2018 Issue 50 Creative Loafing Charlotte by Creative Loafing Charlotte

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Even your grandma gets it.

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EDITORIAL

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Fill a pint glass at the Fillmore on Saturday, February 3, when the whole CLT beer scene converges at the Music Factory for the Queen City Brewers Festival.

We put out weekly 8

NEWS&CULTURE STOP THE CYCLE Advocates discuss ways to curb domestic violence

in Charlotte

BY RYAN PITKIN 6 EDITOR’S NOTE BY MARK KEMP 7 NEWS OF THE WEIRD 10 THE BLOTTER BY RYAN PITKIN

FOOD&DRINK PURRY IN A HURRY Fiber up with a winter smoothie BY ARI LEVAUX 13 MORSEL: #COFFEEINACONE BY ALEXANDRIA SANDS

14 16

TOP 10 THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK

MUSIC FROM OLD SAN JUAN TO NEW CHARLOTTE The personal becomes the political in Quisol’s ‘Latin Future’ sound

BY MARK KEMP 19 MUSIC MAKER: ARSENA SCHROEDER BY MARK KEMP 20 SOUNDBOARD

ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT A TALE OF TWO KILLERS IN LOVE ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ plan an edgy heist at Matthews Playhouse

BY PAT MORAN 24 OSCAR NOMINATION ANALYSIS BY MATT BRUNSON 25 ARTSPEAK: MATT BURKE BY PERRY TANNENBAUM

ODDS&ENDS 26 NIGHTLIFE BY AERIN SPRUILL 27 CROSSWORD 28 SAVAGE LOVE BY DAN SAVAGE 30 SALOME’S STARS

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CLCLT.COM | FEB. 1 - FEB. 7, 2018 VOL. 31, NO. 50

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NEWS

EDITORS NOTE

THE BUCK STOPS HERE What to do when the press presents “alternative facts” WE LIVE IN chaotic times. Turn on the TV late Nigerian musician and political activist and we get a constant barrage of “breaking Fela Kuti. Ibeto is Nigerian-American. He has news” from Washington, D.C. It feels like been producing Afrobeat events in Charlotte 1973 all over again, particularly for those of since the mid-2000s. His AfroPop! partners, Eric Ndelo and us who were there in 1973, when every day, more revelations came out about Watergate April Hood, also have produced pan-African events in Charlotte for many years. Ndelo was and the Nixon White House. The difference: In 1973, truth was truth throwing his Afropolitan and Nappy Luv events and lies were lies; accuracy was accuracy and as far back as the late 1990s. Hood had been doing events in Charlotte that incorporated inaccuracy was inaccuracy. Sure, people tried to wiggle out of their African musical styles with hip-hop, soca and lies, but in general, few were questioning reggae. When the three came together to actual reality. Today, we live in times when form AfroPop! in more recent years, they had people make up their own facts. Reality is brought their varied backgrounds with these styles of music under one tent. They were not whatever you choose it to be. That’s why it was particularly troublesome following in anybody’s footsteps. “Followed in her footsteps” were not for me when I woke up Monday morning to find someone I respected had referred to a Jasiatic’s words — they were my words. I story I wrote in last week’s Creative Loafing as had intended to double-check the words with AfroPop!’s Ndelo before the story ran, containing “alternative facts.” but we never connected, and in our Ouch! That’s the phrase we deadline haste last week, I failed use to mock Trump for his to rephrase that particular rationalization of his baldparagraph before Creative faced lies. It was the worst Loafing went to press. thing someone could say You may be reading about a story that I wrote. this and thinking, “What’s It also was completely the big deal? It was just a justified. I had been sloppy story about music.” in presenting a timeline It’s a big deal. If those in my music feature last of us in the press are week on the terrific Su Casa to be trusted, we have a parties thrown by Charlotte responsibility to be diligent promoter Jasiatic. MARK KEMP about checking our facts. Let me offer some context: And those four words were not I wrote a story about Su Casa that 100-percent factual. painted Jasiatic, accurately, as a party It stung when I read on Iberto’s Facebook trailblazer. I credited her Su Casa events with opening local minds to new kinds of music, page that a story of mine had presented including music from other parts of the “alternative facts.” It made me angry. I didn’t world, such as salsa, bossa nova and Afrobeat. want to be associated with a presidential Jasiatic’s events have indeed, over the administration that offers up “alternative past eight years, introduced Charlotteans facts” on a daily basis. But truth is truth, and to new ways of hearing music, and she has inaccuracy, no matter how unintentional it is, incorporated her worldview — she is vegan, is inaccuracy. I’m sure it also stung when Nigerianshe homeschools her children, she works for American Ibeto read in Creative Loafing that social justice in Charlotte — into her events. I also suggested that Su Casa had laid the he had “followed in the footsteps” of another groundwork for younger party promoters event that presents, among other genres, in Charlotte, who have launched similarly Nigerian music. This issue may seem like inside baseball intelligent and fun events in the city. And there is no doubt that Jasiatic’s earlier events to some, but it involves the very core of what have made an imprint on the Charlotte party is wrong in this country, and what should landscape that’s helped to open minds and be made right. There are only two kinds of information — accurate and inaccurate hearts to new ways of experiencing music. Here’s where I got sloppy: I named other information. And I, as a journalist, made party promoters and wrote four words — a mistake last week. That mistake was not “followed in her footsteps” — that raised the the fault of Su Casa’s Jasiatic, nor was it the fault of AfroPop!’s Ifeanyi Ibeto, Eric Ndelo ire of one group of promoters. Ifeanyi Ibeto, better known as DJ Kato, is or April Hood. It was my fault, and it is only one of the organizers of Charlotte’s AfroPop! right for me to acknowledge it, whether CL events. He is a veteran promoter of parties in is reporting on an entertainment issue or an issue involving city government policies. Charlotte that feature Afrobeat music. The buck stops right here. Afrobeat is the fusion of funk, soul, jazz MKEMP@CLCLT.COM and African musical styles popularized by the 6 | FEB. 1 - FEB. 7, 2018 | CLCLT.COM

NEWS

NEWS OF THE WEIRD

WEIRD CHEMISTRY In Lawrence County, Tennessee, law enforcement officials are confronting the fallout from a new drug known as “Wasp” (crystallized wasp repellant mixed with methamphetamine). To wit: On Dec. 18, as the Johnson family baked Christmas cookies in their Lawrenceburg kitchen, Danny Hollis, 35, walked into their home and asked for help. NewsChannel 5 in Nashville reported Hollis poured himself a glass of water from the sink before grabbing a knife and cutting across his throat. Teenage son Canaan Johnson said Hollis then ran up to the second floor, heaved an oak dresser down the stairs, and jumped out a window onto a gazebo below, seriously injuring his neck. The Johnsons, meanwhile, had retreated to their car, where they called 911. Hollis chased the car down the street, but got hung up on a barbed wire fence, then stripped naked to free himself and climbed a nearby tree, where officers found him, according to police reports. Hollis fought them off by allegedly throwing his own feces at them, as they tased him out of the tree. Hollis was booked into the county jail on numerous charges. OOOH, WISE GUY, EH? Khaled A. Shabani, 46, a hairstylist in Madison, Wisconsin, was arrested on a tentative charge of mayhem and disorderly conduct while armed after an altercation with a customer on Dec. 22. Shabani scolded the 22-year-old customer for fidgeting, then taught him a lesson by using the “shortest possible attachment” to “run down the middle of the customer’s head,” reported the Wisconsin State Journal, and “leaving him looking a bit like Larry from ‘The Three Stooges,’” police spokesman Joel DeSpain said. Shabani also clipped the customer’s ear with scissors. “While it is not a crime to give someone a bad haircut,” DeSpain noted, “you will get arrested for intentionally snipping their ear with a scissors.” Shabani said the snip was an accident, and his charge was later reduced to a ticket for disorderly conduct. FLORIDA MAN Polk County (Florida)

Sheriff’s officers responded to an unusual 911 call on New Year’s Eve: Michael Lester, 39, of Winter Haven, started off by telling the dispatcher, “Umm, I’m drunk. I don’t know where I’m at. I’m just drunk driving.” The dispatcher urged Lester to pull over and park, but he explained that he was driving on the wrong side of the road near a Publix and wondered where the police were. WTVT reported that officers finally caught up with Lester, who helpfully explained he’d had several beers, hadn’t slept much and had taken methamphetamine earlier in the day. He was jailed on a DUI charge. Officers later posted on their Facebook page that “in

this particular incident, nobody was hurt, so we couldn’t help but LOTO (that means we Laughed Our Tasers Off).”

BRIGHT IDEA Disgruntled driver Matthew

Middleton, 49, of Peterlee, England, spotted a speed camera near Hartlepool Rugby Club in October and decided to take a stand. He got out of his car and stood in front of the camera, blocking it, until police arrested him. Middleton further antagonized the officer by calling him a “pig” and giving his name as Elvis Presley. “They acted like what I did was the crime of the century,” Middleton told Metro News. “I know I shouldn’t have done it. People have just been laughing about it ... well, apart from my wife.” Middleton was fined about $54 plus court costs for his antics.

TURNING A BUCK Bertha Vickers of Morgantown, Mississippi, turned 100 on Jan. 9. To celebrate, she bagged a deer. “I was sort of shaking until I got ready to shoot,” Vickers told the Clarion Ledger. “I didn’t think it was all going to go right.” Vickers still lives in her home and mows her own lawn, tends a garden and hunts for squirrels. “I don’t know why everybody is making such a big deal about it,” she said. “It was just a doe. I would love to kill a buck.” LEAST COMPETENT CRIMINAL When

Dustin Johnson, 22, of Minot, North Dakota, tried to steal $4,000 worth of merchandise from a local Hobby Lobby, he failed to take into account that shopping carts don’t have snow tires. The Grand Forks Herald reported that over a seven-hour period on Jan. 3, Johnson filled a cart then fled the store — where the cart became stuck in snow in the parking lot and flipped over. Johnson fell down, then got up to run, leaving behind his wallet with photo ID matching the shoplifter’s description. Minot police caught up with Johnson at his home.

EXTREME CLIMATE NEWS It may be cold where you are, but it’s hot in Broadford, a small town about an hour from Melbourne, Australia, where on Jan. 5, the highway began melting. Temperatures of 100 degrees Fahrenheit and higher reactivated an ingredient in the road surface, turning it into a sticky mess on the Hume Freeway, 9News reported. Motorists were warned by Victoria police to avoid the right lane and expect delays over a 10-kilometer stretch. Officials also put in place a fire ban and urged people to stay indoors until the heat abated. SMOKE ‘EM IF YOU GOT ‘EM Christians

in a Portuguese village carry on a curious tradition during Epiphany: They encourage their young children to smoke cigarettes.

Vale de Salgueiro locals told Fox News that nobody is sure what the smoking symbolizes, but the centuries-old tradition persists. And Portuguese authorities don’t intervene, despite the fact that the legal age to purchase tobacco in Portugal is 18. Writer Jose Ribeirinha researched the tradition and said that since Roman times, villagers in the region have done things that were out of the norm during winter solstice celebrations.

THE LITIGIOUS SOCIETY Siera Strumlauf

and Benjamin Robles of California, and Brittany Crittenden of New York, saw their complaints go up in steam on Jan. 5 when U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers dismissed their lawsuit against Starbucks for underfilling its lattes and mochas. According to Reuters, the judge cited lack of evidence brought by the plaintiffs, who accused the coffee chain of fraud by making its cups too small and instructing baristas to skimp on ingredients and adhere to low “fill-to” lines on milk pitchers. The suit also claimed milk foam should not be counted toward advertised volumes, an opinion Rogers said reasonable customers do not hold. Starbucks and the plaintiffs had no comment.

