Wrap Artists
Wraps have been around for centuries in various cuisines: zendy sushi, Greek gyros, Asian spring rolls, French crepes and Middle Eastern falafels. But the most popular wrap in the US is the burrito. I use the word “wrap” as part of the technical description, so if you’re a burrito aficionado, don’t get your tortilla all…
Reasons to Believe
Each year, the staff music writers and editors of Creative Loafing/Weekly Planet in Atlanta, Charlotte, Sarasota and Tampa get together to discuss which local acts seem to be on the verge of kicking their careers up a few notches. Some are brand new; others have been kicking around for a while. But they all are…
Hung like a horseradish
“Oh, Dios mio, what is this?” asked the cashier about the gnarly, hairy root dirtying up her grocery scanner. “It looks like elephant foot,” she said, grimacing. “No, it doesn’t,” I whispered. “It looks like a penis.” Indeed, fresh horseradish can look shockingly phallic, but that’s not the reason to give it a try. If…
The Best of the Fests
It’s undeniable. The Southeast has some pretty rockin’, jazzin’, bluegrassin’, funkin’, country-in’, R&B-in’, dancin’ and blues-in’ festivals. There’s no shortage of great events that are probably within a day’s road trip. Here’s look at some of the best. ALABAMA CITY STAGES Occurring the third weekend in June, City Stages heats up the streets of Birmingham.…
It’s a Whole New Ballgame
“When we lose, I eat. When we win, I eat. I also eat when we’re rained out.” — Tommy Lasorda, LA Dodgers former manager Baseball season is in full swing, and stadium concession stands around the US are hawking the usual hot dogs, peanuts and Cracker Jacks. Game-goers are pretty much like good old Tommy…
Plan B or not to B
After 29-year-old Eve had unprotected sex, she felt the responsible thing to do was seek pills known to dramatically reduce the chance of getting pregnant when taken after intercourse. She didn’t think that a tense doctor’s visit three days later would leave her frantic, indignant and demanding answers as the clock kept ticking. But that…
Big Organic Daddy
It may take just one person to start a revolution, but it takes lots of brave souls to spread the word. Nowhere is this more true than in the organic winemaking business. Although most consumers shirk at the thought of drinking the stuff, assuming it’s substandard in some way, they are really just ignorant. Ignorant…
Closing Ranks?
Political Analysis There’s a book’s worth of subtle, unwritten rules in politics that the average person wouldn’t pick up on. Most people wouldn’t see anything special about the reception invitation bearing Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory’s name that seemed to hit the mailboxes of every Republican in Charlotte who had ever made a campaign donation to…
Wine List
Wine Classes French wines vs. American wines: A comparison. Jan. 25, 6:30-8pm. $30. Mint Museum of Craft & Design, 220 N. Tryon St. 704-344-8027. Wine Tasting An offering of 4 wines. Thursdays, 6-8pm. $5. Corkscrew, Huntersville, 16916 Birkdale Commons Pkwy. 704-987-0011. Wine Wednesdays Wine tasting of 4-5 wines and informal chats with wine representatives. Wed.,…
A Comedy of Errors
All politics are local. This aphorism was acted out in Dilworth recently when people who suddenly found a reason to participate in their local community packed the monthly meeting of the Dilworth Community Development Association. But true to the premise of single-issue politics, these part-time actors and extras fled as soon as their act was…
Elect Me Pope!
It came to me in a dream. While the passing of Pope John Paul II is a sad event, my dream showed me the promising future this misfortune can bring to our bustling boomtown. The coming weeks will be busy with the ritualistic selection of a new Pontiff. Charlotte, Can-Do City USA, needs to make…
Good Eats
All Around Town Anntony’s Caribbean, 6434-F West Sugarcreek Rd., 704-598-6863; 2001 E. 7th St., 704-342-0749. A hint of the tropics; rotisserie chicken with Jamaican jerk sauce, ribs, Paradise Island fish special, curries, and Caribbean styled greens. $$ Azteca, 116 Woodlawn Rd., 704-525-5110; 9709 Independence Blvd., 704-814-9877; 1863 W. Franklin Blvd. (Gastonia), 704-866-7574. A favorite of…
It’s NOT “A Cultural Thing”
In North Carolina, the law on statutory rape is pretty simple. If she’s 13 to 15 and you’re more than six years older than her, having sex with her is a class B felony. If she’s 13 to 15 and you’re more than four years older than her, having sex with her is a Class…
Come Out And Play
After a hard day’s work, there’s nothing more relaxing than shedding the business garb, slipping into something comfortable, getting together with friends, and smacking someone upside the head with a rubber ball. Of course dodgeball – the game of adolescent violence and humiliation – is but one option available among the Queen City’s many and…
Stuck in a Jam
Ah, jam bands. It’s a judgment call which haze is thicker, that caused by the stomach-curdling blend of b.o. and patchouli or the fragrant clouds of premium cannabis sativa that envelop a jam band audience like Los Angeles smog. Add to it the spectacle of rhythm-less dancing and twirling resembling a slow-motion epileptic fit on…
Here She Is, Missunderstood
With the Miss America pageant without a TV home due to low Nielsen ratings, there’s been talk of a new format to make viewers care about a TV institution whose heyday has come and gone. But in the wacky world of TV, it’s common for careers and shows to be resurrected with some tweaks, nips,…
The Blotter
FOR OLD TIMES’ SAKE: A man called police after his ex-girlfriend, who still has a key to his residence, bit him in the arm and hit him upside the head. BURNING DOWN THE CAR: In the early morning hours, a woman awoke to discover her car ablaze in her driveway. The fire department determined the…
McClinton Heard it On the X
Looking for a goat gland implant for your scrotum? A bottle of snake oil guaranteed to cure cancer, clear up acne or get rid of piles? Border radio offered all that and more, healing your body and cleansing your soul while exposing you to the best music this side of the border, broadcast from the…
