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Monday, July 12, 2010
Arts / Debbie Millwater / News Best bets in Charlotte comedy this week, July 13-17
Posted By Anita Overcash on Mon, Jul 12, 2010 at 12:47 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.
Tuesday, July 13
Stand-Up Comedy at Lake Norman Comedy Zone at 8 p.m.
Nationally touring headliner J. Jay Boyd.
Galway Hooker Irish Pub ~ 7044 Kenton Drive, Cornelius ~ $10
Wednesday, July 14
'It's Always Funny' Comedy Show at 8:30 p.m.
Awesome drink and barbecue specials, plus comedy by Steve Forrest, Jason Jeter, Connor Barrett and Dave Stone.
Dixie's Tavern ~ 301 East 7th St., Charlotte ~ Free
Friday, July 16
Improv Comedy by Charlotte Comedy Theater at 8 p.m.
Competitive short form improv where Charlotte's top improvisers compete against one another for your affection. Lots of audience participation.
Prevue ~ 2909 N. Davidson St., Charlotte ~ $10 cash at door ~ Rated R
Saturday, July 17
The Degenerates of Comedy at 8 p.m.
Get ready to laugh, cringe, cry, then laugh all over again at The Degenerates of Comedy Show! Host Julie O'Shea featuring Mike Buczek, Joe Phoenix, Jay Radford, DeVan Penegar, Aaron Bruggeman and Ryan Van Genderen.
Courtyard Hooligans ~ 140 Brevard Court, Charlotte ~ Free
Need a laugh right now? Visit www.queencitycomedy.com to view comedian Craig Carter’s latest blog postings, including funny mug shots, sketches and comic interviews.
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 Tea Party: 'What? Us Racist?!'
Posted By John Grooms on Mon, Jul 12, 2010 at 11:59 AM
The NAACP is holding its national convention this week, where the group will propose a resolution “condemning racism within the Tea Party movement.” I honestly don’t know how much pull the NAACP has anymore, but this resolution is a good thing. The Tea Partiers are a diverse group, and not all of the movement’s followers are racists, but the obvious truth is that a substantial number of the TP-ers are. And I mean full-tilt, flat out, too-stupid-to-breathe racist.
The big problem is that TP leaders have done precious little to rid their movement of racists. What’s worse, they deny there’s even a problem, and they call the NAACP proposal “unfair.” As Brendan Steinhauser, director of campaigns for FreedomWorks, which organizes some tea parties, told ThinkProgress, “I just don’t see racism in the tea party movement.” That’s an astounding statement on its own, but Steinhauser compounded it by noting that, in her opinion, “... the tea party movement has a lot in common with the civil rights movement.”
Right, Brenda. A grassroots movement of people whose ancestors suffered 300 hundred years of slavery, and then were treated like so many dogs after their “freedom” was granted, has a lot in common with a collection of entitled whites who are mad because the world is moving under them and they want to feel like they’re boss of the country again. Yeah, there’s a lot in common there — especially considering that a July 4 Tea Party rally in Lexington, Ky., featured tea partiers selling “Yup, I’m a racist” shirts. Oh, not to mention some of the lovely folks and signs shown below. No, not racist at all.
Arts / Today's Top Five / News Today's Top 5: Monday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Mon, Jul 12, 2010 at 10:36 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, July, 12 2010 — as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
• Legends of Flight at Discovery Place's IMAX
• Dark Castle at The Milestone
• Find Your Muse open mic at The Evening Muse
• Argentine Tango Class and Social Dancing at Lynn's Speakeasy Club
• Whole Wheat Bread at Tremont Music Hall
Friday, July 9, 2010
News / Biz What is a smart grid, anyway?
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Fri, Jul 9, 2010 at 12:42 PM
As technologically advanced as our country is, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense when you realize our power grid is based on 1960s technology. It's not efficient and it's not very smart.
