YES! Weekly - April 22, 2020

GERALD FREEDMAN

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voting extended to April 24!

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THE CONCERT LANDSCAPE

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APRIL 22-28, 2020 VOLUME 16, NUMBER 17

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Publisher CHARLES A. WOMACK III publisher@yesweekly.com

She’s beauty, she’s grace, and now she’s one of the most beloved queens of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Eight weeks ago, HEIDI N CLOSET became America’s sweetheart after making her debut on Season 12 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, the VH1 Emmy-award winning reality drag competition show. Closet’s alter ego, Trevien Cheek, 25, grew up in a small town 35 minutes outside of Greensboro, and has performed across the Triad since he started doing drag in 2014.

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EDITORIAL Editor KATIE MURAWSKI katie@yesweekly.com Contributors IAN MCDOWELL JOHN BATCHELOR KATEI CRANFORD MARK BURGER TERRY RADER JIM LONGWORTH

PRODUCTION Graphic Designers ALEX FARMER designer@yesweekly.com AUSTIN KINDLEY artdirector@yesweekly.com

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HIRSCH WELLNESS NETWORK isn’t letting social distancing keep its cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers artless and alone at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

5 The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) suffered a personal loss on March 17 when GERALD FREEDMAN, emeritus dean of the School of Drama, died at age 92. He’d served as dean for over two decades, from 1991-2012, and when I used to cover theater for the Winston-Salem Journal, I had the pleasure of spending time in his company, which was esteemed indeed.

6 In 1994, Mark Bozek sat down to interview noted photographer BILL CUNNINGHAM in New York City. The conversation lasted six hours. Now, Bozek makes his feature debut as writer, producer, and director of The Times of Bill Cunningham, an engaging chronicle of the Boston-born Cunningham (1929-2016), who referred to himself as “a fashion historian.”

7 Rather than begin this week’s column with dessert, I’m going to put in my proverbial two cents worth of advice to policy

makers, restaurant management, and patrons regarding a way to improve things: OUTDOOR SEATING. 12 RODRIGO DORFMAN, exile and son of exiles, is no stranger to catastrophe.

When he was a child in Chile, his family’s life was threatened by a murderous US-backed military coup. Now, it’s disrupted by a pandemic. Like his father, novelist, playwright, essayist and human rights activist Ariel Dorfman, Rodrigo is haunted by history.

13 On April 16, many Triad small business owners panicked after hearing the news that the fund from the Small Business Administration’s $349 BILLION LOAN PROGRAM HAD ALREADY BEEN DEPLETED. YES! Weekly spoke with North Carolina District 27 Sen. Michael Garrett, a small business owner, and former investment banker, to get some clarity and explanation on the government loan program.

14 Staying at home has SHIFTED THE CONCERT LANDSCAPE. Already a favorite of the singer-songwriter circles, breweries have kept the circuit flowing—to spread joy, tunes, and a six-pack or two (to-go.)

ADVERTISING Marketing TRAVIS WAGEMAN travis@yesweekly.com Promotion NATALIE GARCIA

DISTRIBUTION JANICE GANTT KYLE MUNRO CARL PEGRAM SHANE MERRIMAN JESSE GUERRA ANDREW WOMACK We at YES! Weekly realize that the interest of our readers goes well beyond the boundaries of the Piedmont Triad. Therefore we are dedicated to informing and entertaining with thought-provoking, debate-spurring, in-depth investigative news stories and features of local, national and international scope, and opinion grounded in reason, as well as providing the most comprehensive entertainment and arts coverage in the Triad. YES! Weekly welcomes submissions of all kinds. Efforts will be made to return those with a self-addressed stamped envelope; however YES! Weekly assumes no responsibility for unsolicited submissions. YES! Weekly is published every Wednesday by Womack Newspapers, Inc. No portion may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. First copy is free, all additional copies are $1.00. Copyright 2020 Womack Newspapers, Inc.

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voices

Trump and the Equal Time Rule

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f you put any credence in the Mueller report and its resulting prosecutions, then you know that Russians interfered with and influenced our 2016 elections.

They did it largely Jim Longworth by posting bogus Longworth news stories on social at Large media in an effort to spread divisive misinformation. But you don’t have to be a foreign hacker to impact the way people vote. In fact, it may very well be that in this fall’s elections, fake news and fake ads will take a back seat to a much more subtle and dangerous form of manipulation. It’s something I call “leveraged news,” and President Trump is benefitting from it right before our very eyes. And it’s all quite legal.

In 1934, the FCC created the Communications Act, a section of which included the so-called “Equal Time Rule,” which required broadcasters to give the same amount of airtime to opposing candidates. Refusal to comply with the rule could lead to a loss of license. Adherence to the rule would guarantee that a Radio or T.V. station couldn’t try and influence the outcome of an election by giving exposure to only one candidate. There are, of course, exceptions to the “Equal Time Rule,” those being if a candidate appears in: a legitimate news interview, a documentary, a scheduled newscast, or a live news event. And that brings me to Donald Trump and “leveraged news.”

After spending most of January decrying coronavirus as a hoax, and most of February downplaying its seriousness, Trump decided to create a pandemic task force just like the one he had dismantled after taking office. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar was supposed to lead the task force but was replaced on Feb. 26

by Vice President Pence. Why? Probably because a few days earlier, Azar had warned the president about the serious threat of COVID-19 and that the nation needed to lock down, but Trump told Azar he was an “alarmist.” Writing for the New York Times, correspondent Maggie Haberman opined, “With Mr. Pence in charge, the focus was clear: No more alarmist messages.”

And so, Pence began to hold daily briefings, accompanied by Dr. Birx and Dr. Fauci.

Their updates were strictly clinical and straWWW.YESWEEKLY.COM

tegically on point, with no hint of politics.

There was no need for Trump to even show up, until, that is, two things got under his skin. First, Dr. Fauci became a media darling and was grabbing all of the attention.

Second, with his rallies canceled, COVID-19 spreading, and Biden’s lead growing, Trump knew he needed more visibility during the crisis. Say what you will about Donald, but the guy has a nose for news, and he stuck it squarely into the daily briefings.

Now, each afternoon, the president comes to the podium and struggles through prepared remarks, then goes on a disjointed rant in which he gives incorrect medical advice. He lies about the distribution of PPEs and ventilators, and lashes out at governors and the CDC, while blaming everyone from Obama to the World Health Organization for everything. He also brags on himself at every opportunity, and last week even showed a campaign-style video to try and make us believe he had handled the pandemic perfectly. The Wall Street Journal, a paper owned by Trump-supporter Rupert Murdoch, said of the president’s daily T.V. show, “Mr. Trump seems to have concluded that the briefings could be a showcase for him. Perhaps they substitute in his mind for the campaign rallies he can no longer hold.”

And while Trump has been commanding a couple of hours of free airtime every day, Joe Biden is relegated to posting messages from his home and hoping that the networks will carry them. That begs the question: Aren’t T.V. stations and networks violating the “Equal Time Rule?” Technically not, because Trump has turned the daily COVID-19 briefings into a “news event,” which is an exception to the rule. That means CNN and MSNBC are not required to give Joe Biden two hours of free air time every day, but it also means they are not required to keep carrying Trump’s daily political “rallies.” So I implore my colleagues to stop airing the briefings live, and, instead, edit together clips of just the crucial medical information, then run those sound bites on a delayed basis. Refusal to do so means you are allowing the president to leverage the news in a way that is clearly unfair to his chief political opponent, and to any other down-ballot candidate with a “D” before their name.

It also begs the question: Who needs Russia to interfere in secret, when Trump is doing it in plain sight? !

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APRIL 22-28, 2020

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SEE IT!

Cancer patients continue creating online

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irsch Wellness Network isn’t letting social distancing keep its cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers artless and alone at home Terry Rader during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Louise Grape, Contributor president and founder of Hirsch Wellness Network, said operations had to be reinvented by moving the free art, writing, and yoga classes online via Zoom on March 23, all thanks to their board member and “tech guru,” Bill Payne.

Grape said Hirsch Wellness Network has a remarkable Board of Directors who were “incredibly engaged in this new ebb and flow” to help raise money to keep paying as many instructors a month as possible, many of whom are also cancer survivors and caregivers that rely on their teaching income now more than ever before. Some of the instructors who jumped right in at the beginning included Bob Nordbruch, Catherine Crowder, Molly Haile, Vanessa McCormick, Mavis Liggett, Bill Savage and Terry Brown. Grape said community makes it possible, along with the Network’s many volunteers.

