Queen City Nerve - June 29, 2022

VOLUME 4, ISSUE 16; JUNE 29 - JULY 12, 2022; WWW.QCNERVE.COM

MUSIC: FLLS PULLS BACK THE MASK p.12 FOOD: BACKYARD BEEKEEPING MADE EASY p.16

Don’t Say It,

t I m a e r Sc

al c o l t n R e c e s pa r t o f a e v e n t e r at ta c k o n b r oa d c o m m u n i t y L G BTQ

By Jeff Taylor

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TABLE OF CONTENTS NEWS & OPINION

4 Don’t Say It, Scream It by Jeff Taylor Recent local events part of a broader attack on LGBTQ community 7 OPINION: We Define Us by Nikolai Mather Trans people don’t need surgery to exist

ARTS & CULTURE

8 It’s the Wave by Karie Simmons ‘Babe Beach’ calls back to the buddy sex comedy tradition 10 Lifeline: Ten Cool Things To Do in Two Weeks

MUSIC

12 His Real Name by Ryan Pitkin FLLS pulls back the mask with new album 14 Soundwave

FOOD & DRINK

16 Catch the Buzz by Pat Moran Justin Orders brings beekeeping to the public

LIFESTYLE

www.WipeOutWaste.com

Thanks to our contributors: Jeff Taylor, Grant Baldwin, Aerin Spruill, Nikolai Mather, Kandice Jones, Andy Neilson, Jim Pietryga, and Dan Savage.

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Learn more at

18 Puzzles 20 Aerin It Out by Aerin Spruill 21 Horoscope 22 Savage Love

NEWS & OPINION FEATURE

DON’T SAY IT, SCREAM IT

Recent local events part of a broader attack on LGBTQ community

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BY JEFF TAYLOR

An embrace. A kiss. A “yes” that put those gathered around them in a visible state of excitement, all smiles and phones out, recording a beautiful moment where two people in love committed to spend their lives together.

It’s a scene you might have been present for once or twice yourself, perhaps at a baseball game, or Disney World, or in a restaurant where the couple had their first date. It could be described in a number of ways, but a word that probably wouldn’t come to mind: Political.

Yet that image of now-husbands Bren and Justin Hipp, captured by photojournalist Grant Baldwin for Charlotte Pride in 2017, and on display as part of an exhibit titled Into the Darkroom at the Gaston County Museum of Art and History, was deemed to be just that by Gaston County Manager Kim Eagle, who ordered its removal.

The exhibit opened on May 31, just one day before Pride month. Eagle ordered the removal of the image days after the opening, a fact Baldwin only learned when Gaston Gazette reporter Kara Fohner called him to ask for his reaction.

Baldwin, a regular Queen City Nerve contributor, was in the Nerve newsroom when he received the call.

“I told her, ‘I’d be happy to talk to you, but I gotta find out what’s going on,’” Baldwin recalled.

“So, I called the museum and talked to the director and he was very apologetic. He’s like, ‘I don’t know how you found out so fast.’”

The director, Jason Luker, told him he hadn’t had time to reach out yet, but was quick to tell him who was behind the decision, and to Baldwin it sounded like the government-funded museum was “caught in the middle.”

Baldwin said the museum did not want to take

it down and they did push back on it, but the county forced its hand.

“What the museum told me was that the county said that it was removed because it was an advocacy image. That was the operative word,” Baldwin said.

He felt it was clear Eagle had targeted his work because of its LGBTQ theme, and noted that another image in the gallery, “Sitting For A Change,” taken

by Bae Hive and inspired by the Greensboro Sit-Ins, which depicts nine Black children at a lunch counter, could also be considered an “advocacy” image. The museum told Baldwin they received no complaints from the county about that work, which remains in the show, not that Baldwin would have wanted it removed.

Notably, Baldwin was also blocked from displaying another work, in this instance ahead of the start of the exhibition and at the behest of the museum itself. Taken for Queen City Nerve in 2020, during the summer of the George Floyd protests, the image shows police arresting an activist outside the Gaston County Courthouse after attending the hearings of the trials of fellow activists arrested in protests the night before.

Sheriff’s deputies moved in on the activists gathered in front of a Confederate monument which, though the city council subsequently voted to remove it, still stands in the same spot to this day, after an order to move off the property wasn’t immediately obeyed. Two white deputies pinned one activist, a Black woman, to the asphalt. It’s a powerful image.

Gaston County spokesman Adam Gaub said

in a statement that Eagle had been “originally unaware of the submission” and claimed it was later discovered that “the museum director had decided against displaying the photo as part of the Into the Darkroom exhibit.”

Baldwin, on the other hand, said a representative from the museum had told him the county prohibited the arrest photo because it showed county employees, those being the sheriff’s deputies.

The county spokesman also released a statement about the removal of Baldwin’s Pride photograph, saying Eagle “instructed museum staff to work with the photographer to find an alternative photograph to display that would be more considerate of differing viewpoints in the community.”

“The idea behind the exhibit is to document a historical event, and there are other options from the photographer’s work that more fully capture the context of the parade that was documented,” it continued.

“The museum is government-funded, and as such, it is important for the items it shares to be informational without championing political issues,” it continued.

THIS PHOTO WAS REMOVED FROM A GASTON COUNTY MUSEUM EXHIBIT AT THE REQUEST OF COUNTY MANAGER KIM EAGLE.

PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN

NEWS & OPINION FEATURE

A WOMAN IS ARRESTED BY GASTON COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPUTIES DURING PROTESTS OVER A CONFEDERATE MONUMENT IN 2020. did not support Pride month, while another, Chad way in if she “knew they were teaching pornography Brown, voiced his support for pulling all county in our schools.”

She said she ignored them and entered the funding from the museum. library, where things were quiet at first. But after about 15 or 20 minutes, she said a demonstrator she Pride and drag events targeted Unfortunately, Gastonia is far from an isolated recalled seeing with the Proud Boys at other events, case. In fact, it is part of a broader trend of increased such as school board meetings, came in and said he targeting of the LGBTQ community by violent, was registered for the event and wished to go into radical groups, politicians, and media — traditional the room where the event was being held.

“And so I immediately intervened and said, ‘He’s and social alike. not a parent, he’s with the protesters outside. He is In Wilmington, on the same day Gastonia literally at every single event that the Proud Boys are City Council voted against a Pride proclamation, members of the Cape Fear chapter of the violent at, in Wilmington anyway,’” she said.

Nonetheless, Kahney said the man was led back neo-fascist group the Proud Boys and a handful to the room, and that she heard him arguing with of other protesters picketed and disrupted a Pride parents and library staff before going back out to the reading event at the Pine Valley Library.

At least a dozen demonstrators stood outside group of demonstrators, which she said by this time of the library with signs accusing staff there had grown to over 30.

According to Kahney, that’s when some of the of participating in child abuse and “supplying protesters, alongside New Hanover County sheriff’s pornography to our students.” Several then entered deputies who had been stationed outside, entered the library, including members of the Proud Boys, the library, saying they wanted to see where their escorted by local police.

Attendee Angie Kahney said a local pastor, tax dollars were going. They said they wanted to Reverend Tim Russell, who posted a picture of see “the pornography and the inappropriate sex himself with the group to Facebook, asked her on her books that were being shown to kids,” as well as

PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN

“the drag queen,” despite the event not being a drag queen storytime and obviously not including any pornography or “sex books.”

Kahney said the door was locked while library staff stood in the hallway blocking the doorway.

Still, she said, children and their parents were frightened at the protesters’ actions, which she said included pushing their faces up to the windows to look in, shaking the door and yelling.

Kahney said they also walked around the rest of the library, looking into empty rooms and asking patrons who were not there for the event if they were aware of “pornography in schools.”

Eventually, they exited out a back door, she said.

Another attendee, Emily Jones, said she was in the room with her daughter when the Proud Boys disrupted the event.

Jones said she was “super excited” when she found out about the Pride-themed storytime. She admitted was nervous due to reports of Pride events being disrupted, but felt this was less likely to end up being targeted.

She said she entered the library without incident, but that she heard from other parents at the event who were confronted with derogatory

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Baldwin decided not to replace the image, leaving an empty space where an image of love once resided: a visible reminder of the erasure the county manager demanded.

In a statement, President of the Charlotte Pride Board of Directors Clark Simon, who happens to be a Gastonia resident, called the county’s decision “reminiscent of recent national efforts to paint the simple existence of LGBTQ people as dangerous to society.”

Charlotte Pride communications director Matt Comer characterized it as “pure censorship that was motivated by homophobia.”

“If this had been a heterosexual couple, this would not have been an issue and the county government wouldn’t have ordered it to be removed,” he added. “There is certainly nothing political or inappropriate about a couple proposing to each other and then eventually entering into a legal marriage. This goes back to LGBTQ lives and love being overpoliticized, and being oppressed by the government. The only people who could view this as being political are people who are actively opposed to LGBTQ equality.”

In response, on June 21, Gastonia City Councilmember Robert Kellogg, himself a member of the LGBTQ community, proposed the council pass a Pride proclamation.

“I really feel that there’s a segment of our population in Gastonia who’s really looking for … some people in leadership to give them validation and make them feel welcome,” Kellogg said after making clear that he understood his late proposal did not adhere to the standard protocol for passing such proclamations.

“Especially with some things that happened last week, I think my role, and the reason that I’m bringing this forward, is that I hope we can be that body that gives them some kind of comfort.”

Councilmember Jim Gallagher cited being a born-again Christian, as well as procedural concerns, while stating his opposition to the motion. Mayor Walker Reid and Councilmember Donyel Barber also expressed concern around bucking the usual procedure.

The motion failed to pass, with only Kellogg voting in favor.

In a follow-up article by Fohner published by the Gaston Gazette on June 27, two Gaston County commissioners stated their support for Eagle’s decision. One commissioner, Tracy Philbeck, stated that he believed “homosexuality is a sin” and that he

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NEWS & OPINION FEATURE language. She couldn’t hear what was being said, but did hear commotion and said people who were out in the hallway told her they were talking about pornography and drag queens.

“I could just hear emotion,” she recounted.

“They just kind of walked back there ‘cause the cops were with them and they showed them the room that we were in,” Jones said. “And I was dancing with my daughter, or something like running around with her, and I look at the window and I see one of the men with his face pressed up against the glass … and just kind of glaring at us and really trying to antagonize us. And then they kind of marched through that hallway. Again, it was clearly to antagonize us, to let us know that they were there.”

