Jitters For Sale
During the past year, “energy drinks,” also known in the business as “functional beverages,” have become part of the scenery at Charlotte bars and convenience stores. The names of these drinks are usually aggressive: Whoopass, Venom, Piranha, Amp. The most successful, Red Bull, has already passed into pop-cult status, regularly used in TV shows and…
Stargazer
For All Signs Give thought to the dream(s) you took the first steps to manifest during 1989. Ten years later, during 1998-99 there was significant pressure to redefine the original commitment and pour significant resources into that hope. If it was not worth the effort, you may have let it dissolve. But if you met…
On The Way Home
Felicia Weeks had been struggling with drug and alcohol addiction for years, and it was slowly killing her. One night she found herself in a strange house ” driven by her compulsion for a fix ” when feelings of despair and hopelessness overwhelmed her. “I was at the point where I thought I was going…
Karma Cleanser
Dear Karma Cleanser: I had a brief (several week) e-mail relationship with a guy, thinking that if we hit it off online, we would eventually meet in person. He told me that he hadn’t dated in many years, and once he sent me his picture, I could understand why. Still, he seemed nice enough so…
Cogdell Creates Own On-Street Parking
Uptown business owners and those trying to reach them by vehicle flipped out in December after city leaders announced that 119 uptown parking spaces were to be removed, ostensibly to prevent a terrorist attack. The logic at the time was that removing the metered spaces would make it more difficult to park next to key,…
The Egg And I
Motherhood, eggs and the budding of a new season are the subject matter of two concurrent shows on view at The Light Factory. At the beginning of the first spring we’ve celebrated since September 11, 2001, six months after the attack, cycles of birth and rebirth seem particularly relevant, and these feminine meditations and reflections…
Color Coded Security
Homeland Security Director Tom “Fist Face” Ridge announced a new, five-tier system for delivering terrorism warnings last week. And not just any five-tier system, but a lovely, stylish color-coded five-tier system. Creative Loafing has obtained a copy of a chart, originally slated as part of Ridge’s announcement, which was deleted at the last minute due…
Over The (Big) Top
Lights up on Zoe, a slightly boyish ingenue circling the stage warily, dressed in a simple white pullover and a pink jumpsuit. While her lyrics are French, the anguish and longing of the teenager’s song shatter the language barrier. But Zoe’s parents — Dad reading his newspaper, Mom listening to a radio and staring off…
Playoff Destiny In Hornets’ Hands
Working in their favor is a remaining schedule against mostly lower-ranked teams of the weaker league, their own, the Eastern Conference. But lose those games, or most of them, and forget it. The bugs will be watching the playoffs from the luxury of their favorite armchairs. Nine of the Hornets’ last 16 games are against…
The Fertile Delta
Meet Dennis Lenahan. Aging high-diver. Works itinerant jobs across the South. Lands at the Tishomingo Lodge & Casino in Tunica, Mississippi. Witnesses a murder. The bad guys know it, and they want to whack him. There are complications — and possibilities. Like Robert Johnson before him, Dennis Lenahan is standing at the crossroads. His choices:…
Creative Loafing Exclusive:
The President of the United States of America can kiss my rear end. I’ve had quite enough of him lately, trotting around the country telling people to donate 4,000 hours of their time — the equivalent of two years of their lives — to volunteer work in their communities. What will they ask for next…
Arts Agenda
Classical Music A Chamber Music Recital by Synergy Music from around the world by Aaron Jay Kernis, Zoltan Kodaly, Joseph Haydn, Hector Villa-Lobos and others. Sun., March 24, 7 p.m. Free. Holy Covenant United Church of Christ, 3501 West W.T. Harris Blvd. 704-948-5618. Charlotte Symphony Classics — Legendary Wagner program will feature four famous Wagner…
The Torch Is Passed — Finally
“Drugs have gone all to hell,” a veteran of that halcyon era of ingestion, the 1970s, complains, his main quibbles being that they aren’t as good as they used to be, they’re harder to find, and they’re more expensive. A recent college graduate sounds a similar lament about scarcity and cost, although she can’t make…
Soul Food
The out-of-town journalist sitting several tables away remarked she had never heard of, much less tasted, a hushpuppy before she saw it on the menu at Southern Comforts BBQ & Soul. While the idea of not knowing what a hushpuppy is seems strange to us, remember some folks in St. Louis eat fried ravioli, chili…
The Bird Is The Word
Even though nearly every rapper and red-hatted Fred Durst wannabe regularly flip it , the old middle finger gesture (i.e., “the bird”) was around long before the crotch-grabbing set adopted it as their own. However, exactly when and how the one-finger salute originated is a matter of debate. One theory goes that before the Battle…
Mendo Vino
