Queen City Nerve - November 3, 2021

VOLUME 3, ISSUE 25; NOVEMBER 3 - NOVEMBER 16; WWW.QCNERVE.COM

ARTS: SENSORY-FRIENDLY THEATRE IN CHARLOTTE PG. 6 FOOD: EDWIN’S ORGANIX KEEPS THINGS FRESH PG. 12

ABC STRUGGLES TO KEEP UP WITH LIQUOR DEMAND IN MECKLENBURG COUNTY

by Ryan Pitkin

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PUBLISHER

NEWS& OPINION ARTS& CULTURE

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

MUSIC

JUSTIN LAFRANCOIS jl afra n co i s @ q cn er ve.com RYAN PITKIN rpitk i n @ q cn e r ve. c om

ART DIRECTOR

JAYME JOHNSON jjo h n s o n @ q cn er ve . com

DIGITAL EDITOR

KARIE SIMMONS ks i mmo n s @ q cn er ve.com

STAFF WRITER

PAT MORAN pm o ra n @ q cn er ve . com

STAFF WRITER

NIKOLAI MATHER n m at h e r @ q cn e r ve.com

4 DRY COUNTY BY RYAN PITKIN ABC struggles to keep up with liquor demand in Mecklenburg County 6 HELPING YOU BE YOU BY PERRY TANNENBAUM Sensory-friendly theatre productions cater to their exceptional crowds 8 LIFELINE: 10 COOL THINGS TO DO IN TWO WEEKS 10 THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS BY PAT MORAN

Singer-songwriter Nia J. brings us down the ‘Rabbit Hole’

11 SOUNDWAVE

12 FOOD& DRINK LIFESTYLE

IN HER MEMORY BY KARIE SIMMONS Edwin Cruz pays homage to his grandmother through Edwin’s Organix

13 PUZZLES 14 THE SEEKER BY KATIE GRANT 14 HOROSCOPE 15 SAVAGE LOVE

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ARTS: SENSORY-FRIENDLY THEATRE IN CHARLOTTE PG. 6 FOOD: EDWIN’S ORGANIX KEEPS THINGS FRESH PG. 12

ABC STRUGGLES TO KEEP UP WITH LIQUOR DEMAND IN MECKLENBURG COUNTY

by Ryan Pitkin

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NEWS & OPINION FEATURE

DRY COUNTY

ABC struggles to keep up with liquor demand in Mecklenburg County

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BY RYAN PITKIN

her the company had run out of glass bottles, leading to supply shortages there.

“Then it kind of just snowballed from there,” she said.

As time progressed, DeLoach found that her weekly orders for liquor from Mecklenburg ABC were becoming less reliable.

According to laws enforced by the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission, DeLoach must order from an assigned ABC store in her county.

Hattie’s is assigned to Store 19 on North Tryon Street.

Since that specific store serves as the warehouse for the county, one would expect it to be one of the more reliably stocked locations. However, as time has gone on, it’s become more rare for her to receive the things she orders.

“If I wanted to place my regular order, I would only get 10% of it,” she told Queen City Nerve.

from Mecklenburg ABC about what’s being done to fix it.

“They didn’t say anything,” DeLoach said, looking back to the beginning of the shortage issue.

“It was basically, ‘Figure it out.’ My liquor reps, they would kind of give us heads up on certain things, but we’re fed to the wolves. ‘Go figure it out and go run a business with only 20% of liquor coming from your actual store.’”

Addressing the liquor shortage

In a public Facebook post on Oct. 20, the On July 15, the NCSA and Mecklenburg County owner of a popular cocktail bar in Charlotte ABC Board issued a joint statement addressing posted a screenshot of a North Carolina Alcoholic product availability and industry challenges.

Beverage Control (NC ABC) liquor order he was “Challenges in logistics as well as availability attempting to fill out online. In the picture, 15 of of raw materials across multiple categories and the 16 available brands in the frame came with a industries impacted by the results of the COVID-19 warning: “Item has low stock.” This means a bar pandemic are prevalent,” the statement read. “For owner can order that brand, but they may not get the order filled.

“How do I run a business like this? No I am really asking…” read the caption.

Among the 146 responses were not many answers to the question at hand, but dozens of confirmations and commiserations from fellow bar owners and managers in Mecklenburg County.

“Just ordered like $1,500 worth and they filled less than $300,” wrote the owner of a popular music venue.

“Weekly 12-15k order gets dwindled down to 3k-5k max if we are lucky,” added the owner of a new South End restaurant.

Another said their $4,000 order resulted in just $2,100 worth of product.

In July, the North Carolina Spirits Association (NCSA) and Mecklenburg County Alcoholic PHOTO BY DION BEARY A LOOK AT THE SHELVES AT A MECKLENBURG ABC STORE ON OCT. 28.

Beverage Control Board addressed the shortage, blaming it on consumer consumption trends the spirituous liquor industry, glass and key raw While orders used to be filled on the day they material ingredients for plastic closures are the coupled with disruptions in logistics.

In the time since, local bar and restaurant were placed, DeLoach now finds herself waiting main drivers of constraint. Multiple suppliers are owners say things have only gotten worse. While three to five days to see what they can sell to her. escalating alternative options as quickly as possible If ABC is short on a cheaper brand, known in bars to address this challenge. Compounding conditions, shortage are not uncommon in a wide range of industries thanks to supply-chain issues across the and restaurants as a “well” brand, they’ll replace it the industry has experienced a significant decline in globe, service industry folks in surrounding counties with another cheap brand, but if a name brand is number of drivers.” and South Carolina say they aren’t experiencing the short in supply, ABC simply leaves it out of the order.

The release also pointed to a skyrocketing It’s only when DeLoach finally receives her order demand for liquor in Mecklenburg County and same issues. So what’s going on in Mecklenburg that she can she go looking for whatever was not statewide as one reason for the shortage.

County? included.

“Easing COVID-19 restrictions has resulted in an Lately, she’s had to go to five or six stores each explosive comeback in the on-premise industry,” the The shortage begins For Jackie DeLoach, owner of Hattie’s Tap & week just to find the different brands she needs to statement read. “This is a positive for our on-premise Tavern, the problems began in early 2021 with a run her business. The max amount of locations she’s customers/businesses. Consumer retail sales in Mecklenburg County ABC stores continue to outpace tequila shortage. After that, sales reps with the had to hit in one day has been eight.

What’s worse, she said there is no communication prior year sales. The increased demand on both sides popular Kentucky whiskey brand Bulleit informed

contribute to the current conditions.”

According to the July release, on-premise businesses (bars, restaurants and other places where alcohol can be consumed on the property) in Mecklenburg County in the second quarter of 2021 alone sold about 65% of the amount of bottles sold in all of 2020, while retail sales — bought for private use at local ABC stores ­— that quarter were more than 50% of the bottles sold in 2020.

Queen City Nerve was able to view the Mecklenburg County ABC sales data over the last four years, ending in August 2021, and found that off- and on-premise sales have indeed increased in 2021.

The total dollar amount through August, which sits just above $132 million including on- and offpremise sales, is about a 17% increase compared to the same time frame in 2020, and a 16% increase from 2019.

While liquor sales are up across the state, the increase isn’t as dramatic as it is in Mecklenburg County.

What’s being done?

A Mecklenburg ABC spokesperson refused Queen City Nerve’s request for comment, telling us, “Our staff is not providing interviews at this time as they are focused on solutions in meeting customer demands around the current supply chain disruptions that are resulting in low product availability and staffing.”

The spokesperson did provide a flyer that lists ways Mecklenburg ABC is working to address the shortage. These include receiving direct shipments from distillers and spirit brokers, developing a new online ordering system and planning a curbside pickup pilot program for early 2022.

Mecklenburg ABC has also acknowledged they are dealing with their own worker shortage and staff burnout. The board says it has hired a third district manager and three assistant district managers to support operations while also developing an “employee bonus referral program” to help with hiring. Mecklenburg ABC offers a $15-per-hour starting wage for full-time associates.

Queen City Nerve was able to speak over email with Meredith McCormack, president of the NCSA, an organization of retail, brokers and suppliers that represent 96% of total spirits sales in North Carolina.

“As we stand at the end of October, there have been some improvements to address the current supply challenges mainly through improved deliveries from the state warehouse to Mecklenburg ABC, as well as suppliers coordinating direct

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NEWS & OPINION FEATURE shipments to the Mecklenburg ABC warehouse,” McCormack wrote.

She downplayed claims among many in the industry that the problem is worse in Mecklenburg County than elsewhere.

