YES! Weekly - February 12, 2020

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issue locals share their love stories

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THIS ONE GIRL’S STORY

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JOSH CROCKER

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February 12-18, 2020 YES! WEEKLY

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February 12-18, 2020

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GreensboroColiseum G gbocoliseum @gbocoliseum

Feb. 17-18

VS. WOFFORD WEDNESDAY FEB. 19

March 17

vs.

Fort Wayne Feb. 19 - 18th Annual Shriners' Drag Racing & Hot Rod Expo > Feb.14-15 - Lovers & Friends - A Valentine's Day Concert with The Polk Duo > Feb. 14 www.greensborocoliseum.com

MARCH 1st

MARCH 10-14

- NCHSAA State Wrestling Championships > Feb. 20-22 - Wine & Chocolate Festival > Feb. 22

- National Ninja League Finals > Feb. 22-23 - Nexstar Dance Competition > Feb. 22-23

1-800-745-3000

Event Hotline: (336) 373-7474 / Group Sales: (336) 373-2632

Safe. Legitimate. Coliseum-Approved. greensborocoliseum/ticketexchange

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FEBRUARY 12-18, 2020

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CELEBRATING 20 YEARS

inside

LOCALS SHARE THEIR LOVE STORIES

FEBRUARY Fr 14 Heartbreaker Ball Featuring: NANTUCKET/DRIVER/ ASHLY LARUE BAND 7pm Sa 15 Before WE Begin World Tour: ERIC NAM w/ Phoebe Ryan 7pm Su 16 Y&T 7pm Fr 21 RAILROAD EARTH w/ Handmade Moments 7pm Sa 22 SAME AS IT EVER WAS (Talking Heads Tribute) 9pm Su 23 WALLOWS Nothing Happens Tour 2020 8pm We 26 PEEKABOO Impossible Tour 9pm Th 27 SCYTHIAN 8:30pm

w w w.y e s w e e k l y. c o m

FEBRUARY 12-18, 2020 VOLUME 16, NUMBER 7

16 5500 Adams Farm Lane Suite 204 Greensboro, NC 27407 Office 336-316-1231 Fax 336-316-1930 Publisher CHARLES A. WOMACK III publisher@yesweekly.com

Love is in the air (and newspaper) this week because VALENTINE’S DAY is on Friday! To celebrate the season of love, I decided to ask a few folks from the Triad to share some of their love stories! (Warning: All of these stories are adorable, and some have even made yours truly tear up!)

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WHISKEY FOXTROT

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Su 1 Fri 6 Sa 7 Fr 13 Sa 14 Su 22 Th 26

MICHAEL SMERCONISH American Life In Columns 2pm CASH UNCHAINED The Ultimate Johnny Cash Tribute 8pm Water For People Benefit Concert Presents THE VAGABONDS & Night Years 7pm RAPSODY A Black Woman Created This Tour 9pm BRIAN FALLON & The Howling Weather w/ Justin Townes Earl / The Worriers 7:30pm BRENT COBB w/ Maddie Medley 8pm TAUK w/ Casey and the Comrades 8pm

ADV. TICKETS @ LINCOLNTHEATRE.COM & SCHOOLED RECORDS ALL SHOWS ALL AGES

919-821-4111 • 126 E. Cabarrus St

Get your tickets today at lincolntheatre.com YES! WEEKLY

FEBRUARY 12-18, 2020

Contributors DAVINA VAN BUREN JOHN ADAMIAN MARK BURGER TERRY RADER JIM LONGWORTH KRISTI MAIER KATEI CRANFORD

PRODUCTION Graphic Designers ALEX FARMER designer@yesweekly.com

Fr 28 WHISKEY FOXTROT w/ Jared Stout Band / Tyler Resch 8pm Sa 29 AARON HAMM and Tan Sanders w/ Heads Up Penny / Rebel’s Fox 8pm

MARCH

EDITORIAL Editor KATIE MURAWSKI katie@yesweekly.com

AUSTIN KINDLEY artdirector@yesweekly.com

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My Saturday morning ritual goes like this: Wake up early, make coffee, walk the dog, then head to the GREENSBORO FARMERS CURB MARKET. 9 An elegant dining space and high-end BUTCHER SHOP are slated to open in Winston-Salem later this year by the owners of Wine Merchants and Vin 205 Wine Bar. 10 Everyone in the Triad is invited to come and meet five of North Carolina’s most gifted artists at the “INTERIORS” opening reception on Feb. 14 from 5:30-8:30 p.m. at Revolution Mill’s Gallery 1250, located at 1250 Revolution Mill Dr. in Greensboro. The exhibit will be up through mid-May. 11 As the Academy Awards were being handed out in Hollywood Sunday night, the AMC CLASSIC 10 theater in Winston-Salem was showing its last film. After almost 27 years, the multiplex on Reynolda Road closed its doors for good. When the credits ended, and the screen went black, it did so forever.

12 To coin a sports term, the muchacclaimed (and no less divisive) filmmaker Terrence Malick has, with his latest film, A Hidden Life, “snatched DEFEAT from the jaws of victory.”

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Throughout much of our history, Triad area residents have been represented by at least two Congressmen. But now, thanks to various court rulings and legislative maneuverings, Greensboro, High Point, and Winston-Salem will all fall into the newly formed 6TH DISTRICT...

18 “THIS ONE GIRL’S STORY,” written

by Bil Wright with music and lyrics by Dionne McClain-Freeney, is a musical inspired by the brutal 2003 murder and hate crime of Sakia Gunn, a 15-year-old girl, stabbed to death after a night out with her friends.

20 JOSH CROCKER, the celebrated College Hill barkeep, will hop on the other side of the aisle for a show with Corporate Fandango and Paint Fumes on Feb. 16 at the Corner Bar in Greensboro.

21 Some people join a band because they love to get up on stage and perform.

Not STEVE DORFF. The award-winning songwriter played in his share of bands as a teenager, but he did it mostly because he wanted to find a way to get his songs played, and — more specifically — to give the shapes and colors and sounds in his head a way of taking form out in the world.

ADVERTISING Marketing TRAVIS WAGEMAN travis@yesweekly.com ANGELA S. COX angela@yesweekly.com DARRYL SYKES darryl@yesweekly.com Promotion NATALIE GARCIA

DISTRIBUTION JANICE GANTT KYLE MUNRO ROBERT COX CARL PEGRAM SHANE MERRIMAN JESSE GUERRA 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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February 12-18, 2020

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EVENTS YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS | BY AUSTIN KINDLEY

be there

18TH ANNUAL SHRINERS’ DRAG RACING & HOT ROD EXPO FRIDAY

FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS WEDNESDAY WED 12

FRI 14

FRI 14

FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS

SINGLE’S MINGLE MIXER

VALENTINE’S PARTY

WHAT: Multi-platinum artists Fitz and the Tantrums have quickly grown from independent upstarts to bonafide hitmakers. The LA-based band have released their muchanticipated, fourth full length album “ALL THE FEELS,” featuring lead single “123456.”

“ALL THE FEELS” follows the band’s 2016 release “FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS,” which spawned the group’s biggest hit to date, “HandClap.”

WHEN: 8 p.m.

WHERE: Piedmont Hall.

2411 West Gate City Blvd, Greensboro.

MORE: $15-122 tickets.

WHAT: Don’t wanna to be alone for Valentines Day? Want a place to hang out?

Meet some new people? Our beer would love to get to know you better! So, come join us for a singles mingle mixer! We will have live music, a photo booth, and lots of fun party favors! Retro Vinyl Band will play from 8-11pm!

WHEN: 6 p.m. - 1 a.m.

WHERE: World of Beer.

1310 Westover Ter #112, Greensboro.

MORE: Free entry.

WHAT: Come out and party on Valentines Day at the Khalif Event Center with your music director DJ GQ. Doors open at 9pm $15 for singles and $25 for couples. There will be a dinner buffet and door prizes given out.

This is a B.Y.O.B. event.

WHEN: 9 p.m. - 2 a.m.

WHERE: Khalif Event Center.

2000 East Wendover Avenue, Greensboro.

MORE: $15 single ticket. $25 couples ticket.

Recycle.

Reset.

Know Your

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s.

Please NO plastic bags of any kind in your recycling container. Plastic bags wrap around recycling machinery and jam equipment. Put loose recycling directly in your container.

Return grocery bags to retail drop-off locations for recycling.

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FEBRUARY 12-18, 2020

FRI 14-15 18TH ANNUAL SHRINERS’ DRAG RACING & HOT ROD EXPO WHAT: Shriners Drag Racing & Hot Rod Expo will feature products like rods, customs, classic cars, cars for sale, street rods, muscle cars, trucks, custom bikes & much more.

WHEN: Friday 5:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. | Saturday 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

WHERE: Greensboro Coliseum Complex.

1921 W. Gate City Blvd, Greensboro.

MORE: $15 general admission.

FRI 15 COMEDY SHOWCASE WHAT: Love stand up? Love laughing?

So do we! Please join us for our 1st Comedy Showcase as we have some terrific local talent like Dusty Cagle, Reid Pegram Comedy, Reid Pegram, Neil Hoover and much much more! It’s going to be a blast and it’s free!

So come and grab a beer and be prepared to laugh! This is an adult event so we ask that only those 18 years of age or older attend.

WHEN: 8-11 p.m.

WHERE: The Comic Dimension.

2823 Spring Garden St., Ste E, Greensboro.

MORE: Free event.

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University Department of Visual and Performing Arts and Paul Robeson Theatre Present

This One Girl’s Story Inspired by the brutal murder of Sakia Gunn, a 15 year old lesbian.

Book & Lyrics by Bil Wright Music & Lyrics by Dionne McClain-Freeney

Dates & Times:

Feb. 21 @7:30 p.m.

Feb. 22 @3:00 p.m. & @7:30 p.m.

Feb. 23 @3:00 p.m. & @7:30 p.m.

Location:

Paul Robeson Theatre on the campus of NC A&T State University

For tickets call 336.334.7749 or visit www.ncataggies.com

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[SPOTLIGHT] INKOLOGY

BY KATIE MURAWSKI Nestled in Greensboro’s Friendly Center is a tattoo shop like no other. Inkology, located at 3121 Kathleen Ave., is owned and operated by Michelle Perez.

Perez said she has been in the tattooing industry for 10 years and she has worked at several other shops in Greensboro, but doesn’t consider herself a tattoo artist— she is a piercer and tattoo remover. The method Perez uses to remove tattoos is all-natural, meaning that it does not involve lasers and is saline-based.

“When you go in to get laser, basically, they use a laser to penetrate your skin, and they remove layers off of your skin,” Perez explained. “The ink never really leaves your body; with the non-laser removal process, we go back in with a tattoo machine, and we basically open the tattoo back up in the same process and we use a natural saline solution.”

Perez said that the saline solution is used to break down the ink and push it to the surface of the skin.

“Your body fills it up like a scab, and in between the time where you are healing, the solution breaks the ink up and leaves 20 to 45% of that ink,” Perez said.

“When that person’s scab falls off, you lose part of that tattoo.”

Inkology just opened at the end of January, and Perez said that mission of

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Inkology is to “build an environment... [with] an upscale image.”

“We offer drinks to our clients and we try to make it look more upscale,” she said. “But we cater to everybody. It is a friendly shop, and we aren’t going to have people come in and be rude to you, we are a bunch of friendly tattooers!”

Perez said Inkology isn’t just a tattoo removal place; it is also a regular piercing and tattoo studio with artists Bobby Williams and Beth Fairchild on staff. Perez said that Inkology also offers permanent cosmetics, micro blading, cosmetic scarring tattooing and areola cosmetic tattooing. Perez said what distinguishes Inkology from other tattoo shops in the Triad is its family-friendly vibe.

“When you walk in, we have tablets on the tables if people have children so that the children can play games,” she said.

“We call it a fun family shop because a lot of people don’t want to go a tattoo shop if your kid can’t go in.”

Perez said Inkology will be holding its grand opening in mid-February, and to keep up-to-date with Inkology via their social media page, website, https:// inkologyinkme.com/, or call (336) 5798230 for more information. !

borrowed babies

Inspired by the true story of young women using “practice babies” to learn about child-rearing, playwright Jennifer Blackmer has woven themes of feminism, women in the workforce, and the work/motherhood balance in her new play.

Feb. 20-22 and Feb. 24-26 at 7:30pm Feb. 23 at 2:00pm Empty Space Theatre High Point University For tickets call 336-841-4673 or online at www.highpoint.edu/theatre FEBRUARY 12-18, 2020

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EAT IT!

Historic Greensboro Farmers Curb Market gets a revamp

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y Saturday morning ritual goes like this: Wake up early, make coffee, walk the dog, then head to the Greensboro Farmers Curb Market.

Established in Davina Van Buren 1874, the Curb @highpointfoodie Market is one of the oldest farmers markets in North Contributor Carolina, and it is truly my happy place.

Boasting more than 120 vendors, you’ll find everything from fresh produce and humanely-raised meat to pottery, soaps, knitwear and all manner of value-added products. About 250,000 customers visit the market each year with peak summer days drawing 4,000 to 7,000 people. One of the most important features of the market is that it’s a producer-only farmers market meaning products must be grown or made within 100 miles of Greensboro.

Recently, the building where the Curb Market has been located continuously since 1963 received a makeover. During this time, vendors set up at Revolution Mills. This Saturday, the market reopens in its permanent home, and customers will finally get to see the improvements.

“Over the six-week refurbishment timeframe, the project scope and process included removing numerous layers of paint to the original lathe ceiling,” said executive director Lee Mortensen. “We really weren’t sure what we would get at the end of the process, but in the end, what you will see in the ceiling reveal is a combination of mottled grey, white stains and the original wood grain. It’s a subtle look that we think appropriately references the patina of a long-standing weathered barn.”

In addition to the ceiling portion of the project, walls were refreshed with fresh paint, and large support beams have been painted black to punctuate the unique barrel shape of the building. Concrete floors received a new polish and seal, and wayfinding aisle markers will help shoppers find their favorite vendors easily.

Over the past few years, the historic market has undergone significant improvements through grants, donations and sponsorships. Most recently, the market established a chef-worthy professional demonstration kitchen and cafe YES! WEEKLY

FEBRUARY 12-18, 2020

area, which has been rented by local chefs for camps and cooking lessons, and by organizations for local events. The market has also stepped up its food security programming. SNAP recipients can take advantage of the “Double Snap” program, which matches funds up to $15, while Guilford County residents who possess an Orange Card through Guilford Community Care Network receive $10 in free-market tokens every week.

