It’s been 20 years since the Cumberland Oratorio Singers debuted in Fayetteville. It’s been 20 years of high quality performances and entertainment and 20 years of fun. On Oct. 14, the Cumberland Oratorio Singers open their 2011/2012 season with A Concert of German Masters: Bach, Beethoven and Brahms.

“This is the first performance of our season,” said Maureen Yearby, of the Cumberland Oratorio Singers. “It is the German Master Composers — about 1/2 of the concert will be presented in German as it was written by the composers. A few peices will be sung in English.”

Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Hallelujah,” from Christ on the Mount of Olives is the first number in the line-up. It’s a piece that is set in the garden of Gethsemane right before the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and explores the emotional turmoil that Jesus must have felt at the time. The piece is often considered more dramatic than religious. The piece ends when Jesus personally accepts his fate and focuses on the fact that it was a personal decision.

The concert ends with Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140,” a chorale contata which is also known as “Sleeper’s Wake.” Based on Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme by Philipp Nicolai, this hymn has been translated into English and enjoys popularity in English and German. The piece is about the parable of the ten virgins in the book of Matthew of the Bible.

The rest of the season promises to be well rounded and packed with great entertainment too.

On Dec. 4, the annual performance of Messiah Sing! Will be performed at First Presbyterian Church. This classic is always fun for the audience because citizens of Fayetteville are invited to join the chorus on stage and sing with them.

On March 24, the Cumberland Oratorio Singers team up with the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra, area university and community choirs to perform “Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125” at Reeve’s Auditorium. Other works to be performed are “Ode to Joy,” The group of choirs is called The Spring Festival Chorus and plans to work together in the future to make collaborative choral works a tradition in the community.

Let Your Light Shine is the last performance of the season and will take place on May 11 at St. Ann Catholic Church. They will perform Lux Aeterna by Morton Lauridson. “The concept of light is very powerful in both poetry and song. The five movements of Lux Aeterna are based on various references to light from sacred Latin texts. The power and finesse of Lux Aeterna will speak to each of us in its own way,” says the Cumberland Oratorio Singers website.

The concert is at Highland Presbyterian Church. It begins at 7:30 p.m.

“We love to have students in attendance,” said Yearby. “In fact, students of all ages are admitted free of charge. That has always been our commitment to the community. We take very serioulsly trying tp spread the love of classical choral music and trying to make sure that we expose younger genreations to the genre to inspire them to participate when they grow up and to introduce them to the classiscs.

Visit http://cumberlandoratoriosingers.org to find out more about the Cumberland Oratorio Singers.

Defender of the Faith

Tom Ross has a really, really tough job.

Ross was inaugurated last week as the fifth president of the University of North Carolina system, which now has nearly 225,000 students. He has already been on the job for nine months, long enough to understand that his challenge is to continue providing higher education to more and more sons and daughters of North Carolina at a time of fewer and fewer resources.

I do not know anyone who does not think that public education at all levels is under serious assault in our state. During its recent session, the General Assembly cut funding to all educational levels — K-12 an the community colleges. The university system took the hardest hit of all. Federal and private dollars are harder to come by in this grim economy as well.

Parents moan, often with justification, about all sorts of issues in K-12 schools — curricula, discipline, red tape and more, and they often vote with their feet by putting their children in independent schools or home schooling them. These choices affect public schools in many ways, including decreased funding, decreased diversity with the cultural enrichment it brings and less parental input and support. In some cases, there are also political attacks against public schools. I heard candidates in the last election cycle referring to public schools as “government schools,” insinuating that this is negative and not the glue of common experience that binds much of our nation.

In our community colleges, courses that lead to well-paid employment are being curtailed for lack of funding, and instructors endure among the lowest pay in our nation.

But here in the land of the first publicly supported university in the country, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill chartered by the legislature here in Fayetteville in 1789, the elected descendents of those enlightened people cut university system funding by almost 16 percent at a time when North Carolina’s population is exploding and higher education is more important than ever in our global economy. That first public university, by the way, took an 18 percent hit, the largest in the UNC system.

Tom Ross is the guy who has to deal with that this year for the foreseeable future.

He has clearly been thinking a great deal about our university system as evidenced by recent interviews and by his inaugural address last week.

First off, Ross refuses to whine.

He continues to focus on the university system’s charge to deliver quality higher education. N.C.’s Constitution states that this education shall be free, “as far as is practicable.” The problem is that no one knows what that means, and as the state pulls back funding, tuition increases loom large. Couple that with the reality of diminishing financial-aid for students, and the door of educational opportunity inches shut for families of low and modest means. Moreover, some political circles do not support any sort of student financial aid, a position that bodes ill for many who seek higher education.

University classes are already getting larger and fewer, meaning that some students will not graduate in four years because they could not get into all their required courses. In addition, there are calls to limit enrollment in the 17 constituent institutions of the UNC system at the same time nations challenging the United States in this global economy are ramping up their education systems.

North Carolinians who value education and who understand the profound difference it makes in the quality of life of both individuals and families are deeply concerned. Appalled may be a better word.

Study after study confirms that educated people make more money and lead more satisfying lives than those who are less educated. We can tell ourselves that being educated is an individual achievement and blessing, that one person’s education has nothing to do with the rest of us, but we would be wrong. It is in everyone’s best interest that North Carolina have an educated population prepared to keep our state and our nation competitive as the world continues to shrink.

Tom Ross put it this way in a recent interview with the Raleigh News and Observer, “If you look at most communities, most states, many, many of the leaders of those communities … and their institutions, are people who are college-educated. Our institutions are in the business, I think, of producing leaders for our society, and we’re in the business of helping people understand about a civil society, and how and why we come together in a society. So there’s a value to the common good.”

Thousands of North Carolinians have saved and planned for their own educations and for those of their children, secure in the belief that education will improve their lives and in the hope that their children’s lives will be better still.

This is the deepest heart of the American dream, and in North Carolina, it is in peril.

Photo: Tom Ross, president of the University of North Carolina 

Holidays are right around the corner and that means that you need to start on your gift list. A great way to start would be to visit the annual Small Business Expo held by the local North Carolina Center of Economic Empowerment and Development, otherwise known as CEED.

Every year CEED gives local business owners an opportunity to show off their exclusive and limited products and have them available for individuals to purchase. This is a wonderful opportunity to start shopping for the holidays and get your hands on exclusive deals that no one else offers. 

Visitors to the event will find a wide variety of goodies to give to their favorite someone — or even to keep for themselves. There will be a vendor from Pretty & Pink where one can get their hands on fashion accessories, handbags, clothing and more. D-Unique Jewelry and Accessories will be there along with Hope Thru Horses, which is an equine-assisted psychotherapy program. Diamond Home Essentials and Ways of Wellness will be in attendance as well.

There are about 80 vendors who will be present during the expo this year including several food vendors. Chef Julius III, who is well known for the Bezzies Home-style Barbeque Sauce, is a local favorite and will be at the event.

According to Laura Solano, who is a business consultant at CEED, “This is our third year for organizing the Small Business Expo, and it’s our first time holding it at Cross Creek Mall. Our objective is to stimulate our local business growth and bring exposure.”

Cross Creek Mall, being a centralized location, will bring an increased amount of vendors and attendees this year. CEED has a main goal of finding ways to help individuals and businesses succeed. By going along with the mission of promoting growth, productiveness and well being through peer counseling, education, information and advocacy programs, CEED is anticipating a successful event that is sure to please both the vendors and the event attendees.

CEED provides a variety of programs to the community, both on an individual and business level. Last year, according to CEED statistics, 2,407 small business owners attended 1,645 workshops and $285,000 was loaned to seven small business owners. Along with classes and workshops, CEED also provides many resources to displaced homemakers. Last year CEED helped 148 people in this category with resources like financial aid counseling, the career makeover workshop, the family law clinic and the computers for the workplace clinic.

The North Carolina Center for Economic Empowerment and Development is located at 230 Hay St. Find out more about the organization by visiting the website at www.ncceed.org or smallbusinessexpo@ncceed.org.

As the Arts Council of Fayetteville-Cumberland County closes the exhibit Recycle! It’s Natural, the exhibit in the small west gallery will remain open until Oct. 23. Accumulation: A Collage Invitational is a small, but powerful exhibit that dominates the space in presence, professionalism and originality.

Seven artists were selected to show two works each in an effort to partner professionals with the open competition for the exhibit in the main gallery. The result was an exhibit that reveals the power and variety of styles within the collage technique.

Collage, the attaching of individual parts to an existing surface to create composition and meaning, was explored by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque in the early 20th century. The technique has continued to strongly influence image making by artists from Pop art to the present. Accumulation is an exhibit that readily reveals the variety of styles professional artists use to incorporate collage into their works.

Included in the exhibit are quotations from each artist verbally communicating how collage is being used in the work — quotations will evoke the “ah ha!” moment for visitors to the gallery. Each quotation has the potential of bringing new meaning to the already existing multiple meanings of each work.

James Biederman, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based abstract painter, joined the University of North Carolina at Pembroke’s art faculty in 2007, and was named the Martha Beach Distinguished Professor of Art at UNC Pembroke. Most recently he was awarded the 2008 Joan Mitchell Foundation Sculptors and Painters Grant. (The foundation issues $25,000 grants to 25 artists annually.)

