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Monday, November 9, 2009
Boomer with Attitude / News Commissioners, at least censure Harry Jones
Posted By John Grooms on Mon, Nov 9, 2009 at 5:59 PM
County Manager Harry Jones must be awfully good at schmoozing the commissioners. That’s the only explanation I can find for the fact that rumors are not flying about Jones’ job being in jeopardy. That’s especially true after the daily paper’s Sunday story about the DSS “Case of the Disappearing Kids’ Christmas Money” fiasco, and Jones’ handling of it. As Fred Clasen-Kelly reported, Jones and other members of county government received an e-mail from a Bank of America employee named Harry Lomax, who criticized the county’s handling of the DSS mess.
“There seems to be a need for a wholesale cleanup of many county agencies, and I think that starts from the top down,” Lomax wrote. A week later, the “top” in “top down,” County Manager Harry Jones, forwarded a copy of Lomax’s e-mail to a BofA VP with the question, “Do you know Harry Lomax?” There’s no way to interpret Jones’ e-mail as anything but an attempt to quash Lomax’s complaints, but BofA seems to think Jones’ move was a good idea. The bank’s government liaison Betty Turner replied quickly to Jones, saying Lomax’s e-mail was “embarrassing” and that she was “tracking it down.”
As Jeff Taylor at the MeckDeck Web site aptly put it, this kind of behavior is reminiscent of “the time when uppity mill hands who questioned local leaders were met with, ‘What’s your name again? I know your pastor.’ The threat was clear — shut up and know your place.”
Jones’ ill temper and extreme defensiveness in the face of criticism — two deadly traits for a supposed public servant — come as no surprise to this writer. A few years ago when I held the editor position at CL, Tara Servatius wrote a lengthy expose of myriad problems in the county’s utilities department, specifically the miserable job they were doing controlling (or not controlling) sewage spills. Jones pitched a fit, and had his PR folks write up a massive reply to the story, which still didn’t satisfy our objections or refute our points, but that’s a whole other issue. What was most interesting was Jones’ fevered reaction to the story; at one point, he told the commissioners he was sending out copies of the county’s rebuttal, but not to Creative Loafing “because they don’t care about the truth.” Then-chairman Parks Helms had to remind Jones that he was obligated to send us a copy, and Mr. Big Stuff finally calmed down a little.
The latest example of Jones’ manner of operating falls in line with numerous previous reports of him treating county government as an Uptown good ol’ boys’ club. It's time the county commissioners did something about him. The DSS scandal; the continued payment of a full salary to a former employee in ill health; his recent bonus of nearly $40K during a time of cutbacks; followed now by his attempt to intimidate Mr. Lomax by appealing to the concerned citizen's boss, well, the pile has just gotten too high. Jones’ entrenchment and his snarling attitude toward criticism have become counterproductive to good governance. The Commission should censure Jones, take back the bonus (undeserved in any case, considering the DSS fiasco), and apologize to Lomax and the citizens of Mecklenburg County.
Film / Film News / Film Reviews / News Strangers worth meeting
Posted By Matt Brunson on Mon, Nov 9, 2009 at 4:15 PM
The Main Library’s fall film series, “The Master of Suspense: Alfred Hitchcock Classics,” continues tonight (Monday, Nov. 9) with a screening of another popular offering from the portly genius. 1951's Strangers on a Train is certainly one of the director's most diabolical films, a startling piece in which a tennis player (Farley Granger) meets a peculiar man (Robert Walker) during a fateful train ride and dismisses the stranger's suggestion that they "exchange" murders. It's only after the athlete's loathsome wife turns up dead that he realizes the plan was no joke — and that he's expected to live up to his end of the bargain by murdering the other man's domineering father. Walker's creepy performance ranks among the best found in any Hitchcock film, and several of the set pieces — Walker's immobile presence among an animated tennis crowd; a murder reflected in the victim's eyeglasses; the shocking merry-go-round finale — represent the filmmaker in top form.
Strangers on a Train will be screened at 7 p.m. this evening at ImaginOn, 300 E. 7th St. Admission is free. For more info, call 704-416-0252.
Arts / News UNC-Charlotte celebrates the fall of the Berlin Wall
Posted By Anita Overcash on Mon, Nov 9, 2009 at 4:02 PM
Tonight, UNC-Charlotte’s German Club, German faculty, students and staff of the Department of Languages and Cultural Studies, will celebrate the reception of its current exhibit, Tearing Down the Wall. The exhibit - which features its own colorfully created wall - highlights the 20th anniversary of the fall of Germany’s Berlin Wall in 1989.
Creative Loafing spoke with German lecturer at UNC-Charlotte, Victoria Grimm, about the exhibit, held in room 126 of the Student Union. For more information on the exhibit, and UNC-Charlotte's German Club, click here.
Creative Loafing: How did the idea for Tearing Down the Wall exhibit come about?
