Author Rants

Charlotte Critic has been going without updates and not getting alot of love this past 3 weeks. All the staff and contributors have ben off on other projects, vacation or jhust plain busy.

As the premier blog in Charlotte for food, and things that men agree on, we will not be going extinct anytime soon. We have lost our main Chef on Staff David Scott to family related obligations and just building his own website and his own personal cooking projects. We will get back up to date on this soon.

Our webmaster has been actively helping a local friend Mike Kraft as they develope their own blog and news site for Charlotte and US politics at www.Charlotteconservative.com. Mr. Kraft has a good base of writers and has experience as a GOP blogger. We hope our readers head over and check out his common sense views.

And lastly our main editor has a second child and has ben overrun with the fun and obligations of being a father for the second time.

They have returned out of loyalty or just a good solid welcome feeling. I had the honor to get to see the band Los Amigos Invisibles last night Sunday, April 1st, 2007 in Charlotte at the Neighborhood Theater.

Los Amigos Invisibles is a one of a kind funk band from Venezuela, one of the most famous acts of the last 10 years from Venezuela and originally from Caracas. Los Amigos may be hard to describe but can be best put in the same genres as Sould Coughing, Beck or maybe 311. The band plays mellow psych-a-funk with alot of drums and rythem as would be expected form a South American band. The videos and shows have always come with true originality and personality that has made them a one of a kind act to see in person.

This is the second visit for Los Amigos Invisibles to Charlotte in the last 3 years, and I have been able to attend both shows.

The turnout in Charlotte is truly light as compared to the fan base they deserve. The Venezuela music is hugely popular the world over but not really the flavor enjoyed by Charlotte’s largely Mexican latino community.

The turnout of this band has become largely a Venezuela “meet-up” as I saw many of the same faces as my first show 2 years ago at this same theater. The crowd is generally comprised of the Venezuelan fans in Charlotte, and the many “gringos” (white folks) that have been turned on to this music that crosses language barriers with ease.

I am an old fan of Bosstones, 311, Beck, Soul Coughing, Rusted Root and about 10 other good funk or rythem style bands that makes it easy to translate over to the same styles en Espanol.

While Los Amigos may be somewhat a new item for the Americans lucky enough to stumble on them they are old hat in Venezuelan circles.

If you look at the leading CD’s for the country of Venezuela you will see 3 of the top 5 are all by Los Amigos Invisibles. They hold 3 top spots with current past cd’s still selling off shelves on Amazon.com.

Or if you are into reviews as we are here, check out the Amazon page for the Band here where after thousands of reviews they are between 4.5 and 5 stars on all of their CD’s. You will see many or even most of these happy customers are US resident gringos that found a gem of a foreign band with a style far off the BS that comes out of California these days.

Amazon Review.

So You Want To Be Down?
OK start at Wikipedia here, and learn a bit about the bands travels from 1991 to today as a leading act in South America and more recently in the US.

The band consists of:
Julio Briceño (a.k.a. “Chulius”, vocals, percussion)
José Luis Pardo (a.k.a. “Cheo” or “DJ Afro”, guitar, songwriting)
Armando Figueredo (a.k.a. “Odnam”, keyboards)
Mauricio Arcas (a.k.a “Maurimix”, congas, percussion)
José Rafael Torres (a.k.a “Catire”, bass)
Juan Manuel Roura (a.k.a. “Mamelo”, drums, percussion)

You can expect a crowd that knows every song as not many a fan leaves the concert circuit once they are a fan. I am in for life and can only hope Los Amigos come back over and over despite the weak Charlotte turnout.

You can learn what you missed on youtube with my live videos from the concert last night.

OK you can see the game highlights here if you want. There is online video of Winthrop beating Notre Dame here, but it was put on youtube.com by CBS Sports, and they dont allow you to put it on your blog.

What is worse, CBS sports has “sponsored by pontiac” highlights of games on Youtube. Basically they are a pioneer in ruining what belongs to the users with their spamvertising, so I have chosed to put this video of Winthrop Basketball by a WU grad, and if your desperate or a sellout you can see the “CBS and Pontiac” game highlights.

