The CLog

Film / Film News Opening Friday

Posted By Matt Brunson on Thu, Jul 31, 2014 at 2:00 PM

Disney & Marvel
Guardians of the Galaxy

Boyhood - Ellar Coltrane, Ethan Hawke

Get On Up - Chadwick Boseman, Nelsan Ellis

Guardians of the Galaxy - Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana

Tags: film, Charlotte, Image

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

Posted By Anita Overcash on Thu, Jul 31, 2014 at 10:15 AM

Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, July 31, 2014 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.

• Opening reception for the Is This Condition Permanent? (On Man vs. Nature & Vice Versa) exhibit at Artspace 525

• J. Eugene Grigsby, Jr. Remembered at Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture

• Alive After 5 w/ Who's Bad (Michael Jackson cover band) at Pavilion at EpiCentre

• Solar Fest at Area 15

• Inequality for All at Unitarian Universalist Church of Charlotte

Tags: Is This Condition Permanent? (On Man vs. Nature & Vice Versa), Artspace 525, J. Eugene Grigsby, Jr. Remembered, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, Alive After 5, Who's Bad, Pavilion at EpiCentre, Solar Fest, Area 15, Inequality for All, Unitarian Universalist Church of Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, Image

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First Drip First Drip (7/31/14): Charlotte missionary fighting Ebola, Senate to vote on budget, more

Posted By Ana McKenzie on Thu, Jul 31, 2014 at 8:26 AM

About 500 congregates of Calvary Church in Charlotte gathered to pray for member Nancy Writebol, the missionary who contracted Ebola while helping aid workers combat the disease in Liberia. Writebol's husband David, who's also a missionary in Liberia, Skyped in to report on his wife's health. “'Nancy is doing pretty well, I think,' he said, his voice carried on loudspeakers as a photo of the couple appeared on two big screens. 'She’s still very ill … but she’s sitting up and she’s talking with us and she’s able to move about. And drinking lots of fluid, which is good for her. That’s her main job these days.'"

The Senate is expected to vote on a $21 billion budget that will provide raises for teachers, but at the expense of statewide agencies. Twelve positions and millions of dollars will be cut from the Department of Health and Human Services, the UNC system will take a $76 million cut, and the budget no longer includes money for new coal ash regulators.

Billionaire Paul Singer is probably the most hated man in Argentina right now. The country failed to make scheduled payments on its government bonds Wednesday because a federal court in Manhattan ruled it must first settle its debt dispute with Singer's hedge fund firm. "The government of Argentina now faces a stark choice: Try to restart negotiations with investors it has repeatedly called “vultures,” who have for years refused to accept anything other than full repayment. Or it can remain ensnared in a default that could weigh on the country’s fragile economy and unsettle global markets." The economy minister of Argentina called the negotiations "extortion."

A video explaining how the House decided to sue President Obama.

Tags: First Drip, news, Charlotte

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News Charlotte Uber rider complains of … spider bites?

Posted By Ana McKenzie on Wed, Jul 30, 2014 at 11:44 AM

Not only was an Uber driver 30 minutes late to his destination, but somehow during the ride, his customer got attacked by spiders.

The Charlotte-area rider says he discovered the bites after the trip. He details his greivances - which include pictures - in the first official complaint filed with the state's attorney general against the company.

As the Triangle Business Journal reports, despite the mega-eww factor of this complaint, it's benign compared to those that AGs around the country have received. "Attorneys general in some states, including New York, launched investigations into the legality of the service itself. And, in Virginia, taxi drivers have asked Attorney General Mark Herring to shut the service down."

Lyft, another ride-share program, has yet to receive any complaints in North Carolina.

Tags: Uber, ride-share program, North Carolina Attorney General, complaint, news, Charlotte, spiders

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News Adoptive parents of missing Erica Parsons arrested on fraud charges

Posted By Ana McKenzie on Wed, Jul 30, 2014 at 11:22 AM

Casey and Sandy Parsons, the adoptive parents of of missing Rowan County teen Erica Parsons, have been arrested on federal fraud charges that include collecting government assistance for their daughter, who has been missing since 2011.

The Charlotte Observer reports FBI and IRS agents arrested the couple, who moved to Fayetteville during the investigation into Erica's disappearances, which wasn't reported until 2013, two years after she was last seen by friends and family.

Tags: Casey Parsons, Sandy Parsons, Rowan County, missing teen, news, crime, fraud, Charlotte, North Carolina

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Comic Afterthoughts The Pull List (7/30/14): Bodies hit the shelves

Posted By Andy Smith on Wed, Jul 30, 2014 at 10:24 AM

DC’s newest Vertigo series is Bodies, a murder-mystery that takes place in four time periods. Scribe Si Spencer, known for books like Hellblazer: City of Demons, tackles all of the writing; four artists (Dean Ormston, Phil Winslade, Meghan Hetrick and Tula Lotay) take on a corresponding, six-page chapter in each issue. (On Tuesday, Lotay signed books and gave out sketches at Charlotte's own Heroes Aren't Hard to Find. The comic shop posted photos from the signing here.)

