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.…
News of the Weird
Free and open nuisance: Derek Leroy McSmith of Forest City, Ga., has filed 10,618 formal open-records requests to local governments in the last eight months, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution report. Most were, he said, to satisfy his curiosity about how government works. But one day, he asked for 490 magazines and on another day,…
Sons of the South
Ronnie Van Zant was a liberal. This has been forgotten over the years, what with all the jingoistic “tribute tours” his old band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, keeps trotting out every year (and maybe a little because of the confederate flags that would show up on the band’s merchandise and amplifiers from time to time). His lyrics…
Buffalo, Lauderdale Share Bill, Kudos
Donna the Buffalo’s vocalist/ guitarist/songwriter Jeb Puryear was not in one of his better moods. “My son’s a little under the weather,” he explained. Riding on the band’s vintage tour bus from upstate New York southward to Florida, they were only in Pennsylvania when Puryear called on his cell. “We’re now on our bus around…
Sit & Spin
David Childers and the Modern Don Juans Room #23 Ramseur/Silver Meteor Anyone who has seen David Childers perform live over the past couple of years has heard many of the songs on Room #23: “38th Street,” “Her Side of the Story,” “Hardwood Killing Floor” and “The Prettiest Thing” have been live standouts, and there’s also…
Music Menu
WEDNESDAY 1.14 The Dempseys — A rockabilly trio, the Dempseys are either pure energy or gimmicky, depending on your point of view. Shows often end up in the audience, and musical instruments end up behind necks, or else played with teeth. The band plays a mix of covers and originals, and as such might not…
Panthers and Punks
Before the season started, I wrote about the Carolina Panthers before ending with my First Annual Scene and Herd Fearless Predictions. I predicted double-digit wins for the Cats, and I said that Jake Delhomme would sometimes play like a young Brett Favre (A Favre-Lite, I think I said. Half points on this one since Favre’s…
Soundboard
Wednesday, Jan. 14 Big Al’s Pub, Mooresville Scott Johnson Blue Carl DiPonziano Cajun Queen 7th Street Gator Band Double Door Inn Jabberwocky The Evening Muse The Dempseys w/ Theatre for Change George Washington Bookstore & Tavern, Concord Kristin Cifelli The Gin Mill Rayen Belchere & Ziad Hickory Tavern Jes & Sherry Horse Shoe, Clover Tommy…
On Your Knees, Boy!
The other night when my son came across me kneeling by the side of the bed with my head resting on my crossed arms he asked me in a worried voice what was going on, and I told him I was praying. As I reassured him that getting on your knees once in a while…
Spring Forward
Out of the 50 motion picture titles that appeared in CL’s 2003 Spring Film Preview around this time last year, five were subsequently released during later seasons (including My Baby’s Mama, which was delayed for nine months and finally opened this past weekend under the title My Baby’s Daddy). Another three opened in limited release…
Karma Cleanser
Dear Karma Cleanser:I was the victim of a very cruel prank. The person I’ve been seeing for several months set me up by having a radio station call me at my workplace. At first I did not realize I was actually on the air, because the radio DJ pretended to be a florist who was…
View From The Couch
DVD DECISION 2003 Last summer, Warner Home Video, Turner Classic Movies and America Online teamed up to give film fans an opportunity to decide which classic motion pictures they wanted to see on DVD. Presented with 20 titles, approximately 160,000 people cast votes for their favorites, and the five winning movies made their DVD debuts…
See & Do
JANUARY 14 – WEDNESDAY UNCC’s Martin Luther King birthday celebration, “You Are The Dream,” will be held today through Friday. A panel discussion: “Once Upon a Time: Reflections From the Past to Build on the Future,” kicks off this series of events today from 11am-1pm in the Cone Center, followed by a Timeline Exhibit in…
Film Clips
NEW RELEASES THE COOLER It’s not necessarily the sign of a good movie, but it is an indication of an effective one. It’s that moment when you realize that you’ve grown so attached to the central protagonists that you’d almost rather see the movie take some less-than-credible swerves than allow any harm to come to…
Ask the Advice Goddess
Reliving In The Moment For a year, I’ve been dating a man who insisted on dating other people — even though I wasn’t interested in seeing anybody but him. This was a source of conflict between us. We’re now seeing each other exclusively, although we never really made a verbal agreement to that effect. He…
