Nov 14-20, 2012

Nov 14-20, 2012 / Vol. 26 / No. 38

Cover Story

Q: When will Madonna stop being relevant?

When Madonna drolly announced to fans packed into the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 24, that “we have a black Muslim in the White House,” the shit hit the fan. It was as though the nation’s culture vultures had suffered another case of pop-cultural amnesia. This is Madonna, after all. And Madonna will…

Mark Kemp

A farm-to-table affair

Until three years ago, the hallmark of my Thanksgiving dinner was that big Butterball turkey, in its iconic packaging — you know, the ones that mysteriously appear in grocery stores each year, signifying the arrival of the holidays. On the table, you’d find cranberry sauce, still bearing the imprint of an aluminum can. The green…

Keia Mastrianni

Where to find Paczki

Good doughnuts are easy to find in Charlotte. The quintessential Carolina doughnut is Krispy Kreme, celebrating 75 years. When the “Hot Now” light shines at the newly opened store in Cotswold, KK devotees form an automobile line around the block. Krispy Kreme’s simple, sugary, yeast confection, best when hot, is the city’s standard fund-raising doughnut.…

Tricia Childress

Bizarre crimes from Charlotte police files (Nov. 15 edition)

Cross Buzz: Police responded to a domestic violence call in the University area last week to find a woman who had been beaten. The 21-year-old told officers that as her boyfriend pushed her to the floor of a bedroom, she hit her head on the corner of the bed. The man then punched the woman…

Ryan Pitkin

Ridin’ nerdy at the MIT Media Lab

I’ve landed in Boston for an epic adventure and you’re coming with! Surprise! TEDxBeaconStreet is today and Sunday here in Bean Town so we (Billboard’s Katie Morse, who is one of my besties, a bunch of other TEDxers, and I) spent yesterday at nerd mecca, The MIT Media Lab! I wish we had a spot…

Desiree Kane

Twilight: Breaking Dawn — Part 2: Often bloodless

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN — PART 2 ** DIRECTED BY Bill Condon STARS Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson The votes have been tallied, and the ass-whipping that Mitt Romney suffered on Election Day has allowed Stephenie Meyer to reclaim the title of America’s most popular Mormon. It’s a transition that occurred at just the right…

Matt Brunson

Lincoln parked

LINCOLN **1/2 DIRECTED BY Steven Spielberg STARS Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field Moviegoers purchasing tickets to Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln will be forgiven for feeling as if they’re stepping into a wax museum rather than a theater auditorium. Spielberg, who has been planning this project for numerous years, has meticulously, painstakingly recreated an entire era, powdered wigs…

Matt Brunson

Halo 4 earns critical hallelujahs

Microsoft’s new futuristic first-person shooter,Halo 4, the latest installment in the blockbuster Halo franchise, deployed on Nov. 6, just one week before Treyarch’s highly anticipated Call of Duty: Black Ops II. 343 Industries, Halo 4’s developer, and Microsoft can breathe a sigh of relief: The reviews are in, and they’re good. Really good. Metacritic, which…

Adam Frazier

Don’t hate on Little House on the Prairie‘s Nellie

Editors note: Alison Arngrim’s performances at Petra’s Piano Bar & Cabaret have been canceled. Anyone familiar with Little House on the Prairie, the hit TV series (adapted from Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books) that aired from 1974-1983, doubtless remembers the stuck-up, malicious Nellie Oleson. She wasn’t the show’s star but, boy, could she antagonize…

Anita Overcash

Presidential election: Hardly a ‘narrow victory’

The contrasting results from last week’s election were surprising but clear: America as a whole continues to become more progressive while North Carolina, at least temporarily, has rejoined the Old South. If you think last week’s presidential election was a “narrow victory” for Obama, think again. Yes, he “only” won by 2 million votes but…

John Grooms

This week’s concert listings (Nov. 15-Nov. 21)

** Bullet points indicate CL’s critics’ picks** Thursday, Nov. 15 Blues/Roots/International Bayou Butch Lucas (Villa Antonio (Ballantyne)) Dirty Bourbon River Show (Double Door Inn) Latin Thursdays (Dream Nightclub, Matthews) Nita B Trio (Comet Grill) Salsa, Cumbia, Norteno, Banda music w/ DJ (Las Rositas) Classical/Jazz/Smooth Beats and Keys (Encore Bistro and Bar) John Alexander (Blue Restaurant…

Pop and circumstance: Danny Brown

It’s the eve of Election Day and Danny Brown is in New Orleans with the “Long Live A$AP” tour. Surprisingly, the Brown on the other end of the phone isn’t the rackety, filth-flarn spouter heard on his mixtapes Detroit State of Mind (2007) or Hot Soup (2008), or The Hybrid LP from 2010 or last…

Eric Tullis

Review: David Menconi’s Ryan Adams: Losering, A Story of Whiskeytown

For a time, Ryan Adams was getting more ink for his romantic entanglements, bizarre stage behavior, drug-addled antics and ever-widening, big, fat mouth than he was for his music. It was easy to lose sight of the masterful songwriter who crafted moments of heartache, longing and reckless abandon with crystalline precision. In Ryan Adams: Losering,…

Pat Moran

Weekly horoscope (Nov. 15-21)

Scorpio The Phoenix (Oct. 23-Nov. 20)Mars, your ruling planet, shifts your attention on the 16th to fresh territory. During the next six weeks, your activities and feelings will be intensified in the life sector related to vehicles, short distance travels, errands, communications, education, your neighborhood and siblings. For All Signs: Chiron was the name given…

Vivian Carol

Shelter from the storm: Time Out Youth

Jordan Chris tears up when he talks about being homeless this past spring. For one week, Chris, 23, lived in his Toyota Camry after his girlfriend kicked him out of her apartment. Transgender and nearly deaf since birth, he never felt safe enough to sleep more than two to three hours at a time in…

Joanne Spataro

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