WEIRD

SCIENCE Researchers have discovered that 99 percent of green sea turtles born in the northern parts of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef are now female. Sea turtles’ gender is determined by the temperature at which the eggs are incubated, and warmer temperatures reduce the number of male hatchlings. The author of a new study, marine biologist Michael Jensen, told The News York Times the shift in gender suggests climate change is having a more dramatic effect on sea turtle populations than scientists realized. “We’re all trying to wrap our heads around how these populations are going to respond to those changes,” he said. Researchers warn that continued global warming will threaten the persistence of these populations. ANIMALS GONE WILD Postal workers in the Rocky River suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, were unable to deliver mail to about two dozen homes for three weeks in December and January after being attacked by aggressive wild turkeys. Local ordinances prevented the city from eliminating the birds, so residents were asked to pick up their mail at the post office. Rocky River Mayor Pam Bobst encouraged residents to stop putting out bird food, hoping that would discourage the turkeys from hanging around. “There’s a lot of bird feeders over there, so there’s a food source in that area,” she told Cleveland.com. The USPS said several carriers were pecked, but no serious injuries had been reported. COPYRIGHT 2017 ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

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NEWS

COVERSTORY

STOP THE CYCLE Advocates work to end the scourge of domestic violence in Charlotte BY RYAN PITKIN

ELODY GROSS IS not your stereotypical

victim of intimate partner violence, and that’s a point she’s more than happy to make “It doesn’t have a look, and we have to get out of that mindset,” Gross tells me. Although small — just 5 feet 1 inch tall — Gross’ body language and thick New York accent portray a deep self-confidence. “Anybody who knows me will tell you that I am very opinionated and outspoken,” Gross says, “[but] there’s this mentality that women who experience domestic violence are weak and shy or they’re in the corner in the fetal position, and that wasn’t really the case. If you’re calling me a bitch I’m gonna say, ‘Ya mother.’” Gross laughs at herself when she makes that last point, but then turns passionately serious when she discusses the possible effects that witnessing domestic violence may have had on her son. It was because of him, now 9 years old, that Gross finally left the relationship in which she had suffered abuse for nearly thee years. On a recent chilly night, Gross meets with me inside the warm confines of Dupp&Swat on The Plaza. I had met her last summer, but wasn’t familiar with what she had been through. When she read my recent series on domestic violence in Charlotte, of which this is the final installment, she reached out to me with a desire to share her story. Since leaving her abusive boyfriend on March 12, 2016, Gross has been eager to speak up on the issue and talk about her situation whenever she gets the chance. It’s her hope to combat the stigma surrounding intimate partner violence, and show that any type of person may find themself in an abusive relationship. When Gross met the man who would eventually become her abuser, she thought he was the complete package. He was problack and cared deeply about his family, two important qualities she looks for in men. Over time, he became controlling, insisting on picking her up from work and sometimes not letting her leave the house. He then became verbally abusive, and eventually things became physical. Gross was once confined to crutches after the man picked her up and threw her down when she tried to leave the house, resulting in a major sprain in her ankle. It was only then that Gross truly realized 8 | FEB. 1 - FEB. 7, 2018 | CLCLT.COM

On average, a victim of abuse leaves a relationship six to seven times before they are able to leave it for good. she was in an abusive relationship, just as her mother had been, and her grandmother before that. “It’s interesting that I didn’t recognize it, because I come from a family where domestic violence was really normal,” she says. “I always had this mentality of, ‘Never me.’” Following the assault that sprained her ankle, Gross took out a temporary restraining order against her abuser. He eventually talked her into returning to the house they shared, and convinced her not to pursue criminal charges. It was one of two times that Gross would leave the relationship only to return later, falling into a cycle that so many victims and survivors of domestic violence would recognize. On average, it takes victims six to seven times leaving a relationship before they’re able to fully detach themselves from the situation. “I do understand that I am not the norm,” Gross says. “Growing up, my mom would stay with men who were abusing her for years.” That’s why Gross wants to tell her story: to help victims understand that domestic violence needs to be talked about out in the open. She believes the stigma surrounding domestic violence is part of the reason it took her so long to leave. “Even in my own family, with the women who experienced it, we don’t really talk about it,” Gross says. “It’s this idea that we are supposed to heal men, we’re supposed to save men, we’re supposed to endure, because then the outcome is they will love us more. And that is absolutely not the case.” Gross says she only got the courage to leave after experiencing a resurgence of confidence that led her to recognize her own self worth, which had been grated down by the degrading things she would hear from her boyfriend on a daily basis. “At the time, I settled for what I thought I was worth. So getting that reality check,

like, ‘No, I’m definitely worth more,’ that was the hardest part,” she says. “Now I know I am worth more than being called a bitch, and being called a cunt, and someone saying that I’m a slut, and implying that I’m fucking someone at work. These are all things that were said. Once you realize and affirm that you are worth more than that, then it’s, ‘How the hell do I get out of this?’”

THE “CYCLE OF ABUSE” is an idea first

presented by Dr. Lenore Walker, in 1979, which diagrams the all-too-familiar cycle that becomes prevalent in many abusive relationships. There are different versions of the cycle, but for the most part they follow a path similar to what Gross experienced. It starts with a growing tension, which can manifest in controlling behavior, then an incident of abuse, whether it be verbal, emotional or physical. In the reconciliation stage, the abuser usually apologizes, or they may simply deny that any abuse occurred or justify it through victim blaming and excuses. Finally, in the calm stage, the abuse is forgotten. This is sometimes called the “honeymoon phase.” According to Bea Coté, founder and executive director of the IMPACT batterer intervention program in Charlotte, victims often don’t recognize that they are trapped in a repetetive cycle, because incidents of abuse might differ, leading them to believe each incident was the first time. “What victims often do is they separate each incident and make it a separate abuse, so therefore they’re not seeing a pattern that’s building,” Coté says. “If he hits her this week but he strangled her last week, this is the first time he’s ever done this. So she may not be seeing the pattern. So how is she going to know what’s going on to reach out for help? She’s going to think she just needs to be a

PHOTO BY DIEGO CERVO

better wife, a better girlfriend, and then he’ll be nicer like he was when she met him.” The most tragic part of this line of thinking is that an abuser will never become the person that a victim thought they were when they met them, Coté says. It’s similar to an addict, chasing that ellusive first high. “She’s trying to get that man back that she fell in love with because she thinks he exists, but that was the act to get her,” Coté says. “I think once victims come to that understanding, that’s when they’re done. When they know that he despises them, that’s when they’re done.” Julie Owens is one of the leading experts on domestic violence in the country. She lives in Charlotte, where she once served as the regional director of the North Carolina Council for Women’s domestic violence program. She is now a national consultant, working as a domestic violence trainer with organizations both public and private, from Bank of America to the Department of Justice. Owens does not subscribe fully to the “cycle of abuse” idea, because it does not apply to all victims. However, many of the countless victims she has worked with in her nearly 30 years in the domestic violence field do identify with the cycle. Owens also does not use the term “honeymoon phase,” preferring to emphasize the use of “manipulative kindness” by an abuser to convince a victim to stay. “It’s not a honeymoon,” Owens says, “because honeymoons don’t ever follow violence. What it is, though, is coercive control. It’s another phase of abuse. And a lot of people think that’s when things are really good. “It’s never ‘really good’ living with an abuser,” she stresses. “It’s just that the type of abuse changes. Instead of being beat up, there’s still emotional abuse, verbal abuse, and it will escalate again. The abuser uses tactics of manipulative kindness to coerce

PHOTO COURTESY OF TONYA JAMESON

Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather has thrown his support behind the construction of a family justice center in his county. the victim into not leaving. So it’s not a honeymoon; in fact, it’s one of the worst forms of abuse.” Owens describes how abusers slowly cut off a victim’s connection to the outside world, making it harder for them to leave or gain perspective on the experiences they’re having. She likens the result of this behavior to Stockholm Syndrome, in which victims become “traumatically bonded” with their abusers as a means of survival. Gross remembers how her boyfriend had convinced her to lose all trust in her family, so that when they tried to warn her, she wouldn’t listen. “During that time, the appearance that I had to put on was that I am in control of this,” Gross recalls. “In relationships, we argue, that’s normal. And I didn’t have anybody. I didn’t have support like that. A lot of survivors don’t. A lot of women and men that go through this do not have support.”

WHEN SPENCER Merriweather began as

Mecklenburg County’s new district attorney in November, he stated immediately that he wanted to offer that support to victims in any way he could. During his first day, he announced the formation of a special victim’s unit for victims of family violence, including intimate partner violence. He also has been a strong backer of opening a family justice center in Mecklenburg County, which CL covered in detail in the first article of this series. A family justice center is designed to place all or most of the services that a victim of intimate partner violence would need under one roof by creating a collaborative effort among police, prosecutors and advocate organizations. Merriweather says the center would help create a safe environment for victims, many of whom often don’t follow through with prosecuting their abusers due to the difficulty of accessing services. “We know that the quickest way to keep a survivor engaged in our criminal justice system is to make sure that their needs are met,” Merriweather says. “Across the

country, we’ve been able to see that a family justice center is an effective way of making sure that we meet those needs. We can meet a survivor’s needs at one place at one time. If we engage with them early, we know that it’s very likely that a survivor will stay engaged. That empowers them, and it empowers us to be able to hold offenders accountable.” Some, however, are concerned that Charlotte officials are rushing into a decision before taking all the options into account. Owens points out that prosecution is not the priority for some victims, and shouldn’t necessarily be the prioritized service. “When family justice centers are created, the focus is heavily on law enforcement, and not everybody needs that as the focus of the response for them” Owens says. “For some people, going to get a protective order will make them safer. For others, it may endanger them. For some people, getting their abuser arrested is going to help. For others, she might get beat up worse or killed for doing it. For some people, to testify against their perpetrator is going to help. For others, it’s going to hurt. “So one caution is putting so many eggs in a law enforcement response basket,” Owens says. “There are lots of different models and

ways to intervene with victims and work on the issue of domestic violence, and this is just one.” Owens would prefer to see Charlotte city leaders spring for a Community Safety Audit, a study carried out by domestic violence organization Praxis International, in which researchers come to the city and speak with everyone who works, volunteers or has influence in the domestic violence field. They then create a comprehensive report about what is working in the community and what isn’t working, and follow up with specific suggestions. “I think it’s important to have other voices, and to step back and look at things from a distance,” Owens says. “Look at CharlotteMecklenburg and say, ‘Where are the weak links in the system? When victims are killed, what are we missing? Why are so many people dying? What are we not doing right? “[Praxis International] may recommend a family justice center, or they may find that because of various factors, this isn’t the greatest place for one. But what’s happening is that they’re becoming very popular around the country, and they’re popping up in lots of places, so it’s like, ‘Let’s get us one, too.’ But it’s not a quick fix; it’s not the solution to everything.”

Another concern some have expressed is that the presence of police alongside advocacy organizations will keep some victims away, such as undocumented immigrants who would otherwise want to seek help. Lisa Diefenderfer, an attorney with the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy, works on cases involving immigration and domestic violence. She says many of her immigrant clients have told her they hesitated to come to her office, a nonprofit that is in no way connected to the government, because they believed ICE would be there. Diefenderfer says she’d like to see a change in the way law enforcement treats victims, regardless of their immigration status. “We would love to see our law enforcement agencies and our governments support our immigrant populations more, whether that’s undocumented or documented,” she says, “because right now there is so much fear surrounding law enforcement because of all of the mess that is immigration right now. People are not reaching out for help.” Shakira Clarke, housing director at Time Out Youth, suggests any police housed at the new center wear plain clothes, not only for undocumented immigrants’ peace of mind, but for any population way or law enforcement. CLCLT.COM | FEB. 1 - FEB. 7, 2018 | 9

“Once you realize and affirm that you are worth more than that, then it’s, ‘How the hell do I get out of this?’” MELODY GROSS, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SURVIVOR

Clarke points out that many LGBTQ youths don’t seek help when they are victims of intimate partner violence because they don’t feel comfortable sharing their stories with people who don’t understand their experiences. Clarke and others with Time Out Youth have trained the staff at Safe Alliance’s Clyde and Ethel Dickson Domestic Violence Shelter to be more inclusive of LGBTQ and gendernonconforming victims. She says she hopes that any staff working at a family justice center in Mecklenburg County would not only carry out similar training, but also bring on members who are representative of that population. “A lot of individuals who are serving [victims] have a very heteronormative perspective on serving folks, and they are missing the interaction with folks who are LGBT,” Clarke says. “When you think about law enforcement, you think about mental health professionals — and Safe Alliance has been doing a better job, they’re just awesome — but there’s other serving agencies that come from a very heteronormative perspective.” Clarke says word spreads fast in the LGBTQ community, especially among young people, and one bad experience can make an entire organization obsolete to an entire community in a very short time. “Young people just need a space to feel welcome and empowered to share their story,” Clarke says. “If a non-binary or gender nonconforming person comes in and they’re misgendered, they don’t feel safe to share their story or feel that the information that they’re going to share is trusted. That, right there, can be a deal breaker for many young people who walk through the door.”

AS FOR GROSS, she was able to remove

herself from her own abusive experience without the help of any organization, but she realizes now how lucky she was. 10 | FEB. 1 - FEB. 7, 2018 | CLCLT.COM

She has a surprising perspective on what she went through, now that her eyes have been opened to a reality she tried for so long to hide from. Gross admits that, before experiencing abuse herself, she had a habit to victim blame, adding to the stigma she now tries to speak out against. “I’m going to say something that’s really weird and shocking probably,” Gross warns me as she its in Dupp&Swatt, surrounded by walls filled with art pieces portraying strong black subjects like herself. “But I do feel like I had to go through that. I had to, because I remember growing up despising my mother for those experiences, not having any respect for the fact that she went through that,” Gross says. “Even when she told me, ‘Mel, you know what I’ve gone though. Leave.’ That still wasn’t enough. Because I was like, ‘I’m stronger than you.’ My mom didn’t have a voice, my aunt didn’t have a voice, my grandmother didn’t have a voice to speak out. And so I had to be put in their shoes in order to become that person who speaks out.” Now, Gross wants to pass along a message to those who might still be going through what she once was. “You are not a bad person because you are experiencing abuse. There’s nothing wrong with you, you are whole, it’s just that person is an asshole, and you can’t fix the person. We cannot fix them,” she says. “Trust yourself and know that you’re absolutely worth more than this. This doesn’t define who you are. “Yes, I talk about domestic violence, I speak about it, but it doesn’t define who I am,” Gross says. “It enlightened who I am, as a speaker, as a healer, as just someone who cares and wants other people to love themselves. But I was who I was before I met him. And I’ll be who I am afterwards.” RPITKIN@CLCLT.COM

NEWS

BLOTTER

BY RYAN PITKIN

HANGER ON A 34-year-old woman filed

generation after millennials are called Generation Z, because they’ll be the last one. That makes more sense when you consider the fact that the assholes have been eating Tide Podes and filming themselves doing it on the internet. Police responded to a Family Dollar on Sugar Creek Road last week after an unknown suspect was able to make off with 20 boxes of Tide Pods, costing $100 total. Who knows how much it will be worth on the black market, though.

a police report last week when she went to move into a home she had owned for some time only to find that she may not be welcome there. The woman said she had been renting the house out to a tenant, but that tenant had moved out voluntarily in early January. When she arrived at the house to live there herself on January 24, she found someone living there. She later found out this squatter was a roommate of her former tenant who had decided not to move out, possibly assuming that nobody would come check on the residence.

