Aug 9-15, 2011

Aug 9-15, 2011 / Vol. 25 / No. 24

Has the NRA finally gone too far?

Has the NRA finally gone too far? To the amazement of many in border enforcement and, in general, to those living in the real world, the NRA is publicly opposing a measure designed to stem the flood of assault rifles to Mexican drug cartels. This doesn’t come as a surprise to those who’ve followed the…

John Grooms

Will N.C. ever make same-sex marriage legal?

Equality NC spent the weekend getting signatures to stop a proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. It’s interesting that the GOP-controlled General Assembly wants to push this legislation through when such an amendment may hurt North Carolina. How, you ask? University of North Carolina law professor explains it this way: “the larger economic impact may…

Mustang Sally, Mayor of Bang Town

Common Market PM, 8/11/11

The four-day music event Recess Fest kicked off yesterday, Aug. 11, at Common Market in Plaza Midwood, with Andy the Doorbum, Hume and Human Pippi Armstrong. Photos by Justin Driscoll.

Kimberly Lawson

Charlotte youth and sex crimes

Aerosmith asked the right question: What’s the matter with the world today? Two young people in Charlotte have recently been involved in sex crimes — and that’s just what’s been reported. On last Thursday, 18-year-old Robert McFadden was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison for raping an 83-year-old woman. McFadden, who was…

Mustang Sally, Mayor of Bang Town

The Beautiful People … Part Deux

The Beautiful People … Part Deux — the second annual fashion event produced by The Family Conglomerate (TFC) — took place Aug. 11 at Georges Brasserie in SouthPark. The night included a fashion show of looks from Flow by Tara Davis and Lotus boutique paired with jewelry by Queen Cleopatra and Bella Originals. Photos by…

Kimberly Lawson

Superman smacks down Tea Party thinking

The U.S. has forever engaged in an ongoing debate that can be summed up as Individual Rights vs. The Common Good. Do we share burdens, usually in the form of taxes, in order to “promote the general welfare,” as the preamble to the Constitution says? In other words, do we give up part of our…

John Grooms

Kentucky government pours money into creationism theme park

Here’s one of those stories that renders you unable to decide whether to laugh or cry. I’ll be brief, and provide a link to the full story here. The short version is that the state of Kentucky is now in the Creationism Theme Park business. No, I’m not kidding. Two months ago, Kentucky gave a…

John Grooms

Sen. Richard Burr’s recession solution? Abolish Small Business Administration

North Carolina’s U.S. Sen. Richard Burr has thought of an extraordinary way to help out America’s small businesses: do away with the federal organization that serves them. Burr has sponsored a new bill, the “Department of Commerce and Workforce Consolidation Act,” which would combine the Small Business Administration (SBA) with the Commerce Department. There are…

John Grooms

Phoenix, 8/9/11

Phoenix opened up for a special party, hosted by talk show host Wendy Williams, on Aug. 9. But she didn’t want her picture taken.

Kimberly Lawson

Learn to cook with tomatoes with Chef Gene Briggs

Executive Chef Gene Briggs of Blue Restaurant & Bar is hosting a tomato-centric cooking class this month as part of his monthly cooking demonstrations at the restaurant. If you’ve got tomatoes galore growing in your garden, you might want to sign up for this class. The demonstration titled “Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Tomatoes,” will take place 11…

Priscilla Tsai

Will Duke Energy get N.C.’s ‘don’t rush nukes’ message?

Will Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers finally get the message? The message is that his company’s fond dream of building more nuclear plants is fading fast. Last Friday, in a move that received surprisingly little media notice, the N.C. Utilities Commission (NCUC) slashed Duke Energy’s authority to continue spending money to plan the proposed Lee…

John Grooms

Slam Master Bluz spits the truth about poetry

For years, many have pondered the question of whether the page is better than the stage. Boris Rogers, also known as SlamCharlotte’s Slam Master Bluz, thinks that they are both equally important. As one of the founding leaders of SlamCharlotte – the Q.C.’s own nationally recognized poetry slam organization – Bluz was the 13th ranked…

Kyra Gemberling

Ruff Ryders Anniversary

The Charlotte Ruff Ryders celebrated their anniversary with a weekend full of events, July 29-30. Photos by Renaul Hill.

