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Tuesday, August 18, 2009
News / The Wack List The Wack List: Aug. 18
Posted By Carlton Hargro on Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 10:08 AM
Five people, places and things we really ain't digging today.
• Dubai — for daring to fuck up production of the Sex and the City movie sequel. Bastards.
• The earnings dip at Lowe's — where is the light at the end of this tunnel?
• The U.S. Postal Service.
• Debt counseling groups that charge upfront fees
• Health insurance companies.
Arts / Today's Top Five / News Today's Top 5: Tuesday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 8:00 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, Aug. 18, 2009 — as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
• White Rabbits at Visulite Theater
• Comedian Dave Tucker at Lake Norman Comedy Zone in Galway Hooker Irish Pub
• Taboo Tuesday at SK Netcafe
• Electric Open Mic at The Money
• City/Country exhibition at Center of the Earth Gallery
Monday, August 17, 2009
Arts / News The fall of Reader's Digest?
Posted By Angela Hilst on Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 4:42 PM
Not exactly sure what this says about me, but I am quite distressed that Reader’s Digest is filing for Chapter 11. According to the Associated Press:
The publisher of Reader's Digest, the country's most popular general interest magazine, said Monday it will seek Chapter 11 protection from creditors amid declining circulation, an industry-wide advertising slump and large debts.Reader's Digest Association Inc. said it has reached an agreement with a majority of secured lenders to restructure its debt. Under the plan, the lenders get ownership of the company and will erase much of the $1.6 billion they have in senior secured notes.
Although, I haven’t read or purchased the magazine in quite some time (admittedly that may be part of the problem), it was a staple in my house when I was growing up. My dad had a subscription (and still does, I think), so there was always a copy lying around the den, the car, the kitchen. So, I — a consummate cereal box reader type — would often pick it up and thumb through it. I found my personal favorite segment to be “Drama in Real Life!” which served as a precursor, no doubt, to my current Forensic Files obsession. And the jokes ... Who knew? A one-stop shop for sharpening wit, your vocabulary and your general knowledge of random subjects.
Reuters reports that the restructuring is aimed at helping the magazine cut debt and gain financial flexibility, but the fleeting thought that Reader’s Digest could possibly one day be a thing of the past, well ... sucks. The AP says that this year the publication cut the circulation guarantee it makes to advertisers to 5.5 million, from 8 million and lowered its frequency to 10 annual issues from 12. Of course Reader’s Digest isn’t alone in this dilemma. It has simply gone the way of other publications that have run up against financial crunches, low circulation and difficulty carving out an Internet presence. But Readers Digest is interesting, personal, funny, intellectually stimulating — a lot more than I can say for many other struggling newspapers and magazines.
So, I’m headed out now to hunt down a copy to demonstrate to no one in particular my own miniscule show of support for the mag. And to perhaps learn a little something interesting today in the process.
Boomer with Attitude / News Beck's ex-advertisers are piling up
Posted By John Grooms on Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 3:35 PM
Brace yourself if you’re a fan of a particular news show host with obvious emotional problems who can’t tell truth from fiction, nor remember what he said one minute ago (as in, “Obama has a deep-seated hatred of white people,” followed 75 seconds later by “I’m not saying he doesn’t like white people”). That's right, we're talking about Glenn Beck, who has just lost GMAC Financial Services as an advertiser.
GMAC becomes the 11th advertiser to pull its commercials from the Glenn Beck show; like others who’ve pulled out of the show, GMAC will re-distribute those ad dollars to other FoxNews shows. GMAC joins 10 other advertisers who’ve cut their ties to Glenn Beck, including Men’s Wearhouse, State Farm, Sargento, Lawyers.com, Procter & Gamble, Progressive Insurance, ConAgra, Roche, Sanofi-Aventis, and Radio Shack.
Two quick notes here: Most of the revenue for cable/satellite channels is derived from the subscribers, while advertising revenue, although substantial, isn’t those channels’ No. 1 source of dollars, so none of this is the major blow to Beck some progressive bloggers seem to think it is. Also, this writer fears that if Beck were to be canceled by Fox (which is doubtful), he would no doubt become even more paranoid, if that’s possible, and God knows where that could lead — maybe to an even more unhinged Beck with a Webcast in which he finally comes out of the nutcase closet and wears his tinfoil hat with pride?
News Execs get high pay, students told paper's too expensive
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 3:18 PM
Maybe things will be different this school year, but I doubt it.
Last year at UNC Charlotte, nearly every one of my professors told the class they were sorry, but the department couldn't afford to print our syllabus, or a handout, or an assignment.
