Blood Bath and Beyond: N.C. GOP budget plans
Thom Tillis, the state rep from Cornelius who will be the next Speaker of the House in Raleigh, doesn’t just want to cut the state budget; he wants to rearrange what citizens expect out of government. On Saturday, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times, Tillis was at a swanky benefit soiree for former GOP congressman Charles…
Bubbles and food at Blue
Get into the holiday mood with a few glasses of festive bubbles. Blue is hosting a champagne and food pairing dinner this Friday, Dec. 17.
Mez, 12/11/10
Mez celebrated its 2-year anniversary Saturday with its Illumination party, featuring video DJ Roonie G on the big screen. Photos by Victoria Creasy
Five ways to boost your sex drive without a pill
Five simple ways to get better sex.
Today’s Top 5: Monday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Video: Dow Jones’ ‘One More Sip’
New video from Charlotte emcee, Dow Jones.
Buckhead, 12/10/10
SocialFlockers hosted their White Trash Christmas Open Bar Party at Buckhead on Friday, Dec. 10.
SEFCA names The Social Network the year’s best film
Complete list of winners for the 19th annual Southeastern Film Critics Association awards.
Surreal political video of the year, starring Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
This year’s American election season produced plenty of surreal political video moments. But those videos’ surreal credentials pale next to one making the Internet rounds yesterday.
Duke Energy to continue with caveman plan in N.C.
Gather ’round the fire, ya’ll.
Duke Energy to continue with caveman plan in N.C.
Gather ’round the fire, ya’ll.
Qnotes: Who’s naughty and nice in the Q.C.?
Congrats to those who made the nice list.
Selling and burning trash: Who will profit, who will pay?
File this under “news to watch.”
Red and Black Affair @ Lava Bistro, 12/11/10
CharlotteVibe.com’s 6th Annual Red and Black Affair took place at Lava Bistro Saturday, Dec. 11.
Petra’s, 12/11/10
Petra’s hosted their Men of Petra’s Semi-Finals event Saturday, Dec. 11.
Evening Muse studio items stolen
Benefit planned to help replace stolen equipment.
Mocha Fudge Pie
The pie consists of three layers: a brownie crust, a creamy chocolate pudding mocha layer, and then a coffee whipped cream layer.
A holly jolly holiday roundup – Part 1
Your guide to which holiday-themed theater shows to see.
Giving the gift of local bling
All the ladies out there are going to be looking for some sparkle this gift-giving season — and I’m not talking about the lights on the Christmas tree.
Tourist trap
A-list outing proves to be no vacation.
Wild Target misses the mark
Game cast only asset to flatfooted comedy.
Bobcats or Hornets? The biggest issue of our time
Not terrorism, not the economy, not gay weddings, not even Brangelina.
Modern-day poll tax?
What are the politicians up to when they say they want photo IDs at the polls?
Where are the financial crisis prosecutions?
From our friends at ProPublica.org: You may have noticed that prosecutors in this country are in something of a white-collar slump lately. The stock options backdating prosecutions have largely been a bust, not because it wasn’t a true scandal. The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department investigated more than 100 companies. Over a…
The Jinwrights’ marathon sentencing hearing, finally over
Did you get the message?
This weekend’s top nightlife events (12/10-12/11)
If you need a night of fun to escape the stress of all that holiday shopping, here are some events going on this Friday and Saturday.
The Queen City Awards, 12/9/10
The Queen City Awards, honoring some of the musical talent in the Carolinas, was held at Skandalos Thursday night. Photos by Renaul Hill, Charlotte Vibe Photography
Free coffee for marathoners and spectators, too
The coffee can be found at the Thunder Road Marathon start and finish line.
Today’s Top 5: Friday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Sunset Club, 12/8/10
Rock the Runway, a charity fashion show benefiting the Second Harvest Food Bank, took place Wednesday night at Sunset Club.
Weekender, Dec. 10-12
Check out these events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area this weekend.
‘God hates fags’ crazies of Westboro Baptist Church to picket Elizabeth Edwards’ funeral
The super-conservative, anti-gay, lunatic pinheads from Westboro Baptist Church say they will show up Saturday to picket the funeral of the late Elizabeth Edwards.
Today’s Top 5: Thursday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Joggers versus ‘PBR crowd’ + Common Market’s anniversary
Not only is Common Market apparently celebrating its 8-year anniversary, but the “PBR crowd” is celebrating the leaving of the “joggers.”
Tonight’s Top 5, 12/09/10
The top five nightlife-related events going down tonight, Dec. 9, as chosen from the folks at Creative Loafing.
Protest TSA X-ray scanners with metallic-ink printed clothes
Before your next trip to the airport, you may want to invest in some underclothes from 4th Amendment Wear.
Halo, 12/8/10
It was Pure Ladies Night at Halo Wednesday.
