MILLieu A MonthLy MusIc, Arts And literAture publicAtIon of the cArrboro cItIzen voL. 3 + no. 7 + April 2010 Discover the Heart of Carrboro CarrCarr MillMill MallMall Ali Cat Miel Bon Bons The Bead Shop Mulberry Silks Carrboro Yoga Co. The Painted Bird CvS Panzanella DSI Comedy Theater Rita’s Italian Ices Elmo’s Diner Sofia’s Fedora Stephen White Gallery Fleet Feet Townsend, Bertram & Co. Harris Teeter Weaver St. Market & Café Head Over Heels Wootini Jewelworks 200 North Greensboro Street in Carrboro at the corner of Weaver Street • carrmillmall.com 2 carrborocitizen.com/mill + april 2010 MILL April In ParIs of the PiedMont or the record, i’ve never really and five-story downtown feels when the liked the phrase paris of the economy turns around and all these projects piedmont — not because it get built. isn’t cute and clever, but be- and yet, despite the dubious resemblance, cause some folks take it way Carrborites still strive to liken their home to Ftoo seriously. the City of light. Now, i know a lot of y’all are quite fond of That effort never took a more odd turn it, so i’m not going to get too snarky; but than when the board of aldermen took up a really, now. paris — 2.2 million people with a resolution during the fever pitch leading up 1,000-square-mile urban core — and Carr- to the invasion of iraq. boro — 18,000 people with a 4.5-mile urban as you may recall, the French, along with core — aren’t exactly twins. most of the globe, refused to go along One thing the two towns have in common with Misters Bush and Cheney. This led to a though is that they lean toward the human near universal loathing of all things French, scale — paris through excellent design, and except, of course, in peace-loving Carrboro Carrboro, until recently, because of the and several similarly minded burgs. One simple fact that no one wanted to build example of this loathing was the successful anything huge here. We’ll see how the four- effort by North Carolina rep. Walter Jones bogged down when one board member robert dickson, Liz holm, A r t d Ir ec t o r to change the name of the frites in the suggested that the proclamation apply to p u bli sher [email protected] congressional cafeteria from french fries to oven-baked fries, because fried foods are [email protected] Marty cassady, A d d Ir ec t o r freedom fries. unhealthy. purists on the board disagreed. Kirk ross, ed I t o r [email protected] The Carrboro Board of alderman said, “Mon So french fries are unofficially the official [email protected] c o n t r Ibu t o r s Ava barlow, Dieu, we’re having none of that.” food of Carrboro and, as fate would have it, taylor sisk, susan dickson, Vicky dickson, So the board took up a resolution to name we have some pretty good examples of fries ma n Ag In g ed I t o r Ashley Melzer, Jacquelyn gist french fries the official food of Carrboro. around here — unlike paris. [email protected] cover Illustration by phil blank as you can imagine, it was not that easy. i’ll Quelle difference.***** MILL spare you the details, but the whole thing beautiful invaders refused to leave. Moon the dog became their champion, bolting for the BirdS door when neighboring cats threatened his by JAc queLy n Gist charges, then returning to his watch on the couch. a mature bamboo forest has taken during Mom’s last summer a male sparrow over that yard. Grosbeaks do not thrive in built a nest in her yard. She watched the little thick bamboo. guy carry materials to the bird house in the i wake up earlier then i would like these days. middle of the pachysandra heart that domi- leaving the bed to a warm James still quietly nated the view from her kitchen window. in snoring for another hour. Brew my coffee, our evening phone calls she would tell me of feed the cats, start James’s tea to later place join us on our his progress. Then the oddest thing happened. on his bed table. Walk through the cold dark patio after his nest was built the sparrow took to get the Times. at the moment when the award-winning perch on the roof of the bird house and be- temperature dips as the sun rises the birds stir gan calling for a mate. “Hey ladies, come see. i in the high red tips and make their way to the built the best house in the yard. Everything is feeders. a few sparrows and cardinals peck ready. let’s start a family!” From first light to the ground at yesterday’s leavings. The doves where the wine tastes even better