Patou, Part Deux
The life of a restaurant is closely tied to its ownership, just as a sports team is. Some restaurateurs open a place and stay in that location with the same staff and menu for years, at times, a lifetime. Other restaurants change hands. The founding owner moves on or quits the restaurant business which is…
Get The Message
I am the queen of self-editing. When I write, I generally don’t begin typing a sentence until I know what the end of it will be. I stop and backspace over words when they don’t come out just right. Writing instructors almost universally agree that this is a terrible habit and insist that good writers…
A Place By Any Other Name
Have you ever had a plant die and wonder what went wrong? You feed it, water it and talk to it consistently yet it dies anyway. It’s one of life’s mysteries for me. New world grape growers from California, Australia and Chile, whose livelihood hinges on finding the perfect growing spot for grape vines, have…
The Blotter
BACK SEAT DRIVER: A woman experienced a frightening rear end collision while driving one afternoon, however no second car was involved. Solve the riddle? No, well, here’s the answer: a passenger in the backseat of the woman’s car punched her in the back of the head with his fist. TEST ANXIETY: A local high school…
Good Eats
All Around Town Anntony’s Caribbean, 400 S. Tryon St., 704-339-0303; 2001 E. 7th St., 704-342-0749. 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. $$ Azteca, 116 Woodlawn Rd., 704-525-5110; 9709 Independence Blvd., 704-814-9877; 1863 W. Franklin Blvd.…
News of the Weird
Look, out in the street!: A man, so far unidentified, created a frenzy in London in September when he began offering a free call-in service in which he, dressed in a full “superhero” costume of colorful tights, cape and mask, and armed with a metal-cutting circular saw, would dispatch himself to help motorists whose cars…
Bass Hit
Victor Wooten inhabits a lofty perch. His bass playing puts him on a level that few who have ever attempted the instrument reach. He’s been compared to Jaco Pastorius, who one critic called “the Charlie Parker of the electric bass. ” But Wooten isn’t comfortable being on that pedestal alone, and he has a plan…
CD Spins
Tord Gustavsen Trio Changing Places ECM Norwegian jazz pianist Gustavsen’s first major label release is an absorbing exercise in melodic beauty and understated trio interaction. Gustavsen, bassist Harald Johnsen, and drummer Jarle Vespestad collectively shape these delicate, quiet original works into elegant gems. You’ll hear hints of Bill Evans’ romanticism, filtered through Gustavsen’s gift for…
Autumn Fest Blitz Continues
At last Saturday’s annual International Festival at UNC-Charlotte, held in and around that school’s Halton Arena, I noticed a lot of people referring to the event as “IFEST.” I wonder if Steve Jobs and the Apple legal department have gotten wind of this? In any case, it was fun. What began its life as a…
Music Menu
THURSDAY 10.2 Blue Dogs — The rockin’ little outfit from Charleston, SC has been tearing up the road with recent gigs throughout the mid-West. One of the hardest working bands from the Carolinas, they’re bringing their funky, bluesy rock to the streets of downtown for Center City After Five, which has stretched its schedule to…
Letters
Defending the Working ClassThank you for your cover story (“White Trash,” by Sam Boykin, Sept. 24). When my grandparents moved here and set up a trailer on the property next to our “regular” house, even as a seven-year-old I sensed that it was better to refer to their dwelling as a “mobile home” because “trailer”…
Soundboard
Wednesday, Oct. 1 Baoding Robert Fernandez Big Al’s Pub, Mooresville Jes & Sherry Cajun Queen 7th Street Gator Band Casco Bay Scott & Tom The Flip-Flops Charleston Chops, Cornelius Michelle Smith Coley’s Tavern Acoustic Soul-ution The Evening Muse Stranger Angels w/ Friction Farm Graduate, Gastonia Simplified Main Street, Gastonia Tommy Hudson The Meeting House John…
Get Your Punk Right
While standing in line to see the Dead Kennedys in Los Angeles, some strange guy turned to me and spat out, “I bet you give good head,” insulting and pleasing me a little, but of course I couldn’t show either, so I just narrowed my eyes, lifted half an upper lip, and laughed. It being…
Lost in Translation: American Splendor
LOST IN TRANSLATION **** DIRECTED BY Sofia Coppola STARS Bill Murray, Scarlett Johannson So Francis Ford’s little girl is all grown up. It used to be that the mere mention of the name “Sofia Coppola” would draw up dire memories of her wretched performance in The Godfather Part III, or her awful screenplay for her…
Go With Whatcha Know
President Bush had a tough time at the UN last week. You remember the UN — that assemblage of countries standing in the way of the W Express Train bound for Democratization, Iraq. As it turns out, Bush miscalculated a bit. Apparently we do need international support, both in terms of manpower (you know, to…
Truth About Youth
Film: REWIND Plot: Having discovered a way to reverse the aging process, a German scientist (William Boyer) turns to an elderly couple (Kirtan Coan and Roger Durrett) for financing; what follows is a dizzying series of double-crosses that inexorably lead to murder. Guiding Lights: David Temple, writer and producer; Rick Fisher, director; David Svenson, director…
