A Gloomy Bush-iversary
Insiders are telling me various juicy things about events and information-flow at Charlotte Repertory Theatre. For one, we can expect a major piece in the Arts section of next Sunday’s Observer catching us up on the afterlife of Rep’s former artistic director, Michael Bush.But while we’re likely to learn that Bush is fine, thank you,…
Sex For The Holidays
Before the orgasm, there was the gall wasp.Alfred C. Kinsey, a professor at Indiana University, spent approximately two decades collect-ing and labeling over a million of these insects before his attention turned to a subject intrinsically more interesting to the common man (and woman): human sexuality. His controversial methods and conclusions formed the basis for…
A New Perspective
A basic premise behind the act of creativity is to take something and look at it in a different way. Through December 23 at Hidell Brooks Gallery, Still Lifes & Street Scenes features six artists taking fresh and interesting looks at various objects and places. Thomas Tietjen of Quincy, MA, exhibits two series of works.…
VIEW FROM THE COUCH
THE DOOR IN THE FLOOR (2004). Based on a sizable chunk of John Irving’s A Widow for One Year, this outwardly melancholy but inwardly hopeful movie reunites Nadine stars Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger as Ted and Marion Cole, silently suffering parents who, years later, are still unable to cope with the deaths of their…
Sudden Stimulus
One of the great things about being a book hound is finding the occasional work that unexpectedly lifts you out of your usual mindframe and involves you in a kind of parallel reality. It happened to me recently while browsing at Book Buyers when I picked up Fruits Postcards. It’s a 2003 collection of 45…
Film Clips
CURRENT RELEASES AFTER THE SUNSET As a celebration of the beauty of Salma Hayek, After the Sunset ranks as a four-star affair, lovingly photographing this earthbound Aphrodite as she sashays around the film’s tropical setting in any number of bikinis and low-cut gowns. Oglers of Pierce Brosnan should also find this a thumbs-up affair: While…
Arts Agenda
Classical MusicBrass Concert Chamber Music at St. Peter’s presents a concert for the homeless. www.chambermusicatstpeters.org. Mon., Dec. 20, 10:30 a.m. Urban Ministry Center, 945 N. College St. 704-335-0009. Rockapella Comfort & Joy A blend of seasonal tunes as well as other favorites, without instruments. Dec. 15; Dec. 16, 8 p.m. $12.50-$25. Spirit Square, 345 N.…
Cheaters Dot Com
You’ve cheated on your spouse, right? You may even be carrying on an affair right now. If you haven’t strayed, odds are you will. It’ll probably happen when you’re in your late 30s or early 40s, after the honeymoon phase has ended, and the responsibilities of kids and bills have replaced the romance and excitement.…
Wat’s New
In other cultures and countries, the festive time of the year doesn’t necessarily revolve around a religious schedule. In Ethiopia, the notable holiday is the New Year, a monthlong event which signifies a happy, celebratory time. This month, Meskerem, however, is only five or six days long depending on leap year. The ancient Ethiopian calendar…
Christmas With Dylan
“A little more to the left.” “No. It’s fuller around to the right.” “You’re crazy.” “Just try it my way and you’ll see.” “Now the stand’s leaking.” “Somebody’s liable to get electrocuted.” “I swear you’ve got the best side to the wall.” “I thought we’d be through by now.” “You’re right — it was better…
Meals with Zeal
GRAND OPENING: November 28, 2004. Queenstown Bistro has two locations in New Zealand, where it originated. The restaurant also has another United States location in Columbia, SC. OWNER: Andy Gao. Manager: Curtis Hines. AMBIENCE: Warm colors and a beautiful oak wood floor are accented with artwork from various periods. The high ceiling gives what Manager…
Fork it Over
By the weekend before the election, the folks at the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections knew they had a problem. The length of this year’s ballot, one of the longest in recent memory, was too much for the electronic voting system used for early voting to handle. Normally, counting the votes cast on those machines…
Soup’s On
Tasty, yet canned? Is that possible for soup? With the cold weather approaching, folks are stocking up for blustery days. For years canned soups had the reputation of tasting like the cans they came in with ingredients which had succumbed to the heating and shaking most companies subject them to. Plus there was the added…
The Janus Factor
If Charlotte is beholden to any deity, it isn’t to the Christian God you might expect. Rather, the city’s in thrall to the Roman god Janus, the keeper of doorways and thresholds. His two-faced image looks simultaneously in opposite directions, the perfect metaphor for Charlotte’s conflicted vision of itself. I’ve made this point several times…
Party Time
The holiday season is upon us like gumdrops on a gingerbread house, and that means you’ve probably been invited to more festive cocktail parties than you can shake a candy cane at. Along with worrying whether you can get away with wearing that cute snowflake-sequined sweater or the HO HO HO necktie yet again, you…
SWINGING DOORS AT THE END OF THE YEAR
Fiscal types end their fiscal years, and more people than you’d like to know about get fired or get laid off, to make budgets work for the bean counters. In other cases, both parties want to make a clean break and get on with new things in the New Year. Media departures at the end…
Egg-cellent nog
If your definition of eggnog is derived from a refrigerated supermarket carton, you have my permission to run for the hills. To say that store-bought eggnog is one of the nastiest beverages available for purchase is an understatement. Cloyingly sweet with a chemical finish, commercial eggnog is almost viscous enough to chew. It’s like drinking…
