Kubrick Lives!
A couple of weeks ago, “Operation Strangelove” screened Stanley Kubrick’s dark 1964 Cold War satire, Dr. Strangelove in various independent theaters around the country. In an apparent encore, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld last week announced that low-yield nuclear weapons might be useful in destroying deadly chemical and biological weapon stocks. He said this as he…
Summer Guide The Seven Deadly Sins of Summer
The Seven Deadly Sins of Summerummer in Charlotte can get so hot it reminds us of hell. Maybe that’s what led us to this year’s theme: The Seven Deadly Sins of Summer.Face it: We’re all sinners. Even our spiritual leaders have fallen off the holy wagon from time to time. Jim Bakker committed adultery, and…
The Blotter
Pimp Smack: An elderly man called police after an angry and intoxicated woman whacked him several times on his forehead. The man suffered cuts to his forehead from the woman’s sharp ring, and the woman was taken to detox to sober up. Bling-Bling Raid: A man was robbed of an $8,000 gold and platinum bracelet…
Speed Freak
Normally, someone playing a solo show with only a strummed guitar or some other acoustic instrument bores me to tears. I don’t hate singer-songwriters; it has more to do with the nonchalant strumming that, when paired with yet another maudlin line about self discovery, makes me want to go Sylvia Plath on their ass and…
Heart of Darkness
Anger as soon as fed is dead. ‘Tis starving makes it fat. –Emily Dickinson Who isn’t filled with righteous wrath these days? And with good reason. Traffic is intolerable, you can’t get a human being on the phone at any business anymore, most people have lost at least a chunk of their life savings in…
News of the Weird
The Moral Authority: Dining-room workers at the U.N. staged a wildcat strike at lunchtime May 2, causing the building’s restaurants to be locked down. Time magazine reported that a “high-ranking U.N. official” ordered them unlocked so that staff members could eat (perhaps to pay for food on the honor system). What ensued, according to Time,…
The Measure of an Angry Inch
On Valentine’s Day 1998, Hedwig and the Angry Inch opened at the Jane Street Theatre in New York City. Before that, John Cameron Mitchell, who originally played Hedwig and wrote the text, and Stephen Trask, who wrote the music and lyrics, had developed the show in cabarets and gay bars, trying on the glam rock…
Lazy Eye
Satan loves the summertime. The arrival of beach and pool season invites unashamed self-indulgence — topless sunbathing on foreign sands, margarita-fueled cannonballs from rickety diving boards, anonymous hook-ups in scummy panhandle hotel rooms. But in a larger sense, this is the season of sloth, when we Americans work harder than ever in our pursuit of…
The Voice Of Gay Youth
For those who have faced the challenge and emerged victorious at the end of the long dark tunnel, surviving your teen years when you know you’re gay can prove to be worthy of celebration. Few emerge unscathed from that time, but many gather strength from the experience.There’s no doubt that the transition from child to…
Gimme That!