Instead, we had go to the library and pay seven cents per page or print the documents at home. Oh, and don't write on the test -- they need those back mark-free.
Considering the price of tuition and fees, not to mention books, it's grating to hear that sort of thing only to watch the school erect building after building and brick walkway after brick walkway. (Oh, I know, that's a different budget. STFU. It's all coming from the same pot.)
And, now, we're learning that while the school can't afford to print a two-page syllabus for a class of 20, they can most certainly afford to pack the school's administrative offices with highly paid executive who do ... well, what is it they do again?
Meanwhile, of course, students can expect their tuition bill to go up this year.
A (Raleigh) News & Observer analysis of university payroll data and similar work done by the UNC General Administration shows that many of the 16 campuses have expanded their bureaucracies at a big expense. Administrators are among the best-paid people on the campuses, typically earning $100,000 or more.Systemwide over the past five years, the administrative ranks have grown by 28 percent, from 1,269 administrative jobs to 1,623 last year, UNC-system data shows. That's faster than the growth of faculty and other teaching positions — 24 percent — and faster than student enrollment at 14 percent.
The number of people with provost or chancellor in their titles alone has increased by 34 percent the past five years, from 312 in 2004 to 418 last year. The cost was $61.1 million, up $25 million from five years before.
UNC President Erskine Bowles, other UNC-system chancellors and state lawmakers say they are looking to prune the disproportionate administrative growth. The state budget, in seeking a $73 million cut from the universities this year, listed cutting “senior and middle management positions” as its top priority.
How much do you owe on your school loans?
Arts / News Part 3: iTunes and the Pen
Posted By Chris Deal on Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 2:02 PM
If you missed Part 1 of iTunes and the pen, click here. If you missed Part 2, click here.
Former storySouth editor and science fiction/fantasy author Jason Sanford often uses “spacey music” to inspire his work. “Sounds funny, but I find that music's contemplative and expansive focus exactly what I need when I'm writing SF,” he says. Sometimes, though, he uses certain types of heavy metal (like Black Sabbath's self-titled debut album) and world music. He uses these aural tones to help with his process: “In all these cases, the music helps inspire the tone of my story. Or maybe I select the music based on the tone of my story. Not sure which is which.” Jason is like a lot of the other authors I’ve spoken with, in that he tries to avoid music with distinct lyrics. He explains, “The one thing I avoid with my writing music is anything with a heavy focus on lyrics, which interferes with the words I'm trying to write. If the lyrics are more ambient or tied into the overall background music, as with Ozzy Osbourne's singing on the Black Sabbath album, that's not a problem. But anything catchy that starts me singing along with the music is bad for writing.”
Karl Koweski, poet and writer of the “Observations of a Dumb Pollock” column at Zygote in My Coffee, is a mixed bag. “There are times when I don't like to listen to music at all when I'm writing,” he says, “there are certain songs and artists I can listen to evoke certain memories and emotions.” He equates “Elvis Perkins in Dearland” to “falling in love.” “When I wanna write about my youth, it's Iron Maiden or Dio,” he adds. Like many others, he finds that “Leonard Cohen is nice mood music to get in the spirit to write,” but he continues, “then a lot of time's I'll fade it out.” The times he doesn’t listen to music, it’s for “anything that's dialogue heavy,” then “I'll tune the music out.” He doesn’t think the music he listens to bleeds into his words, but he admits it can “throw off the cadence.”
Arts / News Best bets in Charlotte comedy this week, Aug. 17-23
Posted By Debbie Millwater on Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 1:31 PM
As the headline suggests, here are a few of the best places to find comedy events in Charlotte — from stand-up to improv to sketch comedy and more. For a complete listing of all comedy visit www.CharlotteComedyLIVE.com.
Tuesday, Aug. 18
* Stand-Up Comedy at Lake Norman Comedy Zone at 7 p.m.
Nationally touring headliner Dave Tucker.
Galway Hooker ~ 7044 Kenton Dr., Cornelius ~ 704-895-1782 ~ $10
Wednesday, Aug. 19
* Comedy Class Graduation at 8 p.m.
Instructors Tom Haines & Joel Pace present to you their latest class of up-and-coming comics. Hosted by Johnny Millwater. Thirteen comics dazzle you with their new, best 3-5 minutes.
Wine-Up in NoDa ~ 3306 N. Davidson St. ~ No Cover
Thursday, Aug. 20
* Celebrity Show Dustin Diamond at The Lake Norman Comedy Zone at 7 p.m.
