Brittney Cason After Dark

I don’t get society’s obsession with celebrities — do we worship them for being flawless, or fixate on their flaws to make ourselves feel flawless? And I have never been one to obsess over hot celebrity guys… I don’t see all the hype about Brad Pitt, and I realize Mr. Big is a fictional character. But after my friend Jackie introduced me to the MTV show Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory, I found myself wanting to date, fall in love and have babies with professional skateboarder Rod Dyrdek.

That man is an exact replica of the portrait of the perfect man I have painted in my head. He’s creative, adventurously athletic, quirky, positive thinking, fun and funny, street (and business) smart, altruistic, sexy skater boy, surrounded by cool people, dog loving… all of which I picked up on by watching one episode.

I had to be sure that he was not a fictional-reality-character, and that he is for real… so I suggested to Jackie that we watch the entire season on her DVR. I fell in love that night… not necessarily with Rob Dyrdek, but with the idea that the perfect man does in fact exist — if in Hollywood, then definitely in real life. Maybe I won’t have to settle for less than the full package after all. And with that, Rob and his power animals became my first celebrity crush since Joey from New Kids on the Block.

Fast forward a year…

Now that I have deemed an unattainable man as the unrequited love of my life, you can imagine my reaction when I walked into East in Hollywood to eat with Patrycja, the girl with whom I switched cities with for the show Holidate, and there sat Rob Dyrdek at the bar, having a drink with his manager on the show. Read the rest of this entry »

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Mortimer’s Cafe and Pub introduced itself to Charlotte at Bartender’s Ball – and I sent the intern to investigate it further. Here’s what she found …

By Chandler Smith-Currie

Sometimes, you want to go where everybody knows your name… and Mortimer’s Café and Pub in the EpiCentre is set to be that place. Mortimer’s, which is having their grand opening on March 15, is located on the first level of the EpiCentre in the space formerly known as PJ’s Coffee and Lounge.

Owner Brandon Viebrock describes Mortimer’s as, “Your friendly neighborhood pub at the Epicentre.” After walking through its double doors, I sensed the modern day “Cheers” vibe. It is a casual environment where you can go after work to unwind, and where you don’t have to worry about changing your work attire or putting on your club clothes to fit in. Cheers to that.

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Normally when I report the news, it’s happy news: new nightclubs are opening, or a good act is coming to town … but this time, I’m reporting hard news via WBTV – because this is scary: Man crashes into cars to rob, rape women … and he’s following these ladies home from bars and nightclubs, police think. Ladies, I am calling a mandatory safety meeting in which the linked article is your handbook.

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After their show at the arena, the Black Eyed Peas performed a private concert, live from the DJ booth of Butter. (Photo Credit: George Lainis, Catch Light Studio) …

And Nicky Hilton was the back-up dancer?

What happens when you combine a NYC nightclub and NASCAR superstars — the resulting recipe is one of Paula Dean’s favorite ingredients: Butter!

NFL and NASCAR combine as well: Michael Waltrip and Kenny Moore seen on the scene at Butter. Read the rest of this entry »

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For the first time ever, the Charlotte Checkers will be dropping the puck at MIDNIGHT this Thursday, Feb. 18. They call it dropping the puck… I like to call it a “Puck Off” And since the Puck-Off is at midnight (11:59 p.m. to be exact) they’re making a party out of it. DJ Rozak from 106.5 The End will be on the mic, and of course they’re making a pub crawl out of it too – with who else, RockHouse Events

Sounds fun, doesn’t it? Wanna go? Well, I’m giving away 4 pairs of passes to the game … and the first four to e-mail carl.tucker@creativeloafing.com (with the subject line: Midnight Puck) gets them.

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In my column last week: Overage: Are you too old to go to the club? we established that you’re never too old to go out … but you can be too young however. So I got my new intern, Chandler, to show me nightlife from her perspective… as an underage college student.

By Chandler Smith-Currie

I know 12 people with a fake I.D. … Now, I am not going to name names but this number was a little shocking to me. Why are all these college students resorting to aging themselves? After talking to a couple of friends and other students at UNC-Charlotte, the nightlife in the Queen city is not so “unders friendly.”

The majority of the people I talked to who venture out on the nightlife scene whom are under 21 only go out once during the week … College night. Typically a Wednesday or Thursday at Alley Cat and The Forum. Some other honorable mentions include Alive, Ice and Synergy. Well that covers Wednesday and Thursday, but what about the weekend? Read the rest of this entry »

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Let me rephrase that. Come out, to The Closet Nightclub.

According to a press release from owner Jody Sullivan, Closet Nightclub is …
“Charlotte’s newest high energy dance club located in the heart of the Elizabeth neighborhood. CLOSET will be catering to a diverse crowd including the GLBT community. The Club features a huge dance floor with 2 overlook balconies, 4 bars, state of the art sound/lighting/video system, and a separate cocktail video lounge. Closet Nightclub has a 400+ capacity and onsite parking.”

The Closet opens on Friday, Feb. 19, with a live performance by Amber.

In other Breaking Nightlife News …

• Wilmer Valderrama is coming all the way to Charlotte to celebrate his 30th birthday, this Friday. Feb.12 at BUTTER. And Will.I.Am is going to DJ the grand opening party next weekend.

• Cuban Pete’s Cafe has opened in Plaza Midwood … in the nook for which the Nook and Graduate was. And it has a sangria bar. Awesome.

