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Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Arts / Today's Top Five Today's Top 5: Wednesday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Wed, May 16, 2012 at 9:25 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, May 16, 2012 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
* Burn the Floor at Belk Theater
* DL Hughley at The Comedy Zone Charlotte
* Off the Record with Natalie Royal at The Evening Muse
* WFAE's Public Conversations Series: Understanding Stand Your Ground at CPCC
* Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros at The Fillmore
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
News / Democratic National Convention 2012 Democratic National Convention 2012 Notebook: Despite Protests and Amendment Votes, the DNC Must Go On
Posted By Mary C. Curtis on Tue, May 15, 2012 at 11:22 AM
No one believed the petitions urging Democrats to move their convention out of Charlotte would gain any traction.
Still, North Carolina's adoption of an amendment that asserts marriage between a man and a woman as the only valid domestic legal union must have come as a disappointment, especially since party leaders, such as Los Angeles mayor and convention chairman Antonio Villaraigosa, have been pushing for a platform plank in favor of gay marriage.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Arts / Today's Top Five Today's Top 5: Tuesday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Mon, May 14, 2012 at 5:21 PM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, May 15, 2012 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
* Alvin Ailey at Knight Theater
* Greg Laswell at Tremont Music Hall
* Open Mic at The Kilted Buffalo
* My Family, Our Stories exhibit at The Light Factory
* Jonathan Wilson at Visulite Theatre
News Research links food-insecure mothers to childhood obesity
Posted By Ana McKenzie on Mon, May 14, 2012 at 2:22 PM
A new study, published in Pediatrics, suggests that the way a "food-insecure" mother, or one who has to worry about not having enough food for her family, regulates her child's eating patterns could determine whether her child is obese.
Nearly 20 percent of Mecklenburg County's children live in poverty.
News / Opinion The gentrification of Belmont and Villa Heights
Posted By Ana McKenzie on Mon, May 14, 2012 at 11:36 AM
The Belmont and Villa Heights neighborhoods in Charlotte have gotten a "facelift" in recent years that's barely lowered crime but nearly doubled the average household value, according to a story published on UNC Charlotte's Plan Charlotte website.
Black residents worry about being pushed out by the rising housing costs and property taxes. Some report feeling harassed by police, who have increased patrols in the area "to help reduce crime."
But the story doesn't pay much attention to that angle. Mostly it plays up how safe residents feel now, assuring readers that neighborhood associations are focused on maintaining diversity.
But the numbers speak for themselves.
In both neighborhoods, the black population decreased while the white increased. In Belmont, the average house's value was $68,871 in 2002. In 2010, it was $129,485.
Cleaning up a neighborhood is important, but at what cost?
Read the full story here.
- UNC Charlotte's website
- A "fixer upper."
Arts / Today's Top Five Today's Top 5: Monday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Mon, May 14, 2012 at 8:00 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, May 14, 2012 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
* Modern Mondays at Bechtler Museum of Modern Art
* American Craft Beer Week at Flying Saucer
* Bar Wars Mondays at Phil's Tavern
* Find Your Muse Open Mic at The Evening Muse
* Karaoke at Dixie's Tavern
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Arts Kicking back at Rural Hill
Posted By Anita Overcash on Sat, May 12, 2012 at 7:30 AM
It's not often that you're invited to spend all day on a farm without doing any work. But that's the case during Rural Hill Centre of Scottish Heritage's North Carolina Brewers & Music Festival. The 10-hour event offers NC-brewed ales and lagers, live music (see schedule below), and food. (This year, vegetarian selections are available. And by that we don't just mean French fries).
Folks who plan on getting blackout drunk may want to take advantage of the camping options. Just don't forget to bring your own gear and pucking buckets. Side note: You'll need to behave yourselves too. Proceeds raised from the event go toward preserving the farm.
Beer tasting sessions, from 12:45 p.m.- 4:15 p.m.
