SOLSTICE

HAPPY SUMMAH SUMMAH SOLSTICE 

Click here-"DRUMS PLEASE!"

Sum-ahh is here. Ha-ha, lol, crack up. Really it came to us in April and I'm not talking deep south. I planted tomatoes in mid April and have recently eaten four bursting with fla-vah flav maters. Looks like we'll be eating one a day because they're coming in like gang busters.

I only plant heirlooms. What is an heirloom? Well, think of it as something you treasure and pass down, generation to generation. So how does that apply to plants and more importantly SEEDS? Heirloom seeds and plants will reproduce true to form. That means if I gather my cherokee purple tomato seeds from a ripe tomato, I can dry them on a paper napkin, store them in a dry place and then plant them next year or give them to you to plant. The end result will be another cherokee purple tomato plant. 

         No diggity, no doubt!

                                                         

I'll show you mine if you show me yours...

What happens to non-heirloom seeds and plants? Glad you asked! Well, they've been hybridized, another puzzling word. Basically, the genetics have been tampered with by scientists who have good and bad intentions. Good intent is to produce a firm tomato that can be picked hard and green, will survive bumpy transportation and handling in a truck coming from across the universe and then sit piled on top of one another on a stupidmarket shelf. It can take a drop kick, roll under the counter and still be rock hard when you retrieve it. That's the good part. (?) The bad intent is that these fruits will produce sterilized seeds. Ah, you can't reproduce these suckers. Why would you want to! But think of big track farmers that in the past century were able to swap and save grandpa's seeds and plant every year without going to Monsanto to buy their seeds. The plot does thicken, believe me.

Buyer beware! Buy heirloom veggies and fruit. Ask for them in the grocery store because you won't see them often enough. AND my best advice for the most delicious tomatoes that you won't find in the stupidmarket:

 Grow your own or shop at your local Farmers' Markets! Click here for a local list of Charlotte area Farmers' Markets. Support the little guys and gals who care about keeping our food REAL and sustainable. Enough lecturing folks. Time for another song? Hell yeah! click here. These are some very hairy dudes!

**********************************************

Speaking of dudes, these country guys rock it hard and are coming to Charlotta June 24.

Tickets are still available! Another summertime song, click here-

                                      

      Brothers of the Sun Tour at the Bank of America Stadium

uptown Charlotte

Keeping with the idea of live music in a completely different vein: Symphony in the Park, South Park! 
            You all know Bolero by Ravel, right?
How 'bout hearing it performed live and outdoors on a hot summer's eve?
Bring a little vino, some tasty bites, low sand chairs and a blanket and kick back. 
Featuring: VIVE LA FRANCE        
   SUNDAY JUNE 24   Tickets: $10.00
Gates open 5pm. No dogs allowed. Prelude begins at 7pm. Symphony: 8:15
Click here for details.
                                      Sail away on the music.


DID YOU SAY SALE?
Mid-Century, you will hear that term over and over if you haven't already. Mad Men is shot in the 60's, mid century is 1960. Were you around then? I was. Yikes!
The TV show and their furnishings are HOT HOT HOT and Slate Interiors is jammed packed with mid century, vintage furniture, accessories and jewelry not to mention very cool original art! They're bursting at the seams. Don't be a jerk and miss their biggest and best sale starting 
                  June 21- June 24. 
I blogged about Slate Interiors last time and featured a video clip I shot in the store; I shopped afterwards!   To subscribe to Slate's blog,  Click here:

Slate Interiors

1401 Central Avenue

Plaza Midwood

704-930-7890

www.shopslateinteriors.com

Another modern SALE!

 I can never pass up checking out a museum's gift shop. You can find the most unusual stuff. Here's something I picked up at a museum in South Carolina recently! Hello Dali. 

Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, uptown Charlotte is having a storewide sale now until June 30th in their museum shop. All merchandise is discounted 10-50% off, excluding books. You can find watches, glassware, 

t-shirts, jewelry, posters and very cool stuff.  You don't need to pay admission price to shop the shop but if you are looking to advance your mind and see outstanding modern art, then browse the museum while you're at it.  Don't give me that cr_p that modern stuff is not art. Get real. The Bechtlers have amassed an incredible amount of amazing mid century art and we Charlotteans are lucky to have them share it with us smack in the middle of uptown. 

**********************************************

Enjoy some mid century tunes and remember to

 "boop boop boop boop"

when you want to! Click here to listen:

**********************************************

Catch the NEW Carolina Appraisal & Auction Show, filmed at the Charlotte International Collectibles & Antiques Show. It premieres Sunday June 24 at 2:30 pm on WSOC TV and  each month afterwards. Local folks are finding out what their treasures are worth! .Click here for details.