Biederman is exhibiting two small abstract works titled “Amorous” and “A Year from Monday, John Cage.” Both works are no larger than 14” x 14” and appear twice their size in presence on the gallery wall. He combines the mark making of two painted surfaces joined to create what Biederman refers to as “unfi xing the fixed.”

With the masterful strokes of simplicity and limited color, Biederman refers to his paintings as “fragments of thought and moments realigned and seemingly fi xed; something not whole but complete; disjointed time, vision and space.” Upon seeing the paintings, the words will make perfect sense to viewers. His juxtaposition of surfaces and even using a stapler to create marks all appear effortlessly masterful. In Biederman’s works, what is absent is equally important to what is present.

Two other artists are representing UNC-P in the exhibit — Carla Rokes and Janette Hopper. The works of Rokes, a graphic designer, are in strong contrast to the more spacious work by Hopper.

The impressions Hopper transfers in the printmaking process are complemented by the Sumi painted marks incorporated into her images — quiet, refl ective and poetic moments are evoked in the two works titled “Low Country” and “Duality.” In our present age of information, Hopper combines an array of information to bring us back to a place of quietude. The artist states, “Direct drawing using Sumi ink, the collage and simplistic printing processes mimic the contemplative wealth provided to us by nature. Meditative is the word that comes to mind to describe this process and the resulting works.”

Rokes’ images are a combination of computer graphic images to create an interpretation of the female fi gure in space. The fi gure is active in movement; the sensuous texture is enclosed, locked within a sparse and minimal background. “Losing Equilibrium” and “Gush” are both works which, according to Rokes “explore feminine identities with the assemblage of disparate visual elements; the image is re-contextualized to create a new whole.”

The collage images of Fayetteville Technical Community College art instructor Chuck Lawson echo Rokes’s comment, “assemblage of disparate visual elements.” Lawson takes the disparate combination to make a more traditional collage of torn paper parts combined. Yet the content of Lawson’s work is anything but traditional. His work refl ects a solemn message about what he calls the “disjointed psyche of modern humans.”

Lawson’s works titled “Been Workin’ Out” and “Tips for Gorgeous” scream about a condition of American culture: Desire is a foil for the sinister and glamour is a foil for the ridiculous. The messages in Lawson’s works directly challenge states of being in our culture.

Peggy Hinson and Silvana Foti represent two of the art faculty at Methodist University. Both Hinson and Foti are long standing professional artists in the community who have exhibited extensively.

Hinson’s collage images are a mix of architectural places, dry humor and often individuals we can recognize in art history books. Both works, “Romie at the Met” and “Happening at the Met,” are humorous spins on individuals interacting in a staged setting, the collage becomes a place of discovery as the viewer slowly identifi es individuals they recognize among the crowded narrative.

Years ago, Hinson decided to take the collage approach after completing a major shadow-box construction based on the life and art of Romare Bearden. After that experience she noted, “I decided to integrate collage into my work. I expanded my subjects and discovered that I could tell stories, make commentaries, and use humor with combined imagery from old master artists.”

Foti is exhibiting two works which refl ect a more well-known style and her most recent approach after a sabbatical from teaching. Individuals who have followed her career will be able to compare “Underwater Maze” and “Underwater Tapestry.” The use of metal in combination with color and pattern has moved from a geometric-design composition to having a highly organic quality.

Foti explains her work concisely, “Parts are combined to create a new space — each part, a microcosm in itself, is a component of a larger universe. Parts, as a collective, create rhythm within the work; as well as the energy of space.”

Dwight Smith is the artist/assistant professor representing Fayetteville State University in the exhibit. Smith is known in the area as an abstract artist who integrates iconic symbols into his collages. Color and texture have always been an integral part of Smith’s technique for creating space and rhythm — movement across the picture plane or “push/pull” in space.

As with all the art in the exhibit, as well as being an integral part of contemporary sensibilities, multiple meanings are always present in Smith’s work. His comment on the two works in the exhibit is as follows, “Collage is a method of integrating opposites into a state of harmony and balance. Iconic symbols, abstract shapes, patterns and textures merge as a sum that is greater than its parts.”

The exhibit is small, only 14 works of art by seven artists, but it is a wonderfully diverse and potent exhibition of professional originality and high standards. For information about this exhibit and upcoming exhibitions, call the Art Council at 323-1776 or visit the website at www.theartscouncil.com.

Photo: “A Year From Monday, John Cage,” by James Biderman is one of 14 works on display in Ac-cumulation: A Collage Invitational at the Arts Council.

If your idea of Halloween excitement goes beyond the simple fun of trick or treating to include the thrills and chills of a terrifying scare, Fayetteville-Cumberland County area offers numerous opportunities to raise both the hair on the back of your neck and the pitch of your scream.

For at least 15 years, Arnette Park and Fayetteville-Cumberland County Parks and Recreation have held the Haunted Hayride, a one-mile-long open-air ride that travels the Haunted Trail to Marlowe Mansion, a haunted house.

This year’s event takes place on Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 27-29 from 7 to 9 p.m. Admission is $2 per person. According to a spokesman for the parks and recreation office, the event is not recommended for small children.

Arnette Park is located at 2165 Old Wilmington Road. For more information, visit www.fcpr.us/special_events.aspx or call 433-1547. In case of inclement weather, call 306-7325.

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Stoney Point Fire Department will continue its reputation for sending shivers up the spines of guests during its ninth annual Trail of Terroron Oct.14-15, 20-22 and 27-31, from 8 to 10 p.m. on Thursdays and 8 to 11 p.m. on all other evenings.

“Basically, a couple of years ago, we threw out the idea, ‘Hey, let’s do a haunted house,” said Lieutenant Tara Whitman. “The guys out here did one, and they stopped doing it. They used to run one over at Lafayette Village Fire Department, and they closed that one down, and there was nothing around here for Halloween, so we said, ‘Let’s try it and see how it goes.’ We just threw some people in costumes and threw them out there in the woods and cut a little path. There was just nothing to it. It was a huge success, and ever since then, we’ve been going strong.”

In fact, the Trail of Terror grows bigger each year.

“We always try to switch it up a bit and do things a bit better than we did the year before,” Whitman said. “It takes 15-20 minutes to go through the trail. We have a haunted mansion, and then you have to walk through a cornfi eld and in and out of buildings. You’re actually walking through an older-style mansion with all the dark wood paneling and different rooms like the parlor, the study, the bedroom, the kitchen and then you’re out of the house. There’s a variety of themes, and you’ll see a little bit of everything. We guarantee a good time and a good scare.”

The Trail of Terror is recommended for ages 12 and older, but the fire department also offers a Trail of Candy for small kids on Oct. 29 from 1 to 3 p.m.

“We don’t scare them,” said Whitman. “And they get a chance to walk through it, too.”

Prepare to be scared, but please don’t bring cameras, flashlights or video cameras. Admission is $12 per person. The event is held at the Stoney Point Fire Department, 7221 Stoney Point Rd: and actually originated in the reincarnation of past haunted houses from more than 20 years ago.

For more information, visit www.stoneypointfi re.com/SPFD-Trail-o-Terror.or call (910) 424-0624.

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In a twist on the title of popular novel and movie Field of Dreams, Gillis Hill Road Produce offers Field of Screams on Oct. 21-22, 28-29 and Halloween night.

“This is our second year of having a haunted corn trail,” said Jenna Gillis, who runs the Field of Screams with her brother William. “It will be here at the produce stand. Last year we held it with random things, like a haunted corn maze. This year we have more of a theme, kind of like back in the country. We’re trying to make it as scary as possible. We’ve put more into the facemasks and the special effects.”

And if someone would rather scare than be scared, Field of Screams is accepting applications for participants up until Oct. 15. This fi ve-acre haunted corn trail thriller runs from 7 to 11 p.m. each Friday and Saturday and from 7 to 10 p.m. Halloween night at Gillis Hill Road Produce, 2899 Gillis Hill Rd. Admission is $8 per person, and groups of 10 or more receive a discount of 10 percent. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=268258853205505 or call 308-9342.

Happy hauntings!

Photo, top left: A Trail of Terror actor offers up a haunting look.

October is such an exciting month here in North Carolina! There are fairs, festivals, concerts and bazaars all throughout the state. Fayetteville is no exception to the activity buzz and one of the most anticipated local events is the opening of the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra’s Emerald Anniversary Season! Celebrating its 55th year, The FSO has scheduled a concert season that truly offers something for everyone, regardless of age!

Just in time for Halloween, on Oct. 22, The FSO will open its season with a Symphonic Spooktacular which will feature musical pieces, hauntingly orchestrated, from some of today’s most well-known scary films!

Fouad Fakhouri, music director and conductor of the FSO, said that, “Children, along with their parents, will recognize the music from the movies like Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean and Star Wars. The rest of the program will reintroduce them to short classical pieces that they may have heard before but have forgotten … pieces like “Night on Bald Mountain” used in Disney’s Fantasia, as well as “Danse Macabre” that’s been used in many children’s cartoons.”

