Scrambling to find something to do that’s Halloween-y but not actually on Halloween since it’s a school night? Sorry to the people with kids, these are all for the grown folks and after-dark! Here are some ideas for you:

Wednesday, 10/26:
Carolina Actors’ Studio Theatre (CAST) is putting on Dr. Jekyl & Mr. Hyde if you’re into spooky stories that question the origins of evil.

Thursday, 10/27:
The Rural Hill Amazing Maise Maze certainly is amazing in addition to being amazingly freaky! When you’re standing in the dark amongst tall corn stalks and you can’t see where you are going or where you’ve come from being creeped out is inevitable!

Friday, 10/28:
The Duke Mansion is having a costume and haunted mansion party. If you’re present at the par-tay, you could win a free night’s stay! Word.

Saturday, 10/29:
Foxmoor Fright is a haunted trail that promises to bring grown men to their knees! Oooh! Spooky! Benefits Charlotte Rescue Mission.

Sunday, 10/30:
All your scary dairy haunted hayrides are belong to Harris Farm. Bring your flashlight!

Have other events you’d like to share? Hit us up in the comments!

wOOt! This looks fun and for a good cause! I nabbed the info off of TEDxCharlotte’s (an org the entire CLT Blog fam works probono for) Facebook page, then got the rest from UNC Charlotte. :

On October 7, the UNC Charlotte art department invites the public to participate in a bone-making workshop as part of the national initiative, One Million Bones. The One Million Bones project was launched by art activist and TED Fellow Naomi Natale to recognize the millions of victims killed or displaced by ongoing genocide and mass atrocities in Darfur, southern Sudan, Burma, and Congo. The project organizers have given a nationwide call to artists, activists, art educators, and communities in the United States to join them in creating one million bones with clay or other perishable material and in matching bones with dollars. In 2013, the organization will create an installation with the one million bones at the Washington Mall and funds raised will be sent to organizations involved in assisting the victims.

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field.
I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase ‘each other’ doesn’t make any sense.”

With this phrase from 13th century Sufi poet Rumi at the center of the workshop, Jen Marlowe will lead students in an active and creative exploration of questions of community and identity. How is who you are connected to where you come from? What is your place in the world and in your community? What do you care about? Where is your “field?”

Four one-hour bone-making sessions will be held on October 7 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Each session is restricted to just 16 participants. Those interested in participating should contact Indrani Gall at igall@uncc.edu to register.

There aren’t many opportunities that arise like the one being made available to Charlotte’s citizens quite like this one. Kumi Naidoo, Greenpeace International’s head honcho, is making a stop in the Queen City, one of only four stops he’ll make on his US tour. I caught up to Robert Gardner, Greenpeace Coal Campaigner, for this quote:

“Greenpeace Executive Director Kumi Naidoo will be in town tonight to share his story, but more importantly, to learn about the struggles that folks throughout North Carolina are facing with environmental issues. Naidoo has spent his lifetime campaigning for social and environmental justice globally. It would be our pleasure to see you tonight.”

You should totally go. Here are the deets from UNCC’s website:

Title:	Discussion with Kumi Naidoo, Greenpeace International Executive Director
When:	Thu, Sep 29 7 PM – 9 PM
Location:	International House, 322 Hawthrone Ln, Charlotte NC 28204
Description:	Come join the Charlotte Greenpeace Chapter for a very special evening with our International Executive Director, Kumi Naidoo. Mr. Naidoo will join us here in Charlotte, one of only four stops on his US tour, to speak about his amazing journey with Greenpeace, and share his views on our current energy crisis. This will be also be a fantastic opportunity to meet other individuals and groups in North Carolina who are working towards a common goal: protecting our environmental future. 7pm – 9pm Following his presentation, there will be Q&A with Mr. Naidoo where you will have the chance to voice your questions and concerns. We will provide light refreshments immediately after.

Last night, independent journalist Rhiannon Fionn had a sit-down with him as Adams Woods, director/producer of On Coal River, filmed part of a Greenpeace documentary on coal ash. In addition to Kumi and Rhiannon, along side them were Bill Gupton of the Sierra Club, dental hygenist Tess, who lives in close proximity to the Duke Energy Riverbend coal plant, and Gwendolyn McGowans, a retired educator who lost her husband to cancer after working for 30 years at the plant. Here’s some video I shot of last night’s event:

Watch more by Adams Wood: OnCoalRiver.com

Read more: http://clclt.com/theclog/archives/2011/09/29/hangin-in-charlotte-with-greenpeaces-kumi-naidoo

Get more involved: www.greenpeace.org

See you tonight, y’all.

