CHEZ GENESE
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August 5-11, 2020 YES! WEEKLY
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AUGUST 5-11, 2020 VOLUME 16, NUMBER 32
10 5500 Adams Farm Lane Suite 204 Greensboro, NC 27407 Office 336-316-1231 Fax 336-316-1930
THREE WEEKS OF OCCUPATION
Publisher CHARLES A. WOMACK III publisher@yesweekly.com EDITORIAL Editor KATIE MURAWSKI katie@yesweekly.com Contributors IAN MCDOWELL DAVINA VAN BUREN JOHN ADAMIAN MARK BURGER TERRY RADER JIM LONGWORTH MELANIE LEONARD
Protesters with the Triad Abolition Project’s #OCCUPYWSNC movement have spent the last three weeks in Bailey Park from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m., and they aren’t going anywhere until their demands are met.
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PRODUCTION Graphic Designers ALEX FARMER designer@yesweekly.com AUSTIN KINDLEY artdirector@yesweekly.com 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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CHEZ GENESE, pronounced “shay zheh ness”, means “place of new beginnings.” A script logo next to the door states that theme, extended on the website: “We believe food brings people together.” This restaurant provides more than just food. It provides a means to a more productive, independent life for a select population. 5 It’s not exactly business as usual – these days, what is? The RiverRun International Film Festival is doing its utmost to bring people entertainment during these trying times, including the RiverRun “VIRTUAL THEATER” and, more recently, “RiverRun at Marketplace,” in which the Late Night Shorts and the documentary feature Navigating Thru were screened at the drive-in facility at Winston-Salem’s Marketplace Cinemas. 6 Winston-Salem yoga studio and a holistic health coach in training are teaming up to help their COMMUNITY HEAL through a weeklong virtual retreat at the end of this month. Kris Neville, 20, is a yoga instructor, a holistic health coach-in-training, and the youngest son of John Neville...
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Thomas Edison, Booker T. Washington, and the Wright brothers are among thousands of famous innovators who would feel right at home in North Carolina these days—so would modern-day celebrities like Taylor Swift, Venus and Serena Williams, and Olympic gymnast Simon Biles. That’s because all of them were schooled at home, or as Gov. Cooper might call it, “PLAN C.” 13 On page 57 of The Mysteries of Haditha, Greensboro writer M. C. ARMSTRONG’s memoir of being embedded with Joint Special Operations Forces in Iraq’s Al Anbar province in 2008, Armstrong asks several Navy SEALs to tell him their biggest complaint... 14 Greensboro indie band, CHARM, has released their latest EP, Sugar Mountain, out now via Acrobat Unstable. Marking their second release from the Charlottebased label, Sugar Mountain acts as a follow-up to 2019’s Super Style and was recorded and engineered by member Caleb Beuhner, who shares vocals, guitar, and basswork with pianist Bailey Alley, and drummer, Ethan Justice.
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Chow down with John Batchelor at Chez Genese
BY JOHN BATCHELOR Most recent inside visit: March 13
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hez Genese, pronounced “shay zheh ness,” means “place of new beginnings.” A script logo next to the door states that theme, extended on the website: “We believe food brings people together.” This restaurant provides more than just food. It provides a means to a more productive, independent life for a select population. With only a few exceptions, according to the website, the staff members here share developmental or intellectual disabilities. A hand printed procedures list hangs on the back of the kitchen door. (I could see it while I waited for takeout.) I wish every restaurant had such a clearly articulated system. The induction process here is highly effective, resulting in prompt deliveries and accurate checks, which are all inclusive- no tipping. As might be inferred from the name, Chez Genese is a French café, or to be more precise, French-inspired. The food is casual, inexpensive to moderate in price. I admire the concept. I love the food. Chez Genese has a uniquely welcoming ambience, genuine, rather than practiced. The menu has been modified to accommodate takeout requirements. The Brunch/ lunch menu is offered morning to mid-day on weekends, family dinners in early evening on weeknights. Many of the offerings have been gleaned from the menu that was in effect before quarantine, when I made my in person, full service visits.
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The items I tried on my initial visits came from the lunch menu. I found salads flavorful and nutritious, not overly filling, just right for mid-day meals. Roasted Beet Salad is bright and colorful, Bibb lettuce and spinach scattered with goat cheese, green apple slices, and fresh fennel, deep red beet slices on top, all drizzled with honey dressing. Asparagus Salad places two slices of brie, decorated with toasted almonds, over al dente asparagus in mixed lettuces, dressed in shallot vinaigrette. In addition to the flavor of asparagus, the brie and almond tastes marry especially well. In Tuna Nicoise Salade, white tuna is presented over fresh, crisp green beans, along with boiled egg and small potatoes. Lemon vinaigrette imparts bright, light flavor. Salade Lyonnaise is based on frisee lettuce, radish slices, bacon, and poached egg, with warm lemon vinaigrette dressing. Soups are similarly suitable. Leek and Potato takes advantage of the mild,
oniony flavor of leeks, blending with natural potato taste without overpowering, while allowing creamy flavor to emerge. A crisp toasted baguette slice is perched on top. Bouillabaisse is a classic French seafood stew, in this case combining mussels, clams, and white fish in fish stock. I would repeat any of the sandwiches I tried. But the Roasted Chicken on Rosemary Biscuit turned out to be a clear favorite. A large, homemade biscuit, flavored with the named herb, hosts tender pulled chicken with warm goat cheese. Smoked Salmon is served open-faced, slices of salmon over avocado and goat cheese spread, cucumber slices alongside. (The serving pictured is a half portion.) Pan Bagnat is a sliced chicken white meat sandwich, served on a crusty baguette, spread with olive tapenade and herbed goat cheese, plus lettuce and tomato. Spicy-hot pepperoncini lend bite. Jambon Beurre inserts sliced ham into a toasted, buttered baguette- nice and crisp. Fig and Onion Galette represents another favorite gleaned from these visits. The flavors of fig, caramelized onions, and ricotta cheese blend beautifully, emerging from a lovely, folded crust. Before dining-in was discontinued, the restaurant had initiated a first Friday dinner. It was the perfect way to begin an evening, followed by The Wailin’ Jennys at the Carolina Theater. The three courses began with a house salad of leaf lettuces, cucumbers, and sliced grape tomatoes. The main course was Jambalaya. Critics might claim that this is not French, but it is, albeit Louisiana French. The primary flavor came from chicken, moderately spicy, enhanced with clipped green onions, over rice. Two crusty, flavorful Beignets, dusted with abundant powdered sugar, concluded the meal. The family dinners offered for takeout follow a structure similar to what I enjoyed on that first Friday. This week’s features are Mediterranean Cod with Greek salad, pita
bread, and sorbet on Wednesday (8/5); Meatloaf with garlic smashed potatoes, spring peas, and a cookie on Thursday (8/6); and Pasta Pissaladiere with side salad and garlic baguette on Friday (8/7). Kathryn Hubert is owner and floor manager. She has lived in France and took courses in culinary arts before moving to Greensboro and adding hospitality management to her studies. She has family members with autism, and she was involved in community initiatives in special education. Combining those interests led to the creation of the restaurant. Susan Bain is service manager and event coordinator. Her previous career was in education. These are challenging times for all of us, especially small businesses, restaurants in particular. As we have learned, life can deal handicaps in different forms to any- or allof us, with little or no advance notice. Chez Genese was already serving Greensboro in a special way. This concept is even more welcome now. Here, and for all restaurants, check the restaurant website and/or Facebook page to keep up with the menu on the day you order. ! 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.
