Sep 28 – Oct 4, 2005

Sep 28 - Oct 4, 2005 / Vol. 19 / No. 30

Film Clips

Current Releases THE ARISTOCRATS This documentary revolves around a hoary joke that features the same set-up and punchline (“The Aristocrats!”), yet the middle of the gag is an open invitation for comedians to get as nasty as they wanna be in the retelling. This movie finds 96 such comics weighing in on the joke, either…

Matt Brunson

See & Do Picks

Thursday, september 29 There’s something about Sharon. After all, every other street in Charlotte, it seems, bears her name. To find out why there’s so much ado about Sharon, check out the Levine Museum of the New South’s program series, “New South for the New Southerner.” Historian Dr. Tom Hanchett will lead educational discussions on…

View From The Couch

CRASH (2005). A genuine sleeper hit whose positive word-of-mouth kept it in theaters throughout the summer, Crash emulates such ambitious efforts as Short Cuts and Magnolia in the manner in which it uses a sprawling cast of characters to make its salient points about modern-day malaise in America. Here, the hot-button issue is prejudice, as…

Matt Brunson

Dave Rogers’ Big Bugs

Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden (DSBG) will be swarming with Big Bugs beginning Oct. 2 when Dave Rogers’ Big Bugs exhibit makes its first visit to the Carolinas. The exhibit is a unique collection of gigantic bentwood insect sculptures that look like monster-size versions of their real counterparts. The wood sculptures include an 11-foot grasshopper, a…

Charlotte’s Tour of Infamy

In 1791, George Washington paid a visit to Charlotte to attend a picnic dinner on the Square. Unimpressed with the Queen City, the president later referred to Charlotte in his diary as a “trifling place.” This insult, made by the Father of Our Country, has haunted the city ever since. George had no idea what…

Sam Boykin and Karen Shugart

Events around the city

Pinot Noir Wine Tasting Includes five wines and appetizer buffet. Wed., Sept. 28, 6pm. $20. Villa Antonio, 4707 South Blvd. 704-523-1594. Wine Classes Fall classes presented by the Carolina Wine Club. www.carolinawineclub.com. Oct. 04: South Africa’s Wine Diversity, 6:15-8pm. $35. Westye Group Southeast Showroom, 127 West Worthington Ave. # 104. 704-344-8027. Wine Dinner Featuring 12…

Reading Music

R&B Rhythm & Business: The Political Economy of Black Music Edited By Norman Kelley (Akashic Books, 323 pages, $15.95) While there are numerous black music histories out there, few deal with the political and economic implications of how the music industry treats black talent. Norman Kelley, in this collection of essays by a variety of…

Samantha Gellar

Wild Things

Worried you might be missing out on life, stuck in your cubicle working for The Man? Or maybe you’ve been there, done that and bought the T-shirt. Either way, these hot linx offer exotic adventures for even the most jaded. Take a break and get clickin’! Burning Man 2005 The Comic Book www.lennyjones.net/burn2005/comicbook2005.htm PETA Girls…

Little Shiva

It’s a Family Affair

In their role as the longest-running American rock act still actively performing — some 36 years and counting — the Allman Brothers Band has indelibly placed its stamp on rock & roll. And this imprint resembles either a peach or a magic mushroom, depending on your proclivities. If you’re anywhere between the ages of 20…

Timothy C. Davis

Kris Baucom

Kristopher Baucom does so many things besides music, we almost mistook his Top 5 e-mail for some political press release. Among his accomplishments, Kris listed his membership in Charlotte’s experimental music fringe — most notably, Pyramid — dead last. So what was first? His work as campaign manager for US Congressional hopeful Beth Troutman. Second?…

CL Recommends

Clearcut by Nina Shengold (Anchor paperback). A very strong debut novel of lyrical beauty and quirky storyline, Clearcut is the tragicomic tale of a sweaty hippie ménage a trois in a 1970s-era Pacific Northwest logging town. Two men — so in love with the same woman, they fall in love with each other, too –…

