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Friday, January 20, 2012
Boomer with Attitude Former Charlotte political lightning rod Jerry Klein is sick and needs help
Posted By John Grooms on Fri, Jan 20, 2012 at 1:43 PM
Jerry Klein is sick, and some of his friends and supporters are staging a benefit concert for him tomorrow night. You should go.
If you're relatively new to this city, you probably wonder: Who is Jerry Klein? For years, he was a constant presence in Charlotte. I could write a book about the things he was involved in. For a long time, he was one of the few music promoters who brought inventive, “under the radar,” often non-mainstream musical performers to town.
Arts / Today's Top Five Today's Top 5: Friday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Fri, Jan 20, 2012 at 7:00 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, Jan. 20, 2012 — as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
• The Color Purple at Ovens Auditorium
• The Chuckleheads at Dilworth Neighborhood Grille
• SlamCharlotte Poetry Slam at McGlohon Theatre
• The Legacy Committee at Mez
• Screening of Ballot Measure 9 at Unitarian Universalist Church of Charlotte
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Boomer with Attitude King Harry Jones amuses crowd with talk of his' "spiritual growth"
Posted By John Grooms on Thu, Jan 19, 2012 at 4:35 PM
If there was any doubt that Mecklenburg County Manager Harry Jones is a legend in his own mind, that doubt was erased at last night’s County Commission meeting.
Jones has essentially been on a part-time schedule since announcing that he has an undisclosed illness for which he has begun intensive treatment. From his attitude last night, you could tell Jones thought yesterday’s meeting was Welcome Back, King Harry! Day at the Government Center. He thanked people who had called him, sent him cards and wrote emails. In a normal business setting, that would have been the extent of the thank-you’s, and the commissioners could have gotten on with their jobs. Instead, everyone had to listen to King Harry’s Words of Wisdom, as he recounted how, although he is seriously ill, he’s “been accessible every day.” It was unclear whether this was supposed to make Jones a martyr, a hero, or both.
Arts / See & Do: The Weekender Weekender, Jan. 20-22
Posted By Anita Overcash on Thu, Jan 19, 2012 at 3:30 PM
Check out these events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area this weekend— as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
Friday, Jan. 20
Queen's Feast: Charlotte Restaurant Week
Locations Vary
Queen’s Feast: Charlotte Restaurant Week is a time to forget about the weight-loss resolutions you made for 2012. Instead, you ought to take advantage of the $30 prix fixe, three-course dinners at upscale restaurants in Charlotte and the surrounding area. You can go back to simpleton food after Jan. 29 (when the foodie fiesta ends).
• Nightlife Sexy accents, vodka and honey cake are three good things I associate with Russia. For that reason alone, the latest Global Fever: Moscow Never Sleeps at Dharma Lounge has captured my attention. It’ll have at least two of the things I listed above (honey cake won’t be there, but I’m sure some honeys will). In addition, DJ Dim and Kosta X spin global beats all night long. More...
• Film Bechtler Museum of Modern Art’s Architecture + Film series continues this evening with a screening of Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. The 1948 flick stars Cary Grant and Myrna Loy as a couple who buys an old house in the countryside. From renovations to a total rebuild, the tasks prove to be more tedious and expensive than their former life in the city. Reception and presentation before the film. More...
Saturday, Jan. 21
New Year, New You
Kalu Restaurant
Beauty is not only skin-deep, but getting a makeover certainly can’t hurt every once in a while. The women’s empowerment event New Year New You will offer makeovers, mini workshops on beauty, relationships, business and more, health and fitness sessions, live performances, and local vendor shopping — all that do wonders for your soul. Donations will be taken for a local nonprofit.
Opinion CORRECTED: From the Editor: A note on the DNCC and its 'off the record' media event
Posted By Mark Kemp on Thu, Jan 19, 2012 at 1:46 PM
(UPDATE: I have altered an earlier version of this column to correct some commentary that I based on erroneous information.
When the Democratic National Convention Committee chose to hold an “off the record” media day in Charlotte yesterday, with rigid but vague rules governing what journalists could report — or, more precisely, what they couldn't report — the message to citizens of Charlotte and beyond was, “If you don’t play our way, you won’t play at all.”
When the Democratic National Convention Committee chose to hold an "off the record” session during its media day in Charlotte yesterday, with rules governing what journalists could report — or, more precisely, what they couldn't report — it rubbed some journalists wrong.