In addition, the concert will also feature Fayetteville State University Percussion Professor, Dr. Don Parker, who will perform a Latin-inspired vibraphone concerto written by Brazilian composer, Ney Rosauro.

When asked about the appropriate age to start introducing children to the symphony, Fakhouri explained, “I think it’s never too early to introduce children to the orchestra. Unfortunately, there is a misconception that symphonic music is not for everybody. Our aim for this concert is to try and change that perception.”

Not only do the musical selections make this particular concert a little more youth friendly, but children (and adults) are encouraged to wear the costumes, especially those featuring characters from Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean and Star Wars. Fakhouri stresses, however “audiences at this performance, whether children or adults, can expect great music as well as great entertainment.”

Roxanne Harris, administrative coordinator for the FSO, adds that there will be some thrilling surprises in store during the Symphonic Spooktacular!

One of the event sponsors, Spirit Halloween, will decorate the auditorium lobby to create an eerie ambiance. In addition, the 501st Carolina Garrison (an international Star Wars costuming organization) will be on hand to, according to Harris, “celebrate musical chills and blockbuster thrills.”

While there are no food or beverages for sale during the concert, audiences are always invited to attend the reception, held after each performance, where complimentary refreshments are served.

The box office for this event opens at 6:30 p.m. and seating will start shortly thereafter. The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. Single concert ticket prices are $25 for adults, $20 for military ID-holders and senior adults over age 65, $5 for students with ID, while children 12 and under are free. For more information about this performance, or to see the entire concert lineup for the year, visit the FSO website at www.fayettevillesymphony.org or call 910-433-4690.

Photo: Just in time for Halloween, on Oct. 22, The FSO will open its season with a Symphonic Spooktacular.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Added stressors come into the mix this week. Soon enough, though, you’ll realize the gift in said “challeng-es” and be grateful that you accepted them.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Give yourself the time and space to do what you want to do. It sounds simple enough, and yet there are many reasons why you haven’t been able to create the moment and fi nd the quiet, comfortable space to make magic happen. You will be more mind-ful and intent than you’ve been in a long time.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21) The origami artists and physicists agree that the essence of life is folding. Whether it’s the folding of paper or DNA, the act of folding is sure to make a dramatic difference. And so will your efforts this week, which are likely to include bringing people into your “fold.”

CANCER (June 22-July 22) Relationships are funny. Sometimes in life you have an attraction for someone but can’t guess the way to make a connection. Or you have a connection with someone and no attraction. You have both this week and should celebrate it for all it’s worth.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) A person does not equal the sum total of his or her habits, tenden-cies and preferences. You can like someone without having to be like that person. Your ability to relate, empathize and be enriched by those who are very different from you will be highlighted this week.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) What you read will be important to you later. Reading is not a tangent or an indulgence, though it sometimes feels that way this week, particularly when the reading material is good. You’ll collect new words and learn their meanings. Having a com-mand of language will increase your power and infl uence.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) You’ve seen relationships that were built on insecurity and need, and you’ve even been in them. They can transform into something stable and support-ive, though, as each party develops a stronger identity. You’ll be favorably affected by sucha transformation.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) The problem is that your nearest and dearest have become so accustomed to your charms that they take them for granted. When you get out and mingle among people you’ve never met before, your magic works anew.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) You may not always do the ideal thing for your overall physical health. Sometimes your intentions get trumped by what you need to do to feel better in the moment. But when you are well rested and the stressors of your life are at bay, you will revel in good, wholesome habits.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) When you interact with another person, you are free to feel however you want about that person. You’ll be challenged by the behavior of others. They seem intent on making it difficult for you to be kindhearted. Love will win in the end.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) In a funny way, you wish you could return to a state of depen-dence on others, if only because it would show you once more that you are completely loved — and not for what you bring to the table, but just for being you. Someone will dote on you, and you’ll love it.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)You read the omens differently from the way others read them. You see the opportunities that exist in every situation. You may not be able to act on every opportunity, but noticing the promise that’s there will benefit you in the days and weeks to come.

As someone who appreciates the social and economic value of advertising and marketing, I don’t mean the comparison as a slight. Politics is the means by which human societies confer and legitimate the power of force. It is — or at least ought to be — a serious endeavor, conducted by people who seek such power for legiti-mate ends, rather than to enrich themselves or oppress others

Just because people market useless diet pills and tedious rap “music” through advertising, public relations, social media and other modern techniques doesn’t mean that they aren’t well suited to more serious causes. Effective marketing is simply effective mass communication. And the alternative to seeking political power through marketing campaigns is to seek it through corrupt or forceful means

So thank goodness politics is about marketing.

As the technologies and tools of marketing have changed, so has our politics. In the early American republic, when true mass communication was impossible and the voting franchise was limited anyway, political campaigns consisted of letters, meetings, personal appearances, and grassroots organization. As mass media pro-liferated through the 19th and early 20th centuries, political campaigns increasingly focused their attention on securing favorable press coverage and producing high-quality display and broadcast ads.

In today’s social-media world, mass communication has become mass customization. Political campaigns now use tools such as Facebook to target messages to potential voters and donors based on stated interests and preferences.

For example, those Facebook members who list church, community service, and social causes among their interests will get a very different advertising message than members who list hunting, sports, or playing the stock market. All these mem-bers may be Republican-leaning voters, and they may all end up voting for the same candidates. But their reasons and motivations likely differ — which is why candi-dates differentiate the messages accordingly.

There are at least two major concerns I’ve seen expressed about the onset of political mass customization. Both deserve serious consideration.

The first is that by using Facebook preferences, magazine subscriptions, and other consumer information to personalize their messages, political parties and candidates are violating the privacy of potential voters and donors.

In a free society, people ought to be able to protect their privacy from unwant-ed intrusion, be it by government or by private parties violating their contractual responsibilities. For the most part, however, the information that political actors use to customize their messages is either freely disclosed (as with personal Facebook pages with privacy screens off) or obtained legally through agreements between companies and customers (as with many subscription and mailing lists)

If I thought there were gross, widespread intrusions of privacy here, I’d be worried about it. So far, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Remember that targeted advertising is good for consumers — it serves to inform potentially interested in-dividuals of something they may value, be it a consumer good or a political cause, while sparing those unlikely to be interested from having to see or hear the ad in the first place.

The second concern is about the loss of shared experience. While Americans have often found political ads and other campaign messages annoying, they have helped to create a common body of knowledge. Think about the Helms-Hunt Senate race in 1984. While many North Carolinians were annoyed by the TV ads they saw from each side, the most-despicable material was relegated to small-circulation newspapers aimed at rural audiences — messages that many urban and suburban voters never saw.

Of course, the difference is that even if you customize your message in 2012, that doesn’t mean it won’t quickly leak into the mass media if it is libelous, ridicu-lous, or shameful. A couple of clicks and a “targeted” message with a potential to upend a campaign will go viral.

My sense is that customization of electoral marketing will bring more upsides than downsides for most voters, and for the political process. Social media offer the promise of persuading and motivating voters at a cost many cash-poor candidates can afford. Sounds good to me.

The Computer-Integrated Machining curricu-lum at Fayetteville Technical Community College is designed to prepare students for a career in manufacturing by providing them with the skills required to enter into various machining positions. We emphasize all aspects of machining that are required to take a product from the initial design to the final product. To accomplish this, we utilize a wide variety of metalworking equipment that in-cludes manual and computerized machines, such as drill presses, lathes, and milling machines. We also have a new computerized EDM (electrical dis-charge machine) that cuts extremely precise, com-plex geometry without ever touching the part. The operation is accomplished by using fine sparks that jump from a brass wire to the product to burn the material out of the cut.

In general, a machinist is a skilled craftsman who uses machine tools to manufacture parts from various materials. These parts can be one-of-a-kind parts used in special ap-plications or numerous parts used in a high-volume production operation. To understand how a machinist impacts your daily life, we need to understand what a machinist produces. Production machinists produce multiples of parts used in production requirements. Specialized machinists include mold makers who produce molds used to manufacture plastic or die cast parts, die makers who pro-duce stamping dies that cut and form sheet metal parts, and general machinists who produce almost any product needed. One of the best examples of a machinist’s work is a car. The panels that form the shape of a car are typically stamped from dies. The plastic components, such as the grill, lights, hub caps, dashboard and console, are produced from molds. The engine, transmission, axles, wheels, and various other parts are made by production machinists.

In order to properly produce a part, a machinist must also be able to read blueprints, interpret the geometry and specifications, select the proper tools and processes, and use all the necessary machines and gages required. A machinist must also be able to manufacture precise parts. In our training, we manufacture parts to tolerances of ±.0002 of an inch (approximately 1/20th of a human hair). To meet these require-ments, we include classes in blueprint reading, general math, geometry, trigonometry, metallurgy (the properties of metals) and metrology (the study of measurements). Since computers have become such a vital part of manufacturing, we also teach classes in CNC, CAD and CAM. CNC (computer numerical control) is the computer interface that allows a machinist to write a computer program that controls the movements of a machine. CAD (computer aided design) is software that allows the design of products through a specialized computer program. CAM (computer aided machining) is software that allows a machinist to take a CAD drawing or model and generate the CNC code for a machine to produce the part.

