Categories
Miscellany

Summer Reads

We did a little fishing this month, casting out a request to local authors and avid readers on what books they’re planning to delve into or recommend delving into during summer reading series. What follows are their comments unvarnished.

Brunson Hoole, managing editor,
Algonquin Books

Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach
Mary Roach, the author of Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers, infectiously combines humor and science to explore all manner of sex research. That we’ve spent so much time and effort studying animals to learn about our own sexuality speaks volumes about what strange creatures we are.

The Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies
I first read this in high school, and the setting had me wondering, “Where the heck is this place?” It certainly isn’t the U.S. or England. Oh, Canada! Yankees with manners. Davies was a scarily wise and skilled writer who knew how to entertain.

Categories
Arts & Music

Uncommon impressions

Artist Rick Hermanson relaxing in The Uncommon Garden. Photo by Lucy Butcher.Entering The Uncommon Garden is like stepping into another world. Reality vanishes, and a magical, serene jungle takes its place.

You won’t want to leave.

The air is cool, and running water can be heard from all directions. Dead trees are transformed into sculptures, and Japanese maples grow at angles among cedars, ferns, pools, and rocks. The real magic is in the detail, in the parts you wont notice the first time you look. Dragons, snakes, and other creatures emerge from the plants. A nook in the wall houses stones from all over the world. Every rock is a work of art, and every detail holds a whimsical surprise.

Categories
Arts & Music

Bee Arty

Here’s a true test of artistic ability: a beehive hairdo art contest sponsored by the Beehive Hair Salon. Bring your artistic representation of the ‘do by 7 p.m. Saturday, June 28. It can be any medium, style and size — as long as it fits in the salon — and all ages are encouraged to participate.

Winners will be chosen by the Beehive Salon staff, contacted by July 5 and announced in The Carrboro Citizen the following week. The top seven winners will have their artistic representations of the hairstyle displayed inside the salon for the month of July and be part of the second Friday Art Walk on July 11.

Categories
Arts & Music

Mill Works: Jim Massey

Dr. Jim Massey is a retired botanist from UNC and the former curator of the North Carolina Herbarium. On the cover of this month’s MILL is a rather exuberant example of elephant garlic photographed last year, just prior to the annual spring sale at Massey’s Holly Hill Day Lilly Farm in Haywood. While the garlic’s nice, what draws folks by the hundreds out to Holly Hill in early June are the thousands of unique lilies and crinums Massey has so carefully cultivated over the years. Many a garden around here has a Massey original. His farm is a work of art as well, with a unique assortment of garden art and unusual poultry. In addition to the blooms, the big attraction at Holly Hill is Massey’s growing collection of folk art, housed in the former Haywood post office, which was moved to the farm a few years ago and refurbished. Directions are on the web at hollyhilldaylilies.com. When you see the giant Elvis, you’re at the right place.

Categories
Arts & Music

June Shows & Happenings

5/30

The Biscuit Burners
The ArtsCenter
Motto: Firey Mountain Music
New album: Take Me Home

5/31

Joe Romeo & The Orange County Volunteers
The Cave
Mr. Romeo is joined by an all-star roster of The Orange County Volunteers. 2008 Roster: Scott McCall, Rock Forbes, Alex Bowers and Mitch Rothrock 9:30pm

Walter “Wolfman” Washington
Blue Bayou Club
Sure to still be on a natural
high, as April 30 was declared Walter “Wolfman” Washington Day in New Orleans. New album: Doin’ the Funky Thing

Categories
Community

Summer Stuff

The cooler days of June are perfect for experiencing some of our area’s adventures. And with gas prices what they are, this may be the summer of the short-hop adventure. Here are a few of our favorites on the June calendar:

Holly Hill Daylily Farm

The annual daylily sale is the main draw, but Jim Massey has turned his three acres into an art garden. His collection of folk art is housed nearby in the old Haywood post office. The farm is open weekends through June. Times and directions at hollyhilldaylilies.com

Botanical Garden

If you can’t get out among the lily pads on Ulake, you can still get up close with them at the water gardens at the North Carolina Botanical Garden. On a warm day, try a walk through the shady, cool mountain habitat. Something about seeing rhododendrons lowers the temperature. Keep your eye out for special programs for kids and families at ncbg.unc.edu. On June 8, for instance, naturalist Bob Palmatier hosts “The Secret Life of Turtles.”

Categories
Arts & Music

Music Calendar

ArtsCenter

Over The Rhine with Mary Gauthier (6/1) Pieta Brown (6/13) Grupo Fantasma (6/15) Annuals (6/21) Cyril Lance (6/27)

Blue Horn Lounge

Chackalacky Tabachi Blues Band (6/3) Tennessee Jed (6/5) David Spencer Band (6/6) Audioform Jazz (6/7) Pete Waggoner (6/11) Tain Collins (6/12) Troy Smith & Jeremy Blackford (6/13) Blue Diablo (6/14) Jamie Purnell (6/17) Wes Collins (6/18) Bill West (6/19) David Spencer Band (6/20) Steve Jack & The Real Rueben’s (6/21) Tokyo Rosenthal (6/24) Lucy Sumner & The Second Third (6/25) Troy Smith & Jeremy Blackford (6/26) Adrian Duke (6/27) The Corduroy Road (6/28)

Categories
Community

Intro: May daze

Our Town Commons: where one can experience civic engagement and watch the kids bounce around at the same time.	Photo by Kirk Ross

These are heady days in Carrboro, North Carolina. With a presidential primary that has relevance and associated events around town, a big anniversary for the Farmers’ Market and our annual celebration of the town, the first weekend in May is jammed and has folks worked up into quite a froth.

Categories
Community

10 Great Things About Carrboro

A random list of what we like about this little town

Downtown
Vibrant, bustling and kinda quirky — downtown Carrboro has not just survived the demise of the great American downtown, it’s defied it — thriving, expanding and becoming the envy of its neighbors. The formula employed is no secret — forward-thinking planning, a willingness to make the place welcoming and walkable, with inviting public and private spaces. But most of all what’s made downtown a success has been the absolute commitment on the part of the community, first, to not let it die the way others have and, second, to make the investments necessary to be sure it remains what it’s always been — the center of town.

Farmers’ Market

Carrboro has always been a bit of a market town, a place where the small farmers from the area gathered to sell their wares. The latest formal incarnation of this concept began some 30 years ago in a parking lot off Roberson Street. This year, the Carrboro Farmers’ Market turns 30 (see page 10). Had you told the originators that one day it would be a major institution with a sturdy shaded shelter, a bandstand, electricity and a drinking fountain, they’d have had a right good laugh.

Categories
Arts & Music

May Shows & Happenings

5/1

Songwriters Spotlight
The Cave
with Brandon Herndon, John Pardue, Taz Halloween, Jesse Wooten, Vince Williams 8:30pm

Acorn & Doom Bunny
Nightlight
$7, 9:30pm

Categories
Community

Carrboro Day Philosophy

This is the philosophy behind Carrboro Day, as adopted by the Carrboro Board of Aldermen on December 6, 1994.

As Carrboro grows in population and its boundaries expand, its citizens need opportunities to enlarge their circle of acquaintances as well as to feel part of the entire community. Expanding acquaintances and feeling part of Carrboro engenders cooperation, respect and a sense of tradition and history that is needed amidst the diverse, mobile and rapidly changing world challenging the citizens of this town.