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COLORBEARER OF ATHENS IN THE SHADOWS

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SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 · VOL. 23 · NO. 39 · FREE

Kiva

Micro Loans Aid Third-World Entrepreneurs p. 11

Wavves

The Blog Buzz, the Meltdown and the Redemption p. 19

Raw Milk p. 9 · Cal Clements p. 15 · Inside the Rialto Room p. 20 · Colour Revolt p. 21 · B.B. King p. 26

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pub notes Whiskey Economics One of my occasional duties as a teenager was to drive for my father when he needed to go somewhere after work, especially when he had taken his evening Canadian Club and tap water cocktail. Frequently, that meant a trip out into the country to collect an account owed our family store, where my father functioned as the bookkeeper and business manager, with copious amounts of two-finger typing and Camel cigarettes.

I always enjoyed any opportunity to pilot the Ford flathead V-8, especially since I was not old enough to drive on my own, and I relished the challenge of negotiating the unpaved country roads as my father urged me to pick up the speed because supper was waiting at home.

I did not enjoy the collection calls, nor, I could tell, did my father. He would mix an extra drink to take along as we rode (no open container laws then) and would direct me down rutted routes I couldn’t have got home on by myself. The whiskey worked its magic, helping him to be more outspoken than he usually was, more than I liked to hear him, especially on our house calls.

The protocol was to drive up into the front yard of the debtor and blow the horn, whereupon my father would roll down his passenger-side window as the customer-in-arrears approached. We would not be there if the account were not already far into the red zone, as our customer knew. We were basically participating in an elaborate theater piece, with my father and our customer following familiar scripts.

THIS WEEK’S ISSUE: News & Features City Dope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Athens News and Views

News at Morris, more thoughts on SPLOST bucks, a new PAC in town and the Tree That Owns Itself, too.

Kiva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 A Hand Up, Not a Hand-Out

The social-networking site Kiva allows us to give with humility and grace.

Arts & Events Cal Clements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 So Long for Now…

Local artist Cal Clements has left Athens for NYC, but takes a lot of Athens inspiration with him.

The Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 On Eating Brains and Other Uncivil Behaviours

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies reinvents the Jane Austen classic to include a plague of the undead.

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Music Dopesmoker Controversy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 From the Bedroom to the Stadium with Wavves

Promising a stronger, more sober set than that infamous Primavera slot.

Colour Revolt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 The Complexity of Scaling Back

This Mississippi rock band learns that sometimes less is more.

“John, you promised me you’d come see me Saturday, but you didn’t come. Why did you lie to me?”

“I did sure enough promise to come see you on Saturday, but the baby got sick, and I had to get her prescription and that took all my money.”

“Well, I’m going to have to come take all that furniture if you can’t do any better than that.”

“Yessir. I believe that. I’m going to see you Saturday for sure. You not going to have to come get this furniture. No sir.”

The thing I hated most about it was all the little faces peeking out the door and windows, watching the exchange, with my father talking loudly for effect and them hearing him calling their father sorry. And I always hated the denouement, when my father would snap his fingers and tell me “Let’s go,” when I cranked the Ford and tried a friendly smile toward the customer while cringing as my father remarked, still loudly, ostensibly to me, that the lying son-of-a-bitch wasn’t going to show up this Saturday, either.

I think it was his way of showing that he was serious this time. He would never say something like that to the man’s face, but he would say it to mine, within earshot of the man and probably his children and perhaps his wife, standing out of sight in the dark house.

Thus did a small businessman try to support his own family by selling furniture to people with dubious credit living a hardscrabble life. That customer was no blip on a computer screen. My father knew him personally and knew where he lived and knew when he sold him the furniture on credit that it was going to take a lot of Camels and Canadian Club to collect it, but by such after-hours exertions he usually did collect it and kept his customers, too.

I thought those economic scenarios were confined to our time and place, but they’re back, and the baby’s prescription and her medical care and medical care for the whole family are still driving the push toward poverty for more and more of our people. I wish Paul Broun, Jr. and Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss could have been sitting in the back seat of the Ford with us out there in the country. That might have helped them see how health care costs impinge on families and small businesses alike.

My father saw firsthand how government farm programs, public works, old-age assistance and medical care helped his customers immeasurably during that other Depression and thereby helped his small business survive. He saw the government not as his enemy but as his partner. He would expect our congressman and our senators to look at government that way, too.

Pete McCommons editor@flagpole.com

COVER DESIGN by Kelly Ruberto featuring artwork by Carissa Pfeiffer on display at the Lamar Dodd School of Art

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LETTERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 CITY DOPE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 CITY PAGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 CAPITOL IMPACT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 ATHENS RISING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 WORLD VIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 COMMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 COMMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 KIVA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 MOVIE DOPE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 MOVIE PICKS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 CAL CLEMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 GRUB NOTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

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THE READER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 THREATS & PROMISES. . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 WAVVES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 THE RIALTO ROOM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 COLOUR REVOLT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 RECORD REVIEWS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 THE CALENDAR!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 BULLETIN BOARD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 ART AROUND TOWN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 COMICS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 REALITY CHECK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 EVERYDAY PEOPLE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

CONTACT US:

EDITOR & PUBLISHER Pete McCommons ADVERTISING DIRECTOR & PUBLISHER Alicia Nickles PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Larry Tenner MANAGING EDITOR Christina Cotter ADVERTISING SALES Anita Aubrey, Melinda Edwards, Jessica Pritchard MUSIC EDITOR Michelle Gilzenrat CITY EDITOR Ben Emanuel CLASSIFIEDS, DISTRIBUTION & OFFICE MANAGER Paul Karjian AD DESIGNERS Ian Rickert, Kelly Ruberto CARTOONISTS James Allen, Cameron Bogue, Ryan Hall, Joe Havasy, Missy Kulik, Jeremy Long, Clint McElroy, Michael Stephens ADOPT ME Special Agent Cindy Jerrell CONTRIBUTORS Darin Beasley, Christopher Benton, Hillary Brown, Adam Clair, Rebecca Corey, Tom Crawford, Austin Darnell, Gwynne Dyer, Tony Floyd, Jeff Gore, John Huie, Annie Kelley, Gordon Lamb, Bao Le-Huu, Cathy Mong, John G. Nettles, Matt Pulver, Deirdre Sayre, Jordan Stepp, Jeff Tobias, Drew Wheeler, Kevan Williams CIRCULATION Charles Greenleaf, Harper Bridgers, Jimmy Courson, Swen Froemke, Anthony Gentilles WEB DESIGNER Ian Rickert ADVERTISING ASSISTANT Maggie Summers EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Erin Cork EDITORIAL INTERN Fabian Poth MUSIC INTERN Charlie Stafford ADVERTISING INTERNS Melanie Foster, Teresa Tamburello

VOLUME 23 ISSUE NUMBER 39

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letters

CONTACT US AT P.O. BOX 1027, ATHENS, GA 30603, LETTERS@FLAGPOLE.COM OR VIA THE “TALK BACK TO US” LINK AT FLAGPOLE.COM

gives Linger Longer Communities free use of oceanfront public land, sticks the state with $50 million in bond indebtedness for infraWhat planet is Anna Ferguson living structure costs and gives 99 percent of gross on? (Letter, “Chapman No Guv,” Sept. 16.) sales on the Jekyll town center project to Whenever an individual berates another so Linger Longer. In response to Senator Tommie unfairly and without restraint, one has to Williams, who said it does not matter how wonder. Ferguson fictionalizes State Senator much money Linger Longer will make on the Jeff Chapman, who is running for governor, Jekyll deal, Senator Chapman wrote: “Any time as dishonest, power-hungry and underyou take a public asset and your statement is, informed. Nothing could be farther from the ‘I don’t care what the private partner is maktruth. Senator Chapman has risked his party’s ing’ you are saying, ‘I don’t know that what I ire to stand up for the people of Georgia am getting is fair and good for the people.’” in the controversy I have found over Jekyll Island.

Senator Chapman “Capitol Impact,” to be intelligent, BUMPERSTICKER OF THE WEEK: on April 25, 2007, thoughtful, fair and said of Chapman: “If honest. He is keen on there was any heroic doing the right thing, figure in the legislano matter the polititive session that just cal cost. Senator Send your sticker sightings to letters@ adjourned, it would Chapman knows that flagpole.com or call 706-549-9523. Thanks. be Jeff Chapman… informed decisions He stood up to a cannot be made withgroup of powerful, out the best informawealthy business interests over the fate of tion. Regardless of politics, he votes for what Jekyll Island… If Jekyll Island still has sea he deems to be best for his constituents and turtles nesting on its south end 10 or 20 years the state as a whole. Ferguson misrepresented from now, and you’re able to take the family the situation on Jekyll Island. If people are there and stay at a reasonably priced hotel, happier today with Linger Longer’s town cenyou’ll be able to thank Jeff Chapman.” ter project, it is because Senator Chapman The reason the current development plans helped to influence a re-working of the plans. for Jekyll Island are much more palatable to Even the Jekyll Island Authority, which subsecitizens is Senator Chapman’s insistence for quently reduced the footprint of the original a more citizen-responsive process. Chapman plan, now admits that first plan was over the is the only public official with the courtop and unpopular with citizens. Ferguson age to speak out against the contract that tried to convey the notion that Georgia

PLANET JEKYLL

Actually, Guns Really Do Kill People

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FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

citizens have finally seen the light and have come around to JIA’s way of thinking. The bottom line is that Jeff Chapman stood for the common good in pushing for citizen-friendly renovation of Jekyll Island State Park. Anna Ferguson is simply way off the mark. But angry people often are.

Babs McDonald Jackson County

FAIR AND MORAL I’m continually amazed at the number of people who really, truly believe that any health care reform is going to lead us to rampant socialism. In fact, there is no proposal in Congress today that would lead us in this direction. What the people who are proreform, myself included, really want is a fair, moral system that covers everyone.

Here are some questions for all of you to answer: Is health care for all a moral or economic issue? (Those of you who embrace an Abrahamic religion should consider WWJD?) Is it acceptable that some people are left to die because they can’t see a doctor when they get sick?

Is health care a human right?

Should society guarantee health care, the way we guarantee the right to think and pray as you like, to get an education, to vote?

Is medicine a commodity to be bought and sold, like a car, computer or camera?

Do people in our country have a right to health care?

Have you ever paid a share of someone else’s health care? (This is a trick question.

The answer is that we all have. Don’t believe me? Ask the CEO of any health care system.)

These questions, except for the last one, can be found in T. R. Reid’s book, The Healing of America. They are the questions that Prof.

Wm. Hsiao, Harvard economist, asks to help design health care systems worldwide. Note that many of the systems he has helped design take care of people far better than ours (which he hasn’t helped design), i.e., many countries in the industrialized world as well as Taiwan and a few others. If you really want to find out which country has what and how we compare, get a copy of Reid’s book and read it. It’s an excellent resource to help understand the variety of systems, none of which is the scary socialism variety.

Ironically, the U.S. embraces all systems within our current system. For the rich there is a wide choice and excellent insurance.

For working people there are many forms to choose from. For the elderly and veterans, we have very good government-run health care.

For the uninsured some are able to get government assistance and minimal care. The rest of us have a plan just like India. It’s called “out of pocket.” In the event that you have no income (think unemployed) and do not qualify for assistance, it might also be called “out of luck.”

I’m embarrassed to see insurance companies making a 40 percent profit on health care. There’s something very immoral about it.

Elizabeth Bishop-Martin Athens

city dope Athens News and Views Movement at Morris: Finally there’s something new to the news from Morris Publishing Group, the Augusta-based parent company that owns the Athens Banner-Herald, among other papers. Regular readers of this column will know that the Morris Watch started to sound like a broken record months ago, as the company simply kept putting off the payments on its mountain of debt and associated interest. For a while there, every Friday afternoon brought a corporate press release from Augusta saying exactly the same thing, with only the dates changed.

Well, maybe the credit markets have loosened up just enough, or maybe Morris’s creditors are finally cutting their losses, or maybe the latest news adds up to not much.

Morris has agreed to a “restructuring” of three-quarters of the debt pile—i.e., only $278.5 million—with an extended deadline Rachel Bailey

voters approve future SPLOSTs). The reason, they say, is that future taxpayers (and not present ones) should pay for the jail. “The tax digest will expand as Athens gains new population,” Commissioner David Lynn told City Dope. “Paying for the entire project now would be an unfair burden to current taxpayers, when future taxpayers would get a ’free’ jail.”

But aren’t most current taxpayers future ones, too? Why should any taxpayers—present or future—have to pay $46 million in unnecessary interest to bond investors? Hasn’t Athens-Clarke already been forced to raise water rates to cover investor bonds (because it decided to replace all three sewagetreatment plants at once)? This year’s county budget was tight—even cutting out the usual employee raises—but next year’s is expected to be even tighter. Last summer, commissioners seriously discussed removing one fifth of the county’s street lights just to save $109,000 annually. Annual interest on the jail loan will cost 17 times as much as eliminating those street lights would have.

Meanwhile, commissioners on the Legislative Review Committee have decided not to recommend “circuit breakers” that limit taxes for financially stressed homeowners.

And that’s probably just as well: the county may be needing the money. [John Huie]

Trouble in Paul-adise?: Yes, he’s kinda crazy, but everybody knows that Congressman Paul Broun, Jr. acts the way he does because he has such a ridiculous electoral majority in the mostly rural 10th District of Northeast Georgia. Well, with an eye toward the 2010 elections, some Athens folks have created a new political action committee—with no identified candidate yet— that’s going to aim to give this town a stronger voice No, the T-Stand hasn’t been serving tacos since 1857. But that is the which might at least change date on the rad old granite stone recently revealed by some work on the the tone of the discussion. downtown building’s façade. Go history!

The PAC, “Pull the Plug on Paul Broun, Jr.,” is headed up until Oct. 16 to pay off the interest that’s by law student/ community organizer Russell accumulated. It seems a decent bet that the Edwards, and is also taking aim specifically at mid-October deadline will move again, but the Broun’s stance in the health care debate. Find thing to watch for is whether the company it online and see what you think at http:// tries to make any big moves with the papers it paulbrounjr.com. [BE] owns, now that it (maybe) has a little room to maneuver. What that may mean for the ABH is Exporting Athens, and Her Tree: Real quick, not yet clear over here, and the Morris Watch y’all—this is cool. Local art student Seth continues. [Ben Emanuel] Stephens is working the Internet to let the world know about our Tree That Owns Itself, City Hall’s Spreadsheets: Obviously we don’t and to encourage people everywhere not only understand high finance—specifically the to plant acorns from the Tree (as Athens’ county’s plans to borrow, over 24 years, $80 Community Tree Council does around town million to finance a new jail, which will cost already, mostly at local schools), but also to $46 million in interest. Athens-Clarke County deed eight feet on each side of each new tree could build the jail much more cheaply by to that very tree—just as William Jackson did financing it entirely from the next round of for his beloved oak on Dearing Street more sales-tax collections. The next SPLOST round than a century and a half ago. Find a link to should collect $170 million (over about eight Seth’s Kickstarter site (neato video and all) years)—more than twice the jail’s construcwith this column online, or email thetreethat tion costs. ownsitself@gmail.com to learn more. Wait, But commissioners prefer to borrow the the Tree has email now, too? [BE] money over 24 years—still paying it back, gradually, with sales-tax money (provided Ben Emanuel & John Huie

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city pages 23 can be attributed to the effects of the city itself “are speculative… it’s way too early to speculate influences,” Shepherd says. (The observations of cities’ effects on rainfall mostly have to do with summer thunderstorms, not with the kind of large-scale low pressure system that passed through the Urban development—more asphalt, roofIn 2007, the Athens-Clarke County (ACC) Southeast in September.) But, he says, “we’ve tops, fewer trees—has been implicated in government made over $300,000 selling recydone a lot of work over the years on urban massive flooding in the metro Atlanta area cled materials. But since then, materials prices effects of rainfall,” and, Shepherd says, “there from recent heavy rains. have dropped, and the county is losing some seems to be heavier rainfall in an arc from It’s not a new phenomenon. UGA hydrolomoney on recycling now. For July and August Douglas County north to Gwinnett County.” gist Todd Rasmussen quotes a Time magazine combined, processing fees exceeded revenues “Again, it’s speculative but it certainly story from 1999 about Atlanta’s sprawl: “Once by about $12,000, ACC Recycling Coordinator seems to suggest a favorable distribution of a wilderness, it’s now a 13-county eruption, Suki Jannsen says. “The markets are creeping rainfall,” he says, under the downwind effect. one that has been called the fastest-spreading One of the ways a large city like Atlanta can back up,” she adds, so recycling could make human settlement in history. Already more money again. “Really, recyclables are just raw influence rain is by having a concentration of than 110 miles across, up from just 65 in materials for the items that we [consumers] high and low buildings that impede surface 1990, it consumes an additional 500 acres of purchase,” she says. But recycling still saves winds. As air goes around or over the city, it field and farmland every week…” landfill space for the county, and landfills are creates a disturbance that leads to rain clouds As of press time, eight counties in Georgia expensive and hard to site. “It’s still, envithat form downwind. Pollution also has an had been declared national disaster areas by ronmentally speaking, the best thing to do to effect on cloud formations and rainfall. the Federal Emergency Management Agency. recycle,” Jannsen says.

Meteorologically speaking, an area of The number could rise once FEMA concludes In 2007–08, Athens-Clarke County had an low pressure over the lower Mississippi River its study. overall recycling rate of 35 percent—including Valley drew moisture To check rainfall on “This storm shows that ‘how’ from the Gulf of Mexico sewage sludge and leaf-and-limb scraps, any day in any county, which the county will soon begin composting over Georgia and other we develop matters…” visit www.cocorahs. together at the landfill, and will make availsoutheastern states, org. “We got eight to 10 able to the public. Many businesses (as well producing September’s inches of rain in a week period [in Athens],” heavy showers and storms. A low-pressure area as homeowners) are good recyclers; Jannsen is Rasmussen says. On the other hand, Douglas working on new stickers that can be displayed “sat” on top of the same area for several days, County, one of the first to be declared a by businesses that recycle. In addition to causing the saturation and runoff. disaster area, received about 11.5 inches in a paper, cardboard, cans and plastic containers “What made this system particularly note24-hour period. (numbers one and two) that are picked up worthy,” Thomas Mote, a UGA climatologist, Historically, people in the Athens area have says via email, “was that the heaviest precurbside, scrap metal and used electronics can built mostly on high ground to avoid flooding. cipitation bands just happened to set up over also be recycled at the landfill, and leftover “But as land has become more valuable, peocleaners, pesticides, paint cans and such can metro Atlanta, so it affected a much larger ple built in low-lying areas,” Rasmussen says. be recycled at occasional collection events. population than if it had occurred over a rural In 1967, 10 inches of rain fell in a 24-hour area. An equally heavy rainfall was recorded John Huie johnphuie@gmail.com period and the Oconee Street bridge over the near Toccoa, but we haven’t heard nearly as North Oconee River near downtown was under much about that.” five feet of water, he says.

And UGA hydrologist Rhett Jackson told Rasmussen says there are two aspects of Flagpole in an email that the storm “also demflood water: “There is more runoff because onstrated that individual storm depths don’t of greater volume. The second is water is correlate well with peak [stream] flows in conveyed more rapidly downstream. It accuforested basins. The forested streams produce mulates faster.” People upstream benefit from big floods when large storms fall when water municipal storm drains, “but those downtables are high,” he says, but “since the forstream get flooded.” In Northeast Georgia dur- ested basins had been dry prior to this storm Less may be more at the intersection of ing the recent heavy rains, he says, “we came and water tables were low, they could easily King Avenue with Matthews Avenue/ Belvoir out of a long drought. A lot of it got held up absorb most of this storm.”

Heights, where residents had asked the county in the watershed. The [relatively low] amount According to Jackson, “clearly land use to add four-way stop signs. A county study of urbanization in the region held that back, strongly determined flow response for this said that would be justified based on traffic but if we had Atlanta north of us, we would storm event. This storm shows that ‘how’ we counts at the neighborhood intersection, but have experienced a raging torrent,” Rasmussen develop matters, and we need to do a better in the meantime, the county has added speedsays. job getting water into the ground rather than limit signs and crosswalks, and has plans to That was certainly the case in Conyers running off the surface. We visually narrow some lanes along the Yellow River, according to a Sept. also need to recognize that “They’re pleased with to further calm traffic. And 25 story in the Rockdale Citizen. In addition to 100-year-old floodplains that seems to be working, the week-long rains saturating the soil, floodare not stationary in urban- the traffic-calming that neighbors say; they’ve now ing was intensified by the amount of sprawl izing basins.” (Indeed, the asked their commissioners has occurred.” at the river’s headwaters in Gwinnett County, Atlanta Journal-Constitution to hold off on the four-way Georgia Perimeter College geologist John reported Sept. 26 that stop. “They would like to Anderson told that newspaper. many flooded metro area homes lie outside see what happens,” Commissioner Mike Hamby There have long been theories that sprawl of the flood zones delineated on FEMA maps, said at the ACC Commission’s Sept. 17 agendaaffects rain runoff and contributes to floodwhich are used to determine the need for setting meeting. “They’re pleased with the ing. But Marshall Shepherd, a UGA geographer, flood insurance.) traffic-calming that has occurred.” is studying the ability of cities to affect cliAnd Mote says via email that there is much A traffic circle, or “roundabout,” was also mate. “Cities impact rainfall and can create to be learned from the storm’s deadly toll considered for the intersection, at the request their own rain and storms,” he says. by remembering a simple safety credo: “Turn of commissioners. Even small ones work well Shepherd, who in 2001 began using NASA’s Around, Don’t Drown.” in Europe, Commissioner Andy Herod said, to extensive satellite images and data to study “I read that seven of the 10 deaths were move traffic quickly through intersections. rainfall, started noticing that around large related to driving into floodwater,” he says.

But to accommodate school buses and delivcities “there seemed to be these anomalies “I asked my 88-student class how many had ery trucks, the study on King Avenue said, in rainfall downwind,” he noted in “Urban heard that expression, [and] only three people a roundabout would have to be 50 feet in Rain,” an article published by NASA’s Earth raised their hands. This should be part of driv- diameter, and would require additional land, Observatory. However, arguments that the ers’ education and the Georgia driving test.” costing $300,000. copious amounts of rain that fell in parts of metro Atlanta between Sept. 12 and Sept.

Cathy Mong John Huie johnphuie@gmail.com

Floods and Sprawl: How Strong Is the Connection?

Prices for Recyclables Down, but Starting to Creep Up Again

Traffic-Calming Working on King Avenue, but No Roundabout Ahead

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FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

capitol impact Government Is Bad? One of the beliefs behind the recent political protests is that government in all its forms should be abolished. I have Libertarian friends who say that government never works under any circumstances, so the sooner we get rid of it and stop collecting taxes, the better. I have no doubt that they are sincere in their beliefs.

We have seen a milder variation of this anti-government viewpoint during the health care reform debate from Georgia congressmen like Tom Price, Saxby Chambliss, Paul Broun and Johnny Isakson. They have strongly opposed proposals for a government-funded “public option” to provide health insurance coverage.

“As a physician, I can attest that nothing has had a greater negative effect on the delivery of health care than the federal government’s intrusion into medicine through Medicare,” said Price.

“I will not be a part of driving Americans to a government-run health care system that we can’t afford,” Isakson said.

The congressmen, like my Libertarian friends, are clear about it: government has no role to play in helping its citizens.

I thought of these folks as Georgia was being inundated with a series of rainstorms that dropped a record amount of water on the northern part of the state: 20 inches or more in some counties.

The floods that overran the state and killed at least nine people were a leading story for the media, which broadcast images of bridges and subdivisions under water, roads buried under muddy runoff, and schools that would not reopen for a long time.

There were heart-warming pictures as well of courageous emergency workers who piloted their boats through the most dangerous areas to rescue people from the rising waters.

Many of these rescue workers were government employees like police and firefighters whose salaries are paid with taxpayer funds.

I didn’t hear any of the rescued flood victims

protesting that government ought to keep its nose out of their affairs.

In Georgia, as in New Orleans after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the situation was the same. When you’re standing on the roof of your house and the water is lapping at your feet, you’re not going to complain if some government-paid employee in a government-provided watercraft saves your life.

The same politicians who oppose the use of government funds for health insurance were clamoring for federal dollars to help the areas that were ravaged by the flooding.

Said Johnny Isakson: “I fully support the governor’s request for federal disaster assistance for communities in Georgia affected by these devastating storms and floods, and I hope the president will approve this request quickly.”

Said Saxby Chambliss: “There are many areas that are going to need a helping hand and it is imperative that the president approve this request.”

Even Tom Price, who opposes government funds for a program like Medicare, wanted those taxpayer dollars: “Governor Perdue has asked President Obama to expeditiously declare a major disaster in Georgia. It is essential that the appropriate resources get to where they are needed so the recovery process can begin.”

Real life tends to be messy. In real life, people get sick and need medical care. They need roads to drive on, water that is safe to drink, and sometimes they need to be rescued from floods.

I understand why people feel aggravated by the government. I feel the same way whenever I try to renew my driver’s license or pay my property taxes. As the flooding showed, however, there are times when we all need a helping hand that only government can provide.

Tom Crawford

SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 · FLAGPOLE.COM

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world view

What’s Up in New Development

The Longest War

This week, I’ll give an overview of various local and national efforts to make life a little bit more civilized with public amenities that are uplifting and inspiring, not just bland infrastructure.

ought to inspire people. Athens’ own “You, Me, and the Bus” program which has created four stops (with eight more soon to be installed) is a local example with a similar notion. The green-painted cigarette containers around downtown follow the same pattern.

In this light, street musicians and performers become not nuisances but entertaining diversions for people from the humdrum of waiting

KEVAN WILLIAMS

Chi-town: On a recent trip to Chicago, I noticed an interesting pattern: the city has made a commitment to keeping its streets beautiful, with the thought that a pretty streetscape is a good way to improve the lives of its citizens.

Michigan Avenue (the Magnificent Mile), and other streets of the downtown area have large planting beds filled with annuals, which are rotated seasonally, providing colorful flowers year round. It may seem like a frivolous expense to plant flowers just to put folks in a good mood, but it’s also a tourist draw that brings shoppers.

Another interesting take on this ethic occurs underground. In subway platforms, poetry written by Columbia College students is displayed on walls and columns, providing a thoughtful break from the ads which dominate most transportation systems. Writers and poets influence the built environment just like architects, environmental designers, planners and sculptors. Additionally, the Chicago project requires a new cross-disciplinary collaboration between transportation officials, poetry students and Student poetry strikes a calming note in the Chicago subway. interior design students. Let’s hope these innovators’ counterparts here can pull off something equally as imaginative. for a bus or crossing a busy street. Perhaps these sorts of folks ought to be encouraged Poetry on Buses?: Athens Transit recently more openly, rather than pushed out or merely began running ads on the sides of its buses. tolerated.

What if the buses displayed poems or artwork instead? Peel and stick decals are used to disStreets and Trains: Further afield but still play the Chicago poetry, which is a simple and local, OCAF (Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation) cost-effective way to make people’s daily lives recently put up a series of pieces along School Street in Watkinsville. It’s a nice notion and a good public outreach. What if they had placed the art along 316 instead, so that folks caught in rush hour would have something to look at while they wait?

Larry Tenner

Captive Viewers: Down the road in Atlanta, MARTA got free televisions in its buses and trains as part of a deal with advertisers, giving people on the train something to watch. I’m a bit skeptical of the initiative, though, as it seems to be one more advertising bombardment.

To bring that initiative in line with those of Chicago or Indianapolis, Georgia Public Broadcasting or some other public service/educational program ought to be broadcast instead of cable news and commercials.

Speak, Feet: The great thing about this collection of projects is that the simplest are the most effective. It wouldn’t cost much to put some of these ideas in place Even artfully designed public facilities need maintenance. here, through cooperation between the university and the city. more pleasant and interesting. Indianapolis Before I go, I’ll leave you with some words recently held a bus stop design competition, of wisdom surreptitiously engraved on the but with the catch that the stop is already sidewalk of Oconee Street, slightly up the hill designed. The winner will have his or her from Wilkerson Street: “I am the poetry of poetry printed artfully on the inside of the the street. Speak to me only with your feet.” stop. This is largely a rebuke of advertising and a return to the idea that public facilities Kevan Williams athensrising@flagpole.com

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FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

It’s too early to say that there is a general about. A large part of the explanation will revolt against the “War on Drugs” that the then focus on the man who started the war, United States has been waging for the past 39 Richard Nixon—so let us get ahead of the mob years, but something significant is happening. and focus on him now.

European countries have been quietly defectWe can do that because of the famous ing from the war for years, decriminalizing Nixon tapes that recorded almost every word personal consumption of some or all of the of his presidency. It turns out that he started banned drugs in order to minimize harm to the war on drugs because he believed that their own people, but it’s different when coun- they were a Jewish plot. We know this because tries like Argentina and Mexico do it. researcher Doug McVay from Common Sense on Latin American countries are much more Drug Policy, a Washington-based NGO, went in the firing line. The United States can hurt through the last batch of tapes when they them a lot if it is angered by their actions, became available in 2002 and found Nixon and it has a long history of doing just that. speaking to his aides as follows: But from Argentina to Mexico, they are fed up “You know, it’s a funny thing, every one of to the back teeth with the violent and dogthe bastards that are out for legalizing marimatic U.S. policy on drugs, and they are startjuana is Jewish. What the Christ is the matter ing to do something about it. with the Jews, Bob? What is the matter with In mid-August, the Mexican government them? I suppose it is because most of them declared that it will no longer be a punishare psychiatrists.” able offence to possess up to half a gram of Nixon had much more to say about this, cocaine (about four lines), five grams of maribut one should not conclude that he was a juana (around four joints), 50 mg of heroin or single-minded anti-Semite. He was an equal40 mg of methamphetamine. opportunity paranoid who believed that homoAt the end of August, Argentina’s supreme sexuals, Communists and Catholics were also court did something even bolder: it ruled that, plotting to undermine America by pushing under the Argentine constitution, “Each adult drugs at it. is free to make lifestyle decisions without the intervention of the state” and dismissed a case against youths who had been arrested for possessing a few joints.

