Cover Story
Top 10 things (plus a bonus) that are good for you now but will kill you in 20 years
Remember when more doctors chose Camels over any other cigarette? No, you probably don’t, because you’re no doubt younger than I am. But kids, take note: There was a time when smoking was really, really good for you. Just ask the physicians who hawked them on TV. Your primary care doc preferred Camels because they…
Nailed it
I found myself in Ulta the other day, as I usually do when I have money to burn, faced with a flashback about 15 years old. As I stood in front of the Revlon nail polish display, I noticed a small line of scented nail polishes in sophisticated scents such as mango, cotton candy and…
Cheers! Salud Beer Shop opens second location
Seems the old saying about recession-proof spirits is spot on.
Opening This Week
What’s new in theaters this week.
Anonymous sends a message to the DNC
The “hacktivist” group is coming to Charlotte (or is it already here?)
All About Style: Pleated skirts
Do you have this summer trend in your closet?
Eric Fehrnstorm’s Moment
Meet Mitt Romney’s right-hand man
Today’s Top 5: Tuesday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
So long, old buddy: SXSW creative director Brent Grulke dies at 52
He not only gave South by Southwest its reputation as an influential quality music event, but he was a friend to many.
Photos/Video: Brief: A Fashion for Fete 2012
All in good fun, the men’s underwear fashion show raised money for Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Regional AIDS Interfaith Network.
Today’s Top 5: Monday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
3 questions with Cordell McGary of Eating Well With Chef Cordell
Chef Cordell McGary is the superhero America needs in an age of increasing obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. The philanthropic Chicago native established his food service company Eating Well With Chef Cordell (www.chefcordell.com) nearly five years ago and has made it his mission to educate people about the importance of healthy eating. After moving…
Bizarre crimes from Charlotte police files (Aug. 9)
En guard!: Police responded to an assault call on South Tryon Street last week after a couple was challenged to a duel by the owner of a Western Union. The 35-year-old man and 37-year-old woman walked into the store to resolve a matter regarding a cell phone that the business owner had sold them. The…
Road to Rio: Amor de Brazil
As the London Summer Olympics come to an end, the attention will shift to the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro and all things Brazilian, including the cuisine. While this is great news for the people of Brazil, Charlotte has experienced a gastronomic loss. Many Brazilian expats returned home during the economic downturn here,…
Hallelujahs at the Gantt
Oscar, Spencer and Paul film series screens Go Down Death.
Tangle in the craziness of A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Shakespeare Carolina promises a wild take on the bosky kingdom of Oberon and Titania.
Sweet!: A demonstration by Crave Dessert Bar chef Jason Lee
Featuring the bar’s moonshine twist on the traditional apple pie, “The American.”
The violence talk
I felt awkward, embarrassed, the way parents are generally portrayed when talking to teenagers about sex.
Hunks shine in Brief: A Fete for Fashion
Male eye candy parades the runway in swimwear and underwear.
Live review: Ray Wylie Hubbard, Double Door Inn, 8/9/2012
Texas troubadour oozes charm and charisma and has written some incredibly good songs (understatement intended).
Weekend Film Reviews: The Campaign; Ruby Sparks; The Bourne Legacy; Hope Springs
What’s new and covered in theaters.
Olympic Dreams
How much of a role has parenting style played in getting these kids there?
Local Discovery: The motherload at the Meat House
No drive is too far or too absurd when you’re on the hunt for merguez sausage.
The Campaign: A winning ticket
THE CAMPAIGN *** (out of 4) DIRECTED BY Jay Roach STARS Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis Merlin, Harry Potter and the Great and Powerful Oz — should we add Jay Roach’s name to this list of legendary wizards? After all, genuine magic must have been at work behind the scenes of his latest directorial effort, a…
Ruby Sparks: The write stuff
RUBY SPARKS *** (out of 4) DIRECTED BY Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris STARS Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan Hollywood is often criticized for not providing enough meaty roles to actresses, so Zoe Kazan tackled the problem head-on: She wrote herself a doozy of a part. She’s the title character in Ruby Sparks, a film that…
The Bourne Legacy: Spy series keeps running
THE BOURNE LEGACY **1/2 (out of 4) DIRECTED BY Tony Gilroy STARS Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz No Matt Damon? No problem! With the actor having ably tackled the role of Jason Bourne in the trio of films based on Robert Ludlum’s best-selling Bourne trilogy — and with attempts at bringing Damon back for a fourth,…
Hope Springs, but then falls
HOPE SPRINGS ** (out of 4) DIRECTED BY David Frankel STARS Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones It should have been this summer’s Julie & Julia or The Devil Wears Prada: a delightful Meryl Streep vehicle inclusive enough to sport a PG-13 rating but specifically geared toward mature moviegoers seeking a respite from blockbusters aimed at…
Kilah-Palooza scheduled for Sunday
Benefit is for 3-year-old Kilah Davenport who was the victim of a severe beating delivered by her stepfather.
