2017 Issue 9 Creative Loafing Charlotte

CLCLT.COM | APRIL 20 - APRIL 26, 2017 VOL. 31, NO. 9

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10

NEWS&CULTURE GO WEST, YOUNG WEED ENTREPRENEUR N.C.’s

antiquated marijuana laws are losing the state millions to the ‘Green Rush’

BY ERIN TRACY-BLACKWOOD 9 EDITOR’S NOTE 13 NEWS OF THE WEIRD 14 NEWSMAKER: MARY BELK BY RYAN PITKIN 15 THE CHRONICLE BY RHIANNON FION 16 THE BLOTTER

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FOOD COOKING WITH CANNABIS Making more than brownies on 4/20

BY RYAN PITKIN 19 THREE-COURSE SPIEL: MORGAN HOPKINS BY DEBRA RENEE SETH

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MUSIC WAKE AND BAKE Creative Loafing’s Top 10 songs by Charlotte artists

BY MARK KEMP 24 TOP TEN THINGS TO DO 30 MUSICMAKER: PHIL PUCCI BY PAT MORAN 32 SOUNDBOARD

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ARTS&ENT BOOM DETONATES AN ARTS EXPLOSION Second annual fringe arts and performance festival unleashes the unexpected

BY PAT MORAN 38 ARTSPEAK: PAULA MARTINAC BY VANESSA INFANZON 39 FILM REVIEWS BY MATT BRUNSON

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ODDS&ENDS 41 THE MODERN EROTIC BY ALLISON BRADEN 42 MARKETPLACE 42 NIGHTLIFE BY AERIN SPRUILL 43 CROSSWORD 44 SAVAGE LOVE BY DAN SAVAGE 46 HOROSCOPE BY VIVIAN CAROL

Go to clclt.com for videos and more!!

COVER DESIGN AND ILLUSTRATION

BY DANA VINDIGNI CLCLT.COM | APRIL 20 - APRIL 26, 2017 VOL. 31, NO. 9

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VIEWS

EDITOR’S NOTE

STOP THE MADNESS NC lags way behind in one of America’s most booming industries: weed of pushback from the Trump administration.

TWO YEARS ago this week, I was sitting at In February, the press secretary to the my desk at the SF Weekly in downtown San president who campaigned largely on the Francisco, furiously putting the final touches idea of state’s rights, announced plans to to our annual music issue. In San Francisco, ramp up federal enforcement of marijuana we didn’t do a special 4/20 issue each year. laws in states where it is legal. So much for We didn’t have to. Every day is 4/20 in Trump’s promises of jobs and commitment California and many other states. to upholding the “will of the people.”

We had a dedicated cannabis reporter at But the cat’s out of the bag. There’s the SF Weekly, Chris Roberts, who monitored no reversing progress that most Americans all aspects of the booming weed industry, have categorically approved. from the doctors who issue medical marijuana Not everything is so serious in this cards at places like Green Evaluation in the special 4/20 issue, and it shouldn’t be. Weed Haight-Ashbury, to the growers up north in is fun, right? It involves lots of laughing, and rugged Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity hopefully you’ll get a few when you read my counties, to the little shops that carry all story in the music section. Beginning on page manner of marijuana edibles, like the Bloom 26, I’ve compiled a list of the Top 10 weed Room just a short stroll from my office. songs by Charlotte artists — from Cannabis is not just big business rapper NiGE Hood’s dancefloor in California; it’s business as banger “Fried on Friday” to usual. Next year, the state Serfs’ shoegazy noise-pop will rid itself of its “medicalsong “Marijuana Mom.” only” façade, legalizing In the food section, Ryan weed completely. Several Pitkin offers up some other states — Alaska, recipes for marijuana Washington, Oregon edibles that you can make Nevada, Colorado, Maine, for yourself — when you and Massachusetts — and travel to one of the states the District of Columbia where it’s legal, that is. have done the same. And We aren’t promoting illegal another 19, including the MARK KEMP activities. No siree. southern states Arkansas and And we don’t assume that Florida, have legalized medical everybody celebrates 4/20. As fun as marijuana. That’s a total of 27 states it is for me to talk and write about weed, plus D.C. that will have some form of as delightful as it is to hang out and get legalized marijuana use by 2018. into deep conversations with friends who Business Insider reported in January that are stoned, my own days of weed and roses the legal cannabis market is growing as fast are way back in the rear-view mirror. I’m a as broadband internet did in the 2000s. member of one of those secret clubs that When all changes to state laws take effect in avoids mind or mood altering substances of states that legalized marijuana in 2016, one any kind. But that’s me. Others have their in five Americans will have access to fully own reasons for avoiding weed. And that’s legal weed, according to the Insider, which OK. Choice is a good thing. also reported that the North American But for many Charlotteans, marijuana marijuana market raked in $6.7 billion in revenue in 2016 and is on track to top $20 provides valuable recreation and relaxation. billion by 2021.

In some cases, it is essential therapy for Not only is North Carolina missing out people suffering from serious medical on all that revenue and all those jobs; it is conditions. That North Carolina lawmakers losing talented entrepreneurs. And that’s the still see marijuana use as bad behavior is focus of our cover story this week by Erin mind-boggling — particularly when at the Tracy-Blackwood. In her report on page 10, same time the state openly celebrates alcohol Erin talks to two former Charlotteans and use, which has virtually no health benefits. one former Greensboro resident about why There’s a disconnect here, folks, and readers they chose to leave North Carolina, the state of Creative Loafing are not fools. So write they love, and move to Colorado, Oregon and to your congresspeople and tell them that California, respectively. you’ve had enough of the tragic, unnecessary It was simple economics. incarceration of weed users and vendors; tell Sadly, the subjects of Erin’s story asked us them you’re sick and tired of all the lost jobs not to use their names — even though they and revenue. This madness must stop. work in a completely legal industry — because MKEMP@CLCLT.COM

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NEWS

FEATURE

GO WEST, YOUNG WEED ENTREPRENEUR N.C.’s antiquated marijuana laws are losing the state millions to the ‘Green Rush’

BY ERIN TRACY-BLACKWOOD

I

STOOD in the front yard of an east Charlotte home on a sunny spring day, surrounded by all of Nancy’s worldly possessions. I sorted through relics from various local businesses she helped launch and became especially sad when I came upon her prized collection of china from a popular dinner club she pioneered.

The impending loss of one of our city’s greatest millennial influencers was hard to swallow. Nancy was selling everything to move across the country and join the “Green Rush” — the booming marijuana economy in western states that have legalized the plant for both medical and recreational purposes.

Just one year after the first joint of legal recreational marijuana was sold in Nancy’s soon-to-be home state of Colorado, the state population had grown by 100,000 people.

This growth vigorously outpaced prelegalization projections and will likely lead to an extra congressional seat for Colorado after the 2020 census.

It’s easy to see what makes migration so attractive. The most recent analysis from the Marijuana Policy Group showed legal marijuana created 18,005 full-time jobs in Colorado in 2015 and added about $2.4 billion to the state’s economy. Demand for legal marijuana is currently projected to grow by 11.3 percent per year through 2020, and create revenues topping the GDP of small countries like Serbia and Panama. It’s hard to tell whether the term “Green Rush” refers to the color of pot plants or cash.

Unlike some, Nancy’s not moving for the money: “I’ve signed on with a grassroots CBD (hemp oil) company that is changing the way we look at lifelong prevention and treatment of an exhaustive number of diseases and conditions. I’m moving because I’ll be able to legally work with cannabis and its components to help ease people’s suffering. North Carolina would view me as a criminal.”

Nancy, 35, sold weed illegally in NC for nearly 20 years. She sold exclusively to patients with medical needs. I profiled her in my April 2015 Creative Loafing article, “Dealer Drama.”

“Leaving North Carolina was an incredibly tough decision,” Nancy says. “I’ve been consistently involved in the community through arts and nonprofit work. I was an early part of the craft beer boom and helped build the scene. I’ve opened a ton of restaurants. I’ve put my heart and soul into

so many interesting projects. It’s difficult to leave it all behind.”

Nancy says she tried to create change here: “I marched beside my neighbors in protest, donated time and resources, stood up for equality ... I really thought that with hard work, creativity and pure intentions we

“LEAVING NORTH CAROLINA WAS AN INCREDIBLY TOUGH DECISION . . . I’VE PUT MY HEART AND SOUL INTO SO MANY INTERESTING PROJECTS. IT’S DIFFICULT TO LEAVE IT ALL BEHIND.” -NANCY

could bring about a movement. Instead we were met with ‘No’ by our elected officials, with no offering of a logical reasoning behind it. Just some outdated ideas and traditions.”

Nancy is not the only one to relocate to a more politically hospitable environment.

Shane, 33, moved from Charlotte to Oregon last February to take a job with a marijuana manufacturer in Portland.

“I was not looking to leave Charlotte. I was born and raised there,” he says. “I moved here intending to experience some economic gains, and I have, but it would be nice to do that in my home state. I miss all my people in Charlotte.”

Shane says in his new position, he’ll be involved in all aspects of marijuana production “from soil to oil,” with a heavy focus on sales and marketing. He excelled in his sales and marketing career here in Charlotte, but it was less lucrative. He’s a founding member of an artist collective

“I WANTED TO MAKE A LIVING WITHOUT HAVING TO LOOK OVER MY SHOULDER.” -JUDAH

responsible for a series of successful cultural events, concert series with national sponsorships, and a popular clothing and accessories line.

Like Nancy, he was a highly recognizable figure in the NoDa and Plaza Midwood communities, and the loss of his talent and contribution will be felt.

“North Carolina is losing a lot by not being more forward-thinking on marijuana legislation — money, jobs, money, pesticidefree plants, money, one less reason to arrest innocent people, money, less stress...oh and money,” Shane jokes.

THE POTENTIAL revenue not being

capitalized on is no laughing matter. The financial advisory website Nerdwallet analyzed population and marijuana user data in all 50 states to determine the potential earnings each one could make from legalizing weed. It estimated North Carolina would control slightly less than 3 percent of the total U.S. marijuana market, equaling about $365 million. Combining state and local sales taxes (6.9 percent) and the 15 percent excise tax that Colorado puts on the sale of marijuana, total annual tax revenues from North Carolina legalization were estimated to be slightly over $80 million.

That’s enough cash to relieve ongoing shortages of crucial state services. Enough to hire about 1,800 new teachers, add 25,000 students to the Pre-K program, or add 421 new beds to state mental health facilities.

Two identical bills have been filed in the North Carolina General Assembly this session (HB 185 and SB 648) for the legalization of medical marijuana. They estimate even higher revenues for the state: $250 million by year four of implementation.

The bills’ language states that figure is based on other places where medical marijuana has been legalized and regulated.

Both these revenue numbers are an aside from the number of jobs that could be created. According to a study by RCG Economics and Marijuana Policy Group, Nevada — a state that just legalized recreational pot and is projected to own less of the U.S. market share than our state would (1.12 percent) — will now be able to support over 41,000 jobs until 2024 and generate over $1.7 billion in labor income.

Perhaps those North Carolinians who voted for Trump to bring their manufacturing jobs back should consider barking up another tree … or plant.

Legal weed jobs aren’t unheard of in North Carolina. The Research Triangle Institute in Research Triangle Park has been involved in a marijuana research project through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services since 1978. You’d think after 40 years, lawmakers and their constituents would be ready to expand industry jobs to less-affluent parts of the state.

It’s hard to tell what voters are ready for.

A December 2015 poll from the conservative Civitas Institute indicates 53 percent of SEE

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WEST FROM P.11 t North Carolinians “totally oppose” marijuana legalization, but a poll by data research firm Resonate taken just four months later showed only 23 percent of voters opposed legalization, with 40 percent supporting it and the remaining 37 percent saying they were persuadable.

Judah, 39, moved from Greensboro to a Northern California pot farm in 2012. “I wanted to make a living without having to look over my shoulder. The first year was tough, but now I can’t imagine living anywhere else.

My capacity to make money tripled after my first year here, but the marijuana market definitely fluctuates. There have been some rough patches here and there.”

NOT EVERYONE who moves west is able to

recover from the rough patches Judah speaks of. Some in Colorado blame an 8 percent uptick in homelessness on legalization.

Mass migration to the state has caused a steep rise in housing costs and the booming marijuana tourism industry has led to a surging occupancy rates. This has made even low-cost motels unaffordable, and they are often the last resort for people on the verge of homelessness.

In addition to housing issues, there’s the lingering Federal issue: the federal government still prohibits the sale of marijuana and the DEA considers it a Schedule 1 drug on the level of much more dangerous and addictive

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drugs like heroin.

During a press conference in February, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said states with legal marijuana should expect the Justice Department to enforce federal policy. That’s a reversal from the Obama administration’s official memo which stated the federal government wouldn’t interfere in states where weed is legal.

The uncertainty of what this new administration will bring is the reason my sources in this article asked me not to use their real names, despite the fact everything they’re doing is legal in their states.

If HB 185 and SB 648 pass through the NC General Assembly, legalization of medical marijuana in our state will be left up to North Carolina voters. That’s unlikely to happen, though, according to Rep. John Autry, a co-sponsor of the House bill: “With H.B. 185 having been referred to the Rules Committee, it’s likely we’ve seen the last of it. Bills are referred to the Rules Committee when leadership doesn’t like the bill, the policy, or even the legislator championing the legislation.”

There’s been a medical marijuana legalization bill filed nearly every session for the past five years, and every session it dies in a committee. Autry said “what will make a difference is a different majority party.”

Perhaps our state’s conservative leadership won’t leave this decision up to voters until every forward-thinking entrepreneur has left North Carolina for a job somewhere else. And perhaps that was their plan all along.

BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM

NEWS

NEWS OF THE WEIRD

BY CHUCK SHEPHERD

TRAINING DAY A June 2016 police raid on David Jessen’s Fresno County, California, farmhouse caused a $150,000 mess when sheriff’s deputies and Clovis Police Department officers “rescued” it from a trespassing homeless man — with the massive destruction leading to Jessen’s lawsuit announced in March. The misdemeanant helped himself to an ice cream bar, some milk and half a tomato, but was otherwise “unarmed”; however, by the time the police standoff ended, the “crime scene” included more than 50 cop cars, a SWAT team, two helicopters, standby ambulances, a police robot and a crisis negotiation team. Windows, walls and wrought-iron doors were destroyed; tear gas and a “flash bomb” were employed.

Jessen suspects that the farmhouse’s isolation enticed police to decide that it presented an excellent training opportunity.