So for a good old-gentlemanly vice, I think I must take up with avarice. — Lord Byron, Don Juan There’s nothing wrong with a healthy desire to have nice things. A little greed can be a positive motivational force to work hard. But certainly if your appetites are out of control — Tony Montana/Scarface-out-of-control –…
Creativity Trumps Repression
Marjane Satrapi grew up in Tehran and witnessed firsthand the murderous repression of the Shah, his successful overthrow, his eventual replacement by the ayatollahs who stole the revolution right out from under the noses of their leftist “allies,” the confined life demanded by strict Islamic law, and the fierce eight-year war with Iraq (back when…
Small Victories
Pride is one of those ambiguous sins. A little bit is good — maybe even necessary — if you want to get through life without getting squashed like a bug.Pride is what gets us up in the morning. Pride is why we brush and floss our teeth, use deodorant and refrain from picking our noses…
Arts Agenda
Classical Music In the Beat of the Night N. Meck Community Chorus present their Spring Show. May 23-24 Hodson Hall, Davidson College. May 30-31 Mooresville Citizens Center. Shows are at 8pm. $10. 704-947-0438. Jazz & Classical Essentials Sunday Brunch Borders will be playing jazz and classical music from their essential catalogs. Coffee and pastry provided.…
Scratch the itch
When Pope Gregory the Great rolled out the first list of Seven Deadly Sins in the late 6th Century, he ranked them in order of severity. And you know what ranked last? Lust. The least deadly of the Seven Deadly Sins. So, lusty types — we got that goin’ for us. Which is nice. In…
Many Happy Returns
Perhaps the stars aligned correctly or the fairy godmother is actually a foodie at heart. For whatever reason, two of Charlotte’s chefs have reappeared together in the most unlikely spot.Restaurateurs and chefs Be Phan and Axel Dikkers have formed a new venture in Ballantyne. “Axel and I have been friends for many years,” Phan explains.…
Envy Me
Jealousy. Covetousness. The green-eyed monster. “Screw him and his Porsche.” It’s referred to in various ways, depending upon what text you’re reading and when it was written. Wanting what another possesses and resenting both oneself and the other for it, is an archetypal weakness of the human condition. The wages of envy are a popular…
Through the Grapevine
Hot Grape in the City Viognier [VEE o NYAY] comes in as the hot grape to cool you down this upcoming summer. Originally from the Rhone region of France, it wasn’t until recently that winemakers in California woke up and smelled the perfume inherent in this better-than-the-average-bear grape. It’s heavy-weighted and smooth like a Chardonnay,…
Sinful Scarf-O-Rama
Of the seven venial sins, one of the more pernicious is gluttony, since our society (at least the advertising portion) encourages this vice without compunction. We eat and drink for the mere pleasure of eating and drinking. We eat large — super-sized, in fact. We drink large, from 64 ounce cups, the total liquid intake…
Goodeats
All Around Town Anntony’s Caribbean, 400 S. Tryon St., 704-339-0303; 2001 E. 7th St., 704-342-0749. All locations have different owners. A hint of the tropics; rotisserie chicken with Jamaican jerk sauce, ribs, Paradise Island fish special, curries, and Caribbean styled greens. $$ Azteca, 116 Woodlawn Rd., 704-525-5110; 9709 Independence Blvd., 704-814-9877; 1863 W. Franklin Blvd.…
Summer Happenings
JUNE ART/HISTORY AFRO-AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER 401 N. Myers Street, 704-374-1565, www.aacc-charlotte.org. Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 10am-6pm, Sunday 1-5pm.. Juneteenth Celebration. June 19-22 Collaborative involvement with Park and Recreation Dept. and House of Africa in commemoration of notification of Emancipation Proclamation. Through June 29 Southern Comfort: Rural Life in the 50s. Through June 29 Bridging Cultures: From Africa…
One More For The Road
The other day, suffering from a severe lack of sleep and a bad attitude, I drove up to Asheville to visit that town’s newest nightspot, the Orange Peel. The Peel — continuing an impressive hot streak that has seen recent shows from The Flaming Lips, Gomez and Wilco — was hosting Stephen Malkmus, formerly of…
The Blair Pitch Project
On the afternoon of Monday, May 19, book agent David Vigliano was busy buffing up a five-page proposal to circulate to Hollywood executives: the story of Jayson Blair, a troubled black journalist whose overweening ambition, fueled by the politics of race and inflamed by substance abuse, led him to lie and mislead the public in…
Stalking the Anti-Idol