Jones said a member of the library staff came in after they left to say they needed to stay there for a few minutes to make sure they were safe. Finally, she asked if she could leave and the staff member spoke with a coworker and decided it was safe, but they had to exit through a side door for their protection.

Jones said library staff escorted her through the hallway, where a sheriff’s deputy was standing by the door, through which he let her and her daughter out.

“It was very scary in the moment,” Jones said.

“Honestly, I cried all night last night. It’s hard to even really formulate the words, but I’ve been dealing with abuse from these types of people my whole life and all I really want is to provide a space for my daughter that is loving, and accepting, and inclusive.”

New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. Jerry Brewer disputed some of the claims being made about the event across social media.

“They walked in [and] they were not disruptive,” Brewer said of the protesters.

“The librarian asked them a question and they said, ‘No, we’re just here to come inside of a government building that our tax dollars pay for.

And we wanna see what they’re paying for,’” he continued, adding that library staff did not attempt to stop them.

“There was no reason to stop them,” he said, and noted that there wasn’t any video evidence showing deputies escorting them. He characterized pictures some have used as evidence as showing a deputy “walking past the group of people coming in to get in between them and the door that was holding the reading.”

Brewer also said they didn’t try to enter the room, and that the reading was “mostly over with” by that point.

The same group of Proud Boys also claimed to have had a presence at Fayetteville Pride, held just four days later, on June 25, posting a picture to their Telegram of a drag queen reading to children as well as a video of a drag queen performing on a stage to a mixed crowd, including some kids. They have also made clear their intentions to continue attending drag events.

Earlier this month, on June 11, an Apex Pride drag story time event went on as planned after it was initially canceled by the Apex Festival Commission in response to violent threats. Statewide LGBTQ advocacy group Equality NC stepped in to sponsor the event.

In yet another case of a sudden change of heart, in Union County, which will hold its first Pride in September, the library system has pulled out from planned participation that was to include a booth at the festival, hosting a teen book club, and participating in seminars.

Union County Pride President Cristal Robinson told WBTV she believes the library pulled out over the organization hosting a drag queen story hour at a church.

“As a government entity, our organization typically participates in and promotes municipalsponsored events or those events sponsored by organizations that have received funding support directly from Union County Government,” a spokesperson for the county said in a statement.

In Hickory, a patriotic-themed drag event, called Red White and Q, was scheduled for July 9 at the L.P. Frans Stadium, home to the minor league baseball team the Hickory Crawdads, a farm team of the Texas Rangers. Organizers for that event also found themselves on the receiving end of bad news.

David Zealy-Wright and his husband run Cardboard Castle Productions, which not only planned Red White and Q but also held a similar event at the venue last year, he said, although without a drag queen story hour component.

He believes that was the reason the Texas Rangers organization canceled at the last minute, although Crawdads’ management have told the press it was due to the event never being fully approved as well as staffing concerns.

“The manager of the Crawdads stadium called and he was just very brokenhearted about it,” said Zealy-Wright. “He had advocated for us, saying, ‘We had an event last year,’ and the organization literally told him, ‘Yeah, but really with the current political

climate and the fact you’re doing a family resource fair, and the story hour, we’re just not gonna do that.’”

“It’s very obvious that it’s politically motivated.

But the sad thing is, is that the family resource fair and the drag queen story hour were gonna be free,” he added, and said the decision caused him disappointment but that the only option was to continue on performing where they’re able.

Zealy-Wright said he feels the decision is part of a larger political agenda in which politicians lean on “hot-button” issues to “gin up their base,” especially during election years.

“I teach psychology and critical thought. It takes extra steps for people to think critically or ask questions. And a lot of people are hurting right now, financially, you know, inflation through the roof, gas prices, et cetera. So they’re looking for somebody to blame,” he concluded.

“So there is an agenda, like we’re seeing with ‘Roe v. Wade,’ et cetera, there is an agenda and we are an easy mark.”

The issue is far from a regional one, with a Pride event in Idaho narrowly avoiding possible bloodshed as 31 white supremacists from the group Patriot Front showed up with reported plans to cause mayhem. A tip led to arrests, but it could easily have gone another way.

A drag event was recently disrupted by the Proud Boys in San Lorenzo, California, and another was targeted in Texas. A library system on Long Island, New York, pulled Pride displays after significant backlash.

Politicians are also taking action on the issue, with both Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in Georgia and Texas State Rep. Bryan Slaton looking to legislate a ban on minors attending drag shows, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis publicly mulling over the idea of tasking child protective services with investigating parents who take their kids to such events.

A Supreme warning

v. Connecticut, which granted married couples the right to access contraception; Lawrence v. Texas, which legalized same-sex sexual activity; and Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage.

This has understandably raised the anxiety level of advocates and LGBTQ people, who wonder if this ruling will lead to a further stripping away of rights.

LGBTQ rights are already under attack even if the Supreme Court never revisits those rulings, with a record number of anti-LGBTQ legislation popping up nationwide, much of which has been signed into law.

A bulk of that legislation is targeted at the transgender community, with laws limiting healthcare and sports participation being among the most widespread. The so-called “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” bills, justified as “Parental Rights” bills by supporters, limit classroom instruction around sexual orientation and gender identity. While often presented as little more than common sense legislation to prevent teaching children in K-3 about topics that could be age-inappropriate, many are written so loosely they could apply to older students, and in some cases even require teachers to out students to their parents, regardless of whether or not they’re supportive.

This is especially concerning given that LGBTQ youth are drastically overrepresented in the houseless population, due in no small part to unaccepting parents.

The North Carolina General Assembly flirted with passing such a bill, as well as one that would ban transgender girls and women from competing in women’s sports, and a third that would limit medical care for transgender people under 21 and punish their doctors.

Republican leadership knows the odds of getting such bills signed into law by Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, are nonexistent, but that could all change after the midterms. If Republicans can gain just three House seats and two Senate seats, they would once again have a supermajority that would have the power to override Cooper’s veto.

And failing that, they could always hope for a Republican governor to assume power after the 2024 gubernatorial election.

The recent Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade — notable as an LGBTQ issue as plenty of queer people have a uterus and can get pregnant, and marginalized groups of all kinds are often hit hardest whenever rights are under assault — also included an extra gut punch in the form of Justice Clarence Thomas’ concurring opinion.

Thomas argued that, although the Roe v. Wade Not backing down ruling did not impact other court decisions not Despite all these obstacles, many in the LGBTQ directly related to abortion, he cited three other community want people to know they have no landmark rulings that were, like Roe, decided based intention of canceling events or hiding. on the same legal reasoning, that being the due Charlotte Pride, which takes place in August, process clause of the 14th amendment: Griswold will continue unabated.

WE DEFINE US

NEWS & OPINION OP-ED

Trans people don’t need surgery to exist “Rest assured, we are boldly moving ahead with all of our plans,” reads a recent tweet from the Charlotte Pride account in response to news of recent event cancellations in nearby towns and cities.

“I think it’s really important for people to know and realize that violence at Pride events is extremely rare,” said Matt Comer, Charlotte Pride communications director.

“People are rightfully concerned when they hear reports about rising harassment at libraries, or like the incident in Idaho. It’s OK to be concerned, but also be aware that violent events at Pride events are just extremely rare. And that’s a testament to all of the months of planning and preparation that goes

INFO@QCNERVE.COM

PHOTO BY GRANT BALDWIN

BY NIKOLAI MATHER

A major misconception most cis people have is that the goal of every transition is to come closer to being cis. On June 23, we learned that a federal court struck down a North Carolina law requiring trans people to undergo sex reassignment surgery in order to change the gender marker on their birth certificates. It’s cause for celebration and a reason to keep fighting, but I wonder if some cis people heard the news and scratched their heads.

Wouldn’t we want to get gender-affirming surgery anyways?

It’s amazing how often you hear this as a trans person. Hormone therapy has never been more sophisticated. Gender-affirming clothing like chest binders and breast forms have never been more widely available. We’ve got new names, new genders, sick new xenomorph pronouns like xyr and ze. Yet cis people still believe that a “complete” transition is not only what every trans person wants, but what every trans person needs to be seen as male or female.

(And to them, it is just male or female. What does a “complete transition” look like for someone who’s nonbinary?)

It’s easy to make this some morose tale about access, or obstacles to such that trans people face.

But even if we got Gov. Roy Cooper to channel ARPA funding toward free on-demand phalloplasty, you’ll probably find that few people jump at the chance. The process is painful. It takes years-long cycles of work and recovery. The complications can be grotesque; the results can be frustrating. And while that’s not true for all transitional procedures, every surgery carries the risk of losing the capacity for pleasure, the ability to function and financial security.

Cis people cannot fathom why trans people would go through all that trouble if it was not in service of conformity. Why endure the humiliation of social transition only to remain clockable for the rest of your life? To that I say: Why would I want to look like you? I didn’t transition so I could wear wraparound sunglasses and grow a beard that doesn’t connect.

My sense of masculinity stands whether you personally approve of it or not. If my identity depended on what people told me I was, then I wouldn’t transition, would I? Though I’m happy about this case’s outcome, I’d be a man even if the court said otherwise.

Besides, even if there was some little trans boy yearning to be called Daryl and drive a F-150,

those things won’t make him cis. Nothing can make us cis. Even if a miracle of science allows us to copy-edit our chromosomes, trans people are forever grounded in the experience of gender in motion, whether we like it or not. And some don’t!

Some trans people get all the work done and go stealth. But their reasons are not nearly as shallow as “wanting to be cis.” Maybe they want to be safe when using the restroom. Maybe they want drunk cis girls to stop yelling “yasss!” at them when they walk down the street. Maybe that’s just what makes them comfortable.

As corny as it sounds, if there were ever a goal for transition, it’s that: to feel comfortable in one’s own skin. It could mean surgery, but it could also mean getting electrolysis or a more mellifluous voice. It could require major concessions of the body and spirit, but it could also be as easy as accepting that you can be nonbinary and have double Ds. The goal is not to be cis; the goal is to be happy.

As we sink into the nadir of trans bodily autonomy, it’s moving for this judge to affirm what we’ve always known: We are who we say we are. Sex reassignment surgery is not transsexual nirvana. It is one solution for some trans people’s dysphoria.

We are complete with or without surgery, and we would be complete without the state’s recognition.

There is no court that can outlaw our sense of self.

I’m glad we’re past this fixation on “complete” transition, because it obscures the real problems at hand. Charlotte is the second deadliest American city for Black trans women, who remain the most dehumanized and most brutalized members of the LGBTQ+ community.

