Dark Horse
Twenty-seven-year-old Cristina Cordova toted her wild beasts into town last Friday. This ceramic artist is showing in Charlotte through June 5 at the WDO gallery in the Hearst Tower Plaza. Like the gallery that represents her, Ms. Cordova seems to have slipped into town quietly, under the cover of night, with little forewarning or fanfare.…
All Aboard the Hydrogen Train
Stan Thompson is passionate about air quality and new technologies, and he’s particularly passionate about bringing hydrogen-powered commuter rail to this area. Better yet, the retired strategic planner from BellSouth has been doing something about it, networking with everyone from engineers to government officials to speed up the day when his vision becomes a reality.…
CL Recommends
Hardbacks Singing In My Soul by Jerma A. Jackson (UNC Press). Jackson, a history prof at UNC-Chapel Hill, looks at the singular history of black gospel music from its obscure origins in the 1800s, through its appropriation of, and inspiration for, the blues. Jackson focuses on the contributions of several important women who helped popularize…
With trembling fingers
I used to take a drink on occasion with a network newsman famed for his impenetrable calm — his apparent pulse rate that of a large mammal in hibernation — and in an avuncular moment he advised me that I’d do all right, in the long run, if I could only avoid the kind of…
Body With a Weight Problem
It’s a curious phenomenon. But oftentimes after I’ve enthusiastically attended a reading of a play, where the actors haven’t memorized their lines, I’m subsequently dissatisfied with a full production of the same script that should have benefited from extensive rehearsals, scenery, and all the artfully designed trimmings. Sadly, that’s the case with the current Chickspeare/BareBones…
Letters
Rave Review for Brunson I would like to congratulate Matt Brunson on his forthright, insightful and, above all, professional review of the movie Dogville. Particularly so after the Observer “reviewer” decided to derelict his duty as a professional and went to lunch halfway through a movie that, after all, received nationally more positive than negative…
Arts Agenda
Classical Music Charlotte Flute Choir A program of light classical music for the unusual medium of flute choir. Sharon United Methodist Church, 4411 Sharon Rd. Sun., May 16, 7 p.m. Free. 704-552-7128. Charlotte Symphony New World Symphony with Catherine Rückwardt, conducting, and Terrence Wilson, piano. May 14; May 15, 8 p.m. $14-$64. Blumenthal Performing Arts…
We Just Want Ours Funny
We have survived another Survivor finale, the lukewarm Friends finale, and will see the once-great Frasier fade to black later this week. Is it the natural evolution of the ever-expanding TV universe, or are sitcoms dead, as headlines question these days? For my nickel, sitcoms are in stable condition, but need some serious antibiotics to…
The Kitchen Apprentice
Prior to Donald Trump using the word Apprentice, not many folks in America wanted to be one. Before that show, Mickey Mouse and a thousand mops are what came to mind when we thought of apprentices. Doing the drone’s work for a master craftsman for three to seven years? Not many fast-track Americans would buy…
Gone in 60 Seconds
Aaron Urell Erwin didn’t bother to wipe Diane Wilson’s blood off his clothes before he picked up his friends in her Jeep Cherokee. He murdered her, he explained to me, because he wanted to spend a few hours driving around town in it. The regret in Erwin’s voice was genuine, but I suspected it had…
Cool It
In long, intense summer heat, busy adults need something stronger than Gatorade to relax their weary bods: a good, cool buzz. When stress strikes and the urge to quaff takes hold, white wines are the perfect relaxing prescription. Not unlike Valium, whites are a misunderstood, underappreciated breed. As much as red wine snobs rebuff them,…
Poor Planning
Publishing this column probably means I’ll never work professionally as a planner in Charlotte. As an independent academic, though, it falls to me to voice what’s on the minds of many design and planning professionals in the city: the appointment of Debra Campbell as Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s new Planning Director is a disappointment and a missed opportunity.…
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.…
Boxing Lesson
In October 1974, Muhammed Ali walked into a boxing ring in Kinshasa, Zaire. The 32-year-old was a consensus underdog against undefeated world heavyweight champ George Foreman. He had lost to Joe Frazier in 1971, and had his jaw broken by Ken Norton in 1973. Despite his underdog status, Ali’s flamboyant style and strong pro-African ideals…
Califone: Fun With Friction
Recently, during Califone’s virgin tour of Japan, lead singer and songwriter Tim Rutili was awestruck by the contrasts in local culture the band encountered traveling from show to show.”It’s a strange place,” Rutili says by phone from the band’s Perishable Records label office, “there’s tons of people all over the streets, especially in Tokyo, and…
News of the Weird
Punchy politicians: In Louisville, Ky., local Republican Party activists John Lowler and Peter Hayes recently feuded over their status at the upcoming state convention, with Lowler alleging that Hayes punched him. Lowler had first accused Hayes of smearing him by suggesting that he’d recently had gay sex. (Lowler acknowledges that he used to be gay…
Rundgren Reconsidered
Depending on your allegiances, an artist’s prolificacy can be seen two ways: either as testament to the unchecked genius flowing through his or her veins — The music just kept coming…I couldn’t get it to stop! — or an indictment of a performer too unfocused to finish most of what they start. Trouble is, with…
Put Me Under The Knife!
