Out With The Old, In With The New
Are we there yet? For years, city leaders have pronounced that only their particular project/boondoggle would rocket Charlotte into the league of “world-class” cities. Even those of us who know such positioning only develops organically, not at the behest of a task force or consultant, might look at the last year and think that Charlotte…
All The News That’s Fit For Rumors
Whether we’re cursing a hangover or mocking party-addled friends, most of us resolved a few days ago to do better this year. Sadly, few of us do better — and neither do the pols and celebs that fill news pages. Here are a few local stories CL would like to see in 2006, but we’re…
Call Me a Dreamer
Before I stopped writing this column regularly in 2002, I used to compose a New Year’s Wish List each year about visual art in Charlotte. Now that I’m back for a while, it’s 2006, and I decided it was time to resurrect this fantasy. We were beginning to learn back then that the yearning to…
Old Faces, New Song & Dance
Those of us in the media biz often use the first week of the year to reflect on what has passed in a year-end recap. It’s an easy way to buy time for next week, when folks are all back from vacation. Since I’m the kind of guy who likes to look ahead, I decided…
The Blotter
Cell-ular: While donating plasma a man dropped his cell phone. Another plasma donor asked an employee to hand him “his” cell phone. The oldest trick in the book worked. The man coolly walked out of the plasma services with the dropped phone. Clean Split: A man called his significant other and told her to listen…
Short List
IRAQI CITY OF MOSUL IS FOCUS OF VOTER-FRAUD CHARGES IN RECENT ELECTION Makes sense to us: George W. Bush, whose own two terms were acquired through shady means, once cited Mosul as a model of Iraqi progress. ANOTHER CYCLIST KILLED; ANOTHER DWI DEATH Light rail is looking better and better. GUN FIRED IN CAROLINA PLACE…
Karma Cleanser
Dear Karma Cleanser: I have been dating this guy for a month now and he invited me to come home with him for the holidays to meet his family. I agreed at the time, which was a couple of weeks ago. Three days before we were supposed to go, we got into a terrible fight.…
Behind the Brown Door
If you’re looking for enlightenment, if you’re searching for your true purpose or even the meaning of life, I’ve got great news for you. All of this and more can be found at 1500 Matthews Township Parkway, on the third floor, behind the nondescript brown door to the left of the elevators. An hour-long stay…
Stargazer
2006 Annual Horoscope ARIES Now that we are at the beginning of ’06 you will find that life’s pace is finally accelerating. Concentrate on self, finances, and communication in the first quarter. The eclipse at the end of March brings demand for adjustments. Channel energies toward home, property, and family in April through mid-July. Correct…
See & Do
Friday, January 06 A celebration of its first year in Charlotte, the Hayes George Gallery’s First Annual Anniversary Show highlights works by the acclaimed artists who have been featured at the gallery. Artists including Alison Dunn, Mayme Kratz, Michale Kessler and Hiro Yokose are represented in the array of traditional and nontraditional art and sculpture.…
Film Clips
Current Releases THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE Christians, heathens and everyone in between will be inspired to hold hands and sway to the gentle rhythms of this epic yarn. C.S. Lewis’ source material — the first book in a series of seven Narnia adventures — sprinkled Christian allegories throughout…
Still at it, Dammit!
The beavers are still trying to build a dam! They’ve been at it since November. But, between the swimming for your life and the fun in the sun, there’s really no time to get any real work in. Beavers follows the misadventures of two young beavers as they leave the shelter of the overcrowded colony…
High ’05 or Hang ’05?
