Metro Spirit 08.21.2003 by Metro Spirit

METRO SPIRIT Vol.15 No.3 August 21-27, 2003

Augusta’s Independent Voice

Reading, Writing and …

Religion?

2 M E T R O

DOGGIE DAY CARE

S P I R I T

“Playtime for your pet”

A U G

• • • •

2 1 2 0 0 3

Sleepovers Dog Spa Grooming Agility Training

• • • •

Kitty Kat Korner Pick Up/Delivery Organic Products Pet Boutique

2917 Riverwest Dr Augusta, GA (River Watch @ I-20)

706-737-5960 www.theanimalhouse.biz

Start off your

Summer New Smile with a

Free Cosmetic Consultation New, affordable options to give you a great smile. We use the easiest, most popular, longest-lasting techniques. You’ll be surprised how effective and affordable cosmetic dentistry can be.

50% Off

Teeth Whitening Whitening your smile can make you look

Enjoy a night’s stay at Augusta’s

premier hotel – The Partridge Inn. This package includes a deluxe room, the Grand Continental Buffet Breakfast and $10 Dining Credit for two people in either of the Hotel’s two acclaimed restaurants: BAMBU ON HICKMAN – “A trendy fine

for such a low cost? Definitely better than

– Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Official Dentist of the

is a recognized authority in dental care, having served as Advisor to the Prosthodontic Residency program at Walter Reed, Director of the USA Area Dental Lab at Walter Reed and Fort Gordon, and Associate Clinical Professor of Prosthodontics at the Medical College of Georgia.

THE PARTRIDGE INN’S GOURMET GETAWAY PACKAGE

younger, healthier, more radiant and self-confident. What else can do so much retail or direct mail whiteners.

Martin C. Comella, DMD. FACP

A Delicious Escape! $59

Augusta Lynx

1210 George C. Wilson Dr.

706-855-8818

dining restaurant…(where) we achieved culinary nirvana.”

THE P.I. BAR & GRILL –

“casual steakhouse… a gastronome’s delight.”

– Atlanta JournalConstitution

SATURDAY NIGHT BONUS! Sleep late, check out late and use your breakfast coupons for a 25% discount on our awardwinning SUNDAY BRUNCH!

Special Limited Summer Offer

ESTABLISHED 1892

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA

www.partridgeinn.com 2110 Walton Way

CALL 706-262-1111 FOR RESERVATIONS AND DETAILS

Contents Metro Spirit

Wow Cow!

M E T R O

All Natural frozen dessert

S P I R I T

A U G U S T 2 1 - 2 7 • F R E E W E E K LY • M E T R O S P I R I T. C O M

ON THE COVER

Reading, Writing and ... Religion? By Stacey Eidson.........................16

Fat free 9 calories per ounce cholesterol free low lactose

Organic Produce Coming Soon!

New Life Natural Foods

Cover Design: Natalie Holle

2825 Washington Road Fairway Square ❘ Across from Books-A-Million 706-737-8805 ❘ 9-7 Mon-Thurs ❘ 9-6 Fri & Sat

Opinion Whine Line ......................................................................4 Words ...............................................................................4 This Modern World .........................................................4 Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down ............................................5 Suburban Torture ............................................................6 Letter to the Editor .........................................................7 Austin Rhodes .................................................................8 Insider ............................................................................10

[Formerly Frank Christian Studio]

Metro Beat

The Terrible Drive Down Laney-Walker .....................12 Augusta Gets “Queer” .................................................14

Arts

Remembering Jaime ....................................................22 Augusta Opera: On the Threshold of a Season .........30

Events

Remembering Jaime ....................22

8 Days a Week .............................................................24

Cinema

Movie Listings .............................................................32 Close Up: Kevin Costner ..............................................34 Movie Clock ..................................................................35

Music

Chris Duarte Group Keeps Music Fresh .......................36 Music by Turner ..............................................................37 The Kilpatrick Project Crafts Solid Tunes ....................38 Music Minis ....................................................................38 Night Life .........................................................................39

Stuff News of the Weird ........................................................42 Brezsny's Free Will Astrology ......................................43 New York Times Crossword Puzzle ............................43 Amy Alkon: The Advice Goddess ................................44 Date Maker ...................................................................45 Classifieds .....................................................................47

EDITOR & PUBLISHER David Vantrease ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Rhonda Jones STAFF WRITERS Stacey Eidson, Brian Neill ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER Joe White ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Kriste Lindler, Kristen Chandler PRODUCTION MANAGER Joe Smith GR APHIC ARTISTS Stephanie Bell, Natalie Holle, Erin Lummen ASSISTANT TO THE PUBLISHER Meli Gurley ACCOUNTING MANAGER/CLASSIFIEDS Sharon King ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT ASSISTANT Lisa Jordan CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Meli Gurley SENIOR MUSIC CONTRIBUTOR Ed Turner CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Chuck Shepherd, Rob Brezsny, Austin Rhodes, Amy Alkon, Rachel Deahl CARTOONISTS Tom Tomorrow, Julie Larson

METRO SPIRIT is a free newspaper published weekly on Thursday, 52 weeks of the year. Editorial coverage includes ar ts, local issues, news, enter tainment, 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 © The Metropolitan 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

We specialize in several types of photography: • weddings • children • family • commercial

Surrey Center - Lower Level 375 Highland Ave. Augusta, GA 30909 706/737-9290

We are positioned to meet all of your personal and business needs.

A U G 2 1 2 0 0 3

4 M E T R O S P I R I T A U G 2 1 2 0 0 3

Whine Line A

s the American education system continues its plunge into the abyss, the people who run schools continue to weep and wail for more money. I submit that money doesn’t educate children, but quality teaching does. Have you talked to a teacher recently? Have you noticed the average teacher’s inability to use proper English? Never in my lifetime have I heard so many people unable to handle the first person pronoun, or any other pronoun for that matter, correctly. Today’s students are miserable failures because we now have reached a stage of the uneducated leading the ineducable. So the great Columbia County school system has five, that’s right, five schools which meet the federal substandard category. After all the bragging about the performance of the county schools, together with all the back-patting about “how good we are,” the truth is out! Not only should the administration be ashamed, but so should the school board. Maybe they can concentrate on improving performance instead of worrying about who might be chairman and whether he is elected by the board or by the people at large. Re: “SPLOST Idea: Out of Left Field at the Wrong Time.” After reading Mr. Gordon’s article, I couldn’t help but ask myself, “Why not have both?” I remember a “Downtown Augusta full of shoppers!” I guess that “The beginning of the end” came with Regency Mall! That’s gone now! I personally find the current location of the GreenJackets playing field uninviting. Placing a new ballpark beside the GGHF would be great! This would add yet another attraction to draw visitors to downtown Augusta! Let’s all work together to revitalize Augusta to its fullest potential! George W. Bush called a meeting of his economic advisors to have a “brainstorming” session on the national economy. What an oxymoron! An absolute necessity for “brainstorming” is to include people with brains, something George W. Bush and his advisors are void of.

The only thing I hate worse than being called in the evening by a telemarketer is being called in the evening by a recording asking me to “Please wait on the line for a terrific offer from Morris Communications.” Not only will I not be purchasing another subscription to the Augusta Chronicle, and not only will I be telling all my friends (read: all of Fort Gordon) not to purchase subscriptions to the Augusta Chronicle, but when Mr. Morris shows up to work one morning in the not-sodistant future, he can rest assured that the burning bag of dog poop on the steps of his office building is from yours truly. It represents just exactly what I think of his prerecorded intrusions into the privacy of my home with his so-called “terrific offers.” Gay marriage will not lead straight to bestiality. Polygamy would come next. Then middleage men can have the right once again to marry underage girls. Then the LAMBDA organization will ask for the same with little boys. Afterwards, inbreeding will finally become legal and then, finally, man and beast can have that secret rendezvous out in the open for all to see. Legally! The Rev. Jerry Falwell would go into serious cardiac arrest if I was right. I see Columbia County is going to raise taxes again! Maybe if the “privileged” few paid their fair share, the rest of us could pay our fair share! This needs to be investigated now! To Regal Cinema: I don’t know how much you are paying for your security, but I’ll grant you it is too much. They aren’t doing anything to deter vehicles being broken into, particularly this past week. You need to come up with a better security program if you want to keep your customers. Do any businesses in the world have a live representative to speak with? I am glad they fired John and Rebecca on WBBQ. They were very dull; in fact, the whole WBBQ radio station is duller than

Words “This is not a raid.” — Charles “Champ” Walker Jr.’s comment to the media as the offices of his father’s businesses on Laney-Walker Boulevard were, um, raided by agents from the FBI, GBI and IRS. Former Senate Majority Leader Charles Walker has been under investigation by a federal grand jury, although officials have been tight-lipped about the allegations concerning him. The search warrant executed at The Walker Group offices on Aug. 18 were sealed by a judge. Larry Fridie, a former manager for James Brown and co-organizer of the Asahi Ryokuken LPGA tournament, was at the scene as agents loaded boxes into the back of a pickup truck. Fridie tried to make reporters leave a public sidewalk surrounding Walker’s offices and said the boxes agents were removing contained “fliers.” The “fliers,” which agents held up to examine, appeared to be advertising inserts for the newspaper, but law enforcement officials would not confirm that.

gray-eyed dust. Now maybe WBBQ can maybe come back to “life”! This is directed to the little nerd/loser who thinks that if he had a convertible, he could get chicks. He sounds like the kind of guy who couldn’t pick up a girl with a fork lift. By the time we get the cars, we already have the girl(s) and it wasn’t because of an automobile. Of course he wouldn’t know that... Great idea about bringing in a semi-pro basketball team to the Civic Center! To further the idea, perhaps any other semi-pro to pro sports league may find a home here, such as indoor Lacrosse (which is highly popular all over the U.S.A.).

Is Charles Walker going down? Regarding the “bubba” or “bubbette” who was glad Channel 26 did not show the queer show last week: Are you really tired of fringe groups pushing their agendas on you, or are you just upset that your relative or friend wasn’t picked to be on the show? P.S. the greater queer community of Augusta really wishes you would stop pushing your religious principles on us. We’ll deal with the Lord when we’re ready. We don’t really need you to be a spokesperson for him! Toodle-loo! First, Congressman Charlie Norwood abandons his campaign talk for veteran benefits, and now he threatens the beauty of Lake Thurmond with a bill to commercialize its

shoreline. Charlie needs to get busy with help for our veterans and the state’s water problems and end his uselessness. If Charlie can’t figure this out, then it’s time to elect a new congressman. Just for the record, and in response to last week’s whine concerning cool cars, I’m in my mid-30s, have all my hair and own a convertible Corvette. So, Channel 26 and the Christian stations have principles since they neglect to air shows with gays in them? What if the show was good? You’d never know unless you’ve seen it. God forbid you watch something possibly entertaining then become gay. I’ve seen shows with people who act completely ignorant, but that doesn’t make me wanna be an idiot. This is in response to the whiner confused about the spokesperson job at the Board of Education. That position is filled by a former TV personality because it is a public relations position with a fat government paycheck. They hire ex-TV folks, like the current spokesperson and her predecessor, because they are better equipped to act as an obstacle to the local media when inquired about issues pertaining to problems with the local education system.