North Carolina still lacks a comprehensive nondiscrimination ordinance for queer and trans people, instead relying on a patchy network of city laws to protect the most vulnerable. As reflected in this issue’s cover story, the political war on trans children and their families is mounting every day while trans elders languish in isolation, struggling to connect with their community in the digital age. As Leslie Feinberg writes in Stone Butch Blues,“I don’t feel like a man trapped in a woman’s body. I just feel trapped.”

It’s incredible to be finally free of these medical restraints. So onward. What cage will we open next?

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THE MOMENT OF THE PROPOSAL AT CHARLOTTE PRIDE IN 2017.

into any product event in any city.”

Kendra Johnson, executive director of Equality NC, said she has a “deep concern” in this “new era…[of] Christian nationalism,” but stressed that communities can help protect themselves by taking the threats seriously and maintaining vigilance at events.

“I’m hoping that this extremism and the insurrection are a wake-up call,” she added. “The fact that we’re still debating an insurrection is an indication of how far we need to come to grapple with our current reality.”

ARTS FEATURE

IT’S THE WAVE

‘Babe Beach’ calls back to the buddy sex comedy tradition

BY KARIE SIMMONS

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Danny is a nerd in his early twenties who’s highly inexperienced in life and in the bedroom. His best friend, Jeremy, is a self-appointed sex-crazed maniac who’s oddly obsessed with helping Danny lose his virginity. In fact, he knows the perfect place to take him: Babe Beach.

As the name implies, Babe Beach is a legendary beach full of women that Jeremy’s cousin Larry used to tell him about when he was younger. But is all just a myth, or does this summer utopia really exist?

In the independent feature-length film Babe Beach, Jeremy (Daniel ‘Skritt’ McLemore) and Danny (Amery Miller) embark on a wild and raucous road trip to find out, meeting a cast of zany side characters along the way. The movie, directed and co-written by Charlotte filmmaker Cagney Larkin, along with Bobby Canipe Jr., is your typical buddy comedy that harks back to the era of the classic sex comedy films of the ’80s and ’90s.

It’s the first feature-length film for Larkin and the first acting gig for Skritt, who is best known as Charlotte rapper Lil Skritt.

Despite these firsts, Babe Beach sold out its premiere screening on Saturday, June 25 at The Independent Picture House in NoDa — the Charlotte Film Society’s new independent movie theater.

Queen City Nerve sat down with Larkin and Skritt ahead of the premiere to talk about the filmmaking process and what it means to finally show the movie on a local screen.

me the title that he had in mind for the words “Babe Beach.” That’s all he gave me. Then I kind of took it upon myself to craft a story about two guys going to the beach, or Babe Beach, with Babe Beach being kind of the carrot on the stick for the two characters.

It’s kind of harkening back to the era of the buddy comedies and just really trying to nail down that ’80s sex comedy genre that kind of had a resurgence in the mid-2000s with films like Superbad and Sex Drive, and I’ve always had an affinity for those types of comedies, so I kind of wanted to bring that back and try to make one on my own.

Are there any of those ’80s or early ’90s movies that you looked to specifically when planning the cinematography and writing the Babe Beach script?

Larkin: There’s a film from the ’90s called Phat

Beach and it’s about a few guys trying to go to the beach so one of them can lose their virginity. So kind of a similar plot to be found in all these sex comedy beach films. So the plot was already there, but with Babe Beach, our film, everything kind of gets turned on its head. I like to subvert expectations.

Anything I ever make, there’s a giant rug pull at the end of it to where you thought you were going one place but we ended up somewhere else. So we did that with Babe Beach and I think we pulled it off very well. We took the typical ’80s storyline and plot and put our own twist on it.

You also make a cameo in the movie.

Do you like to insert yourself in all of your projects, or is it just that you needed someone for this small role?

Larkin: This is my first feature-length film. I graduated from film school in 2016, and ever since then I’ve been making short films and working with friends, and I grew up acting in theater, so I’ve always been a player in my things.

I was actually going to play the main character in Babe Beach myself, but I had to make the decision of, do I want to be behind the camera directing or do I want to be on screen and trying to direct at the same time? So I took it upon myself to give somebody else the spotlight. I wanted to give somebody a chance and wanted to just play director on the feature film.

So that’s when I turned to Charlotte artist Lil Skritt

that I’ve known for a few years now. I know he’s a hilarious guy. All of his media output that he’s put out is really great. He’s got a good following. So I reached out to him and had him squared away for the main role and he was more than happy to come on.

Skritt, you’re used to being in front of the camera in your music videos, but this is your first acting gig in a film. Was it what you expected?

Daniel ‘Skritt’ McLemore: I think my only saving grace was the fact that, as a rapper, I’m memorizing lines and then performing them. So that was really how it helped me transition into acting, was through having that experience in rapping.

It was almost exactly what I expected except that they were able to feed me some of my lines because I was worried I was going to have to memorize a 72-page script. And some parts it was good that I had it memorized and there’s other times where, hey, it’s okay, we’re just going to feed you your lines. So it made life a lot easier when that would happen. But we did a scene where we were driving around in a car, so to make everybody’s life easier on that part, I’m going to go over the scene a thousand times where it’s just like playing off in my head. But before this, I had no acting experience, so the jargon and all this other stuff, I mean, I learned a lot while being on set for this movie.

Queen City Nerve: So Cagney, you not only directed this film, but co-wrote it as well.

What inspired the plot?

Cagney Larkin: I had released a short film last fall [titled Mother Folkin’ Massacre] that a producer in Ohio [named Henrique Couto] saw, and after he saw the short film, he reached out and was interested in financing a feature-length film for me to direct and write. He wanted to do a beach movie because he says beach movies sell well. Everybody CAST AND CREW, INCLUDING CAGNEY LARKIN (GIVING THUMBS UP) AND SKRITT (SECOND FROM RIGHT). wants to watch a summer vacation film. So he gave

COURTESY OF CAGNEY LARKIN

ARTS FEATURE

independent cinema, like to a T, indie cinema made without studio interference, people on their own accord, and booking it and giving people a great place to come watch it. It’s a beautiful venue. And I think if we don’t have places like that, then where are artists supposed to thrive? Where do you even have a chance to succeed if you don’t have an opportunity for a venue like that?

Skritt: I think one great thing that I’ve noticed about being a musician in the local music scene is you can go to The Fillmore or see whatever major national act is playing, but you can also go to The Milestone or Snug Harbor and see your local bands perform. And to see that with the Independent Picture House is really just great for the whole community because my perspective is just basically saying, OK, if musicians can do it then what about actors? They have theaters and plays, but what about their movies? I think IPH is a blessing to the neighborhood.

Babe Beach is available on Blu-ray and DVD at henflix.com. Watch the trailer on YouTube.

KSIMMONS@QCNERVE.COM

Pg. 9 JUNE 29 - JULY 12, 2022 - QCNERVE.COM

to come my way. I don’t think anybody’s gonna see me in any kind of, like, Toyota or Honda commercials or something crazy like that. But I definitely loved Was Jeremy someone that was easy for working with Cagney. I’d love to be a part of you to portray? Is he different from you or do whatever he’s got next. you see similarities?

Larkin: There’s definitely a spot for you in any Skritt: I find similarities through my old project I make, buddy. younger self, whenever I was in college, going to the beach and partying and being a bozo, horn dog, Since Babe Beach is your first featurethat’s kind of what I channeled. And then everyone length film, Cagney, what was the filmmaking from Adam Devine from Workaholics to Sean process like and how does it compare to your William Scott as Stifler [in American Pie] and just smaller projects? being very animated. Not so much just being a horn Larkin: I think your biggest point is location. dog and being a douchebag, it was, let me be very When you’re doing a short film, you have mainly animated and just bring comedy with everything one location. But with this, it’s two locations a — the way I walk, the way I would drop a line day, three locations a day, multiple weekends, or two. I think there’s a scene where I just started keeping everybody together. And when you’re randomly dancing after I dropped my line, just being doing independent work, you’ve got to work around a goofball, but I definitely channeled the “You gotta people’s schedules, so we ended up shooting on get laid and we’re going to get you laid, man. Look at weekends, and we shot over five weekends. So then these chicks. Look at these babes.” Like just being a you’ve got to worry about continuity from how do Stifler or like an Adam from Workaholics type of guy. your characters look from how we were shooting Larkin: He did a great job channeling that. week one to how we’re shooting week five?

And then the character, Jeremy, learns at the end So there’s a lot of things that go into play. But of the film that life isn’t all about sex. That’s the if I hadn’t done the short films that I had done in key lesson to take home from the film that gets the past and the work that I have accomplished kind of dumped on you at the end. And it’s kind of already, I wouldn’t have been prepared for it. It’s a message for all the people out there that act like a lot to understand, but I think we did a good job the Stifler, the horn dog, the goofball. There’s more keeping everybody in a good mood and keeping days. And Blu-ray sales, I’ve seen a bunch of copies things out there to life. going out. The producer said it’s been selling really the train rolling. well and we’re getting some really good reviews Usually in buddy comedy movies, the on Letterboxd currently. So I’m just hoping to hear So, where is Babe Beach? friends get in a fight and then come back Larkin: The actual location for Babe Beach was some laughs in the theater Saturday night. together after they realize they’re important at Lake Norman State Park [in Troutman]. We rented to each other. Is there that same arc in Babe out the entire beach area for the day.

That must feel really good.

Beach between Jeremy and Danny?

Larkin: Yeah, definitely, to see that many Larkin: I knew that I would have to end up there But you did a lot of your other beach people are interested in actually supporting the eventually, and I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to filming in Myrtle Beach, correct? project and also supporting local talent. Everyone make the characters fight, but it actually happened Larkin: Yes. When they’re at the beach for the involved is a Carolina resident, a native. Skritt is head naturally in the script. The virgin character has his beach stuff, there’s a few things that take place, like of Charlotte talent. So we’ve got a bunch of people boiling point and the characters split and that’s around the area when they’re finally getting near. represented there. when Jeremy goes and sees his future self in his So we did two days of shooting there, and then the cousin. And his cousin in the film is the person who rest was shot mainly in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

Why is a theater like Independent Picture has instilled this tale of Babe Beach to him. So he House opening in Charlotte a big deal for finally meets up with him and kind of sees how he So there’s a bunch of different beach small, independent films like Babe Beach? would end up and realizes he doesn’t want to end scenes, but it’s made to look like all the same Larkin: It’s crucially important to have a place up like that. like that because the chain theaters, which are place.

