By Any Play Necessary
Last Wednesday, July 14, The Evening Muse on North Davidson Street bustled with teenagers, their parents, folks from NODA and curious visitors to experience the sixth in a series of theatrical readings presented by Theatre for Change. The main event, Kill Your TV, was written by teenagers Chelsea Brendle, Maddie Howard and Kelsey Rullmoss and…
Metal Therapy
Larry Heath is bent over a four-foot sheet of metal, which is braced on a workbench in his front yard. Upon the surface of the metal he’s written, in black and red magic markers, measurements and sketches of a pond, barn, cotton field, trees, and shiny, happy people milling about. In the coming weeks, this…
Tenuous Memory
“Among the Chinese,” Julian Barnes tells us in his new collection of short stories, “the lemon is the symbol of death.” So says the unnamed aging composer in the story “Silence” as he forgoes finishing his final symphony to instead spend his days contemplating mortality, often in the company of like-minded friends and artists at…
Books, Fiddles and Spindles
Last summer, Pillowtex in Kannapolis — the remains of Cannon Mills, one of the nation’s textile giants — closed its doors for good, leaving more than 6,400 people out of work with no health benefits or severance pay. Chief Executive Officer Michael Gannaway thanked employees for their years of service, but stated that the company…
Arts Agenda
Classical Music Charleston Symphony Orchestra Gospel Choir A concert event entitled Retrospection: African-American Sacred Songs. Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, 3301 Beatties Ford Rd. Sat., July 24, 7 p.m. Free. 704-392-0392. Jukka and Mikko Merjanen A performance by violin-piano duo from Finland. Tue., July 27, 7:30 p.m. Free. Dana Auditorium, Queens University. 704-337-2270. Comedy Bayou Kitchen…
Politics As Reality Show
Move over Kwame Jackson, there’s another Charlotte-area man starring on a reality TV show. When American Candidate debuts on the Showtime cable network August 1, a Gaston County man will be one of the 10 “people’s candidates” to compete for cash and a national TV forum for his or her views. Park Gillespie’s a 38-year-old…
Too Hot, Mon
With temperatures soaring, standing in front of a backyard gas grill, or even inside in air conditioning, is just not appealing. I opted instead to bring the flavors of the tropics into my home courtesy of Austin’s Caribbean Cuisine, a take-out only place. Austin’s, which owners and cooks Austin and Yvonne Martin opened in 1996,…
Students as Sex Offenders
On April 4, 2003, the police were called to North Mecklenburg High School. There had been a sexual assault in a bathroom, and they arrested an 18-year-old freshman, one of two students who took part in the assault. His victim was a girl with mild mental disabilities. He was convicted of felony kidnapping, the toughest…
Different Strokes
They say variety is the spice of life, but isn’t it more like the main course? It’s not just a seasoning, but something that helps you avoid mind-numbing monotony and relentless repetition. Variety is, well, da bomb. That might be one of the reasons wine piques my interest; it offers virtually infinite choices to fit…
Who’s Soaries Now?
Last week, the House of Representatives censured member Rep. Corrine Brown (D-FL) for saying, during a heated debate over a proposal to have the UN monitor the upcoming US elections, “I come from Florida, where you and others participated in what I call the United States coup d’etat. We need to make sure it doesn’t…
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.…
Missing You
Working in Europe during the summer is a lot of fun, and I feel privileged each time I get the opportunity. For one thing, I get to go home, always a delight, despite Thomas Wolfe’s strictures to the contrary. On days off, I get to sit on the harbor wall of Dartmouth, in South Devon,…
Schools In Session
With Widespread Panic in the midst of a yearlong hiatus, the band’s fans must spend 2004 looking elsewhere to satiate their desire for fresh, groove-oriented material — especially with the “we really mean it this time” demise of Phish just a short summer tour away. Luckily for them, Holy Happy Hour, the debut album from…
Letters
The Art of Humanity Many thanks, Hal, for your beautifully written, personally revealing essay on a visionary, and courageous, activist for the power and meaning of artwork (“A Fine Disregard,” by Hal Crowther, July 14). People like Kirk Varnedoe pass quickly from this world, and deserve to be remembered for their contributions to our humanity.…
Avetts Seeing (Sony) Red
The Avett Brothers’ juggernaut just keeps rolling along. The brothers signed a distribution deal with Sony Red, a subsidiary of the major label behemoth. Hang on a tic, you’re saying, don’t you pinko bastards usually equate the major labels with Satan-worshipping Republican pedophiles? Yes, but they do know distribution. “We have been working on this…
News of the Weird
Holy smarty pants!: Two child prodigies from India made the news in June. A boy named Bharanidharan, 13, backed by several adult disciples, declared himself a Hindu holy man and founded a monastery in Salem in Tamil Nadu state, until his parents had him abducted and brought back home. (A judge released the boy back…
Sit & Spin