Kudos to Channel 26 for joining the rest of the nation and airing “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.” As a straight female, I found the show entertaining and, boy, do I wish someone would give my boyfriend a makeover like that! For those who feel that the lifestyles of gays and lesbians shouldn’t be forced on them, well, they can always change the channel. Also, in this day and age, the odds are that someone you work with, attend church with or even live next door to is gay. The honest truth is, though you may find this hard to believe, we are all the same! We all just want to love and be loved. This is in response to the comment made about fringe groups pushing their agendas. I have an idea — how about Channel 26 not showing any Christian programming since it does fall in the category of pushing agendas. There are better things to worry about than five gay guys doing a makeover! Get over it people! Channel 26 just showed the nation how narrow-minded some people can be.

Thumbs Up That trustees of the University of Georgia Foundation have called for an audit of UGA President Michael Adams’ use of foundation money. Among Adams’ most flagrant use of foundation funds was the alleged awarding of a $30,000 bonus to a UGA finance officer upon his return to the college from Gov. Sonny Perdue’s transition team, according to a recent article in The Atlanta Journal-

Constitution. Among other questionable expenditures Adams had a hand in approving, according to the article, was payment for a chartered plane to carry college administrators to President George W. Bush’s inauguration in January 2001. Adams and his cronies seem like the ideal case study for a future ethics class.

Thumbs Down Aside from the spectacle that was the raid on former state Sen. Charles Walker’s offices, was the staggering array of county vehicles and employees circling the block surrounding The

Walker Group offices as the whole thing went down. We’re not going to name names. They know who they are. But didn’t they have anything better to be doing?

I agree with Whitney O’Keeffe: The Aviation continued on page 6

ELEMENT IS BIG ON FUNCTION.

The media hype has already begun. State Sen. Charles Walker is being investigated and Augusta is salivating over the possibilities. This is the big chance to bring down a powerful politician if he has done anything illegal.

They better have a good case or the cry of “racism” will rear its ugly head. Danny Craig and the special grand jury churned up a lot of crap, fingering black leaders for all sorts of things, but no one has been indicted. If the same happens to Walker, expect a backlash in the community like we’ve never seen before. They better get him this time. If he’s innocent and walks, he’ll be intolerable.

Road trips. Mountain biking. Surfing. Camping. Extreme napping. Whatever you’re into, the Element will get you there and back, and be your base camp in between.

2003 Honda Element

GERALD JONES HONDA 2003 Gordon Highway • 1-800-203-9371 • www.geraldjoneshonda.com

M E T R O S P I R I T A U G 2 1 2 0 0 3

6 M E T R O S P I R I T A U G 2 1 2 0 0 3

Style is in Full Bloom...

! New

Monday • 7:30pm Channel 4

How much do you know about SARS? A visit with Dr. Keith Welchy from the Augusta-Richmond County Risk Communications Management

The National Past Time i n

B l a c k

W h i t e

The Negro Baseball League 1867-1955

at the Augusta Museum of History

A scene from Russell Joel Brown’s

Mozart

Motown

Plus a

Candlelight Jazz Series

The Forget-Me-Not Her four hand engraved petals reach for the morning sun...holding a magnificent Doris HeartStar diamond, proudly proclaiming the will of his heart.. The Forget-Me-Not will accommodate a center diamond from .50 to 1ct and features a matching platinum wedding band.

Platinum

Magnolias Flowers

Of The Old South

See the entire Collection of Classic Hand Engraved Engagement Rings and Antique Reproductions in the Southern Tradition Priced from $1295 and available exclusively from....

Performance by

Michael & Sherry Call in your questions & comments to 739-1822 or e-mail at connectlive@comcast.net

Replays: Daily at 12 Noon, 3pm, and 10:30pm on

Fine Jewelers & Diamond Merchants

Since 1940

2820 Washington Rd. 10am-6pm Monday-Saturday Closed Sundays 733-6747 or 800-798-6747 Member American Gem Society

Channel 66

Suburban Torture BY

JULIE

LARSON

continued from page 5 Commission needs to be abolished. Employee morale is rock bottom. We’re not stupid; we know what’s coming — another reduction in force or privatization. I don’t know if you are lying, Cedric Johnson, but we’re not buying it. Oh, and Marcie, it is personal — it was personal with Al McDill, it was personal with Ed Skinner and Billy Morris and it’s personal with Ken Kraemer. You know it; I know it! I don’t agree with the whiner who says there are no beautiful people in Augusta. I see hot babes all the time where I work. I realize you go to certain places and you see nothing but poorly dressed mountain folk. It all depends on where you go. In a vain effort to emulate private sector, professional television broadcasting, Georgia Educational TV presented, or attempted to present, a show that was of interest to me on Friday. From the start the presentation was plagued with serious video and audio problems. Obviously their engineering staff graduated from Georgia schools. No wonder Richmond County schools are failing, especially those schools that have failed for six and seven years. Most of the teachers there are not even certified; they could not begin to pass the certification tests that are required. They are provisional teachers. That means they were chosen to teach because of their degrees only, and it doesn’t matter what the degree is in either. I can be from an almost bogus school. They have chosen to pick those teachers to teach, and not

only to teach, but many of them to lead in school areas of leadership. Why is this? Can’t Richmond County transfer some of their teachers into these schools that are low performing, instead of sending the kids all over the place when they are going to be too tired to learn from being bused all over the place! I know all about brand conscious little girls. The article last week hit the nail on the head. Our culture makes it extremely difficult for parents to raise kids as they should. Peer pressure on these young girls is tremendous, and everything is a crisis to an adolescent girl anyway. Our culture is spinning out of control and sometimes parents feel as if the only thing they can do is hold on for dear life. To the person who wrote in about old, grayheaded men driving convertibles. I’m an old, gray-headed man who drives a Mercedes convertible. You would be surprised at the young women I pick up with that convertible. They love it. Even if I am old and gray. I think it’s time the FCC corrects their mistake of radio and television deregulation. Ever since the stations have been deregulated, radio stations in the Augusta area really suck. Especially the stations owned by Clear Channel. Please return local radio to local people. — Call our Whine Line at 510-2051 and leave your comments. We won’t use your name. Fax your whines by dialing (706) 7336663 or e-mail your whines to whine@metrospirit.com.

FINAL THREE DAYS

ALL SALE SHOES $40, $30 OR $20

SURREY CENTER 706.736.7793

MON-SAT 10-6

Letter to the Editor

Industry Nightclub Owner Responds

DUI

Free Phone Call

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

William Sussman 347 Greene Street • Augusta, Georgia

explaining, finally, my side of the story. Neither my staff nor I taught these teens this kind of behavior, nor do we tolerate it in the club or the vicinity of the club. We try to provide the safest environment possible. When we are aware of a problem, we take care of it without hesitation. I am not the first person to open a teen nightclub in this city, nor will I be the last. When the Metro Spirit lambasted Industry in the last issue, and I called and spoke to publisher David Vantrease to ask why I was getting all the attention when the other teen venue has had many more occurrances — which have included statutory rape, a stabbing and a shooting incident — he informed me that he was unaware there was another club in town. I’m not saying this is biased, but fair is fair. The occurrences at the other teen venue are more heinous and more frequent, but they have never made the pages of Metro Spirit. Recently, I inquired about obtaining a liquor license for Industry so that I can convert my teen nightclub into an adult nightclub. I was adamantly told that I would have a hard time convincing the Richmond County commissioners to issue me one when I can’t even control a bunch of teenagers. How could I control a bunch of rowdy adults? When a fight breaks out in a school, do they blame the principal or the teachers? No. They blame the students. When two rival football teams get into a skirmish after a game, do they blame the coaches or the referees? No. They blame the players. So why do I and my staff get blamed when teenagers get into a fight? We do nothing to encourage that kind of behavior; in fact, we do everything in our power to prevent it. It is my responsibility to secure the teen patrons of Industry within the confines of the club and the parking lot. It is my responsibility to the teens of Augusta to provide them with age-appropriate entertainment. It is my responsibility to answer the concerns of the parents of my teen patrons, the Richmond County Sheriff’s Department, the board of commissioners and the media. I do take my responsibility seriously, and will continue to do so. I will not allow the actions of a few to ruin it for all. In closing I invite any and all concerned parents, Richmond County commissioners or media representatives to come and check out Industry for themselves. Then they can make an informed judgement for themselves, rather than rely on one tainted by hearsay, speculation or media bias. — Andreax SynJyn Jarre’ Owner, Industry Nightclub

(706) 724-3331

M E T R O S P I R I T A U G 2 1

———ATTORNEY AT LAW ———

Dear Editor, I must admit I have debated writing this letter for some time. Since the first article published by the Augusta Chronicle in May, through all the time devoted to Industry by Austin Rhodes, to the recent incident on Aug. 10th, I have been contemplating my response. I have solicited advice from numerous people – Police officers, lawyers, my pastor, parents of teenagers, employees, and fellow club owners. All offered different opinions. They varied from “Leave it alone, the controversy will die down,” to “You should stand up for yourself and your business.” Much to the chagrin of most of them, I have chosen the latter. It has always been my goal, by opening Industry, to provide a safe place for teenagers to dance away their Saturday nights. To play the music that they want to hear, to allow them to act like adults, and to be treated like adults. Unfortunately, that has not always been the case. There have been fights at Industry. Whether I attribute it to personal differences or territorial boundaries, I will not deny that there have been fights. However, any fight that has taken place in the club has been quickly taken care of, the responsible parties removed and the remainder of the patrons have been allowed to enjoy the evening. The problems that keep getting reported in the media are problems that happen outside the club, after Industry has closed. At the end of the night, we escort patrons out to the parking lot, ask them to get in their cars and leave, or wait patiently for their parents to arrive. Industry’s parking lot accommodates 25 cars. The two incidents that have made the paper and local news occurred off Industry property. The incident in June took place at the comer of 6th and Reynolds and the incident in August took place at the comer of 5th and Broad. Both cases off Industry property; both cases over half a city block away. Teenagers know that we do not tolerate fighting in the club or the parking lot; that is why they choose to fight down the street. In both incidents, as soon as someone informed us there was a problem, Industry security responded immediately and the fight was quickly dispersed. Industry encompasses 8,000 square feet, with a additional 2,000 square-foot parking lot. I employ over 20 part-time staff members, plus four off-duty police officers — a number I feel is adequate to secure the building, plus the parking lot. However, it is not adequate to secure over two city blocks, which the media seems to feel that I am responsible to do. Now you might be thinking that I’m just making excuses. True, but I am also

priceless

For more information call 733-0130 1-866-517-7513

AMERICAN, GERMAN & ITALIAN CUISINE Lunch Mon-Fri Dinner and Drinks Nightly SUMMER LUNCH SPECIAL $7.95

SUMMER SALAD TRIO • CHICKEN SUPREME • SHRIMP CREOLE GRILLED PORK CHOP • VEAL MEATLOAF • GRILLED BRATWURST GRILLED CHICKEN SALAD

HOT OFF THE GRILL SIZZLIN’ DINNER SPECIALS $7.95-$13.95 PEPPERCORN GRILLED LAMB CHOPS • GRILLED GERMAN BRATWURST DUO MIDWEEK MIXED GRILL • PETIT FILET MIGNON (6 oz) SMOTHERED RIBEYE STEAK • GRILLED STUFFED PORK CHOP • GRILLED CHICKEN MONTEREY

from Bobby Jones Expressway Exit 5B • 798-6211•798-0065

www.VillaEuropa.com

IF YOU HAVE DIABETES, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Each year, more than a million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes. Learning to live with this chronic disease isn’t easy. Even with a proper diet and plenty of exercise, keeping your blood sugar level under control is challenging. Diet and exercise are the first steps, but often they are not enough. If you have type 2 diabetes, you may be eligible for a research study being conducted in your area. To qualify, you must have type 2 diabetes and be age 21 or older. As part of the study, you will receive: • Study-related physical exams • Investigational medication • Glucose monitoring supplies And you will have the benefit of knowing you’re not alone in living with your diabetes. Call today if you would like to learn more about this study and to find out if you qualify.