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Chez Genese | 616 S. Elm St., Greensboro | (336)663-7399 | chezgenese.com Takeout Hours: 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 5-6:30 p.m. Monday-Friday Family Dinners: $15-$72, for portion sizes of 1-6 persons, Pastries and Panty Items: $3-$10 Weekend French Picnic Baskets: $45-$125, depending on size. Desserts: $2.50-$3
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Ai Wewei: Yours Truly rolls with RiverRun
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t’s not exactly business as usual – these days, what is? The RiverRun International Film Festival is doing its utmost to bring people entertainment during these trying Mark Burger times, including the RiverRun “Virtual Theater” and, more Contributor recently, “RiverRun at Marketplace,” in which the Late Night Shorts and the documentary feature Navigating Thru were screened at the drive-in facility at Winston-Salem’s Marketplace Cinemas. Another “RiverRun at Marketplace” screening is on the horizon, but now, RiverRun’s Virtual Theater is presenting the award-winning feature documentary Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly, which will be available throughout the month of August. Tickets are $10 and are available on the RiverRun website at www.riverrunfilm. com/film/ai-weiwei-yours-truly/. “We’re happy to continue our RiverRun Arts program with a great documentary centered on visual art this time,” said Rob Davis, RiverRun executive director, “and, quite generously, 50% of the ticket sales will come directly back to RiverRun thanks to (distributor) First Run Features.” The film, which marks the feature debut of producer/director Cheryl Haines, explores Ai Weiwei’s 2014 exhibition, @ Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz, an unprecedented undertaking organized by Haines herself. Creating the exhibition proved doubly difficult for the artist, as his passport had been confiscated by Chinese authorities in 2011, and he was under house arrest in Beijing, unable to leave the country. The iconic Alcatraz Island, once home to arguably the notorious prison in American history, is transformed into an expression of hope and freedom in the exhibition, which emphasized the plight of those wrongfully imprisoned and persecuted throughout the world via portraits of prisoners of conscience combined with letters and messages of solidarity and support to the imprisoned. WWW.YESWEEKLY.COM
Clearly, this was something Ai Weiwei could identify with. The film not only details the herculean efforts of Ai Weiwei to supervise the exhibition remotely but also delves into the emotions and personal experiences – both good as bad – that have fueled and inspired his artwork and activism, which are inexorably intertwined. There is, however, something of a happy ending: In 2015, Ai Weiwei’s passport was restored, and he was free to travel abroad, therefore getting the opportunity to view @Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz in person. He subsequently moved to Berlin, and as of 2019, resides in the United Kingdom, where his artistry and activism continue unabated. The film won the Audience Award at the BendFilm Festival (Bend, Oregon) and Best Documentary Feature at the Nevada City Film Festival in 2019, and received glowing notices from critics. “Even for those familiar with Ai and his work, the film’s offering of fascinating insights into his personal life and an exploration of the stakes of personal freedom makes it a worthy viewing experience,” wrote Lovia Gyarkye in The New York Times. “Haines’s brief, wellmade documentary is a very worthwhile guide to this venture, and to Ai Weiwei’s own tragic family history,” wrote Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian. Shana Nys Dambrot of LA Weekly observed that, by its end, “the film has become a wholly divergent experience from where it began – an experience that, if possible, is even more full of persistent hope and meaningful emotion than even the landmark exhibition itself.” “We continue to be so grateful that we have been able to pivot during these times and still bring so many great films to audiences in creative ways,” Davis said. “Our Virtual Theater screenings have been a success, as have our wonderful drive-in showings at Marketplace Cinemas. This offering of Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly, from our popular RiverRun Arts program, is an incredible film that we are honored to be able to showcase in this way.” The official RiverRun website is www. riverrunfilm.com/. ! See MARK BURGER’s reviews of current movies on Burgervideo.com. © 2020, Mark Burger.
Submissions should be sent to artdirector@yesweekly.com by Friday at 5 p.m., prior to the week’s publication. Due to COVID-19 listings may not be accurate and are subject to frequent change | Compiled by Austin Kindley
CLEMMONS
Rizzo’s
6353 Cephis Drive | 336.893.9257 Sep 19: Gypsy Soul
DURHAM
DPAC
123 Vivian St | 919.680.2787 www.dpacnc.com Aug 27: Cody Ko & Noel Miller: Tiny Meat Gang - Global Domination Nov 12: Iliza: The Forever Tour Nov 13: Gabriel Iglesias
GREENSBORO
Baxter’s Tavern
536 Farragut St | 336.808.5837 Aug 8: Rockit Science Aug 15: Red Dirt Revival Aug 15: Lasater Union Aug 22: Ultimate Rock Machine Aug 29: Mostley Crue Sep 19: JS and the Footlights
Cellar 23
2309 Fleming Rd, Suite 107 | 336.676.5003 cellar23gso.com Aug 22: The Hedricks
Comedy Zone
1126 S Holden Rd | 336.333.1034 thecomedyzone.com Aug 12: Jeff Allen Aug 14: Brian Regan Aug 15: Brian Regan Aug 21: Don “D.C.” Curry Aug 22: Don “D.C.” Curry Aug 23: Don “D.C.” Curry Aug 25: Preacher Lawson Sep 4: Earthquakes Sep 5: Earthquakes Sep 6: Earthquakes Sep 11: The Christi Show Sep 12: The Christi Show
Rody’s Tavern
117B W, Lewis St. | 336.285.6406 rodystavern.com Aug 5: Tony & Katy
HIGH POINT
Goofy Foot Taproom
2762 NC-68 #109 | 336.307.2567 Aug 8: Elliott Humphries Aug 22: Mason Via and Hot Trail Mix
[JEFF ALLEN] Aug 12 - Comedy Zone Aug 29: Tyler Millard Sep 19: David Lin Sep 26: Zac Kellum Oct 3: Analog Crash Oct 17: Emma Lee Oct 24: Jim Mayberry Nov 7: Casey Noel Nov 21: Tyler Millard
LEWISVILLE
Old Nick’s Pub
191 Lowes Foods Dr | 336.747.3059 OldNicksPubNC.com Aug 8: Chasin Fame Aug 22: Lasater Union Aug 29: Exit 180 band Sep 12: The Dylan Jackson Band Sep 25: Whiskey Mic
WINSTON-SALEM
Foothills Brewing 638 W 4th St | 336.777.3348 foothillsbrewing.com Aug 9: Sunday Jazz Aug 16: Sunday Jazz
Winston-Salem Fairground
421 W 27th St | 336.727.2236 www.wsfairgrounds.com Sep 4: Classic Country Series: Montgomery Gentry w/ Little Texas AUGUST 5-11, 2020 YES! WEEKLY
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‘Shift’ into healing through yoga and holistic medicine