Larkin: Yeah, all kind of cut together with some basically boiled down to AMC and Regal, they don’t Skritt, now that you’ve dipped your toes movie magic. There’s even some B-roll of Hawaii in book those small films. So there’s independent into the acting pool, can we expect more there. cinema that’s out there that’s absolutely movies from you? breathtaking and wonderful that people will never Skritt: I would like that because I would say What has the reaction been since you have a chance to see because our chain theaters I’ve definitely caught the acting bug. But I’m one announced Babe Beach’s release? won’t book it. of those people, too, where I’ve been in music for So now we have the IPH that’s playing literal Larkin: The premiere sold out within four over 10 years. I’m kind of just seeing what’s going

THUR6/30

FRI 7/1

A Spanish comedy about a director and two actors preparing to shoot a pretentious art house movie, Official Competition is all about the performances of its three stars. The premise is simple: A manipulative director (Penelope Cruz) casts two diametrically opposed actors who despise each other — a selfobsessed action star (Antonio Banderas) and a highbrow character actor involved in academia (Oscar Martinez) — then ratchets up the tensions between her egotistical stars with a serious of absurd and often cruel tests that are supposedly rehearsals for the film. The result is satirical, surreal and very meta.

More: $11.50; June 30, 7 p.m.; Independent Picture House, 4237 Raleigh St.; independentpicturehouse.org

In Dreamboat’s video for their debut single “Cover to Cover,” lead singer Sydney Nieboer runs amok through Plaza Midwood, pausing to rip a copy of Queen City Nerve out of an innocent reader’s hands!

That’s a tiny part of the emotional collateral damage depicted in the video, the misguided aggression that the deeply hurt throw about themselves like a forcefield. The song itself is a powerful update on rampaging Runaways-style pop. Self-described gloomy shoegazers Spirit System craft ethereal dream fragments which are then twisted by the gravitational pull of My Bloody Valentine-like squall.

More: $10; July 1, 9 p.m.; Snug Harbor, 1228 Gordon St.; snugrock.com

‘OFFICIAL COMPETITION’

WINE PRIDE, DREAMBOAT, SPIRIT SYSTEM

THE ROLLING STONES Photo by Jim Pietryga

‘OFFICIAL COMPETITION’ Courtesy of IFC Films

7/2

SAT 7/2

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CHARLOTTE SYMPHONY: THE MUSIC OF THE ROLLING STONES

Symphonic Stones is not a strange concept when you consider the tunes the band released as the 1970s loomed. A farewell to the swinging ’60s, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” (1969) breaks for Al Kooper’s sorrowful classical French horn solo before surging into a gospel chorale. “Salt of the Earth” (1968) builds from a folk paean to the working class to a classical chorus-dominated ballad. Both songs come from the albums the Charlotte Symphony and guest conductor Richard Carsey feature: Beggars Banquet and Let It Bleed.

More: $19 and up; July 2, 7:30 p.m.; Belk Theater, 130 N. Tryon St.; blumenthalarts.org

6/30

SAT & SUN MON 7/4 7/2-7/3 ‘LA BESTIA: A CIRCUS JOURNEY’

Aerialists cling to the train as it flies through the air, defying gravity. For Charlotte circus arts ensemble Nouveau Sud, the train is La Bestia, “The Beast,” which can offer a new life but also kill. In this revival/ revision of their July 2021 production, the troupe traces the deadly route Central American migrants take to reach the U.S. border. At a time when many Americans feel the mounting oppression of a fascist takeover, spearheaded by an extremist Supreme Court, expressing solidarity with oppressed migrants may be the way to honor the Fourth of July.

More: $10 and up; July 2-3, 7:30 & 3 p.m.; Booth Playhouse, 130 N. Tryon St.; blumenthalarts.org

INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATION AND U.S. OATH AND NATURALIZATION CEREMONY

“I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty … [and] that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America.” For the first time since 2019, The Charlotte Museum of History will once again celebrate Independence Day with a U.S. Oath & Naturalization Ceremony for new U.S. citizens. The ceremony is the best illustration of the bedrock of our democracy, and a potent refutation of white supremacy.

More: Free; July 4, 10:30 a.m.; Charlotte Museum of History, 3500 Shamrock Drive; charlottemuseum.org

WED7/6 WEDNESDAY NIGHT LIVE: CLAUDIO ORTIZ

Charlotte music fans have followed Claudio Ortiz since 2015, when he provided the rhythmic spine of rock en Espanol band Patabamba, followed by stints with Chócala, Moa and more. Ortiz goes beyond those accomplishments when he performs Areítos.

Taking its name from a religious song and dance practiced by the Caribbean’s Taíno people, Ortiz’s performance builds on Afro-Caribbean rhythms, particularly those from Cuba and Puerto Rico, and loops in real-time electronic samples. Ortiz also dives into the history of the music, pairing the performance with a mini-lecture on the traditions of Afro-Caribbean rhythms.

More: Free; July 6, 5 p.m.; Mint Museum Uptown, 500 S. Tryon St.; mintmuseum.org

MINNIE EVANS ARTWORK Illustration by Minnie Evans

SAT7/9

SAT7/9

FAMILY FIRST: MINNIE EVANS INSPIRED DOODLING

DONNIE DOOLITTLE, JUNIOR ASTRONOMERS, ACNE

An African American artist who was active from the 1940s to the 1980s, Minnie Evans created colorful drawings and paintings depicting a dream world that she herself didn’t quite understand. A riot of shapes, hues and hidden faces, Evans’ pieces are surrealistic without intellectualism or self-consciousness. The workshop, a mix of Evans’ style and Zen doodling, encourages participants to learn the art of doodling using bright colors and rhythmic patterns to create a mixed-media mirrored piece inspired by the Carolina artist. The program also highlights the creative and calming results of doodling.

More: $10; July 9, Noon; Harvey B. Gantt Center, 551 S. Tryon St.; ganttcenter.org

Donnie Doolittle’s moody pop rides a retro Southern Goth vibe pitched midway between the trippy 1960s orchestral folk of Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra and Nick Cave going through his 1990s werewolf Elvis phase. In short, he’s sinister and cool as fuck.

On his smash single “When a Woman,” Doolittle gets bonus points for torpedoing the rancid Madonna/ whore complex that fucks up so many cis het men.

“What’s wrong when a woman/Wants to take a man?” he sings. Why indeed? He’s backed by ace Queen City acts Junior Astronomers and ACNE. More: $15; July 9, 8 p.m.; Neighborhood Theatre, 511 E. 36th St.; neighborhoodtheatre.com DONNIE DOOLITTLE Promotional photo

7/9

7/9

TUE7/12 THE WRECKS, GIRLHOUSE, MOTHE

THE WRECKS Courtesy of The Wrecks

7/12

ALFRED SERGEL IVTET PRESENTS: THE MUSIC OF PAUL MOTIAN

Drummer/composer Alfred Sergel IV builds on beguiling primal song forms that seem to precede jazz. While his jazz IVtet can certainly tackle the standards, their tunes often tangle the DNA of pop, rock and jazz in startling ways. Here the band pays tribute to drummer Motian, who played with Thelonious Monk, Coleman Hawkins and pianist Bill Evans’ famous early-’60s trio before leaving to play with Carla Bley because he thought Evans’ music was getting too “commercial.” Motian’s name is pronounced “Motion,” and Sergel is the guy to steer this wild ride.

More: $7; July 12, 7 p.m.; Petra’s, 1919 Commonwealth Ave.; petrasbar.com ALFRED SERGEL IV Courtesy of Unify Visual Marketing

7/12

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Los Angeles combo The Wrecks made a splash after they snuck into a studio to record their debut EP We Are The Wrecks in 2016. Spearheaded by the sly single “Favorite Liar,” The Wrecks started crafting a string of exuberant, emo-influenced songs in the vein of Simple Plan — except The Wrecks are better, pushing the envelope each time they release new music. That trajectory culminates in their second album Sonder, released in June. The lyrics are witty yet honest, while the music bends genres, balancing tender reveries with tempo-shifting art rock workouts. It’s their best work yet.

More: $20; July 12, 7:30 p.m.; The Underground, 820 Hamilton St.; tinyurl.com/TheUndergroundCLT

TUE7/12

MUSIC FEATURE

A page from the ‘Journals’

HIS REAL NAME FLLS pulls the mask back with new album

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BY RYAN PITKIN

When rapper and producer Lavonte “FLLS” Hines leads a class on music and video production for local after-school organization Kr8tive U this summer, he’ll be teaching kids about more than the technical aspects of the job.

The real message will be about teamwork.

“A lot of people don’t know that, in the music studio, there is a team of people, you know what I’m saying? Like, everybody adds their little piece to the puzzle to make a project,” he told me during a recent sit-down at Optimist Hall.

“I’m teaching them how to be a team, how to build and create as a team. You’re only going to see the star because that’s who the team pushes for, but behind the scenes, you got four or five, sometimes 10 people doing their part to make this all work.

Because if you push this person, like, this person hits the jackpot and it trickles down, then we all hit the jackpot.”

FLLS knows the value of teamwork. He is part of a creative family — a dysfunctional family, as he calls it — made up of Charlotte musicians and artists who are constantly pushing each other to be better.

In March 2021, that collective of vocalists, producers and visual artists put out an album titled The Hovis House, named for Hines’ home where the group hangs out and records much of their music.

The project included production from FLLS, Simon SMTHNG, and CJ Chat; lyrics from Jah-Monte Ogbon, Autumn Rainwater, Cuzo Key, DARKMASTER and Jay Pluss; and graphic design from Josh Henderson.

Each of these artists has built an impressive resume in Charlotte’s music and arts scene with their own solo efforts, but the release of Hovis House highlighted just how well these longtime friends play off each other, with raw, ferocious lyrics that fit like needles in the grooves of boom-bap beats — reminiscent of a style that is so rarely pushed or celebrated in today’s mainstream circles.

Now, with the release of Lavonte Is My Real Name, a debut full-length album that FLLS dropped on May 1, Hines is breaking out on his own and looking inward, sharing personal life stories while

at the same time ratcheting up the gritty, hardcore style that local rappers like Jah-Monte and Cuzo Key have done so well with.

That why it’s true to his nature that, even in a solo effort, Hines would never say he did it alone.

In fact, his friends in the Hovis House crew are the ones who pushed him to transition from producer to rapper in recent years.