Call: CSRA PARTNERS IN HEALTH Diane K. Smith, MD 1220 Augusta West Parkway Augusta, GA 30909 706-860-3001

2 0 0 3

8 M E T R O S P I R I T A U G 2 1 2 0 0 3

Opinion: Austin Rhodes JAPANESE SEAFOOD AND STEAK HOUSE - SUSHI BAR

I Was Wrong

NOW OPEN ALL DAY SUNDAY NOON-9:30PM

Sunday Special Filet Mignon & Chicken or Filet Mignon & Shrimp

$26.95 per couple The One and Only Kurama in Augusta! Washington Square Shopping Center Next to SteinMart & Masters 7 Cinemas

RESERVATIONS 737-4015

The Fort Gordon Dinner Theatre Presents...

Neil Simon’s all time classic comedy! “There is scarcely a moment that is not hilarious.” -N.Y. Times ”A socko comedy success.” - N.Y. Journal-American ”Richly hilarious and remarkably original. Wildly, irresistibly, incredibly and continuously funny.” - N.Y. Daily News

September 12, 13, 19, 20, 25, 26 & 27, 2003 Dinner, 7 p.m. / Show, 8 p.m. $30-Civilians, $28-Seniors (65 & over), Retirees, DA Civilians & Active Duty E8 & Above, $17-Active Duty E7 & Below, $12-Show Only

Call 793-8552 for reservations or visit www.fortgordon.com OPEN TO THE PUBLIC! Produced in cooperation with Samuel French Inc. and the Army Entertainment Program.

eez ... with a title like that, this column can go about a million ways. Specifically, I was wrong last year when I pooh-poohed those who suggested open alcohol consumption should be banned in downtown Augusta, particularly during First Fridays. Actually, it was the much-maligned Chris Naylor from Main Street Augusta who collected about a million arrows in his backside when he suggested such a ban should be considered. I went after him; Arts Council officials went after him; Metro Spirit went after him, and so did all the artsy-fartsy folks who made First Friday the great success it is today. We were wrong. We joked that we would all walk around with cups filled with everything from near-beer to apple juice to ... um ... other stuff ... and make the cops bring in the CSI team to determine if the “law” was being broken. We laughed; we wisecracked; we generally gave Chris unmitigated hell in the process. We were wrong. A year has passed since the great downtown Augusta alcohol debate of 2002, and now the evidence is all in. He was right; we were wrong. Hey, it happens. Ask my ex-wives. Last week Richmond County Sheriff Ronnie Strength contacted Augusta city commissioners about revisiting the issue of alcohol restrictions, and if they are smart, they will listen to what he says. It is nothing short of a minor miracle that there has been relatively little property damage and no serious injuries considering the amount of post-First Friday hooliganism which materializes around 10:30 p.m. According to the sheriff, word has gotten out far and wide that downtown Augusta is the place to party about that time every month, and the word does not attract folks you would want anywhere near your own backyard. These yahoos set up full service bars out of the trunks of their cars and end up making the party scene in “Animal House” look like a Southern Baptist Sunday social. Stick around Downtown long enough and you will personally witness every biological function in the human catalog. There are simply not enough lawmen to control the scene when public alcohol consumption is allowed. Now, should a complete and total ban on public drinking be in effect? Of course not. The people pushing strollers and sipping merlot at 7:30 p.m. are not the ones yacking all over parked cars and “watering” the median begonias. We seem to have two different crowds in play during First Friday, and the shift change starts to happen around 10 p.m. So that is when the rules need to change. Again, this is not a conclusion

Chris Naylor reached without personal knowledge of the situation. My daughter and I haven’t missed a First Friday all summer, and I make damn sure to get her out of there before the werewolves start showing up. My younger friends and colleagues keep me informed on the bawdy details as they play out in the wee hours. Or, as we might call them given the disgusting behavior that goes on, the “wee-wee” hours. Bottom line: When access to alcohol is so easy, with absolutely no bar managers, bouncers or security people to police it, it ain’t a good thing. At least, it ain’t a good thing for business owners downtown. The people who own and operate the establishments that are the lifeblood of the district are solidly behind a public alcohol curfew. But you know, all that is icing on the cake. The sheriff has asked for this curfew, and he has the evidence to back up his request. The city commission needs to arm his department with the rules to make downtown as safe and orderly as it can be. There is not one common-sense defense to continue the current noholds-barred, wide-open policy. We tried it; it failed. The sheriff needs the commission’s help. That is good enough for me. And unless you are totally brain-dead, or a raging alcoholic who needs easy access to booze, it should be good enough for you. Chris Naylor was held out for scorn, ridicule and public bashing because he (and the people he works with) had the sense to see this problem coming. Myself and the above-listed detractors did our best to shout him down. He was right; we were wrong. We owe him an apology, and I am offering him mine, right now. Now, if we can just get the old son of a gun to quit smoking. — The views expressed in this column are the views of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher. The archived Austin Rhodes columns can now be seen at www.wgac.com.

////////////////////////

M E T R O

200 3

STIR THE SENSE S T OUR

S P I R I T A U G 2 1 2 0 0 3

Heph beats Evan if he wants to eat corporate Don’t be like Evan, Support a local restaurant like the Fresh Thyme Café. The money stays local!

AN ORGANIC EXPERIENCE OF AMBIENT DEEP HOUSE AND SOULFUL GROOVES

Labor Day White Linen Party special guest

Carl Thomas FEATURING THE CLOTHING DESIGNS OF SARAI STYLE

SEPTEMBER 1ST :: VELVET ROOM

437 Highland Ave, Surrey Center 706.737.6699 • Fax 706.733.8644 Mon-Sat Lunch & Dinner

////////////////////////

1021 PEACHTREE ST., ATLANTA Arrive Early. Doors Open at

9 PM.

Events restricted to patrons 21 years of age or older.

GREEN LABEL FULL FLAVOR 18 mg. “tar”, 1.3 mg. nicotine av. per cigarette by FTC method. For more product information, visit www.rjrt.com.

CALL FOR DETAILS

1.877.315.6218* Calls restricted to smokers 21+. *Event locations and details subject to change.

10 M E T R O S P I R I T A U G 2 1 2 0 0 3

Have You You May Be

Been Told By Your Doctor

At Risk For Type 2 Diabetes?

Opinion: Insider

Bad Times for Charles Walker

You May Be At Risk For Having Type 2 Diabetes If You… • Have a family history of diabetes • Are overweight • Have increased thirst and appetite • Need to urinate frequently • Feel fatigued • Have blurred vision

If You Are Between 21 And 70 Years Of Age, You May… • Be eligible to participate in a nationwide clinical study of an investigational new drug for people with type 2 diabetes, sponsored by Bristol-Myers Squibb • Gain access to a research treatment that is otherwise unavailable • Help others by participating in medical research

And Qualify For Study-Related… • Medical care • Study medication • Laboratory work and evaluations • Glucose monitoring supplies • Diabetic and nutritional counseling

…All At No Cost

For More Information Please Call

Masters of Clinical Research, Inc. at

706-855-5475

WE’RE MOVING

Everything

20% Off EVERYTHING MUST GO

BARKSDALE’S MENSWEAR 4432 Washington Road, Evans GA (across from Evans Diner) 706-228-1661

tate Senator Charles Walker has faced legal problems, fines for ethical lapses, and charges of wrongdoing. There is no question that he has used his political power to his personal advantage and often attempted to circumvent the rules. He has received more criticism about his behavior and activities than any Augusta politician in recent memory. Along the way, rumors of investigations and pending criminal charges have plagued the former state senate majority leader. Through it all, “The Senator” has escaped any serious clashes with law enforcement. Not anymore. The raid on his office this week by FBI, GBI and IRS officials stamped an image in the minds of Augustans that they won’t soon forget. It also represents the first local public view of the swarm of activity surrounding the very serious investigation into Walker’s business and financial activities. The raid finally localized the investigation and shouted the fact that powerful forces are at work against Walker. The man is in trouble and even the most unobservant among us now knows that. Walker knows it better than anyone. The FBI and the IRS don’t play. In early 2002, when Walker was running the state senate and influencing every piece of legislation that came out of the Gold Dome, federal investigators were visiting the Capitol, interviewing legislators and lobbyists in their effort to determine if there was any evidence of criminal wrongdoing on Walker’s part. The gathering storm was building. Even as Walker claimed no knowledge of the investigation, he knew. Everybody in the Capitol knew. Initially, the investigation was in low gear, building momentum. Then, Walker was defeated by current state Sen. Randy Hall (R-23) in the November 2002 election, as was Walker’s source of power, Governor Roy Barnes. Overnight Walker went from king to loser. Republicans were gleeful to dethrone the powerful Democrat. Even some Gold Dome Democrats were glad to see Walker go after years of dealing with his iron-fisted rule and intimidating style. Walker was out and it was a perfect time

Former Sen. Charles Walker for the investigation to heat up. The FBI and the IRS are on a trail. They have unmatched legal power and clout. The U.S. attorney, FBI officials, and IRS agents have a lot at stake and they don’t want to blow this one. Surely, prosecutors think they have something. Why else would they make such a public spectacle of the raid? The federal judge who signed the search warrant authorizing the raid must have seen enough evidence to allow the intrusion. Either the noose is tightening around Walker’s neck or this poor guy is one of the most persecuted local politicians on record. As an observer, it is difficult to imagine that this is much ado about nothing. However, if nothing comes of this intense investigation, one can only imagine the hornet’s nest that Walker will stir. The truth will be known. It will take time. The feds move slowly and methodically in building their cases. Insiders with knowledge of the investigation say prosecutors are confident their actions will ultimately be justified. Meanwhile, the saga continues. More later. —The views expressed in this column are the views of The Insider and do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher.