Texas Gov. Perry the new GOP messiah? God help us

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the GOP’s latest Great White Hope, is headed to South Carolina this weekend to announce that he’s running for president. The initial buzz from Republican circles is that Perry is the perfect candidate. He has support from the business community, Tea Partiers, and social conservatives — just like that last Texas…

John Grooms

Rev. Richard Pope tells his side of his confrontation with John Grooms

Meet minister the Rev. Richard Pope, the subject of CL columnist John Grooms’ Aug. 2 column. Grooms, a passionate social justice advocate, attended St. Peter’s Catholic’s annual celebratory mass for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. While heading inside, he saw Pope standing outside holding a sign, which quoted Revelation 21 Verse 8: “But…

Cheris Hodges

Today’s Top(less) 5: Tuesday

Here are the five best events to get you hot and bothered with or without a date going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, August, 9 2011 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing. • The Blue Plate Special at The Men’s Club• $2 Tuesday at Club Onyx • Fantasy Night at…

Mustang Sally, Mayor of Bang Town

Band of Heathens breaks out of Americana label

Band of Heathens With Shovels and Rope. $12-$15. Aug. 13. 9 p.m. Visulite Theatre. www.visulite.com They call themselves the Band of Heathens, a six-man tribe based in Austin but with roots intertwined in musical genres from all over. Merging snaky fonk with soul, R&B and a touch of foot-stompin’ gospel, the Heathens recall a glorious…

Grant Britt

Bizarre crimes from Charlotte police files

Gentleman: A 28-year-old woman filed a police report after being threatened by her ex-boyfriend. The woman came across the suspect in her neighborhood, and he told her that if she did not get back together with him, he would “shoot up her house.” After a search of the neighborhood did not turn up the suspect,…

Ryan Pitkin

Nightlife profile: Jina T. O’Neill

Whether you’re a fixture in the club scene, a regular barfly, a live-music lover or something else completely, it’s safe to say that Queen City nightlife offers something for everyone. There’s no telling how your night will end, but one thing is for sure: your pockets will be lighter. Imagine if you knew that the…

Laura Camilo

Are smaller elementary-school class sizes better?

As the parent of a six-year-old in kindergarten, I’m trying to find out about optimal class sizes. I live in San Francisco, and since the mid-90s California has mandated minimal class sizes, based on a 20-plus-year-old study from Tennessee. I don’t know if this is the best way to either improve children’s education or save…

Cecil Adams

CD REVIEW: Little Dragon’s Ritual Union

THE DEAL: Electronica quartet from Sweden releases its third album. THE GOOD: There’s been a lot of buzz around Little Dragon in recent years, and an impressive performance (along with VV Brown) at The Milestone in March 2010 helped draw large expectations for the band’s latest studio effort. My initial impression was one of disappointment…

Jeff Hahne

War, debt and the president

President Barack Obama touted his debt-ceiling deal Tuesday, saying, “We can’t balance the budget on the backs of the very people who have borne the biggest brunt of this recession.” Yet that is what he and his coterie of Wall Street advisers have done. In the affairs of nations, Alexander Hamilton wrote in January 1790,…

Amy Goodman

CD REVIEW: Gillian Welch’s The Harrow & The Harvest

Acony; Release date: July 28, 2011 THE DEAL: After eight years (I wish I could have that kind of break), folk singer-songwriter breaks silence and some waves with her follow-up to 2003’s Soul Journey. THE GOOD: Welch certainly didn’t spend eight years in silence (collaborations include The Decemberists and Conor Oberst) or overdubbing frivolous instruments.…

Tommy Werner

Weekly horoscope (Aug. 10-16)

Leo The Lion (July 22-Aug. 22) Much of this week will feel as though you are holding the reins on a bucking bull. Do your best to give yourself and others plenty of space to manage things for themselves. This is a good time to communicate your affection to those you love. Let them know…

Vivian Carol

Si Kahn stops for a rare Charlotte concert

This week you can discover the most famous Charlottean that most people in Charlotte don’t know about — and it won’t even cost you much. Internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter Si Kahn will perform a rare Charlotte concert Friday, benefiting the Charlotte Folk Society. When Si retired last year from a long, stellar career as a political…

John Grooms

Casual Greco Fresh Grille serves up a few treats

As a general rule, I often suggest eating at an ethnic restaurant when it first opens. If you don’t go then, you may never have the opportunity to taste the food the owner wants you to have. When an ethnic restaurateur first opens the doors, the menu bursts with perfectly rendered dishes from a specific…

Tricia Childress

Rise of the Planet of the Apes: Monkey business

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES **1/2 DIRECTED BY Rupert Wyatt STARS James Franco, Andy Serkis WETA-created and PETA-approved, Rise of the Planet of the Apes stands at the center of a campaign that boasts about how the film employed the Oscar-winning team behind Avatar and the Lord of the Rings trilogy to invent…

Matt Brunson

East Charlotte advocates offer a wish list for their new City Council rep

Make mention of east Charlotte around the Queen City and you’re going to get a variety of responses — from “It’s dangerous over there around Independence Boulevard” to “That side of town has been totally ignored by the city” to “Remember spending the weekend ice skating at Eastland Mall?” Since 1999, City Councilwoman Nancy Carter…

Cheris Hodges

The Change-Up: Switch to a better movie

Hollywood’s latest men-will-be-boys bit of buffoonery, The Change-Up opens with a baby projectile-pooping straight into his father’s mouth. It’s a sensation that won’t be entirely unfamiliar to audiences members who subject themselves to this cinematic cesspool’s frontal assault. Part of a subgenre that seems to be growing more witless as it grows more raunchy, this…

