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Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Music / sports Should Gwar perform at the 2015 Super Bowl?
Posted By Jeff Hahne on Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 10:41 AM
Nothing says football like shoulder pads, blood and heavy music, right? There's a petition going around online to have Gwar perform at the 2015 Super Bowl halftime show. Really.
Part of the petition reads:
We don't want another year of sitting around talking through a muted, boring NFL Super Bowl halftime show. We want something different. We want a real spectacle that only GWAR can provide. Doesn't the NFL want more viewers? Don't advertisers want more people paying attention? This way everyone wins.Plus, GWAR's relationship with American football is one of the strongest in music. Front man Dave Brockie writes a football column for MetalSucks.com called "Necessary Roughness" even the "The Dan Patrick Show" has an Oderous mask on display. It's been suggested by Sports Illustrated that GWAR should become mascots!
Think it's a joke? While I'd say it's not likely, they've already gotten more than 17,500 signatures. It just won't happen this year - Bruno Mars is slated to be the performer.
News First Drip (9/18/2013): County OKs Carowinds incentives, UNC Asheville gets boost, Charlotte's gayborhoods and more
Posted By Ana McKenzie on Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 10:06 AM
Like City Council the previous night, Mecklenburg County Commission voted to give Carowinds incentives to expand. The commissioners voted Tuesday night to give $600,000 in incentives to the theme park, which brings the total local government contribution to about $930,000, according to News 14. John Grooms argues that before tax payers incentivize corporations, local government must establish a living wage. From his piece yesterday:
Councilman Patrick Cannon, who is also the Democratic nominee for mayor in the upcoming election, voted against the incentives because the proposed low wages give him "heartburn and concern." That's good - they should give him concern.
The attorney of the CMPD officer who fatally shot a 24-year-old on Saturday says the shooting was justified.
And finally, we wonder if Charlotte has a gayborhood (and whether it even needs one) in this week's cover story, written by Q Notes Editor Matt Comer.
Kudos to UNC Asheville for being named a top 10 public liberal arts college by US News & World Report.
- Blue Bullfrog (Flickr Creative Commons)
- UNC Asheville's Glasshouse greenhouse
Behold this list of public-teacher salaries, compiled by N.C. Policy Watch. Shocked at the low figures? Thank these guys.
Arts / Today's Top Five Today's Top 5: Wednesday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 9:00 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, Sept. 18, 2013 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
* Tying the Knot screening at Winthrop University
* Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys at Double Door Inn
* Karaoke at UpStage
* John Thompson at Park Road Books
* Abe Reid and the Spikedrivers at Snug Harbor
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
News Needed: living wage law for companies taking local incentives
Posted By John Grooms on Tue, Sep 17, 2013 at 2:53 PM
Charlotte City Council voted 7-4 on Monday to give Carowinds' parent company $330,000 in incentives to help expand the amusement park. Tonight, the County Commission will vote on whether to hand over an additional $590,000 in incentives, bringing the total local government package to $920,000. Cedar Fair, the parent company, says it's going to spend $43.5 million expanding Carowinds, including the addition of an extra 60-or-so acres to the park, and it wants some help. The incentives measure passed council scrutiny, although no one has even hinted that Cedar Fair would not go ahead with the expansion if it didn't get the incentive package, and despite objections from some council members that Carowinds' summer hiring plans pay too little.
- Inferno Insane (Flickr Creative Commons)
Music Ancient Cities releases "Juice" video
Posted By Jeff Hahne on Tue, Sep 17, 2013 at 2:11 PM
Charlotte alt-folk band Ancient Cities has released a video for their song "Juice." The band is finishing up its debut album due later this year. Ancient Cities is comprised of Stephen Warwick (Secondhand Stories), Justin Fedor (The New Familiars) and Jonathan Erickson (The Noises 10, Small Talk Industries.)
Ancient Cities 'Juice' from Small Creatures on Vimeo.