Being a survivor of four generations of breast and ovarian cancer diagnoses,

YES! WEEKLY

APRIL 22-28, 2020

During this time of social distancing, “it is really challenging, as cancer already is an isolating illness,” Grape said. “You are the only one who can take the drugs and treatments, so it is even tougher right now without having the physical presence of family and friends.”

She said Hirsch Wellness Network would continue to focus on free classes exclusively for cancer patients, survivors, caregivers, and medical staff with a “healthy blend of art and wellness” they have provided since 2008. They plan to continue their online offerings along with in-person classes when it is safe to resume. Grape said they discovered by talking with some cancer patients, who often had the emotional energy to get dressed to attend a program, have become too exhausted to make the trip for a class at the Hirsch Center. Now, with Zoom, she said some are taking the class as they lay in bed. One patient texted that she was “so thankful to feel connected to others being creative,” even when she didn’t have to do anything. Grape said another advantage of the Zoom classes is for caregivers who can better attend evening and Saturday classes.

The weekly programs offered online include Taiji/Qigong, Tuesday at Triad Yoga, The Art of Crochet, Open Studio Art Experiences, Mindfulness Meditation, Wellness in Nature, Artists at Home Interviews, with more coming in May. Grape said that all classes require online registration, starting with the

ongoing Monday 6-6:45 p.m. classes, Tai Chi/Qigong Online with Bill Savage. He teaches fundamentals of Tai Chi/Qigong, which incorporates meditation in gentle, slow movements that allow anyone to participate and progress at their own pace.

Terry Brown of Triad Yoga continues his weekly Tuesday 4-5:15 p.m. online yoga class, that Grape said attracts as many as 30 people. Brown recommends participants to have a mat, or stationary carpet, as well as a strap/tie/belt, and a block or stack of books/sturdy box and a blanket/towel.

Grape said the Network is excited to begin a new Wednesday (4/15-5/20) class from 6-7:30 p.m. called, “Resting in Awareness,” which is a six-week mindfulness meditation series with Ash Poirier. Poirier, a United States Navy veteran, and a physician assistant, said she helps others “reap the many benefits of meditation such as improved sleep, increased happiness, and better brain function.” Her studies with masters in the field since 2011 include Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach, and other teachers in the mindfulness community.

She said that on Thursdays from 1-1:30 p.m., the four-part pop-up series class, “Wellness in Nature Online,” continues with Catherine Crowder. Crowder offers interactive outdoor opportunities “to play and discover the power of nature through patterns, colors and textures to rejuvenate our spirits and be refreshed.”

Grape said this class helps “restore your sense of well being through the sights, sounds and smells of nature, from an attendees’ backyard, apartment balcony,

or even looking at a beautiful landscape photo from their bed.”

The usual Saturday Therapeutic Aquatics at Club Fitness remains canceled due to this unprecedented health crisis.

Grape said that registration is required through the Hirsch website calendar, and the day before the scheduled class, a secure Zoom link and password will be provided for each session. Participants are asked to log on 15 minutes early, to ensure their technology is working, and that everyone is comfortable and ready to participate in the session. She said to check back often as Hirsch is adding new online programs frequently.

Hirsch Wellness Network, a 501(c) (3) nonprofit, has been dedicated to building a cancer support community since 2008. Hirsch Wellness Network connects cancer patients and survivors, caregivers, family, and friends with creative tools and self-care strategies that provide emotional support during treatment into survivorship and beyond. !

TERRY RADER is a freelance writer/editorial/content/copy, creative consultant/branding strategist, communications outreach messenger, poet and emerging singer/songwriter.

WANNA get involved?

Mondays (6-6:45 p.m.), Tai Chi/Qigong, Tuesdays (4-5:15 p.m.), Terry Brown Yoga, Wednesday (4/15-5/20), 6-7:30 p.m. “Resting in Awareness” a six-week mindfulness meditation series, Thursday (1-1:30 p.m. four-part pop-up series class), “Wellness in Nature Online,” register at https://www. hirschwellnessnetwork.org/classes/

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A farewell to Gerald Freedman The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) suffered a personal loss on March 17 when Gerald Freedman, emeritus dean of the School of Drama, died at age 92. He’d served Mark Burger as dean for over two decades, from 1991Contributor 2012, and when I used to cover theater for the WinstonSalem Journal, I had the pleasure of spending time in his company, which was esteemed indeed.

He was smart, funny, and emphatic when he needed to be. He was both fiercely devoted to, and protective of, the School of Drama.

In many ways, he was the School of Drama. There were, of course, other faculty members, but Freedman was the face and the force behind the school. There was never any doubt who was in charge, although he certainly gave credit and praise to those around him, including the students.

Before he became dean of the School of Drama in 1991, Freedman was something of a superstar administrator/teacher, having been the leading artistic director of Joseph Papp’s legendary New York Shakespeare Festival (1960-’67) then its artistic director (1967-’71), co-artistic director of John Houseman’s The Acting Company (1974-’77), the artistic director of the Great Lakes Theater Festival (1985-’97) in Cleveland, as well as a faculty member at the Yale School of Drama and the Juilliard School.

He’d been something of a superstar director, too, having directed the original off-Broadway production of the classic counter-culture rock musical Hair at Papp’s Public Theatre in 1967. He directed the 1964 and 1980 revivals of West Side Story, the 1975 and ‘76 productions of The Robber Bridegroom (both of which earned him Drama Desk nominations), and the 1995 production of Richard Sheridan’s classic 18th-century farce The School for Scandal, with Tony Randall.

I always enjoyed interviewing him, because once we’d finished discussing the issue at hand – what play he was currently directing – I’d ask him about the people he’d worked with in the past, a veritable Who’s Who of stage and screen that included such luminaries as Hal Holbrook, Julie Harris, Charles Durning, James Earl WWW.YESWEEKLY.COM

Jones, Stacy Keach, Powers Boothe, William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Mandy Patinkin, Carroll O’Connor, Sam Waterston, Powers Boothe, and William Daniels and Bonnie Bartlett (with whom he roomed when all three were just beginning their careers) – to name but a few.

When Piper Laurie attended the RiverRun International Film Festival in 2018, she made a point of visiting Freedman, as did Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss last year, Benjamin having worked as an assistant director on Freedman’s 1961 Broadway debut, The Gay Life, a musical romp that earned four Tony Award nominations, winning for Best Costume Design. (The choreographer, incidentally, was Herbert Ross.)

I remember Freedman’s enthusiasm at having been the first American invited to direct at the world-famous Globe Theatre (Shakespeare’s Globe) in London, which had been a passion of American actor/ director Sam Wanamaker since the early 1970s. After being blacklisted in the 1950s, Wanamaker settled in London and was able to resume, and expand, his career.

After years of fund-raising and constant hurdles, the Globe was finally completed in 1997, four years after Wanamaker’s death.

Freedman wryly noted that the Globe Theatre was “the only good thing to come out of the Hollywood Blacklist.”

I also remember when we found each other seated next to each other at his latest UNCSA production. We looked at each other and laughed. Critic and director, sitting side-by-side on opening night? No way. I moved back a row.

In early 2011, Freedman suffered a major stroke, yet despite it ending his tenure as dean it was entirely in keeping with his resilience and his character that he was able to address graduates at the commencement ceremony only three months later. Even after his retirement, he taught classes for another full year.

In 2012, the largest theater on the UNCSA campus was named in his honor (The Gerald Freedman Theatre). “The reputation of the School of Drama and the quality of talent we produce yearly is what I am most proud of in my 60-plus years in the theater,” he said at the time. “I live in the work of my students.”

One of those students, Isaac Klein, who graduated the School of Drama’s directing program in 2006, spent over five years creating his first book, The School of Doing: Lessons from Theater Master Gerald

Freedman (Flying Dodo LLC), with half of the profits going directly to UNCSA’s Gerald Freedman Excellence Endowed Fund.

“Gerald was the greatest teacher I’ve ever had,” Klein said at the time, “but he is more than my teacher. Gerald is more than my mentor. Gerald is the person whose wisdom I hear most often in my head, and hold most closely in my heart.”

Anyone who knew him know that Freedman did not suffer fools, gladly or otherwise. He had a healthy ego, but wasn’t particularly egotistical. He could be self-deprecating and he could be charming, but he had a temper.

Only once did I observe it first-hand. It was not directed at a student, nor (fortunately) at me. The specific details are unimportant, but the person in question, who likely had no idea who Freedman was or his position, had basically given him the brush-off. I thought: “You’ve just made a mistake, and I’m going to watch what happens.”

