Tough Choices
It strikes me as odd that when there are four Mercedes in the driveway and the finest Chanel on their owners’ frames, usually a big, cheap jug of Yellowtail shiraz ($11) is open on the kitchen counter. Possibly during a dinner party, Mer Soleil chardonnay ($40) or Silver Oak ($90) graces the table, but the…
A Culinary Time Capsule
An old, dog-eared newspaper, oxidized and sun-yellowed, brings with it a certain nostalgia. There’s the date on the page, of course, but there’s also the advertisements inside for businesses that have long since closed their doors (Hazel’s Beauty Salon, Cissie’s Ladies’ Apparel, Woolco) and for products (Florient Deoderizer, Sun Spun Ice Cream, Seamprufe) long forgotten…
Desperate Times, Urgent Music
The wide array of musicians branded as “indie rock” has provided a panorama of sounds and visions over the years but has usually kept politics at arm’s length. There have been exceptions to the rule: Le Tigre, Fugazi, Atari Teenage Riot, Quasi. But the Bush Administration’s calamitous policies have resulted in an up-tick in artists…
Cirque on Acid
There’s always been an element of the surreal in the richly evocative mix of music, theater and circus that comes our way via Cirque du Soleil. Think of the headless Magritte man who strode across the stage in Quidam, the first Cirque to camp at Lowe’s Speedway under the blue-and-yellow grand chapiteau. Or how about…
Air America
Writer-director Paul Greengrass’ superb 9/11 docudrama United 93 is difficult to watch and just as difficult to review. It’s one of those movies that should be seen, but it’s understandable that many viewers won’t want to see it, and no amount of critical hosannas or insistent word-of-mouth will change their minds. While many audiences would…
Hollywood’s Cross to Bear
Part of the reason the summer movie season is perennially popular is because it truly offers something for everyone — and this year is no exception. From macho to Nacho, from snakes to worms and from Adam Sandler to the Antichrist (some would argue they’re one and the same), this year’s slate should help keep…
Give Newcomers Real Rights
The problem isn’t complex. Neither is the solution. We could put an end to our biggest homeland security vulnerability and solve the immigration problem in 12 months flat if we really wanted to — with a fence that stretches from one end of our southern border to the other. The National Capital Immigration Coalition and…
Karma Cleanser
Dear Karma Cleanser: There is something majorly f-ed up with my job karma. In two years, I’ve had four jobs, each one worse than the last. In my present company, we have a boss who acts like a mixture of Dabney Coleman in 9 to 5 and Steve Carell in The Office. The other day…
View From The Couch
LAST HOLIDAY (2006). A remake of a 1950 British comedy starring Alec Guinness, Last Holiday is better than expected thanks to its retooling as a vehicle for Queen Latifah. Director Wayne Wang has long been demoted from indie darling (Smoke) to studio hack (Maid In Manhattan), and his desire to appease the studio gods means…
Liquid Fire
Forget licking your hand. Tequila connoisseurs prefer theirs without crutches, served straight up in a two-ounce caballito glass. Mexican tequila is the source of legend, myths and mistruths. Most of them, including the worm, sprouted from clever marketing ideas. Tequila might be North America’s first distilled beverage. When the Spanish conquistadors overran Mexico several hundred…
Film Clips
New Releases RV One would have to travel deep into the 1990s — during the era of Mrs. Doubtfire and The Birdcage — to find a comedic Robin Williams performance that was more than simply incessant and annoying shtick. RV, therefore, marks the first time in at least a decade that Williams merges his patented…
Lary Land
Now Lary wants to buy an island, as if he doesn’t live on one already — just not the kind surrounded by water. It’s the kind surrounded by stuff that is not at all like the stuff that makes up his ancient home, which is almost solid concrete, with towering walls made from blocks of…
Narrating Through the Pain
With apologies to the author, I sincerely hope that Lifetime never makes a movie out of Lee Merrill Byrd’s novel Riley’s Fire. I know that the premise is just begging for a TV movie treatment, and with what I hear about what Hollywood types mean when they say they’ve “read” a book, they might entirely…
Letters
Taste (but don’t experience) the World Regarding “Diversity is Delicious” (April 19): It’s hard to discern the meaning behind “Taste of the World” organizer Louise Barton’s comment that buses would shuttle guests to participating east Charlotte restaurants “so people don’t have to worry about driving in areas they normally wouldn’t feel comfortable driving in.” While…
Salt of the Earth
For Phil Walden, In Memoriam (1940-2006) Soulife is what NC’s Hobex and Florida’s Mofro have chosen. Both groups contribute a vital chapter to the postwar tradition of “Southern” soul — rather than merely reviving it. And both will testify in the QC this weekend at the Visulite. Past its 1,000-show mark, Hobex — a soul/funk/rock…
Minimum Payment Hell
If you’ve ever maxed out a credit card, you know the pitfalls of paying the minimum monthly charge only: it barely covers the interest, let alone chips away at the original debt. That’s one reason why consumer advocates are trying to get credit card companies to provide customized disclosures telling each credit card user exactly…
How Close is Iran to Having Nuclear Weapons?