Yes, TV's Screech of Saved By The Bell Fame, Dustin Diamond, hits Lake Norman Comedy Zone with his comedic witticisms this Thursday night.
Galway Hooker ~ 7044 Kenton Dr., Cornelius ~ 704-895-1782 ~ $20.
Friday, Aug. 21
* Explicit Content Stand-Up Comedy Showcase at Charlotte Comedy Theater at 10 p.m.
Not your daddy's comedy show. Comics break out their rawest material to delight your twisted sense of humor. No content or language restrictions. Rated R. 18 and up.
The Nook (formerly the Graduate) ~ 1308 The Plaza ~ $10
Saturday, Aug. 22
* Robot Johnson Sketch Comedy at Charlotte Comedy Theater at 10 p.m.
Good humor by bad people. Funny at the Binary Level. Charlotte's premiere sketch comedy troupe delights us with this epic show.
The Nook (formerly Graduate) in Plaza Midwood ~ 1308 The Plaza ~ $10
To join Debbie’s mailing list (just one e-mail a week, I promise), e-mail DebbieMillwater@Gmail.com with the Subject Line “Subscribe.”
News / Biz Duke's hoping for nuclear power plant in Gaffney, S.C.
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 1:11 PM
Does nuclear power have a place in the United States' energy mix? If yes, why? If no, why? Where's your evidence? (Fork over the links.)
How comfortable are you with having a third nuclear power plant so close to Charlotte? (Reminder: We already have one on Lake Norman and one on Lake Wylie.)
What should happen with the nuclear waste the plant generates?
How do you feel about your electricity and tax rates going up to fund nuclear power?
Thirty years after it last broke ground on a nuclear power plant, Duke Energy has a site picked out for a new one, 50 miles southwest of Charlotte near Gaffney, S.C.It also has a name, William States Lee III, to honor a late CEO, and federal support for a nuclear revival.
What Duke might lack is a convincing argument that the plant would be worth risking billions of dollars. Construction costs are soaring and Wall Street investors are nervous. Demand for electricity is flattening, calls for renewable energy growing.
Duke's 2.4 million Carolinas customers will pay, through higher rates, for what the company builds. Duke serves the western half of North Carolina and northwestern South Carolina.
The Obama administration sees nuclear as a clean alternative to coal, which releases carbon dioxide. Duke is the nation's third-largest utility in releases of the greenhouse gas, at about 100 million tons a year.
Duke was not among four companies chosen to share $18.5 billion in federal loan guarantees for new plants, but the nuclear industry hopes Congress will add money.
Obama's take on nuclear power:
Here's an industry video about how nuclear power is generated:
Here's an industry video about nuclear waste management from Canada:
Arts / News Charlotte Irish Summer Festival, 8/15/09
Posted By Anita Overcash on Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 12:51 PM
Folks enjoyed live Irish music, dancing, and games at the Charlotte Irish Summer Festival on Saturday, Aug. 15 at 3rd Street and Tryon Street.
News Hip new conservative cuss word: 'brown shirt'
Posted By Rhiannon Fionn-Bowman on Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 11:07 AM
It's actually not new, nor is it hip, cool or acceptable to call someone a "brown shirt." Those two words, used in an inflammatory way, make reference to Adolf Hitler's Sturm Abteilung, or "SA." And today, those two words are being used by one side of America's political aisle to describe their opponents.
The SA was a paramilitary arm of the Nazi party instrumental in Hitler's rise to power. They're often referred to as "brown shirts" because their military uniforms were brown. They, too, were eventually executed by their deranged leader along with millions of "others."
According to historian John Simkin of Spartacus Educational, the SA "were instructed to disrupt the meetings of political opponents and to protect Hitler from revenge attacks" and "were often former members of the Freikorps (right-wing private armies who flourished during the period that followed the First World War) and had considerable experience in using violence against their rivals."
Who does that sound like?
It sounds like the hordes of ill-informed and uninformed citizens who are regurgitating rumors, conspiracy theories, propaganda and right-wing lobby talking points -- as loudly and obnoxiously as they can -- in an effort to stifle opposing views and protect a status quo that doesn't protect anybody but corporations and the wealthy elite.
It sounds like the people holding up signs of our president with white face and a joker's smile. It's sounds like the people who are name-calling and holding up signs outside town hall meetings wishing the entire Obama family would die, signs with swastikas, signs with lies meant to breed fear and hatred.
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Question the Queen City: The Outlaws Motorcycle Gang Massacre
What's frequently referred to as the worst mass murder in Charlotte history remains unsolved.
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The Blumeys turn five
And it's louder and more spirited than ever.
