Rainbow Coalition
Beauty. It’s a necessity of life, and we can always use more of it, whether in the nature of the Carolinas, the innocence of children or the enduring quality of original art. And now more of it can be found in Hot Glass Paris / Cold Glass Murano, the current exhibit at the Christa Faut…
Made in the Shade
Terry Kay reaches for the door at Prater’s Main Street Books in Clayton, Ga., and makes a prediction under his breath. “There probably won’t be too many people here today.” It’s the second time in two days that Kay, a courtly, bearded 66-year-old novelist in khakis and a leather jacket, has delivered this forecast about…
Revenge Is Spicy
If you find yourself bruised after watching Scratchy Scratcherton’s Revenge, it’s because you’ve been hit by the kitchen sink. Or you’ve been sitting in the front row at SouthEnd Performing Arts Center, perilously exposed to the lithe limbs of the hip-hop chorines who take the stage between scenes. Playwright/director Stan Peal throws everything at us.…
Pamela Duncan
Pamela Duncan grew up in Shelby, a mill town in the North Carolina foothills, the daughter of a corrections officer and a textile worker. Her fiction draws its accents from those rural working-class origins, focusing on the intergenerational struggles of Southern women. Inspired by her mentor, novelist Lee Smith, Duncan earned a master’s degree from…
Loud, Proud and Funny
Do you have a friend who’s loud, loyal, opinionated and yet funny? Throw in talented writer and you’ve got Laurie Notaro. Notaro continues to offer many clever twists on the humorous personal essay in her third collection, I Love Everybody (And Other Atrocious Lies). Her bestselling The Idiot Girls’ Action-Adventure Club and the follow-up, Autobiography…
Tim Gautreaux
In his first 10 years of writing fiction, Tim Gautreaux collected enough rejection slips to paper the four walls, ceiling and filing cabinets in his office at Southeastern Louisiana University, where he taught creative writing for 30 years. His breakthrough came in 1990 when the Atlantic Monthly published one of his stories. He’s since published…
Arts Agenda
Classical Music Charlotte Symphony An evening of music under the stars, prelude performance by Queen Charlotte Chorus, followed by the Charlotte Symphony. http://corneliuspr.org. Legion Park 21214 Legion St., Cornelius. Sat., June 19, 7 p.m. Free. 704-892-6031. Charlotte Symphony Orchestra & Sir James Galway Sir James Galway, supreme interpreter of the classical repertoire for flute, is…
Southern Writers Directory
ALABAMA 1.Tom Franklin Books: Hell at the Breech, Poachers Born in Dickinson, Alabama, near setting of his novel Hell at the Breech Lives in Oxford, Miss., with wife, poet Beth-Ann Fennelly 2. Vicki Covington Books: Bird of Paradise, Gathering Home, Night Ride Home, The Last Hotel for Women Born in Birmingham, Alabama Lives in Birmingham…
Marvelous and On Central
Linares is a city in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, north of Monterrey in the Sierra Madres; a land once populated by prairie dogs, low-growing vegetation, and cacti. These days the area is densely populated and is a prime cattle region. In Charlotte, Linares Mexican Restaurant, also known as Taqueria Linares, is a small outcropping along Central…
Lousy Town, Lousy Protests
It’s hot this time of year in Brunswick, GA, if you live in the poor parts of the town, which is to say most of the burg. Too warm to stand in an outdoor line at Willie’s Wee-Nee Wagon. Too hot to shoot hoops on the street and too hot to stay inside if you…
