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HODGE PODGE Vol. 36 / Pub. 42 April 22-28, 2020

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MUSIC pg. 10 • By Shannon Rae Gentry Musician Jeremy Mathews is offering online lessons in various instruments, songwriting and more. Photo by Leslie Koehn

word of the week DORCS (N.) Nerdy orcs in Dungeons and Dragons.

“And your party has just been ambushed by dorcs who want to do your taxes!”

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COMEDY pg. 13 • By Darius Melton Who doesn’t need a bit of fantasy and laughter right now? Pineapple-Shaped Lamps virtual D&D-inspired performance, ‘Oops! All Bards,’ is streaming on PSL’s Twitch channel. Courtesy photo

Live Local, pgs. 4-5 • Op-ed, pg. 7 • Cranky Foreigner, pg. 8 • News of the Weird, pg. 9 • Music, pg. 10 Film, pgs. 12-13 • Comedy, pgs. 14-15 • Art, pg. 16 • Gallery Guide, pg. 17 • Dining, pgs. 18-22 • Extra, pg. 24 Carpe Librum, pg. 26 • Horoscopes/Tom Tomorrow, pg. 29 • Crossword, pg. 31

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LIVE

LOCAL

Locals help distribute free lunches for area students

“T

here they are—I swear these people are dependable.”

Jock grinned and waved back at the group. They congregated by the popup tent outside the cafeteria entrance to New Hanover High School. It was cold and pouring rain, but they were out there with umbrellas and smiles.

We live directly behind New Hanover High School, so it makes for interesting experiences: fire drills in our front yard and the pledge of allegiance broadcast over loudspeakers every morning.

When the school gets locked down, we are locked in our house, too. We have learned to not leave the house between 7:45 a.m. and 8:35 a.m. when school starts and again when it dismisses from 3:15 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. It is easier to avoid the crush of students and cars, and instead of complaining about lack of parking during afterschool events (basketball games, cheerleading competitions, play rehearsals, etc.), I say to myself, “I’m just glad kids have extra-

curricular activities in their lives.”

Now the loudspeakers are silent in the morning, and we don’t hear the constant slam of metal doors and animated chatter of teenagers changing classes.

Frankly, it is quite lonely.

The bright spot, actually, is the tent set up outside the school and welcoming faces congregating around it everyday. We watch school buses pull up alongside SUVs and jalopies. Everyone is greeted warmly and chatted with, and containers of food get loaded.

When schools closed from COVID-19, community-wide worry rose for the kids who depend on school for nourishment.

New Hanover County School system decided to open drive-through/walk-up service at numerous school sites from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for meals to be given to any child ages 0-18. Families just tell staff how many meals are needed, and

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BY GW ENYFA R ROH LER they are provided lunch and the following day’s breakfast.

“School buses are actually picking up and delivering food,” New Hanover Assistant Principal Jesse May explained.

The buses drive a route that serves 50 delivery points around the county. It is a pretty remarkable bit of organization.

Students who need delivery can sign up for a meal at www.nhcs.net and select their delivery location from a drop-down menu.

Or kids who live outside the area of delivery can appoint someone, like a neighbor coming, to pick up the meals.

“We have one lady who comes and picks up 30,” May continues. “Our site alone averag[es] over 200 [meals a day].”

VOLUNTEERS DISTRIBUTE MEALS Folks show up daily to New Hanover High School to help pass out free meals to kids who are out of school due to the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Photo by Jock Brandis

sites for cooking and distributing, these numbers are actually down from a couple of weeks ago when the high school was sending out 600 meals a day.

This seems to address a lot of needs at once: In addition to the most pressing Thanks to the opening of additional issue of keeping kids fed, it also allows

bus drivers and cafeteria workers who would otherwise be out of work to stay on payroll. “They’re preparing every day,” May explains of cafeteria staff.

“It’s not a whole staff, but they’ve got enough to get it done, apparently.”

School lunch, as ubiquitous as it seems to many, is actually a product of the Truman administration. Signed into law in 1946, the program was created to provide free or low-cost meals to students in public schools. Like many social programs, the idea went through a few fits and starts before it became standard. Not surprisingly, well-meaning ladies’ charitable organizations sprang up that decided to feed lunch to school children.

As I have said many times before, stand between ladies’ charitable organizations and their goals at your own peril. These groups of women throughout the country pressed forward with their aims, and in many rural places donated cooking implements to let teachers prepare stews or soups at school. Rural schools frequently had a wood-burning stove where a stew pot could bubble quietly during morning classes.

But real change came for the entire county in the 1930s. The power of the social safety net and what it could mean for the masses was all too apparent. The New Deal funded many programs, including the Works Progress Administration, which employs millions of job-seekers to carry out public works projects, and 4-H through the Department of Agriculture. In addition, focus was put on buying farmers’ crops and distributing as much food as possible to as many people as possible.

According to NCPedia, “In 1930, North Carolinians imported a large amount of their food and feed. One of every 3 pounds of beef, two of five pigs, 2 of 3 quarts of milk, and one of two chickens and eggs eaten in the state had to be imported.”

Aren’t we an agricultural state?

The school lunch program provided an avenue to put men to work through the WPA small cooking houses near rural schools.

NCpedia also notes, “The New Deal’s Work Progress Administration (WPA) built 140 community clubhouses for Home Demonstration clubs in rural areas. The structures were log cabin construction, with stone fireplaces, kitchens, and indoor plumbing if available.”

clubs, and 51 of the clubs had a school lunch program.

In my lifetime the two loudest public debates about school lunches occurred during the Reagan and Obama administrations, respectively. Remember the “ketchup is a vegetable” situation in the early 1980s, right? Michelle Obama made school lunch nutrition a priority for her time as first lady, and the program went through a drastic overhaul that expanded fruit and vegetable offerings, and reduced the number of trans fats and sodium used. The Obamas were keenly aware of the importance of access to food in food deserts and the power of schools in vulnerable neighborhoods, so it wasn’t surprising school lunch became so important to the first lady.

May notes, like select other county schools, New Hanover High School qualifies for 100% free and reduced meals.

“So none of our students pay for breakfast or lunch on a daily basis, even when they are here,” he tells. That statement makes me think that once we are on the other side of all this and ready to have a serious discussion about what a social safety net looks like—and how benefits spread across invisible boundaries we create—maybe we should address the underlying conditions that make New Hanover High School’s student body vulnerable to begin with. If you think you don’t benefit from that safety net because you are not personally in line to pick up lunch right now, I would ask you to consider Jean Valjean’s position in “Les Misérables”: “Javert: You are a thief!

“Valjean: I stole a loaf of bread.

“Javert: You robbed a house!

“Valjean: I broke a windowpane. My sister’s child was close to death. And we were starving.”

Who among us, if forced to, would not turn to such means to save our loved ones? Has anyone ever broken into your house in a state of desperation? No? Then you, my friend, are a beneficiary of the social safety net. Congratulations.

May you never have to face a decision so dire or watch your loved ones suffer.

May applauds the cafeteria workers for preparing the meals and the volunteers who show up every day and make feeding the kids possible. He praises the many pulling up in the cars to make deliveries. “It is all of those people who deserve the credit because without them it doesn’t happen,” he says.

The 4-H program, then exclusively for women in North Carolina, was called “Home Demonstration.” Fifty-three counties had Home Demonstration encore | april 22 - april 28, 2020 | www.encorepub.com 5

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PUMPING THE

BY MARK BASQUILL

E

arth Day is here, and the globe has gotten awfully small in our hunkered-down world. We’re no longer driving ourselves to work, grocery stores, restaurants, movies, theatre performances, coffee shops, soccer, baseball, basketball, softball, dance, family vacations, lawyers, doctors or church. It’s terrible for the economy and hard on our social spirit.

Even less social types are finding it’s taking its toll. The fewer the social contacts, the more valuable those contacts may be. For people who routinely smile and say “hello” to the barista at the local coffee shop but have little other social contact, keeping the car in the garage can be excruciatingly harsh.

BRAKES COVID-19 puts a

temporary hold on our drive to extinction ing up the sun and swaying in the storms for decades after my ramshackle dwelling is rust and dust. Pines were here before the dinosaurs and do not appear the least concerned about COVID-19. No tree needs a mask.

I’m not sure who started the myth of a On the brighter side, along with not driv- divine right, eternal economic progress ing to events in our busy lives, most of us for humanity. That myth has become docare not driving ourselves crazy by contem- trine—and that doctrine is driving us on plating how we can sacrifice ourselves on the fast lane to extinction. It sucks for us, the altar of eternal economic growth and but shutting down the economy for a few drive our species even more quickly to months is the best thing to happen to the extinction. Indiana Republican Rep. Trey trees and the rest of the biosphere since Hollingsworth and Texas Lt. Governor Dan Henry Ford fired up his first internal comPatrick are apparently willing to die for the bustion engine. economy. Louisiana’s Joe Kennedy and We may believe we have been given dohis fellow politicians say we have to reminion over God’s blue dot, but an alien start our economic engines soon because explorer passing by might report varieties “money doesn’t grow on trees.” Yet, they of Ford’s motorized species now dominate cut magic-money relief checks. what’s left of the green earth; then they’d Like most of us, I want to work and be cut down forests, build roads for themcompensated adequately for work that is selves, and train parasitic bipeds to serve meaningful. But the gross domestic prod- them. uct doesn’t even make my very short list of Driving equals freedom in America. As reasons to be martyred. teenagers, when most of us turn the key I’m fortunate to work in health care. Our for the first time, adrenaline and dopafield is considered “essential,” so I’ve been mine blast through the brain and scream, able to continue working and keep in con- freedom as loudly as William Wallace in tact with people. Until this week I commut- “Braveheart.” What many of us have yet to ed across an increasingly empty town. Af- learn is that freedom always has a cost. ter a week of working from home, I’ve got Our car culture and drive to eternal ecoto echo comic icon Jackie Gleason: “How nomic growth aren’t ending poverty; they sweet it is!” are burning up the environment and locking us in tin coffins, as we drive to and The 40 minutes I once spent driving across pre-COVID midtown congestion, from increasingly mundane, soon-to-be listening to podcasts on how to end pov- automated impersonal jobs. erty and reverse climate change, have not Maybe COVID-19 will allow us to quesbeen wasted. I’ve spent time outside learn- tion the road we are on. There’s nothing ing the names of trees. The few mornings wrong with economic growth or driving, I’ve spent watching “Felix” the implacable but maybe it’s time we stop driving like Carolina longleaf pine, and “Oscar,” his drunken teenagers drag-racing down sprawling scrub oak cousin, humble my Main Street, USA. Maybe it’s time to masoul. Unless someone hacks them down ture a little, to pull out a map and at least for firewood or 2-by-4s, trees will be suck- try to see where we’re going.

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THE BIG PICTURE The Cranky Foreigner talks economics We were waiting for his ride.

“Y

ou look like a clever young fellow.” I heard a lot of conversation openers the summer I was a bouncer at Hart House on the University of Toronto campus. It was a club for faculty and grad students with spare cash.

BY THE

CRANK

Y FORE

IGNER

I was hired because they felt any average bouncer would be inappropriate. If members were to be ejected, it should be done by a college grad. He was drunk.

“Study much economics?” he asked, not waiting for an answer. “Well, I like to tell my students there’s a difference between earning money and getting money—and it’s the difference between free enterprise and capitalism.” He staggered toward a waiting car. “They brainwash everyone into thinking they are the same thing; they are totally different.”

Recent events have made me wonder if life in the plague year is a game-changer that wakes people up to such a notion.

And it all comes down to this: For whom does this country exist? We all serve “the system,” but whose needs are served by “the system”? Are people who earn money on an equal footing with people who get money? Who will fare better?

The ones who rent out their brains and bodies, or the ones who rent out their wealth?

Every time the big con happens, I’m sure it is so obvious no one can miss it. Ronald Reagan promised an income tax cut to every American; he bet most Americans thought they paid income tax. Little did they know, they actually pay payroll tax.

Income, according to the IRS, is money you get that you don’t work for—dividends, rental income, interest and such.

No tax cut for payroll tax. And when it was all over, he told people who had gotten no tax cut that they actually had.

They believed him. He was the worker’s hero. And they believed him. He was the worker’s hero.

The bigger the con, the better the chance it works isn’t just the rule of thumb for carnies.

everything in a crash entirely created by banks. The taxpayer rewarded the banks richly and signed the IOU with their grandchildren’s names. The bigger the scam, the better the chance it works.

Last year Trump’s trillion-dollar tax cut let rich people and big corporations drive the stock market to dizzying heights. Our grandkids are really gonna thank us for our foresight on that one when they see the bill.