“I know there is much discussion about South Carolina not having the issues North Carolina is experiencing and, while multiple South Carolina retailers along the border have heavily advertised no issue in securing product, their buyers were also quoted in articles on this subject of having items cut on their orders from distributors,” she stated.

“The challenges with suppliers delivering inventory to meet consumer demand is not unique to North Carolina or Mecklenburg ABC.” Queen City Nerve heard from multiple owners, managers and workers in surrounding counties and South Carolina who reported some issues related to national shortages, but nothing like what is being experienced in Mecklenburg County.

McCormack emphasized that Mecklenburg continues to do the most on-premise business of any county in the state, while it also is seeing a continued increase in retail sales. She said NCSA has recommended to the ABC Board that the organization prioritize addressing its challenges with state warehouse space and other logistics in order to increase the on-hand inventory there, which could potentially trickle down to help meet demand in counties like Mecklenburg.

Meanwhile, DeLoach and other bar owners across the county are stuck waiting to see how that works.

“You’re totally left on your own,” DeLoach said.

“We literally are just out here like chickens with their heads cut off just trying to figure this out. Nobody’s really saying anything. Every once in a while someone will say, ‘Oh it’s just going to get worse,’ which is not helpful.”

According to McCormack, the issues could very well extend another six months or more.

“With the consumer trends as they are, the projection is these challenges will continue potentially until mid-2022 as supply chain works to increase production to meet current consumer demand,” she told Queen City Nerve.

Until then, it’s likely DeLoach and others will be stuck hunting for specific products at ABC stores around the county, while customers can expect to be let down if they’re searching for a certain brand.

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ARTS FEATURE

I could see that, sitting in front of the stage, “Tree” Instead, they’re both rolling on the floor, laughing performance at its closing Sunday matinee. (resident teaching artist Kaitlin Gentry) hadn’t hysterically.

That includes the upcoming Tropical Secrets: “On the Other Side of Moonbeam, we play all Holocaust Refugees in Cuba, opening Nov. 6 and raised her two green glow sticks, the signal that the time!” Shebopshebe responds once she and running through Nov. 14. “sensory-rich” moments were around the corner.

Anybody who had downloaded the Parent’s Oobladee have caught their breaths.

“It’s a big deal!” Higginbotham often says — And this is where Tyler breaks his silence, in a because it’s so true in so many ways.

Guide from the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte website would also know that the balloons were voice loud enough for Mom sitting next to him to She’s preparing actors, directors, designers, Sensory-friendly theatre “being blown up and let go, but they do not pop or hear (it’s also loud enough for me — his grandpa technicians and ushers for the special performance productions cater to their — to hear, sitting two seats away, next to his sister. — as well as carefully preparing printed and online make much sound.” exceptional crowds “That’s not funny!” Tyler calls out.

Tyler’s attention never wavered after the balloon guides for protective parents and surprise-averse Nobody turns around to shush him. Nobody children. This involves meeting face-to-face with scare, but he didn’t remain completely quiet.

BY PERRY TANNENBAUM After that point, Gloria Bond Clunie’s Birthday glares. At all of Children’s Theatre’s sensory-friendly the stage manager, the stage director, the musical Suit script becomes heavier and more emotional. performances, autistic 9-year-olds like Tyler are free director and the actors.

Tyler made a surprising and daring decision at When Shebopshebe shows up from the other side to call out, fidget, roam around the theater, cower in Higginbotham also attends the designers’ ImaginOn before attending the Sunday matinee of of the rainbow, Oobladah is shocked to discover a corner, or find refuge in a quiet room, where they run-through, dress rehearsals and performances My Wonderful Birthday Suit. during the run of the show, His mom, Ilana, had been where she scribbles over the sure Tyler would want to wear Children’s Theatre director of noise-canceling headphones production Steven Levine’s at the performance, so I had script, containing all the light to assure her that Children’s and sound cues.

Theatre would be offering Where should the volume them prior to the show. on the mics be turned down?

Otherwise, she would need Where should a scream to pack his set of headphones be changed into a loud before they flew in from El Paso exclamation? Where should a and make sure he had them live gunshot effect be changed when they left their hotel. into a muffled recording?

But Tyler refused the Where must a scene with headphones that were strobe effects — almost available — in a really cool automatically a two-lightvariety of colors, it should be cue alert — be redesigned mentioned — at the entrance to curb triggers that could be of McColl Family Theatre. hazardous to seizure-prone Instead, he chose a daykids? glo green worm, about eight Amid the final tweaks to inches long, from a wide lights and sounds happening array of fidgets and weighted during the run of the show, cuddles on display.

Higginbotham takes hundreds His younger sister, of photos — because the A STAFF MEMBER HOLDS GLOW SIGNALS TO KEEP KIDS INFORMED DURING A SENSORY-FRIENDLY PERFORMANCE OF ‘MY BEAUTIFUL BIRTHDAY SUIT.’ Brynn, chose a little spotted PHOTO BY PERRY TANNENBAUM Parent’s Guide and the Child’s Dalmatian doggie that Guide are also illustrated fullweighed five pounds. More surprises. that Oobladee’s other best friend is brown. From can still watch and hear all the comedy and drama color scenarios that prepare audiences for what they Tyler had to live with his choice. Now when the start, when he points at Shebopshebe and with their parents. will see.

Oobladee and Oobladah, best friends on this side says, “You’re brown!” it doesn’t sound at all like a That’s really the point: they’re free to be That’s helpful when a stage adaptation or a set of Moonbeam, started blowing up balloons for description — and she hears that clearly. themselves without being judged. design significantly departs from an original book the surprise birthday party they were planning for The pointing and the tone get meaner, more that kids and their parents are already familiar with.

Shebopshebe, Oobladee’s bestie from the other side hateful, overtly racist.

She also annotates the script for “Tree” so she Creating a safe space of Moonbeam … Tyler covered his ears with both “People say that brown skin is …,” Oobladah can closely follow and precisely time her one-light Julie Higginbotham of Precious Developments hands, dreading the moment when a balloon would stammers, leaning over a ledge and pointing an and two-light cues. has been overseeing the sensory-friendly suddenly explode. accusing finger down at Shebopshebe. He’s heard performances at Children’s Theatre since 2016, when Higginbotham remained involved in the last 90 Yet he didn’t cower or turn away. He didn’t run whispers that “you know…” and finally he blurts minutes before the sensory-friendly performance ImaginOn’s new project was still a pioneering rarity. for cover. His blue eyes remained glued to the stage. out, “together — we should not play!” and even while “Tree” was upfront waving her Now, every run of every mainstage Children’s I was sure that none of the balloons would You might think the two girls would be furious. Theatre production gets a sensory-friendly traffic-control glow sticks. explode. Even though I hadn’t seen this show before,

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HELPING YOU BE YOU

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ARTS FEATURE

amazing production, and we want to make sure you guys have a good time.’”

Any questions? Higginbotham is there to answer Grandpa had to rise and shine a couple of hours ushers’ concerns before and during the show, earlier than Ilana and the grandkids to witness supervising the operation over a headset from the Higginbotham’s final preps for My Wonderful rear of the hall. Like a second stage manager.

Birthday Suit.

First came the final powwow with the actors, A look at ‘Tropical Secrets’ lighting crew and “Tree.” Actors portraying Higginbotham’s meeting with Laura Beth Lee, Oobladee, Oobladah and Shebopshebe all received the actual stage manager for Tropical Secrets, gave Higginbotham’s final notes and reinforcements, me a close-up view of how the sensory-friendly with opportunities to air last-minute questions and process begins — and a rewarding overview of the concerns.

Precious Developments methodology.

Then the reconfigured “REWIND” scene — The situation was somewhat surreal for this Shebopshebe’s brilliant and zany answer to the reviewer, since Higginbotham had not yet read contrite Oobladah’s wish to “begin again” — was the L M Feldman stage adaptation of Margarita rehearsed and rerun without the strobes.

Engle’s young-adult verse novel. I’d covered the As the three actors exited and changed into original webcast premiere back in March, but there their costumes, makeup and matching masks (since were never live performances of the show and no ImaginOn is a public building, masks are worn sensory-friendly editions. by actors during performances), Higginbotham The same cast, starring Adrian Thornburg as ascended the long lobby ramp to the top level of the Jewish boy Daniel and Isabel Gonzalez as Cuban McColl Family Theatre. Time to prep the ushering native Paloma, are back with director David Winitsky. staff, a mix of vets and newbies overseen by But Lee will be new to Cuba behind the scenes. volunteer coordinator Louise Lawson.

