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Wednesday, April 4, 2007
The Scene SCENE: Full TILT
Posted By Branna Calloway on Wed, Apr 4, 2007 at 10:35 AM
I recently had the extreme pleasure of attending the grand opening of Tilt, a sports bar/lounge likening itself to Sam Malone's Cheers "where everybody knows your name." Well, they definitely got the "everybody" part right. The spot was packed front to back with so many patrons for "Friends and Family Night" that it was no surprise when martini glasses were used to serve Chardonnay.
The front part had a typical sports bar feel with a small section to the side designated as a dance floor used that night as the buffet area. That's right, free food, beer and wine were served all night. Now do you understand why "everybody" was there?
Although, the music left a lot to be desired as the DJ played a lot of oldies and didn't take any requests. That did not, however, keep several people off the dance floor, myself included (... had some tension to relieve).
All in all, the evening I think was a success. Folks were there enjoying a new after-work possibility, and the free beer and wine made everyone think they knew everybody's name.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Citizen Servatius CITIZEN SERVATIUS: Floral Update: Tulips dead, Mums to Follow
Posted By Tara Servatius on Tue, Apr 3, 2007 at 9:17 AM
-Photo by Dale Johnson
Last week, we learned that the city spent $8,460 of your tax dollars for 940 pots of tulips it displayed in planters along Tryon Street two weeks ago. Unfortunately, the tulips are dead now.
But don't despair. Your oh-so-broke Charlotte city government, the same folks who raised your taxes last year because they claimed they couldn’t afford to hire more police officers, have additional floral wonders in store for you uptown. Coming attractions include $23,000 worth of summer annuals and $6,000 potted mums.
The total budget for uptown planting is $55,000. A special fee paid by uptown property owners covers 38 percent of that. Taxpayers are on the hook for the rest of the bill, which totals about $35,000.
Meanwhile, in a police services study presented to city council this week, city residents say they are frustrated that police officers don't have more time to spend investigating property thefts and home break-ins when citizens report them ...
News NEWS: Cop Killing and the Death Penalty
Posted By Karen Shugart on Tue, Apr 3, 2007 at 9:13 AM
The shooting deaths of two Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers, Sean Clark and Jeffrey Shelton, that occurred last weekend undoubtedly will spark discussions about the death penalty in the months, even years, to come. For most people who don’t oppose capital punishment, the killing of a cop is a crime that most strongly demands a death sentence.
But it doesn’t always happen. The man convicted of fatally shooting Wake County Sheriff’s Investigator Mark Reid Tucker in February 2004 was given life in prison.
Lt. Glenn Harold Hicks of the Avery County Sheriff’s Office was killed in February 2003 with a shotgun by a man later found incompetent to stand trial.
And Detective Donald Miller of the New Bern Police. Miller was shot December 2001 as he was leaving a hospital where he was visiting his newborn child. His killer was sentenced to life.
The last man convicted of killing a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer, however, is on death row. Officers Anthony Alford “Andy” Nobles, 26, and John Burnette, 25, were shot while chasing a suspect in southwest Charlotte.
In June 2005, I spoke briefly with Noble’s father, about his feelings on capital punishment for a story about a proposed moratorium. Bobby Nobles, sounding somber and thoughtful, said this:
“It’s a terrible thing, but you have to have some type of checks-and-balances (against crime) and right now, I feel like that is the strongest thing we have. I’ve thought about it; I’ve prayed about it. And I still feel like we have to have something. Until we come up with something better, I feel like that it was one of the tools we have to work with.”
Film FILM: Talent to Believe
Posted By Matt Brunson on Tue, Apr 3, 2007 at 8:55 AM
Despite his humble beginnings — as a Mouseketeer on The All New Mickey Mouse Club — 26-year-old Ryan Gosling has since established the sort of career most actors would envy. In the past few years, he's been able to move between mainstream hits (2004's The Notebook) and acclaimed indie fare (2003's The United States of Leland), even earning a Best Actor Academy Award nomination in the process (for last year's acclaimed but little-seen Half Nelson). Up next for this Canadian actor is the thriller Fracture, co-starring Anthony Hopkins and set for release later this month.
For an early peek at this emerging talent — post-Mickey Mouse Club but before his current run — rent the 2001 drama The Believer. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at that year's Sundance Film Festival (beating out, among others, Memento, In the Bedroom and Hedwig and the Angry Inch), this absorbing drama quickly found itself swept under the carpet after no studio proved brave enough to release it. Acquired by Showtime, the film finally premiered on cable before being screened in a smattering of cities here and there (it was brought to the Queen City by the Charlotte Film Society).
Sparking memories of Edward Norton in American History X, Gosling delivers a magnetic performance — too magnetic, some might argue — as a self-loathing Jew who becomes a persuasive speaker for the Neo-Nazi movement even as he still finds himself struggling against his upbringing. Loosely based on a true story, The Believer isn't about the banality of evil as much as the personality of evil and how it merely takes one measured (if misguided) voice to sway mindless multitudes. And with this stellar performance, Gosling was off and running.
Monday, April 2, 2007
Music MUSIC: Morisette's 'Humps'
Posted By Jeff Hahne on Mon, Apr 2, 2007 at 4:07 PM
If you've seen the preview for the new Will Ferrell movie "Blades of Glory," you've probably given at least a chuckle at him singing "My Humps."
If you gave it a laugh, you'll probably fall out of your chair watching Alanis Morrisette's new video for the song. And she probably doesn't sing it like you'd think either.
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Absurd? Not more than the original. Gives her some cred in the same way that Justin Timberlake got credit for the "Dick in a Box" skit on SNL.
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Marilyn Chambers found dead
Porn star Marilyn Chambers found dead at age 56.
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Question the Queen City: The story of Nellie Freeman, aka 'Razor Girl' 2
She decapitated her husband, was declared innocent, and never hurt another soul.
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Question the Queen City: Joan Crawford and Charlotte 4
The actress visited numerous times after she married a board chairman of Pepsi-Cola, a Carolina-born product.
