come Oscar time.) Where this new version improves upon its
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predecessor is in the character of Rachel: She’s far more developed here, and Weisz gives a nicely shaded performance that eclipses the one given by Olivia de Havilland back in ’52. The central mystery of whether Rachel is evil or innocent reverberates throughout both adaptations, but there’s no question that Weisz delivers yet another master class in acting. A documentary filmmaker best known for the absorbing SeaWorld exposé Blackfish, Gabriela Cowperthwaite makes her dramatization debut with Megan Leavey (*** out of four), an occasionally harrowing and always touching look at the bond that developed between a Marine and her combat dog. Working from a script credited to three writers (including Bridesmaids’ Oscar-nominated scribe Annie Mumolo), Cowperthwaite opts to bypass the macho swaggering favored by the likes of Clint Eastwood and Peter Berg in their modernwarfare flicks to fashion a more emotionally involving tale — this one examining how a young fuckup named Megan Leavey (Kate Mara) only finds purpose and direction in her life after she joins the Marines and takes part in a program wherein soldiers work alongside dogs trained to sniff out explosive devices. Megan is assigned to handle a temperamental
Kate Mara in Megan Leavey. German shepherd named Rex, and they end up partaking in two deployments in Iraq during the 2000s. The Iraqi scenes are intense, but equally compelling are the stateside sequences that find Megan fighting to gain custody of Rex, even going so far as to enlist the aid of Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer (since, as has nauseatingly been proven time and again,
BLEECKER STREET
those on the other side of the aisle don’t give a damn about this country’s veterans). Like other conscientious movies dealing with wartime, Megan Leavey understands that many of the most important fights continue to be waged long after the actual battlefields have been vacated.
CLCLT.COM | JUN. 15 - JUN. 21, 2017 | 33
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PARTYING WITH THE PARENTS
PLANE PEOPLE
PG-13 for what?
ACROSS
“Aerin, we’re trying something new!” My parents are huge fans of Guy Fieri’s My mom had a huge grin on her face Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Pops had talked while she played shuffleboard at The Gin about the “Papi Queso” episode for months, Mill in South End. I couldn’t believe my so I knew snagging The Pig Mac — complete P.I.C.’s parents convinced her to play. But with pulled pork, bourbon onions and mac there she and my pops were, having the time ‘n’ cheese — was at the top of our to-do of their lives (I left out the fact that the game list. We sat down at one of the picnic tables is more popular in retirement homes than outside — thankfully it wasn’t Food Truck among my generation and let them have fun with their new game). Friday — on one of the most perfect, cool My parents came to town for my dad’s Queen City evenings. After eating his Pig birthday a couple weeks ago and you know Mac and enjoying one of his favorite pastwhat that means. Not only was I able to times of people-watching, my pops would’ve party with people who can take care of me loved to hit the town, but my mom and I when I’m drinking but I knew it was only a matter of time before he was also able to enjoy a staycation at the passed out for the night. Ritz for a couple days — sorry, not sorry! Let me start by saying that finding things The following day, I went to work. They to do when my parents are in town is a huge met me for lunch and I introduced them to challenge. They aren’t into drinking, one of my favorite people in the city and packed bars, belligerent drunk coincidentally, my favorite hot dog folk, hookah or loud music. — Vic the Chili Man. And based on my previous We ate dogs in Romare articles, you can imagine Bearden Park and made that limits our options plans for them to crash quite a bit. In the past, we’ve found familymy office’s happy hour friendly activities in the at 204 North a few hours Q.C., such as dressing later. I should’ve avoided up for a Halloween the glasses of champagne I house party and jazz at had before dinner, because