last he would sing his little heart out, pausing line up patiently on the fence top. The late- only to eat. day in and day out singing on the rising downy won’t appear till my second cup. roof top, trying different songs. No lady bird Our raccoon empties the feeders overnight. ever came, ever, all summer. Mom watched i’ve seen her deftly hang from the fence and the sad little drama unfold. during each of my tip the feeder to her open mouth like we once visits that last summer the sparrow’s hopeless poured Jujubes from the box. Each morning i courting wove through our conversations. fill the green-spouted mixing bowl with sun- The new owners have removed the bird flower seeds and the tall flowered vase with house. mixed seed from the bags in the shed. Using at A Southern Season Years ago i shared a tiny green house under the plastic chair i can climb up on the garden Hours 201 S. Estes Dr. big oaks with a bearded man and a yellow wall to fill the feeders. The birds eat while the M-Th 7-9 University Mall dog. One winter our yard was taken over feeders still swing. By the time James comes F-Sa 7-10 Chapel Hill by a herd of grosbeaks. loud, demanding, down to warm his tea the nuthatches, wrens Su 10-6 919.929.9466 never-satisfied grosbeaks. They ate only the and chick-a-dees have arrived. finest bird seeds, higher-quality fare than Gist is a member of the Carrboro Board of we fed ourselves. Fifty, maybe one hundred Aldermen. MILL april 2010 + carrborocitizen.com/mill 3 shakorI S p OT l i GHT S cLydefest S p OT l i GHT S if it’s the weekend album won both the ClydeFEST is subtitled “an Ex- around Earth Day, it’s 2009 Grammy for travaganza of Fun and Games” – Shakori time. Best Contemporary and from the looks of this year’s This year’s Shakori World Music album rundown, the annual Bynum Hills Grassroots Festival of and Best pop instru- celebration of the spirit of the Music & Dance features mental performance. critter-master himself looks to more than 50 bands per- Kouyate and Fleck be all that and more. forming on four stages have been touring for The festivities are set for over four days. the last few months Saturday, april 17 from 11 a.m. More than a promoting the album to 4 p.m. in Clydeville at the music festival amid the rolling fields of and will be sharing the stage at Shakori Bynum Ballpark, just around central Chatham County, Shakori is full Hills in addition to their own sets. the corner from Clyde Jones’ of art and activities for all ages. lots of Other featured acts this year include: famous backyard full of giraffes, green demonstrations as well, including Chiwoniso, rusted root, Donna the Buffalo, alligators, deer, rabbits and paint and glitter Clyde’s wooden-animal the new project to “solarize Shakori” abigail Washburn, preston Frank, Vince Her- other chain-saw “critters.” admission is cut-outs made especially to be taken with a 10-kilowatt solar panel generat- man & Great american Taxi, rosie ledet & $7 for adults and $3 for children. adult home as signed souvenirs. Joining Jones ing system. The Zydeco playboys, Eilen Jewell, Crooked tickets include a chance to win a Clyde in the artfully decorated ClydeMobile Headlining the festival this year are Still, Scythian, asylum Street Spankers, Sim Critter. Bynum is located off U.S. 15-501 will be his buddy Georgia folk artist peter banjo master Béla Fleck and Bassekou redmond Band and The Hackensaw Boys. between pittsboro and Chapel Hill. For loose with his pet african tortoises. Kouyate, a griot from Mali who is a mas- Festival tickets are on sale now and information: 542-0394, chathamarts.org The ClydeFEST stage will feature live ter of the ngoni — the Malian version of available by phone and at shakorihills. (rain date: april 18.) music by Tommy Edwards and Friends, the banjo. Concertgoers will get to expe- org/tickets-info. Four-day passes are Clyde will be making a critter at the Sandbox, the Northwood High School rience first-hand the musical interchange $90 in advance and $100 at the gate. festival to auction off to the highest Jazz Band, Dan the Magic Man and Girls of these two traditions. Kids 12 and under are free. Day passes bidder, with proceeds benefiting Cha- rock North Carolina. Fleck’s latest project is Throw Down are $22 (Thurs), $30 (Fri), $37 (Sat) and thamarts, the county’s nonprofit arts The Durham Symphony Orchestra will Your Heart, Tales from the Acoustic Planet, $26 (Sun).