Although the field of more than 400,000 machinists is expected to remain steady, job prospects are expected to grow as more machinists retire or change careers than new candidates enter the field. As with many fields, the pay varies widely, with the typical starting pay for a machinist ranging from $14-$18 an hour and a top pay that can exceed $25 an hour.

Come and see how you can begin a rewarding career in this highly technical and challenging field and visit our state-of-the-art lab facility at Fayetteville Technical Community College. For more information, please contact Gary Smith, program coordinator, at 678-8375.

Photo: Although the field of more than 400,000 machinists is expected to remain steady, job prospects are expected to grow as more machinists retire or change careers than new candidates enter the field.

Moneyball  (Rated PG-13) 2 STARS

Moneyball (133 minutes) is not breaking any ground in the sport’s movie plot department. Much like every other sports movie, ever, an underdog (name a sport) team tries to (name a new strategy) so they can reverse their losses. But wait! (name authority figure) doesn’t believe it will work! But this team has heart, so after ignoring the experts who did not believe in them, they insist on trying (repeat name of new strategy). At the end of the day, the team wins an award/proves they can win/learns that winning isn’t everything.

Two hours in the theater and that is what I am taking away from the whole experience. The film opens on the Oakland Athletics’ as they wrap up their 2001 season. They have just lost to the Yankees by a couple of hits, and they are about to lose the heart of their team, Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi, and Jason Isringhausen. Their general manager, Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) struggles to maintain the competitiveness of the team despite having the lowest salary budget in the league.

While roaming the Earth to recruit players, Beane runs into Peter Brand (Jonah Hill). Brand has clearly read Freakonomics and he is pushing for a math-ematical assessment of players’ value. Bean is working through some issues related to the way he was recruited, which is revealed to the audience via some helpful soft-focus flashbacks.

Convinced that Brand’s focus on recruiting otherwise undesirable players will pay off, Beane hires him and they start convincing random scouts and own-ers that they are smarter than they look. After making peace with the scouts, the scene shifts to dealing with Manager Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman, chan-neling Tommy Lasorda a lot more effectively than he is channeling Howe). Howe insists on playing the roster his way rather than following the formula designed by Beane and Brand.

Beane responds by trading the lone remaining superstar player so that Howe has no choice but to follow the strategy. Of course, the media gives the manager all the credit for the result-ing, record-breaking, winning streak. Flush with the prov-en success of the method he championed, and probably more than little bit pumped at having alpha-maled Howe, Beane wanders the locker rooms sprinkling words of wis-dom and motivation over the players’ heads.

There are some nice scenes in the middle of the movie introducing players who are in it for the love of the game, who aren’t making a ton of money, and who are either trying to find their way into a secure contract after being labeled a liability or are on their way out, and struggling to hang on.

There is also a brief scene introducing Beane’s ex-wife (Robin Wright) that serves to encapsulate Beane’s life. Basically, he had a lot of potential that he didn’t live up to, so the people he was relying on to support him hung him out to dry.

This is a good example of a sports movie. If you like sports movies, you will like this. Moneyball’s strength lies in focusing on the dramatic tension inherent to the coach/general manager relationship, and the media scrutiny and second-guessing. The film is weakest when addressing non-team related issues. The flashbacks to Beane’s recruitment seem emotionally disconnected from the rest of the film, and the scenes with his ex-wife and daughter (Kerris Dorsey) seemed tacked on. I get that the director/writers tried to add an emotional center to the film, but I don’t think I am alone in saying the game itself is the only emotional center you really need.

Now showing at Wynnsong 7, Carmike 12 and Carmike Market Fair 15.

As Baby Boomers who are also caregiv-ers for elderly parents, we know firsthand of the situation Jonathan Rauch recently shared in Reader’s Digest September 2011 issue. His story began as he was attempting to move his 80-year-old father closer to him in Alexandria, Va. so that appropriate care could be provided.

That move eventually happened, but not before many months of falls, calls from neigh-bors and resistance from the father who said he was “fine” and wanted to be left alone. During the heart-wrenching experience, Rauch sponta-neously shared his frustrations with a variety of people. They might have been shocked at what he said, but some listeners offered concern and sometimes good advice. But Rauch continued to think: How could so many people be unpre-pared for one of life’s near certainties?

That is a great question!

1. Do we not want to admit that our parents will age?

2. Don’t we say that the two guarantees in life are death and taxes?

3. Didn’t we watch our parents care for their parents?

4. Isn’t the news full of information about diseases, retirement options, se-nior living communities, long term care insurance and Medicare?

5. Isn’t AARP the largest lobbying group in the country?

6. Are we blinded to think it will happen to other people … just not us?

Actually, if we are fortunate enough to have family members live long enough, we will most likely need to provide care for them. That care may in-clude: bill paying, medication monitoring, coordinating doctor visits, grocery shopping and driving for them. These needs could expand into dealing with safety issues such as hygiene, nutrition and fall prevention.

Regardless of which specific needs the parent has, adult children can benefit from having support from other people who are “in the same boat.” But where is this support of-fered?

• Area Agency on Aging

• Reading periodicals: Up & Coming Weekly, Stroke Connection Magazine, Caring Today Magazine, etc.

• Some Local churches have groups focusing on Children of Aging Parents.

• Support Groups for target groups sponsored through medical and rehabilita-tion centers: such as Stroke, Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s Support Groups

• Neighborhood Recreation Centers• Websites: www.caregiverstress.com

• Friends and relatives

• Professional Caregivers

Essential in the process of caring for a loved one is not feeling alone in the process. It is helpful and possibly necessary to seek fellow-ship among others experiencing the same concerns as you. Consider starting a group if one is not available in your neighborhood or church. You can do this by yourself, but why would you want to when there is support out there?

An initiative of the Young Adult Library Services Assocation, Teen Read Week is celebrated annually at thousands of public libraries, schools and booksellers. Teen Read Week is officially Oct. 16-22, but the Cumberland County Public Library and Information Center is choosing to celebrate all month.

This year the theme is Picture It. The library is embracing this theme and has two month-long programs to engage local teens.

The first one is the Teen Read Art Show at West Regional Branch. It is an opportunity for teens to show off their talent. Teens are invited to submit artwork for display throughout the month of October. There will be prizes including ribbons and gift cards, although people can enter their work without competing. Find out more at 487-0440.

Taking the Picture It theme in a different direction, Headquarters Library is having a photo scavenger hunt. Teens can go to the TeenSpace at Your Library Facebook page, the library’s website or any of the Cumberland County branch locations and get the list of items for the scavenger hunt.

“We are hoping the teens will be really creative,” said Missy Lang, assistant youth services coordinator. “For example, if the list included a license plate, and someone sent in a picture of a funny or interesting vanity plate, we would consider that as a winner for most creative. We really want them to have fun with this.”

Here are the rules that are posted on the Cumberland County Public Library and Information Center website: The library is using Flickr for this contest, since it allows tagging and grouping, and teens can create a free account. The contest tags (which need to be added to each photo in your submission set exactly as listed) are: CCPLIC teenreadweek2011 photoscavengerhunt. Please label your pictures with the item and number taken from the list. Create a set for all of your photos so that viewers can see all your work together and leave comments. There will be one winner and one runner up for this contest. To be eligible, participants must submit 31 separate pictures, must be the creators of the photos and the pictures must be taken during the month of October 2011. Cheating isn’t nice. Don’t do it. A three-judge panel of library staff will select a winner based on creativity and photo quality.

“We are excited about this contest and hope that we can get a lot of teens to participate,” said Lang. “We have many teen related programs at the library, but sometimes people don’t realize that, or for whatever reason they can’t attend. This event is designed to draw in those teens who can’t always make it to our events but would like to.”

For more information, please call Missy Lang at 483-7727 ext. 306.

Fayetteville Technical Community College opened it’s doors 50 years ago because community leaders at the time realized that it was time to modify the economic out look of the state. They realized it would take a skilled work force to take full advantage of the opportunities the future held for them.

FTCC President, Dr. Larry Keene is well aware of the great progress the school has made this past half century and he’s looking forward to making the next 50 years just as productive.

“I am not a hockey player,” said Keene. “But they tell me that when you are playing hockey you skate to where the puck will be — not to where it is — because if you go to where it is right now you will always be late.”

Like any good hockey player, Keene is positioning FTCC to take the lead in technology, job training and whatever else comes along.

That includes staying on top of the latest technologies like interactive learning and 3D training opportunities and implementing them within programs that will benefi t students, who then take these skills and talents into the workforce. FTCC currently utilizes these technologies in applications like health care and construction, but the possibilities are endless. Students are able to not only look at an image of a heart on a screen, but they can virtually journey into the heart and learn its functions as they interact with the image. It is a huge leap from what they can learn with just a book and a plastic model.

One of the things that makes this strategy a success is public/public partnerships and private public/partnerships. In other words, if major manufacturers of products and services fulfi ll a need world-wide FTCC will be there to partner with them, providing education training and working in concert with them to utilize the institution’s effectiveness for their purposes as well. That is the kind of partnership that benefi ts not only industry, but FTCC students and the economy.