Remembering Jaime: A Tribute To a Lost Friend Page 22

MetroBeat

M E T R O S P I R I T A U G

The Terrible Drive Down Laney-Walker

riving down Laney-Walker Boulevard these days is like attempting to maneuver through an obstacle course of gaping potholes and randomly scattered fluorescent cones. One wrong turn and you could lose your transmission. If you successfully complete the course, you’ll probably only need to get your car realigned. On Aug. 19, the Augusta Commission voted to tell Mabus Brothers Construction – the company handling the street reconstruction project on Laney-Walker – enough is enough. “You ride from Seventh Street to the railroad and you are hitting bumps, after bumps after bumps,” said Augusta Commissioner Lee Beard. “I don’t even go down that way anymore. I can’t afford it with my car.” Augusta Commissioner Willie Mays said those aren’t just bumps along the side streets, running north and south from Laney-Walker Boulevard. “I don’t mean a bump in the road, I mean actual holes,” Mays said. “There are enough holes that there’s standing water in the middle of those streets. Whether it’s Ninth Street, 10th Street or 11th Street, they’re all the same way.” In September 2002, Mabus Brothers Construction was awarded a $2.5 million contract for the reconstruction work on Laney-Walker Boulevard. Since then, the company has come back to the city and asked for an additional $218,500 to be paid out of the project’s contingency account for unanticipated costs that arose while working on the street.

2 1

By Stacey Eidson

Those expenses were approved by the Augusta Commission, but on Aug. 19, when Mabus Brothers again returned to ask for an additional $72,080 for the project due to work such as the unanticipated removal of abandoned railroad tracks, the commission refused the company’s request. “This commissioner won’t be giving one more penny to deal with anything else out there on that project. From now on, not one cent,” Mays said. “In a lot of economic areas of this city, no major thoroughfare would be left as raggedy as that area has been left. “And for them (Mabus Brothers) to have the nerve – more nerve than a brass monkey – to come up in here and ask for a change order (of $72,080) and an extension into February in order to complete the work at the same time ... it’s disturbing.” With the current state of the street, Mays said he would have at least thought that a representative from Mabus Brothers would have been present at the meeting to explain why the company needs the additional $72,080 and a completion extension into February 2004. Attempts to reach representatives from Mabus Brothers for comment were unsuccessful. “If they’ve got the audacity to ask for an extension that goes into February, then I think they need to come in here before us,” Mays said. “It’s ridiculous the way that that area has been left.” “It’s raggedy as hell any way you look at it,” Mays reiterated. All anyone has to do is drive down

Laney-Walker in its current condition, and they will never want to come back, he said. “If you are going north/south (on 10th Street) and you are crossing LaneyWalker Boulevard and the light is ready to change green going east to west, you have to make a choice,” Mays said. “You can’t drive over 2 mph, so you have to make a choice of knocking your car out of line or getting hit by cars coming from the east/west direction. “Even with the delayed traffic signals on Laney-Walker, you’ve got to come to a full stop in order to avoid losing your

2 0 0 3

transmission on those potholes. That’s a public safety dilemma that you’ve got there.” Mays said that the city’s risk management office has received a number of claims this year against the city regarding damage done to the public’s vehicles while driving down Laney-Walker. In one instance, the city had to pay to replace the transmission on a woman’s car after it was damaged on LaneyWalker. “The transmission that the young lady had was basically torn from the bottom of her car. And she’s not the only one,” continued on page 12

“It’s ridiculous the way that that area has been left. ... It’s raggedy as hell any way you look at it.” – Augusta Commissioner Willie Mays

TRY OUR NEW LUNCH MENU

M E T R O S P I R I T A U G 2 1 2 0 0 3

Tues-Fri • 11-2 LUNCH SALADS

COLD TRIO SALADS - your favorite meat and two sides listed below 7.95 STUFF A TOMATO with your favorite salad listed below 7.95 (Tomato plates are garnished with fruit, egg and lettuce) MEATS Cajun Shrimp Grilled Chicken Tuna Salad Grilled Asian Steak SIDES Fruit Salad Cottage Cheese Marinated Veggie Szechawan Noodles

white wine cream sauce tossed with potato dumplings 9.75

LUNCH SANDWICHES

SOFT SHELL PO’ BOY - Jumbo Soft Shell lightly breaded then fried and served with lettuce, tomato, shaved onions and sauce remoulade on a crunchy baguette 7.95 CAJUN OYSTER PO’ BOY - Fresh Oysters lightly breaded and fried and served with lettuce, tomato, shaved onions and sauce remoulade on a crunchy baguette 7.50

Egg Salad Penne Tortellini Dill Potato

CAJUN CRAYFISH - Fresh California greens with roasted red peppers, almonds, scallions, garlic, chopped tomato, spicy crayfish tail meat and balsamic vinaigrette 7.25 CESAR’S CAESAR - Fresh romaine, herbed croutons, homemade dressing and parmesan cheese (add chicken $1.95, add shrimp $2.50) 6.95 COBB SALAD - Baby greens, diced turkey, bacon, egg, cheddar cheese and Italian dressing 8.25

LUNCH ENTREE

MEYERS CHICKEN - Breast of chicken sautéed with shallots, mushrooms, home-made preserved lemons, roasted garlic sauce 8.25 BOOTLEG BLADE STEAK - Hand cut 8oz. top Sirloin steak grilled served with Whiskey cream peppercorn sauce 9.95 CAPELLINI PESCA - Chili flakes, Habanera peppers, garlic, shrimp, scallops, wild mushrooms, tomato, basil tossed with angel hair pasta 8.95 CRISPY RAINBOW TROUT - Lightly breaded brook filet, sautéed with lemon brown butter sauce 9.50 SHRIMP GNOCCHI - Gulf shrimp sauté with garlic, basil, tomato,

COASTAL CRUNCH - Fried grouper and crab cake with lettuce, tomato, shaved onions and sauce remoulade on a crunchy baguette 8.50 HOT CHICKEN WRAP - Buffalo fried chicken breast with lettuce, tomato, red onion Marmalade served with hot honey mustard and wrapped in a sun-dried tomato tortilla 7.50 GYRO WRAP - Lamb and beef gyromeat grilled with onions, lettuce, tomato, Tzatziki sauce, wrapped in pesto flour tortilla 7.95

continued from page 11 Mays said. “It’s tearing up folks’ cars everywhere. Your own chairman of your citizens committee for sales tax had his transmission tore up the same way.” But many people do not want to fight city hall in order to get reimbursed for the damages to their car, Mays said. Augusta Commissioner Andy Cheek agreed with Mays that it was time for the city to get Mabus Brothers’ attention. “This is probably one of the shoddiest jobs that I’ve ever seen,” he said. “We need to send them a message that this is unacceptable. When Laney-Walker was to be completed, it is supposed to be a showplace. Now, it just seems unusually poorly done.” Robert Clements, of the city’s public works department, said he understood that the commission wanted to deny Mabus Brothers’ request for the additional $72,080, but he also told the commission that the work the company was requesting the money for had already been performed. “It’s already been done to keep the project moving,” Clements explained. “Mabus elected to proceed with the work because they were getting pressure from us and everybody else. So, Mabus has elected to do this work on their own.” Mays simply laughed and jokingly thanked Mabus Brothers for its contribution. “Well, that’s mighty nice of them, but I still have a major problem out there,” he said. “If folks were in those holes every day working (to correct the street’s

D. TIMM’S HAMBURGER - 8oz. 100% fresh ground chuck grilled to order served with lettuce, tomato, red onion marmalade and Maytag blue cheese on a homemade onion bun 6.95

LEARN, GROW, BECOME…

OVEN ROASTED TURKEY - Sliced turkey piled high with toasted pecans, lettuce, roasted garlic mayonnaise on homemade thick cut bread 6.25 BUMSTEAD - Triple decker piled high with sliced roast beef, turkey, ham, shaved onions, cheddar and Swiss cheeses, lettuce, tomato, red onion marmalade on thick cut bread 6.95 GOAT CHEESE AND BEEF - Pesto flour tortilla filled with warm roasted beef, local Blue Moon Goat Cheese and roasted red pepper compote 6.25 MONTE WHO - Sliced ham with Swiss and cheddar cheeses on thick cut bread dipped in cinnamon batter then fried and accented with powder sugar 5.95

D. Timm’s jazz café Our deepest sympathy to the family of JAIME BURCHAM and the Augusta Ballet. Our thoughts are with you. 302 Sixth St. Augusta, GA 30901 706.774.9500 Dinner Tues-Sat 5pm-Until

problems), then maybe we could talk.” But instead of seeing construction crews on the side roads along LaneyWalker, Mays said, the only thing he sees are huge “holes, water and bumps.” Augusta Commissioner Marion Williams said that not only should the commission deny Mabus Brothers’ $72,080 request, he suggested that the city award a $303,150 contract for future construction work on Jones Street to another local company instead of Mabus Brothers, even though Mabus Brothers had the lowest bid for the work. “They shouldn’t be considered for no other work for this government,” Williams said. The majority of the commission agreed with Williams and awarded the Jones Street contract to Blair Construction. Only Augusta Commissioner Bill Kuhlke voted against the motion and Commissioner Bobby Hankerson was absent. The commissioners also agreed to deny Mabus Brothers’ request for $72,082. For the many people in Augusta who do not travel Laney-Walker Boulevard, Mays said, they may think he’s being a little too hard on Mabus Brothers’ work. He assured them, that was not the case. “If you don’t believe me, take me home,” Mays said, referring to his residence in the Laney-Walker area. “All I can tell you is, if you haven’t seen it yet, drive north/south on any one of those corridors and drive over 5 mph, but be prepared to go to your alignment place the next day because you’ll need it.”

COURSES STARTING SOON!

NOW! TO RECEIVE A CATALOG OR TO REGISTER CALL

737-1636 WWW.CED.AUG.EDU

…acquire the knowledge and skills that lead to more productive and satisfying lives... Accupressure: "Potent Points" Acting Workshop Adobe Illustrator Adobe Photoshop Advanced Beginning Golf Advanced Medical Coding Aquacise Beginning Arabic Language and Culture Beginning Ballroom Beginning Golf Beginning Photography Beginning Shag Business Writing Computer Based Real Estate Computer Literacy I Couples Massage Deep Water Aerobics Digital Photography for Beginners Drawing at the Morris Drivers Education Easy Conversation in Spanish

First Aid for your Dogs and Cats Foreign Languages and Cultures How to Get People to Pay Ice Skating Intermediate Ballroom Intermediate Digital Photography Intermediate Investing Intermediate Shag I Intermediate Tai Chi Investing for Beginners Managing Problem Employees Medical Terminology Medical Coding Music Conservatory Online Spanish and French QuarkXpress SAT Review Scanner Basics Stained Glass Tai Chi I Writing the Story of Your Life Your Home Gym

❑ Complete Online Course Listing ❑ Go to: www.ed2go.com/augusta/ and click on ‘Courses’ for details

M E T R O

BLACK LABEL LIGHTS 100’S: 9 mg. “tar”, 0.7 mg. nicotine, BLACK LABEL LIGHTS: 10 mg. “tar”, 0.8 mg. nicotine, BLACK LABEL FULL FLAVOR, BLACK LABEL FULL FLAVOR 100’S: 17 mg. “tar”, 1.2 mg. nicotine, av. per cigarette by FTC method. For more product information, visit www.rjrt.com.

S P I R I T A U G 2 1

B L AC K LABEL

2 0 0 3

Mysteriously Rich. Deliciously Intense.

MANUFACTURER COUPON

EXPIRES 10 /31/03

For more information please call

stir the senses

a pack any style of

1-800-433-4000.

