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COLORBEARER OF ATHENS PUTTING THE PEDAL TO THE METAL

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Dave Rawlings Collaborator Extraordinaire Brings the Machine to Town p. 15

NOVEMBER 25, 2009 · VOL. 23 · NO. 47 · FREE

Open Houses Watkinsville Galleries Offer Pottery, Glass and More p. 23

Jail Time p. 6 · Health Care Debate p. 7 · Butt Hutt p. 10 · Rockin’ Recipes p. 20 · The Rattlers p. 27

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FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ NOVEMBER 25, 2009

pub notes A Thankful Pundit Okay. It’s in my contract that I’m required to write an “I Am Thankful For…” column every year at this time. It goes with the territory. You hold yourself out to be a minor pundit, you’ve got to deliver at Thanksgiving to prove your bona fides.

The trouble is that pundits—by temperament, training and reader expectations—are geared toward complaining about what’s wrong rather than praising what’s right. So, Thanksgiving is a hard time for pundits. We’ve got to do an about-face: stop scowling and start smiling. It’s not easy, but here goes this year’s try…

Leaves: love their colors—the maples, the ginkgos, the dogwoods—but then the damned things fall all over the ground and have to be raked up… or pushed into the street by people wielding those high-decibel blowers… Whoa! See what I mean? Hard to shift gears.

The great thing about Thanksgiving is that it is basically dedicated to eating a lot of good food. Even if you don’t go for turkey, there’s the dressing and the casseroles and of course the cranberry sauce and the gravy and hot rolls, not to mention the pies and cakes. Yum. (Of course, all this starchy food is the last thing in the world our stomachs need.)

Okay: enough of this waffling. I am thankful for cats and dogs. They’re such great company, and they allow us to love them and to feel that they love us in return. What a great addition to human life they are. I guess the same thing can be said for goldfish and gerbils, but I haven’t been there.

I’m thankful for health, for being able to take long walks and enjoy This may the benefits that accrue, while I’m sound crazy, walking and afterward. Walking is a blessing. but I am This may sound crazy, but I am thankful for my automobile. It’s just thankful for an old Volvo wagon, but I enjoy drivmy automobile. ing it every time I get in it, and it will haul anything.

I’m thankful for Ciné. I don’t go as much as I should, but what a wonderful place to see good films and eat good popcorn, with wine, if you want. You almost don’t even have to know what’s playing, because you’re guaranteed a good film every time you go.

I’m thankful for old friends, though I’m the world’s worst at keeping up. Old friends remember things you’ve forgotten and vice-versa. Old friends also help you see yourself as you really are, not as you imagine yourself to be.

I’m thankful for newspapers, the people who read them and the people who put them out. Newspaper people live under the constant strain of deadlines; they’ve got to be creative and hardworking at the same time. They’ve got to keep their eye on the ball, their nose to the grindstone and their finger on the pulse of the public. That makes me think of the late, great newspaperman Phil Sanderlin, and how he laughed imagining the position it would take to accomplish all three at once. I’m thankful for Phil, and I hope the God he always doubted has him ensconced in a comfortable heaven surrounded by friends, food and drink and room for more of us.

I’m thankful for ice cream, comfortable shoes, humor, old roses, good writing, Leonard Cohen, who prevails against age, and Sonny Terry and Gamble Rogers, who made wonderfully memorable music in spite of debilitating physical afflictions— Sonny with his harmonica and his whoops, Gamble with his guitar and his wit: “Sorry is as sorry does,” etc., etc. I’m thankful for sleep, especially naps; I’m thankful to be able to travel occasionally; I’m thankful to live in Athens, which is small enough for easy access, pleasing to move around in and unremittingly diverse in the culture it offers.

I’m thankful for my wife and my daughter. (You know who you are.) I’m thankful for the mountains and the ocean, though I seldom get there. You can see the mountains on a clear day from the top of the College Avenue parking deck; if the ocean were that close, too, Athens would truly be the best of all possible worlds.

Finally, in spite of all the compromising and failing to live up to promises that mark the difference between campaign rhetoric and the realities of governing, I am thankful that Barack Obama is our president.

Contract fulfilled. I’ll be thankful to add more next year.

Pete McCommons editor & publisher

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

The Dope ruminates on public art downtown, fake money and pink lemonade.

Comment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 We Die Individually. We Live Collectively.

Republicans in Congress have one plan for health care reform: make sure the Democrats’ plan fails.

Arts & Events Miscellany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Out and About Around Athens

D.O.C. businesses—1000 Faces Coffee, Ohh, Boy! and Marmalade bring some new flavor to town.

The Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

COVER DESIGN by Kelly Ruberto featuring a detail of a painting by Marie Porterfield on display at the Lamar Dodd School of Art

Staggering for President

Jed Mercurio’s novel presents JFK as the fallible man, with all his complexity and contradictions.

Music

5

Dave Rawlings Machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 One Monkey Don’t Stop the Show

Gillian Welch collaborator hits the road, making sure to thank the indie record stores along the way.

Local Thanksgiving Recipes . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 From the Musician’s Kitchen

Boo Ray, Dead Confederate, Betsy Franck and the folks at Farm 255 share their favorite holiday meals.

LETTERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 CITY DOPE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 CITY PAGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 CAPITOL IMPACT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 COMMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 ATHENS RISING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 MISCELLANY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 GRUB NOTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 THE READER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 WORLD VIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 MOVIE DOPE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 MOVIE PICK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

THREATS & PROMISES. . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 DAVE RAWLINGS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 RECORD REVIEWS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 FOOTBALL & MUSIC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 THANKSGIVING DAY RECIPES. . . . . . . . 20 THE CALENDAR!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 BULLETIN BOARD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 ART AROUND TOWN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 COMICS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 REALITY CHECK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 EVERYDAY PEOPLE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

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This week at Flagpole.COM

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 More Thanksgiving recipes from local chefs and musicians!

 Live Music Reviews!  More Miscellany: Get to know Ben Myers of 1000



Faces Coffee, tour the D.O.C. building, and sneak an opening day peek at Ohh, Boy! Plus meet the ladies of the Drag Brunch and take a look back at the Farmers’ Market season.

Blog updates for Grub Notes and Film Notebook

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 Dave Marr CLASSIFIEDS, DISTRIBUTION & OFFICE MANAGER Paul Karjian AD DESIGNERS Ian Rickert, Kelly Ruberto ILLUSTRATOR Rebecca Kutch CARTOONISTS James Allen, Cameron Bogue, Ryan Hall, Jacob Hunt, Missy Kulik, Jeremy Long, David Mack ADOPT ME Special Agent Cindy Jerrell CONTRIBUTORS Michael Andrews, Hillary Brown, Tom Crawford, Gwynne Dyer, Elaine Ely, Michael Gerber, Jennifer Gibson, Jeff Gore, Jeremy Henderson, Coy King, Gordon Lamb, Bao Le-Huu, John G. Nettles, Sam Prestridge, 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 MUSIC INTERN Charlie Stafford ADVERTISING INTERNS Melanie Foster, Teresa Tamburello

VOLUME 23 ISSUE NUMBER 47

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letters SPEAKER CAN HELP Georgia Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson has been getting a lot of credit since the disclosure of his depression and suicide attempt. As a fellow sufferer of a brain disorder, as well as a friend to many others, normally I would share in empathizing with him. In his case, I am having a hard time.

Mostly, it is because of the sorry financial condition of my local mental health clinic, due to state funding cuts in services and staff for the seriously ill of our area. As a 20-year client of this clinic, Advantage Behavioral Health in Athens, I have witnessed the steady decline of what was once a very decent place for people to get help.

The endless, heedless tax-cutting of the GOP-dominated legislature has led to this situation. Also, the legislature keeps failing to earn matching federal funding in many areas of state need. This has resulted in shifting state revenue from the general fund to cover such things as roads. The repeated failure to apply seatbelt laws to pickup trucks is just one example of this.

There was a recent revelation that many fees, such as those designated for driver education and 911 service improvement, were wrongly diverted to make up for lost tax revenue, also resulting in the loss of millions in federal matching funds. Talk about robbing Peter to pay Paul!

This state has long been trying to balance its books on the backs the poor, sick, and even our children with their poorly funded

CONTACT US AT P.O. BOX 1027, ATHENS, GA 30603, LETTERS@FLAGPOLE.COM OR VIA THE “TALK BACK TO US” LINK AT FLAGPOLE.COM back in 1977 by Kitty Widmer (my wife). Kitty schools. The scandalous situation in the state graduated from Georgia with a horticulture mental hospitals is another blot on the state’s degree in 1976. Soon after that she went to image, not to mention the toll it has taken in work part-time for the Clarke County Extension lives lost and adequate care denied.

Service. It was pretty much left up to Kitty to Speaker Richardson also misspeaks when he asserts that “17 million other Americans come up with her own projects to pursue, so in between judging the yard of the month and who share the challenge of depression (are) ashamed and embarrassed” by their illness. He other busy work, she pored through extension service manuals looking for literature dealing may speak for himself. Most of the rest of us with local community farmers’ markets. She feel no such shame, but only wish to obtain decent treatment so that we may make the hatched the idea to start one up for Athens and Clarke County. With the permission of the best of our lives. We have medical brain disorboss, then Hal Tatum, ders, and the GOP has the work to get it done nothing but try up and going began. to limit our access to BUMPERSTICKER OF THE WEEK: The Extension Service care and affordable My Other Car Is a Pynchon Novel medication. secured the federal building parking lot, Now that Mr. Thanks, Gwenn. Send your sticker on the west side of Richardson has truly sightings to letters@flagpole.com. joined the human that building, as its first location. Kitty race by visiting the was on site at 7 a.m.

“Land of the Sick,” where so many of us have to live, I hope he Saturday mornings and stayed until 12 noon when the market closed. Some technicality will think more about trying to improve matarose about using federal property for the ters for us and influence the rest of our leadmarket, so it moved across Jackson street to ers to do so as well.

Lisa Majersky the parking lot in front of the old Board of Athens Education. There were many Saturdays that I participated. Kitty and I have always had summer gardens, and I would sell our excess tomatoes, beans, peas and radishes. We met some great people; one in particular was Mr. I just read Pub Notes [11/11] concerning Wall from Statham. We’ve lost touch, but I the farmers’ market. My first impression was hope he is still with us. So, for the record, that’s the way it was. that you were talking about the modern-day Athens farmers’ market. There was an original John Widmer Athens Athens farmers’ market, and it was started

EARLIER FARMERS’ MARKET

BUY LOCAL! I have lived in Athens since I was four years old. My parents met and fell in love at UGA (or should I say in a discotech) over 20 years ago, and after a few tours around the world via the Army, my family relocated back to Athens so my mom could finish her doctorate program at UGA. I’ve always been proud to consider myself a “townie.” However, I never once ever gave a S#*! if my food was grown or raised locally, if my clothes and groceries were bought locally or where exactly my coffee and beer had been shipped in from. When I first started reading Flagpole in high school, it got me motivated to start thinking about politics, something I’m still interested in today, and now it’s motivating me to get active about something new: buying local. I’ve discovered Daily Co-op, Ike and Jane’s, Dynamite and more. Even though it is a bit more expensive then Wal-mart, Dunkin’ Donuts, or the mall, I feel good about my purchase. I feel like part of a living community, not some anonymous consumer pouring money into a company that knows nothing of me or my town. I am moving in closer to downtown so I can bike to work and to all my other various needs. Yeah, rent is more expensive, but like shopping locally, I think I am going to feel good about living locally, too. Time to get involved in my town and my community! Maybe I’ll even wake up early enough to go the Farmers’ Market next year. Thanks Flagpole! Buy Local!!

Lisa M. Athens

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city dope Athens News and Views Public Art Matters: Athens-Clarke County Commissioner Ed Robinson raised the idea at the commission’s Nov. 3 meeting of soliciting submissions from Athens artists to design the banners and metal panels that will adorn the façade of the new downtown parking deck. He stopped by the Dope’s disheveled digs last week to talk about how he’d like to see the project take shape. “We haven’t done enough” to support the local artistic community, Robinson said, with the types of meaningful income-earning opportunities that are routinely presented to Athenians in other professions. The parking deck, regardless of one’s position on the controversial project itself, represents a unique opportunity to do just that. “Let’s take the exact same amount of money we would give to a design firm in Atlanta” for the job of beautifying the outside of the deck structure, he suggested, and use it to pay some of the artists who supply Athens with much of its distinctive character—usually with minimal rewards.

extend until June of next year instead of May. Good to know.

Rachel Bailey

More Than Bread: Caryl Sundland of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Athens contacted the Dope recently to clue us in that the UUFA, in partnership with Oconee Street United Methodist Urban Ministry, Free IT Athens, and the Economic Justice Coalition, has begun offering free GED classes and computer skills training to guests of Our Daily Bread noon kitchen and the day labor center off Epps Bridge Parkway that’s supported by the EJC. Sundland says the project is funded largely through a grant from the United Universalist Fund for Social Responsibility, but that its impetus came from Erin Barger, program director of Our Daily Bread. It’s an admirable initiative of the “teach a man to fish” variety that seeks to address not just the immediate needs of Athens’ homeless and working poor, but their long-term situation.

So far, about a dozen students have enrolled in the classes, which began in mid-October, and organizers are still looking for volunteer tutors, especially in math.

Most of all, they need donations to help defray the costs of GED exams for students who complete the program. For information on how you can help, email Sundland at csundland@netscape.net.

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We Wanna Be Free to Ride: BikeAthens kicks off its seventh annual Holiday Bikes for Kids drive on Thanksgiving Day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at their repair shop in the This bus stop shelter near the intersection of Broad and Hawthorne, Chase Street Warehouses. The designed by Christopher Fennell, is an example of a successful recent program gives fully refurbished public art initiative. bikes (and new helmets!) to underprivileged kids every holThe mayor and commission will ask county iday season through local schools and other staff to come up with a method for appointing organizations; last year more than 50 were a citizens jury to oversee the open submission donated and distributed. What do they need, and selection processes—with a bias toward you ask? Well, plenty: volunteers to clean and Athens artists. The idea of a local governrepair bikes; money to buy helmets; supplies ment taking an active hand in supporting like rags, degreaser and lubricant; and most of municipal art initiatives isn’t that radical; all, kid-sized bikes. For more information, go cities as diverse as Ann Arbor, MI, Phoenix, AZ to www.bikeathens.com. and Aurora, IL have standing public art commissions. And as was recently pointed out in Funny Money Alert: The bad economy has these pages, Athens had great success with a had some pretty noticeable effects on crime similar call for artists to design bus stop shelin Athens. One is an impossible-to-ignore ters last year. spike in home burglaries, which makes the Another thing Robinson made clear was already strong case for dog adoption even his understanding that the four-story banners more compelling. Another is a rise in the numwill be hung on the back sides of the deck ber of counterfeit bills being passed around structure—not the sides facing Lumpkin and town—and some of the fakes are pretty good.

Washington Streets. Still, the prospect of a Acting on a tip from one of Flagpole’s intrepid stroll up Clayton Street that includes a view ad reps (thanks, Anita!), the Dope stopped dominated by a 50-foot Jill Carnes or Andy

by Junkman’s Daughter’s Brother to check Cherewick reproduction is certainly something out photocopies of a “$50 bill” they’d taken the Dope can live with. recently. It’s a one-dollar bill that has been heavily bleached to remove the ink, then Something in the Water: The ACC Public reprinted to look like an older (pre-security Utilities Department’s water flushing prostripe) 50. It’s still money, so a counterfeitgram—you know, the one that sometimes detecting pen is no more help than a wellmakes your faucets run reddish-brown with trained sense of touch in determining its iron, manganese and other harmless minerauthenticity. The best way to sniff out a fake als—will be suspended over Thanksgiving, of this kind is to look for the faint remnants Christmas and New Year’s due to “customer of the printing of the original one-dollar bill concerns.” So, we’ll all be spared the potential in the blank spaces on the front. Stalwarts of embarrassment of serving unintentionally the service industries, beware! pink lemonade to our out-of-town guests over the holidays, but the program will now Dave Marr news@flagpole.com

NOVEMBER 25, 2009 · FLAGPOLE.COM

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city pages superior court judge would help: “It will interest in returning any discretion to judges, certainly kick-start cases, and move things he said: “I mean, it’s politics.” forward a lot quicker.” And courthouse staffers Burglaries have spiked in ACC, as they have met with local legislators to try to head periodically do, Chief of Police Jack Lumpkin off further cuts to state-supported programs said in January—”it is driven by drugs, the like the drug and mental-health courts, he economy.” But crime in general is lower here said. There are plans, too, for a “child-support than it was two decades ago, he said. A conIs Athens-Clarke County bucking the court;” at present, at least 10 people are sultant hired to study the county’s jail and national trend of locking up a larger proporlocked up for nonpayment at any given time. courts last year agreed that Athens’ overall ACC is ahead of many places—especially rural tion of its own citizens than any country crime rate has “declined significantly” since in the world? ACC commissioners and local areas—in having such programs, BeMent said: 1998. But even with crime going down, ACC’s “The trend is heading in that direction, but it judges have supported alternatives to locking jail population has kept going up, consultant people up, like “DUI court” and “drug court” is not yet the norm.”

Bob Goble told a criminal justice task force (which allow nonviolent offenders with drug last October. That’s because “you’re catching John Huie problems to work and attend counseling). A more,” he said; the worst offenders are already local mental health in prison, which “has court now steers The U.S. locks up over six times enabled law enforcesome defendants ment to focus down” to treatment rather and arrest people for as many citizens per capita than jail. But in the less-serious offenses.

United States overall, as Canada, and four times the And mandatoryprisons have become sentencing laws can world average. “the new asylums,” complicate court said a 2006 federal ACC’s Lexington Road jail was cheaply built cases, he said, report summarized by Human Rights Watch, in 1981 with 140 beds. Ten years later, it was because “a lot of criminal offenders know that “with more than half of all prisoners sufferexpanded to 372 beds. Today, it is constantly they have a lot more to lose,” and may refuse ing from mental health problems like major full, and ACC pays about $1.8 million a year to to plea-bargain. depression and psychotic disorders.” The U.S. board out about 100 additional inmates to the Lumpkin maintains that wider use of GPS locks up over six times as many citizens per ankle bracelets could save “significant money” Lamar County jail near Macon. Those inmates capita as Canada, and four times the world can’t easily visit with family members or attorin jail costs and help “prevent future burglaraverage. Only Russia and Cuba approach the neys, nor can they participate in local jail proies and other crimes.” Those monitors allow U.S. incarceration rate of over 700 inmates per defendants to be tracked wherever they go. grams like GED or drug and alcohol counseling; 100,000 residents—nearly 1 percent of our ACC would prefer to house them locally. Plus, If a burglary is committed at a certain place entire population. the old jail leaks; engineers say the oldest and time, “we will know where he or she has “I think that the issue has been highly part of it is not worth renovating. “It’s a story been,” Lumpkin told Flagpole. The sheriff’s well-rehearsed in our community that there politicized, and if you aren’t for incarceraoffice (which runs the jail) has authority to are a lot of issues with our jail,” Tommy York tion you are seen as ‘soft on crime,’ which release qualified inmates with monitors, but is obviously politically unacceptable,” State of the Clarke County Sheriff’s Office told ACC it has not used that authority, ACC jail comRepresentative Doug McKillip told Flagpole. commissioners last week. mander Jack Mitchell told Flagpole earlier this A planned new jail will contain 824 (McKillip was the only local legislator to year. And “the probability… is low” that the beds—beds that, according to a consultant’s respond to email requests for comment.) “And department will release any inmates on its estimate, will all be I think we need to look at the fact that we own initiative. criminalize addiction,” he said. “We’re filling ACC is planning “It’s a story well-rehearsed in needed by 2030 if the jail population up jails with addicts—and that’s very, very to build a dorm-like expensive.” “diversion center” our community that there are continues to grow as it has over the past Harsh mandatory-sentencing laws, “three where 72 non-violent a lot of issues with our jail.”

10 years, and ACC strikes, you’re out” laws and the “war on inmates can stay at continues to expand drugs” have put increasing numbers of people night while holding in prison since the early 1970s (when U.S. jobs during the day. The average Clarke County work/release and supervision alternatives to jail. (That’s a rate of growth perhaps double prison populations were only one-sixth what jail inmate has been in the jail 10 times the rate of Athens’ population growth.) they are today). Meanwhile, violent crime before; the diversion center would offer counAthens is “15 years too late building a jail,” rates remained about the same until the midseling programs, and could reduce recidivism police chief Jack Lumpkin told a Federation 1990s; they have since dropped by more than and reduce the jail population by 16 percent, of Neighborhoods audience in January. “There half, federal statistics say. But even as crime Goble’s report said. But County Manager Alan need to be some consequences for behavior,” plummeted, rates of imprisonment continued Reddish told commissioners earlier this month he said, but “the resources aren’t there right to increase. Most likely to be incarcerated are that there’s no guarantee the diversion center now for us to take a person off the street and black males, who are almost seven times as will reduce the jail population. “Do we end up keep them there for a while.” likely to be jailed as incarcerating persons The new jail will cost an estimated $67 white males. In 1995 Georgia’s Republicans have that are not incarcermillion to build, and could be completed late Georgia voters “all but ated today, for whatabolished parole for no interest in returning any ever reason the judicial in 2013. And if commissioners agree to a couple of suggestions for revisions offered last Georgia’s seven most community might think discretion to judges. week by county staffers, it could cost taxpayviolent crimes known supports it?” he asked. ers less than expected. First, instead of buildas the ‘deadly sins,’” Local courts adminising a temporary addition that would be torn according to the state Board of Pardons and trator Tracy BeMent told Flagpole “there are down when the new jail is finished (a plan Paroles. “The ‘two strikes’ law that followed differences of opinion” on that question, but recently approved by the commission to save mandates a minimum mandatory prison time added that judges don’t decide sentences boarding-out costs), a permanent addition of 10 years for a first offense. If later conbased on whether the jail is overcrowded. could be built in the short term, then eventuvicted of a second strike, the sentence is Another recommendation of Goble’s report ally incorporated into the new jail, York said. mandatory life without parole.” The “sins” was to speed up the handling of cases, Second, the jail could be paid for entirely from include child molestation, sexual battery, rape, so defendants don’t wait in jail as long the next round of SPLOST, requiring about half kidnapping and murder, but most convictions before trial. If American Bar Association of the revenues that would come in over about have been for armed robbery. recommendations—trial within 30 days for eight years, but saving taxpayers over $20 “I think we need to give more discretion most misdemeanors, and 120 days for most million in interest costs that would result from back to judges,” McKillip said. “The judges, felonies—were met, the jail population would financing it with long-term bonds, County when they come and talk to [legislators], they drop by 17 percent, it said. But in Clarke say ‘you’re really tying our hands with these County, case backlogs aren’t shrinking, BeMent Manager Alan Reddish told commissioners. sentencing guidelines, you’re making us fill up said; they’re growing because of a shortage John Huie the jails.’” But Georgia’s Republicans have no of judges and support staff. Adding another

Political Prisoners?

Diversion Center Raises Questions

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New ACC Jail Would Address Rising Incarceration Rates

capitol impact

comment

Political Suicide?

We Die Individually. We Live Collectively.

“So, why did he really do it?” I’ve been asked that question many times since the news broke that House Speaker Glenn Richardson had tried to commit suicide by taking an overdose of sleeping pills. The most truthful answer I can give is: I don’t know.

Who can ever understand just what pushes somebody to that ultimate step of trying to end it all? I am inclined to believe that part of the answer was given by Richardson in the statement he released when he disclosed his suicide attempt: “For the past two and a half years, ever since my separation and divorce, I have struggled with the disease of depression,” Richardson said. “While depression often seems to be resolved on occasion, when personal trials or tribulations arise, it flares back up.

That is what occurred with me.

My depression became so severe that I took substantial steps to do harm to myself and to take my own life.”

There has been a lot of media coverage of Richardson’s behavior since he became speaker nearly five years ago. He was accused in a 2007 ethics complaint of having an inappropriate relationship with an Atlanta Gas Light lobbyist. The complaint was dismissed, but a few months afterward, Richardson’s wife divorced him.

From casual remarks I have heard him make over the years, I think Richardson cares very deeply about his three children. Divorce is always hardest on the kids, so it’s reasonable to believe that the speaker is distressed about the impact on his family. All of those things can take a toll on a person’s emotional wellbeing.

There could be other problems weighing down on Richardson as well. Along with Congressman Phil Gingrey, Richardson is on the board of directors of a troubled Paulding County bank that has more problem loans and foreclosed property than capital on hand to cover potential losses.

Will Richardson’s personal issues cause political problems for him in the legislature?

One state newspaper, the Brunswick News, has already said Richardson should step down as speaker because of the stress caused by his depression.

“He intends to continue serving as speaker,” said his spokesman, Marshall Guest, when asked about Richardson’s plans.

While some conversations are being held behind the scenes, there haven’t been any public demands from other Republican House members to replace Richardson, at least for the moment. There was a challenge to his leadership last year when Rep. David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) ran against Richardson for speaker, but Ralston could only muster support from about 25 House members.

Recent history suggests that the state’s voters tend to be very forgiving of politicians who have personal problems similar to those of Richardson. In 2004, state Sen. Renee Unterman of Gwinnett County was in the middle of a hostile divorce proceeding when she passed out from a drug overdose and spent some time recovering in a clinic near Boston.

Several media outlets reported unflattering details from the various court documents filed in that divorce case. Even with all of the negative publicity, none of Unterman’s legislative colleagues demanded that she withdraw from her Senate race. She was re-elected to new terms in 2004, 2006 and 2008 with little or no opposition. Just as Unterman continues to serve, Richardson can probably hang on to the reins of power as House speaker for a while.

At this point in time, it doesn’t look like those situations will change.

Tom Crawford Tom Crawford is the editor of Capitol Impact’s Georgia Report, an Internet news service at www.gareport.com that covers government and politics in Georgia.

As I write this, Senator Harry Reid has yet to release the plans for the Senate health care plan. Debate will begin this week, and by the time this article is published, much of the predebate speculation will have devolved into the slash-and-burn guerilla warfare that defines our current legislative process.

And even though the actual legislation is not available, the bloodletting has begun. In a Nov. 7 press release, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell pronounced the House bill dead on arrival: “Americans want lower costs, less government intrusion, a simpler approach and less spending. Instead, the Democrat [sic] leadership has just forced through a partisan, 2,000-page bureaucratic monstrosity—a trillion-dollar government experiment that raises premiums, raises taxes and slashes Medicare to create more government programs. That’s not reform.”

Framed in such a way, the bill is something that no one wants. I don’t want “experiments” and I don’t want a “bureaucratic monstrosity”—however redundant that coinage may be and however unverifiable the charges are.

This twisted aspiration seems to have informed the Republican leadership’s stance in the health care debate. They hope to become what they purport to hate: a political hegemony. For if Democratic health care reform tanks, so does the re-election potential of Democratic lawmakers linked, irrevocably, to its failure. And the Republicans take over Congress.

Billions of dollars are at stake here, as well as the reputations of the president, the Democratic House, and the Democratic Senate.

But what is lost in the debate are the circumstances of people in need—and anyone who doubts the gravity of those circumstances ought to visit NamesoftheDead.com, a website devoted to chronicling the lives and deaths of the uninsured. These people were caught between divisive Democratic infighting and Republican obstructionism. And to put the matter in terms that Limbaugh would understand, they lost.