And I did. And I’ll bet the person remembers it, too. !

See MARK BURGER’s reviews of current movies on Burgervideo.com. © 2020, Mark Burger.

APRIL 22-28, 2020

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flicks

Good Times with a celebrated shutterbug

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n 1994, Mark Bozek sat down to interview noted photographer Bill Cunningham in New York City. The conversation lasted six hours.

Mark Burger Now, Bozek makes his feature debut as Contributor writer, producer, and director of The Times of Bill Cunningham, an engaging chronicle of the Boston-born Cunningham (1929-2016), who referred to himself as “a fashion historian.” Cunningham rubbed elbows with the likes of Marlon Brando, Norman Mailer, Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Kennedy, and Diana Vreeland (to name but a few), and was a fixture in the Big Apple, where he pedaled from assignment to assignment on his trusty bicycle, which, he bemusedly noted, would inevitably be stolen at some point.

Rest assured, the film doesn’t include all six hours of the interview. Much to his credit, Bozek has done a fine job condensing Cunningham’s life and career in a brisk but thorough 75-minute running time that seems to cover everything.

Cunningham is hailed as “the Nostradamus of fashion and society” by narrator Sarah Jessica Parker, which isn’t necessarily an overstatement, even for those unfamiliar with his work. Fashion was always Cunningham’s work – and life. He started as a designer of hats, which he

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Management of pediatric patients suffering from acute, chronic and complex neurological disorders.

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APRIL 22-28, 2020

PHOTO BY HAROLD CHAPMAN

PHOTO BY BILL CUNNINGHAM

Bill Cunningham in Paris, 1971 enjoyed, then segued into photography, which he enjoyed even more. He loved capturing history through the lens of the camera, and not just in the world of glamor and fashion, although it’s for that he’s best-known.

Parker’s narration essentially fills in a few narrative gaps, including the fact that Cunningham was a generous donor to AIDS research and his beloved Catholic Church, without ever seeking acknowledgment.

The Times of Bill Cunningham boasts a treasure trove of Cunningham’s photos, creating an enticing visual time-line spanning not only his life, but the life of New York City, and the evolution of trends in fashion, culture, and society.

Appropriately, the film belongs to Cunningham, a gregarious, even giddy interview subject, although prone to moments of unexpected emotion and grief. He’s candid and self-deprecating, gossipy without ever being malicious, and perhaps a trifle surprised (albeit flattered) that Bozek had such an interest in interviewing him. As it turns out, Bozek’s interest was well-founded and

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Calvin Klein in New York City, 1987 very well-conveyed in The Times of Bill Cunningham.

The Times of Bill Cunnigham is available to view via a/perture cinemas’ virtual cinema screening series. For details, visit www.aperturecinema.com/portfolio_ page/the-times-of-bill-cunningham/. !

See MARK BURGER’s reviews of current movies on Burgervideo.com. © 2020, Mark Burger.

The Times of Bill Cunningham director Mark Bozek

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chow

EAT IT!

John Batchelor’s recommendations for takeout: Part IV

hot pour PRESENTS

BY JOHN BATCHELOR

[BARTENDERS OF THE WEEK | BY NATALIE GARCIA]

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ather than begin this week’s column with dessert, I’m going to put in my proverbial two cents worth of advice to policy makers, restaurant management, and patrons regarding a way to improve things: outdoor seating. Sidewalk or patio tables and chairs, placed at an appropriate distance, would provide a higher level of safety than inside placement, as well as a pleasant dining experience during spring and summer.

Weather, of course, is an issue, but of less impact than the current shutdown requirement. I defer to health experts for evaluation of the idea, but it seems a reasonable way to start emerging from this mess.

One other observation: most restaurants are not updating their websites. To get current, accurate information, go to Facebook and search on the restaurant’s name, or use the old-fashioned method and just call on the phone.

For the present, here are two more personal endorsements for takeout.

GIA (1941 New Garden Rd., Suite 208, 336-907-7536, drinkeatlisten.com) has switched their menu to family-style meals and sides that are designed to feed four guests. They post new offerings, including wines, every day on Facebook and Instagram. Hours are 3-7 p.m. daily. Sign up on the website for direct e-mailings. Deliveries are available through GrubHub (grubhub.com).

Recent selections have included Tuscan Chicken with spinach, tomatoes, and garlic cream sauce; Pan-Seared Salmon dressed in lemon vinaigrette with spiraled zucchini and rice; Pot Roast with roasted carrots, potatoes, and gravy; and Lasagna with Beef Bolognese. The Pot Roast and Lasagna seem to be fairly regular offerings. You can put in requests on the website. Last week, patrons asked for lamb and pork dishes, so those appeared in the next update.

Sides can be ordered separately. On the menu last weekend: Herb Roasted Vegetables- zucchini, mushrooms, potatoes, and tomatoes; Pan Fried Eggplant with balsamic reduction; and Broccoli with Romesco sauce.

The 1618 group of three restaurants WWW.YESWEEKLY.COM

Check out videos on our Facebook!

BARTENDER: Stephanie Sherry has coalesced into 1618 Collaboration, with curbside pickup at the Seafood Grille location (1618 W. Friendly Ave., 336-235-0898, 1618concepts.com).

Chefs send their selections in weekly, with postings updated on the website mid-week. Hours are 4-6 p.m., TuesdaySaturday. Deliveries are available for $10 within 5 miles of downtown Greensboro, or $25 for locations between 5 and 25 miles. Delivery fee goes directly to service staff. Also consider ordering a “Peace, Love, Tuna” T-shirt, whose purchase price also supports service staff.

The menu for April 21-25 offers Barbecue Pulled Pork with green bean casserole; Chicken Cordon Bleu, stuffed with bacon and blue cheese, served with sautéed haricot vert, grape tomatoes, and crispy rosemary potatoes; Beef Stroganoff with smoked blue cheese, egg noodles, and mushroom-spinach cream sauce; Blackened Shrimp and Grits- a shrimp and crab cake with remoulade sauce and a cheddar grits cake and tasso gravy, plus Creole green beans, summer squash, and cornbread.

Sides, available separately, include Brussels Sprouts, Rosemary Potato Salad, Roasted Garlic Hummus, Chicken or Beef Tamales, Blue Cheese Popcorn, and homemade chocolate chip cookies.

A special children’s menu is included as well. Samples- “Sghetti with Bolognese sauce, Chicken Pasta, and Chicken Tendies with tater tots.

Good to see that these kitchens are sustaining the creativity that has been their hallmark in the past. !

JOHN BATCHELOR has been writing about eating and drinking since 1981. Over a thousand of his articles have been published. He is also author of two travel/ cookbooks: Chefs of the Coast: Restaurants and Recipes from the North Carolina Coast, and Chefs of the Mountains: Restaurants and Recipes from Western North Carolina. Contact him at john.e.batchelor@gmail. com or see his blog, johnbatchelordiningandtravel. blogspot.com.

BAR: Stumble Stilskins AGE: 32 WHERE ARE YOU FROM? Pittsburgh—GO STEELERS! I moved here a year and a half ago, and I couldn’t be happier!

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN BARTENDING? Five years HOW DID YOU BECOME A BARTENDER? I wanted to pay my car off faster and took a job with my best friend at a local bar!

I have loved it ever since!

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY ABOUT BARTENDING? Being social and meeting new people!

If I can make one person’s day, then I have done my job right!

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE DRINK TO MAKE? Any drink to put a smile on their face or more money in my tip jar!!

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE DRINK TO DRINK? Jameson and a Steph Shot (you’ll have to come see me and try it!)

WHAT WOULD YOU RECOMMEND AS AN AFTER-DINNER DRINK? It depends on how dinner went!

Shot of tequila—lick it, slam it, suck it.

Or maybe a Mudslide or Irish Carbomb WHAT’S THE CRAZIEST THINGS YOU’VE SEEN WHILE BARTENDING? It’s definitely not the craziest, but it’s funny.

This guy was drunk, and he started pissing all over the dance floor, including bouncers.

How do you get him out before he’s done without it getting worse?

WHAT’S THE BEST TIP YOU’VE EVER GOTTEN? $200 I seriously have the best patrons!