Or visit us at www.salemaccess.com CALLS AND WEBSITE RESTRICTED TO SMOKERS 21+

TERMS OF COUPON OFFER CONSUMER: This coupon is good only when brand style(s) specified is purchased. Void if copied, exchanged, or transferred before acceptance by retailer. Consumer must pay any sales tax. Participation in this promotion is at the discretion of the retailer. All promotional costs paid by manufacturer. LIMIT ONE COUPON PER CONSUMER AND TO SMOKERS 21 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER. RETAILER: R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company will reimburse you the normal retail value for this item, 8¢ handling and postage, provided you and the consumer have complied with the terms of this offer and our coupon redemption policy, incorporated by reference (copies available). Cash value 1/20 of 1¢. Good only in U.S.A., void where prohibited. Mail to: Coupon Redemption Center, P.O. Box 870039, Tecate, CA 91987-0039.

14 M E T R O S P I R I T A U G 2 1 2 0 0 3

Metro Beat

Augusta Gets “Queer”

ohn Mann, general manager of WAGT-TV Channel 26, had been called every name in the book after his decision last month to bump back the new hit series “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.” Mann’s station was singled out in a New York Times story for the decision (even though other NBC affiliates in the country also opted to push the show back, or cancel it) and Mann became the target of a “Call to Action” e-mail petition drive initiated by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Then, of course, there were also those e-mails and phone calls supporting Mann’s decision not to run the July 24 airing of the show until 2:35 a.m., instead of the scheduled 9:30 p.m. The majority of those people, who said they were opposed to the show because it makes light of homosexuality by featuring five gay men who perform a culture and appearance makeover on a straight man, applauded Mann for doing the “Christian” thing by not airing it at the regular time — though Mann repeatedly stated his decision had nothing to do with any homophobic or religious policy. But by the afternoon of Aug. 15, a day after Mann opted to air a subsequent episode of “Queer Eye” at the regularly scheduled time, he had received only one e-mail. “That’s it, just one.” Mann said. “And that was saying that we needed to look at the numbers because less than 3 percent of the population is homosexual, and why are we intent on ramming this agenda down the heterosexuals’ throats? And, ‘Gee, we thought your station manager had taken a stand. It looked like he knuckled under.’ “You know, again, obviously people don’t get it.” In a nutshell, Mann had problems with the first episode of “Queer Eye,” which regularly airs on the NBC-owned Bravo cable channel, because it contained references to “excretory” functions, a no-no, according to the National Association of Broadcaster’s manual of legal guidelines. In that episode, one of the five “Queer Eye” crew sniffed a jock strap to confirm it was

By Brian Neill

dirty. Then, someone remarked that a stain in question on the jock strap was likely “boy sauce,” rather than soy sauce. Mann said he would have also delayed or canceled shows like “Friends” or “Will and Grace” if they had contained the same material. He said future airings of “Queer Eye” would be approved case by case. The Augusta viewing audience did see another hour-long episode of “Queer Eye” at its regularly scheduled time, 10 p.m., on Aug. 14. Because the Metro Spirit had run a story about the earlier delaying of the show, Mann invited a reporter from the newspaper to screen the show before it aired that night. Mann had already seen the episode, which previously aired on Bravo and featured a makeover on a part-time contractor planning to propose to his girlfriend. Mann said he was initially concerned over the fact the episode contained scatological humor. However, Mann was relieved after receiving an e-mail from the NBC network that those scenes had been edited out of the program. According to the e-mail, those scenes included one of the five “Queer Eye” members asking, “Is this caked-on DNA?” while examining a stain on bed sheets. In another scene, according to the e-mail, one of the members of the “Queer Eye” cast held up a pair of dirty underwear and remarked, “Someone had Mexican.” Then, one of the cast said, “I got you black ones in case you crap them.” Still, there were moments when Mann cringed over the content NBC left intact. Such as when Kyan Douglas, the show’s “Grooming Guru,” said, “I won’t make any jokes about you being on your knees right now,” when the contractor was leaning down to wash his hair. “Oh,” Mann grimaced, after that dialogue. Then, “Fashion Savant” Carson Kressley asked the contractor, “What has Tina (the contractor’s girlfriend) got that I don’t, besides a working vagina?” That line brought a shake of the head from Mann. However, after watching the edited version

RECEIVE 10% OFF YOUR 1ST PURCHASE WITH THIS AD (not available with any other offer)

• Oriental Gifts & Home Decorations

• Asian Plants (Bamboo, Bonsai, etc.)

• Seasonal Gifts & Home Accessories

• Hand Crafted Vases & Pots

• Accent Furniture & Lamps

• & Much, Much More

WHERE THE WEST MEETS THE EAST 3836 Washington Rd, Ste 3 • Martinez

2 doors down from Fire House Subs - close to K-Mart

706-869-0899

WAGT-TV Channel 26 Programming Director Don Mathews (foreground) and General Manager John Mann view an episode of “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” before airing it on Aug. 14. NBC sent by FedEx to Channel 26, Mann felt comfortable with running the show that night. “I guarantee it’s going to run tonight,” Mann said. “The only part I cringed at is, you don’t hear the word ‘vagina’ all the time in content. But I also cringe during ‘Friends’ when I’m eating dinner and the word ‘penis’ pops up.” Mann said affiliate stations are prohibited from editing out network programming content. They must either choose to run the show, or not. “Queer Eye” has swept the airwaves and reportedly drew more than 7 million viewers on July 24, the first time a half-hour episode of the show was broadcast on NBC. Some have applauded the show for at least fostering some notion of meaningful interaction between gays and straights. Other critics, many of them openly gay, have felt “Queer Eye” only serves to further homosexual stereotypes, such as those that say all gay men are sharp dressers or relish the idea of converting a straight man (going

back to the “what does Tina have that I don’t?” remark). Still others have railed on the preponderance of product placements in the show and the uber-fashion theme that runs through it. “Gay men, at least these men, are pretty well off,” wrote Mary C. Curtis of The Charlotte Observer. “Fashion guru Carson Kressley, the show’s showiest personality, leans toward Ralph Lauren and advises the masses to throw out any clothes you haven’t worn in a year ... Gays who make minimum wage must wonder where they went wrong.” Mann said he could care less about political or social debate over the merits of the program. He just wanted to ensure its content was acceptable from a decency standpoint. “I think we’ve dodged a bullet, because about everything that I thought could be objectionable has already been edited out by NBC,” Mann said. “This is more in line with ‘Will and Grace.’ Edgy, but not gratuitous, dirty jock strap sniffing.”

15 M E T R O

Introducing Two New Additions to the

Club Sun Family!

Club 600 Tan at ALL LEVELS $59.95/month

THANK YOU

Club Stand Stand Up Tanning $39.95/month

BRING THIS AD IN FOR

1/2 Off one time set up fee on new packages plus take $15 Off any bottle of Designer Skin tanning accelerators and recieve one free pair of protective eye wear

For Supporting Our Advertisers

14 B 9th Street between Beamies & Boll Weevil, inside Jondal Salon

Mon-Fri 7am-7pm â&#x20AC;˘ Sat 10am-6pm

828-0-TAN (0826)

GET $1,600 BACK ON THE PURCHASE OF A NEW AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM This has been the coolest summer we have experienced in 30 years. Take advantage now with huge savings on high efficiency heating/cooling systems for your home.

$1,600 Off

NOW THROUGH AUGUST 31, PURCHASE A COMPLETE GAS/ELECTRIC AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM AND RECEIVE $1,600 OFF OF OUR NORMAL PRICES.

Call 722-5304 for details and an appointment today! REPAIRED

RIGHT

FIXED

FREE

S P I R I T A U G 2 1 2 0 0 3

16 M E T R O S P I R I T A U G

“People who raised the idea of separation of church and state don’t understand that the Supreme Court ruled 50 years ago that this program was constitutional.”

2 1 2 0 0 3

– David Miller, vice chairman of the board at Christian Learning Centers of Augusta

Reading, Writing and …

Religion? By Stacey Eidson

s Richmond County students begin to settle back into the routine of tricky math problems and 20-word spelling quizzes after a long summer break, a number of fourth- and fifth-graders at John Milledge Elementary School will be introduced to a new weekly lesson that will require a different kind of textbook – the Bible. Earlier this summer, members of the Richmond County Board of Education voted 8-2 to extend a pilot program at Milledge Elementary School called Released Time Christian Education. This program, which the board first

approved to begin last spring semester, allows students with parental permission to leave the school’s campus once a week for a 45-minute Bible education lesson held at neighboring Crawford Avenue Baptist Church. Officials from Crawford Avenue Baptist Church do not teach the lessons; they only provide the program with an off-site classroom for students because the church is located directly behind the school’s property. Released time was introduced to Milledge Elementary by members of the Christian Learning Centers of Augusta, a local nonprofit organization with offices located at 1005 Druid Park Ave.

The mission of the Christian Learning Centers of Augusta is to bring the Released Time Christian Education to as many schools as possible in the CSRA. “We’ve been working on our program for five or six years,” said David Miller, vice chairman of the board at Christian Learning Centers of Augusta and parttime Richmond County teacher. “Finally, the school board approved it last fall and we started our first class during the spring semester at John Milledge Elementary. We had two classes with a total of 17 kids participating.” The class lessons, which are taught by a retired school teacher selected by the Christian Learning Centers, include

reading from the Bible, memorizing and reciting Bible verses, learning Bible vocabulary and having classroom discussions about the Bible lessons. The curriculum also tries to provide children with guidance in conflict resolution and strengthens important values such as honesty, compassion, integrity and loyalty, Miller explained. “The lessons tell the kids why it is important to be honest,” he said. “Why you should treat other people with respect. It helps them make the connection between their faith and their daily life.” On the first day of the program, Miller said, the children who were signed up continued on page 18

17 M E T R O

What’s College Football Without Tailgating? ENTER TO WIN A TAILGATE PARTY PACK FOR TEN! Presented by:

Each week Metro Spirit will select one winner from all entries: • Tailgate Package for 10 from Wife Saver • 10 Koozies from Metro Spirit

REGISTER TO WIN: Name________________________________________________ Address_____________________________________________ Daytime Phone Number_____________________________

MAIL, FAX, OR EMAIL YOUR ENTRY TO: P.O. Box 3809, Augusta, GA 30914 • Fax (706) 733-6663 spirit@metrospirit.com

S P I R I T A U G 2 1 2 0 0 3

18 continued from page 16 M E T R O S P I R I T A U G 2 1 2 0 0 3

were walked across Milledge Elementary’s playground around noon by a representative from the Christian Learning Centers to the entrance of Crawford Avenue Baptist Church. There, the students were issued classroom workbooks and their own personal Bibles, paid for by the Christian Learning Centers. “We think it’s important to be able to offer released time to these kids because their real world, or at least a big part of it, is school,” Miller said. “That’s where they need guidance.” Miller said that the Christian Learning Centers has heard nothing but high praise for released time from the students’ parents who enrolled their children in the program last semester. “One mother wrote us and said it was an answer to her prayers,” Miller said. “So now we think it will be good for us to go through a whole school year because we think this year’s class will be larger than