News of the Weird
People With Issues: In 1989, after his release from prison on petty crimes, John L. Stanley undertook the serious study of criminology, lecturing and even hosting a Dallas radio program on crime. But in December, he confessed to robbing a Commerce Bank in Kansas City, Mo., because he needed to return to prison to further…
The CL Conclave
Crystal Billings Accountant “That depends – what’s his position on homosexual abortions? Anyway, I hear he’s on steroids.” Louise Jackson Teacher “No, we need some young stud in there who can get women like me interested again. In the Church, I mean.” Don P. Getty Photographer “Personally, I like the idea. Hell freezing over will…
Spins
Beck Guero Interscope Having survived the harrowing phase of the Kubler-Ross grieving process — otherwise known as the musical suicide note, Sea Change — Mr. Beck Hanson appears to be himself again judging by Guero, his latest release. Or to be more accurate, Beck appears to be all of his various selves again, and therein…
Letters
CL Has Balls The first words out of my mouth when I turned to page 28 of “The Agony & The Ecstasy” (by Sam Boykin, April 6) were “the Bible thumpers are gonna raise hell about this”….only to be followed by “I can’t wait to read the letters complaining about it”…but this letter ain’t bitchin’…
See & Do
April 14 – Thursday Nicholas Sparks, the highly popular author of Message In A Bottle, The Notebook and more, writes dolled-up romance novels posing as literature, in the “tearjerker” vein popularized by Bridges of Madison County. They’re what some call “fast reads” — short sentences, few words over two syllables and fairly simple plots, delivering…
Music Menu
THURSDAY 4.14 David LaMotte – There’s no overt preachy singing or posing with singer/songwriter LaMotte. What you get is well-written and melodic acoustic folk that hints of the moods of his Western North Carolina base. There are forays into rock on some tunes but it’s mostly LaMotte telling kind and gentle tales while plucking his…
Stargazer
Aries The Ram (Mar. 20 Apr. 19) – Work, home, or career related projects are difficult to initiate at this time. It seems as though something is interfering with your every move. Patience is not one of your virtues, but this week if you try to force it, you’ll hit the wall with those…
Soundboard
Wednesday, Apr. 13 Breakfast Club DJ Boney B Double Door Inn La Marea The Evening Muse Jim Bianco w/ Dean Fields Excelsior Club Kevin Jones & Co. The Gin Mill Wizard’s Roadshow Milestone Against Me! w/ Smoke or Fire, The Houston Brothers and more Providence Cafe Celine Berman & Jazztrack Puckett’s Farm Equipment New Dixie…
Third Eye Open
Spare, muted and stripped bare, the 37 steel objects now showing at the Hodges Taylor Gallery represent one man’s curious and cranky curatorial mindset and will surely produce a galley of knitted brows. Churlish guest curator Rob Williams likes to make life difficult for us all. He wants us to learn and grow, damn it.…
For Love of the Game
Since an alarming number of people have this pathological need to designate all movies as either “chick flicks” or “dick flicks” (useless labels, if you ask me, but whatever), I submit the new comedy Fever Pitch for their perusal. The theatrical poster – with stars Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon looking all cute and bubbly…
Mortality Rocks On
Jonathan Larson never quite saw his 36th birthday, and the Pulitzer Prize he won for Rent in 1996 was awarded posthumously. So it’s tempting to detect premonitions of mortality in Larson’s rock opera, where characters struggle poignantly against AIDS, addiction, loneliness and poverty. But Larson’s preoccupation with mortality — and the hardships of la vie…
Business As Usual
Documentaries were once content to simply inspire viewers to look at life from inside another person’s skin or shed light on a neglected issue. But today’s documentaries aren’t content just to make you think. They want you to act: to vote, to protest, to change your way of living. The new breed of agit-propumentaries, like…
Vulnerable But Hip
The Evil B.B. Chow & Other Stories by Steve Almond (Algonquin Books, 232 pages, $22.95) Studies have shown that chocolate and sex affect the same pleasure center in the brain, so it seemed only natural that Steve Almond, the author of the memoir/non-fiction cult hit Candyfreak, would wield an impressive pen and deft touch when…
View From The Couch
APOLLO 13 (1995). At a time when these United States remain hopelessly divided along political, social and moral lines, Apollo 13 continues to serve as a refreshing splash of water on the face in that it shows people working together tirelessly for a larger good – in this case, the lives of three American heroes…
Arts Agenda
Classical Music The British Are Coming The Davidson College Concert Choir and Chamber Singers will collaborate for a musical tribute to the recent two-week residency by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Wed., April 13, 8 p.m. Free. Davidson College Presbyterian Church. 704-894-2357. Charlotte Symphony Lollipops Concert The Lollipops series is a showcase of concerts designed for…
Film Clips
SAHARA Sahara may be based on the bestseller by Clive Cussler, but it feels like it wants to be either a knock-off of Raiders of the Lost Ark, a send-up of the James Bond oeuvre, or an instant sequel to last year’s National Treasure. Matthew McConaughney, a semi-movie star whose appeal still escapes me, plays…
Deen Of Cooking
Paula Deen has one of those hearty laughs that instantly draws people to her. She generally follows her laugh with a Southern maxim spoken in a languid south Georgia drawl, an accent which is at once both charming and reassuring to those from the South. Deen will be in Charlotte for a signing of her…
Road Trippin
Join us, won’t you, on a twisted musical travelogue of the Southeast. Over the years, a lot has happened in this cluster of states, from Florida up to Virginia and over to Tennessee. How about, for starters, the birth and rearing of blues, country and rock ´n’ roll? That in itself establishes the Southeast as…
