The Encircling
Name of Kama Sutra Position: The Encircling Getting into the position: To accomplish the Encircling, the man stands leaning against a stationary object while the woman puts one foot onto his heart (chest) and the man lends his hand in support. The woman is then prescribed to guide his manhood into her yoni and circle…
Legislation stew
Here’s a compendium of proposals — some good, some bad — before the General Assembly. Some bills will die an ignominious death in committee, their sponsors knowing the measure never had a chance. Others, God forbid, will pass. By some stroke of luck, a few of the good ideas may make it too. Make alcohol…
The Blotter
Domestic Disinfectant: A married couple began arguing about the husband staying out all night. The wife called the husband a coward. He stepped on her foot. The two began spitting on each other — and then the husband sprayed Lysol in the wife’s hair. As if that wasn’t enough, he also took her cell phone…
Gored by the truth
On MARCH 1, NODA’s Neighborhood Theatre will host a free showing of AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH. Consider this film, from director David Guggenheim, cold water in the face of a sleeping nation on the topic of global warming. It all goes public when in his 2000 election defeat, Al Gore shifts the world’s attention, as well…
A line is just a line
Moodswing
Bad to the bone
It’s entirely possible — not likely, but possible — that I might have been blindsided by the big twist at the end of The Number 23 had I not just watched The Haunted Strangler a few weeks ago on DVD. That 1958 chestnut stars Boris Karloff as a man whose investigation into a decades-old murder…
Target: America
If you are truly serious about the hallowed heritage and the precious annals of these United States, you may wish to stay far, far away from Booth Playhouse next week. That’s because the Reduced Shakespeare Company is bringing us their irreverent COMPLETE HISTORY OF AMERICA (ABRIDGED) for a six-day engagement. If you witnessed the devastation…
Twist and shout
I came to the Mint Museum of Craft + Design to review the Twisted! show because I liked the title. Once in the museum, a woman distracted me from my appointed rounds. Ann Wolff is one of those artists I very infrequently come across — one I just can’t walk past. She is a craftsman,…
Got five on it
“Westside!” “Dolla, dolla bill, ya’ll!” Sorry, got a little sidetracked by recent Canadian imports, THE BILLS. Hailing from the West Coast of Canada, this fivesome lays down a mean … folk joint?! Apparently, their newest release, Let Em Run, has secured the Bills a spot in the upper echelon of acts on the North American…
Cozy retreat
Corkscrew
Kimberly Williams
Dance teacher extraordinaire Kimberly Williams has worked at Jamie Masters School of Dance for the past three years. Before coming to Charlotte, Kim was a member of the dance team at UNC Chapel Hill, and taught dance in Kansas. “The [Chapel Hill] team was called the High Kickin’ Heels — they nixed that title the…
Has there been any progress in the United States’ effort to stop Iran’s nuclear program?
Like my career, the United States’ nuclear standoff with Iran doesn’t ever seem to progress. Since 2003, the Bush administration (with international support) has been demanding that Iran halt its nuclear fuel enrichment program. And since 2003, Iran has been telling George W. Bush to take his demands, roll them tight and cram them up…
Brent Bagwell’s Top 10
Brent Bagwell is a musician of many faces — a saxophonist for the local band Pyramid, which he describes as a “rock band with horns and strings,” a member of the jazz trio Eastern Seaboard based in New York, and one half of Tenspeed, a duo with a local cellist. “Ev’rybody Wants to Be a…
Smoke and mirrors
Citizen Servatius
Bartenders and bachelors
On Valentine’s Day, while practically every restaurant in town was more crowded than an Uptown bar on Saturday night, the bars hosting anti-Valentines Day parties had their own crowds. Case in point: Buckhead Saloon’s “Shred Your Ex” with 96.1 The Beat. Bitter singles made their ex-files into stand up comedy routines while DJ Mayor spun…
Checking in with Peter Gorman
Talking Ish
Karma Cleanser
Dear Karma Cleanser: My mother was one of the strictest parents you’d ever meet. She didn’t allow me to date or wear makeup. I felt like I was in prison, and my father was a distant workaholic who never said a word to her. After my father left, my mother went back to work and…
Riding dirty
Every artist projects a persona, a mask that hides his true self. Akon Thiam is no different. Some people mistakenly identify Akon as a rapper because he embraces his delinquent past. In 2004 when he released his first album, Trouble, he broke through with “Locked Up,” a self-produced jailhouse lament shaped like modern-day blues. Improbably,…
Soul(ganic) talkin’
We’re approaching the time of year when all those long winter days and nights in the studio begin to bear fruit. A host of Charlotte bands have upcoming releases, and one of the most anticipated will be Soulganic’s debut, All Directions Forward. Anthony Rodriguez and company just wrapped up work on the record, and the…
Nuts in a Zipper