Finally getting what they deserved last year, Withrop drops the bomb on a high seed. Last year as you remember Winthrop was a 15 seed that gave the scare of a lifetime and outplayed tennessee for all but 2 seconds of a first round game.

Last year Tennessee was a surprised to be so high seeded, expected to be a 3 or 4. Tennessee was grateful and swore to show they desevred the high seed. They didn’t really do that with a game saving fall away 3 pointer with 1.8 seconds left to save the in the first round.

The reality is now that we look back, Winthrop was just that good. The fact that Winthrop was an 11 seed seems a bit disrespectful.

The tournament experience for Winthrop was most recently taking the 2 seed to the brink with the same players.

This year Winthrop lost only 4 games of 33 played. With a 29-4 record the only teams that have managed to beat Winthrop are four other NCAA teams, 1 seed UNC, 3 Seed Texas A&M, 3 seed Wsiconsin, and #5 seed Maryland.

The only four losses Winthrop has suffered since last years tournament are to 4 teams, all four on the road and all four a #5 seed or higher (Wisconsin game was OT).

When I saw this, it seems this #11 seed was more of an insult than an improvement over last year. The record and track record for this year and last merits perhaps an 8 or 9 seed. Seems Notre Dame shouldnt be ashamed but perhaps angry to be the losing end of bad seeding.

One of the teams Winthrop beat this year that is in the tournament is Old Dominion. They beat OD on the road and are seeded just one slot ahead of OD, as Old dominion is a 12 seed in the NCAA tourney.

While at a glance Winthrop is 29-4 but 1-4 against tournament teams, the committee needs to look closer and see the 4 losses are not against #8-16 seeds but all top 20 teams ranked teams in the nation, and all were road games.

Previously, I had Oregon going a long way in the tournament. They finished the Pac10 Tournament with alot of momentum and playing great, but they just squeezed by a far inferior Miami of Ohio team, and this game between an 11 and a 3 seed has to be seen as a coin toss.

Miami of Ohio was 18-13 this year and took Oregon to a 2 point game, I think this is the year an Eagle graces the sweet 16.

Go local, go Eagles… Go Carolina’s both North and South.

Co I stumbled across a winner’s and loser’s list of inspection reports. I must say it’s refreshing to see a aomewhat efficient accountability system involved in government in some way. If only public officials had inspections into their daily lives, tax returns, private dealings, back records and the result of what was found made it to the web.

Did you know you can go here and search for any restaurant that operates in this area and see what they received in the last three inspections?

You get details of any problems, which may be more than you asked for.

Here’s a few guys taking care of their business listed below, and add to this the big fat 100 score i saw on recent trip to Five Guys Concord.
http://www.charlottecritic.com/five-guys-concord/

Bentley’s On 27 = 100
5201 S. College St. (Feb. 21)

Firehouse Subs = 100
4732 South Blvd. (Feb. 21)

Harris Teeter, Seafood = 99
13000 York Road. (Feb. 21)

Smooth Smoothies = 99
2136-B Ayrsley Town Road. (Feb. 21)

Harris Teeter, Deli = 98.5
13000 York Road. (Feb. 21)

Memories of playing Joust and bank shots into the 50 slot of skeeball. Childhood memories of the robot band and the big purple Elvis bear robot in the side room. Dig dug, Defender, Rastan, Operation Wolf, Firefox (from the movie with Clint Eastwood), Burgertime, Galaga and the thousands of other choices to spend our precious tokens. The pizza coming in the room with the long tables, the ball crawl, the hidden area under the stage and more and more cool things that Chuck E Cheese brought to me when those things were like finding $20 to me is now.

All photos from Chuck E Chese in Concord here.

Now later in life this feeling isn’t completely lost, and neither is the huge choices with little money spent. Now this is the option that parents need to remember on a Saturday of Sunday afternoon located in Concord. For the past month this has been the $2 getaway for my 2 year old and a getaway from spending any amount of money to enjoy ‘watching her enjoy”. The games are different are far less important. The 1980s were the highpoint of arcade games in history and Chuck E Cheese was essentially the first modern arcade franchise. The times have changed the appeal of games and the $1 per game pricetag has lessened the appeal. Chuck E Cheese hasnt changed too much but the backbone role of the arcade games in their business model has changed.

