Feb 18-24, 2015

Feb 18-24, 2015 / Vol. 28 / No. 52

Cover Story

We played with prophylactics for Condom Couture and we liked it

I’m leaving to go pick up condoms,” I announced to my staff proudly one Friday afternoon, slipping on my coat. “Things you don’t hear at the daily paper,” I quickly added with a grin. Jeff, our music editor, glanced my way and then turned back to his computer, shaking his head slightly. He’s used to…

Kimberly Lawson

Hot Tub Time Machine 2: Blech to the Future

HOT TUB TIME MACHINE 2**DIRECTED BY Steve PinkSTARS Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson The 1980s are nowhere to be found in Hot Tub Time Machine 2, a bummer for those who still want their MTV. Instead, this sequel to the ever-so-modest hit from 2010 sprints in the other direction, heading into a future where the number…

Matt Brunson

Mr. Turner: Artful Codger

MR. TURNER***DIRECTED BY Mike LeighSTARS Timothy Spall, Marion Bailey In the Great Sony Hack of 2014, it was the studio’s Fury and Annie that saw massive amounts of illegal downloading, with the other three titles — all art-house flicks — comparatively left alone. That trio included writer-director Mike Leigh’s Mr. Turner, which, at a leisurely…

Matt Brunson

Weekly horoscope (Feb. 19-25)

For All Signs: The planets Venus and Mars will be aligned on Feb. 22. Venus, the ancient goddess of love, carries broad feminine and relational/romantic symbolism. Mars is the warrior god and prevails over masculine territory. The symbolism suggests the conclusion of one relationship and the beginning of another. Alternatively the conjunction speaks of the…

Vivian Carol

Bizarre crime from Charlotte police files (Feb. 18)

Not The Bow!: A 40-year-old east Charlotte woman phoned police after she heard unknown people throwing objects at her residence. We don’t think Justin Beiber was in town that day … Upon further inspection, the victim noticed that a “decorative bow,” valued in the police report at $1, was damaged. Lost And Found I: An…

Jeff Hahne

An open letter to the good guys

Dear Good Men, When I was in my early 20s, I was mad at you. Unfairly. You see, A Bad Thing had happened (at the hands of several scary men) while I was studying abroad, and then when I got home, a lot of my friends started telling me about Bad Things that had also…

Kim Green

Shopping with chef Luca Annunziata

“I’ll take all of it.” Ruddy-faced and sleepy-eyed, chef Luca Annunziata gestures toward the chalk-white turnips piled on A Way of Life Farm’s tabletop display inside the cavernous shed at the Charlotte Regional Farmers Market. After receiving a nod of agreement, he walks behind the table, grabs the entire pile and lowers it into a…

Alison Leininger

CD review: JD McPherson’s Let the Good Times Roll

Little Richard. Buddy Holly. Bill Haley and His Comets. If this was the 1950s, JD McPherson would fit right into that stellar list of musicians. But’s 2015, and McPherson not only faces the challenge of creating his own identity but also setting himself apart in the modern age as being something other than a retro-rock…

Jeff Hahne

A new bill banning racial profiling could help improve police oversight

By the end of 2014, it was routine to hear the media and others talk about “the Mike Brown trial.” This 18-year-old’s name, accompanied by Jonathan Ferrell, Ersilla Ore and Eric Garner, have become synonymous with police misconduct, racial profiling and bias-based policing. But do the names of the officers connected to these controversial cases…

Kendrea Collins

Theater review: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Long titles were quite the winning formula when the Tony Awards for best musical were handed out in 1962 and 1963. Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows took the statuettes in ’62 for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying before Stephen Sondheim and Burt Shrevelove shouldered the hardware the following year with A Funny…

Perry Tannenbaum

Echosmith’s family of cool kids

On a hot July day in 2013, singer Sydney Sierota and her three brothers are doing their best to entertain a small group of fans at PNC Music Pavilion. Dressed in red shorts and a black T-shirt with the sleeves cut off, Sierota exudes a bit of shyness as her band, Echosmith, cruises through a…

Jeff Hahne

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