Oct 18-24, 2011

Oct 18-24, 2011 / Vol. 25 / No. 34

Cover Story

Shelter your money overseas? Sen. Kay Hagan wants to lower your taxes

Hey, remember way, way back — say about a month ago — when Congress and the White House were saying that America’s No. 1 most super-important issue was deficit reduction? You can forget about that now, because Congress seems ready to give a big tax break to multinational corporations, which will, of course, increase the…

John Grooms

McCrory confuses City Hall with his own property

Illustration by Marcus Kiser for CL King of all he surveys Pat McCrory seems to think he’s still mayor of Charlotte. McCrory, a GOP gubernatorial candidate who is waiting till 2012 to announce his candidacy so the hosts for his speeches can continue to pay his food and travel bills, has found a new, super-critical…

John Grooms

The Three Musketeers: All for one star

Break out those No. 2 pencils, cuz it’s time for a pop quiz. Which line of dialogue is not spoken in the latest screen adaptation of The Three Musketeers? A) “What would you like me to put on your headstone? ‘Little shit’?” B) “Your horse took a dump on the street.” C) “Find my sword.…

Matt Brunson

Johnny English Reborn: Spy-jinks

JOHNNY ENGLISH REBORN **1/2 DIRECTED BY Oliver Parker STARS Rowan Atkinson, Gillian Anderson The 2003 release Johnny English took a beating from most critics, but finding that it capitalized on Rowan Atkinson’s abilities better than his Bean movies — and greatly preferring it over those overrated Austin Powers films — it managed to squarely hit…

Matt Brunson

N.C. must prevent exotic animal slaughter from happening here

Courtesy of the Columbus Dispatch Killed animals awaiting burial yesterday in Ohio It was a sickening scene yesterday in Ohio, where the owner of a “wild-animal preserve” killed himself after letting his animals loose. Police were forced to kill dozens of the animals, including 18 rare Bengal tigers. Even animal-rights advocates agreed that police had…

John Grooms

Myrick challenged by new Tea Party Angry Bird

Here’s the “Huh?” moment of the day: Rep. Sue Myrick has a challenger in the 2012 GOP primary. He’s a tea partier and he wants to run against Myrick — from the right. I didn’t know you could get much farther to the right than Myrick, who for a couple of decades has catered to…

John Grooms

Open Letter from ‘Boomer’: 5 goals for Occupy Charlotte

The Occupy Charlotte organizers and protesters are hanging tough in their impromptu “campground,” exercising participatory democracy and drawing attention to the plight of “the 99%” of Americans who aren’t among the super-wealthy recipients of lavish federal tax breaks. Occupy Charlotte is in the process of defining goals in a way that should bring them even…

John Grooms

Bizarre crimes from Charlotte police files

No Fun: Police responded to a child endangerment call last week after a girl was found wandering the streets of her neighborhood. The man who filed the report told officers a 2-year-old girl he had never seen came from across the street and began playing with his kids. The police were called and the girl…

Ryan Pitkin

Weekly horoscope (Oct. 19-25)

Libra The Scales (Sept. 22-Oct. 22) Your love of luxury and fine things may cause a battle with your partner, who prefers to keep the belt tightened. This reflects a genuine inner conflict. A fairly strong part of you is also wanting to play it safe as well as buy what pleases you. Look for…

Vivian Carol

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil: Killer laughs

At this late date, “smart slasher flick” might seem like an oxymoron, but Tucker & Dale vs. Evil isn’t your typical slasher flick. Instead, it’s a cleverly plotted gem that uproots the whole genre in a manner that’s both savvy and satisfying. While assembly-line movies like Final Destination 5 and Saw 3D: The Final Chapter…

Matt Brunson

Capsule reviews of films playing the week of Oct. 19

ABDUCTION Sure, it’s easy to pick on the Twilight guy. Because who’s gonna rush to his defense other than smitten Team Jacob fans? Make no mistake about it: Abduction, in which Taylor Lautner is handed his first starring role in a motion picture, will never, ever, ever be mistaken for a good movie. But the…

Matt Brunson

The Thing: Nondescript horror prequel

The summer of 1982 found audiences so enamored with a little fellow named E.T. that they ignored two other science fiction flicks that have since been recognized as classics of the genre. One, of course, is Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner; the other is John Carpenter’s The Thing, the second adaptation of John W. Campbell Jr.’s…