They lost because of a fundamental misrepresentation of the terms in the health care debate. And when it comes to misrepresentation, I always turn to our very own

McConnell’s statement suggests the larger Republican strategy of rejecting health care legislation even before it is crafted. On July 22, Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah walked out of bipartisan health care negotiations in the Senate Finance Committee, saying, “Some of the things they’re talking about, I just cannot support. So, I don’t want to mislead anybody.”

How is it misleading to negotiate? How is it misleading to talk to those who disagree, to make one’s will known, and to work together to reach a consensus? If crafting health care legislation is a horse race, Republicans seem determined to stay in the barn. The bill, thus, will be either a Democratic success or failure.

And if this is the case, the assumed conditions that underpin Republican maneuvering become more apparent: “If Democrats succeed, we fail.”

This is governance reduced to a moronic tailgater’s notion of the body politic: our team, their team. We win or they win. But it goes beyond that, for Republicans seem unwilling, really, to engage at all. I’m pretty sure that participation is a fundamental part of “winning.”

The attitude underlying Hatch and McConnell’s actions may best have been encapsulated by Rush Limbaugh in his darkly famous “I hope he fails” pronouncement of Jan. 17: “I’m happy to be the last man standing,” said Limbaugh. “I’m honored to be the last man standing. Yeah, I’m the true maverick. I can do more than four words. I could say ’I hope he fails’ and I could do a brief explanation of why. You know, I want to win.

If my party doesn’t, I do. If my party has sacrificed the whole concept of victory, sorry, I’m now the Republican in name only, and they are the sellouts.”

Senator Saxby Chambliss for the quintessence of Republican spin: “Americans need greater access to health insurance,” Chambliss said in a statement on health care, “and we must ensure that families are able to choose the best plan suited for them. I do not believe a Washington-run, big government health care system is the answer.”

I really don’t think that framing the issue as a choice between “a Washington-run, big government health care system” and families being “able to choose the best plan suited for them” is an honest expression of the debate.

I have a choice of which insurance conglomerate represents me. I do not have a choice in the internal decisions of that conglomerate regarding my premiums, the care I receive, and whether my needs will be covered. I do not have any control over the businesses that have been partially responsible for the rise in health care costs and, thus, the nation’s healthcare crisis. I do not have any control over the ways in which the cost of caring for the uninsured is passed on to the consumer.

If insurance companies have the freedom to regulate who gets care and who doesn’t, we are controlled by the their bureaucracies. If the much-debated “public option” is exercised, the market will be joined by a party with no interest in profitability and with a weighted interest in controlling costs.

The choice, it seems to me, is among bureaucracies. We live collectively. We only die individually. That we are the victims of bureaucracy is not the issue. The issue, it seems to me, is what forces control the market in which we as consumers must participate.

Sam Prestridge

NOVEMBER 25, 2009 · FLAGPOLE.COM

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athens rising What’s Up in New Development

Turning Waste into Knowledge: Football season often brings out the worst in people, with the UGA campus turning into a lawless wasteland.

It’s hard to describe the destruction that goes on when 100,000 drunkards are unleashed on the campus and downtown, other than to say that trash is literally knee-deep in places.

UGA student volunteers, though, saw a prime opportunity for education and are now in their second season of encouraging their fellow students and gameday visitors to recycle.

While a few dozen volunteers can only make a small dent in sorting the waste of thousands, their efforts have gotten the attention of administrators and locals alike and helped to educate tailgating fans.

In future years, as new policies come into effect and are adjusted to, we may see campus become a cleaner place on fall Saturdays.

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Downtown Droves on Halloween: The recent “Wild Rumpus” on Halloween—an informal pedestrian parade through downtown—seems like it has the potential to create a big economic impact, relative to its minimal orga-

Biking Masses: Our local bike scene is always growing, and surely the Critical/ Courteous Mass movements have had something to do with it. Critical Mass, which originated in San Francisco in the early ’90s and has since spread to hundreds of other cities around the world, has come under fire for its sometimes antagonistic stance toward both automobiles and pedestrians. Usually these rides, which are largely unorganized beyond specifying a time and place, are variously characterized as celebrations or protests related to cycling issues. Courteous Mass, on the other hand, rejects those more aggressive tactics, preferring to illustrate cyclists’ right to the road by following the law Riders gather downtown for BikeAthens’ April 2008 Courteous Mass ride. to the letter. While Critical Masses seem to have petered out around nizational cost. There were some jaywalking town, Courteous Masses are held monthly by issues when several hundred costumed revelBikeAthens. See also: World Naked Bike ers stormed Clayton Street with drums bangRide Day. ing, but hopefully those can be worked out next year. Athens ought to have been a lot Renewing Neighborhoods from the Ground quieter on Halloween weekend, with football Up: What is now called “guerilla gardening” fans down in Jacksonville, but instead people takes many forms, with a general focus on turned out in droves. Halloween could really replacing blighted areas with more attracbecome Athens’ Mardi Gras, maybe bringing tive planting. This can be as simple as surout thousands in future years to see the specreptitiously planting a few pansies around a tacle, and rivaling AthFest and the Twilight dusty, unmaintained median, or as complex as Criterium as big local tourism weekends cleaning up and planting abandoned properbeyond football. ties with productive vegetable gardens. The original guerilla gardener, it seems reasonable It’s always great to see simple, clever, to say, may have been Johnny Appleseed. home-grown solutions to pressing problems.

In addition to providing local access to fresh Carried out well, with good intentions and fruits and veggies, these types of initiaa solid work ethic, these efforts can and do tives can have impacts in terms of building change the political landscape. So, if you see neighborhood cohesion that are of value disan opportunity to make something better, proportionate to their modest expense. They what are you waiting for? can also amount to an interesting application of the “broken window theory” of crime Kevan Williams athensrising@flagpole.com

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prevention, which suggests that a few broken windows lead to more broken windows, with vandalism and crime increasing in areas that appear increasingly unmaintained. Generally, stopping problems while they are small is the goal (while it’s not without controversy, some of the motivation behind Athens-Clarke County’s push to demolish abandoned houses is based on this approach). Perhaps our local police should beat their pistols into pruning shears. Check out the Brooklyn Neighborhood Community Garden as an example of the positive effects of urban gardening. Even though the lot was donated, rather than cleaned up without permission, it still shows the positive impact these types of efforts can have on communities. The Hand-Made Garden on Pope Street is the best local example.

Brent Buice, BikeAthens Co-Chair

This week I’d like to highlight some of the hard work going on by folks around town who, through not much more than pure elbow grease and numbers, have managed to really change the local conversation about various issues. It doesn’t necessarily take big money or advertising dollars to do something that really gets attention in a positive way.

miscellany Out and About Around Athens Palin Comparison: Last week, Sarah Palin’s memoir, Going Rogue, made its debut; Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly announced plans for a united tour; and Mike Huckabee stopped by the Athens Borders to sign copies of his new book, A Simple Christmas: Twelve Stories That Celebrate the True Holiday Spirit. The commencement of this year’s holiday season will find many American families in their direst straits since… last year’s. The job market remains a cruel one, and some camps have exhibited outright avarice in the housing and health care arenas. Since last Thanksgiving, I too began a disappointing job hunt and, for several months, acted a selfish, unappreciative fool. But as politicos begin craning their turkey necks to 2012, and as prospective candidates begin buttering up American palates, I remember that I am still profoundly grateful for the family that captured America’s hearts last year, and for the man who continues to hold America’s families close to his own.

Indeed, all it takes for me to conjure some thankful spirit is the thought of who could

building’s newest tenants sell beautiful vintage goods and cool new designs, or step into Marmalade, a new pottery studio.

Lady-Like?: Speaking of vintage chic, the fashion savvy gathered at Ciné last week for “Coco After Dark,” a cocktail party celebrating Coco Before Chanel. But the most stylish ladies I saw all week were at The National’s “Drag Brunch,” which raised more than $1500 for the Boybutante AIDS Foundation. The Transgender Day of Remembrance fell last week, and gender was a hot topic around Athens, with auditions for The Vagina Monologues, a Morton Theatre production of The Woman I Am Today and a lecture by Stephanie Dykes on “The Price of Authenticity” at the Miller Learning Center.

The Moose Hunt: Take Wednesday off and catch a film: cook to Funny People or Four Christmases, out on DVD; start feeling thankful your life is nothing like Cormac McCarthy’s apocalyptic The Road or take some nieces (and good-spirited nephews) to Disney’s retro-feeling The Princess and the Frog, out in theatres. On Thursday, drink, bicker, drink, eat, drink, bicker less—my favorite holiday. On Friday, hide from all (non) civilization; if you are able to move and must leave home, begin your holiday shopping with the opening of the Lyndon House Holiday Market. Re-emerge with a weekend trip to Atlanta for Cirque de Mike Huckabee autographing copies of his new book at Borders. la Symphonie or to Watkinsville for holihave been leading our nation through this day gallery open houses and sales. Monday difficult year. And so I raise a toast to Sarah begins the final weeks before more eating, Palin: as my editor noted, she really is the gift drinking and bickering: recover from Thursday that keeps on giving. and take a preemptive strike on December’s stress and pounds with one of Athens’ many Going Rogue: To fight off drowsiness from yoga classes. On Tuesday, get surreal at Ciné’s all that “turkey,” and to power through the “Cafe Apollinaire.” holiday season, Athenians may turn to their Next week, if you still have an appetite, own two-party system: coffee roasters. For squeeze in the first “Word of Mouth” poetry many years, Jittery Joe’s has been a comreading at the Globe and Béla Fleck at the mendable local powerhouse. Recently, a secClassic Center (12/2), the Atlanta Symphony ond player has emerged: 1000 Faces Coffee, Orchestra Holiday Concert at the Madisonrun by California native Ben Myers. This new Morgan Cultural Center (12/3), and Town & kid in town is the hottest thing since Robert Gown’s production of The Mousetrap (opening Pattinson—and is just as ubiquitous. Both 12/4).

Jittery Joe’s and 1000 Faces offer excellent local products, and neither acknowledges Miscellany Online: Meet Ben Myers, tour the the other as a problematic presence, perhaps D.O.C. building, and sneak an opening day because they represent two generations of peek at Ohh, Boy! Meet the ladies of the Drag coffee roasters. A visit to each roasting house Brunch. Look back at the Farmers’ Market gives you distinct impressions of rustic, comseason, with videos from the final day. And munity-based tradition and of creative, fresh, get hooked by Huckabee—or not. wide-eyed innovation, respectively.

1000 Faces shares forces with Farm 255 On the horizon: A hot music venue has a and the Athens Farmers’ Market, which new owner. A sleek new bar is coming to concluded its season on a beautiful recent Normaltown. The Chase Street Warehouses will Saturday. This month, they share pulp natuwelcome a new gallery. Local food will soon ral coffee with Two Story Coffeehouse, now get a leg up downtown. celebrating Pulp Fest. And the roasters share the D.O.C. space with several hip, young This week’s contest: Someone goes rogue at companies. Drop by for a coffee, a tour or every Thanksgiving. Tell me who does what at some free culture: French, Spanish, Coffee yours, and win something. Details on the web.

Cupping and Infinite Jest groups meet weekly.

After your coffee, head to Ohh, Boy!, the Elaine Ely misc@flagpole.com

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NOVEMBER 25, 2009 · FLAGPOLE.COM

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BBQ Beat: Look, I know I’m supposed to wait a little bit longer before officially covering Butt Hutt BBQ (699 Baxter St.), which opened in early October, but I don’t care. I’ve been four times, and while there are still occasional hiccups, the food is good enough to go ahead and give it the thumbs up with both hands. Yes, it’s a name more hilarious to some groups of people than others, as is the restaurant’s logo, a smiling, toothless, shoeless mountain man with a jug of moonshine in one hand dangling a fat piglet on his knee. The atmosphere inside, while clean and sans sawdust on the floor, isn’t exactly ritzy. The kitchen is prone to run out of things, and the fact that no one involved ever seems to have run a restaurant before should raise a few eyebrows. But damn it, these dudes can cook. And, make no mistake, they are dudes. I’ve seen one possessor of two X chromosomes helping out occasionally, but Butt Hutt seems to be a hangout for non-hipster guys, all of whom are as sweet as can be. The menu is ambitiously large, and some things are better than others, but there’s quality BBQ to be found, and considering its location right in the middle of town, it should get bonus points.

If you’ve read my thoughts on BBQ before, you know I prefer pulled to chopped pork. It has a better texture, and I think the meatiness of the flavor comes out better when it’s not all muddled up together via cleaver. Butt Hutt’s is chopped, and it’s still pretty good. Inside Athens, it may be bettered by Barbecue Shack (on Lexington Road), but it’s certainly comparable, with or without sauce, although it’s not the kind of cue that makes me curl my toes in happiness. Many supposedly different plastic squeeze bottles of sauce adorn the tables—hot, medium, mild, vinegar—but blindfolded I’d be hard pressed to tell the difference among them. Regardless, all are vinegary and kind of spicy, exactly the sort of simple, non-goopy, Carolina-style …vinegary and sauce I like. So, the pork is good, but the ribs are a must-order, marvelously kind of spicy… tender, with the gristle at the end of the bone reduced to a near gelatin state from the slow, slow cooking. I’ve had better ribs in Athens, but not in a restaurant.

The chicken is spicy on the outside, with beautiful, crispy skin and great tenderness inside. The meat skins, while slightly gross to order, are light and tasty, without any of the concretelike bits that often plague the homemade version. I could eat about a pound of the potato salad, too, which is full of dill and mayo, with the potatoes neither waxy nor mushy, and lacking the sweetness that often ruins an otherwise good side dish. The slaw seems to get a lot of accolades, but it’s far too finely chopped, and while its lack of mayo is healthy, I suppose, it tastes like it’s been soaked in Italian dressing. Other sides come and go, including Southern caviar (a salad of corn, black-eyed peas, black beans and more) and chicken mull (a hearty version), and while there are desserts available, I can’t resist the awesome homemade peanut brittle available in bags by the register, tasting wonderfully of salt and caramel.

Butt Hutt’s breakfast may keep me coming back as frequently as the rest of its offerings. The first time I went, the kitchen managed to sell the last two biscuits out from under my nose, but, apologetic and friendly as always, the staff assembled breakfast sandwiches with white bread instead, stuffing big, flat, uneven patties of country sausage between two slices, along with plenty of cheddar cheese, and toasting the whole thing with plenty of fat on the griddle. The biscuits are good, too, though, as I discovered later, and steak is nearly as memorable as sausage. The fact that you can order a side of white gravy is admirable, but the sauce itself could use a little more flavor. There’s loads more available in the a.m., too, including breakfast platters, and if you lived in the UGA dorms just down the hill, it would be easy to amble over every morning and end up in the hospital years later, having a balloon inflated in your arteries. It might be worth it. The restaurant is open for all three meals every day but Sunday, delivers with a $10 minimum order, does catering and takes credit cards.

What Up?: If you’re looking for somewhere to have Thanksgiving dinner at the last minute that doesn’t require reservations, check out local chains like Ryan’s, The Cracker Barrel, Holiday Inn and Fatz Café. And Allgood Lounge is open at 6 p.m. to host a Thanksgiving Pot Luck Dinner.

Hillary Brown food@flagpole.com

the reader

world view

Staggering for President

Last Exit from Afghanistan

Last year my father ran for president of the United States. Well, “ran” isn’t accurate, implying as it does that Dad actually did something. He and a few of his buddies were holding forth about politics in their bar one night when somebody suggested that Dad would make a better president than any of the bums running for the job. One thing led to another and my father was a write-in candidate for president in the state of Florida, courting the disgruntled barfly vote from Tarpon Springs to, well, Tarpon Springs.

The thing about write-in votes is that you can’t just tell people to write your name in. A write-in candidate has to file papers and pay a fee to be viable, and Dad and his running mate were apparently the only candidates to do that, making his the only write-in votes that actually counted. According to the Independent Political Reporter website, when the dust cleared, my father and his friend had garnered over 4,200 votes—more than Ralph Nader, Bob Barr or Cynthia McKinney received in the state—without leaving his barstool.

Was it irresponsible of my father to mess with the electoral process for a joke? Not really, as obviously there were at least four thousand Floridians who were just that unhappy about the choices they were given, and were able to exercise their prerogative—much better than not voting at all. And who’s to say he wouldn’t have made a great president? He’s at least as qualified as anyone else in history, which is to say not at all.

Don’t let the campaigns fool you— nobody, with the possible exception of Grover Cleveland running for a non-consecutive second term, is qualified to be president.

That’s because there’s no analogous job to it even among world leaders. No one can possibly prepare for the unique pressures and challenges of leading the world’s only remaining superpower, shepherding its economy, administering its laws, commanding its armed forces, and wrestling for its soul. If all it took was a résumé, George H.W. Bush would have been our greatest chief executive and George Washington would have been our worst. The man occupies the office, but it’s the office that takes the measure of the man.

That’s why, almost half a century later, the jury is still out on John F. Kennedy. His fans regard him as a visionary, the symbol and true architect of national progress in the latter half of the American Century. His detractors regard him as a philandering cad who talked a good game but failed to live up to his misguided promise. The assassination and subsequent martyrdom of JFK further muddied the waters, leaving open the questions of just how great Kennedy might have been and whether his moral failings could or should be overlooked.

Which JFK was the real one? Or better, can we reconcile Kennedy the war hero, statesman and family man with Kennedy the insatiable

horndog? Jed Mercurio tries to answer that question in his new novel American Adulterer (Simon & Shuster, 2009). The results are mixed, but the attempt is fascinating.

Done as a psychological case study (constantly referring to the 35th president as “the subject”) of one man’s chronic and almost pathological satyriasis, Mercurio follows Kennedy through his presidency, from “Ask not what your country can do for you” to the bullet ripping through his skull in Dealey Plaza, giving us an intimate, over-the-shoulder documentary view of the man. As Kennedy weathers the Bay of Pigs fiasco, the Berlin Wall, Civil Rights turmoil and the Cuban missile crisis, we are privy to all the facets of his life that were painstakingly hidden from the public. For all the youthful vigor JFK exuded in his official persona, he was riddled with medical problems—not just his famous back injury but Addison’s disease, gastrointestinal ailments, thyroid conditions, chronic migraines— a host of maladies that Mercurio, a physician himself, describes in harrowing detail. Between these issues and the competing efforts of Kennedy’s physicians to medicate them into oblivion, that the president could even walk, much less maintain the image of youthful strength and grace, was a miracle.

Here’s where it gets interesting.

Mercurio’s novel (and remember, it is a novel) postulates Kennedy’s need for dangerous sex was tied in to his medical pathology. Based on JFK’s now-infamous confession to British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan that going three days without a woman gave him headaches, Mercurio makes Kennedy’s profligacy a psychosomatic condition, a sex addiction that exacerbates his real ailments. While never denying the aphrodisiacal effects of power, Kennedy’s liaisons also provide him relief from his constant pain—in short, Marilyn, Judith Campbell and the legion of young, nubile White House interns were glamorous placebos JFK took to keep functioning. Thus does Mercurio seek to reconcile Kennedy’s philandering with a very real devotion to wife and children, and his personal indiscretions with the strong sense of ethics that guided his presidency.

Of course, all of this would come off as a huge load of rationalizing bullshit in the hands of any less-capable writer, but Mercurio’s gift here is to make it work with his fictional case-study device. By adopting the dry, clinical voice of the therapist, Mercurio never allows himself nor pushes the reader to pass judgment on “the subject.” Mercurio never writes Kennedy as a character with a character’s two-dimensional limitations and, instead, presents the unadorned, fallible man, with all his complexity and contradictions, for our consideration. It’s a move that pays off in spades.

John G. Nettles

There must be a better way to rig an election. First the Western powers occupying Afghanistan let President Hamid Karzai stay in the job for months after his term actually expired, on the grounds that an election in the late summer would be easier to arrange.

They finally held the election in August and declared it a shining success: Karzai, Washington’s man in Kabul, had been reelected, even though turnout nationally was only 30 percent. (In the Taliban-dominated south, it was only five percent.)

President Barack Obama, who was already under great pressure to send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, declared that “This was an important step forward in the Afghan people’s effort to take control of their future.” And then it all fell apart.

As the evidence emerged that up to a third of the votes allegedly cast for Karzai had been fraudulent, the United States backed away from celebrating his “re-election.” Indeed, the fraud was so blatant and massive that even the Afghans began to choke on it, and various American emissaries threatened and bullied Karzai into accepting a run-off vote against his closest rival in the first round of voting, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah.

That vote would have been held Saturday, Nov. 7, but Abdullah knew that he would lose again. He belongs to the Tajik ethnic group, and there are twice as many Pashtuns (Karzai’s ethnic group) in Afghanistan as there are Tajiks. So, Abdullah complained that the election officials conducting this runoff would be exactly the same men who had rigged the first round—which was quite true—and demanded their resignation.

Karzai refused to remove them; Abdullah used that as an excuse to withdraw from the election, and the run-off was cancelled on Nov. 2. Karzai was proclaimed president once again on the basis of the discredited first-round vote, and the whole sorry mess was abandoned. But there is a silver lining: if Obama wants to bail out of Afghanistan, he now has an excellent excuse for doing so.

The pathetic shambles of the past few months has had relatively little impact on public opinion in Afghanistan, where Karzai’s democratic “legitimacy” was never much of an issue. His power, such as it is, has always depended on U.S. military support and access to Western aid, not on votes. But the fiasco has had a significant impact on public opinion in the Western countries whose troops are fighting in Afghanistan.

Actual Western military casualties in Afghanistan have not been very high: just over 900 American soldiers have been killed there, together with 200 British, 140 Canadians and much smaller numbers from other NATO countries. But the loss rate has been mounting steadily, as has the sense of futility back home: a Washington Post-ABC News opinion poll late last month found only 47 percent of Americans supporting a further

build-up of American troops in Afghanistan, while 49 percent opposed it.

The declining support for the war is driven largely by a growing perception that it is unwinnable. If the U.S. Army is losing ground in Afghanistan after eight years in the country, and four previous invading armies from the industrialised world (three British and one Russian) have been forced to withdraw, why should we believe that this time is going to be any different? But the constantly repeated assertion that withdrawal from Afghanistan would lead to a surge in terrorist attacks on the West is also losing credibility.

It was always nonsense: terrorists don’t need “bases” to plan their attacks. Regular armies need bases, but all terrorists need is a couple of safe houses somewhere. Controlling Afghanistan is almost entirely irrelevant to Western security, and that reality is also beginning to seep out into the public discussion in the United States.

A dramatic recent example of this was the recent resignation of Matthew Hoh, a former Marine captain and Iraq veteran who had joined the State Department and was working as the top American official in Zabul province in eastern Afghanistan. “My resignation is based not upon how we are pursuing the war, but why and to what end?” he wrote in his resignation letter, which got considerable exposure in the U.S. media. “I fail to see the value or worth in continued U.S. casualties.”

If Obama can extricate himself from the tactical minutiae about whether to send 40,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, or 20,000, or none, and focus on the larger question of why the United States is occupying the country at all, he can still save himself.

And now is his best-ever chance to pull out, because the political train-wreck in Kabul gives him an ideal opportunity to renege on his foolish promises to pursue the war in Afghanistan until victory.

If he misses this opportunity, he may never get another, for it will inevitably, inexorably become “his” war, and the Americans who are killed there from now on will have died on his orders. Once that kind of burden descends on a politician, it becomes almost impossible for him to change course and admit that those deaths were futile. In that case, the Afghanistan war will eventually destroy him.

Gwynne Dyer Gwynne Dyer is a London-based independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries.

NOVEMBER 25, 2009 · FLAGPOLE.COM

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

2012 (PG-13) German disaster taskmaster Roland Emmerich (Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow) destroys the entire world in his newest lowest-commondenominator blockbuster. 2012 uses the conspiracy-theorist wet-dream of the Mayan calendar’s predicted Earth expiration date—Dec. 21, 2012—as the springboard for the biggest disaster picture ever. This audacious, awful flick makes Emmerich’s last cinematic sermon, The Day After Tomorrow, look downright documentarian and artful.

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).

BLACK DYNAMITE (R) Another homage to blaxploitation, Black Dynamite stars co-writer Michael Jai White (Spawn) as the titular hero who must avenge his brother’s murder and right neighborhood wrongs all the way to the White House (James McManus plays Richard Nixon himself). I kind of hope this movie actually makes it to Athens.

Winner of the Seattle International Film Festival’s Golden Space Needle Award for Best Film. With Arsenio Hall and “In Living Color”’s Tommy Davidson.

THE BLIND SIDE (PG-13) NFL offensive tackle and Ole Miss graduate Michael Oher’s life story comes to the screen. A conservative family, led by tough-as-nails matriarch Leigh Anne Touhy (Sandra Bullock), takes in a disadvantaged giant, Michael (Quinton Aaron). Writer-director John Lee Hancock is kind of cornering the market on feel-good sports movies like this

and his 2002 surprise hit, The Rookie.

With Tim McGraw, Ray McKinnon, Kathy Bates and a whole heap of SEC football coaches, past and present.

THE BOONDOCK SAINTS II: ALL SAINTS DAY (R) Writer-director Troy Duffy mines his only successful film, a box office bust turned cult fave, for its inevitable sequel. The Brothers MacManus, Connor (former “Young Indiana Jones” Sean Patrick Flanery) and Murphy (Norman Reedus), leave their idyllic life on the family farm in Ireland and return to Boston to take revenge on the mob that killed their favorite priest.

BRIGHT STAR (PG) Now considered the last—and arguably, greatest— Romantic poet, John Keats experienced little triumph, critical or financial, while alive. Due to his weakened pecuniary state, Keats was unable to marry the love of his life, Fanny Brawne. Their doomed, three-year love affair comes to torridly chaste life in Academy Award winner Jane Campion’s newest film, her best since 1993’s The Piano, and the most tragically romantic film I have seen in ages.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL (PG) Oscarwinning filmmaker Robert Zemeckis’ third foray into motion-capture animation is his most successful. Carrey voices multiple roles as Ebenezer Scrooge, young Scrooge and the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. His old Scrooge is the most successful. Gary Oldman makes an oddly appropriate Bob Cratchit and Marley. The problem with this newest version of Charles Dickens’ holiday classic is its familiarity, which has grown a tad musty.

COCO BEFORE CHANEL (PG-13) 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. (The Girl from Monaco garnered some nice pub back in July.) With Benoit Poelvoorde (Man Bites Dog), Alessandro Nivola (Junebug), Marie Gillain, and Emmanuelle Devos (A Christmas Tale).

COLD SOULS (PG-13) How Charlie Kaufman-esque! Paul Giamatti plays an actor named Paul Giamatti, who pays to have his soul disembodied.

Quick! Get us out of this movie!

Unfortunately, Paul is a victim of soul trafficking and must travel to Russia to retrieve it from a soap-opera actress.

Writer-director Sophie Barthes’ feature debut was nominated for Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize. With two-time Academy Award nominee Emily Watson, David Strathairn (an Academy Award nominee for Good Night, and Good Luck), and Lauren Ambrose (“Six Feet Under”).

COUPLES RETREAT (PG-13) Writers Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau and Dana Fox also star in this lazily glued-together sitcom collage of misunderstandings about sex, massages, et cetera and platitudes about the hard

M OVIE L ISTI NG S

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

BEECHWOOD (706-546-1011)

Due to production deadlines, Beechwood movie times are only accurate through Nov. 24. Visit www.flagpole.com for updated times.