Blue Restaurant & Bar. that’s when the P.I.C. hit me AERIN SPRUILL This time, however, the up asking what our plans were itinerary was completely up for the night. to me. When they arrived on Thursday, We decided to head to Gin Mill the plan was for me to have all of my things and beat the tipsy crowd. Once I saw how ready to go so they could scoop me from entertained our parents were playing work and we could go straight to the hotel. shuffleboard, I decided it would be a good Obviously, drinking on Wednesday night idea to get an RBV ... I was wrong. On a got in the way of that. So I went home, weekend when I should’ve been showing gathered my things and had them pick me how “grown up” I was, my mindset shifted up from there. By the time they arrived, I was nervous we’d check in to the hotel and quickly from PG to the border between PGthe birthday boy would go to sleep. So I made 13 and quickly into rated R territory. SBy him put our first destination in the GPS — the time 10 p.m. rolled around, I was ready Sycamore Brewing. to rally and my parents were dragging me, Like I said, my parents aren’t exactly the kicking and screaming in my mind, back to go-with-the-flow type. For the entire ride the hotel. There, I proceeded to argue with over to South End, my parents’ banter was them about why I should be “allowed” to continuous. “Where are we going? I don’t take an Uber back out and why I didn’t want want to go to a bar. Is it that hookah spot? If so, I’m good. Are we in the hood?” I rolled to watch a movie they were watching until I my eyes and sighed with every complaint as passed out – fully clothed. Sighs. we pulled into the parking lot at Sycamore. Thank goodness for breakfast in the “Is Guy here?” my pops asked as we hotel, errands and a little brunch at Napa walked in. I didn’t even know what he was on Providence to tie off the weekend nicely. talking about at first. That’s when I saw the Otherwise, I might’ve single-handedly Papi Queso kitchen menu in front of him. ruined a great visit. Oh Aerin, when will you His eyes lit up as he said, “Shut up! That’s what I meant by ‘is Guy here?!’” learn? 34 | JUN. 15 - JUN. 21, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
1 Charlotte of “Diff’rent Strokes” 4 Champion 10 Insect feeler 14 Slight smell 19 North Dakota’s tree 20 Farewells 21 Regal Norse name 22 Sharpening device 23 Talk show host with three Emmys 25 Best Actor nominee for “Hotel Rwanda” 27 Giant in retail furniture 28 “-- be my pleasure” 29 Cold cubes 30 Childishly trivial 31 “Quantum Healing” author 35 Cause a floating log to spin by walking on it 36 Direct (at) 37 Sorority letters 38 Apt. units 39 30-day mo. 40 Writer Rice 41 Very familiar (with): Fr. 44 Irked greatly 46 He played Clark Kent on “Lois & Clark” 48 Ending of some pasta names 49 Gestures from 4-Acrosses 51 Start to fall 53 Juice brand 54 “Designing Women” co-star 57 Kickoff prop 59 Catholic leaders 63 Univ. helpers 64 MD’s gp. 65 Jim who played Gomer Pyle 67 Psychic glows 68 Rats on 70 Jet airliner model that’s an apt alternate title for this puzzle 71 Talks glibly 73 Zones 74 Fit for -- (regal) 76 Small, like Abner 77 Building wing 78 They bray 79 Slimy stuff 80 Sixth actor to play James
Bond 84 Pop music’s -- Lobos 86 Ending for Brit 88 What you might call a cool cat 89 4 p.m. social 90 She played Frenchy in “Grease” 94 -- -ski party 96 Landscaping tools 98 Kiwi cousins 99 “-- cool!” 100 “Kill bill” vote 101 Brit’s prison 102 Red Cross skill, for short 103 Big birds of myth 104 “How to Win Friends and Influence People” author 110 Selma locale 112 32nd prez 113 Cur’s threat 114 Nada 115 “Wayne’s World” co-star 117 She played Alice in “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice” 120 -- nous 121 Snack 122 Breathing problems 123 USN officer 124 Navigate 125 Zoomed 126 E. Sicilian volcano 127 King, to Juan
DOWN
1 Made over 2 Not different 3 Show host 4 Dust buster, for short 5 Boise loc. 6 Social studies class 7 Canines, e.g. 8 Defeat 9 Pre-U queue 10 Shows to be downloaded 11 Burn soother 12 PC linkup 13 Many a sewer-line tube, briefly 14 Tire holder 15 Winter frost 16 Gary’s state 17 Filmmaker Federico 18 Ex-slaves 24 Sorority letter 26 Cry from a 4-Across 29 Old TV’s “My Friend --” 32 “-- always said ...”
