It’s Saturday, July 27, and rain clouds are threatening. A hundred or so members of the Karen community, formerly of Burma, are gathered at Damikayama Temple, a few miles west of Chapel Hill, for a ceremony in which nine young men will reaffirm devotion to their faith. Some will find their callings as lay monks; […]
Taylor Sisk
Bio: Taylor Sisk is a writer and editor based in Carrboro.
Posted inGuides
Sports before basketball: The origins of lacrosse and cornhole
In May, the University of North Carolina women’s lacrosse team won a national championship that might well portend the beginning of a dynasty. The men’s team has been of championship caliber for some time. Lacrosse, as you probably know, is of Native American origin. But Orange County’s Native Americans played a different game. When, in […]
Posted inGuides
Activism on the Hill: Here, dissidents and anarchists have a home
There’s no easier place in this country to reach full bloom as a political malcontent than Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Granted, circumstances sometimes converge to spark a fire, and most anyplace can ignite. But on a quiet day, at the intersection of tempo, tolerance and intellectual rigor lies the sweet spot: 27514. And smack in […]
Posted inNews
Death Watch
“My life is kind of like full of evil monsters. But there’s this little boy in me that’s a good guy. He’s just been overrun all his life; he’s never had a chance to grow.” On Nov. 30, at 2:00 a.m., John Hardy Rose is scheduled to be executed at Central Prison in Raleigh. Rose […]
Posted inNews
Views from a military past
The Independent asked military veteran and activist Stan Goff of Raleigh to offer his views on unfolding events in response to the attacks of Sept. 11 and on how the anti-war movement must in turn respond. The Independent: Please give us a brief overview of your military experience and the work you’ve been doing since. […]
Posted inMusic
Countdown to Ecstasy
“Jazz,” Artie Shaw once said, “was born in a whiskey barrel, grew up on marijuana, and is about to expire on heroin.” Drugs took Charlie Parker, and figured heavily in the premature deaths of Billie Holiday and Bud Powell. But jazz survived. Fast forward to the mid-’80s. A new culture is now born, it too […]
Posted inNews
Rave On
Techno. House. Deep house. English house. Hip hop. Trip hop. Jungle. Trance. Breakbeat. Ambient. Eurodance. Acid Jazz. Progressive. Dub. This is the music of rave culture, dance culture, an absolutely essential sound. It’s more than music. It’s a way of life. And it’s facing some serious charges. In June of this year, the owners of […]
Posted inNews
Taking Liberties
Dan Pollitt is no fashion plate. Never has been. Ask daughter Phoebe to summarize Dad’s sartorial savvy: “No comment.” One student suggests “appropriately professorial”–as in, distinguishedly disheveled. “My uncle Basil,” notes Pollitt’s son Danny, “used to say you could put a Pollitt in a $300 suit and he’d still soon look like he’d been sleeping […]