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WinstonSalem yoga studio and a holistic health coach-in-training are teaming up to help their community heal through a weeklong virtual retreat at the Katie Murawski end of this month. Kris Neville, 20, is a yoga instructor, a Editor holistic health coachin-training, and the youngest son of John Neville, who died in December 2019 after being under the supervision of five former Forsyth County Detention Center officers and one nurse. After learning of his father’s “avoidable death,” as characterized by District Attorney Jim O’Neill, Neville and the rest of his family were left to pick up the pieces and silently struggle with grief. He said for the past three weeks, the #OccupyWSNC movement in Bailey Park demanding transparency and policy change from his father’s death has made him feel empowered, and it has inspired him to help others heal through the tools that helped him. “It really does suck, but I refuse to let that bring me down and tear me back from my own success—once I start to believe the reality that my father’s death is a reason for me to be depressed, sad, and have regrets, and have fears about anything that might happen in my life, it will immediately turn off any future of prosperity for me,” he said. “I refuse to be a failure—I will be successful, I will fight for justice and make a change alongside the change I am trying to make in the health and wellness community.” Neville and Chloë Craver, 29, owner of Lotus Yoga Academy, are the hosts for
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the Shift Virtual Wellness Retreat, taking place from Aug. 23-30. “I’ve had to switch everything for Lotus Yoga to an online platform because we are still closed, as we are technically a gym,” Craver said. “I think now we have a pretty good system fluidity in how to offer virtual things, so it’s been seamless.” Craver started doing yoga about 10-12 years ago because she felt disconnected from her body, which was causing her to struggle physically, emotionally and spiritually. About a year and a half ago, she opened Lotus originally as a yoga teachertraining program, but it eventually blossomed into a yoga studio. Neville started attending Lotus regularly in August 2019, and he got his yoga instructor certification this past February. He described yoga as something that was life-changing for him. “It is the decision that probably helped to heal so much of me,” Neville said. “My yoga teacher training healed so many parts of me just through January through March, because during that time, I was silently dealing with the death of my father. I was able to really reconcile and learn how to cope.” Neville is studying at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition to be a holistic health consultant, and he said he would be fully certified by September. Once he is certified, he’ll officially launch his business, Wellness Rising Health, which through the use of plant medicine, yoga, mantra, and meditation, would help connect people to the earth and to each other.
Both Craver and Neville have used yoga to help heal their trauma, and the two became good friends after Neville started practicing at Lotus. With Craver’s knowledge of yoga and meditation coupled with Neville’s knowledge of holistic medicine and nutrition, the Shift Virtual Wellness Retreat blends their expertise into a program composed of daily hour-long video content with follow-up Zoom call sessions each evening for attendees to reflect, share and ask questions. “The theme of the whole week is Shift,” Craver said. “Shift means, to us, the process of slowing down, of healing, integrating, focusing and transforming.” “Coming out of summer, it is a time of intense heat and growth, and going into the fall it’s time to prepare for harvesting the intentions, manifestations and reaping what you sowed at the end of the season,” Neville said. “I think we can help prepare people to shift into a new mindset to understand the value of their words, manifestations and thoughts to create the reality they want.” Craver and Neville have curated yoga practices, meditations, and oils that correspond to each topic over the course of five days. That weekend, they will tie in what was learned the past week, and attendees “will make a commitment to themselves based on what they experienced.” “You can’t rely on anyone to do your inner work for you or to do your healing for you, but it helps to have a little nudge, especially from people who have expe-
rienced it and done it for themselves,” Craver said. “We are giving people the tools to take back their own health and take back their own power, especially in a time that feels so disempowering.” Additionally, 20% of the proceeds from the Shift Virtual Wellness Retreat will go directly to support the Triad Abolition Project, the organization spearheading the #OccupyWSNC movement. Neville said donating to the Triad Abolition Project is special to him because he believes in practicing civil disobedience to make meaningful change. “Anything we can do to help these people get back out there on the street and create that scene of uncomfortability for the people who need to make the change, I will do what I can for that,” he said. “Once these policy changes are made, it won’t be the end of the work—it will be the next step to an even better community in WinstonSalem.” To get people curious about the virtual retreat, Craver and Neville are hosting two donation-based yoga and essential oil classes on the Lotus Yoga Academy patio, Aug. 8 and Aug. 22 at 6 p.m. These classes are 45-minutes of slow-flow yoga accompanied by some of the essential oils used during the retreat, followed by a 20-minute discussion led by Neville on how the oils work. Craver said no experience with yoga or essential oils is necessary to attend the retreat, and the only requirement is a willingness to learn. The price for the entire retreat is $100, with $20 going directly to the Triad Abolition Project. Those who wish to attend need to register by Aug. 19 to receive the introduction package. In an effort to be more inclusive, Craver and Neville are seeking sponsors to help people in economic hardship to participate, and they hope to have at least 10 scholarship spots. Craver said those who sign up for the retreat would also get access to Lotus’s patio classes. “I feel, weirdly with everything going on, this fire to make a change,” Neville said. “I’ve done this work internally and it’s time to do it externally—to make people uncomfortable, and help other people heal.” ! 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 selfproclaimed King of Glamp.
