In cool flowing words (11.30)
Hillsborough’s ZELDA LOCKHART knows how to translate the ugliest parts of life into shockingly beautiful word tapestries. Her 2003 debut novel, Fifth Born, managed to be poetic even as it exposed child abuse and damning family secrets. Its fine writing and emotional power earned Lockhart the distinction of making the Barnes & Noble Discover New Writers list. Now Lockhart is back with a family saga that spans the 19th-century Native American removals and the tumult of the Civil War. In COLD RUNNING CREEK, Lockhart follows generations of a Choctaw family uprooted and decimated by their own Trail of Tears. In the middle of clashing cultures and political upheaval are Lockhart’s strong, resilient women, including Lilly, a black/Indian descendant sold into slavery during the waning years of the “peculiar institution.” Lockhart will read from Cold Running Creek Thursday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. at Durham’s REGULATOR BOOKSHOP. Call 286-2700 or visit www.regbook.com for more information.Cynthia Greenlee-DonnellIn transformations (12.1)
First, Regina Walters was a ballerina. Then she was a cheerleader in high school. Then she was a 17-year-old girl in a hotel room, crouched next to a dead body and a gun. After that, she was Inmate 0423358. Then she became a member of the Womens’ Prison Theater Project. Now, she’s a woman in her early 30s who’s been free for over a yeara woman in the midst of her next transformation. In REWIND, Walters works with playwright Lynden Harris, director Kathryn Williams and actors Hope Hynes and Jeri Lynn Schulke, using narratives and projections to rethread the events of a life. The goal is printed on the show’s poster: Change in a heartbeat. Change into a heartbeat. Change before the final heartbeat. One night only, Friday, Dec. 1, at 8 p.m. at the ARTSCENTER in Carrboro. Call 929-ARTS or visit www.artscenterlive.org for more info.Byron WoodsIn going bang boom (12.1)
Carrboro’s Go! Room 4 was commonly lauded as the best booked, best sounding and most comfortable small venue in the Triangle, gathering crowds for bills from Bright Eyes to Mastodon to Damo Suzuki until its untimely August 2004 demise. Refusing to see their favorite club go, Lyle Collins, Mike Ellis, Bill Fischer and Wes Lowder pooled their money, ripped out the stage, and studied up on their liquor laws. They opened the doors to the RESERVOIR the following December and have kept the ghost of Go! in a drunken stupor ever since. To celebrate its TWO YEARS of cheap booze and pass-the-hat donation shows, the Reservoir invites FIN FANG FOOM and TRANSPORTATION, longtime friends of 100 Brewer Lane, to play this Friday, Dec. 1. The show starts at 10 p.m., but just like every other Friday, the taps start flowing at 4 p.m.Rich IveyIn martial horseplay (12.3)
One of the oldest and most aristocratic breeds of stallions in the world, the WORLD FAMOUS LIPIZZANER STALLIONS, will perform on Sunday, Dec. 3 at the RBC CENTER. Originally bred as war horses, the stallions served as battlefield weapons before the advent of gunpowder. General George S. Patton was so impressed with the horses that he helped them avoid being wiped out by the Russian advance during World War II, an event dramatized in the 1963 Walt Disney film Miracle of the White Stallions. This 36th anniversary tour features new routines, music and choreography, and is presented in the style of the Spanish Riding School of Vienna. It also includes a segment called “Airs Above the Ground,” showing the classic defensive leaps employed by the stallions on the battlefield. Tickets range from $22.50 to $29.50 per seat. For more information, check out www.rbccenter.com or www.lipizzaner.com, or call 861-5457.Zack SmithIn days of wine and roses (12.3)
Here’s the scene: St. Louis in early June 2003, and STEVE WYNN and his band the MIRACLE 3 are roaring through the song “Amphetamine,” which is “Roadrunner” on a supersonic highway. What impresses is that this is taking place at a record store at 6 p.m. in front of a couple dozen people. That’s the kind of dedication that should get you out to HIDEAWAY BBQ on Sunday, Dec. 3 to hear Wynn and the Miracle 3. Well, that and Wynn’s résumé. Since the demise of Dream Syndicate, a fuzz-happy outfit that inspired critics to use the terms “Velvet Underground” and “Crazy Horse” in all possible combinations, the prolific and versatile Wynn has trafficked in rock of the roots, desert, folk and indie-ish varieties, alternately stripping down and psyching back up to ensure that the same record never gets made twice. His fans are rabid; they should be legion. TIM LEE, whose Windbreakers traveled in Syndicate circles, opens with his power trio. The show starts at 7:30. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door.Rick CornellIn skate fever (12.4)
Ladies, do you find yourselves mourning your lost opportunities for athletic glory as you sit in sports bars, nursing beers and staring at ESPN while the mindless boys carouse around you? Could you have been a contender? Well, you now have an opportunity to try out for what may begiven the current state of local college footballthe Triangle’s hottest non-basketball sport. That’s right, the CAROLINA ROLLERGIRLS will hold TRYOUTS on Monday, Dec. 4 from 6-8 p.m. at the SKATE RANCH OF RALEIGH, 2901 Trawick Road. You should be 21 years or older and be in possession of basic skating skills. For more information, go to www.carolinarollergirls.com/join_us. David Fellerath
