Eyes On The Road
Hang around Texas long enough, and you’re bound to see a bumper sticker bearing the slogan: “I’m from Texas … What country are you from?” The Texas music scene is the fiercely provincial embodiment of that saying. It’s as self-sustaining as it is suffocating, and Austin is its control center — a place whose mystique…
Room At The Inn
Until recently, few people in Charlotte could have distinguished between an SRO and a UFO. Neither had ever been sighted within the city limits. But since the proposal to build a Single Room Occupancy hotel on North Davidson Street became public several weeks ago, opinions for and against the project have hit the media and…
Music Unlimited
A newly conceptualized tour package looks to be the place to fly your freak-flag among the sunscreen this summer, if you’re lucky enough for it to touch down near you. Dubbing itself the Unlimited Sunshine 2002 tour, this one sounds wonderfully weird and adventurous with headliners The Flaming Lips as the chief conductors on this…
The Blotter
* Help, police, we need an English teacher: A married couple called police after they received a phone call in which, according to the police report, the caller leveled the following grammatically scary threats: “That was fucked up you guys calling child protective services. I’m gonna kill you and your wife. You think you big…
Music Menu
THURSDAY 5.23 Scrappy Hamilton — Asheville band merges a sack of American music styles — from Dixieland jazz to a boozed up jug band, a brass band to New Orleans R&B — and gives it a name, Stomp Rag Boogie. OK, what it boils down to is rootsy fun where Squirrel Nut Zippers butt heads…
Why A 24-Second Shot Clock?
Whereas some folks complain that watching a baseball game is like watching 10 minutes of action crammed into two hours, the same can’t be said of professional basketball. Thanks to the NBA’s 24-second shot clock, when two pro teams face off on the court, the action is usually fast and furious, and triple-digit scores are…
Soundboard
Wednesday, May 22 Amos’ Southend David Allan Coe w/ Dave Rhames & The Westchesters Arnie’s Tavern, Huntersville Scott Johnson Bayou Kitchen Bill Noonan Big Al’s Pub, Cornelius Robin Brown Big Al’s Pub, Mooresville Jeffrey Lynn Reid Cajun Queen 7th Street Gator Band Cajun Queen, Pineville 7th Street Gator Band II Connolly’s Craig & Rich Acoustic…
News of the Weird
* The head of a Dutch hospital’s department of psychiatry and neurosexology told reporters in April that he has found a “post-orgasmic illness syndrome” after having had five patients who suffered flu-like symptoms (sweating, extreme fatigue, eye-irritation) for several days after sex. Dr. Marcel Waldinger of Leyenburg Hospital in The Hague guessed that the cause…
Dark Of The Sun
Produced in 1988 but released stateside in 1991, the Dutch feature The Vanishing was one of the best thriller imports of recent times, a sweaty and unpredictable study in psychological depravity that was so potent, someone in Hollywood felt it could benefit from an American remake. The fact that 20th Century Fox elected to bring…
8 Days A Week
WEDNESDAY 22 Author and Davidson College graduate Catherine Landis will appear at the Little Professor Book Center on Park Road at 7pm to sign her new book Some Days There’s Pie. For more information, call 704-525-9239. THURSDAY 23 The Food Lion Speed Street festival hits uptown Charlotte today, and runs through Saturday. Featured is a…
Growing Pains
When John Wayne played a cowboy in 1976’s The Shootist, 37 years after John Ford’s Stagecoach turned him into a Western icon, nobody complained that he was returning to the genre that largely defined him over the course of several decades. And whenever Clint Eastwood picked up a gun and badge to play a cop,…
Oh, The Games People Play Now
Every Friday and Saturday night, many singles in Charlotte play out the same ritual, over and over again. We get off work on Friday night, call up a few friends and make plans for the weekend. It may be something simple, like a Blockbuster night with some videos and a couple of beers at someone’s…
Film Clips
NEW RELEASES SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON While DreamWorks’ irreverent animated features (Antz, Chicken Run, Shrek) have been more entertaining than their traditional attempts (The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado), here’s an old-school feature that’s at least worth a glance. The title character is indeed a horse, but the movie automatically wins…
Stargazer
For All Signs The theme of Saturn opposite Pluto, that we have experienced since spring of ’01, continues to drum. Saturn represents the status quo, the consequences of our actions for good or ill, and experience as a human teacher. Demanding attention from the opposite direction is Pluto, planet of inevitable transformation. The theme of…
Hunks On Wheels
The 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season began with Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick sitting on the front row at the Daytona 500, the Superbowl of stock car racing. It was only the third time in the history of the event that a rookie had won the pole position (the best starting position which is…
Karma Cleanser
Dear Karma Cleanser: About five years ago, I had a relationship with this guy that had a horrible ending. He broke up with me and it was very traumatic. He knew how upset I was and did not even call me to ask if I was OK. Now I am tempted to hire a private…
Arrogance and Nitpicking Mark County Meeting With CL