One interesting aspect to the story is the time periods chosen for the series. The narrative takes place in 1890, 1940, 2014 and 2050. Each of the eight issues of the miniseries will visit these points in time, and all contribute to the overall mystery of Bodies.

But this book isn’t the only No. 1 to look out for this week. Image has Chew: Warrior Chicken Poyo #1 and Low #1 slated for release. Dark Horse Comics is offering Deep Gravity #1 and Baltimore: The Witch of Harju #1. And for Marvel fans, the tongue-in-cheek 100th Anniversary Special: Guardians of the Galaxy is set to debut.

Tags: Comic Afterthoughts, Andy Smith, Bodies, Guardians of the Galaxy, Image

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First Drip First Drip (7/30/14): Two men charged with attempted murder of CMPD officer, Dems raise $1 million over impeachment talk, more

Posted By Ana McKenzie on Wed, Jul 30, 2014 at 8:16 AM

A CMPD officer is out of the hospital, having suffered a broken leg and other injuries, after two men allegedly dragged him with their vehicle during a traffic stop. Richard Starnes was backing up another officer who was helping a woman who said she had been assaulted, identifying the occupants of a Nissan vehicle as the culprits. Chad Alexander Clay, 21, and Maurice Julian Clay, 20, dragged the officer as he held onto the car's window.

Is Charlotte willing to pay for a healthy arts scene?

Gov. McCrory and state Attorney General Roy Cooper likely won't debate marriage equality by the time they square off for governor in 2016. Strategists Republican and Democrat say it will likely be a moot point in two years, as the U.S. Supreme Court will likely rule in favor of equality in the next year. In other political news Democrats say they raised $1 million after Republicans ramped up talk of impeaching President Obama.

A court has kept Mississippi's last abortion clinic from closing.

Running just a few minutes a day (read: 5) could add years to your life. A study showed that "runners had a 30 percent lower risk of death from all causes and a 45 percent lower risk of death from heart disease or stroke. On average, runners lived three years longer compared to non-runners."

Tags: First Drip, news, Charlotte

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News Both sides agree marriage equality won’t be an issue in N.C. in 2016

Posted By Ana McKenzie on Tue, Jul 29, 2014 at 5:08 PM

Besides clearing a very important hurdle to equality, the court ruling on Monday that overturned Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage served as an opportunity for power-seeking Democrats and Republicans in North Carolina to capture some headlines.

After the decision was announced, state Attorney General and Gov. McCrory’s likely opponent in 2016 Roy Cooper immediately took to a podium to say his office would no longer defend North Carolina’s ban, known as Amendment One. “It’s time to stop making arguments we will lose and instead move forward knowing that the ultimate resolution will likely come from the U.S. Supreme Court.” Soon after, Senate-vying Thom Tillis quickly “reminded the public” that it’s the attorney general’s job to defend the law of the land.

Pundits began to wonder aloud how important the debate over marriage equality in North Carolina would be during the potential matchup between McCrory, who's remained mostly silent on the matter and Cooper, who has denounced Amendment One despite having to defend it in a professional capacity.

Despite the energy behind it now and when Amendment One passed, Republican and Democratic strategists contend marriage equality will be a moot point in this state long before 2016. Word is the U.S. Supreme Court will likely rule in favor of universal marriage equality in a year, said strategists in separate interviews.

Tags: Virginia, same-sex marriage, Democrats, Republicans, Attorney General Roy Cooper, Gov. McCrory, governor, North Carolina, General Assembly, Image

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Letter to the Editor 'I don't know Hamas, I know hummus'

Posted By Jibril Hough on Tue, Jul 29, 2014 at 2:11 PM

Editor's note: On Monday, CL contributor Jerry Klein penned an editorial about the Israel/Palestine conflict in which he identified, though not by name, a friend and local leader of the Muslim community who shared a graphic photo on Facebook of a young Palestinian who had perished in recent weeks during an Israeli-backed missile attack. Jibril Hough shared the photo. Here, Hough defends his criticism of Israel's military actions.

As the holy month of Ramadan began this year, a scene we have seen all too often began to play out again. U.S. taxpayer-funded weapons of mass destruction began to rain down on Gaza from the so-called Israeli Defense Force. According to rumors, the current attack on Gaza began because of the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teens by Hamas. But that’s not true, even though Israel used this as a precept for the assault on Gaza. As Ramadan ended and the bombs kept falling on Gaza, one of those guided missiles landed on me, here in Charlotte, fired by someone I have considered a friend: Jerry Klein.

Unlike Jerry, I will never qualify my statements by explaining to you who my friends are, like they are tokens from different races, religions, political affiliations and walks of life. As if that gives me the liberty to slap them in the face or make me an expert or holier than thou. What I will say is, anybody who knows me knows that I am a man of peace and justice and one who stands on principles, even if it means losing a friend or two.

Tags: Jibril Hough, Muslim, Israel, Jewish, Jerry Klein, Hamas, Palestine

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