2012 (PG-13) 4:30, 5:30, 8:00, 9:00 The Blind Side (PG-13) 4:10, 5:00, 7:00, 8:00, 9:45 A Christmas Carol 3D (PG) 5:10, 7:30, 9:55 Couples Retreat (PG-13) 7:05 The Men Who Stare at Goats (R) 5:20, 7:35, 9:50 Paranormal Activity (R) 5:15, 7:35, 9:50 Pirate Radio (R) 4:30, 9:45 Planet 51 (PG) 5:05, 7:25, 9:35 The Twilight Saga: New Moon (PG-13) 4:15, 6:30, 7:15, 9:15, 10:00

CARMIKE 12 (706-354-0016)

Due to production deadlines, Carmike 12 movie times are only accurate through Nov. 26. Visit www.flagpole.com for updated times.

2012 (PG-13) 12:20, 1:20, 3:40, 4:40, 7:00, 8:00 Blind Side (PG-13) 1:25, 4:20, 7:10, 10:00 A Christmas Carol 3D (PG) 12:30, 2:50, 5:10, 7:30, 9:50 A Christmas Carol (PG) 1:00, 3:20, 5:40, 8:00 (ends Tu. 11/24) Fantastic Mr. Fox (PG) 1:05, 3:10, 5:15, 7:20, 9:30 The Fourth Kind (PG-13) 4:35, 9:40 (ends Tu. 11/24) Law Abiding Citizen (R) 1:20, 4:35, 7:20, 10:00 The Men Who Stare at Goats (R) 1:15, 3:25, 5:35, 7:45, 9:55 (ends Tu. 11/24) Ninja Assassin (R) 1:25, 3:50, 7:15, 9:45 Old Dogs (PG) 1:00, 3:10, 5:20, 7:30, 9:40 Paranormal Activity (PG-13) 1:10, 3:20, 5:30, 7:40, 9:50 Pirate Radio (R) 1:00, 7:00 (ends Tu. 11/24)

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Planet 51 (PG) 1:45, 4:35, 7:05, 9:30 The Twilight Saga: New Moon (PG-13) 1:00, 2:00, 4:00, 5:00, 7:00, 8:00, 9:50

CINÉ (706-353-3343)

Ciné will be closed on Thanksgiving, Nov. 26. Showtimes resume Friday, Nov. 27.

Bright Star (PG) 4:45 (ends W. 11/25) Coco Before Chanel (PG-13) 5:00, 7:15 (new times F. 11/27: 5:00) (add’l times Sa. 11/28–Su. 11/29: 2:45) Cold Souls (PG-13) 9:30 (ends W. 11/25) The Damned United (R) 5:15, 7:15, 9:30 (starts F. 11/27) (no 9:45 show Su. 11/29) New York, I Love You (R) 7:30, 9:45 (new times F. 11/27: 7:30, 9:45) (add’l times Sa. 11/28–Su. 11/29: 2:30) (no 9:45 show Su. 11/29)

GEORGIA SQUARE 5 (706-548-3426)

Due to production deadlines, Georgia Square Five movie times are only accurate through Nov. 26. Visit www.flagpole. com for updated times.

All About Steve (PG-13) 7:40, 10:00 (ends Tu. 11/24) Fame (PG) 12:45, 4:15, 7:40, 10:15 (starts W. 11/25) I Can Do Bad All By Myself (PG-13) 4:25, 7:30, 10:05 (new times W. 11/25: 1:00, 4:25, 7:30, 10:00) Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (PG) 5:20 (new times W. 11/25: 3:00, 7:45) Inglourious Basterds (R) 4:30, 8:00 (ends Tu. 11/24) The Invention of Lying (PG-13) 5:25, 7:45, 10:15 (ends Tu. 11/24) Julie and Julia (PG-13) 4:20, 7:25, 10:10 (add’l times W. 11/25–Th. 11/26: 1:05) Surrogates (PG-13) 12:55, 3:10, 5:20, 7:35, 10:00 (starts W. 11/25) Zombieland (R) 12:50, 5:25, 10:00 (starts W. 11/25)

FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ NOVEMBER 25, 2009

work it takes to maintain the two-way street of a relationship.

THE DAMNED UNITED (R) The Damned United documents British coaching legend Brian Clough’s (Michael Sheen) 44-day tenure as the leader of Leeds United. Timothy Spall (Harry Potter’s Peter Pettigrew) costars as Clough’s coaching companion, Peter Taylor. Two-time Oscar nominee Peter Morgan (The Last King of Scotland, The Queen) contributed the screenplay for the film, directed by Emmy winner

Tom Hooper (“Elizabeth I”). With Colm Meaney, Oscar winner Jim Broadbent, This Is England’s Stephen Graham and Elizabeth Carling.

DARE (R) Three high school seniors—aspiring actress and good girl Alexa Walker (Emmy Rossum, The Phantom of the Opera), her best friend Ben Berger (Ashley Springer, Teeth) and bad boy Johnny Drake (Zach Gilford of “Friday Night Lights”)—become embroiled in an intimate, complicated relationship.

The trailer looks kind of CW-y. With Ana Gasteyer, Rooney Mara, Sandra Bernhard and Alan Cumming. Directed

by Adam Salky. Nominated for the coveted Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

AN EDUCATION (PG-13) Teenaged Jenny (Carey Mulligan) comes of age in the 1960s suburban London upon the arrival of David (Peter Sarsgaard), a playboy nearly twice her age. Mulligan is winning raves and positioning herself on the shortlist of potential Oscar dark horses. Director Lone Scherfig also helmed Italian for Beginners and bestselling novelist Nick Hornby (High Fidelity and About a Boy) adapted the memoir by Lynn Barber. Winner of the Dramatic World Cinema Audience Award, Cinematography Award, as well as a Grand Jury Prize nomination from the Sundance Film Festival.

FANTASTIC MR. FOX (PG) A clever Fox (v. George Clooney) attempts to outsmart the angry, neighboring farmers. The trailer for quixotic auteur Wes Anderson’s stop-motion animated adaptation of Roald Dahl’s not quite as classic as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (or James and the Giant Peach, for that matter). It will be interesting to see if family audiences warm to the second hip children’s film of fall. Featuring the voices of Meryl Streep and Anderson regulars, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray and Owen Wilson.

THE FOURTH KIND (PG-13) The Fourth Kind, a Blair Witch-y alien abduction thriller, suffers comparisons to recent horror phenomenon,

Paranormal Activity. In fact, The Fourth Kind deserves a look. The chutzpah of filmmaker Olatunde Osunsanmi in his second film pays off. The writerdirector successfully combines fake interviews of purportedly real abductees with Hollywood-level recreations starring Milla Jovovich, Will Patton and Elias Koteas for a chilling genre flick that will have gullible filmgoers frightened for months.

GENTLEMEN BRONCOS (PG13) Science-fiction author Ronald Chevalier (the excellent, Emmynominated Jemaine Clement from Flight of the Conchords, the band and the TV program) battles plagiarism charges leveled by a teenage writer, Benjamin Purvis (The Forbidden Kingdom’s Michael Angarano), homeschooled by his eccentric mother (Jennifer Coolidge). Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess tries to recover from his poorly received sophomore effort, Nacho Libre. Cowritten

by Hess’ wife, Jerusha. With Sam Rockwell and producer Mike White.

THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL (R) The House of the Devil sounds like my kind of movie. College coed Samantha (Jocelin Donahue) takes a lucrative babysitting job at a Victorian mansion in the middle of nowhere. Lo and behold, it coincides with a full lunar eclipse needed to complete a satanic ritual. Writer-director Ti West also helmed a seemingly DOA sequel to Eli Roth’s Cabin Fever and is in pre-production on a flick titled The Haunting in Georgia. With cameos from genre vets Tom Noonan, Mary Woronov and Dee Wallace.

I CAN DO BAD ALL BY MYSELF (PG-13) The logline for Tyler Perry’s newest film featuring the writerdirector-producer-actor’s popular alter ego, Madea, reads exactly as his fans expect. Madea hands three young thieves over to their hard-living, blues-singing Aunt April who does not want to deal with them. But will these kids and a sexy new tenant (Adam Rodriguez) help April get her life on track? With Mary J. Blige and Gladys Knight.

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.

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.

THE INVENTION OF LYING (PG-13) An adult fable, the new film from British “Office” creator and star Ricky Gervais posits a world in which everyone tells the truth. An old-fashioned romantic comedy, The Invention of Lying would not seem like anything new were it not for Gervais. The brilliant Brit makes something honest out of the oldest trick in the book.

JULIE & JULIA (PG-13) As I watched Streep gloriously honk her way through Nora Ephron’s delicious new film as the famous TV chef Julia Child, I was pleasantly entertained; much of the

decidedly older crowd was in hysterics. Julie & Julia is the twin culinary tales of Julia Child and Julie Powell (the delightful, cute Amy Adams), a lowly government employee who finds meaning—and a book deal—in cooking all 524 of the recipes in Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking in 365 days and blogging about it. Julie & Julia isn’t a fancy French delicacy; it’s Hollywood comfort food prepared with love and laughter.

LAW ABIDING CITIZEN (R) Despite a couple of spurts of over-the-top violence, Law Abiding Citizen should please those moviegoers looking for the latest generic thriller that puts a couple of big name stars (Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler) through the predictable paces. Butler works too hard as Clyde Shelton, a mild-mannered guy who goes all Death Wish meets Jigsaw after the justice system fails to adequately punish the guys who killed his wife and daughter. Clyde’s elaborate revenge scheme, which crosses from movie farfetched to patently unbelievable by the big reveal, targets the entire municipal government of Philadelphia.

ME AND ORSON WELLES (PG13) Director Richard Linklater’s latest stars Zac Efron and Claire Danes as two actors cast opposite one another in Orson Welles’ 1937 staging of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Efron plays aspiring actor Richard Samuels who falls for his older costar, Sonja Jones (Danes). The Oscar-nominated Linklater loves to keep audiences guessing, but will anyone outside of his true fanatics want to see his first period piece since the 1998 Western, The Newton Boys?

THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS (R) George Clooney and his Oscarnominated producing partner Grant Heslov aim for a modern absurdist war satire like Dr. Strangelove, M.A.S.H. or Catch-22. Anyone entertained by the Boston-scored trailer for The Men Who Stare at Goats will leave with a smile but have little reason to stare when a single viewing will satisfy. These Men definitely will never achieve the timeless ranks of General “Buck” Turgidson or Captains Yossarian, “Hawkeye” Pierce or “Trapper” McIntyre.

THE MESSENGER (R) Films about the Iraq War still have not proved popular with audiences, but I’m Not There screenwriter Oren Moverman is testing the waters with his directorial debut. A soldier (the buzzy Ben Foster) struggles with his conscience after falling for the widow of a fallen officer.

Woody Harrelson has been getting some positive pub. Winner of the Silver Berlin Bear and the Peace Film Award from the Berlin International Film Festival and two Best Film prizes from the Deauville Film Festival.

NEW YORK, I LOVE YOU (R) Shia LeBeouf, Natalie Portman, The Hangover’s breakout star Bradley Cooper, Blake Lively, Orlando Bloom, Robin Wright Penn, Hayden Christensen, Drea de Matteo, Christina Ricci, John Hurt, Ethan Hawke, James Caan, Justin Bartha, Chris Cooper, Andy Garcia, Julie Christie, Eli Wallach, Cloris Leachman, Irrfan Khan and many, many more star in an anthology of love stories set in New York City directed by the likes of Fatih Akin (The Edge of Heaven), Shekhar Kapur, Mira Nair and star Portman.

NINJA ASSASSIN (R) This flick looks totally badass. It also just looks bad. A rogue ninja, Raizo (Rain, Speed Racer), teams up with an Interpol agent (Naomie Harris, 28 Days Later and the last two Pirates of the Caribbean) to take down a shadowy secret society of assassins, the Ozunu Clan. Director James McTeigue last helmed V for Vendetta for the Wachowski Brothers.

Against my better judgment, I really am looking forward to this bloody martial arts pic.

almost be considered a spiritual, tonal, nostalgic sibling to Songbird, Nick Hornby’s terrific collection of musical essays, and it’s the best time I’ve had in a theater in weeks.

PLANET 51 (PG) Astronaut Chuck Baker (v. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) lands on Planet 51 and finds an alien race paranoid of an alien invasion. He must recover his spaceship with the help of his new alien friend. Three firsttime directors—Jorge Blanco, Javier Abad and Marcos Martinez—bring Shrek Oscar nominee Joe Stillman’s script to animated life. This family flick does not look terrible, but it does not much resemble a holiday blockbuster either.

PRECIOUS (R) Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire tells the story of an overweight illiterate teen mother (Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe), who is pregnant with her second child when she gets a chance to turn her life around at an alternative school. I never thought I would write that Mo’Nique is generating serious Oscar buzz with her portrayal of Precious’ abusive mother.

Can the Sundance favorite score with the larger moviegoing audience?

Public plugs from mega-producers and tastemakers Oprah and Tyler Perry should help. Written and directed by Lee Daniels. With Mariah Carey.

THE PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE (R) Fifty-year-old Pippa Lee (Robin Wright) begins to quietly have a nervous breakdown after her much older husband (Academy Award winner Alan Arkin) moves them from New York City to a retirement home and has an affair with a younger woman.

Filmmaker Rebecca Miller (The Ballad of Jack and Rose) adapts her own book for her fourth feature.

THE ROAD (R) Man, I want this film to be good. The adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s highly acclaimed Pulitzer Prize winner (Entertainment Weekly

cited it as the best book, fiction or non-fiction, of the last 25 years) has a lot of hype and expectation to live up to. Viggo Mortensen stars as the nameless, dying father, scouring the post-apocalypse for a future for his young son (Kodi Smit-McPhee).

Aussie writer-director John Hillcoat has little to his name save a connection to Nick Cave 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.

ST. TRINIAN’S (PG-13) A smash hit in its native Britain, St. Trinian’s stars Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace’s Strawberry Fields) as the ringleader of a gang of private school girls who plan a heist to save their rundown institution. The cast includes Rupert Everett and Colin Firth. A sequel to co-directors Oliver Parker (Othello) and Barnaby Thompson’s comedy has already been greenlit.

TRUCKER (R) A carefree trucker, Diane Ford (Michelle Monaghan), looks to settle down after taking in her 11-year-old son (Jimmy Bennett, Star Trek). Then again, Trucker does have Nathan Fillion in it, so it can’t be all bad. Winner of an Excellence in Acting Award (Monaghan) from the Vail Film Festival and the Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature Film from the Woods Hole Film Festival. Written and directed

by James Mottern.

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON (PG-13) See Movie Pick.

THE G

l OLD DOGS (PG) A spiritual followup to Wild Hogs, Old Dogs shares star John Travolta, director Walt Becker (Van Wilder), and old-man hijinks. Ben (Robin Williams) is a successful businessman who discovers he fathered twins. Naturally, he enlists his bachelor pal (Travolta) when asked to care for the kids for an extended period of time.

Costar Seth Green looks to be funny.

With Kelly Preston, Lori Loughlin, Matt Dillon and the late Bernie Mac in his final role.

ONG BAK 2 (R) Tien (Tony Jaa) must use his fighting skills to get revenge on the man who killed his parents.

Director and star Jaa reportedly took a two month sabbatical before returning to finish shooting the movie with the help of writer Panna Rittikrai.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY (R) Micah and Katie (Micah Sloat and Katie Featherston) think their new house is haunted. Micah buys a fancy new camera to record the unusual things that go bump in the night. After a tedious 10 minutes or so, the movie reels you in like a marathon of “Ghost Hunters.”

With the help of a psychic, Micah and Katie discover the entity is not a ghost but a demon, and it is not the house that is being haunted. It is Katie.

Paranormal Activity updates Robert Wise’s psychological The Haunting with a modern technological savvy, and the film’s simplicity—two people, a camera and a haunted house—is never its flaw.

PIRATE RADIO (R) Richard Curtis’ heavily fictionalized account of the radio battles waged during the British culture wars of the 1960s entertains from the mosaic montage of the opening credits to the album cover slideshow that accompanies the end credits.

In between is a two-hour-and-fifteenminute party. With its “rockin’ ‘60s” backdrop of the Rolling Stones, The Who and The Kinks, Pirate Radio could

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Drew Wheeler

NOVEMBER 25, 2009 · FLAGPOLE.COM

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movie pick

threats & promises

New Moon Brightens Twilight

Music News And Gossip

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON (PG-13) All Twilight hating aside, the second cinematic installment of the four-part series bests the first film, even with less of Robert Pattinson’s Edward—a loss tempered by the promotion of the mostly shirtless Taylor Lautner. Twilight true believers will have no trouble loving the follow-up as much, if not more than, its predecessor. Those not inducted into the everexpanding cult will wonder what all the fuss is about.

Author Stephenie Meyer really painted her cinematic proxies, director Chris Weitz and Twilight writer Melissa Rosenberg, into a corner by breaking up Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen for the majority of her doorstopper of a second novel. Thank God she introduced werewolves (except they’re not, which we’ll get to). Six hundred pages of a moping Bella would have been unreadable without adding vampirism’s hairy complement to the supernatural soap opera. Anyone who thought Twilight to be actionless and boring will not find New Moon any more satisfying.

Sadly, the initial appearance of the Volturi—an ancient vampire clan that ruthlessly enforces their world’s laws—underwhelmed despite the inclusion of a gratuitous fight between Edward and the Volturi guard.

Michael Sheen, the Oscar-ignored costar of The Queen and Frost/Nixon who plays head Volturi, Aro, is no stranger to supernatural franchises; he costarred in all three Underworlds. Yet he generously overplays the ancient vamp, who is more interested in discovering extrasensory abilities than keeping vampiric law and order. At least the Volturi kill some innocents, albeit off-screen, unlike those animal-hunting Cullens, who practice vampirism’s version of veganism.

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart The last time new director Weitz (he replaced Twilight’s Catherine Hardwicke) tackled adapting serial fiction for the screen— The Golden Compass—it did not go so well.

However, his experience with dueling CGI polar bears ensured the tiny bits of werewolf action that slipped through were thrilling, and his time baking American Pie lent a better sense of humor to these ultra-serious proceedings. Leaving the writing duties to scripter Rosenberg also helped Weitz, who wrote the screenplay for The Golden Compass. The “Dexter” writer-producer really does a commendable job turning Meyer’s static romance into something filmable. Still, that poor material will haunt them and whoever replaces Weitz for the final two installments of the overachieving series whose success has far outstripped its quality.

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Now let the hating commence. The Twilight Saga—I shake my head every time I type that pretentious designation, though it is better than Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga—began as an easily readable, if overwritten batch of teen goth-roms. No harm, no foul. Then the fantasy franchise became the next Harry Potter for which every pop culture watcher had been searching. Twilight is the commoner ascended to the throne; it has no business ruling the kingdom of Pop Culturia.

Part of me wants to say “good.” The blockbuster landscape has too long been dominated by teen male-skewing mountains of explosions and bathroom humor. Young women long ago laid claim to popular music; why shouldn’t they get a piece of the movie pie as well? New Moon is on par with Transformers 2; fighting robots may appeal more to me than bizarre monster love triangles, but personal preference does not make TF2 a better quality film.

But my inner Twilight apologist is bullied into silence by the hating roommate within my psyche. Where Twilight most offends is in its fakery. It is a suburban teen, gothed to the nines, but no edgier than a vampiric Dakota Fanning (which New Moon introduces to the world). Meyer did not create a classic vampire romance as eternal as Dracula. Without fangs or a deadly allergy to sunlight, her vamps could be beautiful zombies that don’t rot.

Anyone who has read the entire series knows her werewolves are not actually werewolves either; they are shapeshifters.

Not only does Twilight’s wannabe goth appearance strike false, Meyer, a Mormon mother of three, also naturally blueprints the series according to her own moral schema. She preaches abstinence, an appropriate message for a teenage romance. Too bad she undercuts it by advocating getting married as soon as possible as a way around God’s stricture. So far, the movies have thankfully toned down Bella and Edward’s heavy panting and dry humping, but New Moon’s cliffhanger conclusion leads me to believe that slight reprieve is over.

Even more devastating for the obsessed tweens is Meyer’s New Moon portrayal of Bella as depressed and suicidal because her boyfriend broke up with her. She delves into dangerous activities like hopping on motorcycles with strangers and cliff diving just to catch a wispy glimpse of her beloved, estranged Edward. And when Jacob, the second boy who is hopelessly devoted to Bella, deserts her, one begins to wonder just what is wrong with her.

Truthfully, New Moon isn’t a terrible movie as constructed by Weitz and Rosenberg, who do their damnedest to overcome the petty motivations and dumb rules established in Meyer’s novels. Still, I cannot imagine anyone not already invested in the overwrought courtship of Bella and Edward being interested in its continuation. Good thing the series has a built-in fan base of 85 million and counting.

FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ NOVEMBER 25, 2009

Drew Wheeler

Hey, everybody. I want to use this space this week to wish a very Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. Let’s all go ahead and start counting our blessings until we meet in this space again next week. One, two, three…

Piggyback: Bluegrass fans can rejoice at the bargain available next week. On Friday, Dec. 4 at the Melting Point, the Packway Handle Band will host a listening party for its newest album, What Are We Gonna Do Now? Although the album won’t be released until February 2010, I guess they figured “What the hell, why not?” Doors open at 6 p.m., and the album will start spinning at 7:30 p.m. Little Country Giants will take the stage about an hour later, and Packway Handle Band will play around 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance and $13 at the door. The very next night, the legendary Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys will play the same venue, and tickets are

by Cleveland’s Afternoon Naps, St. Louis’ Bunnygrunt, Athens rockers Tunabunny (on a cool split 12” vinyl release with Hulaboy, which is a new project by Stewart Anderson of Boyracer) by the end of autumn. And, yes, just in case you were wondering, the Athens PopFest (which I co-run with Turner) is back on for August 2010, and there’ll be more info coming about that. For more information on the above releases, etc., please check out the newly revamped HHBTM website at www. hhbtm.com.

Get on Stage Now: Local soundman and musician Gene Woolfolk has been steadily recording demos for his new project, A Jet Pack Operation, and damn they’re sweet. Woolfolk, who also plays guitar in Columbus, GA-based Spy for Hire, has his roots deeply in both electronic iciness and fuzzy, shoegaze guitar bliss.

Currently assembling a live band, Woolfolk has

Packway Handle Band $25 in advance and $30 at the door. However, if you buy a two-day-pass combo you can see both the Friday and Saturday show for only $28 in advance. See what they did there?

For more info, please see www.meltingpointathens.com and www.packwayhandle.com.

Plan Ahead. He Did: Fresh on the heels of a triple-CD release party (Escapes), Party Party Partners is releasing a limited run of 300 LPs for Quiet Hooves contributor Javier Morales that he recorded under the name The Dream Scene. The album is all Christmas music, and there’ll be a “Christmas recital” at Farm 255 on Dec. 12. Quiet Hooves, which is releasing a 7” single at the same time, will also play the show, playing both a set of their own material and a set of Morales’ arrangements of Christmas originals and standards.

I love short-run vinyl projects like this, and PPP’s Mercer West (who takes a total cue from Mike Turner, who has been doing this type of stuff for years) is one of only a few dudes in town who will actually bust ass to get stuff done. Check out Morales’ music at the ridiculous URL www.myspace.com/ tthheeddrreeaammsscceennee.

Speaking of Whom…: The aforementioned Mike Turner has a new batch of records under the belt of his Happy Happy Birthday to Me label. In addition to a slew of releases that have come out this year, we’ll see new albums

gathered Blaze Bateh (Bambara) and Kalan Collazo (Thieves and Pastors) into his fold and is still seeking keyboardists, more guitars, etc.

The demos he’s recorded and posted are all pretty killer in their own right but also show much promise of stuff to come. Do yourself a solid and head over to www.myspace.com/ genewoolfolk.

Bam-Bam: Athens locals Bambara have finished their new EP with engineers Joel Hatstat and David Barbe. Well, Hatstat did four songs and Barbe did two. Titled Dog Ear Days, the EP will have a proper release in 2010, but Bambara is placing it on www.bandcamp.com now where you can download it for free or choose a price to pay. So, consider paying something for it. Seriously. Until you decide what it’s worth to you, though, please check out three new songs by the band over at www.myspace.com/bambaraband.

Officially Recognized: An online storehouse of photos, video, remembrances and more concerning Jerry Fuchs has been set up for friends, fans and anyone else who would like to contribute or browse. This site was set up by friends and is endorsed by the Fuchs family.

Please see www.jerryfuchs.net and feel free to contribute. Jerry tragically passed away following a fall in Brooklyn, NY on Nov. 8.

Gordon Lamb threatsandpromises@flagpole.com

THU. DEC. 10

Bio Ritmo Live Salsa! w/ Serenata

FRI. DEC. 11

Rehab w/ Soul Stach

and Almost Kings $15 adv. / $17 day of show

SAT. DEC. 12

FRI. NOV. 27

birds&wire

THU. DEC. 17

Kaitlin Jones and County Fair $6 adv. / $8 day of show

Dave Rawlings Machine One Monkey Don’t Stop the Show

T

here’s a wry telling in the elongated decade since David Rawlings began writing and performing alongside Gillian Welch; it’s a story within a song within an inside joke. The song, “Monkey and the Engineer” is about a pet monkey who rides shotgun in a locomotive until one day the engineer steps out for a sandwich, leaving the monkey in the driver’s seat for ensuing hijinx.

It isn’t a song that the two wrote, but it has been a growing source of amusement while the pair—celebrated as the “two-person band called Gillian Welch”—has kept a low profile in the years since they released Soul Journey on the label they cofounded, Acony Records, in 2003.

The word collaboration gets thrown around so much in reference to Welch and Rawlings that the ubiquitous begins to teeter toward ironic: “Oh, gosh, there’s been so much,” explains Rawlings. “I’ve worked with different people over the years, with Conor Oberst and Bright Eyes… We made a record with Robyn Hitchcock and played with Old Crow Medicine Show, who, back in the day, would open for Gillian and I. But gradually, especially over the past two years or so, we started to get some material together that we thought was good with me singing. We went in earlier this year and recorded a record that we thought was good enough to put out.”

So goes the slyly titled Dave Rawlings Machine debut, A Friend of a Friend, a curtain raising on the 800-pound gorilla in the Americana sitting room. Ladling from his immense reservoir of cohorts, Rawlings has hewn an altogether familiar and new sound, fusing the dark, minor-key elements of his work with Welch with the full-out howl and stomp of a night with Old Crow Medicine Show. “Monkey and the Engineer” finally comes to print after years of existing solely in the live repertoire, and it is wrought with the playful humor and truth its symbolism warrants. “To Be Young (Is to Be Sad Is to Be High),” once known as a Ryan Adams song, appears in the voice of its original writer.

“Ruby,” a beautiful co-write with Welch, opens the album warmly, familiarly. You’ll know exactly who’s singing.

“I’ve tried to steal from everyone around me, and I’ve felt OK doing that because the music Gillian and I have made over the years has always been collaborative as well as the stuff with Old Crow. Because I felt a part of those things, I felt it was okay to try to use them for my own nefarious ends on this record,” Rawlings jokes. “We tried initially to record these songs the way that Gillian and I would record a record, and that didn’t seem to suit my voice as well, so it was really a process of experimentation. I was fortunate enough to have Old Crow come in and basically be my band for a little while. Luckily, I was able to deliver good enough performances with them that we felt able to release.”

Issuing the album on their own label also points to further collaborative aspects: in a sort of morbid music business tale, soon after Acony released Welch’s record Time (The Revelator), their distributor went under, leaving them holding the bag with 100,000 records for which they were compensated only $30,000. To the rescue were the independent record stores that took up the slack by buying the remaining copies directly from Acony Records, thereby thwarting a financial nightmare. In a show of thanks, the current tour features scheduled in-store appearances, beginning with Schoolkids Records in Athens.

