Verve Calendar

Sept. 5
Stand-up comic Carlos Mencia rolls into Ovens Auditorium with his At Close Range tour. The show starts at 8 p.m. Described as silly, topical and clever, Mencia is the star of the sketch-comedy-meets-stand-up series “Mind of Mencia” on Comedy Central. He’s appeared in a Farrelly Brothers movie “The Heartbreak Kid” and traveled the country on his The Punisher Tour. Tickets to the At Close Range show are $42.50 and are available at www.ticketmaster.com.

Sept. 11
Ready to wander around a 7-acre cornfield again? The Amazing Maize Maze at Rural Hill Farm Hill in Huntersville opens for another season and runs through Nov. 2. The maze is open Thursdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults 18 and over; $7 for students 15 to 17; $6 for students 5 to 14; and children 4 and under get in free. Be sure to wear sunscreen and appropriate clothing and shoes. Water and cold beverages are for sale. Handicap accessible restroom facilities are available. No alcohol is allowed. For more information, call 704-875-3113, go to www.ruralhill.net or email office@ruralhill.net.

Sept. 13
It’s Tosco Music Party time again. Mark the time and place: 7 p.m. at Central Piedmont Community College’s Halton Theater. Two decades ago, John Tosco invited a few of his musician friends for an informal song circle/jam session in his living room. The “music parties” became a way to gather with friends and fellow musicians to create an evening of acoustic music. The gatherings outgrew Tosco’s living room and in September, 2006 moved to the Halton Theater. The evening’s format is a performance of one or two songs by each of the 20 or so professional and amateur acts. It’s an eclectic musical mix and includes Tosco’s trademark sing-alongs.

Sept. 16
Enjoy a round of golf and help a good cause at the fifth annual Laura Laws Golf Tournament, at the Statesville Country Club. Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Statesville/Fourth Creek, the event starts at 10 a.m. with a putting contest, followed by lunch, putting and chipping demonstrations, a shotgun tee, cocktails and a dinner reception with a silent auction. The club endows a women’s golf scholarship at Wake Forest University, where Laws played. Sponsorship opportunities of $100-3,000 or more are available, and items are needed for the silent auction. Details: Ken Davis at 704-650-6383.

Sept. 25-27
The Spirit of Black Mountain College, a festival hosted by Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory, will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the experimental and influential Black Mountain College. The festival will be Sept. 25-27 at Lenoir-Rhyne. Black Mountain College graduates and those who’ve studied and worked with them will speak and perform at the festival, along with local artists and musicians celebrating the spirit of the school, which closed in 1957. They include Michael Rumaker, a Black Mountain graduate who wrote the book “Black Mountain Days.” There will also an art exhibit at the Hickory Museum of Art. Details: http://blackmountaincollegecelebration.com/index.htm.

Through September
Come window shop or grab dinner. Or just find a seat and listen to live music during the free Mingling on the Green concert series at Birkdale Village in Huntersville. The shows run from 7 to 9 p.m. This month’s lineup includes: Sept. 5, Tropic Culture band; Sept. 6, Center City Groove; Sept. 12, The Reach Band; Sept. 13, Mick & The Ultras; Sept. 19, Soul Watt; Sept. 20, Graceful Rhythms; Sept. 26, Davidson Express; Sept. 27, Amy Broome.

The 2008-09 season of the N.C. Dance Theatre starts in September with “Timeless Ballets By Balanchine,” featuring the Charlotte Symphony. In its 38th season and under the direction of Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and Patricia McBride, the theater will also present “A Night at the Movies,” a series inspired by films of the “Nutcracker” and “Othello,” among other performances. A season schedule and ticket and subscription information can be found at http://www.ncdance.org/.

Essentials For Living Well

American Classic

Andy Warhol, Muhammad Ali, 1978, one in a series of four screenprints on Strathmore Bristol paper. © 2008 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. The name, image, and likeness of Muhammad Ali appears courtesy of Muhammad Ali Enterprises, LLC. Bank of America Collection

What do Mickey Mouse, Muhammad Ali, flowers, and a can of soup have in common? All are subjects of the late pop artist Andy Warhol. From Oct. 4 through Feb. 15, the Mint Museum of Art will be hosting Andy Warhol Portfolios: Life and Legends, an exhibit featuring more than 60 works from this iconic American artist that are part of the Bank of America art collection. Curator Charles Mo says the exhibit includes “images that many of us identify with—its impact will be very impressive in terms of popularity, as well as being fun and educational for the youth of Charlotte.” Through the new Bank of America Art Exhibition Program, museums across the country will have access to one of the largest corporate art collections in the world. Lucky for Charlotte, one of those museums is right here, and the Mint has the distinction of kicking off the Warhol exhibit. No telling what will follow…

Gotta Have It

No more screaming in the shower:
HotStop products keep water at a safe temperature
American Valve of Greensboro has developed an award-winning line of products for the shower and bath that can protect people of all ages from accidental scalding. A temperature-sensing valve shuts off the water flow if temperatures reach over 117 degrees. You can easily install the products yourself by simply unscrewing your existing shower head, or they also offer instructions if you want to replace your tub spout. HotStop products are available at Lowe’s for $24 to $40, and all products come with a 10-year warranty.

