Vote Today, Shout Tonight

Elections in Charlotte City Council primaries are taking place today until 7:30 p.m. I know many of you are planning to vote in the general elections in November, but today is the first step to ensuring the city council candidate of your choice makes it onto the ballot. There are five contested races today: At-large, District 2, District 3, District 5, and District 7. Click here to read The Charlotte Observer's breakdown of the races and links to their political coverage. You can also find important details, such as voting locations, on the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections website, www.meckboe.org.

Then later this evening, treat yourself to a jubilant event. The eighth annual Gospel Shout! is like a celebration of the return to fall. As always, the concert is free, and features religious "roots music" featuring a cappella singing plus the high-energy trombone "shout band" tradition found at the United House of Prayer. It always reminds me of a performance you would see in the streets of New Orleans (watch the YouTube clip below of the Charlotte band). You can make an entire evening of it and enjoy a soul-food dinner (approximately $10) in the House of Prayer cafeteria. Dinner begins serving at 6 p.m.; concert begins 7:30 p.m. This event is presented by Levine Museum of the New South and Charlotte Center City Partners. United House of Prayer for All People, 2321 Beatties Ford Road.

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Kevin Hart Pops Up In Charlotte for 'Laugh At My Pain'

Kevin Hart is one of the funniest comedians going right now, and yesterday his movie Laugh At My Pain opened exclusively at AMC theaters nationwide. It's a step up from his straight-to-DVD films, which have been part of the reason he's become a comedy household name--most friends of mine have at least one Kevin Hart stand-up on DVD. He's also come a long way from the movie that first brought him to my attention, 2004's Soul Plane. Not only was he the central character in Soul Plane, but the movie was so widely panned by critics and fans that it could've ended his career. Now, it's just one more funny notch under his Laugh At My Pain mantra (and it's coincidental that last night I happened to watch The Boondocks episode where they spoofed a fictional release of Soul Plane 2).

Also last night, I saw people posting on Facebook and Twitter how funny Kevin's new movie is, which means he'll probably be laughing all the way to the bank. This is on top of his successful comedy tour (that grossed $15 million in ticket sales) of which the movie is based. On day two of his movie opening, he could've been anywhere in the country and he chose to come to Charlotte. At about noon today, he posted on Twitter: "ATTN Charlotte NC: Im n ur city, im giving away 100 tickets 2 the 1pm showing of Laugh at My Pain to the 1st 100 people to meet me there..." The theater of choice was AMC Carolina Pavilion on South Boulevard. I'm assuming he only announced this one hour in advance to keep the crowd from getting out of control.

Once he arrived to the theater, he doubled his offer, saying that he bought 200 tickets. See the Twitpic below.

In addition to the AMC Carolina Pavilion, you can see Laugh At My Pain locally at AMC Northlake (at Northlake Mall) and AMC Concord Mills (at Concord Mills Mall). Click here to search for showtimes at AMC theaters in your area.

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Carolina Panthers Rank Middle of the Pack In List of NFL's Most Valuable Teams

Forbes published its annual list of the NFL's Most Valuable Teams yesterday, the day before the 2011 NFL season officially kicks off. I look forward to reading these rankings each year and even though media coverage of the spring-and-summer-long NFL lockout reminded us daily that the National Football League is essentially a cash cow, it's still great to see how the numbers break down.

Not surprisingly, the Dallas Cowboys are the most valuable team for the fifth straight year, worth $1.85 billion, according to Forbes. I was surprised, however, by where the Carolina Panthers rank: No. 15 with a value of $1 billion. In a league comprised of 32 teams, that puts the Panthers in the middle, so I'm surprised that Charlotte's team is ranked ahead of teams that have been around longer and that are in bigger cities, such as the Atlanta Falcons, ranked No. 27 with a value of $814 million.

Panthers rookie Cam Newton throws a wristband to fans after a preseason game.
Via panthers.com.

Rounding out the top-five most valuable NFL teams for 2011 are the Washington Redskins (No. 2, $1.55 billion), New England Patriots (No. 3, $1.4 billion), New York Giants (No. 4, $1.3 billion), and New York Jets (No. 5, $1.22 billion). The Panthers are the last team valued at $1 billion or more--numbers 16 through 24 are valued at more than $900 million each, then the teams dip to the $800 million range, and in the caboose is the Jacksonville Jaguars, ranked No. 32 at $725 million.

If you'll recall, the Panthers and the Jaguars began playing in 1995 when the NFL expanded to what was then a total of 30 teams. The Jaguars have been the slightly more successful team on the field, winning 14 more games than the Panthers over their 16-year histories. But the Panthers are clearly more successful off the field, with a value that places them $275 million above the Jaguars.

The aforementioned paragraph is my assessment. Click here to read a full analysis of the list by Forbes editor Kurt Badenhausen. And click here for the slideshow of the most valuable teams.

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A Few Photos from 2012 Democratic National Convention Kick Off

The 2012 Democratic National Convention Kick Off was held today at Time Warner Cable Arena in Uptown Charlotte, commemorating that the convention is officially one year away. I'm going to be covering all-things-DNC in a new blog launching soon. But in the meantime, I thought I'd briefly share a few photos I snapped at today's pep-rally-style event, which drew more than 2,000 people. In the photos you'll see the large crowd, the newly revealed 2012 Democratic National Convention logo, Charlotteans clamoring to buy official merchandise (which sold out), and Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz (with her signature curly hair) surrounded by media.

You can find more details on the 2012 Democratic National Convention website, www.demconvention.com, and the Charlotte Host Committee website, www.charlottein2012.com.

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Mayor Foxx Is Charlotte

The 2011 Charlotte Labor Day Parade made its way through the streets of Uptown today. Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx, who is seeking a second term this November, marched in the parade with his son, surrounded by several of his campaign supporters. Mayor Foxx, as you might know, is a Charlotte native (you don't tend to run into too many of those around here because they're greatly outnumbered by transplants), and he's a West Charlotte High and Davidson College (and NYU) grad. I've always felt that he has a unique and valuable perspective on this city because he's from here, has lived here most of his life, has watched Charlotte grow, and for the last several years has helped lead that growth.

Photo by Jonathan Webber.

His campaign committee posted photos from the parade onto his Facebook page tonight. You can view them at facebook.com/AnthonyFoxx09 (or directly by clicking on this link to the album). I just wanted to point out one of the photos in particular because in it you can see that he's dressed in a The Coffee Cup T-shirt and Carolina Panthers cap. That's Charlotte.

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