CL RECOMMENDS
The Plot Against America by Philip Roth (Vintage International paperback). Roth’s inspired “alternate history” novel — both roundly praised and denounced upon its initial release — posits that in 1940, Republican Charles Lindbergh, running on an isolationist platform, is elected President in a landslide over FDR. His victory turns him into a near-godlike figure and…
Chuck Morrison
Who the hell is Chuck Morrison? What band is he in? What clubs does he play? Ha-ha, he’s not a musician at all. But he hangs out with a bunch of ’em. Morrison owns the preeminent Charlotte indie-rock label MoRisen records, home of the Talk, Elevator Action, the Alternative Champs, Marat, Snatches of Pink, etc.,…
BB&B
Beer, bikes, and barbecue. Blue jeans, baked beans, bar stools, bankers, and other B words are found in abundance at Mac’s Speed Shop & Barbecue on South Boulevard in SouthEnd/Dilworth. Named for the building’s original business, Mac’s Alternator Shop, this venture is the third for veteran restaurateur and Harley-owner JD Duncan who also owns Bonterra…
In Their Own Words
Book Review
Sliding into the Saddle
Most slide guitar instruction manuals start with, “Meet the devil at the crossroads at midnight.” Roy Rogers don’t play that. Blues guitarist Rogers is a California boy who got his learning at the Fillmore in San Francisco, scoping out the non-psychedelic acts. He was drawn to the raw Mississippi Delta sounds of Muddy Waters, Howlin’…
Music in Frames
Rock & roll has always had cinematic appeal and a flair for visuals that go beyond funky hairdos. Think of Elvis Presley’s sneer, Jimi Hendrix burning his guitar in flamboyant rainbow raiment, Pete Townshend smashing his guitar to bits, Run-DMC posing in their treasured Adidas and leathers, and Gwen Stefani’s recent punkette-meets-geisha look. The following…
Swinging the Lantern on the Levee
Our disappearing glaciers make fools and fatalists of us all. The earth is heating up and we’re complicit. Our industries, our air conditioners and particularly our cars are heating up the earth’s surface, melting ageless ice chunks to slushy saltwater and letting the sun change our lives forever. It’s true. But that’s happening over there…
Sankofa Strings:
To the Akan people of West Africa, “sankofa” is an essential life principle, deriving from an aphorism which translates as “go back and retrieve.” Arizona’s Sankofa Strings, a trio of African American artists who venerate self-made music, strive to embody this ancient Akan concept that (literally) there is nothing wrong with learning from hindsight. Sankofa…
Where Are They Now?
The first time Cheryl McCoy ever boarded a plane, she didn’t know where the aircraft would touch down. She was with several family members — four grandchildren, her boyfriend, her daughter Tamakia and Tamakia’s boyfriend. Other family members had gone to the Louisiana Superdome; McCoy had hoped they would all land in the same city.…
‘I don’t want to be homeless again’
Barry Webb is sitting in a soft chair in his second-story apartment between Central and Commonwealth avenues. It’s a neat, plant-filled two-bedroom that gives the impression of a tenant who takes care of what little he has. It’s the sort of natural, imperfect clean that gives suggests it wasn’t cleaned just for company. Webb, 43,…
Where Are They Now?
The first time Cheryl McCoy ever boarded a plane, she didn’t know where the aircraft would touch down. She was with several family members — four grandchildren, her boyfriend, her daughter Tamakia and Tamakia’s boyfriend. Other family members had gone to the Louisiana Superdome; McCoy had hoped they would all land in the same city.…
See & Do
October 12 Wednesday If you like to see a stage crackle with violent action — and crammed with gritty litter — you won’t find Tracy Letts’ Bug repellent. Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte shepherds this macabre slice of Southwestern life to 650 E. Stonewall St. for its local premiere. Set in a seedy Oklahoma City motel…
After the fall
Finding a home when you’re near the bottom of the economic food chain isn’t unlike playing a game of musical chairs. The music stops, and the extremely poor can’t find a seat. It stops again, and the really poor are left standing. Stops again, and not-quite-as-poor are out of luck. Slowly, as affordable housing disappears,…
Whose right to vote?