Opening Friday
What’s new in theaters this weekend.
2010 Charlotte Music Awards winners list
All of the winners from the 2010 CMAs in Charlotte.
Run the race, get a free beer or milkshake
The Cowfish wants to reward those who are running the Thunder Road Marathon in Charlotte this Saturday.
VIDEO: Dance like no one’s judging
Gay? Straight? Does it matter?
4 local shops offer Secret Santa gifts under $30
The secret’s out on this year’s great gifts for under $30! Take a look (peeking allowed) at some fun gifts you can find at four local shops … on a Secret Santa budget.
First bands for 2011 Vans Warped Tour announced
Tour will stop in Charlotte on July 28, 2011.
Jim DeMint: Suck it, jobless bums
Two bits of big news about Sen. Jim DeMint (R-Dark Ages). First, the South Carolina uber-conservative seems to have changed his hair color again, switching from black, back to brown, although it’s a darker shade of brown than he sported earlier in the year. More importantly, DeMint has come out strongly against the deal worked…
Upcoming: Revolve’s grand opening/Monarch’s sneak preview
Check out the grand opening party of Revolve (and sneak a peek at Monarch) on Dec. 13.
Stocking Stuffer Idea: Scoop Charlotte’s coupon book
The folks with ScoopCharlotte.com have come up with a great idea for a stocking stuffer for the shopaholic in your li
Tonight’s Top 5, 12/08/10
The top five nightlife-related events going down tonight, Dec. 8, as chosen from the folks at Creative Loafing.
VIDEO: Four Loko Empire
This clip was passed on to us by our old buddy, ex-Loafer Jared Neumark — who now creates comedy videos for Landline TV.
Remembering John Lennon
It was 30 years ago today that he was killed.
ICE breaks deportation record
And now, allow me to remind of you of Fredd Reyes.
Whisky River, 12/7/10
Anything But Clothes Contest hosted by Project Runway’s April Johnson took place at Whisky River Tuesday night. Photos by Jeaumane McIntosh
N.C.’s economy projected to grow in coming months
This is good news, right?
Today’s Top 5: Wednesday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Jinwrights to be sentenced today
Weigh in on how long you think the pastors should spend behind bars.
Olde Mecklenburg Brewery brews more than beer
Olde Mecklenburg Brewery will have its own German-style Christmas Market Dec. 9-11.
This week’s new releases (12/7/2010)
A quick rundown of what’s new in stores this week.
Local Leak: Rapsody’s Return of the B-Girl
North Carolina rapper releases her new mixtape to National noise.
Case of the stolen Stradivarius
Where’s Encyclopedia Brown when you need him?
Years after coal-ash spill, Duke scientists study ongoing hazards
And, we’re still waiting on the EPA to decide if coal ash is hazardous or not.
Walmart goes all Big Brother on us
As if things in the U.S. hadn’t gotten weird enough lately, now Walmart wants its customers to start turning in each other to the authorities. The retail behemoth has joined the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign, a Big Brotherish effort that urges Americans to be on the lookout…
Tea Party targets sustainable development
Frightened conspiracy theorists would rather ruin Earth than save it.
PHOTOS: The Cowfish
The Cowfish serves up the most unusual combination of food. Burgers and sushi. And even “Burgushi” — a combination of beef and sushi items.
Free Brownie Sundae at Chili’s today
Chili’s is offering free brownie sundaes today, Dec. 7.
A fitting farewell to Four Loko
With its disappearance from North Carolina shelves imminent over the next few weeks, some friends of mine decided to bid farewell to our good friend, Four Loko, one night.
Tonight’s Top 5, 12/07/10
The top five nightlife-related events going down tonight, Dec. 7, as chosen from the folks at Creative Loafing.