The institution currently partners with several local industries including GoodYear, Time Warner, MJ Soffee, K3, RLM Communications and Clear Path Recycling to provide job training for employees. “The Customized Training Program allows us to reach out to local industries and provide state funded training to their employees,” said Brian Haney, executive director of economic development and emerging technologies.

Century Link is a perfect example of this system at work. Vice President for Learning Technologies, Bobby Ervin became aware of Century Link’s plans to introduce “Prism” — a new digital technology — in the area. It involves bringing 20 – 25 new jobs to Cumberland County and an additional 75 jobs to eastern North Carolina. He reached out to Century Link and now FTCC is providing training to employees and job applicants. In fact, there will be a Career Fair on Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. for those interested in applying for these jobs.

It would be easy to assume that putting together a training program would be time consuming, especially when it involves high tech objectives, but that is not the case.“

We live in an area that is rich in talent,” said Haney. “We are able to find people with the right skills and contract with them to meet the needs of our partners, and often it is at a much lower cost than if people were travelling to be trained in another city like Raleigh.

”With one eye on the future, Keene and the other leaders at FTCC have not lost sight of the current needs of FTCC students — and there are many.

When a student comes to FTCC their objectives are vast and varied. Whether it is retraining for a career switch, preparing for a four-year college, starting a new business, venturing into a new hobby or taking on new skills in hopes of a promotion, FTCC is ready to meet the needs of it’s students.

When it comes to meeting the needs of both students and industry partners, the staff know how to make it happen.

“We listen,” said Haney. “Sometimes institutions dictate to their students and partners because they think they know better. We don’t do that. We listen to the needs of the people we are working with and then find ways to meet them.”

“We are all about jobs,” Ervin added. “We educate and train people, work with corporate partners and do whatever we can to help bring jobs to the community and have people ready to fill them.”

Find out more about FTCC and their many programs at www.faytechcc.edu or by calling 678-8400.

Photo: The institution currently partners with several local industries to provide job training for employees.

If you are looking for employment in today’s difficult market, this fair may offer just the ticket — and it’s free! The Cumberland County Department of Social Services (DSS), in partnership with other community agencies and businesses, is holding its Fall into Work Job Fair on Wednesday, Oct.12, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Crown Expo Center.

More than 100 employers are expected to attend the job fair, and employment opportunities span several fields, including business, education, government, food service and hospitality, childcare, customer service, distribution, healthcare and more.

“It is free,” said Robert Relyea, employment coordinator with the DSS. “Anybody seeking a job is welcome to come to this. It doesn’t matter where you’re from. In the past, we’ve talked to people from all over the Southeast.”

“Work First started in 1996, and Gov. (Jim) Hunt wanted all 100 counties in North Carolina through the DSS and Work First program to do an event like a job fair,” Relyea said. “So we did ours, and probably had one of the most successful in the state. Fayetteville Tech was our original partner; in fact, we held the fi rst one at Fayetteville Tech because at the time, we didn’t have our facility set up. We probably had about 45-50 vendors (employers), and we might have had around 1,200 people come through it, which was big back in ’96. We had a much better economy. We decided to keep doing it, and we started doing them here at the agency.”

Over the years, the agency has held more than 20 such events. The original fair took place in March, and after its positive outcome, the DSS offered another fair in the fall, which was also successful. For 10 years, the agency and its partners offered two fairs a year. Their success contributed to the growth and eventual move of the fair to a larger venue at the Crown Expo Center.

“We used to have them down here at the DSS,” said Relyea, “but we basically outgrew our area. Parking became a bad issue, so DSS decided we better find a bigger location for the event. And we went from having around 70 or so vendors per event and really having them squeezed together to having 100-plus with plenty of room.”

The job fair now takes place once a year, and the numbers of attendees and partners have increased as well. Fayetteville Tech has remained a partner, joined by the City of Fayetteville Community Development Department, Beasley Broadcast Group, Inc. and Fayetteville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce and business sponsors Fayetteville PWC and Hardee’s restaurants. This year’s turnout is expected to be at least comparable to last year’s.

“Last year, 4,700 people come through the event,” said Relyea. “This year, we’re hoping to be as helpful, although it would be nice to see fewer people. That might mean the economy is a little bit better off. We’re probably going to see around the same number. Things don’t seem, job wise, a whole lot better than they’ve been in the last year. ”

And with competition keen for jobs, Relyea offered several valuable points for jobseekers:

• Bring plenty of résumés and pens, as no resources for making copies exists.

• Prepare a brief statement about yourself. Employers can spend only a few minutes with each applicant. The more concise you can be with what you have to offer, the better off you’ll be because you’ll give the employer that important information right off the top.

• Talk to vendors and understand what you need to do next. Understand each vendor’s hiring practice so you will know what to do.

• Make sure to get a vendor’s name, address and business card. When you leave the job fair, immediately write a thank you note to each vendor for spending time talking with you.

• Dress well –– neat and presentable. Look representative of the type of jobs you’re going to apply for. If that means a coat and tie, that is what you should wear. Avoid large jewelry; be really conservative in dress and accessories.

For more information on a great opportunity to meet many potential employers, call (910) 677-2222 or (910) 677-2177 or visit www.ccdssnc.com/Job_Fair.htm.

Halloween is right around the corner, so while you’re carving your pumpkins, decorating your house and putting the finishing touches on your costume, go online and purchase your tickets to the 8th Annual Historic Hauntings in downtown Fayetteville.

The hay ride will depart from the Transportation Museum and Annex every Thursday, Friday and Saturday of the third and fourth weeks in Oct.(October 20-22 and 27-29).

“We have a wagon that leaves every half hour starting at 6:30 p.m. all the way up until 9:30 each evening.” says Carrie King, executive director of The Dogwood Festival.

The Historic Hauntings tour consists of an hour hay ride that takes you through downtown Fayetteville to some of the city’s most haunted locations.

“What we do is not only tell you stories and tales of mayhem and murder, but we also represent things that are historically accurate,” explained King. “So not only are you getting the scare factor, but you’re also getting real fi rst-hand accounts of events that have shaped our community and our history.”

“We change the tour every year so the patrons are not going to hear the same ghost stories that they heard on the wagon last year,” she noted.

Some of the stops this year will include Liberty Point, the Cross Creek Cemetery and the Transportation Museum. Each year the tour will take the patrons through the Cross Creek Cemetery and share stories about how some of the residents of the graveyard got there. This year, The Dogwood Festival takes it a step further and will have the patrons get off of the wagon and walk through the cemetery by torchlight.

“We try to bring in those creepy little elements so you can really catch the eeriness,” says King.

The Gilbert Theatre has also provided the Historic Hauntings tour with actors and re-enactors who will assist in bringing some of Fayetteville’s ghosts and spirits to life.

Bruce Daws, the city’s historian, will be an onsite narrator at the Transportation Museum sharing some of his spine-chilling and bizarre stories about railroad accidents.

“Some of our stories are really interesting, stuff that you’re not going to read about in a history book,” says King.

This event is open to the general public and the admission is $15 per person.

King added, “If there’s a hiney on the hay you have to pay.”

This event can be child friendly, but it is up to the parent’s discretion and if the child is easily scared or not.

“The cemetery will be pitch dark and the stories are true, so it depends on your child’s scare-factor level,” says King.

All of the proceeds from the Historic Hauntings tour go to Bruce Daws to help preserve historic Fayetteville and Cumberland County, and to the Cross Creek Cemetery to help repair some of the old headstones that have been there since the early 1800s and those that have been vandalized throughout the years.

“We definitely don’t spare any details as far as making sure everything that we’re talking about is accurate and putting on the best show for the dollar,” says King.

Also, make sure to buy your tickets online ahead of time because they sell out fast, and show up early so that the wagon doesn’t leave you alone in the dark!

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the website at www.faydogwoodfestival.com/historic-hauntings.

Photo: The Historic Hauntings tour consists of an hour hay ride that takes you through downtown Fayetteville to some of the city’s most haunted locations. 

Who Do You Trust?

I have been on the road a bit of late, with all the packing and unpacking that goes with travel. It dawned on me during a recent and frantic session that my packing has changed without my being aware of it. It was a small revelation.

For one thing, I am more organized about it than I used to be.

I keep a vanity kit packed at all times with toothpaste, shampoo and the like. It is ready to toss into a suitcase after I add my vitamins and other current items. I keep a stash of no-iron clothes that survive travel, if not exactly unscathed, at least looking like no one slept in them. I have also learned to keep a travel umbrella in my regular suitcase, because you just never know no matter what the forecast says.

The main difference, though, is what I now deem essential to have that I never imagined in travels past.

As I left on my most recent jaunt, I had a moment of mini-panic when I thought I had left my mobile phone at home and another when I could not find the charger. Fortunately, I had packed both, and the same charger does double duty by fueling both my phone and my now-necessary tablet computer. The heretofore unknown tablet now goes everywhere I go, and I hardly know what I did without both it and the mobile phone.

I am comforted by the knowledge that I am hardly alone.

A stroll through any airport in the entire world reveals thousands of people yakking on their mobiles — or “handies” as they say in Europe, hunched over laptops or cradling tablets in their laps. They do this on planes as well in “airplane mode.”

Technology makes this possible, of course, and drives us to use it as well. There is an element of “keeping up with the Joneses,” of course, but there are also practical reasons. If the Precious Jewels are going to send me texts, which they do regularly, I have to have a device that can receive them and allow me to respond.