In an ideal world, this ruling would have a powerful resonance in the United States, whose constitution also restricts the right of the federal government to meddle in citizens’ private affairs. It took a constitutional amendment to enable the U.S. Congress to prohibit alcohol in 1919 (and another amendment to end alcohol Prohibition in 1933), so who gave Congress the right to criminalize other recreational drugs nationwide by the Controlled Substances Act of 1970? Nobody, and the U.S. Supreme Court has yet Elvis actually offered to help Nixon fight the War on Drugs. to rule on the issue.

A million Americans a year go to jail for “crimes” that hurt nobody but them“Do you know what happened to the selves. A vast criminal empire has grown up to Romans? The last six Roman emperors were service the American demand for drugs. Over fags… You know what happened to the the decades, hundreds of thousands of people popes? It’s all right that popes were laying the have been killed in the turf wars between the nuns, that’s been going on for years, centugangs, the police-dealer shoot-outs, and the ries. But when the popes, when the Catholic daily thousands of muggings and burglaries Church went to hell in, I don’t know, three or committed by addicts trying to raise money to four centuries ago, it was homosexual… pay the hugely inflated prices that prohibition “Dope? Do you think the Russians allow makes possible. dope? Hell no… You see, homosexuality, Most users of illegal drugs are not addicts, dope, uh, immorality in general: these are the let alone dangerous criminals. Legalization enemies of strong societies. That’s why the and regulation, on the pattern of alcohol and Communists and the left-wingers are pushing tobacco, would avoid thousands of violent it. They’re trying to destroy us.” deaths each month and millions of needlessly The reason for this 39-year war, in other ruined lives each year, although psychoactive words, is that President Richard Nixon drug use would still take its toll from the vulbelieved that he was facing a “Jew-homonerable and the unlucky, just as alcohol and doper-Commie-shrink-lefty-pope” conspiracy, tobacco do. as Washington Post writer Gene Weingarten But there is little chance that American put it in a gloriously deadpan article in 2002. voters will choose to end this longest of all But that is just plain wrong. As subsequent American wars any time soon, even though developments have shown, it is actually a its casualties far exceed those of any other Jew-homo-doper-Commie-shrink-lefty-popeAmerican war since 1945. The “War on Drugs” Latino conspiracy. will not end in the United States until a very different generation comes to power.

Gwynne Dyer Elsewhere, however, it is coming to an end much sooner, and one can imagine a time Gwynne Dyer is a London-based independent journalwhen the job of the history books will be to ist whose articles are published in 45 countries. Read explain how this berserk aberration ever came his columns every week at www.flagpole.com.

Ollie Atkins

athens rising

comment Why Not Raw Milk?

Last time I stood before the grocery store’s gleaming milk aisle I incurred a mild panic attack because I realized I had no understanding why I was paying more money for organic milk.

I could feel myself getting scammed, especially after reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma and discovering my preferred brand was milking me out of money with its eco-sounding marketing jargon.

Fed up and frustrated, I began to wonder what kind of milk George Washington drank, and why our society must suffer being inundated with a multi-shelved array of different types of milk. Buoyed by my newfound skepticism, I decided I wasn’t paying top dollar for ”industrial organic“ argot any longer and began looking for local milk, fresh from the teat.

What I wanted was unpasteurized milk, which I soon discovered I wouldn’t be getting. In the state of Georgia, the sale of unpasteurized milk is illegal for human consumption.

George Washington probably drank it, but we can’t, because we’ve evolved to discover that unpasteurized milk, fresh and

pure though it may seem, is a breeding ground for bacteria.

Georgia law requires milk to be heated for a set amount of time in order to destroy dangerous bacteria such as E. coli, campylobacter and salmonella, which could cause food-borne illness.

Pasteurization, an undeniably beneficial invention, became the standard for milk production in the 1920s, a time when people were moving into developing cities and farther away from farms. Milk tainted with tuberculosis and other diseases caused health problems on a massive scale. Pasteurization saved the day, virtually eliminating all inherent pathogens.

Milk could now be transported farther, last longer and be consumed with peace of mind.

On the whole, the prolonged shelf-life of pathogen-free milk sounds like a really good thing, unless you’re not a fan of industry or agribusiness. Pasteurization has assisted in eliminating many a food-borne illness, but at the cost of sanitary and ethical farming practices. Cows are now commonly crammed into confinement lots and live amidst their own feces (even in the organic milk industry). They are injected with hormones designed to increase lactation and are treated with antibiotics on a regular basis. They are also fed grain when their stomachs require grass. These methods of dairy farming necessitate pasteurization and facilitate unsound farming practices.

The growing disapproval of industrial farming methods has fostered the support of traditional agrarian farming, especially in Athens, where one can find local and organic vegetables, meat, eggs and, if one is clever enough, unpasteurized milk.

The reasons people may do so vary, however. Dr. Jan Southers, DVM, owner of Hope Springs Farm in Colbert, explains why she believes unpasteurized milk is nutritionally superior to pasteurized.

“When you pasteurize milk, you change the proteins in the milk,” Dr. Southers says. “The heating of raw milk destroys beneficial microorganisms. There are a lot of good proteins in unpasteurized milk that you’re not getting.”

Indeed, when I looked at all the various health claims listed on the Weston A. Price Foundation’s website associated with raw milk consumption, I wondered whether drinking unpasteurized milk might be a risk worth taking. The organization currently campaigns for “real milk,” claiming on their website that pasteurization destroys enzymes, diminishes vitamin content, denatures fragile milk proteins, destroys vitamins C, B12 and B6; it kills beneficial bacteria, promotes pathogens and is associated with allergies, increased tooth decay, colic in infants, growth problems in children, osteoporosis, arthritis, heart disease and cancer. The foundation asserts that human beings achieve perfect health only when they ”consume nutrient-dense whole foods and the vital fat-soluble activators found exclusively in animal fats.“ The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s website www.fda. gov/Food, however, warns that ”raw milk is inherently dangerous and it should not be consumed by anyone at any time for any purpose.“ The FDA also maintains that “research shows no meaningful difference in the nutritional values of pasteurized and unpasteurized milk.” Yet the argument of whether or not raw milk is nutritionally superior to pasteurized milk isn’t as much a concern with Dr. Southers as the fact that the sale of raw milk for human consumption is illegal.

She believes that people should have the right to make the choice themselves.

“I don’t have a problem with people that want to buy their milk from Wal-Mart,” she says, “but if I want to take the chance of drinking raw milk because I think the benefits outweigh the risks, then I should be able to.

When did the government come by the right to tell me what I can and can’t eat?”

Dr. Warren Gilson, Associate Professor of Animal and Dairy Science at the University of Georgia, disagrees. He explains that the majority of people don’t know what the potential dangers in raw milk are. “People who are consuming raw milk are consuming a ticking time bomb,” he says “It might never go off, but it may, and if it does, they could obtain some serious health problems.” Dr. Gilson maintains that legalizing the sale of raw milk could be dangerous. “The government is trying to mandate the health of the people,” he says, and he stands 100 percent behind pasteurization.

Yet there are some people who would rather mandate their own health, such as the man, who wishes to be anonymous here, who purchases and consumes unpasteurized milk. He does so because he “likes the idea of supporting sound farming practices,” and because he “likes eating food that is as untampered-with as possible.” He also expresses the increasingly popular Athenian desire to “participate in something that turns away from agribusiness and industry and be a part of a movement that fosters the old ways of farming.”

If you want to do the same you have limited options, none of which are convenient. You could commute to South Carolina dairies or find a farmer who is willing to quietly sell unpasteurized milk under the table or purchase unpasteurized milk labeled “For Pet Consumption Only” (which is not recommended). You will also have to forego the government’s guarantee of a safe product in exchange for a farmer’s guarantee.

It is a risk, but if we continue to rely on the government to mandate our health, we may lose the freedom to support caring and confident small farmers, along with the right to enjoy a food at its freshest stage. One such farmer who supplies friends, family and himself with the unpasteurized milk from his Jersey cows says, “Don’t call it raw milk. Calling it raw milk implies it isn’t good enough the way nature made it, like it needs to be cooked or something. Call it fresh milk, please, because that’s what it is.”

flagpole.com

Annie Kelley

SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 · FLAGPOLE.COM

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ELITE B DIES

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FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

comment Call Racism What It Is Folks in the South know racism. We know Obama knows too much history not to how racism really works. We know the coded know how open racial conflict unfolds. At language and unwritten laws that enforce best, it will likely infect all future debates, effective racism, even after its nominal aboliobscuring the matter at hand. After all, health tion. Can’t no Georgian tell me he didn’t grow care reform, the president’s political pride up on the white side of town or the black side. and joy, has already become the occasion for That’s why when President Barack Obama, outlandish cries about Obama’s citizenship then Senator Obama, began attracting the or his Hitler-inspired will to place whites in most outlandish accusations and conjuring Americorps-run concentration camps. Obama in people’s minds the most bizarre paranoias, understands that each of his policy aims canwe Southerners knew what was up. A storm not possibly endure the sort of peripheral nonbegan spiraling around this Obama fella. The sense accompanying health care reform. So, trend grew until, many months into Obama’s he says nothing. (Isn’t that how it’s always presidency, it became apparent to most that been: racism is really working when even black Obama’s loudest critics sounded an awful lot men of status and wealth must remain silent?) like racists. The willful naïveté of a “postBut maybe there’s hope. This may be the racial” America had given way to a sober confinal round of the American racist saga, as this frontation of racism, 21st-century style. time the irrational emotionalism of racism is When did it start? First I can remember is affecting far more than this minority or that. the glee with which Barack Obama’s middle Millions of white Americans, much in need of name “Hussein” was discovered and circulated. Barack Hussein Obama! A wing of the conservative movement simply couldn’t remind us enough that the guy’s middle name was “Hussein,” just like the evil leader of the country we demolished! Nevermind that George W. Bush shared the middle name “Walker” with John Walker Lindh, the American turned Taliban fighter! But there was something different about this guy Obama, something that made these crazy associations stick.

A wave of accusations followed. Obama the Muslim, trained in a jihadist madrassa.

Obama the militant black nationalist. Obama the Reverend Wright-styled liberation theologian. My favorites were always the ones which relied on the notion that Obama was effectively a one-man sleeper cell, snuck into the nation’s citadel in a bulrush basket from some African, Muslim, socialist den of jihadism. Trained in the intricate This image has been making the rounds of right-wing blogs against health care, where it is no doubt considered fair and balanced. social art of American Average Joe-ism (shooting hoops, beer at the White House), Obama would sweet talk health care reform and Obama’s other policy the populace and wrest power democratically aims, are beginning to learn how the losing to set the evil plan into motion. That was my end of racism feels, how the most pristine reafavorite paranoiac flight of fancy. son and cogent defenses cannot assuage the It was now an elephant in the room. A very beast of racism. White Americans are learnracist elephant. But nobody really said much ing first-hand how elements of racism work, about it. Now, people said a whole lot about because we find ourselves at the mercy of the cause to celebrate a black president. There racists. It’s becoming easier to imagine that, was much self-congratulation around, much of barring a kumbaya epiphany on the right, it appropriate. But there was something breweach of the president’s future attempts to ing all along that was being ignored. enact pro-worker, pro-middle-class policies will There’s no ignoring it now. A race mob be greeted with the same sort of outlandish now barks loud enough to influence and even claims that health care has attracted. frame debate. The health care reform debate The coming battles will require the courage has been obstructed and detoured by the radi- to call out racism when it affects and infects cals on the racist Right suggesting that virtudebate. It will also require close attention to ally any health care bill constitutes nothing the real matters of debate so that the charge less than the destruction of America. Members of racism is not leveled at those with honest of Congress returned home to town hall meetand legitimate policy disagreements, of which ings commandeered by an emboldened sect of there are many. This will likely be an uncomAmerican zealots. Medicare recipients wailed fortable season in American politics. But this about their “America being taken” from them. nation has faced down more formidable obstaYoung men played cowboy and brought their cles than these wild-eyed relics of our more weapons to greet liberal members of Congress, racist past. Let’s put these very last few nails even bringing automatic assault rifles to one in the coffin of racism and bury it for good. of the president’s events. This is what scared white people look like.

Matthew Pulver

Kiva: A Hand Up, Not a Hand-Out In

2006 Mohammed Yunus won the sculpted them to reflect their generation. My Nobel Prize for his pioneering work generation. The one of Facebook and blogging with “microfinance,” the widening and eBay. They made Kiva a social network. of access to financial services to But on Kiva.org, one doesn’t just poke and those formerly excluded from credit markets. tweet and “friend.” One loans. One truly conYunus’ work with the Grameen Bank, which nects. One makes a difference. How? Just provided small group loans to poor female browse the hundreds of “Borrower” profiles— entrepreneurs in poverty-stricken Bangladesh, entrepreneurs from Lima, Peru to Liberia to revolutionized the financial and humanitarLaos, and then make a loan of $25. Rinse, ian sectors simultaneously. In short, the bank lather, repeat. As many loans as you want. And provided low-interest loans to disenfranchised when the borrower repays their loan, you get women, making a small but ideologically your $25 back. You can withdraw it then, or important profit while also stimulating ecosimply channel it into another loan. The bornomic development and female empowerment. rower you help may sell fresh fish in a market, This was “bottom-up” work that enabled the poor to help themselves out of poverty through the use of capitalistic markets. Old models of development, charity and commerce were always win-lose. The rich could give to the poor, or the poor could take from the rich, or the rich could take from the poor, but profit was mutually exclusive between the two groups. Microfinance opened up the door for a “win-win” scenario where profit-driven capitalism could co-exist with and, even more, enable humanitarian development work. Could this be the end of poverty?

That’s what I thought, when I first heard about Yunus’ work while researching nominees for the local Delta Prize for Global Understanding (co-sponsored by Delta Airlines and the University of Georgia). “That’s it!”

I told myself. “This is the answer.” It seems so simple. Humanitarianism and capitalism don’t have to be opposed. The “rationally self-interested” man of laissez-faire economics could be a myth. And Rebecca with Warda, Jasmini and Eva in Bagamoyo, Tanzania June 2007. “doing good” didn’t have to be the sort of act reserved for bleeding-heart commie leftists! I sat in a drive a taxi, or make hand-crafted bags. He or stupor while I contemplated the implications she may live on any continent, may have 10 of microfinance, this panacea to poverty and children to feed, or none. But what they all maybe even to gender inequality. My heart have in common is the desire to make a living swelled with satisfaction. A single tear rolled and have a good life, where access to food, down my cheek. shelter and healthcare are not mere dreams.

And then, of course, time lifted the illuYour contribution to their loan can take them sion. I soon realized that microfinance could one step closer to achieving that goal. not be a cure-all. Poverty and inequality are Most people I know haven’t heard of Kiva persistent beasts that terrorize the best of at all. But that’s not to say that no one has. intentions and most innovative of plans. But Today Kiva is only 47 months old, but the as with all truly great ideas, the initial shock organization has raised $90,154,335 in loans, and awe eventually matures into nuanced funded 221,971 entrepreneurs in 181 councontemplation, and then into effective action. tries, and allowed 552,982 lenders to touch a Yunus’ “discovery” of microfinance spread stranger’s life in a profound and meaningful quickly around the world and began to chip way. away at poverty persistently and with many What first struck me about microfinance positive results. But poverty didn’t go away. was the idea of the “win-win” situation. The Neither did those determined to defeat it. bank (often called a “microfinance-instituIn 2005 Matt and Jessica Flannery got tion” if it only gives small, high-risk loans) engaged. They planned their wedding. They makes a profit. The borrower gets a chance picked out china. They also went to East at making an honest living. I marveled at Africa. Jessica’s work in microfinance there, the sustainability of it, the logic. But then I and her fiancé’s business mind, joined questioned whether this model took the heart together to create Kiva. Kiva took the core out of giving. The feel-good vibe of altruism concepts of microfinance, and creatively was dwarfed by the idea that a profit-driven

model would always beat the charitable one.

But then I spent seven weeks in Tanzania as a volunteer at a school and orphanage, and I was forced to look the “Aid Machine” in the face. I didn’t like what I saw. The fraud, waste and corruption that wracked the system shook me. And even more terrifying was that I had to look at my own reflection in the mirror and realize that my own motivations were less than saintly. I considered myself so gifted, so privileged, so powerful, that I thought I could step into this Sub-Saharan world and change it out of sheer good-will. I wanted to be a savior. I craved approval and respect for my “charity.” It was glorified slumdiving. I was humbled, and fast. I soon realized that “charity” assumes an “I-thou” relationship, and a hierarchy where the aid-giver is always above the aid-receiver. For all of our millions of aid dollars to Africa, we as Americans were not revered or respected. We were often used, hoodwinked and manipulated. Yet the Chinese, who came to Eastern Africa as investors, were welcomed as friends and treated with honesty and respect.

After a few days of being showed around Dar es Salaam, the biggest city in Tanzania, by a guide named Yoctan, my awe and gratefulness at the generosity and kindness of the Tanzanian people was mingled with shame at all the preconceived notions I had borne across the Atlantic.

After seven weeks in the country, I was humbled, happy, reverent, mosquitobitten and corn-rowed, peaceful and renewed. I was also a part of the family with whom I lived; I was a teacher whose students called “Madam”; I was a friend to a soccer player, an artist and a restaurateur.

I had become a part of the community, not a voyeur, a tourist, or an observer. I learned that the people we set out to help, help us, and only by adopting the role of investor and friend rather than benefactor do we truly build a community or achieve anything at all. What Kiva does is allow us to have that relationship. It allows us to give with humility and grace. And to take the immense, unmeasurable satisfaction such giving can return.

Aung San Suu Kyi, another Nobel Peace Prize winner, once said, “If you’re feeling helpless, help someone.” I couldn’t have said it better.

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Rebecca Corey Rebecca Corey was born in Athens and attended Athens Montessori School, Clarke Middle and Clarke Central High School. She graduated from UGA this past May after majoring in English and anthropology.

On Sept. 30, she moved to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to work as a Kiva Fellow (a Kiva representative in the field) and as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar to pursue a master’s degree in International Development at the University of Dar es Salaam.

SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 · FLAGPOLE.COM

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movie dope Some releases may not be showing locally this week.

9 (PG-13) In a future post-apocalypse, the only living things left are nine, binocular-eyed, “stitchpunk” dolls created by the scientist who was also responsible for the destruction of everything else. Opposing the dolls are giant, beastly machines, built for peace but used for war. Shane Acker’s video game-inspired milieu wants for a better story.

ALL ABOUT STEVE (PG-13) Eccentric crossword creator Mary Horowitz (Sandra Bullock) falls in love with cameraman Steve (Cooper) after just one date. First-time feature director Phil Traill’s 2003 short, Dangle, was well-received, but I’m not curious to see how he fares with cookie-cutter comedy. With Thomas Haden Church and Keith David (not to be confused with David Keith).

ANVIL (NR) 2008. In the early 1980s, Anvil was scheduled to be the next big thing in metal. Anvil! The Story of Anvil is no Spinal Tap mockumentary; this hilarious account of the band’s last-ditch revival is the reality of rock and roll.

ASTRO BOY (PG) Osamu Tezuka’s comic series comes to life. In Metro City, young robot, Astro Boy (v. Freddie Highmore), is built by brilliant scientist, Dr. Tenma (v. Nicolas Cage), in the image of his dead son. Featuring the voices of Kristen Bell, Charlize Theron, Samuel L. Jackson, Bill Nighy, Donald Sutherland, Eugene Levy and Nathan Lane. From the director of Flushed Away.

BALSEROS (NR) 2002. Carlos Bosch and Josep Maria Domenech directed this documentary about Cuban

refugees risking their lives to reach the U.S. by raft. Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Miguel Vicente, director of library services at Commerce Public Library, will introduce the film. (GMOA) BRIGHT STAR (PG) Jane Campion, the Oscar-winning writer-director of The Piano (she was only the second woman to ever be nominated for Best Director), returns with a period romantic drama about the short-lived relationship between poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw, one of the Dylans in I’m Not There), who died at 25, and Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish). Nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes.

CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY (R) Michael Moore returns with a film sure to be more controversial than his nearly bipartisan Sicko. Twenty years after his breakthrough, Roger and Me, Moore tackles the current economic crisis, seeking answers from the likeliest of addresses, Wall Street. Could his new doc be Moore’s biggest hit since Fahrenheit 9/11? Moore has already picked up a Little Golden Lion and an Open Prize from the Venice Film Festival, where he was also nominated for the coveted Golden Lion.

CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS (PG) When inventor Flint Lockwood (v. Bill Hader) devises a machine that delivers food, on order, from the heavens, the town of Chewandswallow rejoices. Kids will too, as Judi and Ron Barrett’s 1978 children’s classic comes to life on the big screen.

COCO BEFORE CHANEL (PG13) Before Coco Chanel was Coco

Chanel, she was Gabrielle Chanel.

Amelie star Audrey Tautou is drawing raves—and Oscar buzz—for this biopic of the famous French designer, who started out in an orphanage.

Coco Before Chanel is writer-director Anne Fontaine’s second buzzy release of the year. With Benoit Poelvoorde (Man Bites Dog), Alessandro Nivola (Junebug), Marie Gillain and Emmanuelle Devos (A Christmas Tale).

Friends don’t let friends drive zombiefied.

THE COVE (PG-13) Director Louie Psihoyos used state-of-the-art technology to capture the injustice and abuse an activist group led by dolphin trainer Richard O’Barry find in a hidden cove near Taijii, Japan. The website describes the film as “an intelligent/ action/adventure/Ocean’s 11-like horror film.” Nominated for the Sundance Grand Jury Prize, The Cove won the Audience Award for best documentary.

You’ll best remember producer Fisher Stevens from his Short Circuit days.

M OVIE L ISTI NG S

Theater schedules often change after our deadline. Please call ahead.

ACC LIBRARY (706-613-3650)

Cinema Classics: Dracula (NR) 2:00 (Th. 10/1) Munyurangabo (NR) 7:00 (Th. 10/1)

CINÉ (706-353-3343)

Due to production deadlines, Beechwood movie times are only accurate through Oct. 1. Visit www.flagpole.com for updated times.

9 (PG-13) 5:15, 7:15, 9:25 All About Steve (PG-13) 4:15, 7:30, 9:55 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 3D (PG) 5:05, 7:25, 9:35 Fame (PG) 4:40, 7:10, 9:45 I Can Do Bad All By Myself (PG-13) 4:20, 7:00, 9:40 The Informant! (R) 4:10, 7:20, 9:50 Inglourious Basterds (R) 4:30, 8:00 Jennifer’s Body (R) 4:25, 7:20, 9:50 Love Happens (PG-13) 4:05, 7:05, 9:35 Pandorum (R) 4:35, 7:10, 9:45 Surrogates (PG-13) 5:15, 7:35, 9:55 12:55, 3:05 Whip It (PG-13) 7:30 (F. 10/2)

CARMIKE 12 (706-354-0016)

GEORGIA MUSEUM OF ART (706-542-4662)

Due to production deadlines, Carmike 12 movie times are only accurate through Oct. 1. Visit www.flagpole.com for updated times.

9 (PG-13) 1:10, 3:15, 5:20, 7:25, 9:30 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (PG) 1:00, 3:15, 5:30, 7:40, 9:50 Fame (PG) 1:45, 4:35, 7:10, 9:40 The Final Destination (3D) (R) 1:45, 4:15, 7:05, 9:35 I Can Do Bad All By Myself (PG-13) 1:30, 4:10, 7:00, 9:45 I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell (R) 1:50, 4:25, 7:10, 9:45 The Informant! (R) 1:45, 4:30, 7:15, 9:55 Inglourious Basterds (R) 5:00, 8:15 Jennifer’s Body (R) 1:30, 4:15, 7:00, 9:45 Love Happens (PG-13) 1:40, 4:20, 7:05, 9:40 Pandorum (R) 1:30, 4:20, 7:00, 9:30 Sorority Row (PG-13) 1:45 Surrogates (PG-13) 1:15, 3:25, 5:35, 7:45, 9:55

12

Thomas & Friends (G) 12:00 The Ecofocus Film Festival begins Oct. 2. Find the complete film schedule online at www.athenscine.com.

Earth Days (NR) 5:00, 7:00, 9:45 (F. 10/2); 7:30, 9:45 (Sa. 10/3); 5:15 (Su. 10/4); 7:30, 9:45 (M. 10/5–Th. 10/8) (no show W. 10/7) (starts F. 10/2) In the Loop (NR) 9:30 (no show Tu. 9/29) (ends Th. 10/1) Lorna’s Silence (R) 8:00 (starts F. 10/2) O’Horten (PG-13) 9:45 (Tu. 9/29) 5:00, 7:15 (W. 9/30–Th. 10/1) (ends Th. 10/1) Paper Heart (PG-13) 9:45 (no show Tu. 9/29) (ends Th. 10/1) Ponyo (G) 9:30 (Tu. 9/29) 5:15, 7:30 (W. 9/30–Th. 10/1) (new times F. 10/2: 5:45) (add’l times Sa. 10/3–Su. 10/4: 1:00, 3:30) The Room (R) 10:00 (new times F. 10/2–Sa. 10/3: midnight) (no show Su. 10/4) The Soloist (PG-13) 6:00, 8:15, 10:15 (W. 10/7)

BEECHWOOD (706-546-1011)

Balseros (NR) 7:00 (W. 10/7)

GEORGIA SQUARE 5 (706-548-3426)

Due to production deadlines, Georgia Square Five movie times are only accurate through Oct. 1. Visit www.flagpole. com for updated times.

Ice Age 3 (PG) 5:15, 7:45, 10:00 The Proposal (PG-13) 4:25, 7:35, 10:05 Transformers (PG) 4:30, 8:00 The Ugly Truth (R) 5:25, 7:50, 10:15 Up (PG) 5:20, 7:40, 10:10

NOVA CINEMAS IN COMMERCE (706-335-4366)

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (R) midnight (F. 10/2)

TATE CENTER THEATER (706-542-6396)

The Holiday (PG-13) 8:00 p.m. (Th. 10/1) My Sister’s Keeper (PG-13) 3:00, 5:15, 7:30, 9:45 (F. 10/2, Su. 10/4)

FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

DRACULA (NR) 1931. Bela Lugosi mesmerizes in his signature role as Dracula. The film features an audio narration to make it accessible to visually-impaired viewers.

EARTH DAYS (NR) Oscar-nominated writer-producer-director Robert Stone (Radio Bikini) charts the rise of the modern environmental movement, from Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring to the crying Indian to Apr. 22 (Earth

Day since 1970). Honored as the Closing Night Film at the Sundance Film Festival. Part of the second annual EcoFocus Film Festival, described as “A Month of Entertaining & Engaging Films at Ciné, Hotel Indigo and UGA.” Presented by the Odum School of Ecology.

FAME (PG) Fame really does live forever. This remake of the popular 1980s musical centers on a new batch of talented students going broke for their dream at the New York City High School of Performing Arts.

FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS (R) 1998. Terry Gilliam (Brazil, 12 Monkeys) turns his twisted vision to Hunter S. Thompson’s gonzo story of oddball journalist Raoul Duke’s (Johnny Depp) search for the American Dream. Duke is accompanied on his drug-addled Las Vegas journey by his psychopathic attorney (Benecio del Toro). Nominated for the Palme d’Or. THE FINAL DESTINATION 3D (R) The Final Destination 3D is too silly to be scary. After another bland, pretty teen (Bobby Campo) saves his pals from Death’s masterplan, said bland, pretty teens must figure out a way to stop the unstoppable, unseen Grim Reaper. The 3D performs as advertised.

It adds another dimension to deaths that are still creative in a half-assed sort of way.

I CAN DO BAD ALL BY MYSELF (PG-13) With his latest, I Can Do Bad All by Myself, Tyler Perry continues preaching to the choir. The unconverted will be as unimpressed and uninterested in the latest faith-based, tonally bipolar dramedy starring himself in drag as mad matron Madea as they were the previous four features.

ICE AGE: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS (PG) Don’t expect any surprises in the third installment of the mammoth animated franchise that isn’t Shrek or produced by Pixar. Ice Age: DotD is just for the kiddies.

THE HOLIDAY (PG-13) Four bright, beautiful young stars—Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Kate Winslet and Jack Black—discover that ideal movie love while clad in expensive duds and romping through gorgeously appointed

homes. I have no difficulty seeing how people could find The Holiday insulting and obnoxious. Affluent, brokenhearted beauties bemoaning their unluckiness in love while waltzing through a three dimensional magazine layout for Town & Country has been known to induce vomiting.

I HOPE THEY SERVE BEER IN HELL (R) Based on Tucker Max’s New York Times bestseller, I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell sounds like The Post-Hangover. Narcissistic Tucker Max (Matt Czuchry, “Gilmore Girls”) surprises his best pal, Dan (Geoff Stults), with a bachelor party. But after leaving Dan bloody and bruised, Tucker is disinvited from the wedding...

THE INFORMANT! (R) In Steven Soderbergh’s newest film, Mark Whitacre, a higher up in agri-business giant Archer Daniels Midland, reports corporate conspiracy to the FBI, becoming the first person ever to willingly step forward and cooperate in a price-fixing investigation. But Whitacre has some secrets of his own. He fictionalized a grandiose, literary illusion to cover up the fact that he had stolen millions of dollars from ADM while working for the FBI. Whoops! From the trailers, The Informant! appears to be a riotous shakedown of corporate scandal and sputtering federal agents, all of whom are at the mercy of a naïve, childish liar. Drew Wheeler INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS (R) Once upon a time, the world was at the mercy of a madman. Then “The Basterds,” a gang of Jewish-American soldiers led by a Southern mountain man, swept across Nazi-occupied France. The world lived happily ever after. The hyperbolical trailers are right.