You still get a number of games to play, most of which are not the simple chase and shoot games of the 80’s. The games are now generally prop associated action games form dancing to firefighting. Chuck E Cheese now more features items that are free with the goal of their business model relying more on bringing them in for free and selling them food and services.

At the location in Concord you have essentially 75% of the space used in play areas for the kids. The main play area looks like giant hamster world. The secondary and enclosed area for free play is for kids age 3 and under and is a free way for your kids to socialize and play without a dime from your entertainment fund.

If you havn’t been back to see Chuck E, or you havn’t thought to share what was likely so cool for you back int he 80’s and 90’s then get back there with $2 and enjoy the afternoon. If you have kids age 2-4, they can play most the day for free or ride a few 1 token rides. If your kids are a bit older you may part with all of $5 for what they will enjoy immensely. You owe it to pass on what you once thought was “totally awesome”, and they would now find to be “pretty cool” as well.

if you eat a lunch right before leaving you can get out without getting pinched for the somewhat elevated but generally tasty pizza prices. This is how I have been able to budget some extra money for my own eating and reviews.

I didnt even know people still gave respect to 311, but this reverse video shot by UNCC student is just too cool when mixed ith the underrated smooth style of 3/11.

I had the great honor of seeing 311 live at the Metropole in Pittsburgh, PA many years ago in my youth. The funny twist to this story is that 311 was the headline band that night and rocked us almost deaf the next day, but the opening band was more of the story now that we look back.

The opening act for 311 that day was a smalltime somewhat unknown band called KORN. Without having to say more, we got our money’s worth that night. We later had to stay the night in Pittsburgh because 14 inches of snow fell while in the concert and it was more than our Miata could handle.

What makes this news on our site?
I am gonna keep plugging away till we get some on the scene students to take over covering UNCC stories for us or sending whatever is cool and a worthy read for other students.
Enjoy this.

Enjoy.

Of course Babel lost, thats generally the end result for a movie that sucked.

I am not going to mix words since I lost 2 1/2 hours of life to this movie that ranks right next to Elizabethtown, Bandidas, Weatherman and I “heart” Huckabees for the worst movies I have seen in the last few years.

So if this movie came and went with a small amount of chatter that would be the end of it, as not all movies appeal to all people, but the fact that it was nominated is a complete joke.

This movie seems to have stacked up alot of good critic’s reviews and then a huge percentage of “users or patrons” that thought it to be beyond bad. I dont see this type of diverse opionion without issues.

This movie was and is boring, way too long for such little conflict or story, unconnected to itself and completely without a point, plot or actual story of interest.

This movie spends so long trying to unravel itself in a slow and interesting way that you will find that you just dont care anymore what the point is. The best part to this conclusion is that it never does get around to its point.

2 hours into the movie I was looking at the clock thinking “this cant possibly save itself with only 20 minutes left?!”. This never does save itself, it only gets worse with more plot holes at the end and unconnected story points and preaching.

The small group that praises this film says it a story about the “limits of communication”, which is a fancy way to say its about nothing but if you dont love it then you just aren’t insightful enough to “get it”. These people are fools, and this movie is just plain bad. If you find this statement harsh, please go rent this movie and suffer through it, then comment on how right I was to be harsh.

The movie has 4 main and seperate plotlines. Of the 4 main platlines any one could be completely removed from the movie and the story would still be exactly the same.

The entire section of this movie taking place in Japan, we will refer to as the ‘porn section’ of the movie, has nothing at all to do with the story. Those trying to say this is a good movie will make a slight connection about the “butterfly effect”, or how the action of this character in the past led to the other plotlines, but the connection is so obscure it really doesnt matter.

To make the matter of no story or plot of interest worse they pepper the movie with obvious political agenda which means way “over the top dramatic” injections about the world.

The movie gives us Middle eastern charaters “just try to live in violence” and illegal immigrants “just trying to be good American’s”, and in the background you see the purposely placed picture of George Bush.

