May 10-16, 2011

May 10-16, 2011 / Vol. 25 / No. 11

Saint John Paul II? Just say no.

Today is the 30th anniversary of the shooting of Pope John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square in Rome. He recovered, of course, and remained Pope for another 24 years until his death in 2005, at which point the new Pope, Benedict XVI, started planning to make JPII a saint. Benedict beatified John Paul —…

John Grooms

Today’s Top 5: Friday

Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, May 13, 2011 — as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing. • Eyes of the Elders at Neighborhood Theatre • The Light Factory’s 11th Annual Filmmakers’ Showcase at Butter • Friday Live at the Factory, featuring Fuel at NC…

Anita Overcash

Newt Gingrich Alert: self-righteous serial horn dog runs for White House

We are sooo lucky. Newt Gingrich finally announced that he is running for president. Why “lucky”? Because Newt is a journalist’s gold mine — an intelligent man who has a hard time controlling either his mind’s wanderings, or his mouth’s interpretations of his frequent mental squalls. A guy who, more often than not, inadvertently reveals…

John Grooms

Winners

Congrats to the following people who won tickets to see Steve Martin and to the Mother Earth Brewery Beer and Food Dinner at Blue!

Priscilla Tsai

Concert announcement: My Morning Jacket

My Morning Jacket will perform at Time Warner Cable Uptown Amphitheatre on Aug. 21, with Neko Case. Tickets on sale on May 21. The band’s sixth full-length album, Circuital, will be released on May 31.

Jeff Hahne

Surprise! Kudos for CMS board member Kaye McGarry

It’s only fair. In the past, we have bluntly criticized CMS school board member Kaye McGarry. She is a hard-right conservative, whose vocal opposition to anti-bullying measures in schools, which she called a step toward implementing a “gay agenda,” led to her winning a couple of nasty Best of Charlotte “awards.” Fair is fair, however,…

John Grooms

Comedian Tig Notaro to release new album

“Thank you’s” are in order, as comedian Tig Notaro gives folks the chance to hear a sample of her upcoming album, Good One (see MP3 below). Due out from Secretly Canadian on Aug. 2, the disc will feature Notaro’s humorous rants on random topics related to everything from Mexican hotel door signs to family trees.…

Anita Overcash

New unofficial Obama portrait

Here’s a special gift to the hard core right-wingers who remain in denial and can’t seem to face the fact that the guy they thought was a soft, over-educated, Kenyan socialist weenie has upset their John Wayne-ish views of who can be a hero:

John Grooms

Where to find it: Cioppino

A reader calls looking for a dish that seems Italian but is San Franciscan by birth: cioppino. Cioppino is a fish stew similar to a burrida of Liguria, the northern coastal region of Italy with Genoa as its capital. Burrida uses a variety of seafood and shellfish in combination with onion and garlic. Genoese fishermen…

Tricia Childress

EXHIBIT: Classic Beauty

By the looks of her realistic oil paintings, Diane White likes some pretty darn tasty things. The Pittsburgh artist — whose works are currently being showcased at Elder Gallery — creates still lifes of high-piled coffee cups from namely chains (see “Exhilaration,” pictured), Chinese take-out and more traditional seen-on-canvas items, like fruits and vegetables. The…

Anita Overcash

Tips for attending the local farmers markets

Farmers markets and produce stands have proliferated in Mecklenburg County during the past 10 years. The largest area market is the Charlotte Regional Farmers Market, one of five owned by North Carolina and operated by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDACS). Not all the produce sold here, though, is locally produced.…

Tricia Childress

Accomplish the mission: Bring the troops home

On May 1, the U.S. president addressed the nation, announcing a military victory. May 1, 2003, that is, when President George W. Bush, in his form-fitting flight suit, strode onto the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Lincoln. Under the banner announcing “Mission Accomplished,” he declared that “major combat operations in Iraq have ended.” That…

Amy Goodman

3 questions with Bill Ryan, ‘fishionado’

Boston native Benjamin Franklin once said that fish and visitors stink after three days. Boston native Bill Ryan agrees. “There’s no ‘fishy’ smell at Clean Catch. That only happens when the fish starts to break down, and our fish is always fresh.” A lifelong foodie, Ryan made the Queen City his home five years ago,…

Laura Camilo

Blue Valentine, The Green Hornet among new home entertainment titles

THE BLACK SLEEP (1956) / QUEEN OF BLOOD (1966) / BILLY TWO HATS (1974) / THE GREAT SCOUT AND CATHOUSE THURSDAY (1976). In the same manner as Warner Bros. with its Archive Collection, Fox has started its own MOD (“manufacturing on demand”) program. Approximately 60 movies have already been released in this format since last…

Matt Brunson

Voice of the Wetlands aims to raise money, awareness

Louisiana is sinking, and Johnny Sansone is on a mission to help save it. An acre an hour of the Bayou State is disappearing under salt water. In recent years, a lot of voices have been raised in protest, but nothing seemed to be getting done. In 2004, Louisiana musician Tab Benoit gave the problem…

