Scarlet Begonias
For most, a duet is the harmonic melding of male and female vocals, but for Thad Cockrell and Caitlin Cary, the partnership extends to the songwriting as well. Their new ten-song album, Begonias, revels in the pair’s wonderful, intertwining vocal lines and canny, crisp writing that pokes at the corpses of dying relationships. Cockrell and…
Letters
Christ Loves UnconditionallyI am writing as a former resident of Charlotte with my appreciation for “They’re Christian. They’re Gay. Get Used To It.” (by Karen Shugart, June 15). Mine is probably a typical story for someone of my generation. I grew up in a religious home, attended a Christian high school, and then attended a…
Indie rules
Reading independently published comics is one of the best ways to escape the monotony and soap operatic format of the big-name superheroes. Indies deviate from the norm, take risks and in many cases straddle the line between high and low art. Underground comics began during the height of hippiedom in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district, where…
Doofus Of the Week
Last week, Hayes came back from a one-day visit to Guantanamo with other members of Congress and proclaimed that “there could not be a finer facility” than the controversial detention center for terrorist suspects where prisoner abuse has been documented by the Red Cross. “The most astounding thing to me was how nice the prisoners…
Sit & Spin
Anthony HamiltonSoulifeAtlantic/Rhino RecordsAnthony Hamilton had several rough years before the mainstream music world finally caught up with the husky Southern soul of his excellent 2003 Arista Records blockbuster, Comin’ From Where I’m From. But folks who come from where Hamilton comes from — Charlotte — have long been privy to the singer’s sweet talent. Hometown…
Where Was Jeb?
It was a great shindig the other week down in Point Clear, Alabama. The only question was: Where was Jeb Bush? The scene was “Rising Together: The Summit on the Rural South,” sponsored by the Southern Growth Policy Board. The summit was held at a perfect spot to rub chins over the issue of rural…
Music Menu
THURSDAY 7/7 Hard Times Family – The solo project of Lou Ford’s Chad Edwards, Hard Times Family (the name comes from the annual Fourth of July celebration put on by Edwards and his Ford band mates) paints from a larger sonic palette than the Lous ever did, often adding fiddle and pedal steel to their…
News of the Weird
LEAD STORY: Sonette Ehlers of Kleinmond, South Africa, recently invented a tampon-like sheath that she says will reduce the disturbing number of rapes that plague the country, but local anti-violence leaders are skeptical, as well as alarmed. The device folds around the penis with microscopic hooks and, once engaged, requires medical intervention to remove. (It…
Soundboard
Wednesday, Jul. 6 Brickhouse Tavern, Davidson Robin B and Andy Seets The Evening Muse Tim Easton; Tosco House Party w/ Sonya LorelleGarden Cafe Open Mic w/ Ansel CouchThe Gin Mill Wizard’s Road ShowGraduate East Open Mic w/ Grant and ScottIrish Cue, Cornelius Gabe and Friends Milestone The Atomic Bitchwax w/ Caldera, Husky & Hell or…
Thou Shalt Not Obey The Supreme Court
TUESDAY, JUNE 28 Tom Keigher, chairman of the Gaston County Commission, said he will not ask county staff to remove a display of the Ten Commandments from the county courthouse despite the Supreme Court’s ruling against such displays. Keigher, undeterred by concepts such as “upholding the law of the land” or “knowing what you’re talking…
Science Friction
Back in 1996, shortly after the sci-fi blockbuster Independence Day was released, Steven Spielberg stated that, while he enjoyed the movie, he could never make a film that portrayed extra-terrestrials in such a negative light. His declaration could hardly have come as a surprise to anyone; after all, Spielberg is the man responsible for both…
Breaking News
Tom Cruise jumps down Today Show host’s throat while bashing the use of anti-depressants Looked like a Zoloft could have prevented this War of the Words. Lynn Wheeler website says she’s a fiscally conservative advocate for neighborhoods Guess the days of being a spendthrift tool of uptown interests are in “the final throes.” Doug Robarchek…
“We Live In This Movie”
I went to a matinee showing of Gunner Palace a few weeks ago. The documentary follows American soldiers who were living in Uday Hussein’s bombed-out party palace in Baghdad in late 2003. That was about 10 months after George Bush, in his famous Top Gun moment aboard an aircraft carrier, declared that major combat in…
Wazzat Tune?