“Everybody involved in this tour is crazy about independent record stores, but it also reminds me of when I was out playing with Old Crow Medicine Show; we were going out and busking in the afternoon. It was something like looking for fun, and we would just do it anyway. I like playing in sort of odd situations, and I think everybody appreciates the sort of ramshackle nature of something like that.”

Coy King

WHO: Dave Rawlings Machine, Winfield Smith WHERE: Melting Point WHEN: Saturday, Nov. 28, 8 p.m.

HOW MUCH: $20 (adv.), $25 (door)

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record reviews is there, and despite moments where discretion could have been heeded, the rich texture and full-band sound, including drums on every song, enhance the album. Delicate folk tunes become anthems, and it’s hard to fault the Avetts for the few missteps, as the larger sound is the result of wellmeaning ambition.

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THE RAVEONETTES In and Out of Control Vice In and Out of Control, the new record from Danish garage rock duo The Raveonettes, is a bit shocking upon first listen. Full of catchy hooks and anthem-y choruses, it seems to divert far from the course of the band’s earlier work. But closer inspection reveals all the same fuzzy, dirty, electro-trash rock we’ve come to know and love, only this outing finds it shrouded in sugar-coated, gum-snapping, ‘60s pop goodness. And it’s still more rock AND roll than Jack White could shake a stick at.

The fun starts off with a bang, literally, with what may be the most virus-like song of the year. The aggressively beat-driven, upbeat “Bang” is destined to become a concert favorite.

And who but The Raveonettes could write a ridiculously tuneful rockabilly/ pop/oldies piece titled “Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed)?” It’s got so much more than just a positive message going for it.

There are wonderful melodies and a lot of outright prettiness on this record of trashy, distorted guitars blanketing themes of sex, violence and vengeance, and I love it. If it’s not my favorite of 2009, it’s right up there.

Jennifer Gibson

Flagpole is looking for an editorial intern to help out in our music department.

ARE YOU...

L AND INDIE MUSIC? CA LO T OU AB E AT ION SS PA [] [] ORGANIZED AND DRIVEN? S? [] PROFICIENT WITH COMPUTER CAREER [] INTERESTED INM?PURSING A IN JOURNALIS [] AWESOME?

If you answered, “heck yes!” to all of the above, you might be just what we’re looking for.

Send a cover letter, resume and writing samples to music@flagpole.com

16

FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ NOVEMBER 25, 2009

THE AVETT BROTHERS I and Love and You American For nine years The Avett Brothers have passionately melded bluegrass and pop, creating pure bliss. All is right in the world when brothers Scott and Seth Avett find a clever self-deprecating simple truth, harmonize, and sing in the round. More recently, they’ve found their ballad sweet spot, using the banjo to emote intense love and heartbreak.

The highly anticipated I and Love and You is filled with these moments.

However, these moments are now accompanied by instances that reveal a band figuring out how to create a larger sound for a larger audience on a Rick Rubin-produced major-label debut.

In the past, the Brothers’ melodramatic earnestness was restrained due to limited resources. On their latest release, their caution-to-thewind hootenanny spirit seems less organic and more scripted. With less polish, the old vibes could have been recaptured. But the slick production

THE ALMIGHTY DEFENDERS

forceful is a marvel. But besides his remarkable voice, much of the magic comes from a masterful arrangement that allows each song to breathe and settle. A couple actually hover around the 10-minute mark, which sounds long for an average song, but isn’t when you’re spellbound. Each composition is crafted with an author’s sense of unfolding, every detail intentional and effective. Though the fabric comes from some unorthodox instrumentation like lyre, glass harmonica, megabass waterphone, ondes martenot and Cristal Baschet, no single thing detracts from the record’s singular and powerful atmosphere.

There’s darkness of soul here, but it’s stroked with unbelievable tenderness into a feat of emotional heft and majestic songcraft. It’s an inspired work by one of today’s most evocative balladeers.

Bao Le-Huu

The Almighty Defenders Vice After being chased out of India by authorities, Black Lips used King Khan’s Berlin studio as a safe house, incidentally crashing the making of the next King Khan & BBQ album. Put all these guys in one room and you know something big is gonna happen. And so the mightiest congress in modern garage-rock imaginable, otherwise known as The Almighty Defenders, was born. Turns out, even international scandal has a silver lining.

Though written, recorded and mixed in only a week, the album somehow manages coherence and sharpness of melody that’s sometimes lacking in the players’ own respective projects. Though it speaks garagerock, this record’s heart beats soul and gospel. If the notion of Sam Cooke rocking a dance party with a garage band—which is precisely what “Cone of Light” sounds like—doesn’t sound heaven-sweet to you, then you’re dead, baby. But the total deal is “Bow Down and Die,” a drunken, group-howling anthem that kills it with perfect melody and gorgeous ache.

Despite their all-star appeal, stacked marquees tend to disappoint.

But with raw soul, hot blood and pure essence, this is one of those golden examples of the whole being even greater than its righteous parts.

Bao Le-Huu

RICHARD HAWLEY Truelove’s Gutter Mute Beyond notable stints in Longpigs and Pulp, Hawley’s solo career has sprouted some real legs of its own this decade. On his brilliant sixth studio album, the Englishman captures the essence of the torch crooner without ever resorting to bloat or bombast. In fact, his ability to be so subtle yet so

And it all works in an effortless, colossal symphony.

The album is generously furnished with enough single-worthy songs to make it a sensation. The atmospheric “Too Young to Love” is propelled by a stiff, synthetic dance beat that motors through a blustery swarm of narcotic drones, and “Dominos” is a stadiumsize anthem that’s all chunk and funk.

But the biggest victories by far are “Velvet,” which pairs pretty melodies with heavy distortion, and “Crystal Visions,” a gorgeous tower of song that rises from a sea of shoegaze swerves.

A Brief History of Love is a magnificent exercise in mass and pop-craft.

A triumph of drama, tune and size, this record has the stuff to conquer the world.

Bao Le-Huu

DIGITAL LEATHER Warm Brother Fat Possum Though this electronic garage act has been earning bones in the underground for a while now, its planets are finally aligning in a big way. Digital Leather’s unorthodox sound has gotten it on the revered Fat Possum label and seduced garage magnate Jay Reatard into managing the band, which is curious since he can’t seem to manage his own. But, whatever, Digital Leather’s got it together and is proving to be one of the most refreshing talents to emerge from the garage scene.

Sonically, Warm Brother is a prismatic leap for mastermind Shawn Foree, expanding his electro-punk workouts into passionate pop monoliths that are occasionally playful, often beautiful. Simple, urgent songs like “Not Now,” “Bugs on Glue” and “Photo Lie” take on a ragged majesty with the addition of tall synth washes and come down like analog rain. The most massive track, “Modern Castles,” is a remarkably stylish slab of dark synth-pop that could dance alongside Ladytron.

Though expressly electronic, Digital Leather’s language strips away any of the cold perfection long implied by the format. Call it a new take on either garage-punk or synth-rock, if you want, but either way, it’s a very fresh dialect.

Bao Le-Huu

THE BIG PINK A Brief History of Love 4AD The London duo of Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell, founder of Merok Records (Klaxons, Crystal Castles), introduces itself in an astonishingly confident debut album. The Big Pink’s darkly romantic rock renders British melodic grandeur with the noise and drone of My Bloody Valentine and the dizzying electronic washes of M83.

THE GRANFALLOONS Songs to Sing Independent Release Locals The Granfalloons may be capable of some serious rocking on their debut, Songs to Sing, though playing serious rock is something they don’t often do. Comprised of former and current members of Blueground Undergrass, Squat, Birds + Wire and Col. Bruce Hampton’s Fiji Mariners, the five-, sometimes six-member band solicits smiles and mischievous winks with its upbeat, sometimes selfdeprecating tunes.

If you’re familiar with any of the previous groups The Granfalloons members have played with, the sunny, laid-back Americana heard on Songs to Sing can be seen as a little old mixed with a little new. The relaxed vibe is similar to that exuded by Blueground Undergrass. But that group’s inherent psychedelia is absent as The Granfalloons’ instrumentation forsakes the electric banjo in favor of jaunty steel guitar runs and a more roots rock, less jam band-infused sound.

“Real Life” rides a comfy wave of lap steel and squeeze box, while “Resume” takes the old bumper sticker catch-phrase of “I’d Rather Be Fishing” on a hooky trip highlighted by Tommy Summerville’s harmonica and Seth Hendershot’s impeccably subtle drumwork. Good luck not singing along to any of the 10 originals included here, as The Granfalloons know how to grab hold of that hum-inducing, toe-tapping part of your brain ‘til those around you are pleading with them to turn loose.

Michael Andrews

It’s OK to Like Football

The Blurring Line Between Hipsters and Jocks

S

affect us, but we’ve had to actively embrace it because these days you can’t fight it. We’ve had bands from Europe and we’ve had to hold their set because the stupid football game is still on. We’ve tried to fight it. You can’t win.”

Challis, who attended Auburn for two years in the late ‘80s but never a football game, says the folks that gather round the Bottle Tree’s big screen before a set by Monotonix or Vampire Weekend are predominantly Bama fans.

“I think it’s because of our proximity to Tuscaloosa more than anything,” she says. But she also acknowledges that the Crimson Tide’s preeminence, not only in mainstream Alabama culture but the hipsters’ “Dirty South,” has, at least in Birmingham, turned houndstooth into the new trucker hat of ironic appropriation.

Rebecca

aturday, Nov. 14 marked the 113th meeting between the Auburn Tigers and the Georgia Bulldogs. Doug Gillett, 31, a Georgia alum and fan who’s been getting into a lot of early British punk lately, hasn’t missed one since 1997.

Going by game days, Nov. 14 also marked the fifth anniversary of the first time, to my knowledge, that a group of Auburn townies and hipsters allowed themselves to “get into football” in front of one another. I was there. I was the singer for a band called Auburn Bikini. We were playing a show. A friend handed me a homemade button that said “Auburn Rock ‘n’ Roll Coach.” I put it on. I led the cheer.

Today it might not seem so strange. At the time, it seemed a miracle. I rambled on to Doug about it when I got him on the phone. He was driving through West Virginia on the way to his grandparents’ house, listening to Spoon.

“That was my whole reason for being in that band,” I said.

“I mostly just sang about football, and the whole idea was to bring these two worlds together and yell ‘War Eagle’ at a house show. And sure enough, man, it’s punks and pom-poms and just total college rah-rah, and everyone has on orange and blue. But I only went for it and thought I could get away with it because the energy that day was just too much for anyone to resist.”

“Right,” says Doug, who was there that day at JordanHare Stadium, hating life. “When a game day Saturday just completely takes over a whole town, it’s hard not to get swept up in something like that. I certainly did.”

“Right,” I said. “I mean, Georgia was pretty much the only thing standing in our way of perfection that year and the whole town was just throbbing. And after the eagle landed at midfield and started humping that steak… and then, you know, all politics aside, George Bush comes up on the Jumbotron and yells ‘War Eagle’ as those freaking jets fly over… I was just like, there’s no way Georgia’s going to win this game.”

Doug sighs. “I remember thinking the same thing.” He blogged about it, too. In March 2005, still stinging from Auburn’s 24-6 victory but high on the response to a story he had posted online detailing his experience with the Deep South’s oldest rivalry (“At least when Georgia got prisonshower-raped by Auburn last year, we could just throw up our hands and say well, Auburn was an unstoppable juggernaut preordained by God to roll to 13-0 by napalming every team in their way”), Gillett started the blog “Hey Jenny Slater” with, as the sidebar states, “one very simple goal: to have the best R-rated left-wing Georgia football/pop-culture blog in the history of the Internet.

Have I succeeded? I think the answer you’re looking for is “F#@k yes.”

The blog is named for a character in Gross Pointe Blank. It’s had over a million hits. And along with mega-sites like Deadspin and Everyday Should Be Saturday (which Gillett also writes for—imagine PerezHilton.com, only smart, actually funny, mostly straight and about college football) it serves as one of the finest, funniest and best-written examples of the hipster football blog, a growing phenomenon that suggests that the traditional Us vs. Them line of scrimmage, most starkly illustrated in the violent opening scene of “SLC Punk,” has blurred. At least as far as the manly, American sport of football is concerned.

“There was this really good friend of mine from Columbus,” Gillett says. “He was in one of the most punk bands in high school. I expected him to just come up to Athens and disappear into the music scene. But he rushed a frat and got really into Georgia football, and it’s just kind of an example of, like you said, people like that getting into football beyond just ironic detachment. Football does that to a lot of people, even when they’re not intending it to.”

Merrilee Challis never intended the hippest venue in postmillennial Birmingham as a place for “Football Saturday” gatherings when she opened the Bottle Tree Café three years ago.

But—and she still can’t get over it (“Watch the games on our big screen!”)—that’s what it has become.

“Yeah… the whole football thing,” says Challis, 38, like she knows what I’m getting at. “I didn’t think it was going to Kutch

“You mean like how people in Brooklyn like BBQ now?” she asks. “Yeah, there’s probably some of that.” When Southernbred, Brooklyn-based, former Athenians Bear in Heaven took the stage at the Bottle Tree after the Alabama-Ole Miss game in October, the band introduced itself as “Bear Bryant in Heaven.”

The crowd ate it up. “I think it’s just so ingrained,” Challis says. “Once we opened up, we realized that almost everybody in bands, like, all the dudes were into football.”

Dudes like her boyfriend, Brian Teasley, drummer for Auburn-born, Athens-friendly legends Man or Astroman? “Brian is the quintessential mixture of those two things,” Challis says.

“He’s been this closeted indie rocker football fan for years.

He’d always kind of talked about it like he knew what was going on. And just now, just this year, he’s started watching football openly. He claims he wants to have something to talk to his dad about, but he TiVos games and watches them by himself.”

Challis said the realization that hipsters kept up with, cared for and screamed for football was shocking. “Music or football,” she says. “I always thought you had to make a choice.”

According to Justin Robinson, singer for raucous Athens garage rockers The Agenda, you did. “Most [hipster football fans] have always been football fans since we were kids, especially those from the South, but probably weren’t super comfortable growing up and being a part of the culture associated with college football,” Robinson says. “Your stereotypical SEC fan is the redneck good ole’ boy who called people like me ‘faggot’ in high school.”

After nine years in Athens, Robinson is now comfortably out as an Auburn fan via his “shit-talking, college-football-loving, music snob” blog “A Lifetime of Defeats,” which features a sidebar photo of Bo Jackson’s hip popping out of its socket and details Robinson’s “fucked up love-hate relationship” with the Auburn Tigers and Atlanta Falcons, “teams who mostly existed to cause me pain and sorrow.”

His recent lament following Auburn’s loss to Georgia reads in part: “Loss to Georgia for the 4th year in a row + hangover + not being able to find my keys = I’ll be spending the rest of the morning listening to Nirvana’s Unplugged record and Elliott Smith until the Falcons come on. Being emo about football is retarded.”

“I think the rise of the Internet and blogging gave an outlet for closet sports fans to talk shit and celebrate our passion and place among our own team’s fan base,” Robinson says.

He traces the old hostilities not only as a reaction to perceived Southern values but 1990s teenagerdom, when being a music nerd demanded a deliberate embrace of something the gridiron is meant to destroy: Robinson calls it his “inner pussy.”

“There just wasn’t a lot of room (in the ‘90s) for football love when you were writing in your journal and reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower and listening to Belle and Sebastian records in an attempt to get laid from the cute indie-rock girl down the block,” he says. “Being sensitive was pretty valuable currency in those days. You couldn’t risk being accused of being a jock, or worse, a wanna-be jock.”

Athens townie, part-time stand-up comedian and life-long Georgia fan Pete McBrayer, 38, first noticed “the hipster-football divide” in college, but says it became more apparent after he graduated.

“A big contingent of the hipsters I know that hated UGA football worked in the service industry on football game days,” says McBrayer, who has worked at the University of Georgia for 16 years. “Grill, Gyro, Rocky’s, any number of bars downtown… it wasn’t really an aesthetic choice like ‘I’m too cool for football.’ It’s more like ‘I work in a chicken plant, so don’t ask me to eat chicken.’”

Have things changed? McBrayer says yes. “Two years ago there was nowhere on the ‘townie’ side of town that showed sports on TV,” he says. “Now Max Canada, RPM and, more traditionally, Gameday Pub and Shokitini show games.”

His theories on why range from hipster attrition brought on by sheer age to a shift in service industry demographics.

Robinson, however, like his blog, puts it more bluntly: “I think the real answer is that nobody gives a fuck anymore,” he says. “It’s so much harder to tell cliques apart. The frat boys and sorority girls in Athens don’t dress that much different than the indie-rock kids I see at shows. I mean, everyone owns a damn hoodie from American Apparel or shops at Urban Outfitters. It creates a safer environment for the hipster sports fan when everyone these days is trying to be a hipster.”

Doug Gillett agrees.

“I think that football culture and football Saturdays are a lot more inclusive than I think people give them credit for,” Gillett says. “Even if you’re kind of just approaching it like, ‘Oh, football, it’s so goofy,’ people will still openly embrace you… there’s a tailgate out there for everyone.”

Jeremy Henderson This article was originally posted to www.flagpole.com on Nov. 11.

NOVEMBER 25, 2009 · FLAGPOLE.COM

17

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FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ NOVEMBER 25, 2009

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NOVEMBER 25, 2009 · FLAGPOLE.COM

19

Local Thanksgiving Recipes From the Musician’s Kitchen N

eed some last minute suggestions for your T-Day feast?

Check out these tasty dishes:

Butternut & Caramelized Onion Tart From: Chefs Edward Russell & Matt Palmerlee (Farm 255) For dough: 1 ½ teaspoon active dry yeast 1 1/3 cups whole milk, warmed until steaming ¼ teaspoon sugar 2 cups all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon salt 1 large egg 2 oz. butter (½ stick) melted and cooled to room temp.

For filling: 1 large, or 2 medium butternut squash, cut in half and cleaned of seeds and pulp 3 large red onions, sliced thin 4 tablespoons butter, divided 2 tablespoons thyme, stemmed and chopped ½ cup greek yogurt (thickest you can find) or crème fraiche 2 large free-range eggs 1 tablespoon ground sumac 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon salt and pepper to taste

1 lb leftover turkey meat, white, dark, it’s all good, chopped into bite-sized pieces 1 lb Boudin or Conecuh sausage cut to eating size 2 lbs shrimp, crawfish or catfish 1 big can diced tomatoes 1 big can stewed tomatoes 1 lb okra 2 onions, sliced 2 bell peppers, chopped 5 ribs celery, chopped

chen t i k e h t m Fro

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nck a r F y s t e B

Leftover Turkey Gumbo From: Boo Ray (musician) Serves 10 Ingredients: 6 quarts turkey stock, made from your leftover turkey ½ cup flour ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil and a little bit of nice grease from whatever you ate that morning

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FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ NOVEMBER 25, 2009

From: Betsy Franck (musician) Ingredients: 1 cup chopped pecans 2 teaspoons butter 16 oz. cream cheese (can use reduced fat but not fat free) 4 tablespoons milk 5 oz. minced dried beef ½ teaspoon garlic powder or garlic salt 1 cup sour cream 4 teaspoons minced onion

Pumpkin Martinis

From: Lefty Hathaway (musician)

To make dough: 1. Stir yeast, milk and sugar together in bowl of stand mixer with a rubber spatula. Let stand for 5 minutes.

2. Add rest of ingredients and mix at low speed until a dough forms. Empty contents onto clean work surface and knead for 5 minutes. Dust lightly with flour and let proof in clean bowl covered with a towel for 2 hours or until doubled in size.

To assemble: Roll out dough on lightly floured surface until it forms a rough, 12” circle. Lightly fit dough into tart pan, draping excess over the sides. Spread a layer of onions evenly over the dough (be generous). Pour the butternut mixture over the onions, spreading a thin layer with a spatula as you go, leaving no visible onions underneath. Fold excess dough over tart and top the visible hole left with the remaining onions. Brush tart with an egg wash and bake at 375°F until golden brown, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Slice and serve warm.

Hot Virginia Dip

Directions: 1. Sauté pecans in butter and set aside.

2. Mix other ingredients thoroughly.

3. Place in ½ quart baking dish and top with pecans.

4. Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes.

5. Serve with crackers, bread sticks or melba rounds.

Equipment: 9” fluted tart shell with removable bottom

To make filling: 1. Prep this as dough rises. Preheat oven to 375°F. 2. Place halves of squash in a deep oven-safe baking dish.

Season each half with salt and pepper and add a pat of butter to each. Cover with foil and bake until tender, about 30–40 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, sauté onions with 2 tablespoons of butter over med-low heat until translucent, about 20–30 minutes. Add thyme and pour out onto clean sheet tray and let cool.

Strain excess liquid from onions after cooling to room temp.

4. Remove squash from oven when done, let cool. When cool, scrape out insides with a spoon and add to bowl of food processor. Process with yogurt, sumac, cinnamon, salt and pepper until smooth. Add egg and process for one minute.

last. You can thicken it if you like. Cook for 7 minutes. Add half of Persillade to Gumbo, put half in serving bowl for garnish. Cook gumbo another 30 minutes.

7. Serve in big bowls with garnish bar (sour cream, Persillade, scallions, olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, Tabasco & hot sauces).

Serves 2 Ingredients: 4 oz. vanilla vodka 1 oz. heavy cream 1 oz. pumpkin liqueur nutmeg cinnamon stick

1 bunch scallions with tops, chopped 1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped or 2 if you want to make a Persillade to garnish 5 cloves garlic, minced 3 big bay leaves 2 tablespoons filé (ground sassafras leaves) 2 tablespoons thyme 1 lid full ground cayenne pepper 2 tablespoons black pepper 3 tablespoons sea salt ¼ quarter cup apple cider vinegar 3 tablespoons Tabasco 1 bag long grain rice Directions: All the women in my family are from Louisiana, which is why all the men in my family are dead. If they weren’t fattened for killin’, they certainly ate well.

1. Boil the turkey carcass in a big pot with 9 quarts water after you pick it, ‘bout a couple hours.

2. Do your Trinity in a medium pot with butter, onions first, bell pepper, celery and then garlic.

3. Strain the stock and put it in biggest pot you got.

Add tomatoes, okra, sausage, fish, turkey and bay leaves.

Boil an hour or so.

4. Sift in flour, add filé, Trinity, vinegar, cayenne, black pepper, thyme, salt, Tabasco and a skosh more than half your olive oil. Let it roll.

5. Cook a bag of long-grain rice.

6. If you are making a Persillade, put scallions in a hot sauce pan, add some olive oil, add garlic, thyme and then parsley

Directions: 1. Add vodka, cream and liqueur to shaker along with ice.

2. Shake!

3. Grate nutmeg on top and add cinnamon stick as garnish.

4. Optional: add a dollop of whipped cream.

5. Add a touch of inflated sense of self-worth after 4 servings.

Grits & Greens Casserole From: Dead Confederate

Ingredients: 2 cups half and half 6 cups chicken broth 2 cups quick cooking grits 1-27 oz. can of Glory Collards (or a 24 oz. bag of frozen collards) 2 sticks of butter 2 ½ cups grated parmesan cheese ½ teaspoon pepper 1 cup crumbled bacon Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350°F. 2. Combine broth and cream; bring to a boil.

3. Stir in grits, cover and cook, stirring often until grits are thickened.

4. Stir in the collards (drained if using canned), butter, parmesan cheese and pepper.

5. Pour into a greased 9x13 casserole dish (should be fairly deep as this makes a LARGE casserole). Top with crumbled bacon and place in preheated oven for 20–30 minutes.

This dish is great with blackened or fried fish! Dessert recommendation: Lipitor!

For more recipes, visit www.flagpole.com

the calendar!

WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS WEEK

THANKSGIVING Day DeadlinE: The deadline for getting listed in the Calendar will be WEDNESDAY, Nov. 25 at 12 p.m. for the issue of Dec. 2. Email calendar@flagpole.com.

Tuesday 24 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: Thanksgiving Craft Day for Kids (Madison County Library) Seasonal crafts and beading supplies for kids of all ages. 2–3 p.m. FREE! 706-795-5597 LECTURES & LIT.: Brown Bag Lunch: Essential Nutrients for a Healthy Life. (ACC Library) Dr. Charles Burrage, Jr., shares tips on improving your overall health by incorporating the five major categories of nutrients into your diet. Feel free to bring a lunch to this 45-minute program. 12:15 p.m. FREE! 706613-3650 MEETINGS: Athens Green Drinks (Hotel Indigo, Phi Bar & Bistro Courtyard) An informal mixer for green-minded folks to discuss building, transportation and other sustainability issues in the Athens area. 6–8 p.m. www.athensgreendrinks.org MEETINGS: Coffee Cupping (1000faces Coffee, 585 Barber Street) Taste and learn about coffees from around the world with coffee scholar Erin McCarthy.

10–11 a.m. FREE! 706-534-8860, www.1000facescoffee.com MEETINGS: French Group (1000faces Coffee, 585 Barber Street) All-level French conversation group. Informal, welcoming and très bon! Every Tuesday.

7–8:30 p.m. FREE! 706-534-8860, www.1000facescoffee.com 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 25 EVENTS: Canine Cocktail Hour (Hotel Indigo, Phi Bar & Bistro Courtyard) Drink and food specials for you and your (well-behaved, non-aggressive, vaccinated) dog!

Every Wednesday. 5–7 p.m. www. athensdowntownhotel.com 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: Kids Treasure Hunt (Sandy Creek Park) Enjoy a 2-mile hiking trip and unlock a treasure box with a prize! For ages 4 and up.

Call to register! 2–4 p.m. $4. 706513-3631

KIDSTUFF: Young Adult Book Discussion (Madison County Library) Call to find out what the kids are reading now! Copies at the front desk! 4:30 p.m. FREE! 706795-5597 MEETINGS: American Sign Language Study Group (Cups Coffee Café) All skill levels welcome. Come once or come weekly.

Newcomers welcome! 7–8 p.m.

FREE! www.myspace.com/aslstudygroup MEETINGS: Sitting Meditation Group (Mind Body Institute) Silent meditation every Wednesday. Noon.

FREE! 706-475-7329 GAMES: Dart League (Alibi) Every Wednesday! 8 p.m. FREE! 706-5491010 GAMES: Darts (Broad Street Bar and Grill) Blind draw darts tournament.

Wednesdays. 7 p.m. 706-548-5187 GAMES: Movie Trivia Night (Flicker Theatre & Bar) Where movie trivia meets performance art. Hosted by “It Boy” Jeff Tobias and sponsored by Vision Video. Prizes! 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 26 EVENTS: Holiday Bikes for Kids Kickoff (BikeAthens, Chase Street Warehouse) Join the volunteers at BikeAthens for the start of their annual Holiday Bikes for Kids project! 10 a.m.–4 p.m. FREE! www. bikeathens.com EVENTS: Thanksgiving Potluck (Allgood Lounge) Orphans and black sheep alike are welcome at Allgood’s table. Bring your favorite dish! 6 p.m. FREE! 706-549-0166

Friday 27 EVENTS: ATHgiving: Darius Goes West Benefit (Farm 255) Featuring live music from Gus D, Reptar and The Gray Hounds. Proceeds benefit Charley’s Fund, a nonprofit dedicated to finding a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. 8 p.m. $5 (suggested donation). www. farm255.com. See Calendar Pick on p. 24.