This movie is bad, if you think its great then you are likely trying to make yourself feel superior. I can not find any other “Oscar nominated movies” where 30-45% of all viewers thought it sucked.

Visit Yahoo.com and pan through the user reviews and see what the people say about this movie. You will find that 2 of every 5 viewers hated this movie. I didnt just say 40% didnt like it much, I said they hated it. Also, you will see the reasons for this hate were the same across the board. This 40% of viewers all found it pointless with no plot, preachy and boring to the point of many walking out.

Take a look and see, and ask yourself how can so many people who walked out or thought this movie completely awful not have some basis of this opinion.
40% of Babel Viewers Hated it, the rest acted superior

Here is what an Oscar Movie looks like, it gets almost all A’s with perhaps 1 in 20 viewers saying they hated it as opinions come in all shapes and sizes.
A true best Picture - Amadeus

Any finally here is what the best movie of 2006 looks like. This is by far the best movie of 2006 without question. Read through the hundreds of reviews written by patrons of this movie and see that it is all A ratings with a handful of F’s. Those who didnt like this movie all had the same simplistic complaint, “too much violence”. You will see those who said it was bad because of “violence” all generally still commented on how beautiful the sets and story were. You will also see the very few who didnt love this movie all expected it to be like Harry Potter IE: for kids.

Pan’s Labyrinth is the best movie of 2006, and Babel is the worst movie to ever be a nominee for best picture.
Pan’s Labyrinth is the best movie of 2006

So is it a sport or not?

YES: Table tennis, boxing and hockey

NO: NASCAR, Golf and Swimming

I have heard some radio conversation the last few days about NASCAR in the realm of sports as a whole. I have also read a recent blog post by the Charlotte Observer blogger asking what is and isn’t a sport.

This conversation had been settled by my and a friend in our living room one late Friday night. We came to a final and perfect conclusion and system.

First off, you must approach all categorizations with no bias or predeterminations. I read a book recently about Anthropology that stated “you’d be amazed how many groundbreaking discoveries have gone on to prove the exact theory the researcher had preconcluded”. What this is to say is that if you go in expecting to find something a certain way, that is generally the way you will decipher it.

So for the what is a sport system we first broke up the categories that each “activity” would fall into and predetermined what each one of these categories is consisting of.

We came up with the following possible outcomes.

Every game or event can be one of the following.
1. A Sport
2. A Competition
3. A Game
4. Hobby
Every game in the world should fall into one of the categories based on what each is defined as.

1. A Sport: A sport is a physical competition that consists of some form of offense and defense. Each side should have to play both offense and defense, and each side’s ability to play offense and defense should affect the score or success of the opposing offense or defense.

By the above standard the following are sports: Football, soccer, hockey, volleyball, tennis, table-tennis, boxing, wrestling, baseball….etc….also.

2. A Competition: A competition is like a sport in that it generally but not exclusively is of the physical nature. A competition does not have offense or defense that directly affects the opponent’s offense or defense. In a competition you generally are competing against a possible score outcome, or competing to be closer to perfection than your competition. A competition is often marked with the ability to play the event with nobody else present and still be able to be marked against a opponent. A competition is also often marred by an event that pits you against both a generalized scoring system (time or “% of perfect”)and a field of more than one opponent.

By this above definition of (non-sports) competitions: Tour De France is not a sport as you could compare times of a one man track. Granted there is skill in positioning and defense of sorts, but you do not affect all opponents and times ultimately determine a winner. Most Olympic events are competitions and not sports. Archery, Figure Skating, diving, bowling, skiing, downhill snowboarding against a clock, gymnastics, Worlds strongest man, swimming and YES golf are competitions and not sports. Under this above definition we should also refer to NASCAR as a competition. While NASCAR fans will say it is taxing on the body and there is defense involved, it again ultimately comes down to the fastest time and 99% of energy exerted is by the car not the driver. NASCAR is actually a competition of mechanical skill and a competition of driving times. The reinforced evidence of this is the recent penalty on a team due to actions of the auto mechanic.

