Stargazer
For All Signs We can all take a deep breath and half a sigh of relief. The exact opposition of Saturn and Pluto is finished. Two eclipses are behind us with only one to go (June 24). And now Mercury is direct again. We aren’t quite back to “business as usual,” but we’ve seen the…
Cruising For Trouble
It was the pair of men’s green bikini underwear that finally pushed Peggy Smith over the edge. She stepped on them when she got out of her car to take a walk along the trail at the airport overlook on Old Dowd Road last spring. They’d been casually tossed aside, likely after a tryst between…
A Tale Of Two Cities
A pair of feminine urban icons act as symbols of two cities in The Light Factory’s latest exhibition, the multimedia installation The Topography of Desire: Urban Identities — Charlotte — Berlin. Charlotte and Berlin. An element of mischief pervades the spaces in this tale of two cities, which feel as capricious as a precocious child’s…
Dance Club Owners Slapped With Escalating Fees
It’s getting ridiculously expensive for dance clubs to stay open after 2:30am, say some of the owners of Charlotte’s hottest clubs. Last year, when the Charlotte City Council voted to force dance club owners who wanted to stay open into the wee hours of the morning to get a dance hall permit, city officials said…
Permanent Curly
It’s been a scant four and a half years since the Vance Theatrical Organization brought Oklahoma! to Ovens Auditorium in the most lavish locally-produced musical of the Loaf Era. That impressive production, with Rue McClanahan brought in to headline as Aunt Eller, wasn’t our choice for Best Musical of 1997. Big as it was, that…
The Heat of Commitment
North Graham Street would seem an unlikely setting for an anarchist/ socialist/ progressive reading room-cum-coffeehouse-slash music hall. It’s a road littered with temp agencies, abandoned semi trailers and junk shops. Most of the acreage is covered with medium-sized warehouses making things one would never imagine a person could make money on — shrinkwrap, cardboard gidgets,…
Belgian Meat Grinder
A Storm In Flanders is narrative history as it was meant to be written. In the introduction, Winston Groom — author of a wide range of books, including the novel Forrest Gump — states that this book is for Americans. He correctly notes that we have little knowledge of or interest in the First World…
Green Scare
In the wake of congressional hearings back in February on the purported “eco-terrorism” threat, Jeffrey Kerr, lawyer for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), wonders whether activists will soon be asked, “Are you now or have you ever been a vegetarian?” Kerr speaks only half in jest. PETA was targeted as a supporter…
Arts Agenda
Classical Music American Guild of Organists Summer Recital Series featuring recitalist William Sawyer. Sun., June 16, 7:30 p.m. First Baptist Church, 301 S. Davidson St. 704-588-1290. American Guild of Organists Summer Recital Series featuring Nancy Watson. Sun., June 23, 7:30 p.m. Free and open to the public. University City United Methodist Church, 6100 W. Sugar…
Letters to the editor
Sex? No, Thanks To The Editors: Re: Sex and the Queen City (by Elizabeth Chapel). Do you seriously intend to keep running this unsavory, semi-pornographic column? I’ve read more insightful and interesting (not to mention tasteful) scrawlings on men’s room walls. Jeff Beamer Charlotte Get Lottery Facts Straight To The Editors: Teaching is a very…
A Memorable Summer Stop
Languid summer has over taken Charlotte. The scent of gardenias and magnolias christen the night air and fireflies put on their daily show at dusk. Summer travel plans are afoot. But you won’t have to travel far if you are seeking a small, charming Italian restaurant with amazingly fresh tasting dishes similar to the ones…
Crisis Assistance Prepares For “Non-Event”
Crisis Assistance Ministry is hoping that its 8th annual “Non-Event” fundraiser will help soften a recent financial setback. Crisis Assistance Ministry (CAM) is dedicated to helping Charlotte families in need make ends meet with financial assistance, household goods and advocacy programs. Recently, the ends have become shorter and more frayed as the United Way cut…
Sodas Itching For A Niche
There was a time when if you were thirsty and wanted a soft drink to quench your thirst your choices were pretty straight- forward — Coke or Pepsi. And for most people, even that decision was already made well in advance. It was a simpler world. But then empty-suited marketing geeks figured out that they…
Hurricanes Should Help Checkers
Now that the Carolina Hurricanes have embedded ice hockey into the sports psyche of the region, I expect the Charlotte Checkers and other minor-league hockey teams in the region will be among the biggest benefactors. Lack of exposure to the game has long been the biggest impediment to hockey catching on in the South, and…
Good Eats
All Around Town Anntony’s Caribbean, 400 S. Tryon St., 704-339-0303; 2001 E. 7th,, 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. $$ Fuel Pizza Cafe, 1501 Central Avenue, 704-376-3835; 319 W. Trade St., 704-344-1767; 404 S.…
Hello? Anybody There?
