Salt, A World History
Imagine a hundred years from now walking into a bank where they hand out free small packets of gold. Most of us would be stunned at how such a valuable commodity could become so invaluable. Yet this is precisely how our ancestors would view the salt packages at fast food places. Salt was once one…
Homefront Adviser
No. Despite repeated threats and periodic attacks on Americans by terrorists and various political organizations, it is still safe to travel abroad. The world’s most dangerous places to visit aren’t exactly big tourist destinations. After all, when’s the last time you heard the words “Kyrgyz Republic” and “vacation” in the same sentence? Or received a…
Whimsical Wines
Contrary to what uptight wine weenies will tell you, partaking in the fruit of the vine isn’t always serious business. Sometimes it can even be fun — and I don’t mean that in an “isn’t-it-marvelous-to-expound-upon-the-wine’s-aromas” sort of way. Just ask the pranksters who created wines like Cat’s Pee on a Gooseberry Bush, Fat Bastard and…
Payback’s A Bitch
Every so often the issue of reparations for slavery comes up in popular discourse, and then it dies away again because there’s a crucial problem hindering it: who’s going to pay the reparations? You certainly can’t just say, “OK. All white people will pay a part.” After all, as most white people are quick to…
Good Eats
ALL AROUND TOWN ANNTONY’S CARIBBEAN 2001 E. 7th, 704-342-0749; 145 Brevard Court, 704-339-0303; 20910 Torrence Chapel Road, Cornelius, 704-894-0280. A fun, change-of-pace restaurant for a casual lunch or dinner. Limited menu features rotisserie-cooked barbecued meats, what else, Caribbean style. $ BRUEGGER’S BAGEL BAKERY All over town. Chewy bagels, crisp on the outside, and served with…
Worth Being Kilt For
We all know that Scotsmen are supposed to be tough-as-nail characters with a long and fierce lineage of warriors. Just look at the way William Wallace whooped up on the English (see Mel Gibson in Braveheart). But if these guys are so tough, what’s up with those colorful plaid kilts they wear? Could it be…
Whole Lotta Discs
Michelle Shocked Deep Natural (Mighty Sound). Remember Michelle’s near-legendary (it was recorded on a Walkman, fer crying out loud) Texas Campfire Tapes? Her underrated Short Sharp Shocked? Consider Deep Natural the opposite of the last record: long (two discs), soft (relaxed dub ambience), and subdued (she’s not saving the world on every song). She bridges…
Letters to the editor
Crossing Every “T” To The Editors: I was directed to the article, “Right Sex, Wrong Body” (by Sam Boykin, March 13) through a post-op transsexual group (actually itself a misnomer which they use among themselves for “practical” purposes, since a post-op person is publicly the gender they are after the operation). There were complaints about…
Bluesy Birthday
* The Charlotte Blues Society (CBS) is celebrating its 9th anniversary on Sunday, April 7 at the Double Door Inn. Beth Chorneau, Part Time Blues Band and the Double Door’s Monday Nite All-Stars will perform. Among an array of prizes that will be raffled is a Squier Stratocaster autographed by Jimmie Vaughan. Admission is free…
Bloody Good Show
Philosopher and Zen expert Alan Watts once said western attire was mostly based on the idea of restriction — tight pants, unwieldy shoes, and neckties, which Watts noted were similar to a noose. Saturday’s GWAR show at Tremont Music Hall, though, shot holes in that theory. Oh, some in the crowd practiced restriction — dog…
Music Menu
FRIDAY 4.5 Jump Little Children — They play light and fluffy pop, but have a rootsy and moody sound. JLC have ping-ponged all over the music biz map and released a buoyant record last year called Vertigo. The maturity obviously shows in their most recent tracks, as the groove is solid. Visulite Theatre (Shukla) Mike…
The Blotter
* Troubled souls: A student was escorted from school when a wary teacher noticed that the student wasn’t taking notes in class but seemed to be intently drawing instead. Upon further investigation, the teacher saw that the drawing showed the student blowing up his middle school. The student was suspended from school and arrested for…
Soundboard
Wednesday, Apr. 3 Arnie’s Tavern, Huntersville Scott Johnson Bayou Kitchen Bill Noonan Cajun Queen 7th Street Gator Band Cajun Queen, Pineville 7th Street Gator Band II Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro Plaid Dilworth Coffeehouse Open Mic w/ Bert Wray Double Door Inn Jo Lee Blond The Evening Muse Ryan Long w/ Karl Ruch Fat City Julio Gonzalez…
News of the Weird
Lead Stories * In March, some of the normally tightly restrained local press in Saudi Arabia reported that 15 schoolgirls in Mecca died in a fire, with the fatalities due at least in part to their being denied permission to flee the burning building without their scarves and abaya robes. Witnesses said police from the…
Grrrl talk
Read my words: Janeane Garofalo is not an asshole. OK, so maybe she sounds like one on occasion, but she really isn’t. The 37-year-old stand-up comedian and character actor simply speaks her mind — well, simply and bluntly — and while some people might appreciate her attitude as a refreshing alternative to typical Hollywood hucksterism,…
Film Clips
NEW RELEASES BIG TROUBLE Scheduled for release 10 days after the 9/11 tragedy but instantly pulled due to a climax involving a bomb aboard a hijacked plane, this new comedy from director Barry Sonnenfeld (Men In Black, Get Shorty) is finally being released with the hope that audiences will now be more forgiving toward its…
8 Days A Week
WEDNESDAY 3 NC Dance Theatre will present Innovative Works, which is usually their most exciting, creative program of the year. This time, it’s presented in two parts. Program A opens tonight at 6:30pm and will continue through Saturday, April 6, with the rest of the shows beginning at 8pm. There will also be a 2pm…
Where Are They Now?
