Glennie Rewrites The Rules
If you know your music history, the challenges and triumphs of Beethoven’s last years will put the accomplishments of Evelyn Glennie in bold relief. When deafness extinguished Beethoven’s ability to hear his own music, he was still able to compose a stream of supreme masterworks, including the mighty Choral Symphony #9 and the “Emperor” Piano…
Tongue Twister
Remember when political thrillers mattered? In such 70s classics as The Parallax View, The Conversation and All the President’s Men, filmmakers adopted a take-no-prisoners stance that allowed them to name names, tackle incendiary issues head-on, and not worry about how to wrap matters up with a tacked-on happy ending. Watching these films even today, there’s…
Dylanology 601
Like a Rolling Stone: Bob Dylan at the Crossroads By Greil Marcus (PublicAffairs, 283 pages, $25). “Dylanology,” or the obsessive interpreting, decoding, and analyzing of the works of singer, songwriter and now author Bob Dylan, has been around since the late 1960s, when its more obnoxious practitioners nearly drove Dylan away from his art. At…
Road Trip
Throughout the 60s, surf film pioneer Bruce Brown made reverent, obsessive documentaries about the marvels of surfing. With titles like The Endless Summer, the films had a sweet, endearing tone provided by Brown’s witty voice-over observations, like a surf mad uncle narrating his own home movies. Now Bruce’s son Dana Brown has brought that same…
Arts Agenda
Classical Music Charlotte Symphony with Evelyn Glennie Scottish percussionist Evelyn Glennie will be the soloist for the evening. www.charlottesymphony.org. April 29, 8:30 p.m.; April 30, 8:30 p.m. $15-$73. Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, 130 N. Tryon St. 704-972-2000. First Tuesday Concerts Chamber Music at St. Peter’s final concert of the season with Brahms Piano Quintet. The…
City Council Unplugged
When Wyatt Earp’s colleagues need to transport suspects or serve subpoenas, they’re likely to hop in a gas-electric hybrid car. As fleet manager of the sheriff’s department in Marion County, Fla., as well as a descendent of the Wild West gunslinger, Earp for years has been singing the praises of fuel-efficient vehicles. “We try not…
Wing Ding
Never mind which came first, the chicken or the buffalo – wing, that is. Chicken wings have nestled into the American diet. Various stories are out there about the origin of Buffalo wings. One attributes the original wing to the owners of the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY. That legend says the owner was preparing…
Summit Hears About Needs
At first, the real reasons for the highly publicized but bizarre education summit held by school and county leaders last week were unclear. School and county politicians have already seen most of the presentations bureaucrats gave at the summit, or they will see them again soon. Discipline issues, which have become a community concern, were…
Cinco For Cinco
The date 05/05/05 comes around only once every 1,000 years, right? That in itself is something to celebrate. Officially, Cinco de Mayo is the Mexican holiday to commemorate the 1862 victory by Mexico over the French. As Americans, we love the concept of celebrating freedom and the vivid celebratory atmosphere that comes with it -…
Building Out of the Box
An expert, they say, is someone from out of town. If one’s expertise increases in proportion to the distance traveled, then UNC Charlotte hosted a truly brilliant person recently when Australian architect Glenn Murcutt came to town. Although little-known in Charlotte, Murcutt is indeed a world-renowned designer, having won the Pritzker Prize (the architectural equivalent…
View From The Couch
ALL IN THE FAMILY: THE COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON (1973). In a recent (March 23) cover story, CL writers looked at the best TV series available on DVD, and it goes without saying that this landmark series was among the anointed. The fourth season has just arrived on disc, and it’s clear that creator Norman Lear…
My Mango Muse
From the summer of 1999 until summer 2001, I traveled to Barbados eight times. The farthest east of all islands in the Caribbean, Barbados was my growing-up classroom in my early 30s. There was plenty of romance, rum and swimming in the sea. But most importantly, there were mangoes. Before I spent so much time…
Gimme That Old Time Demagoguery
The good folks at a “Restore America Rally” – code for crushing an independent judiciary – in suburban Atlanta last week may have been suckered there by politicians who have donned Jesus masks. Chief among those wrapping themselves in Christ’s robes was Roy Moore, deposed as Alabama Supreme Court chief justice after he refused to…
Film Clips
New Releases A LOT LIKE LOVE A Lot Like Love is a lot like When Harry Met Sally crossed with Serendipity, as two people wonder whether they’re better off remaining friends or whether the stars have something more intimate in mind for them. After spotting each other at the Los Angeles airport and then wordlessly…
It Sounds Familiar
The latest news is that the woman who found part of a finger in her bowl of Wendy’s chili could have planted that digit herself in an effort to get some financial settlement from the restaurant chain. Where she got the finger is anyone’s guess, but a woman who lost a 3/4-inch portion of one…
National Caliber Chaos
Do you look over your shoulder when you cross a dark parking lot? No? Bet you’ll start by the time you get to the end of this column. I didn’t become truly paranoid until the police department added me to its daily email list about a year ago and I developed the habit of looking…
50 Ways to Leave Your Blubber
You tried your best. You really did. But it’s been about two months since you gave up on your New Year’s resolution to shed some excess weight and finally get in shape. Now it’s 80 degrees outside, summer is right around the corner, and your bathing suit is cruelly mocking you from inside your dresser…
For The Splurge Of It