You’ve never seen war until you’ve seen it through the eyes of Quentin Tarantino. Inglourious Basterds is the film both critics and moviegoers have been waiting for since the ‘90s trifecta of Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown. Anyone only exposed to the previews will be shocked to hear that Basterds is QT’s most mature film, despite its graphic, gratuitous violence and howling hilarity.

IN THE LOOP (NR) The U.S. President and British Prime Minister want a war, but their advisers, U.S. General George Miller (James Gandolfini) and British Secretary of State for International Development Simon Tucker (Tom Hollander, The Pirates of the Caribbean’s Lord Cutler Beckett), don’t think a conflict is such a swell idea. The potential is there; director Armando Iannucci was responsible, in a good way, for Brit polit-com “The Thick of It” and “I’m Alan Partridge,” starring Steve Coogan.

THE INVENTION OF LYING (PG13) Comedian, “Office” creator, and genius Ricky Gervais seeks big screen stardom again after last fall’s amusing Ghost Town. In a world where no one has ever lied, writer Mark Bellison (Gervais) starts telling fibs for his own personal gain.

JENNIFER’S BODY (R) Uncommonly beautiful flag twirler Jennifer Check (Megan Fox) is possessed by a demon thanks to a bunch of wannabe emo-rockers (including Adam Brody).

Her more surface-flawed BFF, Needy Lesnicky (Amanda Seyfried, Mamma Mia!), senses Jennifer’s evilness.

She just doesn’t know the pretty teen must devour their high school’s male

population to keep her flawless skin and perfect hair.

LORNA’S SILENCE (R) 2008. A band of Eastern Europeans scheme to make money and achieve citizenship in the new film from the two-time Palme d’Or winning Dardenne brothers, Jean-Pierre and Luc (Rosetta, Le Fils, and L’Enfant). Sokol (Alban Ukaj) and Lorna (Arta Dobroshi) want to open a snack bar in Belgium. Lorna agrees to an underhanded marriage scheme in order to obtain the requisite money and citizenship. Winner of the Best Screenplay Award and a Palme d’Or nomination from Cannes and the Best French Language Film from the Lumiere Awards.

LOVE HAPPENS (PG-13) While watching “Mad Men” the other day, I saw a preview for the newest romantic dramedy starring Jennifer Aniston and Aaron Eckhart and wondered how I’d missed this late-’90s/ early-’00s flick.

Then I realized it was new. Burke Ryan (Eckhart), the author of a bestselling book on grief falls in love with florist Eloise Chandler (Aniston), only to discover he’s yet to get over the death of his wife. With Judy Greer, Dan Fogler and Martin Sheen.

MY SISTER’S KEEPER (PG-13) A teenage girl, Kate (Sofia Vassilieva), is dying. Her 11-year-old sister, Anna (Abigail Breslin), was genetically engineered to save her older sister.

Now Anna doesn’t want to be poked, prodded and cut any more so she hires lawyer Campbell Alexander (Alec Baldwin) to sue her parents, Kate and Brian (Cameron Diaz and the undervalued Jason Patric), for medical emancipation.

MUNYURANGABO (NR) 2007. A Rwandan orphan goes on a quest for justice. Director Lee Isaac Chung’s film won the Grand Jury Prize from the AFI Fest, the SIGNIS Award from the Amiens International Film Festival, the Festival Award for Best First Film from the Mexico City International Contemporary Film Festival, the Narrative Feature Jury Prize from the Sarasota Film Festival, and the überprestigious Film prize for Peace and Cultural Understanding from the Wine Country Film Festival.

NO IMPACT MAN: THE DOCUMENTARY (NR) Watch as one Manhattan family tries not to impact the environment for a year. No soda cans, no bottled water, no magazines, no newspapers, no airplanes, no subways, no taxis, no elevators! Will Colin Beavan sacrifice his family to the gods of green? An official selection at Sundance, Silverdocs and the Los Angeles Film Festivals.

O’HORTEN (PG-13) Odd Horten (Bård Owe) is a 67-year-old train engineer whose life is derailed by retirement.

After 40 years on the rail, O’Horten isn’t sure what to do without his timetables and familiar stations. This eccentric comedy has been garnering rave reviews from everyone who’s seen it. Writer-director Bent Hamer, a three-time Amanda-winner (they’re like Norwegian Oscars), last helmed the Charles Bukowski adaptation, Factotum, starring Matt Dillon, Lili Taylor and Marisa Tomei.

PANDORUM (R) Crew members awaken on a spaceship and have no knowledge of who they are or why they’re there. Twilight’s Cam Gigandet, Ben Foster and Dennis Quaid (attached for “respectability,” I presume) star.

Resident Evil’s cinematic patriarch, Paul W.S. Anderson, whose own Event Horizon appears to be sampled by Pandorum, produces. I’m pretty sure I played this last fall on PS3 when it was called Dead Space.

PAPER HEART (PG-13) Athens got a sneak peek at performance artist, musician, writer and painter Charlyne Yi’s hybrid romcom-documentary back in the early summer. Star-cowriter Yi

(the funny stoned girlfriend in Knocked Up) and director-cowriter Nicholas Jasenovec ponder what love means to different people. Also, Yi’s more famous friends/former costars— Michael Cera, Martin Starr, Seth Rogen—show up.

PONYO (G) See Movie Pick.

THE PROPOSAL (PG-13) I was worn out by the trailer for this Sandra Bullock-Ryan Reynolds romantic comedy way back in April. An unlikable career woman, Margaret Tate (Bullock), is about to be deported to her native Canada. Her quick fix requires her put-upon assistant, Andrew (Reynolds, whom I can’t help but like), to marry her. Naturally, a trip to meet his family—Mary Steenburgen, “Coach” Craig T. Nelson and Betty White as the loopy grandma—in Alaska is the next step.

THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (R) 1975. Midnight screening of the cult classic. Sex, rock and roll, transvestism and murder all come together in this campy romp–the longest running release in film history.

THE ROOM (R) 2003. I’ve wanted to see writer-director-star Tommy Wiseau’s personal cinematic atom bomb since reading an article in Entertainment Weekly about the prominent billboard for the would-be auteur’s debut, an awful picture beloved by two of my favorite ensembles, “The State” and “Arrested Development.”

Wiseau’s film is supposedly THE new cult phenomenon. You definitely want to see this flick in its Athenian debut on the big screen. My Must-See Pick of the Week.

A SERIOUS MAN (R) The Oscarwinning Coen Brothers, Joel and Ethan, return with a black comedy set in the late 1960s. Midwestern prof Larry Gopnik’s (Michael Stuhlbarg) life starts to fall apart after his brother (Richard Kind) takes up semi-permanent residence in his home. His wife, Judith

(Sari Lennick), is preparing to leave him; his son is stealing his money for pot; and his daughter is stealing to finance a nose job. The trailer is a true work of art. I’m really excited about this one.

THE SOLOIST (PG-13) Robert Downey, Jr. brings all his powers to L.A. Times reporter Steve Lopez, who befriends homeless, schizophrenic musician Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, Jr. (Jamie Foxx). Admirability only goes so far at the movies; at some point, craft and/or entertainment should take over. The Soloist is a little pitchy where both are concerned.

SORORITY ROW (R) Sorority Row has nothing new to offer the genre.

Pretty people get slaughtered in increasingly creative ways until the masked killer gets his (or hers). Yet this silly, scary movie exemplifies everything that’s right and entertaining about slasher pics.

SURROGATES (PG-13) See Movie Pick.

TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN (PG-13) The millions trekking to the theater to witness over two hours of robotic mayhem are going to get their money’s worth and their socks rocked by Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The only people who won’t like it probably didn’t really want to gorge on a gigantic robot civil war anyway.

TYSON (R) Controversial filmmaker James Toback (Black and White) returns to documentaries for the first time in a decade with this chronicle of his pal, former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson. Tyson’s legendary infamy ever increases; maybe Toback can shed actual illuminating light on one of modern sports’ most mercurial figures.

THE UGLY TRUTH (R) Why does anyone care whether or not an unappealing neurotic beauty (Katherine

Heigl) and a charming, Neanderthalish brute (Gerard Butler) fall in love? A dirty version of Cyrano de Bergerac where Cyrano falls in love with Roxane while helping her woo Christian, The Ugly Truth cashes in on the naughty comedy trend with some f-bombs and masturbation gags.

UP (PG) Seventy-eight-year-old Carl Fredricksen (v. Edward Asner) and his late wife, Ellie, always dreamed of traveling to South America. After Ellie’s death, Carl floats his house to the fabled Paradise Falls via several thousand helium balloons. Carl and a young stowaway, lonely Wilderness Explorer Russell (v. Jordan Nagai), confront the wilderness for the first time, encountering a mythical bird, a talking dog named Dug and Carl’s childhood hero, lost adventurer Charles Muntz (v. Christopher Plummer).

WHIP IT (PG-13) Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut looks more and more charming with each trailer. Indie spirit Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page, who apparently has cornered the market on quirky, teen misfits) breaks the Bodeen, TX mold by joining a roller derby league. Author Shauna Cross adapts her novel of the same name. With Alia Shawkat (“Arrested Development”), Daniel Stern, Marcia Gay Harden, Jimmy Fallon, Kristen Wiig, Zoe Bell (Death Proof), Eve, Juliette Lewis, Ari Graynor (Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist) and Barrymore. l ZOMBIELAND (R) Columbus, “the most frightened person on Earth” (Jesse Eisenberg) leads a band of refugees across a zombie-ravaged country in search of the safety provided by an amusement park. The trailers really focus on Woody Harrelson’s tongue-incheek zombie slayer, and I can’t decide if the flick’s going to be non-stop fun or too cheeky for its own good.

Drew Wheeler

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13

movie pick Ponyo Won’t Spirit You Away

Full Bar!

PONYO (G) Acclaimed animator Hayao Miyazaki’s latest feature beautifully retells Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid in an entirely different cultural voice than Disney did with their popular 1989 Academy Award winner. Goldfish Ponyo (voiced by Miley Cyrus’ little sister, Noah Cyrus) wishes to become a real girl after falling in love with a young boy named Sosuke (v. Frankie Jonas). Her father, self-hating human wizard Fujimoto (v. Liam Neeson), disapproves, but Ponyo combines her magical emotion with his magical potion to become, as Disney’s Ariel put it, “part of [our] world.” Too bad this act dooms the world unless the love of a five-year-old boy proves true.

As magically transporting as great Miyazaki can be (Spirited Away is truly one of the greatest animated features of all time), Ponyo is no non-stop flight to magic town. A few too many layovers between the real world and the fantastical one slow down the first act. Also, as adorable as five-year-old protagonists are, they also are five years old. A cartoon house constructed out of a conceptual material as flimsy as true

love at the age of five could collapse from the weakest of disbelieving breezes; it’s strange, strained and generally off-putting.

At the same time, the younger pointof-view fosters Miyazaki’s most kid-friendly atmosphere. Children love seeing an ageappropriate hero and heroine mirroring their own responses to an enchanted scenario. It’s amazing how realistically and respectfully the 60-something Oscar-winner treats his cel-animated brood.

Unlike most cartoon kids, Ponyo and Sosuke are incredibly well-characterized without being unnaturally mature.

Miyazaki’s film has already won several worldwide film awards and is on course for several more. My advice to the Academy is to man up and give Up one of the newly expanded 10 Best Picture nominations so Ponyo can dominate the Best Animated Feature. Even lesser Miyazaki is better than every single one of its 2009 animated peers save one, and Pixar’s juggernaut is better than most every single film—live action or animated—so far released in 2009.

Drew Wheeler

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FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

Serviceable Science Fiction SURROGATES (PG-13) Based on a graphic novel by Robert Venditti and Brent Weldele, Surrogates gets the September “blockbuster” job done. It has a big name (if over the hill) action star, Bruce Willis; Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines director Jonathan Mostow knows his synthetic subject and his way around complex FX; screenwriters Michael Merris and John D. Brancato wrote T3 and this past summer’s Terminator Salvation. Surrogates has all the fingerprints of competent, large-scale, genre filmmaking.

In a sunlit future, nearly everyone interacts with the world through robotic surrogates (or surries). Through their surries, people can live a fantasy life, without fear of death, disease, dismemberment, or any other danger that develops from the human condition. But when two operators die while connected to their surrogates, the government has to step in to assure the public that the system is safe. FBI agent Tom Greer (Willis) and his partner, Peters (Radha Mitchell), are called in to investigate the first homicide in years. Of course, they uncover a conspiracy implicating everyone.

It may be a big dumb action movie, but it’s a big dumb action movie with some big ideas. A revolutionary, anti-robot underclass called Dreads has amassed in a sovereign reservation under the leadership of a man called the Prophet (Ving Rhames). A fake future in which people don’t just log on, they plug in, holds a bevy of Big Brotherish opportunities for the government.

What almost does the movie in are the reams of clichés trotted out unnecessarily. Greer and his wife, Maggie (Rosamund Pike), have grown apart since the death of their young son.

She has thrown herself completely into synthetic life; he still wants his flesh and blood wife. Also, Surrogates is ostensibly a mystery (robo-noir), but its surprises will not catch even a half-engaged viewer off guard. You will know who is behind it all far before Bruno’s Greer stumbles upon the guilty party. For what amounts to the fall version of a blockbuster, Surrogates will not disappoint anyone whose expectations have been appropriately lowered.

Drew Wheeler

Cal Clements: So Long for Now… A

much admired local, Cal Clements first made Athens his home over four decades ago. During that time, he grew from a tiny tot to a local creative force who had his hand in art, arts education, performance, music and theatre. He also shared his zeal for physical and spiritual well-being by founding Rubber Soul, a successful, donationbased yoga center in the repurposed Leathers Building. And although he has clearly put his stamp on Athens, he admits the town also shaped who he is and plans to return when he can, after getting settled in his new home in New York City. On an afternoon not long ago, he drove up Pulaski Street in his old camping trailer for the last time and headed out of town.

Flagpole caught up with him shortly thereafter and had him field some questions about his past and present adventures.

FP: What was teaching at UGA like?

CC: My goal as an instructor in Comparative Literature was to surprise students with something unexpected each class.

There was a time when I got quite good at this. I would figure out some way to cause them to live out an aspect of the book, in real time, in the classroom. At the same time I wanted to create a club in which people would get to know each other

MEgan Routh

Flagpole: When did you first come to Athens?

Cal Clements: The year was about 1968. I was a small tyke.

My father worked as a professor in the Lamar Dodd School of Art. My mom made a lot of art as well. We had some neighbors who, on the first day of summer when the thermometer hit 100 degrees, would put a cooler out on the sidewalk and fill it with popsicles. All the kids could eat them, and eat as many as they liked.

questions about me and my views—Jim Herbert, Andy Nasisse, Scott Belville, Ole Olsen, Horace Farlowe and my own father, with whom I lunched everyday. It was all very serious: “Why is there red there in the corner when you have orange here in the center?” “If you had stopped five hours ago, do you think it would have been better?” “What if you did that same piece 100 more times?” I became very keen to master the formal aspects of making art. That training has always stuck with me and characterized my way of approaching the world.

FP: As your impressions evolved, how did you find yourself changing and growing?

CC: I didn’t really begin to grow until I started at art school at UGA. For the first time, I had teachers who were asking

FP: Tell me about Rubber Soul.

CC: I started Rubber Soul close to four years ago. It’s been a fascinating experiment in anti-capitalism. Everything is by donation. Even the instructors volunteer. The whole thing is about generosity and trust. The secret version of the story is that none of it could have happened if it weren’t for the fact that I decided to live in a vintage travel trailer. My advice to people who want to live with 100 percent freedom is to drastically downsize. Too much of the time we make giant compromises all because we think we need a couch with a sofa and television, a refrigerator and a bathroom… But in reality, all you need is a yoga mat and your health. You can join the YMCA and turn Daily Groceries into your kitchen, Ciné into your living room. Your quality of life will go WAY up and you’ll be able to contribute to others in spirited ways.

FP: What are you creating now?

CC: My art form at the moment is “lifestyle performance.” I have a few life goals that I wish to perform on a “street” stage: 1. To be a one-person circus in which I ride my unicycle as an everyday means of transport, 2.

To live to be extremely old while in amazing health, 3. To eat 80-100 percent raw foods (with an emphasis on local, organic vegetables), 4. To have tons of spare time and therefore be free to play around with children or anyone else who isn’t busy at the moment, 5. To shed all judgment (of other people) and thereby radiate a halo of acceptance in a 30 foot radius.

FP: Athens is a town like no other. What were your first impressions of it?

CC: My memories of Athens are all filled with thunderstorms. In the old days, downtown Athens was a much more formal place. I remember department stores with real human beings operating the elevator, a bakery, all sorts of businesses and not a single bar.

Oh, except (now that I think about it) there was a bar called Friends, which was in the Georgian Hotel.

FP: What was the encouraging part of this time in your life, and how did Athens play a major role in that?

CC: One day my mom and I were picking up my sister from a theater class and the director said, “We need more men; why don’t you join the theater?” And so, starting at about age 11 until about age 17, I was in tons of plays, most of them with the Athens Creative Theater. The director, whose name was Tom Kidd, had expectations that were absolutely out-of-proportion to what would normally be considered appropriate for a children’s theater in a small town. Later, based on the influence of Tom Kidd’s theater, I saw that one could recreate a culture, including its music, fashion, sexual norms, class values and economy. This, it seems to me, is the great promise of the Athens: to create a new way of living.

black sunglasses. In The Importance of Being Nest Ear, they all dressed as men, with mustaches and suits, and butlers emerged from the giant stage/table and served tea and pancakes.

and live a stress-free life for one semester. Last spring I taught my all-time dream class: Subcultural Cinema. We looked at midnight movies [such as] El Topo, Night of the Living Dead, Pink Flamingos, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Eraserhead… then we discussed how subcultures can form around “trash” elements in a society.

FP: What was the name of your theater troupe here and what can you say about the performances?

CC: For about two years I ran a troupe called The Forest Theater of Pure Form. We put on highly avant-garde plays.

My concept really was less to do a series of plays and more to do one play endlessly, like a cult theater. I wanted the same audience to come back again and again preferably dressed up especially for the event, with full memorization of the lines.

In Dainty Shapes and Hairy Apes, the audience came as forest creatures (in fur hats and with musical instruments). In Hoods on a Bloody Rampage, the audience wore hoodies and

FP: What would you like to share with Athens and your friends here?

CC: It is true that I don’t really believe in saying goodbye.

First of all, I am likely to return. Secondly, the world doesn’t end at the edge of town. I try to keep a very broad landscape in mind when I think about place and time. If a connection with someone happened, then it remains always there. If a misunderstanding happened, hopefully it was forgotten long ago.

FP: What do you predict for Athens?

CC: I once heard it said that Athens changes a lot depending on who is living there. It could be true. It is a great thing that as a small human being you can have a measurable effect.

Athens is just the right size to feel that you can make something magical happen. It is a good place to try out the projects that make you most excited. Trust your most expansive spirit.

For more of this interview, go to Flagpole.com.

Darin Beasley

SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 · FLAGPOLE.COM

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Real New York Style Still Serving

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Monday-Friday

Marti’s at Midday

1280 Prince Ave. • Normaltown Wi-Fi Available

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grub notes Fufu and Shito Something Special: Thank you, Blake Britt, and thank you, Flagpole, for allowing me the forum of a blog on the website.

Without both of those things, wherein Blake left a comment that directed me to African Asian Jamaican Grocery (50 Gaines School Rd., in the shopping center that also contains Alibi, 706-850-6696), I might not have found one of the more interesting and unusual dining experiences in Athens, let alone feasted on African and Jamaican food in the back of a truck in the parking lot. The fabulous Mrs. TT (her real name is Miriam), from Mali, will cook you just about anything you can imagine, and while the fliers advertise hot dogs and turkey sandwiches, and her catfish is quite good, you really want to call ahead and get her to cook you some West-African food. She seems to do most of her business with the international students in town, and the “grocery” aspect of the store isn’t exactly useful for everyday shopping (although if you want a folder with a picture of Keith Hernandez on the front, some fishnet stockings, carrot oil for your hair, a Spiderman piñata or a bag of yam flour, you’re in luck), but she’s extremely friendly, especially if you are a persistent white girl insisting that, yes, you want the okra soup. And you do, I promise. African cuisine tends to treat this marvelous vegetable rather differently than we Southerners do, enhancing its slimy, gooey texture through boiling and stewing rather than fearfully …amazing beef meatballs breading and frying lurking therein… it—as TT put it, “we eat more vegetables than you do”—but be ballsy and jump in with both feet.

The soup is really more of a thick stew, the green of the okra darkened, with amazing beef meatballs lurking therein, and you can eat it over rice (she makes jasmine, regular and riz au gras, a short-grain rice cooked with an orange oil that coats each grain and gives it a chewy texture), with fufu (a sort of porridge made with yams that could be best analogized to an unbaked roll and is excellent for wiping one’s plate) or just a with a spoon.

A “tomato soup” made with turkey was almost as good, with long ribbons of cabbage and peppers throughout, although a few pieces of meat were drier than others. Peanut butter soup was a little soupier, with big hunks of chicken and a taste that brought to mind the peanut’s status as a legume, rarely present otherwise. Of the three, it’s probably the most of an acquired taste, and at the very least, you have to be kind of into peanut butter, but it’s certainly interesting.

Shito, on the other hand, a paste of dried fish and shrimp, oil and hot peppers, never quite clicked with my palate, although I kept sampling it just in case I’d magically like it this time. Jeffrey Steingarten’s rule that if you “try something eight to 10 times, you’ll find yourself liking it” has never been so sorely tested. I didn’t have quite the reaction of one of the three-year-olds I was with who wanted to sample it (she drank half her bottle of apple juice), but it certainly does have a certain wet dog flavor. Ah, well, the fried plantains it was meant to accompany are the most delicious I have had in Athens or anywhere. It’s easy for the sweet ones to be too sugary, too fibrous, too much of a muchness, but these were gorgeously caramelized on the outside, with a mix of chewy and crunchy that gave way to a deep, comforting, essential taste.

The beef patties—TT also explained that she does Jamaican food as well as African because they’re very similar, which is true—maybe don’t quite match the ones at Kelly’s, but the combination of curry chicken and fried rice, the quality of neither of which is conveyed by such simple names, was filling, complex, warmly spicy and maybe the best way in for the less adventurous. The grocery store doesn’t seem to keep very regular hours, but if you call ahead and order, your food will be ready whenever you desire, and you can expect it to run about $7 a person, with tremendous amounts packed into each styrofoam container. The store has nowhere to sit down and eat, but the braiding shop across the way has a table or two. Drinks (I recommend the ginger beer in the brown bottle) are in the cooler at the back, and the store thankfully takes credit cards, which should accommodate your impulse buys.

What Up?: Check the Grub Notes blog at www.flagpole.com for all the recent closings and news of a few upcoming openings.

Hillary Brown food@flagpole.com

16

FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

the reader ZOMBIES AND Other Uncivil Beings Because it seems that I’m unable to let a subject go and instead worry at it like a dog with a bone, I want to refer to something I said a few columns back about the evils of pastiches, those novels or stories in which a writer takes someone else’s set of characters and continues their adventures. Sometimes this can be very well done, as in Alan Moore’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (the excellent comic, not the terrible movie) or Gregory Maguire’s alternative takes on the Oz stories. Most of the time, however, such borrowing seems like a cheat, a way for an author to get around the hardsell of his or her wares to the reader by piggybacking on an already beloved story. Nowhere has this been more evident than in the recent flood of pretenders writing “sequels” to Jane Austen’s immortal Pride and Prejudice. I did a keyword search on Amazon for all novels claiming to be a sequel (or in several cases the sequel) to Pride and Prejudice and stopped counting at 20.

It’s not surprising that so many authors try to jump Austen’s claim. The story of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy and their assorted relatives of varying degrees of quality in the English countryside is the ur-romance novel, the prototype for thousands of inferior romances written ever since, and to this day it holds up. Austen was a hell of a writer—a keen observer of manners and foibles, a fine prose stylist even in the sentence-torturing idiom of her day, and damn funny when she chose to be. Though assigning her books to foot-dragging high-schoolers does a disservice to both parties, all adults should try to take in at least a couple of Austen’s books before they die. They’ll find themselves the better for it.

Not so the various sequels. It is the height of presumption and disrespect for anyone to consider him- or herself enough of a writer to pick up where Jane Austen chose to leave off, and to attempt to do justice to Austen’s style and formidable characterizations. If you’re that good, write your own novels. If not, you’re just embarrassing us all. The bottom

line is that it’s impossible to write Pride and Prejudice better than Jane Austen did.

Fortunately, Seth Grahame-Smith did the smart thing when producing Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (Quirk Publishing, 2009). He takes Jane Austen’s story and prose and leaves them intact except where the subject turns to zombies and the killing of same. The result is still the timeless story of Elizabeth and Darcy, their mutual dislike turned eventually to love, and the manners of the Regency period, only now set amongst the ravages of an undead plague—and with more ninjas.

A couple of generations into the mysterious epidemic that swept across England and caused the living dead to burst from their graves and shamble forth in search of juicy brains, the Bennet family live their lives on their down-at-heel estate, awaiting the next fancy-dress ball where Mrs. Bennet hopes her five daughters— goodhearted Jane, cynical Elizabeth, plain and studious Mary, and the boy-crazy Kitty and Lydia—will hopefully meet the men they are to marry and give up their lives of Shaolin kung-fu and itinerant zombie-slaying. As Jane meets the charming Mr. Bingley, Elizabeth is introduced to his lesscharming friend, the recalcitrant Mr. Darcy, who appears to have nothing but disdain for the ways of country people. A renowned fighter trained in Japan (as all the best people are), he has some grudging respect for Elizabeth’s skills with blade and musket but for both of them it is dislike at first sight. As the seasons progress, the two of them find their lives intertwining through meetings and misadventures, and both are surprised and horrified to find that their feelings for each other may be softening and transforming into something far deeper.

Readers familiar with the original will find all of that book’s scenes intact, albeit altered, particularly the infamy and final disposition of Mr. Wickham and the climactic confrontation between Elizabeth and Darcy’s aunt, the haughty Lady Catherine, legendary for her martial-arts prowess and her unequaled private army of ninjas (readers who have no idea what I’m talking about will enjoy the book anyway). The interesting thing is that, with all of its Kill Bill posturing and at-times grotesque horror, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies never descends into parody. GrahameSmith never once betrays Austen’s spirit—the deep emotional lives of her characters remain intact and true, and even with the brainmunching, the novel shines and resonates.

The University of Georgia Press will be holding a “Dirty Book Sale” on the Tate Student Center Plaza on Thursday, Oct. 1, 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m., and Friday, Oct. 2, 9 a.m.–3 p.m. The Press is looking to clear its warehouse of dented, distressed and slightly damaged books and is letting most of them go for under five dollars. Given the breadth of UGA Press’s subject matter and the quality of their academic works, this is a helluva deal.

John G. Nettles

256 E. CLAYTON ST.

(706) 549-0166

Open Mon-Sat Noon-2am

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SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 · FLAGPOLE.COM

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THU. OCT. 8 FRI. OCT. 9

threats & promises Music News And Gossip

SAT. OCT. 10 MON. OCT. 12 TUE. OCT. 13 WED. OCT. 14 THU. OCT. 15

TUE. SEPT. 29

FRI. OCT. 16 SAT. OCT. 17 THU. OCT. 22

WED. SEPT. 30

FRI. OCT. 23

FRI. OCT. 2

TUE. OCT. 27 WED. OCT. 28 THU. OCT. 29

SAT. OCT. 3

FRI. OCT. 30 SAT. OCT. 31

Good Man Gone: The Athens community is suffering a hard loss this week. Musician Jon Guthrie died in a single-car accident on Beaverdam Road this past Sunday, Sept. 27.

He was 26. Jon (the son of long-time Athens musician Michael Guthrie, nephew of musician Herb Guthrie and distant relative of Woody and Arlo Guthrie) was a talented bassist and a veteran of multiple bands, including Chop Top, Community Chaos, Critical Replay, Vigilantes of Love and The Michael Guthrie Band. I have known Jon since he was about 11 years old. For a time, we were co-workers at Wuxtry Records. I watched him grow from a restless young kid who couldn’t stop talking about music to a teenager with preternatural musical ability to an adult with a disarming smile and unbounded friendliness.

I was always struck by the close relationship Jon had with his dad. They were, in no uncertain terms, best friends. My favorite memories of Jon playing live are easily those with his father and uncle in The Michael Guthrie Band.

They could seamlessly move between Michael and Herb’s 1960s-styled pop and Jon’s 1970s and ‘80s mod-punk tastes.

Our hearts go out to the entire Guthrie family and all who knew and loved Jon. He is, and will be, very much missed.

Come Together: Athens-based Beatles tribute band Abbey Road LIVE! will play a gala benefit concert for the Georgia Theatre at the Classic Center on Friday, Oct. 9. Tickets Abbey Road LIVE! range in price from $19– $24 and are available at the Classic Center box office. The show will feature tons of Beatles songs along with surprise guests and live brass and strings. This performance also commemorates the 40th anniversary of the Beatles album Abbey Road, which was released in September 1969 in the UK and October 1969 in the U.S. For more information, please see www.abbeyroadlive.com.

of unreleased tracks, demos, live stuff and more. This will be the most definitive BarB-Q Killers release possible. Because this is a benefit project we are raising funds via Kickstarter.com and all donations $20 and above get an actual, physical copy of this.