APRIL 22-28, 2020

YES! WEEKLY

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[NEWS OF THE WEIRD] BRIGHT IDEA

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

DESPERATE MEASURES

Olive Veronesi, 93, of Seminole, Pennsylvania, wasn’t shy about letting loved ones know what she needed during the lock-

down. “I need more beer!” read a sign she held up, along with a can of Coors Light. A relative posted Veronesi’s photo to social media, KDKA reported, and her predicament went viral. “I have a beer every night. ... I was on my last 12 cans. You know what, beer has vitamins in it. It’s good for you, only don’t overdo it,” Veronesi said.

On April 13, she got her wish: Molson Coors delivered 10 cases of her favorite brew to her front door. Her new sign reads, “Got more beer!”

NAMES IN THE NEWS

— A baby born on April 6 in Sheopur, Bhopal, India, will carry a special name with him through his life: Lockdown.

Manju Mail, his mother, confirmed to hospital staff: “Yes, he is Lockdown, as he was born during the lockdown period.” Her husband, Raghunath, told The Times of India: “It is a significant name. The whole world using lockdown as a means to stem this pandemic. We should not take Lockdown lightly.”

— Similarly, in Chhattisgarh, India, another couple blessed their twins, born March 27, with timely names: Corona and Covid. Preeti Verma, 27, told the Press Trust of India her children’s names sym-

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YES! WEEKLY

APRIL 22-28, 2020

PRIORITIES

As tornadoes bore down on the Southeast on April 12, an unnamed family sought safety in a storm shelter in Crossville, Alabama, but said they were turned away when they had only one face mask. The woman told WHNT a man who opened the door asked if they had masks.

“I said I have one mask,” the woman said.

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

BURIED TREASURE

A man in Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire, England, set out to build a deck in his back garden in early April and uncovered a mystery. As John Brayshaw, 40, began digging post holes, he unearthed an automobile buried on its side, Yahoo News UK reported. “I thought it was an old air raid shelter at first, then I saw the roof,” Brayshaw said. “Then I kept digging and saw the door, the steering wheel and realized it was a full car, complete with the registration plate. The only thing that was missing was the wheels.” Brayshaw, who has owned the home for about six months, believes the 1955/56 Ford predates the previous owners, who resided in the home 50 years.

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8

bolize triumph over hardships. “Indeed the virus is dangerous and life-threatening, but its outbreak made people focus on sanitation, hygiene and inculcate other good habits,” she said.

— Davis, California, resident Shaun Lamar Moore, 40, was arrested on April 12 and charged with burglary after allegedly stealing a specimen that was waiting to be tested for COVID-19 from the Sutter Davis Hospital. Authorities said hospital employees reported a person had entered the facility April 11 and removed the specimen, Fox News reported. That evening, police were alerted that a sealed COVID-19 specimen was found in a shopping cart at a nearby CVS store. Police Deputy Chief Paul Doroshov said the specimen “hadn’t been opened or tampered with based on the security seals. ... Although the incident is very serious, detectives do not believe (Moore) intended to harm himself or others,” he added.

— Kevin Fallon, 30, of New York City reportedly sent warnings to friends and family on April 9 that he intended to blow

up a bronze statue in Central Park depicting characters from “Alice in Wonderland,” according to court documents. On April 11, he allegedly followed up with photos of a pipe bomb and ammunition, along with threats: “This is going to hurt. None of you are safe. I am lethal.” At his mother’s request, NYPD conducted a wellness check at his apartment that day and found three bombs, ammunition and knives that had been taped together, authorities said. The New York Post reported the bombs were found to be nonfunctional, and later that day, Fallon was found at a hotel in the city, where he was taken into custody and charged with making a terroristic threat.

EWWWWW

A new study has found the presence of a parasitic worm called Anisakis, or herring worms, in raw or undercooked seafood has increased 283-fold since the 1970s. Study co-author Chelsea Wood, assistant professor in the University of Washington’s School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, said most people who’ve eaten the worms think they have food poisoning. The symptoms are much the same, she told United Press International, and they disappear after the worm in a few days. But the worms can reach 0.8 inches in length and are visible to the naked eye, Wood noted.

While fish processors and sushi chefs are adept at removing the worms, she suggested cutting sushi in half and inspecting each piece if you’re concerned.

LEAST COMPETENT CRIMINAL

Furquan Muhammad, 22, started his very bad encounter with law enforcement on April 11 when he sped off after being pulled over in Monroe County, Georgia, for not having a license tag, authorities said. Georgia State Patrol spokesperson Lt. Stephanie Stallings told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that as the car sped by, troopers saw “there were other passengers in the fleeing vehicle that appeared to be children.” The chase went on through four counties, until Muhammad crashed into a state trooper’s car, which then caused a chain reaction involving four police vehicles and injured two troopers, according to authorities. Along with Muhammad in the car, deputies said they found four children (ranging in age from 9 weeks to 15 years old), marijuana, Xanax pills, a firearm and $2,000 in cash.

Muhammad was arrested on multiple charges. !

© 2020 Chuck Shepherd. Universal Press Syndicate.

Send your weird news items with subject line WEIRD NEWS to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com.

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feature

10

Heidi N Closet is ‘blessed and highly-favored’ on RuPaul’s Drag Race

S

he’s beauty, she’s grace, and now, she’s one of the most beloved queens of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Eight weeks ago, Heidi N Closet became America’s sweetKatie Murawski heart after making her debut on Season 12 of RuPaul’s Drag Editor Race, the VH1 Emmyaward winning reality drag competition show. This year, 13 queens from all across the nation race to the finish line through a series of acting, sewing, and other various challenges to be crowned the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race and receive a cash prize of $100,000; a year’s supply of Anastasia Beverly Hills cosmetics, and of course, the title of America’s Next Drag Superstar.

Closet’s alter ego, Trevien Cheek, 25, grew up in a small town 35 minutes outside of Greensboro, and has performed across the Triad since he started doing drag in 2014. Cheek said in a phone interview last Thursday that he was introduced to the world of drag shortly after turning 18.

“My eldest sibling is a trans woman, and for her birthday, she wanted me to come out in the club,” Cheek recalled. “I saw my very first live drag show, and I thought, ‘Oh my god, I could do that too! I took my time, and about two years after that, I started performing in Greensboro, North Carolina. For my very first time in drag, I did a talent show, and I just kept going.”

Cheek grew up in Randolph County’s small, one-horse town of Ramseur, “where everybody knows everybody’s business.”

“There is really no hiding what people are doing there, really,” he said.

Most of the queens that end up making it on the show audition year after year, however, Cheek said he only auditioned once, and he almost didn’t audition at all.

“I was scrolling on social media, and a queen I know from here posted online that she was auditioning—which is a big no-no. You are not supposed to tell people you are auditioning,” Cheek said. “It was like two days before sending in the applications for the deadline, and a couple of months later, there I was!”

Cheek said when he found out he was going to be one of the 13 contestants on YES! WEEKLY

APRIL 22-28, 2020

Drag Race, he couldn’t believe it.

“I threw my phone in one direction, and I ran in the other direction,” Cheek said when asked how he reacted to the news.

“It was so, so exciting, super exciting.”

Cheek said seeing RuPaul and the judges for the first time in person was surreal.

“It was like I was stepping into the T.V.,” Cheek said. “I remember I was like—Michelle, your eyes are gorgeous in person!”

In the show’s “Meet The Queens” promotional video, Cheek explained the story behind his unique and somewhat controversial drag name: Heidi N Closet.

“My drag name came from a joke,” Closet says in her soft and supple southern accent. “A lot of men from my hometown are closeted, and they would always try and get my goodies and what luxuries.

And I said, ‘there is no need to be hiding in the closet.”

Throughout Season 12, RuPaul has made it known that he isn’t fond of the name “Heidi N Closet,” and suggests numerous times that she change her name to something easier to say, like “Heidi Ho.” The question on everyone’s mind has been, will she change her name?

“It might come to a conclusion while watching the show, so you have to keep watching,” Cheek teased.

As Shakespeare puts it, “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” and no matter what happens, Closet will still be loved and adored by the Drag Race fandom.

Just like the two North Carolina queens before her, Season 1’s Victoria “Porkchop” Parker and Season 3’s Stacy Layne Matthews—RuPaul saw Charisma and Uniqueness in Heidi N Closet. And so far on the show, Closet has shown that she has the Nerve and Talent needed to go all the way. However, Closet’s debut on the show started out a bit rocky.

During the first episode of the season titled “I’m That Bitch,” half of the queens— Brita, Nicky Doll, Widow Von’Du, Jackie Cox, Heidi N Closet, Gigi Goode and Crystal Methyd—had to present two fashionable runway looks: one for spring and one for fall, in addition to their final runway look, where the category was “sparkle.” Then, the queens had to introduce themselves to the celebrity guest judge and rapper Nicki Minaj, by writing their own rap complete with choreography. The top two of the week, Gigi Goode and Widow Von’Du, then had to “lip-sync for their lives,” and a $5,000 cash tip.