Big Daddy Reds
My dad’s not a wine drinker. I sometimes envy friends whose dads are easy to shop for — pick a bottle, throw it in an appropriately fancy wine bag, and voilá: instant Father’s Day gift. It seems a conveniently easy way to please, especially when you’ve got your dad’s taste pegged. But if you don’t,…
EPA Probe
As part of the much-lauded Fats, Oil & Grease program (FOG), the city has been targeting restaurants and businesses that prepare food to make sure the grease they generate winds up in catch-devices called grease traps. For the most part, it has worked and the grease wound up in the traps.It’s what happened to the…
Good Eats
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.…
All Lives Are Valuable
Dear Ms. Servatius: I was forwarded a column you wrote for Creative Loafing on April 14 titled “The Worth of A Life.” In this article you tried to make a valid point that one person’s life is no less valuable than another person’s, no matter their race, income, or social status. The problem that is…
Tony Falsetto
Anthony Hamilton isn’t the most likely up-and-coming soul crooner. Standing only a little over five feet tall and exceedingly fond of trucker caps and a week’s worth of stubble, he doesn’t exactly come across as Marvin Gaye. Once he opens his mouth, however, you start to come around. Equal parts Bill Withers and Bill Bellamy,…
If It Wasn’t For Reagan
The seemingly endless state funeral for former President and conservative demigod Ronald Reagan is finally over. The protracted week included every bit of ceremonial pomp and pompous iconography imaginable, short of George W. Bush saluting the passing funeral procession while wearing John-John short pants, or Karl Rove blowing a trumpet on the Third Day while…
Sit & Spin
Hayden Elk Lake Serenade Badman This just in: Hayden Still Really Bummed Out. It’s been a decade since Canada’s premier mopester was discovered gigging in tiny Toronto clubs by fellow Canuck Neil Young, and though Hayden’s sound has become more polished and sure over the years, the message is pretty much the same: Life Is…
Smoke and Mirrors
It wouldn’t surprise me one day to see the Charlotte Bobcats in a college textbook on marketing and advertising. The chapter might be called “How to Promote A Product When You Don’t Really Have One Yet 101.” Being an expansion team, they now have nothing but a snazzy logo and a name to promote until…
Tasty Toes
Recently our shabby little neighborhood pool hole hosted a swim team from a country club, and I swear that every single toe attached to those posh women was painted. Maybe they had a team moms’ toe check before leaving swankyville and venturing into our ramshackle corner of the city, to make sure they showed us…
Music Menu
WEDNESDAY 6.16 Dave Olson — Firmly grounded in the Midwest environs he inhabits, Olson’s debut, #80, is an honest, hard-working, fuck-the-frills debut falling somewhere between Woody Guthrie, John Mellencamp and Josh Ritter. From the cover’s b&w photos of run-down barns and ominous storm clouds to songs about “The Workin’ Life,” “Kerosene,” and “This Little Town,”…
Raiding the Cash Cow II
Every time Governor Mike Easley announces he’s created some more jobs, I cringe. It always means the same thing — another horde of corporate executives has raided the state treasury. This time, they made off with $4 million in incentives. That’s how much Harris Microwave Communications will get from the state for moving its corporate…
Spoleto-palooza!
