Viagra and the culture of manhood
For millions of men who suffer from varying levels of impotence, Viagra has been a godsend. But for millions of others, it’s become the recreational drug of choice. Everybody wants some. I want some, too. That’s why I’m perched on an examination-room table, head bowed, shoulders slumped, feigning what I imagine to be some semblance…
Games People Play
Of all the reasons to play videogames — the violent satisfaction, the entrance into fairy-tale worlds, the challenge of a good fight — The Sims created the one that unnerves me most: Playing God. Prior to this game, there were many that encouraged superiority and a slight deity complex in players. Yet there was nothing…
Sell Out Center
Unlike the usual gaggle of pussies who comprise my close friends — all of whom scattered like fruit bats at the first sign I might need help renovating my slum — I also have friends who are actual contractors. Take the very reliable Art, for example. If I need something done to a house, I…
How’d He Do It?:
A cashier was tricked out of $100 by a smooth-talking customer; see if you can figure out how he pulled one over. The customer approached the cashier to purchase a box of Black and Tan and paid for it with a 100-dollar bill. The man told the cashier that he had paid with a Benjamin…
Pastime Paradise
What I’ve always recalled about Donovan was his celluloid dismissal by his hero Bob Dylan on D.A. Pennebaker’s 1965 documentary Don’t Look Back. Seminal 1960s groovy tunes such as “Mellow Yellow” figured little (if at all) in my environment but the Pennebaker film’s line drawn in black and white between the über-cool Dylan and fey,…
Bus-gating
The Panthers blew it and the whole city sulked. Even the sky cried for longer than was socially acceptable. But let us not forget a better time, with the Super Bowl still in sight, when Panther hysteria ran rampant. Before the loss, on the past two Sunday nights carrying over into Monday mornings, thousands of…
Karma Cleanser
Dear Karma Cleanser: My friend and I are having a dispute. He says when karma comes back to you, it’s always for the same amount of time you gave it out. I say it comes back with the same magnitude of energy that you gave out. So if I did something for five years that…
Ask BWA
Welcome to the inaugural edition of “Ask BWA,” which we plan to bring you regularly — say, every month or so or, you know, whenever I remember to do it. For slower readers, let me explain that “Ask BWA” means “Ask Boomer With Attitude” (you may have noticed that “Boomer With Attitude” is the name…
Stargazer
Aquarius The Waterbearer (Jan. 20 — Feb. 17) You are experiencing a challenge during this period. If you have exercised your self-discipline muscles, you will meet the test and pass with flying colors. Relationships are particularly trying now. Your inner critic is attacking you and everyone else. It exaggerates. Concentrate on realistic expectations. For All…
Tribute to a tribute artist
As far as local celebrities are concerned, René Escharcha, more commonly known as RenElvis, is as big as they come. Since the early 1990s, he’s entertained Charlotte at bars, clubs and even Chinese buffets with his act that is part Elvis tribute, part comedy. Sadly, the most unique and entertaining Elvis tribute artist to ever…
Film Clips
New Releases LOOKING FOR COMEDY IN THE MUSLIM WORLD Looking for comedy is fine, but it would have been better if Albert Brooks had gone looking for balance in his latest screen undertaking. Fans of the self-effacing comic will find many moments to cherish here, but overall, Brooks never has a clear handle on the…
Charlotte’s Gang Of Plenty
For months, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police have said that they don’t know what’s driving the heavy increase in armed robberies in Charlotte. Now it appears that they may have found a one-word answer: gangs. At a Homicide Task Force meeting last week, Captain Eddie Levins painted a stark picture of the problem. For a long time,…
View From The Couch
ALL IN THE FAMILY: THE COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON (1974-75) / ARCHIE BUNKER’S PLACE: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (1979-80). All In the Family, for my money the greatest sitcom ever to be broadcast on prime-time television, set a record by emerging as the number one ranked series for five consecutive years (an honor it still holds…