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For now, we’re all homeschooled
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homas Edison, Booker T. Washington, and the Wright brothers are among thousands of famous innovators who would feel right at home in North Jim Longworth Carolina these days— so would modernday celebrities like Longworth Taylor Swift, Venus at Large and Serena Williams, and Olympic gymnast Simon Biles. That’s because all of them were schooled at home, or as Gov. Cooper might call it, “Plan C.” Thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Cooper recently gave local school districts a choice of three plans for offering instruction this fall. Plan A allows all students to attend class in person at the same time. Plan B would limit the capacity of classrooms and alternate days or weeks of attendance. Plan C allows for remote learning exclusively. Mark Johnson, State Supt. of Public Instruction told me that, as of July 30, over 50 of the 115 school districts have opted for Plan C (including Winston-Salem/Forsyth, Guilford, Alamance/Burlington, Surry County, and Thomasville), which means that over 64% of the state’s K-12 students will be attending school online next month. In most of the Plan C schools, remote learning will last for the first nine weeks of the semester, at which time, students could be allowed back into the classrooms. The question is, will parents allow their children to return to classroom instruction once Plan C becomes Plan A? Already one-third of parents in Charlotte, for example, have said they will continue online
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learning after nine weeks, regardless. And what about the long term? Will these uncertain times encourage more parents to establish their own home schools? There is reason to believe they will. According to the Asheville Citizen-Times, on July 1, there were so many parents seeking to register a home school, that they actually crashed the state portal, causing the NC NonPublic Education System website to post this message: “The system is not currently available due to an overwhelming submission of Notices of Intent.” There is, of course, a difference between learning at home and homeschooling, but lately, the two teaching strategies have become inexorably linked and blurred because of COVID-19. Historically, most parents homeschooled their children for religious reasons, but in 1985, the North Carolina Supreme Court validated homeschooling in general, and since then, a growing number of parents have opted to teach their kids at home for secular reasons. Last year, for example, 44% of registered home schools were listed as “non religious”. Meanwhile, homeschooling overall has increased in popularity. According to the North Carolina Department of Administration, as of 2019, there were 94,863 registered home schools, teaching a total of 149,173 students. That means, even prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, home schools constituted the second-largest school district in the state. Now, in light of our pandemic approach to public education, there is no reason to believe this upward trend in home school start-ups will abate. Surprisingly, it is relatively simple to register as a home school. According to the NCDOA website, a parent need only have a high school diploma (or GED), give their school a name, and identify the ages and genders of each student being homeschooled. Attendance and immunization
records must be kept, the same as with any school, and the parent (instructor) must make sure that the students take annual standardized math and reading tests. Granted, most parents are looking forward to the day when they can safely send their children back into physical classrooms, but others may see the COVID crisis as an impetus for extending
home-based instruction indefinitely. Who knows, Cooper’s Plan C and the new wave of homeschooling, may produce the next Booker T. Washington, and maybe he will invent a better way of teaching during a pandemic. ! JIM LONGWORTH is the host of Triad Today, airing on Saturdays at 7:30 a.m. on ABC45 (cable channel 7) and Sundays at 11 a.m. on WMYV (cable channel 15).
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leisure [NEWS OF THE WEIRD] CLICHES COME TO LIFE
PRESENTS
[BARTENDERS OF THE WEEK | BY NATALIE GARCIA] Check out videos on our Facebook!
BARTENDER: Chris Pinnix BAR: Tee Time Sports & Spirits AGE: 47 WHERE ARE YOU FROM? Winston-Salem HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN BARTENDING? 20-ish years HOW DID YOU BECOME A BARTENDER? I got hired at Bennigan’s as a server, but immediately the goal was to be behind the wood! I worked my way up. Bartenders always look like they had the most fun, and $$$ -so I’m like, yeah, I’ll do THAT. WHAT DO YOU ENJOY ABOUT BARTENDING? The people are the core of what we sell: FUN. I LOVE my job and have made friends for life. I hope to make more. Priceless. I dig being busy and rocking out a great shift with my Tee Time team as well. We always find a way to entertain ourselves, watching the beautiful madness. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE DRINK TO MAKE? The next drink ;) or an Old Fashioned — simple and delicious. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE DRINK TO DRINK? Ol’ trusty Jägerbomb.
Gabriel and Tracy Brawn moved into Gabriel’s childhood home in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, in 2012 and enjoyed a warm relationship with next-door neighbor Chuck Shepherd Steve Ritter, whose garage had been partially built on the Brawns’ property decades ago. But after Ritter passed away in 2016, his wife and grown children took over the property, sometimes renting it out, and “this place turned to craziness and chaos,” Tracy Brawn told the Bangor Daily News on July 16, leading finally to Gabriel Brawn grabbing his Sawzall on May 26 and cutting the Ritters’ garage in half, right down the property line. “We’re putting up a fence,” Tracy Brawn said. “Fences make good neighbors.” Dover-Foxcroft police Chief Ryan Reardon said, “We were aware of the situation and believe it’s been resolved at this point.”
LATEST ALARMING HEADLINES
WHAT WOULD YOU RECOMMEND AS AN AFTER-DINNER DRINK? One more Jägerbomb, followed by an Irish Coffee WHAT’S THE CRAZIEST THING YOU’VE SEEN WHILE BARTENDING? Tough one! I’ll go with this one: A skinny kid one night got punched for no apparent reason by a much larger fella, so he pulled out his pants - his way too LARGE Dundee knife. The fight was broken up, Nobody hurt, thank goodness. Then he called the next day to ask if I found his ninja stars. Yes, both were banned. WHAT’S THE BEST TIP YOU’VE EVER GOTTEN? Around $500 from a random small group, on a random night, just traveling through.
A roving gang of baboons in Knowsley Safari Park in Merseyside, England is known to vandalize cars and otherwise alarm visitors, but lately, The Sunday Times reported, they’ve been seen carrying knives, screwdrivers and a chain saw, which workers believe they’ve acquired from visitors. “We’re not sure if they are being given weapons by some of the guests ... or if they’re fishing them out of pickup trucks and vans,” an employee said. Park officials have pooh-poohed the reports, saying, “We believe that many of these stories have grown in exaggeration as they’ve been retold.”
PREDICTABLE
A $64,000 glass replica of a Disney castle on display at the Shanghai Museum of Glass in China was shattered in July after two kids “hit the exhibit counter when they were chasing each other,” a museum spokesperson posted on Weibo. The Today Show reported Spanish glassblower Miguel Arribas spent 500 hours creating The Fantasy Castle in 2016, but “luckily it’s not destroyed,” said Arribas Brothers company spokesman Rudy Arribas. When COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, Miguel will go to Shanghai to repair the castle. “We’re used to kids and this kind of stuff happening,” said Rudy. “Glass breaks.”
LOST AND FOUND
— Chris Marckres of Hyde Park, Vermont, went skydiving on July 25, but, he told
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NECN, “I think my adrenaline was so high and I was just so excited, I didn’t realize I had lost it.” “It” was one of Marckres’ two prosthetic legs. The double amputee was harnessed to an instructor and landed safely, but he didn’t know where the leg ended up. His plea for help on Facebook was answered the next day by farmer Joe Marszalkowski, who found the prosthetic in his soybean field. Marckres said the leg suffered a few scratches but was otherwise unharmed. “We kind of take for granted sometimes how many truly good people there still are in the world,” he mused. — Mike Evans of Woodson Terrace, Missouri, went for a 5-mile float trip with friends on the Meramec River on July 25 and decided to get out of the raft and walk behind it in the water for a bit. As the water got deeper, he had to swim to catch the raft, and as he climbed back in, Evans discovered his prosthetic leg was gone, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. He searched with no luck, but a Missouri state trooper responding to a call nearby heard about the loss and coordinated a dive team to help. It took divers a couple of hours the next day to find the leg, saving Evans about $27,000 to replace it. “It was a happy ending to a stressful few days,” Evans said. — After Christian Meyer of Berlin, Germany, lost his running shoes to a thief, he posted a notice on a community sharing platform and learned other residents had also lost shoes that were left outside. Meyer soon discovered the culprit, telling local media on July 26 that he caught a fox “red-handed” with a pair of blue flip-flops in its mouth and eventually found its stash of more than 100 multicolored shoes, according to Fox News. Meyer’s shoes, however, were not among them.
