Dec 5-11, 2012

Dec 5-11, 2012 / Vol. 26 / No. 41

Cover Story

Charlotte’s 10 most annoying holiday traditions

The holidays in Charlotte — so quaint, so polite, so precious, so … predictable. Every December, families from Kannapolis to Fort Mill pack the kids, the grandkids, the grandparents, the snot-nose cousins, the boyfriends and girlfriends, the blankets and Juicy Juice packages into big, fat minivans and drive down to McAdenville in Gaston County —…

Graham Odom

Review: New Beard’s New Beard City

Gustav Ejstes, the Swedish wunderkind known as Dungen, produced New Beard City, the debut album from Brooklyn’s New Beard, but his jolly and frosty fingerprints aren’t all over the record. To be sure, Ejstes’ signature slabs of processed guitar cast a spell on the band’s guitarist Yazan, and the massed vocals on the Fleet-Foxes-meet-cocktail-jazz mash-up…

Pat Moran

After DNC protests, Bank of America assists struggling Charlotte family

Protests during the Democratic National Convention have paid off for at least one Charlotte family. In September, Jessica Sanchez’s parents were busy appealing a foreclosure on their home of 12 years by Bank of America. Protesters gathered outside the company’s headquarters, in Uptown, to raise awareness of the case. The family had fallen behind on…

Ryan Pitkin

Where to find Curd Cheeses

Curd cheeses have followers. In the U.S., the most common cheese curds are the cheddar ones produced by Wisconsin dairies. Wisconsin native Mike Everhart is making yellow cheddar cheese curds at his Ashe County Cheese (106 E. Main St.) in West Jefferson, N.C. The mildly flavored curds, aka squeaky cheese, are small cubes used as…

Tricia Childress

Hearty eatin’

Once all the leftovers are finished and plates licked clean from Thanksgiving, it’s hard to top the glory of consuming mass quantities of Mom’s mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and pumpkin pie. And yet we must continue eating through the rest of the holiday season and into the depressing days of winter, when scraping windshields,…

Lauren Blake

Hitchcock: Dial M for Misfire

HITCHCOCK *1/2 DIRECTED BY Sacha Gervasi STARS Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren The filmmakers behind Hitchcock claim that it’s based on Stephen Rebello’s book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, but a more accurate title for this cinematic claptrap would have been Psycho and the Unmaking of Alfred Hitchcock. While purportedly taking a behind-the-scenes look…

Matt Brunson

A Royal Affair: A crowning achievement

A ROYAL AFFAIR ***1/2 DIRECTED BY Nikolaj Arcel STARS Mads Mikkelsen, Alicia Vikander Denmark’s official entry in this year’s Best Foreign Language Film race for Oscar gold, A Royal Affair features all the snug wigs and tight corsets one might expect to see in a movie centered around an 18th century monarch and his court.…

Matt Brunson

Killing Them Softly: Less bang for your buck

KILLING THEM SOFTLY *1/2 DIRECTED BY Andrew Dominick STARS Brad Pitt, Scott McNairy Head over to the comments section on the Fox News website and you’ll find political discussions as clumsy and ham-fisted as the strain of real-life topicality that runs throughout Killing Them Softly. Writer-director Andrew Dominick, whose epic Western The Assassination of Jesse…

Matt Brunson

Rise of the Guardians: Animated all-stars falter

RISE OF THE GUARDIANS **1/2 DIRECTED BY Peter Ramsey STARS Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin Earth’s mightiest heroes manage to put their bickering aside long enough to stop a black-hearted villain with a silky British accent from inflicting his will on innocent people. That synopsis can be used to describe the summer blockbuster The Avengers or…

Matt Brunson

Death Tax: Making death-care affordable

Used to be, people who died were laid to their eternal rest. Nowadays, thanks to the wonders of modern medicine and technology, old folk who are quite alive are also laid to eternal rest in hospital rooms or nursing homes. Until the money runs out for their IV refills. That’s the new reality in Lucas…

Perry Tannenbaum

Lee Fields shares musical wisdom in his second act

“It’s like we’re chasing after an unseen substance,” singer Lee Fields says, beginning an impromptu sermon on soul music’s temporal and spiritual blend. “You can’t feel it, you can’t touch it and you can’t see it. You know it’s there when you are aware of it from the inside, from your psyche. You can’t physically…

John Schacht

Sensory overload at Recess Fest’s ‘Grab Bag’

Recess Fest has been on a roll since it started in 2010, primarily by balancing stellar, consistent lineups with the sort of gee-golly playfulness endemic to properly executed DIY fests of this scope. The upcoming Grab Bag Weekend follows suit, with rambunctious garage, shape-shifting psychedelia, aggressive stoner-sludge and cathartic grind-thrash, a little hip-hop and even…

Corbie Hill

Weekly horoscope (Dec. 6-12)

Sagittarius The Archer (Nov. 22-Dec. 20)You have more energy than you know how to manage this week. Use caution when driving because your accelerator foot is probably a bit heavy. Pour that muscle into making the work you need to do to take yourself to the next level. Your fire is high and may overwhelm…

Vivian Carol

Harry Jones must go

Creative Loafing first got a close look at county manager Harry Jones’ high-handed arrogance 10 years ago. In 2002, this paper published an investigative story by former CL reporter Tara Servatius that set off a classic Harry Jones bullying spectacle. The story, “It’s A Crapshoot,” revealed that millions of gallons of raw, untreated human sewage…

John Grooms

This week’s concert listings (Dec. 6-12)

** Bullet points indicate CL’s critics’ picks** Thursday, Dec. 6 Blues/Roots/International Blues and More… (Wet Willie’s) Latin Thursdays (Dream Nightclub, Matthews) Classical/Jazz/Smooth Beats and Keys (Encore Bistro and Bar) Bill Hanna’s Vintage Dance Band (Grand Central Events) John Alexander (Blue Restaurant & Bar) Country/Folk Electrician, Rita’s Gift, Matt the Movies (Milestone) Open Mic w/ Brett…

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