Now, here we are: It’s a plague year and we’re at it again. It’s safe to assume this economic crisis will be managed in a similar fashion. Free enterprise takes a body blow; capitalism, a slap on the face. We’re into this shut-down for a month, already, and I can’t imagine the stress level of 40% of this country that can’t absorb a $400 surprise expense.

Every government is mobilizing to deal with the crisis—and we are all about to find out, in unavoidable detail, for whom this country exists.

People who earn money and people who get money have all headed into the same dark tunnel. If you are a landlord, you and your tenant both suffer when he can’t pay the rent. In the past, the approach is to give money to the landlord so at least one of you is fine.

Somehow, the theory is money trickles down from the landlord to the tenant.

Canada’s approach is to put money into the bottom of the pyramid, on the assumption money trickles upward.

Canada is giving every recently unemployed person 75% of his old salary.

Common sense says if we give money to the tenant, both the landlord and tenant will be fine. It doesn’t cost any more to help twice the number of people. But, since FDR and the New Deal, we haven’t done that. In 2007 George W. Bush’s $1,000 check to every taxpayer proved to just be a loan, paid back out of tax refunds. It definitely wasn’t the same deal he gave Bank of America.

While money is one thing, ventilators are another. Most developed countries ration health care based on need. We do it based on who can pay the most.

We are about to find out if it is a country where the people who get ventilators and access to the first vaccines are the ones who get money or the ones who earn it—the capitalists or free enterprisers? I’m wondering if we will ever see a bigger picture of how we all share this country.

In 2007 millions of Americans lost

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mask,” the woman said. “He motioned no and shut the door.” The family ran back to their car and looked for shelter elsewhere. Crossville Mayor Tera Fortenberry had posted the face coverings requirement on Facebook, but the family didn’t see the message. After the story became public, masks were donated to the town anonymously. [WHNT, 4/14/2020]

BURIED TREASURE

LEAD STORY As leaders worldwide search for ways to encourage people to stay home during the coronavirus pandemic, officials in Indonesia are taking advantage of its citizens’ superstitions, Reuters reported on April 13. Kepuh, a village on Java island, is employing village residents to dress as “pocong,” or the trapped souls of the dead, in Indonesian folklore. The ghostly figures, wrapped in white shrouds with their heads covered and dark-rimmed eyes peering out, surprise unsuspecting pedestrians, then disappear into the night. The strategy appears to be working: Villagers have been seen running off in fright when the pocong appear. “People will not gather or stay on the streets after evening prayers,” resident Karno Supadmo said. [Reuters, 4/13/2020]

—Similarly, in Chhattisgarh, India, another couple blessed their twins, born March 27, with timely names: Corona and Covid. Preeti Verma, 27, told the Press Trust of India her children’s names symbolize triumph over hardships. “Indeed the virus is dangerous and life-threatening, but its outbreak made people focus on sanitation, hygiene and inculcate other good habits,” she said. [Press Trust of India via NDTV, 4/3/2020]

THE CONTINUING CRISIS

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a home in Saugus, California, on April 7 after a dispute over toilet paper turned violent, CNN reported. A 26-year-old man was arrested and charged with battery after his mother told deputies he had punched her. Sheriff’s department spokesperson Shirley Miller said the man had accused his mother of hiding toilet paper, which she admitted to deputies, saying her son was using too much. “This is the first DESPERATE MEASURES arrest I’ve heard of that started out over an —Olive Veronesi, 93, of Seminole, Pennargument over toilet paper,” remarked Millsylvania, wasn’t shy about letting loved er. [CNN, 4/8/2020] ones know what she needed during the lockdown. “I need more beer!” read a sign GETTING THE MESSAGE OUT she held up, along with a can of Coors Civic-minded car designer KanyaboyLight. A relative posted Veronesi’s photo to social media, KDKA reported, and ina Sudhakar of the Sudha Cars Museum her predicament went viral. “I have a beer in Bahadurpura, India, has built a one-seat every night. ... I was on my last 12 cans. vehicle in the shape of the coronavirus “so You know what, beer has vitamins in it. It’s that awareness can be spread on social good for you, only don’t overdo it,” Vero- distancing,” he told The Times of India on nesi said. On April 13, she got her wish: April 8. The six-wheeled Corona Car can go Molson Coors delivered 10 cases of her fa- about 25 mph and took Sudhakar 10 days vorite brew to her front door. Her new sign to build. “I have always made cars to give reads, “Got more beer!” [KDKA, 4/13/2020] back to the society in my own way,” Sudhakar said. “(I)t is important to tell people to stay home and stay safe, and the coroNAMES IN THE NEWS navirus car is meant to convey the mes—A baby born on April 6 in Sheopur, sage.” [Times of India, 4/8/2020] Bhopal, India, will carry a special name with him through his life: Lockdown. Man- PRIORITIES ju Mail, his mother, confirmed to hospital As tornadoes bore down on the Southstaff: “Yes, he is Lockdown, as he was born east on April 12, an unnamed family sought during the lockdown period.” Her hussafety in a storm shelter in Crossville, Alaband, Raghunath, told The Times of India: “It is a significant name. The whole world bama, but said they were turned away when using lockdown as a means to stem this they had only one face mask. The woman pandemic. We should not take Lockdown told WHNT a man who opened the door asked if they had masks. “I said I have one lightly.” [Times of India, 4/9/2020]

A man in Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire, England, set out to build a deck in his back garden in early April and uncovered a mystery. As John Brayshaw, 40, began digging post holes, he unearthed an automobile buried on its side, Yahoo News UK reported. “I thought it was an old air raid shelter at first, then I saw the roof,” Brayshaw said.

“Then I kept digging and saw the door, the steering wheel and realized it was a full car, complete with the registration plate.

The only thing that was missing was the wheels.” Brayshaw, who has owned the home for about six months, believes the 1955/56 Ford predates the previous owners, who resided in the home 50 years. [Yahoo News UK, 4/10/2020]

INEXPLICABLE —Davis, California, resident Shaun Lamar Moore, 40, was arrested on April 12 and charged with burglary after allegedly stealing a specimen that was waiting to

be tested for COVID-19 from the Sutter Davis Hospital. Authorities said hospital employees reported a person had entered the facility April 11 and removed the specimen, Fox News reported. That evening, police were alerted that a sealed COVID-19 specimen was found in a shopping cart at a nearby CVS store. Police Deputy Chief Paul Doroshov said the specimen “hadn’t been opened or tampered with based on the security seals. ... Although the incident is very serious, detectives do not believe (Moore) intended to harm himself or others,” he added. [Fox News, 4/13/2020] —Kevin Fallon, 30, of New York City reportedly sent warnings to friends and family on April 9 that he intended to blow up a bronze statue in Central Park depicting characters from “Alice in Wonderland,” according to court documents. On April 11, he allegedly followed up with photos of a pipe bomb and ammunition, along with threats: “This is going to hurt. None of you are safe. I am lethal.” At his mother’s request, NYPD conducted a wellness check at his apartment that day and found three bombs, ammunition and knives that had been taped together, authorities said.

The New York Post reported the bombs were found to be nonfunctional, and later that day, Fallon was found at a hotel in the city, where he was taken into custody and charged with making a terroristic threat.

[NY Post, 4/14/2020]

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PICK A NOTE Jeremy Mathews has taught music for almost 30 years, and is offering private online lessons in playing various instruments, music theory, songwriting and more.

Photo by Leslie Koehn

BY SHANNON RAE GENTRY

F

or the past few weeks, tribute videos for John Prine have flooded the internet. The country-folk singer-songwriter, who passed away from COVID-19 complications on April 7, was an influential figure for countless artists around the globe. Like many musicians nationwide and here locally, multi-instrumentalist and music teacher Jeremy Mathews plans to pay tribute to Prine with covers of songs such as “All the Best,” “Speed at the Sound of Loneliness” and “Paradise” on his YouTube page in coming weeks.

“I often would play his music while relaxing and also to help work out some of my own music,” Mathews says. “Prine wrote about the human condition, soul, love, love lost, and really knew how to tap into emotions with his lyrics.”

Music has been a passion for Mathews since childhood. He has spent decades playing as a solo artist and in local rock bands, cover bands, jazz groups, even playing reggae and country music. His original tunes have often been heard at Ted’s Fun on the River (now Live at Ted’s).

DETAILS MUSIC LESSONS WITH JEREMY MATHEWS Instagram, Facebook, Twitter: @MatthewsMusicAcademy mathews70@gmail.com 910-599-1281 For the last two years, he’s played with the Yard Doggs trio, blending bluegrass, folk and jazz. “We play originals and covers with vocals, guitar, banjo, bass, mandolin, harmonica and trumpet,” he details.

SAVE UP TO

Mathews also has been a music educator in North Carolina for 26 years, teaching choir, elementary music and orchestra. He currently instructs orchestra and guitar at Noble Middle School. Like his fellow New Hanover County School teachers, he’s had to adjust to online learning over the last few weeks.

AT LOCAL BUSINESS

“Switching to teach online and using technology has gone relatively easy for me,” he admits. “I am comfortable with technology, and my wife has experience teaching online and is willing to help as needed.”

50% OFF

Mathews thinks technology always has been a powerful tool (when used properly) for learning. While being used today to help fulfill educational goals, he hopes it can serve as a platform to learn new hobbies during difficult times. So Mathews is 10 encore | april 22 - april 28, 2020 | www.encorepub.com

LEARNING NEW

offering private music lessons via Skype and Zoom.

“Once you get used to the online format, private lessons translate pretty well,” he observes. “As long as the instructor can see and hear the student they are able to teach. . . . in my online group lessons, I have many participants, and they have to mute their microphones when we play as a group because of latency. I can hear them play one at a time in breakout sessions and help people individually.”

Mathews has offered private music lessons in one form or another for 28 years.

Ten years ago he even started offering a “Guitars in the Classroom” (GITC) workshop for other teachers in New Hanover and Brunswick counties. Designed for any teacher and subject, the workshop includes music and a guitar or ukulele to keep.

A

TUNE

Jeremy Mathews offers private music lessons in playing instruments, songwriting and more guitar, banjo, ukulele, mandolin, drums/ percussion and voice instruction. He even covers music theory, songwriting, and music recording lessons for folks interested in in-home or professional recording.

“Music theory lessons would help those who are interested in how the building blocks of music work—melody, harmony, rhythm, etc.,” he explains. “Songwriting lessons can help someone who is a songwriter but has been stuck in a rut. I While Mathews grew up with music— can help them find their muse to discover singing in his school and church choirs, music in new and different ways through playing in the school band, and learning to mindful exercises and practices.” play guitar, piano and bass as a child—he’s Weekly half-hour ($25) or one-hour familiar with learning new instruments and ($50) sessions can be scheduled for mornskills as an adult. He’s picked up ukulele, banjo and mandolin throughout his tenure. ing, afternoon or early evening. Mathews For folks with time and interest in learn- first meets with each student to assess ing to play an instrument, or just improv- what they know and what they want/need ing, Mathews recommends choosing one to accomplish. new concept, style or simple song a day.

“Communicating with students and “On guitar the easiest song to play would finding their interest is key in a teachprobably be ‘A Horse With No Name,’” he er-student relationship,” he notes. “Once suggests, “or any song with two chords.” you have logged into a Skype or Zoom He works in his home studio, a.k.a. session once or twice, you get used to the Mathews Music Academy, and offers les- format and layout. It gets easier and eassons for all skill levels in piano, guitar, bass ier each time!”

“The program has been a highly rewarding experience,” he says. “Two weeks ago I started teaching group lessons online through the help of JamPlay, an online platform for learning guitar.”

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SCREENTIME ‘Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope’ seeks to explain how an individual’s childhood affects their actions as an adult.

Courtesy photo

BY BROOKE SUDDETH

R

esilience is defined as the ability to recover quickly from difficulties. Residents of Wilmington are no stranger to having to recover quickly from disasters, especially during hurricane season. There also are situations of personal hardship often less discussed and equally difficult to overcome. The New Hanover County Resiliency Task Force is committed to building a more understanding and compassionate community that recognizes the impact of childhood trauma.

NHC Resiliency Task Force started in 2016, as a few child and education-focused nonprofits began to collaborate around grant-writing efforts, focusing on third-grade reading outcomes. The group first screened the documentary “Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope” in February 2018 at its annual First 2,000 Days Community Summit.

Soon after, it began to flourish and recruit other New Hanover County partners. Presently, the task force is made up of approximately 100 local organizations that work toward bettering early childhood, academics, health and social situations. A few actively engaged with task force work are: Smart Start of New Hanover County, Coastal Horizons, YMCA, Harrelson Center and Working Films, and many more.