News First Drip (9/17/2013): Carowinds, Jersey Shore Boardwalk, Jonathan Ferrell and more
Posted By Ana McKenzie on Tue, Sep 17, 2013 at 10:21 AM
In a split vote, Charlotte City Council approved tax incentives for Carowinds' expansion. The city will contribute $1 million in subsidies to the roughly $44 million expansion at the amusement park.
- theblackdog2071 (Flickr Creative Commons)
Investigators are trying to determine the motives of the gunman who killed at least 13 people at a military facility near D.C. yesterday. Per the New York Times: "Aaron Alexis, 34, who had been working for a military subcontractor, was given an honorable discharge from the military in January 2011 after he had applied for an early discharge under the Navy's 'early enlisted transition program,' although he had exhibited a "pattern of misbehavior," which included insubordination and unauthorized absences." Also from the Times, the fire that damaged dozens of businesses along the Jersey Shore Boardwalk was ruled an accident.
The Daily Beast weighs in on the shooting of an unarmed African American man in Charlotte this weekend by a cop, asking, "will America's fear of black men ever go away?"
Arts / Today's Top Five Today's Top 5: Tuesday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Tue, Sep 17, 2013 at 9:28 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, Sept. 17, 2013 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
* Ignite Charlotte 6 at Neighborhood Theatre
* J. Cole at UNC-Charlotte's Halton Arena
* Fight Night Comedy Competition at The Comedy Zone
* The Jazz Room Tribute to Buddy Rich at Stage Door Theater
* Silent Movie Night (screening College) with Ethan Uslan at Petra's Piano Bar & Cabaret
Monday, September 16, 2013
News Randall Kerrick Case: Don't they call that murder?
Posted By John Grooms on Mon, Sep 16, 2013 at 3:25 PM
Randall Kerrick, a 27-year-old Charlotte police officer, has been axed from the force and charged with voluntary manslaughter in the death of Jonathan Ferrell, a 24-year-old car crash survivor. Following the fatal shooting of an unarmed man, the city's methods for training its officers, specifically the proper ways of dealing with potential suspects, is being criticized by the Ferrell family and its attorney, as well as the NAACP and ACLU. The fatal shooting will also doubtlessly add impetus to efforts to reform the city's toothless citizens' review board.
- Mecklenburg Sheriff's Office
- Kerrick
Music / Live Reviews Live review: Christian Death, Tremont Music Hall (9/15/2013)
Posted By Pat Moran on Mon, Sep 16, 2013 at 1:35 PM
Christian Death
Tremont Music Hall
Sept. 15, 2013
Pioneering death rockers Christian Death had skidded to an abrupt stop Sunday night after their opening number, and already bassist/female vocalist Maitri needed a drink. While guitarist, singer and guiding light of the Goth trio Valor Kand struggled with technical difficulties involving pedal settings and synch issues, Maitri bantered with the crowd at the foot of the Tremont Casbah stage.
"If we have to wait, let's get fucked up," Maitri beamed, all brassy and sassy in her revealing Goth chick gear. A patron obliged, buying the bassist a shot of whiskey which she briskly downed. Maitri pointed to her benefactor. "If I make mistakes, blame that guy."
A few minutes earlier, the band had strutted out onto a stage festooned with Halloweeny white lace webbing and blood red roses while creepy organ echoed through the hall. With forked beard and brocaded jacket, Valor suggested ancient warlord Tamerlane crossed with a psychedelic '60s rocker. Maitri was in black mesh and the shortest of skirts. Despite appearances, Maitri was more wickedly funny den mother than dominatrix, and Valor came off like a brainy, good-natured big brother.
With song titles like "This is Heresy," one might expect a pretentious polemic, a didactic screed against Valor's favorite target, organized religion. Yet instead of a blasphemous declamation from the anti-pulpit, Valor and crew delivered a high energy, rollicking rock show, more haunted fun house than satanic mass.
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Question the Queen City: The haunting of Love’s Pass
The railroad pass has claimed at least 14 lives
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Theater review: The Scarlet Pimpernel
CPCC's version triumphantly vindicates my original A+ enthusiasm for The Scarlet Pimpernel.