According to Seymour Hersh’s “The Iran Plans,” from the April 17 issue of the New Yorker, Iran is very close to acquiring nuclear weapons from the US — that is, it’s close to being on the receiving end of weapons the US is targeting at Iranian nuclear and military facilities. But how close is Iran…
The Blotter
Salad Tantrum: An employee asked to receive his paycheck early and when he was not granted his request, he became irate. The man took out his frustration on some greens, throwing $50 worth of salad and dressings onto the floor. He then fled in an unknown direction of travel. After police spoke to the salad…
Turbulent Waters
Around the world, visual artists are prone to use their art to address political issues or social crises, to enable their paintings or photographs or installations to confront matters of war, global unrest, environmental degradation, animal abuse and the apocalypse. North Carolina artists are no exception. The universal eruption of emotion that takes visual form…
Enter the Dragon
Ancient China comes to Charlotte as the Carolinas Asian-American Chamber of Commerce presents the Dragon Boat Festival in conjunction with Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation. The folklore of dragon boat racing has existed for more than two millennia and began in southern China with the rescue of Qu Yuan, an advisor to the emperor. As…
Fred Neil
When basso-throated NYC folkie Fred Neil journeyed to Los Angeles in 1966 to record his third album, he had high hopes that a new label (Capitol), new producer (Nick Venet, who’d worked with the Beach Boys) and a host of crack session players would prove the third time’s the charm. Commercially speaking, ’twas not to…
See & Do
Thursday, May 04 No, it isn’t Amadeus or Beaumarchais, but Theatre Charlotte is almost celebrating Mozart’s 250th with Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music. Inspired by an Ingmar Bergman film — and presumably the spirit of Mozart — Night Music is the sort of genteel continental comedy Wolfie might have chosen for one of his…
Charlotte’s King of Porn
Scott McGowan was driving down Las Vegas Boulevard with the windows rolled down in a rental SUV when his two backseat passengers began playing with their goody bag favors. At the Adult Entertainment Expo, goody bag favors aren’t your chaste knickknacks and lollipops. Porn star Felicia Fox assisted playmate Raven Day with the anal beads…
Political B.S. or Dylan Lyrics?
Politicians are getting more surreal all the time, and I’m not talking about Lynn Wheeler and Katherine Harris’ makeup. I mean the words coming out of elected officials’ mouths. It’s no secret that our “leaders” have a knack for telling lies, but lately many of them have pushed the B.S. envelope, stretching their natural talents…
Compilations A Go-Go
Among collections I’ve recently received are a sampler of an American icon’s oeuvre and never-released tunes from a 30-year-old twang documentary. Since my stepdaughter has cystic fibrosis, I must consider Songs for Sixty-Five Roses — Re-working the North Carolina Jukebox (Redeye; ***). Named for the way children pronounce “cystic fibrosis,” this NC-centric CD spotlights once-and-future…
Drug Culture
Did you know that NASA scientists have done research on how spiders spin their webs when they’re stoned? Weed makes ’em lazy, caffeine makes ’em crazy. This and more in these very hot linx. THC etc. www.cannabis.net The Vaults of Erowid www.erowid.org Wacky Crackheads www.wackycrackheads.com Addicted to Love www.ishouldquit.com The Narco News Bulletin www.narconews.com
‘Let me Show you the Door’
When Howard Dean stood to deliver one of his typically fiery speeches last week at Renaissance Park, he offered a stinging interpretation of President Bush’s immigration proposals. “This is a president who says he’s going to send 12 million hardworking people back where they came from. He can’t find a six-foot-four Saudi terrorist! How’s he…
Stargazer
Taurus The Bull (April 20 — May 19) You and a significant other may be pondering a relationship at the next level. You are feeling on top of the world, as though nothing can possibly be difficult in this endeavor. A bit of caution will prevent troubles. For All Signs If one could have a…
Broke Phi Broke
Listening to the Kanye West CD College Dropout, you can hear the skit about an imaginary minority fraternity of homeboys who “ain’t got it.” The “it” is money, and in the skit the guys have come to the realization that a life without money is one with out joy. Common people know this is a…
Dog-Gone Crazy
Everyone knows at least one, and if you’re nice, you just call the person “passionate.” My dog-freak friend, for example, outfits his Rhodesian ridgeback with diapers during her time of the month; he apologizes to her when she poops in the house (because he caused the bowel-irritating stress) and makes her wear a kipa on…
