Day and Night
The best part of what I do is the unexpected discovery of a restaurant which delivers, even when there were no expectations. The rarity of this, week after week, year after year, makes that excitement of discovery even more exquisite. Situated in a small, but new, strip shopping center on Providence Road, south of I-485,…
Letters
Expensive Visions Wonder of wonders, David Walters admits the “light rail” has opponents!! (“Full of Sound and Fury,” Feb. 18) You bet there are opponents of this Choo-choo boo-boo. Even Tommy Tomlinson, in today’s Observer (Feb. 20), points out that light rail is so expensive the fares will have to be paid in doubloons, and…
Wine Critics
I’ve been called “blowhard,” “idiot” and “opinionated,” and that’s on a good day. Wine critics learn to grow thick skin. Some wineries love us, some would love to see us suffer immeasurably. But we serve a purpose: to help drinkers pilot the deep sea of wine. First and foremost, wine critics are educators, trying to…
News of the Weird
Copycat: In a 1999 episode of “The Simpsons,” Homer became a temporary multi-billionaire by accidentally inventing a “tomacco” plant that sprouted tobacco-bred tomatoes that were hopelessly addictive from even a single bite. Inspired (and hoping to draw attention to the show’s anti-smoking message), Rob Baur of Lake Oswego, Ore., tried to grow such a plant…
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.…
Mali Mythmaker
Like a hot sirocco wind from the Sahara, Habib Koité (pronounced Kwa-tay) and his band, Bamada, approach Charlotte like visitors from another planet. In truth, they are from the West African republic of Mali, and their music is actually as refreshing and engaging as a cool breeze. It is Charlotte’s good fortune to have a…
Sit & Spin
The Cure Join the Dots: B-sides & Rarities, ’78-’01 Rhino Records If and when The Cure finally hang up their high-tops, some will remember them solely for the Goth, the poorly applied lipstick and the Phyllis Diller hairdos. They miss the point by half. Like the new breed of bands do when name-checking their sound…
Animal House
Last Wednesday, there was a naked woman at the corner of Trade and Tryon Streets. Longtime residents of this city know such things weren’t out of question in the early-to-mid 1980s, when a short mini-dress worn uptown in the winter was considered work clothes, not the newest in clubwear.This naked woman, however, was objectifying herself…
Music Menu
THURSDAY 2.26 Jerry Douglas — The undisputed king of the contemporary Dobro, Jerry Douglas has as many chops as a Chicago steakhouse. A bluegrass and new-grass legend, Douglas has appeared on close to 1,000 (!) albums in his career, befitting his virtuoso status. However, I prefer him best on his latter-day solo work, which, while…
Glandular Case
Twice in one day I was confronted up close with breasts that weren’t my own or those of anyone I know. The first time was when I went online to the Drudge Report to check out Janet Jackson’s mammary gland. Apparently I was the only adult watching the Super Bowl who didn’t catch its baring,…
Soundboard
Wednesday, Feb. 25 Baoding Robert Fernandez Blue Carl DiPonziano Bonterra Kim Carper, Tom Billotto, Donnie Marshall Brickhouse Tavern, Davidson Robin Brown w/ Andy Seets Bricktop Lounge Atmospheric Jazz w/ Christian & Brigmunton Cajun Queen 7th Street Gator Band Charleston Chops, Cornelius Michelle Smith Comet Grill Open Mic w/ Bill McDonald Double Door Inn Country &…
Oscar Prophets
Lawrence Singer Automobile salesman “Hey, I know it’s not nominated, but you know what I’d really like to see win? Pieces of April — that chick’s mom was a bitch, but she was hot.” James “Scooter” Cooley Wine Steward “Oh, probably Return of the King although everyone with more refined taste, like my friends and…
Oscar’s Leap of Imagination
If there’s one thing that Gollum and I have in common — well, beside our mutual tendency to sound like we’re hacking up hairballs — it’s that, when it comes to this year’s Oscar race, we both have nowhere to go but up. In predicting the major categories in last year’s contest, I went 3-for-8,…
The Blotter
REAL HIT AND RUN: After unwisely fleeing the scene of a felony on foot and making it to his car, one man upped it a notch when he rammed a police car in an attempt to escape. When he did, however, their bumpers locked. The man then floored it, pushed the police car into a…
View From The Couch
PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET (1953). More a product of film noir grit than Cold War hysteria, this tough nugget from maverick director Samuel Fuller casts Richard Widmark as Skip McCoy, a New York pickpocket whose latest score is a piece of government microfilm coveted by Communist spies. Hardly the model American patriot found in most…
See & Do
