Fish Schooled
During an interview, the three American snowboarders who swept the medals in the Olympic Snowboard Halfpipe competition were asked when snowboarding would become mainstream. One of the snowboarders quickly noted that being an Olympic event was about as mainstream as it gets. Snowboarding is so mainstream, in fact, that people watch it on television in…
Homefront Adviser
Why is North Korea part of President Bush’s “axis of evil”? Do they sponsor international terrorism? Though undoubtedly a country with one of the world’s most oppressive governments, the rationale behind North Korea’s inclusion on President Bush’s “axis of evil” has little to do with actual terrorism. Former UN ambassador and Assistant Secretary of State…
Don’t Sing The Junk Food Blues
Some days, my well-worn couch becomes my temple. At this altar, I worship the TV god, Bacchus, and occasionally a family size bag of Cool Ranch Doritos. These treats can weigh on the bod, but provide sheer comfort to the soul, especially the salty, fat-laden chips. But this retreat to earthly pleasures brings up a…
Letters to the editor
I Want Answers To The Editors: Regarding Susan Shackelford’s pro-arena “Eyes On The Prize,” (CL, February 20), I asked this question of the City Council, and I am still waiting for the answer. Perhaps Susan Shackelford could answer it. When fans began to complain about rising player salaries, we were told rather sharply …
Good Eats
ALL AROUND TOWN ANNTONY’S CARIBBEAN 2001 E. 7th, 704-342-0749; 145 Brevard Court, 704-339-0303; 20910 Torrence Chapel Road, Cornelius, 704-894-0280. A fun, change-of-pace restaurant for a casual lunch or dinner. Limited menu features rotisserie-cooked barbecued meats, what else, Caribbean style. $ BRUEGGER’S BAGEL BAKERY All over town. Chewy bagels, crisp on the outside, and served with…
Larry and the Arts
Stepping into the “Art With Heart” auction Saturday night at Queens College’s Dana Auditorium, I felt like an artist. Well, dressed like an artist, at least. OK, so I was just hoping people would think I was an artist, and wouldn’t mind that I was wearing an untucked shirt and blue jeans. The auction, a…
Haint’s Alive
Scotsman Martin Stephenson is headed back to NC for a visit and, of course, several performances. With the help of local Dolph Ramseur, Stephenson made his first pilgrimage here almost two years ago, and the two recorded a project titled Haint of the Budded Rose, which features the Scot interacting with some of the most…
Cruising for Love
What do the uptown YMCA in Two First Union, Evergreen Cemetery on Central Avenue, the bathroom on Concourse B near Gate 5 at Douglas International Airport, and the woods in James Boyce, Idlewild, McMullen Creek, Freedom and Kilborne Parks have in common? They’re among the hottest places in Charlotte to go “cruising.” Cruising is a…
Cat’s Out Of The Bag
A thousand years ago, the Mayans believed the Jaguar God inhabited the Underworld. Every morning at dawn, it became the Sun God crossing the sky and, with the arrival of night, it returned to the land of the dead. Like the Mayan mythology preceding them, Jaguares exemplify the Mexican cosmic spirit, with their musical mythos,…
Cheatin’ Hearts
To hear most local and national media tell it, the Winter Olympics were an exciting, competitive sports extravaganza, but personally I’ve found them to be the most disappointing Olympics I’ve ever watched (or, more accurately, not watched). Shaken by the events of 9/11, people worldwide were ready to see some form of world unity, proof…
Soundboard
Wednesday Mar. 6 Asheville Music Zone, Asheville Leftover Salmon Bayou Kitchen Bill Noonan Cajun Queen 7th Street Gator Band Cajun Queen, Pineville 7th Street Gator Band II *Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro …and you will know us by the trail of dead Comet Grill Robin Rogers Connolly’s Craig & Rich Crazy Horse Showclub Bel Air Saints Dilworth…
The Blotter
* An elderly woman’s car was broken into while it was left unlocked and parked in front of a construction site. The suspects entered the vehicle and took several items out of the woman’s purse, which was on the back seat. Missing were $21 in cash, the woman’s car keys, and the batteries to her…
Music Menu
WEDNESDAY 3.6 Clem Snide Fronted by one Eef Barzelay, Clem Snide created a minor stir with their The Ghost of Fashion album a year or so back. Evidently, it’s still creating a buzz, as the band is still touring on the strength of it. Featuring titles like “Joan Jett of Arc,” you may get…
Divide And Conquer
Landing on dozens of critics’ “10 Best” lists but also dismissed by multitudes of moviegoers as much ado about nothing, A.I. Artificial Intelligence ( out of four) jockeyed for position with Moulin Rouge and Vanilla Sky as 2001’s premiere love-it-or-leave-it title. The sort of cerebral fare that invariably always does better with the Europeans …
FilmClips
NEW RELEASES CHARLOTTE FILM SOCIETY Movies begin this Friday at the Manor and continue the following Friday at Movies at Birkdale. Call 414-2355 for details. FOLLOWING What Darren Aronofsky’s Pi was to his Requiem for a Dream is what Christopher Nolan’s Following is to his Memento: a micro-budget debut that served as a fascinating springboard…
