The Blotter
HOP ON POP: Some unknown troublemakers recently accosted an unsuspecting Coke machine at an apartment complex, knocked it on its side and used a foreign object to pry it open and remove the money box. SMILE, YOU’RE BUSTED: A cashier at a local department store was caught “free-bagging” several items of clothing for a customer/accomplice.…
Music Menu
WEDNESDAY 9.15 Nitty Gritty Dirt Band — John McEuen was not an “original” member, but has led the Nitty Gritty Dirt band for the past three dozen years. The group was a catalyst for folk and country rock, and later influenced Americana musicians. They’ve even had some light-rock hits, but the band has never strayed…
See & Do
SEPTEMBER 15 – WEDNESDAY “Out” takes on a whole new meaning for baseball star Darren Lemming in last year’s Tony Award winner for Best Play, Take Me Out. In Richard Greenberg’s probing drama, fan fave Lemming announces that he’s gay, sparking a media frenzy — and clubhouse consternation. Homophobes lurk everywhere, some as tactless and…
Soundboard
Wednesday, Sep. 15 Blue Melinda Hansen, Royce Guin, Korey Dudley & Rob Knox The Boardroom Bar & Bistro David Harper Breakfast Club DJ Boney B Bricktop Lounge DJ Christian and Brigmunton Comet Grill Anamcara Double Door Inn Young & Grey w/ Hunter’s Travis-D George Washington Bookstore & Tavern, Concord Michael Protheroe The Gin Mill Wizard’s…
Ask the Advice Goddess
Adultery! Now in Handy Sample Size! I’m happily married with three kids. My husband is great — funny, handsome and kind. In the past, I’ve teased him about how I haven’t kissed another man since we started dating. Well, while I was doing volunteer work, I had fun flirting with this hot guy just for…
Break From Reality
Just at a time when she says she most needed an escape from the realities of her own life, it was Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow to the rescue for Gwyneth Paltrow. From a professional standpoint, the 32-year-old actress was still recuperating from having invested “absolutely everything I had to give” into an…
Stargazer
For All Signs The Autumnal Equinox occurs precisely at 12:30pm EDT on Sept. 22. This is the theoretical point of equal day and night that teeters annually at the point of the northern hemisphere’s slide toward winter. Many tribes and cultures of eras gone by considered the equinox and solstice points as holy days in…
Sets Appeal
The fact that virtually no sets were used in the making of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow — the entire look of the film was created on a computer — certainly doesn’t diminish one’s enjoyment of the eye-popping imagery blazing across the screen. Still, with more and more movies turning to CGI to…
High School Apocalypse
Schoolyards have become armed battle zones; classrooms are seedbeds of religious fanaticism. And inside The Faculty Room of Madison-Feury High School, in Bridget Carpenter’s alarmist drama, teachers are burning out under the pressure — wallowing in self-loathing, drifting into delusion or going berserk. At the core of Carpenter’s indictment in the adept production at Carolina…
View From The Couch
THE LADYKILLERS (2004). The Coen Brothers’ remake of a beloved 1955 British comedy may not quite match its predecessor, but it works in its own eccentric way. The action has moved from England to the Deep South, where a churchgoing widow (Irma P. Hall) agrees to lease a room to Professor Goldthwait Higginson Dorr (Tom…
Mining For Minutiae
For something to be funny, there must be a frame of reference. For the joke to connect, it must resonate in some way, exposing a truth (or a stereotype based on some popular truth), delivered with a humorous twist. For example, If I ask you “what did the Zen Buddhist say to the hot dog…
Film Clips
NEW RELEASES CELLULAR After being kidnapped for reasons unbeknownst to her, a biology teacher (Kim Basinger) is able to jerry-rig a busted telephone so that it’s able to make one random call. She ends up dialing the cell phone number of buff beachgoer Ryan (Chris Evans), an aimless kid who, after an initial bout of…
Arts Agenda
Classical Music An Early Music Sampler Carolina Pro Musica opens its 27th Season with a performance of mostly baroque selections. A part of Charlotte Shout. Sat., Sept. 18, 8:15 p.m. $7.50-$15. Dana Auditorium, Queens University. First Voices Concert The Charlotte Children’s Choir’s sneak preview of the their 19th performance season. Providence Baptist Church, 4921 Randolph…
Orkin Under Siege
Union County homeowners Jerry and Kitty Smith and the Rev. Charles Harris, pastor of a congregation in the northeast corner of the state, have never met. But they have three things in common. The first is a problem, termites. The second is the company that was supposed to stop the problem, Orkin Inc. The third…
It’s A Mario
Anything named Mario has a certain cachet, especially if it’s an Italian restaurant. One almost expects a red-hatted, mustachioed, height-challenged plumber to be the host and to have to listen to the protracted Super Mario Brothers Overworld Theme music over and over again. But Mario’s Pizza and Italian Restaurant is not the overworld; however, folks…
Zell’s Final Zag
The morning after delivering his now-infamous, scorched-earth speech to the Republican National Convention, Zell Miller was more reflective, possibly even a bit contrite, in an on-air chat with his old friend, radio talk-show host Don Imus. “A 73-year-old man doesn’t have any business coming to New York and getting involved in all this stuff,” the…
Downtown Italian in modern setting
EXECUTIVE CHEF: Brandon DeVoe AMBIENCE: A trendy approach to a traditional Italian eatery, the restaurant mixes modern with mood. The dim blue lighting in the inside dining area sets an intimate romantic feel in the heart of downtown, while the tables that line the sidewalk capture an Italian nostalgia for a savored meal. With wireless…
They’re Awake!