33 Tastelessly artistic 34 Being there 35 Harass 40 Equip 41 Give relief 42 Ally makers 43 Obsesses 44 Farming-related prefix 45 Leveling stuff 47 Attack like a playful pup 50 Sean Penn drama 52 Slews 55 Galilee residents 56 Assessed 58 Eyed 60 High-ranking cleric 61 Previously 62 Mil. draft gp. 66 Sudafed alternative 68 Goat’s call 69 Pt. of NBA 70 Threads 72 Not closing seasonally 75 Five womb-mates 76 Pan covers 81 Scot’s denial 82 Nucleotide triplet 83 With 118-Down, fuel container 85 Wine region in California 87 Like batik fabric 90 Century parts 91 Embed firmly 92 Comic Jimmy 93 Extreme diet rule, perhaps 95 Jack of early TV 97 Beck of radio 101 January gem 103 Relay athlete 105 Nile locale 106 Heavy lifter 107 Lost cause 108 Hole -- (ace) 109 Itsy-bitsy 111 Undecorated 112 Gala 116 Big shot 117 Beaver work 118 See 83-Down 119 Simile part
ENDS
MODERN EROTIC
THE LOVE BELOW Leandrea Hill depicts the beautiful secrets of big, black women
SOLUTION FOUND ON P. 38.
After Leandrea Hill told me about her People mulled over the paintings, pointing most recent art project, I couldn’t get that out favorites. One of the pieces reminded Drake lyric out of my head — you know, the someone of a shaggy dog. Another said it looked like Edvard Munch’s “The Scream.” All one that goes, “I like my girls BBW.” Hill’s latest project focuses specifically on agreed that the collection was important. “It’s definitely a way to bring light to our just that: BBWs, or big black women. Hill’s preference has always been to paint plus-sized bodies, to paint positive about our vaginas black women, but for her most recent series, and the things that they do, as far as bringing the Juicy Collection, she took it a step further. forth life, bringing forth intimacy, love and “This is my first time focusing specifically lust,” said Hill. “All of those things are tied in. Even though it’s nude and it’s most definitely on the vagina,” she told me. Hill explained that the project was born a private area, it’s not vulgar. It’s just art — “because I had someone contact me about the art of our bodies.” I went to get more chicken salad. having a painting of their vagina done – Commenting on how good it was, someone commissioned – for their bedroom.” The collection ended up consisting of 13 called it “chicken crack” and everyone laughed. The buzz in the room was overwhelmingly up-close-and-very-personal paintings. “They’re all plus-sized black women who I joyful. Between signing books and taking photos, Hill told whomever was standing had submit. I want to celebrate our vaginas,” nearby about the challenges she Hill said. “I wanted to focus specifically faced in taking a photo of her on black plus-sized women – our own vagina. most intimate area.” “I have two selfie sticks,” On June 3, she celebrated she said. “Not once did I the new collection’s release think of using them!” as well as her that of her I felt like I had chapbook, “Beautiful stumbled on a group After Dark.” Hill is a poet of friends, and never primarily, and the book like I didn’t belong. The showcases her written joy and intimacy of the work, including selections venue reflected the joy of her erotic poetry ALLISON and intimacy of the subject (“pornetry” as she calls BRADEN matter; no hushed tones, no it). She considers the Juicy docent monitoring from the Collection and all of her visual corner of the room. art “unspoken poems.” Hill mentioned that in the past she has Like some aspects of the female anatomy, the location of the release party unsuccessfully applied for grants to support was elusive and mysterious. I almost walked her visual art projects — although she didn’t into someone else’s semi-formal event before apply for any for this particular collection. finding Hill’s studio tucked in the middle of a I thought about what role the venue and business center on North Tryon. The studio any attached institutional support have in is made up of two tiny rooms, the white walls altering the art’s message and meaning. I imagined an exhibit of BBW vaginas at barely visible behind the patchwork of bright the Mint Museum. Would an institutional paintings that stretch from floor to ceiling. In the first room, Hill’s latest unspoken sanction be worth celebrating? Would such poems were unmistakable. In shades a venue strip the art of its intended purpose: of brown and purple, the paintings were that it’s by, for and about black women? More visually similar, but represented a diversity curation and less celebration? Naturally, Hill seeks a wider audience of vaginas. As Hill described the collection: “Some of for her work, but as the roomful of friends them are pierced, some of them are a little cracked jokes and passed around plastic cups fuller than others, some of them are dark, full of wine, I couldn’t help feeling like the intimacy of the little space and the exuberant some of them are light.” (Interestingly, though, all of them were atmosphere were an inextricable part of experiencing Hill’s work. shaved.) Hill herself considered the event a success. The little studio was crowded. Attendees, including friends of Hill and the subjects The next day, she took to Facebook to thank of the paintings, rearranged themselves, everyone who supported her latest endeavor. “The art of blk bbw vaginas is real,” she stepping this way and that to stay out of the way. Some slipped past each other to make wrote. “It’s magnificent.” Drake had the right idea all along. trips to pick up deviled eggs and chicken salad. CLCLT.COM | JUN. 15 - JUN. 21, 2017 | 35
