The Best of the Blancs
With sweat already dripping off my brow, it’s hard to believe another part of the world toils at harvesting grapes just as its coldest season is set to enter. New Zealanders are just finishing up the backbreaking annual ritual called “crush,” one that creates the wine I’m so fond of swilling. Their burgeoning wine culture…
Autopia
Sometimes it takes an outsider to make us see the obvious. Dan Glaister, a British journalist perplexed by Americans’ complete reliance on the automobile, recently sent this dispatch back to London: “In its own dysfunctional way (America’s) car culture . . . works. You can get around, you can park when you get there –…
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.…
Aborted On Purpose
There’s something very strange about the partial-birth abortion law the courts struck down last week. It’s the same thing that was very strange about the two partial-birth abortion ban bills Republicans authored before it. All three bans were intentionally written to fail, to fall apart under judicial scrutiny as they made their way through the…
Goin’ Old School
Picture a family huddled around an old Victrola or Philco, a full day in the fields and a hot meal behind them. They’re listening to WBT broadcast new sensations Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys, who are crowded around a single studio mike belting out “Kentucky Waltz” or “New Muleskinner Blues.” If it seems…
Letters
Great Work, Great Article Thanks for the awesome article “With Trembling Fingers” (by Hal Crowther, May 15). I can certainly see why Mr. Crowther is an award-winning writer! Thanks and keep up the great work and the articles! — Mary Page, Charlotte An Eye-Opener “With Trembling Fingers” is the best summation of our involvement in…
The Man and the Mythos
After more than a decade, uptown’s Mythos will close its doors with a massive blowout on June 19, 2004. After first opening on 6th and College Streets in December 1993, it was the flagship for an uptown scene that seemed ripe for growth, provided it found the right anchor. Co-owner and DJ Andy Kastanas helped…
Sit & Spin
Morrissey You Are The Quarry Attack So I went to see this comedy show the other day, and this guy was telling a joke about shooting his dog, and how he then tried to “make it look like an accident” by putting the dog behind the wheel of a car and covering the floorboards in…
Don’t Cross My Lines
Honestly, it was almost as alarming as catching another woman smooching with my husband in the kitchen. Some people were over for dinner, and I’d stepped out of the room for just a minute. When I came back in, I saw that one of the guests had planted herself in front of my stove and…
Music Menu
THURSDAY 6.10 Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express — The legendary Auger’s second installment of the Oblivion Express, and a family affair to some extent, with daughter Savannah on vocals and son Karma on the skins joining Dad on his ubiquitous Hammond organ. Auger’s been plying his jazz-inflected trade since the early 60s, having played and recorded…
A Swell Time
It always helps to have a guide when you’re visiting an art museum. I went to the members’ reception for the new Mint Museum exhibit, Revelation: A Fresh Look at Contemporary Collections last Thursday evening, and brought a friend along with me who knows a little sumpin’-sumpin’ about art history. As we were making our…
Soundboard
Wednesday, Jun. 9 Amos’ Southend Dickey Betts and Great Southern w/ Black Market Radio 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 Dana Auditorium The Keb’ Mo Band Double Door Inn Youth Night: The Movement, Signature…
The Blotter
Can You Hear Me Now?: An argument erupted when a woman came home to find a man in her apartment. The man grabbed her cellular phone and smashed it into the wall and then slapped her. To top it off, he took radio equipment and a DVD player when he left. Range Rover: A man…
Father Figures
Louis Kahn’s 1974 obituary in the New York Times hinted at the kind of mystery-shrouded life that makes for great novels. Kahn was one of the most renowned architects of the 20th century, and his name was often mentioned alongside Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier and Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe. Kahn was highly respected…
Word On The Street
Kirsty C. Kovner Middle School Teacher “Why not? The last time I looked, abortion was still legal in America. Unless the mother’s a terrorist, of course.” Chet McAllister Paving Contractor “I think that’s a great idea. Since hospitals have beds and everything, that’s probably a pretty comfortable place to do it. Plus, they have doctors.”…
View From The Couch
ALONG CAME POLLY (2004). It wasn’t hard to figure out why Universal got nervous about Polly’s prospects and elected to bury its theatrical release in the graveyard movie month of January (though it still ended up being a mid-range hit). The two stars have no chemistry together — Jennifer Aniston’s channeling Diane Keaton in Annie…
