Show Them The Money
The first third of 2007 is in the books, and at the box office, it was business as usual. As in most years, there were a few out-and-out hits, a handful of decent moneymakers and a wide array of low earners or out-and-out flops. Of course, the box office will enjoy its usual spike with…
Have You Seen This Girl?
UPDATE: She was found Tuesday night. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is looking for this 14-year-old girl who’s been missing about two days. Aubreee Jenae Deal was last seen around the 4000 block of Folkston Drive in east Charlotte wearing jeans and a light-colored tank top. Date of birth: 08/31/1992 Age: 14 Height: 5’6” Weight: 110…
On Abortion
Since we published a story about a local abortion clinic, I’ve received e-mails and phone calls that weighed heavily on me, particularly in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision. A woman who’d had an abortion at A Preferred Women’s Health Center without incident wondered if the procedure had gone as well as she’d…
Sam Bush: Reflections on Merlefest
It doesn’t seem that long ago the Sam Bush was the rebel in bluegrass. Now, at the age of 55, Bush is considered one of the genre’s elder statesmen, a fact which amuses him greatly.To hear him tell it, his contribution consisted of the idea of bringing rock and roll in the genre. But as…
Live Music Review: Eve to Adam, Autovein, The Exies
Amos’ Southend April 25, 2007 The Deal: Four bands do their best to bring the rock back to live music. The Good: I won’t say they were bad, but Autovein was a weak followup to opener Eve to Adam. The band had a difficult time getting the small crowd moving, though they tried their best.…
The Bee
Name of Kama Sutra Position: The Bee Getting into the position: The woman draws up her feet and sits on the man who should be on his back. Revolving her hips in a circular motion, she pushes the man’s appendage deep within her Òyoni.Ó The man may arch his back to give deeper penetration. On…
Tamia Back in Charlotte
That’s right. Mrs. Grant Hill the beautiful paid Charlotte the tremendous honor of a second visit. It was just February, during CIAA week, when the Queen City was first treated to the Canadian songstress’ presence. She came back this past Saturday as part of the Pantene Total You Tour (PTYT) at the Charlotte Convention…
Rob Tanner
Profile
View From The Couch
BRUTE FORCE (1947). An apt title, as “brutal” and “forceful” are the first words that come to mind when describing this punishing prison picture. In his sophomore stint in front of the cameras — his debut film, 1946’s The Killers, instantly made him a star — Burt Lancaster is sinewy and slow-burning as Joe Collins,…
What’s up, holmes?
Holmes Brothers are a long-running blues combo mixing the raucous energy of a roadside blues dive with the arms-raised joy of a gospel sing-along. Their new recording, State of Grace, continues the long tradition of blending secular and sacred lyrics that are loaded with veteran musicianship and passion. 9 p.m. $14-$16. Visulite Theatre, 1615 Elizabeth…
Merlefest Continued
For the first Merlefest, even if you came to play, you had to pay. “Every single person on site, including the artists were ticket buyers in 1988,” says Merlefest Marketing and Sponsorship Director Art Menius, who has been with the festival since its ’88 inception. Set up to honor Doc Watson’s son Merle, killed when…
Addicted to soap operas
Boomer With Attitude
The Nifong Protection Act
Citizen Servatius
A book to remember
Total amnesia (otherwise known as “global amnesia”) is something that occurs rarely in life and routinely in movies and books. Have you ever known someone to experience a total wipeout of memory, usually as the result of physical — or emotional — trauma? My guess would be no. Gregory Peck, however, experienced it twice: in…
Word of the Week
Smegma: n. the cheesy sebaceous matter that collects between the glans penis and the foreskin or around the clitoris and labia minora Example: Johnny would have liked to be a stud and date hot girls, but his smegma drove them all away.
Check it out
Paper or plastic are not the only choices confronting grocery shoppers each day in Charlotte. Where to shop is also a choice. Most people are territorial and finicky when it comes to food. They tend to shop at the local market — the store closest to their neighborhood — and the primary decision is made…
Welcome to Char-Vegas
I feel like I just got back from a wild week in Vegas … Between a concert, an anniversary soiree, a welcome party and a birthday bash, capped off with a night gambling at a makeshift casino — my weekend started on Tuesday and is still going strong. But in the midst of my mini…
Suite or sour?
