Sit & Spin
Horace Silver The Cape Verdean Blues Blue Note Records If there was one pianist in the eye of the Hard Bop hurricane of the mid-50s to mid-60s, it would have had to be Horace Silver. Silver’s quintets never quite matched the star power of Miles Davis’ or Art Blakey’s, but they swung every bit as…
Breaking News
If somebody really wants to win the presidential election they should base their campaign on a “breaks” platform, since this country’s employees seem far more immediately concerned about their breaks than the issues of, say, Iraq and gay marriage. The campaign slogans could run along the lines of “Universal Breaks For All” or “Break When…
Music Menu
WEDNESDAY 3.31 Kenny Roby — Presently at work on a record at Charlotte’s own Cougar Camp studios, Roby (ex-Six String Drag) does the wizened Costello/Newman songwriting thing as well as anyone in the state, but, like the natural storyteller he is, never forces the yuks. Also a talented guitar player, Roby’s worth catching if you…
Keyes talks up a storm
Ralph Nader, you could’ve been a contender, someone who could effect some real change. A voice for the common man, if you will. A Michael Moore without baggage (physical or otherwise). But then you had to go and run for President. Citizen Nader was in town last Wednesday, appearing along with former presidential candidate Alan…
Soundboard
Wednesday, Mar. 31 Baoding Robert Fernandez Big Al’s Pub, Mooresville Jes & Sherry Blue Carl DiPonziano Bonterra Kim Carper, Van Sachs & Gerard Benson Brickhouse Tavern, Davidson Robin Brown & Andy Seets Cajun Queen 7th Street Gator Band Charlotte Coliseum Yanni Comet Grill Lunatic Fringe Double Door Inn Selah w/ Vance Carlisle The Evening Muse…
Fetuses On Parade
Tiffany Farrell Copy machine salesperson “Hey, everybody knows there’s no better way to change people’s minds than to completely gross them out.” Stephen Kluszewski Student Aid Adviser “I agree with them completely, and if you’re not pro-life, then it’s exactly what you deserve. God bless you.” Millie J. Hoover Accountant “I guess it was informative.…
Tom-Foolery
Can a comedy be considered a success even if it isn’t especially funny? In the immortal words of Marge Gunderson, “You betcha.” Drawing the heroine of Fargo into this review is appropriate, given that both that film and The Ladykillers were written, directed and produced by Hollywood’s enfants terribles, Joel and Ethan Coen. Adored by…
The Blotter
STOP, DROP, AND ROLL: For whatever reason, a man decided to take all of his personal belongings and put them out on a large section of pine needles in his backyard. He then set them on fire and began to roll around in the flames. Luckily, there were witnesses nearby, and the man was eventually…
Men In Tights
The Reckoning is a medieval thriller for those who like to have their murders and courtroom dramas served up with plenty of barmaid decolletage and peevish friars. The movie follows a group of Bergmanesque traveling players in their leather nipple vests and “Losing My Religion” accouterments as they roam the 14th-century English countryside. The traveling…
See & Do
MARCH 31 – WEDNESDAY UNCC honors the Supreme Court’s historic 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision, which outlawed forced segregation of the races in schools, with a lecture at 7pm in McKnight Hall led by sisters Cheryl Brown Henderson and Linda Brown Thompson, the named plaintiffs in the case. Henderson and Thompson will discuss…
View From The Couch
THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS (2003). By fusing popular sci-fi concepts with religious allegories, writer-directors Larry and Andy Wachowski had managed to create with 1999’s The Matrix perhaps the headiest fantasy excursion since 2001: A Space Odyssey. And with The Matrix Reloaded, it was clear that the brothers had more to say, deepening Neo’s (Keanu Reeves) quest…
Ask the Advice Goddess
The Reshape of Things to Come In your response to the girl who hated her boyfriend’s new hairstyle, you touched on something many women are dying to learn: how to get a man to change. While I’m not involved with anyone now, I’m looking — and wondering how to keep my next relationship from degenerating…
Film Clips
NEW RELEASES SCOOBY-DOO 2: MONSTERS UNLEASHED The 2002 summer hit Scooby-Doo was cheesy, redundant and juvenile, which of course means it was fairly successful at recreating the spirit of the original animated series. While not entirely lacking in charm, Scooby-Doo 2 isn’t as sure-footed, even though the same director (Raja Gosnell) and writer (James Gunn)…
Stargazer
For All Signs Both Easter and Passover are timed annually by the full moon in Libra, which occurs this year on April 5 at 7:03am EDT. Libra is the sign of relationship and the full moon represents the mutual responsibility of any human partnership. Passover, which begins the day after this full moon, celebrates the…
Inspiration, Perspiration, Whatever Works
This country has long been known for ingenuity — our ability to imagine, to dream, and to put those dreams into action. It’s the intrepid, pioneering spirit that enabled us to put a man on the moon, to build architectural marvels like the Empire State Building, and to accomplish remarkable medical and technological breakthroughs from…