When assessing the 2005 movie year, it keeps coming back to the glass. Specifically, as I pore over a list of the 160 motion pictures I screened during the past 12 months, I’m struck by the adage involving the glass being half-full or half-empty. If I conclude that the past year was half-empty, then the…
Letters
White Noise It makes perfect sense to me that Hispanics disproportionately drive drunk (“Driving While Hispanic,” by Karen Shugart, Dec. 21). Here’s why: First of all, many of them are bad drivers when they get here. In Mexico, there are very few decent paved roads in rural communities, so people basically off-road half the time.…
Cyber-Wine
CORKSCREW Every jackass in the world now has a blog or a crappily designed website, and the people devoted to wine are no exception. Across cyberspace, those offering opinions about, and cases of, the grape are now legion, and many of them should be avoided at all costs. A few, however, are worth checking out.…
My Last Time
I’m here in England trying to get excited about it being my last time, seeing as how my job for the airlines has taken a total toilet spin. It was a great job while it lasted, too — kept me equipped with somewhat of a toehold in the world of reality. Or it did up…
Getting Fresh
The holidays is a characteristic time for kids to have complete meltdowns, but the one my son experienced in the dairy aisle of Fresh Market was somewhat surprising. The clerk was trying to explain to him why his favorite glass bottled milk from the small Homestead Creamery in Virginia was no longer being carried at…
A look back at 2005
Not many people get to write a year in review of their year in review, because most people don’t have a column. And those people who do have a column would think it to be an exercise in narcissism. To prove I’m not an egoist, I look beyond my own narrow experiences by comparing what…
Resolve to Eat Better
Mouthful The year 2005 marked the passing of Charlotte’s only chef-driven vegetarian restaurant, The Peaceful Dragon Restaurant. (The ownership is now focused exclusively on such activities as martial and healing arts, lectures and yoga.) Another vegetarian favorite was the Woodlands Indian Cuisine on Albemarle Road, which changed ownership last summer. These changes seem strangely at…
Winelist
The Wine List Wine Classes www.CarolinaWineClub.com. Jan. 17, 6:30-8:30pm, Diversity of the Piedmont — Italy. $35. Westye Group Southeast Showroom, 127 West Worthington Ave. # 104. 704-344-8027. Wine Tasting A different sampling of wines every week. Saturdays, 12-5pm. Free. Frugal MacDoogal’s, I-77 at Carowinds Blvd. 803-548-6634. Wine Tastings Wednesday Flight Nights, 5:30-7:30pm, three-wine tastings; $10.…
Take ’05
“George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” declared tearful and agitated Chi-Town rapper-producer Kanye West during a televised Hurricane Katrina fund-raiser earlier this season. Even in a year of Bob Geldof’s Live8 (a program more notable for its oddball duet between Sir Elton John and Babyshambles’ junkie frontman Pete Doherty than erasing African debt) and…
2005 Year-in-review: CL Critics & community Top 10 Lists
DON ALLRED BOB DYLAN / The Bootleg Series, Volume 7: No Direction Home (The Soundtrack) (Columbia/Legacy) JAMES CARTER, CYRUS CHESNUT, ALI JACKSON, REGINALD VEAL / Gold Sounds (Brown Brothers) JASON MORAN / Same Mothers (Blue Note) DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER / J’ai Deux Amours (Sovereign Artists) SHELLY FAIRCHILD / Ride (Sony) THE HOLD STEADY / Separation…
Bell-bottom Blues
There’s comfort in being retro. There’re also rules. To turn your retro vibe into a lasting musical statement and style, you must have some element of originality, flair and musical know-how. The trick is to avoid crossing the line where the rock & roll salute crumbles into tepid imitation. Any would-be classics-miner should create a…
Top Ten Local Faves
1. SHADOWFLAG — These guys released an album last year, are currently ranked second in the nation out of unsigned bands by Zippo, considered one of the top seven unsigned bands in America by Sonicbids, are working with producer Bruce Irvine (Tina Turner, Pink Floyd ) and are rumored to be playing NY for a…
Best In Books
Night Draws Near: Iraq’s People in the Shadow of America’s War by Anthony Shadid (Henry Holt hardback). In Night Draws Near, Anthony Shadid, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Arab-American reporter of Lebanese descent, presents a poignant corrective to our ignorance. He uses his fluency in Arabic and cultural empathy to get closer to real Iraqis than literally…
QC HOMEGROWN
Musical pessimism abounds in the Queen City. But despite the naysayers, this town of bankers manages a varied music scene. And, in 2005, the scene saw its share of musical ups and downs. Here’s a look back at some of the action. The space previously occupied by much-loved dance club Mythos saw rebirth as The…
City of The Rising Sun
2005 was the year of the rising sun for the visual arts in Charlotte. After seeing three galleries close at year’s end 2004 and hearing the rude sounds of the mayor badmouthing the public art selections for the light rail, we woke to this past year dry-mouthed, hung-over and, understandably, a little pessimistic about 2005.…
Valentine’s Day Lust List 2006
Help us find Charlotte’s hottest hotties. We are looking for the city’s most attractive people — however you define “attractive” — for our Valentine’s week Lust List issue, and we need your help with the nominations. Yeah, sure, Valentine’s Day is supposed to be about love, but do you really want sappy stories about unavailable…