Matt Brunson

Shopping and fashion news, events and more (Aug. 10)

Euphoria Salon & Spa Recognized in Elle Magazine: Congratulations go out to Yana and Mike Dudko, owners of Euphoria Salon & Spa, which was named in Elle Magazine’s list of the top 100 salons in the country, featured in the August issue. Yana says that her business stood out against its competitors because of their…

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: Not worth sharing

Wayne Wang is perhaps best known for directing the lovely screen adaptation of The Joy Luck Club, but there’s no joy to be found anywhere in the stately, stodgy Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Based on the novel by Lisa See, this attempts to draw parallels between twin tales set in 19th-century China and…

Matt Brunson

Friends With Benefits: Little of value

Well, at least it’s better than No Strings Attached. Other than that, there’s not much to say about Friends with Benefits, the calendar year’s second film about a guy and a gal attempting to be nothing more than “fuck buddies” but ending up emotionally entangled anyway. Whereas before we had a coasting Natalie Portman working…

Matt Brunson

Meet Rachel Jones, owner of Fringe Salon

After being bit by a dog, Rachel Jones was self-conscious for years about the bald spot on the back of her head. The 23-year-old owner of Fringe Salon (located in Sola Salon at 6324 Fairview Road, Suite 150, www.fringesaloncharlotte.com) decided that cosmetology would allow her to help other people feel better about themselves. While Sola…

Cannon Miller

The abuse revolving door keeps spinning

Here we go again. So far, the media has turned up family and friends who claim to have filed at least six reports of child abuse with the Department of Social Services in Gaston County before 2-year-old Addison Lanham’s horrific death. Once again, DSS officials who could be complicit in a child’s death get to…

Tara Servatius

Cool reads for a hot summer

It’s hot, hot, hot, way too damned hot. What to do? Unless you have the funds for a winter visit to the southern hemisphere, you’ll have a hard time finding anywhere to cool off — Montreal is in the 90s on the day I’m writing this, for crying out loud. Here’s an idea for getting…

John Grooms

Rachel Rising among new comic reviews

Rachel Rising No. 1 Abstract Studio. Art and story by Terry Moore. Do I really need to write an intro this week? OK, how about: “I read some new comics and here’s what I thought”? Does that work? Onward: Rachel Rising No. 1: I complain about first issues all the time, saying that creators nowadays…

Carlton Hargro

Exhibit: Mistress Mary – A Garden Party

The fourth rotation of this Gaston museum’s Solo Show Series consists of art by N.C. native Brenda Beard-Bostian. Her series centers around a lady and her fairy tale garden. Created out of the same passion she seeks when planting seeds into the soil of her own garden, Beard-Bostian hopes viewers feel warmth from her canvases.…

Anita Overcash

Capsule reviews of films playing the week of Aug. 10

BAD TEACHER It’s no Bad Santa, but Bad Teacher brings just enough naughty behavior to the table to make it a decent watch for viewers tired of PG-13 timidity. In her best role since 2005’s underrated In Her Shoes, Cameron Diaz plays Elizabeth Halsey, a gold-digging middle-school teacher who, having just been dumped by her…

Matt Brunson

The ladies of Gore Gore Luchadores kick a$$ for a cause

Folks might find a woman who once sewed another woman’s mouth shut, or hung one dozen red Christmas ornaments from hypodermic needles laced through her skin, a bit intimidating. Crazy, even. And if this same woman goes by the nickname “Road Kill Kelly,” folks might stay clear of her altogether. But you’d be missing out…

Olufunke Moses

The Conspirator, Rio, Spy Kids trio among new home entertainment titles

THE CONSPIRATOR (2011). Boston Corbett, the soldier who fatally shot John Wilkes Booth after the latter assassinated Abraham Lincoln, had years earlier removed his own testicles (with scissors!) so he wouldn’t succumb to the feminine wiles of prostitutes. Dr. Samuel Mudd, one of the men convicted as part of the conspiracy to kill the president,…

Matt Brunson

Busiest man on earth

This week you can discover the most famous Charlottean that most people in Charlotte don’t know about — and it won’t even cost you much. Internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter Si Kahn will perform a rare Charlotte concert Friday, benefiting the Charlotte Folk Society. When Si retired last year from a long, stellar career as a political…

John Grooms

Where to find it: Local Seafood Market

A Jersey Shore transplant who lives in Concord is looking for a market selling local seafood. The best alternative to shopping at a wharf and selecting from the daily catch is to find a reliable market or vendor. Frequently, vendors at the area farmers markets sell Carolina finfish and shellfish out of coolers or the…

Tricia Childress

Exhibit: Mixed Media by Carrie McGee

Every month, Lyons Fine Art Consulting (comprised of Ruth Ava Lyons and Paul Sires, former owners of Center of the Earth Gallery) features an artist in what’s now called The Window on NoDa. Currently, you’ll find mixed media (like the pictured “High Summer”) by Carrie McGee. To produce her works, McGee is described as experimenting…

Anita Overcash

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