Read About It: Luna Lounge

Luna Lounge opened in August and is quickly becoming one of Charlotte's hotspots. Thursday and Friday nights draw good crowds, and now with the immensely popular weekly Pop Life event having moved there last week (after spending the past year at Apostrophe Lounge), look for Wednesdays to now be a great night to lounge at Luna. Photo by Peter Taylor for Charlotte magazine.You can read my review of Luna in the November issue of Charlotte magazine,...

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This Day In History: Jim Bakker Sentenced

On October 24, 1989, twenty years ago today, television evangelist Jim Bakker was sentenced by a judge in Charlotte to 45 years in prison for fraud and conspiracy. The sentence was later reduced to eight years; then further reduced to four years for good behavior. Before he came crashing down, Jim and then-wife Tammy Faye had built a massive spiritual network in Charlotte and Fort Mill. Wikipedia chronicles Jim Bakker's rise and fall--in Charlotte--well....

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Events for the Week: October 19-25

Your best weekly list for parties, nightlife, social, and cultural events in Charlotte. This isn’t intended to be a complete list of everything that's going on, but instead are the events GPT recommends.Wednesday, October 21Meet and Greet Anthony FoxxHere’s your chance to mix and mingle with the Democratic Charlotte mayoral candidate. Live music by 5th and York band and singer Calvin Richardson, along with DJ 06 on the turntables. Heavy hors d’oeuvres and drink specials will be served. 6-10 p.m. Free, but campaign donations are appreciated. Utopia...

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Share Your Vision for Charlotte's Future

The Center City 2020 Vision Plan team is holding the first of three community workshops to gather input on what Charlotte residents want to see for the future of Center City. Scheduled for Wednesday, October 21, 5:30-9 p.m., at the Charlotte Convention Center, the workshop will include a variety of interactive activities to give residents a chance to share their ideas, including video booths and artists to capture participants’ ideas and visions...

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New H&M Goes to Raleigh, Not Charlotte...Why?

By Andrea L. Simon, guest blogger Rumors have been buzzing and it has now been confirmed that H&M is set to finally make its debut in the Carolinas. The News & Observer reported yesterday that a deal for a 21,000 square-foot H&M store is slated to be finalized in about a week, with the store opening in the spring in--*cue the sound effects*--errrrrrrrr Raleigh?! Don’t get me wrong; I have nothing against Raleigh. Being the capital...

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Dinner at Fantasia's

Fantasia Barrino often touts her Southern roots and North Carolina upbringing. But does this Southern belle know her way around the kitchen?The singer is hosting a dinner party tonight at her Charlotte home as part of Macy’s and Feeding America's “Come Together” campaign. This initiative launched last month and aims to feed 10 million people suffering from hunger. Come Together invites the public to host special dinners in their homes, but ask their...

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NASCAR Announces Hall of Fame Class

Fresh off the wire (that's old-school journalist talk), below is an excerpt of a press release I received this afternoon announcing the inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame Class. I got three out of five of the selections right--Earnhardt, France Sr., and Petty--from when I blogged about the nominees in August ("NASCAR Hall of Fame: Class and Race"). There was never any doubt that The King and The Intimidator would get in. INAUGURAL NASCAR HALL OF FAME...

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Read About It: Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts and Culture

There's a lot of excitement leading up to the opening of the new Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts and Culture. As part of the Wells Fargo Cultural Campus in Uptown Charlotte, the new Gantt Center represents a vision that started more than 35 years ago.The Gantt Center is holding its Community Celebration on Saturday, October 24, which will be an all-day and all-night grand opening event. In this week's issue of Creative Loafing (October 14-20 edition), you can read the article I wrote that chronicle's the significance and potential...

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NASCAR, Transformers, Megan Fox, and Saturday's Race

There's a cool promotion going on with this Saturday's NASCAR race at Lowe's Motor Speedway. "Watch on October 17 as Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordon take the battle of the Autobots and Decepticons to the racetrack in Charlotte live on ABC at 7 p.m.," the promotion reads. "With Newman in a specially designed Optimus Prime car and Gordon in his custom Megatron car, the Transformers adventure will be taken to a new level."As you can see, Newman and Gordon...

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Raleigh Is 'Smartest City;' Charlotte 16th

Earlier this week, TheDailyBeast.com released its rankings of "America's Smartest Cities," from first to worst. The popular news and blog site ranked metropolitan areas--the cities and their suburbs--of 1 million people or more, which gave them 55 in all. So being ranked number one means your city is the smartest, and being ranked 55th means your city is the dumbest. Raleigh, North Carolina wins the honor of being ranked America's Smartest City.In...

