Corkscrew
I have a confession; I’m a portaholic. This deliciously thick, sweet, sultry wine is really quite addicting. Those who don’t understand might pretentiously turn up their noses and suck down more cabernet, but port deserves some attention. It’s a wine for all seasons and occasions — winter or summer, appetizer or dessert. Any season, try…
Scene & Herd Good Band, and Slappy To Boot
Mojo Risin’: It was the battle of the ex-Laburnum band members Friday night at a packed Mojo’s Restaurant and Spirits, as two new bands effectively made their Charlotte debuts. After a brief, mega-loud DJ set by Jim Grindle, Bellglide took the stage. Formerly known as yet another name the English press would love, The Echo…
‘Tis The Season
For many of us, holiday music is one of the best parts of the Christmas season, as well as one of the best ways to help keep a good focus. Someone cut you off in the Belk parking lot? To heck with it, listen to Elvis crooning “Blue Christmas” and fuggedaboutit. That old bag beat…
Homefront Advisor
Where is Osama bin Laden hiding? The US State Department is offering a $25 million reward for information leading to the capture of Osama bin Laden. If this column helps you find him, you’d better share the reward money with me or else I’m gonna go all Operation Enduring Whup-Ass on you. The most popular…
Friendly, Grouchy George
It wasn’t supposed to be like this, our heroes dying off from ordinary mortal afflictions. Their lives were larger than ours; why should their deaths not be as well? For a long time, the model fit like a glove. Buddy and Otis tumbled down from the heavens; Janis and Gram modeled overdose chic; Bonham and…
Letters to the Editors
Of Coliseums, Whiners and Tyranny To The Editors: I am obligated to correct the many mistruths in “Keeping The Hive Alive” (by Susan Shackelford, November 28): 1. Fact: The citizens of Charlotte already decided the arena issue on June 5. No dimpled chads or overvotes, just a plain old-fashioned landslide. More voters punched the Against…
CL’S TOP DOZEN CHRISTMAS ALBUMS
Jinglebell Jazz — Various Artists (Columbia). A splendid assembly by some of Columbia’s jazz giants. Not to be missed: one of the greatest of all Yule tracks, “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” by the Dexter Gordon Quartet, plus “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” by McCoy Tyner, Duke Ellington’s “Jingle Bells,” “White Christmas” by Lionel…
The Blotter
* A guy jumped onto a woman’s vehicle and wouldn’t get off. The woman drove about a block down the street with the man still attached, looking for help, while the man ripped her wiper blades off. The medic who responded to the call reported that the man had no injuries but was extremely intoxicated.…
Music Menu
Col. Bruce Hampton & the Code Talkers Atlanta’s Hampton is a long-running staple in the Southern and national jam scene. Those familiar with him don’t need an introduction, while the uninitiated will be treated to classic blues rock sounds – a la Allmans and the Dead — laced with eclectic, jazzy jams. The rustic and…
Soundboard
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5 *AMOS’ SOUTHEND The Big Wu w/ Vine BAYOU KITCHEN Bill Noonan CAJUN QUEEN 7th Street Gator Band CAJUN QUEEN, PINEVILLE 7th Street Gator Band II CAT’S CRADLE, CARRBORO Disco Biscuits CHARLIE BROWN’S, CHARLOTTE Rachel Garcia Band Acoustic COMEDY ZONE Mike Harvey DILWORTH COFFEE HOUSE Open Mic w/ Bert Wray *DOUBLE DOOR Freeloader…
Guilty As Charged
It’s been noted that one should never trust a film reviewer who claims he doesn’t have any guilty pleasures in his celluloid closet, since this is obviously someone who merely goes with the critical flow out of fear of being called on the carpet to support his wayward opinions. If that’s true, then this latest…
Film Clips
NEW RELEASES BEHIND ENEMY LINES Borrowing the theme of those … For Dummies books, this is nothing more than “Patriotism for Dummies,” a nonsensical piece of jingoism whose release date was moved up from 2002 in an obvious attempt to cash in on the pro-American fervor generated by the 9/11 tragedy. The rush for profits…
The Sidewalks of New York
I have decided to reject everything that, directly or indirectly, makes people die or justifies others in making them die.” — Albert Camus, The Plague NEW YORK — Two days after terrorists demolished the World Trade towers, a Norwegian journalist named Simen Saetre took the subway downtown and recorded an unimaginable consequence. “The subway is…
Stargazer