The Polyphonic Spree Together We’re Heavy Good/Hollywood A sort of poor man’s Flaming Lips done up in flowing Jesus-and-the-Apostles style, “I’d like to buy the world a Coke” garb, The Polyphonic Spree are the brainchild of one Tim DeLaughter, a sort of Wayne Coyne by way of Jim Jones and the Monkees. At some 20+…
Austin’s Caribbean Cuisine
Too Hot, Mon Jamaican take-out on a summer day With temperatures soaring, standing in front of a backyard gas grill, or even inside in air conditioning, is just not appealing. I opted instead to bring the flavors of the tropics into my home courtesy of Austin’s Caribbean Cuisine, a take-out only place. Austin’s, which owners…
‘Maters In The Mist
Last Saturday, I finally made it to the Center City Green Market. I’d been telling myself to go for the longest time, a mandate uttered every time I bought some of those aesthetically-perfect-yet-absolutely-flavorless tomato/tennis balls they sell at your local supermarket. On Saturday, the Coca-Cola company set up shop right beside the market with a…
Music Menu
WEDNESDAY 7.21 Mastodon — Infinitely heavy prog-metal masters Mastodon do answer to the “Stoner Rock” label, but this music isn’t for the dirt-weed set. No, this is heavy-THC, Oh my God I can’t feel my eyeballs music, full of enough fear and loafing (and double-time anvil-dropping breaks) to satisfy an Amsterdam coffeehouse full of Iron…
My Secret Thumb
For like the millionth time in my life, I’m nodding while someone is telling me about what a black thumb they have, how all their plants die no matter what they do. My body language sends the message, “I’m with you! I’m feeling you!” but my lips don’t say that because it isn’t true. I…
Soundboard
Wednesday, Jul. 21 Blue Melinda Hansen, Royce Guin, Korey Dudley & Rob Knox Breakfast Club DJ Boney B Cecil’s Robin Rogers Band Charleston Chops, Cornelius Michelle Smith, Bill & Ray Double Door Inn Edward Morbius The Evening Muse Winter in Alaska; justincase w/ Paul Christianson & Pete Schmidt George Washington Bookstore & Tavern, Concord Dillon…
The Blotter
Unfit Father To Be: A pregnant woman confronted her live-in boyfriend after he stayed out all night, and told him he had to leave. The confrontation escalated, and the philandering boyfriend grabbed the woman by the neck, pushed her in the abdomen, and knocked her to the floor. Could I get an ass whipping for…
The Other Brando
Marlon Brando passed away earlier this month, and since then we’ve witnessed no small measure of articles that have labeled him either “the greatest actor who ever lived” or, from those not as easily enamored of hyperbole, simply “one of the greatest actors who ever lived.” Allow me to offer the dissenting vote. Now please…
Word On The Street
Joe Dean Dorman Video Editor “I imagine they’ll probably invade some country that’ll be easier to get under control than Iraq has been. Maybe Paraguay. Or Luxembourg.” Anne Brewster Dentist “I’m getting tired of those buzzcuts and the camo-looking uniforms. I say it’s time for a visit from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.” Shirley…
Out Source
Every summer needs one massive mega-bomb to balance the scales, a Battlefield Earth or Gigli to serve as an easy target for smart-aleck critics, derisive audiences and bloodthirsty rival studios. Among this year’s candidates was I, Robot (*** out of four), which finds Will Smith shoehorned into a high-tech yarn “inspired” by Isaac Asimov’s collection…
See & Do
JULY 21 – WEDNESDAY It’s the irresistible glow of youthful innocence and passionate desire against the dark backdrop of racial intolerance and senseless violence. No, it’s not a contemporary dance club scene. It’s West Side Story. “Tonight” is always magical, no matter how many times you’ve seen the musical before. CP Summer Theatre brings all…
View From The Couch
THE BIG BOUNCE (2004). It wasn’t that long ago that Owen Wilson was the cinematic equivalent of a mosquito: noisy, bothersome, and deserving of a good smack. Yet his blond, bland, surfer-boy shtick has gradually grown on me, and indeed, he proves to be the MVP of this souffle-light adaptation of the Elmore Leonard novel.…
Ask the Advice Goddess
Belling The Cad My boyfriend of six months asked me to move into his house. I’m considering it because I’d save a lot on rent, and I spend most of my time there anyway. Well, he has a dog, and I have two cats, which he refuses to have at his house — partly because…
Film Clips
CURRENT RELEASES ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND OF RON BURGUNDY Aimed squarely at the open-mouth-breathers who turned Dumb and Dumber and Big Daddy into hits, Anchorman is the movie as litmus test — specifically, how much Will Ferrell is too much Will Ferrell? As a chauvinistic news anchor in 1970s San Diego, Ferrell gets to wear ugly…
Stargazer
For All Signs The horoscope of an individual is a precise map of the positions of planets in the solar system at the time of his/her birth. Each planet represents a part of the psyche with its own agenda. Examples: Venus is the planet that symbolizes relationships; Mars represents our assertive, Warrior side; Saturn is…
Land of the Sky Spies
Jonathan Walker, a senior computer-science major at UNC-Asheville, is tinkering with his robot. It’s a shoebox-sized contraption made of gray, green and yellow Legos, mini-motors and a tiny camera; Walker looks a bit like a kid on Christmas morning as he lines it up with an assortment of neatly spaced glass lenses. But this isn’t…