There is more.

In what seems increasingly like the olden days, we got most of our news and information from our local newspapers and television, which really meant three networks — ABC, CBS and NBC. Today, the options seem endless. There are hundreds of cable TV channels, some of which seem fairly sketchy to me but are there nonetheless. And, oh my goodness!, the Internet! If there is some topic impossible to search, I have not found it. Online is now the go-to source for news and information of all kinds, so much so that many people wonder what is going to happen to all those libraries full of actual books.

A recent report by the Pew Research Center and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation confirms what we are all up to now days, media-wise. We still depend on local newspapers, like Up and Coming Weekly, for local news and information. We read them at least once a week, although we do so increasingly online. Beyond that, media consumption is “Katie, Bar the Door!” Television remains our primary source of news — primarily weather, traffic and breaking stories — but radio and all manner of websites are in the mix as well.

The bottom line is that we are taking advantage of all the choices technology has brought us.

The situation is fluid, though, and there are aspects of it I find troubling, most notably that young people gravitate toward “softer” news stories, often passing on the more complex stories. Maybe that is just a matter of maturity, but… A separate Pew Research Center study tells us how confl icted we are about our media. Overwhelmingly, we distrust “the media.” More than two-thirds of us believe news is often inaccurate, that news organizations have agendas and that they are infl uenced by those in power. That is, all media except the outlets we personally like, which we fi nd fair and balanced.

We feel the same way about our elected offi cials.

By astounding margins, as much as 90 percent, we disdain Congress as a body but generally like our own representatives and senators. And in what social scientists refer to as “cognitive dissonance” — holding confl icting views at the same time — we do not seem concerned about where our news and information comes from. With so many options available, we lack interest in exactly who is generating our news content, or what, for example, would happen if local newspaper disappeared.

Who would tell us about local events and discuss local issues? Some website based in China? Who would write the news and disseminate it and would they try to be truthful or to advance their own points of view?

I am packing for another trip as I write this and have my gizmos stashed for the ride. I know they open new worlds of media, and I know something else about them as well.

They are driven by human nature, which is as old as time.

Photo: In what seems increasingly like the olden days, we got most of our news and information from our local newspapers and television, which really meant three networks.

Jazz fans have something to look forward to this month. On Oct. 13 at the Crown Center, prepare to hear some of jazz music’s finest per-formers at the Autumn Jazz Explosion. Performers Jay Soto, Paul Taylor, Warren Hill and Marion Meadows are pulling out all the stops to bring Fayetteville an evening of fabulous jazz music.

Soto is a guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer, pianist, music in-structor and church music director. With songs on shows like Sex and the City and All About Us, Soto was also the grand finalist in Guitar Center’s Guitarmageddon Competition. With several albums to his name, Soto is a must-have in any jazz performance.

Paul Taylor’s contemporary urban jazz sound has been honed over the 15 years that he’s been in the business. He’s no stranger to col-laborating. In fact, according to his website, “Paul’s in prime time mode with emotionally powerful 10 song collection of instrumentals and vocals which finds him vibing with a mix of old and new (and very funky) musi-cal friends.”

In fact, Taylor, Hill and Meadows just finished up the Gentlemen of the Night Tour which was a collaborative effort that took them across the country to perform from California to Virginia.

Warren Hill began playing the guitar when he was just 7-years-old. By the time he was 14, he was performing in shows in his hometown of Toronto, Canada. The night he graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, he was picked up for a recording project with Chaka Khan. He’s released 11 CDs, been on many tours and is sure to deliver an evening of great entertainment when he comes to the Crown.

Meadows is a West Virginia native who was raised in Stamford, Conn. He plays the tenor saxophone and soprano sax, is a composer and recording artist. With nine albums to his name, and collaboration projects with many big name performers, Meadows brings passion and experience to this performance.

It is easy to find accolades for Lorber’s performances in his more than 30-year career in jazz fusion (a mixture of traditional jazz with elements of rock, R&B, funk and other electrified sounds). He started out in Portland, Oregon. And quickly had an international audience.

Together, these five performers promise a fun-filled evening of smooth jazz.

The show starts at 7:30 p.m. Ticket prices are $68.00, $55.00 and $48.00 (includes facility fee).

Tickets are available at the Crown Center Box office and at Ticketmaster.

Straw Dogs  (Rated R) 3 Stars

Straw Dogs (110 minutes) is a remake of Sam Peckinpah’s 1971 film, which was itself based on a novel, The Siege of Trencher’s Farm. Thankfully, they kept the übercool poster art. Too bad they also kept the completely unnecessary sexual violence (not original to the novel, FYI).

Now, I suspect I am in the feminist minority when I say the 1971 original cut used the violence in such a specific way that I am not ready to dismiss the entire scene as a misogynistic waste of the viewer’s time. Of course, much of that sort of criticism is due to the studio’s foolish decision to edit the cut originally released in the U.S. The studio edit was intended to reduce the overall amount of sexual violence, but it tended to reinforce the mistaken idea that “No” means “Yes” by removing crucial scenes.

The uncut original film showed far more violence towards women, but actually did a better job of demonstrating the female lead’s lack of consent. As far as the remake is concerned though, I don’t think the rape scene served any purpose besides Rob Lurie wanting to be Sam Peckinpah. And this should go without saying, but Lurie is no Peckinpah.

Having said that, I wasn’t a fan of the original, and I am not a fan of the remake. I will totally give Kate Bosworth credit for doing a much bet-ter job with the complex material than Susan George. I will even say I didn’t hate James Marsden as much as I usually do, what with his Hollywood cheek bones and stupid bouncy hair. If you measure a movie by the amount of conversation it in-spires, than this one isn’t bad.

The action is moved from the UK to Mississippi, which adds another layer of complexity to already weighty material, adding a commentary on class warfare and hinting at deep seated racial tension. One scene in particular points to a painful lack of beer variety in small southern towns.

Passive Aggressive Fancy Pants David Sumner (Marsden) and his wife Amy (Bosworth) are taking a vacation from stardom to enjoy some bucolic scenery in Amy’s hometown. They need to hire some contractors to repair the barn roof, so naturally David hires the one guy in town who has a history with his wife. Because David has a pathological need to be liked.

First, David is angry that Charlie (Alexander Skarsgård) starts too early. Then he is angry that Charlie starts too late. David is super hard to please. Also superhard to please? Coach Tom Heddon (James Woods), who is the violent angry kind of drunk who won’t leave the bar when asked. He spends most of the film starting fights with everyone who is not his daughter, but especially with Jeremy Niles (Dominic “PrisonBreak” Purcell). Jeremy is giving off a bit of a “Lenny” vibe, and I keep waiting for him to ask George about the rabbits.

After establishing that Amy is not thrilled with David’s plan to move to smalltown America and that Skarsgård is the tallest man on the planet, the contractors promptly begin their work by taking a break to ogle Amy. David engages in some victim blaming, and Amy responds by performing a strip tease for the contractors.

Despite Amy’s anger, David continues to sing the “Three Best Friends” song from The Hangover, even though the constructions guys are clearly not his friends. As the violent climax approaches, the tension ratchets up, perhaps a bit too quickly. Is the director leaving certain events unknown to lend the inci-dents a certain real life ambiguity? Or is the director moving so quickly in order to emphasize that spur of the moment decisions lead to tragedy?

Now showing at Wynnsong 7, Carmike 12 and Carmike Market Fair 15.

“I need a change in my life, but can I really do this now … in my mid 30s?” This is the question that kept crossing my mind almost a year and half ago. I sat in my home in Raleigh, and re-flected on the past 15 years of my life spent in a city that watched me grow from a college kid into the woman I am today. Raleigh gave me an amazing college experience at Peace College, lots of great friends and memories and a starting place for my career. But as I grew-up, life changed, time passed and new journeys began for everyone around me … my friends were getting married, some becoming mothers for the very first time and others moving away for careers. Then there was me; a young, successful professional involved in my community but unable to feel like I had planted my roots. I had been contemplating the idea of moving back to Fayetteville. It was my hometown, my family was still there, friends I grew up with were moving back. Fayetteville was familiar and comfortable. But of course, as with any major life change such as this one … I couldn’t help but wonder … will it be easy to get involved? Will I make friends again with these people that I hadn’t seen in years? Can I make a difference in the community?

Two nights later, I went to my 10-year college reunion for Peace College. It was there that I ran into Jenny Beaver (a longtime hometown friend and fellow Peace alum) and Kirk deViere. Deep into conversation and catching up with one another, I brought up my idea of moving back home to Fayetteville. Jenny and Kirk were “all for it” and expressed much excitement for me. I told them of my hesitations and then Kirk made a defining comment to me, that at that very moment turned my de-cision to move back to Fayetteville from a “maybe someday” to a definite “Yes!” His words still resonate with me to this day. He said, “Raleigh is a large city with a lot of great possibilities, but Fayetteville is a smaller city with great possibilities. Would you rather be a ‘small fish in a big pond’ or a ‘big fish in a small pond’? Fayetteville is where you can be that “big fish” and where there are a lot of opportunities.”