When folks think of California’s best wine regions, Napa Valley and Sonoma are usually the first places that leap to mind. Hey, why shouldn’t they be? Wineries are making some kick-ass grape juice among those picturesque vineyards. But I’ve got news for you: there’s a lot more to California wine than Napa Valley. Take Mendocino,…
Letters to the editor
No Fragile Twig To The Editors: I was featured in Sam Boykin’s article about Trans-people in Charlotte (“Right Sex, Wrong Body,” March 13). I wish to comment in response to the way Boykin, as well as photographer Chris Radok, portrayed me and other Trans-people in general. First, the cover photograph depicted a man and someone…
Good Eats
ALL AROUND TOWN ANNTONY’S CARIBBEAN 2001 E. 7th, 704-342-0749; 145 Brevard Court, 704-339-0303; 20910 Torrence Chapel Road, Cornelius, 704-894-0280. A fun, change-of-pace restaurant for a casual lunch or dinner. Limited menu features rotisserie-cooked barbecued meats, what else, Caribbean style. $ BRUEGGER’S BAGEL BAKERY All over town. Chewy bagels, crisp on the outside, and served with…
Instructive Priorities
School superintendent Eric Smith presented a lean budget which drew the habitual Republican gripes about lavish spending, as well as others’ ire over the elimination of foreign languages and band/orchestra from elementary schools, as well as a cut in the number of teacher assistants. At the same time, Smith wants voters to approve bonds that…
Rent-A-Band
Have a bar mitzvah coming up you want to go all out for? Perhaps a frat party to end all frat parties, featuring not only copious amounts of Widespread Panic music playing but also the band itself? Or perhaps you’re booking one of those big asphalt-fests, and you need to fill out the roster in…
By the numbers
I’ve always loved numbers and mathematical equations; math is constant and math problems always have correct answers. Compared to the rest of life, math is simple and logical. Numbers are the mashed potatoes of education; that’s how comforting they are. However, numbers are also terrifying. Today in the Information Age, numbers are everything. Each human…
Sister Act
* Bridget Heaney of tenDollarJeans and her sister Shannon have teamed up to form CJ Sister, an acoustic duo who are about to embark on a nationwide tour in hopes of raising money for a scholarship fund. The sisters recorded a CD titled Fight For Your Life, in honor of their mom who they lost…
It Ain’t Easy Being Green
W hat is it about St. Patrick’s Day that Americans have glommed onto it so? Our country’s rich heritage of Irish immigrants? Doubtful. I think it’s the drinking. Except for New Year, no other holiday lends itself quite so well to imbibing, even if the holiday has been Americanized to include oddities like green beer.…
Soundboard
Wednesday, Mar. 20 Arnie’s Tavern, Huntersville Scott & Tim Bayou Kitchen Bill Noonan Cajun Queen 7th Street Gator Band Cajun Queen, Pineville 7th Street Gator Band II Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro Eels Connolly’s Craig & Rich Dilworth Coffeehouse Open Mic w/ Bert Wray Double Door Inn Bruce Hazel & The Noise w/ Bla.ck Eyed Dog* The…
News of the Weird
Rightwing Genius: After sheriff’s deputies in Kalispell, Montana arrested militia leader David Earl Burgert, 38, in February, they uncovered his group’s “Project 7” plot, allegedly to assassinate several county officials (including the local dogcatcher) in a fanciful plan that Burgert is said to believe would eventually create enough local chaos to start a national revolution.…
Music Menu
THURSDAY 3.21 Beth Wood — Wood honed her craft in Austin, TX, but finally came to some sort of prominence in Asheville, where she was quickly embraced by local folkies like Jimmy Landry, Chris Rosser and David LaMotte. She’s got a pretty good newish one out, Ghostwriter, which ought to please fans of soulful folk…
The Blotter
* A heated argument between two women alarmed neighbors enough that they called the police. When the police arrived, they discovered that the two women were just arguing over a man. While questioning one of the women, police discovered that she had previously been assaulted by the same man the two were fighting over. *…
Being Mind Full
So many choices, so little certainty. Yet while that may wreak havoc on the winning percentages of Academy Award prognosticators, it should make for an unpredictable Oscar telecast that might actually keep viewers awake until the very end — which, if recent history is any indication, will be around the time roosters rev their internal…
8 Days A Week
WEDNESDAY 20 Classical music star Midori will perform with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra tonight at 8pm in Belk Theater of the Performing Arts Center. The performance is on the occasion of the Orchestra’s 70th anniversary. Tickets are $40-$75. For more information, call 704-972-2000 or visit online at www.charlottesymphony.org. The Charlotte Hornets play the Indiana Pacers…
Film Clips
NEW RELEASES LANTANA In last issue’s “Alternate Awards” piece, I wrote that this was the best 2001 release yet to reach Charlotte. The good news: It’s finally here. The bad news: Not only did Lions Gate not bother to let the local press know of its arrival (it opened last Friday, meaning it may be…
