Kaukonen: Just a Humble Axe-man
“I consider myself an intermediate-level guitar player with a lot of experience,” Jorma Kaukonen says modestly. “I don’t do a lot of stuff that anybody can’t learn given the time to do it.” Legions of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna fans would take issue with that statement, as would most guitar players. Kaukonen is one…
The Blotter
ANY IDENTIFYING MARKS?: A distraught man called police to report that his car had been stolen. When asked for a description of the vehicle, he told them it was painted champagne gold, had 20-inch chrome wheels, and had a few bullet holes in the passenger side door. ROAMING CHARGES FROM HELL: A collection agency for…
Weekend of the living dead
College basketball announcer Dick Vitale was at UNC-Charlotte’s student bookstore Thursday, signing copies of his new book, Living A Dream: Reflections of 25 Years Sitting in the Best Seat in the House. Say what you want about the guy, but Vitale’s ability to parlay a failing basketball coaching career, bald head and glass eye into…
Sit & Spin
Dizzee Rascal boy in da corner Matador/XL</i Every now and then, you hear a record that sounds so different, it might as well have come from outer space. When that same record also immediately makes you want to live in that other world, you know you have a winner. I was making dinner, I believe,…
Fontanella Italian Ristorante
Family Matters The art of eating well in Matthews To the late 19th century Italian housewife, Pellegrino Artusi’s La Scienza in Cucina e l’Arte di Mangiar Bene (The Science of Cookery and the Art of Eating Well) was the definitive cookbook and Artusi was the kitchen god. He was the first to say in print…
Do You Plan To See The Passion of the Christ?
Beth Sneelington Design Consultant “Absolutely, I can’t wait. My boyfriend needs to see it, too, then maybe when he sees what kinds of sacrifices were made for him a long time ago, he’ll be more understanding about ponying up some dollars to get me a decent Valentine’s gift next year.” Johnny McCraw Computer Software Writer…
Music Menu
WEDNESDAY 2.18 Songwriter’s Night — Nice cross-pollination show here, featuring Mt. Holly’s David Childers, Charlotte’s Randolph Lewis and John Dungan, and Nicole Atkins, a New Jersey-based songwriter with a lot of Carolina ties. Childers, of course, is the road-hog troubadour of the bunch, playing copious shows all around the region (as well as places like…
Paradise Reloaded
For years I’ve thought how great it would be to someday live near my college friends again. I went to a school with people who came from all over, and after graduation we scattered as far as if we’d been sprung from a milkweed pod. My dream has been of us all ending up in…
Soundboard
Wednesday, Feb. 18 Baoding Robert Fernandez Big Al’s Pub, Mooresville Jes & Sherry Blue Carl DiPonziano Bonterra Kim Carper, Van Sachs, Gerard Benson Bricktop Lounge Atmospheric Jazz w/ Christian & Brigmunton Cajun Queen 7th Street Gator Band Charleston Chops, Cornelius Michelle Smith Comet Grill Anamcara Double Door Inn Just Cause The Evening Muse David Childers,…
See & Do
FEBRUARY18 – WEDNESDAY The mighty National Symphony Orchestra comes to town, laden with an uncommonly heavy load — Beethoven on steroids! The latest Carolinas Concert Association event at Belk Theater will begin innocently enough as our DC visitors play Berlioz’s “Roman Carnival” in tribute to Hector’s 200th birthday. Then superstar conductor Leonard Slatkin gets serious…
Screen Unseen
It’s fair to assume that any serious film critic has seen just about everything that’s ever come down the pike, from the classics of silent cinema to the blockbusters of today. Good or bad, big or small, hit or flop — film reviewers eat, drink and sleep movies 24/7, not allowing much to escape their…
Ask the Advice Goddess
Leave Orwell Enough Alone My boyfriend of two years and I have a solid relationship. Because I get off work later than he does, he catches a ride home with a female coworker whom I dislike very much. She and my boyfriend dated a while back, although they never “did the deed.” At a party…
View From The Couch
OPEN RANGE (2003) Decidedly “old school” in both content and intent, this adaptation of Lauran Paine’s The Open Range Men doesn’t expand the parameters of the Western but instead feels like a throwback to the types of genre flicks that populated moviehouses until their fizzle in the late 70s. Boss Spearman (Robert Duvall) and Charley…
Stargazer
For All Signs Basic astrological understanding comes from the four elements: fire, earth, air, and water. The Earth Signs (Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn) are usually solid and dependable, just as the ground beneath us. They are gifted at manifestation in the concrete world and take pleasure in finding useful purposes for everything. Earth signs are…
Film Clips
NEW RELEASES AGAINST THE ROPES The real-life story of Jackie Kallen, the first female boxing manager, is a captivating one, and someday I’d like to see a movie about it. In the meantime, there’s Against the Ropes, which is “inspired” by Kallen’s life but ultimately has as much to do with her story as Schindler’s…
And the nominees are
Theater artists and performers all around Charlotte can now officially exhale. For the 17th straight season, we’ve deliberated over all the comedies, musicals, and dramas of the previous year, arriving at our authoritative picks for who was best in over 30 areas of endeavor. This week we narrow it down to our who’s-who of excellence…
Virtual Brothers
With the Carolina Panthers in the lead, fans had their eyes glued to the big screen TVs when the Patriots suddenly rallied and scored a touchdown, bringing them within 8 points of the Panthers late in the fourth quarter. The Patriots then tried an onside kickoff, but Carolina recovered it and, after the last seconds…
Broadway Quality Belies Doomsayers’ Bellyaching
Sure, Les Miz is gone after running forever. Urinetown was evicted — sending Lockstock and Barrel to the unemployment line. Neil Simon and Mary Tyler Moore couldn’t get along through previews, and Farrah Fawcett’s new show was kayoed before opening night. Ellen Burstyn’s one-woman show couldn’t outlast the next morning’s reviews, and the once bankable…
Soldier’s Mom Speaks Out
About a year ago or so, a columnist for the Charlotte Observer contacted me about an interview for a column. The story had to do with my, and my husband’s, sentiments against the impending invasion of Iraq. It wasn’t so much that we had stood in the rain and slush with protest signs, encouraged by…
Sightseeing
If you’re considering a trip to New York City, or simply want to experience what it would be like flying into the city at night, you can instead book passage to Elder Art Gallery here in Charlotte. Joseph Greenberg’s paintings in his exhibit New York, My Home, which largely focus on the Manhattan skyline, have…
Today the President Said. . .