Today’s Top 5: Friday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Sebadoh at Cat’s Cradle, Chapel Hill (8/11/2012)
Lou Barlow’s old band defines the scrappy, emotionally raw indie rock of the ’90s .
Joint D≠ aims to fill a sonic void in Charlotte’s music scene
It’s early on a Thursday evening inside a blue-roofed Charlotte warehouse on North Davidson Street. Outside, a pop-up rain shower has finished its assault on the sun-blasted asphalt, and an urban fog is rising from the road. Inside, amidst a honeycomb of practice spaces, Joint D≠ (pronounced “Joint Damage”) is ready to rehearse. Like the…
Charlotte, what’s that smell?
Just about everyone knows the close connection between smell and memory. Odors that you once recognized perhaps only on a subconscious level can suddenly conjure vivid memories when re-introduced later in life. There are also certain aromas we associate with specific places: New York’s Chinatown, for example, smells like fish. New Orleans’s French Quarter is…
Prepare for turbulence: Dec. 21, 2012
This week is one of those rare occasions in which the immediate cosmic messages are relatively quiet. I have never been interested in writing sun sign paragraphs when there is little to say and can’t bring myself to insult my readers by presenting faked lines as “your horoscope” just because it is expected. I choose…
DNC 2012 Notebook: Celebrities, political and otherwise, reveal Queen City secrets
Kal Penn of “Harold & Kumar” stardom used to work for Obama – and is a huge NASCAR fan
Recipe: Tropical Crêpes
My journey through the wonder that is France ended yesterday, but I still have one more French recipe up my sleeve.
Re:Public, 8/8/2012
Photos from Pop Life, now in its sixth year.
Peter Smeal: Props for Narrow Daylight
The new play debuts as part of the nuVoices for a nuGeneration festival.
Today’s Top 5: Thursday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
nuVoices, nuIdeas
This town hasn’t had a new play festival since the waning days of the Charlotte Repertory Theatre in early 2002. Now, Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte is bringing the first of what’s planned to be an annual festival, nuVoices for a nuGeneration, which celebrates emerging American playwrights. The festival is not only equipped with a nu…
Chick-fil-la-la-la-la-la
Let’s get this part out of the way first: Chick-fil-A owner Dan Cathy has every right to express his opinions on marriage, and people who don’t like his opinions have every right to gripe about them, including boycotting Chick-fil-A fast food restaurants. This is America, after all, where you have the right to do all…
Drum and bass pioneer Goldie hasn’t slowed
A diamond-encrusted gold grill, an obnoxious number of oversized gold rings and a perpetual look of je ne sais quoi are always helpful for people interested in making snap judgments about the eccentric Goldie. Looking past all that, you’ll find that he’s more than a music producer and DJ. He’s a pioneer in sonic architecture,…
Down to earth: Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun
People-watching inside Walmart at 3 a.m. is an experience second to none. Stragglers looking to satisfy late-night munchies after a night of partying, half-asleep husbands trying to pacify a pregnant wife’s cravings and perhaps a random out-of-town band member or two. For Atlanta electro-pop/rock quartet Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun, Walmarts have become a…
This week’s concert listings (Aug. 9-15)
** Bullet points indicate CL’s critics’ picks** Thursday, Aug. 9 Blues/Roots/International Bayou Butch Lucas (Villa Antonio (Ballantyne)) Latin Thursdays (Dream Nightclub, Matthews) Classical/Jazz/Smooth Beats and Keys (Encore Bistro and Bar) John Alexander (Blue Restaurant & Bar) Country/Folk Big Fat Gap (U.S. National Whitewater Center) Erik Smallwood (Leroy Fox) Open Mic w/ Brett Greer (Tommy’s Pub)…
Polly Adkins: Still Talking
Adkins talks about her experience directing and the script for Still.
LOL: Comedy in the Q.C.
A roundup of CL‘s top picks for comedy shows in Charlotte this week.
Today’s Top 5: Wednesday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
When CATS is out of whack during the DNC, who’ll get left in the dust?
On a muggy Friday, a man in a worn tank top gets on a bus at 7:13 a.m. His frayed cargo pants have seen better days, but its pockets can still hide his stash of morning eye-openers — a Red Bull and a pack of Marlboros. Chris Bode will need the lift since he spends…
Word up: National Poetry Slam visits the Q.C.
Blumenthal facilities continue to buzz with wordplay this week, as the 23rd Annual National Poetry Slam winds down its preliminary bouts and kicks into semi-finals (Friday, Aug. 10) and overall finals (Saturday, Aug. 11) during the five-day competition that’s brought more than 300 poets from across the U.S. and Canada. The National Poetry Slam, which…
Spoken-word poetry doesn’t get the attention that spoken-word politics does
A few years ago I wrote a story for another publication about a poet named Boris Rogers, whom you probably know better as Bluz, the tireless slam master of this city’s award-winning spoken-word team, SlamCharlotte. You know Bluz even if you don’t know him. He’s the big guy with long dreads who’s fond of oversized…
