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Sunday, September 22, 2013

News First Drip (9/22/13): Harry Jones post county commission, Parisian cocaine bust, doubting strawberries and more

Posted By Ana McKenzie on Sun, Sep 22, 2013 at 9:58 AM

Wonder what former county manager Harry Jones has been up to? Volunteering at children's hospitals and starting companies, apparently.

NASCAR was quite shaken by the chase scandal.

Sacrebleu! Police at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris seized about 1.5 tons of cocaine in 30 suitcases on an inbound flight from Venezuela. Officials say it was the largest drug bust ever made in the French capital.

A California teen was named the first transgender homecoming queen in the U.S.

And finally, STRAWBERRIES AREN'T BERRIES!?

Tags: Harry Jones, Paris, cocaine, Venezuela, NASCAR, strawberries

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Arts / Today's Top Five Today's Top 5: Sunday

Posted By Anita Overcash on Sun, Sep 22, 2013 at 9:00 AM

Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, Sept. 22, 2013 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.

* Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World's Fairs 1851-1939 exhibit at Mint Museum Uptown

* Son Volt at Visulite Theatre

* The Pretty Reckless at The Fillmore

* Charlotte Panthers vs. NY Giants at Bank of America Coliseum

* Southern Women's Show at Charlotte Convention Center

Tags: Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World's Fairs 1851-1939, Mint Museum Uptown, Son Volt, Visulite Theatre, The Pretty Reckless, The Fillmore, Charlotte Panthers vs. NY Giants, Bank of America Coliseum, Southern Women's Show, Charlotte Convention Center, Charlotte, NC, Image

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Music / Music Menu Son Volt at the Visulite tonight (9/22/2013)

Posted By John Schacht on Sun, Sep 22, 2013 at 8:38 AM

SON VOLT
As a fan of Uncle Tupelo's unique blend of Acuff-Rose and SST, I most admired Jay Farrar, the band's undisputed creative leader. Unlike bandmate Jeff Tweedy, who was a work in progress until he formed Wilco, Farrar sounded fully formed from the moment Uncle Tupelo dropped their seminal 1990 release, No Depression. Maybe it had something to do with his wandering spirit father (a merchant marine), but Farrar already wrote and sang like an old soul by age 20. Even in Farrar's next band, the first incarnation of Son Volt, his best tracks had a timeless quality, and in-concert covers of country fare like "Apartment No. 9" and "She's More to Be Pitied" heightened the more-country/less-rock conviction some of us felt. Yet somewhere between the Mach I and II versions of Son Volt, Farrar's songs bloated lyrically, the words and ideas turning topical, more like the CNN ticker than simple, universally themed songs. So the notion of Farrar doing an LP of trad Honky Tonk (and calling it that) intrigued, and the results should appeal to fans of Farrar's country leanings. Given the pop dreck coming out of Nashville and calling itself country, this stuff is practically Bob Wills- and Merle Haggard-like. With Colonel Ford. $23. Sept. 22, 7:30 p.m. Visulite Theatre, 1615 Elizabeth Ave. 704-358-9200.

Tags: Son Volt, Jay Farrar, John Schacht, music, concert, preview, Charlotte, Visulite Theatre, Image

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Saturday, September 21, 2013

News First Drip (9/21/13): Habitat, Emmys, iPhones, athletes and more

Posted By Ana McKenzie on Sat, Sep 21, 2013 at 9:32 AM

The local branch of Habitat for Humanity is celebrating 30 years in Charlotte and $5 million invested in projects that have revitalized a west side community. Per the Charlotte Observer, "In the past 30 years, Habitat has built or repaired 1,256 homes, where 5,000 people now live."

The best features of the Apple 5s and 5c, which debuted on Friday.

Only in Florida. Jennifer Mee, who was made famous by her uncontrollable hiccuping, will serve life in prison without parole after being charged with first-degree murder.

Emmy Awards by the numbers.

From the Charlotte Business Journal: the highest-paid athletes in Charlotte.

Tags: Charlotte Observer, Habitat for Humanity, athletes, Emmy Awards, hiccups, Florida, murder, iPhone5s

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Arts / Today's Top Five Today's Top 5: Saturday

Posted By Anita Overcash on Sat, Sep 21, 2013 at 9:00 AM

Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, Sept. 22, 2013 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.

* Lake Norman Beer Festival at Kenton Place

* Aoife O'Donovan at Stage Door Theater

* Festival in the Park at Freedom Park

* Sip & Savour in Myers Park

* End of Summer: What the Truck! at Amos' Southend

Tags: Lake Norman Beer Festival, Kenton Place, Aoife O'Donovan, Stage Door Theater, Festival in the Park, Freedom Park, Sip & Savour, Myers Park, End of Summer: What the Truck, Amos' Southend, Charlotte, NC, Image

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Music Menu Mikeflo of Dead Prez at Dharma Lounge tonight (9/21/13)

Posted By Kimberly Lawson on Sat, Sep 21, 2013 at 8:51 AM

We don't often recommend a DJ set as a must-check-out event in Charlotte, but this is mikeflo of Dead Prez we're talking about.

