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.…
School As Torture
Angel Mort first went to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools administrators last spring after she watched kids hurl soda bottles and other objects through the window at her daughter as she got off the bus. Mort begged a transportation administrator and the assistant principal at Bradley Francis Middle School in Huntersville to change her daughter’s bus assignment, but…
Put Up Your Dukes
He’s done jail time for crack possession. He’s busted a few heads in his day, too, and been married only slightly fewer times than Henry VIII. His name is Steve Earle, and he is one of a rare breed of major musical artists willing to alienate potential fans by speaking his mind. Unlike the late…
The Blotter
CAN YOU RIP ME OFF NOW?: A man discovered recently that someone had stolen his checking account number to purchase a cell phone. Although calls were being made at his expense, the cell phone company wouldn’t release any information in regard to who purchased the phone. OBJECTION!: It’s rare to see a lawyer lose his…
The Music Box
Judging by the glut of music-related books, magazines and web-sites clogging the firmament, many music fans share a voracious reading appetite. Industry trends, CD reviews, artist profiles, genre history, gossip — you name it, there’s a blog or book about it. It’s a growth industry, too. Music buffs will seek alternatives as long as Lowest…
News of the Weird
F-ing brilliant: The Federal Communications Commission ruled in October that the “F word,” used as an adjective with the “ing” ending by U2 singer Bono during the live telecast of the Golden Globe awards ceremony in January, is not obscene language because Bono was not using it sexually but rather to enhance the word “brilliant.”…
Van M & Tonic
Ever since Sasha and Digweed chose him to open their residency in New York’s Twilo in the late 90s, Jimmy Van M (born Jimmy van Malleghem) has been a progressive DJ on the fast track. As a young Orlando DJ, he made guest appearances with name acts such as the like-minded Kimball Collins. As he…
Sit & Spin
Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros Streetcore Hellcat Streetcore opens with a riff so reminiscent of Joe Strummer’s signature, um, strumming, and wry, seasoned voice that any Clash or rock fan with a sense of music history will get an instant rush of adrenaline and flash back to the days of endless musical possibilities. The opener,…
Caped Crusaders and Loud Birds
Mitch Easter is a peculiar guy. Something of a North Carolina version of Phil Spector but with better chops (mutton and otherwise) and sans a current murder rap, Easter has been a major player in the state’s music scene ever since he recorded a little pop album by the name of Murmur for some kids…
Music Menu
THURSDAY 10.30 Coco Montoya — He has learned a trick or two playing with the legendary John Mayall, but of course Coco can play the guitar about as well as any other guitar shark lurking in those blues waters. Whether it’s R&B or straight up blues-rockers, Coco handles most with a firm grip on the…
Rummy’s “Bold” Ideas
Brave New War has always asked pointed questions regarding President Bush’s War Against Terror — questions like, “Why isn’t the Surgeon General reminding the Commander-in-Chief to take his Ritalin?” We’re not alone in this questioning of Brave New Authority, of course. Just last week some interesting questions were asked in, of all places, USA Today.…
Soundboard
Wednesday, Oct. 29 Baoding Robert Fernandez Big Al’s Pub, Mooresville Jes & Sherry Brickhouse Tavern, Davidson Robin Brown Cajun Queen 7th Street Gator Band Charleston Chops, Cornelius Michelle Smith Coley’s Tavern Acoustic Soulution Cuvee Wine & Art Gallery Bixx Trio Double Door Inn Mike Hendrix and Mookie Brill The Evening Muse Dean Fields w/ Jenn…
My Gay Proposal
“I’d marry you if I could.” Those words formed the first proposal of sorts I ever received, and it wasn’t as lame-o as it might sound. It didn’t come from a married man, either, or a prisoner, or a priest (hey, I know a woman who dated a priest, so apparently at least a few…
Home Is Where The Dark Is
When I was a college student, I went to a screening of Alan Parker’s voodoo thriller Angel Heart with my parents in a not-great section of Washington’s Capitol Hill. After the movie, we looked around, suddenly aware that the neighborhood that had been filled with bustling workers and innocent sunlight when we went into the…
See & Do
OCTOBER 29 – WEDNESDAY The Charlotte Checkers face off against the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies tonight at 7pm as they try to even their home record after losing the opener to the Gwinnett Gladiators. Charlotte then hosts the Titans from Trenton on Friday at 7:30pm at Cricket Arena. Single tickets begin at $7. For more…
Women On The Edge
Meg Ryan has tackled so many fluffy roles under the guise of “America’s sweetheart” that it’s easy to forget she’s a decent dramatic actress when she puts her mind to it. Films like When a Man Loves a Woman and Courage Under Fire tapped into this serious side, but her cutie-pie image takes its biggest…