New wrinkles will confront everyone involved, Some ushering basics are turned on their head however, since the production is moving from the at sensory-friendly shows. Ushers don’t simply show McColl Theatre at the east side of ImaginOn to Wells you to your seat, retreat to anonymity, and maybe Fargo Playhouse on the west, with a shrunken, more sit back and enjoy the show themselves. They’re abstract set design customized for the new venue. actively engaged in helping to ensure this special Before Higginbotham and Lee met in the “Lizard audience will enjoy their experience before the Room” on Oct. 20, the returning cast had already show and during the show. rehearsed on the new set, likely because there Audience members don’t have a seat. With hadn’t been a live show at the Playhouse since open, socially distanced seating, they have any seat.

January 2020.

If say, they run up to the front of the house and find As the title indicates, Tropical Secrets is very much out that the sensory onslaught is too intense there, about this world — historical racism rather than they can move back as far as they wish to any empty the Moonbeam brand. With the 83rd anniversary of seat.

Kristallnacht falling on Nov. 9, during the run of the What ushers pay closest attention to is the kids’s show, Engle’s story will be very much in season. needs. That’s how my Tyler had extra backup during We begin with that cataclysmic 1938 event in the little balloon scare that his mom may not have Nazi Germany, which prompts Daniel’s family to been aware of. Ushers were armed with the same rush the 11-year-old onto an ocean liner bound for fidgets, cuddly dogs, sunglasses and headphones New York, where they all plan to reunite and live that Tyler was offered when he came in, standing at happily ever after. the ready, spread throughout the theater, instructed Except the United States turns the ship away to come to his aid if they noticed he was constantly from its ports — all of them — because there putting his hands over his ears and flinching. are Jews on board. Canada does the same. Hello, “The biggest thing,” Higginbotham emphasizes Havana! How in this wide world will Daniel’s family to the volunteers, “is this: A lot of these families find their boy now? are overlooked, or they get stares. Our job is to Miracles aren’t likely here, and you can rule actually see these folks, make eye contact, engage out rewinds. Meanwhile, with little more than an with everyone. If their communication style is one overcoat and a flute, little Daniel must find ways to you don’t understand, that’s OK. Say, ‘Hello. We are survive and fit in. really, really glad that you are here. What can we do Paloma and Daniel bridge the gap between for you? Can we show you to your seats? This is an

languages and cultures far more easily than their elders, but Daniel finds a link to his heritage in crusty old David, played by Tom Scott, a Yiddish-speaking ice cream vendor who sports a gaudy yarmulke.

“It’s also a very emotional show,” Lee tells Higginbotham, “a Holocaust show, so you’ve got police officers who are bursting in and yelling, there’s scary emotional outburst moments, so I can definitely see that there are these big impactful things.”

Together with our dip into Yiddish and repeated Judaic references, Paloma has her own story — and considerable depths. She is our gateway into Cuban culture and the Afro-Cuban beat.

Daniel will discard his flute for a drum and jam with percussionist Raphael Torn, who will also play the vibraphone. Topping that outbreak of rhythm and dance, there’s a full-fledged carnival scene.

There is sensory richness aplenty in Tropical Secrets — and the kid protagonists are sharp.

Explaining to Paloma what living Jewish was like back in Munich, Daniel says, “In Germany, you have to wear a star on your shirt, so everyone can know what you are and hate you for it.”

Played by Frank Dominguez, Paloma’s dad is El Gordo, the notorious decider of which ships are allowed to dock in Havana and which are turned away.

Defending his wartime profiteering, El Gordo schools his daughter: “The world runs on business!”

With no less conviction, Paloma looks her dad straight in the eye and fires back, “The world runs on kindness!”

A whole new preparation

Impactful as Tropical Secrets will be, part of Higginbotham’s job will be to prep the able actors onstage for what to expect from their ultrasensitive, surprise-averse audience — especially when volume has been trimmed to 75% or less and houselights turned down to half.

They will see their audience more clearly than they did at previous performances. There will be fewer kids out there, socially distanced and maybe moving around or fidgeting.

It may be jarring to look out into the audience and see kids talking back to the actors or wearing headphones. Or holding their hands over their ears.

Or not making eye contact.

They might not even clap.

Parents will need to show proof of vaccination to enter the Wells for Tropical Secrets, but they won’t need to bring doctor’s notes or medical records for the sensory-friendly finale. Nor will this be an

entirely special-needs crowd.

“Some folks prefer the softer presentation,” Higginbotham explains. “Some parents feel it gives their kids more freedom, and some folks can only get tickets for the Sunday matinee.”

If all goes according to plan, Higginbotham’s guides for parents and children will go out to all ticketholders on Nov. 8, giving families six days to prepare.

Ilana was impressed by both Birthday Suit guides, but she didn’t see them as particularly useful for her Tyler, whom she describes as falling in the mild-to-moderate range of the autistic spectrum.

Medication also helps him in tolerating sensory irritants.

“I don’t think Brynn or Tyler would’ve benefited,” Ilana says of the illustrated guide, “and it may actually have detracted from their experience.

In children’s theatre, anything that dampens the surprise and wonder of a performance wouldn’t be optimal for my kids. And the show itself didn’t have anything too jarring (sensory-wise) that we would’ve needed to warn him about.”

On the other hand, My Wonderful Birthday Suit was far more palatable to Tyler than his previous theatre experience at Sesame Street Live! in 2019.

“Brynn loved it, but it was too loud and glitzy for Tyler,” Mom recalls. “Crazy loud, confetti storm, etc.

We had to buy him off with a snow cone to get him through it.”

Higginbotham points out that the guides aren’t merely handy in preparing kids for sensory-friendly performances, they also help in revisiting and remembering what they’ve seen.

That can happen soon after the theatre experience is over or before the next theatre experience, when parents want to pique their children’s interest and anticipation.

“I showed Tyler the Child’s Guide,” Ilana wrote me, “and he was very excited and asked if you had sent pictures of the stage. Then he asked if I could send him screenshots of his three favorite pictures.

Why? ‘Because they’re beautiful!’”

Unforeseen as that reaction might be, it’s what Higginbotham aims for.

“People need the freedom to be exactly who they need to be,” she says, “and to be able to feel like they’re supported. And man, we can’t predict everything, but we try. They need a non-judgment zone that I defend to the death. How can I help you be you? That’s my job.”

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THU-SUN11_04 - 11_07 GATHER

CHANEY KWAK Photo courtesy of Chaney Kwak

The UNC Charlotte Department of Theatre presents an evening of new short plays, pairing three student-written, directed and designed works on the same bill as Youtopia, playwright Chaney Kwak’s parable about the social media age. In Wren Latham’s The Art of Showing Up, a mother and daughter deepen their relationship by encouraging each other’s creative endeavors. In Brianna Baker’s The Secret Life of Microaggressions, three Black friends move beyond aggressions and slights they encounter at a white school. In Amanda Sherrod’s Time – Wedding Edition, a bride and her best friend hash out past challenges.

More: $18; Nov. 4–7, 2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.; Robinson Hall, 9027 Mary Alexander Road; campusevents.uncc.edu/event/gather

AMIGO THE DEVIL Promotional photo

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WEDNESDAY NIGHT LIVE

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Chicago-based filmmaker and McColl Center artistin-residence Cherrie Yu teams with Charlotte-based musician Corey Shipp to present a performance/ lecture on postmodern dance and classical music history. Yu’s Studies Series (2017–ongoing) depicts the filmmaker plus collaborator(s) pantomiming a wrestling match or a basketball game, then presents their choreography alongside the original footage.

The pair’s presentation on the history of classical music and post-modern dance weaves together their respective interests and memories, and fits personal creations into a historical and archival context.

More: Free; Nov. 3, 5 p.m.; Mint Museum Randolph, 2730 Randolph Road; mintmuseum.org

11/05

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to legendary Italian-Brazilian architect Lina Bo Bardi

by British artist and filmmaker Isaac Julien that runs at the Bechtler through February 2022, the museum hosts its new Movement Mornings program in the museum’s lobby. The session explores Afro-Brazilian dance and movement forms, taking inspiration from the esteemed Balé Folclórico company in Bahia and the Araká Performance Collective shown in the film installation.

More: Free; Nov. 6, 10 a.m.; Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, 420 South Tryon St.; bechtler.org

influences closer to home like the Latin-American Tropicalia movement of the 1970s. Now with a ninealbum discography, the band intermingles rock, punk and pop with Mexican norteño and ranchera, plus boleros, son jarocho tunes, cumbias and more, filtering it all through an experimental sensibility and restless curiosity. The term “rock en Español” cannot contain the musical multitudes within Café Tacuba.

They’re quite simply one of the best bands of all time.