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get and stay hard in the presence of another I’m almost 30 and I’m a virgin. I’m human being. Be totally honest about your an overweight, straight-ish guy (I’m inexperience and your concerns. If you get the attracted to a few men, but those cases sense during negotiations — which should are exceedingly rare). I’ve also gone be brief and to the point — that the woman through an absolute hell life thus far, you’re talking to is impatient or uncaring, losing a testicle to cancer and having thank her for her time and start over. There an abusive father who threatened a are kind, caring, compassionate sex workers teenage me into celibacy by invoking the out there. Presumably you’ve got a computer phrase “penile lobotomy” should I have in your office, TVWBFAWLJNITGW. Use it sex with any girlfriends. I’ve barely to find one. dated in 10 years, and while I’m free Get out of the house. Go places, do from my father and the aforementioned things — as much as your disability and mortal dick terror, I’m also INCREDIBLY budget allow. Even if you have to go alone, scared about putting myself out there. go. Even if the things you want to do are I’m disabled, I’m not conventionally unlikely to put you in front of many/any attractive by most standards, my whole women, do those things. You’re likelier to zone down there is scarred up from meet someone if you’re out of the surgeries, and, to top it all off, house and moving through the I’m on the small side. The last world. Even if you don’t meet time I had the opportunity someone right away, you’ll for sex, I went for it, but feel less isolated and less I was so terrified that alone. Even if you never I couldn’t keep it up. meet someone (I’m not The woman I was with sugarcoating things — said something to the some people don’t), going effect of, “Well, I can’t places and doing things do anything with that, means you’ll have a rich now can I?” after which and full and active life I asked her to leave DAN SAVAGE regardless. because, seriously, that’s You’re not alone. OK, kind of an asshole thing to you’re alone — but you’re not say. I’m notionally on Tinder alone alone. Meaning, there are and Bumble, but I really don’t women (and men) out there who feel just know what I’m doing — and more often as paralyzed as you do — because they’re than not, I feel like the right thing for 30-year-old-or-older virgins, because they’re any theoretical partners would be for not conventionally attractive, because their me to just stay in hiding and not inflict first/only sexual experiences were just as my grotesque presence on them. I’m humiliating, because they had traumatic scared of another humiliation, as that’s childhoods and bear emotional scars. You most definitely not my kink, and I’m want a woman to come into your life who at an age where my complete lack of is patient and accepting and kind and experience and physical deformity are (I willing to look past your disability and your would have to imagine) major issues for inexperience and your difficult history. anyone I might encounter. I truly want Be patient, accepting, kind, and similarly romance, sexuality and companionship willing. in my life. I haven’t fought through Get over those scars. I had a boyfriend a poverty, disability, physical and long time ago who had significant scarring on emotional abuse, and my genitalia his balls and taint. He was a farm boy (sigh), trying to kill me to stay entombed in my and he fell on a piece of farm machinery and office alone and unloved. I just do not wound up straddling a scalding-hot pipe. He know where to even begin. was my first serious boyfriend, and I spent THE VIRGIN WHO’S BEEN FUCKED A WHOLE LOT JUST the better part of three months with my face NEVER IN THE GOOD WAY in his crotch. The scars that were so obvious Hire a sex worker. It will allow you to separate to him and left him feeling self-conscious your anxieties about finding romance and about his genitals? They were invisible to me until he needlessly apologized for them. companionship from your anxieties about If you’re worried your scarring is noticeable, being sexually inexperienced. A kind, mention that you’re a cancer survivor and indulgent, competent sex worker can relieve lost a ball but gained a sick (as in cool) scar. you of your virginity and help restore — or Good luck, we’re rooting for you. instill — confidence in your dick’s ability to