During the critiques, Closet was reminded of her spring runway fumble, where she joked that she was showing off her “Civil Rights hair.” Closet revealed that she had to go to the emergency room the night before because of an allergic reaction to kale. (Oh, kale no.)

Out of the judges, Minaj critiqued Closet the harshest by saying, “I hate, hate, hate your hair and makeup today.” During the “Untucked” segment in the workroom, Closet clapped back and asked Minaj, “What is it you hate so much about my face?” But Minaj was not the only critic of Closet’s mug; Goode also criticized Closet about her makeup a couple of episodes later.

“It was hard hearing it,” Cheek said when asked how he felt getting those critiques. “In the heat of the moment, we are all there trying to keep in the competition, and it was like a pressure cooker that can make things worse than it would be normally.

But it was really hard because I had grown up being bullied— being called many things. And there were other things out of my control, [that I was critiqued on] like my looks were worn... But I tried to get better at it.”

After the episode aired, Closet posted an updated version of that runway with a different wig and improved makeup on Instagram, where she received high praise, and somewhat of a redemption.

“I would say I have grown tremendously since the filming of the show with my makeup,” Cheek said. “The thing that gets me the most is, I get praised for my personality a lot and just being who I am, which is a complete 180 from me growing up. I was bullied for all those things; I was bullied for being who I was, for being myself. But being there, that was the only thing I was praised the most for.”

In Episode 3, when all of the queens were brought together, Closet solidified her star power in an improv acting challenge along with Cox and Goode.

The judges went wild for Goode, Cox, and Closet’s elderly trio as they auditioned

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for a spot on “The World’s Worst,” a fake reality “no-talent” show.

After being safe during Episode 4, Closet found herself lip-syncing for her life the next week after the judges called her performance lackluster in the “Gay’s Anatomy” challenge with her “fork sister” Crystal Methyd. Closet found herself in the bottom once again in Episode 7 after her performance in “Madonna, The Unauthorized Rusical,” and her look in the “Night of 1,000 Michelle Visages” runway. Closet was deemed “the lip-sync assassin of the season” because she sent home big-city queen and powerhouse performer, Brita.

“I think she was from New York, but I can’t quite remember,” said Cheek as he jokingly referred to Brita. “It was a bag of emotions; me and her got close in the competition up to that point. It was hard to see her go and being the one that sent her home...It is nice to see people appreciating my skills as a lip-sync artist, so it is very nice to see that too.”

Closet had a breakthrough in last week’s episode and finally won her first challenge.

In Episode 8, the queens had to create an over-the-top luxury product and make a video to market that product. Then, on the runway, the divas had to sport a black dress for the “black wedding” category.

After taking RuPaul’s advice during his workroom walkthrough, Closet had the judges and fans rolling on the floor laughing at her “Heidi’s Hydrates” multi-purpose cream commercial.

Cheek said his favorite challenges so far have been “The Unauthorized Rusical” and “The World’s Worst.” His favorite runway look was the highly-underrated Pinocchio outfit for the “buttons and bows” runway category.

“It is my favorite look of mine so far because it has parts of my backstory with it,” he said. “It is a lot of fun, and it looked campy, funny, and cute.”

He also tooted some of his Season 12 sisters’ looks—specifically, Jan’s voodoo doll-inspired look and Goode’s orange button suit for the “buttons and bows” runway, as well as Methyd’s interpretation of the Frozen: The Musical category.

As a gay person of color living in rural North Carolina, and being a drag queen on top of that, Cheek has undeniably faced many barriers to pursuing his dream. During last week’s episode, Cheek shared with the rest of the queens that he only made a total of $9,000 last year.

“On the first day, they pulled out all of their stuff and then a lot of the girls would say all the things they have done—like gone on tour, and I am over here like, I have been performing at my local bar once a week,” Cheek admitted. “I definitely don’t think they saw me as a threat, especially in the beginning.”

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Another memorable moment from the show was during “Untucked,” when Closet defends her fellow small-town queen, Aiden Zhane, from the bitter, big-city queens. Cheek’s representation in the show illuminates an interesting dichotomy between big-city and small-town queens, which poses the question: What do the small-town queens have that big-city queens don’t have?

“They have the tenacity to keep going,” Cheek said when asked that same question. “The queens from the bigger cities are used to being at the top of their games, or always being praised for things. That is something we small-town queens don’t get all the time, so we have the tenacity to keep getting better and keep going. Just like the Energizer bunny. I am not saying they don’t work hard, but we go through a lot more and have nothing available to us.

So, we have to get more crafty; we have to get more ambitious.”

Another interesting dichotomy observed from the show is the different paths that Goode and Closet traveled to get to where they are now. In the show, both Goode and Closet open up about their gay uncles and how they influenced their lives. Goode talked about how their uncle introduced them to RuPaul for the first time, as well as being gender fluid, and how everyone in their family was always accepting and supportive. Meanwhile, Closet revealed that she has always been bullied and that her uncle passed away when she was young due to HIV. She goes on to say that he was really the only person in her life that “made me feel like I belong.”

“We don’t ever talk since my mother passed away at a young age, he started a new life with another woman,” Cheek said on the relationship with his estranged father.

“I learned that if you can laugh at something, it is not that bad for one, so it has taught me to be able to get through even the hardest of times,” Cheek said about how he has been able to break through society’s barriers and pursue his dreams.

“It has really built up a tolerance to get through things even if it is easy or hard.”

Cheek also attributed his success to his partner, who has stuck by his side through everything.

“My partner Jacob, he is the one that pushed me and pushed me more and more to always do better and be the best version of myself that I can be.”

Closet’s reception from fans and Drag Race alumni has been consistently and overwhelmingly positive. Closet was recently named “the heart of the season,”

by Out.com.

“There’s a legacy of Drag Race competitors that come on the show and maybe don’t have the makeup skills as the other

queens, or don’t have the same polish when it comes to looks,” wrote Mikelle Street, author of the article. “They usually come into the show with a little less means than everyone else but often go on to have the most impact, becoming viral memes, GIFs and reaction videos, or a deep love from the fandom. Closet falls squarely within this lineage.”

On the podcast Race Chaser, hosted

by Drag Race alumni Alaska and Willam, Alaska says how much she adores Closet in each episode. In the podcast Drag Her, hosted by Greensboro-native and drag enthusiast Mano Agapion and Netflix star and comedian Nicole Byer, Closet is highly regarded as well. Byer even says multiple times that Closet is her favorite queen of the season.

“I listen to Race Chaser, and they love me, and I adore it, I listen all the time, and Willam and Alaska are amazing,” said Cheek when asked how it feels to be so well-received by celebrities. “It feels amazing, it is so incredible to see people who I have watched for years acknowledge me and notice me, and be really receptive to me. It is incredible, like a dream come true.”

Cheek said he has also been wellreceived by other Drag Race alumni such as Season 11’s Vanessa “Miss Vanjie” Mateo and Shuga Cain.

“It feels good to see the response I have been getting from the fans and everyone,” he said. “It has been amazing to be so well-received. It’s crazy because coming from such a small town, I never thought that so many people would connect with little ol’ me.”

It’s no secret that Greensboro is rooting for Cheek. Before the COVID-19 quarantine, Twist Lounge in Greensboro would have watch parties on Friday nights to exclusively celebrate Closet and cheer her on to the finish line. Local drag entertainers have also loved seeing Cheek represent the Triad and North Carolina on the show.

“They are definitely a lot nicer now,” Cheek said of his fellow Triad drag queens.

“I think there is a lot of friendly competition amongst each other,” he added when asked what is great about the Triad drag scene and what could be improved. “We are always pushing each other to do better and outdo one another. But also, the most normal thing in many, many, many drag communities, is the cattiness.”

Cheek said he’d like to see fellow Triad drag queen, Aria Russo, who holds the title “Miss Gay North Carolina America 2019,” compete the show.

“I would love to see her on the show,” Cheek said. “She is fierce and fabulous, and I love her to death.”

Cheek said he believes that all forms of drag are valid and that anyone can be who they want to be if they are dedicated

enough. The biggest piece of advice he would give other aspiring drag queens who want to audition for the show is to be authentic.

