METRO SPIRIT Justifying Feb. 5-11 Vol. 15 No. 27
Augusta’s Independent Voice
James
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It’s time to find out if you’re at risk. Based on a consumer research study of 500 women right here in the C.S.R.A., we have learned that 88 percent of the women age 40 and older are at risk for a first heart attack. And even more alarming is that only 29 percent of these women recognize they are at risk. But now University Health Care System has a program that can help. Created along with other leading hospitals and their affiliated physicians across the country, we’re bringing you Women’s HeartAdvantage™. This program was designed especially for women to increase awareness of heart disease and its risk factors. There are things you can do to reduce your risk of heart-related problems such as eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly. By working with your physician to reduce your risk factors you have the potential to add years to your life. To learn more, talk to your physician or call 706/828-2828 and request a Women’s HeartAdvantage™ Information Kit.
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METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
Contemporary Artists Lecture Series KEVIN COLE
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Thursday, April 1
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Come and hear some of today’s most interesting and influential artists featured in a series of illustrated talks during the winter and spring of 2004 at the Morris Museum of Art. All talks are held at 7:00 p.m. MORRIS MUSEUM OF ART 1 Tenth Street • Augusta, GA 30901 (706) 724-7501 • www.themorris.org
Janos Enyedi Industrial Augusta Souvenir: Stack—Confederate Gunpowder Factory 2003, Digital image, 7 3/4 x 18 inches, edition 25
Contents
METRO SPIRIT ON THE COVER 17 Justifying James
By Brian Neill Cover Design: Natalie Holle
FEATURES 21 Don’t Let the Bedbugs Bite OPINION 6 Whine Line 6 This Modern World 8 Words 8 Thumbs Up/Down 10 Letters
BITE 24 Expect the Unexpected at Historic Squeaky’s 25 In the Mix
ARTS 26 Better Than a Box of Chocolates 27 A Delicate Journey 28 Singing Valentines and a Jazz Concert
EDITOR & PUBLISHER David Vantrease ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Rhonda Jones STAFF WRITERS Stacey Eidson, Brian Neill ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER Joe White ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Kriste Lindler
By Stacey Eidson CINEMA 34 Flix 36 Review: “The Big Bounce” 37 Review: “Miracle” 37 Reel Time
METRO BEAT 13 New Airport Director, but Same Commission
EVENTS 29 Calendar
FEBRUARY 5-11 • FREE WEEKLY • METROSPIRIT.COM
MUSIC 38 Lokal Loudness Awards Show Gives Musicians a Chance To Shine 39 The Slackers Hypnotize With Ska/Reggae Groove 40 Glen Road Keeps Tradition Alive 41 CD Reviews 42 Music by Turner 42 Music Minis 43 Sightings 44 After Dark
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STUFF 47 Brezsny’s Free Will Astrology 47 New York Times Crossword Puzzle 48 News of the Weird 48 Amy Alkon: Advice Goddess 49 Datemaker 51 Classifieds PRODUCTION MANAGER Joe Smith GRAPHIC ARTISTS Natalie Holle, Erin Lummen ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT ASSISTANT Lisa Jordan ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT INTERN Andy Stokes
ACCOUNTING MANANGER/CLASSIFIEDS Sharon King SENIOR MUSIC CONTRIBUTOR Ed Turner CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Amy Alkon, Rob Brezsny, Rachel Deahl, David Elliott, Amy Fennell Christian CARTOONISTS Tom Tomorrow
Metro Spirit is a free newspaper published weekly on Thursday, 52 weeks of the year. Editorial coverage includes arts, local issues, news, entertainment, people, places and events. In our paper appear views from across the political and social spectrum. The views do not necessarily represent the views of the publishers. Visit us at www.metrospirit.com. Copyright © Metro Spirit, Inc. Reproduction or use without permission is prohibited. Phone: (706) 738-1142 Fax: (706) 733-6663 E-mail: spirit@metrospirit.com Letters to the Editor: P.O. Box 3809, Augusta, Ga. 30914-3809
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OPINION
Whine Line
I
t is a disappointment to all listeners of 102.7 FM to lose such a wonderful station that played the music that made listening to music a pleasure. Christmas will not be the same since this station is no longer playing “easy-listening favorites”. I contacted the station owners to inquire about the radical change in format only to be informed that the decision to change the format was an upper-level management decision and it was final with no immediate intention to return to the original format at any time in the near future. The Augusta area is now at a loss without an “easy-listening” radio station to enjoy now or the coming Christmas holidays of 2004. This is to the gentleman who claims there are no decent women in Augusta. Where are you meeting these women? Bars? Farms? NASCAR races? I, sir, am an attractive, intelligent young woman who has never been married and who has no children. So, I guess that makes me “decent” by your standards. Actually, the reality is that there are no decent men in Augusta. I do not go to the bars to meet men anymore because I only find the same thing you find. To partially quote you: these men have more children than they can afford (mostly by different women); they are still married; they just got divorced; they think Wal-Mart has fashionable clothing; they smell like Cheese Whiz; and they claim there are no decent women in Augusta. I think you and I should change where we go to meet people. However, it is not easy. Where do you go in Augusta to meet decent, single people? Let me know when you find out and I’ll meet you there. If Presidents Bush and Fox have their way, we will soon be living in the United States of Mexico.
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METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
This is in reference to the person whining about cell phones — you need to get a
life. Everybody has to have a cell phone at one point in time, if you can afford it, to get in contact with people. I am a businessman myself and I need my cell phone. A big whine for Mayor Bob Young. You must have taken an extra-strength stupid pill if you think the voters are gonna pass the next special purpose local option sales tax issue with that civic center/arts/horse barn/entertainment center attached to it. It’s not gonna pass with that. I am a life-long voting Republican, but it bothers me that Zell Miller used Democrats to get elected here in Georgia for years, and when he needed them no more, he spat on them. Zell Miller is a yellow, low-down coward, and I hope you send him a copy of this whine.
safety. Yes, you did screw up, but let’s hope it’s the last time. To the guy looking for decent women in Augusta. Stop trolling the trailer parks, health department and welfare office looking for dates. Decent, responsible women are at places like work, church, volunteer organizations, libraries, bookstores and the gym. Get a life, a job, go to church, volunteer, learn to read, get active and stop whining!
Re: Are there any decent women in Augusta? Pal, you’re getting way too picky. Fill up the tub, light some candles, wash her hair, offer her a tic-tac and be glad the DNA in the upcoming paternity suit won’t point to you.
My employer — legally, I might add — requires employees be paid via automatic deposit. Why can’t the city do the same with its employees and avoid the senseless bickering with Wachovia? I’ll tell you why. The micromanaging fools on the commission don’t have enough sense to handle a bank account themselves and, therefore, assume lowly city employees couldn’t do it either. Besides, it would save the city too much money, might cost a politically protected clerk his/her job and loosen the stranglehold some commissioners have on city employees.
Columbia County Commissioners Mercer and Ford have been big spenders on the commission despite their claims to be Republicans. Both have supported throwing over $100K a year of property tax money at the Metro Chamber of Commerce for years, and during those years, you can put the positive benefits on the head of a pin. Time to say “goodbye” to them. Let’s make Ford and Mercer history this year.
So, Kingpin Walker is returning to politics. Augusta just might be crazy enough to elect him. In fact, developers of Columbia County real estate are licking their chops and buying land left and right in preparation for the next wave of political refugees from Augusta. If this guy gets elected, forget about Ft. Gordon, forget about new companies locating to Augusta and forget about progress. If only they’d indict him.
My whine is about Commissioner Andy Cheeks’ DUI accident/arrest this past week. What is most entertaining to me is his quote: “But I wouldn’t knowingly jeopardize anybody’s health and safety.” Unless he was the only one on I-20 and Bobby Jones between North Augusta and Augusta, I’d say that he did knowingly jeopardize numerous persons’ health and
I’m surprised Andy and the other commissioners don’t get DUIs as they leave commission meetings. The police would certainly have probable cause, as they all act like they’re under the influence of something in those meetings. Republicans despise everyone who disagrees with them on any subject from
abortion to the war in Iraq. If a person disagrees with them they will demonize him, call him a liberal pinko commie and even question his christianity. I’ve often wondered why Republicans are so angry and unhappy all the time. Well, I finally figured it out. If my heroes were George W. Bush, Rush Limbaugh and Austin Rhodes, I would also be angry and unhappy. I had one baby with the man I was married to. I prefer to shop in Stein Mart, Dillard’s or Chico’s. I bathe every day and even use deodorant, powder and perfume. I prefer eating at Blue Sky Kitchen and choose to snack on fruit. I assume I smell like anything but Cheese Whiz and have never felt like I wasn’t treated fairly because I am a woman. I have normal hair with no hairspray. The only problem? I don’t cook and I do prefer to “heat” in the microwave or just go out to dinner. Shall we meet at PJ’s for coffee? Thank you all you knuckleheads who never learned that when traffic lights are out, the affected intersection is treated as a four-way stop. I couldn’t believe the number of morons who think that when the power is out they have to race like they are trying to beat a yellow light. My finger hurt so bad I thought I was going to have to put it in a sling. Learn to drive you SUV-driving, soccer mom know-nothings. People in Canada pay a lot of taxes there, but they have safe and clean streets, good schools, decent healthcare, excellent public transportation, they recycle and the government basically leaves people alone. Here in Augusta and the good ol’ USA, we get dirty, dangerous streets, poor schools, expensive healthcare and, in most places, no public transportation. We get Republicans, who don’t want to pay taxes to give us better services, but do want to take away our free speech, force us to practice their religion and
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The Augusta Aviation Commission made a smart move by hiring Buster Boshears as the new full-time director at Augusta Regional Airport. Boshears is professional with the airport staff, patient with the aviation commission and dedicated to this community. After the firing of
the last two airport directors, Ken Kraemer and Al McDill, Augusta desperately needs some stability out at the airport during the construction of its new terminal. Fortunately for this city, stability is Boshears’ middle name.
Thumbs Down It’s not so much that the quick glimpse of Janet Jackson’s breast during the Super Bowl festivities was going to traumatize children. It’s more the fact that we as a society allow such offal into our homes as entertainment. Our vision is clouded by a cacophony of ooh’s, ah’s and sex talk, while we live in a nation viewed by outsiders as one of the most sexually and morally repressed, not to mention violent. And in typical fashion, the mainstream media went to great lengths to play the scene
over and over again of Justin Timberlake’s version of modern-day bodice-ripping, carried out with the style and aplomb of an idiot-programmed automaton. Of course, it was just a wardrobe mistake, winkwink. Pack these lackluster, sorryexcuse entertainers, along with the wearisome P. Diddy and Kid Rock, into a space capsule and launch them into permanent orbit. Then, let’s get back to entertainment worthy of an audience more highly evolved than lobotomized primates.
generally tell us what to do in our bedrooms and in our lives in general. Yet so many people in this town believe the Republicans are the good guys. I’d be happy to pay higher taxes for better streets, better schools, better healthcare, a cleaner environment, good public transportation for everyone, plus freedom from nosy neighbors and Uncle Sam. And people think I’m the enemy. I really don’t get it, and I really don’t get what Republican types think freedom is. Sometimes I think they won’t be satisfied until they’re stepping over dead bodies in the street. I must confess, after seeing the new photo spread segments of “In the Spirit” for the past month, I realize now just why I stopped partaking in Augusta’s sad “nightlife scene.” Why doesn’t Augusta have any 24-hour Chinese restaurants? There are easily over 50,000 people working afternoon and midnight shifts at all of the factories and hospitals, but pancakes and bad hamburgers are the only things to choose from. The Super Bowl’s half-time show was a fiasco, the music and the costumes did not appeal to a wide audience, to say the least, and the grand finale, though claimed unintentional, exposing JJ’s breast, was in very poor taste.
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The archway at Augusta State University is done! I would just like to state that with all the money that the city has, you would almost think that Andy Cheek could have had a company limo come and pick him up from wherever he was. Can we please, please get rid of the street food vendors on Broad Street? We have wonderful restaurants and cafes on Broad Street. These vendors are tacky; let’s say good-bye. I thought it was very interesting the differences in tone between the two “Letters to the Editors” from last week and this week celebrating or decrying the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. The tone from Planned Parenthood was very positive, asking people to work together to come to a common solution that would benefit everybody and, in the end, eliminate abortion. I found the tone of Father McDonald’s letter to be very negative and almost violent and I found that very interesting. I think we should take a careful look at that as a community.
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— Call our Whine Line at 510-2051 and leave your comments. We won’t use your name. Fax your whines by dialing (706) 733-6663 or e-mail your whines to whine@metrospirit.com.
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METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
Hey, the reason it takes Augusta State University twice as long to build stuff is because they have to tear down all that old historical stuff first so they have enough room to build all this new stuff.
OPINION
Letters
Other Options Empower Women, Not Shame Them
D
ear Editor,
In her letter to the editor on January 22nd, Mary Beth Pierucci, director of Planned Parenthood, said she would like to know what the opposition to abortion is for and what they are doing to make America better. I would like to respond to that question. We are running Care Pregnancy Centers and Birthright Centers to help women have healthy pregnancies, while supporting either their choice to raise their children or place them for adoption. We are running adoption agencies that are placing babies with the thousands of couples waiting, often for years, to adopt all of the children that Planned Parenthood want labeled as unwanted. We are teaching abstinence and self-
respect to teenagers through Family Honor and Theology of the Body programs among others. And all the work supporters of life do is at no cost to the pregnant woman or, for the most part, taxpayers. Planned Parenthood cannot say that, as it is a big business that is finished assisting the woman in her difficult situation as soon as she has paid for her abortion. Pro-life supporters aren’t shaming women — we are empowering them to make the brave choice of giving life. Going to an abortion clinic so no one will know — that is shame. In response to Ms. Pierucci’s suggestion that those who are pro-life support a do-it-yourself abortion pill be sold over the counter — there is not a credible doctor or parent of a teenage
girl that would want a dangerous drug being sold in that manner. We don’t allow people to get antibiotics over the counter — but we’re going to allow women and children to buy a drug that induces abortions at home? I would ask Ms. Pierucci and the staunchest of pro-choice supporters to rethink such a position. I would also ask Ms. Pierucci why those with Planned Parenthood have fought the passing of the Right-toKnow Bill for the last several years? This bill’s purpose is to make sure women have all the information and options before having an abortion. Those who say they are for women having the right to choose should be for them having all the information to make the best choice.
The bill also addresses a parent’s right to know when their underage children are having abortions. A school nurse can’t give a Tylenol to a child without a parent’s consent, but these same children can get abortions without their parents knowing they are sexually active, much less having a potentially dangerous procedure. There is no need for abortion in America. There are too many good choices to be made that help women and allow babies to live. I hope those who do support life will take a stand and make America a better place. Patricia Sanford Augusta
A Riverboat Will Float If We Work Together
D
ear Editor,
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METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
Pondering the question posed by Brian Neil in his Metro Spirit article (“Would a Riverboat Float in Augusta?”) one could say the answer depends largely on community support and the ability to overcome bureaucratic obstacles. Barry White’s acknowledgement that visitors, as well as locals, lack the ability “to actually experience the Savannah River” is right on the money. He goes on to say “We need to get people on the river” by means of a riverboat. Well, the Riverfront Marina Warehouse believes that Augusta could do just that. Obstacles mentioned like the Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam, river water levels, special events on the river and lack of political and community support, can be overcome, adapted to or improvised. The Lock and Dam, while underutilized, is not a serious obstacle to bringing a riverboat to Augusta. The locks are
already in operation three days a week. If more people used the locks, more days of operation could be added. And surely authorities could make special arrangements with a riverboat operator to ensure easy access as needed. The constant fluctuation of water level is an ongoing obstacle. Not only is it inconvenient for a riverboat operator, but is a serious hazard to navigation for all other vessels. The high one day and low the next water level is an aquatic nuisance that all property owners along the river, including the city of Augusta and North Augusta, must contend with. Land erosion, pollution, hazards to navigation, and damage to docks, boats and sea walls, are some of the costs for no consensus on a water level plan. The state of Georgia does maintain a water flow and level Web site (http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ga/nwis/current/?type=fl ow). However, the corps could help alleviate the tidal problem in the
“pond” (the stretch of river from the Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam to the rapids) by properly adjusting the water gates at the Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam. The Spirit article mentions that the former riverboat operator had difficulties with events on the river. While the benefit of events on the river remain debatable, they are down to two events per year, and only close a small section on the river for four days total. Perhaps river event organizers, and authorities that authorize their activities, could cooperate more with other businesses that operate on the river. With cooperation, events on the river could be an excellent opportunity for valuable exposure to riverboat cruises. Support from politicians and the community should go hand in hand. Politicians derive their power from communities. So, for convenience sake, let’s suppose that all powers-that-be are supportive of another riverboat coming to
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Augusta. Now, that leaves you and me: “the community.” What are we going to do to attract another riverboat operator to our fine city? Here is an idea; let’s give riverboat operators some incentives to come to Augusta and North Augusta! The Riverfront Marina Warehouse will step up and make the first move. Our full-service marina will offer two years of boat moorage to a qualified riverboat operator at no cost. This can help offset their start-up investment. Hopefully, the Augusta Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau will promote this offer. We can relate to how Angie Morris got discouraged and discontinued riverboat cruises. Augusta may not have been ready for it then. Times have changed, and bureaucratic obstacles can always be overcome, adapted to or improvised. Mike Stacy Augusta
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METRO BEAT New Airport Director, but Same Commission
A
“He’s got impeccable integrity. He’s well known in the community and respected by all those who know him and he has a wealth of aviation knowledge dating back to his childhood,” Kyzer said. “I’m just tickled that we went to a local, talented person rather than going out and bringing in an unknown person when we have such a great asset here in this community.” Aviation Commissioner Joe Scott simply said that the board’s national search for an airport director did not turn up a
Daniel Field’s General Aviation Commission before taking the job. “I still require the official approval from Daniel Field’s commission, but the indication that I’ve had so far is that they are supportive of me doing both jobs,” Boshears said. “But, it’s extremely important to me to get unanimous support here at Augusta Regional Airport because you couldn’t do the job if you didn’t start out with full support. The trick is going to be keeping it.” Boshears couldn’t be more right.
Sheila Paulk
“When the commission here decides that they want someone to go into a position that isn’t – and let me just say the word – a black person, we don’t have any problems going along with the recommendation.” – Aviation Commissioner Sheila Paulk
During the Jan. 29 aviation commission meeting, Boshears and the airport staff were already getting a taste of what could be ahead. Tension at the meeting first began when Aviation Commissioner Chris Cunningham, member of the board’s marketing subcommittee, recommended to the commission that the airport extend its advertising contract with the local firm, The Alison Group, another year. Aviation Commissioner Sheila Paulk
13
worthy candidate. “We looked a long time at a lot people and we just didn’t find the individual we were looking for,” Scott said. “We just couldn’t find a candidate that all of us would agree on. And we looked at 26 applications and none of them stood out in our minds.” Boshears said he was pleased that the aviation commission unanimously supported him as director, but he still needed to discuss accepting the position with
immediately objected to Cunningham’s suggestion. “When they (The Alison Group) did those commercials and a lot of the billboards around town, they didn’t include the entire community,” said Paulk, inferring that the ads did not include a significant number of minorities. “We had to bring it to their attention to include some folks in there that looked like me or some Asians.” Kathryn Solee, the airport’s marketing director, told the board, “That’s not true.” But, instead of Cunningham’s recommendation, Paulk suggested that the board select another local firm, Hall Advertising. Cunningham, who spent approximately 15 hours visiting each advertising firm vying for the airport contract, couldn’t believe Paulk’s motion. “Why did I do all that?” Cunningham asked. “If that’s meaningless, am I wasting my time? “Without going through and hearing what each firm had to say and just looking at their proposals ... I’m not saying that anybody sitting in this room isn’t qualified to make a decision, but you’re kind of under-informed.” Aviation Commissioner Venus Cain, who is also on the marketing subcommittee, said that she preferred the third firm that applied, RedWolf Inc. “They were very passionate and they were sincere. They were just wonderful people,” Cain said. “Now, am I just tickled pink with The Alison Group? No, I’m not.” Cain said that the airport’s current ads featuring the slogan, “Fly There, Fly Home,” by The Alison Group are ineffective. “I hate that commercial,” Cain bluntly said. “I mean come on, McDonald’s and Budweiser can do better commercials than Alison.” In order to help resolve the situation, Scott recommended that the board bring all three firms back to the commission’s February meeting to give presentations to the full board. Scott’s suggestion was approved with commissioners Marcie Wilhelmi and Kyzer voting against the motion. “We have a committee system here and we need to trust each other in our com-
METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
rock. That’s how several members of the Augusta Aviation Commission described Buster Boshears and his performance as interim director of Augusta Regional Airport during the last five months. When Boshears took over as interim director in August, he stepped into an unenviable situation. The airport’s former director, Ken Kraemer, had just been fired amid a slew of controversy. Half of the aviation commission wanted Kraemer gone; the other half were fighting to keep him. A 5-4 vote sent Kraemer packing, and soon after, City Administrator George Kolb appointed Boshears, manager of Daniel Field Airport, as interim director at Augusta Regional. Morale at the airport was at an all-time low, but then Boshears entered into the picture. “Buster came in during a real time of turmoil,” said Cedric Johnson, chairman of the aviation commission. “Buster has come in and he has brought calm and ease to this airport. The employees respect him and I have enjoyed working with him. And above all else, he knows the aviation business.” Boshears has a long history in Augusta’s aviation community. Born and raised in Augusta, Boshears spent six years in the Air Force from 1967 to 1973 as a fighter pilot. In 1974, Boshears returned to Augusta and began work at Augusta Aviation, the private company, founded by the Boshears family in 1947, that provides general aviation services at Daniel Field. In March of 1997, the General Aviation Commission appointed Boshears manager of Daniel Field. According to Johnson, Boshears’ experience and leadership in the community is one of the main reasons the aviation commission unanimously voted to offer him the permanent director’s position at the airport on Jan. 29. “We wanted to get somebody that everybody felt comfortable working with on the commission and Buster is that person,” Johnson said. Aviation Commissioner Brad Kyzer said he couldn’t think of a better man for the job.
By Stacey Eidson
continued on page 15
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continued from page 13 mittees,” Kyzer told the board. “Because we really do great harm when we do what we just did.” “Yep,” Solee said, as she stood to address the board. “And everybody has the opportunity to come to those committee meetings.” Paulk quickly addressed Solee. “Let me say one thing, Ms. Solee,” Paulk said. “No disrespect to you, but you’re staff and I don’t need you to please interject any comment as to what the commissioners are speaking about here. Thank you.” Solee slowly sat back down. Later in the meeting, the commission was asked to approve a $33,360 transfer from the airport’s contingency to continue to pay Michael Wiseman, a local accountant from the airport’s internal audit firm, Baird & Co, as interim finance director at the airport through April. Boshears told the board that since the former finance director, Leslie Carter, left in October, the airport has spent approximately $96,000 on an interim director. Paulk said that was outrageous. “That’s a position that the pay starts at around $57,000,” Paulk said. “I think we need to ask this question: Why have we not looked at putting Brenda Brown in as an interim finance director to eliminate some of the hours that we are accumulating, and the dollars?”
Paulk said Brown has worked in the airport’s finance department for approximately a year and has the same credentials as the former finance director. “So, why have we not put Ms. Brown in as interim director?” Paulk asked again. Johnson said he would take responsibility for not rushing to fill the finance director’s position. “We needed someone with a strong auditing and accounting background and I’m not saying Ms. Brown doesn’t have that, but I felt we needed to get everything updated,” Johnson explained. “Because at the time Michael (Wiseman) took over, we were about eight months behind.” Paulk said she felt there were other factors in play and insisted that Brown should be hired as interim finance director. “It’s a double standard here,” Paulk said, referring to the fact that Brown is black. “I knew you were going to say that,” Johnson said. “But the thing with that is, if I was the supervisor or if I was the boss, I would like to have the opportunity to talk to my person and make sure they could handle the job.” Cain also said that she couldn’t appoint someone to a position without knowing more about his or her background. “I don’t know her,” Cain said. “She is probably the best thing since Skippy peanut butter, but we need to talk it over more because we need to make sure that
whoever we put in the position is the best person for the position. “Even if it’s in the interim, I don’t want someone in here that doesn’t know what to do,” Cain added. “Because an interim person can do a lot of damage.” Paulk quickly leaned across the boardroom’s table and looked directly at Boshears. “Is that true, Mr. Boshears?” Paulk asked. “I guess we are going to find out,” said Boshears, joking about his former role as interim director. The room exploded with laughter, but Wilhelmi said she thought Paulk’s suggestion was poor management. “I think it is highly inappropriate for this board to be appointing any employee,” Wilhelmi said. “I think that’s the director’s responsibility. You open up a whole can of worms when we start appointing people.” Paulk agreed to hold off on her recommendation of hiring Brown in the interim position, but she wanted the board to realize that she was serious about personnel hiring practices at the airport. “I want you all to know, that I know there is a double standard here,” Paulk said. “When the commission here decides that they want someone to go into a position that isn’t – and let me just say the word – a black person, we don’t have any problems going along with the recommendation. And I have a real problem with that.”
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Justifying
“Nothing happened, but my wife just called the police and they took me to jail with my nightclothes on. I thought it was really the most distasteful thing I’ve ever seen in my life. So I’m just really surprised and disappointed.”
James
— James Brown
James Brown statue, courtesy Dr. John Savage (pictured above); Inset mug shot, Aiken County Sheriff’s Office.
A
nightclothes on,” Brown added during the phone conversation. “I thought it was really the most distasteful thing I’ve ever seen in my life. So I’m just really surprised and disappointed. But I thank God for everything I’ve got now. Thank God for all the CSRA (Central Savannah River Area), people who’ve been in my corner.” Being in Brown’s corner, however, has proved to be a challenging task over the years. Despite his recently receiving the prestigious lifetime achievement award from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in the nation’s capital, some still can’t erase from memory the now-infamous car chase in 1988, during which police had to resort to shooting out the tires on Brown’s vehicle. The chase ensued after Brown, in a PCPfueled rampage and with shotgun in hand, barged into an insurance seminar going on in offices next to his and accused people of using his private bathroom. Brown, who earned a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence for his misadventures, received a pardon last year for the crimes from the state of South Carolina.