“They’re always supportive, you know what I’m saying?” he said. “Even when I don’t have anything coming out, they just keep asking me, am I making new stuff, ‘Let me hear something,’ so I’m like, ‘Okay.’”

Now everybody has the chance to hear something.

LAVONTE ‘FLLS’ HINES

On Lavonte Is My Real Name, which Hines has been working on since before COVID-19 struck, the rapper shares pieces of himself that could never be expressed through beats and production. In songs like “Journals” and “Blood & Oil,” he directly addresses family drama he has gone through over the past few years — and he’s not afraid to name names.

“It so happened that, during COVID, a lot of things were happening around me and with my family and I was just like, I just needed an outlet.

I was like, ‘Why not just put it in the music?’” he explained. “I was nervous about it, but then I was just like, ‘Why would I be nervous if I’m just telling people what’s really going on?’”

The process was therapeutic. Hines, who is now 30, has long had a strained relationship with his mother, who became pregnant at 19 and had him when she was 20. He said addressing those issues through his music has helped him put things into perspective.

“She’s a young parent, you know what I’m saying? Sometimes I felt resentment, but I’m pretty sure nobody want to just get pregnant when they’re

19 and have a baby when they’re 20,” he said.

“And that’s what I’ve started to understand now. I used to be angry about it, but then I was just like, I’m 30 now and I look back when I was 20 like, damn, I was irresponsible. I couldn’t have had kids. I would have gone crazy.”

While the first half of the project gets personal, he slowly starts to pull back the focus with storytelling tracks about his recent regular trips to New York City with Jah-Monte, then goes into his comfort zone with hardcore tracks like “No Lies,” just 1 minute and 37 seconds of straight verses over a spaced-out beat.

Hines was purposeful about how he put the album together, finding it important to share those personal stories but careful not to lose the folks who showed up for the gritty hip-hop they’ve come to expect from him.

“It’s just like when you have a deep conversation with your friends and you’re like, ‘Alright, enough of that soft shit, let’s fucking wild out,’” he said, laughing. “So that’s what I wanted to feel like; I wanted it to feel like an intimate conversation, and then we just like, ‘Alright, yeah, let’s get back to it,’ because I didn’t want to make it all like that [beginning half], because I didn’t want people to be like, ‘Ah man, this is a sad album.’”

PHOTO COURTESY OF FLLS

MUSIC FEATURE In and out of Charlotte

As noted in tracks like “A Day in BK” and “A Different Year (Out in NY),” Hines has been spending more time out of the state in recent years, following the lead of his longtime friend Jah-Monte Ogbon, whom he calls his biggest musical inspiration.

In March, he traveled to Portland, Maine, with fellow Charlotte rappers Railz the Principle, ReeCee Raps, LS and Phaze Gawd. He laughed while discussing how these trips have gotten him more attention in Charlotte than the gigs he plays in the Queen City.

“It’s done things for me just being here hasn’t done,” he said. “I don’t know, I guess it’s that Charlotte thing. Like when people see you going

places, that’s when they start to look.”

Still, there’s no love quite like hometown love.

When we met in late June, Hines was still psyched about the experience of his album release party at Petra’s on April 30. He was surprised that Petra’s owner Perry Fowler, a musician himself who performs as one half of popular folk duo Sinners & Saints, gave him the full amount made from the door that night.

He’s hopeful support from folks like Fowler will help shed Charlotte’s reputation as a city that’s not supportive of its hip-hop artists.

Then there’s the unbreakable Hovis House collective, which will always be a reason for FLLS to stay close to the city where he grew up. I checked in with a couple members of the crew while working on this story to get their thoughts on working with FLLS over the years.

JULY 2022 WED, JUN 29

NICK POULIN + OH JEREMIAH THUR, JUN 30

SUPPER CLUB

W/LANGDON BELFRY FRI, JUL 1

DAJULYN

W/ ANELLA HERIM AND JXHINES

FALLING THROUGH APRIL W/ MARIGOLD THIEVES S A T, J U L 2

W/ WILL STEWART WED, JUL 6

TOSCO MUSIC OPEN MIC eveningmuse.com

COLE CHANEY & JUSTIN WELLS

FRI, JUL 8

XOXOK AND SAINT FLOYD LEILANI KILGORE S A T, J U L 9

BEN DE LA COUR AND THE BIG LONESOM MON, JUL 11

FIND YOUR MUSE

FEAT. SUZIE BROWN & SCOT SAX TUE, JUL 12

SAVANNAH CONLEY W/ SECONDHAND SOUND

3 3 2 7 n d av i d s o n s t, c h a r l o t t e n c

PHOTO COURTESY OF FLLS

Cuzo Key said he’s been working with FLLS for six to seven years and at this point it “feels like home” when the two link up.

“Working with FLLS is a breeze,” he said. “His understanding for music is unmatched.”

Mariah Scott, an integral part of the Hovis House crew who served as project manager for the album, coordinating recordings and making sure it all got put together the right way, has known Hines since 6th grade, she said.

In fact, Hines credits Scott with introducing him to many of the players in Charlotte’s hip-hop scene whom he would later work with.

“Once [FLLS] began to make music as a producer and rapper he just continued to outdo himself in his craft,” Scott told me. “Lavonte is a student to music.

He’s one of the hardest working musicians I know.

He literally eats, sleeps, and breathes music every day.

“Like many producers, I don’t think folks anticipated taking him serious as a rapper due to his animated personality,” she continued. “But when you sit and look at him and his ability to tap into numerous styles and genres, you can’t help but appreciate and respect that he is an all-around incredible creative.”

Lastly, there’s the responsibility Hines feels toward the broader Charlotte community. His upcoming Kr8tive U classes won’t be his only projects that involving serving the youth. In 2019, local artist Janelle Dunlap brought Hines on to teach a class at the Beatties Ford Road library as part of her RCLM 37 project, in partnership with Johnson C. Smith University.

Teaching children on the Historic West End, right near where he grew up, was a meaningful experience for Hines.

“For me, to see kids walking in from around the corner where I used to stay maybe 20 years ago, I was just like, damn. I’m hoping that I can help these kids’ lives in a way that I didn’t have, because I didn’t have people around like that. There weren’t those programs around. So I felt like I just did the best I could to keep them entertained and interested …

I just like to see kids learning and doing something different.”

Family can mean a few different things, but for Hines, it all comes down to teamwork.

RPITKIN@QCNERVE.COM

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PONY BRADSHAW

THUR, JUL 7

LAVONTE ‘FLLS’ HINES

SATURDAY, JULY 9 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening (Ovens Auditorium) Valient Thorr w/ Savage Master, Early Moods, Spite House (The Milestone) Ogres w/ Dendrons, Hipgnostic,ThatGuySmitty (Snug Harbor)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Cody Webb (Coyote Joe’s) Nick Poulin w/ Oh Jeremiah (Evening Muse)

THURSDAY, JUNE 30 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Supper Club w/ Langdon Belfry (Evening Muse) Train (PNC Music Pavilion)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

The Brothers Gillespie w/ The Golden Lancers, Red Dress Amy (Snug Harbor)

JAZZ/BLUES

Air Apparent (Middle C Jazz) The DJaM Collective (Petra’s)

FRIDAY, JULY 1 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Falling Through April w/ Marigold Thieves (Evening Muse) Des Rocs w/ The Blue Stones (The Underground) Chicago w/ Brian Wilson, Al Jardine, Blondie Chaplin (PNC Music Pavilion) Wine Pride w/ Dreamboat, Spirit System (Snug Harbor) Bog Loaf w/ The Body Bags, Kilberth (Tommy’s Pub)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B

Dajulyn w/ Anella Herim, JxHines (Evening Muse) Of Me I Sing feat. 6 Cardinal, Top Achiever, Okapi, DJ Fat Keith Richards (Petra’s)

JAZZ/BLUES

Terence Young (Middle C Jazz)

ACOUSTIC/SINGER-SONGWRITER Pg. 14 JUNE 29 - JULY 12, 2022 - QCNERVE.COM

Matt Bush (Primal Brewery)

SATURDAY, JULY 2 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

For Your Health w/ ASkySoBlack (The Milestone) Oh You Pretty Things w/ Annie Dukes, Magic Candy (Petra’s) Chew w/ Night Battles, Clout Chaser (Snug Harbor) Mercury Dimes w/ Anchor Detail, Stop Talking, Motel Portrait (Tommy’s Pub)

JAZZ/BLUES

Shelley Ruffin (Middle C Jazz)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Pony Bradshaw w/ Will Stewart (Evening Muse)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

Road To Sound Haven feat. Zen Selekta, Saligia, Joneses, Soakk, & Trinity Justice (Crown Station) Purity Ring (The Fillmore) Base Industry presents SOLE FOOD (SERJ)

ACOUSTIC/SINGER-SONGWRITER Neal Carter (Primal Brewery)

CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL

Charlotte Symphony: The Music of The Rolling Stones (Belk Theater)

JAM BANDS/FUNK

Mike D & the Rhythm Kings (Primal Brewery)

SUNDAY, JULY 3 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

5 Seconds of Summer (CMCU Amphitheatre) Fantomex w/ Zillicoah, Pretty Baby, Telepathetics (The Milestone)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

Release the Pressure (Crown Station) Hazy Sunday (Petra’s)

SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC

Sober Sunday Singer/Songwriter Showcase feat. David Childers, Carrie Ann, Keegan Federal (Tommy’s Pub)

MONDAY, JULY 4 JAZZ/BLUES

Conn/David Jazz Duo (Crown Station) The Bill Hanna Legacy Jazz Session (Petra’s)

TUESDAY, JULY 5 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Clearbody w/ Bliss Fields, Velvet Graves (The Milestone)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

Cosmic Jam Session (Crown Station)

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Good Sleepy w/ Aaron Lawrence (The Milestone) Petrov w/ Monsoon, Wild Trees (Snug Harbor)

OPEN MIC

Tosco Music Open Mic (Evening Muse)

THURSDAY, JULY 7 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Batty w/ Physical Digital, True Lilith, Normal State (The Milestone) Shana Blake’s Musican Menagerie (Smokey Joe’s) Neighbor Lady w/ Modern Moxie (Snug Harbor)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Cole Chaney w/ Justin Wells (Evening Muse) Lost Dog Street Band w/Willi Carlisle (NeighborhoodTheatre)

JAZZ/BLUES

JD Jones (Middle C Jazz)

OPEN MIC

Open Mic Night w/ Chase & Aleeia “Sug” Bolton Brown (Tommy’s Pub)