For All Signs The opposition of Saturn and Pluto in our sky is the symbol which represents our global economic troubles and the intense polarizing among people and factions. These planets are in the signs of Gemini and Sagittarius respectively. These signs rule the news media, mail, transportation of all types, travel, communications, the judicial…
More Of The Same
The Charlotte Housing Authority expected the final version of a report on the agency to be different from the preliminary report. But the writers of that preliminary report, which caused the Charlotte Housing Authority (CHA) a rash of bad publicity, have dug in their heels. The result is a final report that sticks to its…
8 Days A Week
WEDNESDAY 5 The Olympic Torch Relay will pass through Charlotte today. The Salt Lake 2002 torch is scheduled to arrive in the square in uptown Charlotte by 8pm, with festivities beginning at 5:30pm. A map of the route is available at www.saltlake2002.com. The Last Night of Ballyhoo will be presented by the Charlotte Repertory Theatre…
Looking Homeward
So you like Southern writers. Have we got a story for you. It involves the small community of Hillsborough in Orange County, the model for a novelist’s fictional town, just as Asheville was for Thomas Wolfe — or more appropriately to this story, as Mt. Airy was for Andy Griffith’s Mayberry. Like many first novelists,…
Myth Making
There are certain objects and sites that evoke reverence, a sense of connection with something larger, and that in their own way articulate something quite real and moving yet also unspeakable and untouchable. A solitary walk along the beach, an early morning stroll through your own neighborhood, or a hike through the mountains can as…
Dancehall Permits More Costly Than Anticipated
City leaders promised nightclub owners last year that the fee for a dance hall permit would be “nominal.” Apparently, the city’s definition of nominal depends on whether they are levying or paying it. The fee for a dance hall permit, which Charlotte clubs must have to stay open after 2:30am since July, was supposed to…
Blind Date With a Terrorist
About halfway through Rebecca Gilman’s Boy Gets Girl, when magazine writer Theresa Bedell begins to realize that she’s being stalked by a guy she met on a blind date, fellow staffer Mercer Stevens comes up with a provocative idea for a feature story. Mercer’s idea is that the stalker’s inability to take no for an…
Catalog Shopping
Every year we scour the catalogs for the wacky, the whimsical and the just plain weird for your Christmas shopping amusement. Of course, the big thing this year is anything related to Harry Potter — but there’s enough of that out there that you’re on your own. Following are a few oddball items we’ve discovered,…
The Permanent Outsider
I usually regard literary prizes, as well as movie awards and lists of the “10 most livable cities,” as being of arbitrary and dubious worth: awards of almost any sort, say more about ambitions and agendas of the presenters than about the qualities of the recipients. I may, however, be forced to reconsider my opinion:…
Citizen Servatius
I’d like to thank the Charlotte City Council for the mind-numbingly brilliant affordable housing plan they have concocted. It’s still a rough outline, mind you, but it has the potential to guarantee full-time employment for a team of investigative reporters for years to come. Oops! That’s right. No one does real investigative reporting in Charlotte…
Arts Agenda
ARTS/RELATED ACC CRAFT SHOW 2001 December 7-9 at the Charlotte Convention Center, 501 S. College St. Exhibit will feature functional and decorative clay objects, hand-blown and etched glass, designer clothing, fine jewelry, leather goods and furniture. Hours are Friday from 10am-8pm, Saturday from 10am-6pm, and Sunday from 10am-4pm. Admission is $6 or $10 for a…
Lucy Perkins
This is a sad story that begins at about 6:30am each weekday morning. Six thirty is about the time that I’m hauling my butt to work every morning. Six thirty is also the time when I become very focused on psyching myself up for the day ahead or, if that seems too overwhelming, at least…
Second Comings
* Brothers and Sicilian natives Giacoma (Jack), Joe, and Frank Brucia have opened the 156-seat Carlo’s Italian Grill at 322 South Church Street (formerly Crawford’s). An upstairs lunch buffet is featured for $6.95. There used to be six Carlo’s Charlotte locations, but the only Carlo’s Restaurant & Pizza now is at the University. Hours downtown…
David Walters
This address, as all Harry Potter fans know, is where the dastardly Dursleys kept Harry in a cupboard under the stairs, where he lived a miserable childhood until one day he caught the mysterious train at Platform 9-and-three-quarters from Kings Cross. One of the more bizarre commentaries on the recent Harry Potter film sensation was…