That same year, Brown was arrested for attacking his third wife, Adrienne, who accused Brown of abuse at least three times during their 12-year marriage, though the charges were often dropped or withdrawn. People also remember the headlines in 2002 from the $2 million sexual harassment case filed by a former backup singer against him (even though a Los Angeles jury cleared Brown of the allegations) or his supposed run-in with a South Carolina Electric and Gas worker who claimed in July of 2000 that Brown waved a steak knife at him and refused to let him leave the singer’s Beech Island property (those charges, too, were dismissed after police had difficulty corroborating the victim’s story). Then there was the bizarre incident in January of 2001 at a Las Vegas jazz club that involved Brown allegedly grabbing an audience member’s camcorder, throwing another patron’s chair and talking about being in communication with the Pope, all while dressed in a bathrobe. When Brown finally returned to the stage, dressed in a suit and roughly four hours behind schedule for the show to begin, it was
only to tell the audience that the Pope could no longer attract the size audience “that James Brown could,” according to a Las Vegas Review column by Norm Clarke. And now, this. Brown’s wife, the former Tomi Rae Hynie, who had been a backup singer in Brown’s band, phoned 911 a little before 11 a.m. on Jan. 28, according to an Aiken County Sheriff’s report. She told deputies that Brown pushed her on the floor in a bedroom in the couple’s home and threatened her with a wrought-iron chair. “I don’t want to hear it James,” Tomi Rae, 33, is heard saying on a recording of the 911 call, released by the sheriff’s office. “I’m tired of being abused by you and it’s not happening anymore.” “You did me wrong,” Brown says. A few moments later the 911 operator is heard asking Tomi Rae what happened and if she needed an ambulance. “My husband, me and him got in a fight, and he decided he wanted to pick up some things and throw them around,” Tomi Rae tells 911. continued on page 18
17
By Brian Neill
METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
day after being released from a detention center in Aiken County, where he was being held for allegedly attacking his wife, world-renowned soul singer James Brown said he was confused about the ordeal, but ready to get back to work. “I can’t talk about nothing, because I don’t really understand it,” Brown said from his home by phone. “They just woke me up and put me in jail.” The previous day, a mug shot depicting a disheveled, bathrobe-clad Brown circulated among media outlets throughout the world. Some compared the image to the booking photo of actor Nick Nolte following his DUI arrest in 2002. Brown was released on his own recognizance, pending a Feb. 26 hearing before a magistrate judge in Jackson, S.C., authorities said. Following Brown’s release was news he was seeking an annulment from his wife, Tomi Rae Brown, on grounds she is still married to another man. “Nothing happened, but my wife just called the police and they took me to jail with my
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continued from page 17 “And I got in the way and he threw me onto the ground ... My right hip is jammed up and he held an iron chair over me.” In their report, investigators said Tomi Rae was walking with a “distinct limp” and had scratches and bruises on her right, lower arm and lacerations on her right hip. She was taken to a local hospital. The couple’s 3-year-old son was staying with a relative at the time of the altercation, sheriff’s officials said. Brown said he didn’t intend to dwell on the issue. “I’m on my way now to the U.N. to do a show for the music festival, trying to create more good will around the world, you know? And that’s all I’m doing,” Brown said. “I’m not going to concentrate on this around here, because that’s just the way it is.” AUGUSTA RE-THINKS JAMES BROWN The timing of the alleged incident couldn’t be worse in terms of a wave of new, civic investment in Brown on the part of Augusta. For years, Brown has been treated as the city’s step-child, despite his international status as a musical icon. Brown packs large venues abroad, but stopped holding his annual Birthday Bash in Augusta because the concerts were poorly attended. Several years ago, the audience at an Augusta Lynx hockey game applauded when it was announced that Brown had to cancel his appearance that night to sing the National Anthem. But things seemed to be turning around for Brown lately. First, there was the announcement of his pardon from South Carolina. Then, his receiving the Kennedy Center award. The idea that Augusta should try to capitalize on Brown’s notoriety — an idea long silenced by critics of the singer’s perceived lifestyle and his propensity for grabbing headlines — began to get serious consideration.
Augusta Mayor Bob Young announced he had received pledges for a life-size, bronze statue of Brown, to be erected on a bricked median on Broad Street, adjacent to the Augusta Common. As this issue of the Metro Spirit went to press, the Augusta Commission was scheduled to discuss approving $10,000 of local sales tax to go toward the roughly $40,000 cost of the statue. However, Young suggested the statue might now be on hold. “It was certainly unexpected,” Young said of Brown’s arrest. “We’re just going to kind of sit back and wait and see how this thing plays out.” “If, indeed, Mr. Brown is engaged in spousal abuse,” Young added, “certainly, we do not condone that activity at all. So I wouldn’t want any tentativeness on our part to be interpreted to mean that we would endorse that kind of behavior.” The Greater Augusta Arts Council also had plans to begin holding an annual James Brown Music Festival in May. There was even talk that Brown’s connections in the entertainment industry could attract other high-profile acts to perform here with him. Brenda Durant, the arts council’s executive director, said those plans, at least for the time being, are off. There will still be a music festival on May 8, however, it will be named the Garden City Music Festival, Durant said. Durant said she met with officials from James Brown Enterprises, who were supportive of the decision. “They understood that the Greater Augusta Arts Council Board had to be aware of the message we were sending to other non-profits in town as well as the children that we educate at our summer Artscape Camp,” Durant said. Durant said local corporations had also pulled their sponsorhips from the event after Brown’s arrest. TO ERR IS HUMAN, BUT BRONZE IS SO ... PERMANENT Brown’s attorney, James B. Huff of North
“This is not going to do anything with how I feel about him. If I had to do it all over again, I’d probably do the same thing. That’s how I see it.” — South Carolina State Rep. Kenneth Kennedy, who advocated for James Brown’s pardon from the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services
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Later in the song, Tomi Rae sings: “Don’t you hit me.” Whether Brown, indeed, hit Tomi Rae is now the pressing question on people’s minds that will only be answered when the case heads to court. But right or wrong, many don’t think a domestic violence conviction for Brown — if
that were the outcome — should overshadow or erase the accomplishments of the 70-yearold entertainer. Still, Kenneth Kennedy wants an explanation. Kennedy is the South Carolina state representative who advocated on Brown’s behalf for his pardon from the state’s Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services. Kennedy said he’s been a life-long fan of Brown and even has grandchildren who listen to and are inspired by the entertainer. The representative said Brown’s status as “an ambassador of good will” convinced him that sponsoring the singer’s pardon was a worthwhile cause. Now, however, Kennedy said he is drafting a letter seeking an explanation from Brown. “As a person who went out to try and help him get pardoned by the state of South Carolina and a person who’s a state legislator, I want him to explain to me what happened here,” Kennedy said. “I want him to tell me that what happened here is not true.” Even if Brown is found guilty, Kennedy said, his legacy is still worthy of tribute. “You cannot bury his achievements, and that’s the way I look at it. He has been a great source of pride and his music has been a great source of entertainment to me and a lot of generations,” Kennedy said. “And so you can’t put that aside. On the other hand, I went before the pardon board and asked them to pardon him and now, where does that leave me?” “This is not going to do anything with how I feel about him,” Kennedy added. “If I had to do it all over again, I’d probably do the same thing. That’s how I see it.” Dr. John Savage, a local orthopedic surgeon who crafted with painstaking detail the clay sculpture of Brown, which now resides at a bronze foundry in Sarasota, Fla., awaiting casting, said he feels the same way. “My feeling is that we just need to ignore it,” Savage said. “I don’t think it’s anything that should stop (the statue). It doesn’t change his accomplishments in any way. It’s not that he’s a criminal or anything. I think he’s had some unfortunate domestic problems. Those things tend to get blown out of proportion due to, I guess, the attitudes people have about domestic issues. “But you know, that’s his personal life in my opinion and I don’t think it should throw any cloud over this particular project.” As for the Godfather of Soul, himself, whether or not to move forward with local tributes to his successes is a matter for the city to decide, he said. “I love that, and that’s all right, but I don’t want the mayor to have no problem if people have a problem with it, you know what I’m saying? I don’t want him to have no problem with this, because he’s a good friend of mine,” Brown said. “People change up and back (about honoring him) every day, so it must have didn’t mean that much if they can just have an attitude like that. I probably don’t even really need it, you know? I think it’s something I don’t need and the city don’t need and I’m getting money in South Carolina, so it’ll be all right. “I think right now, I’ll be going to work and just do my job and thank God for what I do have.”
!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!"!!"!
Augusta, has been fielding media calls from around the globe regarding his client’s arrest. For certain, if he were representing a “John Smith” on similar charges, Huff’s phone wouldn’t likely ring at all. But Huff said he hopes the public can look past the sensationalism to find the truth. “The thing I hope citizens in Augusta will keep in mind is that, we’re very fast to rush to judgment without knowing any facts, whatsoever, in this matter,” Huff said. “Mr. Brown has come from very, very difficult beginnings in his life to reach international acclaim. I don’t know of anyone who hasn’t made mistakes in his life ... I would say, let’s not rush to judgment right now.” Huff said he is waiting for a hearing date to be set for Brown’s annulment from Tomi Rae. “And our hope is that Tomi Rae will, likewise, get her end resolved and then the parties will have a clean slate and then they can decide what to do from that point forward,” Huff said. “Certainly, one of the things it may entail is a new marriage license and a new marriage.” Brown would not comment on whether he and Tomi Rae intended to reconcile. Huff said that his client remarked as he was leaving the detention center that he still loved and cared for Tomi Rae. “All I can say is that I think he expressed what was in his heart when he was released the other day,” Huff said. “But I haven’t spoken with him since that time, but I certainly think that’s (reconciliation) a possibility for them.” Attempts to reach Tomi Rae for comment were unsuccessful. The couple’s marriage appeared over as early as July of last year when a full-page ad in Variety magazine announced they were going their separate ways. The ad, posted on the Web site The Smoking Gun, a clearinghouse for court documents and mug shots pertaining to celebrity missteps, in part read: “There are no hard feelings, just a mutual show business decision made by both parties for the benefit of their carriers [sic]. Mr. Brown says, we both love each other but it has become difficult to function together.” The ad also featured a photo of the couple, with their son, posing next to the character Goofy at Disney World. Even a duet the couple sang together on Brown’s 1998 release, “I’m Back,” seemed to carry an odd, portentous quality:
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Minnesota and a recent speaker at the North Carolina Pest Control Association annual conference in January. “Nobody really thought bedbugs existed anymore. It was just a thing that you said to little kids before they went to bed, but we are finding out that they are very real.” In the 1930s and 1940s, bedbugs were common in the United States until modern pesticides were introduced. “Bedbugs in the 1930s were one of the most prevalent urban structural pests around,” Bruesch said in a phone interview from his Minnesota office. “Back then, people used to actually put their beds on little dishes of kerosene so that the bedbugs couldn’t crawl up onto their bed and feed on them at night. “But bedbugs went away in this country largely because of DDT. When DDT was invented in the 1940s, people used it pretty widely.” Both professional pest control companies and homeowners, who could buy DDT at their local hardware store, liberally used the powerful pesticide, Bruesch said. “So, all of a sudden there was hardly any bedbugs left in the U.S.,” Bruesch said. “Our industry just never heard of them between the mid-’60s and fairly recently. We forgot about them for a couple of decades, but we are now getting a good reminder.”
Bruesch, whose topic at the North Carolina Pest Control Association meeting was “Bedbugs Are Back,” said pest control companies across the United States have seen a steady increase in the number of bedbug cases since 2000. “Now with the increase in air travel and the decrease in the use of pesticides by our industry, bedbugs are slowly making a comeback,” he said. “And they are coming back in some very, very nice hotels.” In December, New York City’s Park Lane Hotel, an upscale 600-room hotel owned by Leona Helmsley — the infamous “Queen of Mean” — was reportedly sued by two businessmen from Mexico City who claimed they awoke with some kind of rash on their arms and torsos, later believed to be bedbug bites. According to the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) in Virginia, when bedbugs sink their beak or snout into human flesh at night, the three- to five-minute bites are painless, but the insect’s saliva often causes swelling that can resemble a mosquito bite. These wingless, flat pests are usually the size of an apple seed, but can drink up to three times their body weight. The NPMA also reports that bedbugs crawl back to their hiding place in between mattresses, seams in bed linens, upholstery,
behind wood trim, inside electrical boxes or even between the cracks in the wall where they will remain for several days digesting the meal. Only when they become hungry again, do they re-emerge and begin searching for a host. Bedbugs are thought to be a worldwide problem and can commonly be found in countries throughout Europe, Asia, Africa and South America. “When most people think of bedbugs, they think of a flophouse or a low-rent rooming house of some kind,” Bruesch said. “But bedbugs are starting to show up with increasing frequency in places where people who travel stay, which means bedbugs turn up in hotels, apartment complexes and singlefamily homes of people who travel a lot.” Nancy Hinkle, an associate professor of veterinary entomology at the University of Georgia, said there are unconfirmed rumors that bedbugs are becoming a serious problem in some major metropolitan areas. “I haven’t seen any data on this, but there are rumors, and I want to stress they are rumors, that some hotels say 40 percent of their rooms are infested with bedbugs, so they are calling in pest control companies and having their facilities treated,” Hinkle said. “Now, I doubt that it’s really that significant continued on page 22
“The first indication that you might have bedbugs is if you wake up with little red welts.” le Dr. Nancy Hink
— Nancy Hinkle, associate professor of veterinary entomology at the University of Georgia
METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
orgia University of Ge
or many children in America, getting a good night’s sleep can sometimes be a challenge. The fear of vampires in the night or an alligator underneath the bed have kept many a child lying wide-eyed and awake into the wee hours of the morning. In order to alleviate their children’s fears, some parents will recite the old bedtime rhyme, “Good night. Sleep tight. Don’t let the bedbugs bite,” as they tickle their children’s feet and tuck them into bed. But, these days, bedbugs are no laughing matter. In fact, these quarter-inch-long, bloodsucking parasites have become a living nightmare for a growing number of Americans. “I think bedbugs became almost a kind of mythical creature after the early 1960s,” said Jay Bruesch, the technical director for Plunkett’s Pest Control in
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continued from page 21 and I think bedbugs really are a very minor problem in the grand scheme of things. But they are things people should be aware of, particularly in areas that you have a lot of international travel, like Atlanta or other cities with major airports or ports, like Charleston or Savannah.” According to Frank Meek, the national technical manager for Atlanta-based Orkin
said. “The best way to calm any anxiety you have about a pest is to properly identify it.” And if you do find out that you have bedbugs, Benson said, you shouldn’t feel ashamed or guilty about it. “It’s really not about a sanitation problem,” Benson said. “Some of the cleanest hotel rooms can have a bedbug problem.” Bedbugs are commonly spread when people stay overnight in hotels or other people’s
“Bedbugs are non-discriminatory. They hit the one-star hotels as well as the five stars.”
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METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
Inc., his company has seen a growing occurrence of bedbug infestation throughout Georgia. However, Meek said Orkin has not had a single bedbug case reported in the Augusta area. “We have had a number of situations in the metro Atlanta area and we’ve had just a scattering around in other parts of Georgia,” Meek said. “They can be anywhere. Bedbugs are non-discriminatory. They hit the one-star hotels as well as the five stars.” “But in speaking with our branch offices over in your direction, they have not had any cases that have come up in the Augusta area,” Meek added. “However, that’s not to say that Augustans shouldn’t be concerned about bedbugs because if you travel to other parts of the United States and Georgia, you certainly have the potential of picking these guys up and bringing them back home with you.” Eric Benson, a professor and extension entomologist at Clemson University, said while awareness of bedbugs is good, the last thing people should do is panic. “From what I can tell and from my own experience here in South Carolina, it’s not an epidemic by any means,” Benson said. “I always worry about things like bedbugs because you want people to be aware that they are out there and that they are a nuisance pest. After all, they are blood-feeders and feed on people. “But I also know that sometimes certain people can panic about anything like that and then they have trouble resting or sleeping at night. So, it’s a delicate balance between awareness and over-concern.” Benson, who is regularly featured on the live call-in program about insects called “Got Bugs?” on South Carolina’s public radio, said five or 10 years ago he never had listeners sending in bedbug specimens for identification. “Then, all of a sudden, we started to get some specimens in that, lo and behold, turned out to be bedbugs,” Benson said. “So, bedbugs are back and are showing up across the country.” However, Benson has also seen an increase in bat bugs and swallow bugs, which are in the same insect family as bedbugs. “They are all related and they all look the same to the average person, so you really need an expert to tell them apart,” Benson
ciation anagement Asso National Pest M
— Frank Meek, the national technical manager for Atlanta-based Orkin Inc.
According to a recent article in The Greenville News, calls to Orkin relating to bedbugs have increased 300 percent nationwide from 2000 to 2001, and 70 percent in the last two years. And getting rid of bedbugs is no easy task because female bedbugs can lay from 200 to 500 eggs during a lifetime and each bedbug can live up to a year without feeding. “The first indication that you might have bedbugs is if you wake up with little red welts,” said Hinkle, from her office at the University of Georgia. “They will be itching, but you might not think too much about it because you figure, ‘Oh, I was in the garden yesterday, maybe mosquitoes bit me.’ But then they continue to persist.” Next, Hinkle said you need to inspect your bed sheets. “Look at the linens on your bed. If you have
homes where the pests are already established. Since bedbugs are able to crawl into very small cervices, they can easily be relocated to a new environment by hitching a ride in a person’s luggage, moving boxes or shoes. These insects can also be found in furniture bought at antique or thrift stores. “So, if you are buying antique furniture, it’s important to just inspect it,” Benson said. “Take the time to look at it. Just don’t stand over the piece, get down on your hands and knees. Look underneath it, look behind it, and if there are cracks and crevasses, you have to thoroughly check those areas because that’s were bedbugs like to hide.” Pat Vanhooser, general manager of Advanced Services for Pest Control, Inc. in Augusta, said her company has not received any calls concerning bedbugs, but she did say that her inspectors have received additional training on how to handle bedbugs if that problem should arise in this area. “A lot of the people in the pest control industry don’t know how to deal with bedbugs because they haven’t been in the industry long enough to see them,” Vanhooser said. “But if you’re someone like me who has been in the business 20 to 30 years, you know they’re out there. So there is a lot of training going on in the industry right now.”
bedbugs, you’ll almost always see blood smears,” Hinkle said. When bedbugs bite a host, many times the wound itself will bleed freely for a short period of time after the bite, Hinkle explained. “So, as you are rolling around in your sheets at night as you sleep, you will have a little bit of blood on the sheets,” she said. Bedbugs will also deposit a little blood on the sheet or the bed frame as they defecate. These fecal droppings will appear as small redish-brown spots. “Once you’ve gotten an infestation, bedbugs are so difficult to get rid of that I recommend that you call a professional because they can hide in so many places,” Hinkle said. “They are like tiny little cockroaches. And they’re nocturnal, meaning they feed at night, so you’ve got to look hard to find them.” Meek, from Orkin in Atlanta, said that it’s also important to find a pest control company that has experience in dealing with bedbugs. “This is an insect that you can’t just put down a lot of pesticides and expect to kill it,” Meek said. “You are going to have to know something about the critters.” Currently, Orkin is concentrating on new methods of dealing with bedbugs. “Our service procedure is a little different than other pest control providers,” Meek said.
“We have developed a procedure to treat these guys using minimal amounts of pesticides. We’re using a lot of physical controls such as steam and good old-fashioned vacuum cleaners to attack these guys.” According to the NPMA, individual bedbugs can be killed by a number of methods such as dropping them into a jar of rubbing alcohol, steaming or heat treating the infested mattress or furniture at 125 degrees for 20 minutes and vacuuming individual bugs up. There are also some professional products that can be used on bedbugs, such as Gentrol, which is an insect growth regulator which disrupts the normal growth development of bedbugs. But the best way to prevent bedbugs, Meek said, is to be aware of your surroundings during an overnight stay. “It’s never foolhardy to take precautions,” Meek said. “One of the biggest things that we pick up on when we walk into an infested room is the smell. “If you’re checking into a hotel, and the room is infested with bedbugs, you can smell it. There is an odor similar to a soda pop syrup. It’s been described as an obnoxiously sweet or sickeningly sweet odor that will be in a room that has been heavily infested.” Meek said he’s personally heard stories of people who, when they first check into a hotel room, untuck the sheets and inspect the mattress. “Personally, when I walk into a hotel room, I stick my nose down in the mattress and take a deep breath and see if I pick up any smell,” Meek said. “But the most important thing is, if you’ve stayed someplace that you think is infested, or you’ve gotten bit by something while you are staying at a hotel, check over your luggage and your personal belongings before you come back home to try and prevent you from bringing insects back with you.” While taking precautions is wise, Bruesch, from Plunkett’s Pest Control in Minnesota, said the last thing the public should do is overreact. “I think people should just pay attention to where they’re staying,” Bruesch said. “If they get up in the morning at a hotel and they haven’t been bitten by a bedbug and their sheets don’t have blood stains on them, you know you’re pretty safe.” Some experts suggest vacuuming out your luggage after staying overnight in a hotel, but Bruesch said that it’s up to the individual’s comfort level. “I don’t do anything special with my luggage if I’ve seen no signs of bedbugs,” Bruesch said. “And I always think before I go to bed in a hotel, ‘Boy, I should take the bed’s headboard off the wall and look behind it and I should check the mattress.’ But then I never do because I don’t want to become a slave to my fears.” Bruesch said bedbugs are like any other natural concern, such as sharks in the ocean or snakes in the forest. “You just need to be aware of the possibility,” Bruesch said. “Bedbugs are small and able to hide in the most tiny cracks imaginable and they only have one food source which is mammalian blood. “So, from that standpoint, they really give people the creeps. After all, it’s a bloodsucker that eats on you at night while you’re sleeping.”
music
flix
ART S MUSIC EVENT S
METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
arts
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BITE Expect the Unexpected at Historic Squeaky’s
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METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
t’s a recent blustery Tuesday night, a night when still-frozen trees continue losing their limbs and causing power outages all over town. Inside the legendary Squeaky’s Tip-Top, though, the lights are on, the atmosphere is warm and the beer is, as always, cold. A row of regulars sits at the bar watching coverage of the New Hampshire primary on C-SPAN over dinner, discussing the merits and flaws of each Democratic candidate. Wesley Clark? No chance. Dean? A little loony. Kerry? Boring. Conversation then turns to a couple of perhaps not so law-abiding celebrities and the group, who don’t appear to be together but seem companionable enough, raucously agree that Martha and Michael should share a cell. Discussion then turns to what the possible offspring of such a union might look like. Behind the bar, unfazed by both her barside patrons and the two young guys in back playing foosball and interrupting the flow of conversation with their odd jukebox selections, is Linda Rhodes, co-owner for over seven years (with husband Philip) of Augusta’s most famous watering hole. She’s the only one behind
the bar, filling pitchers, manning the grill and occasionally participating in the offbeat conversations. Linda, along with daughter Michele Schaumann, handles most of the day-to-day operations of, as it says on the bar’s shirts, “Augusta’s first hole.” But it was her husband who, remembering past visits, decided that this piece of Augusta’s history should continue (it had been closed for about six months when the Rhodes bought it). Philip Rhodes is, apparently, not the only one who has a soft spot for the Squeak. “I know of several people who have had their first beer here — people who’ve said that their grandparents met here,” Linda said during a recent lunch rush that began a few short minutes after they opened. “I’ve had several medical students who come in and say that their dads used to come here and told them to look Squeaky’s up and they have.” According to Linda, Squeaky’s first opened as a grocery store sometime in the 1930s. That store closed and it shortly reopened as a bar. Since then, owners have come and gone, but the name stuck. Stories abound about the landmark, and the most common one Linda hears is about Squeaky’s perhaps most famous visitor. “It was rumored and I’ve had somebody say that his dad brought (U.S. President Dwight D.) Eisenhower here a few times to get a beer,” she said. Beer may be the item most ordered at
You Gotta Try … What more could you ask for on a cold winter’s day than sliced beef, provolone cheese, grilled peppers and onions on a toasted sesame bun? This surprisingly neat sandwich usually comes with a
By Amy Fennell Christian
Photo by Joe White
Squeaky’s, but one should not overlook the food. Surprised that they serve food? Most first-timers are, Linda said. Offerings are typical bar food and consist basically of appetizers and sandwiches. Many, however, are homemade, like the popular chicken salad sandwich and their soups. A recent appetizer of a dozen fried mushrooms was a bargain at $3 and was served piping hot (so hot, in fact, that it’s worth a warning to either wait a couple of minutes before digging in or, if you can’t wait, press down on each one before eating to prevent a burst of hot liquid from burning your mouth). That said, they are thickly breaded, taste great and are deeply satisfying. Their most popular menu items are the above-mentioned chicken salad sandwich, burgers and Philly cheese steaks, but their sausage dog with grilled peppers and onions on a sesame roll ($3.25) wasn’t bad either. It’s
Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich at Squeaky’s
side of chips, but you’re better off splurging for onion rings — the crunchy-sweet rings are a perfect accompaniment to this dense and chewy sandwich. Sandwich, $4.75; rings, $2.25.
served with no condiments and it really didn’t need any. The country-fried steak sandwich with matchstick-sized French fries ($4.95) was also a hit. The food is great, but Linda thinks the reason Squeaky’s attracts such a loyal following is because of the family atmosphere. There does seem to be some truth to that — there don’t seem to be any strangers here. But the real beauty of the Squeak is the unexpected. You may, during one visit, become involved in lively political banter. The next, you may find yourself looking at a bowling ball with airbrushed pictures of Elvis Presley on it, brought in by one of Squeaky’s many regulars. You just never know… Squeaky’s is located at 2596 Central Ave., 738-8886. Hours are 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and 6 p.m.-until, Monday through Friday, and 5 p.m.-until Saturday.
in the mix Where is your favorite place to travel and why? Belize because I’ve been there a couple of times. I’ve only traveled to two places, The Virgin Islands and Belize, and I love them both because the water is so beautiful. What is your drink of choice? Jack Daniel’s and Coke What is the oddest thing you’ve ever witnessed after midnight? I’ve seen so many things but probably the oddest was a guy running around in a chicken suit. I think he had done something for a game earlier and he just came downtown to mess around with us because he knew a lot of the bar people. You are happiest when you are … … sitting on a beach at the ocean. Augusta needs … … a lot of things — new government, a new skate park (that’s my boyfriend talking). Augusta needs new parking downtown. Parking meters, new parking, whatever. They’ve got the two-hour parking and Sgt. Taylor, when he starts marking cars and giving tickets, surprises a lot of people. It’s really not that bad, just people are scared to walk a block or two. Last good movie you’ve seen “Along Came Polly.” It was just funny. What tastes best at 2:30 a.m. Chili-cheese pups at Krystal What’s the best concert you’ve seen in Augusta? I saw Salt ‘N Pepa, but that was when I was 15, so I’ll say Shawn Piazza at the Soul Bar. What’s your favorite non-work activity? Kayaking on the canal if I’m in town. Photo by Joe White
Name three things in your car right now. Trash and more trash and folders. What is your most humbling moment? Probably when I spend time with my family. I just don’t get to see them that much and they live in town.
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METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
40% OFF! All Display Swing Sets must go!