Matt Brunson

Not Made In China’s Nikki Mueller shares her story

If you’re a regular reader of the Charlotte Observer or Charlotte Magazine or if you watch WCNC, you know who Nikki Mueller is. More affectionately known around town as “the button girl,” Mueller is the creator of the Not Made In China brand (www.shopnotmadeinchina.com) — and she’s been in the public eye a lot this…

Kimberly Lawson

The Square Root of Pie

Move over, cupcakes: There’s a new kid on the block. Small dessert pies are becoming increasingly popular both nationally and in Charlotte. The appeal of these bakery items is individualization, since consumers can buy one for a solo treat or a variety to please a group. Pies are, of course, as American as, well, you…

Tricia Childress

Faith and Hope Rivers, jewelry designers

If you love handcrafted jewelry, visiting Faith and Hope Rivers of MoaZen Jewelry & Accessories (512 E. 15th St.; www.moazenjewelry.com) will prove to be a cultural lesson. These twin sisters have been in business since 2006. Their venture started with a catalog, and in 2009, it ballooned into an actual brick-and-mortar location. Unlike many other…

T. Strong

3 questions with Michelle Anton, Miss M’s Sweets owner

For Michelle Anton, “the kitchen is the heart and soul of a house.” As a child, Anton’s dearest memories resided in the kitchen, alongside her mother and grandmother. The familiar flavors of her past stuck sweetly with the Maine native, who moved to the Queen City five years ago and decided to open a haven…

Nicole Pietrantonio

Jesse Clasen finds a creative outlet through variety of bands

Jesse Clasen is scrolling through a long list of songs in iTunes. He plays a portion of a one-hour drum session before moving on to a demo from his band Harvard. That’s followed by a song that might be for his project The Bear Romantic, then an indie rock tune under the name Native Trash,…

Jeff Hahne

Nightlife profile: Chad ‘DJ Dirty’ Robbins

For Chad Robbins, the saying “Live each day as if it were your last” touches close to home. Better known as DJ Dirty, Robbins spent his early college years battling Hodgkin’s lymphoma. As a survivor, he decided to dedicate his life to the things he loved most: art and music. For more than a decade,…

Jordan Bullington

CD Review: Cement Stars’ Form & Temper

Charlotte indie rock quintet Cement Stars follows up 2009’s Geometrics with the six-song EP, Form & Temper. What originally started as a duo consisting of brothers Shaun and Bryan Olson has grown as much in lineup as it has in musical output. Though the band started out with an electronic ’80s influence on its debut,…

Jeff Hahne

CD Review: Brontosaurus’ Cold Comes to Claim

Apropos to their otherwise unfortunate moniker, this strong debut from the Chicago duo of Nicholas Kelley and Nicholas Papaleo sounds like a paleontological discovery from the past — carbon-dating points to the late ’90s/early 2000s. The classically trained, multi-instrumentalist Nicks have only been together since 2010, after a stretch in the now-defunct Picture Books, but…

John Schacht

A new Bush era or push era

Back when Barack Obama was still just a U.S. senator running for president, he told a group of donors in a New Jersey suburb, “Make me do it.” He was borrowing from President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who used the same phrase (according to Harry Belafonte, who heard the story directly from Eleanor Roosevelt) when responding…

Amy Goodman

Democracy for sale

It’s hard to imagine a generic politician such as U.S. Sen. Richard Burr being a harbinger of the future, but there he was last week: a half-page ad in the daily paper, paid for by a shady outside group, brimming with lies — and more than a year before the next election. You probably thought…

John Grooms

Time for fine fall paperbacks

For dedicated book lovers, autumn is truly the best of times and the worst of times, and not just for Dickens fans. Fall’s flood of new books in stores — the glossy hardbacks’ promises of new worlds and insights, and the freshly printed paperbacks that resurrect bookhounds’ fantasies of catching up (at half price!) with…

John Grooms

Exhibit: El Dia de los Muertos Show

In Mexican tradition, El Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a time to remember deceased loved ones, but it’s also somewhat of a celebration of life. In NoDa, Pura Vida is decorating with an exhibit of sugar skulls as well as an altar. Next door at Baku Gallery, art by local artists…

Anita Overcash

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