Adios! Ciao! Hasta la vista! Surely we’re not alone in gladly saying goodfreakinbye to American Idol this season. Honestly, over the past month or so, AI finalists have popped up everywhere — from hanging out with Katie Couric on Today to singing the national anthem at the Coca-Cola 600 last week at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.…
Pat’s Phantom Campaign
If Mayor Pat McCrory wanted to buy the space this article occupies for political advertising, he would have to shell out some money. Or, McCrory could just hint that he might be considering a run for governor and, like most news organizations, we’d write an article about his potential run for governor for free, whether…
Music Menu
WEDNESDAY 5.28 Biscuit Boys — Maybe they’re sticking toes in their own mouths by calling their music “mountain music for city folk.” But it’s a proper catchphrase and they brush aside comparisons by delivering the goods of traditional bluegrass and roots music with gusto. It never hurts to have another band that’s made their way…
Shake Up The Old Town
Some things in this world are just innately good. Puppy dogs: good. Sunsets: good. Belly dancing: really good. Perhaps it’s the exotic music, perchance it’s the colorful and ornate costumes, or maybe it’s the gyrating female flesh — yep, that’s it, the gyrating female flesh — but belly dancing is, um, fun. Which is why…
Soundboard
Wednesday, May. 28 Cajun Queen 7th Street Gator Band Double Door Inn The Stelle Group w/ Black Eyed Dog The Evening Muse The Biscuit Boys & Patrick Fitzsimons Fairwinds Coffee Co., Cornelius Lena Mars Fat City Angwish w / Squint Graduate, Gastonia Acoustic Jam w/ Clee & Chris Sheridan Harper’s Restaurant Mike Crowley Acoustic Lynn’s…
Hunkered Down
The anti-war protesters have largely given up. Pro-war patriots are high-fiving it for America. And as the dust clears from the war on Iraq, no one of any significance from either side has publicly offered an explanation that makes a damn bit of sense for why we just leveled a Third World dictatorship. I think…
See & Do
may28 WEDNESDAY What can a punk German kid do when his sex-change operation — and plans to marry an American GI — go ker-plooey just before the fall of the Berlin Wall? If you’re Hedwig Schmidt, dangling in a Kansas trailer park, you form a band, proclaim yourself a goddess, and rock on! Local fave…
Heavenly creatures
When asked to assess the Academy Awards, Humphrey Bogart once said that the only way to truly determine who was the best actor of the year would be to “let everybody play Hamlet and let the best man win.” Certainly, it’s a concept that’s as intriguing as it is amusing (Bogart followed up by retorting,…
America the Dutiful
At the time I’m writing this, the news is that intelligence chatter indicates another big attack on the US may be in the works. And we’re all asking the big questions: are we ready? Can we defend against this threat? The answers, respectively, are yes and no. We’re as ready as we’ll ever be. Life…
Karma Cleanser
Dear Karma Cleanser: I recently won a ticket to a crowded movie one hour before show time. I didn’t have my glasses, so I went early to pick a seat. After the previews, a group of eight or nine people came in, shifting people on rows around me. Finally, the main talker and his date…
Gold Members
The 1969 version of The Italian Job is a minor cult classic, which isn’t the same thing as saying it’s a particularly good movie. Worshipped in its native England (and sporting a good number of fans stateside as well), this caper film is actually only so-so, bolstered primarily by a typically cool performance from lead…
Gone Too Soon
I hadn’t heard the news yet, so when I came home that morning and found some strange answering machine messages, I knew something was up. I never thought it would be so soon.Much has been said and written in the days since WBTV anchor Bob Knowles’ death last week at age 42. His story had…
Stargazer
For All Signs On June 3, Saturn enters the sign of Cancer. This is important because it heralds a three-year era. Saturn represents the “rules” by which we all must live to maintain our social and personal systems. It insists on self-discipline and organization, and improving the structures of our lives in whatever sector of…
Film Clips
CURRENT RELEASES ANGER MANAGEMENT After delivering subtle, shaded performances in The Pledge and About Schmidt, Jack Nicholson reverts back to his familiar “wild and crazy guy” persona in Anger Management — and that’s actually not a bad thing. Nicholson gamely gets into the swing of the satire as Buddy Rydell, an unorthodox therapist whose methods…
Letters
Mutating Papers This is just a quick note to say that I was thrilled to read Tara Servatius’ column about the decline of the Charlotte Observer (“Paper Tiger,” April 30). I couldn’t have said it better. I’ve lived in Charlotte for 23 years and I can remember when the Sunday Observer was a substantial publication…
