The CLog

News / The Plug CL's 10 most viewed stories in 2013

Posted By Kimberly Lawson on Tue, Dec 31, 2013 at 12:03 PM

In the spirit of all these top (insert number) lists that are popping up online - don't worry, our own various 2013 retrospectives publish on Thursday - here's a compilation of the stories that published on our website this year you readers visited the most (not counting any event list-type posts).

1. Long live the Thirsty Beaver. Remember when that fence went up around one of Plaza Midwood's most beloved bars?

Kennieth Holmes

2. North Carolina no longer gives a damn. This edition of Erin Tracy-Blackwood's monthly column Trouble Hunter berates the General Assembly for passing a budget that stripped more than half a billion dollars from the state's public school systems.

3. 2013 106.5 Weenie Roast bands announced. This music festival brings a big variety of bands for a low price. No wonder it was so anticipated.

4. The stages of Lisa Ann. When Sarah Palin's porn star doppelganger Lisa Ann came to Mooresville, your interest was piqued. I don't blame you.

5. Look! Up On The Screen!: The best and worst superhero films of all time. Because who doesn't love a good superhero movie?

Tags: The Thirsty Beaver, Lisa Ann, North Carolina General Assembly, public eduction, burlesque, Dita Von Teese, Elevation, Steven Furtick, recipe, Man of Steel, superhero movies, massage therapist, Weenie Roast, Image

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News First Drip (12/31/13): Drone testing, Netflix purge, New Year's Eve plans, more

Posted By Kimberly Lawson on Tue, Dec 31, 2013 at 10:24 AM

The Federal Aviation Administration has chosen six states - the closest to us is Virginia - to begin testing commercial drones.

Is it getting crowded in here? North Carolina's population nears the 10 million mark.

The most over-used word of 2013 that will now probably be burned onto your tongue today after reading this? Selfie.

The not-so-great Netflix purge happens tomorrow.

Peace out, 2013: In case you haven't finalized your New Year's Eve plans, here's our list of what all's going down tonight. (While it wasn't on our list of events, you could always go watch the possum drop in Brasstown, N.C.) And mind you, checkpoints will be in full effect.

Tags: news, Charlotte, Netflix purge, drone testing, North Carolina, population, New Year's Eve, new years party, Brasstown, selfie, most over-used word, 2013, 2014, checkpoints in Charlotte

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

Posted By Anita Overcash on Tue, Dec 31, 2013 at 9:43 AM

Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, Dec. 31, 2013 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.

* Rich & Bennett's NYE Bash at Phoenix

* NYE Under the Big Top with JR Bronson at The Bar at 316

* The Avett Brothers at Time Warner Cable Arena

* New Year's Eve Gatsby Burlesque Show at Barreled Speakeasy at The Lift

* First Night Charlotte at Romare Bearden Park

For more NYE suggestions, check out our NYE 2013 Guide. For an even larger NYE party list, click here.

Tags: Rich & Bennett's NYE Bash, Phoenix, NYE Under the Big Top, JR Bronson, The Bar at 316, The Avett Brothers, Time Warner Cable Arena, New Year's Eve Gatsby Burlesque Show, Barreled Speakeasy at The Lift, First Night Charlotte, Romare Bearden Park, New Year's Eve, Charlotte, NC, Image

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Music Beyonce, Ani DiFranco, Toby Keith draw ire from fanbases

Posted By Jeff Hahne on Mon, Dec 30, 2013 at 11:39 AM

When your fanbase isn't happy, they'll let you know it. Thanks to social media, it happens quickly, loudly and clearly. A trio of popular artists - Beyoncé, Toby Keith and Ani DiFranco - drew anger from their individual fanbases over the weekend thanks to a couple of public missteps.

Beyoncé has been slammed for including a brief audio sample from the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster on her song "XO."

The six-second clip at the beginning of her song includes the voice of retired NASA public affairs officer Steve Nesbitt saying the words, "Flight controllers here looking very carefully at the situation. Obviously a major malfunction."

Beyoncé responded to ABC News by saying, "My heart goes out to the families of those lost in the Challenger disaster. The song 'XO' was recorded with the sincerest intention to help heal those who have lost loved ones and to remind us that unexpected things happen, so love and appreciate every minute that you have with those who mean the most to you. The songwriters included the audio in tribute to the unselfish work of the Challenger crew with hope that they will never be forgotten."

Tags: Toby Keith, Beyoncé, Ani DiFranco, music, guns, Space Shuttle, Challenger, plantation, Jeff Hahne, Image

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News First Drip (12/30/13): Panthers clinch division title, terrorist attacks in Russia, more

Posted By Kimberly Lawson on Mon, Dec 30, 2013 at 10:49 AM

The Panthers beat the Atlanta Falcons yesterday to clinch the NFC South title. A limited number of tickets for the Jan. 12 play-off game will go on sale Jan. 1 at 10 a.m. Also, if you haven't seen this awesome Cam Newton GIF from WCNC's Jeremy Markovich ...

It's getting scary in Russia, where the Olympics are set to happen in less than two months - the past two days have seen deadly terrorist attacks.

Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts comes out on Facebook.

In case you didn't know there was such a title: Crowders Mountain State Park has been named North Carolina 2013 Park of the Year.

Tags: Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons, Crowders Mountain State Park, Cam Newton, Good Morning America, Robin Roberts, LGBT, news, Charlotte

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Music Alexis Cuadrado's latest is a jazz classic

Posted By Perry Tannenbaum on Mon, Dec 30, 2013 at 10:43 AM

Alexis Cuadrado
A Lorca Soundscape
Sunnyside; Release date: Oct. 22, 2013

Every year, jazz critics go through a frenetic rush, trying to catch up on all the likely candidates for his or her Top 10. Sure, we've all heard the big-name blue chippers, but I know part of the exercise is finding the new blood, the heirs of tomorrow, and recognizing them among the established elite. Amid all the welter of overpraised squonk-athons and self-deluded debuts that I must listen to in this quest, I'm inevitably rewarded with wondrous discoveries - of new voices, new talents or a keeper of the flame that I've too long overlooked.

This year, the find of finds is unquestionably bassist Alexis Cuadrado's suite of seven original compositions, each set to one or more of Federico Garcia Lorca's angry and surreal poems from his Poeta en Nueva York, or Poet in New York. Resurrecting a text that I hadn't savored since my college days, this CD proves that the anguished lyrics Lorca wrote as a Spanish immigrant to the Big Apple in the wake of the stock market crash of 1929 are no less vivid and pertinent in the wake of new ruins heaped on the masses by the untouchable barons of Wall Street.

Tags: CD reviews, music, Perry Tannenbaum, Alexis Cuadrado, A Lorca Soundscape, jazz, John Coltrane, Sunnyside, Image

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

Posted By Anita Overcash on Mon, Dec 30, 2013 at 9:00 AM

Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, Dec. 30, 2013 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.

* Gregg Allman at The Fillmore

* Find Your Muse Open Mic at The Evening Muse

* All You Can Bowl at Strike City

* The Monday Night Allstars at Double Door Inn

* Trivia at Sir Edmond Halley's

Tags: Gregg Allman, The Fillmore, Find Your Muse Open Mic, Evening Muse, All You Can Bowl, Strike City, The Monday Night Allstars, Double Door Inn, Trivia, Sir Edmond Halley's, Charlotte, NC, Image

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

Posted By Anita Overcash on Sun, Dec 29, 2013 at 9:00 AM

Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, Dec. 29, 2013 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.
* Julius Bissier: Selected Works 1956 to 1963 exhibit at Bechtler Museum of Modern Art