NERD HEIST Heroes really are hard to find,

DONE Police filed a report last week after

DO NOT RESUSCITATE They say the

but someone apparently found a whole bunch of them in east Charlotte last month. It looks as if the suspect had inside knowledge when they broke into a storage facility on Monroe Road in early January and went right for a unit owned by Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find, a beloved comic book store in the Elizabeth neighborhood. According to a report filed by ownership there, the thief cut the lock to the unit and made off with multiple “collectable action figure statues,” valued at $50,000 in total.

PISSED OFF It’s become a cliché for older folks to yell, “Get off my lawn,” at neighborhood kids, and at this point it’s more of a symbolic reference to grumpy senior citizen behavior than an actual thing that happens, but one 61-year-old man in east Charlotte has every right to be yelling it after a few kids from his neighborhood began relieving themselves on his yard. The man filed a report last week to inform police that “neighborhood kids had been urinating on his lawn and ruining the grass,” according to the officer who filed the report. The man said that at least $100 in damage has been done to this point. TAKE IT As I’ve said before in this column,

there are times when I come across a police report in which it becomes clear from what a thief stole that they needed those specific items more than the store needed the money. Such was the case for one poor soul who walked into a Walmart on W.T. Harris Boulevard in need of some serious relief. According to a report, someone concealed a bottle of antifungal cream and two packs of bladder relief capsules. Unfortunately, loss prevention officers caught the shoplifter before they could exit the store, leaving the suspect to continue suffering through their affliction while they waited for police to arrive.

HOME EC Police were called in to deal with

a situation at Ridge Road Middle School in the Highland Creek neighborhood last week after a student was found with some snacks that didn’t mesh with former First Lady Michelle Obama’s school nutrition initiative. According to the report, during lunchtime a student was found in possession of four chocolate rice crispy treats, one Cheerio bar and two brownies, all of which were baked with marijuana.

someone found the items of a gym bag scattered along the street in east Charlotte then turned them into CMPD. Filing a noncriminal report for recovered property, the officer listed the items as a black gym bag, a basketball, sneakers, exercise clothes and toiletries. All of the items strewn about the street could only point to one thing: the ultimate “Fuck it” from someone who was sick of their New Year’s resolution. He’ll probably be back to claim his property on December 31, 2018.

PUMP IT UP A man was arrested for drug possession in west Charlotte last week, but one of the drugs he was carrying was a mysterious one, to say the least. An officer who made the arrest later filed a report stating that police has confiscated 14.4 grams of marijuana, a digital scale, a baggie with the corner ripped off and an “unknown penis pill” from the suspect. LOOKS FAMILIAR A man called police last week after he was driving down the interstate in Charlotte and realized the car next to him was stolen. How did he realize this, you ask? Because it belonged to him. The victim is the owner of a vehicle auction company in Rock Hill, and was driving south on Interstate 77 last week when he saw a Volkswagen Passat that he recognized as one that he was supposed to be auctioning off soon. He called police and followed the car, which officers eventually caught up with and pulled over. The car was found to be stolen from the man’s lot in South Carolina. TAKE A SKIP DAY Getting ready for school

can be a stressful situation for a teenage girl. You can have a bad hair day, you’re makeup might not be looking right, you might not be feeling any of your clean outfits, or you could fall victim to a paintball drive-by. The latter is what happened to one unfortunate girl in west Charlotte last week. The 16-yearold girl told police she was waiting for her school bus at at 6:35 a.m. when a car drove by and someone shot her multiple times with a paintball gun from the vehicle. The girl suffered minor injuries but refused any treatment from police or Medic. We hope she was able to take the rest of the day off, too. All stories are pulled from police reports at CMPD headquarters. Suspects are innocent until proven guilty.

CLCLT.COM | FEB. 1 - FEB. 7, 2018 | 11

FOOD

translucent, transfer the softened veggies to the pan of onions and allow to cook, along with some minced garlic. When it starts to brown deliciously, deglaze with several cups of stock and simmer with the lid on for 20 minutes or so. Allow it to cool to a point your tool can handle, and puree. Alternatively, just cook your favorite veggie-based meal — say, a stir-fry — and then hit it with your tool. It will probably be great. No vegetable epitomizes the green smoothie like kale, and there is a place for everyone’s favorite leafy green roughage in the winter purry as well. But you have to be careful not to overdo it, as happened to me when I thought I could just substitute pureed kale for spinach and make a cheesy saag paneer. I practically overheated my poor tool on that kale, as I had neglected to remove the stems. The dish tasted OK, but as it cooled it hardened into something like kevlar-reinforced green concrete. The trick, I’ve since learned, is to first make the kale into chips, and then crumble them into purry. On that note, here is a recipe for Kale and Cauliflower Purry, adapted (and renamed) from the Williams-Sonoma Vitamix sales literature. Since cauliflower is the new kale, according to Bloomberg, this seems like an appropriate combination, a blended blend of old and new it veggies. To boot, the greenhouse-grown kale that’s in season right now in cold regions, and available at local winter markets ,is some of the tastiest you will find. The cold weather keeps the leaves sweet and tender.

FEATURE

PURRY IN A HURRY Fiber up with a winter smoothie BY ARI LEVAUX

HE EASIEST WAY to consume loads of fiber is to drink it. Whether it’s a powdered supplement stirred into a glass of water, or a delicious green smoothie, drinking fiber is a stealthy way to get it down, compared to chomping your way through a pile of whole grains, stems and leaves. While it is possible to overdo it on fiber, those who enjoy rich, high-fat meals could almost always benefit from a bit more. Fiber is a catch-all phrase for carbohydrates, such as cellulose, that we cannot digest. Although we can’t derive energy or nutrients from these particles, they exert their goodness in other ways, such as feeding the microbes in our gut, scrubbing your pipes like an intestinal Brillo pad, and helping to regulate blood sugar and fat. Fiber does what it does, regardless of how long the actual, literal strands of fiber are. And when chopped small enough, you may not even realize you’re eating fiber. With some supplements, like psyllium husk, you are eating the plant equivalents of random animal parts you eat in hot dogs. The beauty of a green smoothie is that you take your fibers easily and deliciously, in the form of fresh fruits and veggies. The wintertime analog to this dish is pureed soup. I call it Winter Purry, because when I’m sitting all winter cozy with my bowl of soup, I feel purry like a happy cat in a splash of light. The same way a summer smoothie, cold and fruity, quenches the thirst of a hot day, a good winter purry offers a seasonal antidote that’s similarly vitamin-rich, but warming. There are endless ways to make a purry, but most recipes can be simplified to a few basic steps and ingredients. You’ll need some good stock or broth, either of meat, vegetable, mushroom... it really doesn’t matter. I keep a jar of Better than Bouillon paste, which is an excellent substitute for homemade. But really, if a kitchen is halfway organized there’s no reason to run out of homemade stock. You will also need some sort of tool with which to puree your purry. I use the immersion blender. I call it The Tool. Finally, you need your fiber-filled winter vegetables, prepared in a way that softens them for your tool. They can be roots like carrots; stems like celery; seeds such as lentils; fruits a la a tomato; florets from broccoli and the like, and various leaves. The drill is simple. Sauté the onion in 12 | FEB. 1 - FEB. 7, 2018 | CLCLT.COM

KALE AND CAULIFLOWER PURRY - 1 head of cauliflower, deconstructed into florets, with the larger ones sliced in half - Olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder - 8 or so cups of stock or broth - Bunch of kale, leaves stripped and torn into evenly-sized chunks, about 2-inches across - 3 sticks celery - 1 onion - herbs and spices

oil with spices. You don’t even need to cut the onion super small, because it will be soft, and because we have our tools. Meanwhile, prepare your other veggies by steaming

until soft-either separately in the steamer, or added to the steamer in proper order (roots and other hard things first, leaves and other soft parts last). When the onions are

Preheat oven to 400. Toss the cauliflower in olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Place them in the oven on a baking sheet. Toss the kale with the same oil and spices as the cauliflower, and spread them on a tray. After the cauliflower has been in the oven for about 25 minutes, reduce heat to 300. Add the kale tray to the oven. Monitor the chips closely as they cook, and take them out before they get too crispy, as they will continue to crisp after you remove them. You want them bright green and shiny with oil. Remove the cauliflower when it’s done. In a heavy bottom pan, sauté the onion and celery. Add the garlic, and a few minutes later, the stock and cauliflower. Cook, covered, until everything is tool-tender. The kale chips can be added before it is pureed, or after, as a garnish. Or both. This purry can handle many different spices, from harissa to herbs de Provence; I take mine with a mix of toasted and crushed cumin and coriander seeds. To serve, ladle into bowls, or a steaming cup, and sip your fiber pleasantly.

These cones only remain leakproof for about 10 minutes, so sip your coffee fast.

FOOD

PHOTOS COURTESY OF #COFFEEINACONE

MORSEL

DO IT FOR THE ‘GRAM #CoffeeInACone to launch in Charlotte this week BY ALEXANDRIA SANDS

THE WORLDWIDE obsession with photographing our food before consuming it is one that we all share, apparently, and recognizing that can make for a worthy investment. Charlotte entrepreneur Gavin Eales thinks so, at least. That’s why he’s rolling out a new product in Charlotte that puts a twist on your daily dose of caffeine: #CoffeeInACone. The original concept for #CoffeeInACone came from Dayne Levinrad, a South African barista with a background in marketing and social media. Levinrad wanted to create a drink that customers would photograph, share on Instagram and, hopefully, tag his coffee shop. He began filling chocolate-coated waffle cones with cappuccinos and espressos and, voila, his shop soon had a line out the door. He went on to sell his creation at other cafes all across South Africa. Here in Charlotte, Eales recognized the genius of the idea. “You’re combining three of everybody’s loves,” Eales said. “Everybody loves the crispy waffle cone ... everyone loves chocolate and everyone needs coffee to get them through the day.” After acquiring the first license to sell

the product here in the States, he began looking around for the right retailer. Now, what people have called the “world’s most Instagrammable coffee” will be available at Sunflour Baking Company locations within the week. It will be the first retail location to serve #CoffeeInACan in the country. Eales’ targeted release date was Friday, January 26, but it took longer than expected for the product to clear customs, he said. He still hopes to have it on shelves by the end of the week. He’s also working to bring the product to other cafes around the city and state. If you plan to try #CoffeeInACone, you better drink your coffee fast, because you’re on a timer from the moment it’s poured. Using a seal made of four layers of cocoa, the cone is only leak-proof for about 10 minutes from the first pour. The U.S. will become one of 15 countries to have #CoffeeInACone available, including Austria, Germany, Israel, Australia, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Singapore. According to Eales, there’s limited stock for the launch, so get there fast and remember: “If you’re going to have a #CoffeeInACone, there’s one thing you must do, and that’s take a photo and put it on Instagram.”

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CLCLT.COM | FEB. 1 - FEB. 7, 2018 | 13

THURSDAY

‘THE ART OF STRUGGLE’ OPENING RECEPTION

THURSDAY

‘ORANGEBURG, 50 YEARS LATER’

THINGS TO DO

TOP TEN

The Art of Struggle THURSDAY PHOTO COURTESY OF ELDER GALLERY

FRIDAY

HAUNTED SUMMER

‘THE FINAL YEAR’ What: Need an escape from the cast of White House miscreants currently sending our nation into a nosedive? Check out this documentary, in which filmmaker Greg Barker follows a White House team that actually acts presidential — Barack Obama’s foreignpolicy professionals like Secretary of State John Kerry, U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power and Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes, who do what State Department professionals are supposed to do: make America great. You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.

When: 7:30-9:30 p.m. Where: C3 Lab , 1520 S. Tryon St. More: TBD. c3-lab.com/events

What: From the movement for black lives to the Women’s March, conversations about race, gender and inclusion are happening all over. An exhibit at The Elder Gallery is furthering this discussion through pieces from North Carolina artists MyLoan Dinh, Charles Farrar and Susan Brenner. The reception will be followed by a Friday luncheon where the artists will discuss the meaning and impact of their work.

