Independent Weekly

The Avett Brothers, The Love Language to headline 16-band benefit for Oliver Gant

Jordan Lawrence — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:54:00 -0500

Little more than a year ago, Jed Gant, downtown editor for local news blog New Raleigh, gave a ride to a friend. It was a pretty typical weekday afternoon in downtown Raleigh, and his buddy needed a lift home.…

Re: Lunchboxes and Indian food; Mary and more

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

"Sobsey's coloring of Mary made me even more thankful that I grew up in this odd and interesting town Durham." Re: Lunchboxes and Indian food I absolutely loved two articles in your Feb. 1 issue: "Sealed for your protection" and "Vegetarians rejoice."…

Mark Holland conquers his restless musical spirit, kind of

Karen A. Mann — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

Tracking Holland's musical endeavors almost calls for a flowchart, but today, he is concerned with two: His upcoming solo tour to promote his recently released The Best Country Blues of Mark Holland, and a recording session with his ever-evolving, psychedelic blues band, Jule Brown. by Karen A. Mann On an unseasonably warm January night, all of Chapel Hill seems to be out celebrating UNC's basketball victory over N.C. State. In the Carrboro bar Southern Rail, a mix of hippies, hipsters and sorority sisters in UGG boots hold drinks and rehash the game.…

Burning Coal's Man of La Mancha

Zack Smith — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

This version of Man of La Mancha bring home some of the more classic themes of Cervantes, such as the need to dream and to have higher aspirations against the grimmest realities of the world. by Zack Smith With his shock of curly hair, scarf and blazer, Randolph Curtis Rand looks more like a star of Rent (or possibly Doctor Who) than the title character of Man of La Mancha. But then again, isn't that the whole point of Man of La Mancha, or Don Quixote—the man pretending to be a knight?…

After a life of newspaper deadlines, MJ Sharp turned to slow photography

Chris Vitiello — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

The photos in Light Cache speak to Sharp's curiosity about seeing in a way that the human eye simply can't. And they represent, for Sharp, how time might be experienced similarly. by Chris Vitiello Say the word "click" out loud. It's only one syllable, but its sound has a beginning, middle and end.…

Mandolin hits the right note

Jane Hobson Snyder — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

Chef Sean Fowler's vaguely Charlestonian menu reveals Southern ingredients and classical techniques with modern whimsy. by Jane Hobson Snyder It was a corner with "bad karma," as one neighbor put it, despite a prime location at the mostly residential crossroads of Fairview and Oberlin roads in Raleigh. Parking was hard.…

Down planet path

John Valentine — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

We constructed paths from one rural attraction to another. We had a picnic path to the blueberries, another to the chicken coop. One trail wound to the tire swing and zip wire, but that was neither our "scenic overlook" nor "outer beltway." by John Valentine When our children were young, we tried everything to get them outside. Sure, our family life inside was filled with the kind of drama you'd call gloriously ordinary—which pasta for dinner, whose turn it was to feed the dogs or get the phone, and how best to gather everyone around the woodstove hearth every evening.…

On Tramp, Sharon Van Etten's sound finally outstrips the story of a bad boyfriend

David Raposa — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

Tramp's strengths uncover a singer/ songwriter who, while singing about love and loss and hurt, now has command over those tales; those stories don't stand a chance of overtaking the music they informed. by David Raposa Being a competent musician and solid songwriter is nice, sure, but it's also not uncommon. Oftentimes, notoriety requires a lot more—some luck, that haircut, a costume, a controversy, anything to make one's self stand out from the rest of the pack and gain some attention.…

Watching DOMA

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

From now through the May election, when voters will decide the fate of the amendment, the Indy will cover various aspects of the issue—legal, ethical, political—and the people behind the respective movements. The anti-gay contingent has declared Feb. 7–14 National Marriage Week—a euphemism, a whitewashing, a smokescreen that, in fact, does not celebrate marriage. Rather, it applauds bigotry and elevates discrimination against gays, lesbians and those in a heterosexual domestic partnership to the level of a sacred mission.…

Feb. 8 crossword solution

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

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Steve Harvey may hate atheists, but he's a boon to daytime TV

Craig D. Lindsey — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

Much like in his standup, Harvey brazenly injects Family Feud with some much-needed, no-nonsense, bullshit-cutting hilarity. by Craig D. Lindsey Years ago, I knew that Steve Harvey would make a great game show host. As my younger self watched reruns of old shows on the Game Show Network, I wondered how the likes of Match Game and The Newlywed Game would be if genteel hosts like Gene Rayburn and Bob Eubanks were replaced by Harvey—or any Original King of Comedy, for that matter.…

Scouting this year's short film Oscar nominees

Nathan Gelgud — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

The Carolina Theatre will be screening one program for the live action shorts and one for the animated shorts. by Nathan Gelgud Does your office Oscar pool count the short films as anything more than tiebreakers? If so, you might be able to gain an edge by visiting the Carolina Theatre, which will be screening all of the nominees in the short animated and short live action categories: one program for the live action ones, and one for the animated movies.…

U.S. 401 South

Jeremy M. Lange — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

by Jeremy M. Lange

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The Duhks defy traditional roles of band membership