NHC Resiliency Task Force operates with one steering committee that pilots the operation and seven sub-committees. They work with children ages 0-18.

The task force also focuses on ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adverse Community Environments) to reduce the number of hardships that children in New Hanover County may face, and to cultivate the adults who house them.

One of the task force’s major accomplishments was the rewarding of a planning grant from the Duke Endowment in 2018. This grant allowed New Hanover Regional Medical Center and local nonprofit Communities in Schools to create a blueprint for how New Hanover can become more informed and resilient. The NHC Resiliency Task Force also helped Wilmington

DETAILS RESILIENCE: THE BIOLOGY OF STRESS AND SCIENCE OF HOPE SCREENINGS April 21 at 8:15 a.m.

(Password: 174307) April 21 at 7:15 p.m.

(Password: 332544) April 28 at 2:15 p.m.

(Password: 512184) April 28 at 7:15 p.m.

(Password: 067511 ) Find Zoom links in this article online at encorepub.com be selected as one of three pilot communities in NC to receive trainings and consultation from Duke Center for Child and Family Health. Following Hurricane Florence, the task force was approached by the National Center for Disaster Preparedness to make Wilmington a pilot site for post-disaster planning with the needs of children in mind.

Today, NHC Resiliency Task Force comprises more than 600 community members, including representatives from all sectors: schools, health care, law enforcement, courts, social services, nonprofits, churches and state and local government.

Mebane Boyd, a licensed clinical social

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UNDERSTANDING

TRAUMA

worker with a master’s in social work, has been the director of the task force since July 2018. She wants to create a more trauma-informed, family-focused system of operation.

“We are primarily focused on education right now about ACEs,” Boyd says. “We do this through movie screenings and resiliency trainings. The goal of our trainings right now is to teach ‘providers’—nurses, teachers, police officers, fire fighters, EMS—how to deal with their own stresses so they can better help the community.”

To this end, the task force will continue to screen “Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope,” directed

by James Redford, throughout April. As of January 19, 2026 individuals in New Hanover County have attended screenings of the film, which are followed by discussions.

The film explains the science behind ACEs, specifically how exposure to trauma can affect a child’s brain and how toxic stress increases the risk of negative health consequences.

“Toxic stress refers to stress that a person endures (especially a child) without a reliable, caring adult to buffer those stresses,” Boyd defines. “In other words, when they never get to let down and relax because of all their adversity, they are experiencing toxic stress.”

For a child, toxic stress can be caused by a prolonged hardship, like physical or emotional abuse, chronic neglect, substance abuse by a caregiver, exposure to violence, or burdens of family economic hardship without adult support. As “Resilience” explains, toxic stress can disrupt the development of a child’s brain and organs, which puts the child at risk for disease and cognitive impairment in their adult years.

“Everyone needs to feel safe, competent, and loved,” Boyd says. “When we don’t feel that way, we are not our best selves. Right off the bat, it’s about human connection, and that’s why this current situation is so hard. We have to find ways for people to feel connected to other humans.”

NHC Resiliency Task Force offers virtual screenings of informative documentary Connecting with one another is vital during the COVID-19 global health crisis. Many are facing financial strains of job loss, uncertainty surrounding access to healthcare, and emotional burdens caused by damaged relationships heightened by stay-at-home mandates. It’s important to check up on fellow humans, as everyone is experiencing more stress than normal.

“COVID-19 is another kind of ACE, which adds stresses to, for some families, an already stressful world,” Boyd adds.

“The task force has chosen to focus on three things during this time: accurate information, advocacy and online resiliency trainings.”

Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina, a partner with the task force, is providing four online screenings of “Resilience.”

The director shares research on root causes of physical and mental diseases, such as, strokes, liver disease, substance abuse and depression. The film tackles how poverty comes into play, but also touches on the fact that no part of society is immune to the dangers of toxic stress during childhood. “Resilience” does instill hope within it’s viewers, as the documentary highlights growing social awareness of toxic stress and the trailblazers in pediatrics and social welfare that are working to protect children.

“Primarily, we want people to take away an idea toward a paradigm shift in the way we see people—shifting from, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ to ‘What happened to you?’” Boyd says.

Recognizing the impact of childhood trauma is an important first step. Starting Tuesday, April 21, anybody can virtually attend a screening of “Resilience” for free (links in details online at encorepub.com).

ADULT ‘FULL HOUSE’ Eric and Tim’s latest dose of crude comedy comes in the form of ‘Beef House,’ now streaming at AdultSwim.com Courtesy photo

WONDERFULLY

BY ANGHUS

I

‘ve always been a fan of surreal artistic endeavors. There’s a fertile creative space just left of center I try to visit whenever possible. In this current quarantine landscape, I find myself venturing even further afield for films and shows that push envelopes like a mailman on crystal meth. Last week I sought out new entertainment experiences that wade through some wonderfully weird waters.

Wendy PG-13 | 1h 51min Available on Amazon Prime There seems to be something timely about this modern retelling of J.M. Barrie’s classic tale of escapism and adventure, “Peter Pan.” Based on the sobering state of the world right now, who wouldn’t want to leave for a magical place where you never grow old and reality is a distant memory?

Wendy (Devin France) lives in a rural Southern town where life is ordinary and opportunities are slim. She creates fantastical stories from her imagination about magical realms and adventures. Wendy begins to notice children on a passing train, and one day is encouraged by a boy named Peter (Yashua Mack) to jump on. They go for a ride to some place unexpected and amazing.

After ditching the train for a boat, she is taken to a volcanic island inhabited by a number of children who have abandoned the real world for the kind of magical adventures Wendy only dreamed of. Soon she discovers inhabitants of the island are protected by “Mother,” who provides

for the children as long as they believe.

Writer/director Benh Zeitlin (“Beasts of the Southern Wild”) once again creates something endearing by carving out his own unique vision of Neverland.

I was pleasantly surprised by “Wendy,” which manages to be both surreal and stirring.

Porno RATED NA | 1h 38min Available May 8 on iTunes and Amazon Prime Don’t freak out. I am not, in fact, going

to be reviewing pornography. Though, I think the end result could end up being fairly entertaining. The movie “Porno” is a horror film from the good folks at Fangoria. It follows a group of cinema employees that accidentally unleash a demon by watching an old adult film they unearth in the bowels of their Christian, family-friendly movie theater.

Chaz (Jillian Mueller) and her co-workers are partaking in their usual weekly ritual of staying after work to watch a movie in the uptight conservative town where they reside. The town is guided by the good book, and everyone and every decision is made through the filter of being a good, God-fearing young man or woman. During the lead-up to their weekly movie night, they discover an old section of the theater covered in lewd artwork and an old film canister. They decide to watch the film, and wouldn’t you know it! It’s a sexy movie with all sorts of insane imagery.

Being good Christian kids, their first instinct is to stop watching, but their throbbing teenage urges compel them to continue. Soon, they realize the movie is cursed, and a beautiful sex demon has now been released and has them running for not only their lives but their immortal souls.

WEIRD

Anghus highlights some strange yet good streaming films

as well as Tim and Eric. Their brand of oddball humor has been a cornerstone of Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim” lineup for nearly two decades.

Their latest endeavor, “Beef House,” is an attempt at cramming their trademark gross-out style of comedy into the mold of the 1990s sitcom. Think “Full House,” but instead of Uncle Jesse and Joey, we get an ensemble of sex and food-obsessed weirdos in any number of crazy scenarios.

The basic setups come from the family sitcom playbook but go weirdly askew real quick. For example, Tim (Tim Heidecker) is invited over to his sexy neighbor’s house for a hot tub date. There’s one problem: Tim’s constipated and the warm water will cause him to, and I quote, “blow his ass out.”

“Porno” satisfies as horror Instead of canceling the date, Tim and movie. Thankfully, it doesn’t take his “Beef Boys” rig up a system of tubes itself too seriously. It’s inventive, to redirect his inevitable discharge. low-budget horror.

“Beef Boys” continues Tim and Eric’s obsession with weirdness in a show that is obsessed with going to Beef House unconventional places with traditional television tropes. The mercifully brief TV-MA-LS 15-minute episodes serve the premise AdultSwim.com well as Tim and Eric continue their coWhen it comes to the surre- medic anarchy in this newest iteration. al, there are few artists who do it encore | april 22 - april 28, 2020 | www.encorepub.com 13

EMPTY STAGE Front Street’s Dead Crow Comedy Room closed its doors indefinitely March 15, a few days before stay-at-home restrictions were put in place.

Courtesy photo

LAUGHING

MATTERS

BY JEFF OLOIZIA

O

n March 13 a video began making rounds of comedian Norm Macdonald performing stand-up at Los Angeles’s Irvine Improv.

COVID-19 was beginning to spread across the U.S. “I feel like I’m in the fucking middle of a Stephen King novel,” Macdonald jokes in the clip. “What is this?”

As moments go, it’s a fascinating artifact of pre-novel coronavirus American life; Macdonald appears visibly nervous, and it’s hard not to wince seeing so many audience members sitting side by side. It also underscores the conundrum thousands of comedians find themselves in now. Namely, how does one perform stand-up comedy without a live audience?

“It’s incredibly awkward,” says Wilmington’s Cassidy Lamb, who performs under the stage name Cassidy Santaguida.

Santaguida is one of a growing number of comics nationwide making the best of a bad situation. For the past five weeks, she’s hosted an Instagram show, “Apocalypse Live,” every Saturday night. Each week she invites five or so fellow comedians to join her on the platform to commiserate and try out new material in front of a virtual audience. To combat the awkwardness, she offers guests an option of using a laugh track—what fellow comedian Colton DeMonte calls “trying to ‘Big Bang Theory’ the situation.” Most have declined. As solutions go, it’s not perfect, but Santaguida is willing to try.

“I might be telling a joke that’s funny, but it’s hard to tell the difference between bombing and succeeding,” she says. “One of the things I’ve tried to do is just accept that it’s awkward, and try to embrace that.”

It’s hard to argue the stand-up world isn’t uniquely ill-suited for social distancing. Unlike musicians, who largely begin in their bedrooms, or Hollywood actors, who operate on closed sets, comics rely

DETAILS APOCALYPSE LIVE! Saturdays at 8 p.m.

Standup comics livestreaming on Instagram: @cassidysantaguida

on audiences for everything from reactions to timing. There is also the prevalence of mental illness among comedians—many of whom found safety in venues such as Wilmington’s Dead Crow Comedy Room, which closed due to health concerns in March.

“You can definitely tell these comics needed a place, and now that it’s gone, I worry about some people,” DeMonte says.

In lieu of a shared performance space, many have turned to a private Facebook group to check in on each other and share new jokes. They also have flocked to Instagram shows like Santaguida’s, which DeMonte describes as its own kind of safe space.

Nationally, some attempts at comedy in the time of coronavirus have proved more effective than others. Across the late-night landscape, TV hosts, such as Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel, have continued to deliver stilted, joke-filled monologues from their living rooms, with mixed results.

Others, like comedic actor John Krasinski, have leaned into earnestness. Krasinski’s YouTube show, “Some Good News,” became perhaps the first breakout hit of the pandemic, by focusing on the positives of life under quarantine (an episode in which

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Lin-Manuel Miranda and others surprise a young girl by singing a song from “Hamilton” has over 11 million views).

Meanwhile, TikTok has proven the perfect social media platform for this time; Its focus on fun, 15-second clips make it an ideal staging ground for lip-sync battles and new dance crazes. Plus, it stars regular people­­—like doctors and nurses—at the heart of this crisis.

Wilmington’s contributions to comedy at this time are humbler, if still welcome.

Both Santaguida and DeMonte say the pandemic has lifted them out of serious bouts of writer’s block. Neither is shying away from jokes about the virus. “From a creative perspective, it’s been really inspirational,” Santaguida says. “I’m a working mom, so a lot of my jokes have been about how everything is happening at home now and how insane that is.”

DeMonte, likewise, has found the shared experience of the shutdown has given him new focus. “After 10 years of doing standup, you kind of get drained, and you’re like, I don’t know even know what to talk about anymore,” he says. “Well, now I know exactly what to talk about.”

If COVID-19 has been a boon creatively, it’s also wreaked havoc on comedians’ finances. Unlike movies and TV, live comedy needs a crowd to flourish. Until people can gather in large groups again, comedians, plus the servers, bartenders and other workers that keep comedy clubs running, are out of a job.

“We did not apply for assistance, but we did have a few wonderful people make private donations to help our staff while out of work,” says Dead Crow general manager Aimee Elfers. Elfers explains, while the club feels for both its performers and its patrons, it has been hesitant to stream its offerings online. “We didn’t want to play favorites, since booking in an official capacity wasn’t an option,” she tells.

