Music Menu
Agnostic Front The forerunners and purveyors of hardcore are still pounding bones, 20 years on, into submission. The new record is called Dead Yuppies (Epitaph), and no stone is left unturned in the working class ethos of punk and guitar mayhem. It’s good to know “in yo face” dissent (not PC posturing or trendy patriotism)…
Letters to the editor
Thanks for Nothing To The Editors: Thank you, David Walters (“A City for Learning,” October 12) for pointing out that I and tens of thousands of other University area residents are living in a “dystopia” of ugliness that’s “typical of the tawdriness of our throw-away consumer society.” I had no idea I was raising my…
Soundboard
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24 BAYOU KITCHEN Bill Noonan CAJUN QUEEN 7th Street Gator Band CAJUN QUEEN, PINEVILLE 7th Street Gator Band II CAT’S CRADLE, CARRBORO The Damned CHARLIE BROWN’S, CHARLOTTE Rob & Rob CHARLIE BROWN’S, MATTHEWS Without Annette CHARLIE BROWN’S, ROCK HILL Wizard’s Road Show COMEDY ZONE Tim Wilson COMET GRILL Bob & Blake COYOTE JOE’S…
The Blotter
* A middle school student became enraged when someone asked him to pull his pants up. He proved he was a man by throwing a temper tantrum that left one man assaulted, a window busted out, and the little man handcuffed and put in a cop car. Once in the police cruiser, the student complained…
Fairest Of Them All
Mirror, mirror, on the wall, which current home theater release tops them all? Hey, don’t expect any semblance of clarity when posing that question, since this month’s batch includes a sizable number of notable heavy hitters. When it comes to recent theatrical releases making their debuts on video and DVD, the clear winner is Bridget…
It’s A Keeper
In 1975, the Eagles’ One of These Nights, Springsteen’s Born to Run and The Hustle by Van McCoy played on radios. The war in Vietnam ended; Wall Street’s fixed commissions were eliminated; and the pivotal phrase from Jaws, “We’re going to need a bigger boat” was known to all. Charlotte country clubs, with selective memberships…
Is Film Criticism Dead?
Film criticism lost a symbolic voice last month with the death of flinty, influential critic Pauline Kael at age 82. Though it has been some 10 years since Kael wrote about cinema at The New Yorker, her mere existence lent weight to film’s status as an artform worth getting hot and bothered about. Whether one…
Filmclips
NEW RELEASESTHE LAST CASTLE From 1930’s The Big House through 1963’s The Great Escape to 1979’s Escape From Alcatraz, the prison flick has provided viewers with endless hours of hard-hitting, escapist fun. But if there’s a genre that has seemingly exhausted its resources and now stands ready to be put out to pasture, surely it’s…
8 Days A Week
WEDNESDAY 24 Author Richard Powers, whose lyrical writing combined with intellectual pursuits have caused him to be hailed as “the brainiest young star of fiction” will present the 2001 Reynolds Lecture at Davidson College in Love Auditorium at 8pm. The lecture is free. For more information call 704-894-2288. Charlotte Repertory Theatre’s presentation of True Home:…
The 10 Scariest People In Charlotte
Not everything scary goes bump in the night. Some of them go “I second that motion” or “You don’t belong in Charlotte” or even “If she wasn’t bitin’, she wasn’t fightin’.” Like any city, the Queen City has its share of scary monsters — our murder rate, for example, speaks for itself. Sometimes, though, the…
Stargazer
For All Signs The Saturn/Pluto opposition, the effects of which began in May and continue for another year, is now accented strongly by Mars, the ancient god of war. Saturn opposite Pluto represents the economic downturn and the element of forced change that each of us is feeling personally, as well as globally. Given the…
Disastrous Profits
As an alluring female voice echoes President Bush’s rousing words of solidarity following last month’s terrorist attacks, the TV screen shows a picturesque stretch of open road that disappears into a glowing horizon. The woman’s voice continues, encouraging us to be strong, to not hide in fear, to carry on with business as usual, to.…
The Art Of Film
You’ve probably already seen Rex Eagle’s work without even knowing it. And beginning November 9, if you opt to check out the comedy Shallow Hal (which you know you will), you’ll see a lot more of his work — as well as the satisfaction of seeing your hometown on the silver screen. Rex Eagle grew…
The Future’s So Bright…
The sky was so blue Saturday, it made you forget about all those days when you can’t see the mountains because of the smog. In other words, it was a perfect day for the crowd of environmentally friendly people who came to the Western North Carolina Agricultural Center near Hendersonville for the Southern Energy &…
The More Things Change…