Although many of us use "off the record" details to lead us to key information that can make or break an important story, not many of us are completely comfortable with it. For an organization like the DNCC — which involves public figures, public spaces and public money — it's even less comfortable. Nothing of great importance was revealed during the "off the record" portion of yesterday's DNCC media event — just stuff like the size and cost of media suites and other non-earthshattering news — but that isn't the issue. The issue is that the Democratic National Convention is visiting Charlotte for its event in September. The city is excited about that event. Translated another way: the people of this city are the DNCC's hosts. The DNCC is our guest.
(ADDED: After I published this column, some of which was based on faulty information, the DNCC's press secretary, Joanne Peters, called to clarify the media event's rules. She pointed out, rightly, that the only "off the record" portion of yesterday's media event involved discussion of logistics involving planning for media outlets that are scheduled to attend the Democratic National Convention. During the same media event, an earlier welcome session from DNCC chair Steve Kerrigan was, indeed, on the record, as CL's weekly DNC Notebook report by Mary C. Curtis makes clear. While the DNCC event was not fully "off the record," I stand by my general comments regarding big events and so-called "off the record" information. Peters suggested journalists in "smaller markets" don't fully understand the nature of large events or importance of "off the record" information. I sharply differed with her on that point. I believe too many journalists have become too comfortably compliant in agreeing not to report certain information they receive from powerful organizations. And I say that from the perspective of someone who's done a little editing and reporting in those savvier "larger markets," as Peters put it.)
The Democrats are calling this year's event “The People’s Convention.” If that's really the case, "the people" of this city, state and nation should be treated with dignity. And that means not treating "the people" like children by telling the watchdogs of this community what they can and can’t report. If you have something you don't want reported, don't say it and don't show it.
But — and here's why the DNCC folks threw the big shindig — they needed and wanted the press. They also wanted to control the press. If you're a big organization like the DNCC, you can't expect to have your cake and eat it, too.
Film / Film News Opening Friday
Posted By Matt Brunson on Thu, Jan 19, 2012 at 11:00 AM
- Relativity Media
- Haywire
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close - Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock
Haywire - Gina Carano, Michael Fassbender
Red Tails - Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr.
Shame - Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan
Underworld Awakening 3D - Kate Beckinsale, Stephen Rea
Film / Film Reviews Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune sings tale of political disillusionment
Posted By Mark Kemp on Thu, Jan 19, 2012 at 10:00 AM
- First Run Features
- Phil Ochs (Los Angeles, 1968), as seen in Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune
By Mark Kemp
PHIL OCHS: THERE BUT FOR FORTUNE
***1/2
DIRECTED BY Kenneth Bowser
STARS Phil Ochs, Sean Penn, Christopher Hitchens, Joan Baez, Tom Hayden
In the liner notes to his 1965 album I Ain’t Marching Anymore, the late protest singer Phil Ochs addressed the emotional dichotomy of ego and responsibility, of his simultaneous desire for fame and his need to write and sing morally charged folk songs critical of a world gone mad.
“My vanity flutters as I hear again the cheers of audiences of thousands applauding …,” Ochs wrote, but then went on to say, “I realize that I can’t feel any nobility for what I write because I know my life could never be as moral as my songs.”
That psychic push and pull ruled Ochs’ fascinating and utterly complex life, a life that until now has never been fully explored onscreen. With Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune, filmmaker Ken Bowser rectifies this glaring omission in a documentary that covers it all, from the righteous, leftist, and very patriotic ballads and anthems Ochs sang at demonstrations and on college campuses, to the mental issues that hastened his alcoholism and ultimate suicide in 1976 at only 35 years old. The film premieres on PBS's American Masters at 10 p.m. Monday, Jan. 23, on WTVI in the Charlotte area.
Arts / Today's Top Five Today's Top 5: Thursday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Thu, Jan 19, 2012 at 9:51 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, Jan. 19, 2012 — as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
• Asphalt Revolution: The Vandals of Verse at McGlohon Theatre
• Opening reception for the Betwixt and Between exhibit at UNC Charlotte's Center City Building
• Eilen Jewell at Visulite Theatre
• Jack Goes Boating at Carolina Actors Studio Theatre
• Rebelution at The Fillmore
News UPDATE (with clarifications): Did large Charlotte media orgs violate an 'off the record' agreement with the DNCC by tweeting photos?
Posted By Desiree Kane on Thu, Jan 19, 2012 at 9:42 AM
UPDATE: This story has been modified to include corrections.