INEXPLICABLE
Out for an early morning stroll on July 27, Mariel Kinney, 32, and Kevin Pinto, 30, drew the attention of residents in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, who called police to report a naked couple walking their dog down the street, authorities said. “It was kind of wild,” Police Chief Joseph Bennett told the Milford Daily News. “They were buck naked.” Officers asked the couple why they weren’t wearing clothes, but they declined to answer or were incoherent, Bennett said, and “(t)here was a short foot pursuit.” After a struggle, they were captured and charged with indecent exposure and assault and battery on a police officer, along with other crimes. !
© 2020 Chuck Shepherd. Universal Press Syndicate. Send your weird news items with subject line WEIRD NEWS to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com.
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Three weeks of occupation: Neville family supports peaceful protests, ban on prone restraint
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rotesters with the Triad Abolition Project’s #OccupyWSNC movement have spent the last three weeks in Bailey Park from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m., and Katie Murawski they aren’t going anywhere until their demands are met. Editor On Aug. 4, the ACLU of North Carolina released a petition outlining the Triad Abolition Project’s demands, and since its release, the petition has been garnering signatures and attention on social media. Last Wednesday, a hearing was held in the Forsyth County Superior Court to determine if the video depicting circumstances leading up to John Neville’s death would be released to the public—that Friday, Judge Greg Horne decided in favor of releasing two videos to the media on Aug. 5. That same day, occupiers have planned a 3 p.m. rally at the Forsyth County Courthouse, located at 200 N. Main St., to support the Neville family. “Please come together in solidarity and messages of loving support for the family on this difficult day,” the flyer states. “Let’s amplify the legacy of John E. Neville and say his name together.” At first, Neville’s family told YES! Weekly they did not want the footage to be released to the public; however, that decision changed on July 28 to honor their father’s memory and “to make sure we find justice.” “This isn’t initially what we wanted; we wanted things to remain private,” said John Neville’s son, Sean Neville, following the hearing on July 29. “We didn’t want it to get to the point where we felt the video needed to come out, but here we are.” Sean said that he appreciated the judge allowing his family’s feelings to be considered. “This wasn’t a decision that we came to overnight,” he said. “Of course, we don’t want anything bad to happen to anybody who was involved—we want them to have the fair trial they are entitled to, but we want them to be held responsible.” John Neville’s youngest son, Kris Neville, YES! WEEKLY
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John Neville’s cousin, Wendy Blackwell, and his daughter, Brienne Neville, outside the Forsyth County Detention Center after they marched with #OccupyWSNC on July 30—Day 16 of the occupation said that he believed that the release of the video would reveal the truth, which would get rid of “a lot of the fog that may have been placed over the situation.” Brienne Neville, John Neville’s daughter, said the decision wasn’t easy because it is a “very public thing for a private matter.” She said her family members are “expected to have pity” on the six people charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection to her father’s death. “And make no mistake: we do,” she said. “We are told they have received threats or have had to move for fear of their lives—at least they have a life to fear for, our father does not. We do not, in any way, condone violence or retaliation against those charged. We do, however, encourage the public to peacefully protest and continue to push for reform. Our efforts are not just for justice for our father but for your fathers, your children, your families who feel the daily pain and pressure of racism and police brutality. So, fight with us, not against us.” Brienne said that her family does not
want any acts of violence—including rioting, looting, or threatening others— done in their father’s name. “None of that is what we want—you do not honor our father if you do it, and you are not honoring us in any way,” she said. “That is something we can take pride in as a community in Winston-Salem,” Sean said. “In so many places, we have seen over the months—so many riots, so much anger—but we have been peaceful.” Brienne said the family’s decision to call for the public release of the footage was not due to the demands or actions from the Black Lives Matter Winston-Salem chapter or Triad Abolition Project’s #OccupyWSNC movement. “It wasn’t the press petitions; it wasn’t the demands by protesters—it really came down for us and our discussions and considerations to what served the interest of justice best,” Sean said. “Most importantly, what served the interest of changing things when it comes to how the county works at the detention center. What if there is somebody in there now,
whose story is already written? Maybe that story changes because of the decision that we make to release this, to put a little pressure on it, and have them handle things differently. If it can save a life, we are willing to set aside our grief and our emotional stress; we are willing to set aside the feeling that some may have thought that we are not being fair if it means that one person who didn’t have to die lives.” Brienne, Sean and Kris all agreed that the family would like to see the use of the prone restraint banned. “Who would condone of something that has, more than once across this country, taken the lives of people for situations that are not always called for?” Brienne said. “Even in this county, he wasn’t the first one to die due to this kind of restraint,” Sean added. “And with no changes, he won’t be the last,” Brienne said. Kris said that the 55 protest-related arrests in July show the persistence of people fighting for change in Forsyth County and that the fight needs to be fought. “I appreciate that people put themselves on the line like that—to possibly be arrested and be charged with something on behalf of fighting for policy change and justice,” Kris said. “Civil disobedience is what has caused change throughout history—no one has ever followed the rules and gotten change. You change policy by putting yourself in a situation that makes the justice system notice you.” Brienne called the people who were arrested from the #OccupyWSNC group “the most selfless group of individuals” she has met. “When I asked the group, ‘how many of you had been arrested,’ and 90% of them raised their hands—and the ones who didn’t said, ‘we are next,’ I can’t help but to appreciate that,” she said. “And it was a diverse group—you had Black, white and Hispanic people out there saying, ‘we will do whatever it takes to get these reforms made.’ While, of course, you never want to see someone get arrested for something like that, especially being peaceful in the middle of the street in front of other families, we as a family do appreciate the sacrifice made by others.” The family said they were satisfied with how Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough and District Attorney Jim O’Neill handled the release
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Kris and Brienne Neville (standing to the left of the John Neville painting by artist Bobby Danger) with protesters from the #OccupyWSNC movement on July 27— Day 13 of the occupation of information pertaining to their father’s death to the public, even though it was seven months after his death occurred. “That was my request,” Sean said. “The reason for that was we didn’t want for there to be a situation for answers to come to the public at the same time they came to the family.” Additionally, Sean said the family did not want there to be public pressure to cause officials to rush to a conclusion. “Sheriff Kimbrough was absolutely correct when he said the reason he didn’t go public was to honor our wishes,” he said. “It is not a big cover-up, in terms of they just didn’t want anybody to know. We have been in constant contact and have spoken with the sheriff and D.A. several times—we’ve had back and forth correspondence for months—it wasn’t like all of this just fell out of the sky. That was on our part, what we wanted. We didn’t want there to be a circus before there was a show.” He said thankfully, unlike so many other cases—such as Georgia’s Ahmaud Arbery and Minnesota’s George Floyd—his father’s death did not have to come out publicly for there to be an investigation and criminal charges. “Yes, the county messed up, but they are trying to make some effort to do the right thing here,” Sean said. “We appreciate their efforts as long as things stay the way they are: honest, open, and transparent.” He said the family was also satisfied with the five former detention officers and one nurse being charged with involuntary manslaughter. “We have seen the video, we have seen what happens,” Sean explained. “The best way I can put it is: It’s like you are driving your car and you look down to WWW.YESWEEKLY.COM