COMPELLING EXPLANATIONS “Prochoice” activist Jessica Farrar, a Texas state legislator, introduced a bill in March to create consistency between the state’s rigorous regulation of women’s reproductive functions and those of men — regulation which, by the way, in either case she calls “invasive” and “unnecessary.” Because Texas’s antiabortion laws highlight “procreation” as a crucial government interest, she believes male use of erectile-dysfunction drugs should be regulated as abortion is. Under her bill, individual use of Viagra or similar drugs must be preceded by “counseling” similar to that required by abortion laws, and since male masturbation involves the “wasting” of precious sperm cells, it, too, would require “beforehand” counseling.

CAN YOU DIG IT? Jason Sexton told

KFSM-TV in Fort Smith, Arkansas, in April that he alone had been digging the massive hole neighbors noticed, now 34 feet deep and with separate tunnels extending off of the main hole. Police had come to check it out, since it was on another person’s private property and not the city’s, which Sexton had assumed. He said he had been digging off and on for three years to get an answer to whether “the Spanish” had been in Fort Smith centuries ago, mining iron, and, if so, the site should therefore be a lucrative tourist destination. Sexton said he felt he had to give his explanation: “Nobody in their right mind,” he said, “would dig a hole (this big) for no reason.”

CHIT CHAT At a time of growing awareness

that some people seem almost addicted to their cellphones and instant 24/7 communication, police in Brookfield, Wisconsin, released surveillance photos of a woman in the act of

robbing banks on March 25 and 27 — while standing at teller counters and talking on the phone during the entire episodes. Acting on a tip from the photos, police arrested Sarah Kraus, 33, on March 28.

PRONOUNS College activist Pablo Gomez Jr., 22, was arrested in Berkeley, California, in March and charged with the brutal stabbing death of an elementary school teacher.

Gomez, a senior at University of California, Berkeley, is well-known on campus for insisting on a gender identity for which “he” is an inappropriate reference. Hence, “they” was charged with what is so far the only homicide in Berkeley this year.

CHALLENGE Paul Perry Jr., 39, sound asleep behind the wheel of his car, with motor running, at 6 a.m. on April 2, was in no position to talk his way out of a DUI ticket, but did offer a gentle challenge to the Youngstown, Ohio, police officer. Several times, according to the police report, Perry offered to “thumb wrestle” the officer to get out of the ticket. From the report: “Perry was advised officers would not thumb-wrestle him.”

WAIT, WHAT? A father, 43, and his son, 22, argued on April 9 about who would walk the dog at their home on Chicago’s South Side.

They apparently thought to settle the issue with a gunfight, and police, who recovered the two weapons, said both men received multiple wounds. The son was killed, and the father was in critical condition.

LEADING ECONOMIC INDICATORS

The eight elite Ivy League universities are better thought of as “hedge fund(s) with classes,” according to a March report by the activist Open The Books, and thus there is little reason for taxpayers to have given them the more than $41 billion in grants and entitlements they received over a recent sixyear period. The schools are already legendary for their $119 billion “endowments,” based on donations from alumni and aggressive investment. Those endowments are enough, according to Open The Books, that, assuming donations continue to arrive at the same pace, schools could provide free tuition to every student in the eight schools in perpetuity.

Even if no new donations are made, the eight schools could provide such free tuition for 51 years.

IRONIES Federico Musto was suspected

recently by Wired.com of audaciously inventing academic credentials to help land his job as CEO of the company Arduino, a circuit-board manufacturer popular in the computer industry among coders creating, among other things, robots and motion

detectors. Arduino’s work is “open source” — creating hardware that others, by design, can exploit and modify for their own loftier projects. It might thus be said that Musto’s claimed academic “accomplishments” — his so-called MBA from New York University and claimed Ph.D from MIT — are themselves the product of his having “open-sourced” his own, previously modest curriculum vitae.

BRIGHT IDEAS In January, local government and sexual-assault critics unveiled a consciousness-raising exhibit on Mexico City’s trains: a plastic seat onto which is subtly molded contours of a male body, except with genitals sharply exposed. Men supposedly have been spotted absentmindedly lowering themselves onto the seat only to leap up in shock. A note on the floor by the body read (in Spanish): “It’s uncomfortable to sit here, but that’s nothing compared to the sexual violence suffered by women on their commute.”

THE FOREIGN PRESS (1) Village police

in Bangladesh arrested Yasin Byapari, 45, in January on the complaint of his wife — after she had learned that she was not, as he had told her, his second spouse, but rather the 25th of his 28. Police found him at the home of No. 27.

The accuser said she had, through sleuthing, tracked down 17 of her “competitors.” (2) A male schoolteacher reported in February that he had been kidnapped by four women near Lupane, Zimbabwe, drugged with a beverage and sexually assaulted, in what appears to be a return of the “sperm bandits” said to operate in the area; previously, police set up roadblocks and arrested three women with 31 condoms full of semen.

THE PASSING PARADE (1) In same-day

competition in March, perennial Guinness Book records jockeys Zoe L’Amore and Ashrita Furman squared off over the record for stopping blades on an electric table fan the most times in one minute using only their tongues. On Italian TV, L’Amore stopped blades 32 times, but Furman, at a different venue, later stopped 35. (2) Norway has unseated Denmark as the world’s “happiest” country, according to the UN’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network. There was no word on whether Denmark was unhappy about losing the top spot.

NEWS YOU CAN USE A study published in

the journal Endocrinology in March suggested that “whole-body” vibration may be just as effective as regular “exercise.” The fine print: Vibration was shown only to aid “global bone formation,” which is not as useful for some people as “weight loss,” which was not studied, and anyway, the study was conducted on mice.

Nonetheless, even for a mouse immobile on

a vibrating machine, muscles contracted and relaxed multiple times per second. Keep this fine print in mind when hucksters inevitably learn of the study and try to sell gullible humans a “miracle” weight-loss machine.

WILD MARYLAND (1) Prince George’s County police officer James Sims, 30, pleaded guilty to four counts of misdemeanor “visual surveillance with prurient interest” and in February was sentenced to probation, though his termination investigation was still ongoing. His fourth event, said prosecutors, in a Sports Authority store, was taking an upskirt photo of a woman who, as Sims discovered, was also a cop. (2) A Worcester County, Maryland, judge fined Ellis Rollins $1,000 in February and gave him a suspended sentence for the June 2016 ostentatious nude dancing and sex with his wife at an Ocean City, Maryland, hotel window in view of other people on holiday. At the time, Rollins was the Cecil County, Maryland, state’s attorney, but has since resigned.

TIMELESS SAYINGS A tanker truck

overturned on a Los Angeles freeway on April 4, spilling its contents, injuring seven and inconveniencing hundreds (with at least a few surely tearful, since the tanker was hauling milk). And, at a Parks Canada station restroom in Banff, Alberta, on April 1, visitors found, inexplicably, three black bear cubs inside (although they were not reported to have “used” the facilities, it is still safe to assume that bears relieve themselves “in the woods”).

NOTW CLASSIC (July 2013) During a June

(2013) debate in a House Rules Committee abortion hearing, U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess of Texas, himself an obstetrician/gynecologist, urged an even earlier ban, based on research on fetal pain, which Burgess said is felt at 15 weeks, and not a law’s proposed 20 weeks.

“Watch a sonogram of a 15-week-old baby,” said Burgess, “and they have movements that are purposeful. ... If they’re a male baby, they may have their hand between their legs.”

Thus, if they feel pleasure, he concluded, they should also feel pain.

ANOTHER CLASSIC (August 2013) The

upscale restaurant at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art announced in August (2013) that it would soon add a 20-item selection of waters from around the world, priced from $8 to $16 a bottle (and a $12 “tasting menu”).

The restaurant’s manager, Martin Riese, who is a renowned water gourmet, will sell his own California-made 9OH2O (from “limited editions of 10,000 individually numbered glass bottles” at $14 each). Riese has been certified as a “Water Sommelier” by the German Mineral Water Association.

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NEWS

NEWSMAKER

MEETING MARY BELK New state rep dishes on battling cancer, partisanship and addiction

BY RYAN PITKIN

I

T WOULD have been understandable if Mary Belk had called off her campaign to join the North Carolina House of Representatives when she was diagnosed with breast cancer less than two months from Election Day. Instead, she balanced her battle with cancer and her political ambition, eking out a close victory over incumbent Republican Rob Bryan in District 88, which stretches from Dilworth south to I-485.

She’s recently been fighting on both fronts. When we recently sat down on the patio of The Mayobird, a cafe in her district, she was excited to have finished chemo but was only two days from beginning radiation therapy, which she’ll be undergoing for at least five weeks.

It’s just a minor distraction for Belk, who somehow has still found time to file two bills during her first 100 days as a politician. We spoke about what causes she’s fought for as a freshman in the House, and what she’s taken from the experience of serving her consituents while battling cancer.

Creative Loafing: How have you been taking to the legislative life?

Mary Belk: It’s a lot of work and there’s a sharp learning curve. You might think, “OK, I got this,” then something happens where you think, “Or do I?” Some days you’re like, “Yeah, I’m getting this, I’m doing what I need to do” and then other days you’re just like, “Man, I hope I’m doing this job right.” (laughs) But I love it. It’s probably a little crazy with me being sick, but I love it. I hope that I’m doing right by my district and North Carolina.

District 88 Rep. John Autry, formerly a Charlotte City Council member, came on at the same time as you. Have you two been learning the state legislature ropes together? And has there been help from others?

When we came in, there were 10 of us that were freshmen, we have a Democratic freshman class, and there’s some more Republican freshmen, so we’ve gotten together with them a few times to get to know each other.

John Autry is actually my seatmate, I love John. We get together to discuss issues.

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[N.C. Sen.] Jeff Jackson — I’ve known Jeff since before he ran — so I went and talked to him about it. What I’ve been trying to do with the different committees I’m in and working on bills in particular, you just go and introduce yourself — I’ve been going and introducing myself and talking to people.

Any lessons learned already this early in your political career?

The first thing that we actually did, a constituent has a son that’s in high school but does early college. The child is still under a provisional license. He has night classes at Central Piedmont, and he had to be driven, because he can’t drive at night. The law gives exception for work; being a volunteer firefighter or volunteer EMT. So we said, “Here’s an easy one. It seems like it’s not controversial.” But every time you say, “This is an easy one,” every representative laughs, there’s nothing easy.

[The bill including an exception for school was eventually pulled after facing opposition.]

That was a good lesson. It was a good lesson in that nothing is uncomplicated, nothing is going to fly though, you’re going to have to work on everything that you do.

But just doing the actual procedure — how do we send it to bill drafting, what is that like — it was a good learning experience.

It’s not easy, it’s a process, but now I know the process.

Do you ever feel discouraged about accomplishing things as a minority Democrat?

Actually, on election night, when I got elected, I thought, “Well if I got elected, other people had to have as well.” It was a bit of a disappointment, because I would have thought we’d get at least enough people to support a veto and break the supermajority, so then it was a little bit like, “Oh my Gosh.

This just got a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.”

But, I keep thinking when I look at the people, I listen to people, I’m not being naïve, but I think we’re going to have to work hard and maybe we can change the numbers.

I think there are people who would be willing to be more moderate who cannot because of the leadership and how it is now, it’s not conducive to that.

The majority of the stuff we pass passes

bipartisanly, but it’s those tough issues, especially the social issues, that are so divisive.

You’re like “Why aren’t we dealing with making sure that our economy is growing, that we’ve got jobs, that we’re being attractive to businesses, that we are educating our kids so that they can be competitive in the global market?”

Those are the things I’m thinking about.

It can be frustrating but we just have to keep working at it.

Is making an effort for more bipartisanship in the state legislature important to you?

It is, and that’s one of the things that I said when I was running. I will cross the aisle. If I

can work with other people that’s what I want to do, because we’ve got to stop doing what we’re doing.

Especially being in the minority party, you have to converse with the opposite aisle because nothing’s going to get done that you want to get done otherwise. But more than that, people in North Carolina are tired of it.

That’s one of the reasons that I ran. I can talk to people. I’m one of eight kids, I have four brothers, I’ve been dealing with the different personalities my whole life. I can go up there and get along and listen to people and know that I can see what you’re saying.

Even if I don’t agree with it, I’m not going to insult you or not listen.

“[Election night] was a bit of a disappointment, because I would have thought we’d get at least enough people to support a veto and break the supermajority, so then it was a little bit like, ‘Oh my Gosh.

This just got a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.’”

-N.C. REP. MARY BELK

You’re still in the midst of a battle with breast cancer. How has that affected your life, whether professionally or personally?

I’m more sensitive to certain things because the type of breast cancer that I have, I have no history of breast cancer in my family, I don’t have any genetic markers. So I just don’t know why I got cancer.

I keep thinking to myself, if it’s not this, it’s not that, was it something else in my life?

Is it my lifestyle, is it the environment? I look back, and I’m 60 years old, I think back when I was little and they would spray for mosquitoes and we’d run through that. I wonder if it’s that.

Who knows? But you become more conscious of that stuff.

You recently filed a bill, HB 805, that would make fragrance companies be more transparent about what chemicals they use in their product. Is that an example of something you’re more aware of now since your diagnosis?

Yes. I’ve been aware, you know, you read articles about fragrances and about the chemicals in things like that, but I think I look at those things more now.

What this bill is about is educating people. Because we know that under the term “fragrance,” there can be many chemicals, and some of them are known carcinogens, some of them are endocrine disruptors.

All we’re asking them to do is put on your website, tell us what those ingredients in your fragrance are. You don’t have to relabel, you don’t have to rebrand, just do that so people who say, “I have a sensitivity and I’m concerned about what it is I’m putting on my body”, they can go to the website and look it up.

How did that issue come across your radar?

I had talked to some of the people involved with the NC Conservation Network. I was talking with them about their issues — environmental issues — and I said, “This is something that I would consider sponsoring.”

I think educating people – and I know we’re resistant to it and I understand that, if there’s a small business I don’t want to hurt businesses — but at the same time I realize that the more knowledge we have, it helps us decide what we want to do and how we want to do it.

We’re not asking them to put it on their labels, we’re not asking for trade secrets, all we’re asking is that you put on your website, let us know what the term fragrance means, so when people want to be educated, they can.

You’ve also filed a bill, HB 738, that would let folks in substance abuse recovery opt out of ever being treated with opioids, and have that declared in their permanent medical file. Is that an issue you feel strongly about?

That is one of the things in going up to Raleigh and when I was running that I’ve talked about a lot. I am actually in long-term recovery for 15 years. My daughter has been very involved in being a sober living coach and being part of a recovery program. In my Irish Catholic heritage, we come from a long line of people who have had alcohol issues and things like that.

That and mental health is something I’m really wanting to help with. Physical and mental health go hand in hand and we need to stop treating them differently. Part of that is long-term treatment. So this is something that I’ve always been interested in.