Ask the Advice Goddess
Gloom With A View I’m 36 and my fiancee is 37. We’ve had a great sex life — until recently. She began taking Prozac for depression, and it’s drastically reduced her sex drive. We hardly have sex anymore (maybe once on weekends, never during the week). I’m sensitive to her needs, offering anything to get…
View From the Couch
WHALE RIDER A star was born in this recent art-house hit: New Zealand actress Keisha Castle-Hughes, who proved to be the best young import from that part of the world since Anna Paquin stunned us in The Piano a decade earlier. In writer-director Niki Caro’s adaptation of Witi Ihimaera’s 1986 novel, Castle-Hughes stars as Pai,…
Stargazer
For All Signs Venus, goddess of love, beauty and harmony, is challenged from every direction this week. Relationships that are faltering due to poor foundations may have a difficult time moving beyond this period in peace. Those which cannot be healed in some way may need to separate and find more compatible companions elsewhere. Even…
Film Clips
NEW RELEASES RADIO Inspired by a true story, this concerns its noble little heart with the matter of James Robert “Radio” Kennedy (Cuba Gooding Jr.), a mentally challenged kid in Anderson, SC, and Harold Jones (Ed Harris), the high school football coach whose interest in the lad transformed both their lives. Films like this one…
Family in a Jar
There’s a fine true-to-life messiness about Charlotte Rep’s latest comedy, Jar the Floor. Conversation among four generations of African American women careens unpredictably between trivialities and compelling issues. One minute on the day of Viola Dawkins’ 90th birthday, we’re caught up in the most difficult issues of parenting, relationships, career choices, and sexual identity. The…
Bad Ass
Was John Wayne one? Damn right. Muhammad Ali? Are you kidding? Did you get a look at Joe Frazier’s face after the Thrilla in Manila? Clint Eastwood? What do you think, punk? How about Tonya Harding and Martha Stewart? Would you want to come across either one in a dark alley? All of these folks,…
Fun With Diseases
Have you been feeling ill? Out of sorts? Have your internal organs begun erupting noisily from any of your orifices? Have jagged spurs of bone begun to sprout rapidly from your body, eventually reaching several feet in length? Do you fear you may be fatally infested with Mongolian Death Worms?No? Despite your good physical health,…
At-Large & In Charge
The biggest difference between this year’s at-large City Council candidates doesn’t come from party affiliation or where they stand on the issues, but what they’re willing to actually commit to doing about things on the record. The savvier incumbents spent a lot more time answering CL’s questions, but said a lot less than some of…
Arts Agenda
Classical Music Beethoven Lives Upstairs Lollipops series for young listeners ages 4-9 with Charlotte Symphony Pops. Featuring Classical Kids “A Tale of Genius and Childhood.” Sat., Nov. 1, 11 a.m. $8-18. Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, 130 N. Tryon St. 704-972-2000. Charlotte Concert Band The band will present a program entitled “The Art of Transcription” featuring…
Lots of Little Races
What looks like an at-large City Council race to most voters is really a lot of little races and mini-melodramas rolled into one. It’s a trial mayor’s race, a referendum on race relations in the Democratic Party, and a race for the ceremonial title of Mayor Pro Tem. A large power vacuum was created last…
Nightmare on Aisle 9
During Halloween, food and lifestyle magazines are loaded with recipes for such ghoulish grub as witch cupcakes, spider web cookies, and caldrons of bubbly green brew with floating kiwi eyeballs. These are cute, but not really scary. Real food can be much scarier. Of course, given time, most foods can become scary. Those of us…
Letters
Ignorant WarmongeringLetter writer Kelly Boatright’s unoriginal (“Old Europe”) and patronizing (“Dear Nina”) warmongering (“Don’t Like It? Leave,” Oct. 8) ignores the most important thing Europeans have experienced firsthand that Americans have not: modern war in their streets. US actions since 9/11 have killed twice as many innocent civilians and destroyed far more infrastructure than Al…
Appellations: Southern Hemisphere
Foreigners often say Americans are rife with arrogant superiority. Although certain nameless politicians might believe we actually reign triumphant, we definitely have competition in the wine arena. We’ve continually expanded our wine production, stretching to promising appellations like Texas, New Mexico, and New York State. But other countries, more steeped in wine history and possibly…
Go South, Young Man
Foreigners don’t always understand that the South begins with a capital “S.’ Like the West of myth and legend, the American South is more than just a geographical location. It is a place with many meanings, and debate about its virtues and vices never seems to end. The northern and eastern parts of the USA…