Roman Catholics. In a 6-to-3 decision, the court found that the released time program did not constitute the establishment of religion or interfere with the free exercise of religion. Therefore, the program was deemed permissible in the school system. This was a drastic change from the court’s previous decision regarding a similar case in 1948. In McCollum v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court ruled against another voluntary religious program that was organized in Champaign, Ill., in the early 1940s. The problem the courts had with this program was that the classes were conducted inside the school and students who did not have parental permission to take the course were required to leave the classroom and go to another area of the building to study. According to general guidelines written by The Rutherford Institute – a nonprofit,

program. And the released time instructors should not enter school property to recruit students for the program.” Of course, those guidelines aren’t necessarily carved in stone. In 1978, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld one state’s ability to offer elective credit for a released time program. However, credit for the class was only permissible if the criteria were based on attendance and participation, and not on religious content. Such is the case in Gainesville, Ga. Gainesville High School first began its released time program in 1969. According to a 1992 article about the program in The Atlanta JournalConstitution, Gainesville’s released time program is believed to be one of the oldest in the Southeast and the inspiration for similar programs throughout the state, such as those in Elijay and Cornelia. The Gainesville program, which has existed for more than 30 years, seems to

“I don’t see where there’s a controversy. I guess I’m not looking at the whole picture because I am so bent on children getting the opportunity to have all kinds of experiences. To me, that’s what education is all about.” – Anna Reid, principal at John Milledge Elementary School

the year before. “The word is out, so we expect to have a lot more interest in released time.” The Church and State Confusion Word about the released time program has definitely gotten out, but not everyone in Richmond County is thrilled about the idea of offering it in the public school system. “The erosion of separation of church and state, like prayer in school or teaching the Bible in school, is clearly dangerous,” said Marc Gottlieb, a concerned Augusta resident. “But what I learned when I started to look more deeply into this is, the released time program is legal. There is no question about it. I don’t like it. It’s really offensive to me, but it’s a permissible program.” In 1952, the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed a New York City released time program for the case Zorach v. Clauson. The New York program allowed area schools to excuse students to attend religious classes endorsed by the Greater New York Coordination Committee on Released Time of Jews, Protestants and

legal and educational organization based in Charlottesville, Va. – the released time program should follow a number of rules in order to ensure its legality. For instance, no public funds should be expended to implement the program. “In addition to understandable illustrations of inappropriate expenditures such as paying for released time materials and instructors, even minimal public expense must be avoided,” The Rutherford Institute’s statement read. “For example, forms used for obtaining parental consent to participate in the released time program and forms used for recording attendance should be paid for with private money.” Some other guidelines include a rule against holding classes on school property and a requirement that the school avoid using what The Rutherford Institute describes as “coercive power” to promote the program. “Public school teachers should not recruit students or endorse the released time program,” The Rutherford Institute said. “The school should not give academic credit toward graduation for successful completion of the released time

blur the line between church and state more than other released time initiatives in Georgia. For example, according to The Constitution, the program allows Gainesville High students to transfer class credits earned in the released time program to their public high school transcript. When creating Augusta’s released time program, Miller said he and members of the Christian Learning Centers visited the programs offered in Gainesville and Elijay. “They both have very impressive programs,” Miller said, adding that each school had approximately 200 students participating in their programs. “But we did our released time a little differently because these other programs across the state are in high school and we chose elementary.” Miller said the elementary school level was more attractive because the Christian Learning Centers thought the program would get more participation with younger students. “It is easier to get into elementary students’ schedules,” Miller said. “Because in high school, it’s difficult to

get kids interested in taking the program because they have so many requirements from the state. “But, also, we liked the idea of getting the kids earlier to plant the seed.” Miller wanted to assure parents that the Christian Learning Centers tries to do everything humanly possible to make sure its program follows the legal guidelines of a released time program. “We try to maintain a distinct line between the school and our organization so the two don’t cross the line,” Miller said. “People who raised the idea of separation of church and state don’t understand that the Supreme Court ruled 50 years ago that this program was constitutional.” Miller began reading the 1952 court opinion on released time written by former U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Douglas. “When the state encourages religious instruction or cooperates with religious authorities by adjusting the schedule of public events to sectarian needs, it follows the best of our traditions,” Miller read. “For it then respects the religious nature of our people and accommodates the public service to their spiritual needs. .... We find no constitutional requirement which makes it necessary for government to be hostile to religion and to throw its weight against efforts to widen the effective scope of religious influence.” Miller said there were two extremely important words the public should take note of in Douglas’ opinion. “The state, or in this case the school board, should be ‘accommodating’ and definitely not ‘hostile,’” Miller said. “So, the Supreme Court has said, if any religious group comes forward, be accommodating not hostile. And that’s the idea that we feel we need to work on, educating people on what the Supreme Court has said.” Otherwise, parents in Richmond County will continue to argue that this program violates the law of separation of church and state, which it clearly does not, Miller said. “When people say that the school board is instituting religious instruction in our schools, that’s simply not true,” Miller said. “What the school board did was, it gave an opportunity or a choice to parents. A choice of voluntary religious instruction for their children. And who cares more about their children and know what they need than parents?” Beyond Christianity Just because the released time program is legally permissible, doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a program that should be implemented in the Richmond County public school system, Gottlieb said. “I’m not saying that it’s not a good program. It may be the best thing since cream cheese, but what I am saying is, it’s not being presented on an egalitarian basis,” Gottlieb said. “My concern about this program is, only the New Testament Bibles are given out. The Koran is not given out. The Old Testament is not given out. The Hindu influence is not there. “The school board has to be made aware that we are not just one population down here.” The Christian Learning Centers’ pamphlets say that any student may attend the classes regardless of “race, religion, sex, national origin or handicap,” but

clearly, Gottlieb said, only Christianity will be taught. “The school board members are not looking at it from a multicultural, multiethnic populace,” he said. “They are looking at it from one church and one movement and I think that’s wrong.” Gottlieb said he would fully support a world religions class where students are taught about all different types of cultures. “When I was in public school I had comparative religion and we talked and learned about all religions,” Gottlieb said. “I think that would be the way to go.” Miller, who has heard that argument before, said that every religious organization in Augusta has the right to implement a released time program. “In America we have freedom of religion,” he said. “It is fair. If Christians want to have a released time program, they can. If Muslims or Jews want to have a released time program, they can have their program too. That’s consistent with values we all hold dear in this country.” But Gottlieb pointed out that smaller religious groups in Augusta don’t have the same opportunity and resources as the Christian Learning Centers. “Even though this program is open to anybody or any religion that wants to have it, not all religions are in a position to put it into effect,” Gottlieb said. “These other religions are a minority in Augusta and can’t afford to do it. “The Jewish population is not that big; the Hindu population is not that big; and the Muslim population is quite small. But there are still children in public schools of all of those faiths and denominations.” So, without released time programs for other religions, students who are Jewish or Muslim remain in the classroom while all of the students signed up for the Christian Learning Centers’ program leave in the middle of the day for their 45-minute lesson. “That says, ‘If you are not Christian, you don’t fit in,” Gottlieb said. “And that’s a dangerous thing to say.” Gottlieb questions whether the 1952 Supreme Court decision would stand up if the courts considered that in communities like Augusta, the released time program is taught with one Bible and one religion. “That part of it I don’t think is legal,” Gottlieb said. “But the forces it would take to challenge that at the federal level would be staggering.” Maggie Garrett, staff attorney for the ACLU of Georgia, said that she couldn’t comment on the specifics of Richmond County’s released time program; however, she did say it’s hard for many school systems to completely separate themselves from such programs once they are implemented. “I can tell you that it is really difficult to create and maintain these types of programs without violating the Constitution,” Garrett said from her office in Atlanta. “The issue to us is really about religious freedom. And that’s the idea that parents should be allowed to raise their children in whatever religion that they choose and shouldn’t have to be concerned that the public school is going to foster an environment where the parent has to compete for control of their child’s religious upbringing.” continued on page 20

HEALTH PAGE

M E T R O

Take care of yourself. Let University help.

Cardiac Rehabilitation: The Road to Recovery “HealthTalk” on WGAC-580 AM Tune in on Monday, Sept. 15, at 8:30 a.m. to hear Alice David, M.D., a board-certified oncologist on University’s medical staff, discuss prostate cancer.

Special Bone Density Screening! Thursday, Aug. 21 9-1 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 28 1-5 p.m. Family Physicians of Evans, David B. Hogue, M.D. and Sherry Barinowski, M.D. University Hospital Medical Center 4106 Columbia Road Suite 103 Martinez, Ga. Participants will need to remove a shoe and sock for the screening. All attendees are invited to a free osteoporosis luncheon on Sept. 4. Details in calendar. Appointments required and space is limited to 24 participants. For appointments, call 706/868-3212. For more information, call 706/736-0847.

SENIORS CLUB If you are 50 and over, we invite you to join University Health Care System’s Seniors Club. The club offers wellness services, programs and benefits such as health education and screening opportunities, social events, benefits within University Hospital and much more. For information on how to join the Seniors Club, call 706/738-2580.

University Hospital has been voted “Favorite Family Hospital” in 2003 by readers of Family Chronicles, a publication of The Augusta Chronicle. Thank you C.S.R.A.!

After surviving a heart attack or other coronary event, you may find yourself wondering what lies ahead and reflecting on the reasons that brought you there. A comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation program will help you understand the factors that might have contributed to your heart disease as well as prescribe the lifestyle changes you’ll need to get you started on the road to recovery. University’s Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Center is the only one of its kind in the area, offering a comprehensive three-phase program to patients who recently suffered cardiac injury or who are at risk for heart disease. The goal is to get the patient back to optimal health status. Using the latest equipment, education and exercise, patients learn how to cope with limitations,

Benefits of Cardiac Rehabilitation According to the American Heart Association, when you participate

in a cardiac rehabilitation program you receive: • Help to quit smoking and stay smoke-free • Help in creating a healthy eating plan to reduce cholesterol and fat levels • Improved cardiovascular fitness • Weight loss assistance and management • Learned skills on how to manage and reduce stress • The support of others who experienced a similar event

Are you looking for a cardiac support group? University Hospital has one. Join us for our first meeting, where the topic will be: “So You’ve Survived a Heart Attack! Are You Still At Risk?” David Clark, M.D., Cardiologist Aug. 25 6 p.m. Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Center FREE Registration is required. Call 706/77-HEART (774-3278).

Your resource for healthy living. EDUCATION

HEALTH SCREENINGS

“The Top 5 Cancers in the Community” Miriam Y. Atkins, M.D. Thursday, Aug. 21 Registration and dinner: 5:30 p.m. Program: 6 p.m. University Hospital dining rooms 1-3 $8 Seniors Club members, $9 advanced registration, $10 at the door Seating is limited to 75. Reservations required by calling 706/736-0847.

FREE Blood Pressure Check FREE Glucose Screening FREE Height & Weight Measurement Wednesday, Aug. 27 9 a.m.–noon University Seniors Club, Daniel Village Shopping Center No appointment necessary. For information, call 706/738-2580.