Conrad Harvey & Friends (Evening Muse) SomethingWentWrongw/GogoPilot,FlameTides(TheMilestone) Donnie Doolittle w/ Juinior Astronomers, Acne (Neighborhood Theatre) Third Eye (Tool tribute) (Amos’ Southend) Zack Harris w/ Tywan Bell, Dumpster Service, MoonLyfe, JB Samson (Tommy’s Pub) Love It To Death (Alice Cooper tribute) w/ Occult Fracture (Visulite Theatre)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Ben de la Cour w/ The Big Lonesome (The Evening Muse)

JAZZ/BLUES

Jeff Tain Watts (Stage Door Theater) Girls in Gowns feat. Tracy Hamlin, Karen Briggs (Middle C Jazz)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

Cosmic Colletive w/ Afrobeta, Yugo, DJ Booty & The Hoefish (Snug Harbor)

ACOUSTIC/SINGER-SONGWRITER Matt Stratford (Primal Brewery)

FAMILY/CHILDREN

LATIN/REGGAE/WORLD

FRIDAY, JULY 8

SUNDAY, JULY 10

iParty w/ DJ Matt Bennet: Disney and Nick Hits (The Underground)

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

The Stews w/ New Creatures, Late Notice (Amos’ Southend) Leilani Kilgore (Evening Muse) In a Daydream (The Milestone) Dorian Gris w/ La Brava, Bergenline (Petra’s) Old Heavy Hands w/ Featherpocket, Brother Hawk (Snug Harbor) Wombat Junction w/ Middleasia, Aluminum Six (Tommy’s Pub)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA

Whiskey Myers (CMCU Amphitheatre)

HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B

XOXOK w/ Saint Floyd (Evening Muse)

JAZZ/BLUES

Jeff Tain Watts (Stage Door Theater) Girls in Gowns feat. Tracy Hamlin, Karen Briggs (Middle C Jazz)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

DJ Fannie Mae presents SAINTED (The Underground) ZUBAH & $KRILLA (SERJ)

SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Claiborne Williams (Primal Brewery)

FUNK/JAM BANDS

The Goodnight Brothers (Smokey Joe’s Cafe & Bar)

VOCAL

Harmony Homecoming: Champion Barbershop Quartets (Belk Theater)

El Gran Combo (Ovens Auditorium) Carlota Cafe w/ MoFunGo, Coma (Petra’s)

ROCK/PUNK/METAL

Billy Howerdel (The Underground) Ectovoid w/ Nighthag, Krvsade (The Milestone) Free Drinks w/ Strumbrush, Latepost, The Violet Exploit (Skylark Social Lounge) Betty White Bronco w/ Leisure McCorkle (Tommy’s Pub)

JAZZ/BLUES

Good Shot Judy presents: A Salue to Swing (Middle C Jazz)

MONDAY, JULY 11 JAZZ/BLUES

Conn/David Jazz Duo (Crown Station) The Bill Hanna Legacy Jazz Session (Petra’s)

OPEN MIC

Find Your Muse feat. Suzie Brown & Scot Sax (Evening Muse)

TUESDAY, JULY 12 ROCK/PUNK/METAL

The Wrecks w/ Girlhouse, Mothe (The Underground)

POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ

Cosmic Jam Session (Crown Station) New Kids on the Block (Spectrum Center)

JAZZ/BLUES

Alfred Sergel IVtet (Petra’s)

COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Savannah Conley w/ Secondhand Sound (Evening Muse) VISIT QCNERVE.COM FOR THE FULL SOUNDWAVE LISTING.

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FOOD & DRINK FEATURE

going to school for another four years to ultimately “I got stung a lot more in that first year than I work in a lab writing research papers. Dropping out have in later years,” Orders says. “Bee people get of college, Orders was at loose ends until he started stung on average every other day. Every job has doing volunteer work at Discovery Place Nature. It parts of it that suck.” was there that he first saw inside a hive, and his In that first year, Orders made plenty of mistakes, mind was blown. like mixing bees from one hive with another.

“They’re used to one queen,” he says. “If you mix “It rooted [me] in the things that made me happy as a kid,” Orders says. [a queen] with another hive, they’re going to kill One month later, he bought his first hive. Orders that queen.” He also tried to do quick tasks without credits the advice and help he received from local wearing any protective equipment, only to be stung beekeepers, in particular the person who sold for not doing his tasks calmly.

BY PAT MORAN him the hive, Tommy Helms of Helms Apiary, who Honeybees die when they sting you, Orders is now the president of the Mecklenburg County explains. That stinger, however, has a life of its own.

Beekeepers Association. From the start, Orders was Once released from the body of the bee, the stinger Justin Orders has been into bugs for as long as have them. They’re incredibly important to our entranced with his new hobby. He also had no idea digs deeper into your skin, depositing more and he can remember. While other kids got into video agricultural system.” more poison from its venom sac. The remedy is to what he was doing. games or basketball, he was in his backyard, flipping The problem, as Orders sees it, is that people over rocks and seeing what scurried beneath. One interested in beekeeping often don’t know where to day, Orders’ dad found a hornet and showed it to his start, or can’t afford the significant costs of keeping son. Orders’ immediate reaction was to touch the bees. Others like to host hives on their property but insect, and sure enough, he got stung. can’t handle the backbreaking work that goes into “Other kids that young would have been maintaining them. traumatized,” Orders says, but the sting spurred his With the Hive Host program, people can skip curiosity about backyard creatures we encounter the work and still get the benefits of beekeeping often but rarely understand, particularly honeybees. — pollinators at work in their yard, a buzzing “A lot of people are a little bit afraid of insects,” conversation piece to show off to friends and Orders offers. “Whatever that is that’s innate in other neighbors and, of course, the honey. people — I don’t have it.”

“At the end of the year, no matter how much By the time he reached his late twenties, honey your bees collect, I will bottle and give to Orders had funneled his boyhood combination you for you to distribute or use however you want of fearlessness and fascination into bees and — maybe put your own label on it,” Orders says. In beekeeping. He launched Queen’s Orders Honey, addition, customers can also learn to work the hives LLC, a local apiary, in 2020, and while he sells his alongside Orders. He says he’s delighted to mentor local honey at area farmers markets, he says that’s others in the trade, just as others mentored him not why he’s in the field. when he started out.

“I didn’t get into beekeeping for the honey “So long as they get a [protective] suit and game,” says Orders, now 30 years old. have the willingness to come out and watch me Instead, he wanted to help save the honeybees whenever I do inspections, we’ll get them warmed from climate and environmental pressures, while up to the process where they can keep bees by learning more about the fascinating insects and themselves,” Orders says. sharing his discoveries with others. To that end, the North Carolina certified beekeeper’s business From bug boy to hive splitter provides services like swarm removal and events Growing up in Charlotte, Orders would often try like hive tours, school demos and educational to scare his sister by threatening to put spiders in presentations. Most important, Queen’s Orders her bed.

Honey offers its innovative Hive Host program, “I never did that,” he says, “but she definitely allowing residents around Charlotte with no believed me.” experience to do their part in helping save the bees.

Soon, however, Orders elevated his passion Under the program, a customer can purchase beyond teasing siblings. He hoped to attend North up to three bee hives for their yard. Then in the Carolina State University in Raleigh to major in spring and throughout the summer, Orders comes entomology, but those plans didn’t work out. by to do weekly hive upkeep. During the fall, hive Instead, Orders attended the University of North maintenance is done on a biweekly basis.

Carolina at Charlotte to study biology.

“I don’t want to be the one that has all the bees,” PHOTO BY KANDICE JONES It wasn’t a good fit. Orders didn’t like the idea of JUSTIN ORDERS SHOWS OFF ONE OF HIS BEE HIVES. Orders says. “I want as many people as possible to

CATCH THE BUZZ

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Justin Orders brings beekeeping to the public

FOOD & DRINK FEATURE

A sweet business

After a year of near catastrophes that almost cost him his hives, Orders decided to get more education in his chosen field. That winter, he attended bee school held by the local chapter of the Mecklenburg County Beekeepers Association and became a certified beekeeper. Orders praises the 500-plus strong association whose membership ranges from hobbyists with only a few hives to commercial honey producers with thousands of hives.

The organization carries on a grand tradition of human endeavor. Prehistoric farmers started collecting honey and other bee products 9,000 years ago in what is now Turkey. Honeycombs and swarms of bees can be seen depicted in neolithic cave paintings.

Orders is so appreciative of what the organization has done for him that he has frequently served as a mentor to his fellow bee school graduates.

Over the course of 2019, Orders turned his two hives into six. One of those hives was populated by a swarm Orders captured from a tree limb. By the end of 2020, he had a total of 12 hives in his backyard apiary in his Charlotte house near the Whitewater Center. The hives yielded 250 pounds of honey.

That was the first year Orders sold honey. With a speed that surprised him, he sold all his stock to friends and from his doorstep, with no more advertising than a handmade ‘Honey for Sale’ sign in his yard.

Going into the 2021 season, Orders had over 20 hives based on splits and catching other people’s swarms. He then produced 600 pounds of honey, which he was able to sell once again from his doorstep and to friends and family. That year he tested the commercial waters at his first farmers market in University City.

HONEYBEE HIVES

At that point, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, job security was growing less stable.

Orders was employed as a veterinary technician, but he could see the employment market contracting.

“In early 2021, I quit my job as a vet tech … and started my own business, Queen’s Orders Honey, LLC,” Orders says. “I haven’t looked back since.”

In April 2022, Orders moved to his current house in Huntersville, relocating much of his apiary.

There are still a few hives remaining at his original Charlotte location.

Orders currently sells honey at the Kannapolis Farmers Market every Thursday and the Huntersville Growers’ Market on Tuesdays. He will be at the South End Farmers Market on July 16 and the Homegrown Tomato Festival on the Central Piedmont Community College campus in Uptown on July 23.

“The honey sells well, but that’s not all I do,” Orders says.

He points to other services his company offers, and takes great pleasure in giving presentations, particularly in-person events. He has presented at schools, mainly elementary schools, and at gardening programs. On a recent Friday afternoon, Orders gave a backyard presentation for a group of people at a friend’s home.

“I love talking about bees,” he says. “It never gets old.” He gives apiary tours when people come to pick up honey from his home, and as a yoga instructor, he started studying the feasibility of doing yoga classes by the apiary.

“Instead of yoga with goats this would be yoga with bees,” he says.