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FOR ALL SIGNS Both the Sun and Mercury are opposed to Saturn across the signs of Gemini and Sagittarius. Oppositions often imply confrontations. At worst, critiquing and finger pointing will be the predominant mood of the world. At best, many will be tested literally, via school or job applications. Usually the applicant will get what he or she deserves during when the Sun opposes Saturn. Whomever has made the effort required to pass the test, will win the desired prize. Gemini-Sagittarius oppositions are known for the art of debate. Donald Trump is born with a prominent Gemini Sun opposite his Moon. This is what symbolizes his interest in Twitter and “The Art of the Deal”. ARIES You will be concentrating on bringing a lot of details into a cohesive whole. Perhaps you are building something with multiple parts. The focus may be on vehicles or personal property. Or maybe you have a jumble of ideas that need to be sorted into a coherent plan. Be quiet and steady your mind. Make lists to ground yourself.
TAURUS A “teacher” comes into your life to help you learn more about yourself and your relationship(s). Follow your instincts about where you need to be, particularly if that includes a new social situation. There may be someone who gives you needed information or guidance. GEMINI THE TWINS (May 20 -- June 21) It is a wise Gemini who thinks carefully before he/she speaks at this time. You are tempted to respond without thinking of the consequences. Watch your tendency to be critical without knowing the circumstances of the “other”. CANCER You may be especially chatty this week. Words have higher importance than usual. You could be writing a speech, teaching or mentoring. It would serve you well to attend social gatherings and generally put yourself “out there.” One or more people are likely to enter your life who help you make the connections that need to come next. LEO You are in a position to help others negotiate a reasonable peace. Activities involving high tech appliances are favored. Your knowledge will help others adjust to new electronics or a change in directions. A lover or significant other may ask for your intentions. Be realistic. Don’t promise more than is likely. VIRGO A project that you began in late fall of 2016 is now coming to its first fulfillment. The outcome is apparent for you and all to see. The probability is that this creation is 38 | JUN. 15 - JUN. 21, 2017 | CLCLT.COM
more success than failure. Don’t listen to that inner Critic who can find fault with every little thing. It lies.
LIBRA A debt may be repaid for work you have done in the past. It is possible that you will be called upon to give your time or energy beyond what you intended. Note how you are feeling as you do this. If you begin to feel resentment, set some boundaries around how far you will go.
SCORPIO This is a good time to look over your financial resources. You may want to move things around a bit. Travel may be on your mind. Alternatively, you may have a desire to contact people at a distance. Aspects favor your use of the internet, research, or study. Writing projects are given an energy boost.
SAGITTARIUS You may feel isolated or as though no one around you can possibly understand who or what you are. In some way life circumstances may be preventing you from communicating. The inner critic could overrun your mind if you allow it. Remember that feelings come and go like waves. They never remain the same.
CAPRICORN The Goats live always with a strong internal Critic. Sometimes it is louder than others and it rarely tells the whole truth. During this period you may be hearing a dark “tape” about your inability to organize your life according to someone else’s standard. Take good care of your physical health now. AQUARIUS You have a choice of mood this week. On one hand you may be “hearing” a load of internal criticism, which is probably not substantiated. On the other, there are some options to get outside of yourself and play freely or take a short, refreshing trip. It’s obvious which is the better for your mental health. PISCES One of your planetary rulers, Neptune, turns retrograde this week. This suggests that one or more anxieties will go underground for a few months and you will actually feel better than before. You know that sometimes your imagination is just too potent and you react to it as though it were the real thing. 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. 15 - JUN. 21, 2017 | 39
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