When You Wish upon Big Star

In the early 70s, a misfit crew of Anglophile Memphians hooked up with Alex Chilton, the once-and-future lead singer of the Box Tops, a blue-eyed soul-pop band whose biggest hit was “The Letter.” The new outfit was called Big Star, after a grocery store chain. As described in rock journalist Rob Jovanovic’s new band biography,…

Don Allred

From the editor

What makes a great city interesting? Is it clean streets? Smiling faces? Sports teams, steeplechases? Perfectly manicured lawns in cookie-cutter suburbs? If that’s the criteria, the image of Charlotte the Chamber of Commerce thrusts into the Internet ether should have folks scrambling to this Carolina mecca like Peter Pan pilgrims in search of Never Ever…

Mark Kemp

The South’s War

Last week, a New York Times/CBS News poll on the war in Iraq confirmed the conclusions of a report by Durham’s Institute for Southern Studies: in short, the South is feeling a larger impact from the war than the rest of the nation. The mainstream media reported widely on the poll’s revelation that a majority…

A Tale of Two Cities

There was a place somewhere south of St. Charles, near the levee, out there in unmapped neighborhoods between the Garden District and Audubon Park. We’d had dinner at Brigtsen’s — smothered rabbit, Cajun-style, with lots of wine — and in a state of heightened irresponsibility, often attainable in New Orleans, we got in a car…

Hal Crowther

The damage done

Of the 184 US needle-exchange programs — a means of helping drug users reduce the risk of contracting and spreading deadly diseases — only two are in North Carolina, and neither are in Mecklenburg County, the state’s largest metropolitan area. “It’s desperately needed,” said Eloise Hicks, executive director of the Regional HIV/AIDS Consortium. It’s also…

Karen Shugart

Charlotte’s Tour of Infamy

Get back on the bus — the tour of infamy is about to continue . . . Rehab As Meat Market: Leslie Price met George Shinn on September 5, 1997, at 1715 Sharon Road West, then home of Amethyst Behavioral Health Center. Price was in an outpatient drug treatment program. Shinn, owner of the Charlotte…

Sam Boykin and Karen Shugart

Breaking News

14-YEAR-OLD GIRL AT EAST MECK HIGH AND 17-YEAR-OLD BOY AT GARINGER TASERED AFTER FRACASES Man, when they say they need more money for police training, they’re not kidding. PANTHERS QB JAKE DELHOMME PAID $283K FOR BLOWING GAME AGAINST MIAMI Who knew goats were so expensive? DEMI MOORE MARRIES ASHTON KUTCHER Who’ll be first to yell…

The Blotter

Stop! In the Name of Love: During an argument between a young couple as they drove down a local road, the boyfriend got so mad he threw his cell phone at his girlfriend, hitting her in the stomach. She then grabbed the gearshift and slammed it into park. After the car ground to a halt,…

Sam Boykin

Karma Cleanser

Dear Karma Cleanser: I am newly married and we are looking to buy a home. My husband is interested in possibly buying a house that has been foreclosed on. I’m not sure that it’s a good idea to benefit from someone else’s misfortune. However, we are on a limited budget and foreclosed homes tend to…

Letters to the editor

Taken by Crazy Horse If the music of Ebony Hillbillies is half as delightful as Kandia Crazy Horse’s article about them (“The Real Y’alternative,” Sept. 14) seeing/hearing them should be a treat, indeed. Her writing adds a delicious element of spark and spice to your excellent paper & the Queen City scene it serves so…

Stargazer

Libra The Scales (Sept. 22 – Oct. 22) Notice that the eclipse (discussed above) is in your sign, highlighting all types of relationships, friend or foe. The temptation is to take action precipitously. Finances, bills and shared resources are targeted for attention during this period. For All Signs On Oct. 3 at 6:28am there will…

Vivian Carol

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