ART S Better Than a Box of Chocolates
By Rhonda Jones
B
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METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
ig Bad Voodoo Daddy Scotty Morris, whose band is a pinstriped zoot-suit wearing swing and jump blues sensation, has said in publicized interviews that early jazz was the punk of its day. So I asked him about it. “Yeah,” he said. “In the sense that I do believe that early jazz music ... there were no rules. It was really free-form.” And he does enjoy punk music still. “I like the punk music of my generation. At the time I was really involved with that.” He says he even likes the old bands’ new stuff. “If it’s a good song ... I enjoy a good song, but most of the songs I hear now ... it’s just cookie-cutter music. “The (old punk) music was inspired by who was there listening to the music. You sort of grabbed that vibe and anything could happen — greatness or true badness. It was all there. You were just flying by the seat of your pants.” Early jazz, he said, was just like that. And with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (BBVD), he wants to capture that sort of excitement. “Yeah, it’s pretty loose and wild and it’s always changing so you never know what’s going to happen.” I asked him how he came to be a swing musician in a time when swing ain’t pop. “Since I was a little kid, I fell in love with Louis Armstrong, mimicking him,” he said, adding that, in 1989, he started writing in the style that BBVD uses now. “I just pursued it with all my might and this is where we ended up.” And by that time, he said, he was so into his genre that he didn’t care if swing was popular or not — he was going to do it anyway. Very punk of him. “I just knew that this was calling me and it was something that I just had to do. The best parts of this music are some of the best recorded musical moments that mankind has.” He said that he wasn’t worried about following his chosen path. “I just sort of trusted my instincts and go where they lead.” And where have they led? “We’re ten years plus and we’re still having a great time,” Morris said. I asked why BBVD has so many bodies. There are seven guys. “Well, in order to cover certain sections of music,” he replied. He said that you need about five horns to replicate the sounds of different eras, and BBVD covers about 50 years of music. One of their records, he said, covers the 1920s to the mid-’60s. “And our last record
“Of course me, personally, I think jazz music will always be. It’s American music. That music is our music.” was even the teens. The last was our biggest leap. I would say there was a good 50 years of music in that.” The future, he said, holds much of the same for BBVD. “I just see the continual evolution of the band and reinventing ourself and putting out really interesting music.” They’re working on a Christmas album and an album with symphony tracks as well. “There’s really a lot of interesting things that we’re exploring right now,” he said. There was a point, however, when things weren’t going quite so smoothly for BBVD. That happened when record execs pressured
them into pushing their image too hard, according to The Hartford Courant, Hartford, Conn., which did not leave enough time to cook the music properly. And it probably confused the fans as well. “Yeah,” he agreed (to the idea that the image-pushing may have injured the music), “I think with all music when something gets fast really quickly people don’t get a chance to digest it.” When the image-machine takes over, he said, it can be hard on the musicians. “There’s nothing you can do when the machine takes over. You’re being whipped all around.”
But luckily they were able to regain some control and concentrate more on the music. It still took a few years, he said, for people to stop being so distracted by their fedoras and spectator shoes, however. And it disappointed him that people seemed interested mostly in their clothing, he said, because BBVD is such a wonderful rags-to-riches story. “We went from touring in the back of a van to selling a million records and playing at the Super Bowl.” I asked him if he’d ever considered abandoning the fashion altogether and just go out onstage in bluejeans. The answer was an emphatic, “No.” “No, because our heroes — they set the blueprint. I don’t think you’d ever see Duke Ellington walk onstage wearing bluejeans. That’s a good thing,” he said. “That’s a legacy.” He also emphasizes that guys like Ellington are the ones who deserve the props. “We don’t think we’re inventing the wheel,” he said. I asked about the future of jazz. “Of course me, personally, I think jazz music will always be. It’s American music. That music is our music. We have such great contemporary jazz artists now pushing the boundaries. ... The music is always going to be alive.” As proof of that, he offers his very own offspring. “I have a 2-year-old son who loves jazz music. Who knows? He may take jazz further. It may not be the music of the moment, but it will always be in people’s consciousness, I think.” That’s why, he says, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is a good band to take the entire family to. “It’s really great fun for everybody, all ages. It’s a really fun show and it works great with the symphonies. You don’t have to worry about having four generations of family there.” If you and your offspring and your grandchildren and the neighbor’s children and your fourth cousin twice removed want to go be Big Bad Voodoo Daddied, you may do so on Valentine’s Day. That would be Saturday, Feb. 14. They will perform with Augusta Symphony at the Bell Auditorium, since it is part of Augusta Symphony’s Pops! At the Bell series, at 8 p.m. It is a one-night-only show. Ticket prices range from $10 to $40 for balcony seating. Students with ID may purchase tickets for half-price at the door beginning at 7:30 p.m. All tickets are subject to availability.
arts
A Delicate Journey
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n 1975, Ginny Ruffner graduated from the University of Georgia summa cum laude with her MFA in drawing and painting. In 1985, she began winning awards. In 1991, an automobile accident stole her memory, down to the most minute details of daily living, her identity and how to get around. In 1993, she began exhibiting again. And just the other day, she spoke with Metro Spirit about her art, about the accident and about which is the most important of the two. Resculpting From the Ground Up “Did I have to relearn my identity?” she said. “Yes, I had to relearn everything. Everything. When I first woke up, all I could do was move my right thumb — little things that you don’t even think about. Learning to keep your eyes shut when you put your face in the shower.” She spoke haltingly, having trouble shaping the words so that they could be understood by telephone. But the most remarkable qualities apparent in her voice were determination, strength and passion for her art. “But specifically to my personality,” she said of the changes following the crash. “It was all getting reacquainted with myself. There was
By Rhonda Jones
enough material written about me and by me to give me an idea of who I was before. “When I look at a certain color or a certain painting, I say, ‘Now do I like this, or did I just used to like it?’ I had to re-evaluate from that point of view.” She does get more work out of her team now, but she makes it clear that she is not the only person, or even artist, that uses a team — nor did she begin using one after the accident. “I was using a team before, but back then it was by choice. Now it’s by necessity,” she said. She pointed out that architects and doctors, for instance, are as dependent on their teams as she is upon hers. But she doesn’t let that worry her. Even something like a near-fatal car accident has the power to cause positive things to happen in this artist’s life. “You know, I think it made me more creative. Back then I really couldn’t do anything. I learned to breathe again, eat again. I learned to walk again. Since I could not do certain things, I had to find another way to do them, so it was a huge creativity learning curve.” The Formation of a Glass Blower When asked what made her begin working with glass in the first place, she said it
GINNY RUFFNER BALANCE SERIES: FINDING SOURCES, 1995 glass and mixed media From Creativity: The Flowering Tornado (Art by Ginny Ruffner)
Tornado,” and is the first of a series of three. She is currently working on the second about imagination. The third, she said, may just be about wonder. She hasn’t decided yet. And she insists that they be called pop-up books “for all ages.” She won’t let me call them pop-up books for adults. “It has negative connotations,” she said with a laugh. She is also working on a 30-foot tall bronze-and-glass abstract sculpture. When asked if she had any information she just had to get out there to the public, she said, “People always ask me two questions: ‘What do you want to achieve? What do you want the viewers to think, do or respond?’ My answer to that is always, ‘I want the viewer to think. I don’t care what they think — just to think.” “Creativity: The Flowering Tornado, Art by Ginny Ruffner” is a retrospective exhibit showing at the Columbia Museum of Art in Columbia, S.C., from Feb. 7 through April 11. For info about Ruffner, hit www.ginnyruffner.com. For info about the exhibit or the museum, call (803) 799-2810 or visit their Web site at www.columbiamuseum.org.
GINNY RUFFNER THE ART GAME, 1999 glass and mixed media From Creativity: The Flowering Tornado (Art by Ginny Ruffner)
METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
GINNY RUFFNER BRAIN BRAKES, 1998 glass and mixed media From Creativity: The Flowering Tornado (Art by Ginny Ruffner)
happened while she was at UGA for her master’s degree. “I was trying to get more light into my paintings, and I began investigating using painting on glass,” she said. She did her thesis exhibit pieces on glass. After graduating, she moved to Atlanta and learned to work with stained glass, then took a job blowing glass and continued on her way. I asked if the concept comes first, or if she makes them first and figures them out later. She compared the process to a primitive weapon called a “bola,” which is essentially a string with a weight on each end, which is thrown at the target’s legs. The weights act as counterweights, each pulling the other along. “They both, conceptualization and the realization of it, are equally motivating, equally driving the artwork. In other words, I might start out with a concept to make something, and someone goes, ‘Oh, that reminds me...’ The concept becomes, ‘What does that mean? Why am I making that?’ And then that will drive the visual.” I asked her what she was working on now. “That’s my favorite question,” she said. “Well ... have you seen the pop-up book?” It’s called “Creativity: The Flowering
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arts
Singing Valentines and a Jazz Concert
By Rhonda Jones
W
ith all the music going on around Valentine’s Day, if you can’t think of something fun to do with your love-bunny, then don’t blame us. It’s not like we stuck a big ol’ Feb. 14 (that’s V-Day, by the way) concert story at the front of the Arts section or anything. But in case you can’t make it to that for some reason, you can still get your honey a little something musical to let her know how you feel. Singing Valentines How about sending four tuxedoed gentlemen her way, belting out lovey-dovey favorites? The Augusta chapter of the Garden City Chorus, which boasts 35 members, has transformed itself into singing Valentines just so you can say you care. We spoke with Jim Fernstrom, the leader of this pack, and he told us how the whole thing works. “There will be typically five or six (quartets) that will be going out during the day that will be presenting these singing Valentines to wives and girlfriends.” This year is a little different from previous years, since Friday is the 13th (but not necessarily unlucky if you plan ahead), he said, and Saturday is the 14th. “A lot of guys want us to go visit their wife at work.” So they’re doing a two-day Valentine’s gig, and if you hurry you may be able to get a quartet either day. They visit places like schools, restaurants and hospitals. They will sing two songs to your lady, he said, typically “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” and “The Story of the Rose,” and present her with a rose and a card with a message from you. And if you ladies want to do something like this for your guys, then there are
some women’s quartets in the Sweet Adelines group that Fernstrom has in the past recruited. The cost is $50 if you order it before Feb. 10, and $65 thereafter. Call Jim Fernstrom at (803) 279-4198. Jazz Concert If you’d rather take your sweetheart to the music than have the music hunt her down, and you’re willing to wait a day, you can take her to the Morris Museum for “Jazz Monuments,” in which members of the Augusta State University Jazz Ensemble play some of the masterpieces of Duke Ellington, Thelonius Monk and others. Foster spoke with us about the gig. “Well, it’s kind of tying in with Black History Month,” he said, adding that most of the program is going to consist of the music of Duke Ellington and Count Basie, maybe with some Dizzie Gillespie on the side. I asked him about the difference in their styles. He said that Gillespie tended to feature more individual sounds and voices. Basie’s band, on the other hand, he said, was known more for a constant, driving rhythm, featuring instrument sections that acted more as a unit, with call-andresponse routines worked out between those sections. “The Ellington orchestra probably covered a wider range of tonal colors and more subtlety in moods and shadings.” There was just no way to paraphrase that. If you would like to see Foster lead the ASU Jazz Ensemble in a trip down musical history lane, the concert will be 2 p.m. on Feb. 15 at the Morris Museum. Admission is free. For more info, you can call the Morris Museum at (706) 724-7501 or visit the Web site at www.themorris.org.
• Large private courtyard with fountain accessible from main room • Centrally located in historic downtown Augusta • On site catering by Roux’s Gourmet Catering • Reception capacity - 300 people • We handle all the details! • Please call for more information • Open to all licensed caterers
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METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
• Augusta’s most unique gathering place
A VALENTINE QUARTET. LEFT TO RIGHT: CLYDE JACKSON, TENOR; JIM FERNSTROM, LEAD; MARC GOTTLIEB, BASS; VIC TOBIN, BARITONE.
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Roux's Gourmet Catering
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Benefits Meetings Theater Auditions Exhibitions Attractions MuseumsArts Seniors Dance Arts
music, particularly African American music. Presentation begins at 7 p.m. Contact Tania Beasley-Jolly at 724-7501 for more information.
Auditions
Dance
ENOPION THEATRE COMPANY is looking for volunteers to act, sing, sew, build and more for their new musical, “Creation.” Applications are available at www.imaryproductions.com or by calling (803) 442-9039.
ANNUAL VALENTINE DANCE held by the MCG Sertoma Club and CSRA Shag Club will be held Feb. 13 from 8 p.m.-12:30 a.m. at the Julian Smith Casino. Please contact Penny Saggus 721-2605 for more information.
SWEET ADELINES HARMONY RIVER CHORUS OPEN REHEARSAL for singers each Thursday at 7 p.m. at Church of Christ, 600 Martintown Rd. in North Augusta. They are on the lookout for voices in the lower ranges. Contact Mary Norman at (803) 279-6499.
SWEETHEART BALL held by the Fort Gordon Sergeants Major Association on Feb. 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the Gordon Club on 19th St. Call 791-4140 for more information. SECOND ANNUAL DADDY-DAUGHTER DANCE on Feb. 7 from 7-9 p.m. at the Belair Conference Center. $35 per daddy-daughter, $5 per additional daughter, $50 per couple at the door. For more information or to make reservations, call 733-2512.
AUGUSTA PLAYERS CHILDREN’S WING will hold auditions for “Alice in Wonderland” at 1 p.m. on Feb. 7 and 3 p.m. on Feb. 8 in the Augusta Mall. Roles are available for ages 6-18, and audition material is provided. Contact the Augusta Players at 826-4707 for exact location or other information.
THE AUGUSTA INTERNATIONAL FOLK DANCE CLUB meets Thursday evenings at 7:30 p.m. No partners are needed and newcomers are welcome. Call 737-6299 for location and info.
AIKEN COMMUNITY PLAYHOUSE is holding auditions for “Boy Gets Girl” on Feb. 8 and 9 at 7 p.m. at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts in Aiken. Casting is for four men, mid20s to late-70s, and three women, late-20s to 40s. For more information, call (803) 648-1438.
THE DANCES OF UNIVERSAL PEACE held the first Saturday of every month, 7-9 p.m., at the Unitarian Church of Augusta, honor the religious traditions of the world through song and movement. Call (803) 643-0460 for more information.
Education
GEORGIA HERITAGE CELEBRATION at the Morris Museum of Art will feature Paper Weaving in their Hands-On Art Workshop on Feb. 8 at 2 p.m. The first 25 participants will learn the significance of weaving in Georgia’s colonial period. Admission is free. Call 724-7501 for more information. CHAMPAGNE DANCE PARTY/OPEN HOUSE, hosted by the Aiken Choral Society, to take place Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. at the Palmetto Ballroom Studio in Aiken. Learn ballroom dancing while sipping champagne. Donations are requested, and all proceeds benefit the Aiken Choral Society. For more information, contact Patricia Hall at (803) 649-9193. ISRAELI DANCE WORKSHOP at the Augusta Jewish Community Center Sunday afternoons, 4-5 p.m. Open to teens and adults; no experience or partners are necessary. Cost is $2 per session, with the first session free. For information or to schedule a pre-class beginner/refresher session, contact Jackie Cohen, 738-9016.
Music
MERCY ME PERFORMS WITH AMY GRANT AND BEBO NORMAN FEB. 7 AT THE BELL AUDITORIUM. Closing reception is on Feb. 8 from 2-6 p.m. For appointments and information, call 828-0334, 294-3871 or 394-4217. KATHY CAUDILL exhibits in the Etherredge Center Galleries at USC-Aiken through Feb. 29. Call (803) 641-3305 for additional information. OIL PAINTINGS BY KATHLEEN BRYAN will be on display at the Gibbs Memorial Library throughout February. 863-1946. PAINTINGS BY MALAIKA FAVORITE will be on exhibit at the Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History through the end of February. For more information, call 724-3576. CERAMICS BY REBAKKAH ROSENBAUER will be on display at the Euchee Creek Branch Library during February. Call 556-9795 for details.
ART CLASSES FOR CHILDREN AND ADULTS at the Art Factory. The Art Factory also has a homeschool program and scholarships are available. Programs include painting, pottery, pilates, hip hop and modern dance and more. Classes are held at the Art Factory, 418 Crawford Ave., or at the Augusta Jewish Community Center. Call 731-0008 for details.
“ANNE HEBEBRAND: CURRENT WORKS” on display at the Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art through March 12. Call 722-5495.
Exhibitions
“JACK SPENCER: PHOTOGRAPHS FROM NATIVE SOIL” will be on display at the Morris Museum of Art through Feb. 15. Call 724-7501 for information.
“LET’S PLAY: PASTIMES FROM THE PAST” through Feb. 15 at the Augusta Museum of History. For more information, call 722-8454. “BABY-BOOM DAYDREAMS: THE ART OF DOUGLAS BOURGEOIS” will be on exhibit at the Morris Museum of Art through Feb. 15. Call 724-7501 for information. “DEANNE DUNBAR: OBJECTS OF DESIRE” will be on display at the Rabold Gallery in Aiken through Feb. 14. For more information, call (803) 641-4405 or e-mail raboldgallery@bellsouth.net. WORKS FROM THE CHILDREN’S GALLERY OF BOSTON fine art print show and sale at the Morris Museum of Art on Feb. 10 from 5-8 p.m. For more information, call 724-7501. MASTERWORKS OF SOUTHERN ART tour on Feb. 15 at 3:30 p.m. Free admission. Contact Tania Beasley-Jolly at 724-7501 for more information. TERRA COGNITA: Contemporary Artists Lecture Series featuring Kevin Cole, explores the relationship between color and
MERCY ME, AMY GRANT AND BEBO NORMAN perform at the Bell Auditorium Feb. 7, 7 p.m. Tickets are $26-$76 in advance and $28-$76 the day of the show. Tickets for groups of 15 or more are $21 in advance or $23 the day of the show. Call 722-3521. MAULDIN SERIES is presenting “Jin Hi Kim,” which features Korean instruments, at USC Aiken’s Etherredge Center. The presentation is on Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. Call (803) 641-3305 for tickets or more information. GLEN ROAD will perform traditional Irish music at Broad Strokes Gallery on Feb. 11 from 7:30-9:30 p.m. Call 860-7111 for more information. PRE-FESTIVAL CHORUS CONCERT presented by the Davidson Fine Arts School, will be on Feb. 10 at the Beverly J. Barnhart Theater. Tickets are $5 for adults, $4 for children and senior citizens and $3 for Davidson students. Call 823-6924 ext. 107 for more information. MONTANA SKIES will perform at the Tuesday’s Music Live Series at Saint Paul’s Church at noon on Feb. 10. Call 7223463 for ticket prices and information. MUSIC AT THE MORRIS: The ASU Jazz Ensemble plays Jazz Monuments, focusing on African-American jazz greats such as
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“72: RECENT WORKS BY SHISHIR CHOKSHI AND RAOUL PACHECO” will be on display at 222 Eighth St. Feb. 6-8.
PHOTOGRAPHIC WORKS BY SELLY GOODWIN will be on display in the art hall of Sacred Heart Cultural Center through Feb. 29. Call 826-4700 for more information.
BOBBY WOMACK will be at the Bell Auditorium 7:30 p.m. Feb. 15. Tickets are $36. Call 722-3521.
METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
ART CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS are offered year-round at the Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art. Classes and workshops are open to toddlers through adults and feature instruction in drawing, painting, photography, pottery, weaving and sculpture. For a newsletter or detailed information on registering for classes at the Gertrude Herbert, call 722-5495. The Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art also offers educational tours; for information, contact the education director at the above telephone number.
AUGUSTA CHAPTER OF THE UNITED STATES AMATEUR BALLROOM DANCERS ASSOCIATION holds a dance the first Saturday of each month, from 7:15-11 p.m. Cost is $7 for members and $10 for non-members. Held at the BPOE facility on Elkdom Court. Contact Melvis Lovett, 733-3890, or Jean Avery, 863-4186, for information.
Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk and others on Feb. 15 at 2 p.m. Contact Tania Beasley-Jolly at 724-7501 for more information.
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CHOIR/JAZZ ENSEMBLE CONCERT at ASU’s Maxwell Performing Arts Theater on Feb. 17 at 8 p.m. Admission is free. Contact Kathy Schofe at 737-1878 for more information. WIND ENSEMBLE/ORCHESTRA CONCERT at ASU’s Maxwell Performing Arts Theater on Feb. 18 at 8 p.m. Admission is free. Contact Kathy Schofe at 737-1878 for more information. ASU CHOIRS CONCERT on Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. at St. Mark United Methodist Church. Choirs are directed by Dr. Bill Hobbins. Call 737-1453 for more information.
Theater
TIM WILSON performs as part of the Imperial Comedy Series 7:30 p.m. Feb. 6 at the Imperial Theatre. For ticket information, call 722-8341 or visit www.imperialtheatre.com. “THE GIRLS ARE BACK IN TOWN” with Chonda Pierce and Sandi Patty at the Bell Auditorium on Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. Call 1-800-965-9324 for information and ticket prices.
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She Said She Wanted Cake For Valentine’s Day! Homemade Cakes, Pies, Cookies & Lunches Too!
“ANNIE, GET YOUR GUN” will be at the Abbeville Opera House Feb. 6-7, 12-14 and 20-21. Matinee performances are Jan. 31 and Feb. 7, 14 and 21 at 3 p.m. Call (864) 459-2157 for ticket information. “GUERNICA” will be at the Maxwell Performing Arts Theatre Feb. 12-14 at 8 p.m., and Feb. 15 at 3 p.m. $10 for adults, $7 for seniors, $5 for students, and free for ASU students. For ticket information, call 737-1500. “THREE LITTLE PIGS” to be presented by the ASU Born to Read Literacy and Patchwork Players at ASU’s Maxwell Performing Arts Theater on Feb. 16 at 9, 10 and 11 a.m. Call 733-7043 for more information. “NOISES OFF” will be performed at Fort Gordon’s Dinner Theater Feb. 13-28. Dinner is served at 7 p.m. and the show begins at 8 p.m. Call 791-4389 for more information. “THE MAN OF HER DREAMS” to be performed at the Bell Auditorium on Feb. 8 at 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. Call 722-3521 for ticket prices and other information.
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Attractions VALENTINE SUNSET CRUISE ON THE AUGUSTA CANAL on Feb. 14, 5:30-6:30. Couples will cruise the Augusta Canal on the new Petersburg boat from the Enterprise Mill dock. Cost is $30 per couple, reservations required. For more information, call 823-7089. MOTORIZED TOURS OF HISTORIC AIKEN every Saturday, 1011:30 a.m. Tours leave from the Washington Center for the Performing Arts. Reservations are required, and patrons must be age 2 and older. (803) 642-7631. AUGUSTA CANAL INTERPRETIVE CENTER: Housed in Enterprise Mill, the center contains displays and models focusing on the Augusta Canal’s functions and importance to the textile industry. Hours are Mon.-Sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Sun., 1-6 p.m. Admission is $5 adult, $4 seniors and military and $3 children ages 6-18. Children under 6 admitted free. Guided boat tours of the Augusta Canal depart from the docks at Enterprise Mill at 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. Saturdays and Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Tour tickets are $6 adults, $5 seniors and $4 students and children. For tour information, call 823-7089. For other info, visit www.augustacanal.com or call 823-0440. THE BOYHOOD HOME OF WOODROW WILSON: Circa 1859 Presbyterian manse occupied by the family of President Woodrow Wilson as a child during the Civil War and Reconstruction. Original and period antiques, restored house, kitchen and carriage house. 419 Seventh Street. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Tues.-Sat. Tours available; groups of 10 or more by appointment only. Admission is $5 adults, $4 seniors, $3 students under 18 and free for ages 5 and under. 722-9828.
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METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
Louise Mulherin Classic Garden and
Antiques
Shopping Hours: Tues-Fri 11-6 Sat 11-5
National Hills Shopping Center 2701 Washington Road 706.738.8111
AUGUSTA GOLF & GARDENS OF THE GEORGIA GOLF HALL OF FAME features beautiful display gardens, as well as bronze sculptures of some of golf’s greatest masters. Available for rent for a variety of functions. Group discount rates available. Closed Mondays; open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sat.; open from 1-5 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is $5.50 for adults; $4.50 for students, seniors and military; $3.50 for children (4-12); free for children 3 and under. Sundays are two for one with a Super Sunday coupon. Annual garden memberships are available. Call 724-4443 or 1-888-874-4443. Also, visit their Web site at www.gghf.org. NATIONAL SCIENCE CENTER’S FORT DISCOVERY: Children and adults alike can immerse themselves in the wonders of science through live demonstrations, virtual realities, Starlab, KidScape and more than 250 hands-on exhibits. General Admission: $8 for adults; $6 for children, seniors and active
military. Group rates available. Operating hours: Mon.-Sat., 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday, noon-5 p.m. Call 821-0200, 1-800-3255445 or visit their Web site at www.NationalScienceCenter.org. REDCLIFFE STATE HISTORIC SITE: 1859 mansion of S.C. Governor James Henry Hammond, held by the family for three generations until 1975. Grounds and slave quarters are open Thursday-Monday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. House tours will be offered at 1, 2 and 3 p.m. Admission to the grounds is free. Fee for house tours is $3 for adults and children ages 6-17. For more information, call (803) 827-1473. 181 Redcliffe Road, Beech Island. SACRED HEART CULTURAL CENTER is offering tours of its 100-year-old building. Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. $1 per person, children free. 826-4700. HISTORIC COTTON EXCHANGE WELCOME CENTER: Open Mon.-Sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sun. 1-5 p.m. Riverwalk. Free. Call 724-4067. THE EZEKIEL HARRIS HOUSE: Deemed “the finest 18th century house surviving in Georgia” by the “Smithsonian Guide to Historic America.” Open Saturday, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. General admission is $2; senior admission is $1 and children get in for 50 cents. For more information, call 724-0436.