**********************************************

WHERE IS THIS? Email me if you know... kbshoots55@gmail.com

**********************************************

my FAVORITE new restaurant in my favorite old neighborhood-Plaza Midwood!

BISTRO La BON

Click here for details

**********************************************

Enjoy your summer, tootle around, try a new dish, eat garlic and don't think twice. Enjoy your life while the living is easy...it's summertime!  Click here for a perfect ending to a perfect summer solstice day.


Commercial message: I am now selling on Etsy.com. Have you visited Etsy? It is addicting and I have vintage items that I have collected as I tootled around. Please go to: Etsy.com and in the search box, type: friarshillroad  (no caps) and you will find my page. Happy shopping folks!

10%off for anyone who mentions Yankee Tootles blog.

Juno Uno (I made that up)

"If you gonna be a square,  you ain't going anywhere!" Click here to get in the mood with one of my all time favorite Italianos:  Dino Paul Crocetti.  Now that you're in the mood, how about some fine vino? Wine is soooo devine!  AND June is Italy month at D'Vine!!      2nd Annual "Italian, Family Style Wine Dinner" at D'Vine Ballantyne Village: Thursday June 7  "2nd Annual Italian, Family Style Wine Dinner" featuring wines from Italy.  Ashli Cohen (no relation!)  of Vino Vino is serving wines paired with special menu selections such as Truffle Risotto with braised chicken and gnocchi with roast pork ragout from Chef Ashley.  I can't make gnocchi, can you? That's reason enough to go! Plus 1/2 off listed wines, wines that you've tasted first hand and already know whether you like them or not. Reception Bubbly plus Five Courses, $49.99/person. Molto bello! Click here for more info or call 704.369.5050 for reservations; they fill up fast! Check out the calendar for D'Vine Wine Cafe Fridays and Saturdays-free wine tastings in early summer nights.  This is Ballantyne's only wine retail store and features al fresco light dining and wining.  ********************************************************************

I told you recently about my new fav restaurant in South Park, have you gone to COWFISH yet? Go in June and use this coupon for a great sushi burger. You won't regret it!
Click here for $5.00 off a $30.00 purchase. You're welcome!  http://www.thecowfish.com/images/email_images/coupon.php

********************************************************************

71 year old, Robert Allen Zimmerman was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House May 31, 2012. Click here to find out who it is!

President Obama announced at the civilian award ceremony, "What sets these men and women apart is the
 incredible impact they have had on so many people - not in short, blinding bursts, but steadily, over the course of a  lifetime."

This man has had more impact on my life growing

 up in the 60's then anyone else. How 'bout you?

A college drop out, he became a New York Village resident and performer in clubs like Gerde's Folk City. Sticking to his strong beliefs in American liberties, he walked off the Ed Sullivan show before he was set to perform when he was asked to change songs.

Never having sung a number one hit song, he wrote scores of popular folk and rock tunes that we all know the words by heart and that are still sung a half a century later.  A New York resident of Woodstock, he still tours on what his fans call, the never ending tour, last year performing with Mark Knopfler in England.

2012 UPDATE:  The Chimes of Freedom, a 4 CD collection crosses all genres of music from rap to rock, folk to jazz. Musicians such as Patti Smith,

Miley Cyrus and the Avett Brothers (North Carolina boys!) honor the 50th anniversary of Amnesty International by singing B.D.'s compositions, many addressing the appeal for human rights. All proceeds go to Amnesty International. I just ordered my copy!

                    

Songs and more info listed here, just click.

       

********************************************************************

Slate Interiors in Plaza MIdwood section of Charlotte


 is featuring it's monthly ART reception with featured


 artist: Sharon Hockfield. 

Time: 5-8pm

Address:  1401 Central Ave.      


Call if you need info    704-930-789

www.shopslateinteriors.com.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/05/30/3278295/in-the-galleries.html#storylink=cpy

Co-founder and owner Debbie Harnett explained on 


my recent visit there that  Slate Interiors houses more 


than 50 merchants, designers, and artists with 


affordable items for home or office.  Each booth is a 


complete room setting that you can just pack up and 


take home. I filmed Debbie in Slate Interiors giving us 


a very brief tour! Click the arrow button to start up the 


video.

video by Karen Cohen 2012

BTW (by the way), if you haven't visited the 


                          Plaza Midwood 


section of Charlotte yet, GO! It is funky and fun, good 


eats line Central Avenue and the vibe is relaxed 


indulgence of the senses. Best part, it's all walkable, 


park the car and stroll. Click here for video

********************************************************************

WINNER for 2012 Charlotte Magazine's BEST 


Farmers Market is the place I go every Saturday 


morning-and now summer hours include Tuesday 


nights! Yeah. Matthews Farmers Market. 