From improbable success to incredible demise, Squirrel Nut Zippers must have stolen more than a few clichés from VH1’s Behind the Music playbook. Overdose, litigation, a broken marriage — it all added up to an ugly descent. But now, several years clear of the wreckage (with legal settlements still outstanding), it’s time for members of…
Going Postal
Gray Go-Getter This piece (Citizen Servatius: “Scientific Buzz Kill,” Feb. 14) cements my regard for Tara Servatius as a writer because it nails the idea that there’s a lot of “gray” in the global warming debate. She has been a long-time (and mostly justified) whipper of the school system; I think many voters agreed that…
Cosmic clockwatching
Performing Arts
Stargazer
Pisces The Fish: (Feb. 18 — March 19) Ready or not, you may find it imperative to tell the world who you are during this period of time. Many of you will choose to break free of something or someone who has kept you bound to a lifestyle that no longer suits your needs. Independence…
Cheap Thrill$
Charlotte isn’t an expensive city. If you think so, just check out other cities’ rental listings on Craigslist. But when you’re on a budget – whether it’s because your job sucks, your student loan payments are too steep or simply because you hold tighter to your nickel than K-Fed to an alimony payment — it’s…
Things to do in Charlotte for $5 or less
WINTER FILM SERIES This latest batch of classic films centers on breakthrough efforts by world-famous directors. The remainder of the schedule consists of Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity (March 5) and Woody Allen’s Take the Money and Run (March 19). All films will be screened at 7 p.m. in the Wachovia Theater at ImaginOn; admission is…
Stuffed
Andrew D’Rouco’s family has been making sausages in his native Spain since at least the 1700s, perhaps even as early as 1610, which is about the same time North Carolina’s original European colony was established. Skip forward 400 years. Today D’Rouco is making artisanal Spanish and Mexican chorizo sausages in an unlikely spot: Matthews, N.C.…
Word of the Week
Burgomaster: n. The mayor of some European cities. Example: All hail the burgomaster, ruler of the non-American burgers. His specialty? French fries.
Sex Change
Thrill Jockey
We Heart …
The Evening Muse. Great atmosphere, cheap cover, FANTASTIC music! Joe & Lea do a wonderful job. The best listening room in town! (3227 N Davidson St.) — Cindy Gibson, classified account executive Plaza Midwood. My little bungalow is seven minutes or less from work, NODA, Uptown, 7th Street and Home Depot. I can walk to…
Slow jams
“Before I Let Go,” “Southern Girl,” “Joy and Pain” — everybody at (black) family social gatherings (like say CIAA?) knows these mamma-jammas. For almost 30 years, FRANKIE BEVERLY AND MAZE have created a unique sound and become the last of the great (and influential) R&B bands of the postmodern era. Even as younger generations take…
Eccentric
Hot Linx
View From The Couch
THE CLASSIC SCI-FI ULTIMATE COLLECTION (1955-1958). During the 1930s and 1940s, Universal Studios owned the horror genre with its classic spate of titles including Frankenstein, Dracula and The Wolf Man. When that well ran dry, the resourceful studio adapted to the times by creating a slew of creature features that added a sci-fi slant to…
The devil went down to Louisiana
Money has been raised, books have been written, specials have been televised, and all that was missing was a movie. As fate would have it, that missing element has been fulfilled at last as New Orleans still struggles to get on its feet in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The Weather Channel presents a MacGillivray…
Congress’ dysfunctional debates
Boomer With Attitude
Film Clips
New Releases AMAZING GRACE Basically Amistad with only half the serving of self-importance, Amazing Grace examines the efforts of William Wilberforce, a member of British Parliament who fought to end his country’s involvement in the slave trade during the late-18th and early-19th centuries. Ioan Gruffudd, no stranger to heroic roles (Horatio Hornblower, Mr. Fantastic, even…
Eye of the beholder
If what they say is true, and beauty really is in the eye of the beholder, then you have got to feast your peepers on Jenna MacFarlane’s new art series. MacFarlane is the art director for a graphic design and marketing company. In her twenty-year history in the industry, she’s created designs for American Honda,…
Steve V.’s Top Five
Steve Vetrone has been an assistant manager of Summit Coffee House in Davidson — an independent coffee shop whose global menu supports organic farming and promotes fair trade with private roasters around the world — for nearly six years. 1) Books: “I’m working on the classics. The last thing I read was Treasure Island.” 2)…
Clinton to anti-war voters:
Breaking the Sound Barrier
Solving the rock house mysteries
Are you a master at the game Clue? Perhaps it’s time to test your mystery-solving skills at the real thing. The Charlotte Museum of History presents Solving the Rock House Mysteries, an ongoing exhibit based on the 1774 Hezekiah Alexander House. You can discover what happened in the past by piecing together the archaeological and…