RPITKIN@CLCLT.COM

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VIEWS

THE CHRONICLE

PASS THE GRASS (BILL) Obtuse NCGA continues to ignore potential pot revenue FOR THE PAST several years, the North

There is a bill before the N.C. General Assembly now – House Bill 185 – that would Carolina General Assembly has toyed with the idea of legalizing medicinal marijuana, legalize medical marijuana, but (surprise!) contemplating what should be a given even it’s languishing in a committee where it’s as other states have gone a step further and been stuck since February and will likely legalized recreational pot. remain.

While our legislators have been busy The text of the bill includes this, dicking around with our civil rights and “According to the United States Sentencing generally wasting time and money, states Commission and the Federal Bureau 17 of like Washington and Colorado have been raking in the cash brought in by Mary Jane.

Investigation, 99 out of every 100 cannabis The state of Washington alone arrests in the United States are made under has brought in over $400 million in tax state law, rather than under federal law.” revenue since June 2014, when recreational That is important. As you probably know, marijuana sales began. the U.S. Attorney General is a lunatic from I was there, in line, ready to see what Alablamastan who would like to re-start kind of store would sell pot. And it wasn’t the “War on Drugs.” That’s the completely a big deal. A guy checked my I.D., then, it was my turn at the counter, I told the ineffective prison-packing baby of Nancy person what I needed – “something Reagan. That makes HB 185 a win for pain, but I can’t get stupid,” for the States’ Rights folks.

I said. They suggested Blue All told, HB 185 is Dream, a hybrid strain. what you’d expect from a It was a cool moment. medicinal marijuana bill, And, you know what? plus it would instruct The world didn’t explode. the University of North Despite lines for the first few days, nothing Carolina to research changed in Seattle, where marijuana for medicinal I lived for a year before purposes. returning to Crown Town.

RHIANNON There are even some Things are chill in FIONN safeguards for those who Colorado, too, where the state are caught with pot without a is also making a shit-ton of money medicinal license. off of legalized pot and all the other products — edibles and drinks, for example It matters what the NCGA does on the — rolling out of busy factories. The demand pot issue. That means that if you want for those products creates jobs at those to see movement on HB 185, which isn’t factories and the farms that grow pot there. ideal, frankly, but a start toward full The claims that legalizing pot would decriminalization. increase crime? Bunkus according to The So, if you don’t like the idea of forDenver Post, which reported in 2016 that profit prisons; if you like the idea of being “marijuana-related crimes in Denver make able to choose for yourself what you plant up less than 1 percent of all offenses counted in the Uniform Crime Report.” and ingest; if you’re in favor of the everAnd in Washington, D.C., where elusive freedom promised by our country’s recreational pot has been legal since 2015, Founding Fathers; then you need to Google crime dropped. your state rep’s digits and give him or her “The decrease in marijuana arrests is a call and let them know what you want an enormous victory for District residents, regarding HB 185. who have resoundingly rejected the You know, maybe tell them that you’d criminalization of marijuana,” said Bill Piper, Senior Director of National Affairs gladly pay a little extra per bag for the ability for the Drug Policy Alliance, in a press to visit your neighborhood pot shop so you release. “Marijuana law enforcement has can purchase a strain of marijuana that helps particularly damaged communities of color you with what ails you. in the District, who have borne the brunt of If nothing else, the tax revenue could pay prohibition. We hope that law enforcement for the lawsuits the General Assembly, in its continues to responsibly enforce the new scant wisdom, has looped us taxpayers into law and completely eliminates any racial disparity in arrests.” over the past few years.

CLCLT.COM | APR. 20 - APR. 26, 2017 | 15

NEWS

BLOTTER

BY RYAN PITKIN

STONED A suspect in southwest Charlotte

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was caught with weed yesterday and, although the police seized his stash, they did include some kind words about the quality of his bud.

While police often write vague descriptions, often including my favorite police term “green, leafy vegetable matter,” for this specific arrest they noted that the suspect was in possession of 18.7 grams of “fresh marijuana,” not to be confused with that crappy vegetable matter they usually catch people with. However, since we’re getting technical, the police listed the street value of the stash at $100, which is a very low price for 18 grams of weed.

STASH Police raiding a suspected

drug house near Northlake Mall last week found a much more sinister stash, and the report gives a peek into what a drug house actually consists of. Cops found 424 grams of marijuana, valued at $2,500; eight dosage units of THC oil; four ecstasy pills; a Springfield rifle with ammunition; a Smith and Wesson rifle; two shotguns; and $5,089 in cash.

GET A ROOM Employees at Stone Haven East apartment complex in southeast Charlotte ran a couple suspected drug dealers out of the complex recently after the pair had the nerve to sell drugs on their property without even doing the right thing by leasing an apartment to work out of. According to the report, the two men were sleeping in their car on the property at night and selling drugs there by day.

FAKE-TOR A 42-year-old man in the

Highland Creek area filed a police report after he was scammed by a man pretending to be a realtor last week. The victim is planning to sell his home, and told police that he was talking to carpet cleaners when the suspect rang his doorbell and said he was a realtor who may be able to bring some potential buyers by for a tour, but he would need to tour the house himself first. The victim let him take a look around on his own while he continued to converse with the carpet cleaners, but the man was no realtor. During this little tour of the property, the suspect cleaned him out for ore than $6,200 worth of jewelry and technology, including five watches, an iPod touch and a wedding ring.

NICOTINE FIEND A 52-year-old woman was threatened by a man who would not be turned down when he accosted her in east Charlotte last week, but he wasn’t looking for her number, he wanted a smoke. The woman

told police that the man pulled a knife on her while she was walking down Eastway Drive and demanded a cigarette. According to the report, “due to the victim being in fear for her life she gave the suspect a cigarette.” The things people will risk jail for.

BANKSY ON A BIKE Police responded to

a home in east Charlotte last week after a 27-year-old woman caught someone trying to steal from her. The woman told police that the suspect was using spray paint to tag graffiti on a privacy fence behind her yard, which she didn’t realize until later. She did see that the suspect was up to something fishy, however, and continued watching.

That’s when the criminal pushed their luck, eventually jumping over the newly painted fence and trying to steal a bicycle. She was able to “interrupt” the would-be thief, though, and they ran off without the bike.

RADICAL NAZIS The rise of white

nationalist, anti-Semitic sentiment under Trump has been an awful thing to witness, but one such incident in south Charlotte last week looks to just be the work of some punk kid who wants to offend whomever they can. Management at the Harris YMCA on Quail Hollow Road called police to collect a skateboard that had been found on the grounds with no wheels and the words “Hail Hitler” painted across the bottom.

PARTY CANCELLED A woman’s Easter

party was ruined last week after she was unable to pull off a heist from the Harris Teeter in University City during her evening grocery run. According to employees at the store, the woman brought her cart to the selfcheckout, but only paid for two items before trying to continue on to the parking lot. The problem was that she still had more than $100 worth of Easter decorations in the cart that she hadn’t paid for, not to mention the $36 worth of iced cupcakes. She was stopped and the police were called before she could make it to her festivities.

JAMEIS WINSTON Another shoplifter

in west Charlotte wasn’t about to give up that easy when employees at Harvey’s Supermarket confronted them last week.

According to management, the man picked up a package of crab legs and made for the door, but when an employee approached the man and asked him to stop, he pulled out a gun and pointed it at the employee before fleeing the scene on foot.

COOL DOWN A 65-year-old man filed a

police report after falling victim to an assault at the hands — or at the cup — of a stranger.

The man was working as a security guard at the CATS hub in Uptown Charlotte when a man he didn’t know threw a drink on him and was able to run off before the real police showed up.

Snuggle Up with CL

tonight....

CLCLT.COM | APR. 20 - APR. 26, 2017 | 17

18 | APR. 20 - APR. 26, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

FOOD

FEATURE

COOKING WITH CANNABIS Making more than brownies on 4/20

BY RYAN PITKIN

C

ELEBRATING THE week of 4/20 by cooking marijuanalaced brownies? That’s basic.

We got in touch with someone we know to be one of the better cannabis cooks in town this week to talk about diversity in cooking with greenery. For understandable reasons (see other stories in this issue for our thoughts on this state’s antiquated marijuana laws) she wished to remain anonymous. But she did meet up with us to go over some of the Dos (Always use way less weed than you think you should) and Don’ts (Don’t test the product as your cooking it) of whippin’ up the pot in a Crock-Pot. The key ingredient to cooking with cannabis is an oil or butter that you make

Breakfast

Crock Pot Huevos Rancheros 1 tbsp. canna oil 10 eggs, beaten 1 cup light cream 8 ounces Mexican blend shredded cheese ½ teaspoon pepper ¼ teaspoon chili powder 1 crushed garlic clove 4-ounces can of chopped green chilies, drained 10 ounces enchilada sauce 4 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese 8 tortillas Grease crock pot with the canna oil (leaving any

yourself, she says.

“The reason that you can eat weed is that the THC attaches itself to a fat or a lipid. You can make any cannabis-infused oil or butter, but you’re looking for something with fat. You’re not going to be able to put it into something like a strawberry unless it’s covered in oil or butter.”

Her way of going about making her favorite oil is to stick anywhere between an eighth and a quarter of an ounce of weed with a cup of coconut oil into a Crock-Pot and letting it cook for anywhere from four to eight hours (the longer it cooks, the more potent it will be).

Some folks decarboxylate their trees in the oven before putting them in the pot, and there are different Google-able ways of doing that,

excess in the pot), and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, cream, Mexican cheese, pepper, and chili powder.

Add the garlic and chilies, and stir.

Pour mixture into the crock pot, cover, and cook on LOW for 3 hours and 45 minutes (longer may cause the edges to burn).

Remove lid and top with enchilada sauce and cheddar cheese.

Replace lid and cook until sauce is warm and cheese is melted (15 minutes).

Top tortillas with eggs and serve.

but it’s not completely necessary.

After the above-mentioned time has passed, she runs the result through a cheese cloth and, voila, the creation of canna oil. One can cook with it straight from there or stick it in the fridge, solidifying it for a rainy day. The same type of oil can be made with butter or any type of cooking oil.

“The cool thing about it is you just have this base element, and then any meal that you enjoy, anything you like, if you know you cook it in oil, you’re good,” she says.

Keep in mind, though, you will taste the weed, so consider that before cooking.

Our friend shared with us some of her favorite things to cook for different times of the day.

Lunch Smokin’ Mac ‘n’ cheese ½ pound elbow macaroni or shells 1 tablespoon canola oil 1 teaspoon salt For cheese sauce 5 tablespoons cannabutter ½ cup all-purpose flour 2½ to 3 cups milk, warm 4 ounces smoked mozzarella, grated (1 cup) 8 ounces medium cheddar, grated (2 cups) 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 teaspoon smoked paprika ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 cup breadcrumbs 1 tablespoon canola oil, (using canna-oil is optional) 2 ounces sharp cheddar, grated (1/2 cup) For onion rings 1 cup canola oil 1 small onion, peeled and thinly sliced

(Disclaimer: We are sharing these recipes as an idea for if you travel to one of the cities across this country that have legalized such behavior. We don’t want you to break the law. Also, we have warned you above that Rule #1 is that you should always use less weed than you think until you’re familiar with how much you’re comfortable with. We are not responsible for what happens if you don’t follow that rule. Really, we’re not responsible for your actions whether you follow that rule or not.)

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Fill a large pot with water, oil and salt. Bring to boil, add the macaroni and cook according to the directions on the package.

Drain well.

In a small saucepan melt the cannabutter. Add the flour and cook, whisking constantly, for five minutes. Add the warm milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth.

Add the cheese, salt, paprika, pepper and nutmeg. Add the cooked macaroni and stir well.

Pour into 6-8 buttered ramekins.

In a small bowl combine the canola oil with the breadcrumbs and sharp cheddar. Sprinkle on top of the filled ramekins. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.

In a medium saucepan, heat the oil. When hot add the onion rings and cook until golden brown, 4-5 minutes. Drain on paper towels or clean dishtowel. Place on top of the ramekins and serve.

Source: thecannabist.co

CLCLT.COM | APR. 20 - APR. 26, 2017 | 19

Snack Time Cannabis Caramel Corn 2 cups brown sugar 1/2 cup light corn syrup 1 cup canna butter without residual plant matter (it will burn)

20 | APR. 20 - APR. 26, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

1/2 teaspoon baking soda pinch salt 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 8 quarts popped corn 3 bags microwaved In a small pan melt canna

butter then stir in sugar and corn syrup. Bring to a boil. Boil no more than 4 minutes to avoid burning sugars.

Remove from heat. Stir in baking soda, salt and

vanilla.

Pour over popcorn in 10 qt. pan, mixing well.

Bake in shallow layer on cookie sheet at 225 for an hour, stirring every 15 mins.

Source: WeedChefs.com

Dinner Pulled Pork Pot Sandwiches 2 cups hickory wood chips 1 bone-in pork butt (7-9 lb), Boston butt or end-cut pork shoulder roast 1 tablespoon canna oil 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 teaspoon pepper 10 plain white hamburger buns (no sesame seeds), split Barbecue Sauce Place wood chips in a medium bowl, cover with water. Soak for 30 minutes.

Brush pork with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Use a charcoal or gas grill. For a charcoal grill, heat coals in center of grill to medium-low heat.

Divide coals, placing half on each side of the grill, leaving center open. Place drip pan between coals. For gas grill, light two outside sections, leaving middle section unlit (three-burner grill).

Or light one side and leave other side unlit (two-burner grill).

Place drip pan on unlit side. Heat

on high until hot.

Add wet wood chips to coals or place in smoking box of gas grill.

(Or place chips in heavy-duty foil; fold to make packet. Poke holes in packet; place over indirect heat.)

Place pork, fat side up over drip pan. Grill, covered, over mediumlow heat or coal four to five hours or until internal temperature reaches 190 or 200 degrees; adjusting heat or adding coals as necessary to maintain grill temperature of 325-350 degrees.

Meat should be tender and falling apart, and bone should come out smooth and clean with no meat clinging to it.

Let stand 20 minutes or until cool enough to handle. Remove skin, bones and fat. Reserve crisp edges; shred meat with two forks or chop with large knife. Chop reserved crispy bits; add to pork.

Stir in about 3/4 cup barbecue sauce or enough to moisten.

Serve in bun topped with some coleslaw. Serve additional sauce on the side.

Source: Herb.co

CLCLT.COM | APR. 20 - APR. 26, 2017 | 21

22 | APR. 20 - APR. 26, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

FOOD

THREE-COURSE SPIEL

JAVA MASTER Three questions for barista Morgan Hopkins of Central Coffee

BY DEBRA RENEE SETH

WALK INTO Central Coffee Company

in South End and you’re guaranteed to be greeted by the comforting scent of piping hot java. If you’re really, really lucky your drink of choice will be prepared by millennial barista Morgan Hopkins.

