Oct 26 – Nov 1, 2010

Oct 26 - Nov 1, 2010 / Vol. 24 / No. 35

The 6 worst (and 1 best) campaign ads of 2010

Thank God and hallelujah, the 2010 campaign season is almost over. It’s been one of the most irritating, angriest, and at times, weirdest election seasons in memory, and the TV ads have reflected that. The odd rumblings stirring the nation’s conscience, or rather its id, have produced some TV classics. Bizarre images, candidates who seemed…

John Grooms

10-in-10 CD reviews

Each Friday, we review 10 recently released CDs in 10 words each: Duane Stephenson Black Gold — To-Isis singer’s sophomore album full of good, traditional reggae rhythms. Easy Star Allstars Dubber Side of the Moon — Spaced-out remixes of original Dub Side of the Moon. Senses Fail The Fire — Band offers that emo, heavy-handed…

Jeff Hahne

MerleFest announces initial lineup

The initial lineup for MerleFest has been announced. The festival will take place on the campus of Wilkes Community College on April 28 – May 1, 2011. Here are the acts that have been announced so far: Doc Watson Richard Watson Susana and Timmy Abell Alberti Flea Circus Balsam Range The Banknotes Rory Block Roy…

Jeff Hahne

Crow, The Roots to perform at D.C. rally

There’s been a lot of buzz about the Washington D.C. rally that’s taking place this weekend — Jon Stewart’s Rally to Restore Sanity and Stephen Colbert’s March to Keep Fear Alive. A lot of people have wondered what’s going to happen. Now, the Christian Science Monitor is reporting that thanks to the permit for the…

Jeff Hahne

Head stomp just latest rightwing attack or threat

Amid the controversy generated by the Kentucky Head Stomper, little reporting has been done about the fact that Rand Paul supporters’ Monday attack on a liberal activist was just the latest incident of rightwing violence, or attempted violence, against progressives this year. Today, Alternet published a compilation of 17 instances of recent violence and threats…

John Grooms

Charlotte-centric Halloween costume ideas

“THE PENGUIN IS DEAD!” Folks familiar (and passionate) about the Penguin Drive-In changing ownership will want to sport this diddy in continued protest of the situation. Two easy ways to do this costume. The expensive way: Buy or rent a penguin suit. I’m sure you can find something at Party City or Morris Costumes. To…

Kimberly Lawson

Dem commissioners: flaming heaps of gall & b.s.

Uproarious laughter and derision rained down last night on a few Democratic county commissioners when they told a group of voters at a west Charlotte forum that education is one of the county’s top priorities. Actually, that’s what should have happened; instead, the polite crowd settled for rational argument. Either way, in a year when…

John Grooms

Ticket giveaways – coming soon!

We’re getting ready to do a handful of ticket giveaways for concerts coming to Amos’ Southend — Four Year Strong, OverkillFest, Hanson, Motion City Soundtrack, The AP Tour, Pop Evil and Twiztid. Interested? I suggest you stay tuned to this blog and follow me on Twitter.

Jeff Hahne

VIDEO: Rand Paul supporters assault liberal activist

During this heated election season, I’ve heard several liberals reflecting in private discussions about the possibility of right-wing violence, particularly at campaign rallies. I generally agreed during those conversations that the wingnuts were pretty stirred up and anything could happen, but I couldn’t bring myself to concur that Brown Shirt-like, thug tactics were on the…

John Grooms

I need a gyro: Give us that flame-cooked rotisserie meat

Although Charlotte has a large Greek-American community and dozens of restaurants owned and operated by Greek-Americans, the city lacks authentic Greek gyros (pronounced yee-ros). True, Charlotte has gyros; in fact, the gyros at Little Village Grill have been touted in this very column. But the meat used for gyro sandwiches in Charlotte is typically a…

Tricia Childress

COMEDY: Last Comic Standing Live

Fans of NBC’s Last Comic Standing can rejoice, as the Last Comic Standing Live Tour makes a stop at Knight Theater this week. But don’t think that you need to be a fan of the show in order to attend. In fact, seeing performances by the finalists of season seven will most likely be just…

Anita Overcash

When banks are robbers

The big banks that caused the collapse of the global finance market, and received tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded bailouts, have likely been engaging in wholesale fraud against homeowners and the courts. But in a promising development this week, attorneys general from all 50 states announced a bipartisan joint investigation into foreclosure fraud.…

Amy Goodman

3 questions with Roger Lademann, UNCC executive chef

Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush; Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre; former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher — these are just a few of the notable people that Roger Lademann has served. The award-winning chef left behind the fast-paced life in New York and now educates students in healthier eating habits at UNC-Charlotte.…