Museums TOUR OF THE PERMANENT COLLECTION of the Morris Museum of Art will take place on Feb. 8 at 3 p.m. Admission is free. Call 724-7501 for more information. “ART AND HEALING” at the Morris Museum of Art will discuss the positive impact of the arts in the healing environment on Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. Admission is $3 for adults, $2 for seniors, students and military. 724-7501. THE GERTRUDE HERBERT INSTITUTE OF ART in Ware’s Folly exhibits works by local and regional artists. Art classes, workshops and other educational programming for children, youth and adults are held in the Walker-Mackenzie Studio. Open Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturday by appointment only. Admission is free, but a donation of $2 for adults and $1 for children and seniors is encouraged. Call 722-5495 or visit www.ghia.org for more info. THE AUGUSTA MUSEUM OF HISTORY hosts permanent exhibition “Augusta’s Story,” an award-winning exhibit encompassing 12,000 years of local history. For the younger crowd, there’s the Susan L. Still Children’s Discovery Gallery, where kids can learn about history in a hands-on environment. The museum also shows films in the History Theatre and hosts a variety of programs. Located at 560 Reynolds Street. Open TuesdaySaturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday 1-5 p.m. Admission is $4 adult, $3 seniors, $2 kids (6-18 years of age) and free for children under 6. Free admission on Sundays. Call 722-8454 or visit www.augustamuseum.org for more information. THE MORRIS MUSEUM OF ART hosts exhibitions and special events year-round. Open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sundays, noon-5 p.m. Closed on Mondays and major holidays. 1 Tenth Street, Augusta. Call 724-7501 or visit www.themorris.org for details. THE MUSEUM OF LAUREL AND HARDY OF HARLEM, GEORGIA features displays of various Laurel and Hardy memorabilia; films also shown. Located at 250 N. Louisville Street in downtown Harlem. Open 1-4 p.m. Thursday-Monday. For more information, call 556-3448. LUNCH AT NOON LECTURE SERIES held the second Wednesday of every month at the Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Call the museum at 724-3576 for more information.
Special Events GREYHOUND MEET AND GREET on Feb. 14, 11 am-3 p.m. at PetSmart on Whiskey Rd. in Aiken. Greyhound Love – Greyhound Adoption, a local adoption group, invites the public to meet many retired racing greyhounds with an eye towards adoption. No on-site adoptions, but adoption applications will be made available. For more information, contact Jeanne McGee at 796-1708. FORT GORDON’S NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST will be held at the Gordon Club on 19th St. on Feb. 11 at 6:30 a.m. Advance tickets are required. For tickets or more information, call 791-4683. GREEK SYMPOSIUM in celebration of Black History Month at ASU’s Allgood Hall, room N241 on Feb. 5 at noon. Contact Amy Connell at 667-9592 for more information. GREAT DANE MEET AND GREET on Feb. 7, 5-7 p.m. at Fetch Dog Treats in Surrey Center. For more information, contact Jeff of Tonia Thomas at 737-5808.
BUFFALO SOLDIER PRESENTATION noon-3 p.m. Feb. 16 in Galloway Hall at Augusta State University. Call 737-1444. DINNER AT ASTI’S will be Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. in the Great Hall of the Sacred Heart Cultural Center. Cost is $100 per person. Call 826-4700 for more information. ASU’s HOMECOMING to take place Feb. 14. Admissions Open House from 1-3 p.m., in Washington Hall, tailgate party from 4-5:20 p.m. on the Christenberry Fieldhouse lawn, activities at 5:30 p.m. in the Christenberry Fieldhouse Mezzanine, followed by women’s basketball. Contact Kathy Schofe at 737-1878 for more information.
CHAMPAGNE AND DIAMONDS, benefiting the American Heart Association, to take place on Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m. at the Historic Richmond Hotel. For ticket information, call 855-5005. “A TASTE OF SOMETHING WILD,” a benefit for the Augusta Alzheimer’s Association, will feature the Augusta area’s largest wild-game tasting event and soiree on March 6 from 5:308:30 p.m. at the Julian Smith Barbecue Pit on Lake Olmstead. For more information, contact Frank Spears at 860-1233.
Learning
AN EVENING OF CHAMPAGNE, DESSERT AND LOVE SONGS is to take place at the Etherredge Center at USC Aiken on Feb. 14 at 8 p.m. and will feature the Masterworks Chorale. Call (803) 641-3305 for more information.
HADITHI BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION, “Praisesong for the Widow,” at 2 p.m. Feb. 18 in Room E227 of Allgood Hall at ASU. 737-1444.
BLACK HISTORY MONTH FRIDAY FLICKS at ASU’s Allgood Hall, room E257 from noon-2 p.m. Contact Amy Connell at 667-4807 for more information.
“FROM BROWN TO NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND” lecture from 12:30 p.m. Feb. 11 in Room E258 of Allgood Hall at Augusta State University. For more information, call 737-1444.
FREE FILM SERIES Mondays, 6:30 p.m. at the Headquarters Library. Feb. 9 showing of “Lost in Translation,” Feb. 16 showing of “American Splendor” and Feb. 23 showing of “Sweet Hereafter.” Call 821-2600 for info.
USC-AIKEN CONTINUING EDUCATION offers Paralegal Certificate Course, Taming the Wild Child, Conversational French, Italian, Spanish for the Beginner, Sign Language, Debt-Free Living and more. Travelearn learning vacations for adults and Education to Go online courses also available. For info, phone (803) 641-3563.
MCDUFFIE FRIENDS OF ANIMALS holds pet adoptions each Saturday, 1-3 p.m. at Superpetz on Bobby Jones Expressway. Call 556-9090 or visit www.petfinder.com. COLUMBIA COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY holds pet adoptions every Saturday from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and every Sunday from 1-4 p.m. at PetsMart. For more info, call 860-5020. RICHMOND COUNTY ANIMAL CONTROL AND AUGUSTA ANIMAL RESCUE FRIENDS hold pet adoptions at Superpetz off Bobby Jones Expressway every Sunday from 1-4 p.m. Call AARF at 364-4747 or visit www.aarf.net. Adoptions also held at the Richmond County Animal Control Shelter, Tues.-Sun., 15 p.m. Call the shelter at 790-6836. THE CSRA HUMANE SOCIETY holds pet adoptions every Saturday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and every Wednesday evening from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Pet Center located behind the GreenJackets Stadium on Milledge Rd. 261-PETS. ASU EDUCATOR’S EXPO on Feb. 13 from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. in ASU’s Christenberry Fieldhouse. Any certified teachers, education majors from other colleges or any graduates interested in a career in teaching are encouraged to attend. Contact Kathy Schofe at 737-1878 for more information. CIRCUS MATRIX at the Augusta Civic Center on Feb. 16 and 17, 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Call 722-3521 for more information.
Benefits SINGING VALENTINES to benefit the Garden City Barbershop Chorus Feb. 13-14. Price for singing valentine is $55 if ordered by Feb. 10 and $65 if ordered after. For more information and reservations, visit www.singingvalentines.com or call (803) 279-4198. AIKEN WOMEN’S HEART BOARD BENEFIT at USC-Aiken’s Etherredge Center Feb. 19-22. For more information, call (803) 641-3305. THE LEUKEMIA AND LYMPHOMA SOCIETY’S TEAM IN TRAINING is recruiting volunteers to help in the fight against blood cancers by raising funds as they train to run, walk or cycle in honor of local patients. Information meeting at the Clubhouse on Washington Rd. Feb. 5 at 6:30 p.m. Call Kate Wicker at (706) 667-7101 for more information. AUGUSTA BALLET MERCEDES RAFFLE: The Augusta Ballet will raffle off a 2004 Mercedes CLK 320 Cabriolet during May’s First Friday celebration. Tickets are $100 each and may be purchased through the Ballet office at 261-0555. AUGUSTA-RICHMOND COUNTY ANIMAL CONTROL is in need of dog and cat food, cat litter and other pet items, as well as monetary donations to help pay for vaccinations. Donations accepted during regular business hours, Tues.-Sun., 1-5 p.m. at the shelter, 4164 Mack Lane. Call 790-6836 for information.
AMERICAN RED CROSS BLOOD DRIVES at the Aiken Red Cross Blood Center on Millbrook Drive and the Augusta Red Cross Blood Center on Pleasant Home Road. The bloodmobile will also stop at various area locations this week. For a complete list, call the Aiken Blood Center at (803) 642-5180 or the Augusta Blood Center at 868-8800.
AUGUSTA STATE UNIVERSITY CONTINUING EDUCATION is now offering the following classes: Shag, Ballroom, Line Dance, Beginning and Intermediate Language courses, Interior Design, Acting Workshop, Stained Glass, SAT Review, Power Yoga, Photography, Origami and more. Also, ASU offers online courses. For more information, call 737-1636 or visit www.ced.aug.edu. AIKEN TECH CONTINUING EDUCATION offers the following courses: computer technology courses, healthcare courses, contractor programs, real estate courses and more. Aiken Tech also offers Education to Go classes online. For more information or to register, call (803) 593-9231, ext. 1230. AN EVENING IN EGYPT teaches history, culture, customs and foods of Egypt on Feb. 17 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in the Washington Hall Towers. Cost is $19. Call 737-1636 for more information. E-MAIL INTRODUCTION at the Friedman Branch Library on Feb. 19 from 9-10 a.m. Learn how to set up and use a free Yahoo! E-mail account. Space is limited, so registration is required. Call 736-6758 for more information. CHILDREN AND RESTRAINTS, SAFETY EDUCATION AND LEARNING, or CAR SEAT, class will take place on Feb. 16 at the MCG Children’s Medical Center conference room (BT1810) from 9-11 a.m. Admission is free, but registration is required. To register or for more information, call 721-5437. “MINI-MEDICAL SCHOOL” is offered by the Medical College of Georgia and taught by MCG faculty. Course costs are $50 and courses will be held Tues. evenings, Feb. 17-Mar. 23, 7-9 p.m. in the MCG School of Dentistry auditorium, room 1020. For more information, call 721-3967.
Health
Flatiron Steak with shallots, red wine and roasted rosemary potatoes $16 Truite en “Bleu” mountain trout sauteed, topped with Gorgonzola blue cheese sauce, nested on braised leeks, spinach and new potatoes $16 Gigot d’Agneau Provencale the most tender part of the leg of lamb, with garden fresh herbs de Provence and garlic, with flageolet beans and natural jus $16
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OB TOUR by the University Women’s Center on Feb. 12 from 7-9:30 p.m. Admission is free. To register or for more information, call 774-2825. BREAST SELF-EXAM CLASSES offered by the University Breast Health Center on Feb. 9 at 4 p.m. Admission is free, but registration is required. To register or for more information, call 774-7171.
868-9224
UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL SUPPORT GROUPS: Living Well With Diabetes, Feb. 12, 774-5798; My Mom Has Breast Cancer, Feb. 5, 774-4141; Pink Magnolias Breast Cancer, Feb. 9, 774-4141; Breast Cancer Support, Feb. 9, 774-4141; Better Breathers, Feb. 10, 774-LUNG; Prostate Cancer, Feb. 19, 367-1308. CHILDBIRTH PREPARATION CLASS Thursdays, Feb. 5-March 11 at University Women’s Center. All classes are from 7-9:30 p.m. and are $75 for the six-week series. To register, call 774-2825.
Owner Rusty Campbell
Serving Augusta since 1977
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ANGELS HAVE WHEELS: Medicare recipients suffering from conditions such as arthritis, cardiovascular disease and respiratory disorders who have difficulty walking or propelling a standard wheelchair may be eligible to receive an electric
Bobby Jones across from Wal-Mart
METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
SHEPEARD COMMUNITY BLOOD CENTER BLOOD DRIVES in various locations around the CSRA this month. For detailed information on locations and times to donate, visit www.shepeardblood.org. You may also call Susan Edwards at (803) 6437996 for information on Aiken locations and Nancy Szocinski at 737-4551 for information on all other locations.
CULLUM LECTURE SERIES, “South Asia: On a Tryst With Destiny,” continues on Feb. 17 at 11:30 a.m. with Dr. Gautam Kundu of Georgia Southern University. “Ghare Baire” will be presented at 11:30 a.m. and “The Politics of Indian Nationalism in Fiction and Film” will be presented at 7 p.m. All events held in Butler Hall Auditorium. Visit www.aug.edu/library/cullum2004 or call Michael Bishku, 737-1709, or Jeff Heck, 667-4905.
Menu Highlights
!
!
I’m Going to Fresh Thyme Cafe
Intimate Dining for Valentine’s Day Smoked Scallops with a Lemon and Thyme Scented Risotto 16 Slow Braised Lamb and Roasted Garlic Gnocchi, with Seared Mustar and Sun Dried Tomatoes 15 Warm Smoked Duck Breast with a Crisp Potato Tower, Bistro Style Cabbage, and The Chef ’s Organic Vidalia and Scuppernong Jam 17 Grilled Atlantic Swordfish with a Low Country Shrimp and Gr
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METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
Smoked Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin with Whipped Sweet P Garlic Laced Collard Greens, Spiced Damson Plum Sauce 16
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437 Highland Ave, Surrey Center • 706.737.6699 • Fax 706.733.8 Mon-Sat Lunch & Dinner
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wheelchair. For information on eligibility, call Gregory at 1800-810-2877.
speaker is Terry Bradshaw. Tickets are $75. Call 722-TEAM for more information or order tickets at (803) 278-4TIX.
AUGUSTA BRAIN INJURY SUPPORT GROUP meets the second Thursday of every month, 6 p.m., at Walton West TLC. Brain injury survivors and their family members and caregivers are invited to attend. 737-9300.
NORTH AUGUSTA SPRING RECREATION PROGRAM REGISTRATION through Feb. 16 at Riverview Park Activities Center for Dixie Youth Baseball, Dixie Boys’ Baseball, Girls’ Softball and Youth Soccer. Call (803) 441-4311 for more information.
FORE THE HEALTH OF IT ADAPTIVE GOLF CLINICS held the first Tuesday of every month at First Tee of Augusta. Physical and occupational therapists from Walton Rehabilitation Hospital will guide the course. Call 823-8691.
THE AUGUSTA FENCERS CLUB is now holding registration for beginning classes in foil fencing. Classes are held at the Augusta Fencers Club at 134 Ninth St. To register or for more information, call Dr. Rudy Volkmann at (706) 722-8878.
CHRONIC PAIN SUPPORT GROUP meets the first Thursday of every month, 10:30-11:30 a.m. at Walton Rehabilitation Hospital. 823-5294.
FAMILY Y YOUTH SOCCER REGISTRATION Feb. 23-March 12 at Southside Branch. Call 738-6678, 364-3669 or 738-6680 for details.
STROKE SUPPORT GROUP meets the last Wednesday of the month, 1-2 p.m., in the outpatient classroom at Walton Rehabilitation Hospital. 823-5213.
FAMILY Y RECREATIONAL GYMNASTICS session held March 8-May 14. Classes available for toddlers through teens. Call 738-6678.
WALTON REHABILITATION HOSPITAL AMPUTEE CLINIC for new and experienced prosthetic users meets the third Thursday of each month, 1-3 p.m. 722-1244.
THE AUGUSTA VOLLEYBALL ASSOCIATION is looking for new members. For more information, visit www.augustavolleyball.com.
WALTON REHABILITATION HOSPITAL offers a number of health programs, including Fibromyalgia Aquatics, Water Aerobics, Wheelchair and Equipment Clinics, Theraputic Massage, Yoga, Acupuncture, Children’s Medical Services Clinic, Special Needs Safety Seat Loaner Program, Focus on Healing exercise class for breast cancer survivors and more. Call 823-5294 for information.
AUGUSTA LYNX HOME GAMES Feb. 6-7, 12-13, 19-21 and 26. For tickets, call 724-4423 or visit www.augustalynx.com.
THE FEB. 10 INSTALLMENT OF TUESDAY’S MUSIC LIVE, NOON, AT ST. PAUL’S CHURCH, FEATURES MONTANA SKIES.
THE MCG BREAST CANCER SUPPORT GROUP meets the first Thursday of every month at 7 p.m. and provides education and support for those with breast cancer. For information, call 721-1467.
select schools, neighborhood drop-off, homework room and a hot evening meal. For information, call 733-2512.
DIET COUNSELING CLASSES for diabetics and those with high cholesterol at CSRA Partners in Health, 1220 Augusta West Parkway. Free. Call 860-3001 for class schedule.
FIRST SATURDAY STORYTELLING at the Lucy Craft Laney Museum. In addition, there is a tour of the museum. Held 10 a.m.-noon the first Saturday of the month. Call 724-3576.
PROJECT LINK COMMUNITY LECTURE SERIES is held the first Tuesday of every month and is sponsored by the MCG Children’s Medical Center. Project Link provides educational resources and guidance for families who have children with developmental delays, disabilities and other specialized health concerns. Free and open to the public; takes place from 6:308 p.m. in the main conference room at the Children’s Medical Center. Call 721-6838 for information. UNIVERSITY HEALTH CARE SYSTEM COMMUNITY EDUCATION holds workshops, seminars and classes on a variety of topics: weight and nutrition, women’s health, cancer, diabetes, seniors’ health and more. Support groups and health screenings are also offered. Call 736-0847 for details. FREE PULMONARY FUNCTION SCREENINGS on Feb. 17 from 1-3 p.m. at the University Hospital Asthma Clinic. Appointments required. Call 774-5696 for more information.
Kids CHILD SAFETY SEAT INSPECTIONS by SAFE KIDS of East Central Georgia and the MCG Children’s Medical Center on the first Wed. and Fri. of each month, by appointment only. To make an appointment or for more information, call 651-9300 (Wed. appointments) or 721-KIDS (Fri. appointments). PHINIZY SWAMP’S FAMILY DISCOVERY SERIES on Feb. 19 from 6-7:30 p.m. will feature a Twilight Walk through the enchanted forest swamp. Admission is free, and the Pfizer Pavilion will be open at 5 p.m. for those that wish to bring a picnic dinner. Call 828-2109 for more information. VALENTINE CARD WORKSHOP allows you to create a special card for someone special in your life at the Maxwell Branch of the East Central Georgia Library on Feb. 7 at 11 a.m. Ages 812 and parents welcome. Call 793-2020 for more information. YOUTH COMPUTER TRAINING for high school students every third Saturday of the month, 1:30-4:30 p.m. at the Wallace Branch Library. Call 722-6275.
FREE CAR SEAT EDUCATION CLASSES for parents and other caregivers the third Monday of every month from 9-11 a.m. at MCG Children’s Medical Center. Registration is required; those who are Medicaid or Peachcare eligible should indicate status during registration and bring a card or proof of income to class in order to receive a free car seat. 721-KIDS.
5th ANNUAL GEORGIA HERITAGE CELEBRATION will be held on Feb. 6 at various sites and the Augusta Commons. 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students from Richmond County schools will visit area museums, churches and other historic places of interest at 10 a.m. and will then go to the Augusta Commons for dedication of the town plan at 11:30. For more information, contact Kim Overstreet at 724-0436. “ONE NOBLE JOURNEY,” part of the Morris Museum of Art’s Children’s Performance Series, is to be presented at New York actor Mike Wiley on Feb. 14 at 2 p.m. Contact Tania BeasleyJolly at 724-7501 for more information. YOUTH FUN NIGHT at the Smith-Hazel Recreation Center on Feb. 13 from 7-10 p.m. Call (803) 642-7635 for more information. VALENTINES AFTER HOURS at Gibbs Library on Feb. 13, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Call 863-1946 for more information. STORY TIME at the Friedman Branch Library will feature Chief Gillespie of the Augusta Fire Dept. as guest reader on Feb. 17 at 10 and 10:30 a.m. 736-6758. STORY TIME at the Maxwell Branch Library will feature guest readers Father Billy Alford of on Feb. 11 at 10 a.m. and Henrietta Hudson on Feb. 18 at 10 a.m. Call 793-2020 for more information. FEBRUARY SCHOOL’S OUT PROGRAMS at the Family Y on Wheeler Rd. include games, arts and crafts, sports and more. Activities are scheduled Feb. 13 and 16 for Columbia County elementary students and Feb. 20 for Richmond County elementary students from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. For more information, call 738-7006.
Seniors AARP TAX ASSISTANCE provided through April 13 at Friedman Branch Library on Thursdays, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.; Maxwell Branch Library Tuesdays and Fridays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.; and at the Gibbs Memorial Library Tuesdays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Call the Friedman Branch at 736-6758, the Maxwell Branch at 793-2020 or the Gibbs Memorial Library at 863-1946 for more information. UNIVERSITY SENIORS CLUB has moved to a new location at 4106 Columbia Rd. University Seniors Club offers health screenings, support groups, health education classes and social activities. For more information, call 868-3231 or 1800-413-6652. HOME-BASED CARE available for low- to mid-income families seeking alternatives to nursing home placement. To participate, individuals must be aged 60 or up or must have disabili-
SENIOR VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR THE NEW VISITOR CENTER AT PHINIZY SWAMP NATURE PARK to greet visitors, hand out literature and sell merchandise. Volunteers are asked to commit one Saturday or Sunday per month, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. or 1-5 p.m. Call 828-2109 for information. AIKEN PARKS AND RECREATION offers a multitude of programs for senior adults, including bridge clubs, fitness classes, canasta clubs, line dancing, racquetball, arts and crafts, tennis and excursions. For more information, call (803) 642-7631. THE ACADEMY FOR LIFELONG LEARNING offers lectures, courses, field trips, discussion groups and community information seminars on a variety of topics to mature adults. For more information, contact the USC-Aiken Office of Continuing Education at (803) 641-3288. THE SENIOR CITIZENS COUNCIL OF GREATER AUGUSTA AND THE CSRA offers a variety of classes, including ballroom dance, aerobics, quilting, tai chi, Spanish, line dancing, bowling, bridge, computers, drama club/readers theatre and pinochle. For dates and times, phone 826-4480. SENIORNET provides adults age 50 and over education for and access to computer technology. Many different courses are offered. Contact the USC-Aiken Continuing Education Office at (803) 641-3563. AARP CHAPTER 266 MEETING on Feb. 10 from 2-3 p.m. at the Senior Citizens Council. Call 826-4480 for more information. POETRY READINGS presented by Life Enrichment Programs Nutrition Group on Feb. 11 from 10:15-11 a.m. at the Senior Citizens Council. Call 826-4480 for more information. DIXIE JUBILARIES QUARTET: Gospel singing by Roosevelt Walker, J.L. Lee, Herman Lee and Johnny Sims on Feb. 16 from 10-11 a.m. at the Senior Citizens Council. Call 826-4480 for more information. CPR TRAINING on Feb. 10 from 2-4 p.m. at the Senior Citizens Council. Cost is $25. Call 826-4480 for more information. AARP SENIOR DRIVER SAFETY PROGRAM on Feb. 17 and 19 from 1-5 p.m. at the Senior Citizens Council. Both sessions must be attended to receive the certificate, and all ages are welcome. Cost is $10. Contact Bobbie Olivero at 826-4480, ext. 242 for more information. SPIRITUAL MUSIC IN THE AM: In celebration of Black History Month, the Singing Roberts will perform at the Senior Citizens Council on on Feb. 18 from 10-11 a.m. All ages welcome. Call 826-4480 for more information.
Sports GREATER AUGUSTA SPORTS COUNCIL AWARDS GALA Feb. 5, 6 p.m., at the Radisson Riverfront Hotel Augusta. Keynote
Meetings BURKE COUNTY GENEALOGY SOCIETY MEETING at the Burke County Library on Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. Call 554-3277 for more information. CSRA VW CLUB meets every First Friday at 6th and Reynolds St. (Behind the Train Depot). Visit www.csravwclub.org for more information. New Beetles welcomed. “THE FIRST STEP” DIVORCE RECOVERY WORKSHOP meets Sundays through Feb. 29 from 4-6 p.m. in Room 201 of the Walton Building at First Baptist Church. Free to the public. Free childcare for kids up to age 5. No registration is required. For more information, call 733-2236 or visit www.fbcaugusta.org. WOMEN AND MEN ON THE MOVE meeting for motivated men and women who wish to discuss problems and possible solutions to issues in society. Meeting is on Feb. 13 from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Smith-Hazel Recreation Center in Aiken. Admission is free. Call (803) 42-7635 for more information. GIBBS LIBRARY BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP meets Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. to discuss “Blessing” by Anna Quindlen. Call 863-1946 for more information. AMERICAN SINGLES GOLF ASSOCIATION meets the 2nd Thursday of each month at different area restaurants. Meeting is free, but dinners are individually ordered. For more information, call (803) 441-6741. AUGUSTA CAVEMASTERS club meets the 1st Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Warren Road Community Center. Visitors are welcome. Contact Bill Gordon at (803) 278-2751 for more information. LOVE SHOULDN’T HURT: A FORUM ON DOMESTIC ABUSE will meet Feb. 13 in the Augusta Tech. Auditorium from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. For more information, contact Jean Langham at 724-6262, ext. 303. CSRA WRITERS meet Feb. 10 at 6:30 p.m. at Barnes & Noble. Writers needing a support group are invited to attend and bring eight copies of each manuscript to be critiqued. Contact Lela Turnbull at 738-4114 for more information. WOMEN ON WHEELS, a group of women motorcycle enthusiasts, meets on Feb. 10 at 7:30 p.m. The group meets at 6:30 p.m. for dinner. Location changes monthly. For more information, contact Vicki Hinton at 855-7375. GUIDELINES: Public service announcements are listed in this section without charge at the discretion of the editor. Announcements must be received by Monday at noon and will be included as space permits. Send to Events, Metro Spirit, P.O. Box 3809, Augusta, GA 30914 or fax (706) 733-6663. You may also e-mail listings to rhonda.jones@metrospirit.com or lisa.jordan@metrospirit.com. Listings cannot be taken over the phone.
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GIRLS INCORPORATED OF THE CSRA AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM runs through May 21. Open to girls currently enrolled in kindergarten through high school. In addition to offering specialized programs, Girls Incorporated offers van pick-up at
“A WALK THRU HISTORY” by the Georgia-Carolina council of the Boy Scouts of America on Feb. 7 at 9 a.m. The hike will begin and end at the Augusta Commons on Reynolds St. Please call David at 738-1142 for more information.
WALTON REHABILITATION HOSPITAL offers Arthritis Aquatics and People With Arthritis Can Exercise. Call 823-5294 for information.
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SPRING SOFTBALL of Aiken will hold an organizational meeting at Citizen’s Park, field II on Feb. 17. Call (803) 642-7761 for more information.
METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
AIKEN COUNTY PONY CLUB meets weekly. Open to children of all ages who participate or are interested in equestrian sports. For more information, contact Lisa Smith at (803) 649-3399.
WEEKLY STORY SESSIONS at all branch libraries. Visit www.ecgrl.public.lib.ga.us for more information.
ty status as defined by Social Security Administration guidelines. Applicants must also meet program income guidelines. For more information, contact the CSRA Area Agency on Aging at 210-2018 or 1-888-922-4464.
THE AUGUSTA RUGBY CLUB is always looking for new members. Teams available for women and men; no experience necessary. Practice is Tuesday and Thursday nights, 7-9 p.m. at Richmond Academy. For more information, call Don Zuehlke, 495-2043, or e-mail augustarfc@yahoo.com. You may also visit www.augustarugby.org.
