May 30 – Jun 5, 2018
Summer Guide, the Light Rail Patio Trail; Orquesta Mayor; new N.C. DEQ board faces rocky start; Plaza Midwood mural tour
Cover Story
The Boozing on a Budget Crew Hits the Blue Line
Last month, for the annual CL Beer Guide, we sent three staffers and local rapper Black Linen out in Plaza Midwood to track down the absolute cheapest beer we could find and give our drunken opinions on it. Thanks to all the great feedback, we decided to bring the squad back for this year’s Summer…
Adrift: Pacific Grim
ADRIFT **1/2 (out of four) DIRECTED BY Baltasar Kormakur STARS Shailene Woodley, Sam Claflin If it’s not quite as exciting as watching Blake Lively square off against a particularly pesky shark in The Shallows from two summers ago, there’s still enough of interest to keep the new nautical drama Adrift afloat. Headlined by two YA…
Annihilation, The 15:17 to Paris, Midnight Cowboy among new home entertainment titles
(View From The Couch is a weekly column that reviews what’s new on Blu-ray, DVD and Streaming. Ratings are on a four-star scale.) ANNIHILATION (2018). With a framing structure that lays out clues as carefully as Hansel and Gretel with their bread crumbs, the latest from Ex Machina writer-director Alex Garland (loosely adapting Jeff VanderMeer’s…
The Blotter: Homeward Bound
Doggone It As a kid you might have had a parent threaten to take your pet dog for a “long ride in the country” after they shit on the rug or peed on the stove. That’s essentially what one Charlotte resident attempted, but failed, to do when they let their pet roam free then got…
Listen Up: Mineral Girls Bid Farewell on ‘Local Vibes’
Three days from playing their last show together as members of Mineral Girls, the band’s vocalist/guitarist Brett Green and guitarist Audrey Ayers came in for a long chat with Ryan and Mark that covers everything from the ups and downs of their recent tour to future plans for both of them. That’s not to mention…
News of the Weird: Showing Skin
The Naked Truth Letitia Chai, Cornell University class of 2018, arrived at her “Acting in Public: Performance in Everyday Life” class on May 2 ready to present a trial run of her senior thesis wearing a button-down shirt and cutoff denim shorts. Professor Rebekah Maggor was displeased, however, and asked Chai, “Is that really what…
Plaza Midwood Mural Tour
In April, we took you on the Mural Express, sharing our favorite murals from the CATS Blue Line. We had such a damn good time spotlighting local artwork we figured we’d start visiting specific neighborhoods for the same purpose. This month, we’re in Plaza Midwood. Most of these are close-ups of much bigger pieces, so…
New State Environmental Justice Board Faces Rocky Start
About a month ago, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality made an announcement during a ceremony at its Raleigh office, hauling in well-meaning environmental justice advocates from around the state to help announce a newly formed environmental justice board while posing for a photo op. And then the shit hit the fan. Kinda. The…
Lawana Mayfield Is Who She’s Always Been
When I first met LaWana Mayfield she was making a lunchtime presentation on for-profit prisons to a handful of elderly white folks at Myers Park United Methodist Church. It was around 2010, months before she announced her bid for city council. While the District 3 city councilwoman’s platform has since expanded, her message has remained…
Dandelion Don’t Tell No Lies
We are born into this world loving dandelions. We grow up playing with them, blowing seed heads and rubbing the yellow flowers on our faces. Our country was born loving dandelions, the pilgrims having brought them over intentionally on the Mayflower, presumably as an easy source of nutrition but also perhaps for its medicinal value…
Party With the Happy People
This past Tuesday night started out like any other. Well, other than the fact that I’d already walked to the halal cart for lamb over rice. And yeah I know, many will judge me for going before 2 a.m. but I’d missed it the previous two nights so the craving was real. Nevertheless, my boyfriend…
Charlotte Salsa Ensemble Orquesta Mayor Releases Debut Album
[Image-1] The first thing Helder Serralde quickly realized when he arrived in Charlotte from Mexico City in 2006 was that it was going to be hard to find steady work as a trumpet player. Serralde, 42, is the leader of the city’s premier salsa group Orquesta Mayor, but the early years here were not easy…