SPECIAL EVENT: NC Music Factory’s Music, Monsters and Mayhem

Not counting Cake’s B-Sides and Rarities disc (released in 2007), the band has gone nearly six years (since 2004’s Pressure Chief) without releasing new material. Of course, we all remember much of the old, including the group’s biggest ’90s triumphs — “The Distance,” “Never There” and a cover of Perren and Fekaris’ “I Will Survive”…

Anita Overcash

House, Monster a-Go Go among new DVDs for Halloween

THE EVIL (1978) / TWICE DEAD (1988). The Roger Corman’s Cult Classics line presents a double feature DVD: two “haunted house” thrillers on one disc, with the option to play them as a theatrical twofer complete with trailers, intermission and old-school ads for concession stand snacks. The first picture, The Evil, is the better of…

Matt Brunson

FESTIVAL: Day of the Dead: Festival of Souls

The Mexican tradition of Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) isn’t a downer like you might think. The holiday honors the deceased with festivities of remembrance and a celebration of the continuity of life. On Oct. 31, Levine Museum of the New South in partnership with the Latin American Coalition presents its Day…

Anita Overcash

Capsule reviews of films playing the week of Oct. 27

CASE 39 Case 39 is one of those unwanted Hollywood bastards, a production that was completed years ago and has even been released in other territories but is only now making its stateside debut. Just how old is this picture? Let’s just say that when filming began, David O. Selznick was still combing the country…

Matt Brunson

CL previews upcoming concerts (Oct. 27-Nov. 1)

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 27 PLANTS AND ANIMALS Montreal-based collective Plants and Animals, like many of its Canuck compatriots, prefer loose song structures, foot-stomp choir crescendo, and soaring, anthemic takes on what it takes to come — and stay — alive in tough times. But whereas an Arcade Fire might aim for a broader sweep with its…

THEATER: Becky’s New Car

Life is full of twists and turns, but during Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte’s performances of Becky’s New Car — a comedy by Steven Dietz (also the author of Yankee Tavern) — you’ll witness to a midlife crisis that spins out of control. When a longtime married woman and car dealership worker named Becky takes interest…

Anita Overcash

Hereafter: A haunting experience

From his spaghetti Westerns through the surprise box office smash Gran Torino, Clint Eastwood has offered increasingly mature treatises on the subject of death, specifically how it relates to the act of one person taking another’s life. Hereafter, Eastwood’s newest and certain to be most divisive movie, finds the filmmaker coming at us from a…

Matt Brunson

MUSIC: 30 Seconds to Mars

Since 2007, the band has been comprised of former My So-Called Life hearthrob Jared Leto, his brother Shannon (who actually formed the band) and Tomo Milicevic on lead guitar. Leto says he prefers not to trade on his name recognition as an actor (which brings up the question of why he has name recognition as…

Timothy C Davis

My Soul to Take: More Craven crud

The best thing about My Soul to Take is that it may force otherwise sensible folks to revisit director Wes Craven’s past works and finally realize that he’s always been nothing more than a hack in the horror field, a Uwe Boll with a better sense of where to place the camera. (Forget Scream and…

Matt Brunson

THEATER: Ugly Art: A Theatrical Installation

Hodges Taylor Gallery opens its space to Ugly Art: A Theatrical Installation tonight. The show — A Main Street Theatre Production directed by Jim Yost — is derived from five short plays written by Terry Roueche. It consists of a four-person cast — comprised of Sunny Boone, Elise DuQuette, Phil Robertson, Juan Carlos — who…

Anita Overcash

Where to find it: Coca-Cola made in Mexico

Devotees of the taste of original Coca-Cola, and other soft drinks like Dr. Pepper, prefer the taste of cane sugar to the taste of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which has been used to sweeten U.S. soft drinks for more than a generation. Anyone who was born after 1984 may not have had the opportunity…

Tricia Childress

Book review: Marcy Dermansky’s Bad Marie

Bad Marie by Marcy Dermansky (Harper Perennial, 212 pages, $13.99). Marie, the protagonist of Marcy Dermansky’s witty, disturbing new novel, is almost completely unlikable, and yet stands out as one of the more interesting characters in recent fiction. Creating a dreadful, amoral central character who can also capture readers’ interest, and even fascinate them, is…

CD REVIEW: Ben Folds/Nick Hornby’s Lonely Avenue

THE DEAL: Musician Ben Folds gives the words of author Nick Hornby a sonic life. THE GOOD: Musically, the songs sound great. That’s a tribute to the ability of Folds. The guy has made songs on the spot about ChatRoulette (look up his Fillmore Charlotte performance on YouTube) during his live shows, so it’s no…

