My kindly Internet Chroniclistas: it is that time of week again. We have journeyed more than halfway. We have drunk the pre-class coffees and sweated those sweats. We have eaten the cold lunches, dispatched the demanding emails, called mom back after that two-letter text and successive voicemail(s).
The weekend rolls into view like faraway mountains from the mist.
And rarely do we see weekends as beautiful—as teeming—as this.
Fire up that web calendar, rowdy readers. I give you the hungrily-awaited second installment of Prashanth’s Picks (Feb. 7 - 9 edition):
Friday
· 6pm: It’s First Friday in Raleigh! This month’s gallery walk through downtown Raleigh’s art spaces looks promising, transgressive even. Flanders Gallery is opening “frames per second,” a collection of interactive videos, sculpture and contemporary moving image pieces. Raleigh’s Contemporary Art Museum (CAM) is partnering with the NC Arts Council to exhibit visual artists, filmmakers and choreographers who received last year’s NCAC Fellowships. Artspace is presenting “Celdas,” a series of installations exploring the legacy of Spanish colonialism and genocide in Latin America, by Miami’s Alma Leiva. Also: way, way more.
· 6:30pm: In yet another sobering fact of our times, Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hate crimes have been surging across Western countries in recent years. Daily discrimination is a sad and structural reality for far too many American Muslims. But in the well-worn tradition of “laughing to keep from crying,” several of UNC’s cultural studies departments have teamed up to present “The Muslims Are Coming,” an acerbic comedy tour documentary, followed by a Q&A with comedienne Negin Farhad. Because we’re all on the same side (literally, in the case of stage performances).
· 10pm: The Duke Coffeehouse is hosting another of its highly-hyped dance parties, this time in honor of all the world’s breads. Durham’s own DJ Groan ‘N’ Sexy has promised hot beats (fresh out of the oven, if you will). Don’t forget, though: it’s B.Y.O.B. as always. Bring Your Own Bread.
Saturday
· 9am: This year’s Moral March at the HKonJ (Historic Thousands on Jones St.) People’s Assembly in Raleigh is very likely to be the state’s biggest coordinated mass action in history, building on a summer of swelling Moral Mondays at the General Assembly. So it’s a little weird if you haven’t heard about it yet. That said, nobody needs to know you didn’t know. Just show up! Bring friends, too.
· 9pm: Raleigh/Durham-based pop group Lilac Shadows is throwing a release party for their new album “No Dark/No Light” at the Carrack Modern Art Gallery in Durham, currently also home to an eponymous mixed media art exhibit curated by the band itself. A perfect opportunity to surround yourself inside four walls of pure art.
· 9pm: Just down the block, Durham’s Pinhook is hosting a dance party for the more youthful and spunky Moral Marchers (and friends), proceeds benefiting the Durham Solidarity Center and the Carolina Abortion Fund. As the event organizers urge online: “Come feel the pulse of justice…”
Sunday
· 2pm: John Brown, director of Duke’s jazz program, is doing a jazz “informance” (tutelage + tunes) with his ensemble at the Nasher. Listen, learn, then go look at the Jazz Age retrospective it’s meant to complement. Then, at…
· 8pm, that jazzy aesthetic still pulsing through your veins (like the justice from the night before), go see legendary blues guitarist Buddy Guy at the Carolina Theatre in Durham. Guy was buddies with Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray, Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards… all of whom praised him as a personal favorite. You’d be blue if you missed it. (Editor’s note: My heartfelt apologies to all whose family and friends were hurt by this event blurb.)
Monday
· 9pm: OK, it is my final year in college, and NOBUNNY, “a punk rock mutant back from the future” who wears a snouted rabbit mask while prancing on stage, is performing at the Duke Coffeehouse on a Monday night. On this exceptional evening, the weekend continues.
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