8 Days a Week
WEDNESDAY 6 Les Miserables, based on Victor Hugo’s classic novel, began the Broadway trend of big, splashy, spectacular productions. Les Miz shows more passion than most of the big, noisy shows (for instance, Miss Saigon) and, depending on the production, can be powerful and moving, or just loud and confusing. This touring show should hopefully…
Cruel and Unusual
I glanced at the window and there was a solitary figure standing in the other room. Even though the only images I had of her were from television and media news photos, I recognized her. She saw me and smiled. It was a nice, friendly smile. I got up, walked to the door and the…
Stargazer
For All Signs Saturn and Pluto continue their dance in our zodiac, each pulling on the earth from opposite directions. The symbolism suggests that we must look at the reality of what we are creating in our lives. Change is demanded in those areas that are not working. Difficult situations, endured for a very long…
Shannon to Leave Housing Authority
Charlotte Housing Authority CEO Harrison Shannon is leaving his job after a rough and tumble year in which the nationally acclaimed public housing leader faced tough criticism in his home city. Shannon, who led the authority for more than a decade, told authority staff and board members Monday that he plans to pursue consulting after…
Karma Cleanser
Dear Karma Cleanser: I have a longtime, wonderful boyfriend. Yet all my co-workers (or, most of the male ones) think I’m single. It’s not that I don’t love my boyfriend — it’s just that I don’t talk about him to other guys. On purpose. One guy has expressed an interest in me. He follows me…
Acquitted Rapist Arrested On Rape Charges
It looks like accused rapist Donnie Alexander Rodgers and prosecutor Amanda Mingo will soon match wits again. So far, the score is 1-0 in Rodgers’ favor. Last year, Creative Loafing first told the story of Rodgers’ trial for the September 2000 rape of a woman in the Elizabeth neighborhood after the accused rapist and his…
Devices And Desires
“The camera,” says Jerry N. Uelsmann, “is a fluid way of encountering that other reality.” The famous photographer’s formal devices for conveying his special brand of surreal mystery are many. A dozen of Uelsmann’s dream-like “manipulated photographs,” currently on view in Other Realities at Hodges Taylor Gallery, provide some rich examples of his mastery. All…
I See Dead People
You know a situation has spiraled out of control when even the most conservative attempt to put things in perspective can sound irrelevant next to the kind of emotional hyperbole that has been flowing out of tiny Noble, GA, over the past couple of weeks. The gruesome spectacle at the Tri-State Crematory has been compared…
ArtsAgenda
Classical Music10th Annual Piedmont Invitational Children’s Choir Festival Concert featuring Charlotte Children’s Choir, Capital City Girl’s Choir at Meredith College, Central Carolina Children’s Chorus, Greensboro Youth Chorus, and Southern Piedmont Children’s Choir. Sun., March 10, 3 p.m. Free and open to the public. First United Methodist Church. 704-374-1892. Ayres and Merriments a concert of music…
Nothin’ But Net
When the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) men’s basketball tournament comes to the Charlotte Coliseum March 7-10, it will be a year away from a big anniversary its 50th. So it’s fitting that its female counterpart had the limelight all to itself March 1-4 in Greensboro. For the women, it was their 25th anniversary. The…
Sex And The (Queen) City
Passion won out for Chad Calvert, director of BareBones Theatre Group’s next production, Closer, opening this week at the Afro-Am Cultural Center. “When we were looking at shows for this season,” Calvert recalls, “Jim Yost and I both found Closer independently and submitted it at the same time. And our rule when deciding who’s directing…
Evil Is As Evil Does
In 1943, my father dodged German artillery when he landed in Italy because a very charismatic man had convinced a small group of people that anyone who was non-Aryan was evil. According to this man, Jews were responsible for all the economic woes and moral decline that had beset Germany since the end of WWI.…
Fishing For Truth
Poetry is alive and well in North Carolina. This is the third time in one year that I’ve been startled if not stunned by the exceptional work of NC writers. In early 2001, Ron Rash’s Among the Believers caught my attention with its studied poetic line and deft regional narratives. Summer brought Shelby Stephenson’s long…
Bush Lands – City Goes Mayberry
President Bush came to town last week and successfully helped raise funds for Liddy Dole’s US Senate campaign. Members of the local mainstream media, particularly TV newscasters, were beside themselves with a breathless, twitching brand of excitement. In short order, they dropped any pretense of being actual news organizations in a blare of “goll-lee” overkill…