Hopkins represents a the next generation of young professionals in Charlotte who are committed not only to making money, but also to seeing creativity in areas that aren’t always thought of as creative, and of sustaining the environment.

At 23, the former Appalachian State University student gave up life up in the Blue Ridge Mountains to feel the pace and energy of Charlotte. She’s now fueling her environmental passions while making an impact one cup at a time.

We sat down with Hopkins and a cup of joe to find out what’s percolating with her.

Creative Loafing: We’ve seen you in action and you never just pour a cup of coffee; there’s always something extra.

What’s the deal?

Hopkins: (Laughs) Yeah, for me there’s no such thing as “just” a cup of coffee.

Every cup is special. Every drink is special.

Coffee drinking in 2017 is actually more of a creative experience. It’s a social experience.

It’s like art. I’m all about connecting with people and connecting with the environment — sharing that moment and exchanging that energy.

I look at being a barista basically like I’m creating art, and in each little cup there’s a masterpiece. I don’t want to just hand you a drink and you pay and that’s it.

When I make you a drink, I’m making you art and you’re leaving with a little piece of me. It’s never just a drink. It’s an exchange and it’s an experience. I believe everything is connected, so I put love in everything I do hoping that it will impact your day in a positive way.

You seem to have a positive attitude, but at the end of the day you’re working in the service industry and that can test a person’s patience. How do you maintain your optimism when not everyone else is in that space?

I look at work the same way I look at life and our connection with nature. It’s kind of like a

clock, and we’re all just little gears. You may feel like you’re going crazy as a little gear just spinning around and around, but if you take a step back and look, you’ll see that all the little gears connect and make the whole clock work.

It’s really a beautiful thing if you think about it. So that’s my attitude.

Sure, we all have our little job or our little part we play in the scheme of things, but we all connect to make something beautiful. Me making you coffee can make an impact on your day either positively or negatively.

I don’t know where you’re going after you leave the coffee shop, or where you came from, but I do know that I can impact your day one way or the other, so I try to always make it a positive one.

We’ve all seen the people who get extremely creative when ordering coffee drinks — you know, the “super-grandehaf-caf-nonfat-caramel-brulée-captaincrunch” types. What are some coffeeordering “do’s” and “don’ts”?

(Laughs) Yes, people definitely get crazy, but I would say do make your own masterpiece.

If you like plain black coffee, do that. If you like 7. 5 shots of espresso poured in exactly 23 seconds, do that. Your coffee drink should be your own.

Just please remember that we are people, too. There’s nothing wrong with your ordering a special drink just the way you like, but do give baristas the time to prepare the drink just the way you like it and remember we are putting love into what we do.

BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM

CLCLT.COM | APR. 20 - APR. 26, 2017 | 23

THURSDAY

20

ONE BIG (420) LOVE What: Light up and head down to the Evening Muse for a mindexpanding set of 4/20-friendly sounds from HipGnostic and One Big Love, two Charlotte bands that will have you flying high on hip-hop beats and reggae-fried riddims. HipGnostic is a live hiphop outfit fronted by the lyrically — shall we say? — prolific BearCat Kringle. One Big Love is exactly as its name suggests: One big bundle of cannabis-fueled (see this week’s music feature) sweetness and light.

When: 10 p.m.

Where: Evening Muse, 3227 N Davidson St. More: $15 - $18. theeveningmuse. com.

24 | APR. 20 - APR. 26, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

THINGS TO DO

TOP TEN

FRIDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

21

20

21

SATURDAY

22

THE WEEKS

TUCK FEST

ARSENA

TASTE OF THE CAROLINAS

What: A strong pop strain has always snaked through The Weeks’ raucous southern rock. Lately the Jackson, Mississippi, quartet has given even more free rein to their melodic tendencies. Their latest album, Easy, was tracked at Ardent Studios, where power pop demigods Big Star recorded their classic 1970s records. Maybe the location worked its mojo on the Weeks, because the new tunes boast bubbling R&B tempos, ringing guitars and hooks as sharp as a sharkskin suit.

What: There’s lots of live music at Tuck Fest (this year, you get hippie jam-bad dude Keller Williams and other acts), but the main attractions are the outdoor adventures to participate in. No matter what your skill level, there are things for you to get involved in at Tuck Fest, from cycling to climbing, trail running, kayaking, paddle-boarding and more. The name comes from the Tuckaseegee Ford and Trail at the Whitewater Center.

What: Local R&B soulstress Arsena calls on you to open your eyes, your mind, the door and your heart in her new single, “Open Your Eyes,” but on Friday night she’s going to need you to open your ears at a listening party for her new EP, Quest. She’ll be taking feedback before making final mixes on the EP, but judging by the instrumentals and first mix of the single that we’ve heard, we only have one suggestion: Release it already!

What: Carowinds has added another reason to puke your brains out and love every minute of it: consuming a ton of great food. The new event, on weekends through mid-May, will feature culinary delights from seven regions on both sides of the border running through the theme park.

Look for gourmet food from N.C.’s Appalachian region, Outer Banks and Lexington, as well as South Carolina’s Upstate, barbecue region, Lowcountry and Charleston.

When: 4 p.m. Fri. - 5 p.m. Sun. Where: U.S. National Whitewater Center, 5000 Whitewater Center Pkwy.

More: $25 - $44. tuckfest.org.

When: 9 p.m.

Where: Morehead Tavern, 300 E. Morehead St. More: $8-12. moreheadtavern.com.

When: 9 p.m.

Where: Visulite Theatre, 1231 Central Ave. More: $12-$15. visulite.com.

When: Sat.-Sun., April 22-May 14; Park hours.

Where: Carowinds, 14523 Carowinds Blvd.

More: $4 for three tokens. carowinds. com.

NEWS ARTS FOOD MUSIC ODDS

SATURDAY

22

MAYORAL PRIMARY DEBATE KICKOFF What: Who’s ready for another election? Charlotte likes to switch mayors like some people switch their underwear, so it’s only right that we kickoff yet another mayoral election before the wounds of the last presidential one have healed.

This year, we’ve got incumbent Jennifer Roberts, city council member Vi Lyles and GIF-happy N.C. Sen. Joel Ford in the mix.

There will be no shortage of topics to cover.

When: 12-2 p.m.

Where: Weeping Willow AME Zion Church, 2220 Milton Road.

More: Free. facebook.com/ events/667907710085499/.

SATURDAY

22

MOO & BREW FEST What: It’s not just the great craft beer and local burgers (both solid reasons to come to CL’s Moo & Brew fest — don’t get it twisted), and it’s not just the headlining act, ‘90s rock vets Blues Traveler. It’s the whole fun-in-the-sun vibe. Best of all may be the local band on the bill, Ancient Cities, one of those stellar Charlotte acts that’s always hiding in plain sight. Join us in melting into their psychedelic-folk garage-rock buzz.

When: 12:30 p.m. (VIP); 2 p.m. (general) Where: Music Factory, 1000 NC Music Factory Blvd.

More: $35 - $40. mooandbrewfest. com.

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

22

STEVE MARTIN & MARTIN SHORT

WEDNESDAY

26

23 LA 92

ULTRA

What: Ed Grimley. Jorge Festrunk.

Nathan Thurm. Charles Knerlamn.

Irving Cohen. “King Tut.” Theodoric.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

Three Amigos. The Jerk. Inner Space. Roxanne. Mars Attacks!

Father of the Bride. The legacy of these two cannot be overstated.

With all the celebs we’ve lost over the last two years, it gives us comfort to know this duo is not only still touring, but still at the top of their comedic game.

What: The harrowing video of Rodney King’s beating by the LAPD sparked a tumultuous trial, but that was just the beginning.

The four officers involved were acquitted, triggering protests and violence that has eerie echoes in the Charlotte protests last summer.

Drawing on rarely seen archival footage, this doc is vital viewing for those old enough to remember the L.A. riots of ’92, and for those young enough to grow up in the shadow of those events.

When: 8 p.m.

Where: Ovens Auditorium, 2700 E. Independence Blvd.

More: $125-199. ovensauditorium. com.

What: Still think Latin music is confined to salsa orchestras and mariachi bands? Then drag your culo to The Station to catch Ultra.

The Barcelona-based hardcore combo hits all the louder-andfaster signposts – Panzer division power chords, buzzsaw guitars, hyperventilating vocals and songbursts of fury lasting under 60 seconds – in an adrenaline rush of idealistic punk. It’s a rabble rousing call for anarchy in the EU - and beyond - that comes through loud and clear in any language

When: 3 p.m.

Where: Location disclosed upon confirmation.

More: FREE. LA92Charlotte. eventbrite.com.

When: 8 p.m.

Where: The Station, 1231 Central Ave. More: $5. thestationclt.com.

CLCLT.COM | APR. 20 - APR. 26, 2017 | 25

PHOTO BY NOEL BUFFONG

Smokin’ in the U.S.A.: Tizzy (left) and Kizzy of Th3 Higher partake in America’s great national pastime.

MUSIC

FEATURE

WAKE AND BAKE Creative Loafing’s Top 10 marijuana songs by Charlotte artists

BY MARK KEMP

I

T’S 4:20 on 4/20. Time to wake

and bake.

Yes, friends, it’s that day of the year when all good stoners celebrate one of America’s great national pastimes — smoking, vaping, eating, or by some other means of delivery, ingesting marijuana.

Chilling out. Getting chill. Getting high, blitzed, blazed, blunted, bouldered, stoned, faded, fried, cooked, baked. Name your term.

26 | APR. 20 - APR. 26, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

Oh, stop ye who judge with your fancy cocktails in hand. You either smoke now under the cover of your social status or you’ve smoked at some point in your miserable life. Anyway, the shit is legal in Alaska, California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, D.C., Massachusetts and Maine. Nobody equates smoking blunts with shooting heroin anymore. It was your great-grandfather who disseminated that propaganda to snuff out

Mexicans, blacks, jazz music and mixed-race relationships.

So, in honor of this . . . wait, what were we talking about? Oh yeah: In honor of this holiday, we here at CL have compiled the perfect playlist of songs by local artists of various genres celebrating the great and powerful cannabis plant. Feel free to download, stream, purchase or steal these songs to take with you to your secret 420

hideaway. (If you go to clclt.com, we have all of them cued up for you in a neat little playlist.)

Not that we’re promoting anything illegal here — just good local music.

Oh, and by the way: Don’t get caught.

For some reason N.C. lawmakers haven’t yet received the memo that marijuana is good for the soul. Hey, give ’em a break. They’ve been hard at work making sure people go to the correct bathrooms.

PHOTO BY MARK KEMP

PHOTO BY JOSHUA THOMAS

Serfs up: Phil Pucci (from left), David Scanlon, Patrick Doherty and Nicholas Holman celebrate marijuana moms.

1. “WATCH ME ROLL IT” - TH3 HIGHER Youtu.be/7beBVkuV7rc

Inspirational lines: “Where is my lighter?,” “Now we gettin’ higher,” and the requisite pick-up line, “I want to speak to your spiritual.”

“We came up with the idea of this song because older people love talking about how new rappers can’t rap and all we do is mumble,” Tizzy and Kizzy, the members of th3 Higher, tell us. “So we used a boom-bap beat and made an introduction song for the classical hip-hop universe to show we can do our thing on any beat.

“Tizzy’s verse was recorded in his car because that’s where he wrote the verse.

The lyrics to his verse are what he was doing at that time in the car. Kizzy’s verse is in the kitchen because he stay cooking up that flame. *hard sniff side eye*.”

We had a hard time choosing this particular track because Tizzy and Kizzy have more than one weed song. But this is the one made us all warm and woozy with its laid-back vibe and lines like, “Where is my lighter?,” “Now we gettin’ higher,” and of course, the requisite pick-up lines, “I want to speak to your spiritual” and “the universe connecting us all through the metaphysical.”

Still, go check out the duo’s latest ode to the weed, “Sweet Mary Jane,” available on Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, Tidal and all other major streaming platforms except Pandora. And don’t miss their upcoming Super Symmetry Show on April 28 at Venue 1801, 1801 N. Tryon St. Cost is $7-$10.

Listen: Soundcloud.com/th3higher Follow: @th3Higher

2. “FRIED ON FRIDAY” - NIGE HOOD Soundcloud.com/nigehood/fof

Inspirational line: “Friday, Friday, can’t wait to hit the highway / Ready to get high,

pull my car on out the driveway / Ladies that I pass by, waving like the tide / Friday, Friday, this is the day that I get fried.”

“It was a Friday, I was at work and, man, I was bored,” NiGE says. “So I used my free time and wrote a song about how great it feels on Friday to be anxious to get off work, shake off the formal mask and have fun with your friends.”

This little song gets a big reaction when NiGE performs it live. We’re talking get-offyour-ass booty-shaking banger. It slams.

You’ll find “Fried On Friday” on NiGE’s 2015 album Return of the Nasty, which you can stream or purchase at Apple Music, Spotify and the rest of the major outlets.

Stream his other music on those sites, too.

Listen: Soundcloud.com/nigehood Follow: @NiGEHOOD

3. “MARIJUANA MOM” – SERFS Vimeo.com/89541932

Inspirational line: ”Marijuana mom, marijuana mom, marijuana marijuana mom, marijuana mom, marijuana marijuana.”

“The title for ‘Marijuana Mom’ was inspired by an Instagram post by my friend Asheigh,” Charlotte Serf-rocker and all-around music guy Phil Pucci explains. “She took a photo of a news headline on TV which said, ‘Meet the Marijuana Moms.’ The subheadline was, ‘Pot makes us better parents.’ But it was hilarious because the headline was juxtaposed by this photo of this awfully sickly looking woman who looked like she was on oxygen. I was like, ‘What?!’

“At the time I was going through a phase of naming Serfs songs after nonexistent comic book superheroines,” he continues. “‘Clever Chick’ and ‘Women of LA’ were two others out of that time period. So it worked out perfectly.”

More than perfectly. This is pretty much

Black Linen

the best shoegazer noise-pop song about marijuana moms ever written. None of those other ones hold a Bic lighter to it.

Listen: serfs.bandcamp.com

4. “ROTATED” – ALI STEELE, BLACK LINEN, COSA NOSTRA QUE YouTube.com/7thSoana

Inspirational line: “Hydroponic Billy Ocean / Aromatic love potion / Got me coasting, mind open / Aeroponic telescopin’.”

True story: About a week ago I’m crowdsourcing ideas for this list and ask a few local musicians and promoters I know for recommendations. One of the musicians is Solomon Tetteh, aka rapper Black Linen, who I wrote about in Creative Loafing back in February. He’s one of those story subjects who’s since become a friend. Don’t judge me.