More: $47.50; Nov. 8, 8 p.m.; Fillmore, 820 Hamilton St.; fillmorenc.com

AMIGO THE DEVIL, TEJON STREET MOVEMENT MORNINGS CAFÉ TACUBA Morning movement tells your body that it’s time to Formed in a Mexico City suburb in the 1980s, Café CORNER THIEVES, IV & THE STRANGE be awake. Presented as a tie-in with Isaac Julien | Tacuba was influenced by outside forces — the BAND Lina Bo Bardi: A Marvellous Entanglement, a tribute political punk of The Clash and Violent Femmes, plus

Amigo the Devil is Texas singer-songwriter Danny Kiranos, an artist with a style likened to bluegrass for goth rockers. Spinning dark folklore about serial killers with his debut EP Volume 1, his first full-length album Everything Is Fine found dark humor in songs like “Hungover In Jonestown” and “Cocaine and Abel.”With his latest album Born Against, Kiranos assumes a series of personas from star-crossed romantic to bloodcrazed lunatic. He’s like a blood-spattered Tom Waits.

More: $20-$25; Nov. 5, 7 p.m.; Visulite Theatre, 1615 Elizabeth Ave.; visulite.com

NOV. 27, 2021 . KNIGHT Theater AT LEVINE CENTER FOR THE ARTS

BlumenthalArts.org

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704.372.1000

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McAdenville is best known for its annual Christmas light extravaganza that proves a tiny town can leave a huge carbon footprint. That’s a shame because the town should be christened “Home of The New Creatures.”

The five-piece draws from 1960s rock, Gram Parsons’s cosmic Americana, ’80s power pop, ’90s alternative and more to craft a distinctive sound that reverberates with echoes of Tom Petty, Big Star and The Dream Syndicate.

The group goes well beyond their influences, however, charting a hook-filled course that is all their own.

More: $10; Nov. 11, 9:30 p.m.; Snug Harbor, 1228 Gordon St.; snugrock.com

for its name, custom bicycle shop/neighborhood bistro The Spoke Easy has combined bikes, booze and noshing for a full decade. To celebrate, the shop/bar/eatery (shartery?) has booked an impressive show topped by inscrutable musical Cuisinart combo Patois Counselors, purveyors of noisy, melodic gems that devour and subsume any pre- and post-rock genres you can think of. Also on the bill is Alan Charmer, the melodic and minimalist alter ego of Junior Astronomers’ frontman Terrence Richard; Bravo Pueblo; and DJ Taylor Knox.

More: Free; Nov. 12, 5 p.m.; The Spoke Easy, 1530 Elizabeth Ave.; thespokeeasyclt.com

with a fashion show featuring upcycled billboard garments designed by nine artists from the greater Charlotte area. It turns out images on billboards are printed on giant swaths of a vinyl-like material. Who knew? ArtPop did. They kept the vinyl after it was torn down from their billboards to re-purpose it into swanky outfits. ArtPop partners with creative reuse organization Upcycle Arts for the fashionista fundraiser, and proceeds go to sustaining ArtPop’s mission to promote artists and support public art.

More: $75; Nov. 13, 5 p.m.; Innovation Barn, 932 Seigle Ave.; artpopstreetgallery.com

Elizabeth Kowalski curates CNM’s second close encounter with out-of-this world music, celestial vibes and telescopes. Kowalski launched the first Stargazer Fest in July and will make it a biannual event. She couples innovative music with astronomy, providing a battery of telescopes for perusing the heavens. The interstellar bill of hip-hop, electronic and contemporary classical features FLLS, Master Kie, Starlitmire, Deku, Half Caste, RoyalCity Life, and Your Neighborhood Orchestra.

More: $18-$20; Nov. 13, 7 p.m.; Greenlife Family Farm, 281 Odell School Road, Concord; charlottenewmusic.org/stargazer

THE NEW CREATURES, CRY BABY, THE THE SPOKE EASY 10TH ANNIVERSARY PROJECT FREEWAY STARGAZER MUSIC FEST In addition to picking a cyclist’s pun on ‘speakeasy’ Charlotte New Music founder and artistic director ArtPop Street Gallery’ s roadside art goes haute-couture MINKS

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CLASSIC BLACK CINEMA SERIES: ‘FOXY BROWN’

Blacksploitation goddess, Black female role model and inspiration to filmmakers from Jack Hill to Quentin Tarantino, Pam Grier first made a splash in Hill’s women-in-prison films The Big Doll House (1971) and The Big Bird Cage (1972), action flicks that paved the way for Foxy Brown (1975), arguably the most powerful (and violent) Blacksploitation movie ever made. Foxy Brown seeks revenge after her boyfriend, a government agent, is shot and killed by a drug gang. In the process, we get James Bond-style opening titles, Grier’s outrageous outfits and even more outrageous methods of dispatching the bad guys.

More: $9; Nov. 14, 2 p.m.; Gantt Center, 551 S. Tryon St.; ganttcenter.org

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MUSIC FEATURE

R&B, Safe Haven features Asheville’s chillwave soul group RBTS Win, and local rap artist Devn.

Surprisingly, the gig will only be Johnson’s second professional show, following an Oct. 12 opening slot at Snug for Ecuador-by-way-of-Colorado pop group Neoma. Johnson’s takeaway from that gig is that she loves performing.

“It’s very exciting,” she says. “I was in my element, and I’m looking forward to doing more Singer-songwriter Nia J. shows.” brings us down the ‘Rabbit Growing up in Pinehurst, 100 miles east of Hole’ Charlotte, Johnson sang in church choirs, which dovetailed into performing in school choirs, too. She

BY PAT MORAN started writing songs at age 7.

“I just wanted to be a singer,” she offers. At age Upon its publication in 1865, Lewis Carroll’s 8, she taught herself how to play the keyboard by beloved children’s story Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland baffled critics and adults. Even today, many can’t make head or tail of the book’s illogical anthropomorphic characters like the agitated White Rabbit. The story’s ridiculous situations, including the Mad Hatter’s endless tea party, prompts some folks to ask, “What’s the point?”

But not Nia Johnson. The 23-year-old singer-songwriter who performs as Nia J. Johnson named her debut EP, which she released in September, Rabbit Hole, based on the White Rabbit’s gateway to the original Bizarro World.

“I was drawn to Alice in Wonderland because I felt my journey in this set of music was like ... tumbling around into a rabbit hole, figuring out who I am and trying to understand the world around me,” Johnson says.

The EP is a series of elliptical reveries and NIA J. JOHNSON discoveries, with seven delicately crafted songs PHOTO BY JESSICA DUNSTON that combine silken confessional vocals with pulsing, almost subliminal R&B rhythms and stacked ethereal harmonies. Listening to Rabbit figuring out a Beethoven piece on a toy piano.

Hole is like stumbling on a secret diary filled with “I knew from a young age that I loved music,” hard-won and relatable revelations about the pain, she recalls. anxiety and kindness that can come from love. It’s as Johnson’s high school choir competed nationally intimate as a human heartbeat, and as magical as a with other school chorale groups. She says the haunted music box. feathery swarming harmonies that permeate her Johnson will perform this set of songs, along songs today come from her choir training. with her previous singles, on Nov. 12 at Snug Harbor.

All of Johnson’s early creative accomplishments The singer and keyboardist is part of a bill hosted could not, however, entirely erase the pall that and curated by local rapper and hip-hop impresario hovers over Johnson and her family to this day.

Erick Lottary entitled Safe Haven. Lottary says the Moving with her family in 2005 from Cleveland, relatively unknown Johnson is ripe for discovery and Ohio, to Pinehurst, then 7-year-old Johnson had an a perfect fit for the evening’s bill. unpleasant awakening. Her father had negotiated to “I’ve heard her earlier music and was blown rent a house for her family. away,” Lottary says.

“My dad can pass for white because he’s mixed,” In addition to Johnson’s melodic alternative

Pg. 10 NOV 3 - NOV 16, 2021 - QCNERVE.COM

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

Johnson says. “Then my mom, I and my brother finally come to move in, and [the owners] meet us. Then they’re like, ‘Oh the house is no longer on the market.’” All her family’s possessions were already moved in, which the white owners promptly locked inside the house. Johnson remembers that her parents eventually successfully sued the house’s racist owners. Johnson calls the experience “scarring.”

As a black child growing up in a predominantly white neighborhood, she was frequently the target of micro-aggressions from her white peers. They called her an “Oreo” – black on the outside but white on the inside – implying that her intellectual and creative pursuits could only be the provenance of white people.

Desperate for a change of scenery, Johnson finally headed off to college at UNC Charlotte.

Surprisingly, she chose to study business instead of music.