An ongoing bureaucratic snafu may have led to the questionable and possibly illegal registration of hundreds of homeless voters in Mecklenburg County. Exactly who is to blame is difficult to sort out, but the end result was that hundreds of people registered to vote at Urban Ministries, the Salvation Army or the Charlotte Rescue Mission,…
Lake Eden Arts Festival
Lake Eden Arts Festival (LEAF) celebrates its 21st festival with lots of world and folk music, healing arts, poetry, juried handcrafts, folk arts, kids’ activities, kayaking, swimming, camping and more. It takes place Oct. 14-16 at Camp Rockmont in Black Mountain, NC. Individual day tickets range from $19-$40. Camping facilities are available. For full details…
‘It all went in my arm’
Susan Condrey found herself on the streets after a battle with drugs and alcohol that she says totaled three decades. Condrey says she started using because, at 21 years old, she wanted to fit in with her co-workers. “It just progressed to marijuana to hash to PCP to amphetamines. It seemed so simple and innocent…
Gouged
Boomer With Attitude
The Blotter
Communicative Crooks: A woman came home and discovered a guy sitting in a car parked in her driveway, talking on a two-way radio. As the woman approached the stranger, three other men came running out from behind her house and hopped in the car. The car peeled out of the driveway and picked up a…
Short list
Breaking news
Karma Cleanser
Dear Karma Cleanser: My wife recently posed a playful question, one that’s been pondered from trailer park to townhome (mostly trailer park) across the country: “What is the first thing you’d do if you won the lottery?” My plan involved giving life-changing amounts of money to the key personnel in my department at work, enabling…
Stop the Bleeding
Citizen Servatius
Stargazer
Libra The Scales (Sept. 22 – Oct. 22) The eclipses of this series have drawn attention to your partnerships. What is your pattern in Significant Relationships? What needs to be repaired or improved? How might you contribute to a fuller, richer life for yourself as well as the important persons in your life? It is…
Teenage Kicks
Tune N
View From The Couch
BATMAN BEGINS (2005). One of the finest superhero films ever made, Batman Begins marks the beginning of a beautiful friendship — between the creative forces who have resurrected a popular franchise and the fans who felt betrayed when that same franchise went belly up during the late 90s. Never afraid to peer into the darkest…
Letters
And now, from Sunny George. . . I think we all agree that Charlotte has about as much soul as Pee Wee Herman dancing on the bar at Bar Charlotte (“In Search of the Soul of Charlotte,” Oct. 5). Your point, it seems, is that you have to search for the soul to find it…
Flim Clips
New Releases EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED Well, not quite everything, but almost enough to provide this ersatz road film with the gravitas it clearly seeks. Based on Jonathan Safran Foer’s book, this directorial debut from actor Liev Schreiber is an odd meld of cinematic whimsy and Holocaust tragedy, relating how Jewish Jonathan (Elijah Wood), a meticulous…
Infamous Corrections
• In our Sept. 28 “Tour of Infamy” story, we said the 4808 Club, where the leader of the band GWAR was arrested in 1990, was at 4808 Central Ave. The club was initially located at that address, but by 1990, it was in its third and final location on 4th Street, near where the…
Change of Heart
CORKSCREW
Uncorrected
Moodswing
Living Color
Mouthful
Movin’ and shakin’
Urban Explorer
Oct. 13 – Oct. 19, 2005
The eclipses of this series have drawn attention to your partnerships. What is your pattern in Significant Relationships? What needs to be repaired or improved? How might you contribute to a fuller, richer life for yourself as well as the important persons in your life? It is crucial to search out solutions that favor everyone…
The Wine List
Banfi Wine Dinner Includes a five course meal along with five Banfi Wines. Tue., Oct. 18, 6 p.m. $65. Villa Antonio, 4707 South Blvd. 704-523-1594. Cru Pinot Noir Tasting Limited seating. Fri., Oct. 14, 7 p.m. La Bibliotheque, 1901 Roxborough Rd. 704-451-0636. Domaine Serene Fest Presented by the Wine Vault featuring guest speaker, tasting and…
Between a rock a hardwood floor
When the door slammed shut behind Susan Condrey, it was an audible reminder that her life’s downward spiral, three decades in the making, had now plunged to its lowest depth. With that sound, she had nowhere to go. No place to be. No one to turn to. And she didn’t care. All the 47-year-old really…
New Releases
New Releases EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED Well, not quite everything, but almost enough to provide this ersatz road film with the gravitas it clearly seeks. Based on Jonathan Safran Foer’s book, this directorial debut from actor Liev Schreiber is an odd meld of cinematic whimsy and Holocaust tragedy, relating how Jewish Jonathan (Elijah Wood), a meticulous…
Guys And Dolls
The late Rod Steiger spent his prime years delivering masterful performances before settling into knee-jerk hamminess for the remainder of his career. Likewise, Robert De Niro has a reputation as one of the premier actors of his generation, yet he hasn’t broken a sweat onscreen in at least a decade. And then there’s the case…
8-8 in America
Performing Arts
Racism battered but not dead
SuggBlog
What’s So Funny?
Forget McMarvel and DC King: get off the highway and check out the mom-and-pop shops. Stop in for some cherry pie at Erika’s Hoochie Mama All-Night Diner, and grab a road map from Peter Kuper on the way out. You may never hit the highway again. Erika Lopezwww.erikalopez.com Peter Kuperwww.peterkuper.com Lambiek Comiclopediahttp://lambiek.net/artists/index.htm Monthly Montreal Comix…
Guys And Dolls
The late Rod Steiger spent his prime years delivering masterful performances before settling into knee-jerk hamminess for the remainder of his career. Likewise, Robert De Niro has a reputation as one of the premier actors of his generation, yet he hasn’t broken a sweat onscreen in at least a decade. And then there’s the case…