Who doesn’t love cheap or better yet FREE entertainment this day in age? Autumn in Crown Town always is chock full of all kinds of fun, cost-free events! Here’s a sampling of this year’s goodness and a bunch of links to good event calendars in case you find yourself looking for things to do later:

Thursday, September 22: Attack of the Summer Film Series

“The Light Factory‘s Attack of the Summer Film Series continues [...] at Levine Jewish Community Center with an outdoor screening of Clash of the Titans. The film, directed by Desmond Davis, takes viewers on a mythological adventure as Perseus (son of Zeus) embarks on a quest to rescue Princess Andromeda and take over the kingdom of Joppa. Battles against sea monsters and other scary creatures, and the chopping of Medusa’s head make it pretty epic.”

— Anita Overcash, Creative Loafing Charlotte

More info about the venue: http://www.charlottejcc.org/

Friday, September 23: FreeMore Fridays

107.9′s Matt & Ramona Show will be at The Burger Company with a special VIP section, the band Hot Sauce is performing for the launch of this weekly autumn event, and it’s all happening right outside of 277 at Freedom and Morehead!

More info on the FreeMoreWest Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/FreeMoreWest/121478844580604

Saturday, September 24: Blakeney Summer Music Series

Grab your family and friends and join us for a summer night of great entertainment. Enjoy the sounds of Jazz, Acoustic, Blues and R&B [...] Saturday night from 7pm – 10pm.

- Via Charlotte on the Cheap‘s awesome event calendar!

All the deets: http://anakin.mallfinder.com/images/store/pdf/2011/BlakeneyConcertSeries_2011%20-%20print.pdf

Sunday, September 25: Festival in the Park

“This fun filled event is designed to promote and stimulate interest in the arts. It provides the opportunity for all to see, hear, and learn from over 150 artists and crafts people who actively demonstrate and display their art. Nearly a thousand entertainers provide free ongoing performances at the main band shell and many stages surrounding it.”

Via Charlotte’s Got A Lot: http://www.charlottesgotalot.com/default.asp?charlotte=168&objId=2628

Monday, September 26: KAWS in collaboration with Hennessey’s limited edition bottle launch party

The Harvey B, Gantt Center Uptown will play host to this celebration of art, music and culture. DJ Skillz will be on the decks!

RSVP: http://theitfactormedia.com/RSVP.html

I was invited by NASA to attend the very last shuttle launch in history as well as the final #NASATweetUp! I’m live vlogging the event here and on YouTube as well as livetweeting the event from @dbirdy and @cltblog. I hope you’ll join me as I give you this behind the scenes look at NASA and #NASATweetUp!

Also, tune into Fox News Rising at 6:10 AM, I’ll be on Wilson’s World talkin’ space!

Here’s my YouTube, I’ll work on embedding the videos into this post later! http://www.youtube.com/user/desireekane?feature=mhee

Culture Initiative, a grass-roots cultural organization based in Charlotte, NC, announces the Opening Reception for “Rock, Paper, Scissors” on June 3, 2011, 6pm at Baku Art Gallery, 3200 N. Davidson St, Charlotte, NC.

“In honor of a lifestyle and in observation of the mixed arts mediums, Culture Initiative (CI) has put together a showcase unlike anything Charlotte has seen”, says CI Creative Director and Co-Founder, Joel Tracey.  The concept of the gallery show, “Paper, Rock, Scissors”, focuses on mixed media, screen prints, and photography as the creative mediums by shinning a light on Drugs, Sex, and Rock ‘n Roll.  Tracey explains, “Think of a quiet, meditative and well balanced gallery atmosphere; then imagine the utter opposite.”

Nabbed from the Culture Initiative press release! Get out to this one, y’all!

Here’s the FB invite: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=148281598577607&ref=ts

Guess who I ran into outside of BLKSHP Skate Shop in South End? Del the Funky Homosapien of Deltron 3030 (editors note: one of the best albums ever!,) Hyroglyphics & Gorillaz fame! It’s the cool shit like this that makes me just love my job. Come to this show tonight, free! See the blue flyer above for full details!

Yesterday we had the KILLER opportunity to livestream an interview with most of the members of the first ever YouTube national tour, appropriately dubbed The Digitour, when they rolled through the NC Music Factory. While we’re working on getting the video edited, take a gander at @dboling03′s video + blogpost that highlights both YouTube/the performances at The Saloon and Jeff Elder dishing about The Gregory Brothers and their take on having a video go viral!