It happens.

He makes a few recommendations. I ask him, “Don’t you have one?” He says, “No.” I say, “You’ve never written a weed song?” He says, “No.” I say, “Well, write one and record it by next week and if it’s good we’ll use it.”

Don’t dare a rapper.

I’ll let Black Linen tell what happened next: “So I’m on my way to Soule Jukebox to record a submission piece for the Sounds of the Queen City Charlotte anthem contest with Ali Steele. As we’re riding I go, ‘Aye man, I need a weed song for 4-20,’ and his exact words are, ‘Bruh, I’ve been playing this track for you every time we are riding around, and it’s a weed song.’ And I think to myself, ‘I need to stop smokin.’

“Two days later we picked up his cousin Cosa Nostra Que to aid us in some vocals, and headed to Si-Fi Media Studios. We recorded the track in no time with the aid of Si-Fi’s engineering skills. It was produced

NiGE Hood

ILLUSTRATION BY BILAL RASHAAD

by Jet Fuel Beats of Umbrella Mindz and will debut on 4-20.”

Right here at CL, of course. And then you can be the judge.

Listen: BlackLinen.bandcamp.com Follow: @IAmBlackLinen

5. “END OF THE FUCKING RAINBOW” – MUSE-SICK

Soundcloud.com/rickyrogers94/end-ofthe-fcking-rainbow-ft-celeste-moonchild-xrickyrogers-krishonkrown-prodby-calest Inspirational line: “Take me away to another galaxy / Up in the clouds somewhere that I don’t care” Muse-Sick is Celeste Moonchild and Ricky Rogers, part of the Charlotte underground hip-hop collective Stereo Academy. All of the tracks on their latest Soundcloud project are about weed, but this one, featuring Krishon Krown, was the one that got us nodding.

“It’s kind of the beginning to a high ride,” Celeste tells us. “It’s the first track off of our

SEE

WAKE P. 28 u

CLCLT.COM | APR. 20 - APR. 26, 2017 | 27

om nature: Ricky Rogers (fr Muse-Sick gets back to wn and Celeste Moonchild left), Krishon Kro

PHOTO BY BAMBAM

WAKE FROM P. 28 t

MUSIC

FEATURE

High I’m Ry ILLUSTRATION BY MARCUS WILLIAMS.

mixtape Vibes in Motion. It was written over a couple of blunts and some great conversation in a couple of hours at the studio. I got the boys really high and said I have a beat and an idea for a song and I need you guys to feature on it. Of course they said yes and I watched them get really high and really focused listening to this beat over and over again, really getting inspired by the weed and music. The song explains Stereo Academy as a whole: eclectic but vibey. It’s our love song to Mary Jane. You can’t help but spark a blunt and vibe out to it.”

Muse-Sick and Stereo Academy have a low profile right now, but watch out for them.

(And check out the dope YouTube video for their song “Transcription.”) We got so “vibey” to this music that we got a message from the Great Beyond telling us these folks are just getting started.

Listen: Soundcloud.com/rickyrogers94/sets/ vibes-in-motion Follow: @MyMusicNpoetry

6. “LIGHTS! CANNABIS! ACTION!” – ONE BIG LOVE Youtu.be/z67FU1cVtTE

Inspirational line: “It’s 4:20 somewhere on some stoner’s broke-ass watch / So that scientifically proves it’s OK to smoke the pot.”

“Lurking around the corner is the deadly 420 celebration that will claim the lives of 28 | APR. 20 - APR. 26, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

7. “(DON’T OUTLAW) PLANTS” – THE STONERS FT. BENJI HUGHES Youtu.be/OEJZ5jWRU9M

Inspirational lines: “You can’t outlaw a cloud just for being in the sky… You can’t outlaw a bird just for trying to fly . . . How can you outlaw a plant?”

Benji Hughes over 500,000 people in a single day,” the Charlotte-area duo One Big Love warns in the YouTube description of their “Lights!

Cannabis! Action!” clip.

“Please know what your loved ones are into these days and know the warning signs of wackytobaky use.”

One warning sign would be if your loved ones are rapping along to One Big Love’s Cap-O and Jahson on the refrain of “Lights! Cannabis! Action!, which goes a little something like this: “There’s a hole in my

PHOTO BY SOLEIL KONKEL

bowl. Plug it with a nugget. Plug it with a nugget.”

You, too, can rap along with Cap-O and Jahson when One Big Love plugs their bowls with fellow Charlotte stoners HipGnostic at the Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson St., on April 20. The 420 show starts at 10:30 p.m. and costs $15 - $18. Well, of course you can afford it!

Listen: Soundcloud.com/one-big-love Follow: @1biglovemusic

You know Benji. He’s the guy who put out that sprawling double-disc set of perfectly oddball pop confection A Love Extreme that critics everywhere went bananas over. He’s released other albums nontraditionally and came back last year on Merge Records with Songs in the Key of Animals. He’s also written ditties for a bunch of TV shows and commercials and for other artists. He even penned that great Conway/Loretta-like duet “Let’s Duet” in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.

Amid all that prolificness, Benji once recorded this country-rock song with the Stoners about how fucked up it is that certain plants are illegal. It’s on a compilation of local artists called Sometimes Charlotte, which you can listen to on Spotify or YouTube or purchase for yourself at iTunes or CD Baby.

Listen: BenjiHughes.bandcamp.com Follow: Facebook.com/Benji.Hughes.92

PHOTO COURTESY OF OBW

One Big World

Quent Young

PHOTO BY JOHNNY P. NEWTON.

8. “HIPPY CHICK” – QUENT YOUNG Youtu.be/IhwZtn3MH7w

Inspirational line: “I just wanna smoke and get high, get high.”

The video for this song has a lot of pretty women in it. I just felt compelled to get that information out there up here at the top.

Young, whose latest music is more jazzbased hip-hop, recorded this playful mix of hip-hop and neosoul some time ago with vocalist Nandi Joal, who’s featured in the video with friends amid soft images that have a fuzzy, psychedelicized quality.

“The song was written as a ode to the freespirited females that indulge in weed culture,” Young says. “More so from observations of a couple females I knew during college.”

You can see the “Hippy Chick” YouTube clip or hear the song on SoundCloud, but once you’ve listened to it, you’ll want to hear more from Quent Young. So go check out his latest project, the jazz-based hip-hop of his EP Free Will, on ITunes and Spotify. And look out for more outstanding work from him later in the summer.

Listen: QuentYoung.com Follow: @QuentYoung

9. “F(RY)DAY (FT. LUTE),” HIGH I’M RY

highimry.bandcamp.com/track/fryday-ft-lute Inspirational line: “Hey, I know you don’t smoke weed, but I’ma get you high today.”

Talk about having way too many choices. High I’m Ry’s whole raison d’être, it seems, is to create songs for 4/20.

His 2015 album f(RY)day, available on Bandcamp along with his self-titled debut, is one glorious ride through the marijuana fields of urban Charlotte — with the top down.

We ultimately decided on the title song, if for no other reason than because “f(RY)day” also includes Ry’s old running buddy from Charlotte’s sorely missed Forever FC hip-hop collective — the excellent rapper Lute — as well as longtime collaborator Jimmy Kelso.

“This was one of the earlier tracks we worked on,” Kelso remembers. “Lute and Ry crafted this great summertime backyard barbecue hook then we sat on it for Ry’s project. Ry came in with this charisma and witty bars and made some great verses.”

Listen: highimry.bandcamp.com Follow: @HighImRy

ms (from left), guitarist Alexa Favelas are guitarist David Hel and bassist Axnt.

Red Eli Rae-Ramkissoon, singer

10. “WEEDMAN” – FAVELAS

S oundc loud.com/favel as -593928809/ weedman Inspirational line: “You’re in love as long as you’re buzzed.”

Favelas’ “Weedman” has a Living Colour-esque quality — that is, if Living Colour had been a scrappy indie art rock band in the 2010s instead of an over-produced art-pop metal band in the ’80s. Lots of stops and starts and

PHOTO BY SURF MITCHELL

odd tempo changes, stuff like that. It’s the only thing on our list coming anywhere close to headbanger territory, though it’s not really headbanger stuff, because it swings. “‘Weedman’ came about accidentally, but I’m glad that it happened that way,” singer Eli Red tells us. “The song is catharsis. It’s about ignoring turmoil and hardship in the only way some people know how.”

That is... getting baked.

Listen: FavelasOfficial.bandcamp.com Follow: @Favelas_CLT CLCLT.COM | APR. 20 - APR. 26, 2017 | 29

Serfs made me realize that booking shows wasn’t that difficult if you know all the people that you need to know. Being in a band is such a good way to meet those people, and you earn their trust. I would book shows here and there, mostly just for Serfs or one of my other bands.

Around that time I started dating my fiancé Shirley. She encouraged me to promote bigger shows. That got me interested in bringing mid-level touring acts to Charlotte.

It’s one of the things that Charlotte has notoriously struggled with — getting bands to come through. At that point Charlotte music had become a full-time gig for me.

Phil Pucci

MUSIC

PHOTO BY JOSHUA THOMAS

MUSICMAKER

POSITIVE REVERBERATIONS Promoter Phil Pucci launches the biggest and best Reverb Fest ever

BY PAT MORAN

PHIL PUCCI IS a low-key, humble guy. If you know him at all, it’s as the front man of the band Melt or as the guy who tends the bar at Petra’s and spins records at DJ Pucci Mane. Pucci’s a bit of an introvert, and he would never claim to be the mastermind behind one of Charlotte’s coolest, most cutting-edge music festivals.

So we’ll do it for him.

In 2014, the Charlotte musician-turnedpromoter launched Reverb Fest with an eclectic event at the Neighborhood Theatre featuring 10 local bands. Three years later, he’s organizing the festival’s most ambitious iteration — a full day boasting 14 acts spread over four venues in Plaza Midwood and NoDa: the Neighborhood Theatre, Snug Harbor, the Station and Lunchbox Records.

The bill reflects Pucci’s eclectic tastes, with performers ranging from local neosoul group Blame the Youth to Neighborhood headliners Of Montreal. Creative Loafing talked to Pucci about navigating the transition from music maker to music promoter.

Creative Loafing: Can you give us a rundown of your career as a musician?

Phil Pucci: I began playing guitar when I was about 13 and started my first band that same week. It was a Blink 182 cover band. My first serious band, Beneath the Dream, played a few legitimate venues. I played in a couple of other bands like Almighty Flying Machine, and then in 2009 I moved to Portland.

When I came back to Charlotte in 2011, I started Serfs, a band with all of my high school friends. That’s when I started to become more involved in Charlotte’s music scene. I wanted to give back to the music scene that has given a lot to me. Being in 30 | APR. 20 - APR. 26, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

What gave you the idea to launch Reverb?

Some people in the music scene influenced me, specifically Zachary Reader and Joshua Robbins. Each threw their own summer festival in Charlotte. Zachary did Recess Fest for a few years, and Joshua did Treasure Fest. They weren’t like these big blown-out festivals. They were celebrations of awesome underground music regionally and locally.

It was so much fun going venue-hopping during each festival. That inspired me to aim for something along those lines. Both of those festivals, sadly, discontinued a couple years back.

The first Reverb Fest was at Neighborhood Theatre, and it was 12 local bands, basically just my friends’ bands. It was like a really long show with a couple of vendors. It was a baby step for me, but it ended up being super successful. I decided to keep going with it.

I did two (more at the Neighborhood) in 2015. One was a winter version called Eskimo Kisses. Reverb Fest was at Snug Harbor last year. It was like the same deal as before, just 12 bands at one venue, but we included some out-of-town bands When you started putting the festivals together, did it all come together easily, or was there a learning curve?

For the first Reverb Fest, things went smoothly because I stayed in my wheelhouse, which was booking local bands. Then I started working with mid-level touring acts and their booking agents, and it ended up being a big learning experience. I had to learn how to talk to agents, and what certain things mean. For Reverb Fest two, three and four, I was learning how to bring those midlevel touring acts through — figuring out what to say and how to negotiate money.

This year, you’re mixing nationally known bands with local and regional acts. What was it like landing Of Montreal?

I’m really fan-boying out about Of Montreal coming, because at one point I was listening to nothing else but them for a whole summer.

They meant a lot to me at a certain point in my life, and they still mean a lot to me now. I emailed them out of the blue, so now they’re coming through.

There are a couple other regional or national bands. The Coathangers are from Atlanta. I’ve seen them play a few times and I really dig them. It’s really exciting that we were able to work with these of nationally known acts. It just worked out that way — a stroke of luck, I guess.

