Indy Week

DVD+Digital: Ex-cons, Viagra jokes and Stand Up Guys

Glenn McDonald — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:42:00 -0400

Slight, shaggy and sentimental, the crime comedy Stand Up Guys has exactly three virtues to recommend it.

Those would be the film's trio of lead actors: Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin.…

War and NASCAR: America-F&#$-Yeah

Will Huntsberry — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:57:00 -0400

Dear NASCAR,

You are from North Carolina and as such I respect you. Your outlaw origins in running moonshine are badass.…

Birds and Arrows, but no cello (tonight at Casbah)

Peter Blackstock — Thu, 23 May 2013 12:40:00 -0400

Birds and Arrows’ recent guest spot on WUNC-FM’s “The State of Things” found husband-and-wife Pete and Andrea Connolly joined on banjo by Kyra Moore—but notably without longtime cellist Josh Starmer, who recently departed the band after four years.

Starmer joined Birds and Arrows in 2009 and recorded 2011’s We’re Gonna Run and 2013’s Coyotes with them.…

[Kicking can / Update X 2] House not ready to renege on Dix Park lease just yet

Bob Geary — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:47:00 -0400

[Update x 2, 4 p.m. Wednesday] The House Judiciary Committee approved a substitute bill for Senate Bill 334 and sent it to the House floor.…

Videos: Last Year's Men, The Lollipops and more gather at Slim's to support Elijah Von Cramon

Dan Schram — Wed, 22 May 2013 08:14:00 -0400

Last weekend at Slim's, more than 15 bands played to show their support and raise funds for Paint Fumes lead singer Elijah Von Cramon at "LIJApalooza." As detailed in last week's Indy Week, Von Cramon recently spent considerable time in the hospital after being hit by a car.…

Parents and environmental activists concerned about sewage sludge fields near schools

Billy Ball — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Sewage sludge, a byproduct of the wastewater treatment process, is used as agricultural fertilizer across North Carolina. Activists say exposure causes headaches, nausea, respiratory problems, lesions and more. by Billy Ball The first thing you notice is the stench. "It's not going to smell like your husband's farts," says Myra Dotson.…

Lights, camera, eat! Favorite films about food

David A. Ross — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

The gastro-cinematic canon, ranked by culinary interest and artistic merit, and five films to make a foodie shudder, in order of deplorability by David A. Ross An art museum is a gastronomic space, so abundant are the feasting gods, last suppers, overflowing bags of game, bowls of glistening fruit and gleaners stooped amid wheat fields. Having lived their entire lives with the odor of dung in their noses, the Old Masters understood that the stray artichoke or haunch of venison belongs to a larger pattern of reaping and sowing, birth and bloodletting.…

Clear for departure

JP Trostle — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

My father is 83 now, and his health is declining. In mid-April, my brother called: "You need to get up here now." by JP Trostle In the fall of 1973, my parents got caught up in another conflict between Syria and Israel. My father's congregation in central Pennsylvania gave them a Mediterranean cruise and a trip to the Holy Land as a thank you for a decade of service.…

May 22 crossword puzzle

Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

How Southern metal supergroup Down earned that title

Kim Kelly — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

The dudes of New Orleans doom rock quintet Down have lived the hardscrabble lifestyle long enough to warrant the "super-" tag, and their past is essential to the success of their music. by Kim Kelly The "super-" prefix attached to supergroup used to mean something, man. But thanks in part to the democratization allowed by the Internet, just about any chucklehead can pen a half-baked garage jam, chuck it onto Bandcamp and label the project a supergroup if they'd like. In that sense, the music industry of 2013 can sometimes suggest the afterschool soccer games of yore: Everyone gets a trophy, and benchwarmers are welcome.…

A healthy dose of transparency in the price of health care

Elizabeth Van Brocklin — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

The Obama administration has taken a step in making hospital costs publicly available by creating a database of previously undisclosed charges and Medicare payments. by Elizabeth Van Brocklin Sometimes the price of health care seems to lack all rhyme or reason. This month, the Obama administration took a step to remedy the confusion by making hospital costs publicly available.…

This week in disappointment: the budget, fracking again

Lisa Sorg — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

The Senate's proposed budget cuts would close the 24-bed Wright School, cut funding for tobacco prevention programs, close three alcohol and drug abuse inpatient treatment centers, and defund the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center. Plus, Senate Bill 76 would fuel our sprint toward fracking. by Lisa Sorg While public schools advocates are rightfully gnashing their teeth over the Senate's proposed budget cuts—we're awaiting the House's version of financial wisdom—there is an urgent educational issue that few people are discussing. The Senate plan would close the 24-bed Wright School, a last resort for children ages 6–12 with severe emotional, mental, neurological and developmental disabilities who can't attend regular school.…

Carolina Crossroads Chef James Clark specializes in obscure fish

Jill Warren Lucas — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Clark has established a reputation for seeking out lesser-known but equally delicious and sustainable varieties that fishermen pull from the waters of the Carolina coast. by Jill Warren Lucas Pity the jolthead porgy. Related to the grunt, it is among the many oddly named fish that, like awkward schoolchildren hoping to get picked for the dodgeball team, watches as its glamorous cousins such as grouper are selected for discerning customers at top restaurants.…

