Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Soapies in Africa

Posted By on Tue, Jun 17, 2008 at 9:23 AM

As I prepare to leave South Africa, one part of popular culture here that I wish that I could take with me is the soap opera. South African soap operas are different from the mundane, cyclical, fodder that passes for daytime television here. The acting is excellent and the storylines relevant. They reflect what is going on in the world -- up to the minute. Xenophobia, the public servants strike and even Barack Obama's win over Clinton, have made their way into episodes. South African writers and producers seem to understand that time does not stand still in real life, nor should it on daytime soap operas.

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Monday, June 16, 2008

Godz of War postponed

Posted By on Mon, Jun 16, 2008 at 2:42 PM

This just in from the folks at Time Warner Cable Arena:

GODZ OF WAR POSTPONED

Global Fighting LLC. today announced the upcoming fight scheduled for June 21st  at Time Warner Cable Arena has been postponed until the fall.

TICKET HOLDERS PLEASE NOTE:

All tickets for the June 21st date will be honored for the new date (to be announced later) or are fully refundable at point of purchase.

Please visit www.timewarnercablearena.com or www.godzofwar.com for new date information.

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Will Charlotte ever step out of Atlanta's shadow?

Posted By on Mon, Jun 16, 2008 at 10:38 AM

I live in Charlotte and for the most part, I think the city has the potential to be a cool place. But damn! Why does it seem that the Queen City is always trying to be Atlanta North?

First of all, I love Atlanta. My best friend lives down there and I spent many college spring breaks in the A, going to Club 112 and what not. But the traffic SUCKS!

Interstate 285 is a parking lot during rush hour. At least I-485 is only a parking lot at exit 60-something. But, I digress. After college, I even moved down to Georgia. It only took five months and 10 days for me to realize, that wasn't the place for me. Granted, I was in Covington, Ga. not the city of Atlanta. At that time Covington was a hick town that was still high on the fact that In The Heat Of The Night filmed there. (Gag me with a spoon.)

When I came back to Charlotte, I was happy to be out of the horrible traffic of ATL and its surrounding areas. But now a days it seems as if Charlotte is trying so hard to be Atlanta. Poorly planned street projects, a transit system that doesn't serve the entire community. And then there's this from the Charlotte Observer:

Southpark = Atlanta's Buckhead?

SouthPark leaders want area's name to have national recognition

NICHOLE MONROE BELL

nbell@charlotteobserver.com

Lessons for SouthPark from Atlanta's Buckhead

SouthPark leaders are continuing to work on a plan to increase awareness of the area nationally, and hope to have a solid direction by the end of the year.

In the meantime, the SouthPark chapter of the Chamber of Commerce has been closely examining the success of Buckhead, a prestigious community in Atlanta.

Ultimately, the chamber hopes to make SouthPark as well known as Buckhead, which includes some of Atlanta's wealthiest neighborhoods, the governor's mansion and a part-time residence for singer Elton John.

Eric Bass, chair of the SouthPark chamber, pointed to similarities between the communities. Buckhead, like SouthPark, is a destination for high-end retail shopping and upscale homes.

Bass said he also was interested to learn that Buckhead leaders help boost the community's reputation by offering a variety of service programs for needy residents. One example, Bass said, was partnering with local churches to help the homeless.

Bass said SouthPark leaders are also beginning to learn the importance of geographically defining the region. While SouthPark is loosely defined as the area surrounding SouthPark mall, even the chamber has no specific definition of the community's borders.

"In Buckhead, people want to claim they are in Buckhead, but you have to protect the name," Bass said.

For the next few months, the SouthPark chamber plans to set up meetings with other community leaders in the area. Also, they're working to establish solid contact with residential communities and government officials.

In March, the chamber kicked off a SouthPark information campaign with a computer kiosk at SouthPark mall. The kiosk, in the mall's center court, was the first of seven such displays planned for throughout the city.

The kiosks include pamphlets and a computer that takes users to the chamber's SouthPark chapter Web page.

Really, SouthPark? You can't define your own community without riding Atlanta like a rodeo show?

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Friday, June 13, 2008

Blogaroo from Bonnaroo

Posted By on Fri, Jun 13, 2008 at 4:52 PM

Creative Loafing's music editor, Jeff Hahne, has gone off to the massive outdoor music festival Bonnaroo and, well, you didn't.

Sorry.

