Suburban Brawl
“We just don’t get it,” they claim. Most of the so-called visionaries of local politics want you to believe they’re baffled the school bonds failed. Others chalk it up to racism. It’s all a crock. These people know exactly why the bonds failed, and that’s the reason they’re so bitter. If they really didn’t understand,…
View From The Couch
THE HAROLD LLOYD COMEDY COLLECTION (1919-1936). During cinema’s silent era, Harold Lloyd was as popular as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, though the passage of time, coupled with his estate’s tight — too tight — rein on his films, has tragically allowed him to slip to also-ran status among more casual movie fans. This designation…
Letters
I’m Right, You’re Wrong, I Win Maybe one of the reasons Karen Shugart concludes that many young people today aren’t politically active (“The Selling of the Revolution,” Nov. 16) is that she seems to be hellbent on only looking at one corner of the political landscape. As evidenced from the hackneyed list of songs on…
Pass the Barf Bag, please
So you say you won’t pig out this Thanksgiving. Yeah, right. What mere mortal can resist diving headfirst into a holiday feast of turkey, ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, green-bean casserole, candied yams, cranberry sauce, corn on the cob and pumpkin pie with a dollop of whipped cream? Not to worry: We’re here to help…
See & Do
November 23, Wednesday An outdoor ice skating rink in Charlotte? Yup, it’s time again for WBT’s Holiday on Ice rink on the Green downtown. Hop on the ice for some skating fun with family and friends, or watch the skaters from a nearby heated seating area. Food will be available in the rink area or…
The Family Business
CORKSCREW “In water one sees one’s own face; but in wine one beholds the heart of another.” — Anonymous To me, there’s nothing better than homemade — homemade bread, a homemade birthday card, a homemade meal. It says someone actually cared enough — was passionate enough — to sink a sliver of soul into the…
Stolen Things
Lary is not allowed to have nice glasses at the Local anymore. Just for sitting next to him you’ll get your wine served in a water cup, I swear, and Big Daniel has instructed the waitresses to keep count of those, even, because Lary is “out of control,” he says. “He’s stealing all my stuff.”…
Cashing In
Walk the Line, the eagerly anticipated screen biography of music legend Johnny Cash, wants to party like it’s 1955, but the year that kept entering my mind was 2004 — specifically, Oct. 29, 2004, which is when Ray debuted in movie houses nationally. One generally encounters an overwhelming sense of déjà vu when watching a…
Professional gluttony
The events documented here are real. The indigestion is real. No morsel of meat has been fabricated or exaggerated in the writing of this article. It is an honest exploration into the depths of gluttony on a Sunday afternoon in Charlotte. It’s 23 hours since the gorging. This is not the body I know. I…
In Excess
As the groaning board of Thanksgiving beckons, plates will be filled with turkey and dressing (aka, stuffing), loads of sweet potatoes, jellied cranberries, green-bean casserole and slices of pumpkin pie. And that’s just the first helping. Many will revisit the food line to try some of Aunt Sue’s mashed potatoes or Cousin Daniel’s deep-fried turkey.…
Tales of the Weird
Take the tickle from cartoons and the one-dimensional characters from superhero comic strips; combine those with the wise, reassuring voice of the god behind the oldest narratives on earth; stir these in a cauldron with references to 20th century films; add humor, and you have a taste of the fun in store in Anansi Boys.…
Too Much is Never Enough
Of all the so-called seven deadly sins, gluttony — “excess in eating and drinking,” according to Webster’s — has always gotten the worst rap. Pride, envy, lust, anger, greed and sloth I’ll grant are aptly classified — after all, no one I know would like their personality described using any of these six. But gluttony?…
CL Recommends
Are Men Necessary?: When Sexes Collide by Maureen Dowd (Putnam hardback). You can tell America is on edge by some critics’ vicious reactions to the title of Pulitzer winner Dowd’s new book, never mind the content. Too bad, it’s their loss. Dowd is her usual sardonic, sophisticated self as she navigates the mindfield of male/female…
Wine List
Wine Classes Fall classes presented by the Carolina Wine Club. www.carolinawineclub.com. Nov. 29: Spanish Wine Bullfight — East Vs West, 6:15-8pm. $35. Westye Group Southeast Showroom, 127 West Worthington Ave. # 104. 704-344-8027. Wine Tasting A different sampling of wines every week. Saturdays, 12-5pm. Free. Frugal MacDoogal’s, I-77 at Carowinds Blvd. 803-548-6634.