CLCLT.COM | APR. 20 - APR. 26, 2017 | 31

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32 | APR. 20 - APR. 26, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

APRIL 13 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH John Alexander Jazz Trio (Blue Restaurant & Bar)

POP/ROCK The Business People, Jitsu, Paperback (Visulite Theatre) Consider The Source, Litz (The Rabbit Hole) Crystal Fountains (Comet Grill) Karaoke with DJ ShayNanigans (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Lisa DeNovo (RiRa Irish Pub) NüSound Showcase: Den of Wolves, Jade Moore, Pam Taylor, Jordan Middleton, The Social Contract, Butterfly Corpse, Ritchie Rust (The Evening Muse) Reik (The Fillmore) Rescue Me (Tin Roof) Reverend Hylton, XOXOK, Dane Page, Ennie Arden (Milestone) Shiprocked (Snug Harbor) Songwriter Open Mic @ Petra’s (Petra’s) Stop Light Observations, Little Stranger (Neighborhood Theatre) Worship Night in America: Featuring Chris Tomlin, Big Daddy Weave, Phil Wickham, Zach Williams, Mosaic MSC, Jason Barton, (Spectrum Center)

APRIL 14 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Jazzy Fridays (Freshwaters Restaurant) The Mayhue Bostic Group (Morehead Tavern) Sasha Masakowski sings Antônio Carlos Jobim (Stage Door Theater)

BLUES/ROOTS/INTERNATIONAL Steven Engler Band (Blue Restaurant & Bar)

COUNTRY/FOLK The Lenny Federal Band (Comet Grill) Matt Tucker (Neighborhood Theatre)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Big Sean, Madeintyo (The Fillmore Charlotte) Player Made: Rapper Shane, Elevator Jay, DJ STRTR and A-Huf (Snug Harbor)

POP/ROCK Armory (Tin Roof) Callaghan, Jesse Terry (The Evening Muse) Futurists, Must Be The Holy Ghost, Tongues of Fire (Milestone) IV the Record (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern)

Jon Linker (Tin Roof) Leisure McCorkle Album Release Party (Petra’s) Mike Posner (The Underground) Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Treehouse (Visulite Theatre) Vices & Vessels, As Temples Collide, End The Empire, Persistent Shadow (The Rabbit Hole) Ziggy Pockets (RiRa Irish Pub)

APRIL 15 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Sasha Masakowski sings Antônio Carlos Jobim (Stage Door Theater)

POP/ROCK AfroPop: SOCA, AfroBeats, Fashion, Vendors, Live Art (Morehead Tavern) Avalon Steel, Dogbane, Venus Invictus, Written in Gray (Milestone) Bogtrotter, Digital Rust, Push/Pull (The Rabbit Hole) Courtney Craven & Friends, Pocket Vinyl, Crystal Fountains (Petra’s) Dark Star Orchestra (The Fillmore Charlotte) Glow Co. (Tin Roof) Jouwala Collective (Thomas Street Tavern) A Lee Edwards and the Blind Staggers, Bart Lattimore (The Evening Muse) Mike Strauss Band (Comet Grill) Pluto For Planet (RiRa Irish Pub) Rocktopia (Ovens Auditorium) Shadow w/ B-Villainous, Fat Geoff (Snug Harbor) Sinners & Saints, Bombadil, Cicada Rhythm (Neighborhood Theatre) Sly Sparrow (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Todd Murray (Tin Roof)

APRIL 16 HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Soul Sunday w/ Jah Freedom, EL ON & Sir Chocolate Milk (Snug Harbor)

POP/ROCK Omari and The Hellrasiers (Comet Grill) Testament, Sepultura, Prong (The Fillmore Charlotte)

APRIL 17 HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Knocturnal (Snug Harbor) Motown on Mondays (Morehead Street Tavern) #MFGD Open Mic (Apostrophe Lounge)

COUNTRY/FOLK

Open Mic/Open Jam (Comet Grill, Charlotte)

Home Free (Knight Theater)

Trivia & Karaoke Wednesdays (Tin Roof, Charlotte)

POP/ROCK The Bald Brotherhood (Tin Roof) Carolina Shout with Ethan Uslan (Petra’s) Red Hot Chili Peppers (Spectrum Center) Find Your Muse Open Mic: Ordinary Elephant (Evening Muse) The Monday Night Allstars (Visulite Theatre)

APRIL 18 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Robyn Springer & Co. (Jazz Pavilion at Levine Center for the Arts) Bill Hanna Jazz Jam (Morehead Tavern)

COUNTRY/FOLK Red Rockin’ Chair (Comet Grill) Tuesday Night Jam w/ The Smokin’ Js (Smokey Joe’s Cafe)

POP/ROCK

COMING SOON Periphery (April 20, The Underground) The Weeks (April 20, Visulite) Diet Cig (April 22, Snug Harbor) Architect (April 27, Milestone) Lauryn Hill (April 28, CMCU Amphitheater) Neil Diamond (April 28, Spectrum Center) Dawes (May 3, The Fillmore) Sean Rowe (May 4, The Evening Muse) Carolina Rebellion (May 5-7, Charlotte Motor Speedway) Bastille (May 6, CMCU Amphitheater) X (May 8, Neighborhood Theatre) San Fermin (May 9, Visulite) Sara Watkins (May 12, Neighborhood Theatre) Home Free (April 17, Knight Theater) Brandy (May 19, The Fillmore)

Ethan Hanson (Tin Roof) Jesse Jazz Band Jam (The Evening Muse) Joshua Cotterino w/ Dan Rico, Banny Grove, Minthill (Snug Harbor) Red Rockin’ Chair (Comet Grill) Samantha Fish (Neighborhood Theatre) Sue Foley (The Rabbit Hole)

Black Ritual (May 20, Milestone)

APRIL 19

CMCU Amphitheater)

Franz Ferdinand (May 23, The Underground) Bela Fleck, Chris Thile (May 24, Knight Theater) Beach House (May 24, Neighborhood Theatre) Mind Maze (June 2, Milestone) Tegan and Sara (June 8, The Fillmore) Elvis Costello and the Imposters (June 21, The Toasters (June 28, Milestone)

CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Bunky Moon (Jazz Pavilion at Levine Center for the Arts) Clarence Palmer and Friends (Morehead Tavern) John Shaugnessy Band (Nile Theater)

COUNTRY/FOLK Edwin McCain (Sylvia Theater, York)

POP/ROCK Green Fiend w/ Toke, Space Wizard, Greevace (Snug Harbor) Jaron Strom, Charlotte Berg, Katie Oates (The Evening Muse) Jettison Five (RiRa Irish Pub) Jonny Lang, Quinn Sullivan (Neighborhood Theatre) Karaoke with DJ Pucci Mane (Petra’s) Matt Walsh (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Modern Heritage Weekly Mix Tape (Snug Harbor, Charlotte) Open mic w/ Jared Allen (Jack Beagles)

4/20 THE WEEKS + THE LONELY BISCUITS 4/28 JON STICKLEY TRIO 5/10 COIN 5/9 5/21 DEAD MAN WINTER 5/24 6/11 JOSEPH 6/16 ALL THEM WITCHES 6/22 OLD 97's 7/20 JOHN MORELAND NEED DIRECTIONS? Check out our website at clclt.

com. CL online provides addresses, maps and directions from your location. Send us your concert listings: E-mail us at mkemp@clclt. com or fax it to 704-522-8088. We need the date, venue, band name and contact name and number. The deadline is each Wednesday, one week before publication.

CLCLT.COM | APR. 20 - APR. 26, 2017 | 33

PHOTO BY JON PRICHARD

XOXO’s All the Dogs and Horses, Kadeylynn Ballard

34 | APR. 20 - APR. 26, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

FEATURE

ARTS

BOOM DETONATES AN ARTS EXPLOSION Second annual fringe arts and performance festival unleashes the unexpected

BY PAT MORAN

O

UT OF CHAOS CAME BOOM!

Let me explain. In this case “chaos” means Que-OS, the nonprofit led by BOOM Director Manoj Kesavan, and BOOM is — well, it’s the mother of all art bombs.

BOOM landed in Plaza Midwood last year, delivering a three-day festival of avantgarde and grassroots arts, including dance, music and theater. The festival returns to the funky, artsy neighborhood this year from April 28 to April 30, with an expanded palette.

The number of performers has multiplied, and two new venues have been added. In addition to last year’s mainstays — Petra’s, Snug Harbor, Rabbit Hole and a free outdoor stage dubbed the Intersection, BOOM 2017 will feature visual art at Twenty-Two gallery and a range of films, installations and activities at International House.

Despite the upgrade, BOOM’s essentials stay the same. It’s cheap, with show admissions ranging from $10 to free; it’s easy to navigate, with venues just a short stroll from each other; and it’s weird, with performances including a psychedelic western, an automotive-centered autobiography and dance piece for and by the visually impaired.

THE SEED for this cultural explosion was

planted back in 2012, Kesavan says, when a little media circus called the Democratic National Convention came to town. “QueOS is a platform for creative people to come together and work on a big scale to further a social purpose,” Kesavan says. “We launched (it) in the days leading up to the convention, and we staged a bunch of art installations all over uptown.”

In addition to a 60-foot-long chain link “canvas” for recycled bottles and cans, video and art projections on the sevenstory wall of Uptown’s UNCC building, and 18 music acts at the 7th St. Market, the project included over 80 pop-up street performances of dance, theater, spoken word and music. The pop-ups brought Kesavan and Charlotte’s diverse performing arts community together. Conversations among Kesavan and local artists such as Quentin Talley, Camerin Watson and Matt Cosper laid the foundations for BOOM. “It says a lot about Charlotte that we didn’t have a fringe festival,” Kesavan says. “ Every city has this kind of annual gathering.

Greensboro has had one for 14 years.” In Charlotte, the focus had been too long on

institutional art, the kind fostered and funded by corporations and banks, Kesavan maintains, and he felt it was high time the arts paradigm shifted.

Convinced there was an unaddressed

attended (at least one) BOOM event last April,” says BOOM marketing orchestrator Lou Kinard. “Between media coverage, networking with our partners, direct mail and word-of-mouth, we expect to grow that

“EXPERIMENTAL WORK IS NOT JUST BEING WEIRD FOR WEIRDNESS’ SAKE.” -MATT COSPER

need in Charlotte for a fringe and grassroots art showcase, Kesavan and a curatorial board consisting of Talley, Cosper and others launched BOOM in 2016.

“We started big,” Kesavan says. “ We had 50-plus shows in four venues over three days.”

The premiere festival succeeded beyond the organizers’ wildest expectations.

“With ticket sales and folks flowing through the free Intersection Stage over three days, we estimated about 5,000 people

number this year to 8,000.”

But it could be more. With many new partners — ranging from established institutions like Tosco Music Party to relative newcomers like AfroPop! and Urban Züe — bringing in their fans and followers, the festival could well double last year’s attendance, Kinard says.

Kesavan, betraying his background in architecture and design, sees the festival as an interlocking series of components. One component, perhaps the core of the festival,

is BOOM’s fringe contingent, represented by a series of $10 ticketed performances at Petra’s, Snug Harbor and Rabbit Hole.

“These are full-length pieces, close to an hour long,” Kesavan explains. “There will be 10 of them, and each will be performed three times.”

At Petra’s, Matt Cosper’s XOXO theater troupe will be staging one of those shows, All The Dogs and Horses, which he describes as an “acid western.”

“It’s like a Pee-wee’s Playhouse episode about the old west,” Cosper says, but the show also examines western myths, particularly the redemptive power of violence. “We’re subverting the idea that violence can redeem someone who is lost or broken.”

Dogs and Horses is set in the desert, and since it’s a psychedelic story, those desert sands shift often. “Borders start bleeding, and one desert can become another,” Cosper says. “We allude to Moses, and there might be a mummy in there, too. There’s a connection between the Old Testament notion of eyefor-an-eye justice and gunning down the nogood varmint who shot your Pa.” Did I mention that a cactus, animated by a puppeteer, is also a character?

Over at Snug Harbor, poet Boris “Bluz” Rogers, plus a small cast of actors and singers, will perform his piece Road Tripping.

“It’s a play that takes place in my car, while I’m on my way to see a friend,” Rogers says. “Inside of that journey, I take the audience through some key points in my life. It’s all based around experiences I’ve had while traveling in a car.”

Drawing on the work of five black female choreographers, Kayla Hamilton brings to Rabbit Hole a multimedia solo dance performance, entitled Nearly Sighted, which she describes as “a statement on my visual impairment and the invisibility of black females in concert dance.”

An illness and side effects from medication have left Hamilton with loss of sight in one eye, impaired peripheral vision, double vision and blurred vision. She wears an eye patch, and eye patches will be passed out to audiences at each performance.

“I’m using my vision as a way to examine the way that we choose to see, or not to see, the world,” Hamilton says. “I’m inviting the audience into my perspective.”

ONE KEY component of the festival is SEE

BOOM P. 36 u

CLCLT.COM | APR. 20 - APR. 26, 2017 | 35

PHOTO BY ALEJANDRO MELCHOR

Hue + Shade Lounge

(LEFT TO RIGHT) NATHANIEL LANCASTER: “FRAME 1348”, NATHANIEL LANCASTER: “FRAME 1349”, BRENNAN BOOKER: “STITCHING, MENDING AND PATCHING”, FANNIE MAE: “AMBITIONZ AZ A RIDER”, LADARA MCKINNON: “INTENTIONAL 2:5”

UrbanZue

Flow1212, Ruth Av a Lyons

ARTS BOOM

ROPOP

FEATURE

FROM P.35

t

grassroots and community arts, Kesavan says, represented by free performances at the Intersection, situated in a large lot across Commonwealth Avenue from Common Market. Highlights include Drumstrong’s drum circle, dance by Loose Leaf, music by Hip Hop Orchestrated and Minthill, and family activities with the Mint Museum and Charlotte Symphony.

International House hosts the Tosco 36 | APR. 20 - APR. 26, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

COURTESY OF AF

COURTESY OF FLOW1212

AfroPOP

Music Party as well as the 100 Words Film Festival, a celebration of concise cinematic storytelling launched in 2014 by filmmaker Scott Galloway. (Each short film has to tell a complete story in exactly 100 words.) This is the first year for both Tosco and 100 Words at BOOM. “We’re excited to have an eclectic mix of student and professional filmmakers, all from Charlotte and its surroundings, showcasing their 100-word films,” Galloway says.

There will be two “100 Words” film

premieres, Kevin Patterson’s Chupacabra: A Love Story and Joshua Yates’ Underbelly Up. The International House is also casting a net beyond the city’s boundaries. Artist and curator Jessica Moss is collaborating with regional painters, sculptors and multimedia muralists to transform the space into a popup gallery called the Hue + Shade Lounge. “(The gallery) will feature a group of multidisciplinary artists making some of the most stimulating, thought-provoking and challenging contemporary work coming out

the region,” Moss says. “These artists are all within an arm’s reach of Charlotte.”

All of this art, performance, playfulness and discovery wouldn’t be possible, Kesavan says, if it wasn’t for the generosity of Plaza Midwood and its small businesses.

“They are amazingly supportive,” Kesavan says. “They don’t have the money to be big sponsors, but we’ve had so many offers from people to use their space, or to use their parking lot.

“What BOOM has always needed was

PHOTO BY DEBORAH TRIPLETT

AY W A S ION A WE S I V Y NG M WAY THAT I S U THE HE “I’M , T E E E S N I M TO TO EXA SEE, OR NOT UDIENCE EA TO H E T S G O N O I CH NVIT I VE.” I M ’ T I C .

E D P L ERS TON WOR P Y M INTO -KAYLA HAMIL

PHOTO BY TRAVIS MAGEE

Kayla Hamilton

“Bluz” Rogers

Mall Goth, M at

Jank Tank Mystery Meat’s several small venues, all within walking distance,” Kesavan adds. “Plaza Midwood is one of the few areas in Charlotte where we can have that. NoDa doesn’t have it anymore.

South End doesn’t have it anymore.”

Kesavan believes the festival, which expanded from four to six venues this year, has even more room for growth.

“Next year, we’re hoping to connect the dots and have pop ups on the streets in between the venues” — miniature art explosions along the route from one show to

the next, he says. “We talked about closing off a segment of Commonwealth, which would give us far more space. But that comes with regulations and expenses. For example, we need to have two CMPD officers there 24/7 throughout the festival.”

For now, Kesavan and the artists involved in the festival are focused on how BOOM’s big bang reverberates today — locally, regionally and further afield.

“The festival is extremely important to Charlotte now that many traditional

Duncan

PRINCE PHOTO BY ANNABELLE

performance spaces are disappearing,” Rogers says. “BOOM is a grand statement that says Charlotte has talent and knows how to put on a festival that inspires the city.”