Now about one-third of the way done, the tour started out west, came south, and now heads north. Michael said the largest house so far is about 600 people in L.A., but that a New York gig might be bigger. [...] Justin Ruckman, Matthew Tyndall and Desiree Kane of CLT Blog pulled together a press conference and streamed the live video this afternoon.[...] CLT Blog, the strongest and best independent new media voice in Charlotte, has pulled together many events like this in the past.

The idea of a tour of YouTube stars brings up a question: Do internet stars need to break through to mainstream media to make it in the big time?

“It’s not crucial,” says Evan Gregory, brother of band mates Michael and Andrew Gregory, and the wife of band member Sarah Fullen Gregory. “But mainstream media is still the measuring stick of how big you make it, and will be for some time. When we made it in The New York Times, people who wouldn’t have taken us seriously began to.”

via YouTube stars the Gregory Brothers talk viral videos in Charlotte.

Oh, and thanks for the shout-out, Jeff!

We love Pecha Kucha Night – Charlotte (#pknclt) and many of our staff volunteer for the event. The winner of Charlotte Magazine’s 2010 Best of the Best (BoB) Award for Cultural Events, has announced the eighth installment of the series on April 28, at Amos’ Southend as part of Southend Soul!

What: Pecha Kucha Night Charlotte – Vol. 8
When: Thursday, April 28, at 7:30 PM Doors open at 7:00.
Where: Amos’ Southend (1423 S Tryon St., 28203)
Cover: $5 at the door. Cash bar for 21+

Charlotte is loaded with wonderful creative catalysts and this is but a tiny cross-section. The presentations of PK Volume 8 will cover a broad range of topics from Photography and Poetry to Biking and Racial Identity. The presenters in alphabetical order:

Ana Lucia Divins & Edwin Gil
Tomás Jiménez-Eliæson
Spencer Lueders
Indrani Nayar-Gall, Timothy Vang, and introducing: Charlie Black
Franco Ordonez
Carlos Salum
Martin Settle
Charles Thomas
Dwayne Waite Jr.
Osama Wazan

100% the door proceeds from PKN Volume 8 will go to the post earthquake-tsunami rebuilding efforts in Japan. The organization leading this effort is “Inspire Japan” – a global initiative led by the Pecha Kucha HQ in Tokyo along with Architecture for Humanity. 120+ cities from around the world are participating so not only is this contributing to helping fellow humans, it’s an opportunity to share this effort with other like-minded people around the world. Since PKN is volunteer driven – at the local as well as global level – there is no overhead or administrative costs, 100% of what is collected will go to the rebuilding work.

RSVP (by clicking this link) is appreciated but not required. Come as you are, all are always welcome!

If you’ve ever looked up a review of a business online, chances are you’ve seen a Yelp review (or maybe two.) The company hosts a number of large events in addition to their smaller ones, though those are reserved for their internal community members. So, when this came across my desk I just had to post it! I’ve had so much fun participating in the smaller parties that a big, free one open to the public seems like it’d be amazing! I’m sure it will be since rep Nicole Warshauer is in charge of this one and her team has yet to put on an event I’ve attended that’s been anything less than spectacular. Come on out to this one, y’all. Just be sure you use the proper URL so you can get your drink & dine on without issue! Here are the deets:

***RSVPs accepted ONLY at http://bit.ly/yelpodemayo***

Yelp Charlotte is throwing their biggest party to date in Uptown and is opening it up to all Yelpers! Entry, food, beverages and entertainment for this event are completely FREE with your RSVP. Get on the guest list by filling out your Yelp profile and following the RSVP instructions. This party is guest list only and attendance for this event is limited, so RSVP early!

You won’t want to miss this blowout bash featuring some of the area’s best bites and bevvies — plus enough sombrero spinning fun to make you say, “Ole!” Creative fiesta wear encouraged!

This event will benefit Autism Services of Mecklenburg County. So come out and eat, drink and have fun while helping out ASMC.

What: Yelpo de Mayo!
When: Friday, May 6, 8-10 pm
Where: The Terrace at South Tryon Square, 201 S. Tryon St. (5th floor terrace)
RSVP: http://bit.ly/yelpodemayo

I loved seeing this come across my screen this morning. Jeremy Markovich/@deftlyinane has such a great voice in his writing so I figured I’d share this:

Somewhere out there, a guy is walking around with a tattoo of a penguin on his left foot.

To be specific, it’s not just a penguin, it’s The Penguin. The one from the drive-in. The one from the spinning sign at the corner of Commonwealth and Thomas. The Bird. Actually, “Da Bird.” It’s written right there, in ink, right next to the toes.