Click here for info:




Everything here is HOME grown, meaning local. It's 


great to support our neighborhood food producers. 


Organic goodies, range free meats, cheeses, breads, 


plants, flowers, crafts and the freshest veggies you 


can buy are right here. Get there early! Some items 


are limited-remember this isn't massed produced! 


Open rain or shine please leave the doggies home but 


bring the family out for a morning of strolling and 


noshing.


This Saturday: 7:30 am (yes, in the morning!)
 How to make delicious stuffed squash blossoms from Luca Annunziata, executive chef of Passion8 Bistro.

At 8:30 am:  Chef Joeseph Bonaparte of the International Culinary Schools of the Art Institutes cooks up seasonal market produce.

********************************************************************

For lunch or breakfast, before or after the farmers' market, head over to local boys from New Yawk-
                   POPPY Seeds Bagels 
off Potter Road in the Stallings/Matthews area of N.C.
 Click here for info, hours and address.

IT IS WORTH the trip and you will feel like you are smack in lawng ilan! I swear! Joey, Tony, Milt and their kids are milling about, shouting out their orders like, "I'll take a dagwood, add some cappy on a Kaiser roll!" Pick up a copy of the Times, slurp your morning joe, enjoy some lox and cream cheese on authentic, I MEAN IT real bagels and listen to your mother tongue, (if you're a yankee, that is!) You lookin at me?

Do take a dozen home and wait a minute...what do I see in the counter...is that Taylor Ham, pork roll?                                    Oh, I am a kid again and loving it.

Click here

                                   

********************************************************************

Or should I ask: "WHAT is this?"

 As if carrying your cellphone in hand 24/7 isn't enough, now we have another gadget that we don't need but really can't live without. A smartwatch. Linked or synched with your bluetooth device, now you can WEAR your smart device! Isnt' that handy dandy!


Find out the time, check emails, take calls, tweet, update Facebook, play your saved music files, etc. etc. all on your wristwatch and why NOT, I ask you? Think of all the people who have their phones glued to their hands even when they sleep. You know there are stories of people who have texted in their sleep! (I am not kidding). But what a pain to always be clutching your lifeline when you can wear it, yes wear it, for just under $150.00! Such a bargain, I'm sure.
Sorry but I won't be buying this watch, I am holding out for the SMART SHOE (click to see it!) Later.

   MAY 17, 2012   Happy Birthday, Cool Jerk!

Dandelion Market 

is housed where Latorres dance club used to be on 5th Street, uptown Charlotte, right off of Church Street. (We loved Latorres for latin dancing so I was relieved to 

find it didn't close, it just moved next door upstairs-more about Latorres later).

Two of us ordered and split five "small plates". Each one a distinct flavor and generous portion, average price is $10.00 each. We loved the grilled lamb 
lollipops, pinky-red in the center; pick up these meaty pops by the rib bone! 

And the Prosciutto Crostinis: cheesy, crunchy, salty and yummy.  I can't wait to go back and try some more, so many choices. This is a G.B.O. (go back often) place. The atmosphere is cozy, aged brick walls with an open floor plan, it's a  real neighborhood  bar with an Irish pub feel. Quick service and each dish served up piping hot right off the stove. Maybe it's the rampant A.D.D. festering in all of us, but I love sampling many flavors in one hour sitting rather than waddling through one entry that you might not even like! The beer list is extensive and many of the mixed drinks feature my favor liquor, elderberry flavored  St. Germaine (click on it) which we discovered five years ago in P-town, Cape Cod. Not always easy to find in the ABC stores, ask for it and make sure they stock it. 

                                        Dandelion Market | Charlotte, NC (click on it)

And if your hips don't lie (click for hip action!) go to Latorres Disco next door on 5th Street! The club is revamped and gorgeous!

                        

 For you who wish to shake your bootie all night long, this top floor disco pulsates and features the best sound system and intelligent light system around. We went many times to the old location and loved watching the dancers who came out just to strut their stuff on the dance floor. Sometimes I would actually get up and dance!

        Beach Party kicks off May 18 FRIDAY at 10pm. Tickets $20.00 at the door.