“If you want to go on Drag Race, be yourself in the audition tape— if they like you, they like you and will bring you on; just be yourself,” he said. “For queens who want to start doing drag, there are two things that I always say to everybody: One, always give 100% when you are performing, because you never know who is going to be there watching, and could help you in the future or if there are any connections you can make. And two, always be willing to ask questions and grow.”

Instead of touring the country, as every Ru-girl before her did after their season premiered, Closet and the rest of the Season 12 queens are stuck at home.

“I got back a day or two before everything started shutting down,” Cheek said from his home in Trinity, North Carolina.

COVID-19 has made a huge impact on drag performers everywhere, causing them to get innovative online.

“I definitely think that digital drag shows are maybe not the complete way of the future, but it is an addition now to the future of drag for sure.”

Even though digital drag shows can reach a broader audience, Cheek said he misses in-person drag shows dearly.

“The one thing that I miss from performing in person is the interaction with the people, the face-to-face interaction, and the stage itself,” he said. “It is hard to dance in the living room, but I am trying!”

Especially during COVID-19, Drag Race has been a much-needed escape from the horrors of reality. Heidi N Closet’s quirks and charm have been a beacon of hope and joy on this dark sea of uncertainty.

“To believe in myself,” Cheek said on what he has taken away most from being on the show. “I have watched myself and seen my insecurities shine through, and I just think that I should believe in myself more because I could really go places with that.” !

KATIE MURAWSKI is the editor-in-chief of YES! Weekly.

Her alter egos include The Grimberlyn Reaper, skater/ public relations board chair for Greensboro Roller Derby, and Roy Fahrenheit, drag entertainer and self-proclaimed King of Glamp.

WANNA

see it?

On April 22 at 7 p.m., bring Heidi N Closet to your living room with PEG presents: Digital Drag Fest.

Tickets are $10 through StageIt.com. For more information about Heidi N Closet, visit her website, www.theheidincloset.com. Tune in this Friday at 8 p.m. on VH1 for the new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race.

APRIL 22-28, 2020

YES! WEEKLY

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12

Filmmaker Rodrigo Dorfman on COVID-19’s impact in his communities

Ian McDowell

Contributor

Rodrigo Dorfman, exile and son of exiles, is no stranger to catastrophe.

When he was a child in Chile, his family’s life was threatened by a murderous U.S.backed military coup.

Now, it’s disrupted by a pandemic. Like his father, novelist, playwright, essayist and human rights activist Ariel Dorfman, Rodrigo is haunted

by history.

Rodrigo was born in Santiago in 1967, six years before General Augusto Pinochet overthrew Chilean president Salvador Allende, beginning a 17-year reign of terror in which thousands were executed, tens of thousands imprisoned and tortured, and over a hundred thousand fled for their lives.

Three such exiles were Ariel, his wife Angélica Malinarich, and their son Rodrigo. A cultural advisor to the slain Allende, Ariel narrowly escaped being murdered like his friend Claudio Jimeno, who was working Ariel’s usual shift at the presidential palace the night gunmen burst in. Fleeing Pinochet death squads, the Dorfmans lived in Paris, Amsterdam, and D.C. before settling in Durham, where Ariel is Walter Hines Page Research Professor of Literature and Latin American Studies at Duke.

Rodrigo resides down the block from his parents. Until the crisis, he spent much of his time traveling and documenting North Carolina’s Latinx community via a series of what he calls “hybrid educational/neo-realist” films. He’s worked with HBO, PBS, Salma Hayek’s production company Ventanazul and the BBC, on films screened at the Toronto, Full Frame, Edinburgh, Telluride, and Human Rights Watch festivals.

Now, most of those are canceled, as was Winston-Salem’s RiverRun, at which Rodrigo’s short Bulls and Saints was to be shown. SECCA, where the film was part of an immersive installation, is closed. The loss of festival exposure hurts most.

“Festival are the lifeblood of most documentary filmmakers, both in terms of getting their work seen and finding distribution,” wrote Rodrigo in a recent email.

“Now, our work is orphaned and in limbo.”

YES! Weekly asked Rodrigo about both YES! WEEKLY

APRIL 22-28, 2020

Bulls and Saints and The Disobedient Ones, a related feature-length documentary also set in North Carolina’s Mexican bull rodeo circuit. Both are collaborations with photographer/visual artist Peter Eversoll, his partner in Nuevo South, their Durham-based media and art production company that explores this region’s intersecting cultures.

“In 2018, I met Cheyo Macias, A.K.A. El Desobediente de Cherán (The Disobedient of Cherán) in Statesville the day he rode one of the most notorious bulls of the Mexican rodeo circuit. In Mexico six months earlier, Cheyo was challenged to ride the unbeaten El Dolá. To do this, he crossed the desert and headed to El Norte, hoping to win enough money to buy a butcher shop and a piece of land back in Cherán. When his cousin told him that I used to make video letters for immigrants wanting to communicate back home, Cheyo asked me to help him record one for his wife. I believe in crossing the objective boundaries of traditional documentary ethics, so I made it a collaboration and helped him write it.”

Rodrigo stressed the importance of such imported festivities, describing how the crisis has curtailed them.

“The heart of this state’s Latinx community is its working-class families with mixed immigration status. They helped rebuild North Carolina into the 21st-century and hold the key to its future. They have gone from living in the shadows to watching their children stand up and fight to be heard, to be seen, to be protagonists of this emerging Nuevo South. The com-

munity has survived and thrived because it’s held on to its traditions. Many, such as bull rodeos, saint worship, quinceañeras, and baptisms, are expressed in a public communal setting. The community also comes together physically to raise money for those in need. Hundreds of volunteers cook and sell food to raise emergency funds for families, especially medical bills.

They are not set up to raise funds online.

And so, the quarantine is having a huge impact on this essential source of community support. It’s an unseen tragedy.”

Rodrigo described the pandemic’s emotional toll.

“Insecurity, distance, loss, these are the traumas of exile, which millions have lived through with lessons to share. It disturbs me that the possibility of families learning to come together, of witnessing a new non-capitalist sense of time, of finding some degree of silence and meditative space, comes woven into the suffering and pain of so many, but we’ve always been dancing on cemeteries. We were just not aware of it.”

Rodrigo believes that documentarians, like all artists and storytellers, are essential workers, but that those who share their lives with his camera are even more so.

“We tell the stories of those living at the margins, the essential but unseen workers in the shadows. We ask difficult questions that our political lexicon does not or dares not express. In uncertain times, artists help us imagine what the world will be like when we emerge into the postpandemic light.”

When the quarantine went into effect, he was in the middle of three projects, one on the 20-year economic impact of the Latino Community Credit Union (LCCU) on the lives of four families in Durham and Greensboro. Now, his asthma, which leaves him compromised, has turned his filmmaker’s eye inward.

“The essence of a documentary filmmaker is to go out into the world. Social distancing is the exact opposite. This quarantine is killing me, existentially. So, I’m doing two things to stay sane and out of jail or out of the hospital.: He has started filming a feature documentary inside his house about his four daughters.

“They have agreed to bare themselves to the world in the different ways they are coping with their disrupted lives. Each one of them is trying to overcome her worst fears and anxieties while putting on the Spring Talent Show concert that never happened. It’s going to be intense but a way for them to mentally deal with it. It’s a cross between Cassavetes and the Brady Bunch as a documentary— very experimental and pop at the same time.”

He’s also turning his 2011 documentary Occupy the Imagination into a book. “I’m updating it with new stories that explore the stories of individuals who struggle to create alternative spaces of cultural resistance to our Western neo-liberal model of capitalism. The project mixes and contrasts stories from Chile and its history of revolution, repression, and negotiated transition to democracy with the first year of the Occupy Wall Street movement, the Black Lives Matter movement, Latinx voices in the Nuevo South and local efforts to fight gentrification.”

And how is his family handling the crisis?

“My mother is a bit of a recluse, so she’s happy as a clam in her house. My father is writing up a storm. My daughters, who are 9, 15, 17, and 20, are coping as well as they can. We are lucky to be healthy and privileged. Unlike the Latino immigrants, I have been collaborating with for the last 20 years, who mostly work in construction, don’t have the luxury of missing a paycheck, and will not receive a stimulus payment.” !

IAN MCDOWELL is the author of two published novels, numerous anthologized short stories, and a whole lot of nonfiction and journalism, some of which he’s proud of and none of which he’s ashamed of.

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Michael Garrett explains ‘fatal flaws’ of SBA loans On April 16, many Triad small business owners panicked after hearing the news that the fund from the Small Business Administration’s $349 billion loan program had already been depleted.