The definition of the common press concept of "off the record" was challenged yesterday in an interesting turn of events that all played out online during and after a DNCC media event called the Winter Media Walkthrough. Several large media outlets utilized digital media to cover the event, including the Charlotte Observer, which shot and published a slideshow and tweeted alongside News 14. Did these large Charlotte media organizations violate an off-the-record agreement with the DNCC by tweeting photos? (Updated clarification: The DNCC made clear in its earlier press advisories that some parts of the event would be on the record and other parts privileged. The parts that were reported by the above media outlets were legitimately on the record.)
The tweets came out early in the tour. There was a photo from the floor from CharlotteObserver.com’s site manager, Dave Enna, and a “view from the seats” image of the tour groups from News 14’s Kate Geir. The Observer’s DNC-only Twitter handle, @dnc2012clt, tweeted an image of the press credentials issued to the media personnel. Reporters were explicitly told in the press advisories sent Jan. 10 and 17 that all logistics and planning information is off the record. (Update: DNCC press secretary Joanne Peters told CL this afternoon that none of those reports involved any privileged information about logistics or planning.)
“Violations of this policy,” the e-mail warned, ”will result in removal from the media logistics email list.” Hundreds of journalists from around the world joined the Democratic National Convention Committee at Time Warner Cable Arena, the Charlotte Convention Center and Bank of America Stadium to get a first glimpse at the three locations slated to be consumed by the convention come Sept. 3-6.
During the tour, and just as disclaimers about the 'off the record' requirement were being made, WBT’s Chris Miller tweeted about Observer columnist Mark Washburn being met with a frosty response from an unnamed official who welcomed Washburn to leave after he demanded to know why the secretiveness if the DNCC is indeed hosting the most transparent convention to date. The subsequent tweets and slideshow from the Big O contain images of the arena as the tours were occurring, DNC personnel, photos of reporters, editors, publishers and authors from nearly all of the major news organizations in the world and, of course, stock presser shots of Steve Kerrigan. See the slideshow below and decide for yourself. Let us know in the comments if you believe tweets should be considered on or off the record!
(Update: According to DNCC press secretary Peters, neither the slideshow nor the tweets nor the excerpt from Mark Washburn's column violate the "off the record" portion of the DNC event.)
UPDATE: Mark Washburn’s column on the situation, in his own words:
I rose and squawked. I don't like off-the-record. I prefer in-the-newspaper.
Silly me thinks that if you gather hundreds of media people in a city-owned building to discuss how much their suites are going to cost, it's unseemly to order them to keep it on the down-low.
Silly me thinks if you're spinning "the most open and accessible in history," then you should skip the stealth stuff.
Theodore LeCompte, chief operating officer for the convention committee, stood up and set me straight.
"If there are issues with the ground rules, you are perfectly welcome not to attend this session," he said.
Silly me stuck around.
By lunchtime, Chris Miller, morning news reporter on WBT-AM (1110) and one of the journalists in town you probably don't want to push around, had been pulled aside by a convention press aide. She was concerned about a tweet he had sent that began, "DNC official just announced everything is now off-the-record." He says she reminded him everything was off the record.
Even going off the record, I guess.
For the record, CL editor Mark Kemp is in full agreement with Washburn's comments. "Our position is that organizations like the Democratic National Convention Committee should not hold media events and then demand they be off the record. We generally don't like the idea of anything being off the record. It sets a bad journalistic precedent."
Arts Paula Poundstone laughs for libraries
Posted By Anita Overcash on Thu, Jan 19, 2012 at 9:33 AM
If there's one thing comedian Paula Poundstone is downright serious about, it's the importance of libraries. A national spokesperson for The Association of Library Trustees Advocates Friends & Foundations (ALTAFF), her show at Knight Theater on Sat., Jan. 21 will raise funds for Friends of Charlotte Mecklenburg Library through a percentage of her book sales.
She's quoted as saying, "It's funny that we think of libraries as quiet demure places where we are shushed by dusty, bun-balancing, bespectacled women. The truth is, libraries are raucous clubhouses for free speech, controversy and community. Libraries have stood up to the Patriot Act, sat down with noisy toddlers and reached out to illiterate adults. Libraries can never be shushed. If you haven't been to your library lately, you're over-due."
Oh yeah, and did we mention she's funny, too? Check out a clip of her performing on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson below.
Tickets to Saturday's show are $24.50 and up. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 704-372-1000 or click here.
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