Speaking of Latin Dancing       

Tues-  May 29^th - FREE Salsa Dancing Classes provided by the Charlotte Latin Dance Group 

7:00- 11:00 pm

 Villa Antonio's at their South End location (next to Pier One)

Charlotte

·        Villa Antonio has $5.00 bar appetizers and $6.00 drink specials     every night at the piano bar-and what a bar it is!

Extending "Restaurant Week" throughout the summer, go to Villa Antonio's for a 3 course prix fix dinner menu: $30.00 per person any night of the week. We often go to Villa Antonio's at their sister location in Ballantyne for family celebrations and authentic Italian cuisine. Great service and a beautiful atmosphere. Piano bar in both locations.

                                     *   *   *   *  *  *   *   *   * 

DISCO IS NOT DEAD!

So sad to hear that Donna Summers, super Disco Queen and iconic bad girl of the 70's and 80's,  died today at the age of 62. She had battled with cancer.

  Five time grammy winner and the first artist to have three back-to-back No. 1 double albums, remember these hits if you are old enough, year after year:

 1975 Love To Love You Baby-the moaning and groaning from Donna was enough to set everyone groovin' in the disco's!

1977 I Feel Love 

1978 LAST DANCE (click here)

1979 Hot Stuff

1979 Bad Girls

1983 She Works Hard for the Money

1989 This Time I know it's for Real

I wasn't into disco music but my mom was! She didn't go "clubbing" but she loved to  blast Donna Summers and Barry White on our record player. Can't Get Enough -I know it by heart! We would  do the hustle (click) in the living room and mom would watch!
 I adored  the revamped version of  I FEEL LOVE (click here) in the Blue Man Group's 2009 show featuring Venus Hum on vocals which I enjoyed in Charlotte. Wild!  
Can you name the two songs that the Blue Men start to play in this video before Donna Summers' song. Email me: kbshoots55@gmail.com and I will post the correct answers. 

                                                        VEGAS with the BLUE FAKE MEN!

"Once you have established yourself as an icon in your field, it is important that you pay tribute to some of the great rock legends that came before you."- the Blue Man Group. 

                                     *   *   *   *  *  *   *   *   * 

Dance like there's no one watching...if you haven't seen this New York

ensemble company perform, now is your chance! Right now till Sunday 

at the intimate Knight Theater, uptown, feast your eyes on dance that 

cannot be rivaled. Lucky to have seen the group perform twice, once in New York  WITH the incomparable and legendary Judith Jameson and then again last year in Charlotte, I am amazed at their skill and artistry!
For tickets, click here.
   

                                


















                                 *   *   *   *  *  *   *   *   * 

Russell Brand look-alike but much cuter, Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros puts on a performance that rivals crowd pleasers such as The Boss, Bruce Springsteen or even Jim Morrison dare I say! Don't judge till you see him yourself in person!

Russell Brand

  Alex Ebert

May 16,  Fillmore Charlotte: all eyes riveted on his every move, the packed-like-sardines crowd watched transfixed as Alex weaved and bobbed shoeless across the stage. Sitting often on the edge, his non-stop energy starts with a slow build up, engaging the audience to sing along, then ending with everyone hollering at the top of their lungs and jumping up and down in unison! The show was one of the best I have witnessed in ages! I can't say it's only rock and roll...it's more like a band of crazy folkie troubadours onstage. The band numbers 11 or 12 performers as I counted with organ, piano, trumpet, accordian (OMG), two drummers, guitars, back up singers, a wailing violin all with voices and instruments tuned to each other's perfectly executed improv.

My fav tune and one you probably have heard and not known who it was, HOME (click here) I took the shaky video! Ah, home-let me come home, home is where I want to be.

            
The Wanderlust KINGs
Coming MONDAY to the Fillmore in Charlotte is another lunatic ensemble whom I just discovered: Gogol Bordello.  Insane is how I describe this musical band of gypsies! Formed in 1999 in lower Manhattan, band members of all nationalities merged for musical madness. Watch the satirical Immigraniada (We Comin' Rougher) (click here) song and see how long you can take it! Right in your face, no punches here, weird Al Yankovic's cousin (not really) is SERIOUS about his schtick.
Do NOT miss the show on May 21.

Gogol Bordello  Date: Mon, May 21, 2012 08:00 PM  Onsadates and times

Interesting junK: "Gogol" comes from the name Nikolai Gogol. As one of the most influential writers in Ukrainian and Russian literature, Gogol paved the way for the likes of Kafka andDostoyevsky. He also serves as an ideological influence for the band because he "smuggled" Ukrainian culture into Russian society, which Gogol Bordello intends to do with Gypsy/ East-European music in the English-speaking world. -sourced from Wikipedia.