That leaves comics largely on their own.

Comedians find new ways to tell jokes in time of uncertainty Stand-up specialist (and former Wilmington resident) Cliff Cash estimates he’s already lost thousands of dollars in bookings. He is able to make ends meet thanks to his work as a renovator and because of low personal overhead. “I already had this gig lined up to renovate a house for a friend in Asheville, so I’ve just sort of switched gears,” he says. Still, he’s heartbroken for comedian friends who aren’t so lucky.

“I can’t imagine being a full-time comedian with zero income coming in, and rent and mortgage and all those associated bills,” he adds. “My heart goes out to those people.”

For now, it falls on comics like DeMonte and Santaguida to provide opportunities for fellow comics and to keep spirits high.

DeMonte is in the early stages of creating a dedicated channel for local comedians to live stream their sets (“I’m kind of gearing my focus towards Twitch because they have a subscription option where it’s easier to monetize,” he says). Santaguida continues to tweak her own formula, while collecting funds for participating comics on Venmo: Last Saturday night, in addition to appearances by local comedians Billy Raim and Randy Slack, “Apocalypse Live” included a music performance by Mark Jackson of The Caroliners and a game of “two truths and a lie.”

“I’m trying to make sure I’m sending money to the comics after the shows because I know, for a lot of creative people, their incomes are severely impacted,” Santaguida says. “I’m going to continue to experiment with this for as long as I can.”

WE BE TWITCHIN’ Pineapple-Shaped Lamps is flooding their Twitch channel with sketches to keep the masses entertained at home. Next up: ‘Oops! All Bards!’.

Courtesy photo.

ELVEN

ENTERTAINMENT

BY DARIUS MELTON

A

human, a gnome, a halfelf, and a half-orc walk into the Phoenix Opera House.

This isn’t the set-up for a punchline; it’s the beginning of a quest. Though there are jokes aplenty, there’s nothing funny about the danger these characters are put in when monsters from Pineapple-Shaped Lamps’ (PSL) rehearsal magically come to life and attack the cast and crew.

The plot is to PSL’s “Oops! All Bards!”—a one-shot Dungeons and Dragons story, helmed by dungeon master and video production manager Jordan Vogt. Not portrayed quite the same as the figurine-filled, hat-wearing and staff-holding experience popularized in shows like “Stranger Things,” D&D here is an online experience, with the biggest holdovers being character sheets (now online) and the iconic rolling of dice. The show is one of the Wilmington-based comedy troupe’s latest efforts to promote their Twitch channel and keep folks entertained during the pandemic. Though, streaming live is not something they’ve experimented with at length, despite having their channel since 2018.

“In streaming, you’re typically looking at a minimum of three days a week with three hours [for] each stream,” explains Mikki “Marvel” Stith, one of PSL’s stream coordinators. “If you’re also doing theater rehearsals on top of that, [the] time just does not exist. It is not in your schedule.”

PSL owner and artistic director Wesley Brown agrees. “We wanted to do it more often and had all these ideas and people that want to do it from different places. [The pandemic] forced us to do that. I know Mikki’s been wanting us to do more stuff. She’d just be like, ‘We need to schedule more streams!’ and we’d say, ‘But we do other things!’ Now that we’re not doing other things, we have to schedule streams.”

DETAILS PINEAPPLE-SHAPED LAMPS’ TWITCH STREAMS twitch.tv/pslcomedy Show dates and times available at discord.gg/NWyajJ9 Twitter and Instagram: @pslcomedy

Though PSL often provides Twitch’s usual product of gaming live streams, nowadays they’re putting their own spin on the streaming formula. They read unused sketches from past shows, host script readings of the unmade Nicholas Cage Superman film, or do Dungeons and Dragons one-shots.

“Oops! All Bards!” features Zeb Mims as human Preston Everleighton, Matt Carter as half-elf Vickie Spatz, Grace Carlyle Berry as half-orc Alfric Cloudpuncher, and Alex Denning as gnome Benson Wonderbone.

Using Zoom to chat with one another, tabletop gaming website Roll20 to map out their game play and display their characters, and a Twitch stream coordinated by Brian “Rare Blue” Brown, the four players and dungeon master Vogt are able to play out the story from beginning to end over the course of nearly five hours.

While playing dungeon master for a D&D campaign can be worrisome—players have the free will to completely mess with your story—Vogt managed to find a way to organize the game by using the one-shot’s setting of a play rehearsal to give the play-

ers a bit of a guide. “What I did for each monster was wrote out a single page of Pineapple-Shaped Lamps take script that gave away the identity of the on Dungeons and Dragons on monster, and also gave away a weakness or something that a player could exploit their Twitch channel while they were playing,” Vogt details. “I sent these out to the individual cast members before we were getting started just so being stuck inside and forced to halt proeverybody had one little thing they could duction on other live performances has draw from.” given Brown and company more time to The scenes play out naturally. There’s plan for this big event. As for their online one where Benson smells something awful streams, PSL’s members-only Discord in the basement and, from remembering a chat has been flowing with ideas. piece of a script he’d read, realizes they’re “It’s kind of a mixed blessing,” Vogt about to face off with a powerful beast says. “You have so much time to do all called “Otyugh.” In reality Vogt the dunthese really fun streams, and now you’re geon master reminds Denning the person trying to find time to fit all the streams in. the clue was part of his script, but in the . . . It’s a lot of organizing, and credit to fiction of the story, Benson’s character has Mikki here. She’s one of the key aspects the script memorized as a member of the of us being able to do all of this stuff. music crew. It’s this threading of the line She’s scheduling everybody out and realbetween fact and fiction that makes D&D ly taking charge.” both a must-play and a must-watch.

PSL’s streaming schedule fluctuates “Roleplaying is, at the very base leveach week, so they recommend to follow el, collective storytelling, and everyone them on Twitter and join their fan Discord needs to be on the same page,” Vogt exto get immediate updates as to what’s plains. “If someone thinks this is going happening and when. This doesn’t just to be a high-flying action-adventure, and cover PSL’s official streams; many memsomebody else thinks there’s going to be bers do solo streams, so the Discord links an emotional through-line and someone to them, too, for more fun. else thinks it’s going to be a horror game, For the “Oops! All Bards!” crew in parthey’re all going to have different play styles. We want to make sure everyone un- ticular, Vogt says there may be more derstands this is going to be kind of silly Dungeons and Dragons game play on the and serious at times, but it’s going to be a way; though, it may come with a different look. Mims also is an experienced dunfun time.” geon master and may be pegged to DM With the novel coronavirus shutting down next, and the same opportunities are on theatre performances for the time being, the table for Carter, Denning and Berry.

PSL has had to course correct. Their most recent live show, a Harry Potter-themed play called “Puffs,” was closed down after its first weekend, and their monthly sketch show was canceled through April. Fortunately, “Puffs” is scheduled to be Thalian Hall’s first show once things are up and running again, and PSL’s 10th-anniversary show is still on schedule for fall. In fact,

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GETTING

STALLED Artists who depend on market circuit find new ways forward events through summer; in fact, spring and summer are his busiest months.

A

s the novel coronavirus continues to keep us homebound, our artistic town has pivoted with the downfall somewhat by taking many events online: Live-streamed concerts, online film festivals and series, Zoom book readings, virtual art exhibits and even museum tours have happened every week for a month now.

However, for artists making a living vending on the arts market circuit, going virtual isn’t an option. In fact, they’re now losing the majority if not all of their income during one of their busiest times of the year.

Take Kelly Sweitzer of The Pepper Mill Shop, for example. Her food-pun drawings, onesies, tote bags, magnets, cards and pins have become staples at local festivals annually, from the weekly Riverfront Farmers’ Market to Thalian Association’s Orange Street Arts Fest to Brooklyn Arts Center’s annual Holiday Flea at BAC. She had just wrapped the Burgwin-Wright House’s spring market before the COVID-19 shutdown wrecked 50% of her schedule so far in 2020.

“I was doing about 80 markets a year,” says Sweitzer, who often travels to Atlanta, Nashville, Raleigh and Richmond.

“This year I was only able to get in about 10 before events started being canceled.

I’d booked every single weekend through June, both local and away. Now, nothing.”

She began pushing online sales immediately, offering 20% discounts through her website and even gifting domestic shipping. Boutiques also continued to place wholesale orders. Yet, it doesn’t make up for monies lost from market cancellations.

“I’ve applied for a grant through the NC Artist Relief fund via Visual Artist Exchange (VAE) in Raleigh,” Sweitzer says. Like many small businesses, she also applied for an SBA loan and plans to try for self-employed

unemployment through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance under the CARES Act once it goes into effect.

“My gut feeling is this will impact us through summer,” she says realistically, “especially if people keep ignoring the stayat-home orders.”

The stress of losing everything she’s worked so hard to build over the last five years has hampered her creative output, too. “I’m trying to be hopeful, trying to keep a routine,” she says. “I did plant a garden for the first time in five years, so I guess can watch that grow instead of my bank account.”

Helen Greaves-Williams predicts another five months before she vends her In Stitches embroidery brand in public again. She makes 50% percent of its income through 10 markets she does annually.

“My thought is we might be able to get back to markets in the fall, but that is going to depend on the fluctuation of the number of cases as we open things back up,” she says.

In Stitches repurposes and upcycles vintage fabric and tablecloths with funny, irreverent phrases embroidered over them.

Greaves-Williams sells them in retail shops to make up the other half of her income.

She acknowledges her good fortune, regardless, in that she spends more one-onone time homeschooling her 11-year-old.

“My husband’s job is the main income for our family and he’s been able to work from home,” she adds.

She’s utilized her time building up stock during the shutdown, especially since fall and the holidays prove fruitful. To combat loss of income this spring, Greaves-Wil-

16 encore | april 22 - april 28, 2020 | www.encorepub.com

“I am hopeful many markets will still be held, perhaps starting later in the [summer] season than normal,” he says. “Some of the towns’ parks and recreation departments are connected or are lead organizers, and they will need the income they generate from booth fees as much as the vendors need their sales income. Events like craft and farmers markets are important contributors to local economies, and it will be fundamental to a return to normalcy for these sorts of gatherings to resume once the governor allows it. However, I suspect many of our current precautions will still be in place, including cloth masks and some degree of distancing.”

BY SHEA CARVER WRAPPED IN FABRIC Helen Greaves-Williams of In Stitches held a pop-up shop on her front porch during the pandemic to help combat income loss.

Courtesy photo

liams put together a pop-up shop on her front porch.

“I made some sales that way,” she admits, “but it’s the same neighborhood folks walking by at the moment, so after the first couple of weeks, I didn’t make any more sales. That’s OK, though, as my main goal was to give a laugh and have a little chat with some folks walking by.”

The lack of markets has shown Greaves-Williams something even more essential to her artistic enjoyment: social engagement. “I miss the interaction with my fellow vendors,” she says, “the venue owners from our fabulous breweries and the customers.”

In fact, losing foot traffic at markets is irreplaceable—and it’s not just because of potential sales. “It’s exposure to large numbers of consumers who might not have otherwise found you,” artist Zak Duff explains. “These opportunities are not something that can be made up in other ways.”

Markets and vending events generate 70% of Duff’s annual income. Through March 17 he did only one show and one pop-up market. He was slated to participate in four weekly markets and additional

Duff posted a “grab-bag” sale on Facebook over the weekend, wherein $25 got customers an 8-inches-by-10-inches original print. Shoppers chose the “category” of work, and Duff would pick the print. He’s also received a few commissions and special orders from friends and returning clients, though it doesn’t match his business being up and fully functioning.

“It’s not nearly the volume I did at this time last year,” he admits, “around oneeighth of what I would typically be producing and selling.”

Like Sweitzer, Duff has applied for artist grants, including the artist relief fund, and government assistance. Though, he knows it won’t make up a fraction of his income loss. Plus, there is a lot of uncertainty if he even meets new qualifications to receive unemployment benefits.

While less income weighs heavily, Duff puts that concern in the back seat when it comes to family and health. Some of his family members are cancer survivors and immunocompromised. “And my young son had shown signs of developing asthma prior to the current epidemic, both of which are factors that could contribute to COVID-19 impacting them far more severely should they contract it,” Duff says.

“I would much rather declare bankruptcy and have to start over financially than lose one or more of my family members to this horrible contagion. So, we will continue to wait it out, and if I’m only painting for myself and no one else in the meantime, then at least I’m doing something I love.”

GALLERY GUIDE

art exposure!