Katie Murawski YES! Weekly spoke with North Carolina District 27 Sen. MiEditor chael Garrett, a small business owner, and former investment banker, to get some clarity and explanation on the government loan program.

“Everything in the CARES Act is taxpayer money,” Garrett said. “So, the $20 million that Ruth’s Chris [Steakhouse] got, is taxpayer money; the billions that they are giving to the airlines are taxpayer money. It is all taxpayer money.”

YES! Weekly received a question from local small business owners deemed nonessential and ordered to close by Gov. Roy Cooper on March 30, regarding why non-tax paying entities such as nonprofits and faith-based organizations were eligible to receive these forgivable loans funded by taxpayers.

“Often, it is the faith-based organizations, the nonprofits— that communities really lean on in times of crisis that really drain their resources.” He said that these organizations and entities compound with the government’s efforts to help people and families “get back on their feet.”

“They are, by design, trying not to discriminate against any entity—whether it is a business or nonprofit—to be able to apply for those loans,” Garrett said. “We want it to help all entities that are really struggling to keep people on the payrolls so that the unemployment system wouldn’t become overburdened, and people who could still work could continue to work.”

Garrett said that the Paycheck Protection Program was intended to help the restaurant and hospitality sector, however, “the SBA just reported today [April 17] that of the $350 billion that they have already authorized, only 9% of that went to restaurants and the hospitality sector, which is very disturbing because those are really the entities that are in the greatest need.”

Another question YES! Weekly received was, how were places that did not close due to the governor’s executive order still able to access the PPP? “That is a great question, and it is one of the great pet-peeves of mine of how this was set up from the get-go,” Garrett said. “The stated WWW.YESWEEKLY.COM

purpose of the PPP was to help those businesses that were closed, or their business operations were dramatically reduced because of COVID-19, and employees on the payroll, so that they wouldn’t have to rely on the unemployment system...However, I believe, from my professional experience, the fatal flaw in that program was the SBA put a requirement that lenders prioritize their clients that they had an existing business relationship with.”

Essentially, Garrett explained, if a small business did not have access to a business banker, they were sent to the back of the line.

“And I don’t mean you have a toll-free number for the business banker call center to call,” Garrett said. “You actually know the name of the business banker, and you can call down and get them in their office directly. Those people were at the front of the line. And those businesses are your larger-small businesses.”

And just what is a “larger-small business” other than an oxymoron?

“A small business is classified as something with 500 employees or less,” he said.

Garrett said that definition is too broad in this unique case because the companies that needed the loans most were small businesses with 100 employees or less.

“But then you have the Ruth’s Chrises of the world that are getting $20 million through a bailout program, while some folks like a tattoo parlor, or a hair salon or the [husband and wife] that owns Elm Street Grill, [with] 12 or 15 employees can’t access it because they were at the back of the line. Really, where I think the program was flawed, and we have created this problem where people can’t get access, is in the banking community. You have the underbanked and unbanked populations—that applies to people and also businesses.”

Garrett explained that the small business owners that desperately needed these loans didn’t have enough volume or quantity of business for their banks to assign them their own business banker. “They were at the back of the line because [of how] the SBA instructed the lenders,” he explained. “Now, it is not really the bank’s fault because they have to comply with the guidelines they are given by the federal government.”

“Some needed them, surely,” he added.”But I guarantee you that there are a lot of companies that saw it as free money because the loan is forgivable if you use it on approved purposes like payroll, mortgage interest, rent, utilities, and health care costs.”

Garrett said that even though the SBA set up these loans with good inten-

tions, the logistics were “poorly thought through.”

“It is unfortunate that it happens when you are rushing a program out the door like they did,” he said. “It’s kind of like mom and pops have to look out for themselves.

They are going to get the information from the news media or what they read online.

Whereas, some people who have access to business bankers had access to the information— not necessarily before the public got it, but maybe their bank was being more proactive on certain relationships than others. That is because of, again, the SBA guidance that was given.”

YES! Weekly asked Garrett what Gov. Cooper and the North Carolina state legislation are going to do to help the small businesses left behind.

“I am really worried that when we get through this crisis, we are going to look back, and a lot of Main Street is going to be closed up, and all of these big businesses will pull through fine,” he said. “The challenge we have in North Carolina is, we have limited budgets. We have a balanced budget provision that the state can’t actually go borrow money to create these programs like the federal government does. We’ve also had, since 2013, corporate tax cut after corporate tax cut every year, which has taken about $4 billion in recurring revenue out of the state budget every year. We are dealing with a lot fewer resources than the federal government, so our ability to create innovative programs is somewhat handcuffed. But we are still working on it. I know that the governor is going to be rolling out some proposals that we have pushed in his direction probably next week, and some of that is going to be geared toward small business and where the state can help.”

However, Garrett warned that North Carolina is already going to face a revenue shortfall in the near future because the economy is closed and that state tax collections will drop dramatically. In addition, the tax-filing deadline was postponed in July, which will additionally reduce the state’s tax revenue.

“It is going to be a tough haul for everyone all around, but I am optimistic that the state can help,” Garrett said. “We are not going to be able to eliminate the pain, but we can lessen the pain for a lot of these small businesses by doing some innovative thinking that is somewhat outside of the box for Raleigh. I hope that some of these ideas will get traction by all of my colleagues.”

Garrett assured that he is in constant contact with the SBA office in Charlotte, giving feedback on how to improve it. He also said that there is an ongoing debate

on both sides about refilling the PPP. He said he doesn’t support refilling the program without fixing its systemic problems first.

“One of the things I do, I try not to make a lot of accusations about who is at fault, because we need everyone to be successful during this crisis—a rising tide lifts all boats,” he said. “I really do believe that the federal government made some missteps, and they designed a program that had some fatal flaws for a lot of businesses.”

Garrett said that in order to revise these flaws, the federal government needs to expand the lending partners in this program to the community and regional banks, credit unions, as well as nonprofit lending facilities.

“You could put $500 billion more in it, and there are businesses across America that are going to be left out because they are small businesses, and they don’t have those relationships,” he said. “The hair salons, the tattoo parlors, the small businesses that have one location, the pizza restaurants— these are the people that really need the money and who are being hurt the most. You can throw as much [money] at it as you want, but it is not going to fix the systemic issues with the program.”

Garrett said for people to feel free to reach out to him anytime and that he is happy to help guide them the best he can.

“Feel confident in Raleigh that the governor is well-aware of the pain,” he said.

“We are working together with him, very closely, to come up with policy proposals that can help fill the gaps that were left or created by the government. I am confident that we can do that to a degree, and again, we can’t eliminate the pain, but our goal is to reduce it.”

This week, Garrett said to expect an announcement from the governor on what the next steps are, and what the state of North Carolina can do to help its struggling small businesses.

“It would be good for folks to call their representatives and senators in Raleigh to advocate for some of these tools that we will be rolling out, because that is really how you move elected officials, by making sure they hear from their voters,” he said.

“I encourage your readers to call their U.S. senators and their U.S. congressmen to tell them about what they are experiencing.

They need to hear it.” !

KATIE MURAWSKI is the editor-in-chief of YES! Weekly.

Her alter egos include The Grimberlyn Reaper, skater/ public relations board chair for Greensboro Roller Derby, and Roy Fahrenheit, drag entertainer and self-proclaimed King of Glamp.

APRIL 22-28, 2020

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HEAR IT!

Bottoms up: Triad breweries host livestream shows

S

taying at home has shifted the concert landscape. Already a favorite of the singer-songwriter circles, breweries have kept the circuit flowing by spreading joy, tunes, Katei Cranford and a six-pack or two (to-go).

Contributor “It’s important to still try and do things that bring you joy,” said Tiff and Jeff Johnson from Goofy Foot Taproom in High Point, one of a handful of breweries playing host via livestreams in lieu of the shows hosted in their taproom.

“Breweries and live music go hand in hand,” they said, “before the shutdown, we had live music booked every Saturday night until the end of the year.” For now, they’re hosting streams over Facebook.

“While we’d much rather experience a show in the taproom with our customers, it’s been pretty cool to see people’s names pop up on the screen as they join the livestreams and read their comments of encouragement.”

Passion and encouragement are the bedrock. “Music has always been a passion for our business,” said Jeff Collie from Little Brother Brewing in Greensboro, “we wanted to provide some level of support, however small it may be, while also continuing musical outlets for our customers.”