I find the foot and the guy it belongs to on Facebook. His name is Lee Causey, and he looks scruffy. “You got a tattoo of The Penguin?” I say in a message. “I’m fascinated by this.”

Within a half hour Lee writes back, saying yes, that‘s his foot and he loves the tattoo, and the guys from The Penguin saved his life when he nowhere else to go, and that they might not know it and hey, wait, let me type up the whole story and send it to you right now.

He does. Immediately.

via Deftly Inane: The Man With The Penguin Tattoo.

Usher is going to be in town on April 30 at the Time Warner Cable Arena. Want tickets? Now is your chance to win a pair of tickets to the show.

Here’s video of him practicing behind the scenes for this tour:

To win tickets:

1) Choose a favorite Usher song.

2)  Make a video featuring you (and your friends, if you want) dancing or singing like Usher to the song you’ve chosen. The video must be at least one minute long.

3)  Upload your video to YouTube with the title CLT BLOG, I WANT USHER TICKETS IN CHARLOTTE!

4) Comment on this thread with the link to your video. The video with the most likes on YouTube by Wed, April 27, at noon wins a pair of tickets.

5) Get on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Gowalla, WeReward, TriOut, email, text, etc and tell your friends to vote for your video.

Good luck!

Oh, here’s some inspiration or just some entertainment since Usher is pretty much the best, well, ever:

Conference season is definitely on it’s way! From the Anyvite that went out yesterday:

BarCamp Charlotte V

Hosted By:   Area 15

BarCamp Charlotte 5 is ready to gather the brightest and most innovative minds in tech, media, communications, small, medium and large business, banking and more!

This free un-conference provides an atmosphere for professionals to share and discuss ideas that can shape an industry, a city, and perhaps a society.

Things to do at BarCamp Charlotte 5-

1. Pitch a session

2. Vote for sessions

3. Go to sessions

4. Network

5. Have fun

April 16 from 8AM to 9AM will be coffee and socializing. Opening ceremonies and pitches will start promptly at 9, so please be on time!

via Anyvite | BarCamp Charlotte V.

If you’re interested in seeing pics from some past BarCampCLTs, have a look at the below links:

First photos of BarCamp Charlotte 2 and the Pre-party at the Roofless Building

BarCamp Charlotte 3 Recap

]]> http://cltblog.com/14762/feed 0 http://cltblog.com/14407 http://cltblog.com/14407#comments Tue, 22 Feb 2011 14:20:38 +0000 Desiree Kane http://cltblog.com/?p=14407 From a press release on the CharMeck.Org website: The public is invited to participate in an interactive forum with Mecklenburg County leaders to talk about the 2012 budget priorities. The event will be a kickoff event to a planned series of similar talks Mecklenburg County staff are organizing with neighborhoods and other community groups. The [...]]]>

From a press release on the CharMeck.Org website:

The public is invited to participate in an interactive forum with Mecklenburg County leaders to talk about the 2012 budget priorities.

The event will be a kickoff event to a planned series of similar talks Mecklenburg County staff are organizing with neighborhoods and other community groups. The purpose is to inform Mecklenburg residents about the current conditions as the County begins planning its budget for next fiscal year, and receive input from residents on what is most important to them in terms of County-funded services.

[...]

The kickoff meeting is being hosted by FreeMoreWest Partners at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 24 at Charlotte School of Law, 2145 Suttle Ave. Scheduled to speak are Harry L. Jones Sr., County manager; Hyong Yi (@budgetbadger), County budget director; Jennifer Roberts (@CommishJennifer), chairman of the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners; George Dunlap (@vote4dunlap), District 3 commissioner; and Chris Wannamaker, FreeMoreWest Partners.

via Interactive Discussion On Budget Priorities Kicks Off Citizen Involvement Series.

Oh, FYI: I work for the neighborhood association here in FreeMoreWest but in the interest of public education, and in line with our previous budget discussion podcasts, the entire kickoff will be livestreaming on the cltblog channel.

Click here for more info and click here on 2/24 at 7pm to watch the livestream!

Arthur Brothers & Joel Tracey are at it again, this time with Culturalism: An Arts & Music Gathering! All of the deets are in the gallery images!

In case y’all haven’t heard yet, CarolinaNightlife.com is attempting to break the world record for “The Most People Dressed as Where’s Waldo in One Place” during a bar-crawl on Feb 25th, 5:00 PM, at the Epicenter. The current record was set by 1,052 people in 2009 by Rutger’s University. Charlotte has so many fun bar-crawls and this one just takes the cake!

