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CAUGHT ON FILM

Writer/Director Profile: Joe Schenkenberg

by Margot C. Lester
One of the most popular films at last November’s Carrboro Film Festival was Wiggle Room, a stop-motion animated short that won best animation, best character and an audience award.

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Featured Food

TASTE OF THE TOWN

Jessee’s Coffee & Bar
When Chyenna Jessee moved here five years ago, her longtime love of coffee led her to open a coffee shop despite stiff competition in the area.

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almanac

ROSS’S ALMANAC For February 2012

Compiled by Kirk Ross

“After being seated at that counter for about 30 seconds I had the most wonderful feeling. … I felt like I could have walked on a cloud. I felt as if I had died at that moment life wouldn’t have cheated me out of anything. I would have had a full life.”
– Franklin McCain, one of four students at the first sit-in at Woolworth’s in Greensboro, on Feb. 1, 1969

If the recent spell of warm weather has you thumbing through the seed catalogs, you may want to check out the new zone map site at the U.S. Department of Agriculture website, which has a nifty GIS-driven interface. Punch in your zip code and drill down. Both the USDA and NOAA are stepping up their climate-change monitoring, including the effect on plant hardiness.

Around here, the maps say we’re a warm Zone 7, but Zone 8 isn’t far away, pushing up from the coast, with the line through parts of Harnett, Wake and southern Chatham. Regardless of zone, this month will feature its usual wild swings. Last year, the last day of the month was a record-setter, with a high of 81.

Feb. 1 – Sunrise: 7:15 a.m.; Sunset: 5:41 p.m.
Feb. 29 – Sunrise: 6:49 a.m.; Sunset: 6:08 p.m.

Full Moon – Feb. 7 Last Quarter – Feb. 14
New Moon – Feb. 21 First Quarter – Feb. 29

The full moon in February is known as the Snow Moon, Wolf Moon and Hunger Moon

Planets & Stars: Planets are in the night sky in February – Jupiter, Venus and the moon draw closer together throughout the month, crossing paths around the 24th, with Mercury finally visible after sundown.
February is Black History Month and Heart Month.

Significant Dates
• Feb. 1 is National Freedom Day
• Feb. 2 is Groundhog Day and Candlemas
• Abraham Lincoln’s birthday is Feb. 12
• The Feast of Saint Valentine is on Feb. 14
• Feb. 17 is Random Act of Kindness Day
• Presidents’ Day is Feb. 20
• Mardi Gras is on Feb. 21
• Ash Wednesday is Feb. 22
• George Washington’s birthday, and possibly Groundhog Day, is on Feb. 22
• Leap Day is Feb. 29

There are UNC home basketball games on Feb. 8 (Duke!), 11, 18 and 29.

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Featured

Relating

Duncan Hoge

According to Merriam-Webster, human relations is “a study of human problems arising from organizational and interpersonal relations (as in industry),”

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Featured

POETRY IN ACTION

by Vicky Dickson

To those of us who grew up thinking of poetry as a formal, somewhat stilted art form, the whole notion of a poetry slam can seem anomalous.

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Featured

Blueback Blues

by Kirk Ross

A sad acknowledgement the other day from state Division of Marine Fisheries Director Louis Daniel, who told a group of legislators meeting in Raleigh that while some species are making a comeback due to better management, the state’s herring population remains greatly depleted.

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CAUGHT ON FILM

Film Spotlight: Scraps

Kevin Duggin

by Margot C. Lester

Sometimes a seemingly random encounter leads to a creative pursuit. Such was the case when local screenwriter Kate Burgauer, then 16, saw a homeless woman on a city bus.

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Featured

HOP LINE: No Lime, Please

A new way of thinking about beer in Mexico
By Israel Lazaro

Agua, lupulos, levadura and malta are the four main ingredients in one of the most popular drinks in the Spanish-speaking world – cerveza.

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Featured Food

TASTE OF THE TOWN

La Residence

Over the past 36 years, La Residence has certainly seen its fair share of changes, most notably the addition of late-night service that made the Rosemary Street restaurant a hugely popular bar scene.

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Arts & Music

SPOTLIGHT: John Howie Jr. and the Rosewood Bluff

John Howie Jr. – Photo courtesy of Neil Carpenter / Charlottefive.com
If you went into mourning when country-twang band Two Dollar Pistols broke up in 2008, it’s time to put away the somber black cowboy attire – John Howie Jr. is back and ready to blow you away.

Howie’s new band, the Rosewood Bluff, comprised of drummer Matt Brown, bassist Billie Feather, guitarist Tim Shearer and Nathan Golub on pedal steel, brings together a sound that is more country-rock than the Pistols’ twang on their debut full-length album Leaving Yesterday.

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Arts & Music

SPOTLIGHT: Fan Modine and Some Army

Fan Modine – Photo by Michael Traister
Do you like to support all things local? If you’re from around here, chances are, of course you do! So get out to Local 506 on Friday, Jan. 13 to enjoy the indie-rock rhythms of Carrboro-based bands Fan Modine and Some Army.

Some Army is still a relatively new band, having formed in early 2011 of members from various local bands, including The Honored Guests and Aminal. While the band has yet to release an album, Some Army has put out a few songs on the web that showcase their sleepy-rock style perfectly. The sounds seem to encourage you to close your eyes as they take you away with the plucking of guitar strings, a beating drum and various instruments weaving in and out behind calming vocals.