But don't fret. You can live vicariously through him by checking out his daily dispatches and photos straight from the event all weekend long on our music blog, Vibes: www.qcvibes.com.

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News Roundup, 6/13/08

Posted By on Fri, Jun 13, 2008 at 9:24 AM

CDC: 228 cases of illness related to tainted tomatoes: Since mid-April cases of salmonella poisoning in 23 states have been related to contaminated raw red plum, red round and red Roma tomatoes. Many stores and restaurants have taken these tomatoes off their shelves and menus.

Full story: CNN.com

'Uncharted territory' as city floods in Iowa: Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is under water as the Cedar River continues to rise. More than 10, 000 people have been evacuated from their homes while 176 patients have been moved from a Cedar Rapids hospital. The river was at 30.9 feet early this morning and is expected to crest at 31.8 feet. A flood in 1993 caused the river to crest at 19.27 feet and was considered the worst flood in recent history.

Full story: MSNBC.com

'Don't panic-buy' motorists urged: Shell tanker drivers in the United Kingdom are striking for a pay increase. Officials have warned the public that some gas stations may run out of fuel, especially since almost one in ten stations receive Shell gasoline.

Full story: BBC News

Soriano hopes return from injury takes less than six weeks: Chicago Cubs' Alfonso Soriano plans to do therapy every day and see how his broken hand feels after two weeks. His injury comes just after recovering from a calf injury.

Full story: ESPN.com

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Thursday, June 12, 2008

The Weekender

Posted By on Thu, Jun 12, 2008 at 2:25 PM

Friday, June 13

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Film

The Incredible Hulk: Is it 2003 again? Because a new Hulk movie is coming out and if so, the author of this blurb should still be an undergraduate in college, working in a comic book store and running barefoot on a beach. But nope, it’s 2008, and the Hulk got a makeover. Does Hulk still smash? Find out if the Hulk really is incredible in his current incarnation. As a co-worker quipped, “If he was really incredible, his pants wouldn’t stay on.” Hey, maybe the Hulk is shy about his green … um, bulk. Stars Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, and a cameo by the Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr. Local theaters. www.charlotte.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/Film. Find more in Film.

Music

Tantric: The band formed around the turn of the century when three members of Days of the New joined forces with Merge singer Hugo Ferreira. Their debut went platinum, thanks to the single “Breakdown,” but over the years, the Days guys headed elsewhere. Now, Ferreira has formed a new band, still going under the same name and releasing a new album, The End Begins, in April. Performing at the 106.5 Birthday Bash with Sponge, Aiden and Honey Honey. Amos’ Southend. www.amossouthend.com. Find more in Music.

Arts

What a drag!: Ms. Sweet Charity Drag Contest is racing to raise money for Campus Pride (an LGBT support group for N.C. colleges) and other local nonprofit organizations with “virgin” drag queens. Hosted by Roxy C. Moorecox, the event will feature these first-timers individually singing tunes and groovin’ about with their makeup-laced faces and elaborate heels on stage in front of a crowd — that includes mock celebrity judges from Project Runaway. See which rookie takes the crown and be a part of this drag of a good time. $8. 10 p.m. Charlotte Eagle. www.charlotteeagle.com. Find more in Arts.

Food

Mio Posto: Become a part of the family while enjoying traditional Italian dishes. 8700 Pineville-Matthews Road. 704-541-6955. Find more in Food.

Continue reading »

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Never trust a Sparkle

Posted By on Thu, Jun 12, 2008 at 1:15 PM

By Nancy Grace 

The defense has rested in the case of R. Kelly, a man best known for ("allegedly") urinating on 14-year-olds. The case is centered around R. Kelly's SEX TAPE WITH A 14-YEAR-OLD GIRL.

R. Kelly is claiming he does not appear in the tape -- that it was a FAKE to extort money from him. Worst of all, the VICTIM -- a washed-up singer-friend of Kelly's who goes by the stage name SPARKLE -- claims she is not in the tape. Fans of justice, I know this sounds distressing, but a victim denying victimhood does NOT mean a case is lost. I once convinced the jury that a man shot his wife in the head, raped the wound and dumped the body in a sewer drain while she sat in the back of the courtroom, clearing her throat and saying "excuse me." (Why? BECAUSE I COULD, THAT'S WHY.) Luckily, Sparkle's friend has bravely stepped forward to testify about all their threesomes so this creep can be LOCKED AWAY.