A recent meeting between these two writers and county officials led to little more than squabbling over minor details in our original story about sewage spills in Mecklenburg County (“Crapshoot” by Servatius, April 10). A month after the “Crapshoot” story documented that 12 million gallons of raw sewage was spilled by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities in 815…
Good Morning, Vietnam
It’s not surprising that the name of the country Vietnam is still charged with pain and ambivalence. Most of our visual understanding of Vietnam has come from television news or the movies. It’s actually hard for me to even say the word without feeling unspeakable sadness, without hearing a host of voices from the past…
Clothes, Toys and Fornicating Music Boxes
How many times have you been clothes shopping when you’ve said to yourself: Boy, besides these dress slacks, I sure could go for a nice Martini, perhaps an antique toy, and maybe one or two X-rated novelty gifts. Well, look no further, even here in generic, strip-mall loving Charlotte, such a place exists. The store…
The Great Escape
Sick and tired of ear-shattering motorsports and multi-millionaire spoilsports? Head south to the picturesque port city of Charleston and revel in one of the most glorious arts events on the planet, Spoleto Festival USA. Founded in 1977 by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gian Carlo Menotti as the New World offshoot of his Festival dei Due Mondi…
Letters To The Editor
Let Us Be To The Editors: I read Tara Servatius’ piece on the Hornets this week (“Don’t Let The Screen Door Hit You. . .,” May 15) and found there was absolutely nothing I could add or disagre with. She summed up my feelings on the entire Hornets/uptown arena fiasco to the letter, and I…
Family Values
Writers grow rich when awful families engage in awful behavior, and the misconduct of rotten kin has been an inexhaustible vein since ancient Greek clans took to sleeping with — and then killing — each other. In The Cadence of Grass, Thomas McGuane’s first novel in a decade, we have a strong contender — the…
Walking Tall
Bruuuuuuce! Local rocker Bruce Hazel played a CD release party last Wednesday, showcasing his rather raw, bluesy take on the country theme. The show began with a young lady bringing a huge mass of balloons to the stage, which Hazel then launched into the crowd while the Spanish-speaking lass launched into in an introduction cribbed…
Arts Agenda
Classical Music American Guild of Organists Summer Recital Series Recitalist is Richard Peek with Jane Howard, mezzo-soprano, and Pierce Howard on recorder. Sun., June 2, 7:30 p.m. Central Steele Creek Presbyterian Church, 9401 S Tryon St. 704-588-1290. Charlotte Contemporary Ensemble Spring Concert: A Musical Cafe presented by Carolina Voices. A delectable menu of musical delights.…
Take The Sewage Challenge
As I write this, my best friend from childhood lies in a hospital bed in critical condition, fighting for her life. Two weeks ago, her family began calling relatives because she was so ill they thought she wouldn’t live through the night. Somehow, maybe because she has three small children to take care of, Michele…
Raw Deal
Flipping around the channels during the predawn hours I heard these words from Jay Korich, the bushy eyebrowed Juiceman, “Health or disease, life or premature death. It’s in your hands.” Then Korich pops some slices of watermelon, rind, seeds, and all, into his Juiceman II to render a red liquid, which he offers to members…
Sweet Mystery Of Sherry
Chances are you’ve got a bottle of sherry stashed somewhere in your kitchen. You know the one: you bought it two years ago, used some in a recipe and left the rest to rot in the back of the cupboard. Perhaps you’ve been wondering what to do with it. Here’s a hint: take it out…
WTVI Looking For Bouton Replacement
The search has begun for a replacement for WTVI’s longtime President and CEO, Hal Bouton, who has announced that he’ll retire later this year. Bouton has been the honcho at Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s public television station for over two decades. “After 36 years in the business, and 20 years of service to WTVI, and the completion of…
Hot Wings And Tongue Piercing
We’re smack in the middle of race week here in Charlotte, which means a whole bunch of turning left and driving real fast. And that also means a whole lot of beer being drunk and a whole lot of chicken wings being consumed. I know it’s heresy to admit this around here, but I can…
The Man, The Myth — Renelvis
OK all you wackos, for the last time, Elvis is not cruising around the country in a pink convertible stopping off at late-night gas stations and restaurants looking for jelly doughnuts. Nor is he hanging out with Jim Morrison somewhere in Europe. Those rumors are simply ridiculous. They’re ridiculous because I happen to know that…
Good Eats
All Around Town Anntony’s Caribbean, 145 Brevard Court, 704-339-0303; 2001 E. 7th,, 704-342-0749; 20910 Torrence Chapel Rd., 704-894-0280. 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. $$ Fuel Pizza Cafe, 1501 Central Avenue, 704-376-3835; 319 W. Trade…
All In The Family
Imagine being 10 years old and being taken away from your family, including your parents and siblings, the only people you’ve ever lived with during your entire young life. Your parents are not abusive or neglectful; you’re aware that the people who raised you aren’t your biological parents, but you know that you are both…