EVENTS: Holiday Market (Lyndon House Arts Center) Peruse fine arts and crafts from more than 80 artists! Choose unique gifts from the selection of cards, folk art, jewelry, pottery, knitted wear and more.

Nov. 27–Jan. 2, Tuesday–Saturday, noon–5 p.m. 706-613-3623 ART: 39th Holiday Open House & Sale (Happy Valley Pottery, Watkinsville) Tour the open studios and enjoy various craft demonstrations throught the day. 9–5 p.m.

FREE! 706-769-5922 See Calendar Pick on p. 23.

ART: 8th Holiday Open House & Sale (Chappelle Gallery, Historic Haygood House) Enjoy an extended weekend of art, demos, BBQ and holiday festivities in Watkinsville!

9–5 p.m. FREE! 706-769-5922 See Calendar Pick on p. 23.

KIDSTUFF: Books & Bites (Madison County Library) Read undisturbed for hours and eat pizza!

For teens only! 8 p.m. FREE! 706795-5597 LECTURES & LIT.: Sandy Sams (Borders Books & Music) Georgia native Sandy Sams signs copies of her novel Celestial Desire. 2 p.m.

FREE! 706-583-8647

Saturday 28 EVENTS: Adoption Day (Pet Supplies Plus) Local animal rescue organizations bring their pups out for a chance at finding a forever home. Love connections made every Saturday! 11 a.m.–3 p.m. 706-3530650 EVENTS: Arbor Holiday Market (Harry Bissett’s Bayou Grill) Find local handmade gifts for the holidays and live music! Also at Cofer’s Home and Garden Showplace. 10 a.m.

706-353-7065 EVENTS: Arbor Holiday Market (Cofer’s Home and Garden Showplace) Find local handmade gifts for the holidays and live music!

Also at Harry Bisset’s Bayou Grill. 10 a.m. 706-353-1519 EVENTS: Blue Bell Open House (Blue Bell Gallery) Holiday celebration featuring over 40 local artists’ work. Clay, glass, stone and steel from Tina McCullough, Barbara Bendzunas, Tammy Nance, Duane Paxson, Michael Shetterly, Beverly Babb and more. Nov. 28 & 29, Dec. 5 & 6, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. FREE! 706783-4665, www.bluebellgallery.net.

EVENTS: Breakfast with the Dawgs (The Melting Point) Breakfast with former UGA football player Kelin Johnson. 7:30 a.m. $8. www.meltingpointathens.com* EVENTS: Holiday Market (Lyndon House Arts Center) Peruse fine arts and crafts from more than 80 artists!

Nov. 27–Jan. 2, Tuesday–Saturday, noon–5 p.m. 706-613-3623 ART: 39th Holiday Open House & Sale (Happy Valley Pottery,

Béla Fleck and the Flecktones play the Classic Center on Wednesday, Dec. 2.

Watkinsville) Tour the open studios and enjoy various craft demonstrations throught the day. 9–5 p.m.

FREE! 706-769-5922 ART: 8th Holiday Open House & Sale (Chappelle Gallery, Historic Haygood House) Enjoy an extended weekend of art, demonstrations, BBQ and holiday festivities in Watkinsville! 9–5 p.m. FREE! 706769-5922 KIDSTUFF: “Fall Colors: A Family Program” (Sandy Creek Park) Bring the whole family out to learn the reasons behind fall’s beautiful show of colors. 10 a.m.–noon, $6/ family. 706-613-3631 PERFORMANCE: Classic City Kings Blowout Bash (New Earth Music Hall) Gender-bending performance with kings and queens singing everything from country to rap. 9:30 p.m., $5. www.newearthmusichall.com

Sunday 29 EVENTS: Blue Bell Open House (Blue Bell Gallery) Blue Bell Gallery’s holiday celebration continues. See Nov. 28 Art. Nov. 28 & 29, Dec. 5 & 6, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. FREE! 706-7834665, www.bluebellgallery.net.

ART: 39th Holiday Open House & Sale (Happy Valley Pottery, Watkinsville) Tour the open studios and enjoy various craft demonstrations throught the day. 9–5 p.m.

FREE! 706-769-5922 ART: 8th Holiday Open House & Sale (Chappelle Gallery, Historic Haygood House) Enjoy an extended weekend of art, demonstrations, BBQ and holiday festivities in Watkinsville! 9–5 p.m. FREE! 706769-5922

LECTURES & LIT.: Arthur Adkins (Borders Books & Music) Police officer and author Arthur “Art” Adkins signs copies of his novel The Oasis Project. 1 p.m. FREE! 706-583-8647 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

Monday 30 EVENTS: Holiday Market (Lyndon House Arts Center) Peruse fine arts and handicrafts from more than 80 artists! Nov. 27–Jan. 2, Tuesday–Saturday, noon–5 p.m.

706-613-3623 EVENTS: Monster Beer Tour (Buffalo’s Southwest Café) Join the special release party for Terrapin’s Wake-N-Bake Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout! Fee includes two drink tickets, a boneless wing buffet, chili, a pint glass and more! 6:30 p.m. $10, 706-354-6655 KIDSTUFF: “Epossumondas Saves the Day” (ACC Library) Puppets delight in this engaging puppet show performance adapted from the 2006 book by Coleen Salley. Nov. 30, 7 p.m., Dec. 1–Dec. 3, 9:30 & 10:30 a.m., Dec. 4, 9:30 a.m. & 2:30 p.m.

LECTURES & LIT.: Infinite Fall (1000faces Coffee, 585 Barber Street) Join Athens’ endurancebibliophiles in reading David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest this fall. Every Monday with author, educator and jester Spenser Simrill.

6–7 p.m. FREE! 706-534-8860, www.1000facescoffee.com

LECTURES & LIT.: Last Monday Book Group (ACC Library, Small Conference Room) This month’s title is The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga.

Newcomers welcome. 7 p.m. FREE! 706-613-3650 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: “20 Questions at Transmet” (Transmetropolitan) General trivia. Topics include sex, music, movies, science, history and much more. Check the Facebook Group “20 questions at Transmet” for weekly themes and the online question of the week. Every Monday night. 8–10 p.m. FREE! 706-6138773 GAMES: Ping Pong (Flicker Theatre & Bar) Get your paddle ready for a riveting round of table tennis. 8:30 p.m. FREE! www.myspace.com/ flickerbar GAMES: Pool Tournament (Alibi) Free food as you shoot pool during Monday Night Football. 8 p.m.

FREE! 706-549-1010 GAMES: Rock and Roll Trivia (Little Kings Shuffle Club) Get a team together and show off your extensive music knowledge every Monday! 8 p.m. FREE! www.myspace.com/littlekingsshuffleclub 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.

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NOVEMBER 25, 2009 · FLAGPOLE.COM

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THE CALENDAR!

Tuesday 1 EVENTS: Holiday Market (Lyndon House Arts Center) Peruse fine arts and crafts from more than 80 artists!

Nov. 27–Jan. 2, Tuesday–Saturday, noon–5 p.m. 706-613-3623 EVENTS: Surrealist Costume Party (Ciné Barcafé) Café Apollinaire returns, once again transforming the Ciné Lab into early 20th-century Paris! Dress as your favorite surrealist artist for this night of film, art, poetry and so many moustaches. 7:30 p.m. FREE! www. georgiafinearts.org, www.athenscine. com EVENTS: World AIDS Day Dance Benefit (Seney-Stovall Chapel) Terpiscore & Studio Dance Academy hosts this benefit for AIDS Athens.

Information about HIV/AIDS prevention and free condoms will be available. 7 p.m. $15 (adults), $10 (students). 706-542-2437, www. aidsathens.org ART: Holiday Pottery Sale (Lamar Dodd School of Art) This two-day sale, hosted by the Ceramic Student Organization, features small sculpture, flower pots, jewelry, housewares and more. 10 a.m to 6 p.m.

Tsaupe@uga.edu ART: Student Jewelry Sale (Various Locations) Sponsored by Phi Beata Heata, the jewelry and metals student organization at the Lamar Dodd School of Art. In the first floor foyer of Lamar Dodd Dec. 1 and 2, 10 a.m–6 p.m. and on the second floor of the Student Learning Center Dec. 3. 10 a.m.–5 p.m. www. uga.edu/news KIDSTUFF: “Epossumondas Saves the Day” (ACC Library) Puppets! See Kidstuff Nov. 30. Nov. 30, 7 p.m., Dec. 1–Dec. 3, 9:30 & 10:30 a.m., Dec. 4, 9:30 a.m. & 2:30 p.m.

MEETINGS: French Group (1000faces Coffee, 585 Barber Street) All-level French conversation group. Informal, welcoming and tres bon! Every Tuesday.

7–8:30 p.m. FREE! 706-534-8860, www.1000facescoffee.com 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 2 EVENTS: Holiday Market (Lyndon House Arts Center) Peruse fine arts and crafts from more than 80 artists!

Nov. 27–Jan. 2, Tuesday–Saturday, noon–5 p.m. 706-613-3623 EVENTS: Yappy Hour (Jot ‘Em Down Country Store & BBQ) Bring your dogs out for happy hour! Drink specials for humans. 6:30–8:30, 706-549-2110 ART: Holiday Pottery Sale (Lamar Dodd School of Art) Hosted by the Ceramic Student Organization.

See Dec. 1 Art. 10 a.m to 6 p.m.

Tsaupe@uga.edu ART: Student Jewelry Sale (Various Locations) Sponsored by Phi Beata Heata, the jewelry and metals student organization at the Lamar Dodd School of Art. In the first floor foyer of Lamar Dodd Dec. 1 and 2, 10 a.m–6 p.m. and on the second floor of the Student Learning Center Dec. 3. 10 a.m.–5 p.m. www. uga.edu/news OUTDOORS: Full Moon Hike (Greenway) Experience nature in a different light. Call to register.

6:30–9 p.m. $2. 706-613-3631

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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 children ages 3–5 accompanied by an adult.

Call to register. 11 a.m.–noon, $0–$13 (scholarships available).

706-613-3615 KIDSTUFF: “Epossumondas Saves the Day” (ACC Library) Puppets! See Kidstuff Nov. 30. Nov. 30, 7 p.m., Dec. 1–Dec. 3, 9:30 & 10:30 a.m., Dec. 4, 9:30 a.m. & 2:30 p.m.

KIDSTUFF: Teen Writers Club (Oconee County Library) Share your work, get ideas from other young writers and receive support in your writing endeavors. 6–7 p.m. FREE! 706-769-3950 KIDSTUFF: Wildcard Wednesday for Teens (ACC Library) Up next: Learn how to make polymer clay beads and string them into jewelry.

For ages 11–18. 4:00 p.m. FREE! 706-613-3650 LECTURES & LIT.: Book Discussion (Oconee County Library) This month’s featured author is Linda Howard. 7 p.m. FREE! 706769-3950 LECTURES & LIT.: Word of Mouth (The Globe) Monthly open poetry readings begin! Every first Wednesday. 8 p.m. FREE! 706-3534721 MEETINGS: American Sign Language Study Group (Cups Coffee Café) All skill levels welcome.

Come once or come weekly. 7–8 p.m. FREE! www.myspace.com/ aslstudygroup MEETINGS: Sitting Meditation Group (Mind Body Institute) Silent meditation every Wednesday. Noon.

FREE! 706-475-7329 GAMES: Dart League (Alibi) Every Wednesday! 8 p.m. FREE! 706-5491010

GAMES: Darts (Broad Street Bar and Grill) Blind draw darts tournament.

Wednesdays. 7 p.m. 706-548-5187 GAMES: Movie Trivia Night (Flicker Theatre & Bar) Where movie trivia meets performance art. Hosted by “It Boy” Jeff Tobias and sponsored by Vision Video. Prizes! Sign up at 8 p.m. Trivia starts at 8:30 p.m.

FREE! www.myspace.com/flickerbar 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 EVENTS: Carols for Cucuyo 12/3 (The Globe) Come out for a night of poetry and music from local artists and help raise money for Cucuyo, Athens’ bi-cultural teen arts program in the Dominican Republic. The featured poet tonight is William Walsh.

8 p.m. $3. 706-353-4721 EVENTS: Downtown Parade of Lights 12/3 (Downtown Athens) Over 60 entries compete for prizes.

7 p.m. FREE! 706-613-3589, www. accleisureservices.com PERFORMANCE: UGA Symphony Orchestra 12/3 (UGA Hodgson Hall) Featuring an inspired selection of holiday favorites! Dec. 3 and Dec. 4, 8 p.m. FREE! www.uga.edu/news ART: Marmalade Pottery Sale 12/4 (D.O.C. Unlimited, 585 Barber Street) Work by Maria Dondero and Tiffany Whitfield at Athens’ newest pottery studio. Dec. 4, 5–9 p.m. Dec. 5, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.

ART: Trace Studio Holiday Show and Sale 12/4 (Chase Street Warehouses, Railroad Arts District) Affordable, usable ceramic art by the Trace Studio Collective. Find work

by Annette Gates, Lauren Gallaspy, Jorie Berman, Rob Jackson, Mark Jordan and Andy Nasisse. Dec. 4–6, 2–7 p.m. 706-549-6877 EVENTS: FDSA Fall Fashion Show 12/4 (UGA Tate Center) The Fashion Design Student Association presents its new line of fall fashions. 8:30, $8 (door), $5 (adv.). fdsa.uga@ gmail.com EVENTS: First Friday Celebration 12/4 (Chase Street Warehouses) Various shops and studios in the newly coined Railroad Arts District open their doors for a holiday gift fair. Expect unique handmade works, music and live entertainment and a wealth of holiday cheer. www.railroadartsdistrict.blogspot.com EVENTS: Floorspace Variety Night 12/4 (Floorspace) An evening of live music, contemporary dance and poetry including performances by Maryn Mills and Volta Dance Theatre, Laura Glenn, Jennifer Morlock and the Aux Youth Performance Group. Don’t miss a live musical performance by Megan Baer and poetry by Jeff Fallis. 7:30 p.m. (donations welcome) www. floorspaceathens.com PERFORMANCE: Classic City Christmas 12/4 (Seney-Stovall Chapel) Classic City Arts’ debut Christmas concert features a sevenmember cast performing holiday favorites for all ages. Dec. 4–5, 8 p.m.

Dec. 6, 2 p.m. $6. 706-850-1755, www.classiccityarts.com THEATRE: The Mousetrap 12/4 (Athens Community Theatre) Get snowed in with a group of travelers and try to figure out who among you is the killer! A Town and Gown production. Dec. 4–5 & Dec. 10–12, 8 p.m. Dec. 6 & Dec. 13, 2 p.m. $12–$15. 706-208-8696, www. townandgownplayers.org

Wednesday, November 25

Normaltown Flyers The Melting Point Going to see the Normaltown Flyers is an Athens tradition. Having spent the last 30 years playing their brand of hometown country and Americana, the Flyers are a cultural touchstone for anyone wanting to experience the heart of this town’s music scene. There are plenty of traditions surrounding the group and their home base of Allen’s Bar & Grill, but one of the most time-honored ones for the Flyers and their friends is the annual night-before-Thanksgiving show.

The band always manages to draw a large and dedicated crowd, but the Thanksgiving shows are something else. So much so that the Flyers are changing venues for a day, leaving their much beloved home of Allen’s for the larger Melting Point.

“It became huge for such a small place,” says singer Brian Burke. But he still promises a rollicking good time.

According to Burke, this year’s show will feature a lineup that includes Tom Ryan, Davis Causey and Deane Quinter playing “the best of Flyers’ originals, cool country covers, and Rolling Stones covers, plus some rockabilly and whatever else comes to mind that night!” The band will play two full sets starting at 8 p.m.

Burke is the last remaining original member of the Normaltown Flyers, but each incarnation has managed to keep the spirit of the Flyers intact. Songs like “Pickup Truck Rock and Roll” show off the dirty, good-time country that the band is known for, while pieces like “Walking on the Edge” prove that the band also has a lyrical songwriter’s heart.

If you’re looking for the perfect way to kick off the holiday season in Athens, you couldn’t ask for a better treat than a cold drink, close friends, good food and great songs. That is, essentially, Thanksgiving with the Normaltown Flyers. [Jordan Stepp]

Bryan Redding

November 27–29

Holiday Open House Happy Valley Pottery & Chappelle Gallery Local art enthusiasts will find everything to make their Thanksgiving weekend all the more satisfying at the 39th annual Happy Valley Pottery and eighth annual Chappelle Gallery holiday open houses and sales. Both events will feature unique crafts and handiwork from locally, regionally and nationally renowned artists.

Co-owner Kathy Don Penny Chappelle says work by roughly 18 artists will be on display at Happy Valley, with various pieces and products up for sale such as pottery, woodwork, candles, jewelry and bath products. Happy Valley is also the site of all the weekend’s art demonstrations, including several glass and fiber demonstrations. Perhaps the most interesting, Chappelle says, will be the demonstrations in raku, an ancient Japanese pottery technique traditionally used to make items for ritual tea ceremonies.

Happy Valley will also showcase three new exhibiting artists this year: painter Laurel Genteman and fiber artists Suzanne Reeves and Jorma Loss.

The Chappelle Gallery, located in Watkinsville’s historic Haygood House, will have even more to choose from, product-wise, with 125 artists exhibiting their wares. Everything from the aforementioned pottery, blown glass, candles, jewelry and bath products to photography, fused glass, drawings and Judaic art will be on display and for sale.

And if anyone is still hungry after Thanksgiving dinner, bargain hunting for art won’t set them back a meal. Inexpensive home-cooked BBQ will be available on site at Happy Valley, and gallery-goers can snack on refreshments at Chappelle’s.

Happy Valley Pottery and Chappelle Gallery will host their annual open houses and sales from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. All events are open and free to the public. Call Happy Valley at 706-769-5922 or Chappelle Gallery at 706-310-0985 for more information.

[Jennifer Gibson]

ART: Holiday Studio Sale 12/5 (R.Wood Studio) Annual holiday sale featuring ceramic dinnerware and unique collectables. 9 a.m.–4 p.m. 706-613-8525, www.rwoodstudio.com ART: OCAF 15th Annual Holiday Market 12/5 (Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation) Featuring 70 of the region’s top artists. Market includes pottery, paintings, fiber art, stained and fused glass, jewelry, sculpture, photography, woodwork and more.

Dec. 5–6, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. $3 donation. www.ocaf.com ART: Pottery and Art Show and Sale 12/5 (Farmington Pottery, 1790 Salem Road) Beautiful and unique work by potter Jeff Bishoff and various local artists. Dec. 5–6, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. FREE! ART: Reception 12/5 (Blue Bell Gallery) For a collection of work in clay, glass, stone and steel by various local artists including Tina McCullough, Barbara Bendzunas, Tammy Nance, Duane Paxson, Michael Shetterly and Beverly Babb.

7 p.m. FREE! 706-783-4665, www. bluebellgallery.blogspot.com EVENTS: The Christmas Spirits Holiday Tour 12/5 (Various Locations) Rose of Athens Theatre presents live vignettes on this twohour bus tour of four of Athens’ loveliest historic homes. Dec. 5, 6 p.m. and 7 p.m., Dec. 6, 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. $25 (adults), $15 (kids 12 and under). 706-353-1820.

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* EVENTS: Athens Indie Craftstravaganzaa 12/5 (Downtown Athens) Pledge to stay

out of the malls this holiday season and support your local businesses and artists! Quirky, raw and innovative arts from local and regional artists and crafters. In the parking lot that adjoins Agora at the corner of Clayton and Pulaski streets. 11 a.m.–7 p.m. www.athensindiecraftstravaganzaa.com EVENTS: Blue Bell Open House 12/5 (Blue Bell Gallery) Holiday celebration and open house featuring over 40 local artists’ work. Nov. 28 & 29, and Dec. 5 & 6, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. FREE! 706-783-4665, www. bluebellgallery.net.

EVENTS: Sleighbell 5K Run/Walk 12/5 (Pittard Park, Winterville) Benefits the American Red Cross.

Awards by Happy Valley Pottery.

8:30 a.m. Registration: 7:30 a.m. $20 ($15 no t-shirt option). 706353-1645, www.sleighbell.org KIDSTUFF: Family Day: Natural Ornaments 12/5 (State Botanical Garden of Georgia) Make your own holiday ornaments from objects found in nature and lend your voice to caroling with the Meridian Women’s Choir! 10 a.m.–noon, FREE! www.uga.edu/botgarden MEETINGS: Athens Area Democrats Breakfast 12/5 (Trumps on Milledge) The featured speakers are state representatives Keith Heard and Doug McKillip.

Reservations must be made by Nov. 30. 9 a.m. $12. 706-543-1480, 706247-3558* EVENTS: Buena Vista Neighborhood Porch Tour 12/6 (Various Locations) Take a guided tour of historic homes in the Buena Vista section of Boulevard and enjoy live music and food from neighborhood restaurants! Call to save your spot. 2–5 p.m. $15, $10 (adv). 706-206-3055, kbergman@ mindspring.com

EVENTS: State Botanical Garden Holiday Open House 12/6 (State Botanical Garden of Georgia) Featuring live music from the Georgia Children’s Chorus, the Solstice Sisters and the Classic City Band, puppet shows and festive holiday decorations. Rumor has it that Mr. and Mrs. Claus, as well as a professional photographer, will be in attendance. 2–5 p.m. FREE! 706542-1244, www.uga.edu/botgarden PERFORMANCE: The Christmas Story 12/6 (UGA Hodgson Hall) The UGA Performing Arts Center presents The Waverly Consort’s dramatic musical retelling of the Christmas narrative. Founded in 1964, The Consort has toured the world, performing on reproductions of medieval instruments to capture the sounds which warmed Europe’s cathedrals. 3 p.m. $12–$28. 706542-4400, www.uga.edu THEATRE: “Finding Home: A Christmas Musical” 12/10 (Morton Theatre) A quiet 1905 train town is brought to life with Broadway-style ballads and your favorite Christmas carols as the townspeople search for the everelusive true meaning of Christmas in this new musical by Cornerstone Theatrical Productions Dec. 10–12, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 12–13, 2:30 p.m. $8–$15. 706-613-3771, www.mortontheatre.com THEATRE: A Victorian Christmas with Charles Dickens 12/10 (Seney-Stovall Chapel) John Vance is Charles Dickens (in this oneman-show, at least). For one night only, you can spend an evening with the illustrious tale-teller as he regales with selected readings from his Christmas stories and muses on 19th-century Christmas customs. 8 p.m. $10 (adults), $8 (seniors and students). 706-543-2012

EVENTS: Observatory Open House 12/11 (UGA Observatory) The UGA Observatory hosts its monthly open house viewing. 7:30 p.m. FREE! 706-542-2870 KIDSTUFF: Breakfast with Santa 12/12 (Sandy Creek Nature Center) Santa is terribly busy this time of year, but he knows how important breakfast is. Join him for crafts, activities and photos! Call to sign up for a time. 8, 9 & 10 a.m. $5. 706613-3615 KIDSTUFF: Parents’ Day Out: The Holidays are Coming!

12/12 (Memorial Park) Let’s go to the zoo! Kids, create fabulous arts and crafts, play games and watch a movie! Parents, pack a lunch for your elementary schooler and take some time off. Register by Dec. 9. 10 a.m.–3 p.m. $10 (ACC residents), $23 (non-ACC residents), 706613-3580 PERFORMANCE: Senior Trip to the Atlanta Ballet’s Nutcracker 12/12 (Memorial Park) Senior citizens are invited to enjoy this holiday classic in the historic Fox Theatre.

Space is limited; call to reserve spot

by Dec. 1. Noon, $40. 706-6133603, www.accleisureservices.com EVENTS: Paws and Claus 12/13 (Mary’s Feed, 4860 Atlanta Highway) Get your pet’s picture taken with Santa! Pictures printed while you wait. Hosted by Athens Canine Rescue. 10 a.m.–2 p.m. www.athenscaninerescue.com PERFORMANCE: Athens Symphony Christmas Concert 12/13 (The Classic Center) Featuring a performance by the Athens Symphony Chorus and a selection of holiday compositions.

Tickets are available in sets of four while supplies last. Dec. 13, 8 p.m. & Dec. 14, 3 p.m. FREE! 706-3574444, www.athenssymphony.org PERFORMANCE: Holiday Concert 12/15 (Oconee County Library) Local choral ensemble Arioso returns to treat us to beautiful classical and holiday music. 7 p.m. FREE! 706-613-3650 PERFORMANCE: Athens Master Chorale 12/19 (UGA Hodgson Hall) The AMC will be joined by an orchestra for their performance of Handel’s Messiah in this Christmas season concert. 8 p.m. $10, $5 (students). 706-542-4400, www. athensmasterchorale.org * Advance Tickets Available

Live Music Tuesday 24 Alibi 9 p.m. FREE! 706-549-1010 KARAOKE Every Tuesday with the singing cowboy.

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

Eat. Drink. Listen Closely.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25 Annual Thanksgiving Reunion featuring

NORMALTOWN FLYERS

Tickets $8 adv. • $10 at the door

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27

THE RATTLERS ALBATROSS

Tickets $7 adv. • $10 at the door

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28

DAVE RAWLINGS MACHINE The Machine will include Dave and Gillian along

with Ketch Secor, Willie Watson and Morgan Jahnig of Old Crow Medicine Show

with WINFIELD SMITH

Tickets $20 adv. • $25 at the door

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1 The Melting Point and Terrapin Brewing Company present TURTLE TAKEOVER featuring music from

MAYHEM STRING BAND

Proudly pouring 11 different Terrapin selections including a guest appearance by SUBSTANCE ABUSE.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2

THE LEGENDARY JC’s Tickets $6 adv. • $8 at the door

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3

BILLY JOE SHAVER Tickets $17 adv. • $20 at the door

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4

PACKWAY HANDLE BAND

CD Listening Party with special guests

LITTLE COUNTRY GIANTS Tickets $10 adv. • $13 at the door

(2-Day passes available for tonight and Ralph Stanley $28)

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5

RALPH STANLEY

AND THE CLINCH MOUNTAIN BOYS Tickets $25 adv. • $30 at the door (2-Day passes available for tonight and Packway Handle Band $28)

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6

THE ATHENS BAND Tickets $5 adv. • $7 at the door All Ages Show at 7pm

COMING SOON 12/7 - RICHARD SHERFEY AND ALL GOD’S CHILDREN

(featuring members of Modern Skirts), LAURIS VIDAL, DAMION SUOMI and ANDY ZIPF)

12/11 - ABBEY ROAD LIVE! 12/26 - RANDALL BRAMBLETT BAND 12/31 - Mardi Gras NYE featuring BONERAMA and LIL’ BRYAN AND THE ZYDECO TRAVELERS

ON SALE NOW:

1/20 - LEO KOTTKE 1/21 - TROMBONE SHORTY & ORLEANS AVENUE 1/22 - MOUNTAIN HEART, TOWN MOUNTAIN 2/4 - TAB BENOIT 2/6 - OWL CITY with LIGHTS & DEAS, VAIL (SOLD OUT) 2/17 - BRANDI CARLILE, AMY RAY’S ROCK SHOW

All doors at 6pm and all shows 18 + up.

Bring in this ad for 2 for 1 admission! (To Tuesday Series Only)

Terrapin Tuesday

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Casa Mia 7 p.m. FREE! 706-227-4444 LUDWIG PORRAS Latin and Flamenco guitar.