In the ongoing debate about plastic surgery, too many people turn up their un-restructured noses as if it goes against their principles. One guy even told me he’s considering divorcing his wife because she wants to get something done. He feels “if that’s the kind of person she is, maybe she shouldn’t be with me.”…
Sit & Spin
Tortoise It’s All Around You Thrill Jockey The Chicago deconstructionists set the bar so high with their first two releases — Tortoise and Millions Now Living Will Never Die — that thousands now listening may wonder whether the post-rock pioneers have run out of stuff to reassemble and become one of those very genres they…
The Hole Shebang
Anytime someone tells you that a sport is better experienced “live” — think hockey — you know something’s up. As we Americans know, if something doesn’t translate well to television, then maybe it ought not to exist at all. At least that’s what I always thought. Visiting last weekend’s Wachovia Championship at Quail Hollow Country…
Music Menu
WEDNESDAY 5.12 Three Bad Jacks / The Tombstone Daddys — It’s a night of rip-roarin’ rockabilly when Three Bad Jacks crank up the geetar, drums and stand-up bass. There’s the whole front-man getup with leather, hair grease and tight jeans, but there’s also old-school rock with a nice contemporary punk kick. Hey, the front man…
The Blotter
VARIETY STORE: A man broke into a business in the middle of the night and stole a $300 hand truck, $150 in AK-47 rounds, and $500 worth of candy from the shelves. WANT FRIES WITH THAT?: A woman met a man at a fast food restaurant to sell him her 2003 Mercedes-Benz for $50,000. He…
Soundboard
Wednesday, May. 12 Amos’ Southend Sam Fisher & Josh Queen Back Alley Music Hall, Concord Open Mic w/ Jon Teague Blue Melinda Hansen, Royce Guin, Korey Dudley & Rob Knox Breakfast Club DJ Boney B Brickhouse Tavern, Davidson Robin Brown & Andy Seets Cajun Queen 7th Street Gator Band Cecil’s Robin Rogers Band Charleston Chops,…
Triple Threat
Rusty Hostetler Social Worker “Good question — is this for the Observer’s front page?” Sarah J. Webster Retired “People are being tortured all over the news and you’re asking folks about big-mouthed, no-talent white chicks? Get out of here.” Gus Allen Home Gutter Technician “I guess Britney, but I tell you I think is really…
Van Helsing: The Horror, The Horror
The wallet-busting extravaganza Van Helsing (* out of four) may be the first 2004 summer movie out of the gate, but in virtually every other regard, it’s a movie of “worsts,” not “firsts.” If Dr. Seuss was rolling in his grave upon the release of The Cat In the Hat, then everyone who ever had…
See & Do
MAY 13 – THURSDAY The Light Factory will present its Fourth Annual Carolinas Filmmakers Showcase tonight in the Duke Power Theatre at Spirit Square. The evening will feature a wide range of short films created by North and South Carolinians. The night will begin at 6pm with a “Meet the Filmmakers” reception in Spirit Square’s…
Wasted Warriors
Director Gregor Jordan caught flack for his military satire Buffalo Soldiers before the film was even released. “Some people have taken offense at the poster because Joaquin Phoenix is doing the peace sign,” the 36-year-old Australian filmmaker said while on a promotional tour for the film. “That the peace sign, which just says, “Let’s stop…
Ask the Advice Goddess
Halving It All I just discovered that my boyfriend of four years has been having an affair for about a year. He refuses to end it, claiming he needs time to make up his mind. Meanwhile, he wants to continue living with me (we moved in together six months ago) and still talks about getting…
View From The Couch
THE LAST SAMURAI (2003). Director Edward Zwick had already shown his capacity to handle expansive epics with Glory and Legends of the Fall, but the picture The Last Samurai most resembled when it premiered in December was Dances With Wolves. The maxim about familiarity breeding contempt doesn’t apply here: For all its recognizable trappings, this…
Stargazer
For All Signs Venus, goddess of love, turns retrograde May 17 and remains so through June 28. This cosmic marker occurs approximately every 18 or 19 months. During her ebb periods we naturally reflect on our personal needs with respect to partnerships. Meanwhile it is common for ongoing relationships to shift into neutral or even…
Film Clips
NEW RELEASES CHARLOTTE FILM SOCIETY Movies begin this Friday at the Manor and continue the following Friday at Movies at Birkdale. Call 704-414-2355 for details. * BUFFALO SOLDIERS The TV movie The Reagans wasn’t the only Hollywood project from the past year to largely vanish because of fears it would anger our Republican friends in…
