Curb Appeal
Hot yet? The end of July is Charlotte’s hottest time of year and the idea of spending any time in front of a cooktop seems positively unreasonable. For the Atkins folk, outside red meat grilling may be an answer depending on the supply of DEET and/or mosquito netting. But for those who don’t have the…
Hot Weather Vibes
The songs you pick will date you, as surely as your senior high school yearbook picture does. I’m talking about the great songs of summer, when school is out, you’re at the beach or hanging in a parking lot after dark, or showing up at the best weekend party where parents aren’t. Too bad we’ve…
Oldies But Goodies
Since Greece has been boozing it up for centuries, California’s wine scene seems infantile in comparison. Sonoma Valley, although not quite as steeped in history as Napa, hosts California’s oldest operating winery, Buena Vista, dating back to 1857. And Napa’s oldest is from 1867. Prohibition and vine diseases knocked out most of California’s wine industry,…
Listen To Lil’ Jim
The 4th of July edition of “Brave New War” was a quick comparison of Presidential quotes past and present. Since our current President is the modern maestro of malapropism, the Falling Wallenda of elocutionary excellence, it’s just too tempting to not repeat that theme from time to time:James “Lil’ Jim” Madison, fourth President of the…
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.…
The Blotter
Weapon Of Mass Destruction: While traveling down an interstate, a man ran over a file cabinet, which he hadn’t noticed sitting in the middle of the road. The file cabinet punctured the gas tank of his Mercedes and disabled the car. As he waited for police to arrive, two other cars ran over the file…
Cut The Crap
Every week, I receive an armload of promo CDs and press releases and record company bios. I surf the Net. I listen to online radio stations, and download music. I read fanzines, and I read the usual rock mags — Spin, Rolling Stone, and all the Brit rags. Do all this, and, at some point,…
News of the Weird
Feed the beast: Motorist Catherine Donkers got a ticket in Portage County, Ohio, on May 8 for not having her baby strapped in, mainly because she was breastfeeding it while she drove. Rather than pay the $100 fine, Donkers’ husband, Brad Barnhill, demanded a trial with himself as the defendant, in that his First Christian…
Hot ‘Lanta
The sixth annual Atlantis Music Conference is taking place in Atlanta Wednesday, July 30, through Saturday, August 2. Over 250 artists will be showcasing in some of the most popular venues located throughout Little Five Points, Virginia Highlands, Midtown and the Downtown area. Confirmed panelists for some of the educational panels being held include Indie.…
Sex and the Single Mouseketeer
A Catholic schoolgirl gone bad, Britney Spears strutted down the hallways of a high school in her video for “Baby One More Time,” her 16-year-old midriff and Janet Jackson-style gyrations sparking a revolution in the tame world of mallrat-focused teen pop. As revolutions go, it was a relatively short-lived one. Sure, the underaged, overheated former…
Music Menu
THURSDAY 7.17 Leo’s Invention — Arizona’s Leo’s Invention provides extra pleasant pop music using plenty of acoustic treatments as well as electric. They’re mood driven without pretentious melodrama and their harmonies literally pour out of the musical camaraderie into the listeners’ collective ears. With Sycamore Grove. The Evening Muse (Shukla) Todd Snider — A disciple…
Soundboard
Wednesday, Jul. 16 Baoding Robert Fernandez Brickhouse Tavern, Davidson Robin Brown Cajun Queen 7th Street Gator Band Comet Grill Anamcara Double Door Inn Tabasco Hottie w/ The Benjamin Circle The Evening Muse Fullgrown, Brian Webb, Dean Fields Fairwinds Coffee Co., Cornelius Lena Mars Gateway Village Josh Kelly w/ Josh Queen Graduate, Gastonia Acoustic Jam w/…
Smoke Screen
Last night I watched Backdraft, the 1991 Ron Howard movie that was condemned by anti-smoking activists for showing firefighters with cigarettes in their mouths. There’s an obvious irony when smoke inhalation is both an occupational hazard and a way of unwinding, when men who fight fire also like to play with it. At the same…
See & Do
July 16 WEDNESDAY Get your dancing shoes on tonight and head to the Neighborhood Theatre for a show with the Taj Mahal Trio. Taj can really stir things up with his old time country blues and his eclectic, wide-ranging choice of tunes. He’s a seasoned performer with plenty of loyal followers but recent appearances with…
Film Clips
NEW RELEASES PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL It’s long been established that movies based on video games are a dismal lot, so the odds are automatically against a film that engages in the even more desperate ploy of being based on a theme park attraction. Yet this take-off of Disney’s…
Ask the Advice Goddess
My So-So Life I’ve had the same boyfriend for six years. He claims he loves me, but refuses to get married. How is this possible? He is sweet, but we have very little (if any) sex. The last time was three months ago. It’s been like that since year two of the relationship. I’m also…
Damn Spam!