Our fundraising goal is relatively low ($3,500) and is to be used for final mastering of the project, manufacturing and printing. Please see www.barbqkillers.com, which will take you immediately to the project page. The deadline for contributions is Dec. 12.

In Convenient MP3 Format: Longtime Athens resident Len Neighbors, co-owner of design and web development company Boxkite Media, and student Sarah Vakili have launched Athens’ newest podcast focusing on local artists. Titled Mad About Town, the episodes will come out about every two weeks with the first focusing on Athens’ own Madeline Adams available now. The site’s

k

FREE SHOW!

FREE SHOW!

18

FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

What the Hell’s Going on Out Here?: There’s no denying the far-reaching impact of Athens’ legendary Bar-B-Q Killers. Older Athens folks still speak in awed tones when the band is mentioned, and younger folks hunt down the band’s sole LP with a passion. Wouldn’t it be great if this 1987 album, Comely, was finally and properly re-released? Well, that’s exactly what Mike Turner and I are trying to do.

Working closely with the surviving members of the band (namely Arthur Johnson and David Judd; Claire Horne has sent her blessing, though) and David Barbe, the original album has been remixed properly and is prepared for mastering. As many original tapes as possible were sourced for this project, most needing to be recovered via baking the tapes at low heat, including the band’s original recordings for Athens, GA: Inside/Out. Vocalist Laura Carter passed away in 2002 leaving behind a son, and the band has pledged 100 percent of its earnings from this record, in perpetuity, to him. The final product will be a double CD with the first disc being the proper album and the second disc being a packed compendium

illustrations are by artist Lauren Benbrook.

Future episodes already scheduled include features on Allison Weiss and Marshmallow Coast. Visit them and download over at www. madabouttown.com.

Dangit: The rumors are true. Heavy local rockers The Dumps have called it quits.

Specifically, some members just up and left the band rather than the band getting together and deciding to disband. When asked for full clarification of the situation, member Andy Hollingsworth said, “Yeah, I’ve been meaning to say something to you about this.

I just haven’t gotten around to it yet.” As of press time, he still has not gotten around to it. Visit the band’s sonic graveyard over at www.myspace.com/thedumps.

Time to Grow Up: Shows at Tasty World on Friday and Saturday nights are now open to only those age 21 and up. Since the club’s inception it has allowed ages 18 and up, but social changes in the area of downtown that Tasty World occupies seem to have necessitated this change. Owner Murphy Wolford said by phone, “There’s been so much activity on this end of downtown it became a big burden to regulate. [In any case] we took a survey and realized that only 10–15 percent of our weekend business was under 21.” The club will still be open to those 18 and over for shows scheduled Monday through Thursday.

Gordon Lamb threatsandpromises@flagpole.com

Dopesmoker Controversy

MElissa Stetton

From the Bedroom to the Stadium with Wavves

F

uzz-skuzz buzz band Wavves is just some regular-guy dude from San Diego who smokes weed, wakes up late, rides his skateboard and tries to catch oldass Garfield cartoons in the wee hours, or at least that’s the impression he gives off; he’s West Coast chill and sings about it. Watching Nathan Williams in his music video for “No Hope Kids,” filmed during his world tour, it is easy to imagine him a picaresque hero, getting wasted and playing shows, unwittingly implicated in the machinations of blog hype and Internet coolhunting. In less than two years, he’s released two albums and a bevy of cassettes, and has endured the hype

and backlash waves of fickle music listeners.

Already, he’s in the redemption phase. Most importantly, Wavves is the paradigm for a new kind of alternative band made on the Internet and in bedrooms.

Wavves was the bedroom pop project of one Nathan Williams (age 23): now the epitome of “Gorilla v. Bear” blog hype, don’ttake-too-much-X-before-playing-stadiums advice from your mom and the poster boy for the no-fi genre. Wavves also now includes the hardest working drummer in showbiz, Zach Hill.

Williams’ music probably hinges on an impossibility: if you were to ever try playing

a scratched Smiley Smile bootleg LP through a line-out connected to an amp that’s stuck in overdrive since you found it at some garage sale, the output would sound something like shit, but it’d also, maybe, reach that equilibrium of vaguely tuneful/ groggy pixilation/ distortion noise that Wavves has adopted as his own.

He’s not the only one: Why is everyone and their mom in a lo/no-fi band these days?

“I don’t know,” he says, laughing. “Maybe because it’s easy to do, it’s easy to record, and it doesn’t really cost money. But I’m not sure.

I wouldn’t say I’m any scene in particular, I’m just labeled that.” At 21, after quitting his day job, Williams spent a month making ramshackle home recordings in GarageBand that would become his first two albums. Through the course of those two DIY releases, titled Wavves and Wavvves, he has explored kinda sad themes like ennui, stupid sub-cultures and drug freakouts, titling his songs plainly “So Bored,” “California Goth” and “Weed Demon.”

Simple and wide-eyed, it’s his pseudo-adolescent, bratty Brian Wilson-isms and up-BeatHappening-floor-tom pop that transforms such drab subject matter into optimistic stoner anthems.

It wouldn’t be reductive to say Wavves has tapped into the cool zeitgeist where everyone has a fuzzy bedroom pet project, where everyone has a little too much consonance in their name (see UUVVWWZ, Lovvers, Nodzzz), and where no one can really play their instruments. Perhaps most significant of this new rockist narrative is that “overnight success” is a literalism—relative popularity is instantaneous and measured by a new temporality called “blog years,” an ADD blank (screen) generation eye-blink test, akin to a “light year.” The short incubation period from obscurity to hypeblogged to Pitchfork Best New Music wunderkind to backlash only magnifies

that most of these bands can’t perform live.

When Williams first started playing live shows last spring, he sucked. His inexperience reached a tipping point during his so-called “meltdown” at the Primavera Sound Festival in May where he took a cocktail of ecstasy, Valium and Xanax, harassed the audience and was booed off stage.

“When I first started playing, the first couple of shows were with 500 people, so I just got thrown into it and I didn’t have any time to work the set out with somebody and practice and play smaller shows for a while. It just kinda blew up so quickly, and I was playing for tons of people right away, so it wasn’t necessarily very good in the very beginning.

There was stuff to work out, and it’s just like with anything, you do it enough and you get better at it,” he says.

Since then, Wavves has played to glowing live reviews and plenty of redemption feature stories. And with a new album already recorded, it seems he’s about go through it all over again. Whether he’ll be relevant a few years from now is anyone’s guess, but if he can write 15 stuck-in-your-head melodies in a month, I’d go with longevity. Either way, he’s down for the ride, one that hopefully includes munchies. I’ll leave you with Williams’ last words: “I’m sorry, I have to go, we’re pulling up to the Burger King right now!”

Christopher Benton

WHO: Dan Deacon, Wavves, Ganglians, Nuclear Power Pants WHERE: 40 Watt Club WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 3 HOW MUCH: $12 (adv.)

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Come tailgate with us this weekend! Doors open at noon.

SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 · FLAGPOLE.COM

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NO FAKE I.D.S MIC

A Peek Inside the Rialto Room

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Kelly Ruberto

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706-549-4660 20

FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

never felt underdressed attending a rock show in Athens, but I felt some pangs of inadequacy as I stepped through the College Avenue entrance of the Rialto Club in the basement of the new Hotel Indigo. My guest and I were grilled firmly upon entering. Were we staying at the hotel? Why were we there? Did we have tickets? Who were we? We waited on the other side of a velvet rope—the first I can recall seeing in Athens— before being welcomed graciously inside by the club director. Admission was understandably tight as the grand opening was still a couple weeks away and the club was just finding its footing with a small show. Even so, the room itself demanded respect, and there was a subtle air of exclusivity in every fiber of the club.

The Rialto Room is sort of a doughnutshaped space where the stage itself is in the center circle and the surrounding ring houses a plush bar and lounge, with the two spaces joined by two sets of double doors. The atmosphere in the lounge is one of warm sophistication, like the sitting room in some fine estate. The tones are rich and earthy, with reclaimed wood flooring, recessed lighting, modern chandeliers and chic couches piled high with pillows. If you take the elevator down from the hotel lobby and enter from the other side of the club, you’ll be greeted by a “wall of fame” featuring classic rock artists like The Beatles, Rolling Stones, John Coltrane and Bruce Springsteen. It’s funny, you almost half believe that these artists once played here. The Rialto Room has no history and yet it already feels important. Even if the artwork is a bit Hard Rock Café, it seems to say “our stage welcomes legends.” Whether the lineup booked so far actually reflects that caliber of talent is debatable, but the new-hotel smell that wafts through the air mingles with a heavy sense of anticipation.

I ordered a beer at the elegant bar along with a small group of rowdy, too-drunk-tooearly football fans who were eagerly pounding shots—incongruous behavior in this setting.

Just then an announcer cut through their shouts in order to welcome David Smits to the stage. “Ooh la la,” I thought, “he got a formal introduction!” On my way to the door, I spoke briefly with the club director about future plans for the Rialto Room. She says she thinks of the space as a getaway for visiting football fans who don’t want to spend their time in Athens socializing under tents. She also mentioned the Rialto Club membership program

in which subscribers will be allowed exclusive entrance into the venue on game days, along with other to-be-determined perks.

I was ready to enjoy the music, but we were asked to wait until Smits finished his song before entering. Apparently the previous week’s show was continually interrupted by doors opening and closing, so, with “respect for the music,” we waited patiently for yet another velvet rope to be unhooked. As someone who is used to seeing shows at the more dive-y clubs in town, this procedure seemed totally foreign, but once I was inside the room it made perfect sense. Everything about the Rialto Room directs your attention to the performer. The space is intimate, and on this night the room was set up with cocktail tables topped with flickering tea lights (as opposed to the more traditional theater-style seats which are also available). Onstage, a well dressed young man sang lounge-y originals and covers as he tickled a commanding grand piano backed by guitar and bass. Two large screens on either side of the stage displayed his name. The acoustics were clean and all-encompassing. But most striking of all was the utter silence coming from the audience. It honestly felt rude to even whisper, like we were watching a symphony or a play.

The crowd clapped politely in between songs and, in truth, the sound of the door shutting was distracting. “So, this is why they call it a listening room,” I thought. If you are inside the Rialto Room your full attention is on the artist at all times. I think a full drum kit might be overwhelming in a space like this unless brushes were used, but for an acoustic performer, a jazz ensemble or a piano man like Smits, the sound and feel are just right.

Most venues in Athens cater to one of two crowds: the student population or the hipster townies. The Rialto Room is dedicated to neither, focusing instead on tourists with deep pockets. I imagine these people to be like the season ticket holders at Chastain Park in Atlanta—the type of tailgaters that pack a picnic with champagne flutes rather than Bud Lights. I am not sure how big that market will prove to be in Athens, but I hope the Rialto Room finds its niche, because this is too beautiful and too special a club to go to waste.

For more information including a list of upcoming shows, please see www.therialtoroom.com.

Michelle Gilzenrat

Flag pole

.com

Aaron Dove

The Complexity of Scaling Back

M

aybe if the guys in Radiohead were from Oxford, MS instead of Oxford, England, The Bends would have sounded a bit more like Colour Revolt. The Mississippi band’s last release, Plunder, Beg and Curse, made Flagpole’s best of 2008 list and it showcased vast growth, if not a total departure, from the band’s more aggressive debut EP. With dark strands of Southern gothic imagery and religious disillusionment woven into pummeling rock songs that swing from beautiful to chaotic, Colour Revolt works with a broad palette of dense textures.

But a lot has changed for the band since the release of Plunder, Beg and Curse. In January the band was hit with a double gut punch when two bandmembers quit on the same day. Bassist Patrick Addison was absorbed into the staff of the band’s label, Fat Possum, as a full-time employee while guitarist Jimmy Cajoles decided to pursue a graduate degree in creative writing. It was a big hit for the five-piece to be whittled down to three, and guitarist Sean Kirkpatrick says it’s been a challenging but rewarding change.

“You’d think it would be easier to communicate with just three people instead of five, but we had been such a complete organism as five people that we understood and sort of expected a voice from Jimmy or Patrick,” he says. “In a way, you now have to be more bold in what you want to do because you don’t have as many checks and balances in the group.”

Still, Kirkpatrick admits that writing parts for three guitarists sometimes felt like overkill. While the band has picked up Robert Chisolm on bass, he says they’ve decided to stick with just two guitar players. “[In the past] it was almost like you didn’t want to leave someone out, and I think Jimmy said it himself—he’d say, ‘You know, I don’t need to play here and I feel like I am playing just so I can do something.’ Jimmy had great parts, but I think at some points he was like, ‘I don’t feel like it’s a necessity for me to be in every song…’”

So, the band went about deconstructing all their songs and putting them back together, leaving only the most essential bits and reassigning Cajoles’ parts when necessary. So far, the results have been promising.

“We’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from local shows. They can hear all the parts more now, it’s less of a wall of sound; people have said that it sounds really good, so I’m happy about that… For the most part, the harmonies are still there and most of the guitar parts are there. Len [Clark] is still playing great drums.”

Kirkpatrick says that the new material Colour Revolt is working on is most similar to fan favorite “Moses of the South” off their last record. That song is probably the most beautiful and accessible on the record, and Kirkpatrick is excited by the band’s more streamlined, melodic direction.

“We all love Sonic Youth, but I think we’re going to let Sonic Youth be Sonic Youth a little bit and do our own thing. The new material is less dark, I would say, than Plunder, Beg and Curse… it’s a little more pretty.”

As for the band’s relationship with the estranged members, Kirkpatrick says the split has been amicable if awkward at times, particularly with Addison continuing to represent the band at the label despite no longer being a member. However, it’s a job that Kirkpatrick recognizes his former bandmate is well suited for.

“I guess [Fat Possum] liked how he ran things. He ran things with our band as well and I think that translated well with the label.

They’ve been expanding and things have been going well for them, and I think Patrick has a lot to do with that.”

Ironically, the stress and responsibility that Addison undertook as de facto band manager may have contributed to his departure, an important lesson for young bands to learn about delegation.

“Patrick did a lot for us,” says Kirkpatrick.

“We had to take a lot of his contacts, the files that he had, and learn how to do things on our own. It’s funny how much responsibility was on him, and I think that may have been pressure on him as well, probably a little bit too much. I think we now have a full understanding of what the band is, our expenses, our contacts, who Patrick had been talking to… jobs have been dispersed among the band equally and it’s a lot better. Nobody feels like they are pulling the heavier load. I wish we had done that when Patrick was in the band, but you know, sometimes it takes a minor tragedy for you to reexamine what you do.”

Having reworked both their sound and their organization for maximum efficiency, Colour Revolt is set to head back into the studio soon, and maybe that next release will make it to the top of our year-end list once again.

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WHO: Colour Revolt, Twin Tigers, Bambara WHERE: 40 Watt Club WHEN: Wednesday, Sept. 30 HOW MUCH: $6 (21+), $8 (18+)

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706.546.0840

SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 · FLAGPOLE.COM

21

HOTNIGHTS SUMMER

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FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

PRESENTED BY

record reviews NESEY GALLONS Eyes & Eyes & Eyes Ago Cloud Recordings Nesey Gallons is a once New Englander and current Athenian, but his music comes from somewhere else entirely. On his haunting debut Eyes & Eyes & Eyes Ago, Gallons has a strict adherence to simplicity that would make Ned Ludd look like Rube Goldberg and a placidity that would make Rip Van Winkle look like Timothy Leary, but all implemented in a world in which none of these people ever existed.

The deceivingly whimsical lyrics suggest it exists somewhere full of magic lanterns and pumpkin fields, but it’s Eyes’ sonic elements that give it its most ethereal qualities. The vocal production, for example, has the same heartbreaking pathos as fellow double-track devotees Elliott Smith and Bon Iver, a quavering vulnerability on a record that already sounds like it’s afraid of the dark.

Not all of Eyes is just Gallons and his guitar, and it’s the faint praise of the sparse percussion, spectral pump organ or sporadic xylophone flourishes that damns him to his otherworldliness.

Even when featuring Julian Koster or Sarah Moran behind him, Gallons sounds meditative and withdrawn. But the real charm of Eyes is that, whether on the achingly wistful “Old Echo” or the cosmic serenade “Aurora Borealis” or the borderline poppy “There Won’t Be Any Crows,” Gallons’ tender detachment never builds insurmountable walls to keep you out. Especially as the winter draws closer, it pulls you into its world for warmth and companionship and is just so genuine that you won’t let go until the first day of spring.

Adam Clair

THE GINGER ENVELOPE Invitation Air One Percent On The Ginger Envelope’s second album, Invitation Air, the Athens-based quintet melds a rich alt-Americana tapestry of banjo, pedal steel, fiddle and guitar, backed by Steve Miller and Jason Robira’s flawless rhythm section.

The harmonizing of Patrick Carey’s butterscotch vocals with Robira’s Orbison-like tones on “Stray” is underscored by the mournful wail of Matt Stoessel’s pedal steel. The opening lines of “Spokes” are universally relatable: “I may be worn and busted

in my shoes/ I may act tired and achy in my bones.” But Carey leads the listener to triumph in the next stanza: “Every broken daydream’s just a spoke upon my wheel/ It’s just the way I roll my fantasies.” Guest player Julien de Rocher’s banjo picks out a toe-tapping melody.

On the sleepy ditty “Moon Rover” (recently set to video by former Athenian Jorge Torres), one rolls “right along this rocky open cradle,” Jason Trahan’s simple guitar lead floating you past the stars. The gradual buildup of Neil Golden’s keys on “Down That Well,” which go from atmospheric to honky-tonk, combined with the despondent keen of David Blackmon’s fiddle, set to recorded chatter from favorite Athens watering hole, the Flicker Theatre, shepherd the listener to the inevitable regret of the morning after.

The Ginger Envelope’s eerie take on Loudin Wainwright III’s “Swimming Song” is striking; Page Campbell (Hope for Agoldensummer, Creepy) harmonizes with Carey over fiddle and banjo, and you can almost feel the water’s chill.

Not instantly accessible, Invitation Air is one of those slow-burning stunners that stealthily grabs you, simple melodies seeping into your consciousness when you least expect it. Recommended.

Deirdre Sayre

MUTE MATH Armistice Teleprompt/ Warner Bros.

Mute Math can’t quite decide who it wants to sound like on its new record Armistice. The group veers from sounding like Radiohead ultra-light to fellow Christian rock refugees Switchfoot. Provided, that’s not a huge leap from one to the other, but it’s noticeable enough that fans of the band’s first album may be in for a surprise.

Instead of the intriguing band that the press has been drooling over since its self-titled debut, Mute Math seems to be aiming for an even more mainstream audience. It’s hard for any band to escape the pigeonholing that goes on in the Christian music arena. It’s even harder for a band to live up to the buzz that follows a solid debut. But instead of more innovation and interesting melodies, we end up with a completely middle-of-the-road record.There are very few moments in Armistice that beg for second consideration. “Pins and Needles” sounds a lot like a Radiohead cut, complete with string section. It’s one of the few tracks that doesn’t follow the same mid-tempo soft-verse-to-loud-chorus-and-backagain structures. “Electrify” has the potential to be really interesting, but the “Hey, come sing with me” chorus does more harm than good.

To be blunt, the album really isn’t that interesting. It sounds like a very long, continuous song that keeps trying to lift off but never gets anywhere. If

you’re into that, pick up Armistice. If not, here’s hoping that Mute Math gets back to sounding a bit more like themselves and less like everyone else soon.

Jordan Stepp

WILD BEASTS Two Dancers Domino Initially, I was scared to listen to Two Dancers because I still had the group’s late-2008 debut in frequent rotation and, predictably, my first trip through was indeed met with prejudice.

I felt that the integrity of the group’s sexually charged, tongue-in-cheek vocals had been compromised by affected ghostwriters in Domino’s marketing department. It was as if the celebration of intriguingly braided arrangements had been sacrificed upon the altar of the almighty euro to the extent that, at times, only flavors were present where songs should rightly be.

In a general sense, this was “too much too fast.”

In some ways, I was right— pleasant musical segments sometimes frustratingly end before they can be savored (see “Underbelly” and the “Two Dancers” suite), and more than a couple of the tunes’ lyrics seem uncharacteristically lame (“Hooting and Howling,” “When I’m Sleepy…,” “This is Our Lot”). But in other ways, I was too hard on the lads. They still deliver the big-beat-style drum hooks with Neolithic grace, many melodies are catchy and clean, and the interplay between vocalists makes for interesting pacing. Plus, they do nail it a few times (“All the King’s Men” is probably the flagship of the collection, but even tracks slandered above have certain charms, such as the introduction of electric piano to the band’s sound, which is alternatively enjoyable and superfluous).

Overall, it’s a fun, cheeky ride that ages well despite revealing some awkwardness.

Tony Floyd

PAPER TANKS Trigger Happy/ Cocoon EP Independent Release I became enthralled with Paper Tanks after the release of the Paper Floats EP in 2007. Created by a skilled trio of Athens locals, it was a debut record that showed astonishing complexity and depth in both instrumentation and lyricism. Musically, it

was not afraid to whittle itself down to a whisper or to build itself slowly and methodically into a choral howl.

It defied easy categorization but, more importantly, it spoke a language that captured something distinct about the place it was made. Simply put, this was great Athens music. Unfortunately, since then the group has remained largely under the radar, playing only a hand full of shows and now releasing the bittersweet Trigger Happy/ Cocoon EP. At less than 10 minutes in length, this EP only serves as an introduction to the Tanks’ sound. It moves as skillfully as its predecessor, but the pace is brisk and the production here is cleaner and more precise. The addition of Kelsey Brooks (Sea of Dogs, ex-Divided Like a Saint’s) on drums also gives the rhythm section a sturdier foundation this time around.

In fact, everything about this EP shows the signs of its creative maturity, and though it is far too brief, it is both broad in scope and efficient in execution. Sadly, it is probably also limited in print, and with rumors of a potential group move to Portland circulating, Trigger Happy/ Cocoon might be your last chance to hear one of Athens’ best kept secrets.

Austin Darnell

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A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS Exploding Head Mute As one of the brightest young bearers of the great Jesus & Mary Chain torch, this New York trio has kicked up quite a buzz, literally. While many modern-day followers have brought the Mary Chain’s latent tunefulness to the fore, APTBS is seduced by their sheer sonic force and so dances on the screaming saw blade of the seminal band’s early work. On this sophomore album, cyclonic sandblasts of feedback and stiff, crashing beats are overdriven to play like a symphony of wrecking balls on both stereo and senses.

Apart from the relatively clearheaded, Killing Joke-evoking “Keep Slipping Away,” the album’s best moments come from the eye of the storm. “It Is Nothing” swerves with the wooziness of My Bloody Valentine while the tumbling surf riffs of “Deadbeat” struggle to stay afloat in a blizzard of noise.

While solid melodies, post-punk bleakness and echoing gothic darkness all lurk beneath, APTBS’ disorienting attack conquers mainly through relentlessness and abrasion. To call them “copycats” is fair, but they’re anything but pale shadows. Their pounding cacophony ventures closer to the danger of that original edge than nearly anyone else, and that counts for something.

Bao Le-Huu APTBS is playing the Drunken Unicorn in Atlanta Oct. 7.

SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 · FLAGPOLE.COM

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the calendar!

WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS WEEK

Deadline for getting listed in the calendar is every FRIDAY at 5 p.m. for the issue that comes out the following Wednesday. Email calendar@flagpole.com.

Tuesday 29 EVENTS: Dancing with the Athens Stars 2010 Kick-off (Family Protection Center) Project Safe announces its top-secret line-up of community stars! 5:30 p.m. 706549-0922 EVENTS: Fourth Annual Northeast Georgia Marching Exhibition (Cedar Shoals High School) Come out to support your local high school marching bands. 6 p.m. $5 (adults) $3 (children, students and seniors) THEATRE: Our Lady of 121st Street (Cellar Theatre) The University Theatre Department performs Adly Guirgis’ play about the memorial of a nun in Spanish Harlem and the frantic community’s search for her missing body. And it’s a comedy! Run dates are Sept.

29–30, Oct. 1–2, 8 p.m., Oct. 4, 2:30 p.m. $15. www.drama.uga.edu, 706-542-2838 KIDSTUFF: Chapter Book Review (Madison County Library) Every Tuesday and Thursday elementary school-aged children meet in the lobby to read aloud and share thoughts about books. 4:30 p.m.

FREE! 706-795-5597 KIDSTUFF: Children’s Storytime (ACC Library) For children ages 18 months to 5 years. Tuesdays, 9:30 a.m., Wednesdays, 10:30 a.m. FREE! 706-613-3650 KIDSTUFF: Parent and Student Orientation (ACC Library) Explore the library’s various resources in this hour-long tour. Call for times. FREE! 706-613-3650 LECTURES & LIT.: Brown Bag Lunch (ACC Library) Sandi Turner and Chris Wyrick speak on shopping locally. Feel free to bring a lunch to this 45-minute program. 12:15 p.m.

FREE! 706-613-3650

LECTURES & LIT.: Pipo Nguyenduy (Lamar Dodd School of Art, Rm S151) Photographer Pipo Nguyenduy, whose recent work explores “humanity in the context of the post-apocalyptic landscape,” speaks as part of the Visiting Artist/Scholar Series. 5:30 p.m. FREE! www.art. uga.edu MEETINGS: Liberty in North Korea (UGA Campus, Miller Learning Center) Representatives from LINK screen Seoul Train, a film that documents the attempts of many North Koreans to escape their homeland in search of freedom. 8 p.m.

FREE! icuatuga@gmail.com MEETINGS: Pub Theology (Trappeze Pub) Open conversations revolving around theology.

Currently reading Gordon Kaufman and progressive theology. Contact Chris for reading materials. 8 p.m.

FREE! 706-549-1915, cmccreight@ fccathens.org GAMES: Flicker Poker Night (Flicker Theatre & Bar) Last Tuesday of every month! 8:30 p.m. www. myspace.com/flickerbar GAMES: Locos Trivia (Locos Grill & Pub) All three Athens locations of Locos Grill and Pub (Westside, Eastside and Harris St.) feature trivia night every Tuesday. 8:30 p.m.

FREE! www.locosgrill.com

Wednesday 30 EVENTS: Athenaeum Club Kickoff Event (Seney-Stovall Chapel) Learn about the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation’s new club for young professionals interested in Athens and historic preservation. 6 p.m.

FREE! www.achfonline.org EVENTS: Kings and Queens Drag Show (New Earth Music Hall) Athens’ finest drag show! 10 p.m. www.newearthmusichall.com

EVENTS: Terrapin Cask Party and Pumpkin Carving Contest (Aromas) Carve it at home; bring it in to compete! 6 p.m. 706-208-0059 EVENTS: Trunk Show (Heery’s Clothes Closet) Tibi designer Amy Smilovic unveils her fall and holiday collections. In-store cocktail party follows from 6–9 p.m. All are welcome! 10 a.m.–4 p.m. FREE! 706-543-0702 PERFORMANCE: UGA Recital (UGA Ramsey Concert Hall) Brandon Craswell, trumpet and Jane Craswell, piano. 8 p.m. FREE! 706542-4400, www.uga.edu/pac THEATRE: Our Lady of 121st Street (Cellar Theatre) A University Theatre Department Production. See Sept. 29 Theatre. Sept. 29–30, Oct. 1–2, 8 p.m., Oct. 4, 2:30 p.m. $15. www.drama.uga.edu, 706-542-2838 KIDSTUFF: Children’s Storytime (ACC Library) For children ages 18 months to 5 years. Tuesdays, 9:30 a.m., Wednesdays, 10:30 a.m. FREE! 706-613-3650 KIDSTUFF: Eatin’ with the Critters (Sandy Creek Nature Center, ENSAT) Bring a sack lunch for an hour of learning about our world and the animals that inhabit it. For ages 3–5 with an adult. Call to register. 12:30 p.m. $0–$13 (scholarships available). 706-613-3615 KIDSTUFF: Wildcard Wednesday (ACC Library) Up next: Copycat Art: Tissue Paper Landscapes. Create a soothing watercolor landscape using tissue paper collage technique. Ages 11–18. 4 p.m. FREE! 706-613-3650 KIDSTUFF: Young Adult Book Discussion (Madison County Library) Call for this month’s title.

4:30 p.m. FREE! 706-795-5597 LECTURES & LIT.: Oconee Dems Book Group (Five Points Deli & More, Epps Bridge) Communitywide book group hosted by the Oconee County Democrats. This

The UGA Performing Arts Center kicks off its new season with the Hot 8 Brass Band on Sunday, Oct. 4. month: The Devil We Know: Dealing with the New Iranian Superpower, by former CIA operative Robert Baer.

Newcomers from any county and of any political affiliation are welcome.

6 p.m. FREE! ppriest@charter.net, www.oconeedemocrats.org GAMES: Movie Trivia Night (Flicker Theatre & Bar) Where movie trivia meets performance art. Sign up at 8 p.m. Trivia starts at 8:30 p.m.

FREE! www.myspace.com/flickerbar GAMES: Sports Trivia (Beef O’ Brady’s) Every Wednesday. 8:30 p.m.

FREE! 706-850-1916 GAMES: Trivia (Willy’s Mexicana Grill) Every Wednesday. 8–10 p.m.

FREE! 706-548-1920 GAMES: Trivia (Blind Pig Tavern) Think you know it all? 9:30 p.m.

706-548-3442 GAMES: Trivia Wars (283 Bar) Chris Creech hosts general knowledge trivia with different themes each week. Check the Facebook group “Trivia Wars!” for weekly updates and online question of the week.

8:30 p.m. (sign up) 9 p.m. (game starts). FREE! 706-208-1283

Thursday 1

Randy Rogers Band is playing the 40 Watt Club on Thursday, Oct. 1.