Imagine our surprise when the Sunday, Sept. 12, issue of the Charlotte Observer featured a front page news feature on Carolinas communities’ homeland security purchases. The venerable daily newspaper did an admirable job of grabbing a story idea initially written locally by CL’s Tara Servatius about, oh, say, a year ago — and we congratulate…
Dixie Chicks
Who doesn’t like chicken? Well, vegetarians don’t, but aside from them, chicken seems to appeal to just about everyone. Plus, when Tar Heels buy chicken, they have the added bonus of helping to employ a few folks around the state. North Carolina is the fourth largest producer of broilers in the US. In fact, over…
Park It Right Here
Stanley schoolteacher Park Gillespie is still alive after six episodes of Showtime’s American Candidate reality show, which promises to choose a person with the “qualities to be the President of the United States.” The show “simulates” a political campaign featuring people of all persuasions. From an animal rights lover to the lesbian daughter of Senator…
What’s Bugging You?
Did you see the termites crawling on the front page of this paper and chomping around the edges of the cover story? These nasty little buggers cause billions of dollars of damage eating homes and other buildings. Why not turn the tables and eat them? We might think bug-eating (entomophagy) is disgusting, but it’s common…
No Loss For Words
I write this on the third anniversary of September 11, searching for words — which is unusual considering the thousands of words I’ve written over the past three years. Words about what happened that day and what has happened to America, a country I love, since then. But somehow, other people’s words come to mind,…
Stooping to Conquer
One of the most deliciously earth-moving experiences in wine life is finding a so-damn-good-I-wanna-guzzle-it-all-day-long bottle of wine. It’s even better if you don’t have to raid the couch-cushion change to afford it. Before, these elusive wines emerged from countries outside the US, but we’re finally figuring out to how do cheap in these parts. The…
Bush By The Numbers
On some European TV stations you can watch a program called No Comment, where you get to see the action without being told what to think. News footage of recent events is shown without commentary; you have to form your own opinions. It’s a simple yet radical idea in our world of TV talking heads…
Good Eats
All Around Town Anntony’s Caribbean, 6434-F West Sugarcreek Rd., 704-598-6863; 2001 E. 7th St., 704-342-0749. 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. (Gastonia), 704-866-7574. A favorite of…
Letters
Tara and the Homeland Once again, Tara Servatius has exposed something (“Homeland Security Boondoggle,” Sept. 8) that the Charlotte Disturber (Observer) has piggybacked on in Sunday’s issue. Congratulations are in order to the real journalist who got to the bottom of this story. — TSgt. David C. Oliver, Charlotte Stinging Remarks In response to “He’s…
Roving Eyes
Memo From: Karl Rove, White House To: Dick Cheney, Undisclosed Location Re: Fear factor September 6, 2004 Dick: Glad to hear you’re still making the speech tomorrow. I know the “friendly grandpa” shtick didn’t go down too easily at the convention, but what the hell, it was worth a shot and I appreciate your going…
Booker Tease
By now, the story is legendary: Van Halen and brown M&M’s do not mix. Perhaps the most famous example ever of a concert rider — that is, a list of demands above and beyond any monetary considerations given to a band for playing a show — the M&M story is now a part of rock…
News of the Weird
Improve your excuse: Thomas Pinckney, 18, charged with trespassing in Tomah, Wis., in June after a woman awoke at night to find him holding her arm, told police that he had found the woman’s keys in her apartment door and was just trying to return them. Most competent animals: Koko, the famous gorilla who was…
Being For The Benefit of. . .
After watching three 9/11-themed television documentaries Friday evening, I decided to check the Rock The Vote rally being held at Tremont Music Hall. Whether I did it due to a feeling of guilt — hey, I should get out there and do something! — or because I needed a beer to mask the sheer depression…
Sit & Spin
Guided By VoicesHalf Smiles of the DecomposedMatadorPardon the lack of tears. Yes, there is mild melancholia surrounding the final release by the rotating assemblage of middle-aged musicians known as Guided By Voices. But GBV as a band retired long ago in all but name after leader Robert Pollard sacked everyone in the wake of bandmate…
Word On The Street
Sippy McAlister Home-schooling mom “I don’t believe it should be allowed, period. Also, no teaching of evolution, no microwaves, and none of this “the world is round’ bullshit, either.” Craig Spivey e-Bay Entrepreneur “This is a trick, right? You’re just trying to get me to say I’m gay, right? You media jerks really make me…
Writing For a Song
[Image-2] Kemp on Southern music roots Asheboro, North Carolina, native Mark Kemp has written about music for a long time. Currently the entertainment editor at the Charlotte Observer, he has also logged time at Option, Spin, and Rolling Stone. He’s lived all over the country, and interviewed more so-called “famous” musicians than anyone since Byron…