Morris Costumes on Monroe Rd. is selling Where’s Waldo costumes in advance and on the day-of but, if you’re feeling adventurous, this costume can totally be made at home using just a few items you may already have laying around the house/garage!

Here’s a great Flickr tutorial from FireVixen that outlines how to make your own shirt and how to make your own cap.

There are some costume restrictions though, so if you’re going to participate, make sure you get these few items covered so we can blast Rutgers University’s record out of the water:

a white bobble hat with a red bobble and red trim

clear glasses (sunglasses are not acceptable)

a red and white striped shirt

blue jeans

appropriate footwear

Be sure to twitpic your costume to us @cltblog so we can compile and share them!

CLICK FROM YOUR MOBILE PHONE: 1-800-AAA-HELP OPTION 1

From the AAA website:

Mecklenburg County ranks among the top counties for percentage of total injuries and fatalities from drunk driving accidents in the state.  From 2007 to 2009 there were 50 fatalities and more than 2,400 serious injuries due to drunk driving in the county, ranking among the top five counties in total deaths and injuries.
If every one of those drivers, who had been drinking, had not gotten behind the wheel, those tragic accidents could have been avoided.

AAA and Budweiser encourage individuals to plan for a safe celebration by being or choosing a ‘Designated Driver,’ calling a taxicab for rides to and from where they intend to drink, or calling ‘Tow to Go’ for a safe ride home, rather than allowing anyone to drive whose sobriety is in question.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LYNX TRIP PLANNER

It’s time for winter solstice! According to NASA, Charlotte is in for a treat tonight/Tuesday very early morning. Today is the shortest day and longest night of 2010 and, check this out, the moon will turn deep red!

The eclipse begins on Tuesday morning, Dec. 21st, at 1:33 am EST (Monday, Dec. 20th, at 10:33 pm PST). At that time, Earth’s shadow will appear as a dark-red bite at the edge of the lunar disk. It takes about an hour for the “bite” to expand and swallow the entire Moon. Totality commences at 02:41 am EST (11:41 pm PST) and lasts for 72 minutes.

If you’re planning to dash out for only one quick look -­ it is December, after all -­ choose this moment: 03:17 am EST (17 minutes past midnight PST). That’s when the Moon will be in deepest shadow, displaying the most fantastic shades of coppery red.

@wxbrad is reporting that the combination of the winter solstice and total lunar eclipse hasn’t happened in 456 years!

If you end up snapping photos you’d like shared on Twitter, please use the tag #CLTmoon!

Sure, sure. There are traditional holiday gift items everyone has this year (iPad, anyone?) but, if you’re a rogue like I am and cringe at the giant amount of big-box waste this holiday season will produce, take a gander at these lovely local only Etsy items to gift your loved ones with this year.

I’ve put together a list of all either up-cycled, recycled, vintage, handmade, repurposed, rehabbed, DIY or vegan/enviro friendly — all from local shops and artists represented on Etsy. They’re also not priced exorbitantly high at $50 and under. Here we go!

For Her:

Morning glory earrings: $38, one of a kind and really neat! By Tangra2009.

Nest lariat: $18 and so dainty! Asymmetrical necklaces are always attention grabbers! By Lana0Crystal.

Blasted out bullets necklace: $16 and badass. By FireboltCreations.

For Him:

Super Mario-esque coaster set: $18, for the geeky gamer we all know and love. By RainbowKidShop.

Thrown stoneware man-mug: $21.50 by LittleBearClayWorks.

For Mom/Grandma:

Custom stamped pendant: $39.50 – Handmade AND you can stamp names on them for customization. By LCimler.

Felt soap set: $32 for 9. How novel! Waste free, too! By SoFino.

For the young/tween boy:

Skateboard belt buckle: $35, made of recycled skateboards! By COOBoriginals.

Vinyl alien decal set: $40 and one word: removable. By GraphicSpaces.

For the young/tween girl:

Peach flower blossom earrings: $18. Vintage & handmade from ShySiren! Perfect for a young lady.

Orange ponytail buttons: $8, because all little girl stuff doesn’t have to be pink! By PolkadotSkies.

Green and lime stars necklace:  $16 from FireboltCreations.

For Baby:

HootHat: $25 These are up-cycled and are SO CUTE! By FreckleTree.

Mr. Jablonsky: $25 and hilarious. By PetitesMetier.

For the vege/vegan:

“I heart tofu” wall art:  $22 by MonkeyAndSquirrel.

Eco-cuff: $45 from a local favorite GreenMarketGirl.

So there you have it! Happy holiday shopping, y’all!