See & Do
JUNE 9 – WEDNESDAY Once upon a time, cruise ships were considered ultra-glam settings for musicals, and teenagers would actually blush when caught in the act of unchaperoned “petting.” CPCC Summer Theatre has thrived for 30 years reminding their blue-haired faithful of the good ole days and introducing a new generation to their charms. Anything…
Film Clips
NEW RELEASES A SLIPPING-DOWN LIFE So exactly how long has this adaptation of the Anne Tyler novel been sitting on the shelf? Let me put it this way: When it first saw the light of day at a past Sundance Film Festival, there was a Democrat in the White House, The Real World was about…
Ask the Advice Goddess
Meet Marketing Recently, a guy at a local bar struck up a conversation with me. We spent over an hour swapping stories and cracking each other up, but, to my surprise, he ended up leaving without asking for my number. While it’s possible that he had a girlfriend or just wasn’t into me, this sort…
Ronald Reagan’s Liberal Legacy
On Saturday, June 5, Ronald Reagan, the nation’s 40th president, died after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s. He was 93, and the many tributes to his life and career had begun even before he died. It’s not uncommon, when a figure of Reagan’s stature passes away, for the media to prepare tributes and obituaries in…
Stargazer
For All Signs The “transit of Venus,” which occurred on June 8, was a rare occurrence of Venus crossing the path between earth and the sun. In 1639 two English astronomers observed Venus as it crossed this path. Subsequently it was realized that the size and distance of the sun could be calculated by precisely…
Ten Reasons Why Ray Charles Is A Genius
Music writers toss around the term genius so often the word is almost meaningless. Madonna’s a genius. Kurt Cobain was a genius. Metallica are geniuses. Yeah, right. Fact is musical geniuses are rare. The 20th century has produced some inarguable geniuses like Duke Ellington, Brian Wilson, and Vladimir Horowitz, but most “musical geniuses” are the…
Romeo & Juliet & the Godfather
There’s more than one way to gauge the success of a major arts festival. You can count the house, or you can read the reviews. But perhaps more than ever before, the artistic stature and financial stability of Spoleto Festival USA are allowing organizers to venture beyond the comfort zones of their subscribers and risk…
The Siberia of the South
February 28, 2004: The National Weather Service in Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina, posted a record weather event on the NOAA website. Charlotte Douglas International Airport reported a total snowfall of 13.2 inches, which ties the number 3 ranking for the greatest snowstorm amounts in the Charlotte area, the highest being recorded in 1902 and the runner…
More About Us
By now, David Sedaris has his system down. First, hang around your relatives as much as possible, as they seem to suggest more storylines than any family since the Sopranos. Second, live overseas, the better to rail against the language and culture barriers shared with your home country, the United States. Third — and when…
Pro-Life Brawl
A behind-the-scenes battle over abortion between Republican county commissioners reached a boiling point last weekend. At issue isn’t the pros and cons of abortion, but rather how to ban them at Carolinas Medical Center (CMC), which gets more than $30 million a year from Mecklenburg County. At the center of the fracas are County Commissioner…
Arts Agenda
Classical Music Charlotte Symphony Orchestra & Sir James Galway Sir James Galway, supreme interpreter of the classical repertoire for flute, is featured in Mozart’s Flute Concerto No. 2 and other performances. June 16; June 17, 8 p.m. $20-$75. Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, 130 N. Tryon St. 704-972-2000. Summer Lollipops Outdoor concerts at Symphony Park at…
View From A Broad
I’ve just gotten back from two weeks in Scotland and England, and I’ll spare you the travelogue. But several things were clear: there’s a Starbucks on every corner in London, Krispy Kreme has a place in Harrods, and Americans are still generally OK with the people of the UK, but man, do they loathe President…
Big Bites Out of Big Apple
New York is, and has been, the Number 1 food city in the US for quite some time. Nowhere else have so many talented chefs and restaurateurs come together in such a geographically small space and continuously set the bar ever higher for restaurants around the city and across the country. My interest has always…
All In The Game
The Republican National Committee and Karl Rove, the people who brought you Willie Horton, push-polling, and political dirty tricks that make Nixon drool in his grave, have come out with an online “game” on the GOP website that pokes fun at Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry’s wealth and lifestyle. In Kerry-opoly, players begin with $40,000,…