change the radio, and the moment you take your eyes off the road, you hit someone and kill them. You didn’t mean to, it wasn’t an intent you formed in your mind, but you did it.” One of the demands posed by the Triad Abolition Project questions whether there was a conflict of interest with the Neville family’s legal representation by Michael Grace and Christopher Clifton of the local firm Grace, Clifton and Tisdale, as the firm is “one of the two local firms who represent local law enforcement through the Police Benevolent Association.” Brienne and Sean said that they appreciated the concern but that there was no conflict of interest, and that the family has “the most amazing lawyers.” “People don’t get to know what happens behind the scenes,” Brienne added. “Chris and Mike have fought for us with sleepless nights for months—since the day our dad died. People are speaking because the media gives them bits and pieces, but if you want the real truth, we appreciate them.” Sean said he hired Grace and Clifton to represent the Neville family. “I knew who [Grace] was when I hired him. There has never been a day, a moment, in which we have ever felt that he has prioritized his friendship with Sheriff Kimbrough or the firm has prioritized their representation of the [Police] Benevolent Association above this case. Ever.” Sean said the family and their attorneys had been working diligently behind the scenes to pursue justice for his father, even outside of Forsyth County. “The S.B. 168 that everyone was protesting about, on the back end, we were also working to communicate with the governor’s office, politicians, to have an impact in trying to make sure that wasn’t
something that was going to get past.” Right before the hearing on July 29, Neville’s family released a video statement on Black Lives Matter WinstonSalem’s demands regarding the death of their father—specifically calling for the release of the video before talking with the family first. “When we say the words ‘Black Lives Matter,’ we understand that it’s not just a movement, it’s a statement,” said Brienne in the Facebook video. “Black Lives Matter is a fact. With that being said, we have to understand that our father was not just someone to be a part of a movement, but that was a person. And with that in mind, we would just like to state that we do appreciate those that have asked us for our input on their demands. But we cannot, in good conscience, support the Black Lives Matter Winston-Salem chapter due to the fact that, on more than one occasion, they have not asked us or consulted with the family on what we want or need. They have deliberately disobeyed what we’ve asked for in the stance of not asking for the video of our father’s death to be released. That is a choice that needs to be made by us and was made by us to release the video footage. We would like to clarify that in no way, shape, form, or fashion was our stance swayed by their press conference [on July 28], or any of their previous press releases, or protests. We deserve the right as the family to decide when and how that video is released. At the end of the day, we are the ones who have to go home with that grief; we are the ones who have to live with it, not those who are requesting it.” Brienne Neville also said that her family is owed an apology by the Black Lives Matter Winston-Salem chapter “for the blatant disrespect of our wishes, our
needs, and not having any concern for our emotional well-being dealing with this very difficult situation.” Shortly after that video circulated, Black Lives Matter Winston-Salem issued an apology to Neville’s family via their Facebook page. John Neville’s family has shown unbelievable courage and strength in dealing with this ordeal, particularly in these extremely difficult times. We apologize for any hurt that our support of the legal petition by several news outlets and publications for the release of this footage may have caused the Neville family or his loved ones. We want to fully impart to them that we meant no harm in any way, and we wish to honor them and the dignity of John Neville. “I know I’ve really been in the background, but I do also want to extend my thank you to not just the organizers but also the supporters of these protests who are doing it for the right reasons,” said Natasha Martin, John Neville’s eldest daughter, in the Facebook video. “Those who aren’t just doing it, you know, for their own agenda, for their own clout, but they’re actually doing it for the purpose of seeing a change. All we want out of this is a change so that no one else has to live what we have to live with right now. This man was robbed. We were robbed. And justice needs to be served in the form of policy changes, in the form of more training. And at the end of the day, our father can’t be brought back to us, and we understand that. But, there’s nothing else that we could ask for, that our family could ask for other than the support that we have received from people like you, so thank you so much on behalf of me and my family for all of it.” Two weeks ago, YES! Weekly emailed AUGUST 5-11, 2020 YES! WEEKLY
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John Neville standing in front of the ocean Photo courtesy of Brienne Neville the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office regarding the demands of the Triad Abolition Project and if any changes would be implemented as a result of John Neville’s death. Forsyth County Sheriff Public Affairs Officer Christina Howell wrote in an email that the detention center’s health care provider, WellPath, would increase the number of nurses present at the jail and that, “Beginning August 1st, 50 Detention Officers (including Special Response Team members) will take special medical training specific for the unique situation of working within the Detention Center.” YES! Weekly sent a follow-up email on July 31 to ask for more details of the medical training, such as: “What does this training consist of? Who is in charge of orchestrating the training? How long is the training? Is this training periodical?” Howell wrote back the same day, “It is my understanding that the training will begin in August, but I don’t know that it is being held tomorrow.” When asked why she had originally reported that the training would take place on Aug. 1, Howell responded via email that she “was given limited details, but the ‘go date’ passed on to me initially was Aug. 1.” She also noted that the medical training was “being coordinated with Forsyth County Emergency Services.” “At this time, I have no further details except that we are continuing to work with them to efficiently and effectively YES! WEEKLY
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implement specialized training for Special Response Team members and other Detention Officers.” Sheriff Kimbrough held a press conference at noon on Aug. 4 regarding the release of the footage of the circumstances leading to John Neville’s death. Sheriff Kimbrough said the footage would be transported to Raleigh at 10 a.m. on Aug. 5 and delivered to the media outlet’s lawyer. He said the video should be released by 10:30 a.m. “I wanted to take this opportunity to once again, have a conversation, and say how much I appreciate the class in which you have handled this tragedy, as it relates to your father,” Kimbrough said, addressing the Neville family. “As it relates to the video, like many of you all that have seen it, I was saddened by what I saw as well, and I cried as well. I want you to know, as a result of that, there are many changes that have been made as it relates to the passing of your father.” Kimbrough said these changes include “training, integrative training with the medical providers, policies, and procedures.” (Yet, he did not mention any specifics regarding the training, policy and procedure changes.) “Your father has changed the way health care will be dispensed at the Forsyth County Detention Center,” Kimbrough said. “As well as how it will be dispersed throughout this region.”