Bomb Epic
Hollywood
Flix Must-See
Boring
Comedy Sleeper Oscar Pick Director Stars This Rocks Famous Silly
Awesome
Action
Ben Stiller has pungent moments of frenzy as insurance risk appraiser Reuben Feffer, panicked in the powder room of Polly (Jennifer Aniston), desperate for some paper and reduced to using her favorite new toiletry utensil. But the script could use a few extra flushes. He wants to impress Polly, ace Village gal whom Aniston sustains with her special combo of daffy-chick looseness and wisecracking sense. The movie is best when they're on-screen, fidgeting with romance. "Along Came Polly" has, by current standards of go-for-it mall comedy, regularity. You can laugh or wince or do both in sync, but you'd have to invoke the standards of a previous era to get genuinely offended by it (to be deeply amused, you'd need no standards). Cast: Ben Stiller, Jennifer Aniston, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alec Baldwin, Bryan Brown, Debra Messing, Hank Azaria. Running time: 1 hr., 30 mins. (Elliott) !!
Barbershop 2: Back in Business (PG-13) — Ice Cube and pals are back in this sequel, in which they’re still cutting hair down at Calvin’s barbershop. The business is no longer in jeopardy because of Calvin’s money problems — now, the threat is the new coffee shops, chain stores and other retail outlets that are stripping the neighborhood of its character and driving mom-and-pop enterprises out of business. Cast: Ice Cube, Cedric the Entertainer, Sean Patrick Thomas, Eve, Queen Latifah. The Big Bounce (PG-13) — Owen Wilson is surfin' driftwood Jack, Sara Foster as the Oahu orchid who lures him into more than his usual petty crimes, Gary Sinise as the rich ape who keeps her as a mistress and Morgan
Freeman as Walter, the sly beachnik and owner of funky bungalows. Nancy wants Jack to skim the cash of shady developer Ray (Sinise), while his stooge (Charlie Sheen) schleps and fumbles, panting for Nancy. Freeman's Walter observes all, smiles with cobra savvy, makes even the unflapped Jack nervous. This comedy tries for some suspense, jokingly. The climax comes as a shrug and a blur, with the feeling of outtakes hashed together. Even when the plot curves into flip resolution, there is a tone of dismissal, which is a poor way to treat an audience. Cast: Owen Wilson, Morgan Freeman, Sara Foster, Charlie Sheen, Harry Dean Stanton, Willie Nelson, Gary Sinise. Running time: 1 hr., 37 mins. (Elliott) !! Big Fish (PG-13) — The center of this film is stolid William Bloom (Billy Crudup). Near the end of his father's long life, Bill is still peeved with the old boy for telling so many tall stories, for endlessly embroidering the truth with his drawlin' Dixie whoppers. Beneficiaries of his motorized mouth include wife Sandy (Jessica Lange) and Jenny, the woman who wanted him, a pinin' lady of the pines (Helena Bonham Carter). The movie isn't deep or risky enough to earn the catch in the throat it finally asks for. But it has the appeal of good times remembered, and cute, cranky lines like, "Most things considered wicked are simply lonely and lacking in social niceties." Cast: Albert Finney, Ewan McGregor, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Carter, Steve Buscemi. Running time: 1 hr., 50 mins. (Elliot) !!1/2 Brother Bear (G) — Latest Disney animated offering about a young man, Kenai, who is transformed by The Great Spirits into a bear. On a quest to gain back his human form, Kenai befriends a bear cub, Koda, and evades his human brother, who, not realizing Kenai has been turned into a bear, is on Kenai’s trail on a revenge mission. Cast: Jeremy Suarez, Joaquin Phoenix, Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas.
”
METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
fec tS c or e
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Evan Treborn, Ashton Kutcher is a floppy fishie with a hook in his mouth, and that hook is the script. Seems that Evan's dad is a deranged psycho with a "most unusual" brain disorder who, during the boy's visit to the ward, tries to throttle and kill him. As Evan grows up, there are other lurid milestones. Evan has a breakthrough: Reading his old diaries, the pages quiver and this lets him mentally travel back to a past he can now change. In the middle, gulping like a caught
“The Per
Paramount Pictures
The Butterfly Effect (R) — As
RATINGS !!!! — Excellent
20th Century Fox
Along Came Polly (PG-13) —
Funny
Not Bad
at Kid” tch Th
Drama
Masterpiece
“ Ca
Lame
bass, is Kutcher, aching with sincerity and technique you could call inadequate except that no technique would be adequate. The poor guy is caught, stuffed and mounted. Cast: Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, Elden Henson, Kevin Schmidt, Eric Stoltz, William Lee Scott. Running time: 1 hr., 53 mins. (Elliott) ! Calendar Girls (PG-13) — The story begins in tragedy: Annie's (Julie Walters) wise, gentle husband John (John Alderton) contracts, then dies of, leukemia. Wanting to do something, she determines to provide a decent sofa for the visitors to the hospital's sick and dying patients. What better way than through the Women's Institute's annual calendar? How to boost sales? She and her naughty-girl girlfriend Chris (Helen Mirren) come up with a most improbable scheme and enlist enough of their fellow 40- and 50-something W.I. members to make it happen. Mirren and Walters simply don't have enough story to work with; they seem almost to be flailing in their attempt to gin up some drama from the flaccid script. Cast: Helen Mirren, Julie Walters, John Alderton, Linda Bassett, Penelope Wilton. Running time: 1 hr., 48 mins. (Salm) !! The Cat in the Hat (PG) — This bulldozing movie has about as much to do with Dr. Seuss’ witty and impressively drawn kids' books as Adam Sandler has with Molière. It's a brash defilement of Geisel's most famous work, yet so compulsively cheery that people might try to ignore the obvious. Mike Myers plays the Cat in a big hat and costume of fake fur that stifles his amusing features. He's supposed to be the spirit of wild, impish fun, helping lift the depressed scamp Conrad (pudgy, likable Spencer Breslin) and his control-freak sister, Sally (Dakota Fanning), a dwarfish total woman who starts off each day by making a list. Director Bo Welch's technique is to
!!!— Worthy
!! — Mixed
! — Poor
just keep hurling (both senses of the word apply). His tireless approach is astoundingly tiresome. Cast: Mike Myers, Dakota Fanning, Alec Baldwin, Spencer Breslin, Kelly Preston. Running time: 1 hr., 32 mins. (Elliott) ! Catch That Kid (PG) — The film is an English-language remake of a Danish kids’ movie. 12-year-old Maddy and her father are avid mountain climbers, but an accident on Mount Everest leaves Maddy’s father paralyzed. His only chance at recovery is an expensive operation, so Maddy recruits two friends to break into a bank and steal enough money to cover the expense of the surgery. Cast: Kristen Stewart, Corbin Bleu, Jennifer Beals, Sam Robards.
Cheaper by the Dozen (PG) — To make an old (1950) Clifton Webb comedy without Clifton Webb is a serious loss, but getting Steve Martin — a vanilla-shaked version of Webb's snappish fussiness — is not a bad idea for "Cheaper by the Dozen." He's engaging as Tom Baker, football coach and father of 12 kids. Bonnie Hunt plays the wife and mom, Kate, looking awfully good despite the wear. The Bakers have a great life in a small town where Tom coaches, but he's hired to go to a bigger team outside Chicago, and the only story is the stress on the family from their move. The film is simple and obvious and plastic, but diverting. Designed to be fluff, it's fluffy all the time. Cast: Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt, Piper Perabo, Hilary Duff, Richard Jenkins. Running time: 1 hr., 34 mins. (Elliott) !! Cold Mountain (R) — Sick of the war, the wounded Confederate soldier Inman (Jude Law) trudges back home to Cold Mountain, N.C. Waiting for him, he hopes, is the woman he briefly knew, Ada (Nicole Kidman), the polished daughter of a preacher (Donald Sutherland). It's their unrequited love that draws Inman back, along with the land, and that keeps
0— Not worthy
Looney Tunes: Back in Action (PG) — Director Joe Dante's hip game plan is a double-decker: one deck of entertainment for kids (and teens who don't scoff at kids' movies), another for the grown, if not greatly more adult, viewers. Brendan Frasier stars with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and the stable of Warner Bros. cartoon characters. Joining Frasier are Timothy Dalton, Joan Cusack, Jenna Elfman, Locklear and Steve Martin as the mastermind villian. Running time: 1 hr., 32 mins. (Elliot) !!!
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (PG-13) — lasts 200 minutes, and some of those are long minutes.
Lost in Translation (R) — “Lost in Translation”
k in Busi ness ”
MGM/UA
follows two guests at a Tokyo hotel whose lives intertwine following a chance encounter at the hotel bar. The guests are Bob, a middle-aged actor in Tokyo to film whiskey commercials, and Charlotte, the young wife of a mostly absent photographer. Unable to sleep one night, the two head down to the bar for a drink, where they meet and forge a friendship based on their mutual loneliness and boredom. Cast: Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Giovanni Ribisi, Anna Faris, Fumihiro Hayashi, Yutaka Tadokoro. Rnning time: 1 hr., 42 mins. Miracle (PG) — “Miracle” is based on the true story of the 1980 U.S. hockey team’s unlikely Olympic victory over the Russian team. The movie examines the victory through the eyes of coach Herb Brooks. Cast: Kurt Russell, Eddie Cahill, Patricia Clarkson, Noah Emmerich, Michael Coristine. The Missing (R) — Cate Blanchett is again superb, as a flinty frontier mom who rides hard across 1870s New Mexico, chasing a mostly Apache band that took her daughter, slowly making up with her long absent and "gone Injun" father (Tommy Lee Jones). Ron Howard directed with a true eye for detail and landscape, Eric Schweig is an alarmingly vicious sorcerer, the brutality is frequent and not for tender viewers. Running time: 2 hrs., 10 mins. (Elliott) !!! My Baby’s Daddy (PG-13) — A trio of partying bachelors from the ‘hood must curb their wild ways when they discover all three of their girlfriends are pregnant at the same time. Cast: Eddie Griffin, Anthony Anderson, Method Man, Bai Ling, Paula Jai Parker. Mystic River (R) — Clint Eastwood (directing) and writer Brian Helgeland heap loads of emotional freight on a slow, solemn barge of plot. Its core is a police case (Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne fine as the detectives) about a murder haunted by a past crime. Sean Penn does furious brooding and manly weeping as a dead girl's father, Tim Robbins is a haunted wreck as an abuse victim, Laura Linney and Marcia Gay Harden are sidelined. From its portentous title to its Boston Irish pride parade, the film aches for greatness and achieves high TV drama; the case wrap-up is rushed and fishy. Running time: 2 hrs., 20 mins. (Elliott) !!
p ho
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junior advertising exec with secrets. He's nearly broke and he lied on his resume to get his job. Then the worst-case scenario happens: His deception is discovered after he helps to land a major account for the company. Then he learns that his Aunt Sally has passed away and he's expected to attend her funeral as her last surviving relative. Darrin learns that he'll gain a huge inheritance if he whips the church choir into shape in time for a gospel contest. This is where "The Fighting Temptations" falls into the pit of stupidity. What saves the movie from being a total stinker is the music. As for Gooding, he seems to have confused charm and enthusiasm for acting. Cast: Cuba Gooding Jr., Beyonce Knowles, Mike Epps, Melba Moore, Angie Stone, The O'Jays, Montell Jordan and Rue McClanahan. Running time: 1 hr., 28 mins. (McCormick) !! Honey (PG-13) — Like having the fluids drained out of your system and replaced by a sugarloaded, mixed-drink concoction of a color not found in nature. Honey Daniels (Jessica Alba) bartends, dances and teaches hip-hop dance at a youth center. Discovered, she makes a fast splash as a music-video dancer and choreographer. There are jolts of energy from occasional moments of hip-hop frenzy, but the editing is so rapid-fire that what appears on the screen looks more like a video game than dance. Will Honey remember her old pals in the 'hood? Why, yes. First "Radio," now this; uplift has never seemed so enervating. Running time: 1 hr., 28 mins. (Salm) !1/2 The Last Samurai (R) — Tom Cruise stars as Nathan Algren, a heroic Civil War veteran and then embittered cavalry man, reduced to heavy drinking and shilling for a gun company. Algren goes to Japan, paid to train the new imperial army in modern ways and weapons. But he finds himself drawn to the insurgent cause and almost idyllic life in the hills of samurai leader Katsumoto (Watanabe), who fights for the old ways and hopes to win over the adolescent emperor from greedy modernists. Having come to teach, Algren stays to learn. He is captured after impressing Katsumoto with his fighting spirit; the "barbarian" has a tiger within. "The Last Samurai" bides its time, has a predictable plot, but gives pleasure of a sustained kind. Cast: Tom Cruise, Ken Watanabe, Tony Goldwyn, Timothy Spall, Koyuki. Running time: 2 hrs., 24 mins. (Elliott) !!!
tongued Francesca, so smart she could easily ace her SATs, but would rather have the challenge of breaking into the test company and stealing the answers. With her new buddies in crime — played by Chris Evans (cute), Bryan Greenberg (ditto), Erika Christensen (double ditto), plus tall, amusingly solemn Darius Miles, plus Leonardo Nam as a slacker-doper who is comic relief but tries too hard — it's just a matter of cutting locks, slinking through a skylight and doing some quick computer work. The perky if almost senseless twist is that to break through the computer code they must answer a battery of SAT
ac 2: B
The Fighting Temptations (PG-13) — Cuba Gooding Jr. plays Darrin, a
The last 20 can feel like an hour, for clearly creator Peter Jackson didn't wish to let his saga go. Bernard Hill, Viggo Mortensen and Orlando Bloom are impressive fighters, and Cate Blanchett makes a gorgeous Galadriel. This is posing, not acting. Sir Ian McKellen acts very well as noble Gandalf, but lines about heart, courage and fate make him Lord Fortune Cookie. "Lord" is all epic, all the time. Jackson loves battles, which means hurling dense masses of mostly computerized fighters at one another. If the climax battle this time is more overpowering than the Helm's Deep boggler in "Two Towers," does it truly deepen the story? Maybe it is just more spectacle, as climaxes are stacked high and then the epic winds down with Elijah Woods as Frodo (now mildly matured) exiting sweetly, his destiny done. Cast: Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, Cate Blanchett, Viggo Mortensen, Ian Holm, Orlando Bloom, Sean Astin. Running time: 3 hrs., 20 mins. !!
“B ar b
Ada going as she learns how to survive in the almost lawless country. Pushed along by old tunes that burr and rasp in the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" mode, the movie has rhythm, but it overall feels like just one darn hard day after another. Cast: Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweger, Brendan Gleeson, Natalie Portman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Donald Sutherland, Giovanni Ribisi. Running time: 2 hrs., 21 mins. (Elliott) !!1/2 Elf (PG) — Years ago, a human boy was adopted by one of Santa’s elves after sneaking a ride back to the North Pole in Santa’s bag of presents. Now, he’s fully grown, his height and clumsy nature impeding his duties in the workshop. He decides it’s time to travel to the human world and search for his family. Taking a job as a department store Elf, he inspires humans to believe in Santa Claus. Cast: Will Ferrell, James Caan, Zooey Deschanel, Bob Newhart, Mary Steenburgen.
The Perfect Score (PG-13) — Scarlett Johansson plays cool, edgy, dressy, snark-
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Something’s Gotta Give (PG13) — Jack Nicholson plays with his cruising wolf
image and his age (66), sporting with them as compulsive single Harry Langer. Harry's latest find for a fling is svelte Marin (Amanda Peet), an auctioneer who treats him like a lusty antique. They go to her divorced parents' beach house. But when he meets mother Erica (Keaton), a playwright, the awkward moments quiver. Harry has a sudden heart crisis. He ends up stuck for a night with Erica. What happens is silly, knowing, witty, touching and abetted deftly by a terrific score. When someone says of Erica's new play, "It's sweet, it's smart, it's funny," that serves as a review of the movie. Critics should be pleased to echo it. Cast: Jack Nicholson, Diane Keaton, Keanu Reeves, Frances McDormand, Amanda Peet. Running time: 1 hr., 47 mins. (Elliott) !!!! Stuck on You (PG-13) — The movie is like a Pez machine dispensing pellets of gags about being "conjoined twins," as they fear and hate the term Siamese twins: "We're not Siamese!" No, they're the different-looking, but joined Bob (Matt Damon), the quiet one, and Walt (Greg Kinnear), the "on" one. United by gut flab and a shared liver, they work in a burger joint. But Walt has giddy acting aspirations. So they go to Hollywood. Kinnear has rumpled lightness as this show guy who just happens to have a 160-pound brother to haul around like a talking tumor, while Damon sulks and frets, perhaps pondering why his other half isn't Ben Affleck. None of this is awful — it has a brisk spirit of whimsy — but it all runs in a very narrow groove. Cast: Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Eva Mendes, Cher, Wen Yann Shih, Seymour Cassel, Meryl Streep. Running time: 1 hr., 45 mins. (Elliott) !!
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (R) — It’s a remake of the origi-
nal film and based loosely on true events that inspired that film and “The Silence of the Lambs.” A group of friends becomes isolated in the midst of a clan of cannibals. Cast: Jessica Biel, Jonathan Tucker, Eric Balfour, Erica Leerhsen. Torque (PG-13) — Biker Cary Ford returns to the hometown he left after taking several motorcycles belonging to a notorious drug dealer. The dealer is looking for his bikes, which contain a hidden stash in their gas tanks. When Ford refuses to give up the bikes, the dealer frames him for the murder of a rival gang leader. Now, Ford must outrun the drug dealer, a biker gang and the FBI. Cast: Martin Henderson, Monet Mazur, Ice Cube, Jay Hernandez, Matt Schulze.
Win a Date With Tad Hamilton (PG-13) — When a teenage girl wins a contest in which the grand prize is a chance to date Hollywood’s most eligible bachelor, she finds herself in a love triangle with him and her best friend. You Got Served (PG-13) — Elgin and David are best friends who are serious about their hobby: urban street dancing. When another town’s top group challenges them to a dancing competition, the boys must create new, cutting-edge moves to stay in the game. Cast: Marques Houston, Omari Grandberry, Jennifer Freeman, Jarrell Houston, Dreux Frederic. —Capsules compiled from movie reviews written by David Elliott, film critic for The San Diego Union-Tribune and other staff writers.
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third film in the “Scary Movie” series once again spoofs a series of recent horror hits, fantasy epic films and other pop culture sensations, including “8 Mile,” “The Matrix,” “The Ring,” “The Others” and “Signs.” Cast: David Zucker, Anna Faris, Charlie Sheen, Regina Hall, Denise Richards.
METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
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questions. The movie seems meant for people who never placed higher than 600 on their SATs — for whom, in fact, Einstein is a bagel. Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Erika Christensen, Chris Evans, Darius Miles, Leonardo Nam, Bryan Greenberg, Matthew Lillard. Running time: 1 hr., 32 mins. (Elliott) !1/2 Peter Pan (PG) — P.J. Hogan's film is like a cyberized revamp of Disney, but everything is brighter, fuller, glitzier, with live actors and lots of matted effects. Capt. Hook's pirate ship is a virtual theme park awaiting customers. The feared crocodile seems to be from some Jurassic park. Clouds are so pink and cotton-candied you expect Peter and the others to get stuck in them. The magic can get a little ballistic. It's a remarkably sensual film. The action scenes are amusingly zestful, Peter is adorable but not too cute, the pirates are a spry bunch of uglies, but it's the characters connecting emotionally that makes "Peter Pan" fly. For kids, the movie is a sure thing. Cast: Jason Isaacs, Jeremy Sumpter, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Lynn Redgrave, Olivia Williams, Richard Briars. Running time: 1 hr., 32 mins. (Elliott) !!! Radio (PG) — Ed Harris is Harold Jones, the coach of the high school football team in a small South Carolina town. Coach Jones takes pity on James (Cuba Gooding Jr.), a mentally handicapped young man who mutely pushes his shopping cart past the practice field every day, and makes him a kind of team, then school, mascot. Nicknamed Radio, he melts the heart of almost everyone he encounters. A few antagonists enter and exit periodically. The schmaltz-intolerant would be wise simply to Fed-Ex seven bucks and a vial of tears directly to Columbia Pictures. Cast: Cuba Gooding Jr. Ed Harris, Brent Sexton, Riley Smith. Running time: 1 hr., 46 mins.
(Salm) !1/2
Scary Movie 3 (PG-13) — The
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“The Big Bounce” Is a Mediocre but Entertaining Remake By David Elliott
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flix: review
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hings can come around, often pointlessly. Thirtyfive years ago, a mediocre movie was made of Elmore Leonard’s “The Big Bounce,” with Ryan O’Neal, Leigh Taylor-Young and Van Heflin near the end of his career (but not the dead end: “Airport”). Now a mediocre but mildly entertaining remake arrives, with Owen Wilson as surfin’ driftwood Jack, Sara Foster as the Oahu orchid and beach bait who lures him into more than his usual petty crimes, Gary Sinise as the rich ape who keeps her as a mistress and (bonus) Morgan Freeman as Walter, the sly beachnik and owner of funky bungalows. As Nancy, Foster is a streamlined party attraction who goes well with Wilson’s breezy, hip-dude charm. They keep nudging and nuzzling each other, vital animals in the Hawaiian sun, their cynical appetites meshing. Jack has a mood of passing love, and they trade snappy little digs and come-ons in a Mai Tai Lite variant on Bogart and Bacall, or Mitchum and Greer or even (this arc heads down) O’Neal and Taylor-Young. Director George Armitage, working one nip above Alex March in 1969, occupies himself with scenic framings. There are many shots of rolling surf, Nancy often nearly nude and Jack keeping pace. It’s like the Hawaiian swimsuit issue of “Sports Illustrated,” scanned after luau pig and lots of drinks, as “Patricia” drifts in from “La Dolce Vita.”
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METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
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Nancy wants Jack to skim the cash of shady developer Ray (Sinise), while his stooge (Charlie Sheen) schleps and fumbles, panting for Nancy. Freeman’s Walter observes all, smiles with cobra savvy, making even the unflapped Jack nervous. It undermines a froth movie to put lightweights like Wilson, Foster and Sheen in scenes with a stone-true champ like Freeman (Sinise is just a passing glare and snarl). The kids enjoy their mock-noir attitude party, then here comes Papa Morgan, who drops a line like, “God is an imaginary friend for grown-ups,” so that it winks with real gravity — later, Wilson flops the line out of his mouth and is boyishly puzzled. There is some casual, slouching ‘70s appeal, which asks us to enjoy the actors enjoying making it. Wilson and Foster have peachy repartee rhythms and look fine in a revolving bed above the surf, and there is a cute scene of Wilson playing dominoes with Freeman and the grand relics Willie Nelson and Harry Dean Stanton. This comedy tries for some suspense, jokingly. The climax comes as a shrug and a blur, with the feeling of outtakes hashed together. Even when the plot curves into flip resolution, there is a tone of dismissal, which is a poor way to treat an audience. The sign of surrender is when Bebe Neuwirth appears as the alcoholic wife of slob Sinise. She is a slurring plot device, and the movie’s perky, tonic buzz falls into hangover.
flix: review
reel time REGAL AUGUSTA EXCHANGE 20
Americans Beat the Russians at Their Own Game in “Miracle” By: Rachel Deahl
Movies Good 2/6 - 2/12 Barbershop 2 (PG-13) Fri-Sat: 12:00, 1:30,
2:00, 2:30, 4:15, 4:45, 5:15, 7:00, 7:30, 8:00, 9:45, 10:15, 10:45, 12:15; Sun-Thur: 12:00, 1:30, 2:00, 2:30, 4:15, 4:45, 5:15, 7:00, 7:30, 8:00, 9:45, 10:15, 10:45 Catch That Kid (PG) Fri-Sat: 12:10, 2:25, 4:40, 7:05, 9:25, 11:40; Sun-Thur: 12:10, 2:25, 4:40, 7:05, 9:25 The Big Bounce (PG-13) Fri-Sat: 5:10, 9:55, 12:20; Sun-Thur: 5:10, 9:55 Lost in Translation (R) Fri-Sat: 12:05, 2:20, 4:45, 7:15, 9:40, 12:10; Sun-Thur: 12:05, 2:20, 4:45, 7:15, 9:40 The Perfect Score (PG-13) 12:40, 2:55, 5:30, 8:15, 10:35 You Got Served (PG-13) Fri-Sat: 11:55, 12:25, 2:10, 2:40, 4:30, 5:00, 6:55, 7:50, 9:15, 10:10, 11:35, 12:25; Sun-Thurs: 11:55, 12:25, 2:10, 2:40, 4:30, 5:00, 6:55, 7:50, 9:15, 10:10 Miracle (PG) 12:30, 1:00, 3:30, 4:00, 7:10, 7:40, 10:10, 10:40 Cheaper by the Dozen (PG) 11:50, 2:10, 4:35, 7:00 The Butterfly Effect (R) 12:05, 2:40, 5:20, 7:55, 10:35 Mystic River (R) 12:30, 3:40, 6:45, 9:50 Along Came Polly (PG-13) Fri-Sat: 12:35, 2:50, 5:05, 7:20, 9:35, 11:50; Sun-Thur: 12:35, 2:50, 5:05, 7:20, 9:35 Torque (PG-13) Fri-Sat: 1:20, 3:25, 5:35, 8:05, 10:20, 12:25; Sun-Thur: 1:20, 3:25, 5:35, 8:05, 10:20 Win a Date With Tad Hamilton (PG-13) FriSat: 3:00, 7:45, 12:05; Sun-Thur: 3:00, 7:45 Big Fish (PG-13) 4:10, 10:30 Calendar Girls (PG-13) 2:35, 7:25 My Baby’s Daddy (PG-13) 12:45, 5:25,10:00 Cold Mountain (R) 12:20, 3:35, 6:50, 10:05 Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (PG-13) 12:00, 4:05, 8:10 Something’s Gotta Give (PG-13) 1:05, 7:35 The Last Samurai (R) 9:30
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MASTERS 7 CINEMAS
Movies Good 2/6 – 2/12 Gothika (R) Fri: 5:05, 7:30, 9:50; Sat-Sun: 1:05, 3:05, 5:05, 7:30, 9:50; Mon-Thur: 5:05, 7:30, 9:50 Peter Pan (PG) Fri: 4:15, 7:10, 9:40; SatSun: 1:45, 4:15, 7:10, 9:40; Mon-Thur: 4:15, 7:10, 9:50 Stuck on You (PG-13) Fri: 4:30, 7:00, 9:30; Sat-Sun: 2:00, 4:30, 7:00, 9:30; Mon-Thur: 4:30, 7:00, 9:30 The Missing (R) Fri: 4:00, 6:50, 9:25; SatSun: 1:00, 4:00, 6:50, 9:25; Mon-Thur: 4:00, 6:50, 9:25 Elf (PG) Fri: 5:10, 7:15, 9:20; Sat-Sun: 12:55, 3:10, 5:10, 7:15, 9:20; Mon-Thur: 5:10, 7:15, 9:20 Radio (PG) Fri: 4:45, 7:05, 9:35; Sat-Sun: 1:30, 4:45, 7:05, 9:35; Mon-Thur: 4:45, 7:05, 9:35 Scary Movie 3 (PG-13) Fri: 7:25, 9:45; SatSun: 7:25, 9:45; Mon-Thur: 7:25, 9:45 Brother Bear (G) Fri: 5:00; Sat-Sun: 1:00, 3:00, 5:00; Mon-Thur: 5:00 REGAL 12 CINEMAS
Movies Good 2/6 – 2/12 Gothika (R) 2:30, 5:00, 7:45, 9:50 Peter Pan (PG) 2:00, 4:35, 7:10, 9:35 Stuck on You (PG-13) 1:55, 4:25, 7:00, 9:30 Looney Tunes (PG) 2:15, 4:15, 7:35, 9:45 Honey (PG-13) 2:20, 4:30, 7:40, 9:55 Cat in the Hat (PG) 2:40, 4:50, 7:30, 9:25 Texas Chainsaw Massacre (R) 2:35, 4:45, 7:20, 9:40 Elf (PG) 2:05, 4:10, 7:05, 9:15 Scary Movie 3 (PG-13) 2:45, 4:55, 7:50, 9:55 Radio (PG) 2:10, 4:40, 7:15, 9:40 Brother Bear (G) 2:25, 4:20, 7:25, 9:20 The Fighting Temptations (PG-13) 1:55, 4:25, 7:00, 9:30
EVANS 14 CINEMAS
M O V I E L I S T I N G S A R E S U B J E C T C H A N G E W I T H O U T N O T I C E .
