Nov 5-11, 2014

Nov 5-11, 2014 / Vol. 28 / No. 37

Cover Story

The way forward: Voting activists see bright side

At a mid-October voter education forum on Charlotte’s east side, an elderly man stood slowly to address a panel of four judicial candidates. The elder nodded respectfully, then proceeded in a strong, feisty voice. A Vietnamese translator repeated his question in English: Why are Supreme Court justices appointed by the president, but we have to…

Emiene Wright

Interstellar: Science friction

INTERSTELLAR***DIRECTED BY Christopher NolanSTARS Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway Let’s get the IMAX angle out of the way. Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar is the sort of big-budget, FX-heavy extravaganza that begs to be seen on the larger-than-life — and louder-then-life — IMAX screen. Yet at my advance screening, the sound was often wretched beyond measure, with Hans…

Matt Brunson

Big Hero 6: Huge fun

BIG HERO 6 ***1/2 DIRECTED BY Don Hall & Chris Williams STARS Ryan Potter, Scott Adsit It’s apt that the Christmas season is just around the corner, because only a Scrooge could fail to succumb to the charms of Baymax, the lovable, marshmallow-shaped robot found at — and in — the heart of the new…

Matt Brunson

Laggies: Slacker sleeper

LAGGIES***DIRECTED BY Lynn SheltonSTARS Keira Knightley, Chloë Grace Moretz The new seriocomedy Laggies marks the first produced screenplay from Andrea Seigel but the sixth directorial feature from Lynn Shelton, and one can’t help but wish the veteran had helped the newbie with her screenplay in exchange for a co-scripting credit. After all, Shelton has a…

Matt Brunson

Weekly horoscope (Nov. 6-12)

For All Signs: Yesterday was a mid-term Election Day in this country. Aspects this week through next are rebellious to outright violent. No matter what occurs in the U.S. after this election, people will react with anger. Mars is tangling with the Pluto/Uranus square worldwide, so tension is tightened globally. Those with an ounce of…

Vivian Carol

The Virtue of Self-Rescue

There are two kinds of people in the world: the kind of person who calls Mountain Rescue, and the kind who doesn’t. My husband Patrick and I had been hiking in Jackson Hole for four hours. We were out of water. We had no map. The snow was at least a foot deep, and Patrick…

Claire Gibson

Bizarre crime from Charlotte police files (Nov. 6)

Got Tequila?: Three suspects were ready to party and wanted to look good doing it, but were caught shoplifting at a south Charlotte WalMart. While suspect one was nabbed with the Solo cups, suspect two had a shotglass set, margarita shaker and four packs of press-on nails. Not to be outdone, the third suspect had…

Jeff Hahne

Beth Rennie, CSO Pulse co-president

Classical music doesn’t have to be as stuffy as some stereotypes would have you believe. Recently, Ben Folds performed a concert with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra backing him. In the early 1990s, Frank Zappa was conducting ensembles, and Metallica even released an album with the San Francisco Symphony. As co-president of CSO Pulse, Beth Rennie…

Jeff Hahne

Don and Laurie Koster, unofficial welcoming committee

For many independent touring bands, the cost of a hotel room could break the bank — and who wants to pile up four people in one room to save money? Some bands have been known to sleep in their van in Wal-Mart parking lots while others commute to and from home and never travel outside…

Jeff Hahne

Bill Hanna, jazzy music teacher

It’s another cool fall Tuesday evening in Charlotte, and a couple dozen neighborhood locals have congregated at The Double Door Inn for its weekly jazz jam. It’s easy to recognize the smooth tones reminiscent of John Coltrane and Miles Davis in the air while walking past the walls filled with countless autographed photos of artists…

David Aurelius

Charles Holloman, up-all-night producer

A Charlotte resident since 1993, Charles Holloman has cemented himself deep within the local music scene through his recording studio, Charles Holloman Productions. After just a few minutes of conversation, you know that his work is a labor of love. From Anthony Hamilton and Matrimony to Andy the Doorbum and Bless These Sounds Under the…

Jeff Hahne

Jermaine Spencer, director of promotions

It’s all about the next level. It’s about unprecedented quality, positive growth and winning. Yes, winning — Charlie Sheen would be proud. This story isn’t about our beloved Charlie, though. This is about a vision. It’s a vision for the entire city and it’s a vision that requires coordination and no shortage of effort to…