This time of year rings in my birthday, which transforms me into a self-absorbed wine ho. Loads of my highly cherished bottles get emptied as my thirst for denial reaches deeper into my aging psyche. Getting older is getting old, but luckily I have my wine to soften the fall from youthful grace. Many of…
First Tom & Dan, Now Bill
Like tax time in April, rumors of Bill Walker retiring from his anchor job at WSOC-TV were guaranteed to pop up, this time starting a few months ago. Usually, the rumors were the wishful thinking of competing stations and a by-product of his long vacations, earned after 37 years at the same company. But this…
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…
Wine List
Wine Classes Ordering wine in a restaurant. May 3, 6:30-8pm. $30. Mint Museum of Craft & Design, 220 N. Tryon St. 704-344-8027. Wine Classes The Oregon Trail – Wines of the Willamette Valley. Thu., May 5, 7:15-8:45 p.m. $20. Southern Spirits, 9989 Charlotte Hwy. 704-607-3079. Wine Classes Great for beginners. Every month on the first…
Letters
Dilworth Does Not Need Lowe’s I am extremely disappointed with the recent article “A Comedy of Errors” by David Walters (April 13). The article took blows at the Lowe’s presentation and Dilworth community’s response at the recent DCDA meeting. First of all this was not a comedy. This is a serious issue. I am not…
Tennis, the beach and great food
I would never encourage anyone to break the law, but if you drive about 85 mph the entire way, you can get from Charlotte to Charleston in less than three hours. Of course this is purely hypothetical. My friend and I adhered strictly to all the posted speed limits when we drove to the South…
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…
News of the Weird
Ivy League Blues: In March, a Princeton University graduate student in applied mathematics, Michael Lohman, was arrested, suspected by police of being the guy who has been assaulting Asian women on campus for weeks by snipping locks of their hair or by furtively doctoring their drinks with unspecified “bodily fluids” in the dining hall. And…
Putting out
I swear, I had no idea it was bad practice to stand on top of your toilet tank. But even Grant says he knew this, which is humbling because if you ask me he is always on top of something scary. I remember that crack house he bought once — the living room had actually…
They Came From Up North
The weather’s heating up and so is the I-40 express, bringing some of the Triangle’s best acts to Charlotte. After suffering through what one musician wag described as “a post-Superchunk hangover,” the Durham-Chapel Hill-Raleigh scene is cooking again with a veritable buffet of acts from the bubbling indie pop of The Rosebuds to the homegrown…
The Blotter
eBay Shenanigans: A man won an auction on eBay for a widescreen TV priced at $2,500. He sent a certified cashier’s check to the person selling the TV, who in return sent an email confirming the receipt of the check and the delivery date. However, the delivery date came and went and the TV was…
Bending the Roots
MerleFest is all about tradition. Though the meaning of the word traditional has been stretched over the years, roots-based music is still the focus – there still has to be an acoustic or an Americana tie-in for any act booked for the festival. Newgrass was the name given the genre that brought drums and electricity…
Lighten Up
Marti Heibt Computational Chemist “Let me put it this way: I read that entire report while waiting for a green light at Morrison and Barclay Downs.” Jim Penniman Graphic Artist “They must be getting their information from the same place as the CIA.” Vaughnie Mullinax Counselor “Sounds like the school system needs those folks to…
Pop and Some Whores
Finally, a book weird enough to make Greil Marcus’ Lipstick Traces read like Pat the Bunny. Yes, Paul Morley’s Words and Music: A History of Pop in the Shape of a City (Univ. of Georgia Press, $24.95, 360 pgs.) is engaging, unique and on occasion infuriating, sometimes all at once. That’s partly because Morley -…
See & Do
APRIL 28 – Thursday One of the most frustrating experiences for community activists (i.e., grassroots organizers/liberal troublemakers) can be feeling hostility from potential allies due to class differences — a cultural faux pas, a careless word, or simple dollar-resentment have derailed valuable projects. Betsy Leondar-Wright has made this speedbump on the road to justice her…
Sit & Spin
Morrissey Live at Earl’s Court Attack There is a light that never goes out, you see, and I’d be willing to bet ol’ Stephen Patrick Morrissey, a Joycean figure if there ever was one, believes that it’s the hovering halogens of Mass Media. A tall, cool drink of water to be sure (has anyone ever…
Stargazer
Taurus The Bull (Apr. 20 – May 19) Early in the week your sense of romance is strong. You may even create feelings that are not really there, so try to stay in touch with reality. As the week progresses, the daydreams dissipate and are replaced by a desire to accomplish projects and create order.…
Music Menu
THURSDAY 4.28 TigerBearWolf : Like Minutemen into early Fugazi into Calabi Yau into raw intense MC5/ Stooges/Thunderlip-like throw down rock & roll, TBW’s straightforward yet diverse sonic wanderings will restore the faith of even the most jaded rocker. If you crave sincere people playing music cause it’s as important as the air they breathe? Well,…
All The Art That’s Fit To Print
Thirty years ago, Chuck Close was merely a turncoat artist, a talented former Abstract Expressionist painter who had eschewed the loftier path of expressionist painting to pander to the market by producing super-realist portraits. In my capricious mind, Chuck Close was just another practitioner of mid-70s l’art du jour. What a difference three decades and…
Soundboard
Wednesday, Apr. 27 Breakfast Club DJ Boney B Comet Grill Open Mic w/ Bill McDonald Double Door Inn Fat Boy & $3 Extravaganza The Evening Muse Doria Roberts; Jon Shain Fire & Ice Lounge Ladykiller The Gin Mill Wizard’s Roadshow Irish Cue, Cornelius Gabe and Friends Palomino Restaurant Robin Brown The Press Box Fudd &…