Since the US government was formed, we’ve had 43 presidents, some great, some awful, mostly middling. In those nearly 230 years, the government’s head honchos of state have delivered some pretty insightful, even prescient, speeches. In honor of the just-past President’s Day (lovingly celebrated locally by mattress sales and making kids go to school to…
Off the Road
After suffering through yet another bleak and dreary London winter, journalist and travel writer Richard Grant opted to trade in the comfort of his cushy sedentary life hanging out at the pub for one on the road in the American Southwest. Following in the footsteps of a gazillion others, Grant set off on what would…
Fox News Sinking?
There’s a formula for what’s called morning TV news programs. It’s the news, weather, and traffic, stupid, and the rest is just a flavor shot in your morning latte. WCCB-TV entered Charlotte’s morning news race less than a month ago, with what they hope is a fresher take on the formula — Fox News Rising.…
Arts Agenda
Classical Music A Celebration of American Song A recital featuring Broadus Hamilton, tenor; Jason McKinney, baritone; Emily Jarrell, piano. St. Patrick’s Episcopal Mission, 201 Fairview Rd., Mooresville. Sun., Feb. 22, 5 p.m. Free, donations accepted. 704-665-4247. Gaston Symphonic Band The concert will feature Suite No. 1 by Gustav Holst, Suite of Old American Dances by…
Given Back Their Lives
It has been four years since Elizabeth Connolly, naked from the waist up, ran screaming from her Elizabeth home wearing nothing but a sock and a long fitted skirt and pummeled a neighbor’s door, begging someone to let her in. She told police investigators a brutal story of rape by a man named Donnie Alexander…
Family Matters
To the late 19th century Italian housewife, Pellegrino Artusi’s La Scienza in Cucina e l’Arte di Mangiar Bene (The Science of Cookery and the Art of Eating Well) was the definitive cookbook and Artusi was the kitchen god. He was the first to say in print that gastronomic gold was in the hands of Italy’s…
Unless We’re Being Deceived . . .
Great news! The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will be over in a few short months, evil will have been conquered, and our boys will all be home by October 1! Or so it seems, based on President Bush’s recent budget request to Congress. Bush asked for $401.7 billion in military spending for fiscal year…
D.I.Y. Wine Tasting
It starts with the spark of an idea and involves 10 willing friends. Invent a theme, grab some cocktail food, and establish a price limit. Voila — the makings of an in-home wine tasting. Here’s the pitch: Jaded by the bar scene? Insulted by hoity-toity food and wine events? Looking just to bond with friends?…
Full of Sound and Fury
It was all very predictable. Some local politicians and media wasted no time dancing with glee at the Charlotte Area Transit System’s failure to win full funding in President Bush’s new budget. In a nutshell, CATS was given some funding this year, praised for a promising project, and invited to apply for more money next…
Good Eats
All Around Town Anntony’s Caribbean, 400 S. Tryon St., 704-339-0303; 2001 E. 7th St., 704-342-0749. All locations have different owners. 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.…
Letters
Walk In Their (Sensible) Shoes Regarding Quinn Cotton’s “Teacher Wussdays” (Feb. 4), let’s take a trip through a teacher’s average day (as seen through my mother, a sixth grade math teacher). Once the government created a planning period, so a teacher could correct tests, homework, and do general planning. Now this period is used for…
Hank III to Curb Records: Move it on over
Hank Williams III has never denied his musical lineage — there really wouldn’t be much point. When he straps on that acoustic guitar, brings his rail-thin frame to the mike and warbles like his famous granddaddy — well, good luck not conjuring up country music’s most memorable and tragic figure. But Hank III has little…
News of the Weird
Smoke ’em if ya got ’em: On Jan. 16, as bonfires burned across Italy to commemorate the annual festival of St. Anthony, the town of Capena continued its yearly addition to the celebration: a day of smoking cigarettes. Residents, including children as young as 6, light up throughout the day in the town’s bonfire. Italy’s…