By the most recent estimate, spam accounts for slightly more than 60 percent of all e-mail messages, triple the rate of only a year ago. That’s despite the efforts of Internet service providers to filter it out; despite ever-stricter state laws against spamming; and despite aggressive counter-attacks by anti-spam vigilantes. The reason for this, of…
Stargazer
For All Signs On July 29 the planet Mars, ancient god of war, will turn retrograde and remain so until Sep. 27. From the earth’s point of view this god and all he rules will appear to go backward. The warrior god’s dynasty is the realm of aggression and protecting boundaries. When Mars is retrograde,…
Suspicious Minds
“The FBI is here,” Mom tells me over the phone. Immediately I can see my mom with her back to a couple of Matrix-like figures in black suits and opaque sunglasses, her hand covering the mouthpiece like Grace Kelly in Dial M for Murder. This must be a joke, I think. But it’s not, because…
Karma Cleanser
Dear Karma Cleanser: I’m writing not to clean my karma but to clean the karma of someone who has done something wrong to me. A few Sundays ago, my girlfriend and I were riding to the library to get some books for her. We found ourselves stuck behind a slow-moving car in the right lane…
It’s The Globalization, Stupid
Another month, another million layoffs in America. Is anyone else concerned that the manufacture of nearly everything is down in the US, while the production of layoffs is way up? Thankfully, unemployment benefits are routinely extended by Congress. This buys us much needed time to continue the search for Ronald Reagan’s wealth-creating service economy.What explains…
Spacing Out
When the Performing Arts Center opened 10 years ago, Charlotte Rep had already abandoned summer programming, and the company’s New Plays in America Festival was just gaining a foothold. Fast forward to 2003, and we’re deluged by an unprecedented abundance of summertime theater fare, local and touring. New plays are no longer Charlotte Rep’s exclusive…
Woo-oo-oo!!
Pull up a radio station “remote truck” in front of any establishment, cue the music, and people will show up. Car dealerships, apartment complexes — doesn’t matter. It’s almost like an episode of a 70s cop show, where the evil ice cream truck driver uses subliminal messages hidden in music to entrance the local kids…
Like Oil and Water
Midway through John Burdett’s evocative new thriller, Bangkok 8, there is a deceptively innocuous culture clash between the narrator — a Bangkok detective — and the female FBI agent sent to help him solve the murder of a US Marine. What seems like a minor social gaffe — the FBI agent devours some ice cream…
Letters
Solicitor Or Solicitee? In response to Tara Servatius’ “Cruising for a Suing” (July 9), it seems odd that someone who accepted an invitation for sex would be charged and arrested for soliciting sex. Doesn’t it seem rational that the actual solicitor, the officer, be charged with soliciting crimes against nature? The Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department…
Arts Agenda
Classical Music Florence Jowers Recital sponsored by American Guild of Organists. Christ Episcopal Church, 1412 Providence Rd. Sun., July 20, 7:30 p.m. Free. 704-333-9071. Heritage Singers The Heritage Singers of Yorkshire, England, formed in 1984 with a mission to restore and maintain the Anglican Choral Tradition by providing sung services to parishes without choirs and…
One Less Brick In The Wall
Almost two years after September 11, the full story of how government bureaucrats let the 9/11 hijackers slip through their grasp remains largely untold. It’s there for those who want to read it, buried in the US Congressional record and legal journals that cover the shadowy world of secret government courts. Rewind to August 29,…