Letters
Port Security Is OKAs chairman of the North Carolina State Ports Authority’s Board of Directors, I appreciate the basic premise of Tara Servatius’s Nov. 17 article (“From Al Qaeda With Love”): that port security is both relevant and important to everyone in the state. I would like to clarify a couple of issues. First, the…
Reindeer Games
You have to love America, don’t you? We’re all (still) pretty free to do whatever the hell it is we want, provided it’s not hurting anyone else (exceptions: our current imbecilic drug and sex laws). Perhaps more importantly, we’re free to make a nice living solely by creating Christmas reindeer out of old twigs. Yes,…
Bubbly Bargains
Tiny bubbles titillate. There’s something mesmerizing about watching them flood a tall, fluted glass, something intensely satisfying about the fizzy sensation that overtakes your tongue. It’s hard to describe, but “sensual” comes close. Inexpensive sparklers double the effect, with the added pride of bargainship making for a perfect moment. Thanks to the growing popularity of…
News of the Weird
Election roundup: In underreported November election returns: Notorious Florida radio shock jock Bubba “the Love Sponge” Clem lost his race for Pinellas County sheriff, and his Tampa radio competitor Dave “the Dwarf” Flood lost for a conservation-panel seat (but each got nearly 30 percent of the vote). The mayor of Arvin, Calif., Juan Olivares, was…
The Blotter
ROUGH ROOMMATES: A verbal dispute between two distant relatives who are also roommates turned physical when one of the feuding parties started to hit the other one about the head and body. After his beating, the beatee retired to his bedroom to go to sleep. A few hours later he called police, and admitted that…
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…
Meskerem Ethiopian Cuisine
Wat’s New Ethiopian treats in midtown In other cultures and countries, the festive time of the year doesn’t necessarily revolve around a religious schedule. In Ethiopia, the notable holiday is the New Year, a monthlong event which signifies a happy, celebratory time. This month, Meskerem, however, is only five or six days long depending on…
Holiday Events
Be a Santa to a Senior A program dedicated to the joy of holiday giving specifically for elderly citizens by fulfilling their wish list of an item desired for the holidays. There will also be a citywide gift-wrapping day for all the gifts collected. Dec. 9-17. 704-344-0801. Brass Concert Chamber Music at St. Peter’s presents…
Field of Dreams
It’s a question that developers (and obsessive Kevin Costner fans) ask almost daily: “If you build it, will they come?” Noah Lazes, head of Charlotte’s ARK Management, prides himself on being on the right side of that equation more often than not. A successful nightclub and restaurant proprietor (Fat Tuesday), festival promoter (CityFest Live) and…
See & Do
DECEMBER15WEDNESDAYBack in 1742, George Frederic Handel became the king of glory after writing the music of Messiah. But for some wacky reason, the composer intended his transcendent “Hallelujah Chorus” and all the rest of his heavenly oratorio for Easter rather than Christmas. Wisely, Charlotte Symphony and the Oratorio Singers of Charlotte have reserved their treasurable…
Moore Sheds Light On Travels
Ian Moore’s career is almost invariably noted for (and written about) “the transformation,” as though the young guitar virtuoso who served in Joe Ely’s touring band couldn’t possibly be the same musician — a decade-plus down the road — receiving critical kudos in his current incarnation as a singer/songwriter. It’s a premise Moore doesn’t accept.…
Ask the Advice Goddess
Caught In A Bridal Wave I’ve been dating a lovely woman for two years. Neither of us wants children. I’m divorced and I made it clear from the beginning that I wanted a long-term monogamous relationship, not marriage. Seven months ago, she returned from her cousin’s wedding proclaiming that marriage is what she really needs…
sit & spin
Burning Spear Creation Rebel Heartbeat/Rounder Winston Rodney, aka Burning Spear, is by most accounts the man who put the “roots” into “roots reggae.” By some accounts, he’s the man that put the reggae in there too. The great majority of Creation Rebel was recorded in 1969 and 1970. Rodney (Mr. Spear?) had a love of…
Stargazer
For All Signs Mercury turns direct on Dec. 20, just in time to change our minds on what we want to give loved ones for Christmas. It may also bring changes in our plans and expectations for the holiday. Many of us will have different guests than we expected, or may be traveling when we…
Music Menu
WEDNESDAY 12.15 Tom Montefusco — If the name sparks neuron activity in the dark recesses of your local music memory, Senor Montefusco was an integral part of the Naked Ramblers, a Charlotte mainstay in the mid-80s, a band whose final performance was opening for They Might Be Giants at the Cat’s Cradle in ’87. Montefusco,…
A Nut Gone
During this Yuletide season of cheerfulness, goodwill and magnanimity, we must face the sad fact that there are people lurking among us who would like nothing better than to take a hatchet to The Nutcracker. In their current cluster of saturnalia, Holiday 6/15, Moving Poets Theatre of Dance does exactly that. First, they dice the…
Soundboard
Wednesday, Dec. 15 Breakfast Club DJ Boney B Bricktop Lounge DJ Christian and DJ Brigmunton Comet Grill Lilley, Strauss & Schigoda Double Door Inn Jobula w/ Imaginosis The Evening Muse Mieka Pauley w/ Brandy Robinson and John Dungan The Gin Mill Wizard’s Road Show Graduate, Pineville Simplified Milestone Solid Gold Wreckers w/ Job’s Method, Roaring…