Misfits and more play Tremont Music Hall tonight (Dec. 7)
Tremont will satisfy your snare, symbals and bass fit with Misfits, Biggy Stardust & His Wretched Hive and more tonight (Dec.7)
Today’s Top 5: Tuesday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
More great books for giving
Two weeks ago we looked at some out-of-the-ordinary coffeetable books that would make great holiday gifts. Here is a selection of some of the books we’ve reviewed this year (and one new pick) for the book lovers on your list. • Burning Bright by Ron Rash (Ecco Press, $22.95). A wonderful short story collection from…
CD REVIEW: Girl Talk’s All Day
The Deal: Gregg Gillis returns with his latest effort full of mashed-up madness. The Good: Part of the fun of listening to a Girl Talk album is wondering what samples he’s going to combine next. Just like his previous effort, Feed the Animals, All Day maintains a fine line when it joins rap with pop…
Comic Review: Marineman No. 1
The Deal: Veteran artist Ian Churchill strikes out on his own with the creator-owned, all-ages title Marineman — which presumably chronicles the adventures of an amphibious superhero. (It’s kind of too early to tell where the story is going for sure.) The Good: Today’s comic book industry isn’t exactly overflowing with books aimed at young…
CD REVIEW: Nortec Collective Presents: Bostich and Fussible’s Bulevar 2000
THE DEAL: The Nortec Collective is four artist/producers Fussible, Bostich, Clorofila and Hiperboreal. Real names: Pepe Mogt, Ramon Amezcua, Jorge Verdin and Pedro Garcia Beas. From beautiful, dangerous, deadly Tijuana they fuse trad Norteno music with post modern electronica — a total culture clash between modern and mariachi that surprisingly works. THE GOOD: The album…
Every Christmas Every Told (And Then Some!): This Christmas turkey should be stuffed
Amid their guerilla assaults on Shakespeare, the Bible, American history and sports, the Reduced Shakespeare Company somehow hasn’t gotten around to targeting Christmas. Well, nature and merchandising abhor a vacuum, so the comedy team of Michael Carleton, James FitzGerald and John K. Alvarez have jumped into the breach with Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And…
Holiday notes for local notables
What a great time of year. Summer’s heat is forgotten, the leaves have been raked, and it’s time to re-charge our batteries and wish the best for those around us. Sure, it’s hard to get around to all that feel-good stuff until you’ve shopped till your body and wallet are drained, and eaten and drunk…
EXHIBIT: Fluxomat
What is Fluxomat? “It’s art in action. It’s a concept. It’s a game.” Creator Jacqueline Heer explained that each month a different artist will bring objects (like the pictured “Amelia Earhart’s Dream”) of their choosing to the space (currently at Slate, but future locations may vary). Pieces in the exhibit will be sold at a…
Get a job? Get a grip
Perhaps there is something to celebrate this holiday season. The North Carolina Employment Security Commission reported that Charlotte’s unemployment rate dropped again in October — to 10.2 percent, the lowest it’s been since January 2009. Although it is a small victory, it is a victory indeed, particularly with the economy still struggling to recover.…
EXHIBIT: Divine Introspection
For Kansas native and South Carolina-based Carl Blair, art is more than meets the eye. The color-blind artist has earned a reputation both regionally and nationally for his vibrant abstract paintings — see the pictured “Drifting Towards the West.” This month, don’t miss out on viewing some of Blair’s new works on canvas and paper…
N.C. bans alcoholic drinks — does this mark the return of Prohibition?
Prohibition was partially reintroduced in North Carolina in November, and no one noticed. In the coming months, stunned customers will stomp out of the state’s ABC stores, furious to learn they can’t buy pure grain alcohol like Everclear anymore. Seemingly out of the blue, the 95-percent pure alcohol was banned by Mecklenburg County’s ABC commission…
Bizarre crimes from Charlotte police files
Shotgun Wedding: A 34-year-old woman called police after being threatened by someone who thinks he knows what is best for her. She told officers the man was in her home and stated he would kill her the next time he saw her. He then told the soon-to-be newlywed, “I’m not going to let you have…
Profile: Brad Goforth with Samaritan House
Most people go home after a stay in the hospital — but where do the homeless go? Since 2005, a small, yet dedicated, staff at the Samaritan House (currently located at Park Road with plans to move to Fortune Street next year), have cared for more than 570 men and women, providing them with a…
Does turning down the thermostat at night save energy?
Which scenario uses less energy in home heating, and thus saves more money: (a) before going to bed, turning the thermostat down from 68 degrees Fahrenheit to 60, then turning it up again in the morning, or (b) leaving it at 68 all night? (Assume the outside temperature rises to 45 in the day and…
Capsule reviews of films playing the week of Dec. 8
BURLESQUE Sorry, camp-classic aficionados: Burlesque is no Showgirls or Staying Alive. Certainly, the film contains some risible moments, but nothing wretched enough to plunge it into the bowels of bad cinema. Ultimately, it’s too competently made to be a genuine stinker yet too indebted to hoary show biz clichés to come close to succeeding. Cher,…
Weekly horoscope (Dec. 8-14)
Sagittarius The Archer (Nov. 22-Dec. 20) During this week you may be dealing with projects that you thought were long since done. Somehow they crop up again to be corrected or repaired. “Going back” or “doing over” is not your favorite gig. An Archer always wants to be moving forward to the next thing. For…