Up close with the Vagina Monologist
Eve Ensler checked into McGlohon Theatre earlier this month for a brief run of her latest work, The Good Body. She even lingered after her Nov. 2 performance to chat with the audience. But not before we got to her. We had a pithy conversation with Ensler back in September. True, we hadn’t seen her…
Project TASK Closes Shop
A local coalition formed to help Hurricane Katrina evacuees will close shop Dec. 2, leaving more than 1,400 households to navigate Charlotte on their own. “For what this office intended to do, which was provide for the transition of a large number of folks coming into a community all at once, it’s been more than…
American Gluttony
Ah, Thanksgiving! The one day (not counting Christmas, Super Bowl Sunday and the day you find out your merit raise is a $25 Wal-Mart gift card) you feel entitled to gorge yourself to your heart’s content — and beyond. This is not the time to worry about carbs or fat or sugar — most people…
John Szuch
This staunchly independent dude started his indie-punk label Deep Elm Records in New Yawk with 7 inches from bands like Nada Surf and Jimmy Eat World. But he soon moved operations south to get away from the noise and gunk — or somesing. You could call Deep Elm Charlotte’s own little Dischord. (For indie illiterates,…
Sloppy Seconds
If you want to be a true glutton (we’re not saying it’s a good thing, we’re just saying . . .) at some point you’ll want to keep on eating even if you’re so full you can’t breathe and that last slice of pie is rubbing against your uvula. One way to solve your problem…
Appetites for Destruction
I am an unrepentant rockist. And like most children born in the West between, say, 1955 and 1975, I rocked out ecstatically in my bedroom in emulation of my arena idols. However, one of the key reasons I never followed my beshagged, velvet flare-sporting heroes to the stage is their unrepentant pursuit of hedonism. I’m…
Fatal Digestion
You’ve heard it a hundred times. Everyone has finished chomping and slurping their way through a huge Thanksgiving dinner and somebody lying on the couch, probably your dad or an uncle (maybe you), groans: “God, I ate so much, I feel like I’m gonna burst” (or “bust,” depending on whether or not your family is…
Shrine of the Polymorph Madonna
On “Sorry,” the second single from Madonna’s 11th studio album, Confessions on a Dancefloor (Warner; Rating: ** 1/2), she sings the words “I’m sorry” in French, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, Hindi, Polish, Hebrew and Italian. And then mutters “Forgive me” in English. Of course, this isn’t Madge’s first appropriation of languages other than her mother tongue…
“That Glowing Red Sign”
When I was about 12, my mother took me to Krispy Kreme as a treat following a visit to the doctor. Krispy Kreme stores were rare in those days — this one, on Ponce de Leon Avenue in Atlanta, was nearly an hour from our house. After a day of being poked and prodded, stepping…
Think for a Change
Normally, I look for eye candy and rude stuff to satisfy my inner bimbo, but I’m on a more intellectual bent this week. Holy titclamps: These hot linx might actually make you think! Peace In Spacewww.peaceinspace.com Baselinewww.baselinemagazine.com 43 Thingswww.43things.com Vote Kinkywww.kinkyfriedman.com Holy Titclampswww.holytitclamps.com
Karma cleanser
Dear Karma Cleanser: I recently was online buying airline tickets for my daughter to travel to Europe to visit family members. When I used a site to purchase the tickets, the results came back showing that the fare was $0. Thinking that it was an error, I continued through the process and the fare only…
Namaste Carolina
I’m a Southern boy, Southern born and bred, I got ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ buzzing all around in my head. . . — The Charlie Daniels Band, “Southern Boy” American rabble-rouser Charlie Daniels, the fiddle and guitar-playing rock, country and gospel singer, is the über-Southern boy. Forget about those who wear their patriotism on their sleeves:…
Street Beat
You think Turkey Day’s become an overly commercialized, royal-pain-in-the-ass holiday during which dysfunctional families reunite just to fight and fling food at one another — second only to Christmas in the retail extortion department? We do, too. And we sent cub reporter Jared Neumark onto the streets of Down… er Uptown Charlotte to see what…
The Blotter
D’oh! Revisited: Another doughnut robbery occurred this week. This time a six-pack of Krispy Kremes was lifted from a convenience store shelf. Some of the doughnuts lived out their destinies to become food; others were not so lucky. They were damaged in the heist and neglected without just cause. Melodramatic maniac: A court order mandated…
O brothers, where art thou?
Cherchez Mtume: That’s what it comes down to when one bemoans the fate of R&B and black radio. Producer/musician James Mtume’s late-70s compression of sound with synths hit big with his own Quiet Storm staple “Juicy Fruit.” Mtume helped fashion electro, and between his aesthetic and the late-80s mainstreaming of rap, the big bands were…
Who Took My Syndrome?
We ran a story a couple of weeks ago making fun of the mounting public phobia over avian flu and heard from a lot of readers who thought it was right on the money. It seems media-driven flu phobia is growing stronger every year and people have noticed. Of course, as Tara Servatius documented in…
Stargazer
Sagittarius The Archer (Nov. 22 — Dec. 20) Be alert for sudden good fortune that all but falls right into your lap. You will have to respond quickly to take advantage of a turn for the better. You will recognize it because very little is required of you in exchange for the positive upturn. For…
Garbage out
Some Charlotteans were traumatized this month by their first experience with what passes for road maintenance in North Carolina. After trash piled up a foot high in some of the gutters along I-277 and medians began to disappear beneath the piles of junk, people started calling city hall to complain. They’d be even more traumatized…
Short list
TWO TEENS AT CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL IN MATTHEWS THREATEN TO SHOOT FELLOW STUDENTS Looks like the Second Amendment has trumped that “Blessed are the peacemakers” nonsense. FEDS WANT TO CUT NUMBER OF NC’S CANADa GEESE BY TWO-THIRDS Hey, maybe they can get those two Matthews kids to help out. REP. SUE MYRICK’S FALSE “AL QAIDA-CROSSING-THE-BORDER”…
Clips
New Releases BEE SEASON For the sake of variety, we need more spirituality in the movies, which is why the very existence of Bee Season is a blessing even if its haphazardness makes it something of a curse. Based on the novel by Myla Goldberg, it centers on 9-year-old Eliza Naumann (excellent Flora Cross), whose…
Ross Perot in ’08
Remember the big ears and the “giant sucking sound”? Yes, he’s back. As political strategists turn their eyes to 2006 and 2008, the candidate you’re going to be hearing a lot about is Ross Perot. To understand why, let’s go to the polls. Once, George W. Bush’s numbers seemed immovable. But post-Katrina, post–Scooter Libby indictment,…