“It’s a reminder that culture is already present in here,” Moss says, “and that we must continue to support the artists who live and work here.”

Cosper believes that by opening up the avant-garde to everyone, BOOM invites everyone to the experimental art table. The festival is an opportunity for people to get

PHOTO BY KEISH

A LUZZI-PAUL

the idea that, “Experimental work is not just being weird for weirdness’ sake,” he says.

For Kesavan, BOOM’s organic origins are every bit as important as its artistic goals.

“This is a community festival,” he says, “It’s not an institutional model, where people draw up plans and then hire artists to execute those plans. It’s the artists taking the lead.

This could be the largest arts festival in Charlotte, and it’s very much grassroots.”

BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM

CLCLT.COM | APR. 20 - APR. 26, 2017 | 37

WEDNESDAYS @ LIT: PAULA MARTINAC

MAKE THE ART GO BANG!

April 26, 7-8:30 p.m.; Charlotte Center for Literary Arts, 1817 Central Ave. 704-315-2131. charlottelit.org.

A selection of BOOM’s big hits

BY PAT MORAN There will be a whole lotta shaking going on when BOOM goes off in Plaza Midwood, April 28 – 30. Billed as “Three days of art, performance and the unexpected,” BOOM is diverse, playful and sometimes downright strange. Designed to support the city’s creative community and foster collaboration among artists, BOOM has exploded into a movement that unites and transforms Charlotte — at least for three days.

“It encourages people to inspire and challenge each other,” says festival Director Manoj Kesavan. “We’re building a community that is the core of a healthy creative ecosystem.” Below is a sampler, a soupçon of the visual arts and performances awaiting discovery.

For a full schedule of events, and to get the most bang from your BOOM, hit up boomcharlotte.org.

XOXO: All the Dogs and Horses Where: Petra’s When: April 28, 7:30 p.m.; April 29, 6:30 p.m.; April 30, 4 p.m.

Admission: $10 XOXO touches on gold fever, frontier justice and the mystic allure of the vast American desert in its lysergic western All the Dogs and Horses. “We’re exploring the desert as a sight of revelation,” says XOXO’s Artistic Director Matt Cosper, “a void that one can enter to find new knowledge and rebirth.” The challenge of exploring the wide-open spaces in Petra’s cozy confines has pointed the troupe in the direction of dioramas and miniaturization.

“We’ve been calling this a psychedelic western,” Cosper explains, “and something we associate with the psychedelic experience is a distortion of scale. What happens when we’re looking at a scene on a little model, and then we blow it up to normal size, and then we blow it up even larger?” With music by Hectorina’s Dylan Gilbert, and props and scenery by sculptor Jon Prichard, Dogs and Horses promises a trippy trail ride for all.

100 Words Film and Conversation Where: International House When: April 29, 5:30 p.m - 7 p.m.

Admission: FREE BOOM is all about an unconventional approach to all types of art — so why not include movies? The 100 Words Film Festival was designed by founder Scott

38 | APR. 20 - APR. 26, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

Galloway to foster sharpened storytelling by forcing filmmakers to create an entire narrative in exactly 100 words. Viewers buy into the story by keeping an eye on a counter that tallies each word as it’s used, prompting people to wonder, “How the heck is this going to wrap up when they only have six words left?” One of the films showcased at International House, Kevin Edwards’ State of Emergency, didn’t win an award at last year’s 100 Words Film Festival, but it should have. A video vérité documentary of the peaceful protests in the wake of Keith Lamont Scott’s shooting, it provides a moving and uplifting counterpoint to the still prevalent — and slanted — narrative of widespread lawlessness and looting. Several of the filmmakers will be on hand at the screening to discuss their work.

Flow 1212 Where: Intersection Stage When: April 29, 9 p.m. – 9:15 p.m.

Admission: FREE Right about late Saturday evening, the average BOOM-goer is thinking, “What I need right now is a contingent of firespinning, belly-dancing, hula-hooping jugglers!” Well look no further than Flow 1212, a collaboration between Jacktuxedokat (aka: Katlyn Wyllie) and Miss X (aka: Ruth Ava Lyons). Drawing on martial arts, yoga and carnival sideshows, Flow 1212 pledge to light up the Plaza Midwood skies.

Hue + Shade Lounge Where: International House When: April 29, 12 p.m - 5 p.m.

Admission: FREE A pop-up art gallery and market takes over International House, says Hue & Shade Lounge curator Jessica Moss. “Featured artists include DAMMITWESLEY and narly,” says Moss, “They will create live interactive murals, while James Jeffries purveys his multimedia mix of painting, sculpture, pyrotechnics, and culinary art.” Other contributors include ceramic-maker LaDara McKinnon, multimedia muralist Alex Delarge, painter Brandon Willet, photographer Brennan Booker, and JAIANNA and DJ Fannie Mae, who will be showing their prints, which celebrate African American identity.

so it was easy for me to catch Paula from the porch one day (she didn’t run fearfully into her home) and we were able to chat about her writing and teaching style over tea.

ARTS

ARTSPEAK

THE BIRTH OF A BOOK Local author discusses how a simple observation turned into a period novel

BY VANESSA INFANZON

PAULA MARTINAC draws her readers in

with the first line of her fourth novel, “Ada’s daddy kept a postcard of three dead colored men in his toolbox.”

Martinac is a natural storyteller. Her latest book, The Ada Decades, is a series of interconnected short stories told over 70 years. The main character, Ada Shook, is a career-focused lesbian living in the South.

Martinac’s idea for The Ada Decades came to her when she was walking through her NoDa neighborhood in Charlotte. As she passed one house, a woman scurried inside as if in fear. This seemingly meaningless incident kickstarted Martinac’s imagination, as she began to wonder what would lead someone to run into their home. That seed of an idea eventually led to a story about a lesbian woman, Ada, growing up in the 1940’s and building a career in the Charlotte school system in the 1950’s. Woven into Ada’s story are the realities of the historical events of the times – social issues such as segregation and school integration.

Before moving to Charlotte in 2014, Martinac, a lesbian herself, lived in Pittsburgh and New York City. She has worked in publishing and journalism, as her syndicated column in the Gay Press ran from 1997-2005 and even made its way into Charlotte’s QNotes publication. Martinac is an adjunct professor at UNC Charlotte and writing coach with the Charlotte Center for Literary Arts, where she’ll be doing a reading on April 26.

Martinac also happens to be my neighbor,

Creative Loafing: How do you know when you get an idea for a book that it will be a good one?

Paula Martinac: I’ve gotten better at this after all these years — knowing when something will be good. I have a lot of started novels in files and drawers from years ago, things that didn’t happen. Last summer I was going to start something with a lot of research and realized I really didn’t have very much invested in it.

I have to feel invested in the characters.

I have to feel invested in the story, and that it means something to me personally and that I am able to stick with it for nine to 12 months or however long it takes to get the draft out.

What are your biggest challenges when writing a novel?

Getting to the end. Right now I am in the middle of a novel that I have been writing since the summer, and I am like, “Where is the end?”

Also, getting myself to my desk everyday and keeping that flow going. I try to write between 800 and 1000 words a day. Just keep that momentum going even if it’s not very good. I tell myself I can fix it in revision.

How do you inspire your students to write about something that is personal and meaningful to them?

We do exercises where they write down what their passions are, what their obsessions are and all the things they are thinking about.

It can be anything. Then they choose one of them, and they start free writing. They start thinking more about what their passions are.

I have LGBT students that write about their experiences coming out or finding love.

I have a lot of students who are veterans and they write about their experience in the service, write about the war, write about coming home from the war. I have had students that just dig really deep into their own psychological issues or mental health issues.

Much has changed in your lifetime, in regard to being gay and being a woman in America. Are you optimistic for the country’s future?

I feel worried that we are going to go backwards, but things happen like that. I think in the LGBT movement, we have to remember that it’s not a straight line to equality, it’s not a straight line to civil rights.

You go a couple steps back sometimes, even though we’ve made tremendous headway.

I just hope we can hold on.

PHOTO BY UNIVERSAL

Vin Diesel in The Fate of the Furious.

ARTS

FILM

ON THE ROAD AGAIN Diesel-fueled franchise returns with eighth entry

BY MATT BRUNSON

G

ENERAL HOSPITAL has been on the air for 54 years, and yet I daresay that not even that long-running soap opera has employed as many recurring characters as the Fast & Furious franchise. Many of these players have returned for The Fate of the Furious (**1/2 out of four), which is just good enough to keep the engine revving a while longer on a series that was previously running on fumes for the first three sequels following the 2001 original.

The eighth installment in the deathless series (hence F + 8 in the title; get it?) again finds Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) yammering about “family” with even more frequency than any given Walton, Ingalls or Ewing.

Thus, it’s shocking when Dom betrays his girlfriend Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) and the other members of his tight-knit group by joining forces with Cipher (Charlize Theron), a thoroughly despicable villain who’s collecting nuclear devices to achieve her endgame of total global domination.

Did I say shocking? I meant ludicrous (not to be confused with series co-star Ludacris), since Dom’s behavior toward his loved ones really makes no sense even considering the narrative at play. Nevertheless, his turncoat status — and the desire to bring him down — allows more people to join the auto club comprised of Letty, Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson), Tej (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges), Roman (Tyrese Gibson) and Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) — these newbies include a by-the-books

government agent (Scott Eastwood) and the team’s former nemesis, Deckard (Jason Statham).

For a series that has largely been about men comparing the sizes of their crankshafts with each other, the homoeroticism is generally kept under wraps, though there’s some amusement in watching Hobbs and Deckard try to one-up each other with boastful threats involving what they would like to do to each other.

Naturally, though, it’s the autoeroticism that takes center stage, even as the franchise continues to expand beyond its more humble roots by swiping a page or 10 from the James Bond playbook.

The Fate of the Furious wallows in inanities with about the same frequency as it delivers

excitement, and, like the other two films that followed the series-best Fast Five, it largely succeeds as a breezy and engaging lark (even if the death of one likable character proves to be too ugly for this generally lightweight series).

With the exception of one poorly CGIed setpiece involving hundreds of out-of-control cars, the vehicular stunts remain eye-popping, and, with the exception of Gibson (whose Roman remains one of the worst comic-relief characters of recent vintage), the actors have yet to wear out their welcome in these familiar roles.

As expected, The Fate of the Furious ends with at least one unresolved plotline dancing in the wind, so look for the ninth entry — So Nine, So Fine, So Furious? — to hit multiplexes in 2019.

CLCLT.COM | APR. 20 - APR. 26, 2017 | 39

40 | APR. 20 - APR. 26, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

ENDS

MODERN EROTIC

GOING DOWN ON KINK CULTURE At sex-themed open mic, stories stay unrehearsed and uplifting

BY ALLISON BRADEN At last week’s “Foreplay! Goes South,” being part of a community and socializing a monthly sex-themed open mic event, I with her friends. heard stories about firsts. But these were “I’m in the kinky lifestyle and this is a not stories of the blush of youth or that first kinky event.” trepidatious touch. One woman stood at the And she’s right: It is a kinky event. Many microphone and told the dim and crowded attendees learn about it on FetLife.com, a room about her first experience with a glory social media platform for members of the kink hole, then her first experience having sex community, but it’s certainly not exclusive to while others watched. A man talked about his that community. Other attendees learn about first kink convention. Another shared a story it on Facebook, or they just wander into the about learning an important lesson: “You can crowded bar. Metanoia says that first-time ride the dick, but the dick rides back!” attendees are often surprised at how explicit With that, the room erupted in hoots and edgy the stories can be. and hollers, something the event organizers, “The stories do get very graphic, very Metanoia and Zoe Hart (who requested to be explicit, very edgy,” she says. “Which we identified by their stage names), absolutely enjoy.” Hart adds that, generally, “it’s a encourage. Before anyone takes the mic, the positive experience for them when they hear pair stand on the stage and explain that. It opens a door in their mind.” Kyle, the guidelines. “Burletiquette” who requested that I use only his first rules apply — hollering and name, is a regular at the event. catcalling are welcome, He says, “There’s nothing I as long as it’s positive. could say that would be the Respect and consent creepiest, weirdest thing are the emphasized that’s been said.” priorities and, Lacking any pretension according to Metanoia, or judgement, the crowd are fundamental to the is wildly diverse in age, success of the event. gender identity and sexual “We work really, preferences, but most really hard to foster attendees are white. Before that type of environment going, I had wondered how ALLISON BRADEN –– something that’s casual, political the event would be, even that’s comfortable, that feels though the open mic has nothing to safe and accepting.” do with politics. Lately, it’s seemed sex Before the open mic portion of the night, and politics are inextricably linked. Especially there’s an hour of informal socializing, in North Carolina, Kyle says, we need a venue during which Metanoia and Hart try to meet where everyone is accepted. “We need a place and chat with every attendee. Their efforts where no matter what their thing is, it’s OK to build an accepting and open environment for it to be a thing.” helps participants feel comfortable sharing When I asked Metanoia and Hart intimate stories, whether it’s their first time about politics, they paused to consider or their 50th. the question. During the open mic, I could “I think it’s a really healthy thing to hear see why a connection between the event about sex and to even share your stories if and politics didn’t immediately spring to you do feel comfortable, and I just love seeing mind. The stories were raw, unrehearsed people who blossom,” Hart says. and vulnerable. They were funny, and when The emphasis on cultivating the right the audience laughed, everyone laughed environment is why the event, which started together. The storytellers brought the whole a year and a half ago, has had a challenge room wherever they were, whether it was on finding a permanent home. In April, it was a first date or being erotically mummified held at Petra’s in Plaza Midwood for the on a beach, as they brought the audience on first time. The pendant lights over the bar their most personal journeys, the storytellers set a sultry mood while Beyonce played over radiated joy, and the room radiated it right the speakers. At the bar, I chatted with back. The storytellers were seen and heard a professional dominatrix. She drove over and accepted. Politics seemed far away and an hour to attend, but didn’t come for the utterly irrelevant. stories. (With 15 years of experience basically Kyle calls it “uplifting.” There was a lot of torturing people, she told me, she has enough uplifting content, but in this case, I think he stories to last a lifetime.) For her, it’s about meant it figuratively.

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NIGHTLIFE

TO SMOKE WEED OR NOT TO SMOKE WEED The question of the day

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up in any of it. And I can honestly say since “One time I got so high, I had an out-ofbody experience. We were smoking marijuana having those conversations with them as a out of a gravity bong which was comprised of a child, it was the best advice anyone could two-liter bottle and a huge plastic tub. I don’t give. Even the stranger I chatted with at Tin even remember clearing the chamber when all Roof made a point to say that while he felt of a sudden I was riding around the room weed should be legalized, every person is looking down on my body. While I could still built and reacts differently. hear everyone as if they were right next to me, Television stations like Viceland, my I couldn’t hop back in my body to save my life. favorite for binge-watching such shows as That’s when I saw someone walk in and say, “Desus and Mero,” regularly explore all facets ‘Who’s this dead girl you’ve got in here?’” — SE of marijuana, especially during Weed Week.