What: In 1968, just a couple hours south of Charlotte, police in South Carolina shot and killed three black students and injured many others — just because they wanted to integrate an all-white bowling alley. Award-winning black journalist Steve Crump of WBTV has produced a documentary on the horrific massacre, and civil rights photographer Cecil Williams has published a book on it. Both will be on hand for the premiere of the documentary.

What: When husband-and-wife Bridgette Moody and John Seasons started making demos together, they received tour offers before they could put together a band. Now, they are Haunted Summer, and are touring their debut album Spirit Guides, released in September. The band’s sound is a mix of pop, orchestral strings and electronics. With Moody’s vocals and Seasons on guitar, Haunted Summer’s performance comes alive through the couple’s connection that is real both on and off the stage.

When: Thurs., 6-8 p.m.; Fri., 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. Where: The Elder Gallery, 1520 S. Tryon St. More: Free ($10 luncheon).

When: 6-8 p.m. Where: The Harvey B. Gantt Center, 551 South Tryon St. More: Free. ganttcenter.org

When: 10 p.m. Where: Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson St. More: $8. eveningmuse.com

14 | FEB. 1 - FEB. 7, 2018 | CLCLT.COM

SATURDAY

QUEEN CITY BREWER’S FESTIVAL What: It would take a full weekend — and a drunk one at that — to check off every spot on a Charlotte brewery bucket list, so the Queen City Brewers Festival is your golden opportunity to try them all at once. Participants will get a taste of 36 CLT breweries and enjoy food samples from select restaurants. Your drinking also goes toward the annual winter fundraiser for ACEing Autism, a nonprofit that connects children with autism through tennis. You can still win with a score of love. When: 1-4 p.m.; 6-9 p.m. Where: The Fillmore, 820 Hamilton St. More: $45. qcbrewfest.com

Puppy Bowl SUNDAY

Sketchbook Social Club MONDAY

NEWS ARTS FOOD MUSIC ODDS

Haunted Summer FRIDAY PHOTO COURTESY OF LUCKY DOG BARK & BREW

SATURDAY

PHOTO COURTESY OF URBAN ZUE

SUNDAY

MONDAY

PHOTO COURTESY OF BANCAMP

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

TET FESTIVAL

PUPPY BOWL

SKETCHBOOK SOCIAL CLUB

G LOVE AND SPECIAL SAUCE

MOLLYWOPS

What: Many Americans only think of the Vietnamese New Year in relation to the “Tet Offensive.” The holiday isn’t about a turning point in the war, however, but about starting fresh and welcoming the arrival of spring. This year, Tet falls on February 16, but the Vietnamese Association of Charlotte is celebrating early with lion dances, authentic food, traditional performances, games for all ages and, of course, the annual Miss Vietnam Carolinas contest (also, Mr. Vietnam and Little Miss Vietnam).

What: Once a year, a shit-ton of Americans join around TVs to drink beer, eat wings and watch the biggest sporting event of the year. For the rest of us, uninterested by grown men jumping for balls, we have to find something cuter (sorry, Tom Brady). Lucky Dog is hosting their second annual Puppy Bowl, an event that benefits Pits and Giggles Rescue and features their adoptable puppies. There will be a best dressed pup contest, drink specials, raffles, food trucks and a photo booth.

What: “That dude over there looks super sketchy. You should go ask his name.” This is not a sentence you would expect to hear from anyone you consider a friend, but it just might make sense at this new get together, where artists are encouraged to bring their sketch pads and pencils/crayons/ whatever. UrbanZue, purveyors of all things cool in Charlotte’s art scene, are hosting so kick back with a NoDa brew — or Lenny Boy’s kombucha, for non-drinkers — and create something great.

What: Everybody loves the G Love. Don’t ask us why. Maybe it’s that Special Sauce — the laid-back blend of blues and rap he’s touted for as long as we can remember. Or least since the ‘90s H.O.R.D.E. jam-band tours. What G Love cooks up is not really blues or rap, but his Sauce is so damn goodtimin’ Special that nobody gets offended. He just keeps on keeping on, singing easily digestible peace’n’-luv tunes for non-rap fans who want to feel “contemporary.”

When: Noon-6 p.m. Where: Oasis Shriners, 604 Doug Mayes Place More: Free. vietcharlotte.wixsite.

When: 1-4 p.m. Where: Lucky Dog Bark & Brew Charlotte, 2220 Thrift Road More: Free.

When: 4 p.m. Where: NoDa Brewing Company, 2921 N. Tryon St. More: Free. nodabrewing.com

When: 8 p.m. Where: Visulite Theatre, 1615 Elizabeth Ave. More: $25-$30. visulite.com

What: A new month means a new residency at Snug Harbor, and we’re excited to see the trio that graced the cover of CL’s 2017 Music Issue, The MollyWops, take over Wednesday nights in February. The trio — a mash-up featuring singer/ songwriter Jessica Evans, rapper/ guitarist Tiffany Lozada and former metal/punk drummer Pete McCoil — met in West Virginia before coming together as a band in CLT. They’ll be calling Snug home for the next four weeks, and Wednesday will be joined by Evergone, The Bleeps and Sacred Cashcow. When: 7 p.m. Where: Snug Harbor, 1228 Gordon St. More: $2. snugrock.com

CLCLT.COM | FEB. 1 - FEB. 7, 2018 | 15

MUSIC

FEATURE

FROM OLD SAN JUAN TO NEW CHARLOTTE The personal becomes the political in Quisol’s ‘Latin Future’ sound BY MARK KEMP

Quisol portrait.

O MATTER WHERE New York singer Ismael Miranda performs, the veteran Fania Records sonero, known affectionately as “El Niño Bonito de la Salsa” (the Pretty Face of Salsa), always pulls out the popular standard “En Mi Viejo San Juan.” Like so many Puerto Ricans of a certain age, Miranda, who is 67, was born on the island but raised on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. “En Mi Viejo San Juan” tells the tale of an aging Puerto Rican living abroad, knowing he will likely never again see his beloved Caribbean birthplace. “Time passed and destiny mocked my terrible nostalgia,” goes one line of the iconic song, as translated in English. “And I couldn’t return to the San Juan that I loved . . . My hair whitened, my life fades away, and death calls for me. . .” Charlotte singer Joseph Samuel Quisol, 23, had never stepped foot on Puerto Rican soil when he sat down three years ago to rewrite the words of this classic bolero that’s become P.R.’s unofficial national anthem. “I kept the melody but translated some of the lyrics into English and made it from my perspective,” says Quisol, who was born of Puerto Rican and Filipino heritage in Sacramento, California, and raised in the Queen City. “En Mi Viejo San Juan” was a favorite of Quisol’s abuela — his grandmother — who deeply identified with the words. “She had told me about the song, and she hasn’t been back there in forever,” Quisol says. “But that was not my experience with Puerto Rico. For me, it was this place that I had never been to, but that I had seen in family photos. “So I adjusted the lyrics to talk about learning Spanish in the United States and hearing about this mythic land across the ocean where everyone’s from; it is our place, but it was a place I’d never been to.” Quisol wrote the new lyrics as a way to engage with other second-generation Latinx immigrants. “I think a lot of people of my generation can identify with being from immigrant families and hearing these legends about these faraway places that are home to our parents and our grandparents,” he says, “but having no real connection to the physical places ourselves.” “En Mi Viejo San Juan” took on profound new meaning in the wake of Hurricane 16 | FEB. 1 - FEB. 7, 2018 | CLCLT.COM

Quisol performs a live looping and DJ project at Harvard’s Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning. Maria’s devastation this past September, and Quisol decided to include a raw, acoustic rendering of his version as a stand-alone bonus track with The World Keeps Turning, the debut EP from his band, also called Quisol, which comes out this week on his Bandcamp page. The proceeds from the stand-alone track will go to help the people of Puerto Rico, who have been largely forgotten in our 24/7 news cycle, but who are still desperately struggling and in need of relief. The World Keeps Turning is brief — a mere three-song introduction to a sound Quisol calls “Latin Future.” There’s the ringing guitar tones of the indie-rock song “One More Kiss,” the full-on Latin-jazz flourishes in “Everything and One Thing” (for which he’s already released a video), and the bossa nova shuffle of the title track, in which Quisol sings of the ever-turning wheels of change, both personally and culturally.

PHOTO BY CAROLYN HO

He wrote the songs between 2014 and 2016, while studying political science at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. “In Charleson I never found a band or people to play with, so I was writing a lot on my own, just on guitar, and producing stuff in my bedroom,” he says. When he returned to Charlotte in 2016, Quisol put together his band with a mix of old friends he’d played with in high school and new ones, most of whom are of various Latinx heritages. “I would come back on breaks during college and hang out with Nik [Maldonado, who plays percussion] and Kevin [Washburn, who plays saxophone],” Quisol remembers. “They’ve played with me forever, and we were friends and we started looking around and saying, ‘Look, we’re all different kinds of Latinx’ — Nik is Puerto Rican, Kevin’s Paraguayan, Sharad [Wertheimer, a co-

PHOTOBY XAVIER TORRES DE JANON

songwriter] has Guatemalan roots. So we just kind of wanted to claim stuff that came from that. And then we met Michael [Gonzalez], who plays congas with us. He and I started dating, and although that relationship ended, he added a lot to the music and was on the same wavelength as us — learning congas, loving salsa, and wanting to do new music that incorporated some of that.” After recording the EP and playing numerous live gigs around Charlotte, both solo and with his band, Quisol set off to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he is currently working on his master’s degree in Art in Education at Harvard University. His program combines music, education and arts fundraising. When he returns to Charlotte after graduating in May, Quisol plans to bring what he’s learned back home and put it to work in public spaces that promote the intersection of art, music and community activism. He points to Charlotte spaces like Area 15 and Camp North End — “places where people do art, where people have offices, where people come together to do organizing,” Quisol says. “For example, when the Charlotte Uprising was going on, a lot of meetings and training happened at Area 15. So I want to eventually facilitate spaces like that, and to create new spaces. “I see myself as kind of a bridge between different groups of people who come together to do things,” he says.

FOR QUISOL — a young, queer, Latinx

musician, community organizer and political activist — the bridge he seeks to become is a broad one, and Harvard has the resources for him to lay a strong foundation for it. When I catch up with him by phone on a recent weekday afternoon, he is walking across Harvard’s storied campus, attempting to speak to me through the crackle of a powerful wind. He approaches the sprawling Harvard Science Center, with its Leggo-like tiers that descend, staircase-like, to the ground. “Compared to the rest of the campus, which is historic and brick, there’s a lot of glass and steel beams,” he says of the building, which was designed by the Catalan architect Josep Lluís Sert. The Science Center stands in stark contrast to Harvard’s more historic structures, such as Holden Chapel, which dates back to the 18th century.

“JUST BEING A BROWN PERSON AND A QUEER PERSON, AND BEING VISIBLE IN THIS CONTEXT, IS POLITICAL.” QUISOL

“Right now, there’s a lot of people in here,” Quisol says. “I’m in a café inside the Science Center, about to sit down. A lot of undergraduates are around me, studying.” Quisol has been studying, too, taking classes like ‘Managing Financial Resources in Non-Profit Organizations,” and studying music under some notable professors — the improvisational jazz pianist Vijay Iyer and the Grammy-winning jazz bassist and singersongwriter Esperanza Spalding. Under Iyer, Quisol worked with a South Indian classical percussionist who helped him expand his rhythmic vocabulary. “We would put together ensembles every month — like three to six people — where we would write music and then perform it at a concert at the end of each month,” Quisol says. “I worked a lot with loops in the class, which is something I had done in my live performances in Charlotte. And we had a great saxophonist, Jonah Philion, who used my loop pedal to loop his saxophone part while I was looping a vocal part, and they would kind of interplay with one another. And then we had an electric guitarist, Arlo Sims, who would improvise over that.” Under Spalding, Quisol is currently taking a course called “Applied Music Activism.” On January 24, the day after a recent class with Spalding, Quisol spotted the singer at a campus protest where 200 student activists had gathered to call for Harvard to withdraw its investments from a hedge fund that holds $1 billion of Puerto Rico’s debt. “I had just plugged [the protest] in that class on Tuesday and thought, ‘Well maybe some people will show up,’” he says. “And then Esperanza shows up, and she’s just chilling in the crowd. So I go up to her and say, ‘Hey Esperanza, I’m so glad you made it.’”

Quisol had been a liaison between Harvard and the Brooklyn-based New York Communities for Change, which organized the demonstration. It was role Quisol became intimately familiar with in Charlotte, where he has served as an organizer with his DIY art group Queens Collective. Last summer, the collective put on a series of pop-up events that brought together musicians and artists in support of local community initiatives ranging from environmentalism to antibigotry. One of the pop-ups supported Bennu Gardens, an urban organic farm on Charlotte’s West Side run by Bernard Singleton. Quisol recently released a video that documents that event. “I met Mr. Bernard earlier this year and learned about how he uses the gardens for a youth program,” Quisol says in the video. Singleton explains the purpose of the garden as well as his organization, the CEJS Organic Farms Project. “The garden here is primarily a teaching garden, where we teach horticulture and sustainable living,” Singleton says in the video. “Agriculture is art. Every new site I call my blank canvas.”