FEBRUARY 26 – THURSDAY Echo Foundation and the eclectic Moving Poets Theatre of Dance collaborate for the third straight year on a performance project designed to promote social justice through art. Using music, dance, theater, and multimedia, Island of Light celebrates the life of Dr. Bernard Kouchner and the Nobel Prize-winning organization he founded, Doctors…
Film Clips
NEW RELEASES THE COMPANY The latest from Robert Altman is a must-see for balletomanes but most likely a must-avoid for everyone else. With most of the cast comprised of members of Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet, Altman takes viewers on a behind-the-scenes tour of the way a dance company operates on a daily basis, with writer Barbara…
Ask the Advice Goddess
A Broom of His Own My girlfriend of six months could be a “keeper.” The only thing dividing us is housekeeping issues. She’s a neatnik and I’m … not. She rents a small, easy-to-clean apartment; I have a house with a yard and pets. I’m a busy guy, so the house-cleaning gets neglected. This freaks…
17th Annual CL Charlotte Theatre Awards
Never a dull moment. For sustained excitement and high-flying turbulence, 2003 was unprecedented in Charlotte theater history. The cavalcade of glitz began last January when Charlotte Rep’s producing artistic director Michael Bush brought a bevy of Broadway stars to Booth Playhouse, staging his own oddball overview of the Great American Musical, Let Me Sing. As…
Stargazer
For All Signs Basic astrological understanding comes from the four elements: fire, earth, air, and water. The Fire Signs (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius) are warm, enthusiastic and outgoing. They need a lot of fuel and therefore are constantly on the search for something new to “feed” them. Other signs must often create boundaries in order to…
Weddings On The Brain
With the line for same-sex marriage certificates going around the block at City Hall in San Francisco, and drama in the courts in Massachusetts, clearly the world has gone wedding crazy. Which is good because, for a while there, I thought it might just be me. Heather, my sweetie of four years, and I are…
The Shape Of Things
“The artist is the creator. It is the artist’s responsibility to know what to create and what to destroy.” With this simple but forceful statement, Ahmad Sabha, whose ceramic vessels are part of the Post-Industrial Romanticism show at gallery W.D.O., acknowledges the power — some may consider it godlike — an artist wields. But it…
Give ’em enough Roper. . .
Radio is making media news in Charlotte. First is the “don’t talk to me, talk to my lawyer” story unfolding at WSOC-FM. That’s where morning drive sidekick Carrie Ann Boggess is suing top-rated country DJ Jeff Roper and the station, claiming intimidation and harassment during her 15 months on the job. She’s currently off-the-air and…
Yeah, Left
Nicky Silver has written a scathing satire that puts the jerk back into knee-jerk liberals. Turns out that the crusading do-gooders of The Altruists aren’t so good. Hypocrisy runs riot in an Off-Tryon Theatre production that hits peaks of knee-slapping hilarity. Silver implicitly endorses left-leaning ideals while skewering his New York idealists. Ronald, the tenement-dwelling…
Rev ‘Em Up!
Want to help Charlotte clear its smoggy air? Buy a brand new SUV. Or a brand new Geo Metro. Then drive it as much as you want. Yes, you read that correctly. Unless you’re a gadget-head or an automotive junkie, you probably don’t know much about one of the most under-reported stories of the year,…
A Really Cold Mountain
When Charles Frazier’s debut novel, Cold Mountain, was published in 1997, it soon became a marvel: a popular best-seller that combined literary pedigree and page-turning delight. Now Liam Callanan’s The Cloud Atlas arrives with similar attributes, if not the guarantee of future Miramax riches. Its author, as Frazier was seven years ago, is largely unknown.…
Outsourcing Marches On
Expect to see an overhaul of America’s Brave New War shortly. With fanfare that was short only an Army turkey, a Navy flight suit, and an Air Force One fly-by, President Bush personally endorsed a White House economic report that promised the creation of 2.6 million new jobs by the end of 2004. The fact…
Arts Agenda
Classical Music Cooper-Bagley-Carrera Trio A classical trio with an extensive background in music. Thu., Feb. 26, 8 p.m. $15. George A. Batte Jr. Fine Arts Center, Wingate University. 704-233-8300. Davidson College Symphony Orchestra A program including Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, Sibelius’s Serenatas No. 1 & 2 and more. Thu., Feb. 26,…
A Conversation About Cities
Our culture defines us by what we do rather than who we are. One of the first questions we ask strangers is “What do you do for a living?” My own answer is conventional: “I’m an architect.” After that it becomes a little more complicated. The conversation goes something like this. “What kind of architecture…