Manifest Destiny
When Scott Wishart went back to work at Manifest Discs & Tapes on the first Monday after Christmas, it was as the general manager of Charlotte’s best music store, one of an endangered species of profitable music retail outlets. By the end of the day, after a “crash course in human resources,” Wishart was the…
Stargazer
For All Signs We have a new moon in Aquarius on Wednesday, January 21, this week. It represents a time for making a fresh commitment to expand our global awareness and develop a more inclusive attitude toward our fellow humans. As individuals we should evaluate the beliefs that cause us exclusive postures and promote prejudicial…
Homegrown Terror For Sale
News item: In October 2003, a small metal container found in an envelope in a postal handling facility in Greenville, SC, was determined to contain ricin. The accompanying letter complained about legislation regulating the trucking industry. No suspects have been identified. A report released Dec. 11 by Trust for America’s Health found that after two…
Tabloid Terror On Stonewall
You may have missed the amazing story glaring at you along the checkout line at your local supermarket when Weekly World News first broke the story in 1992. Or you may have been so traumatized that you’ve forgotten the horror. “BAT CHILD FOUND IN CAVE!” blared the headline in boldface caps. After years of government…
Bloom’s Off The Rose
In 1990, I was walking down a hall inside a minimum-security federal jail near Marion, Illinois. Not a fun stroll, but I was a Cincinnati TV news producer getting video of where one of the city’s favorite sons would soon take a bunk for a couple of months on a tax evasion conviction. “Say hello…
Top Shelf
Hardbacks Sex In The South by Suzi Parker (Justin, Charles & Co.). Arkansas writer Parker takes an eye-opening and hilarious look behind the veil of Southern straight-laced sanctimony and finds a whole other world of Dixie women experimenting with sex to their, uh, hearts’ content. Parker mainly deals with hetero white women — the traditional…
Middle America to Middle Earth
Middle Earth has captivated me for 35 years. Like millions of other fans, I’ve devoured the The Lord of the Rings saga by J.R.R. Tolkien, but I’ve also enjoyed the author’s lesser known short stories, “Smith of Wooten Major,” “Leaf by Niggle,” “The Adventures of Tom Bombadil,” and “Farmer Giles of Ham.” These minor works…
Arts Agenda
Classical Music Charlotte Symphony The Charlotte Symphony, led by guest conductor Peter Oundjian, will perform Smetana’s The Moldau, Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with pianist Markus Groh, and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2. www.charlottesymphony.org. Jan. 23; Jan. 24, 8 p.m. $14 – $64. Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, 130 N. Tryon St. 704-972-2000. Davidson College Concert Choir…
Learn To Fly?!
Julie Olearcek’s 10-year-old son has an interest in learning to fly, just like his parents, both of whom are military pilots. About a week before Christmas, Julie took him to the local Staples in Colrain, MA, to see if there was any software available that might help her son learn about flying. When they got…
Retooled
The Knife & Fork had been a landmark spot in Charlotte since it opened in 1963. In the decades that followed, K&F became the place to go at 2am after the bars closed or for eggs over easy at 7am. When it closed in 2001, the vinyl booths were ripped, the floor tiles mismatched, and…
All Are Welcome
Most people probably assume that the leaders of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System can do basic math. After looking at some statistics on crime and violence in our schools this week, I’m no longer convinced. Here’s what has me baffled. During the 2002-2003 school year, there were 11 sexual assaults, 18 sexual offenses, 82 assaults on…
Sipping by the Signs
More people read horoscopes than admit it. It’s calming to be told when your next raise will appear or when a romance will “round the corner.” But what if you’re looking for guidance of the wine-specific variety? What if you want to know how to get out of your wine rut, or if you’re looking…
The Blotter
WHITE COLLAR CRIMINAL: In an act of revenge, a man entered his ex-girlfriend’s house, threw all of her clothes and shoes into the front yard, and doused them with bleach. QUOTE OF THE WEEK: I need money. I want you to give me money. I just want some goddamn money. I’m coming over there and…