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Read About It: You Should Listen to Tavis Smiley

Syndicated radio and TV host Tavis Smiley is leading a free event on financial empowerment today at the Charlotte Convention Center. The Nationwide On Your Side Tour event starts at 10 a.m. and will include guest speakers and seminars aimed at educating you on how to make good decisions regarding your finances (click here for more info on the event). Last week, I got the opportunity to interview Smiley for Creative Loafing. If you've ever heard...

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Events for the Weekend: October 9-11

Your best weekly list for parties, nightlife, social, and cultural events in Charlotte. This isn’t intended to be a complete list of everything that's going on, but instead are the events GPT recommends.Friday, October 9Prowl Pep RallyCome out and celebrate with other Carolina Panthers fans in preparation for Sunday’s home game against the Washington Redskins. Enjoy free food, happy hour drink specials, cornhole, and there will be chances to win tickets to the game. Celebrity NFL bartenders will also be on hand. 5-9 p.m. Free. BlackFinn (inside...

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Bobcats Holding Open Practice

The Charlotte Bobcats are holding an Open Practice on Thursday, October 15 beginning at 6:30 p.m. It's a free event, but to guarantee entry you're asked to register for tickets online. The process (Ticketmaster) takes only a few minutes and you can even print the tickets at home. This is your chance to see what the team (and the Lady Cats) looks like as the regular season approaches. Complimentary popcorn and soda will be served.Click here for tickets....

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'Last Call' for Bartenders

Many of us have dabbled with bartending, often when hosting our own parties (I have a signature drink I make that I call Pimp Juice). But for some people, being a bartender is a serious and lucrative profession. Whichever floats your banana martini boat, there's a bartending school in Charlotte that might interest you. I recently learned of Last Call Bartending School.Launched seven months ago by local bartender Jessica Sheckler, an eight-year veteran...

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The Chase for Danica

Several sports news outlets, including ESPN and Sports Illustrated, have reported over the last couple of days that IndyCar Series star Danica Patrick has been meeting with Charlotte-area based NASCAR teams. Team owners Rick Hendrick and Micheal Waltrip have confirmed meeting with Patrick, who would be highly coveted because of the lucrative sponsorships and endorsement deals she brings to a sport that is fueled by corporate dollars. Hendrick,...

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Beating on Trash Cans Is Cool

The Blumenthal Center's Education Institute holds "Get to Know" workshops throughout the year to give you insight into some of the upcoming plays, musicals, and other events that come to the Blumenthal's theaters. On Friday, I took a few teenagers from a youth group I work with to the Get to Know Street Beat workshop at the Johnston YMCA in NoDa. I captured this 30-second video of the group of artists that were there breakdancing and playing music on trash cans, a small sampling of what you'll experience when Street Beat comes to the Knight Theater...

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Charlotte's Mayoral Candidates Busy this Month

Democratic candidate Anthony Foxx and Republican candidate John Lassiter are participating in several public events this month to help you decide who you want to be Charlotte's next mayor. Below is a schedule released by Foxx's campaign. Foxx and Lassiter will be facing off in each of these events. Tuesday, October 6, 7-8 p.m.DebateHost: Charlotte Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees)Location: Holiday Inn Center City, 230 North College St.Wednesday, October 7, 1-3 p.m. DebateHost: Charlotte ChamberLocation: Pinehurst Golf & Country ClubWednesday,...

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Olympics Don't Pick Chicago; Jordan Chooses Charlotte

President Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, millions of Chicagoans, and Americans everywhere are licking their wounds after Chicago's bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games was rejected yesterday. I was actually watching live coverage on CNN when Chicago was eliminated. Later that day, Rio de Janeiro was chosen as the host city. (I'm predicting now that the USA's usually dominant men's basketball team will not when gold in 2016 because they will be distracted...

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Events for the Weekend: October 2-4

Your best weekly list for parties, nightlife, social, and cultural events in Charlotte. This isn’t intended to be a complete list of everything that's going on, but instead are the events GPT recommends.Friday, October 2 Get to Know Street BeatThe Blumenthal Center’s Education Institute has partnered with the Johnston YMCA to offer this workshop in preparation of the upcoming show Street Beat at the Knight Theater (October 21-22). Local artists with Create Don’t Hate Productions will prompt participants to use common household items as drums to...

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