Saturday markets feature live cooking demonstrations with local restaurateurs, music and tables set up outside to linger over coffee or snacks. Monthly pancake and breakfast fundraisers follow a theme: peaches, strawberries, and other fruits during summer, and chili cookoffs, stone soup, and root vegetables in winter.

There’s also an information desk that is open for the duration of the market with a staff member there to answer any questions visitors may have.

Updates will be unveiled to the public at the annual Love Your Local French Toast Breakfast Fundraiser this Saturday, Feb. 15. Look for me at one of my favorite vendor booths below.

Augustino Gusto You can’t miss the display piled high with tartlets, cheesecakes, quiche, truffles, croissants and other beautiful European-style pastries. This is artisan baking at its finest.

Quaker Acre Apiaries The market’s “King Bee,” Bill Mullins has various products “from the hive,” such as honey, honey vinegar, beeswax candles, beeswax ornaments and plenty of farmer stories, too.

Celebrity Dairy One of North Carolina’s pioneer farmstead cheesemakers, you’ll find classic and herb-flavored goat cheeses and other goat milk products such as fudge, gelato and skyr (a soft, Nordic-style cheese similar to drained yogurt). They have Scotch eggs, too!

Rivers’ Finest I wasn’t always a jelly addict, but ever since I discovered Terri Rivers’s booth, I’ve been consuming more than my fair share of toast. Unique flavors such as rose petal, dandelion and peach habañero add something special to my breakfast table, and she has pickled veggies, too.

Cornerstone Garlic Farm Don’t let the name fool you; the skilled, sustainable farmers from Cornerstone also sell shallots, mushrooms, eggs, dips, seasonings and more. I love their “rainbow” mix of cherry tomatoes, which has 20 varieties of different sizes and colors.

Sir Charles Gourmet Sauces Husband-and-wife team Charles and Carmencita make the best barbecue sauces in town. From mild and tangy to hot and spicy, they’ve got it all. Stop by for a free sample!

Leonard Orchard These sixth-generation farmers harvest 50 acres of apples and peaches between July and February each year. They also have blackberries, apple butter, jams, and apple cider. I especially love trying some of the lesser-known varieties of apples they offer.

Smith Century Farm & N.C. Fresh Seafood George Smith splits his between his Gibsonville farm and the Carolina coast to bring customers the freshest seafood, produce, potted plants and more. He’s also just an awesome guy!

Margariette’s Goodies When Barrack Obama visited the market in 2008, he left with one of Margariette Graves’s pound cakes. Her baked goods are made with love and feature ingredients such as pecans, sweet potatoes and zucchini. Her smiling face might be my favorite thing about the Curb Market.

Fermentology The best vegan sauerkraut and kimchi in the Triad! Your gut will thank you.

That Peanut Guy Seriously the best peanuts I have ever tasted. If you are or know a peanut lover, this is your spot.

My two fave soap vendors Gray Rock Soap uses homegrown herbs, flowers and honey from their own hives in the bars. Meanwhile, Nailah’s Shea uses certified organic ingredients, essential oils, fair trade shea butter and pure cane sugar in her whipped shea butter, soap and exfoliating scrubs. !

DAVINA VAN Buren is an award-winning journalist who writes about food, travel, design and wellness. Find her on social media @HighPointFoodie.

WANNA

go?

The Greensboro Farmers Curb Market is open Saturdays from 7 a.m.–noon year-round and Wednesdays from 8 a.m.–noon seasonally from mid-April through October.

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Restaurant, high-end butcher coming soon to Winston-Salem An elegant dining space and high-end butcher shop are slated to open in Winston-Salem later this year by the owners of Wine Merchants and Vin 205 Wine Bar. Local foodies are already familiar with Kristi Maier what they believe @triadfoodies is one of WinstonSalem’s hidden gems—Vin 205—with Contributor its chef-driven menus, creative wine dinners, and Saturday and Sunday brunch. In the coming months, a new concept will begin taking shape on Broad Street in downtown Winston-Salem.

Business partners Caleb Flint and Alan Miller have been curating their small wine shop along with its restaurant next door for a number of years now. But Flint has always had a fire in his belly to do something a bit more, highlight local producers, and give Winston-Salem something it lacks.

“This has been a project that Alan and I have been working on since 2013 with a

desire to open a butcher shop, but then the idea evolved into merging it with Vin 205 and Wine Merchants.”

Two concepts, two levels, one location with a parking lot—something that many downtown restaurants wish they could boast. Flint said in order to accomplish what they wanted, they had to find a new neighborhood, and it’s no surprise that downtown was an enticing location.

“We really liked that area between 2nd and 6th Streets on Broad Street, and we found a location at 215 Broad.”

The pair began the agonizing permitting process, and they finally see their ideas take shape. Demolition at the property is underway with a buildout to begin in about a month. The name of the restaurant will be called Cleave & Cork.

“This concept will be casual fine dining designed around plates to share, which we feel has been something we haven’t seen enough in Winston-Salem,” Flint said. The restaurant will seat about 100.

In the lower level of the building, C & C Market & Goods will house a long-awaited butcher shop, along with a wine shop, high-end gourmet market, and a bakery and deli. This concept has actually been

slowly making its name known at Winston Junction Market since last spring, and Flint said they were ready to take the idea and expand it. Customers will find grab-and-go foods, quick meals that you can take with you, like sandwiches, poke bowls, soup and baked goods.

“We think downtown is ready for a butcher shop that also includes a small market like we’re envisioning.”

C & C Market Goods will have a separate entrance than the upstairs restaurant with the idea being to cater to their traditional customer and their usual experience.

“People who are shopping for wine will still be able to pull in, buy their wine and their other items, and get back in their car and go,” Miller added.

In both concepts, but particularly the market, Flint said they plan to focus strongly on local purveyors.

“We’ll continue to work with Joyce Farms because they are right here in our back yard.

We’ll find the best local seafood and pork products as well as beef when we can,” Flint said, adding that the new shop would allow them to process their own meats. “As an extension of the butcher shop, we want to make our own sausage, bologna, or corned

beef in addition to supporting our local providers.” (The restaurant will also feature cuts of meat from the butcher shop.)

Flint and Miller are encouraged by the current re-opening of Salem Parkway as well as new and established residential housing in the neighborhood, which makes their location very walkable.

When Cleave & Cork and C & C Market & Goods open, Vin 205 will close its doors at its South Stratford location, but their staff, including Chef Justin Pinch, will be there for the transition.

“It’s been a long time coming between zoning and design,” Flint said. “Being a developer, there’s a lot of waiting and chasing, but we’re finally ready to make this dream a reality.” !

KRISTI MAIER is a food writer, blogger and cheerleader for all things local who even enjoys cooking in her kitchen, though her kidlets seldom appreciate her efforts.

WANNA

go?

Later this year, Cleave & Cork, C & C Market & Goods will be located at 215 Broad St., Winston-Salem. Until then, Wine Merchants and Vin 205 Wine Bar are still located at 205 S. Stratford Rd.

VALENTINE’S DAY SPECIAL

Mi Amore Boxes CHOOSE 3 ITEMS

Choose from Macarons, Mini Stuffed Cookies, Bon Bons, & Chocolate Covered Strawberries 1616 Battleground Ave, Greensboro, NC (336) 306-2827 ∙ www.easypeasydnd.com WWW.YESWEEKLY.COM

4 of each item will be included FEBRUARY 12-18, 2020

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‘Interiors’ at Gallery 1250 opens on Valentine’s Day

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veryone in the Triad is invited to come and meet five of North Carolina’s most gifted artists at the “Interiors” opening reception on Feb. 14 from Terry Rader 5:30-8:30 p.m. at Revolution Mill’s Gallery 1250, located Contributor at 1250 Revolution Mill Dr. in Greensboro. The exhibit will be up through mid-May. Gallery 1250 director Jan Lukens said the theme of interiors in mid-winter resonated with him for a February opening.

He said he reached out to several of his favorite artists that frequently address the subject of interiors, and put together a dynamic show of paintings, drawings, and mixed media artworks. Although he is not exhibiting in this show, Lukens

paints full-time from his studio at Revolution Mill and is known primarily for his equestrian oil paintings and cityscapes.

“I am so excited about this show,” Lukens said. “We are setting a high bar for excellence in painting.”

Artist Tamie Beldue is a native of New York but has lived in Black Mountain since 2008 and her art is in several national museum collections. Beldue said she draws and works in a combination of graphite, watercolor, and charcoal and uses cold wax to seal and protect her drawings. She will have seven pieces in this exhibit dating from 2016-2020. Her inspiration behind this work comes from slightly different things, especially in her recent work, where interiors were constantly changing from day to day (during construction), along with the moving light. “I begin a drawing by dealing with the smaller parts, and when each part forms an image, I put all of the pieces together like a puzzle, and then it starts to make sense,” she said. Beldue will be in her third show at GreenHill this May and

Winston Salem | High Point | Greensboro

Chocolate, Fudge, and Bulk Candies Located in the Historic South End of Downtown Greensboro

529 S. Elm St. Greensboro, NC 27406 (336) 907-3448 www.gatecitycandycompany.com YES! WEEKLY

FEBRUARY 12-18, 2020

$2 OFF A DOZEN DONUTS

Valid only at Duck Donuts® Winston, High Point & Greensboro. May not be combined with any other offers. One coupon per person, per visit. Offer valid in-store only. CODE: 2OFF | Expires 3/31/2020

“Alvin’s Room”

by Geoffrey Johnson hopes to come to the ‘Interiors’ opening with “Greensboro becoming a happening place for the arts.” Julyan Davis is an oil painter who received his B.A. in painting and printmaking at the Byam Shaw School of Art in London. He hails from England but has lived in Asheville for 30 years, painting the American South and working in several national museum collections. Davis will have seven oil paintings in this show. He began painting interiors 15 years ago after painting a lot of architecture and urban scenes.

“I have empathy for people who feel trapped by their environment, and I think that comes across in my scenes of empty places, and in my ballad series,” Davis said.

On his website video, he gives advice to artists, “Whatever peculiar interests we have, it’s where they all meet that’s interesting. The goal is to bring them all together in one’s art.”

Geoffrey Johnson, of Winston-Salem, is a native of Greensboro. He received his BFA in painting from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. His paintings are collected internationally and are in numerous corporate collections. He has had sold-out solo shows in New York City, Alexandria, Virginia, and Charlotte for 20 years. Johnson, who paints with oil, said he had been very fortunate in how his art keeps moving. He will be exhibiting four oil paintings all done within the year.

“My inspiration for some of this work comes from my travels with my wife to Savannah and our love of the old houses there and with it being such a moody place,” Johnson said. “Some of it comes from Charleston, and other cities, and some are completely made up and not

even residential.” Johnson said he might use a photograph as a take-off point, but mostly, he has worked out of his head for the last seven to eight years. He plans to attend the opening with his wife and manager, Edith.

Greensboro painter Sam Wade graduated from Weaver Academy with a concentration in music and moved to Nashville to explore the music scene. He became interested in art and studied at Middle Tennessee State University.

Ten years later, Wade moved back to Greensboro in 2017 to start Foundry Studios & Gallery. Wade paints with oil exclusively and will have four new pieces in this show. His inspiration for this work comes from wanting to create an effect of “absurdity mixed with familiarity.”

“I start by scanning an old photograph into Photoshop where I manipulate, stretch and change the elements,” Wade said. “Then, I use the transformed image to paint on canvas by.” He is looking forward to being at the opening and showcasing of these new atmospheres to contrast the unusual “bizarre” portrait paintings he is known for.

Philip Link is a Greensboro artist who received his BFA in painting from UNCG. He has been painting professionally, off and on, since 1978. The link will have five pieces (3 are new) that primarily brush paintings with marker accents.

“These paintings have more of a conceptual element that leaves something to the imagination, whereas my landscapes are more direct.” Link said his work is kind of a “divinely-led thing,” and he always starts with a prayer.

“The picture tells me what it needs, and I follow the lead as the messenger.”

Link has exhibited in GreenHill recently and looks forward to the opening. !

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

WANNA

go?

Feb. 14 from 5:30-8:30 p.m., opening reception for ‘Interiors’ runs through May at Gallery 1250, Revolution Mill, 1250 Revolution Mill Dr., Greensboro, (336)285-9858, www.revolutionmillgreensboro. com Tamie Beldue, www.tamiebeldue.com, Julyan Davis, www.julyandavis.com/, Geoffrey Johnson www.geoffreyjohnsonart.com/, Sam Wade, www.homersamuelwade.com/about/, Philip Link, www.plinkartist.smugmug.com/.

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[PLAYBILL]

by Katie Murawski

TRIAD STAGE

Pyrle Theater 232 S Elm St. 2 Wolves and a Lamb by: Preston Lane Feb. 2- Feb. 23 Show times: Tuesdays-Thursdays, Sundays 7:30 p.m., Fridays-Saturdays 8 p.m. and 2 p.m.

Saturdays and Sundays.

According to the website, “Let your voice be heard. The local elections in Hawboro, N.C., pit old friends against each other, and special interests rule.

There are no bystanders here. Immerse yourself in the rush of the campaign and become a participant as you vote in the election and decide the end of the story.” From the artistic director: “In our Hawboro project, all of us at Triad Stage are trying to create on ongoing dialogue on issues facing the Piedmont Triad. These handmade experiences are crafted especially for you. And this time, we want to make you honorary citizens of Hawboro. I started working on this play last year as a literary fellow at The Montalvo Arts Center, challenging myself to make a way for everyone—liberal, conservative, or somewhere in between—to be a part of Hawboro’s future.”

WINSTON-SALEM THEATRE ALLIANCE

1047 Northwest Blvd.

Buddy! A Buddy Holly Story Written by: Alan Janes and Rob Bettinso Music and Lyrics by Various Artists Feb. 14 – March 1 Show times: 8 p.m. on Wednesday-Saturday, 2 p.m. on Sundays According to the website, “Buddy Holly is revived! Buddy tells the true story of Buddy’s meteoric rise to fame, from the moment in 1957 when ‘That’ll Be The Day’ hit the airwaves until his tragic death less than two years later on ‘The Day The Music Died.’ The show features over 20 of Buddy Holly’s greatest hits including ‘That’ll Be The Day’, ‘Peggy Sue,’ ‘Everyday,’ ‘Oh Boy,’ ‘Not Fade Away,’ ‘Rave On’ and ‘Raining In My Heart,’ plus Ritchie Valens’s ‘La Bamba’ and the Big Bopper’s ‘Chantilly Lace.’ The incredible legacy of the young man with glasses, whose musical career spanned an all-too-brief period during the golden days of rock ‘n’ roll, continues to live on in Buddy!