That's why, this month, National Geographic is taking a look at what a 21-century power grid might look like. Here's a snippet:
The grid is wondrous. And yet—in part because we've paid so little attention to it, engineers tell us—it's not the grid we need for the 21st century. It's too old. It's reliable but not reliable enough, especially in the United States, especially for our mushrooming population of finicky digital devices. Blackouts, brownouts, and other power outs cost Americans an estimated $80 billion a year. And at the same time that it needs to become more reliable, the grid needs dramatic upgrading to handle a different kind of power, a greener kind. That means, among other things, more transmission lines to carry wind power and solar power from remote places to big cities.Most important, the grid must get smarter. The precise definition of "smart" varies from one engineer to the next. The gist is that a smart grid would be more automated and more "self-healing," and so less prone to failure. It would be more tolerant of small-scale, variable power sources such as solar panels and wind turbines, in part because it would even out fluctuations by storing energy—in the batteries of electric cars, according to one speculative vision of the future, or perhaps in giant caverns filled with compressed air.
But the first thing a smart grid will do, if we let it, is turn us into savvier consumers of electricity.
Yesterday, NPR's Fresh Air invited the author of the National Geographic article, Joel Achenbach, to explain what's wrong with our current power grid and why it's not good enough for today's highly charged world. He also explains how a smart grid can help us conserve energy and save money through feedback from the power company. Read or listen to his interview here.
Here's some more 1960s technology for ya. Aren't you glad we upgraded?
The cops got radios. POW! Take that, criminals.
Color television was all the rage! Zowie!
We could make long distance calls and pagers (a.k.a. "Bell Boys") only weighed about five pounds. Outta sight!
Kitchen appliances got a snazzy makeover. Shizam.
Further reading: 13 Energy Saboteurs — The Daily Beast
News / Biz Tell the EPA what you think about coal ash regulation
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Fri, Jul 9, 2010 at 12:39 PM
The folks over at EarthJustice have been busy! They've created an easy button for you that enables you to share your thoughts about coal ash with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency without much effort. Press the button here.
In case you're late to the convo, here are a few links that will quickly bring you up to speed:
Coal's Dirty Secret -- Institute for Southern StudiesIs Coal Ash Hazardous Waste, or Isn't it? -- Creative Loafing
North Carolina orders utilities to test groundwater near coal ash ponds -- Institute for Southern Studies
The Catawba Riverkeeper has also compiled a list of links. Check them out here.
To sum up, there are four unlined, high-hazard coal ash ponds near Charlotte on the Catawba River. Two of which are on the edge of Mountain Island lake, which is part of the river and also known as our main drinking water reservoir. Those two ponds are about a dozen miles from the heart of Uptown and just upstream from where Charlotte-Meckenburg Utilities withdraws our drinking water from the lake. See for yourself.
This isn't an issue we're removed from. This is an issue that's affects us all.
EarthJustice has also produced a powerful series of videos about coal ash worth watching. Here they are:
Film / Film Reviews / News Despicable Me: What's not to like?
Posted By Matt Brunson on Fri, Jul 9, 2010 at 12:21 PM
By Matt Brunson
DESPICABLE ME
DIRECTED BY Pierre Coffin & Chris Renaud
STARS Steve Carell, Jason Segel
When James Stewart offers to lasso the moon for Donna Reed in Frank Capra's classic It's a Wonderful Life, it's purely a romantic gesture. When Gru (Steve Carell), the star of the 3-D opus Despicable Me (*** out of four), plots to shrink the moon to a size small enough so that he can make off with it, it's clearly to show that he's the baddest dude around. After all, if a supervillain isn't feared and respected, then what good is he?
Film / Film Reviews / News Cyrus worth getting to know
Posted By Matt Brunson on Fri, Jul 9, 2010 at 12:20 PM
By Matt Brunson
CYRUS
DIRECTED BY Jay Duplass & Mark Duplass
STARS John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill
The laughs don't always come easy — but, oh, they do come — in Cyrus, a dark comedy that repeatedly dances so close to uncomfortable territory that viewers figure it's only a matter of time before it topples right over into the taboo.