22527 Highway 17N Hampstead, NC (910) 803-0302 • (910) 330-4077 Tues. - Sat. 10am - 5pm (or by appt.) www.artexposure50.com ArtExposure will be hosting “Metal and Fiber, a show featuring the metal work of Vicki Thatcher and the Fiber work of Jan Lewis. The show will run until the end of August. Check outartexposure50.com for upcoming events and classes!

ART IN BLOOM GALLERY

210 Princess St. • (484) 885-3037 Temporarily closed or call for appt. aibgallery.com Art in Bloom Gallery is temporarily closed except for appointments until COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. View and purchase art via our website at https://aibgallery.com/product-category/group-exhibit/. Free delivery or shipping provided.

On view: “New Art by Helen Lewis, Debra Bucci & Naomi Jones with Photographer, Brian Peterson,” through April 19. The group art exhibit showcases original art in a variety of mediums. “Ancient Practice: Encaustic Art

by Helen Lewis” is a new body of work investigating new directions with an ancient practice fusing pigment and beeswax on wooden panels.

The group art exhibit showcases original art in a variety of media. “An-

cient Practice: Encaustic Art by Helen Lewis” is a new body of work investigating new directions with an ancient practice fusing pigment and beeswax on wooden panels.

ART IN BLOOM SATELLITE VENUES

DISCOVER NEW MUSIC AT 98.3 THE PENGUIN

www.aibgallery.com

In addition to our gallery at 210 Princess Street, Art in Bloom Gallery partners with local businesses to exhibit original art in other locations.

However, due to COVID-19 “Ways of Wax” art exhibit at Platypus & Gnome is closed until further notice.

NEW ELEMENTS GALLERY

271 N. Front St. • (919) 343-8997.

Tues. - Sat. 11am - 6pm (or by appt.) newelementsgallery.com New Elements is temporarily closed until further notice per the COVID-19 pandemic.

WILMA DANIELS GALLERY

200 Hanover St. (bottom level, parking deck) Mon.-Fri., noon-5pm http://cfcc.edu/danielsgallery At this time CFCC and the Wilma Daniels Gallery is closed and will reopen once the COVID-19 pandemic passes and we are clear to get business back to normal.

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Please stay safe and follow guidelines.

We will get by, we will survive!

SPECIALTY SHOWS: THE EVENING EXPERIMENT WITH ERIC MILLER, WEDNESDAYS 7-9PM THE FRIDAY NIGHT PANIC JAM FRIDAYS AT 8PM ACOUSTIC CAFE SATURDAYS FROM 7-9AM ETOWN SATURDAYS AT 9AM PUTUMAYO WORLD MUSIC HOUR SUNDAYS AT 8AM

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4502 Fo untain D r. • trolly stophot dogs.co m

AMERICAN BLUEWATER WATERFRONT GRILL

Enjoy spectacular panoramic views of sailing ships and the Intracoastal Waterway while dining at this popular casual American restaurant in Wrightsville Beach. Lunch and dinner are served daily. Favorites include jumbo lump crab cakes, succulent seafood lasagna, crispy coconut shrimp and an incredible Caribbean fudge pie. Dine inside or at their award-winning outdoor patio and bar, which is the location for their lively Waterfront Music Series every Sunday April - October. Large parties welcome. Private event space available. BluewaterDining.com.

4 Marina Street, Wrightsville Beach, NC. (910) 256-8500.

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Mon-Fri 11a.m. - 11 p.m.; Sat & Sun 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Wrightsville Beach ■ FEATURING: Waterfront dining ■ MUSIC: Music every Sunday in Summer ■ WEBSITE: bluewaterdining.com

• Curbs ide and delivery available • Photo

by Tom Dorgan

shellfish to pastas, sandwiches, and Certified Angus Beef selections. We offer half-priced oysters from 4-6 every Wednesday & live music with our Sunday Brunch from 11-3.

Whether you are just looking for a great meal & incredible scenery, or a large event space for hundreds of people, Elijah’s is the place to be.

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Sun-Thurs 11:30-10:00; Friday and Saturday 11:30-11:00 ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Downtown ILM; kids menu

PINE VALLEY MARKET

Pine Valley Market has reigned supreme in servicing the Wilmington community for years,

securing encore’s Best-Of awards in catering, gourmet shop and butcher. Now, Kathy Webb and Christi Ferretti are expanding their talents into serving lunch in-house, so folks can enjoy their hearty, homemade meals in the quaint and cozy ambiance of the market. Using the freshest ingredients of highest quality, diners can enjoy the best Philly Cheesesteak in Wilmington, along with numerous other sandwich varieties, from their Angus burger to classic Reuben, Italian sub to a grown-up banana and

peanut butter sandwich that will take all diners back to childhood. Served among a soup du jour and salads, there is something for all palates.

Take advantage of their take-home frozen meals for nights that are too hectic to cook, and don’t forget to pick up a great bottle of wine to go with it. 3520 S. College Road, (910) 350-FOOD. ■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Mon.-Fri. 10

PLEASE, CALL AHEAD TO MAKE SURE RESTAURANTS ARE OPEN

ELIJAH’S

Since 1984, Elijah’s has been Wilmington, NC’s outdoor dining destination. We feature expansive indoor and outdoor waterfront dining, with panoramic views of riverfront sunsets. As a Casual American Grill and Oyster Bar, Elijah’s offers everything from fresh local seafood and

18 encore | april 22 - april 28, 2020 | www.encorepub.com

DURING THE COVID-19 SHUTDOWN. SOME MAY BE DOING DELIVERY AND/OR TAKEOUT ONLY.

veggie wraps, as well as an extensive Japanese

fare menu, such as bento boxes and tempura ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: South Wilmington ■ FEATURING: Daily specials and take-home platters. Daily dessert and drink special are also

frozen meals ■ WEBSITE: pinevalleymarket.com

THE TROLLY STOP

Trolly Stop Grill and Catering is a four store franchise in North Carolina. Trolly Stop Hot Dogs opened in Wrightsville Beach in 1976. That store name has never changed. Since the Wrightsville Beach store, the newer stores sell hotdogs, hamburgers, beef and chicken cheese steaks, fries, hand dipped ice cream, milk shakes, floats and more.

Our types of dogs are: Southern (Trolly Dog, beef and pork), Northern (all beef), Smoke Sausage (pork), Fat Free (turkey), Veggie (soy). Voted Best Hot Dog in Wilmington for decades.

Check our website trollystophotdogs.com for hours of operations, specific store offerings and telephone numbers, or contact Rick Coombs, 910-297-8416, rtrollystop@aol.com We offer catering serving 25-1000 people.

Franchises available.

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER ■ LOCATIONS: Wilmington, Fountain Dr. (910) 452-3952, Wrightsville Beach (910) 2563921, Southport (910) 457-7017, Boone, NC (828) 265-2658, Chapel Hill, NC (919) 240-4206 ■ WEBSITE: trollystophotdogs.com

ASIAN INDOCHINE RESTAURANT

If you’re ready to experience the wonders of the Orient without having to leave Wilmington, join us at Indochine for a truly unique experience. Indochine brings the flavors of the Far East to the Port City, combining the best of Thai and Vietnamese cuisine in an atmosphere that will transport you and your taste buds. Relax in our elegantly decorated dining room, complete with antique Asian decor as well as contemporary artwork and music. Our diverse, friendly and efficient staff will serve you beautifully presented dishes full of enticing aromas and flavors.

Be sure to try such signature items as the spicy and savory Roasted Duck with Red Curry, or the beautifully presented and delicious Shrimp and Scallops in a Nest. Be sure to save room for our world famous desert, the banana egg roll! We take pride in using only the freshest ingredients, and our extensive menu suits any taste. After dinner, enjoy specialty drinks by the koi pond in our Asian garden. Located at 7 Wayne Drive (beside the Ivy Cottage), (910) 251-9229.

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Tues.- Fri. 11 a.m.- 2 p.m.; Sat. 12 p.m. – 3 p.m. for lunch.

Mon.- Sun. 5 p.m. – 10 p.m. for dinner.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown ■ WEBSITE: indochinewilmington.com

NIKKI’S FRESH GOURMET

For more than a decade, Nikki’s downtown has served diners the best in sushi. With freshly crafted ingredients making up their rolls, sushi and sashimi, a taste of innovation comes with every order. Daily they offer specialty rolls specific to the Front Street location, such as the My Yoshi, K-Town and Crunchy Eel rolls. But for less adventurous diners looking for options beyond sushi, Nikki’s serves an array of sandwiches, wraps and gyros, too. They also make it a point to host all dietary needs, omnivores, carnivores and herbivores alike. They have burgers and cheesesteaks, as well as falafal pitas and

on order. Check out their website and Facebook for more information. 16 S. Front St. (910) 7719151.

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Mon.-Thurs., 11am 10pm; Fri.-Sat., 11am-11pm; Sun., 12pm10pm. Last call on food 15 minutes before closing.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Downtown ■ WEBSITE: nikkissushibar.com

OKAMI JAPANESE HIBACHI STEAK HOUSE

We have reinvented “Hibachi cuisine.” Okami Japanese Hibachi Steakhouse is like no other. Our highly skilled chefs cook an incredible dinner while entertaining you on the way.

Our portions are large, our drinks are less expensive, and our staff is loads of fun. We are committed to using quality ingredients and seasoning with guaranteed freshness. Our goal is to utilize all resources, domestically and internationally, to ensure we serve only the finest food products. We believe good, healthy food aids vital functions for well-being, both physically and mentally. Our menu consists of a wide range of steak, seafood, and chicken for the specially designed “Teppan Grill.” We also serve tastebud-tingling Japanese sushi, hand rolls, sashimi, tempura dishes, and noodle entrees. This offers our guests a complete Japanese dining experience. Our all-you-can-eat sushie menu and daily specials can be found at okamisteakhouse.com! 614 S College Rd. ■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Mon.-Thurs., 11am 2:30pm / 4-10pm; Fri., 11am-2:30pm / 4pm-11pm; Sat., 11am-11pm; Sun., 11am9:30pm ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown ■ WEBSITE: okamisteakhouse.com

also 10-Midnight on Fri/Sat. Tuesday LOCALS NIGHT- 20% Dinner Entrees. Wednesday 80S NIGHT - 80smusic and menu prices. Sundays are the best dealdowntown - Specialty Sushi and Entrees are BuyOne, Get One $10 Off and 1/2 price Wine Bottles.Nightly Drink Specials.

Gluten-Free Menu upon request. Complimentary Birthday Dessert.

■ WEBSITE: yosake.com. @yosakeilm on Twitter & Instagram. Like us on Facebook.

BAGELS ROUND BAGELS

Round Bagels and Donuts features 17 varieties of New York-style bagels, baked fresh daily on site in a steam bagel oven. Round offers a wide variety of breakfast and lunch bagel sandwiches, grilled and fresh to order. Round also offers fresh-made donuts daily! Stop by Monday Friday, 6:30 a.m. - 3 p.m., and on Sunday, 7:30 a.m. - 2 p.m.

■ SERVING BREAKFAST & LUNCH ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown ■ FEATURING: Homemade bagels, cream

cheeses, donuts, sandwiches, coffee and more ■ WEBSITE: roundbagelsanddonuts.com

FONDUE THE LITTLE DIPPER

Wilmington’s favorite fondue restaurant!

The Little Dipper specializes in unique fondue dishes with a global variety of cheeses, meats,

seafood, vegetables, chocolates and fine wines. The warm and intimate dining room is a great place to enjoy a four-course meal, or indulge in appetizers and desserts outside on the back deck or in the bar while watching luminescent jellyfish. Reservations are appreciated for parties of any size. Located at the corner of Front and Orange in Downtown Wilmington. 138 South Front Street. (910) 251-0433.

■ SERVING DINNER: 5pm Tue-Sun; open daily from Memorial Day through October ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Downtown ■ FEATURING Sunday half-price wine bottles; Monday beer and wine flights on special; Tuesday Local’s Night $11/person cheese and chocolate; Wednesday Ladies Night; Thursday $27 4-course prix fixe; Friday “Date Night” $85/couple for 3 courses and a bottle of wine.

■ MUSIC: Tuesdays & Thursdays, MayOct., 7– 9 p.m. (weather permitting) ■ WEBSITE: www.littledipperfondue.com

IRISH THE HARP

Experience the finest traditional Irish family recipes and popular favorites served in a casual yet elegant traditional pub atmosphere.

