Leaderless
CL media writer Shannon Reichley reported last Friday that The Leader, Charlotte’s 30-year-old weekly community paper, had closed up shop and filed for bankruptcy. The paper had been getting noticeably thinner of late, but the news nonetheless came as a shock. The Leader was founded by the late Stan Kaplan and his wife Sis Kaplan,…
Soundboard
Wednesday, Sep. 4 Cajun Queen 7th Street Gator Band Cajun Queen, Pineville 7th Street Gator Band II * Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro Money Mark w/ a.i. Charleston Chops, Cornelius Kent Steel Connolly’s On Fifth Craig & Rich Acoustic Double Door Inn Quasimojo The Evening Muse Delancey Street Band Fat City Spitvalves & Overdale JB’Z Kyle Sorenson…
Fox Feels Your Pain
Going into the Carolina Panthers’ season opener on September 8, Coach John Fox isn’t ready to call this a turnaround year. “I use the term “rebuilding,'” he said one day recently after practice. Fox is right to play it cautious. In his first year with the Panthers and his first year as a head coach,…
A Swingin’ Summer
It was the summer in which a certain superhero finally made his long-awaited film debut, a certain superstar appeared in one of the costliest flops in movie history, and a certain superfreak shagged his way back to the top of the box office charts. It was also the summer in which plenty of adult dramas…
Letters to the Editor
Bruce & Steve Re: “The God and the Infidel” by Don Hazen (CL, August 28), I really enjoyed the article and I couldn’t agree more with the writer. We need both Springsteen and Earle in these times, they’re two sides of the same coin. Bruce’s new CD isn’t as great as the hype, but who…
Pride and Prejudice
Being the sort of person others have often judged by appearance, I’ve always been careful not to reciprocate. I still remember the teasing by fellow students and the prejudgments of teachers when I was a fairly nerdy-looking child, complete with glasses, braces and unkempt hair (who grew up to be a fairly nerdy-looking adult, complete…
Better To Be A Woman
A professor of mine in college was obsessed with this crazy idea. The man was convinced that in the future, women would take over the world. Though he was supposed to be teaching us criminology, he spent the better part of a semester cramming biological, psychological and sociological studies down our throats that supported his…
The Blotter
Checkmate My Ass: A game of chess turned ugly when a verbal altercation escalated into an assault. A man told police that during the course of the game, his opponent struck him in the face with his fist. When witnesses to the chess game fracas tried to stop the fight, the fightin’ chessman brandished a…
News of the Weird
I do, for now: One proposed remedy for the sexual frustration of Iranian men who avoid marriage because of financial cost is to permit temporary, Islam-endorsed “marriages” with prostitutes inside designated brothels. About 300,000 prostitutes are active in Iran, and the number is rising, as is the typical cost of marriage and the “corrupt” influence…
On The Road Again
Earlier this year, the occupants of The Mobile Studio, now the subject of a multimedia installation at The Light Factory Center for Photography & Film, traveled 10,000 miles across America. In their “Vehicle for Education,” vagabonds from the College of Architecture at UNC-Charlotte rode Route 66, and further, carrying with them an itinerant architecture and…
They’re Going Hollywood
Los Angeles is where noir was born, and with good reason: it’s where most dreams go to die. Writers flock here like vultures, lured by the inherent paradox of this faux Shangri-La and the hopes of seeing their own dreams cashed in. It’s a symbiotic irony that’s given birth to noir staples like Phillip Marlowe,…
See & Do
SEPTEMBER 4 – WEDNESDAY As the main stage (P.A.C.) production comes to a close, Davidson College brings to town their own showing of Shirley Valentine. The show will run September 4-8 in Hodson Hall of Davidson College’s Cunningham Fine Arts Building. Showtimes are September 4-5 at 7:30pm, September 6-7 at 8pm, and a matinee performance…
Arts Agenda
Classical Music An American Salute Charlotte Philharmonic will open their 2002-2003 season with special guest, Daniel Rodriguez, “America’s Tenor.” Maestro Moehring will lead the orchestra in a patriotic concert. Sat., Sept. 7, 8 p.m. Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, 130 N. Tryon St. 704-348-5800. Cynthia Lawing and Ruskin Cooper Davidson College music faculty members will play…