Victoria Grimm: This year Germany is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. During a press conference that the government was giving on Nov. 9, 1989, a politician announced that it was possible to cross the borders. Then someone asked him “When is this going to happen?” and he said, “Now, just now.” People in Berlin just left their homes and went to the border and wanted to walk across. The watchmen at the borders didn’t know what was going on, and the people sort of forced them to open the borders, because of what they’d seen on TV. Before that, there were several demonstrations where people in East Germany were demonstrating peacefully for freedom of speech, freedom of travel and freedom of the press. This happened in the summer 1989 and it was such a peaceful revolution - the army didn’t use any weapons. It is sort of the happiest moment in German history and we wanted to celebrate that.
Arts / News Best bets in Charlotte comedy this week, Nov. 9-14
Posted By Anita Overcash on Mon, Nov 9, 2009 at 2:29 PM
As the headline suggests, here are a few of the best places to find comedy events in Charlotte — from stand-up to improv to sketch comedy and more. For a complete listing of all comedy visit www.CharlotteComedyLIVE.com.
Monday, Nov. 9
* "Real Americans with Butch & Skeeter" Sketch TV Show Live Event at 8 p.m.
Join Butch & Skeeter for this very special live event celebrating the release of their Season One DVD. First time viewers and fans alike will enjoy this event that kicks off with a "best of" video recap of Season One. Then Butch & Skeeter will field questions from the audience in a live version of "Ask Butch & Skeeter" - no subject is taboo. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.
Wine-Up ~ 3306 N. Davidson St., Ste. C ~ No Cover
Tuesday, Nov. 10
* Stand-Up Comedy at Lake Norman Comedy Zone at 7 p.m.
Nationally touring headliner Tommy Blaze.
Galway Hooker ~ 7044 Kenton Dr., Cornelius ~ 704-895-1782 ~ $10.
Thursday, Nov. 12
* The London Broil Show Variety with Juggling at 7:30 p.m.
This team juggling trio presents their masterful juggling skills with comedic spice.
Duke Energy Theater ~ 345 N. College St. ~ $20 ~ 704-372-1000
Friday, Nov. 13
* Charlotte Comedy Theater Improv at 8 p.m.
Short form shows similar to Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Prevue ~ 2909 N. Davidson St. ~ $10
Saturday, Nov. 14
* Stand-up Comedy at Alive in NoDa at 8 p.m.
Stand-up comedy with nationally touring comedians Tommy Blaze with Jeremy Peirce.
Alive ~ 2909 N. Davidson St. ~ Reservations 704-930-2200 ~ $15
To join Debbie’s mailing list (just one e-mail a week, I promise), e-mail DebbieMillwater@Gmail.com with the Subject Line “Subscribe.”
Boomer with Attitude / News Palin struts her incoherent stuff
Posted By John Grooms on Mon, Nov 9, 2009 at 2:20 PM
Sarah Palin didn’t want anyone to bring recording devices or cellphones to her big speech Friday night at a Wisconsin Right to Life fundraising banquet. No wonder. The Politico Web site bought tickets to the event, and their report is a showcase of Palin’s, er, limited vocabulary, tortured sentences, and, more troubling, her goofball conspiratorial view of government and all those evil liberals. Besides going off on a factually challenged rant about the “In God We Trust” motto being moved to the edge of new dollar coins (a Bush era episode which was reversed two years ago), "Palin ... frequently wandered off-script to make a point, offering audience members a casual ‘awesome’ or ‘bogus’ in discussing otherwise weighty topics," according to the account by Politico’s Jonathan Martin.
Here’s our favorite quote from Palin’s Friday speech (see if you can make sense of it): “It is so bogus that society is sending a message right now and has been for probably the last 40 years that a woman isn’t strong enough or smart enough to be able to pursue an education, a career and her rights and still let her baby live.” Quick question: Who in hell is telling women this? Anyone you’ve heard of? Didn’t think so.
Don’t forget, Ms. Eloquence has a book coming out soon. In case you missed it, author and columnist Carl Hiaasen wrote a hilarious column, posing as Palin’s book editor, for last Sunday’s Miami Herald. Don’t miss it.
Arts / News Arts Flash: Nick Bloomberg
Posted By Anita Overcash on Mon, Nov 9, 2009 at 2:07 PM
Twenty-Two Gallery in Plaza-Midwood had its grand opening on Sat., Nov. 7. The gallery’s first exhibition, titled Emergence, features works by artists Mike Watson and Nick Bloomberg.
Bloomberg, a 29 year-old graduate of Winthrop University who resides in Charlotte, took the time to speak with Creative Loafing about his colorful, abstract paintings.
The exhibit continues through Nov. 29. For more details, call 704-342-0122.
Creative Loafing: When did you start painting?
Nick Bloomberg: I really started taking it seriously in high school. That was kind of when I was sitting down in front of a painting and I realized that it was something I could spend the rest of my life on, even just that one painting. Then I realized that it was what I needed to pursue.