Farm 255 11 p.m. FREE! www.farm255.com CARL LINDBERG Jazz bassist Carl Lindberg (Grogus, Squat, Kenosha Kid, etc.) performs standards, origik continued on next page

DEC. 1 - MAYHEM STRING BAND DEC. 8 - THE GEORGIA FLATPICKERS DEC. 15 - NORTH GEORGIA BLUEGRASS BAND LOCATED ON THE GROUNDS OF

295 E. DOUGHERTY ST., ATHENS, GA

706.254.6909

WWW.MELTINGPOINTATHENS.COM

FOR TICKETS & SHOWTIMES OR CALL THE BOX OFFICE 706.254.6909

NOVEMBER 25, 2009 · FLAGPOLE.COM

23

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11:30 p.m. www.myspace.com/ or $4 K 1459 flickerbar e Rd. Fat 6 acres Daddy’s COY KING Nightingale News frontman 10 p.m FREE! 706-353-0241 performs an acoustic solo set of his Ogleth pe Co. Cal D KARAOKE Hosted by Lynn. poetic country-tinged ballads.

CRAIG LIESKE Local experimental 6) 62 Go Bar music stalwart of Garbage Island and 4-8295 10More info:http p.m. www.myspace.com/gobar Ether Frolic (among other projects).

BORDER LIONS Rock and roll w.kpsu THE us.com/products trio that plays 70s-inspired songs, Go Bar w/2521 with styles ranging from beachy to 10 p.m. www.myspace.com/gobar

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Deadline for print: Monday 11AM for Wednesday issue Questions? Call (706) 549-0301 M o re i n f o : h t t p : / / w w w. kpsurplus.com/products/ view/26553

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CORTEZ GARZA Local singer/songwriter Cortez Garza used to front NC emo band Mason Curse, but has relocated to Athens and turned more acoustic The result is a truly contemporary take on Americana.

ow Ar Stud o or ce now Loca ed addock's form r

New Earth Music Hall

l9:30Da ( (w/70) 845 p.m. FREE! canned good donation). www.newearthmusichall. ing is waste oil com MEAN MIC TUESDAY: THANKSGIVING EDITION Featuring hip-hop hometown heroes: Elite tha Showstoppa, Brian Walker, Son1, Profound Breadth and many more plus a Beat Battle Royale. Elite will be your host for the evening.

zing Office es for leas n n Five G Sign 1 Wild Wing a Café 10 p.m REE! www.wildwingcafe com d Receive the KARAOKE Every Tuesday night at the Free downtown chain’sor upstairs12 space.

Wednesday 25

p c h u rc h R , Fat Daddy’s

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

i

DJS HIGH VOLTAGE Mandy Jane (“Jaws of Life”) and Dusty Sellers spin dance jams on T-giving Eve. SACRED HOLLOW Athens/Atlanta hard rock band naming Tool, Chevelle and Sevendust among its many influences. Playing covers and originals.

Little Kings Shuffle Club 8 p.m. FREE! www.myspace.com/littlekingsshuffleclub BREATHLANES Led by guitarist/ composer John Miley, Breathlanes features atmospheric, organic tones built around guitar, drums and stand-up bass.

MINA WEGNER 13-year old singersongwriter from Eugene, OR and niece of local musician Michael Wegner.

WHISPER KISS New acoustic project featuring multi-instrumentalist Michael Wegner (Abbey Road LIVE!, Fuzzy Sprouts, Sunny-Side Up Band) and Shelley Olin (DubConscious, Grogus).

The Melting Point 8:30 p.m. $8 (adv), $10 (door). www. meltingpointathens.com* NORMALTOWN FLYERS This Athens roots-rock institution plays a

set of good-time rock and roll with a Southern leaning. See Calendar Pick on p. 22.

The Office Lounge 8:30 p.m. FREE! 706-549-0840 KARAOKE Wednesdays with Lynn!

Thursday 26 Go Bar 10 p.m. FREE! www.myspace.com/ gobar DR. FRED’S KARAOKE Hosted by karaoke fanatic John “Dr. Fred” Bowers. Yes, the tunes keep flowing on Thanksgiving! Come sing off those extra T-Day pounds.

Friday 27 Alibi 9 p.m. FREE! 706-549-1010 BIG DON BAND Real Southern rock featuring soulful vocals backed by smooth, bluesy guitars. Lynyrd Skynyrd would approve. The new lineup features Big Don Spurlin (guitar), Brian Daniel (bass), Jeff Hargens (drums) and Jason Crowe (keys).

Club Chrome 9 p.m. $5. 706-543-9009 THE BOBBY COMPTON BAND Country and Southern rock the way it’s meant to be played.

Farm 255 ATHgiving: Darius Goes West Benefit. 8 p.m. $5 (suggested donation). www. farm255.com THE GRAY HOUNDS Local fourpiece. The Grayhounds say they play rock and roll covers and originals with a strong blues base.

Friday, November 27A ark

ATHgiving & janito Farm l o255 fic

Bruce graduated )Zach 425-4048 o from the University of Georgia in 2005 and headed out to Austin, TX. But ever offices 06 he’s since his freshman year, made a tradition of throwool Rd Rent: ing informal Thanksgiving 0 for o local 450 s parties friends.

This is a pretty familiar 7 sq ft $ 7 rit/ ual for those of us who call .Athens $600 o (70 ) home all year ‘round. www athenstow But recently, he moved the event out of his home and onto the streets. This year, Bruce’s “ATHgiving” St will dibe atHistori party Farm 255 and will feature an unlikely rtist ommun ty cross-section of performers.

Re will 40be the partyq.

Headliners starting upstarts 00 sq. ft $Reptar, 50 Gus D joined by up-and-coming 6emcee-to-watch 161 or Gus www D and oper ies.com folksy rock act The Gray Hounds. But it’s not just going to be a haven for the locals who stick around during the holidays; it’s also an opportunity to rally around a good cause.

Athenians are familiar with the story of Darius Weems and his journey sBy now formostlease out West: an inspiring true-life film, Darius Goes West is about a local youngster stricken ood with DMD Village.

(Duchenne muscular dystrophy) who heads out on a road trip to Los Angeles friends to explore qwith some t avail or America. What you may not know is that the documentary (directed by Darius’ buddy Logan Smalley) and the work surrounding it have raised $1.8 Br a ust n at million for research to help put a stop to DMD, the number-one genetic killer of children 39 o isi www. worldwide.

The story didn’t stop at the end of the film, and the entire town can continue tito pitch s n int to make this staggeringly successful example of homespun altruism thrive beyond our borders.

This year’s ATHgiving will be a benefit for Darius Goes West’s charity group, Charley’s Fund, a d its continu d search for a cure for DMD. Along with the bands and records spun by DJ KoA, attendees who pay the suggested minimum donation of $5 will get a complimentary copy of Darius Goes West. Worth sticking around for. [Jeff Tobias]

or rent

o

o on E

s

GUS D Local teen rapper Gus Darnell performs with a precise, confident flow. DJ Will Waxx provides backing beats. See Calendar Pick on p. 24.

REPTAR This up-and-coming local quartet sounds like the result of Animal Collective and Talking Heads teaming up to travel back in time and fight Napoleon. Dance shoes recommended.

Fat Daddy’s 10 p.m. FREE! 706-353-0241 KARAOKE Hosted by Lynn!

Flicker Theatre & Bar 8:30 p.m. $5. www.myspace.com/ flickerbar EMILY HEARN Young singersongwriter performs sweet, innocent, melodic acoustic ballads.

KATE MORRISSEY Best known throughout this corridor for her dark velvet voice that stands on its own, Morrissey’s songwriting is literate and sincere, and her conversational live shows come punctuated with an offbeat sense of humor. She is accompanied by upright bass and a jazz drummer.

Go Bar 10 p.m. FREE! www.myspace.com/ gobar GRAVE ROBBERZ Winston Parker spins high-energy electronic, dance and rock music.

TWIN POWERS Spinning a mix of contemporary Top 40 with danceable ‘80s new wave and Britpop tunes.

The Melting Point 8:30 p.m. $7 (adv), $10 (door). www. meltingpointathens.com ALBATROSS Local band plays classic rock and alternative rock covers.

THE RATTLERS Athens’ own energetic Southern rockers with a guitardriven sound and an exciting show that often features surprise special guests. See Calendar Pick on p. 27.

New Earth Music Hall 9 p.m. $6 (adv), $9 (door). www.newearthmusichall.com BIRDS & WIRE Featuring the smoldering vocals of Lera Lynn backed

by Neal Fountain on bass, Dan Nettles (Kenosha Kid) on guitar and Seth Hendershot on drums. The band’s airy tunes are both delicate and rich with nuanced emotion.

KAITLIN JONES AND THE COUNTRY FAIR Local folk guitarist/vocalist Kaitlin Jones (Fine Line, Porch to the People) performs a set of Americana-tinged tunes.

MAJOR LOVE EVENT With upbeat piano and vocal arrangements, this new pop duo features local singersongwriter Rebecca Van Damm on keys and drummer CK Koch.

Terrapin Beer Co. 5:30 p.m. www.terrapinbeer.com ROY SCHNEIDER Comic strip artist turned singer-songwriter Roy Schneider croons folky blues over harmonica and finger-picked guitar.

Saturday 28 40 Watt Club 9 p.m. $6 (adv). www.40watt.com* HOLMAN AUTRY BAND Fans of Southern rock icons like Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Allman Brothers will love Holman Autry Band’s rowdy rock and roll.

ROLLIN’ HOME This band jams on originals with a Dead groove and a Southern rock leaning.

Alibi 9 p.m. FREE! 706-549-1010 GRAINS OF SAND This cover band performs classic Motown, soul and R&B hits from the ‘60s and ‘70s.

Caledonia Lounge 10 p.m. $5 (21+), $7 (18+). www.caledonialounge.com BURNS LIKE FIRE Local band featuring members of Karbomb, Wristbandits and Celerity. A quartet of musical disarray!

KARBOMB Local quartet (Nick Skillman, Jay Kellom, Rory Riley, David Brown) plays high-velocity, erratic and angry punk not dissimilar to early-’90s Orange County stuff.

CD release show tonight!

Club Chrome 9 p.m. $5. 706-543-9009 GEORGIA WHISKEY Athens locals know their way around bluesy Southern rock.

Flicker Theatre & Bar 9 p.m. $5. www.myspace.com/flickerbar FABULOUS BIRD Local troubadour Peter Alvanos plays bright, ‘60sinspired pop.

FIRE ZUAVE Dreamy, fun psych-pop based here in town.

SOUTHEAST FORGE AND FOUNDRY New Atlanta band with a low-fi psychedelic folk-punk sound.

Go Bar 12:30 a.m. FREE! 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.

The Melting Point 8 p.m. $20 (adv), $25 (door). www. meltingpointathens.com* DAVE RAWLINGS MACHINE Rawlings, having worked with Gillian Welch and Old Crow Medicine Show among other collaborators, takes on a new project while keeping those old friends close; Welch and a few members of Old Crow form part of his new band. Expect expertly crafted songs ranging from blues to Bright Eyes covers. See story on p. 15.

WINFIELD SMITH Low Country drawlin’ Athens songcraftsman Winfield Smith, one half of Stewart & Winfield, turns out tuneful, easygoing hits, one after another.

Tasty World Uptown 9 p.m. $5. www.myspace.com/tastyworlduptown THE BURNING ANGELS New local act that plays Americana soul.

Featuring Natalie Garcia on vocals and guitar Mark Cunningham on vocals, guitar and dobro, Josh Westbrook on drums and appearances by Adam Poulin on fiddle and Matt Dyson on dobro and banjo.

ERICA SUNSHINE LEE Elberton native and singer-songwriter Erica Lee performs with her band.

NOBODY’S DARLINGS Atlanta band equally at home playing both light pop and metal.

ASHLEY RIVERA Up and coming Nashville-by-way-of-Atlanta star puts out some fierce hard-rocking country ballads.

Terrapin Beer Co. 5:30 p.m. www.terrapinbeer.com TROPICAL BREEZE Newly formed local outfit that is exactly what it claims to be: a spicy, tropical band whose melodic emphasis is entirely on its proficient steel drum section.

Expect jazz and reggae influences, dipped in their own brand of salsa.

Béla Fleck & The Flecktones The Holiday Tour Featuring Victor Lemonte Wooten, Future Man and Jeff Cofn With special guest collaborators The Alash Ensemble

Wednesday, December 2 at 8 p.m.

Call, click or stop by the Box Office 706.357.4444 www.ClassicCenter.com 300 N. Thomas St. Downtown Athens

T ar

The Budweiser Select Music Series at The Classic Center is brought to you by:

WUGA C the lassic

91.7

97.9fm

VFW 8 p.m. $6. 706-546-4978 DAVID PRINCE This Athens staple and one-time member of The Jesters k continued on next page

NOVEMBER 25, 2009 · FLAGPOLE.COM

25

THE CALENDAR! plays your favorite soul, rock and R&B oldies.

Sunday 29 Buffalo’s Southwest Café 6:30 p.m. 706-354-6655 GOSPEL NIGHT Every Sunday at Buffalo’s in their big back room. This week features Theresa Hayes.

HOLIDAY ARTIST MARKET SATURDAY, DEC. 5

Square One Fish Co. 1-4 p.m. FREE! www.squareonefishco. com SUNDAY JAZZ BRUNCH Rotating local jazz artists play Sunday afternoons on the patio.

at

Monday 30

11am - 5pm

The Classic Center 7:30 p.m. $34.50-$43.50. 706-3574444 THE OAK RIDGE BOYS The latest incarnation of The Oak Ridge Boys continues the group’s 40-year-old tradition of blending country, gospel and pop. Although lineups have changed many times over, The Boys remain one of the longest-running groups in country music. Playing a special Christmas show tonight!

Handmade goods from local artists scarves • purses • ceramics • jewelry • paintings & much more

And, of course,

New Earth Music Hall 8 p.m. FREE! www.newearthmusichall. com OPEN DJ NIGHT The dance party where you are in control! Bring your laptop or turntables and take a turn spinning.

HOLIDAY COCKTAILS! Located at 283 East Broad Street Next to Harry Bissett’s Downtown

Tasty World Uptown 10 p.m. $3 (21+), $5 (18+). www.myspace.com/tastyworlduptown THE DISTRICT ATTORNEYS New local rock started by Drew Beskin

An Evening of Holiday Jazz with Nnenna Freelon and Jon Faddis

Saturday, Nov. 28 continued from p. 25

in Indiana and recently relocated here. His poppy Americana style is influenced by acts like Bruce Springsteen, Fleetwood Mac and The Replacements.

FOUNDER AND THE INVISIBLES Local singer-songwriter and UGA student Drew Dixon’s band accompanies his John Mayer-like vocals with blues and soul-inspired arrangements.

WOODFIN Local musician John Woodfin Harry sings airy indie folk over guitar and mandolin.

Tuesday 1 Alibi 9 p.m. FREE! 706-549-1010 KARAOKE Every Tuesday.

Buffalo’s Southwest Café Dance from 8–10 p.m. $5. www.athensswingnight.com ATHENS SWING NIGHT No partner or experience necessary! Lesson at 7 p.m.

Caledonia Lounge 10 p.m. $5 (21+), $7 (18+). www.caledonialounge.com A TALE OF TWO CALEYS Dusty Lightswitch collaborators Caley Smith and Caley Ross sound “like a science-fiction folk musical.” The quirky lyrics address meta- and astrophysical concerns, and feature a heavy amount of French and Greek wordplay.

THE BORDER LIONS Rock and roll trio that plays ‘70s-inspired songs, with styles ranging from beachy to bluesy.

CORTEZ GARZA Local singer/songwriter Cortez Garza used to front NC emo band Mason Curse, but has relocated to Athens and turned more

acoustic. The result is a truly contemporary take on Americana.

Go Bar 10 p.m. www.myspace.com/gobar MY EMPTY PHANTOM Austin musician Jesse Beaman crafts Brian Enoesque ambient soundscapes.

The Melting Point 7 p.m. $3. www.meltingpointathens. com MAYHEM STRING BAND Veteran instrumental bluegrass quintet from Mississippi performs for the Terrapin Tuesday Bluegrass Series.

Tasty World Uptown 9 p.m. $4. www.myspace.com/tastyworlduptown INTERNATIONAL REFUGEE COMMITTEE BENEFIT SHOW The International Refugee Committee needs your help, and what better way to help than going to see some fine local music? Featuring performances

by Coco Rico, Bigfoot, The Ha’s and Leading Edge.

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

Wednesday 2 40 Watt Club 9 p.m. $12 (adv). www.40watt.com PRIDE PARADE Local hard rockers play from their new album, Dose.

Expect a blistering mix of punk, grunge, stoner metal and blues.

JAY REATARD Garage punk from one of the craziest members of the indie scene.

Caledonia Lounge 10 p.m. $5 (21+), $7 (18+). www.caledonialounge.com GRAPE SODA Local band featuring the brothers Lewis (Mat and Ryan),

Come swing into the holidays with Jon Faddis’s tribute to Louis, Dizzy and Miles as well as 6-time Grammy nominee, vocalist Nnenna Freelon and her quartet. Classic Jazz and holiday favorites all on the same stage!

Saturday, December 5 at 8 p.m.

Call, click or stop by the Box Office 706.357.4444 • www.ClassicCenter.com 300 N. Thomas St. • Downtown Athens Productions in the Broadway Entertainment Series are made possible by our sponsors: ®

Local punk band Karbomb celebrates its EP release at Caledonia Lounge on Saturday, Nov. 28.

26

FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ NOVEMBER 25, 2009

Friday, November 27

The Rattlers The Melting Point Local Southwestern rock-’n’-blues four-piece The Rattlers aren’t reinventing the wheel with their blend of Hendrix, Allmans and Stevie Ray Vaughn. Neither, however, are they confused about how to describe themselves or afraid to wear their influences on their sleeves. On the cusp of being two years old, The Rattlers continue to ply their sound wherever the band finds an audience. “When [we] first started, our crowd tended to be more adults and fans of blues and Southern rock,” says lead singer and rhythm guitarist Tracy Carroll. “Lately, our fan base is growing to include students and younger adults.”

A peculiar challenge for any band playing blues-influenced, classic rock and roll is how to stay true to the sound while bringing something original to the table. Carroll says, “It tends to be a mix of many things: Texas blues, Southern rock, retro rock, even. There are hints of Southwestern soul, some dirty-shoes rock sounds and some really pretty pieces that seem to be a throwback to the ‘70s and early-‘80s sounds.” The Rattlers will also change arrangements occasionally if they feel like it. “We like to surprise our fans at each show, whether it’s with a new song, a different version of a song, or something they just don’t see coming,” Carroll explains.

The Rattlers performance this week marks the second “Black Friday” show for the band. Although “Black Friday” doesn’t seem to hold any particular resonance for the group, Thanksgiving certainly does. “We are all thankful that we get to play music for people and that people seem to really enjoy what we do,” says Carroll. “I consider it a blessing that I get to do something I love so much with guys that are like family to me and for people that I really care about.“ [Gordon Lamb]

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Live Music

Student Jewelry Sale December 1st-3rd

December 1st & 2nd 10am-6pm First Floor, Lamar Dodd School of Art

December 3rd 10am-5pm

formerly of The Buddy System, on vocals, organ and drums, playing reverb-heavy garage psych-rock.

ALLISON WEISS Heartfelt singer/ songwriter with quirky charm, sharp pop sensibilities and an avid online following. The brand new album, Allison Weiss Was Right All Along is out now!

The Classic Center 8 p.m. $25–$40. www.classiccenter. com BÉLA FLECK & THE FLECKTONES We could just waste space telling you about Bela Fleck’s virtuosic banjo playing, Victor Wooten’s ability to get varieties of sound you wouldn’t have thought possible out of a bass, and Jeff Coffin’s over-thetop saxophone shenanigans, but all you need to know is that they have a pirate drummer named Futureman.

Go Bar 10 p.m. www.myspace.com/gobar THAYER SARRANO Local singersongwriter and multi-instrumentalist with lovely, airy vocals singing dark, gentle melodies over guitar while backed by lap steel, bass and drums.

King is the latest new album.

T’BROKEN LETTERS A haunting, spiritual take on Americana that bravely incorporates a touch of the avant-garde.

The Melting Point 9 p.m. $6 (adv), $8 (door). www.meltingpointathens.com* THE LEGENDARY JC’S These Floridians floor crowds with their soulful rockin’ blues.

New Earth Music Hall 9 p.m. $5 www.newearthmusichall.com LAISSEZ FUNK Local up-and-comers play funk-jam fusion plus a variety of covers.

LEFTY HATHAWAY Local singersongwriter Lefty Hathaway plays rock and roll soul with turbulent piano jams reminiscent of the late, great Lowell George and fellow Tulsan JJ Cale.

The Office Lounge 8:30 p.m. FREE! 706-549-0840 KARAOKE Every Wednesday with Lynn!

Tasty World Uptown 10 p.m. $3 (21+), $5 (18+). www.myspace.com/tastyworlduptown DREW BESKIN District Attorneys founding member performs his popleaning Americana solo.

SMOKE AND FEATHERS Featuring members of Futurebirds and other local bands covering Rolling Stones and more.

WOODFANGS Americana project fronted by John “Woodfin” Harry. * Advance Tickets Available

Down the Line 12/3 Camera Obscura (40 Watt Club) 12/3 Ham1 / Madeline / Nana Grizol / Geoff Reacher (Caledonia Lounge) 12/3 Candy Maldonado / Jews/ Catholics / The Shrinks (Little Kings Shuffle Club) 12/3 Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Holiday Concert (MadisonMorgan Cultural Center)* 12/3 Toubab Krewe (New Earth Music Hall) 12/3 Billy Joe Shaver (The Melting Point) 12/4 Brantley Gilbert / Other Side of Homer (40 Watt Club) 12/4 A PostWar Drama / Nuclear Spring / Twin Tigers (Caledonia Lounge) 12/4 Efren (Flicker Theatre & Bar) 12/4 Little Country Giants / Packway Handle Band (The Melting Point) 12/5 Abandon the Earth Mission / Creepy / DJ Other Voices, Other Rooms (Caledonia Lounge) 12/5 Underneath the Covers Benefit for AIDS Athens (40 Watt Club)* 12/5 Boo Ray / William Tonks (Little Kings Shuffle Club)

12/5 Glitch Mob (New Earth Music Hall) 12/5 Spring Tigers / This Piano Plays Itself / Werewolves (Ohh, Boy!) 12/5 Nnenna Freelon (The Classic Center) 12/5 Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys (The Melting Point)* 12/6 Athens (The Melting Point)* 12/7 Richard Sherfey & All God’s Children / Damion Suomi / Lauris Vidal / Andy Zipf (The Melting Point) 12/8 Abbanna Lebon / Bangutot / The Great American Country Drifters / ShitHead (Go Bar) 12/8 Nathan Sheppard and John Keane (No Where Bar) 12/8 The Georgia Flatpickers (The Melting Point) 12/9 Eat Lightning / Gemini Cricket / Smokedog / Soapbar (Caledonia Lounge) 12/10 Harrison Hudson / Native Lights / Thieves & Pastors / Unwed Sailor (Caledonia Lounge) 12/11 Athens Face/Off #6–Garage a Trois, Part 2 (40 Watt Club) 12/11 The Arcs / The Late BP Helium (Caledonia Lounge) 12/12 Gift Horse / Hammer No More The Fingers / Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun (Caledonia Lounge) 12/15 North Georgia Bluegrass Band (The Melting Point) 12/17 Rusko (New Earth Music Hall) 12/18 97 Sheeki / American Cheeseburger / Canadian Rifle / Hot Breath (Go Bar) 12/19 Excalibrah / Swamp Thang / Triple Velcro (Caledonia Lounge) 12/19 Rack of Spam (The Melting Point)* 12/26 Randall Bramblett Band (The Melting Point)* 12/31 Deaf Judges / Pride Parade (Caledonia Lounge) 12/31 Bonerama / Lil’ Brian and the Zydeco Travelers (The Melting Point)

2nd Floor Miller Learning Center (next to Jittery Joe’s)

CASH, CHECK, OR CREDIT CARD ACCEPTED Sponsored by PHI BEATA HEATA Student Jewelry Organization FunDED By THE STuDEnT ACTIvITIES FEES

* Advance Tickets Available

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bulletin board DO SOMETHING; GET INVOLVED! THANKSGIVING Day DeadlinE: The deadline for getting listed in Bulletin Board will be WEDNESDAY, Nov. 25 at 12 p.m. for the issue of Dec. 2. Email calendar@flagpole.com.

ART Call for Artists (Downtown Athens) The 2009 Athens Indie Craftstravaganzaa Holiday Market is now accepting applications for artists and crafters for their upcoming market. Musicians, performance artists and DJs also welcome. www. athensindiecraftstravaganzaa.com

AUDITIONS Mame (Athens Community Theatre) Town and Gown Theatre is holding auditions for their Feb. production of the musical Mame. Dec. 7 and Dec. 8. www.townandgown.org

CLASSES Active Climbing Family Climbers (Active Climbing) Family bonding time, where kids get to climb with their parents. Please call ahead! Fridays, 4–6 p.m. $10/ person. 706-354-0038, adrian@ activeclimbing.com Adult Beginning Modern Dance (Floorspace) With instructor Laura Glenn. Thursdays, 6:15–7:45. www.floorspaceathens.com Art Classes (Lyndon House Arts Center) Now registering for instruction in drawing, painting, jewelry, clay and printmaking. For adults, teens and children. Go online for full list of programs. 706-613-3623, www.accleisureservices.com Beekeeping for Beginners (State Botanical Garden of Georgia) Three-part series on beekeeping basics. Sponsored by the State Botanical Garden. First session Dec. 11 or 12. 9 a.m.–12 p.m. $45. 706542-6156

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Beginner Trapeze Workshops (Canopy Studio) Learn the basics of trapeze technique, work with a partner and swiiiiiiing! Dec. 5, 3–4:30 p.m. $25. info@canopystudio.com Beginning 101: The Basics (Oconee County Library) Learn how and where to begin genealogy research. Registration required. Dec. 1 & Dec. 9, 7–8:30 p.m. FREE! 706769-3950 Beginning to Intermediate Pottery (Lyndon House Arts Center) Develop wheelthrowing, glazing and decorating techniques while you make your own unique stoneware! Jan. 14–Feb. 18, 706613-3623, www.accleisureservices. com Bellydance Basics (Athens YMCA) Wednesday mornings. 10:45 a.m. www.athensymca.org Booty Camp (Sangha Yoga Studio) A low-impact core fitness course led by Mary Imes. Through Nov. 25, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 5:30–6:45 a.m. $75/session. 706613-1143 Bouldering (Active Climbing) Come and learn to climb without ropes at Athens’ new climbing center! Wednesdays, 5:30–6:30 p.m. $15. 706-354-0038, adrian@active climbing.com Chen Style Taijiquan (Floorspace) Effortless power.

Authentic Chinese martial lineage.

Register for ongoing instruction.

Sundays and Mondays, 706-6143342, telihu@gmail.com Classical Pilates (StudiO) Private instruction and group classes offered daily! Schedule online.

678-596-2956, www.studioin athens.com Clay Classes (Good Dirt) Weekly “Try Clay” class every Friday from 7–9 p.m. and “Family Try Clay”

FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ NOVEMBER 25, 2009

every Sunday from 2–4 p.m. ($20/ person). 706-355-3161, www.good dirt.net Clay Gift-Making for Children (Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation) Make holiday gifts for your loved ones! Learn how to use a potter’s wheel or sculpt with your hands. Call or go online for more information. 706-769-4565, www. ocaf.com Climbing for Beginners (Active Climbing) Learn the ropes and develop climbing technique at Athens’ new climbing center.