“I put music aside because I thought that business would be more of a sound career for me,” she says. Her decision to sideline music, however, did not stick. In her junior year, she sang a song as part of a talent show, and her love for creating and performing music came flooding back.

Shortly thereafter, she met fellow student and musician Ike Ike Byers, then performing in the duo Cailan & Ike. Johnson and Byers began collaborating, and Byers subsequently became her longtime colleague, producing and co-producing most of her songs to date, including the tracks on Rabbit Hole.

“Working with Ike challenged me,” Johnson says. She credits Byers with introducing her to new sounds that fuel her music today.

In 2019, Johnson released the singles “Bliss” and “Before You.” “Bliss” represents another hurdle Johnson had to overcome: It took a long time for her to accept her sexuality and come out as gay.

In the song, she addresses the object of an early infatuation, a woman she never really got to know because she put up walls to block Johnson. In the song, Johnson’s feathered vocals drift in the background: “Ignorance is truly bliss / I cannot miss what I don’t know...”

The song “Before You” details a hard-won revelation.

“I realized that before I could love someone else, I had to figure out who I was and fall in love with myself first,” she says.

In 2020, Johnson graduated with a degree in business and a minor in art history. Her love of

renaissance art had blossomed on a school trip to Italy. While in the ancient city of Verona, Johnson composed “Bad Faith,” one of Rabbit Hole’s key tracks, while sitting on the Ponte di Castle Vecchio, a fortified bridge that crosses the Adige River.

“For you I would paint the world / Any color you wish to see...”

“I had been surrounded by so much art, I was imagining myself as an artist in the song,” Johnson says.

Taken as a whole, Rabbit Hole details a young person’s journey toward adulthood, a modern compendium of spurned love (“Not Delivered”), pleasure (“Dopamine”), asserting sexuality (“Hazy”), relaxing and smoking weed (“Day Talk”), and vulnerability.

“I’m really not into sharing and communicating,” Johnson says. “Music is the way that I talk about private things.”

Anxiety comes to the fore in the EP’s title song, the most intensely personal confession in a collection that focuses on emotional vulnerability.

The tune tackles the specter of mental illness with this line: “I slay the dragon that lives in your head...”

The dragon is a metaphor for depression and anxiety, Johnson says. She reveals that her current partner is grappling with these issues, and that Johnson also is dealing with depression, undergoing therapy last year, and currently taking medication.

By bringing this formerly dark subject into the light, Johnson says she’s encountered magic — which is also the title to one of Rabbit Hole’s most ethereal tracks.

“The magic I’ve encountered [is] through kindness, people who are so empathetic, so kind, [that] they changed my life,” Johnson says.

She’s looking forward to Safe Haven, a show that may introduce her to more magic, while sharing her journey toward acceptance and transformation — a personal arc just like that of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

“I hope that people who listen to my music know that it’s okay to be who you are, to love who you are, to not know where you’re going, and to just keep growing and changing in ways you didn’t believe were possible,” she says.

It seems that for Johnson — and all the people who have and will discover and embrace her enchanting and challenging music — diving down the rabbit hole leads to a warm and brilliant light at the end of the tunnel.

PMORAN@QCNERVE.COM

MUSIC FEATURE

Martin Sexton (Visulite Theatre) POP/ELECTRONIC/DANCE/DJ WeatherAmes (Evening Muse) JAZZ/CLASSICAL/ INSTRUMENTAL Bob James (Booth Playhouse) Kristin Randles (Middle C Jazz)

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12 ROCK/PUNK/METAL Jesse James Dupree & Dixie Inc. (Amos’ Southend) Witch Motel w/ The Menders, Flame Tides (The Milestone) The Hip Abductions w/ Joe Sambo (Visulite Theatre) HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Safe Haven feat. Erick Lottary, Devn, RBTS WIN, Nia J (Snug Harbor) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Kip Moore (Fillmore) JAZZ/CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL Charlotte Symphony: Kings of Soul (Knight Theater) Noel Freidline & Maria Howell: Reminagining the Music of Billy Joel & Elton John (Middle C Jazz)

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3 ROCK/PUNK/METAL Carpool w/ Mover Shaker, NIIICE, Monika (The Milestone) Bergenlinew/SafariRoom,TheGrooveSkeletons(Tommy’sPub) OPEN MIC Tosco Music Open Mic (Evening Muse)

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4 ROCK/PUNK/METAL Cory Wells w/ Oliver Baxxter (Evening Muse) Hit Like a Girl w/ John-Allison Weiss, The Eradicator, Feelings Club (The Milestone) Read Southall Band (Visulite Theatre) HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Kiefer w/ Mia Gladstone (Amos’ Southend) Jagged Edge (Belk Theater) JAZZ/CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL Kerri Lashawn (Middle C Jazz) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA John Mark McMillan (Neighborhood Theatre) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Mike Faulkenberry (Primal Brewery)

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5 ROCK/PUNK/METAL Aaron Lee Tasjan w/ Tristen (Evening Muse) Nordista Freeze w/ CYAN and Dizzy Dames (Evening Muse) Carbon Leaf (Neighborhood Theatre) Modern Moxie, It’s Snakes, and Kadey Ballard (Petra’s) Krvsade w/ October, Valar Morghulis, Death Of August (Skylark Social Club) Pleasure House w/ Rocky MTN Roller, The Penitentials (Snug Harbor) The So Called Natives w/ Top Ded Center (Tommy’s Pub) Amigo the Devil w/ Tejon Street Corner Thieves, IV and the Strange Band (Visulite Theatre) HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Kidd G w/ Spencer Crandall (Amos’ Southend) Larry June (The Underground) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Caamp (Fillmore)

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6 ROCK/PUNK/METAL Arcadia Grey w/ Guitar FIght from Fooly Cooly, Acne, Flat Out Insult (The Milestone) Pretty Baby w/ Telepathetics, Buried In Roses (Petra’s) Candescent w/ The Enemy Within, Defile The Crown,

ROCK/PUNK/METAL Savage Empire (Skylark Social Club) Eric Martin of Mr. Big (Amos’ Southend) SecretShamew/ShipsintheNight,SolemnShapes(SnugHarbor) The New Creatures w/ Cry Baby, The Minks (Snug Harbor) Mercury Dimes album release show (Tommy’s Pub) Circles Around the Sun (Visulite Theatre) HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Sleepy Hallow (The Underground) Clozee (The Underground) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Mat Kearney (Fillmore) Jameson Rogers w/ Drew Green (Coyote Joe’s) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Seth Glier w/ Will Dailey (Evening Muse) Kckbck, Satin Sage, and Hazy (SERJ) JAZZ/CLASSICAL/ INSTRUMENTAL Alex Bugnon (Middle C Jazz) Dee Lucas w/ Gino Rosaria (Stage Door Theater) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Sam Burchfield (Evening Muse)

VISIT QCNERVE.COM FOR THE FULL SOUNDWAVE LISTING.

NOVEMBER 2021

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 7 HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Mayer Hawthorne (The Underground) BLUES/FUNK/JAM BANDS Jack Broadbent (Neighborhood Theatre) JAZZ/CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL Robb Zinn w/ Tony Exum Jr. (Middle C Jazz) POP/DANCE/ELECTRONIC/DJ Ben Folds (Belk Theater)

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 8 ROCK/PUNK/METAL Surfer Blood w/Timothy Eerie, Knowne Ghost (Snug Harbor) HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Pouya (The Underground) COUNTRY/FOLK/AMERICANA Adam Melchor w/ Hotel Fiction (Neighborhood Theatre) LATIN/WORLD Café Tacvba (Fillmore) JAZZ/CLASSICAL/INSTRUMENTAL The Bill Hanna Legacy Jazz Session (Petra’s) SINGER-SONGWRITER/ACOUSTIC Hayden Lee w/ Jason Manns, Billy Moran (Evening Muse)

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9 ROCK/PUNK/METAL Matthew Mayfield w/ Garrison Starr (Evening Muse) Tesla (Fillmore) Cloak w/ Demiser, Worsen, Paezor (The Milestone)

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10 ROCK/PUNK/METAL Shakey Graves (Fillmore) beabadoobee (The Underground)

WED, NOVEMBER 3

WED, NOVEMBER 10

WEATHERAMES

TOSCO MUSIC OPEN MIC THU, NOVEMBER 4

CORY WELLS

W/ OLIVER BAXXTER

THU, NOVEMBER 11

SETH GLIER & WILL DAILEY S A T, N O V E M B E R 1 3

FRI, NOVEMBER 5

AARON LEE TASJAN FEAT. TRISTEN

NORDISTA FREEZE

CAMERON FLOYD W/ OLIVER PADGETT

CHRIS LARKIN (BAND) & TIN 4

W/ CYAN & DIZZY DAMES

SUN, NOVEMBER 14

S A T, N O V E M B E R 6

W/ KAYLA RAY

SAM BURCHFIELD MON, NOVEMBER 8

HAYDEN LEE, JASON MANNS & BILLY MORAN TUE, NOVEMBER 9

MATTHEW MAYFIELD & GARRISON STARR

SENORA MAY

MON, NOVEMBER 15

FIND YOUR MUSE OPEN MIC FEAT. MUTLU

TUE, NOVEMBER 16

SMITHFIELD

W/ TOM MACKELL WED, NOVEMBER 17

LIZ LONGLEY W/ PORTAIR

eveningmuse.com

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FOOD & DRINK FEATURE

IN HER MEMORY

Edwin Cruz pays homage to his grandmother through Edwin’s Organix

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BY KARIE SIMMONS

food played a role.

