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Arts & Music

Gimme Five! John of John Howie Jr. & The Rosewood Bluff

After his Two Dollar Pistols ran out of bullets, John Howie Jr. wasted no time putting together a new act, The Rosewood Bluff. The band’s been kicking up dust, playing their soulful honkytonk for eager crowds since circa 2008. Sure they’ve figured out the best pull on the pedal steal to make the barkeeps smile, but can their fearless leader handle a round of Gimme Five? See for yourself after the jump.

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Arts & Music

Advance Notice: The Week in Happenings 1/16-22

Get up, get out and make it count by heading to one of these shows.

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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.

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Arts & Music

SPOTLIGHT: No Child

Nilaja Sun in No Child. Photo courtesy of Playmakers Repertory Company
Inspired by her own experiences as a theater teacher in some of the rowdiest schools in New York, Nilaja Sun’s one-woman play No Child tells the story of a teacher trying to lead a group of students through a performance of the 1988 play Our Country’s Good.

No Child, directed by Hal Brooks, takes place at the fictional Malcolm X High School, and for 65 minutes Sun introduces the audience to a wide array of characters, from sassy students to an idealistic new teacher, all lovable in their own quirky way and full of plenty of wit to elicit more than a laugh or two.

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Arts & Music

Advance Notice: The Week in Happenings 1/2-1/8

Here (because you can’t be trusted to know where to find the good stuff every night of the week)

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Arts & Music

ART NOTES: In the Galleries

A vessel by Vicki Grant, on display at Eno Gallery

At the Carrboro Branch Library, “In the Spirit,” photographic images of poignant moments in the life of our community, will open on Jan. 20, with a reception and community gathering on Jan. 22 from 2 to 4:30 p.m. The exhibit features artists Sheldon Becker and David Otto, and continues through March 27.

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Arts & Music

Gimme Five! Rapsody

This Snow Hill, NC native has made a name for herself as the first lady of Kooley High and as a solo artist, working at the right hand of mentor and hip hop mastermind 9th Wonder.  Rapsody has a flow that won’t quit and a way with rhymes, but can this masterful emcee handle a round of five furious questions?

See for yourself after the jump!

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almanac

ROSS’S ALMANAC

Compiled by Kirk Ross

The days are short,
The sun a spark
Hung thin between
The dark and dark.

— John Updike, January

January is not the coldest month of our year. It’s close, but December and February are pretty much in a tie for first. Of course, this depends on where you are and how the winds affect you. The Piedmont’s hilly land – urban and rural – makes for quite a few frost hollows, low-lying areas where it is not uncommon for a layer of warm air emanating from nearby slopes to trap a layer of cold air in the hollow. That makes for some cold nights no matter what the reading is at the airport.

Jan. 1 – Sunrise: 7:26 a.m.; Sunset: 5:12 p.m.
Jan. 31 – Sunrise: 7:14 a.m.; Sunset: 5:28 p.m.

Moon Phases
First Quarter – Jan. 1 Full Moon – Jan. 9
Last Quarter – Jan. 16 New Moon — Jan. 23

The Full Moon in January is the Old Moon, Wolf Moon and Ice Moon.

Planets & Stars: It’s a beautiful time for stargazing, with some of the brightest – like Sirius, the Dog Star – right overhead at midnight. It’s also a good time of year to view the planets. Mars gets so close that you can see the polar caps with a decent set of optics. Venus and Jupiter are still morning and evening lights, respectively, while Mercury and Saturn join the dawn patrol. The Quadrantids Meteor Shower, radiating out of Bootes in the Western North Western sky, peaks on Jan. 3-4, with the best viewing around midnight.

Get the kettle out. January is Hot Tea Month, Oatmeal Month and Soup Month.

Significant Dates
• Jan. 1 is New Year’s Day and Freedom Day
• Jan. 3 is the Festival of Sleep and Fruitcake Toss Day
• Trivia Day is – you guessed it – Jan. 4
• The Feast of the Epiphany is on Jan. 6
• January has a Friday the 13th. That’s also International Skeptics Day.
• Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday is on Jan. 15 and is celebrated this year on Jan. 16
• The Chinese ring in the year 4710, The Year of the Dragon, on Jan. 23
• Jan. 25 is Opposite Day
• Jan. 26 is Australia Day
• Jan. 31 is Yad Sdrawkcab

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Featured

Between naps

Duncan Hoge

I’ve always said that if I could have my way about it, we’d go into hibernation for the months of January and February.

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Featured

FAUNA: The Hoodies

by Mary Parker Sonis

January has arrived, and after the joy of the holidays, we all settle in for the grim, dark days of winter.

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Featured

A textured story of life and dreams

by Vicky Dickson

A fight at the end of his sophomore year in high school made Alan Shapiro a poet – though not right away. He came out of that fight with a badly broken nose, and the break required him to wear a hockey mask in his first varsity basketball game the following fall.