Three months later, I packed up my life and took a huge leap of faith... and moved back to Fayetteville.

Now fast forward a year and half and here I am in Fayetteville, incredibly in-volved, and I can say that my move home was the best decision I have ever made. Last August when I moved home, I made the decision to plant my feet firmly into the Fayetteville community. I transferred my membership from the Junior League of Raleigh to the Fayetteville chapter; I joined the Boys and Girls Club’s of Cumberland County Garden Party Committee to help plan its largest fundraiser of the year, and I joined the Fayetteville Young Professionals. It felt good to be firmly planted in a community. Then my roots began to grow. FYP became a key part of my life immediately. It continually allows me to network both professionally and socially with young professionals that are in the same place in life.

My roots keep growing … my circle of friends continues to expand with both old and new faces. A lot of these new faces I have met through FYP. My roots are now growing deeper. Today my involvements in the commu-nity continue to increase with the Boys and Girls Club, Child Advocacy Center, Cape Fear Studios, Junior League of Fayetteville, and now I sit on the Executive Committee of FYP as the Social Chair for 2011-2012.

Today, my roots are planted firmly in this community. I have found home again.

The Fayetteville Young Professionals is a fantastic avenue to network socially and professionally with young professionals in this community with like interests. We have bi-weekly meet-ups, professional development opportunities, and monthly social events. There are some great upcoming events to be apart of in FYP.

On Oct. 22, FYP hosts its 3rd Annual Halloween Hike in downtown Fayetteville. Please join us that evening dressed in your best Halloween costume. In November, join us “down by the river,” for our first Oyster Roast; and in December, come out to It’z for our annual Christmas Party … this year it is Tacky Christmas Karaoke, so join us in your tackiest Christmas attire and be ready to sing your heart out! These events are just the start of a great year of fun to come!

To learn more about FYP, please visit our website at www.fayyp.org. Get involved! Come join FYP! You too, can be the next “big fish!”

After interviewing the visiting artists performing in Boeing, Boeing at the Cape Fear Regional Theatre, I knew it was a show that had the potential for great comedy. I am happy to say, they didn’t disappoint.

Boeing, Boeing is the story of an American in Paris who is looking for love amidst the airline timetables. The premise is that Bernard, played by veteran actor Gil Brady, is an architect working in Paris. Bernard, a man-about-town, makes friends with a man who works for the airlines. His friend helps him fi nd lonely stewardesses who are also looking for love. Instead of fi nding love ever after, Bernard fi nds love with whoever is on the ground — winding up with three fiancées.

The fiancées are played by veteran CFRT performers Nicki Hart and Rebekah MacCredie, and West Hollywood-native Case Kalmenson. The three are Italian, German and American, respectively. Each brings a unique dimension to the performance, but MacCredie, a Hope Mills kindergarten teacher, had a particularly strong performance on opening night.

Patricia Cucco, who may very well be the leading funny lady of the CFRT family, rounds out the female cast, playing Berthe, Bernard’s maid and social director. It is up to Berthe to make sure that the apartment is ship-shape when each of the fiancées arrive. She does everything from changing out pictures and flowers to cooking favorite meals. Cucco’s comedic timing is sheer perfection, and her physical comedy adds much to the performance.

Brady, as Bernard, brings a bit of Jim Carrey to the stage as he struggles to hold all the pieces of his life together when all of his fiancées arriveat once.

While the cast as a whole shines, R. Bruce Connelly steals the show. Connelly, who has played Jim Henson’s Muppet dog Barkely on Sesame Street since 1993, was absolutely brilliant.Connelly plays Robert, Bernard’s visiting friend. As the never-been kissed, Wisconsin introvert, Connelly draws you in, and then leaves you laughing in the aisles with a mixture of physical comedy and dead-pan timing.

The CFRT made a great choice in staging Boeing, Boeing as the fi rst performance of its regular season. Bo Thorp, the director of the show, picked an excellent cast, and when you understand they put the show together in just under two weeks, you realize what marvelous talent these six actors possess.

The show runs through Oct. 9, so book your ticket now. For tickets and times, visit www.cfrt.org.

Photo: Boeing, Boeing is the story of an American in Paris who is looking for love amidst the airline timetables. 

The carnival concept of the 2011 U.S. Army Soldier Show will take audiences on a globe-spanning journey to more fun-fi lled venues in 90 minutes than some folks experience in a lifetime.

From a boardwalk to a fun house to a circus to a county fair to a time machine, Soldier-entertainers will take their guests on a song and dance tour of carnivals across America and beyond.

“It’s an opportunity to actually take the audience on a journey with us,” Soldier Show director Victor Hurtado said. “And not just to the continental United States — we have a great international scene.”

Africa, Samoa, Latin America, Nepal, with influences from India, Thailand and China, are represented in the song-and-dance extravaganza that plays to the strengths of cast members from several countries. Each international scene will feature authentic music from that locale.

This Soldier Show cast features strong instrumentalists on the violin, drums, guitar, keyboards and bass who will keep the performers on the move as they dance from scene to scene. One central character will help keep the show moving by introducing each scene.

“There are a lot of dancers, a lot of movement in the show,” Hurtado said. “But there are some great voices as well. And great stage presence. We have some great rapper and spoken-word guys, so we have quite a bit of that driving the show.”

Patriotism is woven throughout the show that does not so much resemble a military production.

“With MWR, we’re in the business of taking Families and Soldiers away from the trials and tribulations of what they’re going through, so I think this will definitely inspire the patriotism, but really help you escape and take you to places you wouldn’t go, all in one day,” Hurtado said.“You wouldn’t go to the circus, a boardwalk, a country fair, a fun house — in four different areas of the world — and a Fourth of July celebration, all in one day.“

You could never physically do that, but you’re going to be able to do that at this show.”

“Entertainment for the Soldier, by the Soldier” is the working motto of Army Entertainment Division, which will launch the 106-performance Soldier Show tour from Fort Belvoir, Va., to 61 installations, garrisons and other venues around the United States, Germany and Korea.

“As a group, they’ve really become very cohesive,” Hurtado said. “We’ve really been able to get the show together quickly. They’ve been very engaged. It’s pretty amazing where they are already, as far as rehearsals go.”

The 2011 U.S. Army Soldier Show’s eight-month tour is made possible through sponsorship support provided by Army G-1’s Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention Program (SHARP) and Navy.

The Soldier Show will be at the Crown Center Theatre in Fayetteville on Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. and Oct. 8 at 2 p.m. Admission to all shows is free on a first-come, first-seated basis. For more information visit www.atthecrown.com or call the box offi ce at 438-4100.

Photo: The 2011 U.S. Army Soldier Show’s Admission to all shows is free on a first-come, first-seated basis.

It has been a stellar year for the Cape Fear Botanical Garden. The new 33,000 square foot visitors pavilion opened in April and has been a real boon for the community.

“All along our plan has been for the visitors center to serve as a platform to expand our programming,” said Botanical Garden Executive Director Jennifer Sullivan. We’ve been fortunate that it has worked out like we had hoped it would.”

In addition to an upscale gift shop, the center is available to rent for events like wedding receptions and business conferences.

Big Bugs is an exciting part of the new expanded programming that Sullivan mentioned.

It is an exhibit featuring just what the name implies, big bugs — really big bugs. A 1,200 pound praying mantis and three 25 foot-long ants are among the giant insects that can be found in the garden through Dec. 31.

The exhibit debuted at the Dallas Arboretum in 1994. Since then it has been seen nationwide, including the Denver Botanical Garden, Disney’s Epcot, New York Botanical Garden and the U.S. National Arboretum.

Artist David Rogers created the sculptures using combinations of whole trees found standing or fallen dead, dry branches and other forest materials. It is the wide range of materials that gives the bugs their distinctive character.

The exhibit is sponsored by Terminix. “We are delighted to have the opportunity to sponsor David Rogers’ Big Bugs at Cape Fear Botanical Garden. Visitors will have a fun filled opportunity to come face to face with some of nature’s most fascinating creatures,” said James Haugh, president of Terminix.

“We’ve actually been planning this exhibit since 2007,” said Sullivan.“It has been a long time in the making and we are excited to see our efforts payoff.”

Taking full advantage of the nationally known exhibit, the garden is hosting several bug-themed events, for kids and grown-ups alike, through the end of the year, in addition to the regularly scheduled events. Build-A-Bug craft stations will be available daily in the Children’s Classroom for youngsters to celebrate their bug love. Be sure to schedule a visit to the Café Cart for a Bug Munch brown bag lunch. Activities are also scheduled on Saturdays from 12-3 p.m. Registration is not required; children are encouraged to drop by. Visitors are invited to check out all the offi cial bug detective gear and merchandise at Cape Fear Botanical Garden Gift Shop.

On Oct. 2, come to the garden and enjoy not only the Big Bugs exhibit, but take in the Heritage Festival and celebrate life in the 19th century. There will be live bluegrass music, barnyard animals, agricultural exhibits and activities for all ages. Look for the demonstrations featuring how food was prepared in the 1800s. There will also be displays and demonstrations of traditional crafts. Stick around for a moment or two and play a game of hopscotch or marbles.

