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Monday, August 17, 2009
News Death of S.C. crime writer shaping up to be a mystery
Posted By Cheris Hodges on Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 10:59 AM
As an author, hearing about the death of a fellow writer makes you very uneasy.
Finding out that a crime writer was found floating in the Pee Dee River makes you wonder what he was working on that may have caused his death.
According to The State:
The body of Dale Hudson, a well-known author who profiled some of the area's most infamous homicides, was found Saturday night by two fishermen in the Pee Dee River.Marion County Coroner, Jerry Richardson, said foul play has been ruled out in the death of Hudson, 56, who had been missing since Wednesday.
``There were no signs of blunt force trauma or of gunshot wounds. We're waiting for the results of toxicology tests to determine a further cause of death,'' he said.
But this seems too simple and too contrived for this to be the end. I wonder if investigators have looked at Hudson's files, seen what he's working on to determine if his death is something more than an accident.
I wonder if Hudson was working on another book that someone didn't want published.
He was from Myrtle Beach, why would he hang around the dirty Pee Dee River?
According to Horry County police Sgt. Robert Kegler, Hudson last spoke to his wife on Wednesday around 11 a.m.. He told her he had a migraine and was pulling over to rest. She told police he was supposed to call shortly after to let her know where he would be resting. She told police he never called back.Police found Hudson's car abandoned in a stretch of woods in Marion County Friday. Detectives with the departments violent crimes unit and crime scene investigators went to the scene where the vehicle was found and are investigating Hudson's disappearance, Kegler said Friday.
Does anyone find it strange that a man who makes a living writing about real life mysterious would pull over in the woods to rest? I spent three years covering the police beat and after reading about three robberies from ATMs at night, I don't visit them after 5 p.m. anymore.
This death is very suspicious and hopefully there will be answers sooner rather than later.
Boomer with Attitude / News Top 5 new names for United Way
Posted By John Grooms on Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 10:44 AM
The United Way of Central Carolinas soon may be looking for a new name, according to Board Chair Carlos Evans. Some board members think a name change for the agency could be a good way to regain public trust after the CEO Gloria Pace King salary/board-members-asleep-at-the-wheel scandal.
According to reliable sources, the agency conducted a survey in which Charlotteans were asked their first reaction to the words “the United Way.” Results: “Retching sounds” — 38 percent; “Buncha damned crooks” — 22 percent; “I want my money back” — 20 percent; “I thought I was on a no-call list” — 12 percent; “A great cause” — 5 percent; and “Speak up, the neighbor’s yappy dog is barking again” — 3 percent.
You can see why some in the agency think a new name is needed. We’re here to help, so here are our top five suggestions for a new United Way moniker. Enjoy!
5. The S.S. Titanic
4. Annual Corporate Bigshots Bragging Rights Death Match
3. All for One!
2. Pimp My Charity
1. “Sorry!” (as spoken by “Gilly,” a Kristen Wiig character on SNL)
OK, United Wayers, hope this helps. By the way, here’s how you should say “Sorry” . . .
Arts / Today's Top Five / News Today's Top 5: Monday
Posted By Anita Overcash on Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 8:00 AM
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, Aug. 17, 2009 — as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
• Shipwreck! Pirates and Treasure exhibit at Discovery Place
• Find Your Muse open mic at The Evening Muse
• Pacewon and Mr. Green at The Nook
• Grand Imperial Poetry Night at SK Netcafe
• Dead Night at Tyber Creek Pub
Friday, August 14, 2009
Boomer with Attitude / News Feds rule against Belmont Abbey
Posted By John Grooms on Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 2:39 PM
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled Monday that Belmont Abbey College discriminated against women, and then retaliated against faculty members who filed a charge of employment discrimination — all over the issue of contraception.
The brouhaha started when the college ended its longtime policy of including contraceptive coverage in its employee health insurance plan. Afterward, some Belmont Abbey faculty members filed an EEOC discrimination suit against the college. At that point, the college’s administration sent out a letter naming the eight faculty members who filed charges with the EEOC.
The EEOC ruled that the college discriminated against women, since the refusal to cover the cost of birth control pills would cost women employees more hardship. The commission also ruled that the college’s naming of the plaintiffs was unlawful retaliation, explaining that “the identity of an individual who has filed a charge should be protected with confidentiality during the Commission’s investigation.”
The President of the college, Dr. William Thierfelder, sent a statement to the Board of Trustees in which he said the college will appeal the decision, and that “we remain committed to ensuring that all of the College’s policies and practices follow the teachings of the Catholic Church, which includes valuing all life and treating individuals with dignity and respect, and providing equal opportunities for all.” I guess Thierfelder forgot about the “dignity and respect” part when he sent out the memo naming the faculty members who filed charges.
A faculty member involved in the dispute, in a post on the BlueNC Web site, also claims that Thierfelder “and his minions have launched a smear campaign against us on right-wing Catholic blogs.”
Here’s some advice for BAC’s President from a former student at that college, and a Catholic: Instead of enforcing “the teachings of the Catholic Church,” how about supporting “the reality of the Catholic Church,” which is that a vast majority of Catholics in America think the Church’s teachings on contraception are misguided, at best, and thus they feel free to ignore them completely.