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The last picture show As the Academy Awards were being handed out in Hollywood Sunday night, the AMC Classic 10 theater in WinstonSalem was showing its last film. After almost 27 years, the multiplex on ReynMark Burger olda Road closed its doors for good.

When the credits Contributor ended, and the screen went black, it did so forever.

When I came to North Carolina in 1998, the theater was then the Classic 10, and it quickly became my “hometown” theater, simply because it was the one closest to me. Even better, I immediately established a friendly rapport with management and staff. I inquired if I could attend movies for free, adding that I expected to primarily attend matinée screenings so that if it was a big blockbuster, they’d lose no ticket revenues from a potentially sold-out evening show.

The answer was yes, and it stayed that way for the next 22 years, and when I began working for YES! Weekly, I asked if they’d like copies delivered to them. The answer was yes, and it never failed to amuse – and flatter – me when I’d stroll in for a Friday matinée, and the staff would be reading my reviews. “Boy, you really hated that one!”

More often than not, they agreed.

When I did an article on digital projection, the management graciously allowed me and my friend, filmmaker Richard Clabaugh, to look over the new technology. As Clabaugh said then: “You’re looking at the future, my friend.”

Indeed I was.

The memories of movies that I saw there, both good and bad, are innumerable. It was there that I saw Zodiac (2007), which is probably my favorite film (thus far) of the 21st century. It was also there that I sat through Eye See You (2002), which may be Sylvester Stallone’s worst film, although there’s competition on that score. Originally titled D-TOX – now there’s a marketable title, only slightly less bizarre than Eye See You – the film had been dumped by Universal Pictures and picked up by DEJ Productions, which specialized in the direct-to-video fare.

A producer friend explained that, in order to qualify for a tax write-off, a film had to be shown in at least one

theater in each state. Lucky me, Eye See You played the Carmike 10 right here in Winston-Salem.

Zodiac was a far sunnier affair, so to speak. I’d mentioned to an assistant manager how eager I was to see it and was told that the print had arrived and they’d planned to build the film that night. If I didn’t mind a start time of about 10:30 p.m., I was welcome to watch it along with members of the staff.

This was not new to me. When I worked at the Rutgers Plaza Cinema in Somerset, New Jersey, where I grew up, I saw Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), and Aliens (1986) the same way – before they officially opened. It was a perk I had not asked for but wasn’t about to turn down, nor did I take it for granted.

Then there was the case of Phone Booth (2002), the thriller starring Colin Farrell as a hotshot New York publicist trapped in a phone booth while an unseen sniper taunts him over the phone. The film had been scheduled for release in the fall of 2001 but was postponed following the events of Sept. 11. Its release was – understandably — postponed yet again following the wave of sniper killings in Washington, D.C. Phone Booth became something of a hot potato. As a result, it was garnering considerable press coverage before it had even opened.

Well, it just so happened that I’d been corresponding with filmmaker Larry Cohen (It’s Alive, Black Caesar, Q), who’d written Phone Booth. The studio publicist had even arranged a sneak preview at Carmike 10, but when I informed her that I planned to run the review alongside an interview with Cohen, she wasn’t excited by the additional coverage.

On the contrary, she was angrily, vehemently opposed. I couldn’t understand why, and I still don’t. It was only later I discovered that this publicist had an unpleasant tendency to dictate – or attempt to dictate – coverage of “her” films. She’d actually banned at least one of my fellow critics from screenings as a result.

I wasn’t about to stand for that.

Publicists do not dictate what reviewers cover. That’s been a cardinal rule in this critic’s playbook since day one. She then upped the ante by announcing she would cancel the screening. When I protested, she launched into a frantic diatribe that culminated with her declaration, “I am canceling the sneak preview in Atlanta!

I’m canceling it!”

“Fine,” I said. “Cancel the Atlanta screening.”

“I will! The Atlanta screening is canceled!”

It was then that I calmly reminded her that I was in Winston-Salem, and she was in Atlanta. I learned later that she suffered memory problems – which I’d have been more sympathetic to had she not been so aggressively nasty – and that some of her co-workers didn’t like dealing with her because she was petty and underhanded.

A day or two later, I got a call from an assistant manager. “You’re not going to believe this,” he said, “but the print for Phone Booth just arrived.”

I started to smile. “Can I ask you something?”

He started to laugh. “You don’t have to.

Some of the staff want to watch it. How does 8 o’clock sound?”

It sounded great, and even greater was that the front page of the arts section boasted both my review and an exclusive interview with Larry Cohen (who, sadly, died last year). I don’t know how the publicist reacted to that, and I didn’t care.

It didn’t matter, because she wasn’t there much longer.

So, on Sunday, I paid a last visit to AMC Classic 10, not to see a movie but to simply thank the staff for their courtesy and kindness over the years. It struck me that the majority of current employees were probably wearing Pampers when I first came to the theater in 1998. It was a good run, and I’m sorry to see it end. All good things must come to an end, and that theater was a good thing. !

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

FEBRUARY 12-18, 2020 YES! WEEKLY

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[MOVIE TIMES]

A Hidden Life: Courage, sacrifice, repetition

RED CINEMAS

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o coin a sports term, the much-acclaimed (and no less divisive) filmmaker Terrence Malick has, with his latest film, A Hidden Life, “snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.”

This is a wonderful film, beautiful and inspiring, and had the running time been two hours or thereabouts, it would have ranked among Malick’s best films, and perhaps among the best of 2019, as well.

Unfortunately, it runs nearly three hours, thereby supplanting inspiration with exhaustion. Malick, who wrote the screenplay as well as directing, evidently couldn’t bear to part with a single frame or a single word, even if the ultimate outcome was to the detriment of the overall work. That it took Malick nearly three years to edit the film is mind-boggling, during which time two actors have since died, Michael Nyqvist in 2017 and Bruno Ganz last February.

Nyqvist and Ganz have only minor roles, while the lion’s share of screen time is

appropriately allotted to August Diehl as Franz Jagerstatter and Valerie Pachner as his wife, Fani. Their farm, situated in the remote but extremely picturesque region of Austria called Radgeund (the film’s original title).

World War II is raging, and even Radegund is not spared its impact, with some residents becoming die-hard converts to Adolf Hitler. Franz, however, is not among them. A devout Catholic, he resists consignment to the military and refuses to pledge allegiance to Hitler or the Third Reich.

Franz is adamant in his decision, despite being ostracized by much of the community and branded a traitor by the belligerent, drunken mayor (Karl Markovics).

Even Franz’s own mother (Karin Neuhauser) views his decision with disdain, blaming Fani for “changing” him.

When Franz is eventually summoned to Berlin, which entails a traditionally tearful farewell between him and Fani at the railway station, she and their three daughters are left to contend with the

10,000 square feet

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FEBRUARY 12-18, 2020

continued vitriol of the villagers. Franz is imprisoned, where he endures humiliation and beatings on a regular basis, yet he offers no opposition, nor does he fight back. This continues for roughly two hours of the film’s running time, culminating in a conclusion as foregone as it is tragic.

Oddly, the end legend isn’t about Jagerstatter (who was declared a martyr by Pope Benedict CVI in 2007 and beatified), but a quote from poet George Elliot. Ever the maverick, Terrence Malick.

Most of the filmmaker’s trademarks can be found in A Hidden Life: Idyllic flashbacks, somber narration, episodic structure, glorious cinematography (courtesy Jorg Widmer), a soaring score (courtesy James Newton Howard), and the location as a character. Technically, there’s nothing wrong with A Hidden Life, and certainly, the fact-based story is a worthy one.

But it’s not a complicated one, and could easily have been told in a simpler, more concise manner than it is here. As it stands, Franz and Fani are the only characters to emerge with any depth, and it should be noted that both Diehl and Pachner give heartfelt performances in emotionally grueling roles.

The elements are all there in A Hidden Life, and nearly three hours later, they’re still there – but they’ve been emphasized and over-emphasized and re-emphasized so many times that a genuine sense of tragedy is tainted by an equally genuine, and unmistakable, sense of overindulgence from a filmmaker who might well do to remember another old term: Sometimes less is more. !

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

Feb 14-20

BIRDS OF PREY (AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN) (R) LUXURY SEATING Fri - Thu: 12:00, 2:30, 5:00, 7:30, 10:00 STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER (PG-13) LUXURY SEATING Fri - Thu: 12:30, 3:30, 7:15, 10:15 KNIVES OUT (PG-13) LUXURY SEATING Fri - Thu: 1:20, 4:30, 7:20, 10:10 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (PG) Fri & Sat: 12:05, 2:25, 4:45, 7:05, 9:25, 11:45 Sun - Thu: 12:05, 2:25, 4:45, 7:05, 9:25 DOWNHILL (R) Fri & Sat: 12:45, 2:50, 4:55, 7:00, 9:05, 11:10 Sun - Thu: 12:45, 2:50, 4:55, 7:00, 9:05 THE PHOTOGRAPH (PG-13) Fri - Thu: 12:10, 2:40, 5:10, 7:40, 10:10 2020 OSCAR NOMINATED SHORTS ANIMATION (NR) Fri - Thu: 12:05, 9:40

2020 OSCAR NOMINATED SHORTS DOCUMENTARY (NR) Fri - Thu: 4:15 PM 2020 OSCAR NOMINATED SHORTS LIVE ACTION (NR) Fri & Sat: 2:00, 7:25, 11:35 Sun - Thu: 2:00, 7:25 GRETEL & HANSEL (PG-13) Fri - Thu: 12:20, 5:20, 10:20 THE GENTLEMEN (R) Fri - Thu: 12:00, 2:35, 5:10, 7:45, 10:20 BAD BOYS FOR LIFE (R) Fri & Sat: 12:15, 3:00, 5:45, 8:30, 11:15 Sun - Thu: 12:15, 3:00, 5:45, 8:30 DOLITTLE (PG) Fri - Thu: 12:10, 2:35, 5:10, 7:30, 9:50 1917 (R) Fri & Sat: 12:20, 3:00, 5:40, 8:20, 11:00 Sun - Thu: 12:20, 3:00, 5:40, 8:20 LITTLE WOMEN (PG) Fri - Thu: 2:25, 7:25 A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD (PG) Fri - Thu: 3:05, 5:25, 7:45 FORD V FERRARI (PG-13) Fri - Thu: 12:00, 10:10 PARASITE (R) Fri - Thu: 12:40, 3:40, 7:10, 10:05

A/PERTURE CINEMAS Feb 14-20

DOWNHILL (R) Fri: 3:15, 5:30, 8:00 Sat: 10:15 AM, 12:45, 3:15, 5:30, 8:00 Sun: 10:15 AM, 12:45, 5:30, 8:00 Mon: 5:30, 8:00 Tue: 3:15, 5:30, 8:00 Wed: 5:30, 8:00 Thu: 3:15, 5:30, 8:00 2020 OSCAR NOMINATED SHORTS - ANIMATION Fri: 4:15 PM Sat & Sun: 11:00 AM, 4:15 Mon: 9:15 PM Tue: 4:00 PM Thu: 9:15 PM 2020 OSCAR NOMINATED SHORTS - DOCUMENTARY Fri: 6:45 PM Sat & Sun: 10:30 AM, 6:45 Mon: 8:45 PM Tue: 3:30, 8:45 Wed: 8:45 PM Thu: 3:30, 8:45

2020 OSCAR NOMINATED SHORTS - LIVE ACTION Fri - Sun: 9:15 PM Tue & Wed: 9:15 PM Thu: 4:00 PM CITIZEN K Fri: 6:30 PM Sat & Sun: 1:30, 6:30 Mon - Wed: 6:30 PM Thu: 6:15 PM 63 UP Fri: 4:00, 9:30 Sat & Sun: 1:15, 4:00, 9:30 Mon - Thu: 6:00 PM A HIDDEN LIFE (PG-13) Fri: 3:00 PM Sat & Sun: 12:15 PM Tue: 3:00 PM Thu: 3:00 PM PARASITE (R) Fri: 6:15, 9:00 Sat & Sun: 9:30 AM, 3:30, 6:15, 9:00 Mon - Wed: 6:15, 9:00 Thu: 9:00 PM

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voices

Foxx, Hanes vying for nomination in 6th

T

hroughout much of our history, Triad area residents have been represented by at least two Congressmen.

But now, thanks to various court Jim Longworth rulings and legislative maneuverings, Greensboro, High Longworth Point, and Winstonat Large Salem will all fall into the newly formed 6th district, as well as all of Guilford County and much of Forsyth.

The new alignment favors a Democrat, so Republican incumbent Mark Walker declined to seek another term. As a result, two Republicans and five Democrats filed for the open seat, and they will seek their party’s nomination in the March 3 primary.

Two of the Democrats, Rhonda Foxx and Ed Hanes, appeared on Triad Today this past weekend, and what follows are highlights from our conversations.

Rhonda Foxx has a law degree from George Washington University. She served as Chief of Staff for Congresswoman Alma Adams, during which time she co-founded the Black Women’s Congressional Alliance.

She also launched HBCU House, a platform that connects students to 21st-century career opportunities. Ms. Foxx currently practices law in Greensboro.

JL: Why are you running for Congress?

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RF: I am running because after working for six different women in federal politics, I can tell you that Congress, which we call the People’s House, doesn’t look like the people, and our everyday issues and communities are being left behind, and I think that’s a grave injustice.

JL: What issues and problems do you want to work on once elected?

RF: Number one, I think we have to get real about fixing our criminal justice system. It’s leaving way too many folks behind. I am also passionate about lowering the cost of education and making that accessible for all. And I’m proud to be the only candidate who supports Medicare for All. We can no longer tolerate a system where one’s skin tone and zip code determine their outcomes.

JL: Since you mentioned criminal justice reform, how do you stand on decriminalizing marijuana when used in small amounts for recreational purposes?

RF: I am a champion for that. I have been through our broken criminal justice system. I have experienced it first-hand, and what it boils down to is we are processing more crimes than our system can handle. Our system was designed to make us safer, and (prosecuting) small amounts of marijuana is not making us safer.

JL: How about term limits? For or against?

RF: Against. It’s up to the people to issue their own term limits.