A Game: A game is similar to a sport as it often has offense and defense that are directly opposing another person’s offense and defense. A game is more often than not a sport without the physical opposition to your opponent. A game has the elements of both of the above without the need for physically taxing execution of the skill involved. In a game you are often defending your opponent’s offense with wit or strategy and not physical exertion.

By the above definition of a (non sport) game: A game would then be Billiards, Poker and other offense/defense non physical events. NASCAR almost fits this slot as well. So we have actually seen that NASCAR is a bit of a close call in many respects, but it really does lack the base essentials we use to define a sport.

A Hobby: A hobby is the newer term we came up with to deal with these new events or games that are trying to call themselves sports. A hobby is an event that is not originally set in competition and has been transformed to fit a scoring system. A hobby is also an event done generally for fun in most cases examined and the scoring system was an after thought.

Under this definition of a (not sports) hobby: A hobby includes skydiving, skateboarding, snowboarding (freestyle), paintball, aerobics, surfing. bodybuilding, cheerleading and similar fringe activities that die-hards try to push as being a sport.

I have heard all the arguments, and most often people try to justify their own sport by stating it has defense or it is physically demanding. I know that Bodybuilders, swimmers and golfers are in better shape than most right fielders and first basemen, but you must adhere to a strict predetermined definition to be able to sort out the intentions of everybody to justify their own sport, event, hobby, competition or fun habit.

Are there events or games that break through these definitions? yes I am sure a few can be found, and i’m sure a few like golf not being a sport will upset some people to try to find exceptions but a strict rule set exposes the problems with these assumptions.

I went to this post:
http://blogs.phillyburbs.com/blog.php?p=2297&cat=16

Where lots of angry people are screaming their favorite thing to watch “is” a sport. These people have tried to make a point to fit their preconception or personal choice of activity; this is very unscientific in approach.

here are the common arguments you may have brewing in your head as well.

“Poker takes skill too. So do bowling, hunting and fishing, the latter two I consider survival traits. ”

Skill in itself is not in anyway associated to sports. Spinning plates on a stick in Vegas takes skill too, and that is not a sport. The above definitions I have provided are not designed to try and get “my” sport into the realm of sport, they are generic and draw definitive lines on how the activity is played and won. A sport is not “hard to do” or is “physically challenging”, a sport is a form of direct competition between two parties based on physical goals as better defined above.

“There’s a very fine line with this. I draw it at gasoline. Now, riding a bike (Lance Armstrong) is a sport. Why? Leg power makes the bike go, not gasoline. ”

Again, physical exertion is not in anyway a part of what makes a sport. Mowing my lawn with a rotary mower is varying hard to do, and I can do it faster than my neighbor, but I don’t call him and tell him I beat him today in the 400 meter lawn mow event. Physical activity done for my own goal and not to counter competitors directly as described above makes a competition to achieve a common goal in the shortest time, and not a sport.

“The physical demands of driving NASCAR outweigh the physical demands of baseball players. So unless you believe baseball is not a sport, your argument is not valid. ”

Again, a person tries to point out that because it is taxing on the body it’s a sport, and that is in no way directly connected to what defines a sport. While NASCAR is somewhat close to making the grade, and almost fits the definition above, the fact that it is a competition of engineering as much as driving defeats any arguments making it a full fledge sport by definition. And as stated above, since we are all doing the same thing to get the best time only and that determines who is best, that is a competition not a sport.

“At the highest levels, Auto Racing Teams (drivers included) are as much athletes as any player in the NBA, NHL, NFL or MLB! Because some people don’t care for Auto Racing, you included, doesn’t make it any less of a sport. ”

Nice thought by this argument but Athletes are not people who compete in “sports” they are people who compete in athletic events or activities. A bodybuilder is an athlete, a rock climber is an athlete, and a person setting the world record for chin-ups is an athlete. These people train for Athletic competition and thusly are just as likely to be part of a “competition” and not a sport. As I defined above, and which is the group I put NASCAR in.

** all arguments about how I or other spectators could not drive a NASCAR are just plain silly so let’s not post that garbage here. I could also not type 90 words per minute; it doesn’t make it a sport or my lack of ability.

