Mobile
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
News R Smelly's bump and grind
Posted By Nsenga Burton on Wed, May 21, 2008 at 1:36 PM
Finally, the trial of R&B singer R Kelly has started. After eight years of delay, Kelly is finally facing charges of child pornography, for allegedly engaging in sexual intercourse with an underage girl and videotaping it. Brilliant. Not only an alleged pedophile, but clearly not the brightest star out in the universe. I'm sure that he's wishing he could fly right now, but must finally stand trial and face the music. Let's see if he is able to bump and grind his way out of this pickle.
Random Dumb Sh*t Times are hard, but faking a death?
Posted By Cheris Hodges on Wed, May 21, 2008 at 1:08 PM
Woman uses fake obit to keep creditors at bayThe Associated Press
CHARLESTON --
A South Carolina woman said she was trying to buy time from creditors when she claimed her daughter died in the Air Force in Iraq.
A paid obituary appeared in The Post and Courier of Charleston earlier this month for Lt. Melissa Hope Grant.
Melanie Grant of North Charleston claimed to be the woman's mother. But she now admits she made up the entire story. Grant said she thought creditors would give her a break if they knew her daughter died in the military.
The Post and Courier received the obit and a photograph from a local funeral home. The funeral home's general manager said he never suspected anything unusual. He said two women claiming to be aunts of the deceased visited the home and gave him information.
Grant said neither woman is a relative, and the photo was from a bridal magazine.
This is sick and sad. Imagine how the woman in the picture must feel.
Food My summer of food
Posted By Charity Frederick on Wed, May 21, 2008 at 12:34 PM
The challenge was laid down last weekend. I was out to dinner on a Saturday night with friends, and I was enjoying the best meal that I have had in months, at a place called Latorres Uptown. Now I had little to no clue this place existed and I started to wonder how many great places are there in the Q.C. that I had never heard about?
I have to admit I have recently become somewhat of a novice foodie. As I get further into my twenties, I am beginning to notice a shift on my palate, foods that I thought I hated, I don’t hate, and foods that I have always loved are beginning to take on new depth as I begin to discover different layers of flavor.
I remember when I was 10 I told my mom I will never order the mixed vegetables, I am gonna order French fries with my meal until I’m 30! Fast forward 13 years later, I still like French fries, but nothing beats asparagus or garlic herb green beans or a nice risotto.
As I ate my way through heaven last Saturday night one of my girlfriends suggested that this summer, instead of drinking our summer away (which is what we have done for the last 5 years) we eat our way through the Q.C. Finding great spots that we didn’t know about before. Maybe taking some wine classes and cooking classes. Seeing as most of us are total dunces in the kitchen, we figured this might not be such a bad idea. So we started to plan where we would go and how we would do this.
The next day with the help to the food section of Creative Loafing (nice plug huh?) we had the beginnings of a plan; we were actually going to use the summer to improve our culinary knowledge and ourselves. We even have dates to go to the gym so that we won’t gain too much weight. Now don’t get me wrong: Some Saturday nights after a good dinner will be spent going out, getting a little wild, and probably going home with somebody we shouldn’t (old habits are just too hard to break).
But what I need from you, dear reader, are some recommendations for great places here in Charlotte to go. We want every kind of place you can think of. As long as the food is good I wanna hear about it. So feel free to post some good spots!
Random Dumb Sh*t Even the parrots in Japan are smart
Posted By Kimberly Lawson on Wed, May 21, 2008 at 11:41 AM
I wish my dog could talk ...
TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- When Yosuke the parrot flew out of his cage and got lost, he did exactly what he had been taught -- recite his name and address to a stranger willing to help.
Lost in Tokyo, Yosuke the parrot was able to give his name and address to get taken home.
Police rescued the African grey parrot two weeks ago from a neighbor's roof in the city of Nagareyama, near Tokyo. After spending a night at the station, he was transferred to a nearby veterinary hospital while police searched for clues, local policeman Shinjiro Uemura said.
He kept mum with the cops, but began chatting after a few days with the vet.
"I'm Mr. Yosuke Nakamura," the bird told the veterinarian, according to Uemura. The parrot also provided his full home address, down to the street number, and even entertained the hospital staff by singing songs.
"We checked the address, and what do you know, a Nakamura family really lived there. So we told them we've found Yosuke," Uemura said.
The Nakamura family told police they had been teaching the bird its name and address for about two years.
But Yosuke apparently wasn't keen on opening up to police officials.
"I tried to be friendly and talked to him, but he completely ignored me," Uemura said.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Arts Let's hear it for Gin
Posted By Charity Frederick on Tue, May 20, 2008 at 12:56 PM
Freelance writer Gin Phillips, who has written for American Profile, American Spirit, and Woman’s World, makes her first offering to the literary gods with her book The Well and the Mine (Hawthorne Books $10.85). Phillips will be at Park Road Books, 4139 Park Road in the Park Road Shopping Center on Thursday, May 22, to sign copies of her debut novel. The book is set in 1931 in the coal-mining town of Carbon Mill, Alabama, and follows the Moore family as they unwrap a murder mystery and face the harsh realities of life made harder by the depression. With an introduction by Fannie Flagg, this novel shows to be the first of many for Gin Phillips. The event starts at 6:30 p.m.