Optifast® Medically Monitored Weight Management Program Holly Ford, nutritionist Thursday, Aug. 21 5 p.m. Weight Management and Nutrition Center FREE informational session For more information, call 706/774-8917. Food, Fit and Fun An after-school group nutrition program for ages 12-17 Holly Ford, nutritionist Mondays, Aug. 25, Sept. 8, 15, 22, 29 3:45-6 p.m. Weight Management and Nutrition Center Includes group sessions with dietitian and behaviorist, supervised exercise and individual instruction for parent and adolescents. To learn more about this program, call 706/774-2956. “Osteoporosis: The Silent Disease” Kathy New Thursday, Sept. 4 Noon-1:15 p.m. University Hospital Medical Center 6106 Columbia Road Community Education Suite, second floor Free luncheon for participants who attend the special bone density screenings in August. Call 706/736-0847 for more information and reservations.

Log on to learn more: www.universityhealth.org

F OR FREE 24- HOUR

change their lifestyles to reduce the risk of further cardiac problems and live more full and enjoyable lives. The facility includes a gym with walking track, cardiovascular and weight equipment, classrooms and a test kitchen. Free-standing oxygen connections are located throughout the facility to allow patients who require a constant oxygen source freedom from having to use an oxygen tank. Through different phases of their rehabilitation, patients exercise on various cardiovascular and weightlifting equipment at levels appropriate for their conditions. Their progress is charted and reported to each prescribing physician. Patients are closely monitored by trained professionals so they can exercise without concern for their health or safety. Patients must receive a referral from their physician in order to participate in a cardiac rehabilitation program.

HEALTH INFORMATION , CALL

5 p.m. St. John Towers 724 Greene St. For more information, call 706/863-6355. Prostate Cancer Thursday, Aug. 21 7-8:30 p.m. University Seniors Club, Daniel Village Shopping Center Reservations required. For more information, call Robert H. Graves at 706/364-6684.

Bone Density Screening Wednesday, Sept. 3 9 a.m.- noon University Seniors Club, Daniel Village Shopping Center FREE for Seniors Club members Participants will need to remove a shoe and sock for this screening. No appointment necessary. For information, call 706/738-2580.

I Can Cope Cancer support group FREE Prostate Screenings Saturday, Sept. 6 9 a.m.-3 p.m. ForChurch, all men over 50 and First Baptist Augusta Free African-American men over 45 Childcare will be provided To register, call 706/731-9900.

Sponsored by

SENIORS CLUB Breakfast with the Chaplain: “Amazing Grace” The Rev. John Messick, University Pastoral Care Department Thursday, Aug. 21 9-11 a.m. University Hospital dining rooms 1-3 FREE for Seniors Club members, $5 for nonmembers Space is limited to 80. Reservations required by calling 706/738-2580 or 800/413-6652.

Saturday, Aug. 23 Lowe’s Bobby Jones Expressway Friday, Aug. 29 Lowe’s Windsor Spring Road All screenings will be held from 8-11 a.m.

SUPPORT GROUPS

Refreshments, information, door prizes, gift certificates, giveaways and a chance to win a $500 grill at each store location!

Seeds for Life Support for HIV/AIDS patients, families and friends Wednesday, Aug. 27 1 p.m. For location and more information, call 706/774-5802.

No appointment necessary. For more information, call 706/736-0847.

Parkinson’s Disease Tuesday, Aug. 26

ASK•A•NURSE

737-8423 (SER-VICE)

800/476-7378 (SERV)

TODAY !

S P I R I T A U G 2 1 2 0 0 3

20 continued from page 19 M E T R O S P I R I T A U G 2 1 2 0 0 3

Garrett said that Richmond County needs to be particularly careful about implementing a released time program at the elementary school level. “The idea is, you can’t send a message to children, especially young children, that the school supports the religious program,” Garrett said. “The issue comes in as to whether the student feels like the school is endorsing the program. And my opinion is that in most of these programs the students feel a pressure to join the program. “And that can happen due to a number of reasons, whether it’s because everybody else is doing it or simply because the children think their teacher supports it because the school is supporting it.” Regardless of how those feelings start, Garrett said elementary school children are extremely vulnerable to such thoughts.

meeting. Echols went on to say that he was concerned that the children’s instructional time might be sacrificed if they are taken out of class for the released time program. “Because our academics are suffering somewhat, we need to focus on the academics,” Echols said. “Those children need Christianity, but I’m not so sure. I think we need to try this and I’m going to support it, but I think in the future we do need to look at it.” While Gottlieb said he has some of the same concerns about children losing instructional time, he added that he couldn’t believe Echols said that all kids need Christianity. “These people ought to think about what they are saying,” Gottlieb said. “Whether it was a small thing, or whether it was an implication that they need Christian moral upbringing, I can’t say. But I can tell you

to get their spiritual enrichment,” she said. “Now, I do think they (Christian Learning Centers) are well intentioned, but misguided. They really feel like they have cornered the market on spiritual enlightenment and they are going to spread that light wherever they can. But instead, I think this program is very divisive in the classroom.” Traina said those children who do not sign up for released time can’t help but feel left out. “I’m sure those children will wonder, what are the other children doing?” Traina said. “And the other kids got a Bible, and they didn’t get anything. I just think it is destructive to the bonding that you have in a classroom. “I mean, what you remember about school is, your teacher and your buddies and everything that you do together. If you are made to feel different, that’s not

“The school board members are not looking at it from a multicultural, multi-ethnic populace. They are looking at it from one church and one movement and I think that’s wrong.” – Marc Gottlieb, a concerned Augusta resident

“Children, especially, don’t want to feel like an outsider in their own school, so they might join this because that’s what everybody else is doing and they feel like they should do it,” Garrett said. “And that’s where it really comes up again that the parents shouldn’t have to be concerned that sending their children to a public school might create competition with their own religious beliefs.” School Board’s “Not Active” Participation When Gottlieb heard Richmond County School Board’s attorney, Pete Fletcher, reportedly say in The Augusta Chronicle that the school system was taking a neutral, “not active” participation in the released time program, he couldn’t help but laugh. Anyone attending the school board’s July 10 meeting in which the members voted to extend the released time program another year at Milledge Elementary School, knows that’s not true, Gottlieb said. During the board meeting, member Kenneth Echols raised some serious questions about the released time program. “I am a firm believer in Christianity, but I’m also a firm believer that parents are responsible for raising their children. We are responsible for educating the children,” Echols said during the July 10

what was said and it shouldn’t have been.” Denice Traina, an Augusta parent who lives in the neighborhood surrounding Milledge Elementary School and sits on the school’s council, said she was also offended by Echols’ comments. “I don’t know how the board can say they are staying neutral,” Traina said. “I think that’s a really big joke. When Mr. Echols says everyone needs Christianity, I mean, that man has got to be slapping himself to this day. He has no idea who he has insulted by making that statement.” The biggest problem Traina has with the released time program is that she simply feels there is no need to introduce religion into the school system. “First and foremost, the school is a house of academic learning and we shouldn’t ever interrupt that process,” Traina said. “We don’t need extra stuff for our kids to do. We need to focus on meeting the standards of the state and the nation in order to move our kids forward.” The fact that Milledge Elementary was one of the schools on the state’s “needsimprovement” list proves that it needs to concentrate more on education not religion, Traina said. “You can go to church practically every night of the week around here, so it’s not that there isn’t an opportunity for children

something that you reflect positively on when you’re young.” Unfortunately, both Gottlieb and Traina agree that it is very difficult to try and speak out against programs like released time because of the conservative environment in Augusta. “I know a number of teachers that would like to speak out against it but are afraid for their jobs,” Gottlieb said. “People are afraid of being ostracized. And I’m worried that next year, this program will be expanded throughout Richmond County simply because no one is objecting to it. And that’s very dangerous.” Back to Class Caught in the middle of this local controversy are the kids. But according to Anna Reid, principal at Milledge Elementary School, she’s going to do what she thinks is best for her children and their parents and not worry about anyone else. Naturally, she assures critics, the last thing she wants to do is have a program that interferes with the students’ education. “We were very careful in planning and scheduling the released time program so that it would not take away from any instructional time,” Reid said. “We have

30 minutes for P.E., which is a noninstructional time, and then we have 15 minutes for lunch. When we put those two together, we come up with the 45 minutes that we are talking about and it’s only once a week. So, I don’t think it’s interfering with anything. I see it as a very positive thing.” Reid said she believes there is a lot of misunderstanding about the released time program. “For parents that are concerned about the program, I tell them that these are Bible-based lessons that help your children to make good choices as they grow older,” Reid said. “I tell them it’s not mandatory. It’s all volunteer and if you feel that your child would not benefit from attending, it’s perfectly all right for them not to attend.” Of course, there were some parents, Reid said, who wanted a lot more information about the Christian Learning Centers when released time was proposed last year. “I had this one PTA parent, when the program was introduced, who was livid,” Reid said. “He told me, ‘We will not have this program here. Who do you think you are?’ And he even got a petition and went to the district office to present this information to school board members. “I called him and explained my position and he said, ‘It’s not going to happen. I’ll see to it. You’ll lose your job.’” Finally, Reid said, she arranged for him to meet with representatives from the Christian Learning Centers in order to alleviate his fears. “As they began talking, it was obvious he had a lot of misconceptions in regards to the program and also, who was going to benefit from the program,” Reid said. “Later, representatives from the Christian Learning Centers came to the PTA and shared information with the parents. “I want you to know, that man who was so upset with me in the beginning, got up in front of everyone and said, ‘My child is going to be the first one to sign up for this.’ I couldn’t believe it. He did a complete turnaround.” Reid said that same parent approached her at the end of the year after his child had enrolled in the released time program. “He told me that his child thoroughly enjoyed it,” Reid said. “He said the kid would come home and share with him and his wife all that he had learned that day in the program. “The parent was so happy that he came back and said, ‘Mrs. Reid, I just want you to know, you were right. Thank you.’” The program has had such a positive impact on the school, Reid says she finds it hard to believe that some parents in Augusta wouldn’t want the program implemented throughout Richmond County. “When I attended the school board meeting this summer, there were several people from other counties that said things like, ‘I’m so glad you’re standing up for this.’ And I thought, ‘Standing up for it? I just think it’s a good program,’” Reid said, laughing. “I don’t see where there’s a controversy. I guess I’m not looking at the whole picture because I am so bent on children getting the opportunity to have all kinds of experiences. To me, that’s what education is all about. “So, you can’t be afraid of criticism. You have to take a chance. And I’ll do anything that will help my kids.”

Rick's

City living at its best.

PAINT & BODY

Quality Repair Is Your Choice ... “Request Rick's”

868-9224 Bobby Jones across from Wal-Mart

M E T R O S P I R I T A U G 2 1 2 0 0 3

Enterprise Mill’s lofts feature soaring ceilings, fantastic views, and the most unique living experience Augusta has to offer. We have many floor plans and a host of amenities to enhance your life.

ENTERPRISE MILL founded 1848 1450 Greene Street • Augusta, Ga 30901 • 706.262.4001 Within walking distance of MCG and the medical complex www.enterprisemill.com

Owner Rusty Campbell

Serving Augusta since 1977

Powerful. Nimble. Reserved.

