Grape Divide
Men are from Mars, women are from Venus — or so we were told by psycho-babbler John Gray in his bestselling paean to gender stereotypes. But do wine-buying habits reduce the cheesy psycho-theories to dust and reunite us? I conducted an informal poll of 15 men and women of varying wine interest to find out…
View From The Couch
EYES WITHOUT A FACE (LES YEUX SANS VISAGE) (1959). To borrow from the late Rodney Dangerfield, Les Yeux Sans Visage got no respect when it premiered stateside in 1962: Trimmed and dubbed into English, it was paired with the two-headed creature cheapie The Manster and released under the title The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus.…
Election Shocker
International election watchers were stunned early this week when the Afghani Supreme Court named a winner in Afghanistan’s presidential election more than two weeks before all the votes were expected to be counted. According to the Court, President Hamid Karzai, the heavy favorite, will be replaced by upset winner, Grand Warlord Ahmed al-Bushid, formerly considered…
Good Eats
All Around Town Anntony’s Caribbean, 6434-F West Sugarcreek Rd., 704-598-6863; 2001 E. 7th St., 704-342-0749. 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. (Gastonia), 704-866-7574. A favorite of…
Film Clips
NEW RELEASES THE FINAL CUT Advancing age just might be the best thing to ever happen to Robin Williams’ career. As he continues to grow older, ailments such as arthritis should prevent him from ever again traipsing around with bedpans on his feet or chasing flatulent flubber around a laboratory; this development will in turn…
Politics & Beer
The band Yo La Tengo was in town Friday at the Visulite Theatre as part of its “Swing States Tour.” You know about swing states: states that could conceivably vote either way in the Presidential election, they’re the key focus for both John Kerry and George W. Bush. The key to winning those swing states?…
Judging Music By Its Cover
At the advent of the CD age, it was widely believed the new format would spell ruin for the whole field of album art. But if there was a decline in work, it wound up only in frame-size. People simply adjusted to the smaller format, and as the recent explosion in richly detailed reissues proves,…
Emergency Revolutionary
Margaret Cho, whose concert film Revolution has her artfully styled as Che Guevara on the cover, isn’t necessarily leading a revolution. She’s leading a tour, certainly, called “State of Emergency.” And right now, the comic has her sights set on mobilizing her base around the hotly contested 2004 election. But her revolution has been a…
Word On The Street
Theresa Hunt Landscape Architect “I care very deeply about what the mayor has to say regarding art. Almost as deeply as I care about that gnat on your camera lens.” Harriet Ellison Tupperware Salesperson “He’s right. They could buy some of those big paintings I see at yard sales — nice frames, too — and…
Humor Emergency
Margaret Cho muses on how the world might change if straight males menstruated. She talks about emergency bowel movements, eating disorders, depression and addictions, lesbian sex, gay sex, straight sex, sexual stereotypes, racial stereotypes, her brief unhappy foray into sitcom TV and, lately, politics and civil liberties. This brilliant comedian, like Lenny Bruce and Richard…
The Blotter
REALLY DUMB CROOK NEWS: While sitting behind the wheel of his car, a pizza delivery guy was accosted by a gun-toting crook, who demanded he hand over all his money. A struggle ensued, during which time the crook dropped his gun inside the pizza dude’s car, who then promptly fled the scene. Unbelievably, the same…
Beyond Bush, Kerry & Nader
Are you one of the “undecideds” wrestling with who to cast your vote for in the upcoming presidential election? Maybe it’s not indecisiveness — perhaps you just need to look closer at some of the other, alternative candidates for President. No, not Ralph Nader — compared to these guys, Nader’s a respected member of the…
See & Do
OCTOBER 14 – THURSDAY Twenty years after her first CD, native Canadian k.d. lang remains a disarmingly honest and genuine performer, holding on to humility and authenticity in the face of numerous platinum albums. A solid corps of devotees and aficionados have set the 42-year-old torch-singing rocker on a high pedestal, esteeming her among the…
Standing Room Only
WBTV’s revamped evening newscasts popped up last Monday with no fanfare, showing some improvements, but some problems as well. THE GOOD NEWS The addition of native Charlottean Maureen O’Boyle is a plus. She looks professional, sounds authoritative, Milk Dud-brown eyes and all. She’s been on the national scene long enough to know how to play…
Ask the Advice Goddess
How The Mother Half Lives After nine years of being a single mother, I married a man I really liked. Although I knew he wasn’t my soul mate, he was good with kids. At the time, my rich ex-husband with his perfect homemaker wife was suing for custody, so I felt pressured to be in…
Selling Circles
Thomas Sayre makes his living selling circles, and from time to time, the occasional square. Government art bureaucrats love Sayre’s circles and have paid him hundreds of thousands of dollars for them over the years. They call them public art. The head of the Charlotte Area Transit System’s public art program, which is buying $80,000…
Stargazer
For All Signs On Oct. 13 we experienced a new moon eclipse in Libra, sign of balance and relationships. The presence of Jupiter, Mars, Sun and Mercury in Libra even more dramatically emphasizes the need to focus on the areas of partnership and sharing. Many of us will be searching out the best ways to…
Re-fighting the same fights