The last photo of John Neville alive Photo courtesy of Brienne Neville Kimbrough said he would continue to stand with the Neville family through the process, and he apologized again to the family for what happened to their father. “We have thought very long and hard— every bit of two seconds is what it took for me to think about this, and you don’t have to answer now, with your permission and with your attorney’s permission down the road, whenever you give us the OK, the section which is known as ‘4 South,’ will now be named the ‘John E. Neville Housing Unit,’ based on your permission to do that,” Kimbrough said. “And we are not doing that just because; we are doing that as a reminder to the men and the women that work there of what happened that day. We are doing this as a reminder to let them know that life is paramount and how we do business. Also, as a reminder to the residents that come through there.” Grace also spoke on behalf of Sean and thanked the sheriff for “acknowledging the truth” that mistakes were made. “It won’t bring John Neville back, nothing that the sheriff, or I or any of you could ever say, could do that,” Grace said. Grace said there are more things yet to come from this—including a protest that “Sean and I plan to march with,” he said. “We think protesting is necessary for these situations. There is a criminal case that, although we didn’t bring, and we don’t decide which way it goes. We plan to make ourselves available to the district
attorney and support him in what he has; we think, rightly decided, is his course of action.” Grace said that they would be pursuing action against Forsyth County and the detention center’s health care provider, WellPath, to see that the family is justly compensated. “There are a number of chores yet undone, a number of paths that we all have to walk down, but we certainly appreciate the sheriff’s honesty, openness, and willingness to put a little salve, a little balm on this wound for this family; to acknowledge there were mistakes. As the coroner said in his report, this was a man who didn’t have to die.” Sheriff Kimbrough concluded the press conference by saying that he is grateful to be the Sheriff of Forsyth County, “because I get a chance to be part of the change in the culture of how health is given to our residents.” “At the end of the day, all we want justice,” Brienne told YES! Weekly in the July 29 interview. “Whether that is through charges or reforms—but reforms would mean more than a charge.” ! 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.
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The burning detritus of battle: M. C. Armstrong’s ‘The Mysteries of Haditha’ On page 57 of The Mysteries of Haditha, Greensboro writer M. C. Armstrong’s memoir of being embedded with Joint Special Operations Forces in Iraq’s Al Anbar province in 2008, Ian McDowell Armstrong asks several Navy SEALs to tell him their biggest Contributor complaint about the war. One, waiting his turn at Halo 2, points to the computer-rendered carnage onscreen. “Not enough kills. We’re trained to kill, but this is what we fucking do most of the week.” Later, a SEAL nicknamed Diet, an old friend who calls the author Eat Boy (the nicknames date back to their high school in Winchester, Virginia), has a more nuanced answer. “I’ve been away from my family for three years. Eat Boy. I don’t know how to need anybody anymore.” The skilled memoirist notices when someone says something resonant and revealing. This hilarious, sad and angry book is not about Diet, or about Captain Al’a, the leader of the Iraqi SWAT team the SEALs were training, whose enormous feathered mullet, he explains, means he doesn’t fear death. It’s not about Armstrong’s father, who convinced the
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editor of the Winchester Star to withdraw sponsorship of Armstrong’s trip because he was afraid his son would end up decapitated (Armstrong later received sponsorship through A&T, where he was teaching). It’s not about the fiancée Armstrong broke up with on Christmas Eve, 2007. Except when it is, as Armstrong has another essential gift—he can make, in a couple of sentences, paragraphs, or pages, his reader care deeply about these people. Ultimately, the mysteries of Haditha are what Armstrong learns of himself and the War on Terror. Much of his memoir is rudely funny, but with heartbreaking insight into the men he met in that ravaged landscape stinking from burn pits, the notorious areas of a military deployment devoted to the open-air combustion of waste. “In spite of the Beau Bidens and the thousands of less famous veterans now suffering from respiratory infection, neurological disorders, deformed children, and cancer, these men and women were able to get away from the winds and rivers of Iraq. What about the children who remain in that land of sandstorms, where air and land often seem one? What if you were the sheikh’s son, and you survived your own cancer after your 39 operations? What if, best-case-scenario, the sheikh himself, despite bankruptcy, survived alongside his son? If you were an old man or a young boy living in Haditha after American forces left, what would you
have made of the scarred land upstream from your village, the ashen remains of occupation?” Armstrong wrote that on what became page 61 of his book. On Monday, he returned to this thought in an email to me. “I keep thinking about Joe Biden and the death of his son, Beau. This is a public health crisis and may well be the Agent Orange of our generation. Beau was exposed to these burn pits. The son of the former vice-president may have died from his exposure, but veterans, Iraqis, and Afghans are still struggling to receive acknowledgment and care for their cancers. One question I keep coming back to is, how will Biden’s deeply personal experience with war shape his foreign policy and his approach to health care?” I asked him if his friend Diet has read the book. “Nothing has challenged my relationship with Diet more than the writing and the publication of this memoir. I care about him deeply, and I know he cares about me. I care about my country just as I know he cares about America, but we have different ideas about patriotism. Our friendship is now much more difficult and sometimes laden with uncomfortable silences.” Armstrong finished writing the book in September of last year, so how have recent events shaped his subsequent thoughts on Iraq?
“There’s a lot of conversation in America about demilitarization and the defunding of the police. We are the world’s police. The militarization of local police forces, like Greensboro’s, derives from a national military with an excess supply of weaponry. Our world police budget is larger than the nine biggest military budgets behind us combined. When we talk about systemic racism in Greensboro and Minnesota, let’s not forget the systemic racism in Afghanistan and Iraq. Have we ever used a drone to assassinate a white man? Why do we have special forces operatives like Diet all over the African continent? Why has Trump doubled the number of drone assassinations in Africa? Why are we using robots to kill Black people? When Muntadhar al-Zaidi, the man who threw a shoe at George W. Bush, announced his solidarity with Black Lives Matter, I think he was asking America to wake up to systemic racism on a global scale.” The Mysteries of Haditha: A Memoir will be published on Sept. 1 by Potomac Books. It can be pre-ordered from Scuppernong Books in Greensboro and Bookmarks in Winston-Salem and is available from Barnes & Noble and Amazon. ! 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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“It’s got a different feel,” Alley said of their latest endeavor, “and it shows if you listen to our other releases.” Broad influences fuse in their latest venture, which reflects a preference for pop sensibilities and early 2000s indie rock over their origins as a more emoted pop-punk group. “We start with a base idea and build off of it,” Alley said of their songwriting process, which still seems to swirl around girls and getting by. Sugar Mountain continues to hike in the lush direction they embarked on Super Style, plateauing in a place that all but abandons their pop-punk days, last heard on their Living Room EP. The 2018 release still carried notes of their pop-punk infancy, reflecting Alley, Beuhner and Justice’s pre-Charm group, Subject to Change. On Sugar Mountain, through steady EP the change is firmly releases and acset: they’ve gone from companying videos sounding like Pup or over their threeModern Baseball to year run thus far. flowing in directions of Sugar Mountain cover art In addition to a wafty blend between in-house recordthe softer sides of indie ing, Charm also makes their own videos, rockers Hippo Campus and Beach Bunny. a process dating back to “Yellow Brick For Alley, it’s a testament to the imporRoad,” a single off their debut EP, Tastetance of staying fresh. buds from 2018. The song harkens their “We’re trying our best to keep new pop-punk origins with fresher faces and ideas flowing,” he said of maintaining footage of Walmart antics, sprawling momentum, a practice they’ve carried mansions of Summerfield suburbia, DIY shows, cityscapes, and guerilla recording sessions atop the Greene Street parking deck. By contrast, Charm’s sound matured along with their production for “Cherry,” the single off Super Style, released in October. Both the track and accompanying video exhibits a more polished production, swirling a mix of infatuation and calm disregard. Surfy notes resonate in the song while the video shifts with panels of cool-girl tones and landline telephones. It’s a far cry in a hipper direction, as the tune signals a new wave of Greensboro bands for fans of Echo Courts still in town. Sounds from “Cherry” echo in “Donnie,” Charm’s single off Sugar Mountain—it’s a smoother, more matured and textured direction, enveloping a broader pop sound with a muted country influence. “Being from North Carolina, we
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reensboro indie band, Charm, has released their latest EP, Sugar Mountain, out now via Acrobat Unstable. Marking their Katei Cranford second release from the Charlottebased label, Sugar Contributor Mountain acts as a follow-up to 2019’s Super Style and was recorded and engineered by member Caleb Beuhner, who shares vocals, guitar, and basswork with pianist Bailey Alley, and drummer, Ethan Justice. Bassist Aaron Wise rounds out the quartet, who all met as students at Northern Guilford highschool. For a band of suburban Gen Z friends from high school, distance comes from both college and COVID. “When we were in school and had more time to get together, we would come up with the ideas together,” Alley said of their songwriting process. “But lately, we’ve had to change the formula,” he added of how that process has shifted as they’ve grown up and apart. “The time apart has only made us work harder, though, so it all works out.” Charm has tackled issues of quarantined separation through remote home recording sessions, with parts recorded individually and sent to Beuhner to mix.