Jeff Hahne

Book review: Brian Lee Knopp’s Mayhem in Mayberry

Mayhem in Mayberry: Misadventures of a P.I. in Southern Appalachia by Brian Lee Knopp (Çosmic Pigbite Press, 154 pages, $14.95). This lively, intelligent, funny memoir has been selling well in the Asheville area for about a year, and it’s time the rest of the state caught on. The author used to be a private investigator…

CD REVIEW: Marty Stuart’s Ghost Train: The Studio B Sessions

THE DEAL: Marty Stuart revives classic country. THE GOOD: Marty Stuart is the real deal in a country music landscape inhabited by what Unknown Hinson calls “steroid eatin’ pretty boys with cowboy hats and shaved chests.” This release is a tribute to the ’60s glory days of country, with Stuart returning to the scene of…

Grant Britt

Event: Last Comic Standing Live

Fans of NBC’s Last Comic Standing can rejoice, as the Last Comic Standing Live Tour makes a local stop this week. But don’t think you need to be a fan of the show in order to attend. In fact, seeing performances by the Season Seven finalists — including Mike Destafano, Myq Kaplan, Roy Wood Jr.,…

Anita Overcash

Pendergraph ties to prison industry raise questions

It’s almost as if Jim Pendergraph is running a stealth campaign for a seat on the County Commission. The former Mecklenburg County sheriff comes across in public meetings as an affable critic of wasteful spending and county government’s management, and is likely to spend much more time talking about neighborhood safety than, say, getting tough…

Event: Joi at the McColl

Atlanta-based vocalist/producer/songwriter Joi Gilliam has been making noise in the music industry since the early 1990s — with her own solo material and with bands like her latest, Hot Heavy & Bad. But when she takes the stage in the Q.C. this week — as the latest guest on the live talk show The 15…

Carlton Hargro

Getting to know candidate Jeff Doctor

A couple of weeks ago, I conducted an informal, one-question poll: Who’s running against U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick in the midterm election? Most shrugged, but a few responded, “You mean that Native American guy … what’s his name?” His name is Jeff Doctor. He’s a Seneca Indian and his wife, Allyson, is Mohawk. Both tribes…

Rhiannon Fionn

Last chance to catch Carolina clarion call

Just how many visual artists are there in North and South Carolina? Well, at least 650. That’s how many artists responded to gallery owner Larry Elder’s open invitation to his second annual Carolina’s Got Art! juried exhibition at Atherton Mill. This show is the product of a clarion call to anyone in the Carolinas who…

Scott Lucas

Bolstering Domestic Violence Awareness Month

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. According to the Domestic Violence Awareness Project, the month-long commemoration evolved from a Day of Unity, which was conceived by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence in October 1981. The intent of the day was to connect advocates across the nation who work to end violence against women and…

Nsenga Burton

Bizarre crimes from Charlotte police files

Cross Buzz: Police and medics were called to a house in south Charlotte after a boy seemed to have an allergic reaction. The father told officers that his 17-year-old son was drinking alcohol and it caused a weird reaction with his depression medication. That’s called happiness. Six more beers, and you won’t know what depression…

Ryan Pitkin

A closer look at N.C.’s unemployment rate

Can’t find a job? It’s easy to blame yourself as you watch the state’s unemployment rate plunge, from 11.2 in March of this year to 9.6 in September. You see state political leaders taking a victory lap on television and that makes you feel even worse. If other unemployed people seem to be getting jobs,…

Do pink ribbon campaigns against breast cancer do any good?

We’re constantly bombarded with fundraisers and retail products sporting pink ribbons to raise money to “fight breast cancer.” Do pink ribbon campaigns do any good, or are they mainly a way for corporations to fleece consumers by leveraging their fear and sympathy over breast cancer? Where is all the money raised by pink ribbon campaigns…

Cecil Adams

Tales of Charlotte

“What’s the weirdest or most awful thing you’ve ever experienced in Charlotte?” That’s the question us folks at Creative Loafing have been asking local denizens for years now. Many of the answers we’ve heard in response — like one woman’s story of discovering that her roommate was stealing her underwear — have been published on…

Weekly horoscope (Oct. 27-Nov. 2)

Scorpio The Phoenix (Oct. 23-Nov. 20) You are entering a new phase of attention, which will continue through mid-April. Issues of money and resources or matters of personal values will be prominent as motivators. Be aware of the temptation to identify with that which you deem important, whether it is a material object or an…

Vivian Carol

Temperance League gives Bruce Hazel consistency

There are a few parallels between Charlotte singer Bruce Hazel and Bruce Springsteen. Both grew up in New Jersey. Both have a working-class style in their lyrics. Both play guitar, but are more known for their heartfelt singing. Both give 110 percent when on stage. While Springsteen had session players for various albums, Hazel recruited…

Jeff Hahne

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