The Hive Host Program, launched in 2021, is the

PHOTO BY KANDICE JONES

service that Orders seems most proud of, perhaps because it gives nascent beekeepers a chance to experience what can be a prohibitively expensive hobby or career. “[Beekeeping] is expensive upfront, and if you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re probably going to end up spending even more,” Orders says. “A lot of people I’ve mentored through bee school call me and say, ‘I can’t keep the bees anymore. I’m selling them off.’”

While Orders keeps an eye on expenses, his business is as much about passion as it is about profit. When it comes to honeybees and their importance to humanity, he’s a man on a mission “Honeybees make a third of the food that you’re going to eat for any given meal,” Orders says. “They make that by being able to pollinate. I don’t think we have the technology to manually pollinate thousands of flowers every day.”

He hasn’t lost his boyhood fascination for insects either, calling honeybees unique among the insect world.

“Just being surrounded by [bees] is almost therapy,” Orders says. “You get a glimpse into something that’s so unlike what we normally see in our day to day experience. It’s eye-opening, enlightening and a little bit scary.”

“Every time I go out to my hives I learn something new; I see something new,” he says. “I get to do what I’ve loved ever since I was a kid — playing with bugs.”

PMORAN@QCNERVE.COM

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pluck the stinger out as soon as possible.

“Having it [dig] in there a couple seconds is way better than a whole minute or two,” he says.

Orders soon learned to divert a stinging swarm with smoke. Smoke masks the pheromones bees release when they sting. “[The] pheromone smells a lot like bananas,” Orders says. “I can smell it through my veil.”

The pheromone lets other bees know that a person is a threat, and to sting them specifically in the spot where the pheromone has marked them.

With enough smoke dispersed near the strike zone, bees can no longer smell the pheromone.

Contrary to popular belief, however, smoke does not calm a hive. Rather, it puts aggressive bees into a panic that the hive is on fire. They become less preoccupied with stinging an inexperienced beekeeper, and more on filling their honey stomachs, a spherical organ in their abdomens that stores food, with honey.

“They [think] they have to leave because the hive is on fire,” Orders explains. “They fill their stomachs with honey to take to a new location.”

That said, Orders uses smoke near his body, rather than close to the hive. Too much smoke can damage a bee’s breathing, so he uses it sparingly.

Bees don’t so much as make honey, Orders says, as they forage it. Worker bees extract nectar from flowers, storing it in their honey stomachs. They bring it back to the hive and put it into the comb.

Comb is a wax they secrete from their wax glands, which is basically concrete for the hive.

As nectar grows scarce later in the season, bees become opportunistic foragers. They can get “nectar” from a half-empty soda on the street, or a Snickers bar. Orders says he’s been called to remove a swarm from a trash can. Bees can travel up to two miles for food, and in its lifetime, a worker bee might only extract 1/12 teaspoon of honey.

Despite stormy and cold weather — Hurricane Florence caused flooding throughout the state, and Orders remembers an especially brutal winter snowfall — his hive not only survived, but multiplied. The bees did not die from the cold, and Orders was able to acquire a second hive through splitting the first one.

Splitting, Orders explains, is a way of directing a queen bee’s innate instinct to swarm. Usually, swarming results when the queen decides the hive has grown too crowded. She then lays an egg. As the egg becomes larval and starts to pupate, the worker bees start feeding the pupa a white milky substance

they produce called royal jelly. As the pupa eats the royal jelly she develops into a queen.

“The old queen … will need to get out of there, or else she’s going to have to fight that other queen, [or] the bees will kill the weaker of the queens,” Orders says. When the old queen leaves, some of the bees will leave with her, but instead of letting the bees swarm up into a tree, a beekeeper will divert the queen and worker bees into another hive.

“I’ll take a third to maybe half of the bees with the queen that wants to swarm, and put her into a box, and move it a little way from the [old] hive,” Orders says. “It gives her the presentation that she has swarmed, even though she hasn’t flown anywhere. Now, all the bees are happy. They feel like they’re in a new spot.”

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LIFESTYLE PUZZLES

LIFESTYLE PUZZLES

TRIVIA TEST

BY FIFI RODRIGUEZ

1. GEOGRAPHY: What is the capital of Sweden?

SUDOKU

BY LINDA THISTLE 2. HISTORY: What was the whole name of the nation once called U.S.S.R.?

3. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: When did July 4 become a federal holiday?

4. FOOD & DRINK: Which fruit is used to make the cocktail mixer grenadine?

5. U.S. STATES: In which state is Niagara Falls located?

6. ANIMAL KINGDOM: Which is the only mammal that can fly?

7. U.S. PRESIDENTS: Which two presidents died within hours of each other on July 4 -- the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence?

8. TELEVISION: What was Beaver’s real first name on the “Leave It to Beaver” sitcom?

9. LITERATURE: Which 1977 horror PLACE A NUMBER IN THE EMPTY BOXES IN SUCH A WAY THAT EACH ROW novel features a hotel called The ACROSS, EACH COLUMN DOWN AND EACH SMALL 9-BOX SQUARE CONTAINS Overlook?

ALL OF THE NUMBERS ONE TO NINE. 10. MOVIES: Which 1967 movie ©2022 King Feautres Syndicate, Inc. All rights reserved. tagline is, “They’re young ... they’re in love ... and they kill people”?

CROSSWORD

WWW.CANVASTATTOOS.COM

2019 2020 2021

THREE-TO-FIVE FIRST NAMES

©2022 King Feautres Syndicate, Inc. All rights reserved.

Pg. 19 JUNE 29 - JULY 12, 2022 - QCNERVE.COM

(980) 299-2588 3012 N. DAVIDSON STREET VOTED BEST TATTOO SHOP 2918 N. DAVIDSON STREET CHARLOTTE, NC 28205

LIFESTYLE COLUMN

AERIN IT OUT

A HOT MESS

My first visit to Bazal ends in the bathroom

Pg. 20 JUNE 29 - JULY 12, 2022 - QCNERVE.COM

BY AERIN SPRUILL

“God it’s hot,” I thought to myself as I plopped down in a vacant bathroom stall. Weary and worn down from standing in a 45-minute line, I slowly leaned to one side to pull a couple of thin squares of toilet paper off a roll.

I dabbed the sweat from my brow and ‘stache and let out a deep sigh. I looked down at my heeled feet, ankles buckled outward in a sad attempt to take the pressure off my tired soles.

At this point, I could flush and return to the girls.

Instead, I reached for my Red Bull Vodka, a cocktail I’d sworn off three years ago. Normally, taking a drink in the bathroom would be a faux pas, but this time it was intentional.

For one, the humidity and stickiness had followed us into the two-story venue, so your girl was parched.

For two, there was nowhere to sit except for the corner of a bench that could hold a single buttcheek (which I knowingly forfeited the moment I went to the bathroom).

And three, I wanted to drink every penny in solitude with only the faint sound of the bass in the background. So there I sat, casually drinking my RBV on a toilet texting my girlfriend, “Girl. I am at a f*cking club rn.”

Record scratch, *freeze frame*, and an omniscient version of myself narrates, “Yep, that’s me. You’re probably wondering how I got here. Well, so am I.” Four days prior, I’m minding my business at the office and one of my coworkers saunters over and leans against the supply credenza behind me seeking respite from her desk. Every now and again, a little office fellowshipping can get the creative juices flowing. My teammate scooched back in her chair and I swung mine around to create a triangle perfect for a quick touch base.

Before long, we were on the topic of upcoming weekend plans. That’s when the seed of chaos was planted. One of the girls mentioned that Saturday was the grand opening of Bazal, the new kid on the nightlife block in the AvidXchange Music Factory cul-de-sac. Positioned as an upscale/elevated art gallery and nightclub, the 32-year-old dive bar lover in me cringed, but a looming column deadline was titillated by the itch for something new.

“Buh-Zawl, Bay-Zil, Ba-Zil. However you pronounce it,” I overheard someone say, may be new, but images and videos capturing the grandeur entryway with a seemingly angelic ceiling mural that conjures a Michelangelo Sistine Chapel vibe begging you to look up is no stranger.

Contrast the modern gallery feel with images of the dark, moody, and a Beetlejuice-like aesthetic and you have a raised eyebrow of intrigue. I knew without a doubt that Bazal would be bizarre.

My boyfriend inquired, “Are you not going to take flats?” But really he wasn’t asking it as a question, more a suggestion and response to my complaining about the perceived threat of standing in line for an extended time.

I buckled my seatbelt, chuckled, and said adamantly, “I hate people who do that.”

As I stood at the top of the cul-de-sac, looking at where Butter and Club One (previous 950 North Carolina Music Factory tenants) once stood and I remembered why I stopped going to the club in the first place. Two somewhat distinct lines ascended both stairwells, growing exponentially with every second that passed.

I joined one in the hopes that my $20 VIP ticket would expedite my wait time. I was wrong and immediately I thought about those fold-up purse flats just chilling at CVS. “You ready for my quote?” One of my coworkers who’d joined me in line asked with a tinge of frustration in her voice. She continued, “Pretty girls shouldn’t stand outside for a long time.” We laughed, but they were the kind of laughs that imply agreement so deep that we would be easily convinced to leave at any second. And also the kind of perpetually tired, now annoyed, and quite humid laugh that could turn into an entire scene.

“I hate everyone up there,” someone in line whispered to her girlfriend, referring to the super VIPs taking pics on a red carpet in front of a logoed backdrop, smiling faces waving down at friends in line teasing them with their “fast passes” and minimal schvitz. I looked down at my feet trying to decide if I should go barefoot now or later and, at that moment, I think I was hatin’, too.

When we finally walked through the doors, I’d hoped for a gust of icy AC to slap my edges and attitude back into place. Or that the awe-inducing gallery art would send a chill down my warm spine. I found no such solace. The Vegas-style resort, casino, and a magic show allure faded, tainted by my urge to go to the bathroom, chug my drink, and leave.

On a different night and in a different outfit though, Bazal, we may just have been two peas in a pod.

INFO@QCNERVE.COM

LIFESTYLE

JUNE 29 - JULY 5

HOROSCOPE BORN THIS WEEK: You are sensitive to matters

that involve your home and family. You would make a fine family-court judge or social worker.

JULY 6 - 12

2022 KING FEATURES SYND., INC.

BORN THIS WEEK: You love to travel and be

with people. You probably would be happy as a social director on a cruise ship.

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) Be prepared to face LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) Your some challenges stirred up by an envious colleague. understanding helps a colleague get through a Your best defense is the Arian’s innate honesty. Stick difficult period. Although you didn’t do it for a with the truth, and you’ll come out ahead. reward, be assured that your actions will be repaid down the line.