Charm up Sugar Mountain
grew up on a lot of country music, and it feels good to be able to fuse it with our own style,” Justice said in the All Scene Eye. “‘Donnie’ was the first song we wrote that had this feeling, and it definitely propelled us into writing [Sugar Mountain],” he added. For the “Donnie” video, Charm returned to their roots of Greensboro cityscape footage and parking deck views, this time blended with mountain scenes and wintered creek beds. “I got a Super 8 camera and recorded a bunch of random clips and put it together for the video,” Alley explained of the production, noting the lack of direction compared to their video work on “Cherry.” The result gives a nostalgic gleam, befitting the fuzzed-out faraway feeling of the single. “Time keeps spinning, turn back the dial,” go the lyrics on the track. The video aids an air of nostalgia: wearing sweatshirts with the bare leaves of late-winter, unintentionally stylizing a sort of carefree that feels distant in the days of coronavirus. While time keeps spinning and COVID keeps shows at bay, Charm hopes to keep the momentum rolling. There’s a full-length in the works. But for the time being, fans can climb Sugar Mountain, out now via Acrobat Unstable. ! KATEI CRANFORD is a Triad music nerd who hosts the Tuesday Tour Report, a radio show on hiatus until tours return.
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[THE ADVICE GODDESS] love • sex • dating • marriage • questions
BLURT FORCE TRAUMA
I became friends with this awesome guy who moved into my apartment complex. I can tell that he’s into me, but he’s not my type at all. What should I say to tell him I’m not interested? -Uncomfortable
Amy Alkon
Advice Goddess
Telling a guy you aren’t interested before he asks you out is like coming up to a stranger in a bar and saying, “This seat taken? By the way, I find you sexually repellant.” Rejection shouldn’t be thrown around like croutons to geese. Social psychologist Mark Leary notes that romantic rejection can lead to people feeling ashamed for being “inadequately valued” by someone they’re romantically interested in. The shame comes out of how high social status (being extremely valued by others) evolved to be the Amex Black Card of human interaction. It comes with important benefits, such as better access to resources, including a better choice of romantic partners. However, though shame is painful, the notion that it is a “bad,” maladaptive emotion is based in assumptions that passed for science (from 1971 by clinical psychologist Helen Block Lewis) that failed to look for the possible function of shame. Emotions are evolved motivational
tools that drive us to act in ways that enhance our survival and mating opportunities and help us pass on our genes. Accordingly, cross-cultural research by evolutionary psychologist Daniel Sznycer suggests that shame is a “defensive system” that motivates us to behave in ways that keep us from being devalued or further devalued by others in our social world. In a harsh ancestral environment, this could have kept us from being thrown out of our band and starving to death and/or getting eaten by a tiger. In the current environment, where food is plentiful and tigers mainly exist in cartoon form on cereal boxes, if you can avoid making a guy feel ashamed, it’s a good idea. A feminism- and #MeToo-driven feature (or bug) of the current environment is that men are often afraid to be direct with women they’re into: “Don’t ask for what you want; just stare at it and hope it trips, falls into your lap, and decides you’re attractive.” If this guy seems interested but remains mum, there’s no reason to humiliate him by telling him you don’t find him attractive. Avoid flirty talk and body language and situations that could slide into makeout sessions, like Netflix ‘n’ chillin’ together. If he does ask you out or make a move, be immediately clear and direct: “I’m only interested in you as a friend.” (Ambiguous brushoffs like, “It’s not a good time” send the message, “Try again at a later date!”) If you can act like nothing awkward has happened between you, it should minimize his humiliation and shame. Sadly, sometimes “the birds and the bees” is a
category that also includes “the vegetables,” as in, “I like you as a person, but I find you sexy like a potato.”
BLEACHABLE MOMENTS
I’m a 27-year-old elementary school teacher. My boyfriend wants to film us in bed, but I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it. I can’t help but play out some nightmare scenario that we break up and he does something awful with the footage. He’s a good guy, and I trust him, but this still seems like a reasonable fear to have. Should I just calm down and go with it, or should I tell him my fears? -- Ms. Anonymous Your willingness to appear on video doing dirty hot yoga and making wounded animal noises should be directly disproportionate to how big you are on, say, keeping your job as a first grade teacher. No matter how careful your boyfriend swears he’ll be, the reality is that any day can be turned into Casual Privacy Elimination Friday. Consider that “Oh, no...they hacked our cloud!” gets blurted out at major health care institutions with gazillion-dollar IT security. Also, as
you note, today’s “I love you” can shift to tomorrow’s “I will ruin you!” and whoops, how did your sex tape get posted to 65 different websites in under an hour? If you’re like many women, you find it hard to say no to requests from a person you love. Women tend to have more helpings of the personality trait “agreeableness,” which manifests in being kind, generous, warm, and cooperative. Research by psychologists William Graziano and Nancy Eisenberg suggests the underlying motivation is maintaining smooth, positive relationships with others. However, just because you’re motivated to act in a certain way doesn’t mean you should, like when the cost of being “cooperative” could be potential career ruin. Steel yourself, and explain to your boyfriend that you really want to say yes, but you just can’t risk your students answering the question, “So, what did you learn in school today?” with “Teacher Likes It Kinky.” ! 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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