Beer 2day Deadline 2morrow
Feeling positively Geritol-ready and way too male, I ventured to Ovens Auditorium on Thursday to catch Tori Amos and opening act Rufus Wainwright. Arriving stylishly late in a handsome combo of blue jeans and an old gym shirt, I was surprised to find out that the new fashion among the kids is. . .blue jeans…
The Blotter
* Ambiguous: A suspect wandered onto a neighbor’s lawn to start something, but ended up only threatening to threaten her. “If you ever come to my house, I will threaten you,” the suspect said, shuffling onward.* Unambiguous: A man was threatened by another man, who stated, “I will get my gun and shoot you. If…
Four Weeks In Costa Rica
Everything in Costa Rica works. Unlike much of the rest of Latin America, there’s no pressing need for land reform, the country has a solid middle class, enjoys political stability, and health care is widely available, leading to an average lifespan equal to that of the US. Add to that an overriding environmental sensitivity and…
Letters to the Editor
Hated Showdown To The Editors: I was stunned by the “Showdown at McCrory Corral” article by Tara Servatius (CL, September 26). I don’t know what Ms. Servatius was hoping to accomplish, but what she showed me was that she lacks any compassion and humanity for her fellow Charlotteans, and indeed she lacks any caring for…
8 Days A Week
WEDNESDAY 10 Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte continues its season opener, Thumbs, a new comedy/thriller by Rupert Holmes. The show runs through October 21 in Spirit Square. Showtimes are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday, October 21 at 2pm only. Tickets range from $14-$18. For more information, call 704-372-1000 or…
Nuevos Amigos
Nationally, the nuevo Latino cuisine trend apparently has come and gone. It passed us by. What remains, however, are some Latino ingredients and food items, such as yucca, jicama, and empanadas, finding their way onto mainstream restaurants’ menus. Even though Charlotte doesn’t have any nuevo Latino restaurants in the wings, the area is booming with…
Stargazer
For All Signs Each of the planets in the solar system represents one element in the recipe that makes up our human energy. Mars is the ancient god of war. In the horoscope, this planet represents the style in which we protect ourselves or defend our positions. As our personal warrior, the sign in which…
Up Close And Far Away
Despite the title, it isn’t obvious at first that the rain forests of South America provide the fragile setting for Return to the Rainforest, a series of paintings by Venezuelan artist Fernando Porras currently on display at Noel Gallery. For Porras, the rain forest is a setting but not a literal background; it’s a place,…
Soundboard
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10 BAYOU KITCHEN Bill Noonan BOARDWALK BILLY’S, UNCC Robin Brown CAJUN QUEEN 7th Street Gator Band CAJUN QUEEN, PINEVILLE 7th Street Gator Band II CAT’S CRADLE, CARRBORO ZOSO CHARLIE BROWN’S, CHARLOTTE Rob & Rob CHARLIE BROWN’S, MATTHEWS Without Annette CHARLIE BROWN’S, ROCK HILL Wizard’s Roadshow COMEDY ZONE Lance Montalto DILWORTH COFFEE HOUSE Open…
Come Out of the Closet, Jesus
Opening in NoDa barely three weeks after the horrific attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, Terrence McNally’s Corpus Christi brings us powerful lessons about facing down the threats of gutless, mean-spirited religious zealots. Unfortunately, the most potent of these lessons are not found in McNally’s script. It’s the notorious production history of…
Cop Out
What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object? Or, to parlay this eternal conundrum into cinematic terms, what happens when an amazingly versatile actor is forced to share screen time with a performer so immobile, he makes the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey seem as active as a sports bar on Super…
Love, Sex and All That
David Leavitt once said, “Sex isn’t of any inherent interest unless it provides a way of revealing something not only about people but about the way they interact.” In his early career, Leavitt was often criticized for his restrained sex scenes and the bourgeois elements of his work. But ironically, his novels of the late…
Queen City
Contrary to popular belief, comparing the cinematic version of Hedwig and the Angry Inch to the legendary Rocky Horror Picture Show (as many have been prone to do) does the new film no favors. Yes, Rocky Horror may be instantly recognizable even beyond the pop culture crowd, but while it may be an excellent midnight…
Arts Agenda
ARTS/RELATED AFRO-AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER 401 N. Myers St. Ongoing through December 9: “HBCU Football: North Carolina Legacies.” Returning for an indefinite run: “Juke Joint,” Willie Little’s exhibition of childhood memories. For more information, call 704-374-1565. APPLEWOOD GALLERY 3920 Park Rd. On display through November 30: the works of Terry Thirlon, mixed media paintings; the works…
Film Clips
NEW RELEASES CHARLOTTE FILM SOCIETY SECOND WEEK SERIES This month’s offerings begin this Friday at the Manor and continue the following Friday at Movies at Birkdale. Call 704-414-2355 for more info. * FAITHLESS If there’s an antithesis to the “feel-good film,” it’s this absorbing yet utterly depressing drama directed by Liv Ullmann from a screenplay…