Mike Burg had done a lot of sleuthing, and, like most entrepreneurs who attempt to put together something in Charlotte, he seemed frustrated. He’d called all over town, but still didn’t feel like he’d spoken to quite the right people. So he called me to verify who the right people were, just to make sure…
Day To Day
The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side. — Hunter S. Thompson Hunter Thompson’s never been one for understatement, but the above quote might have erred on the side of caution. Part…
Blue For Boys
Besides poop, drool and crying, what else do you associate with babies? The colors blue and pink, of course. But did you ever wonder how it was decided that blue went with the boys and pink went with the girls? And who was it that forgot to tell Richard Simmons? Like so many of our…
A Death In The Family
* We regret to report that longtime local musician Boo Duckworth died last week. At press time, it was reported that he passed away in his sleep. Boo, who was 35, was the drummer and founding member of Animal Bag, a group that toured nationally and was signed to Polygram Records at one time. More…
Oedipal Fires
Every Father’s Day I flash back to my father’s elaborate fire-worshipping ritual, otherwise known as outdoor grilling. On special occasions, such as Father’s Day, or even on ordinary days, Dad was always ready to shed his identity as a dentist and get in touch with his caveman self. Like most men of his generation, Dad…
Freebird Flies Again
Raise your Bic lighters high and yell “Freebird!” The good ol’ boys of the Drive-By Truckers have resurrected the rock opera in their own grand Southern gentry style, as their new 2-CD set is a concept album based on the life, death and haunting legacy of Lynyrd Skynyrd. This Tuesday, the Lost Highway Records label…
Tall Orders
“Hundreds” of young Chinese women and men have recently endured the painful-for-months “Ilizarov procedure” to gain a few inches in height to supposedly improve their social and professional status. According to a May New York Times dispatch, the $6,000 procedure involves breaking bones in the shins or thighs, then manually adjusting special leg braces four…
Music Menu
WEDNESDAY 6.12Glassjaw / Piebald — Glassjaw play rock with loads of distortion and pounding vocals, making them one of the more interesting bands on the hard-rocking Roadrunner label. (Shukla) / Jokey-but-not-hokey, emo-tized punkers Piebald are just what that scene needs: a sense of humor. Frontman Travis Shettel manages to be serious despite all this, sort…
No News Is Good News
Our world, that is, the American world, has changed since 9/11. For the rest of the world, the possibility of war was always present. Most other countries live in such close proximity to their neighbors that they must often contemplate and even fear the actions of bordering nations. As Americans, we were shielded from such…
Soundboard
Wednesday, Jun. 12 Arnie’s Tavern, Huntersville Scott Johnson Bayou Kitchen Bill Noonan Big Al’s Pub, Mooresville Jes Seda & Josh Garber Cajun Queen 7th Street Gator Band Cajun Queen, Pineville 7th Street Gator Band II Connolly’s Craig & Rich Acoustic Dilworth Coffeehouse Open Mic w/ Bert Wray * Double Door Inn The Interstellars w/ Pyramid…
Empowering Monologues
Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues is everywhere. New York. Los Angeles. Charlotte. Yes, anywhere there are vaginas, there are the Vagina Monologues. Which is a good thing. Oh, I went with a bit of trepidation, to be sure. Pulling up to the Neighborhood Theatre on Wednesday, I noticed so many women of every race, shape,…
8 Days A Week
WEDNESDAY 12 Always. . .Patsy Cline opens at Theatre Charlotte starting tonight. The newly formed theatrical and entertainment company, The Producers’ Group, bring this premiere production to town. It will run through July 28. Showtimes are Wednesday-Saturday at 8pm, and Sunday at 3pm and 7pm. Tickets are $22 for Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday shows and…
Twisted Sisterhood
Just as the traditional male-oriented movie has long devolved from character-driven James Cagney gangster flicks and archetypal John Wayne Westerns into obnoxious Jerry Bruckheimer noise pollution, so too has the so-called “woman’s picture” (I refuse to call them “chick flicks,” a derogatory term that needlessly pigeonholes the works into separatist factions) run over rocky terrain…
The Blotter
* No More Favors: As a favor to a friend, a young woman offered to give an acquaintance a ride after spotting him on the street. She drove him to what she assumed was his condo complex and waited for him to come back to the car as he said he would. After waiting 15…
Sexual Etiquette Rules for Men
Almost everything we deal with in life has its own set of rules, including the ultimate sport, the dating game. There is no other match with a more complex set of rules and etiquette, where the players are varied and challenging, with zero predictability, and no referee. Sometimes I think someone should write a book…
Dark And Darko
The Charlotte Film Society’s June schedule won’t be mistaken for, say, a Marx Brothers marathon on Turner Classic Movies, but don’t let all the doom and gloom of this month’s offerings scare you away. It’s a lineup that almost runs the gamut of quality, but there’s at least one title in there that cries out…
Karma Cleanser
Dear Karma Cleanser: I am a 23-year-old man seeing a 34-year-old man. We’ve been together for two years. The first few months of the relationship were great. Then we agreed to become serious and he started to show his true colors. I was put out of the car on the interstate at around 3am, about…
Film Clips
CURRENT RELEASES ABOUT A BOY John Wayne often played cowboys, while Clint Eastwood frequently portrays detectives. So when Hugh Grant once again turns on his ample “aw, shucks” neon charms to play a suave, occasionally self-effacing bachelor whose rakish demeanor and liquid mercury eyes (they practically blink, “Please rest this adorable head in your lap”)…