April 20 is just a few days away and From exploring the stories of addicts who you know what that means: Weed week! may have started out smoking marijuana to Considered a national holiday in some the small pot farmer in California to worldcircles, 4/20 is a day that recreational users renowned chefs cultivating cannabis-infused celebrate the consumption of marijuana. delights and medical marijuana facilities, According to Wikipedia and HuffPost, that there’s little we haven’t heard when the concept was born when a group of it comes to Mary Jane. high school kids referred to as the As a 26-year-old graduate Waldos decided to meet up at their fave spot to smoke pot of what many consider a at 4:20 every day in 1971. “party school,” and Not surprising at all experiencing nightlife given the timeframe; we’re professionally as an all familiar with hippies, adult, I’m very well right? Nevertheless, 4/20 aware of the ways in has become the holiday which drugs have become for pot smokers and their a norm. I’ve lost friends to allies. News outlets break more dangerous drugs than AERIN SPRUILL out their favorite recipes, marijuana. I’ve seen other stories and events focused on friends go to jail for years for 4/20 activities. possession of marijuana. But I’ve “The first time I encountered also seen the benefits of cannabis for friends marijuana use in public in the Q.C. was in a and families struggling with autism, cancer music venue. I was shocked that no one seemed and Parkinson’s. That’s why I understand to hide what they were doing. What was crazier, how the question of “to smoke or not to no one was getting arrested.” — BE smoke” has become a critical debate.

As I was riding dirty on the light rail on I polled my friends on Facebook and I Monday — no I wasn’t carrying marijuana, I was riding the light rail without a ticket know that the majority of them would be because the machines were broken — I paranoid about weighing in. But for those started thinking back on the first time I who did, it was clear the consensus was yes, heard about marijuana. I couldn’t remember. smoke. Whether the argument was along I’m sure I watched one of those instructional the lines of “other drugs are more harmful, videos on the effects of drug use in middle including alcohol,” or “there are many school or high school, but I couldn’t benefits from a medical perspective,” these remember the first time one of my friends are conversations ready to be had. alluded to using it, or when I decided it The landscape of drug use, marijuana, wasn’t a “big deal” to me. in particular, is changing rapidly. A full 28 “The benefits of marijuana in conjunction U.S. states and D.C. have laws legalizing with autism are astronomical! I would love to be marijuana in one shape or form. North able to give [my child] real cannabis oil for his Carolina rejoined the conversation this year autism.” — FM as legislators began taking another look at My parents have always been what many legalizing medical marijuana. As I reflect would call “helicopter parents” and never on my experience throughout college and condoned the use of any drug, including in Charlotte nightlife, I’m left with the alcohol. They warned about the dangers of questions of how legislation can help us all “gateway drugs” and how the best advice they could give was never to get wrapped move forward in a positive way.

ENDS

CROSSWORD

KP DUTY ACROSS

1 Sinks in mud 6 Baloney 14 Place to exit 20 As a whole 21 Information collection 22 Jumbo size at Starbucks 23 College for chumps?

25 Keep in custody 26 “The plan was OK’d” 27 Race pace 29 Clark of film 30 Classic Olds 31 Like a bathing fish?

38 “... unless I’m wrong” 41 “It’s -- bet” (“You can’t lose”) 42 Musical knack 43 “... -- ye be judged” 44 Pudgy bodies?

48 Steeped drinks 50 Pitcher Warren 51 Mauna -53 City in Southern Iraq 57 -- -faire (tact) 60 House with a leaky roof?

66 Make revisions to 67 Sea, to Jules 68 Obscure 69 Wine cask 70 Fighter giving people the willies?

75 Santa -- Mountains 76 Some raincoats 79 Nickel source, e.g.

80 Frequently 82 Drink mishap in a Silicon Valley office?

86 Gleaming 87 New Mexico or Colorado county 88 Pompom user’s cry 89 Steve of country rock 91 Stork’s kin 94 Like a piano score full of black notes?

101 Relaxing facilities 104 “-- Na Na” (TV oldie) 106 Stoop (to) 107 Pop singer Cassidy 108 Record one’s finest film scene?

113 Org. backing arms 114 Rival of Advil 115 “How sweet --!”

116 Start of a famous JFK

quote 119 Grieve for 121 Result of a superhero’s careless dressing?

127 Card game akin to whist 128 Peruse 129 Hall’s partner in pop 130 Realty listing 131 Lengthy journeys 132 Extort (from)

DOWN

1 “Number two” golf club 2 Gestating 3 Ice-T number 4 Philosopher Zeno’s home 5 Garden pest 6 401, to Livy 7 Loo 8 Consumed 9 Hole statistic 10 “Conan” channel 11 Bonnie of song 12 Houston baseball pro 13 Mexican cactus 14 LAX takeoff guess 15 Kind of shorthand 16 Marketing of goods in stores, usually 17 Authorize 18 Makes silent 19 Most sound 24 Tel. book listings 28 “How’s --?”

32 Curse word 33 Organized bodies: Abbr.

34 “-- -leeze!” (“Spare me!”)

35 Time span 36 Funds added to a bank acct.

37 Afore 39 Director Welles 40 Slightly warm 45 Alpine river 46 Giant Manning 47 Junior, often 49 Help in crime 52 James with a 1958 Pulitzer 54 Tiers 55 “Oh, God!” director Carl 56 Obscure 57 Starts, as a task

58 Charm 59 Grand Canal city 61 Trauma-trained pro 62 Long, thin fish 63 Hosp. area 64 Wichita-to-Houston dir.

65 Bounce 70 “-- Mir Bist Du Schoen” (1938 hit) 71 Brow’s curve 72 Romanov title 73 Shout, in Lille 74 Family mem.

77 Six-time U.S. Open winner 78 Radio tuner 80 Eyes 81 Bone cover 83 -- Vegas 84 “Quiet!”

85 Janet of “Psycho” 86 Pound noise 90 Year, to Livy 92 Equal: Prefix 93 Feng -95 Radio spots 96 On Soc. Sec., say 97 Greek letters 98 Bitter-tasting chemical salt 99 “Madagascar 3: -- Most Wanted” (2012 sequel) 100 “CSI” procedure 101 More banal 102 Kingly home 103 Tarzan, e.g.

105 Conductor Toscanini 109 Gossipy type 110 Two-legged creature 111 Op-ed piece 112 Large playing marble 117 Skiing base 118 1980s Chrysler 120 -- Aviv 122 Carders ask to see them 123 Two, to Juan 124 Eden exile 125 Actress Susan 126 Choice words?

SOLUTION FOUND ON P. 38.

CLCLT.COM | APR. 20 - APR. 26, 2017 | 43

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“Persistent dick monster” (PDM) is putting it I’m a queer girl living with a male partner.

This weekend, we found ourselves in mildly, QUEEN. This guy sexually assaulted an after-hours club, made some new you and physically assaulted your boyfriend friends, and ended up at a house with — that guy is a VSP (violent sexual predator), two other guys and a girl. Things were not a PDM. And even if you don’t know his pretty playful with everyone except for last name, report the night’s events to the one of the guys. We all wanted him police. It’s possible this asshole is already gone, but he wouldn’t take the hint. He known to the cops — hell, it’s possible he bought the booze for the after-party, so assaulted someone else on his pantsless way we were a little unsure of the etiquette home and they’re already holding him and of asking him to leave. Neither I nor they’d be happy to add more charges to the the other girl was interested. I made ones this asshole is already facing. it clear that penetration was off the I’m not saying you have to report him, menu for me, and everyone respected of course. It’s estimated that only 15 to 35 this — except the one guy. He asked if I percent of all sexual assaults are reported to would do anal, and I refused. He shoved the police, and only 9 percent of all accused his fingers in my ass, and I stopped rapists are prosecuted. While recognizing him. I positioned myself away some folks have legitimate reasons from him, but he somehow for not going to the cops, we need got behind me again and to get those numbers up — put his bare dick in my ass because unreported crimes — though barely. The can’t be prosecuted. host pulled him off me.

As for preventing a We were admittedly all PDM/VSP from ruining a bit fucked up from your future threesomes/ partying. I had a stern moresomes, etc., talk with him about advance planning — respecting consent — and familiarity among but when I felt his dick participants — is the DAN SAVAGE enter me from behind a best way to ensure a good second time, I got upset. experience. Spontaneous can My boyfriend threatened be fun, but it’s difficult to pull him, and the guy punched my off safely with groups. Another lesson boyfriend and broke my sweetheart’s to be learned from this encounter: Getting nose. The host threw the guy out with shitfaced/shtoned/shwasted may not be the no pants, so he had a well-deserved best plan. It’s often the worst plan — getting walk of shame. We don’t know the guy’s fucked up rarely results in good sex, even last name, so we can’t charge him. My between people who fuck on the regular. question is this: As a couple, we enjoy Plus, it’s easier to ignore gut feelings when threesomes/moresomes/swingers clubs, you can barely shee shtraight. Having to etc., and this wasn’t the first time a fun remind someone about consent is a major night was ruined by a persistent dick red flag, QUEEN, and one we’re likelier to monster. Do you have any suggestions overlook when we’re shwasted. In a situation for dealing with pricks like these? Sober where you’re receiving unwanted touches, and not horny me has all the answers, your polite dismissal of them should be but when I’m feeling violated and enough. If this reminder has to be repeated, vulnerable, and distracted by whatever that participant should have their pass to dick/pussy is in my face, I’m not the moresome mountain revoked immediately. loudmouthed feminist bitch I usually Finally, even good people can be terrible am. We all agree he should have been about taking hints. So don’t hint, tell. There’s kicked out before the offenses added no rule of etiquette that can paper over the up. Maybe he should have been kicked discomfort of that moment, so your group’s out when we all agreed we weren’t designated speaker-upper will have to power comfortable with him playing with us. through it. And if you’re going to drink and What’s the etiquette of telling someone group, hew to a strict BYOB policy. You don’t they can’t join in? I’m done dancing ever want to be in a position where you around assholes’ feelings. hesitate to show someone the door because QUEER UNICORN EXHAUSTED ENTERTAINING they brought the booze.

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STARGAZER

FOR ALL SIGNS Venus, goddess of love to the ancients, has been retrograding since mid-May. On April 15 she turned direct, representing a shift toward the better in the world of relationships with restoration to order (if indeed, relationships can ever be considered “orderly”). Important issues have been under consideration during Venus’ resting period of the last several weeks. Many of us were pressed to encounter ourselves and our personal behavior within the framework of our relationships. Those in shaky attachments may have withdrawn altogether. Dormant relationship issues may have resurfaced for attention. Antiquated behavior patterns with a compulsive quality, particularly among those strongly attuned to the Venusian archetype, might have emerged into the daylight. These are normal reactions when in the presence of this retrograding energy. It is a cosmic reminder to focus careful thought about our behavior and needs in relationships. The retrograde casts a shadow forward to May 17. There will be time ahead if there is more repair to do.

ARIES Mars, your ruling planetary avatar, shifts your attention this week. During the next seven weeks, your activities and feelings will be intensified in areas related to vehicles, short travel, politics, communications, education, your neighborhood, siblings.

Use caution while driving because your accelerator foot may be a bit itchy.

TAURUS THE BULL (Apr 20 - May 20) Read the lead paragraph carefully because Venus is your planetary ruler. The recent few weeks of self-observation may have brought attention to the dark side of relationships.

You may be taking a sober look at one or more of them. Even the very closest friends cannot know each other from the inside.

GEMINI Mars, the warrior, enters your sign this week and will be traveling with you for nearly seven weeks. This energy is especially helpful in defining our boundaries.

Periodically we need to examine who we are and who we are not. Often something is eliminated. In general, it increases your courage and physical strength.

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46 | APR. 20 - APR. 26, 2017 | CLCLT.COM

CANCER This is not your best week unless you plan to get a lot of hard work accomplished. If you become aware that you are easily angered, use caution concerning tools or machinery. Your reflexes may not be on target. Avoid speeding because there may be traffic police on every corner.

LEO It’s important you be aware that your thinking is not as objective as you believe.

Listen when others tell you their attitudes and opinions. You do not have to adopt them, but don’t reject them. There is an opportunity to improve your self-esteem nearby. It may be represented by a raise.

VIRGO Mercury is retrograding in the

territory of taxes, debt, investments, and joint resources. You will likely experience a need to go back and review decisions in these areas. Be alert to the higher probability of making errors now. You could also discover and execute corrections of previous mistakes.

LIBRA The ancient goddess, Venus, is your

planetary avatar. She has turned direct, which represents your shift of attention to the outer world. (See the lead paragraph.)

Necessary expenses (those not of the “fun” type) may develop this week. If not that, you could be just having a little blue mood. You withdrew from the group. You can return to the flock.

SCORPIO You will be concluding a cycle of

several weeks now. Your attention will shift toward issues of intimacy and partnership, joint and corporate financial matters, taxes, and/or estate and business planning. Pluto, one of your avatar planets is turning direct.

As god of the Underworld, he may surface with new information to address.

SAGITTARIUS For any number of reasons,

circumstances may leave you out of the social loop this week. It’s possible you do not feel well. Astrologically this is a time for selfreflection, not self-condemnation. Having a quiet week is appropriate. Don’t turn it into a negative belief about yourself. Be still and enjoy the quiet. Journaling could be a help.

CAPRICORN Pluto, representing power

and transformation, is in your sign. This week it opens a lens through which you can work your magic. You may have been cogitating a plan for up to five months. Now your creativity will have space to spread for the next seven. Be aware Mercury is retrograde until May 3. It is good for planning, but not yet implementing big projects.

AQUARIUS This is an excellent time to

pursue any activity that requires your mental concentration. Mercury is retrograding so it is possible you are refreshing knowledge that you learned in the past. Avoid contracts.

Short distance travel should go reasonably well. You may be reconnecting to siblings.

PISCES You would be happy to take the first flight to Tahiti and never bat an eye over it.

Short of that, you may be taking small mental breaks this week, with lots of daydreaming and drifting. Communications with significant others may be misunderstood, snarled, or lost altogether. Do not make assumptions about what others mean. Ask questions and clarify for best results.

Are you interested in a personal horoscope?

Reach Vivian Carol at 704-366-3777 for private psychotherapy or astrology appointments. Or visit her at www.horoscopesbyvivian.com.

CLCLT.COM | APR. 20 - APR. 26, 2017 | 47