QUISOL’S POLITICAL awakening began, of all places, at Charlotte’s Mecklenburg Community Church, which, on one hand, does important work with the city’s homeless and reaches out to its LGBTQ citizens, but on the other hand, condemns LGBTQ sexuality in its pastor’s blog as being against the literal teachings of the Bible. “My family was going to Mecklenburg Community Church when I was in middle school and high school, and I did music ministry there,” Quisol says. “In fact, the first time I ever got on a stage was at that church, doing worship music.” CLCLT.COM | FEB. 1 - FEB. 7, 2018 | 17

MUSIC

FEATURE

Through the church, Quisol volunteered his time with the poor and homeless in Charlotte, and quickly learned of the demoralization wrought by racism and economic inequality. Then came the controversy surrounding HB2, the notorious N.C. law that sought to define marriage as between a man and woman only. The political had become personal. “During my junior and senior year, when HB2 started happening, I started canvassing with organizers,” Quisol remembers. “A mentor I had around that time — a school counselor, Bill Strong — told some of us students who were queer that we could help out by asking people to vote against HB2. So that’s the first time I got into organizing.” Quisol chose to study political science at College of Charleston, where he continued to participate in student organizing. “I had begun to connect the dots. I saw that the struggle for queer liberation is connected to poverty, and then learned about world history, studying Southeast Asia, and seeing colonial history and how that’s connected back to capitalism, and how Eurocentrism is connected to racism,” he says. “All of these different things, this intersectionality,” he says, “showed me how these different struggles are related.” Bringing his growing political awareness into his music has been a slower process. “So far I haven’t written political music, explicitly,

18 | FEB. 1 - FEB. 7, 2018 | CLCLT.COM

in terms of my words and content,” Quisol says. “But just being a brown person and a queer person, and being visible in this context, is political. Like, my body being at Harvard is political. Or being at Charleston. Existing as me is political.” His words echo those of another group of Charlotte musicians, Blame the Youth — a band made up of black, Latinx, female, transgender and gay members. One member of that group told Pat Moran for a story in CL’s Pride issue this past August, “We’re political just by existing. It’s revolutionary for us just to be in a public space.” Quisol, who considers the members of Blame the Youth friends, concurs. “Some people get uncomfortable when I enter a space because they don’t know what to make of me,” he says. “I get asked a lot, ‘Are you a student here? Can you show your ID?’ Especially in Charleston, I would get asked that a lot just going into the honors college dorm. I’m brown, I’m queer, and I was in a top scholars program at College of Charleston. My being there made people look twice and question it.’” In early January, Quisol released a psychedelic-tinged music video for his song “Everything and One Thing” which he describes as “just me, captured by me, putting my face out there — it’s inherently queer and will give people pause just to see a face like

Quisol (left) with his band members Michael David Gonzalez, Randall Davis and Nikolas Maldonado. mine that they don’t recognize as ‘the norm.’ I definitely think that’s inherently political.” As his music continues to develop, Quisol says he expects he’ll begin doing more than just alluding to political issues in his lyrics. “On the action side and the organizing side, I’ve always been much more explicitly political, and I think as I keep moving forward, the action and music will merge,” Quisol says. “I envision my next project being

PHOTO BY LEX PAIGE

more explicitly political in terms of lyrical content. I have a lot of quotes and recordings saved that I want to integrate into my music. I’m excited to keep creating music that will be more intentionally thought-provoking and challenging for people.” And he will bring the old San Juan that’s imprinted in his DNA into his Latin Future. MKEMP@CLCLT.COM

MUSIC

MUSICMAKER

FOR HER ABSENT DAD Arsena to perform with Jason Jet at Tosco Party BY MARK KEMP

ARSENA SCHROEDER WAS studying

communications and sociology at Pfeiffer University in Charlotte when she got the opportunity to do an internship in Washington, D.C. While there, she bought herself an acoustic guitar and, in her spare time, began writing and singing the stories that were in her head. It’s a good thing. The singer, who performs under her first name, has a confident voice and strong, percussive acoustic-guitar chops. Not only that, but she’s a hell of a confessional songwriter. In “Elephant in the Room,” from her 2014 full-length debut album For My Artist Child, Arsena offers up some real talk about growing up with an absent father. “You said you’d come for Christmas — it’s now March. You managed to never be here,” Arsena sings over fingerpicked guitar and a swell of keyboards and percussion. Later in the song, she comes in for the knockout line: “I know your objections, excuses and rage — but this is my song.” It’s a sentiment many children of absent fathers can identity with, and on February 2 Arsena will perform “Elephant in the Room” at the Tosco Music Party, along with another talented local singer-songwriter, Jason Jet. We caught up with Aresena, 27, to find out what else she’s been up to lately. Creative Loafing: It’s about time for some new music, isn’t it, Arsena? Arsena Schroeder: Yes, and I’m currently working on my second full-length album, which will be called Sweet Talking. In the time between the first one and now, I’ve recorded a couple of EPs, experimenting with new sounds and with co-writing, and just trying to deepen my songwriting abilities. I’m hoping to release it later this year. What are your plans for the Tosco show? So the first song we’ll be doing is “Elephant in the Room,” which is about the absence of my dad. It’s kind of a downer, but it’s one of my most-requested songs. It’s a very transparent song about me processing the fact that we never really addressed the elephant in the room, which is that, you know… he wasn’t there. I get a lot of feedback from people who were either kids who had an absent parent, or a step-parent who had to step in, because in the song I also mention the men in my life who have stepped up. The second song is one Jason wrote that’s a great response and follow-up to mine, called “When I’m Gone,” which talks about him being absent. So it’s a really cool way to collab and bring our art together around this topic.

TOSCO MUSIC PARTY 7:30 p.m. Saturday, February 3. $13.05-$27.50. Knight Theatre, 430 S. Tryon St. toscomusic.org.

You worked on Capitol Hill during college, and that’s where you started performing. How did that come about? I was going to be interning at C-SPAN, but I decided to go with a smaller organization, because I have an entrepreneurial spirit and I really wanted to see how they did things. I also had a lot of time while I was there, so I decided to order a guitar and teach myself to play, and that kick-started my songwriting. I didn’t start out thinking I would be a songwriter, but I had a lot of songs in my head and didn’t know what to do with them. Two months later, I ended up getting a gig opening up for a band at [D.C. coffee shop] Ebenezer’s and then I was in Bolivia and got a chance to play there. It was around then that I thought, “Wow, I’m really enjoying this and my music seems to resonate with people.” You were in D.C. — did you ever write any political or protest songs? Oh, no, I’ve never been very political, although I probably should be. My music has always been more inspirational. I like to talk about what I’m processing or learning in my own life. There was a lot of scripture intertwined in my music then, because that was where I was at the time. So it was more faith-based and inspirational; reflective, revelatory type of things. You play acoustic guitar, and the music on your first album is nice mix of folk and acoustic soul-type material. Are your newer songs in the same vein? Acoustic music is my sweet spot. That’s what I’m most comfortable with. But when it comes to recording, I’ve evolved. The acoustic sound works great for some of my live settings — and for the Tosco event, I’ll be doing an acoustic set — but on the recent EPs I’ve experimented with beats and electronics. So for the new album we’re working to pair those sounds together in order to have a more mainstream appeal — with a lot of sampling and digitally based music — while still remaining true to my art and still having an acoustic presence, too. Listen at arsenamusic.bandcamp.com. CLCLT.COM | FEB. 1 - FEB. 7, 2018 | 19

MUSIC

SOUNDBOARD FEBRUARY 1 BLUES/ROOTS/INTERNATIONAL Violet Bell, The Dupont Brothers (The Evening Muse)

COUNTRY/FOLK Open Mic with Lisa De Novo (Temple Mojo Growler Shop, Matthews) Paul Brown & Terri McMurray (Davidson College Tyler-Tallman Recital Hall, Davidson)

DJ/ELECTRONIC Le Bang (Snug Harbor)

POP/ROCK Carmen Tate Solo Acoustic (Eddie’s on Lake Norman, Mooresville) Musicians Open Mic (Crown Station Coffeehouse and Pub) Open Mic at Studio 13 (Studio 13, Cornelius) Jim Garrett Trio (Comet Grill) Karaoke (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Musicomedy: Normal Dennis, Erik Button, Keyboard Cathy (Petra’s) Pentley Holmes, Lance & Lea (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Shana Blake and Friends (Smokey Joe’s Cafe) Yaitw, Green Fiend (Visulite Theatre)

Big Head Todd & the Monsters, Southern Avenue (The Fillmore) Brandon Stiles (Tin Roof) The Breakfast Club (Visulite Theatre) Haunted Summer (Evening Muse) Machine Funk: Widespread Panic Tribute, BC & The Big Rig (The Rabbit Hole) Moses Jones (Smokey Joe’s Cafe) TKO Faith Healer, Essex Muro, Dumb Doctors (Snug Harbor) Uncle Buck (Heist Brewery) Wicked Powers (RiRa Irish Pub,) Yacht Rock Revue (The Underground)

FEBRUARY 3 BLUES/ROOTS/INTERNATIONAL Latin Night In Plaza Midwood: Lola Pistola, MAMA, Enciso (Snug Harbor)

CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH American Musicale (Queens University of Charlotte) Charlotte Symphony: An American in Paris (Belk Theater)

DJ/ELECTRONIC

FEBRUARY 2

DJ Complete (RiRa Irish Pub) Off the Wall: The Cool of the Night (Petra’s) Tilted DJ Saturday’s (Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery)

BLUES/ROOTS/INTERNATIONAL

COUNTRY/FOLK

Mardis Gras Party: Zydeco Ya Ya, Carolina Gator Gumbo (Petra’s)

CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Charlotte Symphony: An American in Paris (Belk Theater)

COUNTRY/FOLK The Lenny Federal Band (Comet Grill) Lost Dog Street Band, Dead Cat (Evening Muse) The Scott Moss Band, Aaron Burdett (Free Range Brewing Company) Willie Watson, Anna Tivel (Neighborhood Theatre)

DJ/ELECTRONIC DJ Method (RiRa Irish Pub)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Electric Relaxation f. DJ Skillz (‘Stache House Bar & Lounge) 20 | FEB. 1 - FEB. 7, 2018 | CLCLT.COM

POP/ROCK

Diamond Rio (Coyote Joe’s) Elvis the Legend: Alex Mitchell and Cote Deonath (Sylvia Theatre, York) Jerry Jacobs Band (Tin Roof)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Tsuruda, Kirby Bright, Yung Earthy, Sokol Sound (Milestone)

POP/ROCK Amy Broome (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) The Big Lonesome (Evening Muse) Consider the Source, Emma’s Lounge, Duk Tan (The Rabbit Hole) Cosmic Charlie (Visulite Theatre) Lucy Kaplansky (Evening Muse) The Relics (Comet Grill) Steven Metz Band (RiRa Irish Pub) Tosco Music Party (Knight Theater) Travers Brothership, Dr. Bacon (Neighborhood

SOUNDBOARD

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MUSIC

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THIS SATURDAY

DIAMOND RIO LIMITED ADVANCE $18 ALL OTHERS $20

Theatre)

FEBRUARY 4 HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Bone Snugs-N-Harmony (Snug Harbor)

POP/ROCK Omari and The Hellhounds (Comet Grill)

FEBRUARY 5 POP/ROCK Find Your Muse Open Mic featuring Matthew McNeal (Evening Muse) Locals Live: The Best in Local Live Music & Local Craft Beers (Tin Roof) Lor, Kairos., Undrask (Milestone) The Monday Night All Stars (Visulite Theatre) Music Bingo (Tin Roof) Music Trivia (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Open Mic with Lisa De Novo (Legion Brewing) Shannon Lee and Thomas Stainkamp Dueling Piano’s Night (Vinyl Pi)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B #MFGD Open Mic (Apostrophe Lounge) Knocturnal (Snug Harbor)

FEBRUARY 6 DJ/ELECTRONIC BYOV: Bring Your Own Vinyl (Petra’s)

COUNTRY/FOLK Country Tuesday: Bob Fleming & The Cambria Iron Co., Perry Fowler, Vagittarius, David Z. Cox (Snug Harbor) Red Rockin’ Chair (Comet Grill)

POP/ROCK G. Love & Special Sauce, The Ries Brothers (Visulite Theatre) Hudson Falcons, No Anger Control, The Beatdowns, JohnnyMoss & The Bastards Out of Carolina (Milestone) Nothing Feels Good - Emo Night (Noda 101) Uptown Unplugged (Tin Roof) Tuesday Night Jam w/ The Smokin’ Js (Smokey Joe’s Cafe) Open Mic hosted by Jarrid and Allen of Pursey Kerns (The Kilted Buffalo, Huntersville)

FEBRUARY 7 BLUES/ROOTS/INTERNATIONAL Bugalú: February Edition (Petra’s)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B