Mondays, 5:30–7 p.m. 706-3540038, adrian@activeclimbing.com Dance Center Winter Classes (East Athens Educational Dance Center) Registering for adult and children’s classes including Beginning Jazz, Ballet, Tap, HipHop, Praise Dancing and more. $18–$25. www.accleisureservices. com/dance.shtml Dance Foundations (Floorspace) Instructor Laura Hoffman works on the basics with kids ages 6–14.

Thursdays, 3:30–4:30 p.m. (ages 6–8), 4:45–4:30 p.m. (ages 9–14). www.floorspaceathens.com Enamel Bead Making and Beading Basics (Lyndon House Arts Center) Learn a unique enameling technique to make your own spectacular jewelry! 706-613-3623, www.accleisureservices.com Encaustic Painting with Beeswax (Blue Tin Art Studio) Learn how to melt and mix colors, create a variety of surface techniques and incorporate collage and more.

For beginners or experienced crafters. Dec. 5, 9:30 a.m.–3 p.m. $65.

404-556-6884, www.bluetinstudio. com Etching for Beginners and Intermediates (Lyndon House Arts Center) An introduction to

Noah Saunders’ wire sculptures are on display at Aurum until Nov. 30. intaglio/etching processes using printmaking methods to inscribe images onto metal plates. Learn Xerox transfer, soft ground and aquatint techniques! Call for more info. 706613-3623, www.accleisureservices. com Genealogy 101: The Basics (Oconee County Library) Learn how to begin your family history research! Registration required. Dec. 1, 3–4:30 p.m. Dec. 9, 7–8:30 p.m.

FREE! Gentle Yoga for Seniors (Council on Aging) Regain flexibility, stamina and muscle tone with gentle stretches and breathing techniques.

Tuesdays, 8–9:15 a.m. Wednesdays, 3–4:15 p.m. Fridays, 10–11 a.m.

FREE! 706-548-3910 Georgia Spiders Free Workshop (Active Climbing) A two-week workshop for kids who are ready to take climbing to the next level. Call for more information.

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5–6:30 p.m. 706-354-0038, adrian@active climbing.com Holiday Clay Classes (Good Dirt) Be productive and creative this season with wheel-thrown pottery, slab-building, clay beads or mug making! Complete schedule online.

706-355-3161, www.gooddirt.net Holiday Glass Brick Luminaries Workshop (Sandy Creek Park) Light up the holidays for someone special when you give them your beautiful decorative gift. Dec. 5, 10 a.m.–noon. $18/ brick. 706-613-3650 Hoop Class (Canopy Studio) This guided hoop dance class helps develop fitness, balance, strength and flow. All skill levels welcome, but completion of basic hooping workshop encouraged. Fridays, 6:30–7:30 p.m. $15. www.canopy studio.com Integrated Arts Workshop for Kids (Floorspace) Instructors Heather McIntosh and Laura Glenn teach students how to create sound and movement compositions by exploring color, texture, dynamics and spatial awareness in performance.

For ages 8–12. Now registering!

Tuesdays, 4:45–6 p.m. $40/4 weeks. info@auxfestival.com Intermediate Modern Dance for Adults (Floorspace) With instructor Laura Glenn. Saturdays, 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m. www.floorspace athens.com 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.

Jewelry and Metalsmithing (Lyndon House Arts Center) Learn how to create unique pieces of jewelry while learning about various metalsmithing techniques, including piercing, soldering, stone setting, appliqué and inlay. Call for more information! 706-613-3623, www. accleisureservices.com Life Drawing Sessions (Fringe Collective Artistic Studios, 159 Jackson St.) Bring any supplies/ equipment that you may require.

Ages 18 and up. Limited spots.

Call to reserve a space. Thursdays, 6–8:15 p.m. $7/session, $20/month.

706-540-2727 Line Dancing for Seniors (Council on Aging, Harris Room) Keep your health in line and have fun at the same time! Tuesdays, 4–5 p.m. $5/class. 706-549-4850 Making Greenery Wreaths (State Botanical Garden of Georgia) Make a live wreath to bring home for the holidays. Dec. 10, 6:30–8:30 p.m. $27. 706-542-6156 Mama-Baby Yoga (Five Points Yoga) For babies 1–8 months old and their grown-ups. Fussy babies and tired mamas welcome. Every Monday. 11 a.m. $10. 706-3553114, www.athensfivepointsyoga. com Mama-Baby Yoga (Mind Body Institute) For mamas and their babies. Six weeks old to crawlers.

Every Wednesday. 10:30 a.m. $60/6 classes. 706-475-7329, mbiprograms@armc.org Mama-Baby Yoga Bonding (Full Bloom Center) Fussy babies and tired mamas welcome! For babies 1 to 10 months old. Fridays, 10:30 a.m. $14/class, $60/6-weeks.

706-353-3373 Mind Your Muscles (Athens Community Council on Aging) Bring your muscles into focus with a combination of tai chi, yoga and Pilates! Fridays, 3–4 p.m. $5/class.

706-4850 Mouse and Keyboard Skills (Oconee County Library) Covering the basics of using the keyboard and mouse. Space is limited; call to register. Dec. 3, 4–5:30 p.m. FREE! 706-769-3950 Ninja Scout Adventure Kid’s Kung Fu (Floorspace) With Carl Lindberg. Go online for more information. Wednesdays, 4–5 p.m. www.floorspaceathens.com

Nonfiction Writing Class (Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation) Journalist and retired professor Dr. Wally Eberhard teaches a six-week class on “Writing for Money: The Art of Freelance Nonfiction Journalism.”

Begins Jan. 19, $100. 706-7694565, www.ocaf.com Oil and Acrylic Basics (Lyndon House Arts Center) Apply the basic techniques of drawing, image composition, painting styles and color theory to your still-lifes and landscapes. Jan. 14–March 4, Thursdays, 6:30–8:30 p.m. 706613-3623, www.accleisureservices. com 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.athensfivepoints yoga.com Prenatal Yoga (Full Bloom Center) Get ready for birth and beyond. Every Thursday. 5:30 p.m. $14/class or $60/6 classes. 706353-3373, www.fullbloomparent. com 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 Mommy or Daddy and Me Classes (Email for Location) Learn Spanish with your preschooler through songs, stories and games! New session starting soon. $75/6-week session. sehlers @uga.edu Tae Kwon Do & Jodo Classes (Live Oak Martial Arts, Chase Street Warehouses) For kids and adults, beginner through advanced.

Mondays–Thursdays, 3:30-8:30 p.m. 706-548-0077, www.liveoak martialarts.com Tai Chi for Seniors (Council on Aging) Increase strength and balance at your own pace! Every Tuesday. 2–3 p.m. $15/semester.

706-549-4850 Teen Painting Class (Lyndon House) Students will focus on painting and its materials and methods, as well as its history. Supplies provided. Call for more information!

Jan. 12–Feb. 16. 706-613-3623, www.accleisureservices.com The Artist Within (Lyndon House Arts Center) Students learn to give

visual expression to their emotions through drawing and painting activities in a supportive and relaxing environment. Jan. 13–Feb. 17, Wednesdays, 10–11 a.m. 706-6133623, www.accleisureservices.com Yoga and Tai Chi Classes (Athens Wellness Cooperative) For beginners through experienced. See full calendar online. $14/drop-in, $60/6 classes, $108/12 classes. www.wellnesscooperative.com Yoga Classes (Om Town Yoga, 190 Park Avenue) Iyengar certified Yoga instruction for balance, strength, flexibility and stamina.

Mondays, 6:15 p.m. Wednesdays, 5:45 p.m. $10/drop-in. www.athens omtownyoga.com Yoga Crawlers (Full Bloom Center) For active babies 8–18 months. Every Wednesday. 10:30 a.m. $14. 706-353-3373, www. fullbloomparent.com Yoga Teacher Training (Vastu School of Yoga, Railroad Art District) Learn to teach yoga in this 10-week workshop beginning in December!

Register by Nov. 15th for tuition discount. 561-723-6172, vastuyoga@ hotmail.com Zen Seeing, Zen Drawing (Lyndon House Arts Center) Drawing, painting and printmaking with lessons inspired by artist and author Frederick Franck. Instruction

by Toni Carlucci. $90 (non-ACC resident), $78 (ACC resident). 706613-3623, www.accleisureservices. com

HELP OUT! American Red Cross (Red Cross Donor Center, 3525 Atlanta Hwy.) Seeking donors for all blood types.

706-546-0681, www.redcrossblood. org

Athens Indie Craftstravaganzaa (Downtown Athens) Seeking volunteers for Dec. 5 & 6 holiday market. www.athensindiecraftstravaganzaa@ gmail.com 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 “Beat Tech Food Fight” (Call for location) Help the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia raise over 50,000 pounds of food. A full list of desired items can be found online. Monday– Friday, 9 a.m.–6 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m.–2 p.m. 706-369-9777, www. elbowroomstorage.com Become a Mentor (Boys and Girls Clubs of Athens) Volunteer one hour per week to make a difference in the life of a child. Training provided. 706-546-4910, mentor@ athensbgca.com, www.fflife.net Bike Recycling Program (Chase Street Warehouses) Join BikeAthens volunteers as they clean and repair donated bicycles for local service agencies. Bike repair skills a plus, but not necessary. Sunday, 2–4:30 p.m. Monday & Wednesday, 6–8:30 p.m. www.bikeathens.com GMOA Book Drive (UGA Visual Arts Building) The Georgia Museum of Art is preparing for its annual holiday book sale. Please drop off books between the following hours: Weekdays, 8 a.m.–5 p.m. or call or email for other arrangements: 706542-1817, hazbrown@uga.edu Holiday Bikes for Kids (BikeAthens) Help provide quality, fully refurbished bicycles to underprivileged youth. Seeking volunteers to help clean and polish bikes. No specialized skills required.

ART AROUND TOWN ACC Library (Heritage Gallery) Paintings by UGA alumna Christina Bray. Through November. (Top of the Stairs Gallery) Bart Lynch’s paintings speak of the process of construction. Through November. (Top of the Stairs Gallery) Paintings by Preston Snyder.

Through December.

Athens Academy (Myers Gallery) Paintings by Erin McIntosh and Jennifer Hartley. (Bertelsmann Gallery) Work by Didi Dunphy, Lou Kregel and Carol John.

Through Dec. 14.

Athens Technical College “85 Degrees” features panoramics from photographer McGinnis Leathers’ international jaunts. Through Dec. 15.

Aurum Studio Paintings by Christine ShockleyGholson and John Gholson. Through February.

Reception Dec. 6. Sculpture by Noah Saunders and paintings by Lamar Wood. Through November.

Chase Street Warehouses (Railroad Arts Distric) An exhibit and sale featuring works by The Trace Ceramic Collective. Dec. 4–6 or by appointment.

Circle Gallery, UGA College of Environmental Design “Forming Content,” a collection of graphic media works by Cecile L. K. Martin. Through Dec. 11.

Flicker Theatre & Bar Photographs of China by Justin Evans. Through Dec. 3.

Georgia Piedmont Arts Center “Harvest of Art” features works by a wide variety of local talent.

Through Dec. 19.

The Globe Work by Ainhoa Bilbao Canup. Through November.

Good Dirt Functional pottery, sculpture and jewelry by over 30 local artists. Through December.

Hawthorne House Antiques and Interiors Photographs and various artistic explorations by Field Trip duo Rinne Allen and Lucy Allen Gillis.

Healing Arts Centre “Balancing Polarity: A Sacred Union,” featuring “original art for the free at heart” by Lara. Through Dec. 12.

Just Pho…and More Work by William C. Pierson. Through Dec. 15.

BikeAthens provides all the tools and supplies. Drop by to help out!

Bike donations can also be made during these times. Sundays, 2–4 p.m. Mondays & Wednesdays, 6–8 p.m. www.bikeathens.com

KIDSTUFF Athens Language Schoolhouse (Athens Language Schoolhouse) Italian immersion classes for infants through Pre-K. Call to schedule free trial classes! www.athenslanguageschoolhouse. com Creative Movement (Floorspace) Ongoing class for ages 3–5. Call to register! Tuesdays, 10 a.m. and Saturdays, 9:30 a.m. (ages 3-4), Saturdays, 10:30 a.m. (age 5). 706247-4513, lisayaconelli@yahoo.com Family Yoga Sprouts (Full Bloom Center) Come enjoy yoga as a family! Third Sunday of every month. 1:30–2:30 p.m. Call for fees.

706-353-3373, www.yogasprouts. com Gymnastics (Bishop Park) Now registering for winter/spring gymnastics programs! Non-ACC residents may begin registering Dec. 10.

Dec. 7–9, 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. (ACC residents). 706-613-3589, www. accleisureservices.com/gymnastics. shtml Homeschoolers Chapter Book Review (Madison Baptist Church) Elementary school-age homeschoolers gather at the library to read a book together and talk about it. Every Thursday. 1 p.m. FREE! 706-795-5597 Kids Trapeze Open Studio (Canopy Studio) Bring a parent to assist you as you learn the art of trapeze. Sundays, noon–1 p.m. info@ canopystudio.com

Krimson Kafe Mosaic artwork by J. Elizabeth Wright. Through December.

Lamar Dodd School of Art (Room S365) Visual artist Jonathan Bouknight’s exhibit “(study for) Mother-Me-Do” references mythology, history, pop culture and science to express our culture’s attitudes toward gender, sexuality and identity. (Gallery 307) The Lamar Dodd BFA Exit Show features drawings and paintings by Katie Bacon, Ian King, Timothy McLeod, Jordyn Pritchard and Claudia Santillan.

Through November. “Making Masters” features selected MFA works from the Lamar Dodd School of Art. Through Dec. 1.

Lyndon House Arts Center “Through Our Eyes: Portraits and Self-Portraits by the Students of Clarke County” highlights the work of local young artists in clay, pencil, paint and fabric. Through Jan. 20.

Madison-Morgan Cultural Center In his exhibit “From the Forest to the Shore,” Michael Murrell’s works in wood, metal and mixed media reflect on ecological issues, endangered species and man’s relationship with nature. Through Jan. 15.

Mercury Art Works “Terre Verte,” the debut exhibition for Mercury Art Works at Hotel Indigo, features photographs by Rinne Allen and work by various local artists, including Art Rosenbaum, Chris Bilheimer, Mary Engel, Scott Belville and Michael Stipe. Through Feb. 15.

Monroe Art Guild “Wood and Stone” by Dan Thoman. Through December.

Oconee County Library Photography by Kathy Berry. Through December.

The Point of Art Gallery (Union Point) Work

by Henry Barnes. Through Nov. 28.

Red Eye Coffee Vibrant watercolors of various Athens locales by Jamie Calkin. Through November.

State Botanical Garden of Georgia “Southern Tableau,” featuring paintings of lush landscapes by Joe M. Ruiz.

Visionary Growth Gallery (Danielsville) “Our Way or No Way,” an exhibit featuring new works

by UGA Sculpture Professor Jim Buonaccorsi and painter David Barron. Dec. 6 –Jan. 16. Reception Dec. 6. (Danielsville) “All Ye Who Wander,” an exhibit featuring work by UGA Printmaking graduate David Savino. Through Nov. 28.

Mommy/Daddy and Me Trapeze (Canopy Studio) Parents will guide their children in a range of exercises on the floor and low trapezes. Each child must be accompanied by one parent. Sundays, 10–11 a.m. (ages 2–3) 11 a.m.–noon (ages 1–2) $10/class. 706-549-8501, info@canopystudio.com One-to-One Reading Program (East Athens Community Center) Read with the librarian and other volunteers. Get them all to yourself! For ages 6 and up. Monday–Thursday, 3:30–5:30 p.m., FREE! 706-613-3657 Santa’s Mail Bag (Various Locations) Santa has an overstock of coal this year, so if your child has been more nice than naughty, please be sure to register them for Santa’s “nice list” before Dec. 17. Call or go online for more information. 706613-3603, www.accleisureservices. com/holidayevents.shtml

SUPPORT Emotional Abuse Support Group (Call for location) Demeaning behavior and hateful words can be just as harmful as punches and kicks. Childcare is provided. Call Project Safe hotline at 706-543-3331 for location.

Wednesdays, 6:30–8 p.m.

Emotions Anonymous (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Athens) Informal and supportive 12step program open to anyone with a desire to become well emotionally.

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

ON THE STREET ACC Leisure Services Winter Programs (Various Locations) Registration for adult and youth art and dance classes, youth basketball and many other programs. See complete program online. www.acc leisureservices.com Band Together: Help Rebuild the Georgia Theatre (Georgia Theatre) The Georgia Theatre and the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation have banded together to help fund the rebuilding of the Theatre. To make a donation or learn more, visit their website. www. georgiatrust.org/preservation/ georgiatheatre.php Christmas Tree Try-Outs (Call for location) Athens-Clarke County is searching for the perfect display tree this holiday season. The ideal tree is a symmetrical, single-trunked cedar, 25 feet in diameter and 35 feet tall. Personality is a plus. Potential donors should contact Rita Brown in the Landscape Management Division of the Central Services Department

by Nov. 25. 706-613-3561 Free Hearing Screening (Call for location) Call now to schedule your complimentary hearing screening from audiologist Dr. Robin Hardin. Dec. 1–3. FREE! 706-3107115 Free HIV Testing (Various Locations) Local health departments in Clarke and surrounding counties offer free testing in recognition of World AIDS Day. Dec. 1, 1-800473-4357 New Passport Office (UGA Tate Center) The UGACard office in UGA’s Tate Student Center has morphed into a U.S. passport office.

Open 9 a.m.–4 p.m. www.passport. uga.edu f

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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.

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FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ NOVEMBER 25, 2009

reality check

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Matters Of The Heart And Loins I have a bone to pick with you. I am a parent of teenagers and, mostly, I appreciate your common-sense advice and am glad that your column and others like it exist so that my kids can ask you anything they might be too embarrassed to ask me. But a couple of weeks ago, you got a letter from a girl who was dating a guy her parents don’t approve of.

You basically told her that they didn’t have any hold on her anymore, but I think you missed an important detail: she still lives with them. And as far as I and many other parents are concerned, it’s My House, My Rules. I think this girl should either respect her parents’ wishes, or if she’s so independent, move out on her own.

You can’t ask her dad to just sit there and take it when this loser comes to pick up his daughter. Anyway, I just thought you should try to see it from the other side.

Sometimes Father Does Know Best The girl in question lived with her dad, and she also said specifically that she barely ever stays at home because she is always at her boyfriend’s house. I can totally appreciate where you are coming from, but at the same time, don’t you think that not allowing this girl to see her boyfriend is just going to drive her straight to him? And if her parents were to demand that she get her own place, she would likely just move in with the guy, and then there are all sorts of issues about pride and defiance that would get in the way when she thinks about dumping the guy and going back home.

She’s not sponging off of her parents, and her boyfriend is not sponging off of her. She is young and in love and will likely fall out of love soon enough. You have every right to make your own rules, but sometimes you would be better off keeping your opinions to yourself and hoping your kid sees the light sooner than later.

Here we go. Deep breath and all that. If I told you that my wife cut me off sexually before we were even back from our honeymoon, I would not be exaggerating. We went from a healthy and vigorous sexual relationship to… to whatever the opposite of that is, literally overnight.

Over the course of our first year married to each other, sex fell off from daily, to weekly, to monthly, and so on, dying a slow and lingering death. Like those alien face hugger-things; they give you just enough oxygen to keep you from dying, but strangled into a coma. That’s how I feel. Only instead of an ovipositor strangling me, it’s resentment and regret. It’s been almost six months since I last got to touch my wife beyond a kiss as dry and chaste as anything you’d see in an old Dick van Dyke film. Having sex maybe two or three times a year is about par for us. And on those rare and golden occasions, she treats it so much like a chore she’s been trying to avoid (and that she can’t wait

to get done with) that I… No delicate way to put it… I can’t remain enthusiastic for the endeavor while she’s turning her face away from me and clawing at the sheets as though trying to escape through the mattress.

I’d like to say that, otherwise, everything is fine, but you know better—that would be bullshit. Her daily rejections of me have piled up to the point that I begin to expect them. I find myself getting furious at her for the most innocuous things: “If she can’t put out more than once every six months, she can goddamn well pour her own coffee” kind of feelings are just eating me up lately.

I do my best to swallow them, carry on and not let the situation become a vicious circle of accusation and anger.

But the fact is, I feel it coming to a head; I can feel it like I’m being stabbed in the chest with shards of ice every time she opens her mouth.

I’ve burned through my 20s, and I’m fast burning through my 30s. I feel like I’ve been cheated of years of happiness. I suspect she’s hoping for middle age to quietly settle on me and reduce my libido to a level she’s more comfortable with.

So, Jyl, Whaddaya think? Divorce?

Infidelity? Celibacy?

Anonymous

Let

$ 3

IKE & JANE Make your Thanksgiving Pies!

O F F

Junkman's Daughter's Brother 458 e. clayton st. 706-543-4454 monday-saturday: 11-7 sunday: 12-6

First, I think I need more information. But since that isn’t possible, I’m going to have to do my best with what you’ve given me.

How long has this been going on? And when was the last time you talked about it? If you haven’t, then you need to. Like, right now would be great. If you have, then what was the response?

Did she tell you why she’s not interested in sex anymore? Is she depressed? Are there other things at play?

And how long do you intend to go on like this? Celibacy?

You’re there, honey! And infidelity? What’s the point?

You didn’t mention kids, so I have to ask myself why you are still married to a woman for whom you have nothing but resentment. Why? Confidential to “Not the Other Woman”: You are right.

She should be over it by now, but she’s not. So, whatever. Let her hate you. It is ridiculous for her to expect an itinerary from you so she doesn’t—gasp!—have to run into you. Idiotic. Don’t do it. As for the other guy, you need to let it go. Stop even trying to control the situation, and let him avoid you or not, as he sees fit. You should probably tell him that you are aware of what’s going on with him/them, and that you hope it goes well, and that you would like to remain friends. Be the bigger person. Besides, this smells like a rebound which will likely implode in a matter of weeks anyway. You’ll have him back in no time. Don’t sweat it.

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

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classifieds

Buy It, Sell It, Rent It, Use It! Place an ad anytime at flagpole.com  Indicates images available at flagpole.com

Real Estate Apartments for Rent $475–525/mo. 1BR/1BA, 2 Blocks to town & campus. Lg. BR, CHVAC, great view of city, ceiling fans, some screen porches. Owner pays water & garbage. Avail. for January 1st move–in.

Go to boulevard​p roperty​ management.com, (706) 548-9797.

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

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

1BR apt. for just $399/mo!

Normaltown/ARMC area just 1 mi. to Dwntn. Low sec. dep.

Call (706) 788-2152 for appt or add’l info. Won’t last long!

1BR apt. w/ full kit. & BA. W/D. incl. $400/mo. + $400/sec dep.

Avail. now. Won’t last! (706) 254-2936.

1 , 2 & 3 B R a p t s . Tw o bedrooms star ting at $506.67 a month! 1BRs, $493/mo. 3BRs, $710/mo.

Huge apts at a great location.

Security deposit starts at $150! On busline, pet friendly & recycling on site! Call us today (706) 549-6254.

Restrictions apply.

1BR apt. for $475/mo. 2BR apt. starting at $700/mo. 3BR apt starting at $1000/mo.

All close to campus! Howard Properties (706) 546-0300.

1BR/1BA. 5 blocks to Dwntn.

W/D, CHAC, new bamboo flrs., lg. fenced yd. Pets OK. $550/mo. incl. water. Avail. Jan 1st. 845 W. Hancock. (864) 784-3049.

2BR/2BA apt in East Athens.

Partially furnished. Big kitchen, deck. $750/mo. (706) 433-2712.

2BR/1BA Five Points Duplex on Mell St., total electric, DW, W/D hookups. $625/mo. (706) 546-6900, ValerioProperties.com.

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FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ NOVEMBER 25, 2009

2BR basement apt. 180 Moss Side Dr. Great rm. w/ FP. Private entrance. $520/mo + utils. Washer & DW provided.

Call (706) 254-2526 or (706) 227-9312.

2BR/1BA, Deville 136 Grady Ave. $695/mo.

Great place to live, upstairs, HWflrs, pool, courtyard. Call for showing (706) 548-9797, w w w. b o u l e v a r d ​p r o p e r t y​ management.com.



2BR/1BA. ARMC area.

Avail. immediately!

Prefer family, professionals, or grad students. Central heat/ AC, newly renovated, off–street parking. Safe quiet n’hood.

Total electric. $550/mo. (706) 543-4556.

3BR/2.5BA Eastside townhome.

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

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

Available January. Spacious 2BR Dwntn apts. 3 blocks from N. campus. Out of bar scene. Close to everything. Call George (706) 340-0987.

Artist studio/garden cottage.

Very private, quiet, lovely setting. Dwntn Watkinsville, walk 1 block to Jittery Joe’s.

Great restaurants, music on the lawn, lg. open main rm. w/ great windows. 2BR/1BA, screen porch, 1200 sq. ft. Professional/ grad student. N/S, no candles, pets neg. $740/mo. incl. water & all appl. Avail Dec. 15! Pls. call (706) 769-0205 evening, (706) 207-5175. Lv. msg.

Boulevard apt. for rent. Great location near Dwntn/campus.

2BR/1BA. W/D in unit. $650– $695 rent. D e c e m b e r free! (770) 354-1989 OR princeynez@yahoo.com.

Best deal in town! El Dorado 2BR/1BA & studio apts. in N o r m a l t o w n . F re e w a t e r, gas, basic cable & wireless Internet. W/D in 2BR units.

Dog runs. $420–$675/mo.

Joiner & Associates (706) 549-7371.

Best proper ty in town!

Woodlands of Athens.

3BR/3BA full of amenities.

G a t e d c o m m u n i t y, g re a t specials. Reduced to only $1050/mo. Call Pete (706) 372-3319.

College Station 2BR/2BA. All appls + W/D, FP, xtra closet space, water/garbage incl. $575/mo. Owner/Agent (706) 340-2450.

Dwntn 2nd floor apt. on Clayton St. Walk to UGA. Great location! $675/mo. Available now! Parker & Associates (706) 546-0600 or visit parkerandassociates.com.

FTX Apartments.

Campus & busline within half a block. Near Milledge Ave. 2BR units. Pre–lease for Fall 2010. These units are always 100% leased so act now for low rental rates. Call Stacy at (706) 425-4048 or (706) 296-1863.

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

Studio condos Downtown Athens. On Broad St. & across the street from campus! $600/mo.

Avail. Jan 2010. Call (404) 557-5203.

White Columns Hall.

1BR/1BA, 1 block from Dwntn.

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

West Athens, just off Prince. $595/mo. 2BR/2BA apt. Living rm w/ FP, eat–in kitchen, deck.

High speed internet avail.

Avail. now. (706) 433-2712.

DON’T BE LEFT THE FRED BUILDING HOMELESS! Office Space Downtown Lofts Available Available For Lease Hurry, Only a Few Left! 220 COLLEGE

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Westside condos.

2BR/2BA, $600/mo. Hospital Area, garage apt., totally updated, 2BR/1BA, $525/ mo. & $550/mo. Eastside quadraplex 2BR/2BA, $525/mo. 2BR/1BA, $490/mo.

Eastside duplex 2BR/1BA, FP, $490/mo.3BR/2BA, FP, $650/mo., corner lot. Call McWaters Realty, (706) 549-3222, (706) 353-2700 or cell (706) 540-1529.