See & Do
OCTOBER 2 – THURSDAY Bypassing the usual Hollywood scene, the coming-of-age film Arizona Summer will hold its world premiere tonight at Phillips Place before opening its general run tomorrow. While tonight’s screening is by invitation only, the public is invited to show up for the Red Carpet activities, which include autograph and photo ops with…
Home Theater
DREAMCATCHER (2003) At first, this adaptation of Stephen King’s bestseller (by reliable director Lawrence Kasdan) looks like it’s going to be an effective supernatural thriller, centering on four lifelong friends (Thomas Jane, Damian Lewis, Jason Lee and Timothy Olyphant) whose childhood acquaintance, a simpleminded boy, imbued them with unusual powers. Despite the obvious cribbing of…
Ask the Advice Goddess
Wall Or Nothing I’m 34, as is my boyfriend of two years, who just broke up with me. He sweepingly cites “incompatibilities,” and refuses to go to couples counseling. I’m devastated, as I was finally coming to believe he was “The One.” I’d always assumed my “investment” in him would eventually pan out, and he’d…
Film Clips
NEW RELEASES DUPLEX Had Danny DeVito been born British and a quarter-century earlier, he would have fit right in at Ealing Studios, the English outfit known for such biting black comedies as The Ladykillers and Kind Hearts and Coronets. Most of the movies directed by De Vito (including Death to Smoochy and The War of…
Stargazer
For All Signs The Jewish High Holy Days began on Sept. 27 with Rosh Hashana and conclude following ten days of prayer with Yom Kippur on Oct. 6th. This significant period of judgment and repentance marks the New Year in the Jewish calendar, based upon the lunar cycles. It commemorates the beginning of the world…
Compromised?
Participants in the Race for the Cure are often greeted as they cross the finish line with live music, inspirational speakers and acres of colorfully adorned corporate booths. Pink, the chosen color of the international breast cancer movement, is everywhere, on hats, T-shirts, teddy bears and ribbons. A sense of community and camaraderie pervades the…
Taking Risks
Young artist Mikel Robinson uses the emotions evoked by turn-of-the century memorabilia, as well as his philosophical statements printed on the artworks, to let viewers experience connection in his exhibit Specimens, 13 mixed media assemblages currently on display at The Blue Pony Gallery. Even though the 31-year-old is using materials often found at the Metrolina…
FCC Showdown Coming To Charlotte
On October 22, Charlotte will be the first stop as the Federal Communications Commission takes its act on the road to get public opinion about how radio and TV stations are presenting local issues to the public – and, more significantly, to hear feedback on the recent rules change that has stirred national debate about…
CP Revue Sparkles
Hosting a parade of Plaids, Taffetas, and Kander & Ebb over the past three seasons, panoramic Pease Auditorium has become Charlotte’s most hospitable runway for musical revues. CPCC Theatre has a fresh shuffle of tunes for its 2003-04 opener in A Grand Night for Singing, packaging more than three dozen choice Rodgers & Hammerstein ditties.…
Mayoral Madness
To Craig Madans the whole thing just doesn’t make sense. First Mayor Pat McCrory botches the arena referendum campaign. Then he and the council go back on their word to abide by the public’s resounding “no” vote on the arena. Now the four-term Charlotte mayor wants another two years, but won’t actually commit to serving…
Dead As A Doornail
In the end, praise or scorn for Tiger In a Trance may come down to one’s opinion of the Grateful Dead and the Deadhead subculture. Some believe the band was a seminal group of musical alchemists who often approached onstage nirvana, and their fans a cultural phenomenon of joyous free spirits building a better world.…
Big O Endorses Voter Apathy
Folks all over town are wondering what the editorial writers at the Charlotte Observer were thinking last week when they wrote that the low turnout in last Tuesday’s primary election was a compliment to city government. “Tuesday’s turnout was low (8 percent), but maybe there’s a good reason,” a September 24 editorial in the Observer…
Arts Agenda
Classical Music Charlotte Symphony Strike resolution pending, Christof Perick and the CSO will present Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony. Oct. 3-4, 8 p.m. $14-$64. Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, 130 N. Tryon St. 704-972-2000. Choral Concert The Chamber Singers and Davidson College Concert Choir will present works by Dawson, Dello Joio, Ferko, Kirbye, and others. Davidson College Presbyterian…
Wheeler Goes Down
When voters finally dropkicked City Council’s most obnoxious member last week, they thought they were ousting Lynn Wheeler, city council member at-large. What they didn’t understand was that for all practical purposes, what they actually did was vote out the mayor of Charlotte. Sure, Pat McCrory, the guy who technically holds that title, did just…