Band lineup:
* 12 p.m.-12:45 p.m. - Big Something
* 1 p.m.-2 p.m. - Old Man Markley
* 2:15 p.m.-3:30 p.m. - Larry Keel
* 3:45 p.m.-5 p.m. - Sol Driven Train
* 5:15 p.m.-6:30 p.m. - The Black Lillies
* 6:45 p.m.-8:15 p.m. - Steep Canyon Rangers
* 8:30 p.m.-10 p.m. - Ryan Montbleau Band
For more information, visit www.ncbrewsmusic.com. May 12, 12 p.m.-10 p.m. Rural Hill, 4431 Neck Road. 704-875-3113. www.ruralhill.net.
Arts Something to squeal about
Posted By Anita Overcash on Sat, May 12, 2012 at 7:00 AM
With more than 60 beers, 40 bourbons and various barbecue vendors, the Beer, Bourbon and BBQ Festival ought to have you squealing like a pig (or at least eating and drinking like one).
The annual festival at Symphony Park also features lots of entertainment, including music, cornhole and more. Here's to hoping that you're sober enough to enjoy it! May 12, 2 p.m.-6 p.m. Symphony Park, 4400 Sharon Road. For more information, visit www.beerandbourbon.com.
Arts Ready, set, drag
Posted By Anita Overcash on Sat, May 12, 2012 at 6:00 AM
In anticipation of Queen City Drag Race, where drag-decked participants in stilletos run or squirm to a finish line, all I can think is, "Please, please let them wear knee pads!" Hopefully, those participating in the event have mastered the task of moving in challenging footwear.
Heels and a wig are the only attire requirements, so protective gear isn't out of the question. Whew. Q.C. drag diva Buff Faye hosts the race. Half the proceeds go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and winners of the race determine a charity of choice for the remaining funds. At least any scars will be for a good cause.
For more information, visit www.queencitydragrace.com. May 12, 3 p.m.-6 p.m. Hartigan's Irish Pub, 601 S. Cedar St. 704-347-1841. www.hartigans.com.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Arts Theater review: 110 in the Shade
Posted By Perry Tannenbaum on Fri, May 11, 2012 at 5:28 PM
Last week must have been the kick-off for a musical be-kind-to-plain-women celebration across Metrolina, for while Queen City Theatre Company was opening Passion at Spirit Square, Old Courthouse Theatre was cruising into the middle weekend of its three-week run of 110 in the Shade. The show hasn't played in Charlotte during the Loaf Era, and the stars didn't align properly for me to see the colorblind revival of the show on Broadway in 2007, featuring Audra McDonald as Lizzie Curry. So I wasn't going to let a few exits on I-85 prevent me from savoring the Harvey Schmidt-Tom Jones musical for the first time.
Lizzie, you may remember, is the prairie gal who's beginning to think, as her biological clock begins ticking more loudly, that you can't get a man with a brain — until the title character of The Rainmaker, the charismatic Bill Starbuck, rolls into the Curry homestead in his ramshackle star-wagon. Reshaping the N. Richard Nash drama into a musical, Schmidt and Jones teamed up with the playwright. Transporting much of the action to a holiday picnic, Nash's book is absolutely sure-footed in enlarging the action to Broadway ensemble proportions without sacrificing the best private and family moments of the original script. As the Curry's agonize over the prospects of Lizzie's spinsterhood — while the phony rainmaker Starbuck cultivates her womanhood — the poignancy and the comedy remain on a human scale.
Talk about sure-footed, Old Courthouse creative director Heather Wilson was the second-best Lizzie that I've ever seen — only the screen performance by Katharine Hepburn edges out Wilson's — when she starred in the Central Piedmont Community College's production of The Rainmaker in the summer of 2009. Directing 110, Wilson not only gets the essence of Lizzie's late blossoming, she gets community theater. Time after time, with sets by Trent Wilson and costumes by Carol Salloum, Wilson turns deficits in design polish and acting experience into positive assets.
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Theater review: As You Like It
Shakespeare Carolina production sparks plenty of laughter.
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Rare fish may affect Duke Energy's dam licenses
How's a fish supposed to spawn around these parts?
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Pantherfanz tailgate in style in their souped-up school bus
Yeah, America!!!