Nuevos Amigos
Nationally, the nuevo Latino cuisine trend apparently has come and gone. It passed us by. What remains, however, are some Latino ingredients and food items, such as yucca, jicama, and empanadas, finding their way onto mainstream restaurants’ menus. Even though Charlotte doesn’t have any nuevo Latino restaurants in the wings, the area is booming with…
Twitch & Shout
Blake Cotton was riding through McAdenville looking at the Christmas lights with members of his church group when he noticed a policeman directing traffic. Suddenly, shy, quiet, introverted Blake began to make loud, obnoxious pig noises: you know, “Oink, Oink.” As the policeman shot an angry glance towards the car, Blake’s fellow passengers, red-faced and…
The French Maze: Reds
When it comes to French wines, even wine snobs sing the blues. The maze of appellations (names of areas) and fancy labels are enough to discourage anyone from drinking the stuff. But somehow in France, these issues don’t faze ordinary people. They quaff wine without ever caring where the grapes were grown or the name…
Something In The Air
Even though air pollution has become one of the city’s most urgent issues, the candidates in the current mayoral race haven’t said much about it. As reported in the September 12 CL (“Homegrown Heath Hazard”), numerous studies show that the Carolinas, and specifically Charlotte, suffer from some of the most polluted air in the country,…
Good Eats
ALL AROUND TOWN ANNTONY’S CARIBBEAN 2001 E. 7th, 704-342-0749; 145 Brevard Court, 704-339-0303; 20910 Torrence Chapel Road, Cornelius, 704-894-0280. A fun, change-of-pace restaurant for a casual lunch or dinner. Limited menu features rotisserie-cooked barbecued meats, what else, Caribbean style. $ BRUEGGER’S BAGEL BAKERY All over town. Chewy bagels, crisp on the outside, and served with…
Housing Authority Goes On The Attack
Harrison Shannon, the embattled CEO of the Charlotte Housing Authority (CHA), is digging in his heels. In the political wake created by a leaked report detailing management problems the CHA has had over the last few years, Shannon was rumored to have been considering stepping down from his position if he was able to negotiate…
Jane Says…
It’s often difficult to try and capture the essence or impact of a band in a limited amount of words, especially when it’s a group like Jane’s Addiction, who some credit as being the first “alternative” band of the 90s. You also have to take into consideration that lead vocalist Perry Farrell will probably also…
The Weight of Paper
The lost file committee is probably the best-kept secret in the Mecklenburg County Court system. It’s not that the lawyers, judges and court personnel who formed it have anything to hide. It’s what they’re looking for in the chaos of the court system’s daily grind that they’d rather the public not know about. Picture a…
CD Disc-overies
Tori Amos — Strange Little Girls (Atlantic) OK, you might have missed Tori Amos’ Charlotte concert last week, but there’s no excuse for missing her latest album. The music industry has typically been one dominated by males, and with today’s testosterone-driven rock and teen-oriented boy bands, few female artists would take on a virtual arsenal…
What Falwell Really Meant
I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians. . .the A.C.L.U., People for the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America, I point the finger in their face and say, ‘You helped this happen.'” — Jerry Falwell, September 13, on The…
Music Menu
Bombay Jayshri Bombay is a Carnatic (South Indian classical music) vocalist who holds court in the eons old traditional schools with enough overlays to bring it to a whole new audience. She moves from devotional tunes, guided by restraint, to exploring the higher plateaus of classical music with a delivery that traverses a couple of…
Letter To The Future
To Landon Kirk Ryals: Hopefully, your mother will save this column for you. By the time you’re old enough to grasp what I have to say, it will be timeworn and yellow, and there will be streaks of gray in my hair and in your mother’s. You’re barely a month old now, but someday you’ll…
Hope For The Future
If there is one thing you hate, it’s packing for a trip. But you’re a trouper, so you do what needs to be done, stowing extra clothes in your bag as well as the various toiletries you’ll need. Razor blades you elect to leave in the cabinet because you don’t want any kind of delay…
This Week On The Charlotte Channel
Given television’s ravenous hunger for content, you know it’s only a matter of time before somebody at the Charlotte Convention and Visitors Bureau gets a bright idea. Since everybody knows that the cultural, metaphysical, and geographic center of the universe is located at the intersection of Trade and Tryon Streets, it’s only right, no, it…
A City for Learning
Education, like many things in our culture, is prone to cliches. We have our own versions in Charlotte: the ubiquitous “commitment to excellence” that is rarely defined; so-called “neighborhood” schools where neighborhoods are equated with car-dominated suburbs; and “equal opportunity,” a phrase that comes perilously close to the old doctrine of “separate but equal.” These…