JL: What about your background and experience will make you an effective Congresswoman?

RF: We have this district right now for two years. We need someone who can hit the ground running on day one who knows how to get to the Appropriations room, knows how to get on key committees, and have the relationships. I have that.

Ed Hanes is a graduate of the UNC School of Law and was a Fulbright Scholar.

He represented Forsyth County in the state House for six years, then joined the law firm of Kilpatrick, Townsend, and Stockton. Ed is president of the Hanes Group.

JL: Why are you running for Congress?

EH: I’m a father, I have two little girls, and I thought about the life I wanted them to live growing up. I also saw the open district and thought it would be a good time to put my name back in the hat.

JL: Because of Gerrymandering, a Democrat is now likely to win in this district, but what should be done about Gerrymandering after this election?

EH: Gerrymandering is one of the evils of what happens when certain parties get in power, that’s going to be Democrats sometimes, and sometimes Republicans.

We need fair districting, but remember this new district resulted from what the courts

termed as intentional disenfranchisement of African-American voters and Democrats in general. So we just need to move forward and be responsible.

JL: Once elected, what will be your priority issues?

EH: First of all, creating relationships across the aisle. Second, looking at social justice opportunities and criminal justice reform. In Raleigh, we were able to pass a wrongful expungement and exoneration bill, so that if you were exonerated for a crime, you won’t walk out with an arrest record. I also want to focus on education as we did in North Carolina, and assure that poor kids who score really high on their standardized tests are not subjugated to lower-level math and science classes because of their socio-economic standing. That was happening here where more affluent kids with lower scores were taking the place of poor kids.

JL: What about your background and experience will make you an effective Congressman?

EH: It’s my business background, it’s the background of working in a major law firm, having my own business, and understanding how to develop relationships. I have an ability to get things done, and I have proven that at the highest levels. !

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).

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY! from

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leisure [NEWS OF THE WEIRD] ANNALS OF HYGIENE

The Times of India reports that Soni Devi, 20, of Vaishali district, petitioned the state women’s commission on Jan. 9 for divorce from her husband of two Chuck Shepherd years, Manish Ram, 23, complaining, “My husband stinks as he won’t shave and bathe for nearly 10 days at a stretch.

Moreover, he doesn’t brush his teeth. He also doesn’t have manners and follow etiquette. ... Kindly get me rid of this man; he has ruined my life.” Commission member Pratima Sinha told the Times, “I was taken aback by her silly reasons,” but nonetheless, the commission will give the husband “two months’ time to mend his ways. If his behavior is not found satisfactory even after that, we will ... refer the matter to the family court for separation.” Manish reportedly promised to mend his ways.

IRONY

Sauntore Thomas, 44, of Detroit, presented three checks at his bank on Jan. 21 that he had received as settlement in a race discrimination lawsuit against his former employer, according to the Detroit Free Press. Instead of accepting the checks, TCF Bank in Livonia, where Thomas was an established customer, summoned police and initiated a fraud investigation. Thomas’ attorney, Deborah Gordon, told the Free Press, “Obviously, assumptions were made the minute he walked in based on his race.” Thomas finally closed his existing accounts, left the bank and deposited the checks at a different bank without any trouble. The next day, Thomas filed a lawsuit against TCF Bank alleging race discrimination and asking for unspecified damages and an apology from the company.

VALENTINE’S GREETINGS

— If you’d like to get a special gift for an ex this Valentine’s Day, Centre Wildlife Care in Port Matilda, Pennsylvania, has just the thing. In exchange for a donation to a fund for restoring local bat populations, the rescue organization will name a mealworm after your ex, and Betsy the large brown bat will eat it. Donate more than $45, and you’ll receive a personalized video of Betsy devouring the treat.

“Essentially, people will be naming the mealworms after someone they don’t like,” Executive Director Robyn Graboski told WTAJ, “and we will feed them to the bat.”

YES! WEEKLY

FEBRUARY 12-18, 2020

— If you have lifetime commitment on your mind this Valentine’s Day, Domino’s Australia wants to help out. The pizza chain announced a contest on Feb. 3 in which the winner will receive a diamondencrusted engagement ring in the shape of a pizza slice worth $9,000, Fox News reported. Fans can enter with a 30-second video detailing “how you will involve pizza in your proposal,” according to the company. Good luck!

LIFE IMITATES A TV DRAMA

Two chemistry professors at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, were formally charged on Feb. 3 with manufacturing methamphetamines and possession, KTHV reported. Terry David Bateman, 45, and Bradley Allen Rowland, 40, both associate professors, were arrested on Nov. 15 and had been on administrative leave since Oct. 11, after the science center on campus was closed because of a chemical odor. It reopened on Oct. 29 after testing, but in the meantime, according to court documents, faculty members reported to the Clark County Sheriff ’s Office the two were acting in a way that indicated “these persons were involved in some type of illegal activity.” The suspects had also lost weight and were “extremely guarded” about who was in their laboratories and when. (Should have sprung for the RV.)

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES

In the fall of 2018, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement launched Fortify Florida, an app intended for students to anonymously report suspicious activity. Since then, more than 6,000 tips have been received statewide, but school officials are feeling mostly frustration, reports WFTS in Tampa. Indian River County Superintendent Dr. David Moore said students will “talk about the flavor of the food in the cafeteria.” Pasco Superintendent Kurt Browning said, “The number of kids entering bogus tips is consuming a great deal of resources. ... There’s a coyote in my front yard,” was one example. Indian River Country authorities spent hours investigating a report of a student planning to shoot up a high school, only to find out it was a revenge report for a recent breakup. Florida lawmakers are considering a bill to allow authorities to track tipsters’ IP addresses and prosecute those who submit false information. !

© 2020 Chuck Shepherd. Universal Press Syndicate.

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

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[CROSSWORD] ACROSS 1 Elvis’s middle name 6 Suddenly grab 9 Log dwelling 14 Robbery at a police station, e.g.

15 Employ, as “The Force” 16 How to play solitaire 17 Carded everyone?

18 One notably entertained by a laser pointer 19 Lecture, say 20 Comedian Poehler 21 Peruvian wool bearer 23 Traditional Japanese melee weapon 24 Revolutionary Guevara 25 Dog’s bark 27 According to tradition, women may ask this on the leap year 35 Two-tone treats 36 September’s birthstones

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38 Legal entitlement 39 Word before a maiden name 40 Rage 41 She, in Sicily 42 Give a little 44 Yet to be decided, in brief 47 1986 horror novel

by Stephen King 48 Cheesy chip 50 Has a slow flow 52 Outdoor co-op retailer 53 Proposer’s prop 54 Reach a goal 58 Troyer of Austin Powers fame 60 Fade, as light 62 Alba of Dark Angel 64 Stress-free state 65 Group of secret plotters 67 Hardcore Pawn network: _____ TV 68 Pair 69 Female oracle 70 Tight embrace DOWN 1 Abet

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 21 22 24 26 27 28 29 30 31

Nevada’s _____ 51 What the buffalo do, in song One and _____ : soul mate WSJ competitor Chromosome home Extremely quickly Software prototype A build up of mucus in the throat Keg contents Constrictors Those transported by 21-Across Fruit flavored soda introduced in 1924 Carolina Hurricanes Finnish point scorer Aladdin’s mythical transport May cause one to ‘ovary-act’ “Here are the facts”, briefly Donned It’s usually blue, green, or brown Chicken choices “Mean Girls” star Juicy fruit

[WEEKLY SUDOKU] 32 Imitate 33 Brain picture, for short 34 Like a ghost’s howling 37 Mounts, as a diamond 42 Panoramas 43 Tuna type 45 Archaeological find 46 Opposites of thinkers?

49 Like deserts 51 Celestial high point 53 Feel happy and proud 54 Like fine wines and cheeses 55 TV dinners may be served on this 56 Japanese dog fighting breed 57 Wowed 59 Beige 61 ____ Tai 62 Colorful flyer 63 Summer mo.

66 Bae, to some

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trate’s office, we go to find that he has left the building for the day. The cops tell us, well, there’s a magistrate in the jail if you guys want to do that. So we did. We got married in the High Point jail, by the jail magistrate, behind plexiglass with cops as our witnesses.”

Ashley and Sergio Gonzalez met each other while working at a restaurant together, and thanks to a prank by a mischevious cousin, they started dating.

Ashley said she is from Winston-Salem, and Sergio is from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. “We were both working at Carrabba’s Italian Grill on Stratford. His English was limited, as was my Spanish.

I was a single mom at the time, and not looking for a long-term relationship— or really any relationship. However, we kind of liked each other and would exchange smiles and hellos. His cousin was also a manager there at the time and noticed the mild flirting. He then decided to mess with both of us a little bit. His cousin approached me one day, claiming that he was not trying to cause any problems, but he could tell that I liked his cousin.

He then proceeded to tell me that Sergio had some quite unpleasant things to say about me and my parenting style.

All logic was lost at that point. I stormed into the back where Sergio was prepping food— arms flailing (I am an emotional talker, to begin with)— just yelling and cursing him to the fullest extent. I could see the look of pure terror on his face when I hear his ASHLE Y& cousin around the corner SE cackling. I stopped and looked back and forth at both of them—my husband still terrified. His cousin says, ‘I was just messing with you. He actually wants to ask you out.’ Still fuming, I stare daggers at my poor husband and say, ‘Waffle House. After work.’

Then I proceed to curse at his cousin, telling him exactly how I felt about his prank. We were married a year later, on July 27, 2009, and have had three more kids. We will celebrate 11 years of marriage this year!”

Heather Philon said her love story with her husband started when they were both barely 18.

“We met the first week of college; were together by the second [week], persevered through his mother really disliking me, and got married the week after

IO RG

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Sterling Grizzard is from WinstonSalem, and her favorite love story is the one where she met her husband, Alan Grizzard.

“Alan and I met playing Winston-Salem Sports and Social Club adult league kickball. We went for beers before the game at Southside Beer Garden with our team, and I bought him a beer since he had recently been a bit down in his luck.

He gave me a quick peck on the cheek.

During the game that night, I hurt my leg. I was sitting on the ground, rubbing it, and he came over and offered to help. After all, he reminded me, he is a nurse. We left the game, and I texted him, ‘I thought you were coming over to take care of my leg?’ He was a little surprised but finally responded that he wasn’t there because he didn’t know where I lived. I sent him the address, and he came over to massage and ice my leg while we talked for hours. That will have been two years ago in April. We got engaged on a sailboat last spring and married at the beach this past October.”

Chris and Tiffany Lopez are both from Winston-Salem, and their love story goes all the way back to middle school.

“We met in 1991 on the first day of sixth grade at Atkins Middle School,” Tiffany wrote in an email. “I remember we actually sat across from each other the first half of the school year! We were on the

proposal at C. G. Hill Memorial Park by same team throughout middle school, the huge polar tree. This April, we will and as the years went by, we became.... celebrate 14 years of marriage! We have enemies! In eighth grade, he and his four beautiful children and still live here friends found joy in calling me names in Winston-Salem! After all these years, every chance they got. (He would later it still blows my mind that I married my admit it was because he liked me!) My childhood frenemy! But, I have loved friends and I would always retaliate with and adored every single moment of our jabs of our own! Fast forward to junior journey together!” year of high school, we put our differKernersville’s Christina and Alexander ences aside and became good friends.

Mizanoski have a love story that We talked on the phone all the she describes as “so silly but time, and even went to prom ANOSKI so us.” It might be the only together! To me, he was Z I M R story I have heard that like a brother/best DE ends with a marriage friend...typically, how in the High Point jail. one would describe “Basically, we as ‘friend-zoned.’ met in Fort Worth, I’m sure he would Texas,” Christina have liked to been said. “I was going something more! I through a divorce, specifically rememand he moved in ber the summer next door—we literbefore college, in our ally shared a wall. For last conversation, he I CK M weeks, I would tell my said: ‘Let’s promise to E ELLI mom and friends about always keep in touch and this hottie neighbor guy. And be friends!’ Then....we never then he started coming around, spoke again! One Tuesday afterchecking his mail on Sundays, talking to noon in 2004, my sister and niece were my dog, etc. For weeks, I’d tell them how visiting from out of town. She insisted he was way more interested in my dog we go shopping at the mall. I reluctantly than in me—I was definitely a little slow agreed, and we loaded up and headed to figure out what was going on. Then to Hanes Mall. As we casually strolled in one night, after unloading my life story and out of stores in (what locals call) the on him, he knocked on my door and ‘old mall,’ I heard from a distance— invited me out for a milkshake.

‘Hey, Tiffany! Tiffany!’ I looked (We’ve still never got the over and saw Chris with his CHRI S& milkshake). But, that brother (who was yelling T conversation led to my name). I immemany nights sitting diately recognized out on our balcony, them and went over drinking tea and just to say hi. I had not talking. We canseen Chris in six celed his lease, and years, so I was super he moved in with excited to see him! me four months He had just recently later. So, fast moved back to town forward three years from being active and a job relocation duty in the military. We move us to the Triad. My exchanged numbers and parents come to visit, and scheduled a day to hang out he proposes at Grandfather at the bookstore. Back then, Mountain. We talked about a bigger Winston-Salem had at least three big wedding, but it wasn’t really our style, so chain bookstores. The day of the bookwe decided to go to the magistrate at the store meet up, there was some miscomcourthouse in High Point. We get there munication because we both went to to talk to the magistrate and find out we different stores! I knew he was leaving for need two witnesses. We walk back to the a month-long deployment the next day, front of the courthouse, trying to decide so I was so disappointed and thought I what to do since we’ve only just moved had been stood up. The month passed, here and literally know no one. Two cops and he finally called me, and we picked overheard our conversation and agreed up where we left off! After less than a to be our witnesses. Back to the magisyear of dating, he surprised me with a

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ove is in the air (and newspaper) this week because Valentine’s Day is on Friday! To celebrate the season of love, I decided to ask a few folks from Katie Murawski the Triad to share some of their love stories! (Warning: All Editor of these stories are adorable, and some have even made yours truly tear up! Didn’t get to share your love story? Tag us in your love story posts on social media this Friday, and we will share them on our pages!)