Grant Britt

Manifest now stocks Warner Archive titles

A few weeks ago, when plugging my home-entertainment column View From The Couch, I wrote, “To enjoy the many made-to-order selections offered through the Warner Archive label, online is pretty much your only option.” It appears I wrote in haste, because around the same time, the folks at Manifest Discs & Tapes, 6239 South Blvd.,…

Matt Brunson

Xavier Rudd hits the road solo

For most musicians, when a full band is added into the mix, a song becomes larger, has more depth and becomes a complete song. Notice that I said, “most.” Xavier Rudd went through the opposite — he added band members and his songs became more stripped down. For his current tour, the Australian singer-songwriter is…

Jeff Hahne

Book review: Bradford Martin’s The Other Eighties

The Other Eighties: A Secret History of America in the Age of Reagan by Bradford Martin (Hill & Wang, 272 pages, $26). Who knew that when we listened to the Replacements and Sonic Youth in the 1980s we were creating a secret history of that decade? I sure didn’t and I don’t remember any of…

THEATER: Agnes of God

Let the battle between faith and reason begin. Playwright John Pielmeier wasn’t afraid of putting two doses of religious phenomena (a virgin birth and stigmata) into his play Agnes of God (which was made into a 1985 film, starring Jane Fonda, Anne Bancroft and Meg Tilly). It all centers around a newbie nun who throws…

The 23rd Annual Charlotte Theater Awards: The Nominees

In the wake of last week’s official announcement video, the buzz is building for Creative Loafing’s 23rd Annual Charlotte Theatre Awards. Which shows, performances, feats of technical and design derring-do have survived the initial nomination process? Who has the inside track on the prestigious awards for actor, actress, newcomer, techie, theater event, theater company, theatreperson,…

Perry Tannenbaum

FILM: The Light Factory’s 11th Annual Filmmakers’ Showcase

This two-day film event highlights the art of short films. Emerging and professional filmmakers from all over will showcase their works (in a number of diverse genres) in Butter’s opulent, clubby atmosphere. The roster is long, but some flicks scheduled to be screened include Eva-Marie Elg’s Sleeping and Dreaming of Food, Anya Belkin’s Upgrades, Marc…

Anita Overcash

FILM: The Light Factory’s 11th Annual Filmmakers’ Showcase

This event highlights the art of short films. Emerging and professional filmmakers from all over will showcase their works (in various genres) in Butter’s opulent, clubby atmosphere. Complete details at www.lightfactory.org/filmmakers-showcase-2011. $5-$7. May 13, 9:30 p.m.; May 14, 8 p.m. Butter, 950 Seaboard St.

Anita Overcash

CL previews upcoming concerts (May 11-17)

WEDNESDAY, MAY 11 MY LIFE WITH THE THRILL KILL KULT For nearly 25 years, Buzz McCoy and Groovie Mann, known as MLWTTKK have blasted industrial dance mayhem. The duo works with a revolving crew of musicians and oddballs and has released a slew of recordings, contributed tracks to films and compilations. They’re on the road…

EXHIBIT: Toss

The new exhibit features art by Gastonia native and UNC Charlotte student Raymond Ray. Ray draws inspiration from the balance between nature and man; to produce his works, he filled glass ornaments with ink and then shattered them against the canvases. “These pieces were created out of my own personal search for a balance between…

Anita Overcash

Nightlife profile: Tim Rice

Howl at the Moon entertainment director and performer Tim Rice says that he “grew up wanting to be Axl Rose.” Rice, now living the Kiss dream of rockin’ ‘n’ rollin’ all night and partying every day, or at least four to five times per week, has entertained at several Howl at the Moon locations since…

Nicole Pietrantonio

Bizarre crimes from Charlotte police files

Witch’s Brew: A 21-year-old woman called police after her boyfriend roughed her up a bit and made it just weird enough to constitute a Blotter mention. Officers responded to a domestic disturbance to find the victim alone and relatively unhurt. She told them her boyfriend held her down and squeezed blood from his hand on…

Ryan Pitkin

Abortion hypocrisy with Woman’s Right to Know Act

Republicans in the General Assembly keep telling us they’re for limited government, and want to stop government intrusion into ordinary people’s lives. As hard as I try, though, I can’t figure out how the goal of keeping government out of people’s private lives meshes with House bill 854, also known as the Woman’s Right To…

Weekly horoscope (May 11-17)

Taurus The Bull (April 20-May 20) This is a week of significant events because Mars, Mercury and Venus are entering your sign. Now is a time in which you need to clarify boundaries while at the same time showing your love for another. The next few weeks bring changes to your life and you must…

