Charlotte’s Loss, Seattle’s Gain
For weeks, Charlotte Sting fans have been trying to figure out how the team’s popular, successful coach got away, and who might be in line for her job. The answer to neither is clear, but one has to wonder about the WNBA’s commitment to the Charlotte market.Ed Tapscott, executive vice president of Charlotte’s new NBA…
Soundboard
Wednesday, Jan. 15 CPCC South Campus Robin Rogers Duo (11:30am & 5pm) Cajun Queen 7th Street Gator Band Charleston Chops, Cornelius Kent Steel Coach’s Sports Bar Brandon O’Brien Double Door Inn Superficial Me The Evening Muse David Holtzclaw, Bill West & Chris Smith The Meeting House Restaurant John Alexander Trio Midtown 51 Rick & Tracy…
Not In America
A disturbing thing happened to Iconoclast contributing editor William Grim while viewing Roman Polanski’s new film, The Pianist, in Munich, Germany. The movie, based on the true story of how Jewish piano virtuoso Wladyslaw Szpilman survived the Nazi occupation of Warsaw, is being hailed by critics as perhaps the best Holocaust film ever made, but…
Cinema 2002
It’s that time of year when the nations’ critics are expected to line up from coast to coast, denounce the past 12 months as a miserable period for cinema, lament the long-gone Golden Age of Hollywood, and end with a stirring rendition of “We Shall Overcome.”But somebody switched the script pages this time around. Like…
Karma Cleanser
Dear Karma Cleanser:I recently got a part-time job as a waitress at a diner, just for some extra cash. The diner does not have a register, therefore when a customer pays with cash, I’m responsible for giving them back the correct change. My day job is at a local bank; I travel to the branches…
Formosa Chinese Cuisine
Far East Side Balancing Asian and Asian-American concepts BY TRICIA CHILDRESS “You will have great success in your latest endeavor” was the fortune I cracked out of a cookie at Formosa Chinese Cuisine. You have got to hand it to the Chinese. Fortune cookies are a great marketing concept: everyone leaves happy.The 72-seat Formosa, which…
Stargazer
For All Signs Of the 10 celestial bodies used in an individual’s horoscope, the sun’s position relative to the earth is the only regular, annually repeated cycle. As the earth moves forward in its steady orbit through the year, the position of the sun appears to move from one constellation to the next. As long…
See & Do
JANUARY 16 THURSDAYTwenty-five years after the Kennedy assassination, Marty’s dad just hasn’t been the same. In fact, since that fatal day in Dallas, Papa Pascal hasn’t even been located. The House of Yes, presented by Off-Tryon Theatre, joins Marty as he introduces his fiancee to the Pascal family on November 22, 1988. Pascal folk are…
Another Week Already
If ever there was a media performance that could make you despair for the future of news coverage in Charlotte, it was the nauseating aftermath of last week’s plane crash. When US Airways Express Flight 5481 crashed on Wednesday, killing all 21 people on board, the resulting local media feeding frenzy was on. TV news…
The Date from Hell
Women are forever searching for hot new places to meet single men. What are the best places to meet a man who might be a good partner in a relationship? It’s up for debate. Is it the public library? Harris Teeter? City Tavern? One friend of mine says she isn’t sure, but she knows she…
Broadway Bounces Back
We were heading back to the subway from the Marquis Theatre after attending the matinee performance of Thoroughly Modern Millie on December 31. Suddenly I froze in my tracks at the corner of Broadway and 47th Street as the thought hit me. “My reading glasses!” I blurted out, patting my empty shirt pocket.Always on the…
Frozen Solid
What’s the scariest thing imaginable? For most of us, it’s a serial killer. Hannibal Lecter, Jeffrey Dahmer, Ed Gein . . . The horrific monster of a hundred movies, a thousand thriller novels, and too many news stories.The Snowman’s Children is not a novel about a serial killer. It is, however, a novel about three…
Film Clips
NEW RELEASES THE HOURS Like The English Patient and The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Hours is one of those reputedly “unfilmable” novels that has bucked the odds to emerge as an exquisite motion picture in its own right. Adapting Michael Cunningham’s Pulitzer Prize winner, director Stephen Daldry and scripter David Hare have crafted a…