Seems like just a few months ago, Opera Carolina was showing us that the ornate artform that spawned the works of Verdi and Rossini could be thematically relevant, harmonically challenging, and theatrically thrilling. Trouble is, contemporary operas like Susannah and The Crucible, even when they ruminate on McCarthyism and crazed fundamentalists, don’t necessarily fill Belk…
Souls of the Dead
Evangelical cartoonist Jack T. Chick hates Halloween. Chick, creator and publisher of the notorious “Chick Tracts,” is a somewhat mysterious figure. No information exists about him except a brief biography published on his Internet site (www.chick.com), describing his journey from youthful actor and military man to full-time proselytizer. Chick refuses interviews, leading some to speculate…
When I’m Sixties-Sore
No era in American history is subject to as much romanticized hindsight as the 1960s. Look no further than the average American shopping mall, where teenagers who weren’t even born in the decade’s afterglow sport tie-dyed t-shirts, Gap stores push bell-bottom jeans, and the Grateful Dead sell more records now than they did in the…
Clear Enough
County Manager Harry Jones says some things are just common sense. Jones said he has no plans to change or clarify county policy on political activity by county employees in the wake of a controversy over the resignation of an employee after a particularly volatile letter to the editor ran in Creative Loafing. The letter,…
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…
Citizen Servatius
Ever watched a hamster running on its wheel, alternately exerting a burst of speed and then straining to keep up with the momentum it has created, exhausting itself while getting nowhere? Then you’re fully qualified to understand the psychology of public education in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. The frustrated single mother who called me two weeks ago understands…
It’s A Keeper
In 1975, the Eagles’ One of These Nights, Springsteen’s Born to Run and The Hustle by Van McCoy played on radios. The war in Vietnam ended; Wall Street’s fixed commissions were eliminated; and the pivotal phrase from Jaws, “We’re going to need a bigger boat” was known to all. Charlotte country clubs, with selective memberships…
The Death of Irrelevance
Don’t you feel a bit silly watching Entertainment Tonight? Do you even care if the Emmys were cancelled again, or what J-Lo wore on her wedding day? Welcome to the slow death of irrelevance in what we see, read, and listen to in America. We may not be used to it just yet, but in…
Hellion Halloween Wines
For my last Halloween party, I made the ghoulish mistake of serving a “witches’ brew” punch instead of wine. Sure, it looked cool in the plastic cauldron with the dry ice and all, but this unholy concoction of Jaegermeister, sloe gin, and lime Kool-Aid gave us all hellish headaches before we could finish one glass.…
Lucy Perkins
It’s highly ironic that Americans seem to consider themselves so civilized and modern and sophisticated here in the 21st century. We tend to look down on other cultures and people who believe in voodoo and reincarnation and other ideas that, frankly, have a lot more factual basis than some of the crap we believe in.…
Goodeats
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…
David Walters
The Magna Carta lay just three feet away. To my left was Shakespeare’s First Folio from 1623. To my right was a Gutenberg Bible (1455), the Lindisfarne Gospels, a beautiful illustrated manuscript from the year 710, and just beyond, the Codex Sinaiticus the earliest known version of the Gospels, dating from about 350AD. And in…
Staind Master
Singer Aaron Lewis of the band Staind has been able to connect with millions of rock fans with his dark, personal lyrics about failed relationships and his struggles through a confused and unhappy adolescence. But the same man who boldly exposes his emotions in song truly has a difficult time expressing himself in conversation. After…
Beer 2day, Deadline 2morrow
Waiter, a bicarbonate of soda, please. Lupie’s Cafe held their annual Chili Cook-off Sunday in the restaurant’s parking lot, attracting the usual large crowd. About a dozen local gourmands had their wares on display, which one could sample endlessly after paying a $10 entry fee. On hand was the popular Love Me Tenderloin chili, Fat…
IGGY POP
You see it in every bit of gristle and sinew and throbbing vein. Every swing of his thin, fine hair, matted with sweat and spraying the first five rows with his every gyration. He smells like cigarettes and sex, a cartoon of a man, tightly sculpted as if in wax into full, three-dimensional relief. He…
The Homefront Adviser
Watching the news, I’m confused about which countries are our friends and which ones are our enemies. All those “istans” can get confusing. Please help. I understand your confusion. I can hardly keep my “istans” straight and I have a degree in Middle Eastern history. As far as alliances goes, this stage of the war…