Free Angela
Angela Davis, the black radical activist, scholar and former member of the Communist Party, exhorted her audience to live the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. last Tuesday, during her speech at Johnson C. Smith University. Appearing at the university’s Brayboy Gymnasium as part of their annual Lyceum Series, Davis, one the 1970s’ most…
An Early Thaw
As the 2006 releases begin to filter into local movie auditoriums — Hostel, Glory Road and Last Holiday were among the first batch of new year offerings — they’re having to share theater space with the 2005 titles that aren’t quite ready to go away. The Chronicles of Narnia and King Kong are still doing…
A Family in Need of Answers
An Immigrant’s View A story in the January 7 edition of the Lexington Dispatch noted, “Carlos Claros-Castro, 28, of Liberty Drive, Thomasville, was pronounced dead at Lexington Memorial Hospital after a struggle with two detention officers, who were called into his cell to disarm him of a fiberglass mop handle at 8:52pm. “Claros-Castro, who is…
Killer Comedy
THE MATADOR Rating: *** DIRECTED BY Richard Shepard STARS Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear If someone were to greet James Bond by stating, “You look good,” the answer would doubtless be something on the order of “Why, thank you” or “That’s true.” But not in The Matador. Here, the reply is bitter and blunt: “I look…
Short List
Breaking News NC House Speaker Jim Black, An Optometrist, Pushes Law Requiring All Kids To Have Eye Exams Next up: Lawyers in the State House and Senate say five-year-olds must have wills drafted before enrolling in Kindergarten. Feds Demand Google Data To Fight Online Porn To think, people actually worried the Patriot Act would violate…
The Grape Ignored
Chardonnays have gotten a bad rap. Chard hating runs rampant, with Web sites and blogs devoted to chard bashing and new wine clubs called Anything But Chardonnay. And until recently, I secretly carried a membership card. The pervasiveness of crappy, boring Chardonnays has been undeniable, and with so many offerings that pretty much taste the…
Terror Alert
I was messing around on the Internet Christmas day, reading international political blogs, when I stumbled across a headline that dropped my jaw. “US terror attacks ‘foiled,'” it read. At first, I was confused. I’d already combed American newspapers that day, and I’d read nothing about it. Surely American newspapers would have reported this. Had…
The Price of Independence
“It’s the price,” Shara said, explaining her preference for chain restaurants over independently-owned ones. She is not alone in her beliefs. Price is one of the two (See “Showdown,” CL issue #36) most often cited reasons diners opt for chain (aka formula) restaurants rather than independents. “When my mom comes to town, I take her…
Wednesday, January 25
It was just 200 years ago that Aaron Burr fatally wounded Alexander Hamilton in an infamous duel. A national touring exhibit, Alexander Hamilton: The Man Who Made Modern America, commemorates this historic event that eclipsed Hamilton’s true legacy of laying the foundation for a strong centralized government. The Gaston County Public Library hosts the panel…
Livermush Exposed
There are few words you can put in front of “mush” to make it sound even worse, right? Now add the word “liver.” Sounds enticing, doesn’t it? When you learn what goes into livermush, it doesn’t get any better, since it’s a mixture of pig liver (at least 30 percent, by law), head parts and…
Gimme some paw
In her whimsical hit Opposites Attract, Paula Abdul found out what a joy it was to have her very own “MC Kat”: “She makes the bed, And he steals the covers; She likes it neat, And he makes a mess.” Having a pet really is like entering a relationship, one filled with unconditional love and…
Tastings
Tutored Tasting of Older Bordeaux Club meeting. Piedmont Natural Gas Bldg, Maxheim Kitchen, 4301 Yancey Rd (behind BIG bldg on Verbena St). RSVP by Noon. www.carolinawineclub.com. Thu., Jan. 26, 6:30pm. $35-$45. 704-344-8027. Wine Classes www.CarolinaWineClub.com. Jan. 31, 6:30-8:30pm, Exploring the Wine Regions of Australia and New Zealand. $35. Westye Group Southeast Showroom, 127 West Worthington…
Thursday, January 26