WikiLeaks and the end of U.S. ‘diplomacy’
WikiLeaks is again publishing a trove of documents, in this case classified U.S. State Department diplomatic cables. The whistle-blower website will gradually be releasing more than 250,000 of these documents in the coming months so that they can be analyzed and gain the attention they deserve. The cables are internal, written communications between U.S. Embassies…
Modern Times and The Night of the Hunter among new DVD releases
MODERN TIMES (1936). The American Film Institute named Some Like It Hot as the best comedy of all time; the IMDb voters currently have Toy Story 3 ranked as the best comedy; Rotten Tomatoes’ critical mass holds Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb as the pinnacle of comedic…
THEATER: CAST’s presentation of The Day They Shot John Lennon
Carolina Actors Studio Theatre won’t be spreading any holiday cheer onto the stage this year. In fact, its latest production The Day They Shot John Lennon is anything but merry. The show revolves around a group of fans who gather outside of the apartment where Lennon was shot to pay tribute. Take cover as stories…
Where to find it: Persimmons and pear relish
A reader e-mails looking for two items: fresh persimmons and pear relish. The persimmons are for her grandmother’s pudding recipe. The good news is persimmons are currently on the produce stand at many of the area Harris Teeter stores. Not all their stores carry this fruit, but they are in stock at the Morrocroft store…
BENEFIT: Jingle Bell Ball at Grand Central
The annual Jingle Bell Ball is a semi-formal event with music, a silent auction and hors d’oeuvres catered by Blue Restaurant. It’s also a way to do some good, since the funds raised from ticket sales benefit United Family Services’ domestic violence programs and The Shelter for Battered Women. $65 in advance; $75 at the…
We knead this: Sunflour Baking Company
Owning an eatery is difficult — even in the best of times — and parents who are restaurateurs tend to beg or bribe their children not to follow the family business. But most of these children have learned the secret to a restaurant’s success: pride, passion and plasticity — the ability to roll with the…
SPECIAL EVENT: 11th Annual Santa Bar Crawl
With the arrival of holiday-related stress (shopping, relatives, blah blah …), I’m sure some of you could use a drink. The 11th Annual Santa Bar Crawl just may be your key to merriment. The crawl will stop in at 11 bars — Dixie’s Tavern, Town Tavern, The Attic, Phil’s Tavern, Hooters, Tilt, Buckhead Saloon, Suite,…
3 questions with Eric Hedrick, chef/kitchen manager
Eric Hedrick is a 27-year-old Charlotte native, who went to Appalachian State for a degree in business and furniture design. But after working as a line cook and ultimately a sous chef at the popular British pub Six Pence in Blowing Rock, he quickly became addicted to the world of culinary arts — even lighting…
DANCE: The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker tells the story of an ordinary young girl who receives a magical nutcracker that’s responsible for taking her on a journey through some pretty impressive environments. Take for example, the Land of Snow. It might be beautiful, but it also sounds blisteringly cold. The Land of Sweets on the other hand seems ……
The Low Anthem tries unique venue for recording new album
An album’s sound can be altered as much by the instrumentation as by the location where it is recorded. For its upcoming third album Smart Flesh, which is due Feb. 22, The Low Anthem decided to return to its home state of Rhode Island. Instead of going back to a traditional studio, however, the band…
FILM: Breathless
To complement its current exhibition School of Paris: European Abstraction Post World War II, Bechtler Museum of Art will screen the French-themed classic Breathless tonight. Written and directed by Jean-Luc Godard, this artsy flick — associated with Nouvelle Vague (the French New Wave movement) — shows shots of the streets of Paris, as captured by…
Recess Fest returns for a winter jam
Being an adult doesn’t mean that you can’t play. At least, that’s how Zach Reader and Casey Malone, co-founders of Recess Fest, feel. The event, which started this past summer, is a three-day music festival — taking place Dec. 10-12 — which spotlights more than 25 local and regional bands, playing at eight venues around…
FILM: Faust
The Light Factory’s “Dreams in Motion” Suspicious Minds Film Series continues this evening with a screening of a flick that seems more like a nightmare than a dream. Jan Svankmajer’s Faust takes evil to the next level, as the devil is summoned and terror ensues. Free. 7:30 p.m. The Light Factory (held in Knight Gallery),…
CL previews upcoming concerts (Dec. 8-12)
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 8 NO1UNO Don’t be surprised if after listening to a few measures of their music you suddenly start thinking of Jed and Ellie Mae Clampett taking laps in the “cement pond”. No1Uno is a bluegrass band and there’s no mistaking it. From lingering banjo’s to down-home guitar, if bluegrass is what you want…
SPECIAL EVENT: The All Arts Market
It’s time for local artists of all sorts to come together for NoDaRioty’s All Arts Market. The indoor marketplace — happening for three days (Dec. 15-17) at Neighborhood Theatre — features handmade goods/arts and crafts, including jewelry, photography, clothing, paintings, bags and more. Finish your holiday shopping at this hot spot for cool finds. For…
Nightlife profile: Jody Sullivan
The Breakfast Club, as owner Jody Sullivan likes to say, is the nightclub for people who don’t go to nightclubs. You’ll find no velvet rope, no specific dress code and no VIP to the all-inspired ’80s nightspot. You will also not find the owner behind the bar serving drinks or tucked away in a back…
