Cover Story
The 2015 Fiction Issue
Creative Loafing is proud to announce the winners of its third annual flash fiction contest. For this go-round, we asked writers to include the following sentence in their prose: “We forgot to pay our heat bill.” And with the recent spate of frigid temperatures, it certainly felt as if we had. In past contests, our…
Today’s Top 5: Wednesday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
E. Coli excited about Thom Tillis’ no hand-washing idea
North Carolina senator feels restaurants should be able to “opt out.”
Eat This: Torta Cubana from Tacos El Nevado
The torta arrives in its own personal foil packaging, about the size of a newborn baby.
R is for Rhino Market & Deli
Morehead community finally gets a new place to enjoy sandwiches and beer.
First Drip (2/3/15): A self-defense strategy for Kerrick, politicians talk measles, more
The news you need to know today.
Today’s Top 5: Tuesday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
First notes (2/2/2015): Young internet users ask, Who is Missy Ellliott?
A weekly update of recent happenings in the world of music.
Today’s Top 5: Monday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
First Drip (2/2/15): Thomas Davis named NFL’s Man of the Year, more
The news you need to know today.
Today’s Top 5: Sunday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Today’s Top 5: Saturday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Taking in the Olde Mecklenburg ambience
From the crisp beer to the varied patrons, OMB feels a little out of this country.
Cheap list: Skatedeck Art Show, Su Casa, more
A list of cheap things to do in the Q.C. this weekend.
Today’s Top 5: Friday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
First Drip (1/30/15): JCSU students arrested for hazing, more
The news you need to know today.
Opening Friday
What’s new in theaters this weekend.
Today’s Top 5: Thursday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Billy Joel to play Time Warner Cable Arena in December
There’s your “major announcement.”
First Drip (1/29/15): Sponsorships down at NASCAR Hall of Fame, more
The news you need to know today.
Weekly horoscope (Jan. 29-Feb. 4)
For All Signs: Mercury is retrograde through Feb. 11. It is usually a good idea to delay contractual agreements or final commitments on important decisions during these periods. The months of January and February will be better used for researching or in some way returning to an old project. It is also an excellent time…
Personal trainer talks weight loss
I’ve been a personal trainer for more than a decade, but I never felt the need to maintain a trainer’s stereotypically muscle-bound physique. In fact, I carried a little extra weight around as a badge of honor, 20 subversive pounds that proved my commitment to quality of life over superficial concerns. That was my story,…
Bizarre crime from Charlotte police files (Jan. 29)
Werewolves of Charlotte: Three people walked into a University-area Rite Aid, where one of the suspects concealed more than $200 worth of electric razors in her purse before all three fled the store. Do they know those things aren’t disposable? One’ll do ya for years. Maybe He’s A Gamer: Someone broke into the Plaza Midwood-area…
Experience A Most Violent Year
A MOST VIOLENT YEAR ***1/2 DIRECTED BY J.C. Chandor STARS Oscar Isaac, Jessica Chastain One of the best films of 2014 — and, it should be noted, the best film of 2014 not to receive a single Oscar nomination (at least the National Board of Review picked up the Academy’s slack by naming it Best…
Charlotte’s National Arts Program highlights art from unlikely places
Art program showcases works from community employees.
Today’s Top 5: Wednesday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
First Drip (1/28/15): Friendship Nine vindicated, Ann Clark named superintendent, more
The news you need to know today.
Two on Earth is a small-town charmer
If you find yourself pining on a cold winter morning for a lovely lemon scone and cup of tea, I suggest you head over to Two on Earth Bakery Cafe on the strip of historic, quaint buildings in downtown Pineville. There you will find a sherbet-color-palette corner room gracefully outfitted with soft seating for laptop…
Artist Kymia Nawabi finds comfort in the afterlife
Thinking too much about death can be unsettling. Imagine taking your last breath and then everything goes black. No matter what you believe happens after that, it can be tough to digest. Yet, centuries of artists have mused over mortality. Kymia Nawabi is one whose compelling pieces are leaving a permanent mark in the art…
Holding out hope for hip-hop
The new year is upon us. It’s a year in which Back to the Future 2 has prophesied us to use hoverboards and self-lacing Nikes — that next ish. What will Queen City hip-hop do to reach the next level? Hopefully there’s already big plans in the works. Here are six basic things I, as…
Pharmakon brings the noise
Margaret Chardiet’s spine-pummelling, synapse-skewering rhythms elicit a variety of responses from audiences. Many spectators at the New York-bred, self-described “death industrial” musician’s shows find themselves frozen and transfixed by her aggressive onstage presence. Other attendees writhe and screech along with the abrasive performer, who plays under the alter-ego Pharmakon. In conversation, Chardiet is far more…
One God, but many kinds of extremists
A week after the heinous terrorist attacks in Paris that fueled tensions between Judeo-Christians and Muslims all over Europe, a flicker of reconciliation and hope appeared right here at home. Duke University announced it would allow Islamic students to use its chapel’s bell tower to amplify the Muslim call to prayer on Fridays. Unfortunately, less…
The fight for equal access at Romare Bearden Park
In western North Carolina, a 5th grader was told she couldn’t participate in a class field trip because she couldn’t walk for great lengths of time. The girl wore braces on her legs, a lasting side effect from having polio as a young child. It was 1966, and the girl was Julia Sain’s best friend.…
