About Jack
If there’s one person in Hollywood who needs no introduction, it’s veritable icon Jack Nicholson.In his new film About Schmidt (already in limited release and scheduled to open in Charlotte January 3), the 65-year-old actor plays Warren Schmidt, a malcontent retiree and widower who embarks on a journey of self-discovery. Less edgy and more wistful…
See & Do
DEC 25 WEDNESDAY It’s Christmas Day, the King Daddy of all western holidays. December 25 was chosen by early church leaders as the symbolic date representing the birth of Jesus. That date meshed with traditional winter solstice celebrations of renewal, which helped to mainstream Christianity into the predominant pagan culture of the time. Through the…
Film Clips
CURRENT RELEASES ADAM SANDLER’S EIGHT CRAZY NIGHTS Any critical goodwill Adam Sandler earned for Punch-Drunk Love will be negated by his participation in this animated feature for which he co-wrote the script, served as a producer, and voiced three of the central characters. Basically a frat-house version of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, this shows how…
Stargazer
For All Signs Mercury will turn retrograde on January 2. Faithful readers of this column know this happens roughly three times per year and lasts three to four weeks. During the retrograde periods, communications often go awry and routine schedules are tossed in the air like a deck of cards. If we were in touch…
Charles Kuralt’s FBI File
Charles Kuralt was retiring, and he had some stories to tell. In March of 1994, the veteran journalist, and one of Charlotte’s favorite sons, was visiting his alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and recalling his time as an undergraduate 40 years earlier. Speaking before a packed auditorium, Kuralt covered many…
Karma Cleanser
Dear Karma Cleanser:My boss and I are having a major problem: We have a person on staff who needs to be fired. We should have fired him a few months ago, but we kept giving him another chance. We’ve continually talked to him about his bad and lazy attitude. We’ve also found him working on…
Look Back in Anguish
Now that it’s winding down, I think we can all agree: 2002 was a brutal, teeth-rattling anal probe of a year.It truly was the best of times, the worst of times. Except without the best of times part. Everything turned fetid and funky during the last 12 months. The world went haywire, like we entered…
Out With The Old and. . .Whatever
There are exactly two holidays that pretty much suck if you’re thirty-something and single: Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve. Valentine’s Day used to be a holiday I looked forward to until about age 10 when it stopped being accompanied by white bags at school filled with candy and small cards from 30 of your…
The Charlotte What?!
Now that the arena deal is more or less done and an owner has been selected, the next step is selecting a nickname for the team. Yes, we know, the Observer’s running a poll, but you can just imagine the kind of crap that’ll come out of that. We’re here to help. Many people would…
I Am “Women,” Hear Me Roar
Lots of folks crowded into The Evening Muse on Thursday evening, and half of them were from the UK. Or so it seemed — you see, Tara Busch, the lead singer for the trippy Wales act Dynamo Dresden, was back home again, and her brother Todd, a bit of a reclusive chap, actually left his.…
Letters
Poor Little TaraCould Tara Servatius have come across more prominently as a big cry baby in her letter to Duke Power? (“Just Say “We’re Sorry’,” December 18) Sure, Duke holds some responsibility for not cutting some limbs that caused damage in the recent ice storm, but my husband and many of our neighbors are responsible…
Light’s Out
The Light Factory’s final exhibit at its current Hill Street location features Byron Baldwin: The First Thirty Years and Simmons Jones: The New York Years. There are several ink jet prints in each show, but most of the photographs are black and white silver gelatin prints. Baldwin’s subject matter draws from visits to Cuba, Prague…
The Perfect Crime
If someone broke into your home, robbed you blind and, before they drove off in your car, left you their name, home address and phone number, you’d probably be right to assume that law enforcement would at least bother to check it out. But if that same person used your Social Security number or credit…
Our Richest Crooks
