Feb 12-18, 2014

Feb 12-18, 2014 / Vol. 27 / No. 51

Cover Story

Lust List 2014

Thanks to our reader nominations, we’ve selected 10 of the hottest service industry and service industry-ish folks in the Queen City. You can salivate over these hotties here. In the meantime, we’ve pooled together some of the flatteringly funny comments our readers wrote about their lusty nominations. Not all of these people made it on…

Megan Henshall

Bizarre crimes from Charlotte police files (Feb. 13)

Switcharoo: An anxious GNC employee called police last week when she realized that her business was being swindled out of anxiety powder. The woman told officers that she noticed multiple suspects throughout the week had purchased inositol powder, which is used to treat anxiety and depression, among other things, and replaced it with an unknown…

Ryan Pitkin

RoboCop? More like RoboSlop

ROBOCOP *1/2 DIRECTED BY Jose Padilha STARS Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman There are basically two ways to approach RoboCop, a movie I wouldn’t buy for a dollar even on picture-perfect Blu-ray. Obviously, the first is to compare it to its 1987 predecessor; just as obvious, the second is to treat it as its own entity.…

Matt Brunson

Winter’s Tale heats up, then cools down

WINTER’S TALE **1/2 DIRECTED BY Akiva Goldsman STARS Colin Farrell, Jessica Brown Findlay Look, here’s the thing about Winter’s Tale, the film adaptation — make that condensation — of Mark Helprin’s 671-page novel: You either fall into its fantasy world fully or you run from the auditorium looking for the closest RoboCop showing. Since critics…

Matt Brunson

The Past: Worth treasuring

THE PAST ***1/2 DIRECTED BY Asghar Farhadi STARS Berenice Bejo, Ali Mosaffa One of the best pictures of 2013, Iranian writer-director Asghar Faradi’s The Past not only failed to earn an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign-Language Film, it didn’t even make it to the shortlist round, the pool of nine titles from which the Academy…

Matt Brunson

The LEGO Movie: New kids on the blocks

THE LEGO MOVIE *** DIRECTED BY Phil Lord & Christopher Miller STARS Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks Even the second coming of Christ won’t receive as much hype and fanfare as The LEGO Movie, which has already been hailed by so many folks (critics and audiences alike) as the greatest animated film of all time that…

Matt Brunson

How not to talk to idiots

My husband Hal and I and were hanging out in an Atlantic City bar, chatting with a clean-cut 20-something about Hillary Clinton, not long before her failed bid for the Democratic nomination. “I’d never vote for a woman president,” said the guy, who described himself as some sort of political operative. “She’d be on her…

Kim Green

Thresholds exhibit turns McColl Center into a funhouse

A sensory overload is in order for anyone visiting the new show at the McColl Center for Visual Art. Thresholds, a series of experiential installations by Quynh Vantu that fills the entire first floor gallery space, is divided into two parts: one involving thresholds — resembling free-standing, three-sided door frames — and one involving light.…

Grace Cote

Book-banning: A sad chapter in history

I was half-listening to the news on television during the holiday break when I heard a reporter mention something about removing Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Color Purple from a school. I immediately went into “what kind of backwoods, narrow-minded, slack-jawed, academically challenged yokel” mode, but my internal rant was cut short when the…

Charles Easley

Weekly horoscope (Feb. 14-20)

For All Signs: From January through mid-July, we have a series of retrogrades that impede general progress. It feels almost like the cosmos is playing some sort of joke. From Dec. 21, 2013 until Jan. 30, 2014 we had Venus, goddess of love, retrograde. Then Feb. 6 brought us a new Mercury retrograde that continues…

Vivian Carol

Graveface Records’ strange brew

The Casket Girls’ Phaedra and Elsa Greene weren’t answering their phones. Bandmate Ryan Graveface had just dropped off some new songs for the sisters to work on for their 2013 sophomore LP, True Love Kills the Fairy Tale, and he wanted to know what they thought. Failing to catch them by phone, he swung by…

Rachel Bailey

To be young, broke and health-conscious

Self-entitled narcissists or open-minded do-gooders? Much ink has been spilled dissecting my generation, the approximately 80 million student-loan afflicted, social-media savvy youths known as Millennials. Pop culture pokes fun at our preference for all things cage- and gluten-free (see Portlandia’s pilot episode or, really, any Portlandia episode), and the general consensus is that we’re lazy,…