The Harp, 1423 S. 3rd St., proudly uses the freshest ingredients, locally sourced whenever possible, to bring you and yours the most delicious Irish fare! We have a fully stocked bar featuring favorite Irish beers and whiskies. We are open every day for both American and Irish breakfast, served to noon weekdays

SZECHUAN 132

Craving expertly prepared Chinese food in an elegant atmosphere? Szechuan 132 Chinese Restaurant is your destination! Szechuan 132 has earned the reputation as one of the finest contemporary Chinese restaurants in the Port City. Tastefully decorated with an elegant atmosphere, with an exceptional ingenious menu has deemed Szechuan 132 the best Chinese restaurant for years, hands down. 419 South College Road (in University Landing), (910) 799-1426.

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown ■ FEATURING: Lunch specials ■ WEBSITE: szechuan132.com

YOSAKE DOWNTOWN SUSHI LOUNGE

Lively atmosphere in a modern setting, Yosake is the delicious Downtown spot for date night, socializing with friends, or any large dinner party. Home to the never-disappointing Shanghai Firecracker Shrimp! In addition to sushi, we offer a full Pan Asian menu including curries, noodle dishes, and the ever-popular Crispy Salmon or mouth-watering Kobe Burger. Inspired features change weekly showcasing our commitment to local farms. Full bar including a comprehensive sake list, signature cocktails, and Asian Import Bottles. 33 S. Front St., 2nd Floor (910) 7633172.

■ SERVING DINNER: 7 nights a week, 5pm; Sun-Wed. ‘til 10pm, Thurs ‘til 11pm, Fri-Sat, ‘til Midnight.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Downtown ■ FEATURING: 1/2 Price Sushi/Appetizer Menu

Leland’s friendly neighborhood Irish Pub with the best pub fare in town.

We have made the tough decision to close during this time. Thank you for your support and look forward to serving you in the near future.

1174 Turlington Ave., Leland 910-408-1400 www.thejoyceirishpub.com encore | april 22 - april 28, 2020 | www.encorepub.com 19

Join The n Rebellio Today CURBSIDE AND DELIVERY!

and 2 p.m. weekends. Regular menu to 10 p.m. weekdays and 11 p.m. weekends. Join us for trivia at 8:30 on Thursdays and live music on Fridays – call ahead for schedule (910) 763-1607.

Located just beside Greenfield Lake and Park at the south end of downtown Wilmington, The Harp is a lovely Irish pub committed to bringing traditional Irish flavor, tradition and hospitality to the Cape Fear area ■ SERVING BREAKFAST, LUNCH & DINNER ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Greenfield Lake/DowntownSouth ■ FEATURING: Homemade soups, desserts and breads, free open wifi, new enlarged patio area, and big screen TVs at the bar featuring major soccer matches worldwide.

■ WEBSITE: harpwilmington.com

SLAINTE IRISH PUB

CHECK OUR FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM ACCOUNTS FOR UPDATES ON MENU AND HOURS

• American comfort food, with a Southern twist • Handpicked bourbons and whiskeys • House-made barrel-aged cocktails • Excellent wine selection • 34 beers on draft Mon. 4pm-12am • Tues.-Thurs. 11:30am-12am Fri. & Sat. 11:30am-1am • Sun. 11:30am-12am

15 S. Front St. 910-399-1162 www.rebellionnc.com

Slainte Irish Pub in Monkey Junction has traditional pub fare with an Irish flair. We have a large selection of Irish whiskey, and over 23 different beers on draft, and 40 different craft beers in bottles. They have a large well lit outdoor patio with a full bar also. Come have some fun! They currently do not take reservations, but promise to take care of you when you get here!

5607 Carolina Beach Rd. #100, (910) 399-3980 ■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: 11:30 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: South Wilmington, Monkey Junction ■ FEATURING: Irish grub, whiskeys, beer, wine, fun.

■ WEBSITE: facebook.com/slaintemj

ITALIAN ANTONIO’S

Serving fresh, homemade Italian fare in midtown and south Wilmington, Antonio’s Pizza and Pasta is a family-owned restaurant which serves New York style pizza and pasta. From daily specials during lunch and dinner to a friendly waitstaff ensuring a top-notch experience, whether dining in, taking out or getting delivery, to generous portions, the Antonio’s experience is an unforgettable one. Serving subs, salads, pizza by the slice or pie, pasta, and more, dine-in, take-out and delivery! 3501 Oleander Dr., #2, and 5120 S. College Rd. ■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Sun.-Thurs., 11 a.m.-9 p.m. and Fri.-Sat., 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

Sun., open at 11:30 a.m.)

■ NEIGHBORHOOD DELIVERY OFFERED: Monkey Junction and near Independence Mall ■ WEBSITE: antoniospizzaandpasta.com

THE ITALIAN BISTRO

The Italian Bistro is a family-owned, fullservice Italian restaurant and pizzeria located in Porters Neck. They offer a wide variety of N.Y. style thin-crust pizza and homemade Italian dishes seven days a week!

The Italian Bistro strives to bring customers a variety of homemade items made with the freshest, local ingredients. Every pizza and entrée is made to order and served with a smile from our amazing staff.

Their warm, inviting, atmosphere is perfect for “date night” or “family night.” Let them show you why “fresh, homemade and local” is part of everything they do. 8211 Market St. (910) 6867774

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Sun.-Thurs., 20 encore | april 22 - april 28, 2020 | www.encorepub.com

11 a.m.-9 p.m. and Fri.-Sat., 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m., Sun brunch, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Porters Neck ■ WEBSITE: italianbistronc.com

SLICE OF LIFE

“Slice” has become a home away from home for tourists and locals alike. Our menu includes salads, tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, homemade soups, subs and, of course, pizza.

We only serve the freshest and highest-quality ingredients in all of our food, and our dough is made daily with purified water. Voted “Best Pizza” and “Best Late Night Eatery.”All ABC permits.

Visit us downtown at 125 Market Street, (910) 251-9444, in Wrightsville Beach at 1437 Military Cutoff Road, Suite 101, (910) 256-2229 and in Pine Valley on the corner of 17th and College Road, (910) 799-1399.

■ SERVING LUNCH, DINNER & LATE NIGHT: 11:30 a.m.-3 a.m., 7 days/week, 365 days/year.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown, Downtown and Wilmington South.

■ FEATURING: Largest tequila selection in town!

■ WEBSITE: grabslice.com

MEXICAN ZOCALO

Zocalo Street Food and Tequila brings a modern version of cooking traditional Mexican street food through perfected recipes, with excellent presentation. Zócalo was the main ceremonial center for the Aztecs, and presently, it is the main square in central Mexico City. It bridges old school tradition with a twist of innovative cooking. Zocalo also has weekly events, such as their margarita and food tasting every Monday, 5-8 p.m., and a live taco station every Tuesday , 5-8 p.m. Live Latin music Is showcased every other Saturday and Sunday brunch begins at 10 a.m.

Be sure to try Zocalo’s wide selection of the best tequilas! Owned and operated locally, locations are in Wilmington and Jacksonville, NC. Take out and delivery available through most apps.

■ SERVING LUNCH, DINNER AND BRUNCH: Monday - Saturday, 11 a.m - 10 p.m.; Sunday brunch, 10 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.; closes 9 p.m.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Pointe at Barclay ■ WEBSITE: zocalostreetfood.com

SANDWICHES J. MICHAEL’S PHILLY DELI

The Philly Deli celebrated their 38th anniversary in August 2017. Thier first store was located in Hanover Center—the oldest shopping center in Wilmington. Since, two more Philly Delis have been added: one at Porters Neck and one at Monkey Junction.

The Philly Deli started out by importing all of their steak meat and hoagie rolls straight from Amoroso Baking Company, located on 55th Street in downtown Philadelphia! It’s a practice they maintain to this day.

We also have a great collection of salads to choose from, including the classic chef’s salad, chicken salad, and tuna salad, all made fresh every day in our three Wilmington, NC restaurants. 8232 Market St., 3501 Oleander Dr., 609 Piner Rd.

■ OPEN: 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. Monday -Thursday,11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. Friday -

Saturday.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Porters Neck, North and South Wilmington, ■ WEBSITE: https://phillydeli.com

SEAFOOD CAPE FEAR SEAFOOD COMPANY

Founded in 2008 by Evans and Nikki Trawick, Cape Fear Seafood Company has become a local hotspot for the freshest, tastiest seafood in the area. With it’s growing popularity, the restaurant has expanded from its flagship eatery in Monkey Junction to locations in Porters Neck and Waterford in Leland. “We are a dedicated group of individuals working together as a team to serve spectacular food, wine and spirits in a relaxed and casual setting,” restaurateur Evans Trawick says. “At CFSC every dish is prepared with attention to detail, quality ingredients and excellent flavors. Our staff strives to accommodate guests with a sense of urgency and an abundance of southern hospitality.” Cape Fear Seafood Company has been recognized by encore magazine for best seafood in 2015, as well as by Wilmington Magazine in 2015 and 2016, and Star News from 2013 through 2016.

Monkey Junction: 5226 S. College Road Suite 5, 910-799-7077. Porter’s Neck: 140 Hays Lane #140, 910-681-1140. Waterford: 143 Poole Rd., Leland, NC 28451 ■ SERVING LUNCH AND DINNER: 11:30am4pm daily; Mon.-Thurs.., 4pm-9pm; Fri.-Sat., 4pm 10pm; Sun., 4pm-8:30pm.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown, north Wilmington and Leland ■ WESBITE: capefearseafoodcompany.com

CATCH

Serving the Best Seafood in South Eastern North Carolina. Wilmington’s Native Son, 2011 James Beard Award Nominee, 2013 Best of Wilmington “Best Chef” winner, Chef Keith Rhodes explores the Cape Fear Coast for the best it has to offer. We feature Wild Caught & Sustainably raised Seafood. Organic and locally sourced produce & herbs provide the perfect compliment to our fresh Catch. Consecutively Voted Wilmington’s Best Chef 2008, 09 & 2010.

Dubbed “Modern Seafood Cuisine” we offer an array Fresh Seafood & Steaks, including our Signature NC Sweet Potato Salad. Appetizers include our Mouth watering “Fire Cracker” Shrimp, Crispy Cajun Fried NC Oysters & Blue Crab Claw Scampi, & Seafood Ceviche to name a few. Larger Plates include, Charleston Crab Cakes, Flounder Escovitch & Miso Salmon. Custom Entree request gladly accommodated for our Guest.

(Vegetarian, Vegan & Allergies) Hand-crafted seasonal desserts. Full ABC Permits. 6623 Market Street, Wilmington, NC 28405, 910-7993847.

■ SERVING DINNER: Mon.-Sat. 5:30 p.m.-9 p.m.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: North Wilmington ■ FEATURING: Acclaimed Wine List ■ WEBSITE: catchwilmington.com

DOCK STREET OYSTER BAR

Voted Best Oysters for over 10 years by encore readers, you know what you can find at Dock Street Oyster Bar. But we have a lot more than oysters! Featuring a full menu of seafood, pasta, and chicken dishes from $4.95-$25.95, there’s something for everyone at Dock Street.

You’ll have a great time eating in our “Bohemian-Chic” atmosphere, where you’ll feel just as comfort able in flip flops as you would in a business suit. Located at 12 Dock St in downtown Wilmington. Open lunch and dinner, 7 days a week. (910) 762-2827.

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: 7 days a week.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Downtown ■ FEATURING: Fresh daily steamed oysters.

■ WEBSITE: dockstreetoysterbar.net

MICHAEL’S SEAFOOD RESTAURANT

Established in 1998, Michael’s Seafood Restaurant is locally owned and operated by Shelly McGowan and managed by her team of culinary professionals. Michael’s aspires to bring you the highest quality and freshest fin fish, shell fish, mollusks, beef, pork, poultry and produce. Our menu consists of mainly locally grown and made from scratch items. We count on our local fishermen and farmers to supply us with seasonal, North Carolina favorites on a daily basis. Adorned walls include awards such as 3 time gold medalist at the International Seafood Chowder Cook-Off, Entrepreneur of the Year, Restaurant of the Year and Encores readers’ choice in Best Seafood to name a few. 1206 N. Lake Park Blvd. (910) 458-7761 ■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: 7 days 11 am – 9 pm ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Carolina Beach ■ FEATURING: Award-winning chowder, local se food and more!

■ WEBSITE: MikesCfood.com

THE PILOT HOUSE

The Pilot House Restaurant is Wilmington’s premier seafood and steak house with a touch of the South. We specialize in local seafood and produce. Featuring the only Downtown bar that faces the river and opening our doors in 1978, The Pilot House is the oldest restaurant in the Downtown area. We offer stunning riverfront views in a newly-renovated relaxed, casual setting inside or on one of our two outdoor decks. Join us for $5.00 select appetizers Sunday-Thursday and live music every Friday and Saturday nigh on our umbrella deck. Large parties welcome. Private event space available.