Eventually, Doña Elena’s cancer came back and she passed away in 2016, but her family was thankful for the extra time they got to spend with her beyond the doctor’s prognosis. She was at home in Mexico when she passed.

“I called her and she said something and then she died.

She was just holding on for me,” Cruz recalled. “I remember that day like it was yesterday.”

Despite an English translation that may suggest fearful or tragic themes in America, Día de los Muertos Building a brand is a joyful holiday in Mexican culture, during which Cruz doesn’t have any people remember loved ones who have passed away. formal culinary training — For chef Edwin Cruz, the celebration is an he dropped out of culinary opportunity to honor his late grandmother, Doña school in Mexico because it Elena.

A DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS ALTAR AT CRUZ’S RECENT EVENT. PHOTO BY KARIE SIMMONS wasn’t hands-on enough for Each year, he places her picture on an altar and him — and instead attributes lights a candle in her memory, though it his through his grab supplies for his clients’ weekly meal-prep kits, as everything he knows about cooking to his parents. He daily actions as an entrepreneur that he honors Doña well as his guest chef appearances at local restaurants gained professional experience as a chef at Famous and private events.

Elena.

Toastery in Winston-Salem, where he was given free rein Cruz said clean and healthy cooking also holds She is, after all, the inspiration behind his catering to create daily chef specials before eventually leaving to and meal delivery business, Edwin’s Organix, and personal meaning, as he believes it gave him more time start Edwin’s Organix. the reason he’s so passionate about using locally and with his grandmother when she was battling cancer.

It took Cruz a few years to build his client base She was diagnosed while visiting the United States sustainably sourced organic ingredients. and foster necessary partnerships within Charlotte’s Cruz moved to Charlotte from Mexico when he was from Mexico and told she had six months to live. In restaurant industry, but he was steadfast. With time, his 11 years old, but remembers his grandmother cooking addition to chemotherapy, the family switched her to an love for experimenting with different foods and flavors almost every day in Mexico — especially on Wednesdays organic diet of mostly chicken and vegetables like beets paid off. and carrots, with no red meat, salt or condiments. Three when the farmers market was on her street.

He now splits his time at Edwin’s Organix between “She would always be the first one to get fresh months later, she was in remission. Cruz believes healthy meal prepping for clients, using variations vegetables, chicken or of his mother’s recipes based on available whatever she wanted ingredients, and popping up as a guest chef at to cook. She would local breweries and restaurants. cook this big pot at her Cruz has been known to craft special house and just feed themed menus at places like Poplar Tapas, people when they Wine & Spirits and 7th Street Market. Last year, were coming by to say he worked with mixologist Jenni Holloway hi to her,” Cruz said. to create five courses paired with five crystal“She had this huge infused cocktails for a Crystals & Cocktails event table at the bottom at Poplar. of this mango tree “I go through a lot of ingredients to come and people would just up with the menus,” he said. “If you look at my come to her house and apartment and open the fridge, there’s a lot of eat as she cooked.” stuff in there, and then I’ve got shelving. My That’s where Cruz house, it looks like a kitchen.” said he got his desire When he’s not sharing recipes on Charlotte to cook for people Today, hosting resident events at luxury using the best, local apartment complexes Uptown, partnering with ingredients.

Since Charlotte Wine + Food, or creating Mexicanlaunching Edwin inspired coffees with Drip Joint Espresso Bar, Organix in 2018, he Cruz can be booked for private events. frequents the North Edwin’s Organix recently participated in a End Farmers Market free Día de los Muertos celebration on Oct. 30 at at Camp North End Nebedaye Farms, an urban farm located on 11 and the Uptown acres in Indian Trail. Run by Bernard Singleton, PHOTO BY RICO MARCELO Farmers Market to CHEF EDWIN CRUZ WORKS PRIVATE EVENTS AND POP-UPS.

the goal of Nebedaye Farms is to address food insecurity issues and improve the quality of life in underserved areas of Charlotte.

At the event, Cruz cooked up chickens and made pan de muertos — a sweet bread traditionally baked in Mexico in the weeks leading up to Día de los Muertos — while Drip Joint served hot chocolate and coffee against the backdrop of a colorful altar, where Cruz placed a picture of his grandmother. The evening ended with a screening of the movie Coco.

Cruz’s next event is scheduled for Nov. 19, when he will serve a seven course hemp-infused tasting menu at Queen Hemp Company, a woman-owned hydroponic hemp farm in south Charlotte. Guests will experience each dish, paired with a cocktail and a song, inside the farm’s flower room surrounded by hundreds of hemp plants.

“It took me three months to create the menu,” Cruz said. “If I did a paella, I did a sangria, and then I’ll pair it with some Spanish song. If it was Mexican, I pair it with a Mexican song and a mezcal drink.”

‘You don’t give up’

By the turn of 2020, Cruz felt like Edwin’s Organix had hit its groove. He was looking forward to being booked for the entire year. Then, like with so many others, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and it was one cancellation after the other.

Cruz was quick to adapt, hosting live cooking videos on Facebook and Instagram, which eventually led to a partnership with Compare Foods. He still hosts a monthly virtual recipe challenge on the supermarket’s social media pages and a segment on their CompareTV channel in which he shows people how to make meals that reflect his Mexican heritage.

If that wasn’t enough, Cruz started Drip Joint with Chris Johnson during the pandemic and in December 2020, he began incorporating charcuterie boards into the Edwin’s Organix portfolio, sourcing local cheese makers. He founded this extension of his brand, Brewster & Co. Charcuterie, with Poplar’s marketing director Trish Ellington.

Doña Elena may be behind Cruz’s passion for healthy cooking and belief in buying and supporting local, but his unquenchable work ethic comes from his mother, he explained.

“I cannot name one thing that my mom has not sold, from Avon to Tupperware to always having events at the house, like Tupperware parties, even Mary Kay,” Cruz said.

“And of course, my dad is always working, but I think I got from my mom that part where you don’t give up.”

Cruz wishes his grandmother was still alive to see how she not only inspired but continues to fuel his culinary success. And if she were here, he knows exactly what she would say. “‘Mijo! I’m so proud of you,’ and then a kiss,” he said.

KSIMMONS@QCNERVE.COM

LIFESTYLE PUZZLES SUDOKU

TRIVIA TEST

BY FIFI RODRIGUEZ

BY LINDA THISTLE

PLACE A NUMBER IN THE EMPTY BOXES IN SUCH A WAY THAT EACH ROW ACROSS, EACH COLUMN DOWN AND EACH SMALL 9-BOX SQUARE CONTAINS ALL OF THE NUMBERS ONE TO NINE. ©2020 King Feautres Syndicate, Inc. All rights reserved.

1. FOOD & DRINK: How many different flavors are in a Dr. Pepper soda?

2. AD SLOGANS: Which product was advertised as “the quicker picker upper”?

3. U.S. STATES: What is the capital of Washington state?

4. ANIMAL KINGDOM: What is a group of hummingbirds called?

5. MUSIC: What was Madonna’s first Top 10 hit?

6. MOVIES: Which blockbuster movie had this final line, “Roads?

Where we’re going, we don’t need roads!”?

7. TELEVISION: What was the name of the pet pig on “Green Acres”?

8. GEOGRAPHY: Which European country is known as Osterreich in its native tongue?

9. MEASUREMENTS: How many tablespoons are in 1 fluid ounce?

10. ASTRONOMY: Which planet in our solar system is known as both the Morning and Evening Star?

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Costco rival 9 Machine arranging sheets 17 “That’s icky!”

20 Short, amusing tale 21 Made a rustling sound 22 Debate side 23 “Beverly Hills 90210” actress competing in a bee?

25 Capitol Hill VIP 26 Suffix with propyl 27 Fish eggs 28 Beatle bride of 1969 29 --’Pea 30 “V for Vendetta” star doing wickerwork?