Spencer Griffith — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

"We don't have to stick to such rigid rules. We're all folk musicians; we're all in the family and in the tribe." — founder and bandleader Leonard Podolak by Spencer Griffith For the better part of the last decade, Winnipeg-based five-piece The Duhks enthusiastically combined touches of dozens of different folk forms, from Appalachian string-band strains to the humid rhythms of South America. For the last several years, though, The Duhks have been in flux, as members have splintered into an array of side projects befitting such an artistically inclusive bunch.…

The guide to the week's concerts

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

Grohg, Overtone Quartet, Wanda Jackson, Nantucket, Driver, Hidden Cat, Fuck the Biters, Doomtree, Tatsuya Nakatani, Shovels and Rope, more This week's guide contains: YES, PLEASE: Grohg, Overtone Quartet, Wanda Jackson, Nantucket, Driver, Hidden Cat, Fuck the Biters, Doomtree, Tatsuya Nakatani, Shovels and Rope…

Feb. 8 sudoku solution

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

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At the gas station, biscuits, tortillas—and community

Emily Wallace — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

Good food becomes the fortune of lucky travelers who pull into the right shop, where they are told something about a town's foodways through slices of plastic-wrapped cakes at the checkout counter edge, or tortillas patted by hand and seared into golden rounds at the grill in the back. by Emily Wallace and Kate Medley A woman steps up to the cluttered counter at Farm & Garden in Cedar Grove wearing pajamas. She's quick to clarify she wouldn't go to the grocery dressed that way.…

Breaking bad in North Carolina

Katie Handerhan — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

More than half of N.C.'s counties recorded at least one bust for a methamphetamine lab in 2011. Law enforcement officials discovered 344 labs throughout the state last year. by Katie Handerhan Last year, more than half of North Carolina's counties recorded at least one bust for a methamphetamine lab, and law enforcement officials discovered 344 labs in 2011 alone, according to Clandestine Lab Reports from the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI). Of the state's 100 counties, Burke County, located in Western North Carolina, had the most meth busts—34—according to SBI reports.…

The deceptive arguments for the Defense of Marriage Amendment

Jonathan Weiler — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

Those pushing for passage of Amendment 1 are willing to harm existing families in order to enshrine in the state constitution their especially restrictive view of what family means. by Jonathan Weiler On May 8, 2012, North Carolina voters will consider Amendment 1, a ballot proposition that would inscribe a ban on same-sex marriage in the North Carolina Constitution. The amendment asserts that marriage "between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State."…

Investigation into Liberty Warehouse resumes

Samiha Khanna — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

If Greenfire fails to make repairs by the deadline, the company could face penalties for neglect of the 250,000-square-foot warehouse, which is valued at about $2 million, according to county tax records. by Samiha Khanna Eight months have passed since the roof of the historic Liberty Warehouse partially collapsed during a heavy rain last spring. But this week, when city planners inspect the property, located on the edge of Durham Central Park, they'll still see mold creeping up some walls and a tarp-covered hole in the roof of the 1940s-era building, which used to house tobacco auctions.…

PlayMakers Rep's The Making of a King: Henry IV and Henry V

Byron Woods — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

In one generation, all will be undone. by Byron Woods If not all young people think they invented punk and disaffection, just ask their parents; it's even money that they do. But if conservatives like Charles Murray (whose Coming Apart just hit the bookstands last week) can still kid themselves that the cure for societal alienation and decay lies in the simple reversal of a few social policies from a mere half-century ago, they should be forced to sit through the two blockbuster productions that graced the region's stages this past week.…

Feb. 8 crossword puzzle

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

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Carrboro Commune occupies CVS building

Joe Schwartz — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

Protest ends peacefully but divides sentiment about tactics by Joe Schwartz For four hours Saturday, 20 people calling themselves Carrboro Commune occupied a downtown building that CVS hopes to demolish and replace with office space and a 24-hour drugstore. The anarchist demonstrators wore black bandanas obscuring their mouths and noses, flew black flags and hung banners reading "Whose Building?…

Peat and Repeat

Victoria Bouloubasis — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

Still searching for a hot date on Valentine's Day? Tony the Tiger never looked so good. by Victoria Bouloubasis There are ways to tell someone you love them 365 (or 366, as it were) days a year without gorging on chocolate-covered strawberries and spending hundreds of dollars on a meal. Jess Kemp of Peat and Repeat (peatandrepeat.com) provides one delightful way to do so, appealing to arty food geeks with handcrafted postcards made from repurposed food packaging.…

Under pressure, State Board of Education reviewing charter applications

Bob Geary — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

"Somehow, we need to find a way to make connections" between the charter schools and traditional public schools "and see that we're in this thing together," said William Harrison, Perdue's appointee as State Board of Education chairman. by Bob Geary The nine remaining fast-track applications for new charter schools this year sped into the State Board of Education's purview last week, resulting in some soul-searching about what to do with them. Board members were clear that the General Assembly has given them little choice: They must approve all or most of the applicants or face the wrath of Republican legislators who very nearly eliminated the board from the decision-making process when they wrote Senate Bill 8 last year.…