910-343-0200. 2 Ann Street, Wilmington, NC 28401 ■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Sun-Thurs 11am-9pm, Fri-Sat 11am-10pm and Sunday Brunch,. 11am-3pm. Kids menu ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Riverfront Downtown Wilmington ■ FEATURING: Fresh local seafood specialties, Riverfront Dining, free on-site parking ■ MUSIC: Outside Every Friday and Saturday ■ WEBSITE: pilothouserest.com

SHUCKIN’ SHACK

Shuckin’ Shack Oyster Bar has two locations in the Port City area. The original Shack is located in Carolina Beach at 6A N. Lake Park Blvd.

(910-458-7380) and our second location is at 109 Market Street in Historic Downtown Wilmington (910-833-8622). The Shack is the place you want to be to catch your favorite sports team on 7 TV’s carrying all major sports packages. A variety of fresh seafood is available daily including oysters, shrimp, clams, mussels, and crab legs. Shuckin’ Shack has expanded its menu now offering fish tacos, crab cake sliders, fried oyster po-boys, fresh salads, and more.

Come in and check out the Shack’s daily lunch, dinner, and drink specials. It’s a Good Shuckin’

■ WEBSITE: caseysbuffet.com

Time!

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Carolina

Beach Hours: Mon-Sat: 11am-2am; Sun: Noon2am, Historic Wilmington: Sun-Thurs: 11am10pm; Fri-Sat:11am-Midnight.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Carolina Beach/Downtown ■ FEATURING: Daily lunch specials. Like us on Facebook!

■ WEBSITE: TheShuckinShack.com

RX RESTAURANT & BAR

Located in downtown Wilmington, Rx Restaurant and Bar is here to feed your soul, serving up Southern cuisine made with ingredients from local farmers and fishermen. The Rx chef is committed to bringing fresh food to your table, so the menu changes daily based on what he finds locally. Rx drinks are as unique as the food—and just what the doctor ordered. Join us for a dining experience you will never forget! 421 Castle St.; 910 399-3080.

■ SERVING BRUNCH & DINNER: Tues-Thurs, 5-10pm; Fri-Sat, 5-10:30pm; Sun., 10am-3pm and 5-9pm ■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Downtown In Wilmington, everyone knows where to go ■ WEBSITE: rxwilmington.com for solid country cooking. That place is Casey’s Buffet, winner of encore’s Best Country Cookin’/ Soul Food and Buffet categories. “Every day we are open, somebody tells us it tastes just like their grandma’s or mama’s cooking,” co-owner Gena Casey says. Gena and her husband Larry Under new ownership! Tom Noonan invites run the show at the Oleander Drive restaurant you to enjoy his remodeled space, featuring a where people are urged to enjoy all food indig- new sound system and new bar, in a warm, reenous to the South: fried chicken, barbecue, laxed environment. Taste 40 craft beers, over catfish, mac‘n’cheese, mashed potatoes, green 400 wines by the bottle, a wide selection of beans, chicken‘n’dumplings, biscuits and home- cheese and charcuterie, with gourmet small made banana puddin’ are among a few of many plates and desserts to go! And don’t miss their other delectable items. 5559 Oleander Drive. weekly wine tastings, every Tuesday, 6 p.m. - 9 (910) 798-2913. p.m.

■ SERVING LUNCH & DINNER: Open WednesSERVING DINNER & LATE NIGHT: Mon., days through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Closed; Tues.-Thurs., 4 p.m. - 12 a.m.; Fri., 4 and on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Closed p.m. - 2 a.m.; Sat., 2 p.m. - 2 a.m.; Sun., 4 - 10 Mon. & Tues. p.m.

■ NEIGHBORHOOD: Midtown NEIGHBORHOOD: Downtown, 29 S Front St. WEBSITE: fortunateglass.com ■ FEATURING: Pig’s feet and chitterlings.

SOUTHERN CASEY’S BUFFET

TAPAS/WINE BAR

THE FORTUNATE GLASS WINE BAR

We’re not just hot dogs!

$5 Meal Deals

Offering philly cheesesteaks, burgers, grilled cheeses, frank ’n’ beans and more!

Offering hot dog cart service for catering, 60 or more!

Drop-off catering offered!

We ha Impos ve the s Burgeible r

WILMINGTON 4502 Fountain Dr Wilmington, NC 28403 (910) 452-3952

11am to 6:30pm, 7 days a week

encore | april 22 - april 28, 2020 | www.encorepub.com 21

HOP

TO

IT

Local breweries join global collaboration for service industry workers will be donated to the United States Bartenders’ Guild Charity Foundation.

New Anthem Beer Project (NABP) is also no stranger to collaborations for a good cause. In 2018 it helped with Sierra Nevada Brewing’s (Chico, CA and Mills River, NC) Resilience project to help assuage the damages done by the Camp Fire, the most destructive wildfire in California history.

BY JOAN C.W. HOFFMANN

A

s the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the globe, the service industry has seen more than its fair share of devastation. Thousands upon thousands of employees have been laid off and left with uncertainty as to whether they will have jobs to return to. Some industry professionals are speculating the lion’s share of restaurants and bars (specifically, independent mom-and-pops) could remain closed permanently if there isn’t some sort of monetary assistance from the government. While unemployment websites and phone lines jam with desperate, frustrated citizens looking for help, businesses are starting to turn inward and ask themselves what they can do.

Long before now, beer has been known to provide relief—all the way back to medieval times when water wasn’t safe to drink and people instead consumed ale. Modern uses for beer as a balm are as simple as cracking a cold one at the end of a long day or a spirited “cheers” at a local brewery celebration. That tradition continues today. Wilmington’s own Cape Fear Craft Beer Alliance, for example, has started a grocery assistance program for area service industry workers. Now, Brooklyn, New York’s Other Half Brewing is helping. Conceived by Other Half, All Together is a beer

to be brewed all over the world, in support of and in solidarity with the service industry. The goal is to provide both awareness of and monetary aid to the workers. As of Friday, April 17, there were 613 breweries participating across 40 countries, and 41 states in the US. Locally, Broomtail Craft Brewery, Salty Turtle and New Anthem Beer Project are participating, as are other North Carolina breweries like Burial, Bhramari and Fullsteam, among others.

“There is an inextricable link that binds together everyone in the hospitality industry,” reads a note at alltogether.beer.

“Brewers, servers, bartenders, bussers, dishwashers, GMs, buyers, chefs, owners— we are all in this together. In this industry, when one of us struggles, the rest of us pick them up. It’s baked into who we are.”

Other Half has done everything in its power to make the beer inexpensive to make. They’ve provided the recipe (an IPA with two options, New England or West Coast), artwork, a company willing to print the labels for cans at cost, a website, and graphics for social media promotion.

Breweries are encouraged to tweak the recipe as they see fit, and asked to both add some of their own artwork to the label and ensure that proceeds from the beer will go toward supporting their local service industry.

This isn’t Broomtail Craft Brewery’s (BTCB) first foray into a benefit beer. After Hurricane Florence hit in 2018, Walt Dickinson, co-founder of Wicked Weed

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LOCAL LOVE FOR WORLDWIDE FUNDRAISER Broomtail Craft Brewery, Salty Turtle and New Anthem Brewing Project have brewed beers in collaboration with New York’s Other Half Brewing to raise money for service-industry workers worldwide.

Courtesy photo

(Asheville, NC), worked with Barry Owings of BTCB and The Sour Barn, as well as Kyle McKenzie of Green Man Brewery (Asheville, NC), to develop and brew a beer called “Coastal Love.” 100% of proceeds from the beer were donated to alleviate the damage caused by Florence. It was so successful, both in its efforts and production (it won a gold medal at the US Open Beer Championship), Wicked Weed added it to its regularly brewed Beers the Build series, which benefit various causes decided on by the brewery BTCB chose to follow the Other Half recipe “to the letter,” according to Owings. It was the first batch their new brewer, Vince Juliano, brewed by himself. Though the brewery will not be canning the beer, it will be available for retail in 1/6-barrel kegs ($120), 64-ounce growlers ($15), 32-ounce growlers and crowlers ($8), and 16-ounce draft cans ($15 4pk). There isn’t a tentative release date as of press, but pickup will be available at both Broomtail and the Barn during operating hours, Wednesday - Thursday, 3-7 p.m., and Friday - Sunday, 12-7 p.m. All proceeds from BTCB’s sales

NABP hasn’t decided where proceeds will go from the beer purchase.

“We will find a good home for it,” brewer Aaron Skiles assures. The brewery posted on Instagram on April 9 they will match up to $2,000 in donations to any of the following charities: Nourish NC, Good Shepherd Ministries, First Fruit Ministries, Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC, Family Promise of the Lower Cape Fear and Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard. The beer will be available in four packs of 16-ounce cans for $16, with a tentative release date is May 15.

NABP is open 7 days a week, noon-8 p.m. Delivery is also available 2-8 p.m.

Monday – Saturday, and all purchasers must present a valid ID upon delivery. All orders placed by 6 p.m. will be delivered the same day. There is a $40 minimum on all delivery orders. Currently, the brewery is delivering only to customers in New Hanover County.

The brewers at Salty Turtle Beer Company (STBC) are known for their work with the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue & Rehabilitation Center in Surf City, as well as their eco-friendly four pack holders. While the brewery still is donating proceeds from their quarterly dedicated tap to the turtle hospital, they’ve brewed All Together in hopes to get funds to their furloughed staff. Their iteration of the brew will only be available in four packs of 16-ounce cans for $16.99 and will be available April 30. STBC is open 7 days a week, noon-8 p.m.

• Wings • Salads • • Sandwiches • Seafood • • Steaks • Ribs • Chicken • Pasta •

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COME TOGETHER Mark Herbert as the Rapping Red Oak will perform children’s songs as part of Earth Day festivities; kids will also be encouraged to dress up in upcycled materials for the Nature Brigade Parade.

Courtesy photos

VIRTUALLY

BY LAUREN SEARS

W

hile COVID-19 continues to instill uncertainty across our nation, Mother Earth is finally getting what she deserves: a much-needed break.

In some parts of the world, air pollution is the lowest it has been in years.

With lockdown measures, factory shutdowns and travel restrictions in effect across the U.S., carbon pollution has decreased drastically, with some urban cities reporting a near 60% decrease in NO2 emissions. New York City, for example, has reported a 30% drop in pollutants compared to the same time last year.

Los Angeles, notorious for its smog, has logged 20 days with an air quality score below 50 (the U.S. Air Quality Index considers any score between 0 and 50 “good”).

It’s an unforeseen silver lining to life under quarantine: The pandemic has shown us what a potential future with minimal air pollution can look like. This lull in pollution conveniently coincides with the 50th anniversary of Earth Day on Wednesday, April 22.

Since Andy Wood founded the Wilmington Earth Day Alliance (EDA) in Feb-

DETAILS EARTH DAY 2020 50TH ANNIVERSARY Saturday, April 25 Event details at the Wilmington Earth Day Alliance Facebook page ruary 1990, Wilmington and New Hanover residents have gathered annually to celebrate the eco-holiday in an outdoor setting, to better commune with Mother Nature. Previous years’ festivities were hosted at Hugh MacRae Park, where attendees enjoyed eco-friendly vendors, interactive learning activities and games, plus the annual Nature Brigade Parade.

The parade is hosted to get kids into the environmental spirit by having them create (and later march in) costumes from upcycled and recycled materials. With lockdown tactics still in effect across the nation, 2020’s festivities will move to an online platform.

A virtual Earth Day festival will take place Saturday, April 25, through the Earth Day Alliance Facebook page. Events will be posted throughout the week starting on April 22. There will be a virtual scavenger hunt for ages 21 and up, with a chance to win a $50 gift certificate to Bill’s Brewing Company or Waterline Brewing Company; a children’s scavenger hunt in the Kid’s Zone; a virtual version of the annual Nature Brigade Parade (kids dress up as their favorite flora or fauna and parade around their house to the tune of “Rapping Red Oak” by Mr. Mark’s music); and a musical performance by Jesse James

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Deconto from The Pinkerton Raid. The NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher will also join in on the fun with a Facebook Live event about ocean conservation at 1 p.m.

“Even though we cannot congregate at the park this spring, I’m excited people are connecting online, and we’ll be able to come together to share information about caring for the Earth,” says Valerie Roberts, Earth Day Alliance publicity chair and publisher of Cape Fear’s Going Green magazine.