Film / Film Reviews / News Winter's Bone cuts deep
Posted By Matt Brunson on Fri, Jul 9, 2010 at 12:20 PM
By Matt Brunson
WINTER'S BONE
***1/2
DIRECTED BY Debra Granik
STARS Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes
Memorable movie characters often pop out at us from the most unlikely of places, and the understated indie effort Winter's Bone surprises by serving up such a figure in Ree Dolly. Ree, played by Jennifer Lawrence in a breakthrough performance, is 17 years old, smarter than everyone around her, sports a lip that sometimes gets her into trouble, and takes a screen beating as impressively as anyone since Brando's Terry Malloy got clobbered in On the Waterfront.
Film / Film News / News I Am Love: Amore, Italian-style
Posted By Matt Brunson on Fri, Jul 9, 2010 at 12:20 PM
By Matt Brunson
I AM LOVE
DIRECTED BY Luca Guadagnino
STARS Tilda Swinton, Flavio Parenti
How devoted is Tilda Swinton to her craft? Thespians occasionally learn another language in order to play a certain role, but Swinton plunged even deeper: For I Am Love, she not only learned to speak Italian and Russian, she also learned to speak Italian with a Russian accent.
Arts / See & Do: The Weekender / News Weekender, July 9-11
Posted By Anita Overcash on Fri, Jul 9, 2010 at 11:47 AM
Check out these events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area this weekend— as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
Friday, July 9
Duke Energy Theatre
Machine Theatre’s ThomThom (if that bird won’t sing) is a musical derived from the imagination of Matt Cosper and directed by Barney Baggett with songs composed by Jon Lindsay. This black comedy follows two lost souls trying to find their way through a dark forest that’s full of scariness — take, for instance, the crazed gang of idiotic murderous wizards — and adventure.
• Art RedSky Gallery's latest exhibition is devoted to ceramics. The show features a combination of sculptural and studio ceramics by six talented artists — Donna Craven, Kim Ellington, Carol Gentithes, Fred Johnston, Matt Kelleher and Emily Reason. Stop in this evening for the opening reception, from 6 p.m.-8:30 p.m. more...
• Film Watch a free outdoor film screening of The Blind Side and enjoy free popcorn and prizes at Freedom Park this evening. more...
Saturday, July 10
Plaza Midwood
What person in their right mind didn’t love recess? A time to relax the brain from work and play with friends, recess was and always will equate to ultimate fun — which is probably how local Zach Reader came up with the idea for Recess Fest. This event — aimed at getting folks out to enjoy a day of music, art, film and socializing — will be held at a variety of locations around the Plaza Midwood neighborhood.
• Comedy Funny Bone Improv hosts its Post Fireworks Show tonight at Matthews Hampton Inn. An array of improv firework zingers and humor that will “light up the sky and rain down laughs” are said to be in store. more...
• Sports Prepare for roller derby action as the Charlotte Roller Girls All-Stars take on the Wilmington-based Cape Fear Roller Girls at Grady Cole Center tonight. more...
Sunday, July 11
Theatre Charlotte
No, Time Out Youth’s Gaga for Dada does not mean you have to sit in a corner and it has nothing to do with babies, despite what you may be thinking. Instead, the soiree — being held at Theatre Charlotte — gives you the chance to have a fun-filled evening that features a number of performances starring local theater luminaries. In addition, a cash bar and giveaways (including an iPad) are in store. Proceeds benefit Time Out Youth, a organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youths in Charlotte and the surrounding area.
• Festival Thanks to the French American Chamber of Commerce, you don’t have to be in France to celebrate Bastille Day. The 10th annual Bastille Day Festival — which commemorates the invasion of the Bastille jail in Paris in 1789, marking the beginning of the French Revolution — will have food, games, fencing demonstrations, jugglers, prizes and more. more...
• Party Just because it’s nearly the end of the weekend, doesn’t mean you have to stay in. Sundress Sundays at Loft 1523 will feature signature drinks and R&B, soul and jazz sounds by DJ Justice. That’s reason enough to go out. more...
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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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5 Reasons To Buy Home Insurance Policy
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Catching the CAST Quad
Four plays have taken over CAST: The Edge of Our Bodies, A Steady Rain, Eliza and Under the Red Cloak.