Vivian Carol

Gov. Bev Perdue goes MIA during disaster

As deadly storms rocked the state, Gov. Beverly Perdue was kicking up her heels at the horse races in Kentucky with friends and politicians. In the days after the worst tornado incident in state history, Perdue surveyed the damage before the television cameras, assuring everyone that it brought her to tears. But it wasn’t clear…

Capsule reviews of films playing the week of May 11

ARTHUR Here’s the dirty secret about 1981’s Arthur: It’s no classic. So the fact that Hollywood has dared to serve up a remake is hardly an earthshaking scandal; after all, it’s not like somebody foolishly decided to remake Citizen Kane or The Godfather or Psycho (oops; scratch that last one). The result is that the…

Matt Brunson

FESTIVAL: North Carolina Brewers and Music Festival

Sluggin’ down beers while listening to live music doesn’t sound like an average day at the farm. But during Rural Hill’s North Carolina Brewers and Music Festival, congregations are expected to flock to its countryside as local breweries (Highland Brewing, Cottonwood Ales, Carolina Beer & Beverage, Four Friends Brewing, LoneRider Brewing, Big Boss Brewing, NoDa…

Anita Overcash

Thor: Daze of Thunder

Kenneth Branagh, known for his devotion to the works of William Shakespeare, might have seemed an unlikely choice to helm Thor, the latest in the line of Marvel Comics adaptations as well as the first blockbuster of the 2011 summer movie season. Yet it’s possible that the man who brought (among others) Hamlet and Much…

Matt Brunson

THEATER: RENT

Performances of the popular/award-winning Broadway musical, RENT, continue this week at Theatre Charlotte. Seven friends living the Bohemian lifestyle in New York’s East Village experience love, death and other hardships in their quests at survival. May 15, 2:30 p.m.; May 18-19, 7:30 p.m.; May 20, 8 p.m.; May 21, 8 p.m. & 11 p.m.; May…

Anita Overcash

Something Borrowed, something P.U.

Folks often wish that real life could be more like the movies, but Something Borrowed makes me wish that the movies could be more like real life. In reality, I suspect most of us would cross a crowded highway barefoot and bleeding to avoid any contact whatsoever with the insufferable twits populating this gruesome rom-com.…

Matt Brunson

NIGHTLIFE: Karaoke Night at Dixie’s Tavern

Mondays suck. The beginning of the work week comes much too fast after a fun weekend of drinking and hanging with good peeps. Why not extend your weekend fun a bit by checking out Karaoke Night at Dixie’s Tavern. This is one of the hottest spots to be at every Monday, with $2.50 drafts and…

Jumping the Broom: Worth the leap

The opening moments of Jumping the Broom left me cringing, as if I had wandered into the screening for a sequel to Something Borrowed (Something Blue?). Sabrina Watson (Paula Patton) has just finished having sex with someone she hopes will be Mr. Right. Instead, he’s merely a player — actually, a caricature of a player…

Matt Brunson

MUSIC: The Flaming Lips at The Fillmore

Maybe in the not-too-distant future, after some religion-inspired cataclysm culls the herd, our descendents will rhetorically wonder via bumper sticker: What Would Wayne Do? Wayne would be Wayne Coyne, front man and high shaman for The Flaming Lips, whose concerts have become secular tent revivals where substance-enhanced good vibes rain down with the confetti and…

John Schacht

Free Music Download Part 4

WSNB “Pass You By” WSNB – We Sing Nasty Blues – is a quartet which includes members of Uncle Jam Band, Contagious Blues Band and Blues Kravin. They’ve been road dogs for years and play everything from smoke-filled bars to outdoor festivals. They’ve shared the stage with some blues greats and have more lined up…

Jeff Hahne

An Update on Summer Lipford

Summer Lipford, the Statesville woman whose son died under odd circumstances in Iraq, says the military has told her that it’s re-opening the investigation into his death. Lipford, whose story I wrote about in November, believes her son, Pfc. Steven Sirko, was murdered. She’s been crusading for answers since his death on April 17, 2005.…

Karen Shugart

Free Music Download Part 3

Soulganic “Fordham & Walton (On My Way Up)” Combining various elements of funk, jazz and soul with Latin rhythms, Soulganic’s smooth stylings are grooving their way through the QC. While they aren’t constantly playing live shows, that’s the way they like it. Look for the next Soulganic event coming soon. Download: “Fordham & Walton (On…

Jeff Hahne

Free Music Download Part 2

Mac & Thai “Bottom of the Chain” This Queen City duo is busy prepping their debut album for Jungle Records. Their rhymes focus on positive reinforcement while confronting the negative realities of life. The duo sites Jay-Z, Biggie and Tupac as some of their main influences. Download: “Bottom of the Chain”

Jeff Hahne

Putting on the Sock

Name of Kama Sutra Position: Putting on the Sock Getting into the position: “Putting on the sock” refers to the erotic technique where the woman lays on her back the man sits between her legs and puts his penis at the entrance of her vagina. He slowly caresses her vagina with his fingers, until finally…

Eric J. Leech

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