Film / Film Reviews / News District 9: A site worth seeing
Posted By Matt Brunson on Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 1:52 PM
By Matt Brunson
DISTRICT 9
***
DIRECTED BY Neill Blomkamp
STARS Sharlto Copley, Vanessa Haywood
District 9 is Independence Day for the art-house set. Although its press launch has been so deafening that it's managed to permeate the mainstream consciousness, its modest approach and meaty metaphors will curry greater favor with filmgoers who opt for Tsotsi over Transformers. And although it's already being hailed in many quarters as a model of originality, the truth of the matter is that the film follows genre conventions just as often as it heads off in its own direction. Like Independence Day, it treats the cinema of science fiction as its own buffet table, picking and choosing which ideas would best serve its own intentions. And in doing so, it comes up with a dish that's juicy in both execution and endgame.
Film / Film Reviews / News G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra: Suicide screening
Posted By Matt Brunson on Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 1:51 PM
By Matt Brunson
G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA
*1/2
DIRECTED BY Stephen Sommers
STARS Tatum Channing, Sienna Miller
Action heroes are known for arriving in the nick of time, but movie reviewers often don't have the luxury of operating in such dashing fashion. Certainly, the fact that Paramount Pictures didn't screen G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra in advance for critics prevented the nation's scribes from weighing in on the merits of the last of the summer '09 blockbusters on opening day. Yet while it's accepted that Paramount kept the movie quarantined from the legitimate press (some fanboy bloggers were allowed to screen it early and predictably reacted like 14-year-olds discovering porn) because the studio suits themselves knew that the film stunk on ice, I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt. I believe they kept it from the critics as an act of mercy.
Film / Film Reviews / News The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard: No sale
Posted By Matt Brunson on Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 1:51 PM
By Matt Brunson
THE GOODS: LIVE HARD, SELL HARD
*1/2
DIRECTED BY Neal Brennan
STARS Jeremy Piven, Ving Rhames
Like a Frankenstein monster that can never quite find the strength to climb off the table, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard is a lumbering creation stitched together from body parts of past comedies operating in a similarly sophomoric vein. A slapdash effort that celebrates the Idiotic Man-Child in all his various incarnations, it quickly becomes clear that the colon in the title isn't the only thing the movie has in common with the likes of Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.
News / sports Yes, Michael Vick has a job, let's move on
Posted By Cheris Hodges on Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 1:29 PM
Michael Vick is back in the NFL -- after spending 18 months in prison -- it is time to stop punishing him for dog fighting.
Yes, it was wrong. But he didn't kill a person and people need let it go.
I knew the Carolina Panthers weren't going to sign Vick because Charlotte is a punk ass city. Yeah, I said it.
Charlotte is the only place where people love dogs more than they love people. Hit a woman, you may go to jail, abuse a dog and you WILL go to jail.
But the NFL needs to realize, PETA doesn't football tickets. Real football fans want to see their team win. Philly is a good fit for Vick. I'm sure those rowdy fans in the city of brotherly love just want to see the Eagles win a Super Bowl, something the Panthers will never do as long as Jake Delhomme is the quarterback.
CNN reports that Vick once again apologized for his involvement in dog fight:
"I think everybody deserves a second chance," Vick said at a news conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Friday. "Now I want to be part of the solution and not the problem."The league suspended Vick indefinitely in August 2007 after he pleaded guilty to a federal charge of bankrolling a dogfighting operation at a home he owned in Virginia.
Vick, 29, was freed from federal prison at Leavenworth, Kansas, on May 20 and returned to his Virginia home to serve the last two months of his 23-month sentence in home confinement.
"Everything that happened at that point in my life was wrong," Vick said of his involvement with the dogfighting ring.
"I had to reach a turning point. Prison definitely did it for me," he said.
He's sorry, so let the man play football and let the dog jokes rest.
Boomer with Attitude / News Stupid Thing of the Week
Posted By John Grooms on Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 12:39 PM
For sheer stupidity, it would be hard to top the so far unidentified, 51-year-old guy who showed up at a health care town hall on Wednesday, displaying a handmade “Death To Obama” sign. The sign also said, “Death to Michelle and her two stupid kids.”
The dope in question was outside a meeting in Hagerstown, MD., hosted by Rep. Ben Cardin, when he was detained by the County Sheriff and turned over to the Secret Service. The Secret Service's Men In Black say they are “investigating” the sign-bearer, which presumably means checking out his residence to see how many illegal weapons they can confiscate and, if Bush era rules are still in play, putting his name on a no-fly terrorist list.
You know, guy — and this is directed at Mr. Death Sign himself — even if you wish bad things on the person in the White House — even if you really do wish he was dead — how stupid do you have to be to go to a pubic meeting holding a sign saying the President should die? Hello? The Secret Service don’t play that shit, or haven’t you heard?
Two other fun facts about the incident: 1. Some conservative commentators and sites are condemning the guy’s action, although 2. Other conservative commentators and sites are saying the guy was actually a liberal who just wanted to make health care reform opponents look bad (like the screamers need any help making themselves look bad).
Arts / News See you again in 2015
Posted By Perry Tannenbaum on Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 11:45 AM
Actor/director/mentor Kevin Campbell didn’t encounter too much difficulty getting a dozen or so teens to open up and jot down their visions of Charlotte in 2015. The trick in The Crossroads Teen Theater Project was getting all those restless, roaming, talented teens together in the same room to rehearse and perform their fascinating collaboration.
I caught the show back in June when it capped off the week long Once Upon on a Festival at Theatre Charlotte. Having slipped away for August in New York, I can still heartily recommend the final Crossroads reprise this Saturday at 2 p.m. The event is free and open to the public at Theatre Charlotte. So when I return in September, I want to hear that Crossroads bowed out to a full house.
Campbell reassures me that, although the Crossroads Project is complete, it isn’t forgotten. He’ll be showing a DVD of the show at local high schools in the near future.
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