Arts / Today's Top Five / News Today's Top 5: Monday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Mon, Nov 9, 2009 at 1:42 PM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, Nov. 9, 2009 — as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
• Brand New at The Fillmore
• Rakim at Amos' Southend
• Comedians Butch and Skeeter at Wine Up
• Tearing Down The Wall reception at UNC-Charlotte
• Grand Imperial Poetry Night at SK Netcafe
News Hey DOT: Finish what you started
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Mon, Nov 9, 2009 at 1:03 PM
Today,
Officials said Sunday that Perdue is scheduled to reveal the financing method that would pay for the last segment of the loop, between N.C. 115 and Interstate 85 in northeast Charlotte. The price tag is estimated at $220 million.The financing method has never been used in North Carolina, and it won't touch money set aside for scheduled improvements to Independence Boulevard or any other local project, according to Chrissy Pearson, Perdue's press secretary and a city official who didn't want to be identified.
Charlotte Mayor-elect Anthony Foxx, said he didn't know many details of the funding plan. But he said completing the loop would "not only help with mobility in the region" but also help repair historically strained relations between Charlotte and state leaders in Raleigh.
Outgoing Mayor Pat McCrory - who was Perdue's Republican opponent in last year's election - said Sunday he didn't have many details, either. But he said he was proud of the teamwork between city and state officials that led to today's announcement.
He said he was pleased the plan would "make sure the project is not completed by stealing money from other projects. The governor's office heard that message loud and clear."
Construction on the 65-mile loop began in 1988 and was scheduled to be finished by 2003. But delays and competition for money from other cities kept pushing out the completion date.
The delays came as Charlotte's population and traffic multiplied, infuriating drivers and feeding a lingering sense that the city gets shortchanged by state leaders in Raleigh.
Read the rest of this Charlotte Observer article here.
UPDATE: Perdue to DOT: Get 'er done. No word yet on how many transportation construction company CEOs passed out when they heard the news.
Perdue announced the plan during a news conference on an unfinished portion of the outerbelt, saying the roadway could be finished by 2014 or 2015.She said the proposal is innovative for North Carolina but has been used elsewhere in the country.
The plan -- called design-build-finance -- offers a streamlined schedule for construction of the unfinished section of the loop, between N.C. 115 and Interstate 85 in northeast Charlotte. The price tag is estimated at $220 million.
"This plan saves time, saves money for North Carolina taxpayers ... and shows that North Carolina can and will develop new ways of moving forward," Perdue said.
Typically, she said, road projects are design-build, with the contractor responsible for designing and building the roadway. Under the plan announced Monday morning, contractors also would help pay for the construction before being reimbursed.
State officials had said completing the outerbelt soon would be impossible, because the state did not have money for the project.
In the morning news conference, Perdue said she told state officials earlier this year to find a solution for the budgeting problem. "I said simply, 'I want it done -- and the people of North Carolina want it done,' " she said.
News Being broke equals 'wide rear syndrome'
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Mon, Nov 9, 2009 at 12:15 PM
Fortunately, the food industry has learned to manufacture cheap foods that can keep the masses fed. Unfortunately, those foods are full of sugar, salt, fat, fillers and chemicals ... and those things aren't good for us to consume.
Which leads to how being broke equals "wide rear syndrome": With less money, people have to skimp some where, so they often skimp on food. C-ya organics. C-ya healthy meals. Bring on the Velveeta.
As the unemployment rate passes 10 percent and consumers find themselves increasingly strapped, they turn to cheap but effective means to fill their families' tummies. And those who have jobs are working longer hours, forgoing exercise and searching for foods that are not only economical but convenient.As a result, more consumers are turning to processed foods - either already prepared, frozen or canned and typically filled with fat-generating calories, refined grains and sugars. That's making more Americans chubbier and prone to obesity-related illnesses such as diabetes in what has been dubbed "recession fat."
"Eating healthy has been one of the big casualties of this economic downturn," says Harry Balzer, chief industry analyst at the NPD Group and author of the research company's annual Eating Patterns in America report. "Last year, consumers cut back on eating 'better-for-you' and organic foods."
The culprit is cost. About 70 percent of respondents to a recent Technomic Inc. survey said healthier foods are increasingly difficult to afford.
Read the rest of this Charlotte Observer / Market Watch article here.
Further reading: Fat Pride community pushes back on health debate
Here's some tips for how to eat healthy on a budget:
Friday, November 6, 2009
Film / Film Reviews / News A Christmas Carol: No holiday cheer here
Posted By Matt Brunson on Fri, Nov 6, 2009 at 4:26 PM
By Matt Brunson
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
*1/2
DIRECTED BY Robert Zemeckis
STARS Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman
Officially, the title is Disney's A Christmas Carol, which is acceptable since it sure as hell isn't Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. While it might be true that this animated version retains more of the literary classic than might reasonably be expected, it's also accurate to state that a key ingredient of the novel — namely, its humanist spirit — is largely missing from this chilly interpretation.
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Question the Queen City: Hugh McManaway, the man behind the statue
It pays homage to a traffic director, friendly neighbor and one of Charlotte's most beloved local characters
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Q&A with comedian Bobby Collins
Bobby Collins talks about his career in the comedy biz and current act.
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The Hangover Part II: Buzz kill 7
No use crying over spilt sequel.
