It’s Kinetic
Life isn’t static, and neither is art. Well, sometimes. Put it on wheels, fold it up, fly it, ride it or turn out the lights and watch kinetic magic. What are you bringing to the table? Kinetic Sculpture Race www.kineticsculpturerace.org Origami Tableware www.orikaso.com Big City Kites www.bigcitykites.com Paul Friedlander www.paulfriedlander.com Heavy Pedal Bike Rodeo www.cyclecide.com
Has the War on Terror™ Made the World Safer from Terrorism?
On Friday, April 28, the US State Department released “Country Reports on Terrorism,” the federal government’s most detailed public report about terrorism, who’s committing it and how the nation is faring in its efforts to curb it. On the same day, People magazine released its annual list of the world’s “Most Beautiful People.” Here are…
Tracy’s World
Rain was starting to fall when Carrie stumbled upon the abandoned, foot-thick bundles of Creative Loafing newspapers behind a garage on West Trade Street, across from the federal courthouse. Dozens of stacks were lying around, and Carrie pulled them together into a makeshift bed so she wouldn’t have to sleep on the wet ground. She…
The Undocumented $520 billion
There are almost not enough fingers on the hands of the world’s population to count the $520 billion accumulated in the US Social Security Administration’s Earnings Suspense File. This enormous amount of money is what has been saved by undocumented immigrants, who may never see one cent in return. Every year, the ESF account grows…
Film Clips
New Releases ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL Jerome Platz (Max Minghella), a freshman at the Strathmore art school, has two ambitions in life: to become the greatest artist in the world and to get laid. That one objective never seems to take precedence over the other makes sense. After all, what college student can truly contemplate the…
Fund our Courts
By the time Tracy McDaniel Howard turned 16, it was clear he was out of control. While the courts dismissed charge after charge against Howard or pleaded down charges that would have put him away for years, Howard was refining his skills as a pimp and a drug dealer, and teaching others how to prostitute…
View From The Couch
TENNESSEE WILLIAMS FILM COLLECTION (1951-1964). Fans of the great playwright’s film adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire have been waiting patiently — OK, make that impatiently — for Warner’s home entertainment division to give it the DVD respect it deserves (a bare-bones edition was released nine years ago). The outfit has finally delivered — and…
See & Do
Wednesday, May 10 Punk-pop trio Whole Wheat Bread writes anthems that usually haul ass way past the speed limit and could easily emanate from one of the hipster bands on Epitaph out of Cali. But Jacksonville’s WWB doesn’t need to talk the talk or walk the walk, it holds its own just fine. The racial…
Third Time’s the Charm
There’s a scene late in Mission: Impossible III in which IMF (Impossible Missions Force) agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) employs the fulcrum principle to get from one dizzyingly high skyscraper to an adjoining one a good distance away. He takes a leap from a height that would cause mere mortals to faint just from looking…
On The Edge
OK, CL readers, we have to admit the rise in teen deaths in automobile accidents is scandalous. Have you ever considered that handing Jimmy the keys to the car just because he passed some bogus test and charmed the instructor at the DMV could constitute as negligence? It’s true. But thanks to the folks at…
Take Notice
CORKSCREW Oregon, the newly crowned darling of the wine world, humbly accepts its quiet fame with earthy gracefulness. The people who work the land are friendly and approachable, strongly contrasting with the flashy, Vegas-like Napa Valley. The climate, similar to France’s Burgundy — where pinot noir is raised and worshipped like Buddha — attracted many…
Karma Cleanser
Dear Karma Cleanser: I was at my friend Eddie’s party and he introduced me to his next door neighbor, an attractive woman whom I’ll call Diane. I was freshly out of a two-year relationship and not looking to get involved again, but Diane was coming on strong. We talked for a long time, told each…
El Sabor Latino
Last Sunday, a bakery employee at Harris Teeter sliced up her samples of La Brea and the grocery store’s Artisan breads. Usually, the condiments consist of Italian tapenade or a pesto of some sort. This night the bakery was serving CIBO Naturals’ chipotle lime dip. The woman in front of me and the man behind…
Letters
Propaganda I always look forward to reading Matt Brunson’s movie reviews, not because of any astute film criticism, mind you, but because I can’t wait to see how he will manage to shoehorn his political views into the review. I can always rely on Matt to tell me that he thinks George W. Bush is…
Market To Market
For those who have moved here recently, Charlotte doesn’t have farm stands or produce stands. We have markets. Local markets are located from Waxhax to Huntersville, and many of these markets, such as those in Huntersville, Gastonia and Matthews have restrictions on their vendors and require participating farmers to be located within a certain radius…
Inventing the Rules
