Cover Story
My Little Brony: ‘I will tolerate the crap outta you’
On a warm Saturday afternoon in April, Jacob Karvonen sits surrounded by a group of young men in the food court of Concord Mills mall. They eat sushi, pizza and homemade peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. After lunch, they plan to head to a nearby park for a game of Frisbee in the gorgeous spring…
Cloud Atlas, The Great Gatsby, The Notebook among new home entertainment titles
(View From The Couch is a weekly column that reviews what’s new on Blu-ray and DVD.) BEAUTIFUL CREATURES (2013). Emma Thompson delivers the worst performance of her distinguished career, Jeremy Irons resists the urge to have the producers sign his paycheck even as the cameras are rolling on him, and the exaggerated accents by a…
Live review: Howlin’ Brothers, Evening Muse (5/10/2013)
Band puts on a noisy, shouty, raucous show, complete with honest-to-goodness howling.
Today’s Top 5: Tuesday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Brave character’s sexist ‘remake’ triggers outrage
Disney’s oversexualized remake of the film’s protagonist has rightfully sent parents into a tizzy
Book Review: Woody Guthrie’s House of Earth
The late Woody Guthrie was a legendary folksinger/songwriter who, simply by the example of his life and his art, did more than anyone to revive the American folk music tradition in the 20th century. It’s a good thing, too, because he sure wasn’t much of a novelist. Until recently, hardly anyone even knew he’d produced…
Today’s Top 5: Monday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
In the presence of giants: War machines
Behind the scenes at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works UAS and jet manufacturing facility in Palmdale, Calif.
Local food and global flavor, guilt-free
Locavore fundamentalists might call it blasphemy, but there’s no reason a meal made with local foods can’t contain ingredients from the other side of the world. What’s wrong with imported oyster sauce on homegrown broccoli? Why not use curry powder on your homegrown lamb? Much less defensible are lamb from New Zealand (since we grow…
Where to find it: Local farm eggs
In the dairy section of your neighborhood grocery store is a collection of eggs in medium, large and extra-large sizes, with either white or brown shells and of various terms describing rearing practices. Some chickens have been fed diets with sources of Omega-3; others, a vegetarian diet. Some cartons say “cage free,” which means just…
Bizarre crimes from Charlotte police files (May 9)
Gone Viral: Police have begun investigating an incident after a video of it showed up on the Internet. The video shows a woman dressing down another woman in more ways than one. The suspect was upset that the victim allegedly slept with her boyfriend and then left the suspect’s home in her clothes. In the…
Question the Queen City: The quirky royalty of Charlotte’s past
A homemaker, cowboy, stripper and DJ make for some of the city’s most memorable characters
New bar patio ordinances closer to City Council vote
It’s been a frustrating year for some city and county officials, restaurateurs and bar owners. Meetings between them to produce new zoning ordinances seemed to be going nowhere. This week, however, those ordinances finally began to take shape. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Department revealed its proposal to a group of mostly bar owners and restaurateurs at…
Live review: The Joy Formidable, Visulite Theatre (5/9/2013)
Welsh alt-rock trio blasts through strong set.
She Bangs!: New hookup app delivers alternative to online dating
Is Bang With Friends the new norm? (If so, that troubles me.)
Today’s Top 5: Friday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Upcoming Event: Funds to Farms
Big ideas will be shared at the May 12 event.
Alice in General Assemblyland
The latest in legislative lunacy
MoNA gallery explodes ‘local art’ myth
A love affair with texture, layers and contrast is taking place in a revamped industrial warehouse on Brevard Street known as the X Foundation. In the midst of artist studios, and filled with a lovingly curated collection of artworks, sits a lone commercial space known as MoNA gallery NoDA. The art on display fits the…
It’s Tupelo, honey
Asheville’s Tupelo Honey Cafe is coming to Charlotte.
WTF!?: N.C. teens may soon need parental consent for STI, mental-health and drug treatment
Pediatricians warned legislators this bill could have serious public-health consequences
Do before you die: Springtime in Anacortes
Everywhere you turn in this region is blooming and beautiful.
Opening Friday
What’s new in theaters this weekend.
Today’s Top 5: Thursday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Video Game Review: Injustice: Gods Among Us
“I can say without a doubt that there are an infinite number of universes. Some are just like our own … but for one or two significant events, exactly the same.” — Lex Luthor What if our greatest heroes became our greatest threat? Injustice: Gods Among Us is a new two-dimensional fighting game where heroes…
Jezebel star has Bette Davis eyes, nothing else
There was always something outsized and mannish about Bette Davis, as if her persona — onscreen and off — were occasionally a broad imitation of a female impersonator doing her. What other mere actress could bring the cold, mercenary heartlessness of Regina Giddens to the big screen in The Little Foxes with such steely power?…
Pixies frontman Black Francis stops fighting the past
With his high-profile Pixies reunion tours in the bank and the inevitable new Pixies LP talk hovering as it always seems to, just over the horizon, you might believe Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV has finally consented to do a little laurel-resting. Hell, Thompson’s even ditched “Frank Black” and returned to his Pixies-era nom de…
Talavya expands traditional drum’s range
Along with the human voice, percussion instruments hark back to the earliest musical origins of humanity. Banging on things to create war sounds, tribal chants and perform ceremonies has been part of human social connections since, well, the beginning of humans. Drums are pervasive in every culture. In Indian music, the tabla, two drums which…
Weekly Horoscope (May 9 – May 15)
Taurus The Bull (April 20-May 20): This time brings a drama with your significant other that does not even really belong in that department. Your ego may be a bit bruised, but the real wound happened many years ago. It is not fair to demand that your partner compensate for injuries of your old history.…
At long last, King Harry has been dethroned
County commissioners decided in a 6-2 vote to oust the longtime manager
Students, medical professionals and environmental activists deliver united message to BofA: Stop funding coal
Though this year’s crowd was noticeably smaller than last year’s, its message was clearer than ever
Meet Charlotte’s best shot at ESPN X Games
Not much about Mark Denise says he’s a lifelong BMX rider and fan. He works in construction and has a wife and a daughter and no (visible) tattoos. But he loves bicycling motocross so much that he’s the main reason Charlotte is a finalist in the biding process that would bring ESPN’s 2014 X Games…
Making a Record: Pullman Strike
A look behind the scenes at the music-making process with one of Charlotte’s finest alt-country bands.
Neighborhood Theatre: Remodeling sneak preview
Among the renovations inside the NoDa venue is a brand new bar.
Today’s Top 5: Wednesday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
Say “bye bye” to Harry Jones
The longtime county manager is out
Mickey Hart Band at CPCC’s Halton Theatre (5/8/2013)
Grateful Dead drummer’s side project stands on its own.
Cato’s look-the-other-way attitude in Dhaka must end
The recent garment factory tragedy in Bangladesh that killed over 600 people has given crucial new momentum to efforts to reform that country’s corrupt garment industry. After the tragic April 24 fire and structural collapse at an eight-story, shoddily built factory in Dhaka, several large western clothing retailers quickly admitted their ties to the factory…
Live review: Carolina Rebellion, Charlotte Motor Speedway (5/4-5/5/2013)
It’s going to take a while for fans to warm up from the cold of Sunday’s shortened show.