Just who do these lying, swindling, greedy CEOs think they are? Well, Bernie Ebbers thinks he’s a great Christian. After the fraud scandal enveloped the little motel phone service that Ebbers had built into WorldCom, Ebbers stood up at church in little Brookhaven, MS, and tearily declared, “More than anything else, I hope that my…
Power Structure
On the night of the ice storm, we were lucky enough to keep our power (and our heat!) until about five o’clock in the morning. We were also relatively lucky enough to have our power turned back on by Sunday. In the meantime, we were extremely lucky to have “empowered” friends to take us in,…
Reflections and Trends
The summer of 2002 forecasted the reordering of the culinary firmament in Charlotte when Johnson & Wales University announced plans to build a campus in downtown Charlotte. The Johnson & Wales’ College of Culinary Arts, which is only one college within the university, immediately captured the media’s attention.The enormous play by area media was somewhat…
The Blotter
Ready And Waiting: Winter weather is causing many Charlotte residents to be a little less than cautious about leaving their cars running and unoccupied. One man left his car running in his driveway in order to warm it up and then went back inside. When he came out again, lo and behold, someone had stolen…
Break Out the Bubbly
Remember playing with bubbles as a kid? Bubble bath, bubble gum, blow bubbles? We thought nothing of enjoying those bubbles on a daily basis, so why do we save sparkling wine bubbles for “special occasions?” Sparkling wine, the generic term for wines that have fizz in them, can make any day as fun as a…
News of the Weird
Inside celebrity lives: Next in the England-to-U.S. TV Pipeline: The newest reality TV show scheduled by London’s Channel 5 for 2003 is a celebrities-in-detox series, in which marginally known entertainment personalities go to an island for a week to undergo enemas and colonic irrigation, with full camera coverage. A station spokeswoman told The Independent, “The…
Good Eats
Dilworth/Southend 300 East, 300 East Blvd., 704-332-6507. Locals have long gathered at this casual neighborhood bistro in a vintage house featuring an eclectic menu. $$$ Berrybrook Farms Natural Foods, 1257 East Blvd., 704-334-6528. Homemade soups, herbed tofu sandwiches, bean burritos, and freshly squeezed fruit and vegetable juices found in a natural food shop. $ Comet…
Not Ready For TiVo
The holiday season is a lucrative time for special programming the networks can load up with lots of commercials. Thanks to my Hollywood mole, I’m letting you in on just a few of the specials that never got off the dry erase board for the 2002 season. A Salisbury Christmas (C-SPAN). Hometown girl and Senator-elect…
2002:What Was Hot And What Was Not
TD’s Random Collected Rants: Most Disappointing Local Radio Station: 106.5 The End. I realize radio is all about money, but if anybody thinks 90 percent of these acts are “alternative” and not this century’s version of hair bands, you might want to reconsider. Worst Trend: Thug duets. In which said thugs (hello, Fat Joe) tell…
Good Shows, Good Causes, and other Good Stuff
The Nashville Songwriters Association International(NSAI), The Naked Truth, SongFinishers, Tosco Music Party, Foundation House Jam and The Evening Muse are working together to organize several benefit shows for local singer/songwriter Jackie Moseley. Moseley is a single mom who recently suffered a life-altering injury to her shoulder that will require surgery. Needless to say, she will…
Music Menu
WEDNESDAY 12.25 Alternative Champs & Friends — By now, you likely know The Champs. Blissfully obscene, sometimes drunken, and always entertaining, not to mention costumed. Bet on a Santa Set tonight (perhaps some eunuch elves?), and loads of their unhinged friends. Mojo Restaurant & Spirits (Davis) Aqualads — For some reason, while terrific, Christmas day…
Soundboard
Wednesday, Dec. 25 Angry Ale’s Smilin’ Dogs Double Door Inn The Aqualads Irish Cue, Cornelius Parttime Blues Band The Meeting House Restaurant John Alexander Trio Mojo Restaurant & Spirits Alternative Champs & Friends Puckett’s Farm Equipment Jon Singleton & The Dead Sea Squirrels Tropicana, Cornelius Open Mic w/ Tommy C Thursday, Dec. 26 Amos’ Southend…
Catching Up
Whither Benigni? Not on these pages, as Roberto Benigni’s live-action take on Pinocchio — one of the last of the big Christmas releases — wasn’t screened for critics in advance. But three other examples of featherweight fare have just arrived in theaters, though only one of them is worth its weight in coal. Steven Spielberg…