THE CADILLAC THREE LIMITED ADVANCE $13 ALL OTHERS $15

Free Hookah Wednesdays Ladies Night (Kabob House, Persian Cuisine)

DJ/ELECTRONIC KARAOKE with DJ Alex Smith (Petra’s) Cyclops Bar: Modern Heritage Weekly Mix Tape (Snug Harbor)

SATURDAY, FEB 17

WALKER HAYES LIMITED ADVANCE GA $12 ALL OTHER GA $15 . VIP $69

COUNTRY/FOLK Open Mic/Open Jam (Comet Grill)

POP/ROCK Erin & The Wildfire, Waterworks, Bedroom Sessions (Milestone) February Residency: Mollywops, Evergone, The Bleeps, Sacred Cashcow (Snug Harbor) Jay Mathey Band (RiRa Irish Pub)) Songwriter Open Mic @ Petra’s (Petra’s, Charlotte) The Tosco Music Open Mic - Let’s get ready for Spring!!! (Evening Muse, Charlotte) Trivia & Karaoke Wednesdays (Tin Roof, Charlotte)

FRIDAY, MARCH 2

CODY JOHNSON

TICKETS ON SALE NOW $12

SATURDAY, MARCH 17

FRANK FOSTER WITH SPECIAL GUEST DENNY STRICKLAND LIMITED ADVANCE $10 ALL OTHERS $12

COMING SOON  Andrea Bocelli (February 9, Spectrum Center) Big Gigantic (February 9, Fillmore) Kid Rock (February 10, Spectrum Center) George Clinton & Parliament/Funkadelic (February 10, Fillmore) Fetty Wap (February 15, Fillmore) Molotov (February 22, Fillmore) John Nolan (of Taking Back Sunday), Andy Bilinski (February 23, Evening Muse) Face 2 Face - Elton John & Billy Joel Tribute (March 2, Fillmore) Jorma Kaukonen (March 6, McGlohon Theater) Dropkick Murphys (March 9, Fillmore) Jeezy-The Cold Summer Tour (March 11, Fillmore) The English Beat (March 17, Fillmore) The Eagles (April 11, Spectrum Center) The Darkness (April 27, The Underground) Blue October (May 3, Fillmore) Carbon Leaf (May 5, Neighborhood Theatre) St. Vincent (May 21, Fillmore)

FRIDAY, FEB 9

SATURDAY, MARCH 24

LANCO

LIMITED ADVANCE $15 ALL OTHERS $18

2/1 YAITW & GREEN FIEND 2/2 THE BREAKFAST CLUB CHARLIE - 2/5 THE MONDAY NIGHT ALLSTARS 2/3 COSMIC HIGH ENERGY GRATEFUL DEAD 2/15 THE BLACK LILLIES 2/6 G. LOVE AND SPECIAL SAUCE 2/11 WHITE BUFFALO 2/28 BRETT DENNEN 3/4 BAND OF HEATHENS 3/8 DAVID ARCHULETA 3/13 COAST MODERN 3/25 ICON FOR HIRE 4/14 TOUBAB KREWE 4/20 The OLD 97s 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.

SATURDAY, APRIL 21

THE LACS

LIMITED ADVANCE $12 ALL OTHERS $15

SATURDAY, MAY 12

AARON WATSON LIMITED ADVANCE $17 ALL OTHERS $20

SATURDAY, MAY 19

DYLAN SCOTT

LIMITED ADVANCE $17 ALL OTHERS $20 ON SALE AT COYOTE JOES AND COYOTE-JOES.COM COYOTE JOE’S : 4621 WILKINSON BLVD

704-399-4946

CLCLT.COM | FEB. 1 - FEB. 7, 2018 | 21

ARTS

PHOTO DEBBI BALLARD

FEATURE

A TALE OF TWO KILLERS IN LOVE ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ plan an edgy heist at Matthews Playhouse BY PAT MORAN Billy Ensley

HERE WILL BE gunshots,” Billy Ensley promises. “There will be blood.” Ensley is discussing his latest project as director, Bonnie & Clyde, a musical based on the exploits of the two Depression-era outlaws who became folk heroes. When the story of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow was turned into a movie in 1967, the studio advertised the film with the provocative tagline: “They’re young. . . they’re in love. . . and they kill people.” Even today, 50 years after the Academy Award-winning film premiered — and 84 years after Bonnie and Clyde were gunned down in a police ambush — the story of the pair’s ill-fated love affair and crime spree still has the power to engage and unsettle audiences. At least, that’s how Ensley hopes audiences will react when the musical debuts at Matthews Playhouse on February 2. The show represents a recent shift toward edgier material at the community-based non-profit theater best known for its slate of family-friendly fare. As the production’s director, Ensley is walking a tightrope trying to balance the play’s tone and historical accuracy with the story’s ability to make audiences empathize with the dustbowl desperados. But right now, we’re talking blood “Several people are shot — a clerk, a bank teller and a police officer,” Ensley says, adding that Barrow gang member — and Clyde’s older brother — Buck meets a particularly gruesome end towards the close of the play. Hopefully, there won’t be too much fake blood on the floor, Ensley confides, but if there is, it will clean up eaily with just a quick swipe between scenes. “It won’t be like when I directed Evil Dead at Actor’s Theater,” he says. “There was so much blood with that show that the dancers were slipping in it.” Ensley, who’s been a mainstay in Charlotte’s theater scene ever since he performed in Theater Charlotte’s production of Seesaw in 1982, knows a thing or two about grabbing an audience’s attention with controversial subjects. In 2003, he lobbied hard to bring Hedwig and the Angry Inch to the Queen City, directing and playing 22 | FEB. 1 - FEB. 7, 2018 | CLCLT.COM

Killers in Love: Clyde Barrow (Steven Buchanan) and Bonnie Parker (Lindsey Schroeder)

“THERE WAS SO MUCH BLOOD WITH THAT SHOW THAT THE DANCERS WERE SLIPPING IN IT.” BILLY ENSLEY

PHOTO BY CARLISLE KELLAM

the title role in the transformative show’s Charlotte debut. In 2011, director Ensley gave Rent, the popular celebration of community and creativity in the shadows of the AIDS epidemic, a powerful and passionate treatment. And in 2015 Ensley, again in the director’s chair, breathed new life into Jesus Christ Superstar, adding an anachronistic chorus of sultry sirens in slinky cocktail dresses to the biblical proceedings. A year ago, when Ensley met with Matthews Playhouse’s executive director June Bayless to discuss shows he’d like to direct for the company, Bonnie & Clyde was at the top of his short list. (The play will mark the third show Ensley has directed for the Playhouse, following Shrek in 2016 and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat last year.) Bayless shared Ensley’s fondness for the show, and six months later called him to offer him the opportunity to direct it. “It is based on real people and I really like the music,” Ensley says of the show. “I like the fusion of Broadway show tunes with country, rockabilly and blues.” But his affinity for the material goes deeper than subject matter or aesthetics. He says audiences can connect with these historical characters because their tale relates to people today. As director, Ensley must navigate a delicate path, one that doesn’t trivialize or glamorize events, as he believes the popular 1967 film version starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway did. “That was spruced up by Hollywood,” Ensley saus. “Historically, it’s all over the place.” Ensley stresses that the protagonists of the story killed innocent people and a policeman, and the director’s concern for historic accuracy speaks from the heart. “My father was a captain in the Charlotte police department,” he says. “I don’t want to sugar coat this show. People need to see that reality as well as the love story. It cannot be just a love song between Bonnie and Clyde.” At the same time, Ensley wants to put the outlaw duo’s exploits in context, so that their actions are understood. Bonnie and Clyde came of age in the depths of the Great Depression, in the middle of the Dust Bowl, a devastating environmental and economic disaster. People were losing their farms and their homes, Ensley says, as their livelihoods dried up and blew away.

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Sexy and Deadly: Clyde (Buchanan) and Bonnie (Schroeder) Fertile land became clouds of dust that blackened the sky. People were left utterly helpless; there were no jobs, no food and no hope. At the same time, magazines and the early movie industry were glamorizing the gangsters of the day — John Dillinger, Al Capone and Baby Face Nelson — depicting them as latter-day Robin Hoods. “That was a potent combination for these young people,” Ensley says. “Bonnie and Cyde had the passion of young love mixed with this hopelessness plus the allure of bucking a system that didn’t work.” Ensley believes there are parallels with today’s political climate. Young people are faced with the difficulty of obtaining a higher education, and diminishing means to pay for it. “I hope the play is an illustration of extremes, however,” he says, “and nothing more than that.” To aid audience empathy and put theatergoers in an understanding frame of mind, Ensley and scenic designer John Bayless will use background projections to evoke the atmosphere that gave rise to the desperate path Bonnie and Clyde chose. “We’ve compiled images that put the audience in that time frame, through pictures, newspaper clippings and mug shots,” Ensley says. “We’re using projections to help give

PHOTO DEBBI BALLARD

BONNIE & CLYDE $15-19. 8 p.m. Feb. 2, 3, 9 and 10; 2 p.m. Feb. 4 and 11; 9:30 a.m. Feb. 9 (school show). Matthews Playhouse, 100 W. McDowell St, Matthews. 704846-8343. matthewsplayhouse.com.

the folks a sense of what these people were up against.” All of this establishes an evocative setting for the pair of ill-fated lovers/murderers. In casting the roles of Bonnie and Clyde, Ensley believes he struck pay dirt. Lyndsey Schroeder, who plays Bonnie Parker, possesses a magnificent voice. “She brings natural beauty and wholesomeness to the role, and she combines that with bad-girl allure,” Ensley says. “Lindsey’s able to morph into a more hardened person as Bonnie did.” Likewise, Steve Buchanan brings a powerful voice and acting chops to his portrayal of Clyde Barrow. “Steve also has that bad-boy charisma that Clyde had, and together, he and Lyndsey possess the sexual energy that is so important to this show.”

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Rounding out the cast are Joe McCourt as Clyde’s older brother Buck, and Emily Witte as Buck’s wife Blanche. McCourt has worked with Ensley before, playing Roger in Rent, and the conflicted messiah in Jesus Christ Superstar. Ensley says McCourt nails Buck’s masculinity as well as his subservience to his younger brother. “Buck was crazy about his brother, and basically fell under his spell,” Ensley says. Blanche Barrow may be the most complex member of the Barrow gang, he continues; she’s the only one of the four who had a moral compass. Blanche was an emotionally immature young woman who fell madly in love with Buck, Ensley explains, which caused her to go down a path she normally would have

shunned. Ensley says Witte impressively pulls off the difficult feat of balancing Blanche’s basic decency with her desperation, neediness and naiveté. On May 3, 1934, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow met their gruesome end and passed into American folklore. At Matthews Playhouse, Ensley hopes the two lovers and edgy thrillseekers will meet a kinder fate — the embrace of theatergoers from Matthews and beyond, looking for a spectacular musical based on gritty realism. “This is unusual subject matter for a show,” Ensley admits, and offers a comparison with perennial favorite The Sound of Music. “It’s not surprising that someone made a musical about a singing family from Austria,” CLCLT.COM | FEB. 1 - FEB. 7, 2018 | 23

ARTS

FILM

SWIMMING INTO FOCUS ANALYZING THIS YEAR’S OSCAR NOMINATIONS BY MATT BRUNSON (For sidebars on the year’s best movies as chosen by Academy members, film critics and moviegoers, head to an extended version of this article at www.clclt.com/film.) With the 90th Academy Awards ceremony set to unfurl on March 4, it’s time to ask the hard questions. Does The Shape of Water represent the shape of things to come? Will Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri get its message across? Will Phantom Thread play it close to the vest, or will it unravel at the last minute? Or does Winston Churchill pose a double threat thanks to Darkest Hour and Dunkirk? These are all viable questions, as the five aforementioned films racked up the most Oscar nominations from the 2017 cinematic crop. Here, then, is a look at various highlights and low points in this year’s race.