The Power of Light
This may just be the best flashlight in the world, and you can spread light by buying it. It runs on three AA nickel metal hydride batteries that are environmentally friendly and easy to recycle. The batteries charge in the day, provide more than seven hours of light, and last about three years. The flashlight was developed by Mark Bent, who wanted to provide a light source that would be safe and affordable for people in Third World areas. For every flashlight that is purchased under the Buy-One-Give-One program, Bent donates a light to nonprofits in need. Flashlights are available at www.sunnightsolarstore.com for $20

Get a Grain, Give a Grain
After the Olympics, the world always feels a little smaller, a little more connected. Next time you’re on the computer, spend a few minutes developing your vocabulary on FreeRice.com. Choose the proper meaning of a word from four choices and advance through the game. Words get harder and harder, but each time you get the correct answer, 20 grains of rice are donated to feed the hungry through the United Nations’ World Food Program. And it adds up quickly. The rice is paid for by advertisers, and John Breen, a self-employed computer programmer who started the site, takes none of the profits. Now it’s your turn to be eleemosynary…and that’s a good thing.

Getting There

What’s Your Verb?
Fall is a great time to get away, and you know the part about gas, so why not try another means of travel? If biking is your thing, spend a week on Cycle North Carolina’s “Mountains to Coast” ride (www.ncsports.org/nccyclemain.php), going from Black Mountain, at over 2500 feet, to Oak Island. For the price of a couple of tanks of gas, you can sign on to see some great sites and get in shape all at the same time. If a paddle is more your style, every Saturday in October offers the chance to explore the beautiful French Broad in all its autumn glory on a guided canoe trip. Go to www.headwatersoutfitters.com/ to get onboard for this $50 adventure. Or you could just walk. Great Smoky Mountains National Park (www.nps.gov/grsm) is the most visited national park in the nation, and offers over 800 miles of trails. You’ll be surrounded by color and views beyond belief. But watch out for the bears…

Put the E in Go
Grab a GPS and put down the remote
For adventurers of all ages, geocaching offers a way to be outside, discover new places, and become the next Sherlock Holmes. North Carolina is home to more than 11,500 such caches. More than 75% of those caches are within 100 miles of downtown Asheville, so you can navigate an urban landscape or a forested mountain trail with your family and friends. Find nearby caches and lots of information at www.geocaching.com, and check out www.exploreashville.com for inspiration. Enthusiast and expert cache-hider Graeme McGufficke, or OzGuff, says that geocaching allows him “to see spots that other cachers think are cool, interesting or fun” whether he is traveling for business or pleasure. With more than 750,000 people from around the world now participating, there’s plenty of fun in the finding.

Just For Fun

Raise the Roof
H ere’s a great deal: Put roofs on two of Mecklenburg’s oldest log cabins by spending an afternoon at the golf course. The location is The Point Lake and Golf Club, a private course on Lake Norman, designed by Greg Norman (who could be more perfect?), with 13 of 18 holes on the water. Player registration is $175 per person, or $150 each for a foursome, and all proceeds benefit Historic Latta Plantation’s capital campaign. The format is Captain’s Choice, with a shotgun start at 11:30 am. Registration includes green fees, cart fees, range balls, a steak dinner, and prizes! Visit www.lattaplantation.org for registration forms.

A Way-Out Journey Within
The kingdom of Bhutan, called “The Land of Thunder Dragon,” is a Buddhist country untouched by the modern world. The pristine Himalayan countryside offers a unique opportunity for spiritual reflection while exploring the ways of another culture. Bhutan limits its number of visitors per year. Where to stay: http://www.amanresorts.com/home.aspx?id=298

Getting Dirty
As the temperature starts to cool this month, get outside and do some landscaping.

DO NOT prune shrubs, but DO

• set out new landscape plants (shop early for the nicest selection),
• transplant any evergreen trees or shrubs,
• plant groundcovers, and
• seed tall fescue and bluegrass lawns

Inside Track on the Spongetones
This Charlotte pop rock band has been around for 29 years, and Ann Wicker happens to have started the Spongetones Fan Club. They just released their eleventh CD, Too Clever by Half, and you can see their live video on World News Overnight on ABC. Drummer Rob Thorne says they’ll be performing new and old tunes at the 44th Festival in the Park at Freedom Park on Saturday, September 20, at 8 pm. Go to www.festivalinthepark.org for a full schedule of events.