Apartments for Sale Downtown Condo.

1BR/1BA in University Tower.

Approx 720 sq. ft. Across Broad St. from north campus, great view. $94K. Call (706) 255-3743.

Commercial Property $100-$150 Studio spaces.

Great location, cool spaces.

1 block from town. (706) 5489797, boulevard​p roperty​ management.com.

195 Park Ave. $750/mo.3 lg. offices, common area w/ kitchen. Currently used as wellness center. Great location, great n’hood. Contact or call today (706) 5489797, boulevard​p roperty​ management.com.



5K sq. ft. Building/ Wa re h o u s e f o r s a l e or lease in Lexington, GA. $1K/mo. or $120K. 111, 113 & 115 E. Main St. Call Diego (706) 621-1035 or Ken (706) 614-8295. More info: www. k p s u r p l u s . c o m / p ro d u c t s / view/26554.



5K sq. ft. Building/ Warehouse for sale or lease in Crawford, GA. $1650/mo. or $150K. 187 Bunker Hill Rd. On 1.5 acres in Oglethorpe Co. Call Diego (706) 621-1035 or Ken (706) 614-8295.

M o re i n f o : h t t p : / / w w w. kpsurplus.com/products/ view/26553.

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7500 sq. ft. Building/ Warehouse for sale or lease in Winterville, GA. $3500/ mo. or $420K. 1459 Hargrove Lake Rd. On 6 acres zoned B1 in Oglethorpe Co. Call Diego (706) 621-1035 or Ken (706) 614-8295. More info:http:// www.kpsurplus.com/products/ view/25214.

Available now! Art Studio or Exhibit Space now. Located in Eddie Craddock's former mechanics garage, 890 E. Broad. Call Dan (770) 8456962. Building is waste oil heated.



Amazing Office Spaces for lease above Dwntn Five Guys restaurant. Sign a 1 Year Lease and Receive the 1st Month Free or 12% off!! Call Reign at Coldwell B a n k e r U p c h u rc h R e a l t y (706) 372-4166, or (706) 543-4000.

Athens Executive Suites.

Offices avail. in historic Dwntn bldg. w/ on–site parking. All utils., Internet, & janitorial incl.

Single or multiple offices avail.

Call Stacy (706) 425-4048 or (706) 296-1863.

Eastside offices 1060 Gaines School Rd. Rent: 1200 sqft-1200/mo. 450 sq. ft. $600/mo., 170 sq. ft. $375/ mo., 450 sq. ft. $600/mo. (706) 546-1615 or www.athenstown properties.com.

Paint Artist Studio Historic Blvd Area. Artist Community.

160 Tracy St. Rent: 400 sq. ft. $200/mo. 300 sq. ft. $150/ mo. (706) 546-1615 or www. athenstownproperties.com.

Retail Suites for lease at Homewood Village.

1K–12,500 sq. ft. avail. For more info call Bryan Austin at (706) 353-1039 or visit www. sumnerproperties.net.

Condos for Rent 2BR/2.5 Bath condo on Epps Bridge. Avail. immediately.

December rent free w/ signed lease!Newly renovated. New carpets, cabinets, & appls.

W/D connection. Backyard.

Garbage incl. in rent. $725/mo.

(706) 255-7039.

2BR/1.5BA condo at Eaglewood, off Lumpkin. Pool, on lake, completely remodeled. $675/mo. Call (706) 353-7826 anytime.

2BR/2.5BA condos. Off Tallasee Rd. $550/mo. 1st month rent free! No pets allowed. (706) 202-0147, (706) 613-6560.

2BR/1BA condo. Campus close. Security gate, pool, fitness center. Located at Stadium Village. Excellent condition. $600/mo. or $200/ wk. (706) 206-2347.

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 condo, newly remodeled, incl. paint & flooring. Spacious rooms, central location. $750/mo.

Avail. now! Call Geoff for more info (706) 206-3560.

235 Plaza. 3BR/1BA. Avail. Jan 1st. CHAC, W/D, DW, HWflrs., fenced yd. Close to Dwntn. $600/mo. Call/text (706) 714-4486, email hathaway properties@gmail.com.

Houses for Rent

238 1/2 Cleveland Ave. Off Pulaski. 2BR/1BA. $400/mo.

Heat, AC, W/D, porch. Pets OK. Walk to Dwntn. Call/text (706) 714-4486, email hathaway properties@gmail.com.

$750/mo. Blocks from campus.

4BR/2BA. Tall ceilings, CHAC, DW, W/D conn., sunroom, deck. Avail. now. 231 Elizabeth St. Owner/Agent. Call Mike (706) 207-7400. $700/mo. 3BR/1BA. 515 Reese St. Avail. Jan 1. CHAC, W/D, DW, sec. sys., deck. 4 blocks to UGA. Call/text (706) 7144486, hathawayproperties@ gmail.com. $875/mo. 4BR/1.5BA. Eastside.

Lg. kitchen, W/D, workshop, 1–car garage, fenced yard, safe & n’hood. Avail. now. 117 Crossbow Circle. Owner/Agent.

Call Mike (706) 207-7400. $875/mo. Blocks from campus.

3 extra lg. BRs, 1.5BA. 12’ ceilings, HWflrs., W/D, CHAC. Avail. now. 127 Elizabeth St. Owner/Agent. Call Mike (706) 207-7400.

1434 E. Broad St. 1BR/1BA duplex. $475/mo. Walk to UGA. Renovated bungalow.

W/D & yd. maint. incl. Pets OK. Flexible lease. (770) 841-7090.

1BR/1BA. $495-525/mo. overlooking Dwntn & campus.

All electric, lg. BRs, some w/ screened porches, laundry on site. Freshly renovated & priced right. Avail. 1/01/09.

Call (706) 548-9797 or b o u l e v a rd ​p ro p e r t y​ management.com.

1695 W. Hancock. 3BR/2BA. CHAC, W/D, DW, fenced, pets OK, bands OK, HWflrs.

Close to Dwntn. Sec. sys. $650/mo. Avail. Jan 1st.

Call/text (706) 714-4486, email hathawayproperties@ gmail.com.



149 Eaglewood Way. 5 Pts. 4BR/2.5BA end–unit condo on busline. HVAC, DW, W/D, decks, pool. Awesome location, great deal! $800/mo + dep. Avail. now. Jimmy (706) 338-7257.

1080 Oglethorpe Ave. City busline. 2BR/1BA + bonus rm., laundry rm., patio. Neat condition, great location.

Lawn maintenance possible.

Perfect for 2 grad students/ professionals. Short lease avail. $750–$850/mo. (706) 338-7990, (706) 353-0708.

2BR/1BA. Avail. Feb. 1.5 mi. north of Dwntn, HWflrs., lg. fenced yd., W/D, CHAC, all electric, lawncare incl. $535/ mo. w/ dep. (706) 546-5390 evenings.

2BR/2BA townhouse. 1st 3 months $100 off! $250 sec. dep. Pls. call (706) 549-6070.

2BR/1BA cute cottage w/ front porch. CHAC, near UGA. $800/mo. Avail. 12/15. Also, ask about 2 other houses avail. now. Call (706) 354-1276 or (706) 540-7812.

3BR/2BA historic farmhouse in Lexington, GA. Pls. call (706) 549-6070.

3BR/2.5BA houses w/ HWflrs, granite tops & all appls! Avail. now for $1200/mo! 1/2 mi. to Dwntn. 105 Trail Creek Dr.!

(706) 713-0626.

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/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/1BA. $750/mo. Nice house in Winterville on 1 acre.

5 min. from Athens. Great, safe n’hood. Garden OK. Pets OK. Avail. now! Call Jason (706) 338-4669.

3BR/2BA house Eastside.

Quiet n’hood. $900/mo. All appls. 213 Springtree St. Avail. now! (706) 713-0626.

5BR/3BA Eastside home for rent. 50% off 1st mo. rent if lease signed by 12/1. Approx $300/mo. per room. 1 mi from campus, 2nd kitchen, deck, fenced yard. Will consider some pets. W/D incl! Move–in today & save, or prelease while avail! (770) 374-0123.



Avail. Dec. 1st. 3BR/2BA. Off Milledge. CHAC, W/D, HWflrs. $800/mo. + dep. Pets OK. Call Mark (706) 202-5110.

Best rentals in Athens!

1–5BR houses, apts., condos.

In the heart of UGA/Dwntn/5 Pts. Avail. Aug. Going fast, call today! (706) 3692908 for more info.

Call about our exciting January special! Huge floorplan. Tons of space. HWflrs, ceiling fans, W/D, DW, micro, bonus rm. & back deck! 1 mi. to Dwntn.

(706) 543-1910 or becky@ landmarkathens.com.

Convenient Eastside location.

2BR/1BA. Convenient to schools & shopping. All appls. incl. W/D. Avail. Dec. 1st. $525/mo. Carole Moon Owner/ Agent (706) 540-0472.

Cute house on Hollie St. 1BR/1BA for $550/mo.

Great yard, quiet location.

Available now! Convenient location. Parker & Associates (706) 546-0600 Website: parkerandassociates.com.

First month rent free.

2 A-Frames on Freeman Dr. 2BR/1BA. Huge loft area. $500–$525/mo. Country cottage off Danielsville Rd. 2BR/1BA on 3 acres. $515/ mo. (706) 202-0147, (706) 613-6560.



I’ll miss my bachelor pad. I’m moving to Atlanta for work. I’ve loved living here; close to Dwntn, 24 hr. Kroger, library, Beechwood, nice backyard, sunny living room. 2BR/1BA. 1.5 mi from UGA. $680/mo. Call (678) 481-7533.

Normaltown/ARMC. 180 Willow Run. Very nice 3BR/1BA. HWflrs, DW, W/D, CHAC. Lg. fenced backyd.

Pets OK w/ dep. $800/mo.

(404) 210-7145.

Normaltown cottage. Avail.

1/1/10. 2BR/1BA. HWflrs, CHAC, DW, W/D hookups, fenced–in backyd, covered patio, FP. Perfect for grad students or professionals.

On busline. Pets OK w/ dep.! $800/mo.+ dep. (706) 372-3383.

Newly renovated 4BR/3BA for rent in ARMC area. W/D, DW, CHAC, screen porch, game room, off–street parking. $1200/mo. Call Vicki at (706) 540-7113 to set up a tour.

Nor thside 2BR/1BA, lg. lot, $600/mo. Hospital area 2BR/1BA, carport, fenced–in yard, $750/mo.

Eastside 3BR/2BA. Lg. yd., on dead–end street. $950/mo.

4BR/2BA w/ lg. yd. $1200/mo.

2 or 3BR/1BA w/ screened front porch, $700/mo. Cedar Creek 4BR/2BA $950/mo.

Oconee County 3BR/2BA. Lv. rm. w/ FP, din. rm., double garage, $1000/mo. Call McWaters Realty, (706) 549-3222, (706) 353-2700, (706) 540-1529.

Your own 2BR/1BA house for $575/mo. Quiet location convenient to ever ything Available now. Parker & Associate (706) 546-0600 or visit www.parkerandassociates. com.

Houses for Sale $77,700. Cute 2BR/1BA house w/ bonus rm. HWflrs, CHAC, fenced yd, butterfly garden.

Bus, walk, or bike to Dwntn, campus & Alps. 405 Benning St. Michael (706) 255-8600, www.fullcircleathens.com.

1695 W. Hancock. 3BR/2BA lg house. Double lot. CHAC, W/D, DW, wood flrs, sec. sys., fenced, close to Dwntn. $135K. Call/text (706) 714-4486, email hathaway properties@gmail. com.

Roommate needed 12/1. Lg. rm., CHVAC, private entrance.

W/D use, share kit/bath w/ 1 person, utils 5–way split. Walk to town. (706) 424-0901.

2BR/2BA townhouse w/ pool & balcony. Fully furnished except for bed. Daytona Beach, FL. 1 mi. from ocean. 70 degrees in November! $100K. Call (386) 212-9340.

$500/mo. 3rd housemate needed for room in recently renovated 3BR/3.5BA house w/ 2 (M,F) PhD students. Terrific location! Pulaski, near Prince.

Avail. Jan. Email gfelis@uga.edu.



2 3 5 B a i l e y. $ 5 0 K .

Great Investment Proper ty! Call Reign at Coldwell Banker Upchurch Realty (706) 372-4166, or (706) 543-4000.

C u t e s t h o u s e i n C o m e r.

3BR/2.5BA. 1800 ft. 2.2/3 acre. Fully applianced.

HWflrs., carpet. Beautifully landscaped yd. 6 ft. privacy fence. Alarm system. 100% financing. $135K. (706) 202-6119.



Own your own rental property!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.

Owner financing. 3BR/2BA ranch. Basement, remodeled kitchen, HWflrs, covered porch, fenced yd., koi pond, vegetable garden. $135K. Call Martha (770) 540-9262. View at www.upchurchrealty.com/ MarthaCooper.

Land for Sale



0 Va l l e y w o o d .

Awesome Homewood Hills Lot For Sale $44,900.

Call Reign at Coldwell Banker Upchurch Realty (706) 3724166, or (706) 543-4000.

Roommates Female roommate wanted for 2BR/2.5BA 2nd flr. apt.

Furnished except for priv.

BR/BA. Great location on S. Milledge busline! $390/mo. + 1/2 utils.! No deposit! Email Rebecca at becca747@ uga.edu.

Share residence w/ another professional. $900/mo shared rent which incl. everything!

Negotiable portion of rent. 20 min. 78–83 Hwy. from Athens/ campus. Great deal for single graduate student, writer, or teacher. Furnished. Private BR, BA, backyd, sidewalks, streetlamps, nearby cheap gym & space for guest.

Extras! Email judiethcarol@ ro c k e t m a i l . c o m o r ( 6 7 8 ) 938-1219.

WELCH PLACE

Rooms for Rent

$450/mo. & $450/dep. All utils. incl. water, power, cable, trash.

(706) 248-2615.

Spacious room for rent in Blvd area. Private entrance & porch, W/D. $375/mo. Avail. immediately. (606) 584-5231.

Town/UGA/N. Oconee. Band/ storage neg. Rms. $80/ wk. Unlimited long distance, Internet, cable, TV provided.

No drugs, no cigarettes. (706) 850-0491, 957 MLK.

For Sale Appliances 24 cubic ft. Hotpoint refrigerator for sale. White, side–by–side doors. Only 4 yrs. old! $375 OBO. Call (706) 338-1661.

Furniture 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.

Tables, chairs, sofas, antiques, clothes, records & players, retro goods, & more! Cool, affordable furniture every day.

Go to Agora! Your favorite ever ything store! 260 W. Clayton St., (706) 316-0130.

Miscellaneous Come to Betty for vintage quilted Chanel bags, just in for Fall! On the corner of Pulaski & Clayton, next to Agora. Open 1pm–4pm daily. (706) 424-0566.

TV and Video

Yard Sales Sat. 11/28/ 175 Holman Ave. Furniture, kitchenware, sm. appls., baby items, beer signs, bowling collectibles, shelving, & more. 8am–?. No early birds pls.

Music Equipment Ampeg Bass cabinet. 4 10” & 1 15” speakers. Beat all to hell & sounds great! Considering par tial trade for smaller cabinet. $500. Call (706) 296-4034.

Gibson Explorer, black w/ black pick guard. Like new, case included. $850. Call Scott at (706) 207-5117.

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.

Love Guitar Hero? Quit playing the game & learn the real thing. Teachers w/ decades of experience. 1–on–1 affordable, fun lessons. All styles & skill levels welcome.

Music Exchange (706) 549-6199.

Music Services Fret Shop. Professional guitar repairs & modifications, setups, electronics, precision fretwork. Previous clients incl.

R.E.M., Widespread Panic, Cracker, Bob Mould, John Berry, Abbey Road Live!, Squat. (706) 549-1567.

G u i t a r R e p a i r , 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. ➤ continued on next page

Get Dish. Free installation. $19.99/mo. HBO & Showtime Free. Over 50 HD channels f re e . L o w e s t p r i c e s , n o equipment to buy! Call now for full details. (877) 242-0974 (AAN CAN).

CALL DEALFOR S!

The BEST Deal in Five Points Just Got Better! $

From 315 a Bedroom

3BR Townhomes and 4BR/3BA Townhouse w/ Study Includes Washer & Dryer, Free Wireless and 42” Plasma TV! Call Today for viewing.

706-549-7371

NOVEMBER 25, 2009 · FLAGPOLE.COM

33

Looking for a fun, classy alter native 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 & party band. www. themagictones.com.

Studios Vega Recording Studio. $12/hr.

Come & track your music, then take it to your friends who use ProTools. Call (706) 207-7581 for more info.

Services Home and Garden 2nd Annual Christmas Open House! Please join us this weekend at Weekend A’Fair at Charmar. Fri–Sun, 11/27–29, 10am–6pm.We will be serving cider & assorted goodies all weekend long! We welcome you to stop by & see all of our wonderful antiques, art & collectibles. Try samples of our Sweet Memories Baked goods & pick up 1 of our beautiful freshly trimmed Christmas trees. 790 Gaines School Rd. (706) 850-5945.

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/.

Photography Holiday photos make great gifts! Creative & affordable portraits. Families, Graduates, Bands. Wedding & event services also available. www.christopher helmphotography.com. (706) 254-9587.

Sports Street Fighting Boot Camp.

Classes avail. days, evenings, & weekends. 1 week can prepare you for most street confrontations. Email refounding2000@yahoo.com for details.

Tutors One-on-one tutoring.

Experienced in K–12 & home schooling. Certified English, Gifted, Reading, Exceptional Education. Implementing Princeton Review series working w/ students to prepare for the SAT/ACT tests. Essaywriting, end of course tests, CRCT, & standardized test preparation. Call or email for info (678) 938-1219, judiethcarol@rocketmail.com.

Jobs Full-time M a r k e t i n g 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 companies. $9/hr.

BOS Staffing www.bostemps. com, (706) 353-3030.

Sales Reps needed!

Looking for confident, self motivated, well spoken people. Starting out at $8/hr. + commission. Experience necessary. Call Kris (770) 5605653. Weak people need not apply!

Sexy Suz Adult Emporium now hiring 21+ yr. old for retail positions. Retail experience pref’d. Email resume/photo to sexysuz@comcast.net. No calls. 50 Gaines School Rd. UberPrints.com is hiring!

Web company specializing in custom apparel is seeking motivated, talented individuals for its Customer Service & Production Art Depts. To learn more about the positions & to apply, please visit www. uberprints.com/jobs.

Opportunities

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.

Receive $300 upon completion of study!

For more info, please email the Eating, Drinking, & Personality Research lab at the University of Georgia at bnstudy@uga.edu, or call (706) 542-3827.

Earn $40! UGA researchers looking for F age 18 & older who purge at least twice/mo. to participate in a 1–visit research study. Contact bnstudy@ uga.edu.

Earn extra income assembling CD cases from home. No experience necessary. Call our live operators now. (800) 405-7619 ext. 2450. http:// www.easywork-greatpay.com (AAN CAN).

High School diploma! Fast, affordable & accredited. Free brochure. Call now! (800) 532-6546 ext. 97. Go to http:// www.continentalacademy.com (AAN CAN).

Women! Ear n $18K–$30K for 6 egg donations w/ the largest, most experienced agency in the US. Call (800) 444-7119 or apply online at www.theworldeggbank.com (AAN CAN).

Part-time Dental assistant needed parttime for busy Athens practice.

Mon–Fri, from 8am–1pm. $15/ hr. will be paid during training period, $20/hr. once trained.

Must be computer literate & available to work for minimum of 3 consecutive years due to cost of training. Bachelors degree and minimum 3.5 GPA preferred. Pls. reply w/ your educational & work history. Apply online at DentalAthens@gmail.com.

Mystery shoppers earn up to $100/day. Undercover shoppers needed to judge retail & dining establishments.

No exp. req’d. (800) 743-8535.

PT Nurse Practitioner wanted i m m e d i a t e l y. 1 2 – 2 4 h r s / wk in local community free healthcare clinic. Salar y competitive. Contact Deb Williams at (706) 613-6976 for more info.

Vehicles Autos Chevy Astro Passanger Van 1996. Good condition, runs well. Seats 2–8. Removable seats. $3200. Call Tony (478) 397-4696.

Motorcycles 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 cruiser. 8K miles, black, excellent condition. New windshield, luggage rack, & tires.

Ridden daily. $2950 firm.

(706) 254-6529.

Notices Messages Gain national exposure. Reach over 5 million young, active, educated readers for $995 by advertising in 110 weekly newspapers like this one. (202) 289-8484 (AAN CAN).

Does your daughter have Earn $75-$200/hr. Media Makeup Artist Training for ads, TV, film, fashion. 1 wk. class.

Stable job in weak economy.

D e t a i l s a t h t t p : / / w w w.

Awardmakeupschool.com, (310) 364-0665 (AAN CAN).

ENCOURAGES YOU TO MAKE THE PLEDGE & REGISTER TO WIN at

FLAGPOLE.COM! SEE BACK COVER FOR DETAILS

So whether you are

shopping, eating, drinking or seeking entertainment,

R U O Y P O H S

AOTFFH!

THINK LOCAL FIRST! 15 Names will be chosen to win

$100 INRegister GIFT CERTIFICATES! at FLAGPOLE.COM If your local business would like to be a part of Flagpole’s Shop Your ATH Off program, call our Advertising Department at 706-549-0301 or email ads@flagpole.com

34

FLAGPOLE.COM ∙ NOVEMBER 25, 2009

everyday people JAMES GILSTRAP, COMPUTER SUPPORT SPECIALIST Sure, James Gilstrap works with computers, but he’s nowhere near being a cubicle-ridden geek deprived of daylight.

In fact, he gets more than his fair share of the outdoors as the computer support specialist for the State Botanical Garden of Georgia. As the sole tech guy on the premises, he’s worn multiple hats over the past six years he’s worked there. Besides his bread-and-butter of maintaining computer hardware and the network, James has fitted camera lenses with ultraviolet light filters, set up audio-video equipment for presentations, and even helped install a civil defense siren for the South Milledge area. Although James was born in Athens General Hospital, he’s moved a lot in his 31 years, owing mostly to his father’s job as a department store manager. After attending Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton for two years, he transferred to UGA in 1998 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in statistics.

Flagpole: You said earlier you were a “country boy.” How’d you end up getting into computers?

FP: [A bee makes an appearance, the interviewer recoils.]

Don’t move… I wouldn’t be so paranoid if I hadn’t gotten stung on the neck by one earlier today.

JG: I’m allergic to ‘em, so…

FP: Did you ever have to go to the hospital because of that?

JG: Spring plant sale a year ago here at the botanical garden. I was actually stung moving some plants for a customer.

For the initial reaction, the staff gave me two Benadryl. I didn’t realize I’m not very good tolerance for drugs, so one Benadryl would have been enough, but my wife had to come get me; when she found me I was asleep upside down under our volunteer coordinator’s desk.

Charles-Ryan Barber

FP: How did you and your wife meet?

JG: She was a curator here at the Botanical Garden before she got her current job. Well, basically, I decided I liked her, so she got a computer pretty quick, speakers pretty quick, new chair pretty quick. Unfortunately, she thought the guy at the botanical garden was just very nice. She didn’t catch on to my quiet attentive help.

FP: So, how did you get the message across?

JG: Persistence…

James Gilstrap: To make it newspaper-friendly: I worked a chicken house, a broiler farm. A family farm. And getting up early in the morning for many years and doing not-pleasantsmelling jobs will make you appreciate getting a college education. That kinda drove me to get a degree.

FP: What do you like about the job?

JG: I get to learn things. Like, when I first started working at the garden, I couldn’t tell you if that [points at a potted palm] was a bush, tree or flower. Now, I walk through my own yard at home, and my wife, who is [an] extension agent* is surprised that I can name almost as many plants as she can.

FP: Could you tell me a bit more about the work you had to do, and that some of your family still does, with the broiler farm?

JG: There’s 18,000 chickens per house, per eight weeks… a lot of chickens. We get ‘em as little yellow cute peeps and we raise ‘em for eight weeks and they weigh about 8 to 10 pounds. Basically, we are considered the “grower.” Who supplies us with the chickens: they actually own the chickens. The only thing we do is raise ‘em.

FP: I’ve heard that if you grow up on a farm, you’re likely to have a stronger immune system. Do you think that’s true?

JG: I actually do believe that. I grew up on a farm; my wife grew up in Augusta and went to a fine arts school. I’m allergic to bees. She’s allergic to everything. I kinda joke that I ate too much chicken manure whenever we were playing in the chicken houses…

PAIN & WONDER

TATTOO

FP: How has Athens changed over the years?

JG: When I first lived in north Georgia, before I moved to south Georgia, Athens had the “Northern Arc,” which was the loop from the mall to Athens Tech. The south loop didn’t exist. When I came back in ’98, my friend said: “You’re from Athens.

Get us here.” I couldn’t find anything. Athens has grown up, [but] it’s not too big. I hate Atlanta; it’s too big. I’m a country boy; I’ve gotta have some dirt, some breathing room.

So, Athens: it’s a good size. I hope it doesn’t grow too much more… if you combine Winder and Athens, it’s truly home.

FP: What would you do to improve Athens, if you were in charge?

JG: I’d like to see more bike lanes still. We’ve started in the right direction; I just want to see more. I really enjoy riding into work; it’s a seven-mile trek for me. I’ve got bike lanes on part of the way, but there’s some sections that [are] just not safe. Like Whitehall, crossing the river—that’s a rough one.

FP: What do you like to do when you’re not working?

JG: Play in the yard at home. Plant things; there’s never a lack of a plant that needs planting in my house because my wife will bring home just about anything. She goes to the reduced clearance racks at Lowe’s and Wal-Mart and will rehabilitate anything as much as she can.

FP: Anything else you’d like to say?

JG: Come enjoy the garden. It’s quiet, it’s nature, it’s somethin’ you don’t see in downtown Athens… nature is good for you.

Jeff Gore *James’ wife, Amanda Tedrow, is Athens-Clarke County’s Agriculture & Natural Resources extension agent. Her job is to help citizens in the county with everything from keeping crops healthy to testing soil quality.

If you’re having trouble growing something here in Georgia, you can call her at (706) 613-3640 for free, expert advice.

NOVEMBER 25, 2009 · FLAGPOLE.COM

35

ENCOURAGES YOU TO

BRING ATHENS HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS MAKE THE PLEDGE & REGISTER TO WIN at

FLAGPOLE.COM!

IMPACT OUR LOCAL ECONOMY:

Flagpole readers, by pledging to spend $100 of your shopping dollars at locally owned businesses, you will have a potential $12 million impact on our community, an estimated $2 million more than if it were spent at a non-local big box retailer. *

R U O Y SHOP

H T AOFF!

MAKE THE PLEDGE:

Making the pledge is easy.

Just go to flagpole.com and register your commitment to spend at least $100 at local businesses this holiday season.

As an incentive, Flagpole will enter all who pledge into a drawing to win $100 worth of gift certificates from local businesses.

Deadline to register: Sunday, Dec. 13 Winners announced: Dec. 16 issue of Flagpole

So whether you are shopping, eating, drinking or seeking entertainment,

THINK LOCAL FIRST! *(Estimates based on numbers from Civic Economics stating that .68 of every dollar spent at a locally owned business stays in the community, while only .43 stays when spent at a chain.)

If your local business would like to be a part of Flagpole’s Shop Your ATH Off program, call our Advertising Department at 706-549-0301 or email ads@flagpole.com