News
New Venue Fits Plaza-Midwood
Charlotte’s been crying out for an intimate rock ‘n’ roll venue ever since The Steeple and The Room closed their doors two years ago. Suiting its name, Snug Harbor appears to be in the right neighborhood to fill that vacancy. The 142-capacity Snug Harbor opens in early May, pending ABC permits and final touch-ups. The…
Greetings from the new music editor
After starting as the music editor here on March 30, I’ve quickly been thrown into the whirlwind of Charlotte’s music scene these last few weeks. There’s plenty going on here and it’s a daunting task to take it all in, but I’ll try my best. I already know I can’t please everyone. However, I plan…
Things to do in Charlotte for $5 or less
LEARN TO MEDITATE Take it from loyal practitioners of meditation: There’s nothing like it to take the stress of your workday off your shoulders. That’s why the Pain & Rehab Institute is offering a free class in the breathing techniques and imagery used in ancient qi gong meditation (betcha didn’t know there was more than…
White trash talkin’
Performing Arts
Live Montreaux July 1981
AngelAirwaves Release date: April 24, 2007 The Deal: ’70s Scottish blues/rock diva captured live at Montreaux circa 1981. The Good: Stone the Crows singer Maggie Bell should have been famous for her ’73 album Queen of the Night. Bell put up a version of John Prine’s “Souvenirs” that hasn’t been touched since by anybody but…
Crop circles
The other Sunday I was celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ in what used to be my front lawn. Five years ago I covered an area of the yard with black plastic. Deprived of light and water and cooked by the sunlight-absorbing shield, my lawn was toast. Like Easter, which connects death and resurrection, the…
Cheap Thrills
Shanachie Release date: April 24, 2007 The Deal: Hard drivin’ country-rockin’ mavericks cover old-school classics. The Good: This is real dangerous country — the kind you’d expect from good ole boys who backed up a couple of real tough guys — Johnny Paycheck and David Allen Coe. It’s bottle bustin’, fuck or fight music. If…
In the doghouse
As someone who’s been blessed with the company of canines for my entire life, and who’s presently fostering a lovable German shepherd (interested? Drop me an e-mail!), I sat through Year of the Dog (* out of four) seriously wondering if writer-director Mike White has ever owned a pet in his entire life. A grotesque…
Stargazer
Taurus The Bull: (April 20 – May 19) Your calendar will be so full this week that you almost can’t fulfill your commitments. You are feeling your way toward solid ground through a maze of illusions. You are asked to choose a direction that is practical as well as emotionally engaging. Beware the tendency to…
Hellyeah
Sony Release date: April 10, 2007 The Deal: Pantera/Damageplan drummer Vinnie Paul, Mudvayne’s singer Chad Grey and guitarist Greg Tribbett and Nothingface’s guitarist Tom Maxwell and bassist Jerry Montano join forces for metal supergroup. The Good: Right off the bat, it’s great to see Paul returning from a two-year hiatus to make music after the…
Life music
The room is peaceful on a Friday night as 75 percent of the band Soulganic quietly divvy up some take-out Chinese food. They’ve finished practice for the evening and it’s time to relax, eat and chat about their music and history with the lone outsider in the room. They don’t hesitate to talk about their…
Painted donkey
Moodswing
We Heart
Puckett’s Farm Equipment is one of Charlotte’s great live music venues. My first venture there was for the Cash Bash last weekend, but I know I’ll be back. (Hey, I’ve only been in town for three weeks!) Aside from the good sound and people, the history in that place seeps through the walls … or…
After 5 The Atrium Comes Alive
The time has come, dear friends, to gather downtown across from the Eckerd on North Tyron Street to listen to music and drink beers with friends, some old but most new. Center City Alive After Five has become the place to see and be seen for Charlotte’s young urban professionals. “It’s what you do on…
Non sequitur
Hot Linx
Consumer courtesy
Corkscrew
Lotus in Bloom
Philadelphia’s jam quintet Lotus stitch a quilt of electronica, jazz and funk with organic instrumentation. The result is dance music and jam band combo where house music and drum n’ bass have tea with guitars and percussion. They burn up the dance floor one moment and chill in the lounge with ambient orchestral pieces the…
Patriot’s Day
Breaking the Sound Barrier
Brittney Cason for sale
The Plug
Jewel hunting
The First Lady of Turks and Caicos LisaRaye McCoy-Misick is in search of a precious jewel to bestow gifts and splendor upon. Her Miss RayeDiant Jewels Teen Pageant will premiere here in Charlotte in June. But, first Mrs. Misick has enlisted the help of Monica Swann, the casting director from her show “All of Us,”…
The Blotter
WHEN YOU WANT TO STEAL … : A woman told police that she loaned her 2000 Dodge Neon to a man on the condition that he return it within an hour. More than eight hours later, he was nowhere to be found. AT LEAST HE GAVE NOTICE: A man told a woman that he planned…
Letters to the editor
Review Not A Grind To Read I just wanted to say that Matt Brunson’s review of Grindhouse (“Half-and-half,” April 11) was right on the money. I don’t know why so many people are saying that Quentin Tarantino’s movie was better. Robert Rodriguez nailed the assignment while Tarantino just fell back to his comfort zone, falling…
Art got soul
What is the Art & Soul of SouthEnd? Well, technically, it’s described as “a community fesival,” but what it really is is a hippie-fest that takes over an entire street to provide music, crafts and food to the flower children among us. No, really, it’s the expression of some of Charlotte and the Southeast’s brightest…
Community guilt
Once South Korean native Cho Seung-Hui was identified as the perpetrator of the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, Koreans in Charlotte, across the country and around the globe paid attention. “We deeply regret what happened there,” says Joseph Yi, president of the Korean Association of Charlotte. To express their remorse, area Korean churches, including…
Film Clips
New Releases IN THE LAND OF WOMEN It’s not quite a case of “like father, like son,” but Jonathan Kasdan, the offspring of the excellent writer-director Lawrence Kasdan, shows that he at least harbors some of Dad’s easygoing way with words with this engaging if underwhelming comedy-drama. In his first theatrical endeavor as writer-director, the…
Dance of the Kama Sutra
When they recently performed amid the Hollywood glitter of Oscar Night®, you probably didn’t hear that Pilobolus is named for a fungus that grows in cow dung. Yes, Pilobolus is a dance group like no other — or it was when it sprang up on the Dartmouth College back in 1971. Imitators of their inspired…
Can the can for fresh ham
Kitchen Witch
Karma Cleanser
Dear Karma Cleanser: My boyfriend is a gym rat. He lifts four times a week and also jogs on weekends. When we first met, I was really into his cut, Ahnold look, because I had never dated a guy with muscles before. Now I am not so sure I like it. He has started drinking…
PGA tees off
Today marks the first day of the Wachovia Championship, the PGA’s Charlotte stop that a perennial favorite. This year alone the event has already sold out without any hint on number one-seeded Tiger Woods being on the roster (it’s a toss-up, especially with his wife being pregnant and all). Through May 6.Daily. Sold out. Quail…