Along with individual activities, there will be a virtual vendor meet-and-greet in the “discussion” section on the EDA Facebook page. Each post will provide a description of the vendor, as well as contact information and details of provided services. Local enviro-oriented organizations and businesses, such as Keep New Hanover Beautiful, En-Light by Aquamoon, North Carolina Coastal Federation and others, will be posted throughout the week. T-shirts also will be available for sale through the festival’s official online shop, with proceeds benefiting future Earth Day celebrations.

Earth Day was founded in 1970 as a response to Rachel Carson’s book “Silent Spring,” which brought to light environmental impacts and dangers of pesticides on our planet. Carson’s book created a growing awareness of humans’ footprint on the environment and created a chain reaction that contributed to the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970.

Wilmington’s EDA was born 20 years later from this growing wave of environmentalism. The organization hosted its first Earth Day celebration the same year when founder Wood concluded local environmental groups could be more effective if they collaborated. On April 22, 1990, nearly 750 individuals joined in coalition to march from Cape Fear Community College to Riverfront Park. They

GREEN

Local Earth Day festival goes digital for 50th anniversary celebrated the 20th anniversary of Earth Day with environmental speakers, musicians, and community activists. The event has since grown to bring in nearly 5,000 guests annually along with dozens of vendors.

Festival organizers acknowledge the uniqueness of this year’s offering. “Normally, we’d hope for pretty weather in order to maximize attendance,” Roberts says. “This year a rainy day might work just as well or better.”

Due to unforeseeable circumstances surrounding our community and nation’s health, the EDA originally made the decision to cancel the festival several weeks ago. However, co-chairs Elissa Anderson and Matt Williams, along with the rest of the committee, revoked their decision and decided to go virtual after seeing the growing need for celebration within our community.

“Once it was clear we needed to cancel in the interest of public safety, various members started to think up ways we might offer some of the individual Earth Day activities,” Anderson says.

While it may be difficult to replicate the celebration indoors, Anderson is grateful the community will still be able to connect. “Our exhibitors have been extremely helpful and easy to work with during the online transition process,” she says.

“We are grateful they are going with the flow and navigating along with us so we can still bring this important event to our community.”

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CARPE

LIBRUM

BY GWENYFAR ROHLER

W

ilmington’s literary community keeps gaining accolades (two National Book Awards nominees in 2015) and attention in the press. With multiple established publishers in the state (Algonquin, Blair) and new smaller presses gaining traction (Lookout, Eno, Bull City), and a pair of well-regarded literary magazines out of UNCW, it is timely to shine a light on discussions around literary publishing. More so, it shows the importance of communicating a truthful story in our present world.

Welcome to Carpe Librum, encore’s

least to desire a life with a woman who actually had depth. But, no. Sadly, he wants this world and this woman. So, we, the readers, actually manage to find some empathy for him and the people he has struggled so hard to become.

Gwenyfar savors ‘The Dancin’ Man’ by Mary Ann Claud

I will give Claud this: She actually makes the country club set look human and possibly deserving of empathy. I grew up with that here and never really found basic human qualities she insists are present in that particular subset of society. That she can convince her audience of such is a compliment to her as a writer. I did want to know what happened next with each of the characters, and I wanted that something to be good.

biweekly book column, wherein I will dissect a current title and/or an old book—because literature does not exist in a vacuum but emerges to participate in a larger, cultural conversation. I will feature many NC writers; however, the hope is to place the discussion in a larger context and therefore examine works around the world.

The Dancin’ Man

By Mary Ann Claud Lystra Books 2014, pgs. 272 Several years ago I received a review copy of Mary Ann Claud’s “The Dancin’ Man” in the mail. I put it some place safe where I wouldn’t lose it and ... well, you know how that story ends. In my defense,

my “to be read” pile spans three buildings and two cars.

After far too long a delay, I finally found my super safe spot and dug into the pages.

It was worth the wait—a much better book than I had even anticipated. Claud takes us into the world of a Carolina spinning-mill mogul’s family at the end of the 1980s. The business is clearly moving to China; the writing is on the wall.

The story follows the Ward family, whose matriarch has just died and left her adult children in an acute state of “at each other’s throats.” Her son-in-law and protégé, Ted Brunson, is also dealing with impending divorce from the only woman he has ever loved. His wife, Virginia, announces she wants a divorce the very day her mother dies.

All the hallmarks of Carolina gentility are in “The Dancin’ Man,” and if nothing else, a trip back to the Carolinas in the late 1980s is interesting. First off, Claud writes the Ward family like a slightly less rambunctious heir to R.J. Reynolds. She also touches on national politics (Reagan, tariffs) but avoids state-level political references. The food she describes is that of childhood: chicken salad, brownies, crab salad, coconut cake. It is a bit of a hunger-inducing trip down memory lane.

Ted was basically a poor kid who married well. Sadly, he idolized the life the Ward family lived: country clubbing, vacationing at their Hilton Head home, living in the large family mansion, joining the garden club, partaking in debutante balls, attending St. Mary’s, etc. He wanted an existence as one of the major landowners and businesses in town. Ted has brains, sports talent and work ethic; for a kid from a hard-working family that owns a hardware store, you just wish he could dream a little bigger—or at

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Perhaps it is the granddaughter, Volly, who comes closest to joining the human race and developing a conscience. If Ted suddenly had been struck by a deep pang of populism or guilt about racial injustice after all of his desperate social climbing, it would be incredibly unbelievable. But the granddaughter who rebels and goes out to communist San Francisco for a grad school degree in art? That is a character who could discover the world she grew up in is fake, rooted in institutionalized racism, classism and sexism, to a point that is unacceptable to a modern woman.

The family saga unfolds slowly; it is told in flashbacks, intermixed with the gradual progression of a funeral, the reading of the will and divorce announcement. This structure brings us into Ward mills and their family. Ostensibly, “The Dancin Man” is about secrets and tries to be somewhat Southern Gothic. Though, it is a book classically structured by the three-generation saga at the onset, there’s a big reveal that changes things—a rift between Virginia and her oldest brother. It’s probably the weakest link in an otherwise brilliantly plotted, tight narrative. Claud employs all the tools: pacing, characterization, plot, atmosphere, and she wields them skillfully.

“The Dancin’ Man” scores the highest praise I can give any book: I stayed up late because I had to know what happened at the end before I could go to bed. The characters stayed with me for days afterward, rattling around in my head, as I re-enacted their scenes and analyzed them. Even though everyone, Virginia included, believes Ted married his wife for her money and social position, Ted is convinced he didn’t: He loves her for her.

I wish Ted had aspired to something better (frankly, I wish Virginia had aspired to anything at all), but since he didn’t, at least he got a great writer to tell his story. Families, generations, a changing world and those who refuse to change with it s all in there. “The Dancin’ Man” is a fantastic read.

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ARIES (Mar. 21–Apr. 19) In the future, when the coronavirus crisis has a diminished power to disrupt our lives, I would love for you to have more of the money you need to finance interesting new experiences that help you learn and thrive. Now is a good time to brainstorm about how you might arrange for that to happen.

For best results, begin your meditations with vivid fantasies in which you envision yourself doing those interesting new experiences that will help you learn and thrive.

TAURUS (Apr. 20-May 20)

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) “The history of my stupidity would fill many volumes,” wrote Nobel Prize-winning poet Czesław Miłosz. Wow! If a highly respected genius like him has spawned so much nonsense and ignorance, what about the rest of us? Here’s what I have to say about the subject: Each of us should strive to be at peace with the fact we are a blend of wisdom and folly. We should be tenderly compassionate toward our failures and weaknesses, and not allow them to overshadow our brilliance and beauty. Now would be a good time for you Leos to cultivate this acceptance and perform this blessing for yourself.

Renowned Taurus composer Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) completed his first symphony when he was 43 years old—even though he’d started work on it at age 22. Why did it take him so long? One factor was his reverence for Ludwig van Beethoven, the composer who had such a huge impact on the development of classical music. In light of Beethoven’s mastery, Brahms felt unworthy. How could any composer add new musical ideas that Beethoven hadn’t already created? After more than two decades, Brahms finally managed to overcome his inhibition.

He eventually produced four symphonies and scores of other pieces, and left a major mark on musical history. For you, Taurus, I see the coming months as a phase comparable to the time when Brahms finally built the strength necessary to emerge from the shadow that had inhibited him.

Helen Traubel (1899–1972) was best-known for her opera career, although she also sang in concerts, nightclubs and musical theater. In her autobiography, she confessed, “Opera bored me.” She reminds me of Georgia O’Keeffe, famous painter of flowers. “I hate flowers,” O’Keeffe said. “I paint them because they’re cheaper than models and they don’t move.” Now of course most of us have to do some things we don’t enjoy—that seems to be a routine part of being human.

Since the novel coronavirus arrived in our midst, you may have been saddled with even more of this burden.

I’m happy to inform you the coming weeks will be a favorable time to brainstorm about how you could do more of what you love to do once the crisis has abated.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

A Gemini friend sent me and three of her other allies a poignant email. “This note is a tender apology to those of you whom I’ve hurt in the process of hurting myself,” she began. “I want you to know that I have been working hard and with great success to eliminate my unconscious tendency to hurt myself.

And I am confident this means I will also treat you very well in the future.” I received her message with joy and appreciation. Her action was brave and wise.

I invite you to consider making a comparable adjustment in the weeks ahead.

CANCER (June 22-July 22) The Ojibwe are indigenous people of North America. Professor of Ojibwe studies Anton Treuer writes that in their traditional culture, there have been men who act and dress like women and women who act and dress like men. The former are called “ikwekaazo” and the latter “ikwekaazowag.” Both have been “always honored” and “considered to be strong spiritually.” Many other Native American groups have had similar arrangements. Transcending traditional gender behavior is not unique to modern Western civilization. With that as inspiration, and in accordance with astrological omens, I invite you to explore any inclinations you might have to be your own unique gender. The time is ripe for experimenting with and deepening your relationship with the constructs of “masculine” and “feminine.”

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

constitutes meaningful work. It’s not just the tasks you do to earn money. “Sex is a job,” he says. “Growing up is a job. School is a job. Going to parties is a job. Religion is a job. Being creative is a job.” In other words, all the activities he names, to be done well, require a commitment to excellence and an attention to detail.

They are worthy of your diligent efforts, strenuous exertion, and creative struggle. I encourage you to meditate on these thoughts during the coming weeks.

Identify what jobs you want to get better at and are willing to work hard on and would like to enjoy even more than you already do.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) At its best and brightest, Capricornian love isn’t frivolous or flighty. It’s not shallow or sloppy or slapdash. When Capricornian love is at its highest potency, it’s rigorous, thoughtful and full-bodied. It benefits anyone who’s involved with it. I bring this up because I expect the coming weeks to be a Golden Age of Capricornian Love—a time when you will have the inspiration and intelligence necessary to lift your own experience of love to a higher octave.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

gards stability and security as boring. I hope you don’t have an unconscious predilection for keeping yourself in a permanent state of nervous uncertainty. If you do suffer from those bad habits, you’ll be hard-pressed to stick to them in the coming weeks. That’s because the cosmic energies will be working to settle you down into a steady groove. If you cooperate, you will naturally enhance your ability to be well-anchored, calmly steadfast, and at home in your life. Please don’t resist this opportunity.

PISCES (Feb. 19-Mar. 20) I foresee the likelihood you’ll be having brilliant and evocative conversations with yourself in coming weeks. Your heart and your head may become almost blissful as they discuss how best to create a dynamic new kind of harmony. Your left side and right side will declare a truce, no longer wrestling each other for supremacy. They may even join forces to conjure unprecedented collaborations. The little voices in you head that speak for the past will find common ground with the little voices in your head that speak for the future—and as a result you may be inspired to formulate a fresh master plan that appeals both.

I hope you’re not one of those Aquarians who re-

What’s the current state of the relationship between your ego and soul? Is there an uneasy truce between the ambitious part of you that craves success and recognition, and the lyrical part that yearns for rich experiences and deep meaning? Or do those two aspects of you get along pretty well—maybe even love and respect each other? Now is a favorable time to honor your ego and soul equally, Libra—to delight in the activities of both, to give them plenty of room to play and improvise, and to encourage them to collaborate in ways that will further your well-rounded happiness and health.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) Scorpio author Voltaire (1694–1778) was a crusader for freedom of thought and civil liberties, as well as a key player in the Enlightenment. He was very prolific. In addition to producing 2,000 books and pamphlets, his carried on such voluminous written correspondences with so many interesting people that his collected letters fill 98 volumes. Would you consider getting inspired by Voltaire’s approach to cross-pollination? According to my calculations, the next phase of the coronavirus crisis will be a favorable time for you to intensify your communication via the written word.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) I like musician David Byrne’s views on what

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