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Wednesday, March 18, 2009
News / Today's Top Five Today's Top 5: Wednesday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Wed, Mar 18, 2009 at 8:00 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, March 18, 2009 — as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
• Lark & Key One-Year Celebration Exhibit, featuring new works by Duy Huynh and Diana Fayt at Lark & Key Gallery and Boutique
• Death of a Salesman at Theatre Charlotte
• Crowntown Showdown at Snug Harbor
• Comedy Open Mic at Wine-Up
• Karaoke with the Wizard at The Gin Mill
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Boomer with Attitude / News Populism, shmopulism: Where's the jail time?
Posted By John Grooms on Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 7:08 PM
The theme for the week in the national media is "populist outrage."
We're all pissed off, and rightly so, about the big shots who drove the nation into a ditch and are still strutting around acting as if they're proud of themselves. Now Congress is getting all jacked up, threatening to take back the money they gave to AIG without strings attached — or at least the amount of the executive bonuses that have everyone's panties in a twist. Here, though, is what I think is the bottom line for populist anger, if you want to call it that. It's also what's been on my mind: When are some of these corporate gods going to prison?
Sure, Bernie Madoff's in jail now — he, at least, had the decency to admit his guilt — but how about the bankers, lenders and financiers who have practically brought the worldwide economy to a standstill? Surely, surely, someone in the Obama White House has plans to eventually see a few of these pigs busting rocks on a chain gang. I know I sure do.
E-mail the White House and your useless Congressperson and tell them corporate crooks need to go to jail.
Film / News Light Factory wears short shorts
Posted By Matt Brunson on Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 4:31 PM
Short films are currently being accepted to compete for a spot in The Light Factory's 9th Annual Carolinas Media Showcase, to be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 14, at Spirit Square. Filmmakers from the Carolinas may submit brief works in all genres (including narrative, documentary, experimental and animation); the piece must be 30 minutes or under in length. There is no entry fee; a screening fee is paid to those whose shorts are chosen.
Submission deadline is Saturday, April 25. For a registration form and entry details, go to www.lightfactory.org/factory_films/current.htm.
Boomer with Attitude / News Read something Irish
Posted By John Grooms on Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 2:06 PM
Happy St. Patrick's Day. Read something.
That's right, before you get loaded on green beer, take time to pay tribute to Ireland's tradition of great writers, only a few of whom are that well known in the United States.
You know the legends: Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker and James Joyce; and maybe Ireland's Nobel Prize winners, William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney. And you've no doubt heard of, or read, Angela's Ashes, the phenomenal autobiography by Frank McCourt. But how about Flann O'Brien? Or Patrick McCabe? Here's a quick guide to getting up to speed on more modern Irish writers, with a few recommendations. Happy O'Reading!
News Perdue's state budget leads to layoffs and more jobs
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 1:22 PM
Gov. Bev Perdue is recommending huge budget cuts because state law requires lawmakers to balance the budget, legislators aren't willing to raise taxes, and vast numbers of unemployed and businesses aren't generating as much tax revenue as they once did.
Gov. Beverly Perdue presented a $21 billion budget proposal today that would whack more than 1,000 jobs from state government and slice $360 million from overall state spending.Spending would be slashed across every single category of the state budget. The state Department of Correction would be hit particularly hard with a loss of 527 jobs and a budget reduced by $68 million. Universities will lose $167 million and 73 jobs.
Perdue, a Democrat in her first year as governor, told education leaders Monday that the budget would focus on education and jobs at the expense of others.
Read the rest of this News & Observer article here.
Not only are jobs being lost or eliminated, under this budget, cigarettes will cost $1 more per pack, alcohol will cost 5-percent more, professional licenses will cost a third more and vital records — like birth certificates — will cost 60-percent more. McCain Correctional Hospital will be shuttered and several correctional facilities will, too. Meanwhile, probation officers will receive a raise.
News / Biz Big box stores are soooo yesterday
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 1:19 PM
Lowe's, headquartered in Mooresville, N.C., is hoping smaller stores will help the company save money and keep their eye on their goal — to own 2,400 stores in the U.S. and Canada. The typical Lowe's store is 150,000 square feet and costs nearly $20 million to build.
Lowe’s Cos. Inc. plans to try out a series of smaller big-box stores as it moves into, well, Middle America.As the company’s competitors are getting smaller by closing locations and cutting jobs, the Mooresville-based home-improvement retailer is shrinking by scaling back its plans for smaller markets.
Speaking this week at a stock analyst conference in Tampa, Fla., Larry Stone, Lowe’s president and chief operating officer, said the company is planning a series of smaller stores: 66,000 square feet and 80,000 square feet.
Read the rest of this Charlotte Business Journal article here.
Film / News This Week's DVD Releases
Posted By Matt Brunson on Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 12:02 PM
Following is a list of some major DVD releases debuting today. For a complete list, go to www.amazon.com.
News The real St. Patrick was pretty boring
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 11:18 AM
What do you mean St. Patrick wasn't even Irish?
Today we raise a glass of warm green beer to a fine fellow, the Irishman who didn't rid the land of snakes, didn't compare the Trinity to the shamrock, and wasn't even Irish. St. Patrick, who died 1,507, 1,539, or 1,540 years ago today—depending on which unreliable source you want to believe—has been adorned with centuries of Irish blarney. Innumerable folk tales recount how he faced down kings, negotiated with God, tricked and slaughtered Ireland's reptiles.
Read the rest of this Slate article here.
The Wack List / News The Wack List: March 17
Posted By Carlton Hargro on Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 9:04 AM
Five people, places and things we really ain't digging today
• Say it with me: AIG! AIG!
• The stress of job loss
• Proposed higher bills from Duke Energy
• Wells Fargo Chairman Richard Kovacevich
Today's Top Five / News Today's Top 5: Tuesday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 8:00 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, March 17, 2009 — as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
• Author Kathryn Stockett signing The Help at Park Road Books
• Diva's Night Out at Apostrophe Lounge
• Simplified at EpiCentre's Wild Wing Cafe
• St. Patty's Day Blowout and Cornhole Tournament at Buckhead Saloon
• St. Patrick's Day Party at McHale's Irish Pub
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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 Mabel Rea 4
The Charlotte native went Hollywood, returned home and met a tragic demise.
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Knight and Day: Plot eclipsed by stars 1
Cruise and Diaz are main reasons to consider seeing mindless action flick.