Much of the trial has centered around witnesses' speculation about who is in that tape. Birthmarks, breast sizes and LARGE FOREHEADS have all come into play. I am confident that "SPARKLE" is not just a hussy but a liar as well. It all goes back to a lesson I learned when I was a girl growing up in Georgia: never trust a girl called Sparkle. There was a girl named Sparkle who lived at the end of my block who was a 7-year-old beauty queen. She would always prance around with her crown on, sashaying her little hips on her imaginary runway.

Being the amateur detective I was, I connected this showy behavior to a guarded personality. She MUST be hiding something, I realized. So one day I acted on my suspicions, jumped her behind her house and beat her savagely with my glitter baton. And WHAT did I find on her person? A GLITTER BATON! The perfect weapon in case she wanted to, say, jump me behind her house and beat me savagely on a hunch.

She stopped joining pagaents after that, because I had knocked her teeth out, mostly. The point being, never turn your back on a Sparkle. They're liable to beat you with the exact same weapon you're in the act of beating her with.

News Groper features more than 50 parody blogs by politicians, celebrities, business tycoons, and foreign despots.

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Taser International verdict should concern city government

Posted By on Thu, Jun 12, 2008 at 9:51 AM

City Council, take note: Taser International, the largest producer of Taser weapons, suffered its first defeat in a product liability court case. TI lost a $6.2 million jury verdict last week over the death of a California man who died after being Tasered multiple times by police in Salinas, Calif. Bloomberg News reports that jurors found Taser International had failed to tell police in Salinas that repeated shots from Tasers could cause cardiac arrest. Charlotte city government, as we've noted before, needs to pay attention to national controversies over the use of Tasers, particularly after 17-year-old Charlotte grocery clerk Darryl Turner died in March after being Tasered by a police officer. Unlike the dead man in the California case, Turner was not tasered multiple times, but the point remains the same: there's now a chink in Taser International's armor. City Council should take note of the potential for lawsuits against the city in the future. The problem for police is that, to quote a supervisor in the Royal Canadian police, "we really don't fully understand and know the risks of Tasers." What we do know is that for a weapon that's so often touted as a "non-lethal alternative," Tasers sure seem to be killing a lot of people. They are potentially deadly weapons that, from all evidence, are being used too freely by many police around the country. Once again, I urge City Council to temporarily stop the use of Tasers by police until definitive research can be concluded regarding the weapon's full effects and possible complications. If Council members won't consider a halt in Taser use for fear of killing yet more of the citizens they represent, maybe the thought of a big fat lawsuit will change their minds.

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News Roundup, 6/12/08

Posted By on Thu, Jun 12, 2008 at 9:40 AM

Four killed by tornado at camp were Boy Scouts: A deadly tornado ripped through a Boy Scout camp in Western Iowa at about 6:30 Wednesday night and killed four of the Scouts. Forty-eight other Scouts and staff members were also injured.

Full story: CNN.com

A flashy Facebook page, at a cost to privacy: The mini-programs that allow users to personalize their Facebook pages with little games and trivia quizzes may allow strangers access to their personal information. These applications require the user as well as their friends to enter private facts like place of birth and employment history.

Full story: MSNBC.com

Military 'runs Mugabe campaign': The BBC has received documents that detail how the Zanu-PF, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's party, will use violence and intimidation to coerce Zimbabweans to only vote for his party. The documents have not been verified, but all the tactics that were detailed in the documents have occurred.

Full story: BBC News

Woods says he's ready, despite not walking full 18 since Masters: Tiger Woods is ready to win the U.S. open in Torrey Pines, California this week though his left knee is still "a little sore" after recent surgery. Woods has won two U.S. Opens and 13 major championships in his career

Full story : ESPN.com

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Wednesday, June 11, 2008

And Justice For All

Posted By on Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 2:05 PM

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Perversion of Justice, a documentary by Charlotte filmmaker Melissa Mummert, will be screened at 7 p.m. this Friday, June 13, at Chapel of Christ the King, 425 E. 17th St. The film centers on Hamedah Hasan, a first-time offender and mother of three who received a harsh prison sentence of 27 years for a drug-related charge.

Perversion of Justice was recently chosen to be part of the eighth annual Media That Matters film festival. To see an abbreviated 8-minute version of the film (as well as the other movies selected), go to www.mediathatmattersfest.org/8/.

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