When I think of music mixed with politics, I imagine the Beatles singing “Revolution” or Creedence Clearwater’s “Fortunate Son.” Or Democrat City Council candidate David Erdman. He recently launched his campaign with one of the oldest political tools of the trade – a campaign song. Using the tune of Wilbert Harrison’s classic “Kansas City,” he…
View From The Couch
BRIDE & PREJUDICE (2005). So that’s what the most beautiful woman in the world looks like. Much ink has been spilled over Indian actress Aishwarya Rai, the 1994 Miss World title holder who’s routinely described as not only a woman of staggering loveliness but also a savvy entrepreneur whose business acumen has made her one…
“I literally love yer ass”
For the first time in my life, I can say Grant is literally full of shit and Lary literally is not. But before I go any further, I’d just like to note that I am as confused as anyone as to why my friends feel the need to update me on their regularity, Daniel included.…
Film Clips
Current Releases BATMAN BEGINS One of the finest superhero films ever made, Batman Begins marks the beginning of a beautiful friendship – between the creative forces who have resurrected a popular franchise and the fans who felt betrayed when that same franchise went belly-up in the late 90s. Never afraid to peer into the darkest…
The Blotter
Up To No Good: During a consensual search of a private home, a Charlotte police officer arrested one of the residents and seized more than $2,000 in illegal contraband, including 32 Ecstacy pills, a shotgun, a .22 caliber handgun, various kinds of ammunition and a bulletproof vest. Robbus Interruptus: While she was at work, a…
Proud To Be Plump
What’s often so off-putting about rock musicals is their incessant pretension – their blatant aspiration to be regarded as operas. With three chords and two over-amped guitars? That’s why Hairspray is such a breath of fresh air, even if the whole piled-high mess is spiked with aerosol propellants. From the moment the hot fuchsia curtain…
New Latino South, Old Latino South
Hermán Marin comes from a middle class family. He has a degree in computer engineering. His skin is pale and lightly freckled. His hair is light brown. He wears dark-framed designer eyeglasses and a beard of stylish stubble. He develops Web sites by day and plays keyboards for a rock band by night. He hasn’t…
Karma Cleanser
Dear Karma Cleanser: I married my husband in May of last year, and he wanted to be in charge of our finances ever since then. I closed my checking account and started depositing my pay into a joint account. All of our bills are automatically deducted from the account so I never have to worry…
Thurmond: A biographer’s dream
The late Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina is a biographer’s dream: bigger than life, full of contradiction and paradox (or hypocrisy and opportunism, depending on your viewpoint), whose long political career stretched from the dark days of lynching and racial segregation into the 21st century. Along the way, he was a Republican, a Democrat…
Why do I have to change?