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Russians by, well, literally beating them at their own game. In some respects, it’s the oldest trick in the book. After all, how does Rocky overcome the unstoppable Drago in “Rocky IV”? He fights his own little Cold War, quite literally, by hauling lumber through the snow in the Russian countryside. And, as Brooks pushes his young charges too far — after the team ties Sweden in their first game, their fuming coach sends them back on the ice to skate suicides well into the wee hours of the evening — we, too, pity them as we did Rock. Because, like the Italian Stallion, who was going up against a much younger, stronger, faster and meaner-looking foe, pumped with steroids, the Americans (who were predominantly young college players) were looking at terrible odds. But, given the film’s title and the course of history, we know the outcome. That said, the stakes are high and the sports metaphors and motifs — corny and expected as they may be — never fail. Russell, who himself wanted to be a professional baseball player more than a professional actor, seems made for the role of Brooks, a man so driven to win he could maddeningly and wonderfully lose sight of everything else. There is no shortage of stories about coaches who see fit to mistreat their players in the hopes of bringing them together, but the only ones worth telling are about the guys who made it work. Brooks is one of those guys. And what he did with a team of college kids who were outmatched and underqualified is nothing short of miraculous.
Showtimes for Evans 14 Cinemas were not
METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
f you’re like me, you still don’t know what the term icing really means, or what differentiates a legal check from a penalty. In other words, if you’re like me, you know precious little about ice hockey. Of course Disney’s new feel-good sports film, “Miracle,” which documents the unexpected U.S. Olympic victory over Russia at the 1980 Games in Lake Placid, isn’t about hockey. Like the Mouse corporation’s similarly themed, plotted and played 2000 film, “Remember the Titans,” which followed the tumultuous 1971 season of a racially integrated high school football team in Virginia, “Miracle” is a potent, if obvious, tearjerker about those rare moments when a game captures the promise, potential and wonder of human existence. Kurt Russell stars as the mysterious and hard-nosed coach, Herb Brooks. Brooks, who coached the college team at the University of Minnesota, was chasing after a ghost in his pursuit of Olympic gold. After being cut from the 1960 Olympic team before the squad hit the ice, Brooks held onto the dream for 20 years. So it goes in the film. And, in an attempt to beat a supposedly unbeatable Russian squad (at the time the former Soviets were generally known as the best hockey team in the world), Brooks adopted an unusual strategy: To act Russian. Ruling with an iron fist, so to speak, Brooks pushed his players beyond their physical and emotional limits and remained mostly closed-off and enigmatic in the process. In so doing, he managed to pull a victory for the ol’ U.S. of A. from the
available at press time. Check www.metrospirit.com for showtimes as they become available.
MUSIC Lokal Loudness Awards Show Gives Musicians a Chance To Shine
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ast Saturday night at Crossroads, it seemed like there was nowhere to stand without getting in somebody’s way. Move a little to the left, and you’re blocking someone’s view of the band. Move a little to the right, and you’re loitering smack in the middle of the main walkway. But the discomfort caused by the bar’s standing-room-only status was a small price to pay to watch some of Augusta’s most deserving musicians receive the accolades of their fans and peers — not to mention hearing sets by Augusta acts of all descriptions. The annual Lokal Loudness awards show is always a chance to pull together Augusta’s diverse musical scene, and the 2004 shindig was no exception. Estrela kicked off the night with a rocking performance, after which the first award of the night was given out — Adam Hatfield won the award for Favorite Local Guitarist. Fellow Big Mighty member Levi Pulaski took home Favorite Local Bassist and Andrew Benjamin won Favorite Local
Frontperson/Vocalist. The Jeremy Carr band delivered an excellent set which played up one of Carr’s strengths — engaging interaction with the audience. Then came more awards — Favorite Local Drummer went to Brian Allen, Favorite Local Miscellaneous Instrument Player went to Henry Wynn and Favorite Local Solo Artist went to Shaun Piazza. The Vellotones’ set was all about having a good time. The Favorite Local Female and Male Performers were crowned — Eryn Eubanks and Doug James, respectively. After a signature performance by Josh Pierce — who also did admirable double duty by serving as the event’s emcee — the Merritt Award went to The Vellotones and Cycle earned the award for Favorite Local All-Ages Band. Turtleneck capitalized on their unique style with a punked-out set and a win for Song of the Year. “The 12 Bands of Christmas” compilation for charity was awarded CD Release of the Year. The Sixth Hour brought down the house with an energetic performance, and Band of the Year The Big Mighty wrapped up another night of local music camaraderie.
ANDREW BENJAMIN
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METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
THE BIG MIGHTY
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The Slackers Hypnotize With Ska/Reggae Groove By Andy Stokes
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METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004 39
of their winning elements: Lyn and Ruggiero’s gritty but soulfully introspective lyrics, heavy snare drum back beats that ring like an old, rusty 55-gallon barrel and a horn section as sloppily tasteful as a bowl of seafood gumbo. However, the creep towards reggae has raised the obvious question: What business have The Slackers playing such drowsy beats coming from the city that never sleeps? Whatever the reason, The Slackers have used that formula on their latest release, 2003’s “Close My Eyes,” which finds the group harnessing the raw energy of an early-‘80s CBGB’s punk show and the carefree but uncompromising attitude of the islands 1,500 miles south. Sure, the production leans toward lo-fi, but that’s the only way The Slackers would have it. They would much rather take you down the bumpy, unpaved roads of the Caribbean; you can’t see the true countryside from the paved main roads. Lyrically, “Close My Eyes” is heavily stitched with political rhetoric. Expect The Slackers to continue in the tradition of reggae artists speaking out against government oppression. On “Real War,” The Slackers take a direct shot at war-hungry politicians: “The heads of state want to start a war/just from a three-letter word,” but then move to the more important issue: “Time to fight the real war/against hunger and poverty.” However, “Close My Eyes” is not all social consciousness and war protest. On the album’s instrumental opener, “Shankbon,” The Slackers are at their absolute best, quickly moving from the album’s dragging, percussive start into a double-time stomp that features a Zorn-like solo from each horn, to a perfect Studio-One organ display by Ruggiero. The track could easily be their theme song. On Wednesday, Feb. 11, The Slackers will be making a stop at the Hangnail Gallery. Anyone in search of a good local show would be hard-pressed to find a better one. The live experience could best be described by Lyn. “It’s not a show, it’s a party,” he said. “When we are on stage, it’s as if we were at someone’s house party. … The Slackers are just a party band.”
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oday’s New York music scene is so trendy, so exclusive, that even a slight variation from the current norm almost ensures immediate rejection. So where, you might ask, would a seven-piece ska/roots reggae band — that cares very little about temporary trends or onstage fashion — fit in? Enter The Slackers, a group soon to visit Augusta whose sound is so completely out of place in NYC that you’d be left scratching your head in wonder if only it would stop nodding to their hypnotic groove. And to answer the question, they don’t exactly fit in. That’s the beauty of it. Coming together on the Lower East Side in early 1990, The Slackers (vocalist Marc Lyn, guitarist T.J. Scanlon, bassist Marcus Geard, keyboardist Victor Ruggiero, saxophonist David Hillyard, trombonist Glen Pine and drummer Allen Teboul) gained an immediate following, establishing themselves as one of the most electric and entertaining live acts in NYC. That steadily growing fan base and a shared love of the stage soon led to a record deal with the Moon Ska label. Upon the release of their full-length debut, “Better Late Than Never,” The Slackers pulled off a musical hat-trick: They avoided being accused of alienating their fans or selling out while winning the favor of New York’s often harsh music critics (no small feat, especially for ska musicians, often the neglected stepchildren of alternative music). This debut even prompted The New York Times to label The Slackers “the sound of New York.” With each successive release (after their debut, they moved to Epitaph for a few releases, and then to Rancid’s Hellcat label), The Slackers displayed amazing growth, evolving from the nervous, comical and nearly always playedway-too-fast sound of younger ska bands like Sublime and Reel Big Fish to a swaggering, earthy and more danceable half-time one-drop you would expect to hear coming from the West Indies. Within the span of only a handful of releases, Slackers fans were convinced that any of the band’s further releases would lack none
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Glen Road Keeps Tradition Alive
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METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
Jimmy Young Book Signing Tuesday 7-9 PM
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raditional Irish music isn’t just a passion for Glen Road member Turlach Boylan — it’s in his blood. A native Irishman transplanted to Houston for what was supposed to be a two-year engineering training program, Boylan has stayed on in the United States to play music festivals, concerts and school programs with Glen Road. “I started playing Irish music as a teenager,” says Boylan, who won the AllIreland Senior Flute Slow Airs competition in 1986. “Greg (Brown) began playing when he was 7 in Newfoundland, and Mike (Dugger) started playing music when he was 32 or 33, mid-30s.” The trio makes use of a multitude of traditional instruments to produce music that runs the gamut from hauntingly beautiful to toe-tapping fun. “We try to choose our sets so that we have a nice mix of everything,” Boylan explains. “Mike plays the guitar and the mandola, which is like a mandolin on steroids. And I play Irish flute, whistle and banjo. Greg plays fiddle, viola, concertina and flute. When we do our arrangements, we choose the instruments then.” Part of the fun of being in a traditional Irish band, Boylan says, is teaching those unfamiliar with the genre about Irish music — and witnessing their reactions. “I think everybody here really likes our music,” he says. “Almost everyone has Irish ancestry or an Irish name, and a lot of American folk music has root in Ireland and Scotland.” Glen Road also has an acclaimed program set up to teach schoolchildren about different aspects of Irish music. “We explain the instruments that we play. Mike talks about the history. I talk about Irish music for dancing and my
lessons, the fact that it’s for dancing. Greg talks about how the music relates to music in Newfoundland and Quebec, and we show them a bunch of different instruments,” Boylan says. “It depends on where we go. Some places, we’re playing for first graders; other places, we’re in high schools. At certain ages, younger kids, especially, they ask how we got together, are the instruments hard to play.” When asked why it was so important for Glen Road to bring their music to younger generations, Boylan doesn’t hesitate before responding, “We learned to play because other people were generous enough to spend their time teaching us how to do it, and it’s important that we pass that on.” Boylan says that the tradition is still being passed on to children growing up on the other side of the pond, and that traditional Irish music is experiencing a revival of sorts over there. “I’d say that, at this point, almost everyone (in Ireland) is exposed to it,” he says. “I’ve heard statistics that a huge percentage of smaller kids get tin whistles and tin whistle lessons. It’s been slowly rebuilding. It’s like a lot of American folk music that had been dying away until the folk revival.” Glen Road will be performing Feb. 11 at Broad Strokes Gallery, 1026 Broad St., from 7:30-9:30 p.m. Tickets are $7 at the door. Check out www.glenroadmusic.com or call 860-7111 for more information. There’s also one more tidbit Boylan wants you to know — it’s a great opportunity for the whole family to get together. “It is a family show,” he says. “We like to see kids there, because kids are the ones that are going to be keeping our music alive.”
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JAPANESE SEAFOOD AND STEAK HOUSE - SUSHI BAR
By Andy Stokes and Lisa Jordan Valentine’s Weekend Special opened up a little more to their audience, both musically and lyrically. With most new bands, fans hope to be surprised by musical maturity on the second album. Elbow is alive and well, and getting closer to fulfilling the promise originally made with “Asleep in the Back” in 2001. — A.S.
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Washington Square Shopping Center Next to Stein Mart & Masters 7 Cinemas Boys Night Out — “Make Yourself Sick” (Ferret) “Make Yourself Sick” is a dose of poppunk at its most generic, characterized by melodies that don’t break any new ground and vocalist Connor Lovat-Fraser’s ungodly screams. The lyrics aren’t anything special, either. On every single one of the album’s 10 tracks, Boys Night Out decides to use death imagery, which is just tiresome. There’s only so much blood on the floor, snapped necks and “bullet blasted backs” one can take. And a song that could have sounded OK, the overnamed “The Subtleties That Make Mass Murderers Out of Otherwise Decent Human Beings,” is ruined by uncompelling lines like “When I walked through the room/ I must have been lazier/ Because I gave up looking/ And sat down again.” There’s only so much screaming one can take, as well. Songs that might have sounded all right had the vocals been delivered somewhat normally are rendered unlistenable by Lovat-Fraser’s guttural, unintelligible screaming. “Hold On Tightly, Let Go Lightly” is one of the few songs that doesn’t rely on hoarse yelling to get the band’s point across. The best track on “Make Yourself Sick” is the last one, “Yeah, No … I Know …” and it’s not necessarily because it means the end of the disc. Boys Night Out saves their most compelling melody for last and, thankfully, filters Lovat-Fraser’s voice for a quieter delivery. If all of the songs had followed this example, “Make Yourself Sick” would have been worth a second listen. — L.J.
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Elbow — “Cast of Thousands” (V2) The boys in Elbow have had a hard time so far. First, the Mancunians had to endure the heartbreaking experience of being dropped by EMI before ever releasing anything. After sitting on their hands for a while, Elbow was picked up by V2, who released their first proper album, “Asleep in the Back.” Second, the British music press, usually guilty of over-hyping notoriously uninspiring Radiohead offshoots like Starsailor or Turin Brakes, gave Elbow little more than a passing glance — they deserved so much more. Naturally, that album went criminally unnoticed stateside while fellow countrymen Doves were hailed as the second coming of the Stone Roses on both sides of the pond (Elbow, at times, were even written off as Doves sound-a-likes). In fact, the tendency to lump Doves and Elbow together does neither band justice. While Doves tends to remain hidden behind the big beat, swirls of thick, swimming guitar effects and distant vocals, Elbow remains contrastingly naked. As with “Asleep in the Back,” “Cast of Thousands” finds frontman Guy Garvey baring his soul in an uncannily Peter Gabriel-esque style. Elbow is still experimenting with blending their style of neoprog with depressive, ether-soaked guitar tones, but they’ve learned a few things since they last went into the studio. A new element, a full gospel choir, doesn’t exactly become a fully assimilated sound as heard on Spiritualized’s later albums, but still helps Elbow dig a little deeper into the groove on the album’s opener, “Ribcage.” In theory, it seems that Elbow’s replacing of the disjointed beats on “Asleep in the Back” with simpler, more easily-digested linear rhythms would be a step down, but instead allows the listener to focus on Elbow’s brilliant songwriting. There are still powder kegs of emotion here, and ghosts still show up on most tracks, but making that first album had to have been therapeutic for Elbow, since now they’ve
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music minis
Be Afraid - Be Very Afraid Remember Rick Springfield - who was a droolable heartthrob when words like heartthrob were actually usable? He sang cute songs like “Jessie’s Girl” and played Dr. Noah Drake on “General Hospital.” He was boy-next-door material. Well a certain writer decided recently to look him up and see what he’s up to. He’s still making albums, but the titles on his newest, “shock/denial/anger/acceptance,” look like the outline of a kidnapping story: “Every Night I Wake Up Screaming,” “Angels of the Disappeared,” “Shoot Your Guru,” “God Gave You to Everyone,” “Eden,” “Your Psychopathic Mother,” “Wasted,” “Beautiful You” “Perfect,” “Will I?,” “Idontwantanythingfromyou,” “The Invisible Girl,” “Jesus Saves White Trash Like You,” “My Depression,” “Open My Eyes,” “I’ll Make You Happy” and “Alien Virus.” Who says the concept album’s dead? Spector Changes Lawyers In what is probably the creepiest criminal case in the history of music (see defendant’s name; see defendant’s scary-ass mansion;
see discrepancy between defendant’s mildmannered demeanor and the fact that he may have butchered someone in his own home, and without even taking pains to get rid of the body) music producer Phil Spector has taken former O.J. Simpson attorney Robert Shapiro off the case and replaced him with Leslie Abramson. She has been called one of the nation’s most colorful criminal defense lawyers. She also reportedly let Spector snatch her from the brink of retirement because she considers him “an idol, an icon and the definition of cool.” Luther Vandross Very Ill At the time of this writing, it looks like he’s not going to make it to the Grammys, which is a shame because sources say this is the first time he’s been nominated in a major category. His album “Dance With My Father” is up for no less than five awards. Alicia Keyes will help honor the star by singing a tribute to him, however. Vandross is currently in a wheelchair from a major stroke. He is 52, and has diabetes, which contributed to the stroke. His father and brother died from the disease. His mother, Mary, has made two public service announcements to help educate the public.
COMPILED BY RHONDA JONES Information compiled from online and other music news sources.
10 Specialty Pies 15 Monumental Hoagies
PIZZA BAKERS
7 Scrumptious Salads
N
o music festival. No statue. No class. There’s been assault and drug charges, long police chases and now domestic violence. JAMES BROWN has had a great deal of support from many in his hometown during his many escapades and adventures in embarrassment and, yes, I’ve championed his cause in these pages for well over a decade. Never again. Aware of my long-time support and admiration for Brown’s enormous musical talent, a law enforcement buddy of mine always gave me loads of grief each time “The Godfather of Soul” was complimented and/or defended in this column. My friend’s comment that “he still has a felony or two left in him” never ceased to aggravate me as I foolishly thought that the 70-something-year-old funkster was truly trying to work on his legacy. Unfortunately, as it turns out, he was, and in doing so has seriously diluted his world-wide fame yet again. It’s been said that one of the secrets of happiness is “growing up without growing old.” In James Brown’s case, someone needs to hurry.
mony for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. Original members STEVE WINWOOD, JIM CAPALDI and DAVE MASON will play one or two numbers for the event, which will be televised. It’s traditional for most defunct bands to reunite for the occasion, and since all three musicians are still very active in the music biz, the results should be tight. Founding member CHRIS WOOD passed away in 1983.
Tunes on the Barbie Dept. THE VINES and fellow Aussies JET will visit the Roxy in Atlanta, March 13. The Vines are supporting their new album “Winning Days,” which will be issued a few days after (don’t you just love their record label’s timing?) the show. Power popsters Jet, currently riding high on the charts with the irresistible single “Are You Gonna Be My Girl?” are getting rave reviews for their live performances as well.
Turner’s Quick Notes RYAN ADAMS’ broken wrist has forced him to cancel his upcoming spring U.S. tour … YES visits Philips Arena April 28 … SMASHING PUMPKIN BILLY CORGAN is busy working on his first solo effort … SARAH MCLACHLAN’s fine “Afterglow” album will be featured July 27 as the singer-pianist visits Philips Arena in Atlanta … ROBERT EARL KEEN plays Valentine’s Day at the Variety with RICH BROTHERTON and the rest of his incredible band. Bring the Vidalias … It’s the “Time of the Season.” The reformed ZOMBIES, with original lead vocalist COLIN BLUNSTONE and composer-keyboardist ROD ARGENT, invade Atlanta’s Masquerade Feb. 15.
REM will issue a DVD next month recorded live in Germany during the Athens rockers’ 2003 world tour. Hits such as “The One I Love,” “Orange Crush,” “It’s the End of the World As We Know It” and “Losing My Religion” are included, along with such rarely performed numbers as “Maps and Legends” and “Bad Day.” Look for the concert to hit stores March 16. TRAFFIC will reunite in New York City in March for the induction cere-
Former DR. ROCK member and local musician BILL MITCHELL has recorded several CDs under the moniker “Guillermo” that are currently on sale on his Web site gtune.com. Mitchell, a singer and guitarist influenced mainly by the sweet harmonies of CROSBY, STILLS, NASH AND YOUNG and THE BEATLES, has crafted several solid discs that reflect his melodic influences.The guy’s really talented — he even designed his own CD covers. Guillermo is another example of the amazing quality of talent right in our own backyard and he deserves to be supported. You can also pick up the discs at CDs and More and Borders. Good stuff.
Turner’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Jeopardy A. This former member of Poco was one-half of a duo with the writer of “House at Pooh Corner.” Q. Who is Kenny Loggins and Jimmy Messina?
Did Janet Mean To Bare It? Who cares? It’s just a breast, people. Although hers is a bit spikey and dangerouslooking ...
music by turner
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METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
Full Bar Open 7 Days a Week Lunch & Dinner OPEN MIC MONDAY NIGHTS LIVE MUSIC EVERY WEDNESDAY NIGHT 8:00 - 11:00PM Corner of 12th & Broad :::: Downtown Augusta :::: 828-5578
B Y
E D
T U R N E R
s g tin
h g i S
Eric Willcox and Jessica Messick at Julian Smith Casino.
br and e Hebe n n A d n a ute of heridge r t Instit e b r e H Am y Et er trude at the G Ar t.
Debbie Sa xon, Rene e Jackson and Jennif er Townse nd at Wheeler T avern.
mmer ley and Su m o . r B tt e Gar in Augusta mewhere o S t a s a Luic Erin Jacobs Swenson, Russell Brown and Tara Scheyer at The Bee’s Knees.
gan’s ewis at Lo
Travis L Cher y l and e. Roadhous
Derrick London and Teresa Harville at Logan’s Roadhouse.
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Photos by Michael E. Johnson
METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
Julia Ostenson an d Cour tney Johnston at Stoo l Pigeons.
José Vega, Debra Scott and Rudy Rosado at Stool Pigeons.
AFTER DARK
THE BISCUIT BURNERS TEAR UP STILLWATER TAP ROOM FEB. 5.
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METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
Thursday, 5th The Bee’s Knees - Heliocentric Cinema Cafe Du Teau - James McIntyre Club Argos - Karaoke Dance Par ty Continuum - Playa*Listic Thursday Coyote’s - The Rhes Reeves Band Crossroads - 212 D. Timm’s - The Section Finish Line Cafe - DJ Fox’s Lair - Karaoke Greene Streets - Karaoke The Helm - Karaoke Jeremy’s Nightclub - R&B Talent Showcase Joe’s Underground - John Last Call - DJ Richie Rich Locals - Preston and Weston Michael’s - Marilyn Adcock Modjeska - The Comedy Zone with Hypnotist Zack Thomas, DJ Casey Playground - Open Mic The Pourhouse - National Par ty Tyme Karaoke Competition Robbie’s Sports Bar - DJ Rusty Shannon’s - Karaoke with Peggy Stillwater Tap Room - Biscuit Burners Wheeler Tavern - DJ Dog
Friday, 6th Andy’s - Elliot t and the Untouchables
Back Roads - DJ The Bee’s Knees - Projections and Selections Cafe Du Teau - James McIntyre Charlie O’s - Live Band Club Argos - Claire Storm, Barbara Behrenger, Brazia Coconuts - Bikini Contest Coliseum - Sasha Cotton Patch - Pat Blanchard Band Coyote’s - The Rhes Reeves Band D. Timm’s - The Section El Rodeo - DJ Sontiago Finish Line Cafe - DJ Fox’s Lair - Roger and Ronnie Greene Streets - Karaoke Hangnail Gallery - First Friday Celebration on Eighth Street Highlander - DJ Ty Bess Honk y Tonk - DJ Doug Romanella Jeremy’s Nightclub - Spoken Word, Live Music Joe’s Underground - Happy Bones, Joe’s Anniversary Par ty Last Call - DJ Richie Rich Little Honk y Tonk - Buster Hymen Band Marlboro Station - Taylor Wannaman Michael’s - Marilyn Adcock Modjeska - DJ Ted For tenberry, Suasions Lingerie Show Ms. Carolyn’s - The Horizon Partridge Inn - Kari Gaf fney, Jef f Williams
Playground - Jemani Shut It Down Par ty, Down to the Shake Plus 8 - Knowface, Siclid, Testing Ground, 21st Century Victim The Pourhouse - The Recaps featuring Sassy Brass, Augusta Lynx Post-Game Par ty Robbie’s Sports Bar - DJ Rusty The Shack - DJ Chip Shannon’s - Bar t Bell, Allen Black Soul Bar - DJ Zapatista Stillwater Tap Room - Carburetors Wheeler Tavern - DJ Dog
Saturday, 7th Back Roads - DJ The Bee’s Knees - Sweet Nuthin’ The Break Room - Karaoke with Rob Cafe Du Teau - James McIntyre Charlie O’s - Live Band Club Argos - Sasha and Diane’s Anniversary Par ty with Sasha, Diane Chanel, Stephanie Ross Coconuts - DJ Tim Continuum - Siclid, The Six th Hour, Distor ted Sound Sadists Cotton Patch - Keith “Fossill” Gregory Coyote’s - The Rhes Reeves Band Crossroads - Down to the Shake, L.E.A. D. Timm’s - The Section Finish Line Cafe - DJ, Karaoke Fox’s Lair - Roger Enevoldsen
Greene Streets - Karaoke Hangnail Gallery - Vanity Crowd, The Lit tle Eve Gray, The Par tisan, Upon a Tragic Ending Honk y Tonk - DJ Doug Romanella Jeremy’s Nightclub - Live Music Joe’s Underground - Tony Williams and the Blues Express Last Call - DJ Richie Rich Little Honk y Tonk - Damn Skippy, Buster Hymen Band Locals - Blind Draw Marlboro Station - Miss Peg Metro Coffeehouse - Live Af ternoon Bluegrass with Eryn Eubanks and the Family Fold Michael’s - Marilyn Adcock Modjeska - DJ Ted For tenberry Partridge Inn - Sandy B. and the All-Stars The Pourhouse - The Recaps featuring Sassy Brass, Augusta Lynx Post-Game Par ty Robbie’s Sports Bar - DJ Rusty The Shack - DJ Buckwheat Soul Bar - Hellblinki Sex tet, Hope for Agoldensummer Wheeler Tavern - DJ Dog
Sunday, 8th Cafe Du Teau - The Last Bohemian Quar tet Marlboro Station - Sasha Orange Moon - Smooth Jazz Sunday with Emery Bennet t
Robbie’s Sports Bar - DJ Rusty The Shack - Karaoke with DJ Joe Steel, Sasha Shannon’s - Tony Howard, Shelly Watkins Somewhere in Augusta - Jayson and Michael Wheeler Tavern - Karaoke with DJ Dog
Upcoming
Coliseum - Q.A.F. Continuum - Monday Madness Fox’s Lair - Open Mic Greene Streets - Karaoke Joe’s Underground - Chris Bennet Michael’s - Mike Swif t
Miss Valentine Pageant - Coliseum - Feb. 12 The ‘80s Strike Back - Club Argos - Feb. 13 Stable Boys Male Revue - Coliseum - Feb. 14 Honestly - Crossroads - Feb. 18 Ghoultown - Hangnail Gallery - Feb. 19 Sean Costello - Blind Pig - Feb. 20 Buck Cherry - Julian Smith Casino - Feb. 24 Willie Nelson - Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center - Feb. 28 Male Revue - Club Argos - Feb. 28 The Woggles - Soul Bar - Feb. 28 Anthony Gomes - Blind Pig - March 6
Tuesday, 10th
Elsewhere
Adams Lounge - Keith “Fossill” Gregory The Bee’s Knees - 12*Tone Lounge Coliseum - Tournament Tuesday D. Timm’s - The Section Fox’s Lair - Open Mic Greene Streets - Karaoke Joe’s Underground - John Kolbeck Metro Coffeehouse - Irish Night with Sibin Michael’s - Marilyn Adcock Surrey Tavern - Tuesday Night Jam Session with Pat Blanchard and Friends
Vonda Shepard - Variety Playhouse, Atlanta Feb. 6 Kid Rock - The Arena at Gwinnet t Center, Duluth, Ga. - Feb. 7 Mushroomhead - Masquerade, Atlanta - Feb. 9 Rod Stewart - Philips Arena, Atlanta - Feb. 10 Dillinger Escape Plan - Masquerade, Atlanta Feb. 11 Yonder Mountain String Band - Variety Playhouse, Atlanta - Feb. 12 Robert Earl Keen - Variety Playhouse, Atlanta Feb. 14 MXPX, Simple Plan, Billy Talent - Tabernacle, Atlanta - Feb. 14 O.A.R. - Tabernacle, Atlanta - Feb. 20 Hank Williams III - Masquerade, Atlanta - Feb. 26 Lou Rawls - Anderson Theatre, Mariet ta, Ga. Feb. 27 A.F.I. - Tabernacle, Atlanta - Feb. 28 Willie Nelson - Macon City Auditorium, Macon, Ga. - Feb. 29
Monday, 9th
Wednesday, 11th The Bee’s Knees - Heliocentric Cinema Coconuts - Karaoke Coliseum - Wacky Wednesdays Continuum - Open Mic Jam Sessions Coyote’s - The Rhes Reeves Band D. Timm’s - The Section Fox’s Lair - Karaoke, Open Mic Greene Streets - Karaoke The Helm - Karaoke Joe’s Underground - John Kolbeck Last Call - Tony Howard Michael’s - Marilyn Adcock Playground - Karaoke Robbie’s Sports Bar - DJ Rusty Somewhere in Augusta - Keith “Fossill” Gregory Soul Bar - Live Jazz
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Many tickets are available through TicketMaster outlets, by calling 828-7700, or online at w w w.ticketmaster.com. Tickets may also be available through Tix Online by calling 278-4TIX, online at w w w.tixonline.com or at their outlet location in Southgate Plaza. Night Life listings are subject to change without notice. Deadline for inclusion in Night Life calendar is Tuesday at 4 p.m. Contact Rhonda Jones or Lisa Jordan by calling 738-1142, fa xing 736-0443 or e-mailing to rhonda.jones@metrospirit.com or lisa.jordan@metrospirit.com.