HIGHLIGHTS • The Best Director nomination for Jordan Peele. Get Out was one of the best films of 2017, but since it primarily resides in the horror genre — a designation largely frowned upon by the Academy — it would seem to be an also-ran in the awards race. But its critical raves, its potent box office and, most importantly, its sociopolitical import (did any 2017 release tap into the zeitgeist more stirringly?) kept it in the conversation all year long. The Academy responded positively, handing it nominations for Best Picture (co-produced by Peele), Director (Peele), Original Screenplay (Peele) and Actor (Daniel Kaluuya). Peele’s director bid is especially significant — it marks only the fifth time that a black filmmaker has been nominated in this category. The others: John Singleton, Lee Daniels, Steve McQueen and Barry Jenkins (none have won). • The Best Director nomination for Greta Gerwig. Second verse, same as the first. Like Get Out, Lady Bird was one of the year’s finest achievements, and it likewise scored a handful of major nods: Best Picture, Director (Gerwig), Original Screenplay (Gerwig), Actress (Saoirse Ronan) and Supporting Actress (Laurie Metcalf). Gerwig’s director bid is especially significant — it marks only the fifth time that a female filmmaker has been nominated in this category. The others: Lina Wertmüller, Jane Campion, Sofia Coppola and Kathryn Bigelow (only Bigelow won). • The five nominations for Blade Runner 2049. Ridley Scott’s 1982 masterpiece Blade Runner only nabbed two Oscar nominations (it lost Best Visual Effects to E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and absurdly lost Best Art Direction-Set Decoration to Gandhi) even though it deserved a lot more (Best Original 24 | FEB. 1 - FEB. 7, 2018 | CLCLT.COM

Score and Best Cinematography, for starters). Dennis Villeneuve’s belated follow-up fared better, landing a quintet of nods. The race to watch is Best Cinematography, where Roger Deakins landed his 14th nod. Deakins is widely considered the best director of photography working today (credits include Fargo, No Country for Old Men, Skyfall and Sicario), but he has yet to win an Oscar. Let’s hope this is the year he finally prevails. • The Best Supporting Actor nomination for Woody Harrelson. Harrelson is one of the most interesting performers on the scene today, but a nomination for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri was not guaranteed. That’s because Harrelson’s co-star, Sam Rockwell, has been inexplicably grabbing most of the attention for his acceptable albeit showboating, look-Ma!-I’m-acting turn as a lovably loony cop who also happens to be a racist redneck. Harrelson’s charismatic turn is smaller but also more subdued, and it’s a fine contrast to his frightening work in last summer’s War for the Planet of the Apes. In the end, the Academy ended up nominating both actors for their supporting stints in the film.

‘Lady Bird,’ starring Saoirse Ronan (left) and written and directed by Greta Gerwig, earned five major Oscar nominations (Photo: A24)

A24

LOW POINTS • No Best Picture nomination for The Florida Project. One of the year’s most critically adored films and a major player with all the major critics’ groups, writer-director Sean Baker’s phenomenal film certainly deserved a Best Picture nomination, as well as additional nods for Baker for Best Director and Alexis Zabe for Best Cinematography. Yet while many prognosticators expected it to be in the mix, I predicted it would only receive a solitary nomination for Willem Dafoe’s formidable supporting performance. (I hated being right.) For all its excellence, the film struck me as too small and too raw to be embraced by an Academy that mostly feeds on glamour and hype. And in Trump’s America, it seems that even liberal Oscar voters don’t want to watch a film about impoverished Americans living on the fringes. Or, as Charlotte Clymer accurately stated on Twitter, “I was legitimately stunned that The Florida Project wasn’t nominated for Best Picture. Then I remembered it’s a gritty, unromantic look at poverty that forces the viewer to recognize conditions that actually exist in this country for millions of children.” • The Best Supporting Actress MIAs. To be sure, the five nominees represent a solid lineup. But next to Dafoe, the year’s greatest performance was delivered by Hong Chau, who earned accolades (and SAG and Golden

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Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson, both Oscar-nominated for ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.’ Globe nominations) for her breathtaking work in Downsizing. Unfortunately, Alexander Payne’s latest picture was despised by many, and Academy members opted to ignore the picture altogether. Veteran Holly Hunter was largely expected to earn a deserved nod for her stellar turn in The Big Sick, but she also came up short. And while Tiffany Haddish was a long shot to earn a slot for her hysterical turn in Girls Trip, that would have made for a hip pick a la Melissa McCarthy for Bridesmaids. • The shutout of Wonder Woman. Superhero flicks were largely a no-show this year, with only Logan earning a nod for Best Adapted Screenplay and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 nabbing one for Best Visual Effects. Unfortunately, the best superhero film of 2017 was completely ignored. Film

adaptations were remarkably slender this past year, which explains how Logan cracked the lineup alongside the deserving likes of Call Me by Your Name and Mudbound. But if they were going that route, Wonder Woman deserved that slot more. Its biggest fault was a shaky final act, compared to Logan’s various flaws in terms of lazy plot devices (a clone?), lackluster villains (particularly Richard E. Gant, who was about as menacing as an inchworm), and repetitive action scenes and narrative beats (including one borrowed from the reviled X-Men Origins: Wolverine). Alas, voters ultimately mistook nihilism for gravitas. Even on just the technical side, Wonder Woman should have contended in the categories of Best Costume Design, Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Editing. • The Boss Baby for Best Animated Feature.

Matthews Playhouse of the Performing Arts Presents

ARTS

ARTSPEAK

‘THE GREATEST’ GROWS UP Children’s Theatre deals with the ‘N’ word and other big questions BY PERRY TANNENBAUM

ADAM BURKE CAME to Charlotte

Feb. 2-11, 2018

Tickets on sale at matthewsplayhouse.com OR 704.846.8343 Matthews Playhouse is located at 100 E. McDowell Street, Matthews, NC

In the earliest years of this category (which began in 2001), the nominees were often junky Hollywood efforts that didn’t belong anywhere near an Oscar (e.g. Treasure Planet, Brother Bear, Shark Tale). Eventually, though, the animation committee began serving up a perfect mix of deserving hometown efforts (e.g. Zootopia, Moana, Inside Out) and foreign and/or indie titles (The Red Turtle, Anomalisa, Shaun the Sheep Movie). So what happened this year? The Pixar gem Coco deserves its placement, as do the Polish production Loving Vincent and the Irish-Canadian effort The Breadwinner. But instead of filling the other slots with acclaimed international efforts like Canada’s Window Horses: The Poetic Persian Epiphany of Rosie Ming (which I caught at Winston-Salem’s RiverRun International Film Festival) or any of numerous Japanese works (among them A Silent Voice and In This Corner of the World), voters opted for Ferdinand, which earned respectable but hardly revelatory reviews, and The Boss Baby, a truly mediocre effort deserving of its negative reviews. Why the backsliding on the part of the Academy? Easy. Whereas it used to be that (following the protocol of most other branches) only animators nominate animated productions, a rule change this past year now allows everyone to weigh in. As Collider’s Matt Goldberg presciently wrote back in April 2017, “This is going to strike a major blow to the category’s diversity... With voting now open to the entire body, the studios have far more power because their films have wider distribution. It wouldn’t shock me if we’re hearing nominations for The Boss Baby and Despicable Me 3 next year.”

OTHER THOUGHTS • While 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens nabbed five Oscar nominations, Star Wars: The Last Jedi did almost as well, earning four nods. Both garnered noms for Best Original Score, Visual Effects, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing, with Force having also grabbed one for Best Film Editing. • Speaking of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, composer John Williams earned his 51st nomination for that film, extending his record as the most nominated living artist (Walt Disney still has the most overall, with 59). However, Williams was overlooked for his score for Steven Spielberg’s The Post. And speaking of The Post, Best Actress contender Meryl Streep earned her own recordextending 21st nomination, by far the most for any actor in Academy history (Katharine Hepburn is a distant second with 12). • Christopher Plummer now becomes the oldest person ever nominated for an acting award, cited for Best Supporting Actor for All the Money in the World. At 88, he surpasses Gloria Stuart, who was 87 when she was nominated for Titanic. • Mudbound deserves a mention for breaking through on two different fronts. Rachel Morrison becomes the first woman ever nominated for Best Cinematography, and the movie itself becomes the first Netflix production to score major nominations (Best Supporting Actress for Mary J. Blige and Best Adapted Screenplay for Virgil Williams and the film’s director, Dee Rees).

because of his passion for youth theater and education. After a stint as founding artistic director of Chicago Theatre for Young Audiences, he took a five-year detour into academia at a San Antonio university. When the artistic director position at Children’s Theatre of Charlotte came open, the ImaginOn theater facilities and the strong link with the CharMeck Library system became irresistible lures for Burke. He took over at ImaginOn at the start of the 2013-14 season, concentrating his stage directing efforts on big new works such as Ella’s Big Chance: A Jazz Age Cinderella, and richly entertaining extravaganzas like The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Now in his fifth season overseeing Children’s Theatre’s programming, Burke knows better than ever that he’s speaking to the community as well as its children, a community that is waking up to its true image in the mirror after years of blind complacency. Opening this week, And in This Corner: Cassius Clay, directed by Aaron Cabell, is the second biographical study of its kind to play at ImaginOn in the past three years. Jackie & Me, about baseball great Jackie Robinson, opened in February 2015. We sat down with Burke to have him reflect on the challenges of presenting meaningful, impactful plays in our current political and social climate. Creative Loafing: Children’s Theatre presented Jackie & Me about three years ago, not long after And in This Corner: Cassius Clay premiered in Louisville, Kentucky, Muhammad Ali’s hometown. Was there discussion at that time about following up Jackie with Cassius? Adam Burke: We did not specifically intend to follow Jackie & Me with another piece about a pioneering black athlete. I was aware of this play being developed in Louisville when it was happening and was hoping that it would end up being a strong script that we could eventually produce. And in This Corner: Cassius Clay asks some big questions about the world that Cassius Clay lived in during the 1950s and 1960s — and equally about the world that we live in today.

How confident are you that theatergoers will accept hearing the N-word spoken in Cassius Clay? We live in a very different world today than we did when we produced Jackie & Me three

Adam Burke

PHOTO COURTESY OF CHILDREN’S THEATRE

‘AND IN THIS CORNER’ $12-$28. Feb. 2, 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 3, 3 p.m.; Feb. 4, 2 p.m.; Feb. 9, 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 10, 3 p.m.; Feb. 11, 2 p.m.; Feb. 17, 3 p.m.; Feb. 18, 2 p.m. McColl Family Theatre, 300 E 7th St. ctcharlotte.org

years ago. Both plays, Jackie & Me as well as And in This Corner: Cassius Clay, contain the N-word as written by the playwrights. Three years ago we proactively informed every school that intended to bring students that the playwright had included the word in the script. We did the same this season with And in This Corner: Cassius Clay. Three years ago, we didn’t have any schools withdraw from coming to see the show due to the use of the N-word by the playwright. To date, this season, we’ve had several. We, as parents, as teachers, and as a community, can’t be afraid to bring students to a play that deals with civil rights issues because of the use of the N-word. It’s a painful word to hear, and we abhor its use in everyday life, but pretending it doesn’t exist won’t help make anything better. Considering how important Children’s Theatre’s voice is in this city, do you feel a certain obligation to continue this series of historical dramas? It is important that Children’s Theatre continues to support our community and tell stories that reflect our social, cultural and political climate. We have a lot of irons in the fire, so to speak, that we believe speak to our young audience and the world in which they live. We are currently deeply invested in The Kindness Project, where we’ve committed to commission, create and produce three new plays based on books that all speak to themes of kindness. [The first play in the Kindness Project, Last Stop on Market Street, opens during the 2018-19 season.] They each, in their own way, discuss the difference between feeling sympathy or empathy and committing an act of kindness. You can’t feel kind, you have to actually do something in order to be kind. BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM

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EVERYONE’S A FRIEND AT SMOKEY JOE’S A solo trip to a bar with no method to its madness LET’S TALK about dive bars. . . again.

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When I returned recently, I had the pleasure of catching a live show on the Last week I described how I fell in love with Midwood Country Club from the moment stage tucked in the back corner to the left I almost fell into the patio. Instead of the and I fell in love all over again. Shana Blake venue being an actual country club, I had and Friends perform at Smokey Joe’s every stumbled upon a dive bar and couldn’t have Thursday. Blake, the lead singer, has a voice asked for more. Why? Beause I’m smack in that will captivate you and her “friends” the middle of a major dive bar phase, at the are ridiculously talented on each of their moment. instruments of choice. I sat on a church pew, There’s just something about the rinkyyes a church pew, and watched them perform dink feel of a divey spot that’s dimly lit, while sipping a whiskey and coke. lacking in “matching” décor, serving cheap Yikes, the first sip stung and I was drinks and maybe even smelling of mold. Those are the spots that you’ll meet people tempted to go back to the bar and ask for a from all walks of life. You may not feel splash more of coke! But my mother didn’t comfortable or like you’re “at home” at first, raise no punk, so I powered through. but then the next thing you know, you’re a When the show was over, I went outside “regular.” to sit by one of the fire pits. I made I recently visited one of my it through that first drink so I favorite dive bars for the first thought I’d have one more. time in a while: Smokey Joe’s Blake came outside Cafe. to chat with some of the And you know how regulars and I just knew I know I’ve gotten to I had to tell her how the point where I feel completely comfortable beautiful her voice was. So there? I went all by my I did. She was very sweet, lonesome. which sometimes is hard The first time I’d to come by, even for local heard anything about musicians. Smokey Joe’s, I was actually AERIN SPRUILL I finished up my drink and across the street at East decided it was time for me to African Cuisine. I noticed the go. As I was walking out, however, little hole-in-the-wall and chopped I noticed a hot dog stand right out front. it up as a biker bar I’d probably never visit. “Don’t tempt me with a good time,” I thought A week later, one of my friends who lived in the area asked a couple of us to meet her to myself as I reached into my pocket for “at this spot on Monroe [Road]” for drinks some cash. after work. I was shocked when I pulled up Talk about topping off a great night. Live to the unassuming building where I’d just music at my favorite spot and a hot dog for convinced myself I’d never go. the road. Little did I know, it would become one of The next day, I told everyone about how my favorite places to get weird. great they sounded and made them commit And honestly, that’s one of the best to coming back. And it’s funny, I randomly ways to describe it: weird. The layout of the went to Thomas Street Tavern the following patio doesn’t make much sense. There’s sand Wednesday, and there she was performing beneath the ping pong table outside. There are a few fire pits, maybe even a TV? You inside! I doubt she recognized me, but in my may stumble walking on the uneven ground more-than-tipsy stupor I remember saying, before stepping inside. Renovations? Yeah “Hey girl!” as I jammed out in my recently right. borrowed matching velour Michael Kors There are tchotchkes everywhere with jumpsuit! *gasp* Nevertheless, it was a little no clear connection between any of them. reminder of my little dive bar nestled on There’s even a waterfall in a nook in the Monroe Road. ceiling – where does the water go exactly? But I think I’ll create a bucket list of dive bars that’s what gives the spot so much character. across Charlotte and maybe even cross over There’s no rhyme or reason for the random into South Carolina. Tell me, where should items, decorations or mismatching furniture I go? and yet it’s just as cozy as can be. Not to mention, the drinks are stiff and cheap. BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM

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FeeLing Lonely?