Even columns need a vacation every now and then, so when given the chance to go check out Charleston’s Spoleto Festival USA, I jumped at it. In particular, I drove the three-and-a-half hours specifically to see one show: a multimedia performance from African-American DJ, author, and multimedia impresario DJ Spooky, who, in essence, was “remixing”…
Soundboard
Wednesday, Jun. 16 Big Al’s Pub, Mooresville Scott Johnson Blue Melinda Hansen, Royce Guin, Korey Dudley & Rob Knox Breakfast Club DJ Boney B Cecil’s Robin Rogers Band Charleston Chops, Cornelius Michelle Smith, Bill & Ray Double Door Inn The Painkillers The Evening Muse L.J. Booth w/ Dave Olson The Gin Mill Wizard’s Road Show…
“Your Friend Bin Laden”
Usually my weekly columns are hard work, but sometimes they just fall into my lap. Such was the case this week. My wife and I were guests recently at a Mint Museum reception for the preview of a new exhibition, Revelation: A Fresh Look at Contemporary Collections. This excellent show marks a welcome return of…
The Blotter
It’s Raining Men: A woman reported that she had been sitting inside her car when a man suddenly jumped up onto the vehicle. Doing the smart thing, the woman drove off with the guy still on her car. After causing minor damage to the car, the man jumped off and fled on foot. OLD BEERFUL:…
Spousal Abuse
Once a highly respected screenwriter, William Goldman has sadly degenerated into a bitter hack who spends most of his time railing against those who, unlike him, have managed to remain in the upper echelons of the Hollywood hierarchy. But back during his glory days, between copping Oscars for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and…
Letters
Crappy Article In my opinion the article about Myrtle Beach (“Who Crapped In The Sandbox” by Will Moredock, June 2) is a bunch of crap. B&C is a first class group and have done more to control the growth of Myrtle Beach in a first class way except for the pyramid. They get a bad…
Word On The Street
Hal Curry Freelance Accountant “Hmmm, let’s see. One’s a loudmouth ignoramus and the other’s an arrogant dinosaur. . . .I don’t know, man, it’s a real toss-up.” Rocky Alita Mail Carrier “Probably Gauvreau, he’s like the kid in school who was a big know-it-all but his answers were always wrong.” Mary Lou Stanley Retired Schoolteacher…
Mac Attack
It’s been a long time since America has been able to look down and see its toes, which is why the obsession with dieting continues to reign as a favorite national pastime. Diet books routinely crack the bestseller list (the current chart-topping fad: The South Beach Diet), and even TIME magazine has devoted two recent…
News of the Weird
Not as they seem: 1) After a 10-year study with a global positioning satellite system (reported in February), researchers at England’s Oxford University concluded that homing pigeons do not get their bearings from the sun, as previously thought, but just follow roads and highways home. 2) Mr. Jian Feng of Hegang in northern China, suspicious…
See & Do
JUNE 16 – WEDNESDAY The restoration of the Galway Plays Mozart engagement became a top priority at the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra after last fall’s strike was settled. But we’ve had to wait nine full months. With the passage of the seasons, we’ve had a slight change in the program. Sir James will still play the…
Crash Landing
Hard to believe, but it’s possible to have too much plot — and The Terminal proves it. Steven Spielberg’s latest picture is loosely based on the true story of a man who, because of twisting ribbons of red tape, had to live for an unimaginable length of time in an airport after being denied access…
Linares Mexican Restaurant
Marvelous and On Central Linares offers subtle pleasures Linares is a city in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, north of Monterrey in the Sierra Madres; a land once populated by prairie dogs, low-growing vegetation, and cacti. These days the area is densely populated and is a prime cattle region. In Charlotte, Linares Mexican Restaurant, also known as…
Ask the Advice Goddess
Bother Figure The only thing keeping me from proposing to my girlfriend is her ex, who’s Mr. Control. They have a 6-year-old son together. The dad has ample visitation rights, lives in town, and babysits often. Still, every night, the son has to call and check in with him. It’s not like he wants to.…
View From The Couch
THE TARZAN COLLECTION (1932-1942). Of all the men who over the decades have donned the loin cloth to portray Edgar Rice Burroughs’ jungle swinger, the most popular has remained Johnny Weissmuller, the former Olympic swimmer who starred in 12 Tarzan pictures between 1932 and 1948. Yet equally as important to the success of the films…
Stargazer
For All Signs We come to the time of the summer solstice at 8:57 pm EDT on the 20th. This is the point of the year at which the northern hemisphere is tilted closest to the sun. Theoretically it is the longest day of the year in the north. For centuries, pagans (country people) celebrated…
Film Clips
NEW RELEASES THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK The 2000 sleeper hit Pitch Black turned out to be one of the better Alien rip-offs to hatch over the years, but anyone expecting a repeat of that movie’s high level of excitement and imagination will be sorely disappointed by The Chronicles of Riddick. While refusing (perhaps admirably) to…