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METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
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Brezsny’s Free Will
Here, then, are your advisors from the other side of the veil. First, Werner von Braun: “Research is what you do when you don’t know what you’re doing.” Second, A.A. Milne: “One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.” Next, Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Sometimes a scream is better than a thesis.” Casey Stengel: “You’re lost but you’re making good time.” Harry S. Truman: “If you can’t convince ‘em, confuse ‘em.”
Astr ology ARIES (March 21-April 19)
Writing in “The Week” magazine, editor-in-chief Bill Falk reminisced about how earlier in his career he churned out three opinion columns a week for newspapers. It was tough. “The truth is,” he said, “there were many weeks in which I didn’t have three fresh opinions of any value.” These days, he added, he couldn’t handle a gig like that. As he’s matured, he has become suspicious of his own certainties. “Opinions are highly overrated,” he concludes. “Most concern passing phenomena that, six months or six years from now, become utterly irrelevant.” I propose that we make Falk your patron saint for February, Aries. The astrological omens suggest that this is a perfect moment to enjoy the humility and grace that come from nurturing compassionate ideals instead of agitated opinions.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20)
You might want to get a history book and read up on the Greek army’s defeat of the invading Persian forces at Marathon in 470 B.C. While you’re at it, look into the ragtag band of Texan soldiers that won independence from Mexico at San Jacinto in 1836, or the continental army’s pivotal victory over the British redcoats at Saratoga in 1777. I make these suggestions not because I think you will literally be going into battle, Taurus, but because I believe you’ll soon be moved to defend and even expand your freedom. Meditating on history’s successful struggles for liberation might inject an inspirational dose of martial energy into your campaign.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20)
You’re in a phase of your yearly cycle when fate will conspire to expand your perspective, get you naturally high, and turn you into an explorer. To align yourself with these cosmic tendencies, you might want to charter a supersonic MiG-25 Foxbat plane to ferry you to the upper edge of the atmosphere, where you can see the curvature of the Earth. Other good ideas: Sail over Tanzania’s Serengeti Plains in a hot-air balloon; paraglide off
ACROSS
CANCER (June 21-July 22)
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)
After English, astrology is my second language. Like a language, it’s both logical and messy; it’s useful in making sense of the world, yet full of crazy-making ambiguities. At its best, astrology is a playful study of the metaphorical link between the human psyche and the sun, moon and planets. It’s not a science. It’s an elegant system of symbols, an art form with a special capacity to feed the soul and educate the imagination. When regarded as a precise method for predicting the future or when used to pander to the ego’s obsessions, it becomes a deserving target for satire. So there you have it, Leo. I’ve clarified the essential views that underlie all I do in this horoscope column, and which therefore color the relationship between you and me. Now I challenge you to do what I just did: Get together with the people you care about and articulate the fundamental assumptions that form the basis of your connection.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
I rarely employ my mediumistic skills, but a host of spirits was just clamoring to address you this week. So I agreed to channel five of them, on the condition that they’d be brief and to the point.
35 Fish eaten
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE O V I N E S
P A J A M A S
A M E R I G O
S O R D I D
C R Y
C A F U E A R A R I N R O R S
S I G C H O C H O U N S K L Y A M W A A Z R E
E S R E V E R N I G N I V O M
G N A R L T E R R L E V Y
O T C E R A D S E H A T S U E S C K C B C
B E N E N E U S O A R E D
O G O T Y A W G N O R W E H T
S A T I A T E
S L E E P E R
I M E L D A
L E S S O N
60 “Forever, ___”
(1996 humor book) 61 California’s ___ Pass 62 Take in 63 One who waits in ambush 64 Split-second 65 ___ favor 66 Stuff DOWN 1 Several czars 2 Female fox 3 Opposite of neat 4 Stopping-off place 5 Like some ground 6 Matchmaker 7 Religious image: Var. 8 Turf 9 “Aha!” 10 Basketball datum 11 German valley 12 Chief Big Bear, for one 13 Reindeer group 21 Parallel 22 Dodgers’ field, once 26 “___ Cinders” (old comic) 29 Nil 30 School attended by Ian Fleming 31 Rudolph’s beacon 32 Bit of a shock? 33 Musk or must
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“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” So proclaimed science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke in his book “Profiles of the Future: An Inquiry into the Limits of the Possible.” To a medieval peasant, for instance, television would have appeared to be pure sorcery. Here’s my corollary to Clarke’s principle, Libra, just in time for your season of wonder and mystery: “Any sufficiently unexpected blessing is indistinguishable from a miracle.”
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
“How can one’s heart and brain stand all the things that are crowded into them?” wrote nineteenthcentury composer Robert Schumann. “Where do these thousands of thoughts, wishes, sorrows, joys and hopes come from? Day in, day out, the procession goes on.” Sound familiar, Scorpio? If I’m reading the astrological omens correctly, the flood that Schumann described has recently reached tsunami proportions in you. You simply can’t go on like this. As the closest thing you have to a soul doctor, I regard it as my duty to prescribe massive doses of spacious silence. Quiet your thoughts, slow down your pace and drop out of every frenetic game, at least for now.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)
Back in the 1980s, an old pal of mine was a girlfriend of Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry. I’m hoping if he’s elected in November, she’ll arrange for me to get a tryout as his astrological advisor. Who knows? Maybe he already reads this column. You there, John? Here’s my counsel for you and your fellow Sagittarians. As tempting as it might be to dramatize the differences between you and your competitors, your best bet in the short run is to be an emblem of unity. Don’t let your powerful moral vision get bogged down in detailing what’s wrong. Instead, be passionate about beauty and truth and justice. Strong women are the key to your next success. Ask more from
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Puzzle by John Underwood
Phoenix
35 Subordinate
bureaucrat
36 6 on a phone 39 Mincemeat
ingredient
40 Two-time U.S.
Open winner
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)
Red alert! Your behavior is beginning to have an eerie resemblance to the guy who regularly stands on a street corner in Beijing and offers himself up as a punching bag. At least he makes money from it, charging stressed-out jerks about $6 to smack him around for two minutes. But I can’t see any benefit coming to you for the way you’re letting yourself be abused. Please stop this perverse form of entertainment immediately. Find a better strategy for encouraging intimate contact with people. — © Rob Brezsny You can call Rob Brezsny, day or night, for your
Expanded Weekly Horoscope
1-900-950-7700
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pure joy Become an anonymous egg donor! Ovations is seeking healthy, educated women between the ages of 18-31, living in or going to college in the Aiken-Augusta area. Suitable donors will be compensated in the sum of $5,000
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AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
This will be an elephant-wearing-a-parachute-as-itfalls-through-the-sky kind of week for you, Aquarius. It’ll be a successfully-shoplifting-aBible kind of week, a using-bottles-of-DomPerignon-champagne-to-put-out-a-fire kind of week, a rewriting-a-Shakespeare-play-and-sellingit-to-a-Hollywood-producer kind of week. “Improbable” should be your nickname. “Prodigious” should be your word of power. If you don’t receive a magic pretzel or a golden booger from a talking raven in your dreams, I’ll be shocked.
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CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
Here’s Big Secret of Life #27, crucial for your meditations in the coming weeks: Whatever you choose to focus your attention on, you will get more of it. So for example, if you often think of everything you lack and how sad you are that you don’t have it, you will tend to receive abundant evidence of how true that is. If, on the other hand, you dwell on the good things that make you feel grateful to be alive, they will probably multiply. You are a great wizard, Capricorn. Why not use your powers to practice white magic on yourself instead of the other kind?
42 Criminal
defendant, with “the” 43 Therefore: Fr. 45 Nil 46 Ballerina 48 Photocopy precursor 49 Courtyards 50 Cleaning brand
51 Net 52 What gymgoers
show off, slangily 53 On 54 Reindeer team, counting Rudolph 56 Sound gravelly 58 Suffix with mock
For answers, call 1-900-285-5656, $1.20 a minute; or, with a credit card, 1-800-814-5554. Annual subscriptions are available for the best of Sunday crosswords from the last 50 years: 1-888-7-ACROSS. Online subscriptions: Today's puzzle and more than 2,000 past puzzles, nytimes.com/crosswords ($34.95 a year). Crosswords for young solvers: The Learning Network, nytimes.com/learning/xwords.
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METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
H I D E H O
E N O E R A U Q S O T K C A B
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
I predict that in 2004 you will become far more discriminating about what images and information you allow to enter into the holy temple of your mind. You may even put up protective barriers that keep out the media’s toxic psychic wastes and your friends’ bad moods. I also predict that if you don’t become more discriminating, you will lose touch with your own deepest desires and end up trying to be something you’re not. In conclusion, fellow Cancerian, you sure as hell better remember how naturally telepathic you are, and how easily you take on other people’s feelings as if they were your own.
whole 37 W.W. II map: character ___ Abbr. Novello 5 Zool. or astron. 38 It comes to mind 8 Stiffness 39 Owner of eight 14 Street crossing other answers Hollywood in this puzzle 15 Razor-billed ___ 40 Daring 1960’s Ralph Ginzburg 16 “Yeah, right!” magazine 17 x, for one 41 . . . - - - . . . 18 Coast Guard 42 Lincoln and rank: Abbr. Ford 19 One on the go 43 Be a poor 20 Juicy fruit public speaker 44 Cavorter 23 Hackneyed 46 Slip into 24 Took surreptitiously 47 Prefix with meter 25 1953 Jean Simmons title 48 Wild ones role 52 Zulu, for one 27 Disencumber 55 The Tigers 28 Lightning bolts, 57 Good-forin Germany nothing 32 Sirens, e.g. 59 Cable inits. 1 “Gosford Park”
New York Times Crossword Puzzle
the sea cliffs at Oahu’s Makapuu Point; or take a class in shamanism at a local yoga center.
them than ever before. And make sure that in the midst of your noble push to the frontier, you keep nourishing your roots.
News of the
Weird
N
ational Geographic TV reported in January on designer-breeding of dogs, with emphasis on the not yet officially recognized species of Labradoodle. Breeding decisions must be carefully made because, say experts, some interspecies pairings create unhealthy offspring. For example, mating a pug with a Pekingese would likely create a dog whose eyes would fairly easily dislodge from their sockets, and a Newfoundland-Saint Bernard match-up would produce a dog particularly vulnerable to hip dysplasia. On the other hand, Yorkipoos and schnoodles appear to be safe, and the Labradoodle is a low-allergy, lightly shedding version of the Labrador retriever.
Least Competent Criminals Police in Franklin Township, N.J., charged a 20-year-old man with shoplifting two pythons from the Animal Trax pet shop and driving away with them. The man’s poor judgment was not the reason police caught him, but when they did later encounter the stolen snakes in the man’s house in January, he admitted that one of the snakes had wriggled out of his pocket during the getaway, wrapped itself around his leg, and bit him in the “groin area.”
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METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
Can’t Possibly Be True • Junior Allen, 63, feels 2004 will be his year. The North Carolina Parole Commission will decide soon whether to grant his application for release, after 25 straight rejections. Allen’s only conviction, in 1970, was for stealing a TV set, which today would carry a probable sentence of probation only. Meanwhile, the same commission released Howard Washington on parole in January after 10 years in prison for murder; he committed his crime one week before the state eliminated parole as a possibility for murders such as the one Washington committed. • In December, New Hampshire’s state drug abuse and prevention program was turned down for a $17 million grant on the sole ground, said the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, that its application was typed with smaller margins than permitted. The federal agency did not give the state an opportunity to correct the formatting, even though the victims of the rejection were not the grant-writers but drugaddicted patients. • Deborah Hayes, who was awarded more than $1.3 million by a jury in Beaumont, Texas, in November for the heart damage she suffered while taking the Fen-Phen weightloss drug, said in December that that was too much money and that she thought she had demonstrated only about $588,000 in damages. • Wanda Hudson, 44, said she was inadvertently padlocked into her 30-by-10-foot locker by a careless employee of the Dauphin Island Parkway storage facility near Mobile, Ala., on Nov. 7, 2001, and did not get out until a
neighboring unit renter heard her cries 63 days later. Hudson, who said she survived on canned foods and juice, was found weighing 85 pounds and in a clinical state of “advanced starvation.” She sued Parkway for $10 million but in September 2003 was awarded $100,000 by a jury. • Americans continue to be divided over the wisdom of “zero tolerance” laws that require heavy punishment even for slight, technical violations, especially as applied to public school students. In December, for example, the Bossier Parish, La., school board voted to uphold the year-long expulsion of a 10thgrade girl for “drug” possession, specifically an Advil tablet. And in January, a Rio Rancho, N.M., middle school student was drug-suspended for five days for possession of a Gas-X tablet. (National media attention eventually caused both school districts to lessen the penalties.) • In December, payoff checks started arriving from Citibank’s class-action lawsuit settlement that required it to refund overcharges for credit-card fees, but since the $18 million payout had to be split among 20 million customers and former customers, the checks were for as little as 4 cents, while the lawyers who brought the lawsuit shared $7.2 million. A major Citibank “abuse” corrected by the lawsuit: It was charging interest from 10 a.m. on the payment-due date but agreed to start charging it only as of 1 p.m. Readers’ Choice According to police in Spokane, Wash., two young men on a lark decided to stop their car at a Denny’s on a cold Jan. 14 morning at 5 o’clock, take off their clothes and give the customers and staff a thrill by cavorting through the restaurant. However, one customer had the last laugh. He got into the streakers’ idling car (which contained their clothes) and drove off. The car turned up five days later, minus CDs and the clothes. (Remarkably, the streakers, and a third pal who remained clothed, have not yet been identified by local media.) Also, in the Last Month German and Swiss engineers, finally connecting their respective parts of the new Upper Rhine Bridge in Laufenberg, Germany, discovered that one half had been built 54 cm lower than the other, requiring massive reconstruction. And a 16-year-old boy, after holding a week-long series of parties while his father and stepmother were away, and seeing the damage done to the $380,000 house, burned it down to hide the destruction, according to police (Cincinnati, Ohio). And a 28-year-old man was sentenced to 10 months in prison for embezzling money from his company (a law firm), which itself is under indictment for stealing money from its clients (Brattleboro, Vt.). — Chuck Shepherd © United Press Syndicate
The Advice Goddess
Amy Alkon
Y
our assessment of the situation in “Hopeless Is More” seemed way off. (The guy wasn’t ready for commitment, but said it killed him to see his girlfriend “explore dating other people.” To you, this meant she wanted to have sex with a lot of guys who weren’t him.) It sounds like this jerk had typical male marriage phobia — like my boyfriend of eight years. Although I was happy with our relationship, I wanted to take the next step. After eight years and no ring, I said we needed to open up our relationship and date others. I didn’t want sexual variety; I was just getting old waiting for him to make up his frigging mind about marriage, and he needed to be pushed. It sounds like this idiot needed the same prodding. I hope he’s in as much pain as he put her through! — Eight Long Years Regarding your complaint about my previous column; helloooo, reading comprehension — it was the girl who wasn’t ready for the committed relationship. Apparently, you’re so angry that your boyfriend was slow to bend to your will that you’re still seeing everything through rage-colored glasses. Had I written a column about getting red wine stains out of a white rug (remove the rug from your house and replace it with a new white rug), you’d be all over the hidden theme about men who are jerks because they won’t commit. You take the Attila the Hun approach to love. After casting your boyfriend in the role of Europe, you marched all over him until he surrendered and finally agreed to fork over the rock. Granted, you did it in the name of love, as in, “I love you so much that I don’t care what you want, and I’m going to make your life a living hell until you make me your wife.” Charming. But you just wanted to take your “happy” relationship to the next step. Hmmm ... what is the step after happy? Drooling with joy? Working yourself into a seizure from the neverending glee? Sure, marriage is what we’re all supposed to want. That’s why people ask “Do I hear wedding bells?” not “Do I hear living together bells?” But if you don’t want kids, and aren’t seeking a husband to pick up where daddy left off in the allowance department, does marriage really make sense? Looking at it from a haircut perspective; what if you’d settled on
the mullet you had in 1984 as your forever look? Who’s to say you won’t outgrow the person who looked so “forever” on the day you went under the scissors for Camaro hair? These days, if you eat your green beans and jog in place while changing channels, marriage could end up being not just an institution, but a penal institution. According to UCLA gerontologist Roy Walford, healthy people now in their 30s could live to be a rather kicky 120. In other words, you and the man you dragged to the altar could be facing 90 more years together. (Is there anybody in the universe who can remain interesting to another person for that long?) It’s a far cry from the marriage span in 1550s England. As peasants back then (according to data from historians R.A. Houston and Lawrence Stone), you two would likely have had about seven years together before one of you died in childbirth or from something bubonic. For this reason, Lawrence Stone views modern divorce as “little more than a functional substitute for death.” You always hear people brag, “Oh, my grandparents were miserable for 50 years, but they stuck it out anyway.” This is a good thing? My concept of a great relationship is two people who have more fun together and are better together than they are alone. When it stops being that, why keep on keeping on? I actually know a very cool couple in their 70s who amicably divorced after their marriage got stagnant. They had the guts to go live life instead of settling for “security” — a polite way of saying you want a spouse around to fasten your adult diapers. Realistically, there’s no telling how long your spouse will be with you, so you’d better save enough money to hire a pricey diaper nurse. Since you’ve already bullied your way into marital foreverhood, turn your thoughts to how you might stay there. Treat your marriage license like a driver’s license — renewable every couple of years — and you might be inspired to put as much effort into your marriage as you did into making the guy propose. That, and a series of anger management classes, could do the trick. Unfortunately, you’ve already eliminated the single best way to keep from getting divorced — avoid getting married at all.