If you missed I’m Not Rappaport last year at CAST — or the last time they presented it at Theatre Charlotte in 1989 — there’s a pretty strong cast at the Queens Road barn to catch you up. Guest director Jim Yost tries his hand at the Herb Gardner comedy, with James K. Flynn stretching…
Raising Hell
Tired of seeing his favorite performers relegated to also-ran status as their careers progressed into middle age, famed producer and recording maverick Rick Rubin had the bright idea to take things into his own hands, inking aging artists like Donovan, Johnny Cash and Neil Diamond to his label, American. His plan? Surround the old-timers with…
Friday, January 27
Hey! Can we have “A Little Less Conversation” and more donations? After all, it’s a Benefit Concert For RenElvis. René “RenElvis” Escarcha, Charlotte’s (the world’s?) foremost Filipino Elvis impersonator, has been playing gigs-a-plenty for years to support his daughter Lisa’s health care costs (she’s afflicted with both Down Syndrome and autism). On Dec. 5, RenElvis’…
Pure Adventure
Few contemporary writers conjure derring-do as well as Arturo Pérez-Reverte, a Spanish literary maestro who sits atop a newfound Iberian paperback empire evoking Dumas and his beloved d’Artagnan. Last spring, Pérez-Reverte’s revered series chronicling the escapades of a 17th Century sword-for-hire debuted in America with the English translation and publication of Captain Alatriste. The title…
Gimme Shelter
Living in a jungle, living in a tent, living in a pre-fab: no rent! Silly sausage! Living in this subtropolis devoid of charm keeps me daydreaming of alternatives. What kind of house would you like to live in? Mud House www.kleiwerks.com Tree House www.thetreehouseguide.com Ice House www.rtoddking.com/chinawin2003_hb_if.htm Canvas House www.tentsmiths.com Bauhaus www.bauhaus.de/english/bauhausarchiv
Saturday, January 28
While Royal Shakespeare Company infiltrates Davidson College with a low-profile residency, several of the academic and performance events are open to the public. Among the most interesting RSC sidebars is a pair of appearances by the Renaissance group Ensemble Chaconne. At 2pm in Tyler-Tallman Hall of Sloan Music Center, they’ll do a free one-hour lecture…
CL Recommends
The Good Life by Jay McInerney (Knopf hardback). “Charity begins at home,” Russell Calloway mutters in Jay McInerney’s latest, The Good Life, as he realizes that his wife Corrine is more committed to volunteering near Ground Zero than to comforting her family. A chic New York publisher, Russell is aware he’s speaking in clichés, and…
Mike Hendrix
Mike Hendrix has achieved near-God-like status among those who revere public drunkenness as a lifestyle choice instead of a character flaw. Hendrix has forgotten more about practical jokes, bad puns and other juvenilia than most would ever admit to knowing. He is probably not as funny as he thinks he is, but what the hell.…
Tuesday, January 31
Tomorrow has definitely come as Annie returns to Ovens Auditorium through Feb. 5. Production credits put this touring version on our A-list, with Annie lyricist Martin Charnin directing and Tony Award-winning set designer Ming Cho Lee bringing a new look to the show. Marissa O’Donnell is the neophyte queen of cuteness who prevailed in the…
Gospel Gravy at the Cookery
Classically trained Gretha Boston doesn’t have nearly enough grits and gumbo in her vocal stylings to be labeled a jazz singer. But there’s enough gospel gravy around the edges to make her performance in Cookin’ at the Cookery a tasty delight. Boston faces an enviable dilemma in paying tribute to Alberta Hunter, the songstress who…
Shining Star
“Southern … Christian … Fine! … No ‘baby mommas.'” Star Jones Reynolds reprints this fairly trite wish list of character traits for Mr. Right, created back when she was shy one toothy, banker hubby, in her new book Shine: A Physical, Emotional & Spiritual Journey to Finding Love. As many gossip columns would be quick…
Letters
Genocide or Suicide? Regarding Tara Servatius’ article in the January 18 edition of Creative Loafing (“Educational Genocide?”): Although I generally agree with Ms. Servatius’ well-researched presentations, this one is off the wall. Quality teachers cannot save the failing CMS schools. It stands to reason that one cannot hope to create a quality finished product without…