24

FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

EVENTS: The UGA Press Dirty Book Sale (UGA Tate Center) Thousands of slightly damaged and lovingly shelf-worn books for sale.

Oct. 1, 9 a.m. 4:30 p.m., Oct 2, 9 a.m.–3 p.m. www.ugapress.org EVENTS: Wild Rumpus Celebration (Borders Books & Music) Party for Where the Wild Things Are fans. 6 p.m. FREE! 706583-8647 ART: Artists’ Walk & Talk (ATHICA) Artists Kathryn Refi and John English join Allie Goolrick, curator of Athica’s exhibit “Free Press in Free Fall,” to address the current state of the local and national news media.

7–8 p.m. FREE! www.athica.org ART: Open House and Print Sale (Lamar Dodd School of Art) For UGA’s Printmaking Student Association. Sale continues Oct. 2.

5–7 p.m. FREE! www.art.uga.edu

ART: Opening Reception (Circle Gallery, UGA College of Environmental Design) For “We Are So Lightly Here: Putting Contemporary Musicians in Their Place,” a photographic exploration of musicians within their landscapes

by Michael Wilson. 5–7 p.m. FREE! 706-542-8292 THEATRE: Cookie Dough’s Not Fattening… till you bake it!

(Morton Theatre) Athens Creative Theatre presents a musical comedy written and directed by T. A. Powell.

Oct. 1–3, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 4, 3 p.m. $15 (adults), $12 (seniors, students and children). 706-613-3771, www. mortontheatretix.com THEATRE: Our Lady of 121st Street (Cellar Theatre) A University Theatre Department Production. See Sept. 29 Theatre. Sept. 29–30, Oct. 1–2, 8 p.m., Oct. 4, 2:30 p.m. $15. www.drama.uga.edu, 706-542-2838 THEATRE: Over the River and Through the Woods (Athens Community Theatre) The Town & Gown Players present Joe DiPietro’s comedy about a family and the efforts of two sets of well-meaning grandparents to interfere in their grandson’s personal life. Oct. 1–3, 8 p.m. Oct. 4, 2 p.m. $10. www. townandgownplayers.org KIDSTUFF: Chapter Book Review (Madison County Library) Every Tuesday and Thursday elementary school-aged children meet in the lobby to read aloud and share thoughts about books. 4:30 p.m.

FREE! 706-795-5597 KIDSTUFF: Parent/Child Workshop (ACC Library, Storyroom) For children ages 1–3 and their caregivers. 10–11 a.m.

FREE! 706-613-3650 KIDSTUFF: Tween Pop Art Imitations (Madison County Library) Try splashing paint across a canvas like Jackson Pollock or paint a soup can like Andy Warhol. For ages 9–12. 4:30 p.m. FREE! 706795-5597 LECTURES & LIT.: “Animals & Religion” (UGA Campus, Miller Learning Center) Speak Out for

Species sponsors this lecture by Lorena Mucke on the relationship between religious faith and animal welfare. 7:30 p.m. FREE! www.uga. edu/sos LECTURES & LIT.: “How to Communicate with Tact and Professionalism” (Courtyard by Marriott) Two-day seminar on persuasive, clear and diplomatic communication. 9 a.m.–4 p.m. $299.

1-800-780-8469, www.careertrack. com LECTURES & LIT.: Crystal Huau (Borders Books & Music) Meet the creator of Grammar Jammar, the highly acclaimed educational DVD for children, and relax to the easy listening jazz of Dr. Ian Johnson. 7 p.m. FREE! 706-583-8647 LECTURES & LIT.: “Tibi: From Inspiration to Success” (UGA Chapel) Fashion designer and UGA alum Amy Smilovic discusses the creative process, current trends in fashion and success in the industry.

11 a.m. FREE! MEETINGS: Athens Art Association (Lyndon House Arts Center) Discussion about the Oct. 10 show at Buffalo’s. Light refreshments. 7–9 p.m. FREE! www.uga. edu/botgarden MEETINGS: Oconee Rivers Audubon Society (Sandy Creek Nature Center, ENSAT) Retired EPA aquatic biologist Paul Smith speaks on the importance of honey bees as pollinators of our food supply and discusses the health benefits of various hive products. 6 p.m. FREE! 706-613-9875 GAMES: Trivia (El Azteca) Every Thursday. Prizes! 8 p.m. 706-5492639

Friday 2 EVENTS: Whip It with the Roller Derby (Beechwood Stadium Cinemas) Join the Classic City Rollergirls for the premiere of Whip It, a film starring Ellen Page as a teen who joins a roller derby team. 7 p.m. www.classiccityrollergirls.com

EVENTS: Athens Coca-Cola Recycling Drive (Athens CocaCola, 650 Athena Drive) Athens Coca-Cola wants your old electronics, batteries and shoes! 8 a.m.–2 p.m. 706-613-3512 EVENTS: Lunch with the Dawgs (The Melting Point) This week’s speaker is UGA coach Joe Tereshinski. Ticket includes buffet lunch. 11:30 a.m. $8 (adv.) $10 (door) www.meltingpointathens.com EVENTS: Sock Hop (Buffalo’s Southwest Café) Do the twist, shag and other popular dances of the ‘50s and ‘60s. Wear your poodle skirt, saddle shoes, penny loafers or pedal pushers to win a prize. Every Friday.

7 p.m. FREE! 706-354-6655 EVENTS: The UGA Press Dirty Book Sale (UGA Tate Center) Oct. 1, 9 a.m. 4:30 p.m., Oct 2, 9 a.m.–3 p.m. www.ugapress.org ART: Open Studios and Art Clearance Sale (Chase Street Warehouses) Participating artists and businesses of the newly coined Railroad Arts District will open their studios to the public. Local artists will have low-priced works for sale.

Refreshments provided. 5–9 p.m.

FREE! www.railroadartsdistrict. blogspot.com ART: Opening Reception (Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation) For “Profess,” an exhibit featuring the work of Gainesville State College’s art faculty, and “Table d’ Art: Place Matters,” an exhibition of textile works by the Athens Fibercraft Guild.

6–9 p.m. FREE! www.ocaf.com ART: Opening Reception (White Tiger Gourmet Food & Chocolates) For an exhibition by local pottery collective Casa de Cultura. 7–9 p.m.

FREE! www.casacultura.info/ ART: Print Sale (Lamar Dodd School of Art) For UGA’s Printmaking Student Association. Open house Oct. 1. 9–5 p.m. FREE! www.art. uga.edu PERFORMANCE: UGA Recital (UGA Ramsey Concert Hall) Katherine Belvin, clarinet. 6 p.m.

FREE! www.music.uga.edu THEATRE: Cookie Dough’s Not Fattening… till you bake it!

(Morton Theatre) Presented by Athens Creative Theatre. See Theatre Oct. 1. Oct. 1–3, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 4, 3 p.m. $15 (adults), $12 (seniors, students and children). 706-613-3771, www.mortontheatretix.com THEATRE: Our Lady of 121st Street (Cellar Theatre) A University Theatre Department Production. See Sept. 29 Theatre. Sept. 29–30, Oct. 1–2, 8 p.m., Oct. 4, 2:30 p.m. $15. www.drama.uga.edu, 706-542-2838 THEATRE: Over the River and Through the Woods (Athens Community Theatre) A Town & Gown Players production. See Theatre Oct. 1. Oct. 1–3, 8 p.m. Oct. 4, 2 p.m. $10. www.townandgownplayers.org OUTDOORS: Courteous Mass (Athens City Hall) A casualpace bike ride around town with BikeAthens. Bring a helmet and water. 6 p.m. FREE! www.bikeathens. com LECTURES & LIT.: “How to Communicate with Tact and Professionalism” (Courtyard

by Marriott) 9 a.m.–4 p.m. $299.

1-800-780-8469, www.careertrack. com 9 a.m.–4 p.m. $299. 1-800780-8469, www.careertrack.com MEETINGS: Drinking Liberally (Little Kings Shuffle Club) Informal, inclusive and progressive social group that gives left-leaning individuals a chance to talk politics.

First and third Friday of every month. 6:30 p.m. athens@drinkingliberally.org MEETINGS: Happy Hoop Hour (Canopy Studio) Hooping fun with

friends. Unwind from the week and chat while practicing your hoopdance skills. No formal instruction is provided. 7–8 p.m. $5. www.athenshoopdance.wordpress.com

Saturday 3 EVENTS: Athens Farmers’ Market (Bishop Park) Buy fresh, locally grown organic produce, locally crafted goods and freshly baked breads. Every Saturday. 8 a.m.–12 p.m. athensfarmersmarket.net EVENTS: Athens Pagan Pride Day Fundraiser (Body, Mind & Spirit Ministries) Tarot readers, massage, local merchants, refreshments, teachers and free stuff! 9 a.m.–3 p.m. FREE! 706-351-6024, www. athenspaganpride.org EVENTS: Saturday Stroll (Oconee County Courthouse) Pat Priest, a producer and writer for public radio and an organizer of the “Stroll” series, leads an unusual walking tour this week: a “sound walk,” in which participants focus on the aural environment around them. 9 a.m. $5. www.oconeedemocrats.org ART: Annual Fall Sale (R.Wood Studio) Get a free beauty book with any purchase at this one-day ceramics sale. 9 a.m.–4 p.m. www. rwoodstudio.com THEATRE: Cookie Dough’s Not Fattening… till you bake it!

(Morton Theatre) Presented by Athens Creative Theatre. See Theatre Oct. 1. Oct. 1–3, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 4, 3 p.m. $15 (adults), $12 (seniors, students and children). 706-613-3771, www.mortontheatretix.com THEATRE: Over the River and Through the Woods (Athens Community Theatre) A Town & Gown Players production. See Theatre Oct. 1. Oct. 1–3, 8 p.m. Oct. 4, 2 p.m. $10. www.townandgownplayers.org OUTDOORS: Full Moon Canoe Ride (Sandy Creek Park) Paddle a canoe or kayak on Lake Chapman guided by the full moon. Participants may use one of the park’s canoes/ kayaks or bring their own. Ages 12 & up. Must pre-register. 7–9 p.m. $5, $3 (with own canoe/kayak). 706613-3631 OUTDOORS: Naturalist Walk (Sandy Creek Nature Center) Join SCNC staff for a walk around the property. Bring a camera or binoculars. All ages; children under 13 must be accompanied by an adult.

Call to register. 10 a.m. FREE! 706613-3615 LECTURES & LIT.: Christopher McDougall (Half Moon Oufitters) A meet and greet with former war correspondent for the Associated Press, contributing editor for Men’s Health and author of the bestseller Born to Run. 10 a.m.–12 p.m. FREE! www. halfmoonoutfitters.com

Sunday 4 PERFORMANCE: Hot 8 Brass Band (UGA Hodgson Hall) The members of New Orleans’ Hot 8 Brass Band perform with a funk and energy that epitomizes the sound of their home town. Half-price for UGA students. 3 p.m. $19–$24. 706-5424400, www.uga.edu/pac* THEATRE: Cookie Dough’s Not Fattening… till you bake it!

(Morton Theatre) Presented by Athens Creative Theatre. See Theatre Oct. 1. Oct. 1–3, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 4, 3 p.m. $15 (adults), $12 (seniors, students and children). 706-613-3771, www.mortontheatretix.com* THEATRE: Our Lady of 121st Street (Cellar Theatre) A University Theatre Department Production. See

Sept. 29 Theatre. Sept. 29–30, Oct. 1–2, 8 p.m., Oct. 4, 2:30 p.m. $15. www.drama.uga.edu, 706-542-2838 THEATRE: Over the River and Through the Woods (Athens Community Theatre) A Town & Gown Players production. See Theatre Oct. 1. Oct. 1–3, 8 p.m. Oct. 4, 2 p.m. $10. www.townandgownplayers.org OUTDOORS: Full Moon Canoe Ride (Sandy Creek Park) 7–9 p.m. $5, $3 (with own canoe/kayak). 706613-3631 LECTURES & LIT.: Children’s Authors/Illustrators Q&A (Borders Books & Music) Robyn Hood Black, Margo Candelario and Gene Fehler are just a few of the highly acclaimed regional children’s authors/illustrators holding a panel discussion and Q&A about their books. Author Amanda Rochwick speaks at 3 p.m. 1 p.m. FREE! 706583-8647 MEETINGS: Raw Food Meetup (Earth Fare) Share a raw dish and ideas! 1 p.m. FREE! www.meetup. com/athensrawfoodsforlife/ GAMES: Full-Contact Trivia (Allen’s Bar & Grill) Sports-themed rules with diverse categories. 9 p.m.

FREE! www.allensbarandgrill.com GAMES: Team Trivia (Wild Wing Café) Every Sunday. 9 p.m. FREE! www.wildwingcafe.com

GA vs. LSU Weekend!

Just outside of Athens!

Monday 5 EVENTS: ANVIL! DVD premiere (40 Watt Club) ANVIL! The Story of Anvil chronicles the tales of a hard luck heavy metal band. Imagine if Spinal Tap were a doc… 9 p.m.

FREE! www.40watt.com PERFORMANCE: UGA Recital (UGA Ramsey Concert Hall) José Ruiz Elcoro, piano. 8 p.m. FREE! www.music.uga.edu OUTDOORS: Bike Ride (Main Street Yarns) A leisurely ride to Bishop (8ish miles) and back. Every Monday.

6:15 p.m. FREE! 706-769-5531 KIDSTUFF: Bedtime Stories (ACC Library) Every Monday. 7 p.m. FREE! 706-613-3650 LECTURES & LIT.: Lunch and Learn (Lyndon House Arts Center) Professor at UGA’s Lamar Dodd School of Art, Judith McWillie, presents “Cuba Si: Affinities Between the Vernacular Arts of Cuba and the American South.” Bring your lunch.

12–1 p.m. FREE! 706-542-4662 MEETINGS: Zen Meditation and Book Discussion (Email for Location) The Key by Cheri Huber.

Meets every Monday. 7:15 p.m.

FREE! meditateathens@gmail.com GAMES: Darts (Broad Street Bar and Grill) Blind Draw Darts Tournament.

Every Monday. 10 p.m. 706-5485187 GAMES: Team Trivia (Beef O’ Brady’s) Get a team together and test your knowledge. Every Monday!

8:30 p.m. FREE! 706-850-1916 GAMES: Texas Hold ‘Em (Fat Daddy’s) Every Monday. 6 & 9 p.m.

706-353-0241.

GAMES: Trivia (Fat Daddy’s) Every Monday with Stan. 9 p.m. 706-3530241.

GAMES: Trivia (Transmetropolitan) General knowledge trivia. Every Monday. 8–10 p.m. FREE! 706613-8773 GAMES: Tune Trivia (Alibi) Test your knowledge of music trivia. Hosted

by Bobby Nettles. 9 p.m. FREE! 706549-1010

Tuesday 6

Sponsored by:

WED. SEPT. 30 at LOCO’S on HARRIS ST. in the MOOSE YARD

JASON COLEY plays 7-9pm.

Rock Dog Entertainment’s Live at the Plantation Pre-party.

Last chance for discounted tickets for Live at the Plantation.

Friday, October 23 at 8 p.m.

Call, click or stop by the Box Ofce 706.357.4444 • www.ClassicCenter.com 300 N. Thomas St. • Downtown Athens

ea e

Productions in the Broadway Entertainment Series are made possible by our sponsors:

KIDSTUFF: Chapter Book Review (Madison County Library) Every k continued on next page

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THE CALENDAR! WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2 presented by

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6

Tuesday, Oct. 6 continued from p. 25

Tuesday and Thursday elementary school-aged children meet in the lobby to read aloud and share thoughts about books. 4:30 p.m.

FREE! 706-795-5597 KIDSTUFF: Children’s Storytime (ACC Library) For children ages 18 months to 5 years. Tuesdays, 9:30 a.m., Wednesdays, 10:30 a.m. FREE! 706-613-3650 KIDSTUFF: Read to Rover (ACC Library) Beginning readers in grades 1–4 read aloud to an aid dog. Trainer always present. 3:30–4:30 p.m.

FREE! 706-613-3650 MEETINGS: Orgullo Hispano (UGA Campus, Miller Learning Center) Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by taking part in this discussion of the journeys of highly honored Latino men and women. Open to all.

8 p.m. FREE! www.lacsi.uga.edu MEETINGS: The Fringe Collective (Fringe Collective Artistic Studios, 159 Jackson St.) First monthly meeting of local photographers’ group. Ages 18 and up welcome. 7 p.m. FREE! 706-540-2727 GAMES: Locos Trivia (Locos Grill & Pub) All three Athens locations of Locos Grill and Pub (Westside, Eastside and Harris St.) feature trivia night every Tuesday. 8:30 p.m.

FREE! www.locosgrill.com

Wednesday 7 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9

COMING SOON

KIDSTUFF: Children’s Storytime (ACC Library) For children ages 18 months to 5 years. Tuesdays, 9:30 a.m., Wednesdays, 10:30 a.m. FREE! 706-613-3650 KIDSTUFF: Wildcard Wednesday for Teens (ACC Library) Up next: Halloween Door Hangers. Make a plush pumpkin, bat or skeleton to hang from your doorknob. Ages 11–18. Space is limited. 4 p.m.

FREE! 706-613-3650 GAMES: Movie Trivia Night (Flicker Theatre & Bar) Sign up at 8 p.m. Trivia starts at 8:30 p.m. FREE! www.myspace.com/flickerbar GAMES: Sports Trivia (Beef O’ Brady’s) Every Wednesday. 8:30 p.m.

FREE! 706-850-1916 GAMES: Trivia (Willy’s Mexicana Grill) Every Wednesday. 8–10 p.m.

FREE! 706-548-1920 GAMES: Trivia (Blind Pig Tavern) 9:30 p.m. 706-548-3442 GAMES: Trivia Wars (283 Bar) Chris Creech hosts general knowledge trivia with different themes each week. Check the Facebook group “Trivia Wars!” for weekly updates and online question of the week.

8:30 p.m. (sign up) 9 p.m. (game starts). FREE! 706-208-1283 * Advance Tickets Available

Down the Line KIDSTUFF: Parent/Child Workshop 10/8 (ACC Library, Storyroom) For children ages 1–3 and their caregivers. 10–11 a.m.

FREE! 706-613-3650 LECTURES & LIT.: “How Does a Shadow Shine?” 10/8 (Morton Theatre) The Georgia Review hosts a reading from Pulitzer Prize winner and former U.S. poet laureate Rita Dove. 7 p.m. FREE! www.thegeorgiareview.com THEATRE: Junie B. Jones 10/8 (The Classic Center) First grade is tough. Take it from Junie B. Jones, the spunky protagonist of this children’s musical. Based on the books by Barbara Park. 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. 706-357-4444, www. classiccenter.com*

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FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

THEATRE: Vampire Lesbians of Sodom and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long Blog 10/8 (Athens Community Theatre) Presented

by Town & Gown Players and the Boybutante AIDS Foundation. Oct. 8–9, 8 p.m. Oct. 10, 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. Oct. 11, 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. $8–$12. www.townandgownplayers.org EVENTS: Grace’s Birthday Party 10/11 (Ashford Manor, Watkinsville) Luau-themed benefit for UGA Vet Hospital and local animal advocacy groups. Featuring costumes, art, games, picnic supper, adoptions and more. Guests are encouraged to donate an unopened bag of dog food for rescue groups. 2–5 p.m. $5 (adults), FREE! (dogs). www.gracesbirthday.com THEATRE: The Grapes of Wrath 10/13 (Seney-Stovall Chapel) The University Theatre presents Steinbeck’s Dust Bowl classic. Oct. 13–18, 8 p.m. Oct. 18, 2:30 p.m. $10, $7 (students and seniors). 706542-2838, www.drama.uga.edu EVENTS: Girls’ Rock Camp Benefit Dinner 10/14 (Earth Fare) Chef Michael Perkins prepares an Italian dinner accompanied by a five wine flight. Vegetarian meal upon request. Space is limited; call to reserve your spot. 6:30 p.m. $40, tickets@girlsrockathens.org, www. girlsrockathens.org

EVENTS: Fall Classic Century Bike Ride and Fall Festival 10/17 (Terrapin Beer Co.) Presented

by Habitat for Humanity, Jittery Joe’s and Terrapin Brewery, the second annual Fall Classic Century ride will wind through scenic Oconee County.

10 a.m.–2 p.m. 706-208-1001, www.active.com KIDSTUFF: “If You Were a Parrot” 10/17 (ACC Library, Storyroom) Meet live parrots, learn about these intelligent creatures and do a craft. For ages 5 to 8 years. Call to register. 10 a.m. FREE! 706-6133650, www.koppskritters.com PERFORMANCE: Robert Belinic 10/17 (UGA Hodgson Hall) Renowned Croatian guitarist performs. 8 p.m. $18. www.uga.edu/ pac* PERFORMANCE: Taikoza 10/18 (UGA Hodgson Hall) Internationally acclaimed Japanese dance and drum ensemble featuring a 6-foot long ancestral Taiko drum. 3 p.m. $20–$25.

706-542-4400, www.uga.edu/pac* EVENTS: The Art of: Music 10/20 (Stan Mullins’ Studio) The Georgia Museum of Art presents Grammy Award-winner Art Rosenbaum in this old time and bluegrass music performance. Part of GMOA’s “The Art of…” series. Call to RSVP. 6–8 p.m. $20. 706-542-0830, www.uga. edu/gamuseum LECTURES & LIT.: Michael Fried 10/20 (Lamar Dodd School of Art, Rm S151) The poet, art historian and art and literary critic speaks as part

of the Visiting Artist/Scholar Series.

5:30 p.m. FREE! www.art.uga.edu EVENTS: UGA Observatory Open House 10/23 (UGA Observatory) The 24-inch telescope is open for public viewing on the roof of the UGA physics building. 8 p.m. FREE! 706-542-2870 EVENTS: Pagan Pride Day 10/24 (Bishop Park) Performers of magic, magical performers, vendors of wonders, teachers of wisdom and just plain folks are welcome to celebrate at this annual day of education, activism, charity and community. 10 a.m.–5 p.m. FREE! http://athenspaganpride.org EVENTS: REEL Rock Film Tour 10/24 (Active Climbing) This rock climbing film tour comes to Georgia for the first time. 5 p.m. $15 (adv.), $20 (door). www.halfmoonoutfitters. com, www.activeclimbing.com PERFORMANCE: Lynn Harrell 10/24 (UGA Hodgson Hall) Awardwinning cellist performs as a part of UGA Performing Arts Center’s Music Series II. 8 p.m. $23–$28. 706-5424400, www.uga.edu/pac* EVENTS: Fall Wine Fest 10/25 (Ashford Manor) Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation fundraiser features food/wine tasting from local and regional vineyards and restaurants and a silent art auction. 3–6 p.m. $30 (advance), $35. 706-769-4565, www.ocaf.com* PERFORMANCE: Atlanta Symphony Orchestra 11/5 (UGA Hodgson Hall) Conductor Robert

Friday, October 2

B.B. King, Rachel Cantu Classic Center The story of blues guitarist, songwriter and music legend B.B. King is, in many ways, a story of the American 20th century. Born in 1925, King saw most of it and lived through its harshest times. He mastered the early “chitlin’ circuit” (i.e., the clubs and juke joints where black artists could perform), recorded with Sun Records’ Sam Phillips, had a large string of hit records in the 1950s, was an inductee of the Blues Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, released over B.B. King 50 LPs, and received six honorary doctorate degrees from schools such as Yale, Brown and the Berklee College of Music.

B.B. King, a shortened version of Blues Boy King, has toured extensively for over 50 years. Reaching a peak in 1956 with 342 shows in a calendar year, he currently plays around 250.

That’s the short version of the man’s résumé, and résumés never tell the whole story. And if think you’ve never heard B.B. King, you have. His reach into the depths of American culture is so thorough that it is ever present and, therefore, largely unnoticeable. His expressive guitar solos, matched with his simultaneously mournful and celebratory vocals, prefigured not only a huge portion of classic R&B but also every single instance of blues-based hard rock and heavy metal.

It’s a good bet that most of us have experienced King live via his appearances on television specials and awards programs. That’s fine as an introduction, but it’s going to be a whole lot more satisfying seeing him in person. Now 84 years old, King continues his legacy into the 21st century. His musical influence is deeply ingrained in our cultural fabric and is now so widespread as to be deemed essential. [Gordon Lamb]

Spano conducts Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 and Stravinsky’s Nightingale. 8 p.m. $37–42. 706542-4400, www.uga.edu/pac* EVENTS: Annual Christmas Tour of Homes 12/5 (Monroe) Tour an eclectic mix of homes throughout Monroe. Proceeds benefit the Monroe Art Guild. 12–6 p.m. $10 (advance), $15 (day of). 770-2078937, www.monroeartguild.org* * Advance Tickets Available

Live Music Tuesday 29 40 Watt Club 9 p.m. $10 (adv.). www.40watt.com THE FELICE BROTHERS The Felice Brothers join the canon of young men playing old-timey music.

Tonight, they bring their bluesy, whiskey-soaked sound to the 40 Watt.

TAYLOR HOLLINGSWORTH Snarling Hollingsworth’s distinctive vocals lead his three-piece through bluesy garage rock taking cues from The Replacements, Neil Young and the Stones along the way.

Alibi 9 p.m. FREE! 706-549-1010 KLASSIC KARAOKE DANCE PARTY Every Tuesday.

Caledonia Lounge 10 p.m. $5 (21+), $7 (18+). www.caledonialounge.com OVO Dark, twisted and evil metal from across Europe that sounds like Gollum is on lead vocals.

SUBARACHNOID SPACE Progressive post-rock instrumentals from Portland.

Ciné Barcafé 9 p.m. $6. www.athenscine.com IGE_TIMER Duo with toy hacker Simon Berz from Zurich. The project is specially designed for sonic art/ visual art spaces.

KLAUS JANEK/ KILLICK DUO Klaus was one of the early Solponticello artists and hasn’t played in Athens since 2000. He’ll be joined by celebrated local experimental artist Killick.

MAPS AND TRANSIT Featuring Kyle Dawkins of Georgia Guitar Quartet, this local instrumental duo creates diverse soundscapes using a wide range of instrumentation—from more traditional guitar and mandolin to experimental sounds made by radios or kitchen implements.

POCKETFUL OF CLAPTONITE Pulling the power trio into a wide open stream of consciousness, this new local group features Darrin Cook on bass, Jamie DeRevere on drums (the same rhythm section as Breathlanes) and acclaimed experimental artist Killick on guitar.

Farm 255 10 p.m. FREE! www.farm255.com CARL LINDBERG Jazz bassist Carl Lindberg (Grogus, Squat, Kenosha Kid, etc.) performs standards, originals and some surprising tunes from divergent styles.

Fat Daddy’s 10 p.m. FREE! 706-353-0241 KARAOKE Huge karaoke dance party hosted by Lynn every Tuesday.

The Globe The Globe turns 20! 8 p.m. FREE! 706353-4721 FLASH TO BANG TIME Local new wave group finds a marriage between fun and somber, like a stormy

beach party. Features Lynda Stipe (Oh-OK, Hetch Hetchy), Charles Greenleaf, Kevin Sims, Matt Tamesin and Ritchie Williams.

ART ROSENBAUM Traditional American folk music from a local Grammy winner and acclaimed archivist.

The Melting Point 7 p.m. $3. www.meltingpointathens. com* THE NORTH GEORGIA BLUEGRASS BAND An eclectic blend of traditional and contemporary acoustic music. Part of Melting Point’s weekly bluegrass series, the Terrapin Tuesday Bluegrass Series.

New Earth Music Hall 10 p.m. www.newearthmusichall.com MEAN MIC TUESDAYS Hosted by celebrated local rapper Elite tha Showstoppa and featuring DJ Tune, this weekly hip-hop series organized by Tommy Valentine will host local up-and-coming rappers, freestyle battlers, breakdancers, DJs and beatmakers. This week features Kayez and Unified Soul Theory.

Square One Fish Co. 8 p.m. FREE! www.squareonefishco. com NORMALTOWN FLYERS This Athens roots-rock institution plays a set of good-time rock and roll with a Southern leaning.

Tasty World Uptown 10 p.m. $5. www.myspace.com/tastyworlduptown LONA The flagship band for local songwriter, guitarist and drummer Clay Leverett (The Chasers, Now It’s Overhead, Bright Eyes). The band sends out more than a little country and more than enough gutsy, midtempo rock.

THE LOVELY FEATHERS Duo from Montreal featuring reverb-heavy melodic indie pop that’s as pretty as it is danceable.

RURAL ALBERTA ADVANTAGE Canadian indie pop for fans of artists like Ben Kweller and Spoon.

Wild Wing Café 10 p.m. FREE! www.wildwingcafe.com KARAOKE Every Tuesday night at the downtown chain’s upstairs space.

Wednesday 30 40 Watt Club 9 p.m. $6 (21+), $8 (18+). www.40watt. com BAMBARA Local power trio has a sound that draws from both the atmospherics of bands like Slowdive and the ferocity of bands like Fugazi.

COLOUR REVOLT Top-notch indie band from Mississippi whose dark, brooding yet melodic full-length Plunder, Beg and Curse was one of our favorite releases of 2008.

TWIN TIGERS Loud and lush at the same time, this local rock band combines jarring guitar riffs with sweeping melodies and heavy percussion.

Caledonia Lounge 10 p.m. $5 (21+), $7 (18+). www.caledonialounge.com GOLDENROD Smooth, funky and cool, with lots of psychedelic atmosphere and electronic flourishes.

Neo-soul meets world beat.

MARSHMALLOW COAST Local group that once featured smooth and airy, swirly indie-pop recently turned up the funk on Phreak Phantasy.

SIMPLE TEEK Young local hip-hop artist with a positive message. Her beats are programmed by Andy Gonzales (Marshmallow Coast).

FREE!