BTW: The Fillmore Charlotte is one of the coolest (literally, the A/C was blasting!) and most intimate venues to watch your favorite bands! We have witnessed Ray Davies, The Cult, Flogging Mollies, just to name some recent shows! You can get as up front and personal as you want with the band, as long as you don't mind the gang of rockers who mob the stage singing, dancing and maybe moshing...(yikes!) 

General Admission usually $25.00 gives you standing room only which is great if you want to feel the pulse and dance; otherwise you can spend extra bucks to get the VIP section which is roped off and guarded like a castle by a muscle bound bouncer and a checklist checker who seemed oblivious to the music and show! (Totally engaged with her texting buddies on her cell, she really illustrated just how far texting can take you: i.e. in front of oncoming trains, crossing streets in traffic, blowing through red lights, and missing an entire concert. A loud one at that!) And tweens are allowed into the shows.                The I.D. proofed adults are banded for drinks. 

Speaking of...who remembers the OLD Fillmore EAST in New York? 

Tell me about it, I missed that one, too young. 

Rock concert promoter, Bill Graham closed it's doors in 1971.

                                                  *   *   *   *  *  *   *   *   * 

smART: May 18 FRIDAY

 Again it is time for the Arts Market at the Neighborhood Theater, NoDa, way uptown Charlotte.  So much cool stuff to see, fun places to pop into and eat, drink and just be darn merry!

  *   *   *   *  *  *   *   *   * 

"Making the world more open and connected" and shamelessly gobbling up our precious hours...HOW CAN WE IGNORE 28 year old, New York born, Mark Zuckerberg on the brink of his next grand adventure expected to reap in 6 billion smackers: Facebook goes public! A fad or a fashion, the hemp or cashmere hoodie that  Zuckerberg (click on him) wears 24-7 has become his signature (Old Navy sells them for $249.00!) and has incited many rants amongst wall street business folk.

Michael Pachter, the Wedbush Securities analyst who was the first to give the Facebook IPO a "buy" rating, told Bloomberg TV:

"Mark and his signature hoodie: He’s actually showing investors he doesn’t care that much; he’s going to be him. I think that’s a mark of immaturity. I think that he has to realize he’s bringing investors in as a new constituency right now, and I think he’s got to show them the respect that they deserve because he’s asking them for their money."

I disagree! Let's recall Apple's founder, Steve Jobs' black turtleneck, was he cool or what! Do genius minds spend time on their looks or do they maybe, just maybe, have bigger and better issues to deal with?Ya think? 

                                  Do they want to be admired for their clothes or for their minds?

These guys can wear whatever they want and it's we who judge who have to GROW UP! 

Frankly, I am amazed at how many decades men have donned daily boring grey or navy, two piece suits glammed up (not really!) with alternating colored ties and socks.

                                               Come on guys!

Regroup-and think this over, get creative. Wear a skirt maybe, why not! SKIRT Magazine, (remember that one- defunct in 2011) featured a monthly photo of a man in a skirt. Readers loved it and it definitely caught your attention.

Blogger Bill Clearlake said it succinctly in 2006, "Guys just want to be comfortable and many men are discovering that skirts are more comfortable for the male body than pants. Pants bind and chafe. They rub and restrict movement. There’s the “three drops” problem caused by our plumbing getting kinked on all that material. It’s even been demonstrated that pants can lower a man’s sperm count by raising the temperature of his testicles which inhibits sperm production. Cooling the testes with ice is a common medical treatment to increase sperm count and motility. Many urologists claim that tight pants can even contribute to or aggravate prostate problems."

                    Be brave! Like Braveheart, real men DO wear skirts (click here). 

  *   *   *   *  *  *   *   *   * 

Practice WOTD’s (word of the day)


Guns and Butter diplomacy:  Exporting anything to fatten up the world and arm it for permanent bloodshed.


Hipsturd: Hipsters who aren't really hip but copy others who are.


Global Weirding: extreme unpredicatable weather trends that give credit to the theory of global warming.


JEET: "Did ya eat?"


Pinterest: a new social network website where you can sign up and share your ideas, likes, etc. with other users.

  *   *   *   *  *  *   *   *   * 

Last blog's WHERE IS THIS was answered correctly by Oliva! It was Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden.


                 WHERE IS THIS?

send guesses to kbshoots55@gmail.com

Sony NEX-7 Black Digital SLR Camera With 18-55mm Lens - NEX-7K/B