With more than 5,000 followers, Little Brother hopes the streams reach beyond their taproom capacity, over Facebook and their website. “There’s a symbiotic relationship where entertainers help drive more business to taprooms while breweries expand the number of gigs available,” Collie noted. Ideally, the concept translates online—the exposure artists often work for is now two-fold, with brewers hoping take-out sales go in hand.

“We love the shows on a personal level,” he insisted, “beyond that, our audience has responded positively, and the artists have been appreciative, so it feels like a win all around.”

The personal supports echo in artists.

“It’s cool that they’re opening up their pages for this,” said Ashley Virginia, a Greensboro musician who’s taken to streaming shows, with appearances scheduled on April 23 through Joymongers Brewing Co., and on May 1 via Little YES! WEEKLY

APRIL 22-28, 2020

PHOTO COURTESY OF ASHLEY VIRGINIA

Brother. She’s releasing a new single on April 27, and hopes to keep hosting events to look forward to in today’s “sea of uncertainty.”

“I’ve been leaning pretty hard on music and writing to get me through this and keeping me sane,” Virginia said. “Whether it’s via livestream or a video post, it’s nice to be able to share what I’m doing with folks.” Hopes involve being mutually beneficial to both communities: the audience and her hosts.

“I’m not used to it just yet,” Virginia admitted, calling livestream gigs “brand new territory,” that brings a strange comfort: the normalcy of performing without the energy of an audience. “As we all go through this collective trauma, music and art is so important for processing, for comfort, for distraction, and for healing,” she said, “but at the very least, it’s an excuse to get dressed up and feel like a person for an hour.”

Indeed, most artists seem to feel thrown into the fire. For songstress Laura Jane Vincent, “streaming was a quick forced-jump into something I should’ve learned how to do a long time ago,” said Vincent, who recently streamed via Little Brother and Four Saints; and will host “Live from Glendon,” over her Facebook page, on April 25.

“Everyone is doing fine, no one is doing this perfect, and everyone improves with each one they do. Keep it up,” Vincent said with encouraging words and admiration for the Triad breweries hosts. “Many of them are small entrepreneurs just like me, and it’s a good match in teamwork,” she noted, “breweries get some interaction and activity on their feeds, and we benefit from the online exposure.”

While going online is key, Vincent holds

PHOTO COURTESY OF TOM TROYER

Ashley Virginia

Tom Troyer from Black Rabbit Audio and Farewell Friend adaptation as an essential learning process. “It’s been a great excuse to jump right in,” she noted of honing video skills.

“I’m grateful to my producer Tom Troyer from Black Rabbit Audio, for sharing tips and tricks and helping me understand the basics I’d need to do this from home.“ Troyer also heads the band Farewell Friend and offers simple advice: “shut up and make music. Have fun, or don’t do it.”

For him, the energy of an audience still flows, just in different creative channels.

“Creating is an intimate thing, and it’s much more visceral than performing a finished work,“ Troyer said. ”The energy I bring to a virtual concert is special. I’m in my own habitat where I can create.”

He finds promise in reimagining tunes as viewers watch over recently streamed appearances via Four Saints, Little Brother, and FOX 8, with more scheduled Facebook streams on April 22 and 24.

Vincent agreed about the intimacy in

streaming. “It’s a surprisingly vulnerable platform,” she said. “I thought performance nerves were a thing of the past, but I catch myself with some butterflies setting up for streams nowadays.”

New nerves aside, she remains optimistic. “It’s not gonna look the same when we all get back out there, but the bottom line is those who hustle and adapt and continue to learn will survive,” she said.

“There’s still never a better time to be an artist for a living, and if you continue to work hard, there’s room for everybody to thrive.”

Until folks can saddle back up to the bar itself, Triad breweries will continue to be outlets for booze and tunes to thrive at home and online. !

KATEI CRANFORD is a Triad music nerd who hosts the Tuesday Tour Report on WUAG 103.1 FM.

WANNA

donate?

Ashley Virginia: Venmo: @AshleyVirginiaMusic / cash app: $AshleyVirginiaMusic Laura Jane Vincent: venmo: @LaurajVincent / cash app: $LaurajVincent / paypal: Ljvmusic@gmail.com Tom Troyer: Venmo: @blackrabbitaudio

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last call

[THE ADVICE GODDESS] love • sex • dating • marriage • questions

ADULTERY SWIM

I started seeing a guy whose previous relationship ended because he cheated.

He insists he really learned his lesson and would never do it again. Should I trust him, or should I go by that line, “once a cheater, always a cheater”? —Worried

Amy Alkon

Advice Goddess

People in relationships do develop little traditions — like coming home every night and checking the closet for their boyfriend’s sex partners.

The question is, does the skeleton that your boyfriend’s yanked out of the closet point to a heavily populated closet in your collective future? This is ultimately a question of whether he’s a cheater — a person psychologically “wired” to be prone to cheating — or a person who once cheated.

There is a distinction. Sometimes, somebody cheats just to see what it’s like to walk on the bad boy/bad girl side — the (heh) Socio Path. And sometimes, in the moment (SEXXXXX!), somebody who’s generally considerate puts their partner’s feelings on “ignore.”

However, evolutionary psychologists David Buss and Todd Shackelford found there seems to be a cheater personality — a trio of personality traits common to people prone to infidelity: narcissism, low conscientiousness, and “psychoticism.”

That last one — psychoticism — suggests an ax-killing hobby, but it’s actually researcher-ese for a combination of

impulsivity, unreliability, and an inability to delay gratification. Narcissism, of course, is the “Me! Me! Me!” personality trait, reflected in self-absorption, self-importance, exploitativeness, and an empty well in the empathy department. Low conscientiousness is the personality trait of the inconsiderate, reflecting disorganization, poor impulse control, and an inability to delay gratification.

Yet another factor is a personality trait that psychologist Marvin Zuckerman named “sensation-seeking.” People “high in sensation seeking” crave a variety of new, complex, and intense sensations and experiences and will take physical and social risks to get them.

Talk is cheap — especially for the ethically sketchy, the morally underfunded. Look at the guy’s behavior and thinking — in your brief past and in the weeks and months to come. See whether it adds up to good character or reflects the cheater personality markers. Sometimes cheaters change, but personality traits have a substantial genetic component, so cheaters mostly just change who they’re cheating with. If your boyfriend’s moral compass is secretly set on Booty Call North, you’re setting yourself up for many joyful years of checking his shirts for some hussy’s self tanner and trying really hard to believe that he only goes to strip clubs for the music.

BEST OF REFLUX!

My fiancee and I mutually ended it several months ago, but she’s staying in touch, reaching out, texting, etc. It’s really hard to move on when she’s trying to maintain a connection. I’ve hinted at this, and I know she isn’t interested in rekindling romantically, but nothing changes. —Disturbed

answers [CROSSWORD] crossword on page 9

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[WEEKLY SUDOKU] sudoku on page 9

My late Yorkie, Lucy, now resides in a tiny urn in my living room; I didn’t have her taxidermied and mounted on an old roller skate so I could take her on walks like nothing’s changed.

After a breakup, it’s hard to go your separate ways if you never stop being together. Though your situation sounds like “Brokeback Mountain” for straight people (“Bro, it’s super hard to quit ya!”), there might be something else keeping your ex-fiancee around.

Ancestral humans became a cooperative species, living and working together in groups, leading to a need to identify (and avoid) the takers among the givers. We seem to have evolved to act in ways that elevate our reputation, which is basically a social credit check for the sort of people we are. For example, evolutionary psychologist Bo Winegard and his colleagues theorize that reputation promotion is one of the evolutionary functions of grief.

They see the expression of grief as a form of advertising for our character, showing us to be loyal and committed allies who “form devoted bonds” with people in our lives.

This zombie fiancee thing — the

ex-fiancee who keeps coming back and eating your well-being — may be your ex’s way (probably subconscious) of promoting herself as a good friend, a caring person who doesn’t just shut the door on somebody she’s romantically done with.

This could help her seem more attractive to the next guy — which is surely help you aren’t interested in providing, especially at the expense of your need to heal.

Toss the hinting. Tell your ex-fiancee that this maintaining-a-friendship business does not work for you, and ask her to stop contacting you for now and/or until you let her know otherwise. Cutting off contact will help you get used to the new normal — you and your former fiancee walking off into the sunset apart, in totally different directions...at least until your new wife is in the delivery room, giving birth to your first child. A familiar voice behind you: “Guess who’s here to finally cut the cord!” !

GOT A problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405, or e-mail AdviceAmy@aol.com (www.advicegoddess.com) © 2020 Amy Alkon Distributed by Creators.Com.

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