Laura Camilo

R&B group Shai looks back at 20 years

In 1993, when hip-hop was just beginning its occupation of pop culture, mainstream R&B adapted with bad-boy groups like Jodeci and H-Town. These crooners sagged their jeans and went shirtless, sang countless paeans to “freaking” and generally stuck a fork in the eye of R&B’s tradition of clean-cut romanticism. On this crowded stage of studio…

Emiene Wright

Soledad O’Brien hosts Black in America Town Hall Tour

When it comes to understanding black identity, acclaimed journalist and news anchor Soledad O’Brien doesn’t claim to have answers. But what she does have are opinions and questions. Her mixed-race background (her mother is Afro-Cuban and her father is Irish-Australian) provides her with a perspective that’s as open as it is real, and she’s not…

Anita Overcash

Lust List 2014: Luke

Age: 29 Job: Sexy server of sushi and musical stylings at Miyagi’s Go-to Pickup Line: “How would your boyfriend react to me talking to you?” One glance at Luke and you might think “bad boy,” but the moment he opens his mouth, you’ll see he’s a little shy and entirely authentic. Born in South Korea…

Megan Henshall

Lust List 2014: Jeff

Age: 26 Job: Striking slinger of drinks at Strike City Go-to Pickup Line: “It varies.” (He says he has an assemblage of effective strategies.) Born in Burlington, N.C., Jeff moved to Charlotte to attend UNCC, where he majors in sociology. When he isn’t grinding toward his degree or serving customers at Strike City, he enjoys…

Megan Henshall

Lust List 2014: Olivia

Age: 25 Job: Fiery fundraiser for a worthy cause Go-to Pickup Line: None. “I just give that look.” This South Carolina girl certainly is spunky. A fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, one might expect a conservative ingénue. Instead, we encounter a vixen in a wee bandage dress. When asked if she thinks she is…

Megan Henshall

Lust List 2014: Bradleigh

Age: 23 Job: Cute creator of coiffure Go-to Pickup Line: None. “I will catch his eye and leave the rest to him.” It’s easy to guess that Bradleigh is in the business of beauty. Every strand of her bright blonde hair is in place, her eyeliner meticulously applied. She owns an independent boutique salon inside…

Lust List 2014: Ryan

Age: 32 Job: Potent purveyor of cellphones Go-to Pickup Line: “Less pickup lines, more conversation.” Ryan, a graduate from Ohio State University and former educator, now works in sales for Verizon Wireless. His bubbly nature is infectious and his charm will immediately set you at ease, like catching up with an old friend over coffee.…

Megan Henshall

Bombs, booze and history

Jerry Shinn, who earned a stellar reputation for both his prose and his thinking during his tenure as editorial page editor, associate editor and columnist at the Charlotte Observer, has written a novel titled Dixie Autumn. I’ve been reading it, and it’s a stunner, at least for me. Jerry and I grew up in the…

John Grooms

Lust List 2014: Megan Magnet

Age: 26 Job: Maven of cocktails at RE:Public; Apostrophe Lounge; dog trainer; aerial yoga instructor Go-to Pickup Line: “Do you have a keg in your pants? ‘Cause I’d love to tap that ass.” A Tennessee native with lips that Angelina Jolie would covet, Megan Magnet ventured to Charlotte to pursue culinary interests at Johnson and…

Megan Henshall

Lust List 2014: Petro

Age: 28 Job: Blindingly beautiful body sage Go-to Pickup Line: None. Our suggestion: “Hey, want to work out?” Born in Ukraine, Petro and all of his man beauty moved to the U.S. when he was 16. At the time, he spoke very little English and was told that he likely would not graduate high school.…

Megan Henshall

Lust List 2014: Vanessa

Age: 25 Job: Hip-hop-notic dancer at Suite Go-to Pickup Line: “I send over a drink and smile.” In high school, Vanessa was voted “biggest flirt.” That’s no surprise, considering she’s all perfect legs and bouncy exuberance, which comes in handy as a go-go dancer at Suite and for various local hip-hop artists. Vanessa, who once…

Megan Henshall

Lust List 2014: Brent

Age: 21 Job: Delicious server at California Pizza Kitchen Go-to Pickup Line: “You’re too beautiful for me not to buy you a drink.” Brent moved to Charlotte last year to pursue a career in modeling, and he definitely has the confidence and temperament to make it. “I think I got a little sexy going on,”…

Megan Henshall

Lust List 2014: Quinn

Age: 28 Job: Zen-sual yoga teacher Go-to Pickup Line: None. Doesn’t need them! Quinn describes herself as athletic first and foremost — most of her life has revolved around her love for being active, first with soccer, and since 2007, her passion for yoga. “I fell in love with yoga during my first class,” she…

Megan Henshall

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