Scottish Witch Babes
The peripatetic Actor’s Gym has been mixing wanton female allure with several dramatic genres over the years. Over at the Johnson Brewery, there was the award-winning Vampire Love in 2000. The famed pajama version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream followed in 2002 at the Off-Tryon Theatre; and last year, company founder Tony Wright unveiled his…
They’re Young, They’re Vibrant…
Erica Wieck was diagnosed with cancer less than two weeks after her 23rd birthday. A vivacious, pretty blonde, Wieck began having chest pains and itchy skin last summer. When her condition hadn’t improved by Thanksgiving, her father insisted she see a doctor. An examination and chest X-ray revealed that her lymph nodes were swollen. She…
The Blackhawk Downers
The American image of the tragic, brutalized nation of Somalia consists largely of its portrayal in the popular action movie, Blackhawk Down, which shows the ghastly end of the attempts by American armed forces to intervene in the country’s civil war in 1993. Since that time, Somalia has fallen off the international radar screen, supplanted…
Letters
Let This Be a Warning As a member of a minority religion, Eckankar, I found “America the Theocracy” (by John F. Sugg, Mar. 24) disturbing. America is not a Christian nation in the year 2004. It is a diverse religious plurality. Even more striking is the fact that 30 million Americans, or 14 percent and…
Arts Agenda
Classical Music Charlotte Symphony An evening of Schumann with guest cellist Alban Gerhardt. www.charlottesymphony.org. April 2; April 3, 8 p.m. $14-$64. Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, 130 N. Tryon St. 704-972-2000. Davidson College Chambers Singers Concert will include works by Mozart and Henry Purcell. Wed., April 7, 8 p.m. Free. Sloan Music Center, Davidson College, Davidson.…
Changing of the Guard
Quick: name the job that’s more influential than all of Charlotte’s TV news directors rolled into one, plus half of City Council and the Chamber of Commerce. For my take, it’s the editor’s job at the Charlotte Observer, which is now open. Current editor Jennie Buckner surprised the newspaper’s staff March 23 by announcing her…
Get Your Assam In Gear
It’s no secret Charlotteans drink a lot of tea — sweet tea, that is. But recently green teas, Chai, and milk teas have found their way into Carolinian hearts and bodies. When Wayne Powers opened Tea ReX in South End in 1997, many thought, he told me, that he would fail. Instead he and his…
The Answer Is 9/11
As the Bush inner sanctum and its various complicit Republican apostles impugn the credibility of Richard Clarke and his allegations against the Brave New War Against Terror, an obvious question was missed in all the mudslinging: “What motive would the Bush administration have to do the things that Clarke is suggesting?” Well, glad you asked.…
Das Ist Gut?
Although I used to pilfer mom’s Andre sparkling wine and guzzle it with my pre-alcoholic, post-pubescent friends, the first “serious” wine I ever tried was Black Tower. I still remember the syrupy sweet sensation, smacking of steel not fruit, and the cloying aftertaste. I’m surprised I ever tried wine again. Unfortunately, many Americans cling to…
Today They Blow Up Stuff
It was the most important thing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in months about the future of terrorism, and it didn’t even make the news in this country. In an interview with the BBC on March 16, Rumsfeld said that his administration didn’t know how many children were being recruited by the tens of thousands…
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.…
Great Cities, Great Trains
Looking for a great place to live? Seeking the very best places in the world, measured by a detailed index that considers health, public facilities, education, politics and the environment? Then go to Zurich, Switzerland. Or nearby Geneva. Closer to home, Vancouver ranks third, Vienna, Austria, is fourth, and if you don’t mind a long…
Ear Surgery
Most people probably remember Mike Patton from MTV, flailing his silken punk-mullet around in the video for “Epic” by his band Faith No More. “Boy, whatever happened to that guy,” think Mr. and Mrs. America, waiting to catch his screwy mug on a “One-hit Wonders: Where are They Now?” segment on VH1. “I wonder what…
News of the Weird
Redundancies: In March, Awards World magazine sponsored the inaugural “Awards Awards” at London’s Dorchester Hotel, handing out awards to members of the British awards-presentation industry for the year’s best awards shows. Spokeswoman Barbara Buchanan explained, “Everybody likes to win an award,” even the people who give out awards (who staged ceremonies for about 1,000 major…
No Joke: Fools Day for Unemployed
Bruce Hazel knows personally that making music about making a difference isn’t always enough. As the front man for The Noise (he’s also in The Gold Coast and The Virginia Reel), it struck him that one way for music to change things was to put together a charity event with some of his fellow musicians…