In an era when radio hip-hop puts the beat on the pedestal and casts conscious lyrical content to the side - "Shake it like a red nose"? Really? - MC, DJ and producer mikeflo has successfully managed to sidestep all that and create music that is both worth a listen and an analysis.

Check out "The Adjustment Bureau" below. Or, better yet, check out his DJ set at Dharma Lounge during Su Casa tonight.

$5-$10. 10 p.m.- 2 a.m. Dharma Lounge, 1440 S Tryon St.

Tags: mikeflo, Dead Prez, music, Dharma Lounge, Su Casa, hip-hop, DJ

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Music / Music Menu Aoife O'Donovan at the Stage Door Theater tonight (9/21/2013)

Posted By Pat Moran on Sat, Sep 21, 2013 at 8:02 AM

AOIFE O'DONOVAN
Drawing on childhood summers studying Celtic song craft in Ireland, American Aoife O'Donovan created a niche that joined freak-folk to the progressive string band strain pioneered by Bela Fleck. Lending her breathy, ethereal vocals to folk noir trio Sometymes Why and experimental string virtuosos Crooked Still, O'Donovan looked set to be the next alt-Americana darling. So it shocked prog-roots fans when O'Donovan's long-awaited solo debut ditched the artsy folk fusion of yore for an indie singer/songwriter path, steeped in the supple genre-sampling of Joni Mitchell. A back-porch sensibility still bubbles under new LP Fossils, but O'Donovan's music is rooted rather than rootsy. O'Donovan's take on her own "Lay My Burden Down," famously covered by Alison Krauss, tells the tale. While Krauss' version is stripped down and earthy, O'Donovan's walks a tightrope between shimmering heights and fear of falling. Likewise, a thread of anxiety winds through the burnished Indian summer nostalgia of "Red & White & Blue & Gold." Like their Celtic models, O'Donovan's pretty melodies are driven by the tension between the airy and the unsettled, and that stops these gorgeous songs from simply floating away. $25. Sept. 21, 8 p.m.; Sept. 22, 6 p.m. Stage Door Theater, 130 N. Tryon St. 704-372-1000.

Tags: Aoife O'Donovan, Stage Door Theater, Blumenthal Peforming Arts Center, Charlotte, music, concert, preview, Pat Moran, Image

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Friday, September 20, 2013

Culture Question the Queen City: Charlotte's civil rights history

Posted By David Aaron Moore on Fri, Sep 20, 2013 at 11:24 AM

Editor's note: In this series, local author David Aaron Moore answers reader-submitted questions about unusual, noteworthy or historic people, places and things in Charlotte. Submit inquires to davidaaronmoore@gmail.com.

Unlike a lot of Southern cities during the mid-20th century, Charlotte seems to have transitioned relatively peacefully from the Jim Crow era of "separate but equal" to an integrated community - at least according to stories my great aunt told me. Would you say that's an accurate assessment? - Nancy Caldwell, Charlotte

Tags: Question the Queen City, civil rights, David Aaron Moore, history, culture, Julius Chambers, segregation, desegregation, busing, New Bern, KKK, schools, black, white, racism, Reginald Hawkins, Selma, Birmingham, NAACP, Kelly M. Alexander, Fred D. Alexander, bomb, Image

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News First Drip (9/20/13): N.C. unhappy with all government, new limits on carbon emissions, Nintendo's Hiroshi Yamauchi dies

Posted By Kimberly Lawson on Fri, Sep 20, 2013 at 9:11 AM

Elon University released a poll yesterday stating that a majority of North Carolinians are unhappy with the government - state and federal. President Obama has a disapproval rating of 51 percent.

On the plus side, the Obama administration is set to announce today new limits on carbon emissions from newly constructed power plants. "It will be the first time the EPA has ever regulated greenhouse gases from power plants, and with a cap only slightly higher than a proposal made last year and then withdrawn, it shows that the administration isn't shying from a fight with the coal industry," writes The Daily Beast's Josh Dzieza.

Mecklenburg County district attorney Andrew Murray has asked the North Carolina attorney general's office to prosecute CMPD Officer Randall Kerrick in the shooting death of 24-year-old Jonathan Ferrell. Murray formerly worked with the two defense attorneys representing Kerrick.

And in news that'll pierce the hearts of gamers: R.I.P. to Hiroshi Yamauchi, who ran Nintendo from 1949-2002; he died yesterday at the age of 85. During his time as president, the company created the first game console and classic games like Super Mario and Zelda. In honor of the gaming visionary:

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