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) You clever Ewes and LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) You might Rams love nothing more than to rise to a challenge. well feel uneasy as you face a difficult situation So, by all means, if you feel sure about your facts, involving someone close to you. But you know you’re step right up and defend your side of the issue. doing the right thing, so stick with your decision.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Your sensitivity to the needs of others is admirable. But be careful SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) You to avoid those who would take unfair advantage score some high marks in the workplace, which of your good nature, especially where money is will count in your favor when you face the involved. possibility of changing direction on your current career path.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) You’ve done some SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) You’re great work recently. Now it’s time to reward yourself a good friend to others. Now is the time to allow with something wonderful, perhaps a day at a spa or them to be good friends to you. Rely on their trusted a night out with someone very special. advice to help you get through an uncertain period.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) Having an optimistic

attitude is fine, as far as it goes. But don’t be lulled SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) into a false sense of confidence. There still are Your goal lies straight ahead. Stay focused on it problems to deal with before you can totally relax. and avoid distractions that could throw off your aim and cause potentially detrimental delays.

CANCER

(June 21 to July 22) You might feel somewhat “crabby,” as you fuss over plans that don’t CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) seem to work out. Maybe you’re trying too hard. Ease Keep that burst of exuberance in check and resist up and let things happen without forcing them. pushing through your new project before it’s ready. In your personal life, a family member again LEO (July 23 to August 22) Heed that keen Leonine needs help.

instinct. It’s trying to tell you to delay making a decision until you’re sure there are no hidden AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) Paying problems that could cause trouble later on. attention to your work is important this week. But so are your relationships with those special people VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) This is a good in your life. Make time for them as well. time to reach out to those who might be nursing hurt feelings over recent events. Best advice: Ignore PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Good news. any pettiness that could delay the healing process. Someone is about to repay a long-standing debt.

But be warned. That same someone could try to charm you into lending it back unless you say no and mean it.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) You love to talk, but don’t forget to make time to do a little more listening, otherwise you could miss out on an important message someone might be trying to send you.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) Family and friends are always important, but especially so at this time. Despite your hectic workplace schedule, make a real effort to include them in your life.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Your aspect indicates CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) That

some uncertainty about one of your goals. Use this project you’ve been working on is almost ready for period of shifting attitudes to reassess what you presentation. But you still need some information really want and what you’re ready to do to get it. from a colleague before you can consider it done.

LEO (July 23 to August 22) Your social life is picking AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) Don’t

up, and you’ll soon be mingling with old friends and let those negative attitudes that have sprung up making new ones. But ‘twixt the fun times, stay on around you drain your energies. Shrug them off, and top of changing workplace conditions. move ahead with the confidence that you can get the job done.

VIRGO (August 23 September 22) A trusted friend

offers understanding as you vent some long-pent- PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Aspects favor up feelings. Now, move on from there and start some dedicated fun time for the hardworking making the changes you’ve put off all this time.

Piscean. A nice, refreshing plunge into the social swim can recharge your physical and emotional batteries.

Pg. 21 JUNE 29 - JULY 12, 2022 - QCNERVE.COM

PUZZLE ANSWERS

1. Stockholm 2. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 3. 1870 4. Pomegranate 5. New York

Trivia Answers

6. Bats 7. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams 8. Theodore 9. “The Shining” 10. “Bonnie and Clyde”

LIFESTYLE COLUMN

type of dopamine receptor helps create a bond and the other type inhibits. Unbonded individuals have more of the bonding type of dopamine receptors. After bonding, the inhibitory receptor become more prominent, thus inhibiting a new bond.”

Which means, CCN, it’s safe for you to have sex with other men — with or without your partner present — so long as you still feeling bonded to your primary partner, who may or may not be a cuck. (I mean “safe” in the unlikely-to-catch-feelings-for-someone else sense, not “safe” in the minimized-risk-of-STI-transmission sense.)

There is, however, one important caveat…

“This may not work 100% of the time,” said Dr. Young.

BY DAN SAVAGE “If the bond to the first partner has faded, this reader’s experience may not be shared by everyone.”

A note from Dan: We knew this was coming, thanks to hormone.” I’ve always heard that when a woman To learn more about Dr. Young’s research, go to the SCOTUS Leaker, but that didn’t make last week’s news has sex, her body produces oxytocin, a hormone larryjyoung.com. any less devastating. (Who’s the leaker? My money’s on that causes her to emotionally attach to her sex Ginni.) So, what can we do now? We can march, we can partner. That has certainly been true for me in I’m a dude. A woman friend of mine in an open donate, and we can vote like the Right has been voting the past. But with this most recent fuck, I didn’t marriage recently told me that a male friend of for 50 years, i.e., we can vote like judicial appointments feel any emotional attachment at all! I’ve never ours greets her by kissing her on the cheek. This matter. But if you want to do something right now that will had casual sex like this before, so I’m wondering if is something he only does with her. She feels piss off the people out there celebrating Dobbs, consider the “bonding hormone” only releases when you’re this happens because she’s physically intimate making a donation to the National Network of Abortion seeking an emotional attachment to a sex partner. with someone in our friend group, who’s not her Funds. Actually, don’t just consider making a donation, do Or did I fail to bond because my own partner was husband and that therefore my friend sees her as it right now: abortionfunds.org/donate. This is going to be in the room? Honestly, I feel more bonded to my “publicly available.” I’ve personally heard this guy a long fight — and we’re not just in a fight to re-secure partner than ever now! describe this woman friend of mine as “DTF.” I’ve CURIOUS CASUAL NEWBIE a woman’s right to control her own body, we’re in a fight known this guy for years and I just feel bad about to protect all the other rights social conservatives want to the whole thing. The strangest thing is that this For some guys — for some cucks, for some stags — claw back, from the right of opposite-sex couples to use dude is in an open relationship himself and really contraception to the right of same-sex couples to marry watching the girlfriend with another guy is participating. should know better. It seems like he could be a to everyone’s right to enjoy non-PIV sex. (When they say So, the fact that your partner “only” watched isn’t proof lot less hypocritical and a lot more respectful. Do they want to overturn Lawrence v. Texas, which Clarence that allowing you to hook up with another guy was pure you think I should say something? How should I go Thomas said in his concurrence, they’re not just talking altruism on his part. about it? I’ve asked the friend he’s kissing, who is As for your failure to romantically attach to that about re-criminalizing gay sex but re-criminalizing a whole also a big fan of yours by the way, and she wants to lot of straight sex; Lawrence overturned sodomy laws, and vacation rando… be left out of this.

“Oxytocin alone does not create the bond,” said Dr. anything non-PIV meets the legal definition of sodomy.) If BAD AT CREATING CATCHY ACRONYMS you live in a state where abortion became illegal overnight, Larry J. Young. “There are brain mechanisms that can you can find information on self-administered medication inhibit bonding after sex with another individual.”

Let’s say you say something, BACCA, but leave your Dr. Young is a neuroscientist at Emory University, abortion — everything you need to know about M&Ms (mifepristone and misoprostol) — at plancpills.org. - Dan where he has extensively studied hormones and the roles they play in forming partner bonds.

“It’s not correct to think of oxytocin as the ‘bonding My partner and I are a heterosexual couple with a large age gap. He is the older one, and hormone,’ although you will see that frequently in the our sex life is amazing. We’ve been talking media,” said Dr. Young. “Oxytocin amplifies — amplifies about the idea of having me fuck a new guy for in the brain — the face, the smell, the voice of the person about four years. However, because he is older an individual is having sex with, so the brain can really and experienced more casual sex in his young sense those intensively. But it is the interaction of oxytocin adulthood, he felt it was only fair that I got to with dopamine, which creates the intense pleasure of sex, do that as well. (I was in my early 20s when we that causes the bond — that is, the combination of the started our relationship and I’ve only been with pleasure (dopamine) and the senses of the sexual partner two other guys.) At first, I told him I didn’t feel (oxytocin) create a bond with a sexual partner.”

And according to Dr. Young’s fascinating research — like I was missing out on anything but over time, the more we talked about it, the more I realized which focuses on prairie voles — you can safely enjoy I wanted to do this just for fun. And now we just all the pleasure/dopamine you want without fear of got back from a vacation where I found a guy on bonding with some rando, CCN, so long as your bond with a hookup app for a one-time meeting and (safely) your current partner remains strong.

“Once bonded, the pattern of dopamine receptors fucked him while my partner watched. (He’s not a cuck and didn’t participate.) It was just plain fun changes in the brain so that the occasional sex with for all of us! My question is about the “bonding another doesn’t create a new bond,” said Dr. Young. “One

SAVAGE LOVE

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LICENSED AND BONDED Fuck the Supreme Court

woman friend out of it. The kind of guy who thinks a woman in an open relationship is sexually available to all — not just down to fuck, but down to fuck him — is the kind of guy who will interpret any ambiguity in an order to “stop” as license to keep doing exactly what he’s been doing. So, if you can’t tell this guy your mutual friend explicitly told you she 1. wants him to stop and 2. deputized you to tell him to stop, this dude is going to tell himself you were only guessing at how she feels (she doesn’t like this, she doesn’t want him) and that his guess (she likes it, she wants him) is as good a guess as yours.

He may even play a little three-dimensional-pseudomale-feminist chess and accuse you of being the sexist and controlling one — it’s her body, her cheek, you shouldn’t be speaking for her, etc.

To get this guy to stop without saying something to him herself, BACCA, your friend needs to give you the okay to make it abundantly clear that she deputized you to speak on her behalf. (“She asked me to tell you to knock it off, and now I’m telling you. Knock it off. If you don’t believe me, ask her.”) She’ll need to be prepared for the almost inevitable follow-up question (“Have I been making you uncomfortable!”) and the maudlin, selfpitying apologies (“I’m so sorry! I feel terrible!”) and/ or rationalizations (“I was just being friendly!”) that are likely to follow.

And if he ever comes in for a kiss again, she needs to be ready to either use her words (“No. Don’t. Stop.”) and/ or stick her hand out in front of her — not a hand held out for a shake (she doesn’t want him pulling her in for a kiss), but a flat hand that’s going to land on his sternum if he keeps coming toward her, with a stiff arm (lock that elbow!) so he can’t come any closer.

Listen to Dan on the Savage Lovecast; follow Dan on Twitter @FakeDanSavage; find columns, podcasts, books, merch and more at savage.love; send questions to questions@savagelove.net

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