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Locals share their love stories

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taxonomy for addressing gross or scary to have this story to tell. And if you told situations). The beauty of queerness me 20 or 15 or 10 or five years ago that was personified when, in the middle of this would be my story, I wouldn’t have the night at Creating Change (a national believed you. Especially if you were talkLGBTQ+ organizing conference), after a ing to me eight-plus years ago…See, what day full of intensity, chaos and laughter, most people, and especially most people I looked over to see my love on one knee who have been part of my Winston-Salem holding out the most beautiful ring I’ve life chapter don’t know is, I haven’t always ever seen. It’s also queerness embodied been the fantastically and proudly queer when we argue and struggle to work individual who has built a career supportthrough our challenges—challenges ing, educating, and trying to create space that are continuously informed by and for LGBTQ+ folks in higher education. Beimpacted by our individual attempts to fore my 20s, I had zero clues I was queer. navigate structures not built for us.

In my pre-college context, there really was It shows up when the most no narrative of queer experience consistent advice we get for me to try on, so I just around growing our family felt different and out of through raising kids is place. In college, I built ‘you’re never ready, a relationship with an you just get ready incredible mentor when it happens’ and now friend, (not exactly a lot of who I joke basioptions for surcally drug me out prise for us). It was of a closet I didn’t embodied the day even realize existed.

I was asked not to But now things are send my grandmother quite different—my a wedding invitaqueerness carries a A KA YLA N& tion, and as I watched salience that surpasses LISENBY-DENSO my wife dance with her a sense of shared commumom at our wedding, both nity. For me, queerness holds with tears streaming in memory answers to questions I never knew of their husband and father who passed to ask. Queerness is connection and comshortly after our engagement. Queerness munity. Queerness is power. Queerness is was embodied on Nov. 2, 2019, just off work (quite literally when you work in an 4th Street in Downtown Winston-Salem LGBTQ+ Center), and it’s play. Queerness when we stood in front of family and is family. And my love story today is not friends and joined our lives together. It only the story of the love I share with my was in the words of Justice Kennedy read wife but my love story with queerness. aloud by our 15-year-old nephew during And the amazing love story I the ceremony: ‘No union is more profound share with my wife is, to me, than marriage, for it embodies the highest queerness embodied. ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice Yes, it’s the fact that and family. In forming a marital union, we are two people two people become something greater with the same legal than once they were.’ And in our vows, sex who are legally when I thanked our ancestors who lived tied to one another their truth and fought for change so that through the bonds we could stand there, and especially when of marriage, but I offered to always take care of the spiders it’s embodied in so even if I laugh at her reaction. Queerness many bolder, broader was visible when we kissed one another ways. It’s how I moved & as a married couple, with our crowd raisto Winston-Salem ISA ing rainbow flags with their cheers of specifically to work at MIEH celebration. And queerness is embodied the Wake Forest University every single day as we craft our lives LGBTQ+ Center and ended up together.” swiping right on my now-wife within the Love wins! Happy Valentine’s Day from first week or so of living here. It’s how our all of us at YES! Weekly. ! relationship flourished despite the ‘Yeah, I’m definitely not looking for a relationship right now’ and ‘Nah, I’m not big KATIE MURAWSKI is the editor-in-chief of YES! on sleeping over anyway.’ Queerness is Weekly. Her alter egos include The Grimberlyn Reaper, embodied in the circumstances of our first skater/public relations board chair for Greensboro Roller ‘I love you.’ It shows up when we argue Derby, and Roy Fahrenheit, drag entertainer and selfover who has to deal with the spider or proclaimed King of Glamp. the bug or the mouse in the house (we actually have developed quite a detailed

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On Christmas Eve, we headed to Savanwe graduated. I knew after one month nah, Georgia, from Fort Bragg, so he could together that I was going to marry him. meet some of my family. On Christmas We’ll hit seven years together this coming day, I was meeting some of his family in August. We were barely 18 when we met, South Carolina. A few days after Christso we’ve very much grown up together.” mas, he took me to the mall and told me When Colleen Gambrell-Hyman met that he knew he was going to marry me her husband, William, sparks flew, and fire but didn’t know what type of ring to get. crackled through the sky. Or maybe that He told me to pick out five or six differwas just the fireworks display... ent rings, and when he was ready to ask “My husband and I met on the 4th of me, he’d come back and get one of the July,” Colleen wrote in an email. “I was rings I picked. My mom does a New Year’s not looking for anyone, and neither was dinner every year for the family, so we he. At the time, I had two daughters, and went down to Camden, South Carolina, he had one. He had just received a job and helped her prepare a few offer in Hopewell, Virginia. We dishes the day before. It was began chatting and decided LIAM HYMAN also her first time meetto become a couple. His L I W & ing him! We then took parents’ health began N off to Myrtle Beach to to become an issue, actually bring in the so he moved back to new year. We had an North Carolina. Two amazing night, and weeks prior to his as we were preparmother transitioning to check out ing from earth to of our hotel along heaven, she advised the beach when he me that I was her asked me to step out son’s soulmate. We onto the balcony. We married shortly after were 14 floors up, and that. We dated two the view was amazing. I years, and Nov. 1, 2020, will soon heard a loud buzzing and mark our seventh marriage turned to see an airplane with a anniversary. We have been together banner that said: ‘Miehisa, I Love You Will for nine years with our beautiful, blended You Marry Me?’ My guy was on one knee family. We have a 30-year-old chef who with the ring that I absolutely adored! graduated Culinary Arts, a 25-year-old He had asked and received my mom’s Navy sailor and a 9-year-old honor roll blessing the day before. So, 14 days after student. We are blessed, happy and loved! we met, we were happily engaged. We I had given up on love, but God blessed me were married nine months later and in a mighty way! I told him I had nine kids, will celebrate eight beautiful and he would have to be a strong man to years together this year! I handle all of us! He did not believe me know that I was trusting but agreed to the terms. I would have run in God’s promise and away had I been told that! I love him!” had built a foundaMiehisa and Alexander Zahorski’s tion with the faith love story is quintessential “love at first that I would be a sight,” as the couple got engaged within wife. My husband is two weeks of meeting each other and absolutely amazthen married nine months later! Miehisa ing. We have an attributes finding true love to her faith amazing marriage, in a higher power. “I was stationed with and I am humbled by Soldiers in Advanced Individual Training,” that and thank God Miehisa wrote in an email. “I had been every single day.” single in the Army for 17 years; I was a Kayla Lisenby-Denson ‘seasoned’ soldier, and very used to being said their love story is unique on my own and independent. I actually because not only did they find started praying that God would give me and fall in love with their wife, April—they peace about being single; I was tired of also found and fell in love with themself. the dating game. I then heard a sermon “I’ve been married to my incredible wife [that spoke to me and said,] ‘God’s for just over three months now, and it’s promise is for you to be with someone.’ been over two years since she proposed I changed my prayer and started ask– yet I still sometimes find myself a little ing God to send my husband...We met surprised that I have this incredible story through an online dating site, and we met to tell,” Kayla wrote in a Facebook mesin person on Dec. 17. He invited me to his sage. “I was, for as long as I have known apartment the next night for dinner. After and until pretty much the night I was dinner that night, I returned home to pack proposed to, the last person I imagined a bag and essentially moved in with him.

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‘This One Girl’s Story’ musical opens in conjunction with new N.C. A&T LGBTA Center “How can you run, with so much going on around you? How can you fight, with so much going on around you? How can you run? You can leave yourself behind; stop lashing out, take a breath, and put yourKatie Murawski self into the world.”

So goes the ending Editor song of the musical that students in the North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University theatre department will be performing next weekend at the Paul Robeson Theatre. “This One Girl’s Story,” written by Bil Wright with music and lyrics

by Dionne McClain-Freeney, is a musical inspired by the brutal 2003 murder and hate crime of Sakia Gunn, a 15-year-old girl, stabbed to death after a night out with her friends.

“They missed their bus, so they were standing at the bus stop waiting for the next bus,” said the production’s director and A&T Donna Bradby about the incident that happened 13 years ago. “In the real-life incident, two African-American men came by in a car and were yelling out the window propositioning them [for sex]. They were grown men...It escalated, he started choking one of the young ladies, and then Sakia went to defend her, and he pulled out a knife and stabbed her in the chest. The other young lady ran off to get somebody, and the man ran. She flagged down a car, and Sakia bled out in the car. There are a lot of issues with it, a lot of protesting outrage— the man turned himself in two or three days later, and he ended up taking a plea bargain, and he got sentenced to 20 years.”

Bradby said that since Gunn was an African-American girl and a lesbian, her murder was not publicized as much as other hate crimes.

“There was outrage within the community in comparison to these types of hate crimes with males, in particular white males and females,” Bradby explained. She said there were comparisons to the media coverage of Matthew Shepard, the white gay man beaten to death in 1998, and Sakia Gunn’s murder. Shepard’s was much more publicized.

“There is this history of us being victimized,” Bradby said, regarding African-AmerYES! WEEKLY

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PHOTO BY KATRENA WIZE ARTOGRAPHY

From left to right: Jordan Hankerson (Patrice) and Kirsten Grinage (Cee Cee) ican women. “The media picks and chooses who they are going to put out front because this person is familiar; this person looks like most of the people in the world.

‘It is amazing that this white person was killed, but it makes sense for a black person to be killed because they are black and are probably doing something wrong.’ It is all of these historical things that are piled upon the mistreatment we have received historically, and even, sometimes, we don’t stand up as we should. We don’t protest; we are not vocal like we should because we have bought into this white norm of who we are. Ownership has to be on us to stand up and say, ‘no we are valued.’”

Bradby said the show starts with a big protest, and it ends with a vigil honoring victims of hate crimes, which in itself is a different kind of protest. “It is a rough subject matter, but race plays a part in it historically. It still does.”

Bradby said she had known about the play for about six years through A&T alumna Zonya Love.

“But with our program, we have to run the gambit of genres, cause we are nationally accredited,” Bradby explained. “The kids have to do a classical piece, a comedy and a social justice piece. We talked with the playwright and composer, but they weren’t ready to release it because it is a newer show.”

“The university has taken a stand about the LGBTQ community, so we were looking for a piece because we always want to work in concert with the university,” Bradby added.

On Feb. 20, N.C. A&T’s Office of Student Development and the Multicultural Student Center is holding the grand opening for the university’s first LGBTA Resource Center. The reception is from 1 to 5 p.m.

Following the reception, is the opening night of “This One Girl’s Story.” The play is showing for a limited time and will run through the weekend.

“It was announced to us that they were also opening the LGBTQ center, and fortunately, it is all working together because the center opens on the 20th the show opens on the 20th,” said Gregory Horton, interim chair and director of the Visual and Performing Arts Theatre Program. “So, it was this magnificent thing that has come about that we started talking about in April last year. When Miss Donna brought the show to me, as the chair of the department, I was like, Donna we need to do this show.”

Horton connected with Gerald Spates, A&T’s director of the Multicultural Student Center. Spates said he has long been advocating for A&T to have their own LGBTA center.

“Now the next thing to do is get the students involved, who are either advocates for this center or both centers and those students who are gay and lesbian around the campus because we now have more students that are [LGBTQIA+],” Horton said. “I can remember when I came in 2005, this would not have been a subject that we could have talked about.”

Horton said he is an out gay man who works in the university’s theatre depart-

ment, so he has felt comfortable being out on campus.

“Most of the time though, on an HBCU in general, you don’t get that kind of base,” Horton said. “This HBCU has decided to do the right thing.”

“From an educational perspective, we have been doing a lot of programming on campus, and the students themselves in the last couple years have been hitting home runs, but also to raise the students’ voice,” Spates said. “What I have been trying to do is help raise their level of consciousness among my colleagues with regards to training and understanding and providing resources in conjunction with other areas. So this opportunity was perfect timing, just to have that collaboration.”

Spates said he came to A&T in 2011 and he had been pushing for the university to create a safe space for its LGBTQ+ students.

“If you are expecting one office to be the voice for the umbrella of diversity and inclusion, we are never going to be correct,” Spates said. “It has to be an institutional commitment. And it has to be collaborative, intentional and meaningful— so it was certainly a perfect fit my compadre, Mr. Horton presented it to me on the front end, and I was like ‘absolutely!’ Then, everything else came into fruition.”

Spates said one of his priorities as the director of the Multicultural Center is to bring normalcy to the discussion of LGBTQIA+ sexuality and the issues the community faces.

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“It is a normal part of life and should be part of our everyday thinking even when programming is done,” Spates said.

Spates said he had not heard of Sakia Gunn before this play.

“I knew nothing, I had even hosted Matthew Shepard’s mom at UNC Charlotte, but I had no clue of this,” Spates said.

“I never heard of her either,” Bradby added.

“And It is not unusual,” Spates continued.

“Sometimes, with how disenfranchised we can be at times this country can be— in regard to giving the same level of attention to all issues: inequality, discrimination, injustices— it all should be consistent across the board. It doesn’t matter what community you are from, everyone deserves it” Spates said he identifies as a heterosexual man, and he believes it is important to discuss the nuanced conversation on race, gender and sexual identity presented in this play.

“It’s crucial that we bring attention and respect for the level of normalcy. The new LGBTA center is going to help harness and push out a lot more information from an intentional standpoint. And it helps the fact that because we have an active student organization, such as Prism, to help.”

Prism is the LGBTQ+ student organization that was introduced under a different name (PROUD, People Recognizing Our Underlying Differences) in 2012. Two years ago, the group changed the name to Prism.

“It has never ever been so strong than especially the last couple of years, I have to give credit to a lot of student leaders like Asia,” Spates said.

“Prism is like the home base of the LGBT community,” said Asia Hill, president of Prism. “What we do is serve the community, it is not just serving the people who pay dues.”

Prism is not exclusive to A&T’s campus, and Hill makes it clear that the group was put into place to help the entire Greensboro and A&T LGBTQIA+ community.

“All of our events are open to the public, but it is enforced that we are a safe space.

So, you can get kicked out—just don’t be outrageous, or misgender anybody or not show respect for people’s space and identity.”

“Because of the help of the students in the community and especially the Prism student organization, and their voice, the voices are being heard and I love it, “ Spates added.

The characters of “This One Girl’s Story” are Cee Cee (played by Kirsten Grinage), Cee Cee’s girlfriend Dessa (Vanaya Henderson) and the role inspired by Sakia Gunn, Patrice (Jordan Hankerson).

“I always want people to understand that it is based on [Gunn’s] death, but the show is a flashback of that day, and what WWW.YESWEEKLY.COM

you see are two cousins having a great time. You see all the dynamics of relationships—It is just regular life, and then this incident happens,” Bradby said.

Henderson is a junior theatre student at A&T and she describes her character, Dessa, as a “lipstick lesbian.” Dessa dates Cee Cee and is one of the ones who witness Patrice’s murder.