News Hurray! It's Race Week! (Yaw-w-w-n)
Posted By John Grooms on Tue, May 20, 2008 at 12:46 PM
Oh boy, oh boy, it's Race Week. Time to celebrate that huge, money-making, tourist-dollar-generating, oval thing up near Concord, run by that civic-minded glutton of the public trough, the King Hog himself, Bruton Smith. Time to celebrate a sport in which the primary physical activity is turning left while driving really fast. Time to celebrate a nearly all-white and all-male sport that burns incredible amounts of fossil fuels, is loud enough to make the ground in and around the Speedway tremble, has sold out its downhome roots for high ticket prices and luxury boxes, and is routinely laden with cheesy pro-war displays. Time to celebrate all this wonderment downtown with traffic-blocking, lowest common denominator entertainment, and greasy foods. Woo-hooooo! It's Race Week! Excuse me while I do something - anything -- else.
Enjoy the races! Maybe you'll run into this guy!
Monday, May 19, 2008
Arts Quote this
Posted By Kimberly Lawson on Mon, May 19, 2008 at 12:59 PM
“The voice role of James P. ‘Sulley’ Sullivan [in Monsters, Inc.] went to John Goodman ... Goodman interpreted the character to himself as the monster equivalent of a National Football League player. ‘He’s like a seasoned lineman in the tenth year of his career,’ he said at the time. ‘He is totally dedicated and a total pro.’ Billy Crystal, having regretted turning down the part of Buzz Lightyear [in Toy Story], accepted that of Mike Wazowski, Sulley’s one-eyed best friend and scare assistant. Boo was voiced by the preschool daughter of one of the story artists.”
— The Pixar Touch: The Making of a Company, by David A. Price (Knopf; $27.95; now available)
News What can the new police chief really do?
Posted By Cheris Hodges on Mon, May 19, 2008 at 11:09 AM
Today, new Charlotte Mecklenburg Police chief Rodney Monroe will address the media and more than likely layout plans to make Charlotte safer. But what can he really do? Does hiring Monroe mean that the DA's office suddenly has enough money to hire more assistant DAs to keep criminals off the street? Does Monroe's hiring mean that the repeat offenders out there are quaking in their boots?
I never thought I'd ever say this, South Carolina has the right idea. (Picking myself up off the floor)
Last week the law enforcement agencies in York county held a press conference basically telling the criminals in Mecklenburg County that if they cross the boarder, they're going to get a legal foot in the ass. And SC police will chase your ass across the state line.
Something North Carolina doesn't do even though they have the authority to do so.
It will be interesting to see how the new police chief works with agencies inside and outside of the county. It will be even more interesting to see how long of a rope the new guy is given to get the crime rate down.
Friday, May 16, 2008
News Bush League goes to Israel
Posted By John Grooms on Fri, May 16, 2008 at 10:33 AM
Here is one reason George W. Bush is the most unpopular president in U.S. history: He's an incompetent dope who is incapable of learning from his mistakes. Oh, and also, he has a stubborn, constipated view of life and the world. President 70%-Disapproval-Ratings proved his worth again yesterday when he chose a visit to a foreign country - speaking before that country's legislative body, no less - to deliver an attack on domestic political foes. President Screw-Up chose an address to the Israeli Knesset to launch his unashamedly partisan, not to mention historically dead wrong, attack on those who think diplomacy should play a part in American foreign policy. You know -- the way U.S. foreign policy has been conducted by pretty much every president until President National Disaster took office.
Much has been said about BushLeague's Knesset rantings (my favorite comment was Sen. Joe Biden's immediate reply, "That's bullshit"), so I'll only point out that when President Lame Duck used the term "appeasement" - referring to concessions made to Hitler after his invasion of Czechoslovakia - he was, essentially, abusing historical facts. It wasn't "appeasement" for the British and others to sit down and talk with Germany - the appeasement came when THEY GAVE HITLER PART OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA! There's a huge difference between talking to your enemies and giving them whatever they want. The question now is, "How stupid do you have to be in order not to grasp such a fundamental difference?"
ONE MORE ITEM: I'm not a visual arts critic by any means, but I have always been enthralled by the work of Robert Rauschenberg, and was sad to see that the wildly inventive artist had died this week. David Byrne wrote a nice piece in today's New York Times about Rauschenberg, and here's a link to it.
News News Roundup, 5/16/08
Posted By Kia Moore on Fri, May 16, 2008 at 9:04 AM
Woman's death haunts couple: Dennis Lovelace and girlfriend Brenda Pierce are still reviewing details from the chilling case of finding the body of 20-year-old UNCC student Irina "Ira" Yarmolenko floating on the river banks of Mount Holly May 5. Police are treating the case like a homicide as they continue to investigate the case.
Full Story: Charlotte.com
Ellen DeGeneres, girlfriend plan to marry: On May 15 California high courts threw out the California laws that banned same-sex marriage. That same day Ellen DeGeneres announced her marriage plans to with girlfriend and "Nip/Tuck" star, Portia de Rossi, during the taping of her talk show.
Full Story: CNN.com