Daniel, who is normally noble, can’t stop laughing when I tell him I actually attend all the requisite seminars at the Department of Labor to receive my weekly unemployment check. “Isn’t that the rule?” I asked. “You loser,” Daniel laughs. “You’re supposed to charm your way past that.” Me? Charm? My first day there, I…
The Roots
“What kind of music do they play?” a Def Jam receptionist innocently asked, when queried about the Roots. Although self-classified as a rap group, the Roots’ sound has always gone beyond that because it’s actually a band of accomplished musicians who mix R&B, soul and pop. Ironically, Philly’s current flagship act is ambivalent about being…
Stargazer
Taurus The Bull (April 20 — May 19) You are energized by a dash of general optimism and will enjoy the company of others. It is important to hold onto your sense of humor throughout the week, especially when conversations become intense. Remember that no one ever has the whole truth. For All Signs On…
Smells Like iGENERATION: MC Lars
What is “post-punk laptop rap”? Rolling Stone calls it “low-fi hip-hop, emo-guitar samples and a nerd sensibility.” Apparently, it’s also the road to musical success for Andrew Nielson, a Stanford grad getting a lot of buzz for music promoting the younger generation’s infatuation with technology. Their ethos is nailed on Nielson’s anthem “iGeneration.” After experimenting…
The Blotter
The Eagle Flies At Dawn: A clothing store reported five articles of clothing had been shoplifted. The suspects entered the store and dispersed themselves throughout. At a certain point, one yelled, “I have a trap jacket!” and all the sus/ Hi!: A 31-year-old female received harassing phone calls from an unknown suspect who repeated “hello”…
The Guess Who
We interrupt this installment of CL’s “Rare Grooves” to bring you its sister feature: “Charred Platters.” Disregarding the current gold rush of contemporary Canadian indie rock, Canada’s generally thought of as a joke, musically speaking, and with good reason. The liste du crappe includes yowlping thrush Alanis Morissette, cornball rockers Barenaked Ladies, Rush wannabes Triumph…
Crash And Burn
Any story that is only 26 medium-sized steps away from the CL office is already a fantastic idea, and that’s without considering the perk of unlimited chicken ‘n biscuits that this story promised. I’ve crashed the Bojangles’ TV commercial shoot at Silver Hammer Studios with a goal in mind: make it until lunch without being…
Sipping Under the Stars
It’s official, starting now and throughout the summer, the weekend will begin on Thursday, making every Friday a mental holiday. Thanks to everyone who cast their vote. Meanwhile, Mondays are spent living off the high that was the preceding four-day weekend, and Wednesdays are best spent preparing for the weekend to come. But what about…
Roots
As a genre, roots rock has always hinged on looking back to go forward. And so this look at the current crop of roots artists making waves begins with a nod to Van Morrison. Van the Man, modern godfather of Celtic soul since the mid-1960s, recently dropped Pay the Devil (***) on that bastion of…
Of South Africa and the South
Rare is the writer who can write, through personal memoir, the histories both of the American Civil Rights Movement and of the dismantling of South African Apartheid. David Houze, author of Twilight People: One Man’s Journey To Find His Roots, is just such a rarity. Born in Durban, South Africa, to a “coloured” (mixed race)…
24/7 Jesus
I swear to God I wasn’t going to write about Jesus again — maybe something on the county’s Confederate Heritage Week or the mainstream media ignoring Stephen Colbert’s filleting of Dubya at the Correspondents Association Dinner. But Jesus kept rearing his bearded head. A column I wrote a couple of weeks ago, featuring Da Vinci…
Quirky Cargo Onboard New Relationships
Spicy ingredients abound in the urban stew of Relationships & Other Natural Disasters, assuring us that Charlotte playwright Terri Collin’s new comedy isn’t simply a wholesome rehash of Barefoot in the Park. We start off with a prologue in a New York City subway station. The lovebirds are bedeviled by eccentric neighbors whose hospitality extends…
Where Have All the Voters Gone?
• Mecklenburg County voter turnout in last week’s primary elections: 3.61 percent. • Mecklenburg County voter turnout in November’s municipal and school board elections: 20 percent. • Mecklenburg County voter turnout in September’s municipal primary: 5 percent. • Mecklenburg County voter turnout in 2004 Presidential election (Bush v. Kerry): 65 percent. • Mecklenburg County voter…
Challenge and Seduction
David deVillier paints interior landscapes. In his paintings — on view in the exhibit Tilted Days and Lovely Leanings at the Hayes George Gallery — expansive vistas cradle intimate symbolic objects. The meaning of the objects — to each other, to their environments and to us — is a matter of conjecture. DeVillier has constructed…
Apartment Complexity
Mecklenburg County is in a housing catch-22. On the one hand, the area suffers a shortage of low-income homes. On the other hand, aging apartment complexes along some of Charlotte’s most populated corridors have high vacancy rates. One local advocate for the homeless hopes to turn this paradox into an opportunity to relieve the county’s…