Oct. 20, don’t miss An Evening with the Big Bugs and BackBeat, a Beatles’ tribute band. The event runs from 6:30 – 10 p.m. Bring a blanket or lawn chair to sit on and enjoy the family friendly outdoor concert. Ticket information is available at www.capefearbg.org.

It is a great deal — for the price of a regular visit to the garden, visitors can see the Big Bugs exhibit and enjoy the Heritage Festival.

Not only is the exhibit a good thing for Cape Fear Botanical Garden, but it promises to be good for the entire city.

“It is fantastic that Fayetteville is going to host this nationally recognized exhibit,” said John Meroski, president and CEO of the Fayetteville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. “It will really put Fayetteville on the map, and is going to introduce visitors from all over to the beautiful botanical garden and our great city.”

Find out more about the garden at 486-0221 or www.capefearbg.org and learn about the Big Bugs exhibit at www.big-bugs.com.

Photo: Big Bugs is an exciting part of the new expanded programming at Cape Fear Botanical Garden. Cover photo and story pictures courtesy of Julia Vetrinskaja ( Julia V. Photography).

Cultural diversity is just one of the things that makes the Fayetteville area so unique. We are fortunate in that we share our city with people from all over the globe. With them, they have brought us colorful fashions, interesting languages and delectable cuisines, but how much do we really know about them, and, the countries they’ve left behind?

The Southeastern North Carolina Asian India Association (SENCAIA), the Friends of the Library and the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County, together, are giving us a rare opportunity to better understand the past and present struggles, growing pains and relationships that have molded, and continue to shape modern day India.

Anand Giridharadas, columnist for both the New York Times and International Herald Tribune, will speak at the Cumberland County Public Library and Information Center’s Headquarters Library, 300 Maiden Lane, on Oct. 4 at 7 p.m.

Giriharadas, who was born in the United States, will discuss what it’s like to live between two different cultures, and, of his experience returning to his parent’s native land as a young adult.

His topic, “The Age of the Fusionista: Understanding the New Class that is Stitching our World Together” is his interpretation of how ancient customs and changing attitudes are being woven together to create new beliefs in the country of his ancestors. Following his lecture, Gririharadas will host a question and answer session, then he will sign copies of his book, India Calling: An Intimate Portrait of a Nation’s Remaking. If you don’t have a copy, not to worry, copies of the book will be available for purchase on the night of his lecture.

Kellie Tomita, marketing and communications manager for the library, when asked about the importance of understanding other cultures, explained, “As we learn and share our experiences and perspectives, we deepen our acceptance of one another.”

She said that this program is the result of a generous contribution and that the goal of SENCAIA is to promote awareness of the culture and lifestyle of the Indian population.

She added, “Their donation funded, not only the visit from Giriharadas, but also enabled the library to increase its print and digital collections.”

When asked about the term fusionista, Tomita responded, “Fusionista is an intriguing term, isn’t it? How Giriharadas defi nes it is at the heart of this program, which is why we hope those who are curious will join us to fi nd out just what Giriharadas means.”

Reservations are not required for this event, nor is there a charge. For more information about this, or any of the library’s other upcoming programs, visit the website at www.cumberland.lib.nc.us or call 910-483-7727.

If laughter is the best medicine, then the doctor is in the house on Friday, Oct. 14, when the Royal Comedy Tour comes to the Crown. The tour looks to be a must see show this fall, if it is anything like last year’s tour which, sold out shows across the country during its 20 city tour.

Sommore, a comedian, is this year’s headliner. She is known for her quick-witted sarcasm and has an impressive track record to back her up. With air-time on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Live From LA, Showtime at the Apollo, The Hughley’s, The Parkers and Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, it is no wonder fans are coming out in droves to hear her perform.

Bruce Bruce, another peformer on the tour, was rewarded for his comic talent with the highest ratings ever as host of BET’s 10th Anniversary Comic View for two seasons, and promises to deliver a side-splitting experience for the audience.

Mark Curry, the star of television’s Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper, has countless hours of night-club entertaining under his belt and really shines on stage. With shows like Coming to the Stage and ESPN’s Cold Pizza on his resume, Curry has earned a place in the hearts of those who love to laugh.

Damon Williams has appeared on BET’s Comic View several times as well as performing at Showtime at the Apollo and Jamie Foxx Presents Laffapalooza. Williams can be heard on the Tom Joyner Show in “Seriously Ignant News.” He’s a crowd favorite in the comedy clubs and sure-fire favorite for the Royal Comedy Tour.

Tony Rock is the brother of Chris Rock, but he has made his own mark in the world of comedy and easily keeps audiences in stitches. His list of performance venues includes the Comic Strip, Caroline’s, The Comedy Store and The Improv. He’s had roles in All of Us, Hitch, Three Can Play that Gameand Life Support. He’s a busy guy and a big part of the comic synergy that the Royal Comedy Tour is so well known for.“

The Crown Center is excited about having one of the most high-spirited, hilarious comedy tours in the country featuring one the hottest headliners and well-known female comedians in the comedy world, Sommore,” said Interim Director of Marketing and Sales at the Crown, CaroLyn Swait. “The tour features some of the funniest comedians around. We look forward to bringing a variety of different shows to our diverse community for the 2011-2012 season.”

This show opens at 8 p.m. and will only be in town for one night, so order those tickets early to ensure a good seat. Visit www.ticketmaster.com or www.atthecrown.com to get your tickets. They are also available at the Crown Box Office or by calling 438-4100.

Photo: Comedienne Sommore headlines Royal Comedy Tour at Crown.

Bragg Boulevard: A Love/Hate Relationship

I fielded an interesting phone call at the offi ce this week. The caller didn’t leave his name, but based on our conversation I am confident that he owns a business on Bragg Boulevard. The caller asked why in the world we would have a category called “Best thing to Hide from Visitors” in our Best of Fayetteville edition when Up & Coming Weekly works so hard all year to promote small businesses and lift up the best in our community.

After he hung up I thought about it and I have to admit, condemning an entire street, one that is 15-miles long and a main thoroughfare in our community does seem a bit counter-productive to the mission of our publication.

Our publisher maintains that the Best of Fayetteville serves many purposes. It provides valuable information and insights into the Fayetteville community. Reporting with credence and credibility what is NOT the best in our community also lies within our mission and is valid, and I respect that.

It was our readers though, who voted and awarded this title to Bragg Boulevard. This is not the first time that Bragg Boulevard has won this dubious distinction. In fact, it has held the title for a number of years. It makes me wonder if it has become such a tradition that people really don’t really think too hard about it when they see this space on the ballot. But maybe they do.

The caller pointed out to me that several of our Best of Fayetteville winners are located on this supposedly wretched road. He’s right.

Thai Pepper won Best Thai Food and they have a location on Bragg Boulevard that stays quite busy. MiCasita won Best Mexican/Best Burritos and they have a location on Bragg Boulevard, too, as does KFC who won Best Fried Chicken. M&M Leather and Custom Cycle is our readers’ choice for Best Leather Store, New and Nearly New Thrift Shop is the Best Place to Buy Used Furniture. Edward McKay won Best Used Book Store. They are all located on the boulevard.

The Trophy House, which is one of the Best of Fayetteville sponsors, calls this street home. The Renaissance European Day Spa won several categories, just like they have in years past. They took Best Day Spa/Nail Salon/Leg and Bikini Wax/Massage Therapist and Best Health Club/Gym. Where are they located? Right behind Eutaw Shopping Center, which is on, you guessed it, Bragg Boulevard. Perhaps one of the biggest contributors to our community in both dollars and population — Fort Bragg — has several gates on Bragg Boulevard.

The N.C. Veterans Park was voted Best Change to Fayetteville and rests on the downtown end of the Best Thing to Hide From Visitors, right next to the Airborne Special Operations Museum, which also won several categories in our Best of Fayetteville edition — Best Little Known Attraction/Best Thing to Show Out-of-Towners and Best Museum.

Did you miss that? The Best Thing to Show Out-of-Towners is on the street that won Best Thing to Hide from Visitors.

Our readers know what’s good in this town, they tell us every year and have proven to be right time after time. Why they voted this particular street a disgrace when it holds some of our best treasures is something I can’t answer. Does it have some establishments that are not family friendly and are even a bit shady? Yep. So do several other streets in town, and somehow they escape our reader’s scrutiny. Are the businesses that line the road aesthetically pleasing? Is it a place you would feel comfortable walking at night? We have to say no.

Could it be? Can Bragg Boulevard turn itself around the way downtown did a decade or so ago? Are the businesses that our reader’s love best organizing themselves and working together to change their corner of the world?

What I gleaned from this caller is that the business owners, maybe not all of them, but many of them, know this and are working every day to bring more and better goods and services to our community. They are trying to meet the needs of their customers, provide for their families and contribute to the community just like the businesses downtown, Sycamore Dairy Road, Raeford Road, Morganton Road, Reilly Road and all the other roads that are home to the thousands of small businesses in the community that play a part in making Fayetteville the All-America City that we call home.

They are succeeding in that aspect. But think about this: Maybe the boulevard gets this vote so often because our readers see so much potential here. They are willing to eat, shop, workout, get pampered and do business on this road, many of their favorite places are here — but there is still a lot of work to be done.