38 Later time of life 41 Kind of PC screen 42 Most reserved 43 “Lullaby of Birdland” composer clipping rams?

50 Actress -- Dawn Chong 51 Yarn coils 52 Ontario border lake 53 The “E” of QED 55 Manhattan sch.

56 Bridal gown material 58 Hindu sage 63 “Charlotte’s Web” star using fireplace bellows?

68 Tarzan, e.g.

70 Was inactive 71 Minnesota port 72 “A Brief History of Time” author peddling goods?

79 Transparent kitchen wrap 80 Actor Haim or Feldman 81 Fair-hiring inits.

82 Batting avg., e.g.

85 Rocket org.

86 See 109-Across 89 Lead-in to mo or pitch 90 “Paracelsus” poet making toast?

96 Dazed state 98 Atty.’s gp.

99 Epic poem by Virgil 100 “Tom Jones” novelist catching pop flies?

107 Nothing but 108 Week unit 109 With 86-Across, “You bet!”

110 Discontinuity 113 Actress Gasteyer 114 “Family Huddle” co-author rowing?

122 Kindled 123 Legendary lost island 124 Employees’ clip-ons 125 Milwaukee-to-Miami dir.

126 Soda jerk’s workplace 127 Locale of Iraq and Israel DOWN 1 Fill fully 2 In a while 3 Nothing but 4 -- -fi film 5 Successors of LPs 6 Cut (off ) 7 In -- surgery 8 Less than 9 15-season CBS show 10 Have 11 Sawmill sight 12 In need of a refill of 13 See 49-Down 14 Pound 15 20-volume ref. work 16 Tpks., e.g.

17 High hairdo 18 Welcomes 19 Sincere 24 Director Ang 29 -- terrier 30 Laugh sound 31 Trendy Aussie boots 32 Techie type 33 “Oh, woe!”

34 Pre-TiVo device 35 Cruel Amin 36 Court legend Arthur 37 That gal 38 Shrek, e.g.

39 Name in jets 40 “The Sound of Music” refrain starter 44 Shipped out 45 “Hey there” 46 Ample, in dialect 47 -- pot (nasal cavity rinser) 48 Big smile 49 With 13-Down, do some karaoke, e.g.

54 Florida city 56 Serpentine 57 Debate side 58 Ugly remark 59 Cardiff locale 60 Not-to-be-missed thing 61 Gathered 62 “Sorta” 64 Madeline of “First Family” 65 Single bill 66 “... even -- speak” 67 Rx safety org.

68 Burro 69 Sch. org.

73 Va. neighbor

GET BACK TO DOING WHAT YOU LOVE.

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# YO U I M P R OV E D # YO U I M P R OV E D

YOUR CARE. YOUR WAY. | ORTHOCAROLINA.COM CELEBRITY DOINGS ©2020 King Feautres Syndicate, Inc. All rights reserved.

74 Emcee 75 Sheik, e.g.

76 Frau’s “no” 77 Former Spice Girl Halliwell 78 Frayed 83 Jai follower 84 Sondheim’s Sweeney 85 Brand of spongy toys 86 Goose’s kin 87 The same, in French 88 Brand of luxury Swiss watches 90 Be behind schedule 91 Grand Ole -92 Male tyke 93 “Cool!,”‘90s-style 94 Honshu sash 95 ICU staffers 96 Sandbanks 97 Nadal’s sport 101 Rustic verse 102 Bother badly 103 City northwest of Grenoble 104 OB- -- (med. specialist) 105 West African nation 106 Tangential remark 110 Ardently fond 111 Son of Hera 112 Furtive “Hey there!”

114 Dawber of “Mork & Mindy” 115 Platonic “H” 116 Utmost 117 “O Sole --” 118 Deadly cobra 119 Rockets’ org.

120 Long-snouted fish 121 Poem variety

LIFESTYLE COLUMN

THE SEEKER WHAT’S THE POOP?

Humanure Kenya founder Samsom Muhalia talks shit during Charlotte visit

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BY KATIE GRANT

You’ve heard of manure, right? Like manure from farm animals, human waste is high in nutrients and organic matter. Instead of letting it go to waste (*cough*), an organization called Humanure Kenya is putting it to good use.

Humanure Kenya is a nonprofit that provides skills and training to locals and is dedicated to teaching ecological sanitation and composting. Their mission states that healthy people living in healthy houses make healthy communities.

To support this vision of health, Samsom Muhalia, CEO of Humanure Kenya and an African Yoga Project Empowerment Coach, has been traveling the United States on a fundraising tour, teaching yoga in return for donations to his mission.

Charlotte’s Legion Brewing was one of his stops.

Samson graciously taught yoga three days in a row. Each class cost $10, which included a 16-ounce draft beer, and 100% of the proceeds went to Humanure Kenya. I attended two classes and got to know him while we was in town.

After yoga, equipped with beers and many questions, each group of yogis sat around Samson to learn more about Humanure and his mission. Together, we learned that Humanure Kenya provides compost toilets to homes and schools in Kenya, where many people do not have access to basic toilets or hygiene. The product of the compost toilets is later used to fertilize fields for healthy crops. The organization also teaches proper hygienic practices and health education.

We also learned that many people in Kenya suffer from easily preventable diseases such as cholera and dysentery.

These illnesses can be stopped at the household level by introducing home toilets and health education on good sanitation practices. Humanure Kenya is working to meet the needs of communities and overcome these issues by building compost toilets in people’s homes and schools.

Another part of Humanure Kenya’s mission is to create job opportunities for local youths by equipping them with skills like carpentry and educating communities in rural areas and schools in the 47 counties in Kenya. Samson and his team view their work as successful when Humanure system projects transform lives and promote positive and lasting social, economic and spiritual change within communities.

Now, let’s rewind a minute before we get ahead of ourselves. What is a humanure system?

Humanure (urine and fecal matter) is recycled for agricultural purposes by thermophilic composting, or heat-producing composting, eliminating human pathogens. Three essential components are required for such a system to operate successfully: the toilet, the carbon-based cover materials and the compost bins.

Samson explained that humanure toilets are inexpensive, simple in design and easy to build. Part of what makes this system so accessible is a compost toilet does not need water, plumbing, pipes, vents, drains, electricity or urine separation. They do not produce waste, only reduce environmental and water pollution from untreated fecal materials.

Additionally, the system can be adapted based on the availability of locally sourced materials. The carbon-based cover materials range from sawdust, dry leaves, grass, etc.

This is an essential step in reducing odor and providing carbon-rich material to aid the composting process.

Once the toilet container is full, the contents are emptied into an outdoor compost pile. We learned it’s best to spread a base of leaves, straw or other composting materials on the bottom before adding humanure to ensure proper drainage. Then, each time a batch of humanure is added, the mix should be covered again with more composting materials.

Once the compost bin is full, it should sit for at least one year for the final stages of decomposition to take place and start a new pile in the meantime. After the first pile has “matured,” it can be used in your garden beds like any other compost product. Simple, right?

While combing Samson’s Facebook page, I couldn’t help but notice a photo of him holding The Humanure Handbook. He explained it was published by a man named Joseph Jenkins in Pennsylvania who fertilized his garden with composted human waste for nearly 40 years. In my post-yoga class reading, I learned The Humanure Handbook was an accidental literary phenomenon. Jenkins began writing the book as a master’s thesis while attending Slippery Rock University’s Master of Science in Sustainable Systems program in Pennsylvania in the early ’90s. Now in its fourth edition, the book has been translated into more than 12 languages, if you are interested in reading about this shitty subject matter in your downtime.

But the toilet talk doesn’t end with yoga. As Oliver Wendell Holmes stated, “A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.”

I have volunteered to join Samson in Kenya to assemble these much-needed compost toilets for schools, hopefully within the following year.

I look forward to updating you on my worldly travels.

INFO@QCNERVE.COM

HOROSCOPE

NOV 3 - NOV 9

NOV 10 - NOV 16

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) The pitter-patter of all those Sheep feet means that you’re out and about, rushing to get more done. That’s fine, but slow down by the weekend so you can heed some important advice.

ARIES (March 21 to April 19) A work-related situation that started last month takes on increasing importance this week. The choice is still yours as to how it will evolve.

Be careful not to make quick judgments.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) You’re in charge of your own destiny these days, and, no doubt, you’ll have that Bull’seye of yours right on target. But don’t forget to make time for family events.

TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) “Careful” is the watchword for the prudent Bovine this week. Don’t let your emotions overwhelm your logic. Try for balance as you maneuver through a touchy situation.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) Be prepared for a power struggle that you don’t want. Look to the helpful folks around you for advice on how to avoid it without losing the important gains you’ve made.

GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) Your energy levels rise to meet the challenges that will mark much of this month.

New opportunities beckon. Look them over, but proceed cautiously before making any kind of decision.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Congratulations! You’re about to claim your hard-earned reward for your patience and persistence. Now, go out and enjoy some fun and games with friends and family.

CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Your private life can be a problem this week, as a partner becomes more difficult.

Resist a reaction you might regret. Instead of walking away, try to talk things out.

LEO (July 23 to August 22) The Big Cat might find it difficult to shake off that listless feeling. But be patient.

By week’s end, your spirits will perk up and you’ll be your perfectly purring self again.

LEO (July 23 to August 22) You should be your usual sunny self these days, as you bask in the admiration you adore. Enjoy it as you move into a new arena to confront an exciting upcoming challenge.

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) A problem with a coworker could prove to be a blessing in disguise when a superior steps in to investigate and discovers a situation that could prove helpful to you.

VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) Your perseverance reserves will be tapped frequently this week as you deal with the problems involved in making a new situation work for you. But it’ll all be worth it.

LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) This is a favorable time to move ahead with your plans. Some setbacks are expected, but they’re only temporary. Pick up the pace again and stay with it.

LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) You’ll find fewer roadblocks turning up as you continue to move ahead with your plans. Expect some important news to come your way by mid-November.

SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) Your creativity is recognized and rewarded. So go ahead and claim what you’ve earned. Meanwhile, that irksome and mysterious situation soon will be resolved.

SCORPIO (October 23 to November 21) Good news — you finally get to the bottom of that pesky mystery you’ve been trying to solve for weeks by using some gentle persuasion to get someone to break his or her silence.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) A new associate brings ideas that the wise Sagittarian quickly will realize can benefit both of you. Meanwhile, someone from the workplace makes an emotional request.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) The best time to take on that important task is now. Move forward one step at a time so you can assess your progress and, if need be, change direction.

CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) It might be a good idea to ease up on that hectic pace and spend more time studying things you’ll need to know when more opportunities come later in November.

CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) The new opportunities you hoped to find this month are beginning to open up. Study them carefully to be sure you make the choice that’s best for you.

AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) A relatively quiet time is now giving way to a period of high activity. Face it with the anticipation that it will bring you some welldeserved boons and benefits.

AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) Turn a disappointment into a learning experience. Check out possible weaknesses in your approach and strengthen them. A loyal colleague offers good advice.

PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Go with the flow, or make waves? It’s up to you. Either way, you’ll get noticed.

However, make up your own mind. Don’t let anyone tell you what choices to make.

PISCES (February 19 to March 20) Your new situation offers opportunities to help you get the skills you’ll need in order to stop swimming in circles and finally move straight toward your goals. Go for it.

BORN THIS WEEK: You like to examine everything before you agree to accept what you’re told. Your need for truth keeps all those around you honest.

BORN THIS WEEK: You have a sharp, logical mind and a quick intellect. You would make an excellent mystery writer.

2021 KING FEATURES SYND., INC.

LIFESTYLE COLUMN

PG.13 PUZZLE ANSWERS

SAVAGE LOVE FEMALE TROUBLE

ex-boyfriend was bi, not gay, and you two hadn’t made a monogamous commitment to each other, he had every right to fuck other people — including other people with penises.

Pg. 15 NOV 3 - NOV 16, 2021 - QCNERVE.COM

Dummies, Doms and diapers

I’m a woman in a committed relationship with a man and we’ve just started exploring ABDL (Adult Babies and Diaper Lovers). I’m the sub, he’s the Dom. I was wondering if it would be ok for me to

BY DAN SAVAGE change his diapers. I want to show him I’m willing to clean him and take care of him too, but I feel like I want to correct you on something you’ve subs aren’t really supposed to take on those roles. said repeatedly: A man can “hide” his bisexual And to be a good sub, I really want to know my orientation. I disagree. I felt my boyfriend was gay place. I trust your opinion on these things. or bi immediately, but he flatly denied it. But it was PENSIVELY APPROACHING DIAPERED DOM so obvious! He sucked at sex, he never initiated and he was clueless about female anatomy! I was forced It’s fine with me if you change your boyfriend’s diapers, to hunt for proof, which I discovered after nine PADD, but you’re going to have to check with him. Not all months. Then I mercilessly outed him to friends, ABDL play involves power exchange, but when people humiliated him to his face, and finally confronted combine ABDL with D/s, it’s typically the sub who wears the him with the proof of his profile on a gay hookup diapers (and has them changed) and the Dom who does the app. I enjoyed every wicked minute exposing his diapering and changing. But if your Dom is into wearing lies and telling everyone the truth because he diapers, PADD, he’s already blurring those boundaries, so I used and exploited me in a fake relationship. I was don’t see why you can’t at least offer to change his. If having wrong about a couple of things. First, I thought if his diapers changed by his sub would make him feel less I asked him if he was gay, he would confess and dominant, he can continue to change his own damn diapers. come clean with me. Wrong, he never did. Second, if he was gay, he wouldn’t hide that fact because I’m a single cis woman in my mid-40s. I’ve never gays won the LGBT rights fight. Wrong. I am a fag wanted kids, but I did think at some point, I’d get hag but only because I like feeling superior and married or have a long-term partnership. That enjoy what I get out of my friendships with gay hasn’t happened. Which is fine. I‘m content with men. But I’m not interested in fruit juice. my life, I make good money, I own my own home, FURIOUS AND VENGEFUL EX and I love and appreciate all of the great things that come with being single. (Doing whatever I want, You are a terrible person, I don’t want you reading my whenever I want, and — let’s be honest — farting column, and I hope your gay friends come to see you for at home whenever I gosh darn need to.) I have a lot the toxic person you are and cut you out of their lives — of dear friends who are married, and they are family. unless they’re just as awful as you are, in which case they I accept that I may be single (but not alone!) for the deserve you. rest of my life, and that’s fine too. But it comes down To be clear, FAVE, what your ex did was wrong. I have to this: I need physical intimacy. I’m okay with my always taken a dim view of closeted gay men who date life, but I’m not okay never having a sexual partner straight women to throw people off the scent of cock on their again. I really, really, really like sex. I want to be with lips (assuming your ex was gay and not bi). But if this dude a person I know well enough to get comfortable. sucked at sex (when he had it with you), never initiated sex But I live in a place where online meetups are (at least not with you), and couldn’t find your clit if you gave either fleeting or scary. And I’m overweight and him a flashlight (and probably not even then), why waste lack confidence and don’t exactly have all the boys nine months on him? You could’ve and should’ve dumped coming to my yard. Give me some guidance, Dan. him the first time the sex was awful, FAVE, or when you first SHE ISN’T NECESSARILY GETTING LAID, EH? suspected it wasn’t you (or your kind) that he wanted to fuck.

And for the record, FAVE, anyone can hide their sexual Online meetups feel fleeting because most online orientation, not just bi men. But many bisexuals don’t come meetups, like most offline meetups, are fleeting. They’re out because they fear being mercilessly outed by angry, bitter, chance encounters, like striking up a conversation with a vindictive partners. Again, I don’t have much sympathy for stranger in a bar, and like most chance encounters, they closeted gay men who lie to and mislead women. But if your typically go nowhere. Occasionally, an online meetup is

TRIVIA ANSWERS: 1. 23 2. Bounty paper towels 3. Olympia

4. A charm 5. “Holiday” 6. “Back to the Future,” Dr. Emmett Brown 7. Arnold

scary in the dude-gives-off-serial-killer-vibe sense, but most are scary in the making-yourself-vulnerable-andrisking-rejection sense — and there’s no avoiding that kind of scary, SINGLE, only building up your tolerance for it.

And finally, SINGLE, and somewhat controversially … if you’re content with your life as it is, and if you value being able to fart whenever you need to, there are married men out there who aren’t getting any at home, SINGLE, and not all of them are assholes. Some are loving, decent guys

8. Austria 9. Two 10. Venus

in loving, low-conflict marriages who’ve decided to stay married for loving, decent reasons. An ongoing connection with a loving, decent woman who doesn’t want more than they can give could obviously make one of these guys very happy, SINGLE, and it might make you a little happier too.

Follow Dan on Twitter @FakeDanSavage; check out his website www.savage.love; send questions to questions@ savagelove.net

Bravo

SERIES

f o n o Love s a e Final s

NOV. 9-14 BELK THEATER

AT BLUMENTHAL PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

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