“I love to say this, musicals are great for people who are uncomfortable because there is music that kind of help guides you,” Henderson said. “Some of the best musicals have very controversial topics like Hamilton with immigration—‘This One Girl’s Story’ isn’t different. We are just talking and opening the door for more conversations to be had. Preparing for this role was acknowledging people that are around you in your community, acknowledging where you are in your space and knowing where you stand on issues.

Then applying it to the work so that other people can learn from it.”

Grinage is a junior theatre student and she describes Cee Cee as an AG (aggressive girl), lesbian.“It is funny when you are working on a play,” Bradby said, “you have to decide whose play is it. It is not Patrice’s play, it is Cee Cee’s play. It is really about Cee Cee’s struggle—It is really about what she goes through to honor her promise.

Promise is a theme because Cee Cee tells Patrice that she promises to have her back and take care of her when they go to the club—she was going to take care of her cousin. Then she feels like she didn’t keep her promise because at the end of the night, Patrice is murdered. So, it is really Cee Cee’s powerful story of friendship and justice and making peace with what happened.”

“How I prepared for the role is, just talking about what is going on in the script, figuring out who our character is and how we can move forward to portraying the best person we literally can portray,” Grinage said. “At the same time, this is a real person’s life...Talking to Prism, doing the research that we need to have done, and just also getting into the mindset of not being a caricature.”

Grinage said she liked the uncomfortable nature of this play because “each year we have always pushed the envelope, and I like that.”

“This is the reason why I did this, to push the envelope to start conversations,” Grinage said. “The whole reason for uncomfortability is change, to evoke change and grow.”

Hankerson is a sophomore theatre student who plays Patrice, the character inspired by Sakia Gunn, who is described as AG/butch.

“This is not my first acting gig, but I will say, being at A&T this is my first lead, so

with this being a show that it can be a hard pill to swallow for some people,” Hankerson said. “It is so beautiful—their relationships. If you can’t connect to the sexuality part of it, you can connect to the family aspect.”

In terms of preparing for the role, “miss Donna is making me come in and wear hoodies, sweats and Timbs just to get used to not being so girly, I have to really physicalize it,” Hankerson said.

Hankerson remarked that the intense character research and seeing parallels in the script from the videos was hard to adapt to.

“Some of us were in the room watching it and tearing up watching it because when you take the LGBTQ aspect out of it— when you take the relationships when you take all of that out— it is a human being who was just going about their day, who was killed because someone did not agree with who they were as a person,” Hankerson said. “Hate crimes, in general, is just something that you can’t believe someone would do.”

Hankerson said as an actress not apart of the LGBT community, she tries to be as respectful as possible and to research the roles extensively.

“You don’t want to be ignorant—you want to educate yourself and be smart actors,” she said. “When doing research, you want to be sure that you are being respectful for the community as well and not just, ‘Oh I got this role I have to act this way.’”

“Which is why we took a lot of time to do some thorough research for this,” Bradby added. “We are very research-driven, our program. We do four shows a year, and it is research-intense for our students— for the core team, the designers— so we have been doing a lot of research around this subject matter.”

Bradby said that her actors worked with Prism to help connect them with people from the LGBTQ community so that they could authentically learn who they were portraying.

“So when you are watching this, it is not that you are watching people acting like— they are becoming, embodying,” Horton added. “A biologist might work on the same molecule for two years, and we only get 30 days to put it up. Of course, Donna started researching a year ago, but getting everybody else involved—the cast, production team, the centers and everything— that takes even more steps and time.”

Bradby said she couldn’t wait until the post-production discussion that would immediately follow the show, because she believes it to be the perfect time to learn and discuss this musical’s heavy subject matter.

“A lot of people are forgetting or not paying attention to the number of people

part of the LGBTQIA community, especially among the trans community—who are being murdered every year,” Bradby said.

“This play is really helping in a new way to open the dialogue so that we can take it to a platform to have these discussions openly and safely.”

She said she is also excited about the new dialogue this play will create both within the queer community and the heterosexual community.

“My hope is for people who would never think to come to a show, will challenge themselves, and come and stay for the talk-back,” Bradby said. “And really be authentic and say how you feel so that there can be a vibrant conversation about it. We can agree to disagree, but hopefully, you will learn something from it. And that you will see that love is love and human is human.”

“We are learning a lot; our minds have really shifted gears,” Henderson said. “A lot of the things we were ignorant about, we are learning so much. That is why I feel like a lot of students need to come out and see this show because we are talking about minorities, and it is a layered minority show on top of it. We are talking about black gay people; we are talking about violence, protest and what does it mean [to protest] and what should we be protesting. There is so much to pack and unfold, it is going to be uncomfortable for a lot of people, but I am ready for it. The best thing that you can do is when you tell people if you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen. Well, we are about to turn up the heat. Come on in; we want everyone in the kitchen.”

“With this show, I really hope we don’t shut down the conversation but really ignite a conversation of unity,” Henderson added. “At the end of the day, we are all we got. If our community on campus could come together just from one story, from ‘This One Girl’s Story,’ and like make a difference, it is going to shift the campus.” !

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

go?

Thursday, Feb. 20 the N.C. A&T LGBTA Resource Center will celebrate its opening with a reception from 1-5 p.m. and 6-7 p.m. This is free and open to the community. “This One Girl’s Story” runs Friday, Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 22 at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 23 at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at the Paul Robeson Theatre, 1601 E. Market St. in Greensboro. For tickets, call (336) 334-7749 or visit www.ncataggies.com.

FEBRUARY 12-18, 2020 YES! WEEKLY

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HEAR IT!

Burning the bar at both ends with Josh Crocker

J

osh Crocker, the celebrated College Hill barkeep, will hop on the other side of the aisle for a show with Corporate Fandango and Paint Fumes on Feb. 16 at the Corner Katei Cranford Bar in Greensboro.

A notable fan of chicken wings and Contributor fancy birthdays, Crocker was born in Memphis, and followed his family to Greensboro, where he’s made his own amongst friends and fellow fans of dives, chords and flowing drinks.

“I’ve lived most of my life in North Carolina,” Crocker explained, referencing stints spent in Illinois and Michigan, “I moved down here to be closer to my father and sister.” He picked up the bar trade while living in Chicago, roughly nine years ago.

“I learned how to bartend in a spot called

Miska’s, by an old man with flashcards who would constantly ask me what time it was.” It helped pass the time, workwise, and keep time, music-wise.

Crocker’s history with music has been brewing since his teens, “I started performing when I was 16 and haven’t stopped since,” he said. “I’ve been in punk bands, metal, hardcore, pop-punk and folk acts,” he recalled of his musical history. “But I’ve always had my solo folk project. I enjoy blues and a lot of folk,” he added, with a nod to the styles of tunes born in the same Delta. “It certainly comes out in my music.”

And indeed, Crocker’s noted influences vary amongst singer-songwriters like Irish artist Damien Rice and Shakey Graves, from Texas, with a splash of the Boston hard-core group Everytime I Die. Though guitar remains his main instrument, Crocker also plays bass and drums.

His experience has largely involved liveshows more than making records. “I love the emotion and drive people have behind live performances,” he said. But there are

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plans to lay tracks this year. “I only have videos right now, but I’m working on an EP.” Entitled “Take,” the five-song release is currently in the recording stages. “It’s gonna be mostly about my life in Greensboro, and the struggles I’ve watched my family and friends go through.” Crocker is imbued with a certain perspective reserved for bartenders and therapists.

“Take care of the ones you love, don’t talk over people, listen and don’t take for granted what you have,” Crocker noted of his outlook and drive. He hopes to pay it forward, space-wise. “I’m currently working on saving to open up my own venue in Greensboro,” he explained, “a place where people can come share their music poetry and art with the community.”

An all hands on deck sort of dude, Crocker’s proverbial bar wisdom and charm has honed cherished friendships and a few accolades. He was featured as a YES! Weekly “Hot Pour Bartender of the Week” in July 2019 and was voted “Best Male Bartender” in YES! Weekly’s “Triad’s Best” awards for 2017 and 2018. Humble about the experience, Crocker’s once again in the running, “vote for whoever you think is the best,” he said.

Other words of wisdom from his serviceside include: don’t pay with folded money, don’t move to cities and complain about noise, and be aware of the company you keep. “Take a look around. When you are having a shit day realize who’s standing next to you,” he noted. It’s advice that goes both ways.

On the positive end, Crocker falls musi-

cally within the folkster crowds, often playing with the likes of Jon Charles Dwyer, Emily Stewart, (who was also born in the Delta and made a musical home in Greensboro,) and Bob Fleming, with whom Crocker shared an episode of the Nathan Stringer Summer Music show, (along with Rachel Amick, DC Carter, and the Grand Ole Uproar,) in 2017.

But like his influences, Crocker’s not limited to a particular twang, which makes him suited for a showbill of punks and horn players. After all, he’s played with punks before. In 2018, he shared a set at Boxcar with Michael Joncas from Harrison Ford Mustang for GSOFest. And Crocker’s frequently worked with Kylo Renzo, aka Lorenzo Hall from Cold Tony, with whom he appeared on Matty Sheets’ Gate City Port Authority program on WUAG in 2017. ”He sounds like a congregation of angels confronting their demons,” Hall once said about a bill they shared.

Crocker plans to play more often and admitted his calendar is seemingly more sparse than fans and followers would prefer. “Dear Reader,” he addressed to his Facebook about the upcoming show, “y’all talk about how I never play: come out.” Here’s your chance. !

KATEI CRANFORD is a Triad music nerd who hosts the Tuesday Tour Report, a radio show that runs like a mixtape of bands touring NC, 5:30-7 p.m, on WUAG 103.1fm

WANNA

go?

Catch Josh Crocker with Corporate Fandango and Paint Fumes at the Corner Bar on Feb. 16.

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Award-winning songwriter offers a glimpse behind the process Some people join a band because they love to get up on stage and perform.

Not Steve Dorff.

The award-winning songwriter played in his share of bands as a teenager, but he did it mostly because John Adamian he wanted to find a @adamianjohn way to get his songs played, and — more specifically — to Contributor give the shapes and colors and sounds in his head a way of taking form out in the world. Since he was a baby, Dorff had been experiencing music as a sort of visual show of shifting 3-D blobs. In his memoir, I Wrote That One, Too, Dorff describes closing his eyes and seeing what he calls “plasma bubbles.” Dorff has spent most of his career writing songs — many of which became big hits by artists like George Strait, Barbra Streisand, Christopher Cross, B.J. Thomas, Glen Campbell, Celine Dion, Eddie Rabbit, and others.

He’s also written theme music and soundtracks for TV shows and movies, as well as composing for Broadway. Dorff will take a semi-rare turn on the stage himself when he comes to High Point to perform his songs and tell stories about how they were written and the sometimes circuitous route they took making their way onto a record. I spoke to Dorff last week by phone from his home in Nashville.

Dorff grew up in Queens, New York. In his memoir, Dorff said that for as long as he can remember he’s had powerful visual experiences of music, sometimes envisioning the sounds he was hearing as if they existed in a realm of color and shape, and sometimes experiencing visual stimuli, like the sight of snowballs flying at him, as if they were a series of sounds, with corresponding rhythmic and melodic values.

“When I close my eyes and listen to music, I visualize what it sounds like,” Dorff told me. “It’s kind of cosmic, but that’s what it is.”

Later he learned that there was a term for this type of sensory double-dipping or cross-wiring — synesthesia. Seeing sounds, tasting colors: these types of phenomena have happened to numerous artists. Dorff calls it a gift, and one can imagine that it might allow for a type of concentration and musical focus that is far more heightened than what your average listener experiences. It helped that WWW.YESWEEKLY.COM

Dorff had a preternatural ability to realize the sounds he heard in his head when he sat down at the keyboard.

One of Dorff ’s first attempts to land a career involved going to what had been the epicenter of the songwriting universe, the Brill Building in New York City, where people like Carole King and Gerry Goffin, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, and Doc Pomus had written some of the big hits of the 1950s and early ‘60s. But Dorff ’s timing was a little off since the golden age of the Brill Building had more or less passed by the mid-’60s after the arrival of the Beatles and Dylan had transformed the landscape for songwriters.

“It was a case of being at the right place at the wrong time, I guess,” said Dorff about his attempt to plug into a recently past era of songwriting glory.

“Growing up, listening to Broadway show music, and listening to those songs and loving theater songs, I just loved great songs and great melodies as a kid, and so when I started thinking about writing songs, the only role models I had were Sintra and Judy Garland,” said Dorff by way of explaining how his tastes were possibly a smidge retro when he was a teenager.

Dorff ended up joining some bands, moving to Baltimore for his last year of high school and eventually going to college in Athens, Georgia.

“I just wanted to create my own songs and get other people to do them,” he said.

“I knew that from an early age.”

That knowledge, and Dorff ’s talents, got him publishing deals while he was still a teenager. And work in Atlanta led to work in Los Angeles, which is where Dorff made his career and his home for about 40 years. Dorff ’s songs include “Every Which Way But Loose,” “Hypnotize The Moon,” “I Cross My Heart,” and “You’ve Been Leaving Me For Years.” If you want to have your mind blown, go to Dorff ’s website and look at the photo gallery of him hanging out with legends like Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson, Taylor Swift, Garth Brooks, Ray Charles, Charlie Rich, Dusty Springfield. Donna Summer, George Martin, Jimmy Webb, Gene Autry, Lionel Ritchie, Smokey Robinson, and dozens of

others of pop music icons.

The idea of writing a book and getting out on stage to tell the stories behind the songs came as a result of Dorff ’s being inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Most people imagine that the singer singing a song on the radio is the person who wrote the music, or that the song just came out of nowhere. The idea that someone like Dorff might team up with a lyricist (as he does most of the time) and write a song that gets shopped around, pitching a song for Mariah Carey, say, before it gets taken up by a different singer with a totally different style.

“A lot of people are very surprised at the stories and the behind-the-scenes life of these songs,” Dorff said. He’s compared his role as a songwriter — someone who

is heard but rarely seen — to that of “the man behind the curtain,” and these shows give him a chance to give people a glimpse into the process.

In his memoir, Dorff makes the case that finding a good writing partner is one of the keys to the art of songwriting, and he seems especially attuned to the importance of being open to each collaboration as a unique creative interaction with its own particular rhythm, color, and feel.