Public art is vital to a city’s image. My dominant memory of a brief trip to Basel, Switzerland, is taking a tram from the station and getting off near a colossal silhouette of a man hammering an invisible object in the street. The statue’s black steel arm moved slowly and irresistibly, never ceasing its eternal…
Once Upon a Life
Lifegame isn’t one of those gripping new dramas that reveals what today’s hottest playwright has to say about where we’ve gone so terribly wrong. Nor does its creator, Keith Johnstone, pontificate about the woeful injustices and absurdities of the contemporary world — or warn us of a horrific future perched on our doorstep. No, Johnstone…
Letters
Sign of Rushing As I perused the latest edition of the Loaf I came upon an article written by Tara Servatius (“Election Hit & Run?,” Oct. 6) about a man who claims to have been hit by a partisan Subaru. Accompanying the article was a photo of the man, Alex Kramer (who probably shouldn’t have…
Canine Rainbow
Release the hounds! The hue and cry for canine liberation begins this Saturday, October 16, at 10am in front of Two Wachovia Center. Dogs will lead their owners on a short tour of downtown, and all four-legged brothers and sisters are invited to join the parade. This demonstration of canine force kicks off the First…
News of the Weird
Extreme makeover: According to an August Washington Post profile, Maura Hall of Washington, D.C., has spent more than $25,000 (an amount which a United Nations food program says will feed 350 Third World children for a year) for a kidney transplant and post-operative care for “Lily,” her longhaired gray cat. (Among the post-op procedures: weekly,…
Arts Agenda
Classical Music Chamber Music at St. Peter’s A special recital from Alan Black and Phillip Bush to benefit the musicians’ fund of Chamber Music. Sat., Oct. 16, 7:30 p.m. $10. St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 115 W. 7th St. 704-335-0009. Faculty Recital A performance featuring works of Strauss, Copland, Schubert and others. Free. Sloan Music Center,…
Kitchen’s Soul Seasoning
“The music industry right now is being grabbed by the throat by hip-hop,” says Charlotte DJ Mike Kitchen. To counteract that musical trend, Kitchen has organized an event he’s calling Seasons of Soul. “Our goal is to have artists perform in a live-concert format twice each month in order to fulfill the need for an…
Kielbasa, Kefir And Kvass
Ethnic deli/grocery stores offer incredible deals on native food items. Go to a non-ethnic upscale deli for a small loaf of Polish Easter Babka and spend $10. Go to an ethnic shop, you’ll find it for $4. Not into sweet breads? What about a hefty bag of poppy seeds for a couple of bucks, or…
Sit & Spin
Camper Van Beethoven New Roman Times Pitch-a-Tent/Vanguard Leave it to Camper Van Beethoven to return after a 15-year hiatus with a ridiculously ambitious, infectious and musically amorphous concept album. Set in an alternate universe where the partisan divide in America has resulted in warring republics (Christian Texas and liberal California), New Roman Times follows a…
The Steaks Are Not So High
What exactly is a Flat Iron Steak? Although the name conjures up a sizzling branding iron, in reality this steak is a product of academic research. The Flat Iron Steak was developed by Chris Calkins, a University of Nebraska Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources meat scientist, who was funded through the National Cattlemen’s Beef…
Music Menu
THURSDAY 10.14 The Crooked Jades — An under-rated San Francisco quintet that plays acoustic old-time music with a vengeance — and we mean that literally. Band-leader Jeff Kazor’s obsession with the dark, haunting side of pre-radio murder ballads and the like makes their music and live shows more akin to the Louvins than lukewarm nu-grass.…
Fit For A King
Chris Coleman did not originally set out to be a chef. As a native Charlottean, Coleman attended the University of North Carolina at Charlotte to primarily study graphic arts, but after a year, the culinary world called and art took on an edible form. “I have always liked to cook, and I decided go to…
Soundboard
Wednesday, Oct. 13 Amos’ Southend 34 Below w/ 7 Speed Breakfast Club DJ Boney B Bricktop Lounge DJ Christian and Brigmunton Double Door Inn 3 Bad Jacks The Evening Muse We’re About 9 Lava Java Open Mic w / Sam Midtown 51 Acoustic Solution Midtown, Harris Blvd Brian and Joe Midtown, Mountain Island Mike and…
Black magic
I will never command you to do anything in the kitchen. I may gently coax, cajole and persuade, but command I will not. I’ll try to get you excited about making your own stuff rather than the store-bought version of things like chicken stock, cranberry sauce or chip-dipping salsa. I’ll wax philosophical about the merits…
All The Slight Moves
Shall We Dance is the Hollywood remake of a wonderful art-house hit from Japan, yet it turns out that the 1997 original isn’t this new picture’s worst enemy. Instead, the sabotage comes from within. Richard Gere, who had a banner year in 2002 (exceptional performances in both Chicago and Unfaithful), handles leading man duties in…
Chopsticks 101
If you’re a “Westerner” frequenting one of Charlotte’s many Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese or Korean restaurants, it’s likely that silverware rather than chopsticks will be brought to your place setting. Experienced or adventurous diners may request chopsticks, but the dexterity required to manipulate a shiitake mushroom from plate to mouth with a set of chopsticks can…
On The Road Again
In 1952, two young Argentinean students set off into the heart of South America riding a motorcycle that’s like a temperamental horse bucking them at every turn. The journey as metaphor is a familiar one, charted in legends from The Odyssey to Easy Rider. Along the way, we know the youths will have their eyes…