MONDAY, OCTOBER 5

MOVIE NIGHT DVD PREMIER OF

ANVIL

Raffle for ANVIL DVDs, CDs and Autographed Albums!

doors open at 9pm • movie at 9:30pm

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8 285 W. Washington St. Athens, GA • Call 706-549-7871 for Show Updates

CHEAP DRINK SPECIALS EVERY NIGHT BEFORE 11PM • 18 + UP

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30

COLOUR REVOLT

THE HEAVY PETS

THE MANTRAS • LAISSEZ FAIRE doors open at 9pm • ten dollars

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9

TWIN TIGERS • BAMBARA doors open at 9pm • six dollars EARLY SHOW!

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1

GEORGIA THEATRE PRESENTS

RANDY ROGERS BAND

GEORGIA THEATRE PRESENTS

BASSNECTAR DJ VADIM

doors open at 9pm twenty one dollars and fifty cents adv.*

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10

SAM HUNT

doors open at 8pm • ten dollars adv.* EARLY SHOW!

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2

FREE CD with

TICKET!

STAT E R AD IO

DO IT TO JULIA

doors open at 8pm • fifteen dollars adv.*

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3

DAN DEACON

FAUST CIRCULATORY SYSTEM

doors open at 9pm • ten dollars adv.*

MONDAY, OCTOBER 12

RAIN MACHINE

(KYP MALONE from TV ON THE RADIO)

SHARON VAN ETTEN doors open at 9pm • twelve dollars adv.** All Shows 18 and up • + $2 for Under 21 * Advance Tix Available at Schoolkids Records ** Advance Tix Sold at http://www.40watt.com

WAVVES • GANGLIANS NUCLEAR POWER PANTS

doors open at 9pm • twelve dollars adv.

normaltown

EXCLUSIVE HOME OF THE

PBR 24oz CAN

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SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 · FLAGPOLE.COM

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Wednesday, Sep. 30 continued from p. 27

Fat Daddy’s 10 p.m.–1 a.m. FREE! 706-353-0241 OPEN MIC Every Wednesday featuring Avery Dylan.

Gnat’s Landing 6 p.m. FREE! 706-850-5858 DAVID PRINCE This Athens staple and one-time member of The Jesters plays your favorite soul, rock and R&B oldies.

Go Bar 10 p.m. www.myspace.com/gobar ABBANNA LEBON Hilariously bratty and overtly perverted lo-fi swingpunk, like Yeah Yeah Yeahs meets the Cramps. Featuring members of Fashion Knee High and Daffodil.

DANIEL FRANCIS DOYLE Austin experimentalist with vocals that recall Jesus Lizard, Doyle constructs fractured, silly guitar lines through a Line6 delay and then plays drums along while triggering loops with his left foot. High speed and high energy.

MEMORY GOSPEL DANCERS Not actually dancers, but rather a project featuring, tonight, Luke Fields and Jeff Tobias of We Vs. the Shark along with Thom Strickland of Smoke Dog performing “free-drone.”

Harry Bissett’s Bayou Grill 8 p.m. FREE! www.harrybissetts.net THE COMMON PEOPLE BAND Local group pays tribute to Motown’s greatest hits.

Locos Grill & Pub 6:30 p.m. FREE! 706-549-7700 (Timothy Rd.) NAPOLEON SOLO The multitasking one-man rock band handles it all.

7–9 p.m. FREE! www.rockdogentertainment.com (Harris Street Location) JASON COLEY Young Georgia native performs moving country music.

Live at the Plantation pre-party!

Magnolia’s at Tasty World Uptown 6–8 p.m. FREE! www.magnoliasbar. com LARA With Georgia roots and a California spirit, Lara sings organic piano ballads in the vein of Sarah McLachlan.

The Melting Point 9 p.m. $5. www.meltingpointathens. com LINGO Funky, soulful jam band from Marietta that recorded its debut album with John Keane (R.E.M., Widespread Panic) here in town.

SUMILAN Local progressive jam rockers.

The Office Lounge 8:30 p.m. FREE! 706-549-0840 KARAOKE Every Wednesday (and sometimes Friday!) with Stan.

Rye Bar 10 p.m. FREE! www.myspace.com/ ryebarathens JOHN WILLIAM GORDON Experimental jazz with fast-fingered guitar playing.

HALF DOZEN BRASS BAND Highly praised local ensemble, and Athens’ only New Orleans-style brass band, claims Rebirth, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Youngblood Brass Band as influences.

Tasty World Uptown 10 p.m. $5. www.myspace.com/tastyworlduptown LEADING EDGE The local band formerly known as Mudra has gotten a bit more upbeat since the name change, channeling alternative rock

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and pop sounds from across the decades.

NOBLE THIEVES Local folk-rock duo with an eclectic multi-instrumental approach.

THE RON JONSONS Brand new progressive rock band that incorporates unique Latin and jazz influences.

Thursday 1 40 Watt Club Georgia Theatre Presents. 8 p.m. $10 (adv.). www.40watt.com SAM HUNT Romantic, acoustic country singer-songwriter from Nashville.

RANDY ROGERS BAND Buzzworthy country act with a gritty, Southern rock approach. This band recently appeared on both Letterman and Leno and scored an ACM nomination among other accolades.

Alibi Thursdays, FREE! 706-549-1010 OPEN MIC/JAM Hosted by Tracy Carroll and Matt Joiner of The Rattlers. Open to all musicians.

Caledonia Lounge 10 p.m. $5 (21+), $7 (18+). www.caledonialounge.com ARIZONA Psychedelic soul fusion from NYC by way of Asheville.

RADIOLUCENT Local band Radiolucent falls somewhere between bluesy Southern rock and the poppier side of alt-country.

Club Chrome 9 p.m. FREE! 706-543-9009 KARAOKE Every Thursday night hosted by Blueberry Bill.

Farm 255 9 p.m. & 11 p.m. FREE! www.farm255. com KINKY WAIKIKI Featuring members of Kenosha Kid, Birds+Wire, Big C and the Ringers, Vigilantes of Love and Pride Parade, this group plays modern arrangements of traditional Hawaiian music, with a little Western swing thrown into the mix.

Flicker Theatre & Bar 8:30 p.m. $5. www.myspace.com/ flickerbar Pet Volcano Rock band featuring guitarist/vocalist Spencer Frye, bassist Tommy Jones, keyboardist Bart King and percussionist Eddie Glikin.

Go Bar 10 p.m. www.myspace.com/gobar “DR. FRED’S KARAOKE” Hosted by karaoke fanatic John “Dr. Fred” Bowers, every Thursday, following the live music.

Little Kings Shuffle Club 10 p.m. $7. www.myspace.com/littlekingsshuffleclub JON AUER Co-founder of The Posies and recent member of the rejuvenated Big Star goes solo.

LINDA AND RUTHIE The vocalist and guitarist from renowned Atlanta band Magnapop perform as a duo.

Madison-Morgan Cultural Center 8 p.m. $35 (members), $50 (nonmembers), $25 (students). www.mmccarts.org* PUNCH BROTHERS Chris Thile of Nickel Creek combines jazz, bluegrass and classical music.

The Max Canada 10 p.m. FREE! 706-254-3392 ASHUTTO MIRRA This alternative rock quartet features members of alterna-soul group The Revival.

FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

The Melting Point 8:30 p.m. $8 (adv.), $10 (door). www. meltingpointathens.com* SAM & RUBY Nashville-based duo Sam & Ruby blends R&B, folk and pop into a warm, inviting sound.

Ruby Amanfu has a powerful voice that’s loaded with gospel soul.

YOUNG GOODMAN BROWN North Georgia folk troubadour with infinitely catchy songs.

Roadhouse 11 p.m. 706-613-2324 CARLA LEFEVER AND THE RAYS LeFever and her band play groovable dance tunes, sweet pop, classic rock and originals.

Square One Fish Co. 8 p.m. FREE! www.squareonefishco. com LEFTY WILLIAMS Although this artist was born without a right hand, that didn’t stop him from playing guitar as early as age four. Williams later went on to graduate with honors from the Atlanta Institute of Music. His album Snake Oil was released in July and produced by John Keane.

Terrapin Beer Co. 5:30 p.m. www.terrapinbeer.com DAVE HOWARD Acoustic Americana sounds.

Top Dawg Activity Bar & Nightclub 10 p.m. 706-870-6563 DJ RICH ROCK Weekly hip-hop dance party.

Wild Wing Café 9 p.m. FREE! www.wildwingcafe.com JUSTIN BROGDON Rock vet Justin Brogdon puts a lot of Southern soul into his epic songs, drawing from artists like The Black Crowes and Tom Petty. His all-American sound owes a lot to his all-star backing band.

WUOG 90.5FM 8 p.m. FREE! www.wuog.org “LIVE IN THE LOBBY!” Soapbar will perform on the college radio station’s twice weekly program. Listen over the air or drop by the station to watch!

Friday 2 40 Watt Club 8 p.m. $15 (adv). www.40watt.com DO IT TO JULIA Brooding folk rock band from the mountains of North Carolina. The group cites Dave Matthews, Phish and Bright Eyes as influences.

STATE RADIO Fronted by Chad Urmston (formerly of folk/rock band Dispatch), State Radio is a Warped Tour fave rock crew whose most recent album is Let It Go. Alibi 9 p.m. FREE! 706-549-1010 HAMMERSTRAT Blues-heavy Southern rock based in Statham.

Formerly known as The Rustlers.

Allen’s Bar & Grill 9 p.m. FREE! www.allensbarandgrill. com DAMIAN CHURCHWELL Atlanta songwriter whose soothingly mellow acoustic rock is tricked out with electro bells and whistles.

Caledonia Lounge 10 p.m. $5 (21+), $7 (18+). www.caledonialounge.com CHRISSAKES Local hardcore band with haunting, brooding guitar riffs and explosive, screaming vocals.

ROYAL THUNDER Rifftastic rock band from Atlanta.

Saturday, October 3

Frank Hamilton

THE CALENDAR!

Dan Deacon, Wavves, Ganglians, Nuclear Power Pants 40 Watt Club A man simply named Dr. Pepper once put it best: “Man, it’s hard. I don’t know where to start or where to begin.” Where to begin, indeed: Nuclear Power Pants are beyond notable for myriad reasons. Let us count the ways: speaking personally, when I was first exposed to them at the now-defunct Tight Pockets in 2005, I was not expecting to witness the spectacle of a gaggle of blacklight-lit green monster heads fronted by Siamese twin singers—psych, it was two dudes wearing one huge suit. On top of that, that they would actually be good—amazing, truthfully— Nuclear Power Pants was as astonishing as it was unlikely. Trashy, heavy garage rock with constant feedback and swirling synths and, well, pretty much everything I like.

After a hiatus, Nuclear Power Pants are resurgent. They have joined forces with the Wham City freaks up there in Baltimore, and they have a new record called Wicked East the Warrior. I got up with keyboardist Chester Gwazda for the new scoop: “We’ve been working real hard on our costumes and our very vague mythology and things like that.

Now, we still have the same heads, but we have nice bright blue suits. We have three female singers who have librarian outfits, and it’s not a two-headed lead singer [anymore], at some point they split. The ‘Total Man’ guy who’s the lead singer, they split apart and now they’re two lead singers who wear similar fur-lined costumes. No longer the Siamese twin lead singer, they’ve split. That’s a big difference. Now it’s two dudes who used to be together, so they still have the emotional attachment, they still wear the same clothes because it’s what they’re used to.” Okay, what? I followed up with singer R.M. O’Brien for more on this “mythology,” and he wrote back something even more esoteric that can only be read online at Flagpole’s music blog, HomeDrone. In the meantime, miss this band at your own peril. [Jeff Tobias]

SAVAGISTS New local band featuring members of The Dumps, Hot Breath and Pastor of Muppets.

SUBRIG DESTROYER Heavy bass and drum two-piece that sounds like a mix of Floor and Om. The Classic Center 8 p.m. $36–$66. www.classiccenter. com* B.B. KING Guitar legend whose distinctive string bends and vibrato have influenced a generation of musicians. See Calendar Pick on p. 26.

RACHAEL CANTU Indie pop and rock singer-songwriter and former frontwoman of indie rock band Quite Satellite.

Club Chrome 9 p.m. $5 (guys), FREE! (ladies). 706543-9009 THE R.I.B.S. With energetic Southern and classic rock originals and covers, this band hopes to “inspire redneck behavior.”

Farm 255 11 p.m. FREE! www.farm255.com FUNK MOB Get funky with this New Orleans crew in town for the LSU game.

Fat Daddy’s 9 p.m. FREE! 706-353-0241 ELITE THA SHOWSTOPPA Gravelvoiced rapper Elite tha Showstoppa won fans last year with his video “Liquor.” His last mixtape A Hater’s Motivation is packed with upbeat party tunes.

SCARLET STITCH A solid blend of Southern, stadium, metal and grunge rock. The band formerly known as Soul Shaker packs a hefty musical punch of covers and originals.

The Globe 10:30 p.m. $5. 706-353-4721 MELVIN MATHURIN JAZZ QUARTET Essential and original jazz compositions.

Gnat’s Landing 6 p.m. FREE! www.gnatslanding.net KINKY WAIKIKI Featuring members of Kenosha Kid, Birds+Wire, Big C and the Ringers, Vigilantes of Love and Pride Parade, this group plays modern arrangements of traditional Hawaiian music, with a little Western swing thrown into the mix.

Go Bar 10 p.m. www.myspace.com/gobar ABANDON THE EARTH MISSION Josh McKay (ex-Macha) taking over lead vocals backed by Winston Parker and Lawson Grice (Iron Hero). The band has gone in a more ambient and lush direction, driven by vibrapone, dulcimer and beats.

STRIPED SOCKS AND GRAVE ROBBERS Local DJs Kellen and Winston spin electronic mash-ups and dance music.

Harry Bissett’s Bayou Grill 8 p.m. FREE! www.harrybissetts.net RACHEL O’NEAL Local singer/ songwriter formerly of Truth in

Advertising and Moonlight Sol. In addition to emotional acoustic originals, O’Neal will perform a range of indie, classic rock and folk covers.

Little Kings Shuffle Club 8 p.m. FREE! 706-369-3144 KARAOKE Dr. Fred’s famous karaoke returns.

The Melting Point 8:30 p.m. $10 (adv.), $13 (door). www. meltingpointathens.com* RACK OF SPAM This regional eightpiece group got its start here in Athens in 1981; with more than two decades in the business, the group’s Detroit-style R&B and blue-eyed soul still sounds powerful.

New Earth Music Hall 8 p.m. $10. www.newearthmusichall. com RANDOM RABBIT Dense, psychedelic trance from Atlanta with a flair for improvisation.

T8R(TOT) Local beatmaster mixes trippy electronic creations featuring dubstep, drum ‘n’ bass and funk.

TWO FRESH Electronic hip-hop jazz.

The Office Lounge 8:30 p.m. FREE! 706-549-0840 KARAOKE Every Wednesday (and sometimes Friday!) with Stan.

Rye Bar 10 p.m. FREE! www.myspace.com/ ryebarathens THE HUMMS Local act plays what’s been described as “Happy Hippie

Horror Rock.” Imagine the sunny side of ‘60s garage rock tainted lyrically by mischievousness and a quirky flirtation with evil.

LIL DAGGERS Lo-fi rock and roll with swirling ‘60s organ.

SATAN’S YOUTH MINISTERS Grungy garage rock with psychedelic elements.

Tasty World Uptown 10 p.m. FREE! www.myspace.com/ tastyworlduptown EDDIE & THE PUBLIC SPEAKERS Local blues-funk trio led by frontman Eddie Speaker.

MAMA’S LOVE Young, funky jam band from right here in Athens. The band’s slogan says it all: “bringin’ it back to the roots while goin’ beyond the bounds.”

Terrapin Beer Co. 5:30 p.m. www.terrapinbeer.com INCATEPEC A combination of traditional tunes from South America and Cuba with a unique jazz twist.

Tucker Plantation “Live at the Plantation.” 4 p.m. (gates open), 6:15 p.m. (music starts). $20 (adv), $30 (door). www.rockdogentertainment.com LUKE BRYAN Capitol Records Nashville recording artist Luke Bryan is a down-home country boy with straightforward, honest songs delivered with authentic Southern twang.

JASON COLEY Rockin’ country/ Western tunes from an Atlanta native.

COLT FORD A little bit country, a little bit… rap. Somehow Ford makes this unusual pairing of genres sound natural with his Southern charm and urban style. It’s not often you get to hear a bit of fiddlin’ between rap verses.

BRANTLEY GILBERT This Jefferson country-rock songwriter plays the kind of rags-to-riches, small-towndreamin’ songs that aggressively go for the heartstrings.

Wild Wing Café 9 p.m. FREE! www.wildwingcafe.com TURNSTILE This Atlanta cover band plays synth-driven renditions of songs ranging from ‘70s rock to ‘90s alternative.

Saturday 3 40 Watt Club 8 p.m. $12 (adv). www.40watt.com* DAN DEACON The synth-pop god returns to Athens. Be prepared for about a thousand different kinds of awesome.

GANGLIANS Drum loops, sqealing synthesizers, and reverb-filled vocals are the order of the day for this California group.

NUCLEAR POWER PANTS Off-thewall power pop with all manner of mysterious electronic soundmaking devices and costumes. See Calendar Pick on p. 28.

WAVVES Lo-fi pop/punk with plenty of fuzz to go around. See story on p. 19.

Alibi 9 p.m. 706-549-1010 SINGING COWBOY KARAOKE PARTY Record your song and take home a copy of your performance!

Athens Farmers Market 8 a.m. FREE! 706-296-8000 ATHENS FOLK SOCIETY BAND Featuring rotating Folk Society members on fiddle, mandolin, guitar, harmonica and banjo. The band invites you to bring an instrument and join in on their old-time fiddle songs. Playing at 8 a.m. and again at 10 a.m.

Caledonia Lounge 10 p.m. $5 (21+), $7 (18+). www.caledonialounge.com THE IBILISI TAKEDOWN This Athens band plays energetic Southern rock and sultry blues punctuated by fiddle, harmonica and guitar.

LONA The flagship band for local songwriter, guitarist and drummer Clay Leverett (The Chasers, Now It’s Overhead, Bright Eyes). The band sends out more than a little country and more than enough gutsy, midtempo rock.

VULTURE WHALE Raw and thoughtful alt-country tunes from Birmingham, AL.

emporium hair & color salon exclusively

Club Chrome 9 p.m. $5. 706-543-9009 TANGENTS This country-fried rock group from Watkinsville carries Lynyrd Skynyrd licks and John Mellencamp melodies.

Your Halloween Fantasy Comes to Life with All Natural Aveda Makeup.

Farm 255 11 p.m. FREE! www.farm255.com IMMUZIKATION Celebrated local DJ Alfredo Lapuz Jr.‚—also known for his over-the-top Daft Punk tribute act—mashes up high-energy electro and rock.

Appointments available with Craig

187 N. Lumpkin Street • 706-546-7598

Gnat’s Landing After the UGA game. FREE! www.gnatslanding.net LEAVING COUNTRIES Warm, inviting folk rock from here in Athens featuring tender violin, aching harmonica and melodic acoustic guitars.

Go Bar 10 p.m. www.myspace.com/gobar “LATE NITE DISCO” The house deejay and occasional special guests spin a cool mix of disco, new wave and modern dance tunes for a sweaty and energetic closing-time crowd. Dance party begins after the live music every Saturday.

LATIN MIX Get in a few salsa grooves before the disco beats take over the dance floor.

Little Kings Shuffle Club 10 p.m. $5. www.myspace.com/littlekingsshuffleclub BO BEDINGFIELD Singer and primary songwriter for local band The Wydelles, Bo Bedingfield’s smooth, warm vocals are steeped in all the soul of country music without the twang.

TODD MCBRIDE Former Dashboard Savior Todd McBride turns out fine roots-rock Americana that dips into straightahead pub-rocking and more rustic pieces.

ROB VEAL Rob Veal (currently of Jack Logan’s Monday Night Recorders and Todd McBride’s Cooler Heads, and formerly of The Dashboard Saviors, Liquor Cabinet and Little Oconee) is a songwriter whose casual performance style can sometimes hide a pointed focus on lyricism.

Magnolia’s at Tasty World Uptown 12–3 p.m. FREE! www.magnoliasbar. com JASON FULLER Local piano man plays blues, jazz and country.

New Earth Music Hall 8 p.m. $10. www.newearthmusichall. com MATT STILLWELL Country rock that is at turns rowdy and heartfelt.

The Office Lounge 9:30 p.m. FREE! 706-546-0840 SAME OLE BLUES BAND You’re invited to come try some quail jambalaya to celebrate Cajun & Blues night with the Same Ole Blues Band. k continued on next page

UGA Online Courses MORE THAN 75 COURSES ONLINE For more information or to register:

www.georgiacenter.uga.edu/flagpole 706-542-3243 1-800-877-3243 See your academic advisor about applying specific IDL courses to your program of study.

Independent and Distance Learning (IDL)

Suite 193 • 1197 South Lumpkin Street • Athens, GA The University of Georgia is committed to principles of equal opportunity and affirmative action.

SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 · FLAGPOLE.COM

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THE CALENDAR! Tasty World Uptown 10 p.m. FREE! www.myspace.com/ tastyworlduptown BOBBY COMPTON BAND The first Redneck Idol, Bobby Compton sings hard rockin’ country.

Terrapin Beer Co. 5:30 p.m. www.terrapinbeer.com BLOSSOM CREEK BREEZE This duo plays relaxed, upbeat guitar tunes.

Sunday 4 ACC Library 3 p.m. FREE! 706-613-3650 LIVE! AT THE LIBRARY This month: Meridian Women’s Chorus sings songs of home, hearth and love.

Borders Books & Music 5 p.m. FREE! 706-583-8647 THE WOOD ‘N’ NICKEL QUINTET Local woodwind quintet features classical music, light jazz and popular standards.

Monday 5 Ashford Manor 5:30 p.m. $15 (adults), $12 (students), $6 (kids 6-12), FREE! (kids under 6). www.ambedandbreakfast.com LERA LYNN The tender, jazzy folk voice behind Birds & Wire.

PACKWAY HANDLE BAND Packway’s “gather around the mic” approach to bluegrass provides sly, hearty original songs and renditions of classic tunes. The band’s close four-part harmonies are backed by high energy, and the contemporary lyrics are delivered with an engaging sense of humor.

Saturday, Oct. 3 continued from p. 29

new pop duo features local singersongwriter Rebecca Van Damm on keys and drummer CK Koch.

THE STATE OF… Steph Taylor and Nabedi Osorio team up to offer dark indie pop with a wide variety of instruments.

The Melting Point The Hoot! 8 p.m. FREE! www.meltingpointathens.com MOIRA NELLIGAN Folk singer and fiddler of Irish descent who also plays piano, accordion, recorder and bodhran.

THE FOLK SOCIETY BAND An eclectic group of musicians playing banjo, fiddle, harmonica and more.

THE NORTH GEORGIA BLUEGRASS BAND An eclectic blend of traditional and contemporary acoustic music.

Tasty World Uptown 10 p.m. $5. www.myspace.com/tastyworlduptown FAREWELL FLIGHT Intricately crafted indie rock with lush arrangements, emotional vocals and solid hooks. Recommended if you like The Rosebuds, Nationale or Death Cab for Cutie.

MIDDLE DISTANCE RUNNER Washington, DC musicians with an Arcade Fire meets Wilco sound.

MR. FALCON High-energy, indie garage rock influenced equally by The Kinks and Pixies.

RICHARD SHERFEY AND ALL GOD’S CHILDREN Squarely American, impassioned pop-rock songs.

Top Dawg Activity Bar & Nightclub FREE! www.athenstopdawg.com KARAOKE Every Monday.

Ciné Barcafé 6–8:30 p.m. FREE! www.athenscine. com OPEN JAZZ JAM Calling all jazz musicians. Now you can join local jazz group Sonny Got Blue every Monday for an open mic jam.

Tuesday 6

Little Kings Shuffle Club 10 p.m. www.myspace.com/littlekingsshuffleclub MAJOR LOVE EVENT With upbeat piano and vocal arrangements, this

Borders Books & Music 7 p.m. FREE! 706-583-8647 KYSHONA ARMSTRONG Local songstress Kyshona sings soulful ballads over acoustic guitar.

Alibi 9 p.m. FREE! 706-549-1010 KLASSIC KARAOKE DANCE PARTY Every Tuesday.

Buffalo’s Southwest Café 6–10 p.m. $5 (includes lessons). 706354-6655 DINE & DANCE NIGHT Beginners and advanced dance lessons every Tuesday from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. followed by open dance until 10 p.m.

Tonight features swing dancing hosted by Bugg.

Caledonia Lounge 10 p.m. $5 (21+), $7 (18+). www.caledonialounge.com CALTROP This Chapel Hill band offers heavy, riff-based rock that takes its cues from Sabbath but presents them in a series of very modern arrangements.

HOT BREATH Thrash trio featuring members of experimental local acts Garbage Island and S.V.A. MUSIC HATES YOU High-energy and higher volume, Music Hates You plays a dirty kind of punk metal.

There’s red clay under the fingernails of this fist raised against authority.

YAAL H’USH No info available.

Little Kings Shuffle Club 10 p.m. www.myspace.com/littlekingsshuffleclub DAFFODIL Trio Daffodil‚ Derek Wiggs, Zack Kennedy and Max Talkovich‚ plays fuzzed-out, early-’90s sounding heavy rock and roll.

JIMMY KIND BUD Christopher Ingham’s new band, formerly Liverty, featuring KateR on bass and Sarah T. on drums.

The Melting Point 7 p.m. FREE! www.meltingpointathens. com* COLT FORD CD RELEASE PARTY Come out and listen/watch the CD/ DVD release followed by a performance by Lonesome Traveler and many surprise guests! See Calendar Pick on p. 30.

Tuesday, October 6

Colt Ford CD/DVD Listening Party The Melting Point “I think your first album should be black and white,” says local country star Colt Ford. “It tells people who you are and what you’re about. The second album should be black and white with a little red, and the next is black, white, red and green, and you keep growing that way. You don’t want to get away from what your fans want, but you constantly try to give them a new flavor.”

So far, we have only gotten the black and white snapshot of Colt Ford: a lovable, shrewd performer with a love for all genres and a greater love for all things Southern. We’ll get a little more flavor next week when he releases a brand new CD/DVD called Country Is as Country Does, which features songs like the PBR favorite “Buck Em”(as in professional bull riders, not the beer) and TV theme song “Huntin’ the World,” which have gained national attention despite never being released on an album previously. The bonus DVD includes candid behind-the-scenes footage and music videos.

The $10 package is available exclusively at Wal-Mart, a partnership Ford is proud of but recognizes may turn off some Flagpole readers. He says the megachain has been extremely supportive of his work, hosting in-store and other events, when other chains refused to even sell his CDs because he is on an indie label. Plus, this is just one business relationship out of many. “I do lots of stuff with indie record stores as well,” he says. “That’s what’s great about working with an indie label… you don’t have to be exclusive.”

All this just serves to hold fans over until the next full-length comes out next year.

He already has big guns lined up as collaborators, including DMC from Run-DMC and Brian Johnson from AC/DC. “I think quite a few people are going to be shocked,” he says of his sophomore release. “People are going to say, ‘Holy shit! I didn’t know he could do that!’”

You can also catch Colt Ford live at Tucker Plantation in Colbert, GA on Friday, Oct. 2.

[Michelle Gilzenrat]

Tasty World Uptown 10 p.m. www.myspace.com/tastyworlduptown AMERICANA NIGHT Hosted by Clay Leverett.

Wednesday 7

WUOG 90.5FM 8 p.m. FREE! www.wuog.org “LIVE IN THE LOBBY!” Thee Crucials will perform on the college radio station’s twice weekly program.

Listen over the air or drop by the station to watch!

Caledonia Lounge 10 p.m. $6 (21+), $8 (18+). www.caledonialounge.com THE AGENDA! Back after a six-year hiatus, the short-lived but internationally acclaimed in-your-face punk rock ensemble known as The

FIVE POI N TS

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FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

Agenda! features a high-energy show that’s both reckless and wildly entertaining. The lineup features Dan Geller (Ruby Isle, I Am the WTC), Mat Lewis and Ryan Lewis (both Grape Soda), and Justin Robinson returns on lead vocals.

THE SO SO GLOS Two parts punk, one part beach volleyball, hold the angst. From Brooklyn.

TITUS ANDRONICUS Reckless, spirited punk rock stomps with grungy undertones inspired by bands like Minor Threat and Galaxie 500.

Go Bar 10 p.m. www.myspace.com/gobar DAFFODIL Trio Daffodil plays fuzzedout, early-’90s sounding heavy rock and roll.

HOT AND COLD Brand-new local duo featuring Chase Prince (Spring Tigers) and Joseph Campbell playing raw, blues rock.

UNSTOPPABLE DEATH MACHINES Bass-heavy instrumental barrage from Brooklyn.

Harry Bissett’s Bayou Grill 8 p.m. FREE! www.harrybissetts.net GRAINS OF SAND This cover band performs classic Motown, soul and R&B hits from the ‘60s and ‘70s.

The Melting Point 9 p.m. $12 (adv), $15 (door). www. meltingpointathens.com* DAVE BARNES Pop-oriented Nashville singer/songwriter.

ANDREW RIPP Chicago native plays music reminiscent of Bob Dylan and Otis Redding in the ‘70s.

The Office Lounge 8:30 p.m. FREE! 706-549-0840 KARAOKE Every Wednesday (and sometimes Friday!) with Stan.

Tasty World Uptown 10 p.m. $5. www.myspace.com/tastyworlduptown DEATH ON TWO WHEELS Blistering classic rock from Atlanta with fierce lead guitar, gravelly soulful vocals and catchy choruses.