Arts Agenda
Classical Music Allan Rosenfeld This Charlotte Symphony clarinetist will present a series of solo recitals featuring the clarinet and bass clarinet. Concerts, all starting at 8pm, will be Jan. 15 at Dana Auditorium, Queens University; Jan. 19 at Tyler-Tallman Hall, Davidson College; and Jan. 22 at the Recital Hall, Winthrop University. Jan. 15, 19 &…
Welcome to FAT LAND
On September 12, 2001, according to Greg Critser’s Fat Land, one of the few news stories to break through the coverage of the previous day’s attacks “was one about the latest obesity statistics (the national rate had jumped again — to 26 percent).” Overweight will kill far more Americans each year than any terrorist would…
All In Compass
The person who got the ball rolling to bring Johnson & Wales University into Charlotte was John Tuomala, a Johnson & Wales graduate and an employee of Compass Group, North American Division, headquartered here in Charlotte. He proposed the idea to Center City Partners, a discussion that resulted in the forming of a coalition of…
Target: Martin Luther King
Beyond the black community, Martin Luther King Day (which falls this year on Monday, Jan. 20) is a rote commemoration. There are speeches to report and civic lessons to be taught, but that’s where the impact of this occasion ends. King has been turned into what you might call an empty icon. His beliefs have…
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
NBA is Dying Even though the effort may be futile, I’m glad someone is attempting to do something to thwart this ridiculous and business ignorant move (“Arena Opponents Never Say Die,” January 8). First and foremost, the NBA itself is a dying business. Revenues have been dropping for years in all areas and if Mayor…
Drink More Wine
Among all the well-intentioned resolutions we make, there’s really only a realistic few. The losing weight, turning vegetarian, and exercising pacts are just too damn tough or time-consuming to fulfill. But if you’re scrambling for an achievable, stress-free resolution, look no further than your closest wine bottle. Wine is good for you, good to you,…
The Blotter
Bandit By Day, Nicotine-Crazed Lounge Act By Night: A department store employee called police after a suspicious acting man ran from the store with an arm full of goods, setting off the alarm. Upon reviewing the security tape, it was discovered the suspect had made off with two Karaoke machines and approximately $400 worth of…
Ray Of Light
Amy Ray, who, along with fellow Indigo Girl Emily Saliers, has intermittently peppered the airwaves with her harmonies for almost 15 years, is going it alone.Indeed, she’s doing most everything alone: touring alone, driving the van alone, booking the shows alone, and succeeding or failing alone. To revive her artistic fires, the lanky songstress is…
News of the Weird
The pet set: Upscale pet hotels are open in New York, Hollywood and (based on a December Washington Post report) Fairfax County, Va., where the Olde Towne Pet Resort charges up to $230 a day for pooches’ use of a hydrotherapy pool, state-of-the-art exercise room, beauty parlor and suites with satellite TV, classical music and…
Positively 15th Street
Seems like every month Charlotte loses another good music venue; thankfully, a new one seems to be revving up. The 15th Street Garage (“High Decibel Tune Ups,” they advertise), located on, you guessed it, 15th Street, has a nice minimalist set-up and a large stage area, and the site is already beginning to book bands.…
Last Twain To Charlotte
It’s not often a writer like Mark Twain just up and stops in Charlotte. We might get Clive Cussler, perhaps, or — thanks to the library — John Grisham, but never a writer like the estimable Samuel Langhorne Clemens. OK, so it wasn’t Twain, but rather local Twain fanatic (Twainbrain?) Roger Durrett, bringing his show…
Music Menu
THURSDAY 1.16 Drunk Stuntmen — Last winter saw their van go up in flames in the middle of South Carolina. This year, The Drunk Stuntmen have a new van and a new record out, Ironhip. The latter’s a relatively reliable sampler of their live show: Massachusetts-rooted Americana with a twangified, rockabilly edge and full-on feedback…