David Aurelius

Giovanni Gonzalez, a marketing manager with his hands in everything

Creative Loafing: What all do you have going on these days? Giovani Gonzalez: All of the artists that I’m working with — Danielle Soul, Kyle Biddy, DJ Shogun, Brody and Choch, Crazyhorse and Colston, Liddle Ugleez — have music that hasn’t been released yet. Under [his company] Kidnice [Entertainment], we also have Kurt Shackelford, who…

Jeff Hahne

Nathan Smalls, producer of R&B Live

“R&B has been ignored. The music and artists have been relegated to hooks on hip-hop records.”— Nathan Smalls Growing up in the music community of Teaneck, New Jersey — with Ronald Isley and George Benson as neighbors — Nathan Smalls knows R&B well. One day, about two-and-a-half years ago, he ran into his good friend…

Kimberly Lawson

Dane Abernathy, soundman

Dane “Main Dane” Abernathy has been running soundboards around Charlotte for 13 years, revelling in the opportunity the jobs provided to become exposed to local music, but it wasn’t until he got his high profile gig at The Milestone in 2010 that he became well-known for being local music’s biggest fan. Ask Dane about any…

Erin Tracy-Blackwood

Shamus Coneys, hip-hop-artist-turned-filmmaker

Shamus Coneys is a hip-hop artist-turned-filmmaker who has concepted and produced music videos for major label acts like Nappy Roots, Cappadonna and Killah Priest of the Wu-Tang Clan and Adam Lazzara of Taking Back Sunday. The NoDa resident has lots of love for his local scene, though. He makes videos for Charlotte artists at a…

Erin Tracy-Blackwood

Wyley Buck Boswell, jack-of-all-trades

I’m not sure if Wyley Buck Boswell ever sleeps. When he’s not booking shows for the Milestone, he’s probably on stage performing with Appalucia, or Andy the Doorbum, the Kyle Perkins Band, or the Luciferian Agenda, or International Scar Lovers … or maybe he’s hosting a show at his residence, known as Hamortown. Then again,…

Jeff Hahne

Scott Blackwood, ambassador for the music scene

“I told those guys they can crash at our place tonight. Cool?” my husband says to me, pointing at the band onstage that just wrapped up their set. I know my protests about dirty dishes in the sink or lack of beds for everyone aren’t going to get me far. Scott Blackwood has been called…

Erin Tracy-Blackwood

Tammy Greene, The Jazz Diva

When the Jazz Diva finally calls me back to set up our interview, I realize I don’t even know her real name. When I tell her this, sheepishly, Tammy Greene laughs. Turns out, it’s not the first time people have had a little trouble figuring out who the Jazz Diva really is. For almost 10…

Kimberly Lawson

Behind the blood, guts and gore of Evil Dead the Musical

If a job application listed under its requirements that you be a “master of blood,” you’d more than likely continue your employment search. But that’s not the case for the brave cast of Evil Dead The Musical. Duties like spraying fake blood at the appropriate pressure and angle as well as quick cleanup are requirements…

Anita Overcash

Oh, those moaning magistrates

Gay marriage has been legal here in North Carolina for almost a month now, and the craziest thing has happened: Heterosexual marriages have stayed intact. Imagine that. It’s almost as if gay marriage was never a threat at all. There are some who continue to disagree, though, even in the face of this mind-boggling evidence,…

Erin Tracy-Blackwood

JCSU-published anthology sheds light on Beatties Ford Road

Dr. Ronald Carter’s first real look at the Northwest Corridor, or Beatties Ford Road, came as a shock. Detailed in Let There Be Light: An Anthology Exploring How Charlotte’s Historic West End is Shaping a New South, Carter describes driving under the I-77 bridge on North Tryon Street back in 2008. “I thought I had…

Emiene Wright

Are you fully prepped?

An electromagnetic surge knocks out America’s power grid and propels civilization back to the dark ages. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) attacks SouthPark Mall. An earthquake levels Charlotte. The Ebola virus goes airborne and wipes out a third of America’s population in the most virulent epidemic since the bubonic plague decimated medieval…

Pat Moran

Dishes back by popular demand

You must be crazy” and “How dare you” are the kinds of comments Brixx management heard when they took pimento cheese pizza (spring 2013) and sweet Thai chicken pizza (fall 2012) off the menu — but mercifully, not at the same time. Using pimento cheese — rather than tomato sauce — as a base was…

Page Leggett

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