Crowd size and arrest totals increase at latest Moral Monday protest

Will Huntsberry — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Roughly 600 people gathered outside the Legislative Building in Raleigh on Monday. The Moral Monday protests have now led to 153 arrests over four weeks. by Will Huntsberry Roughly 600 people gathered outside the Legislative Building in Raleigh on Monday as part of a growing wave of protests called Moral Mondays, which have now led to 153 arrests over four weeks. The protests are a backlash against a wave of policies by the Republican-controlled North Carolina Legislature that have been among the most staunchly conservative in the country.…

Them Iowa boys mean business in At Any Price

Glenn McDonald — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Director Ramin Bahrani's stark farmland drama chronicles one family's moral decay among the amber waves of grain. by Glenn McDonald Set deep in the American heartland of Iowa corn country, director Ramin Bahrani's stark farmland drama At Any Price chronicles one family's moral decay among the amber waves of grain. The film also has a few things to say about America herself and, as the title suggests, the cultural premium we place on winning.…

The unlikely and intersecting successes of The Old Ceremony and Haw River Ballroom

Grayson Currin — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

The Old Ceremony will play the second anniversary of Haw River Ballroom, reconnecting two great ideas—a ballroom in the country and a rock band with a dozen members—that have become unpredictable successes. by Grayson Currin Django Haskins and Heather LaGarde laugh when they talk about the geneses of the institutions they respectively created. Nine years after launching The Old Ceremony, for instance, Haskins sounds genuinely surprised that the same core of musicians have stuck with him, in spite of the band's original plan to be so large that they'd likely never tour or make any money.…

The week in music: May 22-29, 2013

Grayson Currin — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Integrity; Dege Legg, Anders & Kendall; Rotten Sound; Major Handy; Sons of Tonatiuh; Black Tusk; Vandaveer; John Howie Jr & the Rosewood Bluff; Baobab, Sumner James; Jon Lindsay; Bad Veins; Krewella by Grayson Currin 1. Integrity Perhaps Dwid Hellion, the sole constant member of long-running metal and hardcore confounders Integrity, is a perfectly amicable fellow.…

Re: The Legislature; climate change

Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

"Thank you many times over for posting the week's N.C. legislative bills passed. Also for the statistics page. Both are very helpful in keeping abreast of the insanity of the radical Republicans in our state government." Re: Legislature Thank you many times over for posting the week's N.C. legislative bills passed ["This week in disappointment," May 15].…

A reality check on the Hallmark version of motherhood

Crystal Hayes — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Motherhood is the leading cause of poverty for single women. The problem is that we've come to accept this as the status quo when someone chooses to mother outside our cultural norm of marriage. by Crystal Hayes May is almost over and Mother's Day has passed, but it's never too late to honor thy mother. Despite all of the Mother's Day sales and discounts on expensive ticket items such as appliances, cars and jewelry—or the wonderful chocolate-covered treats that make it easy to postpone diet plans—I fail to see the point.…

How Carol Peppe Hewitt and Slow Money NC are raising funds for farmers, one loan at a time

David Fellerath — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Farming has many joys, but steady cash flow is not one of them. Slow Money NC's innovative lending system has helped arrange 80 loans to nearly 40 borrowers in North Carolina, including many names you'll recognize. by David Fellerath It's a little after noon on a recent rainy Saturday in Pittsboro, and the Chatham Mills Farmers' Market is winding down. Children are dashing about while a band plays on the porch of the nearby Chatham Marketplace co-op grocery.…

N.C. native Ramin Bahrani on At Any Price, the state of movies, and Roger Ebert's death

David Fellerath — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Ramin Bahrani, a Winston-Salem native, has charted an unlikely path to making a film with Zac Efron in the cornfields of Iowa. by David Fellerath Ramin Bahrani, a Winston-Salem native, has charted an unlikely path to making a film with Zac Efron in the cornfields of Iowa. His three previous, widely praised features were marked by their devotion to a realist aesthetic most closely associated with foreign filmmakers.…

Spring rain

D.L. Anderson — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

by D.L. Anderson

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

May 22 sudoku solution

Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Public Schools First NC is sounding the alarm

Bob Geary — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

North Carolina has dropped to 48th among the 50 states plus the District of Columbia in terms of our per-student support for K–12 public schools. by Bob Geary While Moral Monday protests are growing at the General Assembly, a small band of progressive leaders is moving around the state on another important mission. Public Schools First NC is a grassroots organization sounding the alarm about Republican policies that threaten to destroy public education.…

Morality Play

D.L. Anderson — Wed, 22 May 2013 04:00:00 -0400

Scenes from Moral Monday by D.L. Anderson "I'm on my way to Freedom Land," "We shall not be moved" and "We'll walk hand in hand" were among the protest hymns that echoed through the halls of the Legislature Monday. While the Moral Monday protests harken back to civil rights struggles, they are significantly different.…