But after all the esoteric variables get put aside, Dorff said this humble reminder about the core truth of songwriting: “At the end of the day, we’re all just singing or writing about either love found or love lost.” !

JOHN ADAMIAN lives in Winston-Salem, and his writing has appeared in Wired, The Believer, Relix, Arthur, Modern Farmer, the Hartford Courant and numerous other publications.

WANNA

go?

See Steve Dorff at High Point Theatre, 220 East Commerce Ave., High Point, on Friday, Feb. 14, at 8 p.m. $20/$25. highpointtheatre.com

The Sportscenter Athletic Club is a private membership club dedicated to providing the ultimate athletic and recreational facilities for our members of all ages. Conveniently located in High Point, we provide a wide variety of activities for our members. We’re designed to incorporate the total fitness concept for maximum benefits and total enjoyment.

We cordially invite all of you to be a part of our athletic facility, while enjoying the membership savings we offer our established corporate accounts.

3811 Samet Dr • HigH Point, nC 27265 • 336.841.0100 FITNESS ROOM • INDOOR TRACK • INDOOR AQUATICS CENTER • OUTDOOR AQUATICS CENTER • RACQUETBALL BASKETBALL • CYCLING • OUTDOOR SAND VOLLEYBALL • INDOOR VOLLEYBALL • AEROBICS • MULTI-PURPOSE ROOM WHIRLPOOL • MASSAGE THERAPY • PROGRAMS & LEAGUES • SWIM TEAMS • WELLNESS PROGRAMS PERSONAL TRAINING • TENNIS COURTS • SAUNA • STEAM ROOM • YOGA • PILATES • FREE FITNESS ASSESSMENTS FREE E QUIPMENT O RIENTATION • N URSE RY • T E NNIS L E SSONS • W IRE L E SS INT E RNE T L OUNGE

FEBRUARY 12-18, 2020

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Submissions should be sent to artdirector@yesweekly.com by Friday at 5 p.m., prior to the week’s publication.

Visit yesweekly.com and click on calendar to list your event online. home grown muSic Scene | compiled by Austin Kindley

ASHEBORO

FOUR SAINTS BREWING

218 South Fayetteville St. | 336.610.3722 foursaintsbrewing.com Feb 14: William Nesmith Feb 15: Cory Leutjen & The Traveling Blues Band Feb 16: The Randolph Jazz Band Feb 21: Casey Noel Feb 22: Matt Walsh Feb 29: 80’s Unplugged

CHARlOttE

BOJANGLES COLISEUM

2700 E Independence Blvd | 704.372.3600 www.boplex.com Feb 14: 3rd Annual Queen City Blues Festival Feb 22: ABBA Tribute Band Feb 22: Lauren Daigle Feb 28: Josh Gates Feb 29: Dancing with the Stars: Live!

2020 Tour Mar 6: The Steeldrivers Mar 21: Winter Jam

CMCU AMphIThEATRE

former Uptown Amphitheatre 820 Hamilton St | 704.549.5555 www.livenation.com Apr 16: Big Gigantic May 1: Louis The Child May 8: AJR May 24: Russ Jun 24: Good Vibes Summer Tour 2020 Aug 13: David Gray

ThE FILLMORE

1000 NC Music Factory Blvd | 704.916.8970 www.livenation.com Feb 14: hail Stan Feb 14: Kamasi Washington Feb 15: Wale Feb 16: Earthgang Feb 20: Railroad Earth Feb 21: Wallows Feb 21: Subtronics

OVENS AUDITORIUM

2700 E Independence Blvd | 704.372.3600 www.boplex.com Mar 6: The Steeldrivers

pNC MUSIC pAVILION 707 Pavilion Blvd | 704.549.1292 www.livenation.com Apr 25: Jimmy Buffet May 29: The Lumineers Jun 2: Ozzy Osbourne Jun 5: Zac Brown Band

SpECTRUM CENTER

333 E Trade St | 704.688.9000 www.spectrumcentercharlotte.com Feb 7: Andrea Bocelli Feb 21: Marc Anthony Mar 6: Sturgill Simpson w/ Tyler Childers Mar 14: Martin Lawrence

duRHAm

CAROLINA ThEATRE

309 W Morgan St | 919.560.3030 www.carolinatheatre.org Feb 13: Tao: Drum heart Feb 14: Arlo Guthrie Feb 16: The Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle Feb 16: Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Roadshow w/ Kevin Smith Feb 25: Drew & Ellie holcomb Mar 5: The Steeldrivers Mar 7: A Capella South Semifinal Mar 12: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Mar 14: Amy Grant

DpAC

ClEmmOnS

VILLAGE SQUARE TAp hOUSE

6000 Meadowbrook Mall Ct | 336.448.5330 Feb 14: Soundkraft Feb 15: Essick Tuttle Outfit Feb 20: The happy Ones

123 Vivian St | 919.680.2787 www.dpacnc.com Feb 19: Dancing with the Stars: Live!

Mar 3: Bob Weir and Wolf Bros Mar 4: postmodern Jukebox Mar 7: Sebastian Maniscalco Mar 30: Mandy Moore Apr 22: Lake Street Dive Apr 23: Gabriel Iglesias

February 26, 2020 // 8:00 pm UNCG Auditorium

IT’S IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHERE YOUR MONEY IS GOING! YES WE’RE AUDITED! YES! Weekly is fully audited by Scarborough Research/Nielsen.

We have the third party professional data to show you exactly what you’re getting.

When you’re ready to advertise, make sure you partner with a publication that is fully audited and has the data to prove it’s readership.

YES! WEEKLY

February 12-18, 2020

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ELKIN

REEvES ThEaTER

129 W Main St | 336.258.8240 reevestheater.com Feb 14: Melvin Morrison with 2+2 One United Feb 21: Lonesome River Band Feb 22: The Reeves house Band plays The Grateful Dead Feb 29: Blue Dogs

grEENsboro

aRizOna pETE’S

2900 Patterson St #A | 336.632.9889 arizonapetes.com Feb 14: 1-2-3 Friday Mar 18: We Came as Romans Mar 22: Fit For a King

aRTiSTiKa niGhT CLUB

523 S Elm St | 336.271.2686 artistikanightclub.com Feb 14: DJ Dan the player Feb 15: DJ paco and DJ Dan the player

BaRn DinnER ThEaTRE

120 Stage Coach Tr. | 336.292.2211 Feb 14: Timeless Soul Band Mar 7: 9 to 5 Mar 13: The Legacy - Motown Revue apr 4: Beehive: The 60’s Musical May 1: Motherhood The Musical

BaXTER’S TavERn

536 Farragut St | 336.808.5837 Feb 14: Jaybird & Soul Central Feb 22: Daniel Love FFeb 29: Funky Confusion

BEERThiRTY

505 N. Greene St Feb 14: Craig Baldwin Feb 21: Bruce Drake

Feb 22: zoe & Cloyd Feb 23: Gordon Lightfoot Feb 27: UnCG Jazz Ensemble Feb 28: Magnolia Green Feb 29: Leap Year Fantasy Show Mar 5: Little River Band Mar 6: The Wailin’ Jennys Mar 6: Front Country Mar 13: Clay howard and the Silver alerts w/ Gooseberry Jam

ThE CORnER BaR

1700 Spring Garden St | 336.272.5559 corner-bar.com Feb 13: Live Thursdays

COMEDY zOnE

1126 S Holden Rd | 336.333.1034 thecomedyzone.com Feb 12: Love 2 Laugh Feb 13: Tim Shropshire Feb 14: Chris Wiles Feb 15: Chris Wiles Feb 21: Shaun Jones Feb 22: Shaun Jones Feb 28: Darren “DS” Sanders Feb 29: Darren “DS” Sanders Mar 6: ali Siddiq Mar 7: ali Siddiq

COMMOn GROUnDS

11602 S Elm Ave | 336.698.388 Feb 15: Feather Feb 15: Friends of Deviant Benefit Concert Feb 22: Carl Banks Feb 22: Milk Truck, ScizzorStache, Slow Stab Feb 29: Laura Jane vincent Mar 7: Jess Jocoy Mar 14: Tony Low Mar 22: Jacob Moore, Chelsea Kinser

FEBRUARY 2-23, 2020 Buy Your Tickets Today!

WORLD PREMIERE! The local elections in Hawboro, NC pit old friends against each other, and special interests rule.

Your vote matters and determines the end of the story.

ThE BLinD TiGER

1819 Spring Garden St | 336.272.9888 theblindtiger.com Feb 14: One Love valentine’s Reggae Bash w/ pure Fiyah Feb 15: Moon hooch Feb 16: Lucero w/ Jade Jackson Feb 18: pepper Feb 20: Travers Brothership w/ Chuck Mountain Feb 22: Rewind w/ Brothers pearl, DJ Snow and DJ Flipside

CaROLina ThEaTRE

310 S. Greene Street | 336.333.2605 carolinatheatre.com Feb 14: valentine’s W/ Em & Ty Feb 15: 3Stax to Love: a valentine Musical The 20: The allman Betts Band www.yesweekly.com

232 SOUTH ELM ST | DOWNTOWN GREENSBORO | TRIADSTAGE.ORG | 336.272.0160 February 12-18, 2020

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conE dEnIM

1642 Spring Garden St., GSO (corner of Warren St.)

Phone: 336.274.1000 Hours: Mon-Sat 11 am-2am / Sun noon-2 am

Open grill till 2am every night!

Best Daily Drink Specials Greensboro’s home for the Washington Redskins!

MON: $4 Jose Silver & $1 off all draft TUES: $4 Vodka Red Bull & $1 off all craft beer FRI: $3 all craft cans

Great Food Prices! come in and check out our new menu

$1 Off Domestics

THURS D AY ONLY

117 S Elm St | 336.378.9646 cdecgreensboro.com Feb 18: British Lion Feb 29: Jim Breuer Mar 4: Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes Mar 8: Puddle of Mudd Mar 13: Rod Wave

FLAt IRon

221 Summit Ave | 336.501.3967 Feb 13: transport 77, calapse Feb 14: the Rinaldis Feb 15: Viva La Muerte Feb 20: discordia dames Burlesque Show Feb 21: tAB feat. members of the Mantras Feb 22: Run Home Jack w. Janet Flights, dead casual, Windley, condado Feb 28: the Ghosts of Liberty w/ the Smiling Bees Feb 29: Shiloh Hill

GREEnE StREEt cLuB 113 N Greene St | 336.273.4111 Feb 14: Greene Street Fridays

GREEnSBoRo coLISEuM

1921 W Gate City Blvd | 336.373.7400 www.greensborocoliseum.com Feb 12: Fitz and the tantrums Feb 13: Brantley Gilbert Feb 14: Lovers & Friends - A Valentine’s day concert with the Polk duo Feb 15: Space Jesus Feb 15: Winter Jam 2020 Feb 16: Fabulously Funny comedy Festival Feb 22: tesla Feb 29: Lauren daigle Feb 29: Young dolph & Key Glock

LEVEnELEVEn BREWInG 1111 Coliseum Blvd | 336.265.8600 Feb 12: Bryan toney overdrive Feb 14: Laura Jane Vincent Feb 29: Viva La Gorham

LIttLE BRotHER BREWInG

348 South Elm St | 336.510.9678 May 8: the Allen Boys May 30: Jesse Black

PIEdMont HALL

2411 W Gate City Blvd | 336.373.7400 www.greensborocoliseum.com Feb 12: Fitz & the tantrums Feb 15: Space Jesus Feb 22: tesla Feb 29: Young dolph & Key Glock Mar 5: Skillet Mar 21: cody Johnson

RodY’S tAVERn

5105 Michaux Road | 336.282.0950 rodystavern.com

tHE IdIot Box coMEdY cLuB

502 N. Greene St | 336.274.2699 www.idiotboxers.com Feb 13: Hacksaw Jim duggan Feb 14: Eric trundy Feb 21: Jeremy Essig Mar 7: Family Improv Show Mar 20: Handsome naked, Jonestown Players Mar 20: cam Wyllie Mar 20: Shallow Mar 21: dramatic Improv

tHE W BIStRo & BAR 324 Elm St | 336.763.4091 @thewdowntown Feb 14: Karaoke Feb 15: Live dJ Feb 16: Live dJ

WHItE oAK AMPItHEAtRE

1921 W Gate City Blvd | 336.373.7400 www.greensborocoliseum.com

high point

AFtER HouRS tAVERn 536 Farragut Street Greensboro, NC THU– SUN 3:00 PM – Until 336-808-5837 Find us on Facebook! www.baxterstavern.com YES! WEEKLY

February 12-18, 2020

1614 N Main St | 336.883.4113 afterhourstavern.net Feb 15: Admiral Ackbar & the Galactic Experience Feb 22: Shun the Raven Feb 28: American Hair Band

GooFY Foot tAPRooM 2762 NC-68 #109 | 336.307.2567 Feb 22: Banjo Earth Band

HAM’S PALLAdIuM 5840 Samet Dr | 336.887.2434 hamsrestaurants.com Feb 14: Huckleberry Shyne Feb 15: Shotgun Saints Feb 21: Stereo doll Feb 22: Rockit Science Feb 28: cumberland drive Feb 29: Brothers Pearl