CROSSWORD

PUNNING UP AND DOWN ACROSS

1 Jan. and Feb. 4 Project detail, for short 8 Coll. dorm monitors 11 Salt Lake City athletes 15 Speedy WWW hookup 18 Nibble away 19 Funny Bombeck 20 Trio after N 21 12-point-wide type 22 Lemur kin 23 Start of the first riddle 26 Ship routes 28 Henry of Time and Life 29 The Teletubby that’s yellow 31 Certain citrus grove yield 32 Middle of the first riddle 37 Lingerie garment 39 Snobbery 40 Un-PC suffix 41 Retort to “Not so!” 42 Wrestling pad 43 Party game cry 44 Peaty place 47 Slave over -- stove 49 End of the first riddle 58 U.S. snoop gp. 59 Creameries 60 State as fact 61 First riddle’s answer 65 Zagreb site 66 “My Man” singer Yoko 67 Pre-58-Across org. 68 Immodesty 70 Old fed. led by Nasser 71 Hydrogen atom’s lack 75 Start of the second riddle 81 Holds up 82 Cybernames 84 English rocker Brian 85 Middle of the second riddle 91 Andy Taylor’s son 92 Look at 93 Org. giving tows 94 See 75-Down 95 Storage site 100 Misfortunes 102 Livy’s 2,150 103 Couple 104 End of the second riddle

110 Intercept and turn aside 111 Gin joint 112 Oohs and -115 “You have my word” 117 Second riddle’s answer 121 Cinematic Spike 122 Purple fruit 123 Go -- rant 124 Black-and-white treat 125 -- culpa 126 Cut out 127 Aug. follower 128 April follower 129 Simple 130 Purported psychic gift

DOWN

1 Cry feebly 2 Island of Hawaii 3 Detached, musically 4 Jiffy 5 Ace 6 Aussie bird 7 Hardened skin area 8 Fit for a king 9 Straight as -10 Nerdy sort 11 Big name in pkg. shipping 12 Get stewed 13 PC-sent greeting 14 Deli meat 15 “Blasted!” 16 Big name in swimsuits 17 Not to such a degree 24 Tetley option 25 “True --!” (“Yes siree!”) 27 Santa -- (hot winds) 30 All the world, per the Bard 33 Actress Metcalf 34 One-dimensional 35 Body part above eyes 36 One of the Musketeers 37 X6 and Z4 carmaker 38 Pep rally cry 44 Doldrums 45 Any of the Joads, e.g. 46 Female kid 48 Old despot of Russia 50 Cry in Berlin 51 Tallies 52 Bite playfully

53 General --’s chicken 54 “There -- tide ...” 55 Abate 56 Event with evidence 57 Gawk 61 Pilot and Fit carmaker 62 “-- a nap!” 63 Pianist Glenn 64 History unit 65 Fishcake fish 68 Actor Murphy 69 Main point 72 Oil byproduct 73 Bread or booze 74 -- buco 75 With 94-Across, donkey noise 76 Sun, moon and star 77 Cablegram 78 Jewish Passover 79 Surround with a saintly ring 80 Caveman Alley 82 Functional 83 Turtle covers 86 Makes natty 87 “-- Rock” (1966 hit) 88 “Heavens!” 89 Liquid filling la mer 90 A couple 95 For some time 96 Prison, informally 97 Began to cry, with “up” 98 Prefix with Chinese 99 Chews noisily 101 Ski race 102 “Some Like It Hot” actress 105 Cyber-submit to the IRS 106 Massey of “Rosalie” 107 “Never ever!” 108 Common site for a 7-Down 109 Set (down) 113 Tilling tools 114 Flip one’s lid 116 First-aid ace 118 History unit 119 -- Moines 120 Male kid

graB Your copy today

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Real hot chat now.

SAVAGE LOVE

LESBORAMA! Despite recent pushback, Dan does what Dan does BY DAN SAVAGE I am a 38-year-old lesbian, very femme, very out. I have a coworker I can’t figure out. We’ve worked together for a year and gotten very close. I never want to put out the wrong signals to coworkers, and I err on the side of keeping a safe but friendly distance. This is different. We are each other’s confidants at work. We stare at each other across the office, we text until late at night, and we go for weekend dog walks. Her texts aren’t overtly flirty, but they are intimate and feel more than friendly. I’ve never had a “straight” girl act like this toward me. Is she into me? Or just needy? Is it all in my head? WORKPLACE OBSESSION ROILING KNOWING-IFNERVOUS GAL

Five weeks ago, a letter writer jumped down my throat for giving advice to lesbians despite not being a lesbian myself. Questions from lesbians have been pouring in ever since — lesbians apparently don’t like being told who they may or may not ask for advice. Three weeks ago, I responded to a man whose coworker asked him if he might want to sleep with the coworker’s wife — a coworker who was “not [his] boss” — and people jumped down my throat for entertaining the idea because it is NEVER EVER NEVER EVER OK to sleep with a coworker and/or a coworker’s spouse. And now here I am responding to a question from a lesbian who wants to sleep with a coworker. Farewell to my mentions, as the kids say. Here we go, WORKING… Your straight-identified workmate could be straight, or she could be a lesbian (lots of lesbians come out later in life), or she could be bisexual (most bisexual women are closeted, and others are perceived to be straight despite their best efforts to identify as bisexual) — and lots of late-in-lifers and/or closeted folks don’t come out until some hot same-sex prospect works up the nerve to ask them out. If your coworker isn’t currently under you at work and you’re not an imminent promotion away from becoming her supervisor and your company doesn’t incentivize workplace romances by banning them, ask your coworker out on a date — an unambiguous ask for a date, not an appointment to meet up at the dog park. And this is important: Before she can respond to your ask, WORKING, invite her to say “no” if the answer is no or “straight” if the identity is straight. Good luck! I’m a lesbian, and my partner recently reconnected with a childhood friend. At first I felt sorry for him, as he was having a health crisis. But he’s better now, and 28 | FEB. 1 - FEB. 7, 2018 | CLCLT.COM

his pushy behavior really gets to me. He texts her at all hours — and when he can’t get in touch with her, he bugs me. When I refused to go on a trip with him and his husband, he guilt-tripped me for weeks. He constantly wants us to come to his house, but they’re chain-smokers. I’m going to Los Angeles to interview a celebrity for a project, and now he’s trying to insert himself into this trip because he wants go starfucking! He also wants to officiate at our upcoming wedding! My partner won’t stand up for me when I say no to this guy. How can I get my partner to listen to me or get her jackass friend to leave me be?

Maybe she doesn’t feel safe being out in your community.) If she’s making out with you only because she’s lonely and values your friendship and/or enjoys the ego boost of being your obsession, then you don’t want to keep making out with her — for her sake (no one feels good after making out with someone they’d rather not be making out with) and for your own sake (those make-out sessions give you false hope and prevent you from directing your romantic and erotic energies elsewhere).

I’m a woman in my early 60s with a healthy lifestyle and an even healthier libido. I’ve had almost exclusively hetero relationships, but I’ve been CAN’T THINK OF A CLEVER ACRONYM attracted to women all my life and all of my masturbation fantasies Burn it down, CTOACA. Call or involve women. The older I email your partner’s old friend get, the more I think about and tell him you think he’s a relationship with a a pushy, unpleasant, woman. The thought smelly asshole and that of being in love with a you don’t want to hang woman, making love out with him — not at with her, sharing a his place, not on a trip, life with her — it all and not at your wedding, sounds like heaven. which he not only won’t be The trouble is that it’s officiating but, if you had really hard to see how your druthers, he wouldn’t DAN SAVAGE I’ll meet women who be attending. That should do would be interested in me. it. You can’t tell your soon-to-be There’s rarely anyone my wife who she can’t have as a friend age on dating apps. I don’t even — that’s controlling behavior — but she know what age range is reasonable. can’t force you to spend time with someone What’s a reasonable age difference for you loathe. women with women? Also, who is going to be interested in a rookie? Advice? I’m a 40-year-old lesbian in Alabama, and ENERGETIC LONELY DAME ENVISIONING RELATIONSHIP I work with a woman I find impossible to resist. The catch is she’s 66, straight, Emmy-Award-winning actress Sarah Paulson and has two children. I love her deeply, is 43 years old and Emmy-Award-winning she loves me, but we don’t have sex. actress Holland Taylor is 75 — and Sarah She has given me a pass to sleep with and Holland have been girlfriends for almost whoever I like, but I’m one of those three years. Emmy-Award-winning talk-show weirdos who requires an emotional host Ellen DeGeneres is 60 years old and connection to sleep with someone. The Screen-Actors-Guild-Award-winning actress odd thing is that she vacillates between Portia de Rossi is 45 years old — and Ellen heavily making out with me every time and Portia have been together for 13 years we are alone together and saying, “No, and married for almost 10. There are lots of I can’t, I’m straight!” Why does she do non-Emmy/SAG-Award-winning lesbians out there in relationships with significant age everything but sex if she’s straight? FEELING REALLY UNSURE SINCE THIS REMARKABLY gaps — and at least one lesbian in Alabama AMAZING TEMPTRESS ENTERED DOMAIN who desperately wants to be in one. So don’t let the lack of older women on dating apps That nice straight lady from work is making prevent you from putting yourself out there out with you because she likes it (the thirst on apps and elsewhere, ELDER. As for your is real), FRUSTRATED, or she’s making out rookie status, there are two examples of with you because she wants you in her life lesbians pining over rookies in this very and believes — perhaps mistakenly — that column! this is the only way to hold your interest/ And remember: If you put yourself out fuel your obsession (the thirst is faked). If there, you might be alone a year from now — she likes it, then she’s a lesbian or bisexual but if you don’t put yourself out there, you’ll but so invested in her heterosexual identity definitely be alone a year from now. that she can’t “go there.” (Alabama, you said?

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SOUTH ON BEATTIES FORD ROAD THEN FIRST RIGHT ON MONTANA DRIVE (LOCATED 1/2 MILE ON THE LEFT | 714-G MONTANA DR) SOLUTION TO THIS WEEK'S PUZZLE

WHERE WE ALL REFUSE TO WEAR SOCKS.

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) It could be risky to push for a project you believe in but others are wary of. Never mind. If you trust your facts, follow your courageous Aries heart and go with it. TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Your enthusiasm sparks renewed interest in a workplace project that once seemed headed for deletion. Support from supervisors helps you make all necessary changes. GEMINI

(May 21 to June 20) A colleague might be a bit too contrary when your ideas are being discussed in the workplace. A demand for an explanation could produce some surprises all around.

CANCER (June 21 to

July 22) Try to avoid distractions at a time when maintaining stability in a fluid situation is essential. There’ll be time enough later for the Moon Child to enjoy some well-earned fun and games.

LEO (July 23 to August 22) Stop wasting energy licking your wounded pride. Instead, put the lessons you learned from that upsetting experience to good use in an upcoming opportunity. VIRGO (August 23 to

September 22) You love being busy. But try not to make more work for yourself than you need to. Get help so that you don’t wind up tackling tasks that are better left to others.

LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) Your usually balanced way of assessing situations could be compromised by some so-called new facts. Check them out before making any shift in judgment. SCORPIO (October 23

to November 21) You might feel angry over an unexpected shift in attitude by someone you trusted. But this could soon turn in your favor as more surprising facts come out.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) Love rules everywhere for all amorous Archers, single or attached. It’s also a good time to restore friendships that might have frayed over the years.

CAPRICORN (December 22

to January 19) It’s not always easy for the proud Goat to forgive past slights. But clearing the air could help establish a better climate for that important upcoming venture.

AQUARIUS

(January 20 to February 18) Good news: Your skillful handling of a recent matter has won admiration from someone who could be influential in any upcoming decisions involving you.

PISCES (February 19 to

March 20) You continue to welcome new friends into the widening circle of people whom you hold dear. One of those newcomers might soon have something special to tell you.

BORN THIS WEEK You love nature and inspire others to follow your example of concern for the planet’s well-being.

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