— © 2003, Amy Alkon
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AVERAGE JOE SWM, 52, is in search of a woman who enjoys games of golf, riding motorcycles, trips to the beach, or anything with the right guy. !861645 GIVE ME A TRY SBM, 30, Virgo, N/S, likes reading, movies, dining out, travel, sports. Seeking outgoing, caring woman, 18-40, N/S, with similar interests, for LTR. !851101 ARE WE A MATCH? SWM, 42, 6’1”, 180lbs, brown/blue, enjoys classic rock, movies, dining, and more. Seeking nice, friendly SW/HF, 30-47. !965931 ONE SIMPLE WOMAN? SBM, 41, Leo, smoker, retired military and fireman, seeks SHF, 20-50, smoker, with simple tastes, for dating and possible relationship. !844123 GIVE ME A CALL SWM, 40, 5’8”, 185lbs, salt-n-pepper/green, N/S, enjoys fishing, horseback riding, stargazing, martial arts, reading, quiet times home. Seeking that special woman to share life, laughs and maybe love. !834688 DARE YOU TO ENJOY LIFE SWM, 35, 5’10”, with above-average looks, military officer, N/S, loves travel. ISO an exciting, adventurous woman, 22-50, N/S, who likes to have fun. !830590 LOOKING FOR YOU SBM, 34, 6’2”, 235lbs, N/S, loves cooking, and loves to romance you. Seeking woman, 20-40. If you’re reading this ad, let’s hook up. !815532 CAPRICORN SWM, 36, 5’10”, average build, smoker, seeks a sweet WF, 28-46, for friendship, possible romance. !818386
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M B D F H C LTR
Male Black Divorced Female Hispanic Christian Long-term Relationship
G W A S J P N/D N/S
Gay White Asian Single Jewish Professional Non-Drinker Non-smoker
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METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
TALL BROWN SUGAR SBF, 25, 5’9”, N/S, enjoys movies, concerts, quiet times, and good music. Seeking WM, 23-30, N/S, no children. !906840 WANNA DANCE? SWF, 57, seeks dance partner for Salsa and Square Dancing! Any size, shape, big or tall, short or small, matters not! It’s the footwork that counts! Beginner-intermediate level. !898986 BE MY TEDDY BEAR SWF, 32, 5’3’’, 180lbs, auburn/blue, no kids, never married, enjoys movies, sports, travel, dining, bowling, cuddling, quiet evenings. Seeking honest, romantic SBM, similar interests, for dating, possible LTR. !894568 COULD THIS BE YOU? SBF, 45, 5’4”, full-figured, Taurus, N/S, enjoys church, dining out, reading, and quiet times at home. ISO BM, 45-65, N/S, for LTR. !810309 I WANT TO LOVE YOU SBF, 18, 5’2”, Cancer, enjoys writing poetry, walks on the beach, hanging out and enjoying life. Seeking BM, 18-24, who will treat her right, and expects the same in return. !880193 WAITING FOR YOU SB mom, 24, Virgo, seeks a man for days at the park, the mall, or at the movies, and spending time with family and friends. !883496 ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE Honest SWF, 28, 5’10”, 210lbs, blonde/blue, enjoys classic rock, horror movies, and quiet nights at home. Seeking SW/HM, 18-40, for friendship, possible LTR. !874789 LOVE OF LIFE Attractive, classy, vivacious SWCF, 50ish, N/S, N/D, seeks SWCM, N/S, N/D, who is honest, financially/mentally secure, and ready for commitment. !875741 LOOKING FOR YOU SWF, 37, 5’6”, Scorpio, N/S, enjoys mountains, bowling, the beach and music. Seeking WM, 35-48, N/S, to be a companion, friend. !456544 SIMPLE KIND OF LIFE SWF, 34, listens to country and oldies music, and wants to meet a man to cuddle up on the couch and watch a good movie, or enjoy other simple pleasures. !860787 JAZZY MISS Slender and attractive SBPF, 31, loves music, conversation, travel. Seeking kind, friendly, honest and family-oriented SBM, 30-38, for fun times. !865339 LOOKING FOR ME Female, 34, Leo, smoker, seeks man, 25-38, for romance, real friendship, with similar interests, possibly more later on. !844726 HIKER HEAVEN SWF, 45, full-figured, N/S, enjoys church, exploring, old movies, auctions, and gym. Seeking WM, 46-56, N/S. Let’s make tracks together. !807679 MY OTHER HALF! SF, 46, 5’9’’, loves art, camping, fishing, animals, just getting away, relaxing. Seeking SM, 40-50, with the same interests. !732412 OLD-FASHIONED LADY SWCF, 48, 5’3”, 150lbs, blonde/green, Scorpio, N/S, enjoys church, Bible studies, music, dining out. Seeking SWCM, 35-60, N/S, for friendship and more. !840939
DREAM GUY SBF, 29, searching for open-minded, outgoing SM, 22-38, military man A+, for friendship, fun nights out, dancing, talks and maybe more. !836990 SOMEONE TO LOVE SWF, 48, enjoys a good horror movie, a drama or a comedy. Seeking a man for romance, quiet times at home, or just dancing the night away! !832399 ADVENTUROUS MOM SBF, 29, Cancer, N/S, loves beaches, horror movies, and horseback riding. Seeking man, 25-40, N/S, strong-minded, who loves kids. !808682 LOVES TO BOWL WF, 48, petite, Capricorn, N/S, enjoys Chicano cuisines. Seeking WM, 46-59, N/S, very outgoing, for LTR. !806136 HI! I’m a 49-year-old SWF and I WLTM a onewoman’s man, very lonely person. I WLTM a gentleman who would to be good to me and treat me w/kindness and gentleness. !793024 A VERY SERIOUS WOMAN SBPF, 34, mother of 3, nurse, independent and secure, enjoys church, movies, dining. looking for commitment-minded, level-headed, spiritual, spontaneous, respectful man, who truly appreciates a good woman. Sound like you? !777612 AQUARIUS SEEKING SWF, 46, 5’6”, smoker, enjoys cuddling, movies, gardening. Seeking honest, handsome SWM, 40-50, with similar interests, with similar interests, for friendship, possible LTR. !759515 THE LORD, ABOVE ALL SBCF, 38, Pisces, N/S, in the medical field (works private duty), would like to meet SBCM, 38-50, who shares my love of the Lord, for LTR. !727626 TRAVEL, ANIMALS... and movies make me happy. SWF, 53, Capricorn, N/S, loves the fall and spring and visiting Gatlinburg, TN. Seeking WM, 55-56, for LTR. !728854 SEARCHING FOR MR RIGHT SBPF, 39, Libra, loves church, traveling, movies, and dining out. Seeking SBPM, 3760, for possible LTR. !421273 FRIEND IN FAITH SBF, 47, Capricorn, N/S, involved with church, very creative, artistic, designs tile and cards. Seeking BCM, 44-58, involved with church, who loves the Lord. !707742 SOUND IN MIND SWF, 40, 5’6’’, brown/green, mother, Pisces, N/S, N/Drugs, seeks attractive, good guy, sound in mind, body, and soul, for friendship, dating, possibly more. !701180 YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO SBF, 39, Leo, N/S, seeks BM, 38-45, down-toearth, very direct and straightforward, to have fun with. !582549 RAINY DAYS AND COOKING... are a few of my delights. DBF, 38, 5’5”, 125lbs, pecan tan complexion, laid-back, down-toearth, Aquarius, smoker, N/D, seeks BM, 3045. !569952 SINGLE MOM SEEKING SBF, 20, Gemini, N/S, mother of twins, likes going to the park, spending time with family, going to the mall, movies, seeks compatible SBM, 18-35, N/S. !532672 WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO LOSE? SWF, 48, Cancer, N/S, seeks WM, 40-56, who wants to have a great relationship. Why not give me a call? You never know. !511453 LOOKING FOR LOVE SWF, 24, blonde/brown, attractive, compassionate, easygoing, desires SWM, 24-34, honest, open-minded for friendship and companionship. !323553
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ACTIVE SBM SBM, 49, Pisces, N/S, enjoys bowling, movies, playing sports, seeks compatible BM, 30-46, N/S, with similar interests. !846543 FUN-FILLED DAYS AWAIT SBM, 24, enjoys taking trips, nice restaurants, fun evenings, dancing, quality time together. Seeking masculine SBM, 20-55, for possible relationship. !894435 GREAT PERSONALITY SBM, 18, 6’3”, 220lbs, masculine build, seeking SBM, 18-29, very masculine, energetic, fun-loving, to go out for dinners, walks and more. !627150 LOOKING FOR COOL CAT... to converse with. SBM, 34, Capricorn, N/S, game and drama-free, seeks BM, 26-48, serious-minded, with sense of direction in life. !889038 LET’S GET TOGETHER GWPM, 37, 5’9”, brown/brown, who enjoys reading, movies, politics, entertainment, seeks a guy for dating, possibly growing into more. !883365 EASY TO TALK TO SWM, 48, loves good Italian or French cuisine, and is looking for a man who is easy to get along with, for romance. !870126 SEEKING SPECIAL GENTLEMAN SBM, 33, 6’2”, 245lbs, Taurus, N/S, likes movies, camping, music, reading, sports. Seeking out GM, 35-48, for friendship, possible romance. !824261 I WANT TO MEET YOU! GBM, 32, 5’7”, average build, Pisces, N/S, likes reading, movies, dining out, travel, sports. Seeking outgoing, caring GWM, 2445, with similar interests, for friendship, possible LTR. !850885 SEEKS MAN WITH DIRECTION GBM, 33, Capricorn, N/S, seeks understanding, level-headed, secure GBM, 25-48, with similar interests, for friendship, possible LTR. !854633 A LOT TO OOFER Outgoing SWM, 5’ 10”, average build, 44, Capricorn, smoker, seeks WM, 40-50, smoker, to date and enjoy a lifetime companionship. !691527 INTERESTED? Independent SWM, 37, 5’8”, 150lbs, brown/brown, would like to meet fun-loving, honest, real, professional, secure female to share dates, talks, walks, dinners and romance. !848764 FUN TO HANG AROUND WITH GWM, 52, 5’2”, smoker, enjoys playing pool, having fun, seeks outgoing GWM, 40-55, smoker, with similar interests. !844895 SEEKING SOMEONE SINCERE GWM, 42, 5’11”, 175lbs, brown/blue, somewhat masculine, outgoing and friendly, likes dining out, travel, movies and shopping. Looking to meet honest, passionate SBM, with similar interests, for dating, possible LTR. !769411 FRIENDSHIP FIRST GWM, 26, 5’3”, athletic build, N/S, likes sports, working out, travel, reading, swimming. Seeking non-smoking GW/AM, 20-26, with similar interests. !764332 HEALTHY AND FIT SBM, 25, 5’5”, 170lbs, masculine, nighttime inventory stocker, Capricorn, N/S, enjoys working out. Seeking energetic, passionate, masculine WM, 20-50, N/S. !708544 DONT MISS OUT Fun-loving GWM, 24, likes sports, dining out, movies, quiet evenings at home, music. Seeking romantic, affectionate GM, with similar interests, for friendship, possible LTR. !675371
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METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
How do you
SEEKING FRIENDSHIP SBM, 6’1”, 214lbs, enjoys indoor activities. Seeking masculine SW/BM, honest, sincere, who is looking for new friendships. !737679 RELAXING AT HOME SBM, 35, Virgo, N/S, likes relaxing at home, fun, concerts, trips going to the beach. Seeks fun, spontaneous SBM, 26-37, N/S. !532700 TAKE A CHANCE GWM, 43, 6’2”, 195lbs, black brown, seeks other GWM, for fun times and maybe something more. !493530 LET’S MEET FOR COFFEE Good-looking GWM, 36, 6’, 200lbs, muscular, tan, enjoys working out, yard work, spending time with my dogs. Looking for attractive SM, 32-48, for dating, maybe leading to LTR. !436231 ME IN A NUTSHELL WM, 18, brown/blue, medium build, looking for fun, outgoing, energetic guy, 18-30, for movies, hanging out, quiet evenings at home, and more. Friends first, maybe becoming serious. !425471
READY TO HAVE FUN! SF, 25, seeks femme, 25-35, race not important, who is nice, pretty, slim. Let’s talk and get to know one another! !895256 WAITING FOR YOU SBF, 19, is in search of a friend first, maybe more with time, with a lady who likes to get out and have fun. !874312 ONLY A WOMAN WILL KNOW GBF, Capricorn, N/S, likes reading, movies, dining out, travel, sports. Seeking outgoing, caring GWF, 27-52, N/S, with similar interests, for dating and more. !850614 LOVES CHILDREN Easygoing, nice SF, 32, looking for someone with the same qualities, 29-39, and a people person. !388943 THE SWEETEST THING SBF, 26, 5’8”, 145lbs, wants to get out and have fun with a new friend, maybe more with time. !832018 1 YOU’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR BiWF, 27, enjoys everything, promises you won’t regret it. If you’re looking for a good time and friendship, I’ll be perfect for you. !830500 PLAYS GUITAR, WRITES... poetry, and rollerblades. NativeAmerican/African-American female, 18, 5’5”, 117lbs, very toned, laid-back, a goofball at times, N/S, seeks woman, 18-29. !818596
WHY WAIT? SWF, 38, 5’6”,140lbs, short brown hair, easygoing, enjoys playing golf, the beach. Seeking feminine female, 20-40, to have fun times and more. !448489
BONEVILLE BABE SWF, 31, 5’5”, 130lbs, brown/green, smoker, enjoys playing golf, movies, and picnics at the lake. Seeking WF, 25-40, for friends, possibly more. !818908
DIVA WITH DIMPLES Independent DWF, 23, Gemini, smoker, enjoys hip-hop, R&B, and country music. Seeking WF, 20-30, smoker, for friendship, possible romance. !808179 GET TO KNOW ME SBF, 25, Taurus, N/S, enjoys movies, travel. Seeking woman, 21-30, N/S, for friendship, possible romance. !803723 A LOT TO OFFER Non-smoking GBF, 37, N/S, seeks very attractive, unique, romantic, fun, intelligent, feminine GF, 27-37, for friendship, dating, possibly more. !749660 A NEW BEGINNING Attractive and outgoing SWF, 5’ 5”, Athletic build, 20, Aquarius, smoker, loves the outdoors, camping and hiking. Seeking WF, 2150, for LTR. !751226 JUST THE FACTS SBPF, 41, Libra, N/S, seeks PF, age and race unimportant, who enjoys dining out, quiet times at home, and movies, for LTR. !730225 SEEKING STRONG FRIENDSHIP BiWF, 27, 5’8’’, 145lbs, student, enjoys romantic comedies, fall, quiet restaurants. Seeking female for clubbing, shopping, dancing, dining, movies, television. !700095 ENJOYS BOWLING SBF, 32, Gemini, N/S, 5’3”, 145lbs, mother of one, enjoys movies, the mall, dining, going out to eat, bowling, quiet times at home, seeks woman, 21-38, for friendship, possible romance. !646271 BEAUTIFUL AND FEMININE GWF, 32, 5’7”, 135lbs, enjoys reading, movies, dining out, travel, sports, music, movies. Seeking GWF, 25-39, with similar interests, for friendship, possible LTR. !329063
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OPEN-MINDED, EASYGOING SWM, 27, 5’8”, 125lbs, blond/blue, smoker, loves pizza. Seeking WF, 25-45, smoker, for friendship, possible romance. !819355 HIDDEN TREASURE Male, 27, 5’9”, 160lbs, blond/blue, Aries, N/S, seeks WF, 18-30, a straight shooter, who can appreciate an authentic Mr. Nice Guy type. !819406 DOWN FOR WHATEVER SBM, 18, 5’7”, Scorpio, N/S, student, seeks BF, 18-21, N/S, with a good head on her shoulders. No games. !799082 OPEN-MINDED GUY SBM, 5’11”, 20, well-groomed, Capricorn, N/D, N/S, enjoys basketball, friends, dining, music. Seeking nice, real woman, 18-25, for LTR. !800701 I’M INTRIGUED... Male, 5’10”, athletic build, 30, Scorpio, N/S, seeks woman, 21-48, with interesting views and something to say. !801577 DO YOU LIKE 2 TRAVEL SM, 59, sociable and fun, enjoys bingo, dining out, movies, travel, more. Seeking sincere, happy, spontaneous lady for possible LTR. !774081 STARTING OVER Non-smoking SM, 19, 5’11”, 155lbs, brown/brown, medium build, likes movies, travel, sports, reading, quiet evenings at home. Seeking outgoing, adventurous SF, 1821, N/S, for LTR. !752673 CALL ON MY Active, fun and intellectual SBM, 5’ 11”, Slim build, 20, Sagittarius, smoker, seeks woman, 20-24, smoker, for friendship, possible romance. !755250 CAN WE TALK ? Spiritual SWM, 44, Capricorn, smoker, who enjoys the Fall. Seeking AF, 30-50, for LTR. !755341 A LOT TO OFFER easygoing SWM, 5’ 11”, Athletic build, 23, Cancer, N/S, seeks woman, 18-35, for friendship, possible romance. !761055 CIRCLE THIS AD SWM, 5’ 10”, Average build, 45, Gemini, smoker, with salt-n-pepper hair, loves cooking. Seeking fun loving WF, 30-45, for friendship, possible romance. !762032 ACTUAL NICE GUY Independent, professional SBM, 5’ 9”, Average build, 30, Pisces, with a nice smile, N/S, seeks woman, 27-37, N/S, for friendship, possible romance. !751873 DONT PASS ME BY SWM, 41, Sagittarius, smoker, who enjoys cooking. Seeking Attractive WF, 30-50, to date. !752123 ACTUAL NICE GUY Handsome, outgoing, open-minded SWM, 5’ 11”, Average build, 51, Leo, smoker, enjoys traveling. Seeking woman, 40-50, for LTR. !733850 FUNNY GUY SBM, 30, 5’9”, brown/brown, medium build, N/S, into sports, movies, dining out, friends, quiet times. Seeking down-to-earth, romantic SF, 29-35, who knows what she wants. !718864 HERE I AM! SM, 43, likes playing golf, the outdoors, nature, country music, some rock-n-roll. Would like to get together with a young lady, 27-45, who likes the same things. !703650 WELL-ROUNDED MAN Educated SBPM, 41, 5’11”, loves reading, working out, the arts, dining out, travel, quiet times. Would like to meet SWF, 30-45, with similar interests, for fun, friendship, and maybe more. !442021 COLLEGE-EDUCATED SWM, 51, 6’1”, 193lbs, with blue eyes and a laid-back attitude, seeks a woman with a spontaneous, creative spirit. !434997 HEART OF GOLD SWM, 31, 6’3”, 210lbs, brown/blue, enjoys reading, movies, travel, sports. Seeking outgoing, attractive SF, with similar interests, for friendship, possible LTR. !556440
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Become A Massage Therapist Augusta School of Massage Inc. is now accepting applications for day & evening courses. Ask how to receive a free massage table. We exceed the minimum requirements for certification through the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork.
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733-2040
3512 1/2 Wheeler Road • Augusta, GA 30909
Premier Entertainment Complex & High Energy Dance Music
Friday, Feb 6th Sasha Thursday, Feb 12th Miss Valentine Pageant Saturday, Feb 14th Hot Male Strippers The Stable Boys
Drink Specials: FRI & SAT Famous Beer Bust All You Can Drink $9
Open Mon-Fri 8pm-3am Sat 8pm-2:30am
1632 Walton Way • Augusta, GA
706-733-2603
Email: ColiseumAugusta@aol.com
MARLBORO STATION Aiken’s Ultimate Dance Club !
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STARLIGHT CABARET THUR - Dance Party SAT - Miss Peg FRI - Taylor Wannaman from SUN- The Return of Sasha Dallas Texas 141 Marlboro Street, N.E. Aiken S.C. • 803-644-6485
DOORS OPEN AT 8:00 THURS, FRI, SAT, & SUN • 8PM-2AM
18 to Party • 21 to Drink • No Cover With This Ad
Business Opportunity Incredible opportunity to help you earn residual income! PT/FT training provided. Call Me Today 888-742-1777 LeRoy NEX X Independent Rep www.phone222.com (02/26#8365)
Employment Rosedale Transport Needs OTR Drivers, both team and solo. If you have one year experience, CDL Class A with haz-mat, good driving record. Home weekly, 1-800-486-3681 (02/05#8353)
Equipment WOLFF TANNING BEDS
AFFORDABLE • CONVENIENT Tan At Home Payments From $25/month FREE Color Catalog Call Today 1-800-842-1305
341 S. Belair Rd. Open from 9 a.m. til 9 p.m. Call (706) 733-5851
Professional Massage By experienced male. Designed for healthy men 18 - 55 only. A great way to rela x House & Hotel Calls Only 706-589-9139 (02/12#8347) Diamond Massage Therapy Dr. Scot tie Diamond and our qualified staf f of professionals of fer in home massage therapy, migraine relief, pedicures, manicures, & acne treatments. Your first acne treatment is free. We come to you at your convenience. Call 803-827-9300 (02/19#8346)
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Private Investigator RAY WILLIAMSON & ASSOCIATES Private Investigations 17 years experience Domestic Relations and Child Custody Cases Licensed and Bonded in Georgia & Carolina 706-854-9672 or 706-854-9678 fax (02/05#8359) Premier Investigations •Domestic •Child Custody •Background Checks •Cover t Surveillance 869-1667 (02/05#8334)
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Metropolitan Community Church of Our Redeemer A Christian Church reaching to all: including Gay, Lesbian, and Transgendered Christians. Meeting at 557 Greene Street, 11 am and 6 pm each Sunday. 722-6454 MCCOurRedeemer@aol.com www.mccoor.com (02/05#8128)
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We want your dead junk or scrap car bodies. We tow away and for some we pay. 706/829-2676
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• French Drains • Gutter Drains • Catch Basins • Erosion Control • Waterproofing • Crawl Space
METRO SPIRIT - FEBRUARY 5, 2004
ABSOLUTE AUCTION Lirand Corp Thursday, February 12th - 10 AM 1035 Franke Industrial Drive (Off of Bar ton Chapel Rd b/t Gordon Hwy & Wrightsboro Rd) Liquidating: This was a new merchandise warehouse with 5 complete offices, snack area, etc. par tial list approx. $20,000. Wholesale new merchandise, par ty favors, gifts, novelty wrap, candles, toys, games, crafts, shir ts. Licensed Merchandise: Hulk, Scooby Doo, Rug Rats, Sponge Bob, Looney Tunes, Powder Puff Girls, Hot Wheels, photo albums, Easter items, Christmas items, collector mugs, figurines, etc. Warehouse Equip: Caterpillar T30D Forklift (like new), pallet racking, picnic table, pallet jack, metal shelving, mobile stairs, tools, shop fan, dolley, signs, timeclocks, folding chairs, etc. Office Equip: Office chairs, computer and other desks, file cabinets, supplies, cash register, matching 3 pc. office suite, pictures, decorator items, corner computer station, computers, printers, stereo, refrigerator. Restaurant Equip: Cases, plates, 24 oz. glasses, pitchers, and a mixer soup warmers, cut ting table, sink, steamer, scale, toaster, paper products, masterbilt ice cream freezer and bakery cases, silk screen equip. and much, much more. Terms: 10% Buyers prem., Cash, Visa, Master Card, Check w/Bank Let ter. South Augusta Auction Co., Inc.Gal 2666 Phone: 706-798-8996 (02/05#8363)
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R E A D I N G S
Mrs. Graham, Psychic Reader, Advises on all affairs of life, such as love, marriage, and business. She tells your past, present and future. Mrs. Graham does palm, tarot card, and Chakra balancing. She specializes in relationships and reuniting loved ones.
Services
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C A R D
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Massage is wonderfully soothing Massage promotes optimal health in mind, body, and spirit. Swedish • Shiatsu • Stress Relief Call Sasha 706-841-0039 or 770-4903608 (02/05#8364)
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BRUNCH SPECIALITIES Served Hot on Dinnerware Four Cheese Quiche … served with the freshly prepared topping of the day, with a side of brandied fruit & a muffin, garden salad or soup. Stuffed French Toast … topped with apple compote & served with sautéed baby spinach topped with toasted almonds & two strips of bacon on the side. Scallion Waffles … Three triangles topped with creamed ham and served with crispy corn fritters & baked fruit. Grilled Mushroom and Onion Omelet … served with sweet potato fries w/ orange ginger mayo. Chicken Crepes … Two crepes filled with creamy tarragon chicken served w/ fresh steamed broccoli & seasonal fruit tossed in a lime mint vinaigrette.
Cafe Menu
$7.25 $7.50 $7.50 $7.00 $7.50
SALADS Fresh Spinach Salad … topped with boiled egg, bacon, Swiss cheese, croutons, mushrooms and red onions served with balsamic vinaigrette dressing. $6.50 Pecan Crusted Chicken Salad … Mixed greens w/ candied pecans, crumbled bleu cheese, dried cranberries, mandarin oranges, breast of chicken baked with pecan meal & balsamic vinaigrette. $6.75 Salad Plate … choose two of the following, Signature Chicken Salad, Cranberry Chicken Salad, Egg Salad, Pimento Cheese, Shrimp Salad or Tuna Salad served with fresh fruit and Sherbet. $7.50
Oriental Chicken Salad … sliced grilled chicken, mandarin oranges, almonds, oriental noodles, on a bed of crisp chopped romaine lettuce and our special Oriental Dressing (Spicy Hot). $6.75 Garden Salad … a small salad with fresh greens, alfalfa sprouts, red onions, tomatoes & cucumbers. $4.25 Dressings: Balsamic Vinaigrette, Bleu Cheese, Greek, Honey Mustard, Lite Italian, Oriental (Spicy Hot), Parmesan Peppercorn, Ranch, Thousand Island & Spicy Tomato Vinaigrette CHILDRENS’ MENU Each served on white bread w/ chips or fruit & a cookie. PB&J Grilled Cheese
$2.75 $2.75
SANDWICHES **All sandwiches are served with your choice of seasonal fruit salad, macaroni salad, red skin potato salad, OR gourmet chips and a pickle spear. Substitute a cup of soup, baked fruit OR sweet potato fries for $1.00 extra. Warm Pot Roast … Served open-faced on a split fresh-baked “cat-head biscuits” $6.75 Shrimp Salad PoBoy … Light and spicy shrimp salad loaded on a hoagie with lettuce, tomatoes and dill mayo. Also available as a wrap in a spinach tortilla. $7.25 Cranberry Chicken Salad … Served on a toasted whole wheat bread with lettuce, tomato and red onion. $6.25 Meat Loaf Sandwich … Ground beef, breadcrumbs, onions and tomatoes topped with a mustard sauce on white bread (served warm or cold) $6.50
Vera’s Signature Chicken Salad … Chicken, mayonnaise, scallions, pecans & tarragon served on a croissant. $6.50 Sophisticated Ham … Smoked ham, Swiss cheese, thinly sliced apples & praline spread, served on a crusty French roll. $6.50 Classic Country Club … Roasted turkey, ham, bacon, lettuce, tomato & mayo served on a fresh croissant. $6.75 Mommas’ Egg Salad … Southern traditional egg salad, bacon & tomato on your choice of bread (Sourdough, Ciabatta, Marble Rye, White, Wheat, French Roll, Croissant). $6.25 “The Grill” Pimento Cheese … Our signature pimento cheese, bacon & tomato grilled on delectable marble rye. $6.25 Veggie Wrap … Romaine, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, alfalfa sprouts, red peppers & sun dried tomato cream cheese spread in a spinach tortilla. $6.50 SOUPS Soup & salad … hearty bowl of soup served with a garden salad or 1/2 sandwich $7.25 Bowl of soup $4.00 Cup of Soup $2.75 Mon–Corn Chowder … Tues–Cream of Chicken Wed–Roasted Tomato … Thurs–Baked Potato … Fri-Seafood Bisque Other “special” soups featured during the week. BEVERAGES Sodas (Coke, Diet Coke, Mr. Pibb, Lemonade, Sprite) Iced Tea and Vera’s Hazelnut Coffee
$1.25 $1.25
GOURMET TO GO WINTER MENU 2004 • JANUARY 15 – APRIL 15
CASSEROLES SMALL 2 – 3 LARGE 5 – 6 PARTY SIZE 10-12 (All party sizes are twice the price of the large) *NEW Chicken Pot Pie … A puff pastry filled with a delicious blend of corn, petite peas, chicken broth, milk, onion and diced chicken SM $13/LG $20 *NEW Beef Stroganoff … Sirloin, onions, mushrooms and brown rice SM $13/LG $20 Chicken & Wild Rice … Augusta’s favorite with peas and water chestnuts SM $13/LG $20 Shrimp & Crawfish … Seafood lovers’ favorite with fettuccine and spicy seafood sauce SM $14/LG $22 ENTRÉES (serves 3-4) *NEW Chicken and Cream Potatoes … Delicious fried chicken breast with creamed potatoes $15 *NEW Bitsy’s Meat Loaf … Ground beef, breadcrumbs, onions and tomatoes with a mustard sauce SM $14 *NEW Southern Pot Roast … Marinated, slow-cooked and very tender SM $15 QUICHES (serves 5-6) *NEW Ham and Spinach Quiche … featuring ham and spinach with heavy whipping cream and Swiss cheese Four Cheese Quiche … Our café favorite featuring sharp cheddar, Swiss, mozzarella and ricotta cheese
$16 $15
SOUPS (serves 2) *NEW Vegetable Soup … A delicious blend of Lima beans, corn, tomatoes, peas, potatoes, onions, celery and carrots $6 Seafood Bisque … Gulf shrimp, scallops and special spices are combined for a taste of the Low Country $8 SALADS *NEW Egg Salad … Twice sliced eggs, mayo, pickle relish and mustard $5.99 - lb. $2.99 - 1/2 lb Classic Chicken Salad … Our famous classic with pecans, green onions and tarragon $7.98 - lb. $3.99 - 1/2 lb Cranberry Almond Chicken Salad … Augusta’s favorite! Dressed with a light curry mayo $8.50 - lb. $4.25 - 1/2 lb. Tuna Salad … Tuna, mayo, red onion, capers, egg, lemon juice and celery $6.98 - lb. $3.50 - 1/2 lb. Tossed Salad (serves 4 and includes dressing) $6
VEGETABLES & SIDES *NEW Garlic Roasted Potatoes … Roasted potatoes seasoned with garlic, olive oil and salt SM $5/LG $8 *NEW Squash Casserole … Blend of squash, Parmesan, egg, diced bell peppers and mayo SM $6/LG $10 *NEW Broccoli and Rice Casserole … A delicious combination of broccoli, rice and cheese SM $6/LG $10 Macaroni and Cheese … Homemade, just like Mom makes it! SM $6/LG $10 Green Beans w/ sautéed onions and ham … A great side dish to add just the right touch to any meal! SM $4/LG $7
HOMEMADE BREAD Buttermilk *NEW Sweet Potato Biscuits *NEW Homemade Yeast Rolls *NEW Assorted Muffins
$3 per 1/2 dozen $4 per 1/2 dozen $6.50 per dozen $4.50 per 1/2 dozen
DESSERTS *NEW Dream Brownies, White Chocolate Raspberry Bars, and Pecan Bars Assorted Cookies Assorted Cake Slices
$2 ea. $.75 $2.00
DESSERT TRAYS AVAILABLE Luscious variety of bars and cookies! SM serves 12-15 for LG serves 16- 20 for
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We deliver for $5
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$32 $42
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Very Vera also ! has wonderful ! Valentine’s Day Gifts!
$10 for hot items
(Minimum $15 purchase)
Please call or fax your order. Phone 706-860-3492 Fax 706-860-2780 www.veryvera.com “We ship nationwide”
SNACK ITEMS *NEW Vidalia Onion Dip … A southern favorite - parmesan and cream cheese and Vidalia sweet onions! Serve Hot $6 Bacon Tomato Dip … Bacon and tomatoes combined with cream cheese $3.50 per 1/2 lb. Pimento Cheese … Made from scratch with fresh ground pepper $5.99 - lb. $2.99 - 1/2 lb. Sun Dried Tomato Dip … Sour cream, sun dried tomatoes, and scallions $4.00 per 1/2 lb.
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We’re celebrating our 20th year!
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HOURS: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm Daily specials live on Oldies 93.9 every morning at 8:10