HIGH PoInt tHEAtRE

220 E Commerce Ave | 336.883.3401 www.highpointtheatre.com Feb 15: Barbra Lica Quintet Feb 20: nY Gilbert & Sullivan Players Feb 21: the Brubeck Brothers Quartet Mar 12: Georgia on My Mind - celebrating the Music of Ray charles Mar 20: Sons of Mystro

jamestown

tHE dEcK

118 E Main St | 336.207.1999 thedeckatrivertwist.com Feb 13: three Four Mountain Feb 14: Anti Valentine’s day w/ carolina Ignition Feb 20: cory Leutjen Feb 21 : Southbound 49 Feb 22: the dickens Band Feb 27: Bradley Steele Feb 28: Jill Goodson Band Feb 29: Soul central

kernersville

BREAtHE cocKtAIL LounGE

221 N Main St. | 336.497.4822 facebook.com/BreatheCocktailLounge

EMPouRIuM

734 E Mountain St. | 336.671.9159 Feb 15: the thom Buchannon Band Feb 19: t & A Jiggity Jam Feb 22: the Firecrackers

J.PEPPERS SoutHERn GRILLE

841 Old Winston Rd | 336.497.4727 jpeppers.com May 14: James Vincent carroll

lewisville

oLd nIcK’S PuB

191 Lowes Foods Dr | 336.747.3059 OldNicksPubNC.com Feb 14: Karaoke Feb 15: Juke Box Revolver Feb 21: Karaoke Feb 22: Lasater union Feb 28: Karaoke Feb 29: corey Leutjen & the traveling Blues Band

www.yesweekly.comw

lIberty

ThE LibErTY ShowcaSE ThEaTEr

101 S. Fayetteville St | 336.622.3844 TheLibertyShowcase.com Feb 22: Dailey & Vincent Feb 29: Stephen Freeman

raleIgh

ccu muSic park aT waLnuT crEEk

3801 Rock Quarry Rd | 919.821.4111 Jun 2: The Lumineers

LincoLn ThEaTrE

126 E. Cabarrus St | 919.831.6400 www.lincolntheatre.com Feb 14: heartbreaker ball feat: nantucket, Driver, ashley Larue band Feb 15: before we begin world Tour: Eric nam, phoebe ryan Feb 16: Y&T Feb 21: railroad Earth Feb 22: Same as it Ever was (Talking heads Tribute) Feb 23: wallows: nothing happens Tour 2020 Feb 26: peekaboo’s impossible Tour

rED haT amphiThEaTEr 500 S McDowell St | 919.996.8800 www.redhatamphitheater.com may 9: aJr Jun 2: Local natives and Foals w/ cherry Glazerr aug 14: David Gray

pnc arEna

1400 Edwards Mill Rd | 919.861.2300 www.thepncarena.com mar 4: Zac brown band w/ amos Lee & poo bear mar 12: billie Eilish mar 13: The millennium Tour: omarion, bow wow, Ying Yang Twins, Lloyd, Sammie, pretty ricky, Soulja boy, and ashanti mar 20: michael bublé mar 22: winter Jam 2020 may 19: JoJo Siwa aug 1: harry Styles

wInston-salem

buLL’S TaVErn

408 West 4th St | 336.331.3431 facebook.com/bulls-tavern Feb 21: Space koi Feb 22: Jack marion and The pearl Snap prophets

burkE STrEET pub 1110 Burke St | 336.750.0097 burkestreetpub.com Feb 29: Six at Sundown www.yesweekly.com

cb’S TaVErn

3870 Bethania Station Rd | 336.815.1664 Feb 28: Leap Year bash

EarL’S

121 West 9th Street | 336.448.0018 earlsws.com Feb 14: hearts Gone South Feb 15: russ Varnell & his Too country band Feb 21: Jesse ray carter Feb 22: bounty hunters Feb 28: The Grand ole uproar

FiDDLin’ FiSh brEwinG companY

ThE ramkaT

170 W 9th St | 336.754.9714 Feb 14: kendell marvell Feb 15: mardi Gras 2020 w/ Dirty Dozen brass band & big ron hunter band Feb 20: an Evening with booker T. Jones Feb 21: The Vagabond Saints’ Society: a Tribute To Tom waits Feb 28: old crow medicine Show mar 6: che apalache mar 16: martha bassett mar 21: The prince project

SEconD & GrEEn

207 N Green St | 336.631.3143 2ngtavern.com

winSTon-SaLEm FairGrounD 421 W 27th St | 336.727.2236 www.wsfairgrounds.com

wiSE man brEwinG

826 Angelo Bros Ave | 336.725.0008 Feb 12: nate & The night owls ft.

Drew Foust Feb 21: Gispy Danger

772 Trade St | 336.999.8945 fiddlinfish.com Feb 17: old Time Jam

FooThiLLS brEwinG

638 W 4th St | 336.777.3348 foothillsbrewing.com Feb 12: Souljam Feb 15: anne and the moonlighters Feb 16: Sunday Jazz Feb 19: The Local boys Feb 22: william hinson Feb 23: Sunday Jazz

mac & nELLi’S

4926 Country Club Rd | 336.529.6230 macandnellisws.com

miDwaY muSic haLL

11141 Old US Hwy 52, Suite 10 | 336.793.4218 Feb 14: Sammy Turner Feb 15: blackwater Feb 18: honky-Tonk house band Feb 21: David widener and Friends Feb 22: woody powers and midnite Express Feb 28: Diamond Edge Feb 29: Jr Gainey and The killin’ Time band

miLLEnnium cEnTEr 101 West 5th Street | 336.723.3700 MCenterevents.com

miLnEr’S

630 S Stratford Rd | 336.768.2221 milnerfood.com Feb 16: Live Jazz

muDDY crEEk caFE & muSic haLL

5455 Bethania Rd | 336.923.8623 Feb 13: country Dan collins Feb 15: phillip craft Feb 16: rob price and Jack breyer Feb 20: open mic w/ country Dan collins Feb 21: big Daddy Love Feb 22: phillip craft Feb 23: rob price and Jack breyer February 12-18, 2020

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[FACES & PLACES]

by Natalie Garcia

AROUND THE TRIAD YES! Weekly’s Photographer

Casino D’ Arts 2020 @High Point Country Club in Emerywood 2.8.20 | High Point

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FEBRUARY 12-18, 2020

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[BARTENDERS OF THE WEEK | BY NATALIE GARCIA] Check out videos on our Facebook!

BARTENDER: Angela “Nixon” Brooks BAR: Pavilion Restaurant 2010 W. Vandalia Rd. AGE: 26 times two.

Yes, I’m 52.

WHERE ARE YOU FROM? Born in High Point, grew up in Jamestown, lived in Wilmington, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, Sarasota, England. Spent some summers in Greece (where a lot of extended family lives.)

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN BARTENDING? About 20 years on and off.

HOW DID YOU BECOME A BARTENDER? Most Greeks in the U.S. seem to be involved in the bar/ restaurant industry. Growing up in a restaurant, I have held every position listed. Oddly enough, most of my bartending education came while I was a DJ in Atlanta. After the club closed down for the night, the bartenders would sit down to count their drawers and tips. Getting a bartender to make a drink after hours was not happening. So I would jump behind the bar, and they would tell me how to make drinks. Since I was now the only person behind the bar, all the staff would start ordering drinks. This went on for several years, DJ during the night, personal after-hours bartender for the bartenders.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY ABOUT BARTENDING? I think the best part of bartending for me is getting paid to hang out and be social. Instead of sitting on the other side of the bar discussing life and spending money, I’m discussing life and making money. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy going out and having a few drinks, but I don’t do it as much these days. Being behind the bar makes you the center of attention. When it’s busy, and I’m really jumping at work, people say they enjoy watching me work. I seriously don’t know why. It’s not like I’m doing tricks. But the energy is high, everyone is talking to you, and for the moment all these strangers become part of the conversation. It’s entertainment that everyone can be a part of, and I’m the ring leader. I enjoy making people laugh and watching them unwind.

Photo b y AN BP

Having a wise-ass mouth and no filter has gotten me into some trouble, but for some strange reason, it has also earned me some surprising tips. I never thought having diarrhea of the mouth would ever pay off.

esign to D ho

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hot pour PRESENTS

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE DRINK TO MAKE? A good one? I guess any drink that makes the customer say, “Wow, that’s a great drink!” I’ve been to a restaurant that lists some tantalizing (my .25 cent word for the day) ingredients for their specialty cocktail but ends up with a glass of improperly proportioned ingredients that tastes like a mixture of cough medicine and sour mix with a sprig of rosemary. If a chef will taste his food to ensure quality, why wouldn’t this bartender? I don’t trust a bartender that doesn’t drink. That, to me, is like putting on makeup without a mirror.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE DRINK TO DRINK? Currently, my go-to drink is Crown Apple, soda with a splash of ginger ale and lime. And maybe a dash of whiskey barrel-aged bitters to balance the sweetness.

WHAT WOULD YOU RECOMMEND AS AN AFTER-DINNER DRINK? Because I have a huge sweet-tooth, I would say a dessert drink like Vanilla Vodka, Bailey’s & Godiva Chocolate shaken really hard poured in a chocolate rimmed martini glass.

WHAT’S THE CRAZIEST THING YOU’VE SEEN WHILE BARTENDING? Technically this wasn’t while I was bartending, but it was while I was working in the Atlanta club. There was a lady (I use the term loosely) who we called the “Drink Stealer.” She would wait for someone to put their drink down, and she would grab it and walk away. I can’t tell you how many times we saw her drink a beer with a cigarette in it! I know it doesn’t sound very crazy, but it is the only thing I can remember. These days the craziest thing I’ve seen is someone order a scotch sour.

WHAT’S THE BEST TIP YOU’VE EVER GOTTEN? I did receive a $100 on a $40 tab. For our demographic, that is pretty rare.

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[HOROSCOPES]

[LEO (July 23 to August 22) Cupid can be very helpful for Lions seeking a love connection. The chubby cherub also brings warm and fuzzy feelings to paired Leos and Leonas who already share a special love line.

[SAGITTARIUS (November 22 to December 21) Make time to deal with family matters, especially where they concern your elderly kinfolk. Being there for them from the start can help resolve problems sooner rather than later.

[ARIES (March 21 to April 19) All that flattery and fawning shouldn’t affect any decision you have to make. Keep your focus on the facts and ignore all the hyperbole, especially if it gets uncomfortably personal.

[VIRGO (August 23 to September 22) Travel is favored this week, whether you’ll be globe-trotting or taking a trip to a nearby getaway. You might be surprised (or maybe not) by who wants to be your traveling companion.

[CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) Getting a project started can often be difficult. But the good news is that you won’t want for lack of assistance from colleagues who would like to work with you. So, let them!

[TAURUS (April 20 to May 20) Your Bovine instincts are on the mark about that “favor” you’re being asked to do.

Agree to nothing unless you get a full explanation — which you would check out first, of course.

[LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) Getting advice on your next business-related move is a good idea, but only if your advisers are trustworthy. Get references that you can check out before you make any decisions.

[AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18) A lot of work-related issues might be raised this week, and you need to be prepared for whatever comes along. Things should be easier when it comes to matters in your private life.

[GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) A somewhat unsettled recent period should give way to a smoother time going through the week. Use this quieter time to catch up on matters you might have had to let slide.

[SCORPIO (October 23 to November

[PISCES (February 19 to March 20)

21) Getting a boost in your self-esteem is one benefit that comes with a job well done. There are other plusses as well, including being noticed by all the right people. Good luck.

What might appear to be a much unwanted change in your life right now could turn out to be a very welcome event after all. Give yourself a chance to see where it might take you.

[CANCER (June 21 to July 22) Feeling a little confused is understandable with all those mixed messages. Take time to list the questions you have. Then present them and insist on answers that make sense. © 2020 by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

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

FROM HEAR TO ETERNITY

My roommate has this need to tell me all about his day when he gets home.

Making matters worse, his main form of communication is complaining.

Amy Alkon I need quiet time when I come home, Advice not a second job Goddess as an unlicensed therapist. I’ve hinted at this, but he isn’t catching on. —Weary Your hopes and dreams change as you go through life — like when you get a roommate who won’t shut up and you regularly fantasize that masked violent orthodontists are holding him down in an alley while they wire his jaws together.

The thing is, you can live this dream — minus the gangland orthodontists. Retiring from your nightly gig as your roommate’s emotional garbage can just takes asserting yourself — asking for what you want instead of merely hinting at it. Assertiveness is the healthy alternative to being passive — silently sucking up another person’s upsetting and/or unfair behavior — or going aggressive: eventually blowing up at them after you repeatedly say nothing and they, in turn, change nothing.

The foundation of assertiveness is self-respect — believing you’ve got a right to have and express desires and preferences that conflict with others’ desires and preferences. Sure, you might sometimes

put somebody else’s needs first — but if you’re assertive, you’re generous by choice, not because you just automatically go all Wimpy McWimpleton.

In contrast, clinical psychologist Randy J. Paterson explains, “When you behave passively, control of your life is in the hands of people around you.” He also notes that not asserting yourself leads to stress, the “bodily reaction to the perception that we are under threat.” When that stress is chronic — happening on the regular — it’s poisonous and damaging. It’s associated with, for example, decreased immune function and an increased risk for heart attacks, strokes, and other fun ways to get to the morgue ahead of schedule.

Assertiveness is best exercised as soon as you realize you want somebody to change their behavior. When you don’t let your annoyance fester, you’re more likely to have the composure to open with a little positivity, like saying to your roommate, “Hey, I really admire your openness about your life...” Yes, that’s the sound of the truth being sacrificed on the altar out back, but it’s for a good cause — making him feel appreciated rather than attacked. This sets him up to be more amenable to your request that follows: “When I come home, I need an hour or so without conversation so I can decompress.” For best results, keep the next part of that silent: “Also so I can refrain from the temptation to bludgeon you with a potato and cut your vocal cords out with a butter knife.”

In social interaction, there’s a balance between keeping it real and keeping it strategic. Going mad-enthusiastic over somebody you’ve just met is cute — if you’re a labradoodle. (That also makes it more forgivable when, in your excitement, you pee on the person’s shoe.)

There are two essential pieces of advice for getting people to like you: 1. Cool pursuit instead of hot pursuit. 2. Shut up and listen.

1. Cool pursuit: A popularity contest is the one competition where it pays not to try — or, rather, to seem like you aren’t trying. You do this, for example, by making some A-lister wait to talk with you — “Gimme a sec while I nab that appetizer...”

— even though it’s probably killing you inside.

Erring on the side of seeming undereager is important, per psychologist Robert Cialdini’s “scarcity principle”: The less available something appears to be, the more valuable it seems and the more we want it. Accordingly, my rule: Try to seem more hard to get than hard to get rid of.

2. Shut up and listen: People think they can talk somebody into liking them, but really, you’re most likely to listen

somebody into doing that. Listening doesn’t just mean hearing. It takes effort.

It means paying close attention to what somebody’s saying and drawing on your emotions to connect with it. That sort of listening is a form of emotional generosity. It ultimately sends the message “I’m talking to you because I’m interested in you and what you’re saying,” not “... because I haven’t had sex since there were dinosaurs grazing where the 7-Eleven now stands.”

Listening is also important because it helps you see whether the person you’re interested in is actually worthy of your interest. Ideally, you aren’t chasing somebody simply because you’ve been chasing them, and, clever you, you’ve seen through the liberties they’ve taken in staging their own death. You, shoving aside a medical examiner and yanking open a bit of the zipper: “Pro tip...the actual coroner does not offer body bags

by Louis Vuitton!” !

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.

BALD EAGER

Are there any psychological hacks for getting people to like you? —Self-Improvement Junkie

answers [CROSSWORD] crossword on page 15

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