THE FOUR KICKS Guitar-driven, melodic rock from Nashville that’s long on heart and short on pretension.

SEQUOYAH PREP SCHOOL Southern rock from Florence, SC with subtle twang and a heavy coat of pop gloss. * Advance Tickets Available

Down the Line 10/8 The Heavy Pets / Lassez Faire / The Mantras (40 Watt Club) 10/8 Garbage Island / The Sublimator (Caledonia Lounge) 10/8 Quiet Hooves (Farm 255) 10/8 Efren (Flicker Theatre & Bar) 10/8 Priceless / Telepath (New Earth Music Hall) 10/8 The Dirk Quinn Band / Free Lunch (Square One Fish Co.) 10/9 Bassnectar / DJ Vadim (40 Watt Club)* 10/9 Dearling Physique / Kalvinova / Reptar (Go Bar) 10/9 Larry Keel and Natural Bridge (New Earth Music Hall) 10/9 Vic Chesnutt / Elf Power / Nana Grizol / Scott E. Spillane EXP (Orange Twin Conservation Community) 10/9 Don Chambers / Corduroy Road (Tasty World Uptown) 10/9 Abbey Road Live! (The Classic Center) 10/10 Circulatory System / Faust (40 Watt Club)* 10/10 Thayer Sarrano / Tin Cup Prophette (Athens Farmers Market) 10/10 Mother Jackson / Up With the Jones’s (Little Kings Shuffle Club) 10/10 North Georgia Folk Festival (Sandy Creek Park) 10/12 Open Jazz Jam (Ciné Barcafé) 10/12 Karaoke (Top Dawg Activity Bar & Nightclub) 10/12 Rain Machine / Sharon Van Etten (40 Watt Club) 10/12 Dish (Caledonia Lounge) 10/13 Klassic Karaoke Dance Party (Alibi) 10/13 TV Ghost / Wizard Sleeve (Tasty World Uptown) 10/13 Steel String Session (The Melting Point)* 10/14 Jamey Johnson (40 Watt Club)* 10/15 Helen, Dodge (Flicker Theatre & Bar)

10/16 Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ (40 Watt Club)* 10/16 Laura Meyer / Treedom!

(Rye Bar) 10/17 Heathens / Mike Eudy and Sean Arington (Athens Farmers Market) 10/17 Reptar / Spring Tigers (Caledonia Lounge) 10/17 Ghostfinger / Kite to the Moon / Lona / Ocha La Rocha / Raised by Wolves (Winterville Farm) 10/18 Will Rock 4 Food (Taylor Grady House) 10/20 Built to Spill / Disco Doom (40 Watt Club)* 10/20 Curley Maple (The Melting Point)* 10/23 Social Distortion / The Strangers (40 Watt Club)* 10/23 The Army Ground Forces Band (Performing Arts Center) 10/23 Ashutto Mirra (Terrapin Beer Co.) 10/24 Dead Confederate / Meat Puppets (40 Watt Club)* 10/24 Fiddle DW / Ryan Monohan (Athens Farmers Market) 10/24 Ricky Fitzpatrick (Borders Books & Music) 10/24 Harp Unstrung (Terrapin Beer Co.) 10/25 Brett Schieber (Borders Books & Music) 10/27 The Black Heart Procession / The Mumlers (40 Watt Club)* 10/27 Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson / Pigs on a Wing / Warpaint (New Earth Music Hall) 10/27 Cinemechanica / So Many Dynamos (Tasty World Uptown) 10/27 Buck & Nelson (The Melting Point)* 10/28 Junior Boys (40 Watt Club)* 10/30 An Albatross / Dark Meat (40 Watt Club) 10/30 Kenosha Kid / Trey Wright Trio (The Melting Point) 10/31 Faith and Paige Carmichael / William Tonks and Friends (Athens Farmers Market) 11/2 The Vic Chesnutt Band (40 Watt Club)* 11/3 The Drovers Old Time Medicine Show (The Melting Point) 11/5 Nanny Island / Pearl and the Beard / Jeremy Wheatley (Flicker Theatre & Bar) 11/7 Artie Ball Swing Band / The Musicsmiths (Athens Farmers Market) 11/14 Carl Lindberg and Friends / Grogus! (Athens Farmers Market) 11/14 Rachel O’Neal (Terrapin Beer Co.) 11/18 Cedric Burnside and Lightnin’ Malcolm / The Dirty Streets / Lucero (40 Watt Club)* 12/3 Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Holiday Concert (MadisonMorgan Cultural Center)*

Get Gameday Gorgeous 706-552-1515 CITYSALONANDSPA.COM

* Advance Tickets Available

In the ATL 9/30 Phoenix (Variety Playhouse) 9/30 Rob Thomas (Fox Theatre)* 10/2 Happy Mondays / The Psychedelic Furs (The Masquerade)* 10/3 Snow Patrol / Plain White Ts (The Tabernacle) 10/3 Sunny Day Real Estate (Center Stage)* 10/4 Metallica (Philips Arena)* 10/5 Grizzly Bear / Beach House (Variety Playhouse)* 10/9 Phosphorescent (The EARL)* 10/16 Os Mutantes (Variety Playhouse)* 10/16 Hope Sandoval (The Loft at Center Stage)* * Advance Tickets Available

SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 · FLAGPOLE.COM

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bulletin board DO SOMETHING; GET INVOLVED! Deadline for getting listed in Bulletin Board and Art Around Town is every THURSDAY at 12 p.m.

Email calendar@flagpole.com. Listings are printed based on available space, more listings are online.

ART Art Classes (Blue Tin Art Studio) Classes include drawing, painting, comics, book making, jewelry and digital photography. 404-556-6884, www.bluetinstudio.com Call for Artists (Downtown Washington) The Washington Wilkes Arts Foundation seeks submissions for ArtFest, taking place Nov. 7 & 8. www.washingtonwilkesarts.org Call for Artists (Call for location) Seeking artists/bands to participate in Phoenix Rising, a commemorative art quilt celebrating the Georgia Theatre, to be auctioned off on behalf of the theatre. No sewing required. Deadline Oct. 23. 706540-2712, www.MamaInTheMoon. blogspot.com or on Facebook.

Call for Artists (Fringe Collective Artistic Studios) Seeking artists for Halloween art show and sale. $15 entry fee. Deadline is Oct. 21. 706-540-2712, www.mamainthemoon.blogspot.com

AUDITIONS Grease (Oconee Youth School of Performance) The Oconee Youth Playhouse will hold auditions for their January production of the popular musical. For grades 1 through college. Call to schedule audition. Sept. 30–Oct. 7, FREE! 706-769-2677, www.oypoysp.com. com/playhouse

CLASSES Acting for Film Workshop (106 West Performing Arts Venue, Winder) Open to ages 16 & up.

No acting experience necessary.

32

Tuesdays, 6:45 p.m. $95 (adults), $65 (students). 770-868-1977, beckytollerson@106west.com African-American Genealogical Research (ACC Library) The Clarke-Oconee Genealogical Society explores African-American family history research experiences and methodology. Oct. 24, 1 p.m. FREE! 706-6133650, loutome@aol.com Art and Music Classes (UGA Center for Continuing Education) Find a new way to express yourself this fall with one of the Center’s many creative classes. Open to all.

706-542-3537, www.georgiacenter. uga.edu/ppd Beginning Golf (UGA Center for Continuing Education) Take a swing at this class for beginners. Open to all! Through Nov. 2, 706-542-3537, www.georgiacenter.uga.edu/ppd Bellydance Basics (Athens YMCA) Wednesday mornings. 10:45 a.m. www.athensymca.org Bellydance for Fitness (Floorspace) Women of all sizes and experience welcome. New 6-week sessions begin Oct. 7. Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m. $60/6 weeks, $12/class. www.floorspaceathens.com Booty Camp (Sangha Yoga Studio) A low-impact core fitness course led

by Mary Imes. Tuesdays, 5:30–6:45 p.m. Fridays, 10:30–11:45 a.m. $60/6 weeks. 706-613-1143 Clay Classes (Good Dirt) Weekly “Try Clay” class every Friday from 7–9 p.m. and “Family Try Clay” every Sunday from 2–4 p.m. ($20/ person). 706-355-3161, www.gooddirt.net Clay, Glass Fusing, and Knitting Classes (Good Dirt) Now accepting registration for fall classes. All levels of experience welcome. 706-355-3161, www. gooddirt.net

FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

Computer Class (ACC Library) “Mouse and Keyboard Skills.” In the Educational Technology Center. Call to register. Oct. 1, 10–11:30 a.m.

FREE! 706-613-3650 Computer Class (ACC Library) Introduction to Word. In the Educational Technology Center. Call to register. Oct. 8, 10–11:30 a.m.

FREE! 706-613-3650 Computer Classes (ACC Library) Introduction to the Internet.

In the Educational Technology Center. Call to register. Oct. 15, 7–8:30 p.m. FREE! 706-613-3650 Craft Classes (Main Street Yarns, Watkinsville) Offering instruction in knitting, crocheting and more. Full schedule online. 706-769-5531, www.mainstreetyarns.com Dance Classes (Floorspace) Now registering for beginning and intermediate modern dance classes.

706-540-1039, www.floorspaceathens.com Drumming for Fun and Well-Being (Mind Body Institute) Led by Dr. Arvin Scott. Saturdays, through Oct. 3, 2–3:30 p.m. $75/4 classes, $25/class. 706-475-7329, www.armc.org/mbi Earthen Plaster and Finishes Workshop (Earthsong) Learn to apply claybased plasters and finishes to cob walls. Bring water and lunch to share. Oct. 10, 10 a.m. will@redclaynb.org, www.redclaynb.org English as a Second Language (Pinewoods Hispanic Community Library) Classes every week! Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:30–8 p.m. FREE! 706-613-3708 Fall Container Planting (State Botanical Garden of Georgia) Tips on potting mixers, choosing a container, spring bulbs and plant choices for sun or shade. Nov. 10, 5:30–7 p.m. $17. www.uga.edu/botgarden

Christina Pettersson’s work “We Are No Longer in the Land of Kings” is on display at the Lamar Dodd School of Art through Oct. 15.

GEN Homeschool Program (State Botanical Garden of Georgia) Garden Earth Naturalist program for homeschoolers. Topics include pollination, air and water purification, pest control, soil production and recycling. Nov. 23–Dec. 11, 9–11 a.m. (ages 6–8), 1–3 p.m. (ages 9–11). $22–$36. 706-542-6156 Gentle Yoga (St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church) Bring your own mat or towel and wear loose clothing. Julie Horne, instructor.

Tuesdays, 5:30–7 p.m. $9/class.

706-354-1996 Getting Started with Genealogy (ACC Library) Monthly informal class to walk you through the basics of researching family history. Bring a pencil and paper. In the Heritage Room. Oct. 15, 6–8:30 p.m. FREE! 706-613-3650 Hatha Yoga (Sangha Yoga Studio) Candlelight traditional Hatha Yoga.

Beginners welcome. 706-613-1143, www.healingartscentre.net Homebuyer Education Workshop (ACC Library) Athens Land Trust offers a two-day workshop to prepare prospective buyers for homeownership success. Space is limited; call to register. Oct. 1 & 8, 4:30–8 p.m. FREE! 706-613-0122 Intro to Computers (Madison County Library) Alisa Claytor, computer specialist, offers an Introduction to Computers series.

Three weekly meetings, and you may attend one per week or all three. Preregistration required. 706-795-5597.

Tuesdays, 2–3 p.m. or 7–8 p.m.

Wednesdays, 11 a.m.–12 p.m.

Mama-Baby Yoga (Mind Body Institute) For mamas and their babies. Six weeks old to crawlers.

Every Wednesday. 10:30–11:45 a.m. $60/6 classes. 706-475-7329, mbiprograms@armc.org

New Canopy Classes (Canopy Studio) Now registering for hoopdance and trapeze classes for kids and adults. Full schedule online.

706-549-8501, www.canopystudio. com Open Art Studio (Art School, Watkinsville) Led by Tracy Jefferies.

Participants work at their own pace, and instruction is provided as requested. Mondays, 12:30–2:30 p.m. $190 for 8 classes (includes supplies). artschoolstreet@gmail.com, www.artschoolwatkinsville.com Open Hoops (Canopy Studio) No instruction. Bring your own hoop.

Every Friday, 6–7 p.m. $5. 706-5498504, info@canopystudio.com Outdoor Boot Camps (St. Mary’s Wellness Center) Twomonth-long high-intensity fitness bootcamps for adults who are in good shape and want to get even better. Sign up by Oct. 2. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 5:30–6:30 a.m. $100/month. 706-389-3355, cwoodall@stmarysathens.org Perennial Symposium (State Botanical Garden of Georgia) Discover which plants are best suited to Georgia’s gardens through seasonal changes. Oct. 14, 8:45 a.m.–3 p.m. $50. www.uga.edu/ botgarden Pilates Classes (Balance Pilates and Wellness Studio) Schedule and details online. Private lessons also available. 706-546-1061, www. balancepilatesathens.com Prenatal Yoga (Five Points Yoga) Get ready for birth and beyond with Jenni Derryberry Mann, RYT-200.

Every Sunday. 10:30 a.m. $10. 706355-3114, www.athensfivepointsyoga.com Prenatal Yoga (Full Bloom Center) Get ready for birth and beyond. Thursdays. 5:30 p.m. $14/

class or $60/6 classes. 706-3533373, www.fullbloomparent.com Qigong (State Botanical Garden of Georgia, Visitor Center, Great Room) Certified Qigong instructor Carl Lindberg leads class on the ancient Chinese art of self-cultivation.

Mondays, through Oct. 5, 12–1 p.m. $50. 706-542-6156, www.uga.edu/ botgarden Quiet Woman: Restorative Yoga (Mind Body Institute) Call for information. 6 classes/$75, 706475-7329, mbiprograms@armc.org Scottish Country Dancing (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Athens) Introductory classes. No partner necessary! Thursdays, 7–9 p.m. $25/12 weeks, $3/class. 706255-1010, info@thistleandkudzu.net Spanish Classes (Email for Location) Beginner and intermediate classes for spoken or written Spanish. Classes are taught in Spanish. 706-372-5570, kwindley@ uga.edu Swing Dancing (Dancefx) Social swing dancing, with advanced and beginner lessons preceding the fun.

9 p.m.–12 a.m. $3–$5. www. athensswingnight.com Tae Kwon Do & Jodo Classes (Live Oak Martial Arts) For kids and adults, beginner through advanced.

Chase St. Warehouses, next to Canopy and ATHICA. Mondays– Thursdays, 3:30-8:30 p.m. 706-5480077, www.liveoakmartialarts.com Tech Tips: YouTube (ACC Library) Learn your way around today’s most popular video-sharing website. Sept. 30, 12:15 p.m. FREE! 706-613-3650 UGA Swing Club (UGA Memorial Hall) Learn the Lindy Hop or the Charleston. No partner necessary.

Every Monday, 7–8 p.m. www.uga. edu/ugaswingclub

Veil Dancing (Five Points Yoga) Open to all! 1:30–3:30 p.m. www. fivepointsyoga.com Women’s Self Defense Class (American Black Belt Academy) Call to register. Thursdays, 5 p.m. FREE! 706-549-1671 Workshop for Artists (ACC Library) “Almost Everything You Need to Know About Your Art and What to Do with It.” Register by Oct. 3. 4–8 p.m. $30. 706-454-2161, www.artistcameronhampton.com Yoga and Tai Chi Classes (Athens Wellness Cooperative) See full calendar online. $14/drop-in, $60/6 classes, $108/12 classes. www.wellnesscooperative.com Yoga Classes (Om Town Yoga, 190 Park Avenue) Ongoing classes with detailed asana instruction.

Mondays, 6:15 p.m. Wednesdays, 5:45 p.m. $10/drop-in. www.athensomtownyoga.com Yoga Crawlers (Full Bloom Center) For active babies 8–18 months. Every Tuesday. 10:30 a.m. $14. 706-353-3373, www.fullbloomparent.com Yoshukai Karate (AKF Itto Martial Arts) Learn Yoshukai Karate. www. akfitto.com Zumba at the Garden (State Botanical Garden) Latin rhythms and easy-to-follow moves. Wednesdays, through Oct. 28, 5:30–6:30 p.m. $10/class, $48/session. www.uga. edu/botgarden

HELP OUT! American Red Cross (Red Cross Center, 3525 Atlanta Hwy.) Seeking donors for all blood types. 706-5460681, www.redcrossblood.org

Athens Farmers’ Market Volunteers (Bishop Park) Looking for people willing to help out through Nov. 14. marketmanager@athensfarmersmarket.net Athens Pagan Pride Volunteers (Bishop Park) Now seeking Pagan and Pagan-friendly vendors, educators and entertainers for the upcoming festival on Oct. 24.

Contact athenspaganpride@gmail. com, http://athenspaganpride.org AthFest Volunteer Opportunity (Email for Location) The AthFest Education Committee seeks year-round volunteers to assist them in their mission to connect local music to local schools. education@athfest.com Bike Recycling Program (Chase Street Warehouses) Join BikeAthens volunteers as they repair donated bicycles for local service agencies. Sunday, 2–4:30 p.m.

Monday & Wednesday, 6–8:30 p.m. www.bikeathens.com Scare Up a Harvest: Help the Hungry (Lyndon House Arts Center) Creative, trash-to-treasure scarecrows encouraged. Proceeds benefit Food 2 Kids program at the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia.

706-613-3623, www.accleisureservices.com

month. 1:30–2:30 p.m. 706-3533373, www.yogasprouts.com Stories, Songs & S’mores (Sandy Creek Park) Gather around the campfire for songs & stories.

6–7:30 p.m. $2. 706-613-3631 Sweet Pea Club (State Botanical Garden of Georgia) Program involves puppet shows, storytelling and garden explorations. Ages 3–5.

Pre-registration required. Fridays, Oct. 16–Nov. 6, 9–11 a.m.$14. www. uga.edu/botgarden Yoga Sprouts (Full Bloom Center) Wednesdays, 3:30 p.m. $14/single class, $60/6 classes. 706-353-3373

KIDSTUFF

ON THE STREET

Creative Movement (Floorspace) Ongoing class for ages 3–5.

Tuesdays, 10 a.m. Wednesdays, 1 p.m. 706-850-5557, www.floorspaceathens.com Family Yoga Sprouts (Full Bloom Center) Come enjoy yoga as a family! Third Sunday of every

Fall Classic Century Bike Ride (Jittery Joe’s Watkinsville) Register for ride that winds through scenic Oconee County on Oct. 17.

Course lengths are 62 miles and 31 miles. Registration: $30 (before Oct. 10), $35 (after Oct. 10). 706-2081001, www.athenshabitat.com f

ART AROUND TOWN ACC Library (Top of the Stairs Gallery) Paintings by Tyler Harris. Through September.

Antiques and Jewels “Athens Fine Art Gallery,” an exhibit featuring works by Mary Porter, Elizabeth Barton, Brandon Zinninger, Greg Benson, Jim StipeMaas, Taylor DuBeau, Judy Dudley O’Donnell and Susan Elizabeth. Through September.

ATHICA “Free Press in Free Fall” features the work of 13 artists addressing the current state of the American news media. Lectures and receptions on Nov. 8.

Aurum Studio New charcoal work on paper by Mark Watkins and arcrylic paintings by Amy Wilmoth Watts. Though September.

Big City Bread Cafe Acrylic and watercolor paintings by Lauren Harrell. Through September.

Ciné Barcafé “Moments and Time,” paintings by Terry Rowlett, examines the human occupation of the planet from a historical perspective. Through Oct. 19.

Circle Gallery, UGA College of Environmental Design “We Are So Lightly Here: Putting Contemporary Musicians in Their Place,” a photographic exploration of musicians within their landscapes by Michael Wilson. Through Oct. 30. Reception Oct. 1.

Custom Styles (698 Baxter Street) “Athens from a Different Angle,” a collection of black and white photographs by Alan H. Icard.

Downtown Watkinsville Artscape 2009, an outdoor display of art boards created by 10 local artists that is sponsored by the City of Watkinsville and Grassroots Arts Program. Through September.

Espresso Royale Caffe Work by Ainhoa B. Canup.

Five Star Day Café Paintings of Athens by Heidi Hensley. Through September.

Five Star Day Cafe–Eastside Acrylic paintings

by Matt Blanks. Through September.

Flicker Theatre & Bar Paintings by Eric Simmons. Through September.

Good Dirt Halloween-themed pottery by Mike Klapthor, Sarah Visser and Jeff Williams. Through October.

Hair Therapy Studio Work by Pain & Wonder’s Graham Bradford. Through Nov. 14.

Just Pho…and More Work by Bob Hart. Through October. Work by Jill Leite. Through Oct. 30.

SUPPORT Emotional Abuse Support Group (Call for location) Call Project Safe at 706-543-3331 for location. Wednesdays, 6:30–8 p.m.

Emotions Anonymous (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship) Informal 12-step program. Sundays, 4–5 p.m. 706-202-7463, www.emotionsanonymous.org Mental Health Support Group (St. Mary’s Hospital) Meets in the lobby conference room.

Thursdays, 6:30–8 p.m. 706-7835706, www.athensmentalhealth.org

Lamar Dodd School of Art “Contemporary Representations of the Body,” an exhibit featuring figures by Kinzey Braughn, Andy Cherewick, Dennis Harper, Andy Nasisse, Christina Pettersson and Terry Rowlett. Through Oct. 15. Perpetual Art Machine is a living archive of 21st-century international video art.

Through Oct. 15. Work from The Printmaking Student Association at UGA. Oct. 1–2.

Last Resort Grill Work by Ainhoa Canup.

Through October. Encaustic and mixed media paintings by Sarah Seabolt. Through September.

Encaustic/mixed media paintings by Sarah Seabolt.

Through September.

Lyndon House Arts Center “Lord Love You: Works by R.A. Miller from the Mullis Collection” includes more than 75 paintings, drawings, sculptures and whirligigs created by the Georgia self-taught artist Reuben Aaron Miller. Through Oct. 24. “Surrealist Tropical Pop,” features paintings by artists Stanley Bermudez and Carlos Solis. Through October.

Madison-Morgan Cultural Center “Reflections on Water, Earth & Sky,” featuring work by Lucinda Bunnen. Through Oct. 11.

Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation “Profess,” an exhibit featuring the work of Gainesville State College’s art faculty. Through Oct. 31. Reception Oct. 2. “Table d’ Art: Place Matters,” an exhibition of textile works by the Athens Fibercraft Guild. Through Oct. 31. Reception Oct. 2.

Red Eye Coffee Photography by Jaclyn Enck.

Through September.

State Botanical Garden of Georgia “Intimacy,” an exhibit featuring the photography of Don Byram. Through Oct. 18.

Transmetropolitan Photographs by Kathryn Bowen.

Walk the Line Tattoo Co. “Don’t Tell Mommy,” an annual erotic art show, features work by Joe Havasy, Nash Hogan, Keith Rein, Lea Purvis and other local artists. Through September.

Walker’s Coffee & Pub Paintings and mixedmedia by Laura Franta and Liz Williams. Through September.

White Tiger Gourmet Food & Chocolates An exhibition by local pottery collective Casa de Cultura. Through October. Reception on Oct. 2. Work

by Todd Diederich, Will Donaldson and Heather Kohlberger. Presented by the 2010 Next to Last Festival.

SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 · FLAGPOLE.COM

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comics

Comics submissions: Please email your comics to comics@flagpole.com or mail copies, not originals, to Flagpole Comics Dept., P.O. Box 1027, Athens, GA 30603. You can hand deliver copies to our office at 112 S. Foundry Street.

Comics POLICY: Please do not give us original artwork. If we need your original, we will contact you. If you give us your original artwork, we are not responsible for its safety. We retain the right to run any comics we like. Thank you, kindly.

34

FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

reality check Matters Of The Heart And Loins I hope you get to answer this soon because it is driving me crazy. I have been dating a guy for the past two years on and off, and we’re back on now. Things are OK, but my same insecurity keeps popping up. He has this ex… they dated for almost three years, and the only reason they broke up was because she moved (across the U.S.). No worries? Well, she sends him stuff all the time like on holidays and on his birthday. She makes bank; I do not. So, I feel a little left out and broke when he gets the extravagant packages of things “he’s always wanted.”

And I also found out she came to Georgia just three days after he dumped me last… to pick up her cats. We weren’t together so it’s none of my business but, none the less, I was jealous.

We’re back together, and I know they still talk.

He says they’re just friends, but I’m so insecure about a girl that lives thousands of miles away.

She has way more materialistic things to offer, and I guess it worries me. What should I do, say, or just… not?

Thank you.

Maid at the Ramada Inn I know this is easier said than done, but I think you should focus more on your relationship with this guy and less on his relationship with her. It’s OK to have feelings of insecurity, and it would probably be helpful to have an honest (quiet, rational) discussion with him about the way his relationship with his ex makes you feel. But more importantly, you need to ask yourself why the two of you are always on and off, and whether this relationship is worthwhile, or if you are just getting back together out of boredom (and remember boredom can be one-sided). I know you said that she visited while the two of you were apart, but did it ever occur to you that her visit was the reason the two of you were apart?

Her money and her gifts would not be an issue if your relationship was healthy. You haven’t said anything about why you are with this guy and what your relationship is like otherwise, so forgive me if I’m jumping to conclusions, but it looks to me like he’s keeping you around for now until he can figure out how to get back together with her. Men don’t throw around terms like “just what I’ve always wanted” lightly. At least, not in front of girlfriends whose feelings they care anything about. I say dump the guy and find one that isn’t keeping an ex on the backburner. You’re never going to feel better about yourself if he dumps you at will and makes you compete for his attention.

I am a divorced mother with a seven-yearold kid and I have to tell you, he is ruining my life! I share custody with his father (we’re both in our 30s), so I am supposed to only have him

half of the week. The problem is that he calls me constantly when he’s there, and most of the time I pick him up in the morning instead of the evening on the days when I get him back. I know he would rather be with me than his dad, and I don’t blame him, but this is getting ridiculous.

I have been dating a guy for a couple of months that I really like, and he just broke up with me because of my clingy son! The final straw was that we went out to a movie the other night, just the two of us, finally, and my son was staying over with his best friend (who also happens to be my best friend’s kid). He called me 30 times, and I finally gave up and went to get him. I swear to God, I don’t know what to do. He breast fed until he was almost four years old— he was literally just draining me, and I had to make him stop. Now he wants to be with me 24/7 and I can’t have a life! I’m really upset because this guy was great and now I know I don’t have a chance with him. What can I do to stop this?

Mommy in Hell Hey, Mommy, does your cell phone have an “off” button? Has it ever occurred to you to use it? Or are you really getting off on the fact that your kid would rather be with you than his dad or his best friend? It’s not like you left him in the care of a teenaged neighbor or something. You should be able to cut off communication long enough to take in a movie. If you weren’t answering the phone, he would probably get bored and stop calling. And the breast feeding? I have gotten in trouble for my views on this before, but seriously— ew. Four years old? That was probably a mistake. I don’t know where you draw that line, exactly, but I’m pretty sure it’s before the kid is asking for it in full sentences. It’s too late to go back and fix that now, so my advice is that you talk to a professional about how to handle this. And just so we’re clear on this, I’m not saying your kid needs therapy (at least not yet), I’m saying you do. You have got to learn to create some boundaries and stick to them. If you’re so far gone that you’re telling me that your child is “ruining your life,” it’s only a matter of time before you start saying that to him. (I am making the generous assumption that you are not that stupid, but feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.) This sounds like it has reached a critical point. You should make an appointment today. Seriously. Get some help before it’s too late. And you might want to consider a couple extra forms of birth control while you’re at it.

t

O

featuring festbiers and pumpkin ales and come watch UGA vs. LSU on the bigscreen Saturday@ 3:30

Jyl Inov Got a question for Jyl? Submit your anonymous inquiry via the Reality Check button at www.flagpole.com.

235 West Washington St SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 · FLAGPOLE.COM

35

Real Estate Apartments for Rent 1BR apt. for $475/mo. 2BR apt. starting at $700/mo.

3BR apt starting at $1000/ mo. All close to campus!

Howard Proper ties (706) 546-0300.

Best deal in town! El Dorado 2BR/1BA & studio apts. in Nor maltown. Free water, gas, basic cable & wireless Internet. W/D in 2BR units.

Dog runs. $420–$675/mo.

Joiner & Associates (706) 549-7371.

2 bedrooms, 1 bath.

Fireplace, dishwasher.

Cedar Shoals Rd. Eastside.

Rent $525/mo., $525/dep.

Call (706) 769-8781.

Studio condo Downtown Athens. On Broad St. & across the street from campus! $600/mo. Also avail. 2BR/1BA, rent negotiable. Won’t last!

Call (404) 557-5203.

1BRs starting at $605!

Luxurious apt. community! 1, 2, 3BRs avail.! Pool, Fitness, Te n n i s C o u r t s , & m o re !

Conveniently located to all Westside shopping, dining, & entertainment. Lease now for only $99! Don’t miss out, won’t last long! Call now!

(706) 548-7747.

1BR/1BA. All electric, water furnished, nice! On busline.

Single pref. Avail. now! (706) 543-4271.

1BR/1BA Historic Apar tments in historic homes. Avail. 1/1/10, 2 at 197 S. Milledge (W/D, DW) & 1 at 130 Grady Ave (DW). All have HWflrs., high ceilings, very unique units. Quiet graduate based bldgs., $525–$625/mo. incl. water/trash. No dogs, cats OK. Pls. call Chris (706) 202-5156.

1BR/1BA + study/guest rm.

Security gates, pool, fitness center, 1 mi. from campus.

Excellent condition. Reduced $550/mo. Pets OK. Call Rob (706) 338-4984 or email robwimberly@gmail.com.

1BR/1BA. Completely furnished apt. Mature student preferred.