Alberto Vasquez wants his son to eat tortillas and beans, just like Dad did growing up in Guatamala. The boy, born in North Carolina, just wants to eat burgers and fries from McDonald’s. Thus, the dilemma of the new immigrant family. But Hispanic immigrants refuse to abandon their native cultures without a struggle. Every year,…
Geek Love
Where in hell is the Charlotte Convention Center? We’re downtown on Friday, June 24, my ride driving directionless around the one-way streets, and me, looking for the tell-tale line of geeks that will point us to the Heroes Convention, the largest comic book shindig in the area. I spot a girl, definitely a geek, and…
Arts Agenda
Comedy Charlotte Comedy Theater Live Improvised Comedy. Interactive, improvisational comedy similar to Whose Line Is It Anyway. Rated R. www.charlottecomedy.com. July 15-16: Comedy Battle. The 1st two teams will perform July 15, 10pm and 2nd two on July 16, 8pm. Championship July 16, 10pm. $10. 1111 – D Hawthorne Ln. 866-467-7681. The Comedy Zone Upcoming…
Geddings on McCrory: “This guy is vulnerable”
Most Charlotteans have never heard of Kevin Geddings, but millions of people across the country know Bubba. Bubba was the redneck Georgia convenience store clerk who said, “Here in Georgia, we just love David Beasley!” It was the political ad most experts credit with ending Beasley’s gubernatorial career. In the 1998 South Carolina governor’s race,…
See & Do
July 06 – Wednesday John Smith, that taxi driving bigamist, rides again as CP Summer Theatre presents Caught in the Net through July 16. This sequel to Run for Your Wife won the Olivier Award for British farceur Ray Cooney. We’ve telescoped 16 years ahead in time, and the children of Smith’s two marriages have…
As If On Cue…
I lived most of the first 10 years of my life in Charlotte. My father, a power company subcontractor, traveled constantly and we didn’t have much of a relationship. I never felt he approved of me and although blood somehow fates even the most unlike kinfolk to love one another, we were and have remained…
Notorious Notarios
Despite efforts to end fraud, advocates for Charlotte’s Latino communities say unscrupulous predators continue to rip off immigrants. For years the problem has been exemplified by so-called “notario publicos” – state-certified notary publics who illegally market themselves as legal or immigration advisors. But other schemes are on the rise, advocates say, giving people who are…
Stargazer
For All Signs We are in the three-week zone prior to Mercury turning retrograde. From the perspective of earth, Mercury appears to be reducing its speed. The symbolism suggests that business plans, travel and communications that are begun during this pre-retrograde period may require much longer to complete than is expected at initiation. The message…
It’s A Peach
More than three dozen varieties of peaches are grown in South Carolina, which harvests about 200 million pounds of peaches annually. Typically, the earlier varieties are Clingstone, followed by Semi-Cling and finally Freestone, which are available in mid-July until September. White fleshed varieties such as Artic Gem, Starlite, Belle of Georgia, Eden and Carolina Belle…
YMCA Members Object To Dobson Mag
Several members of the Harris YMCA are upset that the organization is making available a publication from an ultra-conservative group that is a leading force in the religious right. The magazine, Focus on the Family (FOF), is published by a ministry of the same name founded in 1977 by Dr. James Dobson. Harris Y members…
Threshold Of A Dream
The McColl Center for Visual Art, the venerable Old Burned Out Church, is going through a facelift. The facade is laced with steel scaffold to service cleaning granite stones and repointing the mortar. Inside the center, the many faces of religion are getting an upfit with Thresholds: Expressions of Art and Spiritual Life. When the…
Whites for Chillin’
It’s too damn hot to drink anything warm. Give me cold water, iced cappuccino and, most definitely, chilly white wine. I crave the sensation of a cool, sweaty bottle rolling across my beaded brow, and the taste of refreshing fruit-infused acidity in my mouth. It quenches … it invigorates … it just feels good. Think…
Welcome Criminals!
It seems that Charlotte-Mecklenburg is rapidly becoming a premier destination for the world-class criminal bent on violence and mayhem. A decade ago, you’d have to move to somewhere like Boston or Baltimore to find comparable violent offense rate numbers to the ones we have here. Not anymore. Now the criminally minded can enjoy a similar…
Good Eats
All Around Town Anntony’s Caribbean, 6434-F West Sugarcreek Rd., 704-598-6863; 2001 E. 7th St., 704-342-0749. 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. (Gastonia), 704-866-7574. A favorite of…
Editor’s note
You may have noticed a few changes to the front section of your Creative Loafing last week. For one thing, the old “Talk of the Town” pages have become “Soul of the City,” a name we think better reflects the paper’s mission. The Charlotte area in 2005 is not a stuffy, antiquated town, it’s a…