It wasn’t always easy to track down some of these people: once when we called the Charlotte Observer newsroom to ask a writer’s whereabouts, we got this response: “Who? She’s not on our list.” That’s not surprising, said a few of our profilees; departed Observer writers and editors often are treated like Tony Soprano’s disowned…
Karma Cleanser
Dear Karma Cleanser: A year ago I told my ex after we broke up that I had faked orgasm every time we made love. He was my first and the way things ended were dirty so I decided to play dirty back. I feel horrible now for what I’ve done and feel that I have…
NoDa Veterans Welcome Changes
For many years — going as far back as when grunge rock was still cool — there has been talk (and talk and talk) of the North Davidson area turning a corner. That the area known as NoDa was destined to become the next Southend, the next Dilworth, but without the snobbery and white bread…
Stargazer
For All Signs Our energies are best used this week to finish routine projects. We need to clear the decks for a time consuming landslide of changes, crises, and unusual circumstances which will be in motion throughout April, May, and much of June. During this period whatever life problems we have been avoiding will quickly…
End of the Line for Mobies
One of Charlotte’s first public transportation experiments under the new transit tax is scheduled to bite the dust in May. The Mobies, scaled down versions of Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) buses, began running a five-mile loop around SouthPark Mall in October. The idea was to shuttle shoppers and workers between the mall and shops…
Tracks And Treats
The newest art gallery in town, Myers Art: Clay on Camden, is the latest wrinkle in the fabric of the gentrifying experience going on in Charlotte’s SouthEnd. The area around South Bouelvard, which began its renaissance several years ago when developer Tony Pressley took on the blocks around the (now defunct) Spaghetti Warehouse and Atherton…
King of the World
At the end of this month, tennis legend Billie Jean King will be in town to coach Jennifer Capriati, Monica Seles, Lisa Raymond and Meghann O’Shaughnessy in the Federation Cup, the female counterpart to the Davis Cup. On April 27 and 28, the US team will take on Austria at Olde Providence Racquet Club. The…
The Rich Get Filthier
You go back-and-forth in time and space as you journey through Lanford Wilson’s Book of Days, now playing in the Duke Courtyard Theatre at Spirit Square. Adding to the overall blur of place and time, the set design of the current Actor’s Theatre production looks like the ruins of a Greek theater or a miniature…
Foxes Building the Henhouse
It’s not often I disagree with Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show — and the funniest guy on television, for those keeping score at home. But Stewart goofed last week when he joked that campaign-finance reform has “the single highest importance-to-boredom ratio” of any political issue. Not quite, Jon. Dull campaign-finance reformers…
Daring To Dance
Like the gay classic, John Rechy’s City of Night, Jim Grimsley’s new novel depicts urban gay life as exotic, marginal, and even monstrous. But while on the surface it may appear that Grimsley is celebrating the netherworld of one-night stands made popular within 1970s gay fiction, he is in fact, memorializing some of the main…
Everything’s Osama’s Fault
Legislators and economists said North Carolina’s massive budget problems aren’t the fault of poor planning on their part, but rather are due to the terrorist attacks of September 11. In fact, 9/11 is apparently to blame for many current woes. Police Chief Stephens last week said the attacks in New York and Washington are partly…
Arts Agenda
Classical Music Angela Dimitriou From the forefront of Greek popular music, Dimitriou will perform with her 15 piece orchestra. Sun., April 7, 8 p.m. $60 in advance, $65 at the door. Palomino Club, 9607 Albemarle Rd. 704-904-7846 or 704-904-9094. Impromptu! Takes It to the Limit…One more time! a tribute of rock hits from the 60’s…
Time To Clean House
I’ve lived and worked in neighborhoods a lot rougher than the one I currently live in. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s the value of making what goes down on your street your business. Over time, I’ve learned that the backslide of a neighborhood follows an almost scientifically predictable pattern. It’s not politically correct,…