No smoking, drinking, pets.

CHAC. Quiet & safe. $525/mo.

Utils. & cable incl. (706) 5497590, (706) 296-6957.

2BR/1BA condo. Campus close.

Security gate, pool, fitness center. Located at Stadium Village. Excellent condition. $550/mo. (706) 206-2347.

2BR/1BA Five Points Duplex on Mell St., t o t a l e l e c t r i c , D W, W / D hookups. (706) 546-6900 ValerioProperties.com.

3BR/2.5BA. Incl. W/D & fridge.

Great condition. At bus stop on S. Lumpkin. $900/mo. Call (404) 644-7983.

3BR/2.5BA Eastside townhome.

Spacious & convenient, on bus route. Pets allowed. Incl.

W/D. Only $700/mo. Call Aaron (706) 207-2957.

Athens’ nicest duplexes.

2BR/1BA. $525/mo. Eastside.

Free month’s rent. Clean, quiet. Tile, good landlord, on busline. We show everyday. Rich (706) 5483045. Hendley & Associates.

B e s t p ro p e r t y i n t o w n !

Woodlands of Athens.

3BR/3BA full of amenities.

Gated community, great specials. Reduced to only $1050/mo. Call Pete (706) 372-3319.

Great house in 5 Pts. 2 B R / 1 B A . H W f l r s , F P. Convenient to everything. Pets OK. Avail. Nov. 1. $775/mo.

Call (706) 254-8572 or email racheltownes@gmail.com.

Great option! Overlook Village at China & Little St. 2BR/1BA. $480/mo. + sec. dep. Pls. call Dave (706) 207-2908.

Quiet duplex apt. 1BR/1BA E a s t s i d e . L g . p r i v. l o t .

Convenient location. Ideal for grad student. $375/mo. (770) 725-2758.

Westside condos.

2BR/2BA, $600/mo.

3BR/2BA, $700/mo.

Converted clubhouse into a huge open flr. plan.

4BR/2.5BA, $1200/mo. 5 Pts. 2BR/2.5BA. lv. rm w/ FP. Corner lot. $700/mo. Eastside quadraplex 2BR/2BA, $525/mo. 2BR/1BA, $490/ mo. Call McWaters Realty, (706) 549-3222, (706) 3532700 or cell (706) 540-1529.

White Columns Hall.

1BR/1BA, 1 block from Dwntn.

Water, gas incl., laundry onsite. $465/mo. Call Joiner Management (706) 353-6868.

Houses for Rent 3BR/2BA country house. 9 mi. from Dwntn. FP. $138,000.

(706) 540-8461.

COMING SOON TO FLAGPOLE CLASSIFIEDS Borders! Print section of the Classifieds.

Pictures! Check them out on the Flagpole website.

New Categories! To satisfy Athens’ Classified Ad needs!

ALL COMING SOON. AND STILL THE LOWEST RATES IN TOWN! Place your ad at www.flagpole.com.

36

FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

Affordable housing.

Houses, condos, A-frame all $550/mo. or less. First month’s rent free. Various locations.

Excellent cond. Cats permitted w/ dep. Call (706) 202-0147, (706) 549-6070.

3BR/2BA brick home. All appls. incl., fireplace, dining rm., lg. private back lawn, 2 – c a r c o v e re d p a r k i n g , storage rm., & back patio.

Lawn & water incl. Dekle Reatly (706) 548-0580.

First mo. rent free! Close to Dwntn. New 4BR/3.5BA houses. 2 master BR’s & 2 private BA’s within house.

New appls. Pets welcome. $1100/mo. Call (706) 540-1257.

3BR/2BA house. Eastside, W/D, DW, brick, lg. fenced backyard, screened porch, great location, near bus. $800/mo. Pets OK. Call (706) 705-1288.

2BR duplexes starting at $450/mo. 159 Gran Ellen, 3BR/3BA $1300/mo. 1BR/1BA $600/mo. 167 Tibbets, Normaltown house $650/mo.

Pls. call (706) 549-6070.

3BR/2BA Brick. HWflrs., living, den, dining, deck, garage.

Enjoy Fishing. On Hwy 106 Madison Co. Visit www.

PinebushNurser y.com for details, pictures, location. $825/ mo. + dep. (706) 614-8875.

First month free. Walk to campus! 2 & 3BRs from $625/mo. W/D, DW, priv. deck, pets welcome. Mention this ad & pay no pet fee! ( 7 0 6 ) 5 4 8 - 2 5 2 2 , w w w. dovetailmanagement.com.

3BR/2BA renovated home.

Priced like a 2BR! 1 street mi. from Dwntn. in Chicopee/ Dudley area. $695/mo. Pest control, yard maint. incl. Photos & info www.1596eastbroad. blogspot.com, (706) 255-0659.

3BR/1.5BA near UGA. Avail. now. Fenced yd, DW, CHAC, W/D, basement, tile flrs. $600/ mo. (706) 254-2936.

3BR/3BA new home w/ all appls. Off–street parking, nice balcony, corner location. 5 mins from campus. Great n’hood. $950/mo. Special through October: Get one month free! Call (404) 512-7431.

$750/mo. Blocks to Campus.

4BR/2BA. Tall ceilings, central air, DW, W/D conn., sunroom, pets allowed. 231 Elizabeth St. Owner/Agent. Call Mike (706) 207-7400.

2BR Cottage on 3.5 priv. wooded acres. Trails, river, 2 lots. CHAC, WD, FP. By Kenney Ridge Conservation Community. $99,000. (706) 543-1170, www.zubbo.com.

Cute 2BR/1BA. All electric, CHAC, W/D, nice yd. $600/ mo. + dep. Call Mark (706) 202-5110.

1BR/1BA gorgeous cottage.

All new appls. HWflrs. 133 1/2 Chattooga Ave. $650/mo.

Avail. 10/1. Call (706) 5466900 or email ValerioTeam@ aol.com.

3BR/2BA. Off Milledge. CHAC, W/D, HWflrs. $850/mo. + dep.

Call Mark (706) 202-5110.

3BR/1BA attractive brick house in quiet residential n’hood. CHAC, DW, W/D, & carport. Nice condition. $650/ mo. Call (706) 548-5869.

3BR/2BA. Remodeled IKEA kitchen. All electric, HVAC, W/D. $800/mo. + dep. Call Mark (706) 202-5110.

3BR/2.5BA. 1 mi. to UGA. $1200/mo. 1 yr. old house.

Open floor plan, microwave, DW, W/D conn. Avail. now.

(706) 410-6122.

3BR/2BA. 525 McWhorter, Five Points. HWflrs., tile BAs, FP, eat–in kitchen, study, master BR/BA w/ jacuzzi, bonus space/playroom. Barrow Elementary. Call (706) 5489797 boulevard​p roperty​ management.com.

3BR/2BA renovated Victorian. Price reduced.

1/2 mi. to UGA. Lg. rms., high ceilings. HWflrs, front porch back deck. Nice yd. lots of parking. W/D, DW, CHAC. Pets OK. $1000/mo. (706) 369-2908.

3BR/2BA house. Cedar creek subdivision. Fenced backyd., gas grill attached to sundeck, FP, wooded lot. Quiet family n’hood. Swimming community.

360 Sandstone Dr. Avail. 7/1. $1025/mo. + dep. (706) 3191846 or (706) 548-4819. GA. R, E, lic. 300830.

4BR/2.5BA beautiful plantation house on 3 acres. High ceilings, HWflrs., lg. kitchen & rooms w/ a country setting.

Front porch, screen porch & rear sunroom. Pets welcome.

3–sided fence. 990 Double Bridges Rd. Avail. now! $1200/mo. + dep. (706) 3191846, or (706) 548-4819. GA. R, E, lic. 300830.

5 Pts. area. 3BR/2BA house.

CHAC, DW, laundry rm. w/ W/D, back deck, carport. Call (706) 255-0066.

70 White St., Watkinsville.

4BR/2BA. Basement, lg. yd.

Quiet n’hood. $975/mo. incl. trash p/u. Go to www.johnivy. com, or call John JS Ivy Realty (706) 207-5649.

Avail. now! 3–5BR cottages.

Close to campus & Dwntn!

HWflrs, W/D, micros. $350– $485/BR. Call (706) 5431910 or email becky@ landmarkathens.com.

Avail. October 1. 1BR/1BA. A R M C a re a . D u p l e x f o r rent. $650/mo. incl. water & internet. W/D, covered parking, shed, lg. yard. David (706) 540-7352.

Adorable 1BR/1BA home close to Dwntn Athens. Wood flrs., sunroom w/ Mexican tile flr., front porch, 3–car covered parking. Lawn & water incl. $600/mo. Dekle Realty (706) 548-0580.

Brand new 3BR/2.5BA houses w/ HWflrs., granite countertops. Walk to Dwntn.

Avail. now! $1200. 706713-0626.

Commercial/Residential. Lg. house on North Ave. $1500/ mo. Approved for shelter, group home, or possibly even restaurant or office. Call David (706) 247-1398.

C l e a n 3 B R / 2 B A . Nice house in quiet n’hood on Eastside. Only 3 mi to Dwntn/ campus. Avail. now! Great house! All appls incl. (706) 713-0626.

Five mins. from campus, Dwntn. 3BR/1BA home.

CHAC, WD, N/S, fenced backyd., oak flrs. $750/mo. + deposit. (706) 338-1859.

Email bro@athens.net.

House for Rent. 2BR/1BA located at 640 Tallassee Rd. $600/mo. Quiet private setting. In the trees. Fireplace to warm the winter nights.

CHAC, W/D connections.

Call Bill at Thornton Realty & Construction (706) 353-7700.

Nor thside 2BR/1BA, lg. lot, $600/mo. H o s p i t a l area Fenced–in yd. Avail.

June. $800/mo. Five Points 2BR/2.5BA, lv. rm. w/ FP, corner lot, $700/mo.

Eastside 3BR/2BA. Lg. yd., on dead–end street. $1100/ mo. 4BR/2BA w/ lg. yd. $1300/mo. 2 or 3BR/1BA w/ screened front porch, $800/ mo. Cedar Creek 4BR/2BA $1100/mo. Oconee County 3BR/2BA. Lv. rm. w/ FP, din. rm., double garage, $1100/ mo. Call McWaters Realty, (706) 549-3222, (706) 3532700, (706) 540-1529.

Navy School/ARMC area.

Lg. 1BR/1BA. All appls. incl.

W/D, HWflrs., nice side yd.

Perfect for grad students/ professionals. $550/mo. Avail.

12/1. Call (706) 540-0472.

Normaltown/ARMC. 180 Willow Run. Very nice 3BR/1BA. HWflrs, DW, W/D, CHAC. Lg. fenced backyd. Pets OK w/ dep. (404) 210-7145.

Own your own rental proper ty!139 & 143 Strickland Ave. 4BR/3BA on each side of duplex.

Each side for rent at $1200/ mo. Entire duplex for sale $359,800. Call Reign at Coldwell Banker Upchurch Realty (706) 372-4166, or (706) 543-4000.

4BR/2.5BA Brick Ranch on 1.3 acres. 2 lots, .88 acre open. CHAC, W/D, 2 FPs. Full basement w/ workshop. $130,000. (706) 543-1170, www.zubbo.com.

Commercial/Residential. Lg. house on North Ave. $1500/ mo. Approved for shelter, group home, or possibly even restaurant or office. Call David (706) 247-1398.

Full renovation! 208 First St. 2BR/1BA millhouse. 1200 sq. ft., Tile & wood floors. 10 ft. ceilings. Metal roof. Custom kitchen–BR. Big yd. $179K. Call Drew (706) 202-2712, or Christy (706) 559-4520.

Creative workspace. $400/ mo. 800 sq. ft. Lights & power incl. Great for sm. business or artist. If interested call Matt at (323) 304-0720 or email mfpproductions@gmail.com.

Perfect artist home/retreat.

Studio & sunroom, office, refinished, HWflrs. All brick. 206 Briarcliff Rd., Athens. $139K. Video at ScottNicholsRealEstate. com, (706) 202-2232. ReMax Associates Athens.

Roommates 1BR avail. in 2BR/1BA. Furnished except BR, incl. office, fenced backyd & storage. Quiet n’hood near campus, 5 Pts. & loop, on UGA/ ACC bus lines. $350/mo. NS, grad student or professional preferred. (706) 424-6869.

1BR in 2BR/1BA Eastside duplex. Grad student or professional pref’d. W/D, DW, CHAC. $263/mo. + 1/2 utils. + dep. Avail. now! (706) 2541534. Lv. msg.

Commercial Property Amazing Office Spaces for lease above Dwntn Five Guys restaurant. No better location! Call Reign at Coldwell Banker Upchurch Realty (706) 372-4166, or (706) 543-4000.

Rooms for Rent $350/mo. Grad student pref’d.

Quiet n’hood, fenced yd., dogs OK. Off–street parking.

Call (706) 247-3487.

Sub-lease Awesome 5 Pts. house for sublease 11/10. 2BR/1BA. Great location. HWflrs., FP, loads of space. $775/mo. Call (706) 254-8572.

Avail. end of December.

1BR/1BA apt. across from UGA baseball stadium. $460/ mo. Lease runs through 7/2010. Comes w/ free W/D & gas grill! (706) 614-1429 or jillhurst@gmail.com.

For Sale Appliances 24 cubic ft. Hotpoint refrigerator for sale. White, side–by–side doors. Only 4 yrs. old! $450 OBO. Call (706) 338-1661.

Flea Markets

Houses for Sale

E a s t s i d e o ff i c e s f o r lease. 1060 Gaines School Rd. 170 sq. ft., $375/mo., 500 sq. ft., $625/mo., 1200 sq. ft., $1200/mo. (706) 546-1615 or athenstownproperties.com.

Recycled/Used Furniture, Antiques, Rugs, Home furnishings & Collectibles Galore. 30+ vendors selling treasures, art, locally grown produce, & baked goods.

Outside tables avail. for rent.

790 Gaines School Rd. Wed–Sat 10am-5pm, Sun. 1pm-5pm.

$349,000. 3BR/2BA. 2.3 a c re s on 10 acre lake.

Granite, stainless steel appls.

Hardwoods, open flr. plan.

1–of–a–kind greenhouse. 5 mi. from Arch. 550 Scarlet Oak Dr. (706) 461-1009.

Paint Artist Studio for rent. 300 sq. ft., $150/mo.

400 sq. ft., $200/mo. 160 Tracy St. Historic Boulevard Area, Artist/Crafts Community.

(706) 546-1615 or www. athenstownproperties.com.

Queen size sleeper sofa. Light colors. $125. Blue metal bunk bed w/ futon bottom. Twin mattress not incl. $100. Call (706) 548-7694.

Unique small house. Clear story, open concept, 3–level cedar center post. W/D, AC, DW, huge yd. $650/mo. 769 Whitehall.

Jason (706) 353-1750.

Ta b l e s , c h a i r s , s o f a s , antiques, clothes, records & players, retro goods, & more!

Cool, affordable furniture every day. Go to Agora!

Your favorite everything store!

260 W. Clayton St., (706) 316-0130.

Geek Garage Sale! Sat. 9/26 9am–1pm. Comics, Manga, Anime, Toys, RPG books, Fantasy novels, Computer Monitor, Free table at end of day! Will cancel if rain! 725 H Beaverdam Rd, Winterville, GA 30683.

Pillowtop Queen Mattress set. Never used. Still in factory plastic. $260. Full size mattress set. Never used. Still in factory plastic. $160. (706) 769-1959. Delivery avail.

Music

Miscellaneous Come to Betty for vintage quilted Chanel bags, just in for Fall! On the corner of Pulaski & Clayton, next to Agora. Open 1–4 daily. (706) 424-0566.

Baby piano $8500. Pop-Up camper $3200. Canoe $350.

NordicFlex $225. Gazelle $300. TotalGym $300. Ping Pong table $25. Van $2500.

Convertible $5900. Call (706) 850-1909.

Massage Equipment.

Oakworks Portable Massage Chair $275, Trigger Point Laminated Chart Set $60, 5 Instructional Massage Videos $65, Tuning Forks (various prices). (678) 227-3502.

Yard Sales Huge Multi-Family Yard Sale.

Sat. Oct. 3 from 8am until ?. Wood stove, lawn mower, f u r n i t u re , b a b y c l o t h e s , housewares, linens, tools, office supplies, collectibles & much more! Take Hwy 29N approx. 18 mi. from Athens to the red light in Danielsville, turn right on Hwy 98, go approx. 1.5 mi. to awesome sale!

Equipment Roland TD–10 V Drums. $1400, price negotiable.

Comes w/ extras: sound proofing tiles, drumming DVDs, teaching workbooks.

Contact (706) 202-7316 or email redhubcap@gmail.com.

Instruction Athens School of Music.

Instruction in Guitar, Bass, Drums, Piano, Voice, Brass, Woodwinds, Strings, Banjo, Mandolin, Fiddle, & more.

From beginner to expert.

Instrument repairs avail. (706) 543-5800.

Borders! Print section of the Classifieds. Pictures! Check them out on the Flagpole website. New Categories!

To satisfy Athens Classified Ad needs! All coming soon.

And still the lowest rates in town! Place your ad at www. flagpole.com.

Music Services Fret Shop. Professional guitar repairs & modifications, setups, electronics, precision fretwork. Previous clients incl. R.E.M., Widespread Panic, Cracker, Bob Mould, John Berr y, Abbey Road Live!, Squat. (706) 549-1567.

Guitar Repair, setups, electronics & fretwork by 20 yr. pro. Thousands of previous clients. Proceeds help benefit Nuçi’s Space. Contact Jeff, (404) 643-9772 or www.

AthensGuitar.com for details.

Looking for a fun, classy alternative to the typical wedding band? If you are looking for “YMCA” then Squatis not your band. If you want Duke Ellington, Ray Charles, & salsa, then visitwww.squatme.com/ weddings. (706) 548-0457.

Wedding Bands. Quality, professional bands. Weddings, parties. Rock, Jazz, etc. Call Classic City Entertainment. ( 7 0 6 ) 5 4 9 - 1 5 6 7 . w w w. classiccityentertainment.com.

Featuring The Magictones— Athens’ premiere wedding & p a r t y b a n d . w w w. themagictones.com.

Musicians Wanted Songwriters, Musicians, Bands be heard! Get Discovered! www.billboardsongcontest. com. New features, prizes, more exposure, more opportunity. Don’t wait! Enter now! (AAN CAN)

Services Health Pregnant? Considering adoption? Talk w/ caring agency specializing in matching birthmothers w/ families nationwide. Living expenses paid. Call 24/7.

Abby’s One True Gift Adoptions (866) 413-6293 (AAN CAN). ➤ continued on next page

Furniture

115 Hight Drive. $134,900. 3BR/1.5BA. Completely Renovated Oconee Co. home in Cedar H i l l s Su b d i v i s o n b e h i n d Ashford Manor. Call Reign at Coldwell Banker Upchurch Realty (706) 543-4000, or (706) 372-4166.

3BR/2BA. Min. from UGA & Dwntn. Bamboo flrs., stainless steel appls. & a tin roof. 459 Little Oak St. $162,900. (678) 770-8772.

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Advertise your business in the Flagpole Classifieds! Only $15 for 1 week & $45 for 4 weeks! Call 706-549-0301.

Home and Garden B a c k y a rd S o l u t i o n s .

Make your neighbors jealous!

Waterfalls, ponds, fences, decks, gazebos, porches, & more! Call Robin for free estimate! (706) 340-4492.

Legal Services Have you won a judgement? Did you collect it? At Peachtree Judgment Recovery we specialize in locating debtors & their assets to collect civil judgments. Turn that worthless piece of paper into cash! Call (706) 621-3261 or visit us on the web at www.

EnforceMyJudgment.com/ peachtree/.

Massage Revolutionary Massage & Wellness. Intro 60 min.

Massage: $40. Book Online!

Go to www.revolutionary massage.com.

Sports Martial Arts. Ladies Kickboxing, Kenpo Karate, Kali, Silat, Muay Thai, Tue. & Thu., 6pm–8pm. 4th Degree Black Belt. Call Steve (706) 410-0951, or email steve@ karatefire.com.

Vehicles Autos One owner. 2005 PT Cruiser.

Extra clean, 85K, auto, power windows, locks, AM & FM, cassette, spoiler.

Death in family, need to sell. $6950. Call after 6pm. (706) 769-6208.

1998 Nissan Altima. 179K mi.

New tires, new brakes, good condition. $2500 OBO. Call (770) 880-9623.

1985 MB 300D, 268, XXX miles. Bombproof.

Daily driver. PW/Pl/sunroof.

Run anything combustible.

New Greasecar kit, w/ 13-gallon tank. Free WVO ever ywhere! $2750 neg.

(706) 621-0135.

Van for Band. 1997 Astro Cargo, 80,845 mi., safety cage, cruise, tilt wheel, cold air, automatic, new paint, uses gas or propane. $3200. John (706) 614-0306.

Hardcore Sales Reps Needed. Hourly + commission. PT & FT positions avail. I need the best & forget the rest! Call Chris (770) 560-5653.

Motorcycles

Busy Collection Agency looking for Fronters. Must have good phone voice.

Salary, bonus, & commission.

Call Eric (706) 552-2666.

For Sale. 2007 250 Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle. Black w/ red flames. Like new, only 14 mi. $2700 OBO. Call (706) 788-3160.

Ya m a h a 6 5 0 V- S t a r Classic. 2001. 8K miles, black, excellent condition.

New windshield, luggage rack, & tires. Ridden daily. $2,950 firm. (706) 2546529, dbhoro@aol.com.

Jobs Full-time NEED A JOB? Full-Time and Part-Time opportunities are listed weekly in the Flagpole Classifieds.

Custom Surveillance is lo o kin g fo r a n in sta lle r.

Knowledge of surveillance equipment, networking, & professional customer service a +. Email resume to sales@ customsurveillanceinc.com or call (706) 316-0210.

Clocked is looking for experienced servers in a fun, fast paced environment.

R e s u m e s o n l y. 2 5 9 W. Washington St. Dwntn, Athens.

E x p e r i e n c e d Bartender and Server.

Email resume to greenhotelathens@ gmail.com.Marketing C o m m u n i c a t i o n Specialist.

Join an est. Athens company calling CEO’s & CFO’s of major corporations generating sales leads for technology c o m p a n i e s . $ 9 / h r. B O S Staffing www.bostemps.com, (706) 353-3030.

Sexy Suz Adult Emporium now hiring 21+ retail positions.

Retail experience pref’d. Email resume/photo to sexysuz@ comcast.net. No calls pls. 50 Gaines School Rd.

Part-time Mystery shoppers earn up to $100/day. Undercover shoppers needed to judge retail & dining establishments.

No exp. req’d. (800) 743-8535.

Oct5pm17

Directions & Info @ MYSPACE.COM/TheThunderJam • Become a Fan on FACEBOOK pport Proceeds Su

Nuçi’s Space

Sat

Raised By Wolves Ghostfinger Lona Ocha La Rocha Tim Conley’s Kite To The Moon The Legend Rides Again...

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FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

FREE PARKING & CAMPING WINTERVILLE, GA

Tickets $10

Inoko Express is looking for cashiers. Apply in person from 2–4pm at Inoko Express, 3190 Atlanta Hwy. (706) 425-8828.

Maintenance person needed w/ skill sets for carpentry, light electrical & plumbing, sheetrock repair, painting, roof repair, & everything else to maintain houses & apts. Pls. fax resume to (706) 316-2007.

Opportunities Dependable person needed during the evening hrs. helping a young man confined to a wheelchair. In exchange for free rent in apt., food, utils. & other amenities. Call (706) 316-2798 or (706) 549-9456.

Chronically anxious? You may be eligible for a 6–week exercise study. Compensation of $80. Complete screening (45 mins) at: https://www. surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?s m=whnwaViaanmyJpaadHNI fw_3d_3d, or contact Matt at mph8@uga.edu (URL has HN “capital i” fw_3d).

Does your daughter have symptoms of bulimia nervosa? Has your daughter injured herself on purpose?

Researchers at the University of Georgia Psychology Clinic are conducting a treatment study for teens w/ symptoms of bulimia nervosa & deliberate self harm. Open to teenage girls age 16–18.

For more info email the UGA Eating, Drinking, & Personality Research lab at bnstudy@uga. edu, or call (706) 542-3827.

Ear n great pay selling merchandise from catalog! My company splits profit 50/50 w/ you! This makes it worth your time & energy! This is a great opportunity for eager & ambitious participants to earn a very generous profit w/ no investment needed!

Call Gary for more info! (706) 526-7243.

Notices Messages Do you have video footage of the Georgia Theater burning (even cell phone) or that would be good for Georgia Theater documentary?

Describe to eric@krasle.com for consideration.

Free Scrap Metal Pick Up! Appliances, aluminum cans, metal junk, lawn equipment, wire of all kinds, heating & AC units & ductwork, junk cars & par ts, just about anything! Call Related Recycling (706) 224-1601.

Gain national exposure.

Reach over 5 million young, active, educated readers for only $995 by advertising in 110 weekly newspapers like this one. Call Jason (202) 2898484 (AAN CAN).

Personals Friendly, attractive 43 yr. old white male seeks male 25-45 yrs. old for tennis, friendship, & road trips. If interested pls. call (478) 451-7381.

everyday people Akansha Chhabra, Hostess/Waitress, Taste of India

Flagpole: What are you hoping to do once you graduate from high school?

Akansha Chhabra: After I graduate—I’m kinda indecisive, so I may change my mind— but right now I’m set on going into the military, and the branch that I’m interested in is Army.

FP: How did you end up here in Athens?

AC: We came to Athens because my parents used to have a partnership up in Virginia with my uncle, and they were actually interested in opening their own restaurant.

FP: What do you think of Athens?

AC: I’m living here; I can’t really complain about it, but other than that, honest to God, I’m not a big fan of Athens… in Virginia I wasn’t used to seeing poverty, and I mean down here you see random people sitting on every block asking for money.

And I think Athens-Clarke County isn’t doing nothing to help them… at least get ‘em off the streets, is what I would say.

Charles-Ryan Barber

Born in Jalandhar, India, Akansha Chhabra grew up in Virginia. She is the youngest of three daughters born to the folks who own and operate the only Indian restaurant in Athens, Taste of India. Although her name means “wish,” her busy schedule suggests that she’s not leaving her fate to chance. Outside of serving as both a hostess and waitress at her parents’ restaurant, Akansha attends Clarke Central high school, where she will be graduating next spring. On an average weekday she gets to leave school at noon, thanks to her youth apprenticeship program which has her working evenings at the “As Seen on TV” store in the Georgia Square Mall. Akansha spoke with me during the restaurant’s break in mid-afternoon, stopping to accommodate the tactful corrections of her cousin Amit and the affectionate jabs of her eldest sister, Renu.

FP: How did you get interested in joining the military?

AC: I’ve always wanted to do something good; like I’ve always wanted to help our community out and even when I was little I always used to say I wanted to become a police officer.

FP: Tell me what you like to do when you have some free time.

AC: When I have free time usually I talk on the phone or something, or listen to music, that kind of stuff. Or go bowling… go out with my cousins and my sisters sometimes.

FP: Do you speak any other languages?

AC: I do; I speak Punjabi… there’s a number of different languages that people in India speak, but that’s the only one that I know… the most popular one there is Hindi. And I can understand it; I just don’t choose to speak it, because I think I pronounce some things the wrong way.

FP: Would you be willing to fight in the infantry in Iraq or Afghanistan?

AC: No, they don’t let girls do infantry nowadays.

FP: So, if you went into the Army, when would you go? Right out of high school?

AC: Right out of high school. I would go to basic training the following week after graduation.

FP: In your opinion, what is the most ridiculously useless item at that store?

AC: There’s like [these] straps that you put under things, to move things. You stick the straps underneath one side of it.

They make it seem like it’s really really easy to move stuff. On the infomercial it’s pretty ridiculous because the refrigerator looks fake… like it’s a cardboard box and they’re acting like they’re lifting it, ‘cause they slide it onto the truck really easily. They pick it up literally above their shoulders. We actually sell a lot [of the straps] and one thing that I ask people to do is come back and tell me if they work, ‘cause I wanna know.

FP: Do you consider yourself religious?

AC: I do; I definitely do. I’m Hindu, and I believe in God. When I tell people “Hindu,” the first thought that comes to their mind is, “Oh, those are those people that have a number of gods.” But you know what, God is all one… I try praying every morning.

FP: Anything specific you’d like to do in the Army?

AC: No, not as of right now.

FP: Are you sure about that?

AC: Yeah, me and my recruiter talked about it. But that’s not something I would sign up for personally; I wouldn’t want to do that.

FP: What’s it like working at the “As Seen on TV” store?

AC: It’s pretty nice, but the only thing that I complain about is I’m tempted to buy [things] because I watch infomercials all day long there.

FP: What do you think of the problems with poverty back in India?

AC: I mean, I personally think that Americans—I don’t like to stereotype—but Americans portray different countries in a way that is not actually true, because I have been [back] to India two times. I’m not saying poverty isn’t a problem there.

It is there, too, but something just can’t be done there. I mean here, it can be done, that’s why I mentioned it… [in India] it’s not as big as they show it on TV… another example, I have a friend who’s from Africa… he said the same thing; he hates when people portray [it as] every African in Africa is running around naked.

FP: Who would you say has been a major influence on your life?

AC: [To her sister] Put your hand down.

[Laughs.] Both my parents, because both of my parents were high school dropouts… I’m not proud of that, but the thing that I am proud of is that they actually… stand at a higher level than certain people. They own their own business.

They turned it around a lot, and I think I’ve just learned so much from that.

FP: If you could recommend one dish from this restaurant, what would it be?

AC: I don’t even have to think about it: Chicken Kashmiri—I love it.

Jeff Gore

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