“take basketball, swimming, track, cross country, soccer… HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A FAT PRO SWIMMER???… you know why? because besides the skill (you need it in any activity) it takes incredible amount of physical training! ”

This is plain silly in itself. Suzanne Sommers looks great on her abflex commercials but that doesn’t make Abflex a sport. Physical shape has nothing to do with what is a sport. baseball is a sport because you play defense and the opponent plays offense directly opposite of your efforts. it is a directly opposing competition in effort to determine one winner and to deter the opponent from being that winner as well.

in the end you make your own definition. I think I have made the most scientific one above and stuck to my guns and it fell nicely into place and seemed to categorize everything nicely and as it should be. A sport is not just hard to do or what i see on ESPN TV, it is something that has score, offense,defense, a winner, a loser, and a way for one to make the other. Take away any of these elements and you don’t have what is a true “sport” by definition.

With all this being said, I can’t wait for the ESPN Winter X games to introduce a blogging while drinking Miller High Life category, maybe then my sport of typing and drinking simultaneously will get the media attention it deserves. After I bring home the Winter X gold in that sport I will go for Olympic typing glory.

(For the record and sake of arguments that may arise, I have competed in Wrestling, Soccer, Volleyball, Softball, Bowling, Billiards, Football, and Cross Country Running at a reasonible level in my lifetime.)

Found this add for Charlotte Soul Food at Down to the Bone Soul Food in Charlotte. This is Charlotte’s style as I see it from an outsider’s perspective.

Charlotte is friendly, growing fast, economically strong and growing but when all that cream is scraped away Charlotte is Southern Soul and Nascar.

So this video above coupled with a united community of all colors makes Charlotte have flavor that is down to the bone, off the bone and on all levels.

“If your in the mood for some great Soul Food than I highly recommend this place. Down To the Bone’s food is exactly what the name implies. Lightly battered and moist Fried Chicken with collards and baked mac n’ cheese is a favorite. The mood is family affair with old jazz and soul normally playing in the background. This restaurant is cafeteria style with a mixed crowd of white collar bankers to blue collar auto mechanics. The one thing I always sense when eating at this fine establishment is that everyone always seems to be enjoying the food.”
Contributors review

As I havnt bee there to say for myself and we havnt gotten a hand written review with a rating or strong personal opinion, this wont go down as an officially review. This is though a high five to the flavor of Charlotte on and off the plate.

If you know soul food, or have had the down to the bone flavor please comment us a review below. You can also email us a review of this place at critic(at)charlottecritic.com and well make you the feature story. Looking for more about this too funny ad and if there is anything to this place.

“BET.com is an affiliate of Black Entertainment Television. The project studied 22 cities across the U.S. and ranked them based on criteria such as economics, education and crime.

According to the Web site, Charlotte stood out because it has a “burgeoning black middle class,” low cost of living, high homeownership rates among blacks, low black poverty rate, proximity to quality colleges and universities, thriving nightlife among other areas.”

“Research showed the Worst City for Black Americans was Cleveland, Ohio. ”

Requoted from Charlotte.com

You can read more details on why Charlotte is not just another Atlanta, Charlotte is the place for black folks to be to own a home and get a good paying professional position.

With almost 35% black population in the Charlotte metro and a City population of over 600K people (2,000,000 areawide), Charlotte has more opportunity and family appeal for all peopel all colors all makes and models of good folks.

Now for my personal bit.

I have moved around a bit, been a New Yorker and a Floridian for much of my life and can honestly say that nothing has “rung as true” as Charlotte is just plain friendly.

I have had more conversations and friendly chats with toal strangers of all races, creeds and colors since getting to Charlotte than anywhere else I have been. There is a cliche saying “Souther Hospitality”, but it honestly is not an understatement for my time Here in Charlotte.

All divisions aside Charlotte may be a great place for Clack Americans looking for opportunity and homeownership, but the truth is that Charlotte is aplace that offers many forms of welcome for people of all backgrounds.

I am happy to be a part of this social friendly environment, and happy to know I will be staying.