For more comprehensive nightlife coverage check out CL’s CIAA tournament (and party) listings and daily (or should I say nightly) event listings on CL’s At Large blog.

This is Brittney Cason, signing off … now back to your regulary scheduled program (or work … wink).

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…was the Friday night I couldn’t find anything to eat after 11 p.m.

I got off a plane and went directly from the airport to Belk Theater to see Spring Awakening, where afterward I led the Q&A talk-back with the cast. I hadn’t eaten a thing all day other than the travel-size bag of pretzels they gave me on the plane — and there’s nothing like theatrical porn to work up an appetite. Thus, following the show I was so hungry I almost started gnawing on my hair.

So, we went to Dandelion Market … but the kitchen was closed. And for the record, they should go ahead and change the name to meat market. But you can’t eat that meat and I was too hungry to stay and flirt.

So, we went to Nix Burgers and Brew … closed

Only options in Uptown at this point are Sushi at Enso, or the places I only go when I’m drunk … and I had no intentions of drinking, let alone coating my stomach with grease. As much as I love Phil’s fried pickles, my body was craving a real meal since I’d been neglecting to nurture it all day. And my friends didn’t want sushi. So, we ventured out of Uptown scavenging nightlife like vultures in search of food. Read the rest of this entry »

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I posted the following on my Facebook page: Brittney Cason is writing an article about “Ballin’ on a Budget”… where can people go to find the best drink specials?! … and nightlife on clearance? And I got so many informative responses, I figured I might as well just post the comment thread for your infotainment…

Jayson Knight: Al Mike’s. As far as nightlife on a budget, anything outside of 28202. Dammit Janet is tons of fun.

Jason Sandwick: No such thing unless you are female…then you can do it anywhere there are guys….

Matt McLean: or a hot gay guy……..

Bailie Ann Thompson: Try most places in Plaza-Midwood or NoDa-you’ll be out under $50 food and drink!

Rachel Sunset Miller: Well, it’s not $1 beer night, but The Sunset Club has $100 bottle/VIP service and 1/2 price bottles of wine on Wednesday night.

Jay Hagerman: My buddy started www.charlottehappyhour.com. It’ll have everything you need for each day of the week.

Hannah Toole: Trader Joes is where you can ball on a budget- 3 buck chuck!(wine) Angry Ale’s has $2 domestic Mondays and Brixx Pizza has half price wine on Sunday’s, $1.95 domestic drafts on Monday (including microbrews)

Sophia Burrowes: Zink American Kitchen! Everyday there is a $2 beer special and $5 liquor special. Half price sushi from 5 – 7 Mon thru friday. $2 drafts on Saturdays ALL DAY (sam adams, milk stout, etc.) Come out tomorrow from 5 – 7 for happy hour with The McDevitt Agency and check it out! Great for your article.

George Pappas Park Lanes: Bowling is $.79 a game on Monday Nights from 9pm-cl. We also run a Sunday Night Special from 8pm-11pm for $11.99 per person. The shoe rental is free with both of these specials.

Lauren Elizabeth Thomas: I work at Town Tavern and wanted to pitch in their specials. On Wed we do $2.50 Ultras, Coors lights and $4 well drinks. On Thursdays its Beer pong night we start about 9 and do 25 cent Miller light draft and $2 Miller light bottles. Fridays between 8-10 we have $2 you call it. That excludes top shelf like Greygoose and patron but everything else including beer and wine is $2! And Saturday its $2.50 Bud lights! Hope this helps your article

Quincy Blanco: I agree with Lauren .. Town Tavern iz def the place 2 Roc if U wanna ball on a budget!! .. went there last wk and had a blast!

Jason Astephen: Well 50 cent drafts on Thursday nights @ Buckhead should fit any budget!!!

Matthew T King-Lineberry: Hawthornes on 7th hands down…Monday nights they have ALL draughts $1.50. Great selection too. Good place to ease into the work week on the cheap. Hope all is well with you, Miss Cason

Amy Lyttle McCarter: 25 comments and my lame ass can’t think of a single place to recommend. God, it’s been a while since I’ve gotten out! Good luck with the article.

Milton Boyd: I think your idea is well worth the effort.

Kristen Gaddis: Brixx Woodfire pizza, everyday we have a drink special, everyday except Monday we have $3.00 jagers, and royal flushes (only at the southpark location). And everyday after 10pm its buy one get one, meaning either 2 pizzas or appetizer for the price of one!

Have any other suggestions? Leave a comment below!

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Last week, I went country… back to my roots (and to Coyote Joe’s).

You can take the chick out of Dixie, but you can never take the Dixie out of the chick. In 8th grade, my friends and I used to have our parents drop us off at “The Round Up” on the weekends — which was a barn converted into a dance floor with a band where people of all ages line danced. But then after a while we used that as an excuse to meet up and then snuck off to some high school or college party. We got caught eventually, and needless to say, I was never allowed to go to the round up again… and I haven’t country line danced since.

That is, until I went to Coyote Joe’s last week for their FREE line dancing lessons. First thing my friend and I noticed is that most of the dance moves don’t require any hand movements… it truly is the boot scootin’ boogy. We figure it’s so they can hold their beers. As the instructor was going through the eight counts, I found myself naturally incorporating hip-hop moves into each step… and I couldn’t help it. I call it “hick-hop”… Read the rest of this entry »

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