Show Her The Money
Prostitution, traditionally described as the world’s oldest profession, is based on the tried and true theories of supply and demand. I’ve always had a problem with the profession of prostitution — and it is a profession — primarily for the ridiculous fact that it’s illegal. I never understood the difference between paying a woman $100…
Indian Summer
Some new restaurants have the ability to address neighborhood needs in such a manner that they seem to have always been there. The center of Charlotte, and by that I mean downtown to the original burbs, has lacked certain ethnic restaurants, notably Indian. But now the smell of cardamom, cinnamon, and cumin greet you at…
Stargazer
For All Signs The Jewish High Holy Days begin on September 7 with Rosh Hashanah and conclude following 10 days of prayer with Yom Kippur on the 16th. This significant time of repentance marks the New Year in the Jewish calendar, which is based upon the lunar cycles. It commemorates the beginning of the world…
White Wines For Lounging
In long, intense summer heat, busy adults need something stronger than Gatorade to relax their weary bods: a good, cool buzz. When stress strikes and the urge to quaff adult-style takes hold, white wines are the perfect relaxing prescription. Not unlike Valium, whites are a misunderstood, under appreciated breed. As much as red wine snobs…
Karma Cleanser
Dear Karma Cleanser:I need to cleanse my car karma immediately! My friends and family will not let me drive their cars because something always happens. My 1999 Ford Mustang spontaneously combusted into 10-foot flames after sitting for more than eight hours in my driveway. The only reason that was given to me is “an electrical…
Good Eats
Dilworth/Southend 300 East, 300 East Blvd., 704-332-6507. Locals have long gathered at this casual neithborhood bistro in a vintage house featuring an eclectic menu. $$$ Berrybrook Farms Natural Foods, 1257 E. Blvd., 704-334-6528. Homemade soups, herbed tofu sandwiches, bean burritos, and freshly squeezed fruit and vegetable juices found in a natural food shop. $ Comet…
Film Clips
NEW RELEASES SERVING SARA Even as Jennifer Aniston is receiving glowing reviews for her subtle performance in the critical darling The Good Girl, her Friends co-star Matthew Perry is forced to mug his way through a sputtering comedy that, in one scene, requires him to stick his arm deep into an impotent bull’s butt and…
The Song Remains The Same
The hippies did their part. Take Country Joe and the Fish’s “I-Feel-Like-I’m-a-Fixin’-to-Die Rag.” Take “For What It’s Worth” by the Buffalo Springfield, or maybe “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Revival. Take “Ohio” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, or “War Pigs” by Black Sabbath. With apologies to Henny Youngman, take “Ballad of the Green Berets”…
City At Risk
In the wake of September 11, Governor Mike Easley toured McGuire Nuclear power plant and declared it safe. But like everyone else in North Carolina, there was a lot Easley hadn’t been told about the vulnerability to terrorist attack of nuclear plants like McGuire on Lake Norman, and Catawba on Lake Wylie. Now, a year…
Chads No Longer Hanging
The Chad Lawson Trio, featuring Zack Page (bass) and Al Sergel (drums), have a new album that’s now in stores across the country. The trio were recently signed to Summit Records, an internationally distributed label based in Arizona, and have released Dear Dorothy: The Oz Sessions. Before hosting a Release Party in town recently, the…
Traffic Jam From Hell
In the event of a terrorist attack on one of our two local nuclear plants, or of a nuclear accident like the one that occurred at Three Mile Island, Charlotte-Mecklenburg has a plan. Like nuclear evacuation plans across the country, our county’s plan proposes to do the unlikely, if not the impossible: evacuate up to…
Music Menu
WEDNESDAY 9.4 East Meets Jazz — Tabla maestro Sandip Burman has been a busy man. He’s played or toured with masters of Hindustani Classical music and hot jazz musicians including Bela Fleck, Al DiMeola and Jack DeJohnette. Now he’s back through the region with a scaled down version of last year’s ensemble East Meets Jazz,…