Introducing the redesigned HONDA ACCORD available at

GERALD JONES HONDA 2003 Gordon Highway 1-800-203-9371 www.geraldjoneshonda.com

22 M E T R O S P I R I T A U G

Arts

& Entertainment

2 1 2 0 0 3

Remembering Jaime

hunder crashed outside the offices of Augusta Ballet as the company’s artistic director Zanne Colton tried to understand the events of the past few days. In response to the writer’s admission to having no idea what to ask, she laughed. It was one of those laughs that happens in place of a sob. She took a deep breath, blinked back the tears she had only moments before so carefully put away, and spoke slowly. Jaime Burcham’s death, she admitted having no understanding of. His life, however, was a different story. “It was full of warmth and full of value,” she said. “He was deeply loved and cherished, and in turn he was incredibly loving and he gave us all a priceless gift – and that was himself.” Colton likened him to “an incredibly amazing comet” – brief and unforgettable. Dancer Jaime Burcham drowned the afternoon of Aug. 16 while having a good time with friends from Augusta Ballet, which had been his professional home for 14 seasons. Colton turned her chair to watch the sheets of rain come down outside her window. “I’ve known Jaime since he was a little boy, and I knew from the first day he appeared on our doorstep at Augusta Ballet that this was a very unusual person. “You know I … in terms of stories, you know Jaime. He was a merry prankster. He enjoyed pulling jokes on people and he adored having them played on him.” But he worked with just as much dedication as he played, she said. “When we first did ‘Dracula,’ he was given the role of Renfield. And Peter (Powlus, choreographer) did have a very fine concept, obviously, of what the Renfield character was like, but Jaime took that choreography and absolutely infused it with a commitment and fierceness to pull out every bit of worth in that role.” As wonderful as their Dracula was, Colton said, the vampire’s fly-eating sidekick was certainly no slouch. “At the end of the evening, you sure remembered Jaime Burcham.”

By Rhonda Jones

Jaime’s Inner Child If you knew Jaime, you were well acquainted with his inner child, because he came out to play often. And for that reason, children loved him. They recognized one of their own. “Our entire lecture and demo is based on Jaime,” Colton said, referring to a little performance the company had worked up to take into schools called “We’re Dancing as Fast as We Can: History of the Social Dance.” The star, she said, is a character that she and Jaime created together. But Gorg, a crazy caveman who loves to dance, is going to be retired. “So in effect, we have to put that demo to bed,” she said. “That’s not a character we can bring back.” Jaime was involved in various outreach projects, going into the schools to entertain children. In fact, one of his last projects was all about kids. Early in August, he strutted around May Park Community Center on Fourth Street as the kids of the Greater Augusta Arts Council’s ArtScape camp gave their big performance. He also told the story of the imaginary dragon that he and the kids had enjoyed over the summer, using it as an example of how easy – and fun – it is to give flight to the imagination. After he had planted the seed, the kids became excited about finding “dragon eggs” and “dragon tracks” outside. As he told the story, it was difficult to tell who enjoyed their dragon more – the little ones or the big kid in charge. Yes, ArtScape, in addition to his day job as a full-time ballet dancer and his other full-time job as director of Behind the Masque, the entertainment company he founded last year. In fact, there was just no telling where you would next see the Puckish performer. And Colton knew this. “Augusta Ballet was his home, but in the arts community, he touched so many. He had his finger in so many pies. And of course, his own company, Behind the Masque. The whole concept was, as we say, so Jaime.” But more about that in a moment. Storyland Theatre director Barbara Feldman had a few things to say as well.

Jaime Burcham poses with beloved girlfriend Sara Benton.

“When heroes fall in love or war, they live forever.” — Cher

22 M E T R O S P I R I T A U G

Arts

& Entertainment

2 1 2 0 0 3

Remembering Jaime

Jaime Burcham poses with beloved girlfriend Sara Benton.

“When heroes fall in love or war, they live forever.” — Cher

23 “I adore Jaime. He worked with us a lot,” she said, trying to remember how old he had been when she’d first met him. She thought he may have been 9. “His family was so supportive of his acting and his dancing. You know, sometimes parents don’t want to be bothered.” “He was fun and gentle,” she added. “He always had a hug. He was warm and respectful. Lots of fun. He loved what he was doing.” He once played a slithery Gollum in a Storyland Theatre adaptation of “The Hobbit,” titled “Bilbo and the Magic Ring,” she said, which illustrated his dedication as an actor. “When he did Gollum, it was very physical. He would roll all over the floor.” That presented a problem, Feldman said, with the body mics. The only place they could put the mic where it wouldn’t be crushed was Jaime’s chest. But he didn’t think the harness would do the job of keeping it firmly attached. So he insisted the mic be fastened to his body with electrical tape. Night after night for five performances, his ribs were bound with tape. Night after night, he winced as it was removed. But he refused to give less. Storyland Theatre’s Oct. 28-Nov. 1 production of “Sleeping Beauty” will be dedicated to his memory, she said. Augusta Opera general and artistic director Mark Flint’s memory of Jaime has to do with the rehearsal for a production of “Westside Story,” for which the Opera and Augusta Ballet collaborated. “He was so paranoid about his singing, but I made him sing,” Flint said. “It didn’t last long,” he said of Jaime’s fear. “And then I had to say it was too much. ‘You’re oversinging. I can’t hear the principals.’” As for the question of Jaime’s loss, he said, “It does no good to ask why, because there is no answer.” “But wherever he is,” Flint added, “he’s making somebody happy.” Because that’s what he did. And Dee Levine can tell you that. From The Playground to The Playpen If you’ve ever been to The Playground bar downtown on Broad Street, you’ve probably seen Dee Levine, serving drinks and bantering with her customers. She and her husband Scott, of the nearby Crossroads bar, were among a long list of people that Jaime loved. On the evening of Aug. 18, two days after Jaime’s death, she attended the Behind the Masque meeting to show her support. And she told the Christmas tree story. “Jaime bought The Playground its first Christmas tree,” Levine said many times that

damn good time Friday night, and a damn good time Saturday morning.” By now you’ve heard that a foursome of ballet dancers had walked during low tide out to a little island, and that the tide had come in as they tried to make their way back. Royce said they had walked out in a roundabout way, and had decided to return by the shortest route possible. “When we went out on the beach at low tide you could walk out 75 to 100 yards. We went out in the water and we walked out 25 to 50 yards and it was no higher than our knees.” But, Royce said, the water had begun to make him a little anxious and so he decided to go back even as his friends continued. They wanted to walk out to the sandbar to play with birds. On the way back, the water was much higher, and there was an undertow, which knocked Jaime, who did not swim well, off his feet. In spite of his friends’ efforts to save him, Royce said, Jaime succumbed to the current. His body was found the next day by a lifeguard.

Jaime Burcham (left) as the wolf in Augusta Ballet’s production of “Peter and the Wolf With Rep.” evening. She had no idea who he was that December night three years ago, when he came into the bar the first time and announced who he was, then went away, promising to return soon. He had decided that what the place really needed was some decorating. So he and his girlfriend, Sara Benton, returned a little while later with the tree. Decorations commenced, and a friendship was born. Since his death, Levine has given him his own seat, and plans to make a collage to hang in his honor. “So come down and have a drink with him,” she said around tears. There are many, many funny, touching and downright strange stories about Jaime in this town. In fact you may have one yourself. If you’ve been downtown during First Friday at all this past year, you may have seen him playing Behind the Masque director – wandering the streets covered head-to-toe in orange body paint or miming in the Commons. Maybe you saw the live Iwo Jima tribute statue in the median on July 4. “Company salute!” he said whenever a veteran or the loved one of a veteran made themselves known. The five bronze-painted men would break pose, salute, and then return to pose. It was chilling. A member of the media, or a friend, however, got a different treatment. In that case, the command might be, “Cheesy grin for the cam-

era!” Then deadpan again, in spite of the giggles from the crowd. The “soldiers” had stood on a Styrofoamand-wood base, painted to look like weathered bronze. The remnants of that base now sits quietly at the Behind the Masque headquarters at 11th and Greene Street, a little space that Jaime recently dubbed “The Playpen.” It is where the company holds its meetings and hones its craft. On Aug. 18, the meeting got off to a late start. First there were the sobs, the blank stares and the hugs. Then the jokes began. Hesitant and tearful, but they were there. As the normally difficult-to-focus group sat attentive and quiet, Behind the Masque officer Rob Royce took the floor. “Jaime told me last week that he had some stuff to do, so I was going to be running BTM a little bit,” he said with the same sort of laugh that Zanne Colton had given that afternoon. “Psych,” somebody said. “This (BTM) will go on,” Royce continued. “There was never a question.” But before getting down to business, he recounted what had happened over the weekend during the Augusta Ballet retreat to Harbor Island, S.C. As a dancer with the company, Royce was one of the last people to see Jaime alive. “He was happy,” Royce said. “Jaime had a

So What the Heck Do We Do Now? Besides scream and cry and laugh and rage at the sky, you mean? “We’re going to perform,” Colton said. Jaime had been rehearsing the role of Porthos for Augusta Ballet’s Oct. 10-11 production of “The Three Musketeers.” The production will continue, if not quite as planned. “There will be someone who will bring their own interpretation, their own personality, to that role of Porthos,” she said. “But we cannot replace Jaime in that role.” There will also be a memorial performance in honor of Jaime on Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. at the Imperial Theatre, titled “The Man Behind the Masque: A Tribute to Jaime Burcham.” The performance will be free and open to the public. For info on either of these performances, call the ballet office for details at 261-0555. If you would like to make a donation to Jaime’s family, make your check payable to the Jaime Burcham Fund and send it c/o Coursey, Denning & Co., P.O. Box 15113, Augusta, Ga., 30919. Donations will also be accepted in Jaime’s memory by Augusta Ballet and Behind the Masque. Send all gifts to Coursey, Denning & Co., the Augusta Ballet Administrative Offices in the Sacred Heart Cultural Center at 1301 Greene Street, Augusta, Ga., 30901. You may visit Jaime’s family Thursday through Saturday from 6-8 p.m. at Elliott Sons Funeral Home at 2524 Lumpkin Road. 7930123. The memorial service will be held at Sacred Heart, Sunday, Aug. 24 at 2 p.m. Remember.

An Evening of Southern Gospel No Other Name ~ August 31 at 6:30 pm This is a free concert. Childcare provided from birth to Pre-K.

For more information call Warren Baptist Church

860-1586 3203 Washington Road Intersection of Fury’s Ferry & Washington Road

Help us boost blood inventories for CSRA Hospitals before the long Labor Day Weekend!

Tuesday, August 26 • 8am-8pm First Baptist Church - Augusta, GA Free Breakfast • Lunch • Dinner • Babysitting Must have picture I.D. or donor card

Shepeard Community Blood Center Celebrating 25 Years ... of Life

M E T R O S P I R I T A U G 2 1 2 0 0 3

24 M E T R O S P I R I T A U G 2 1 2 0 0 3

DaysA Week

Arts

and scholarships are available. Available programs include voice lessons and pantomime workshops, as well as classes in dance, theater, music, visual ar ts and writing. Call 731-0008 for details.

AUGUSTA THEATRE COMPANY AUDITIONS FOR 20032004 SEASON Aug. 23, 10 a.m., and Aug. 25, 7 p.m., at the new theatre facility, 1436 Reynolds St. The 20032004 season includes per formances of “Arsenic and Old Lace,” “Educating Rita,” “Loot” and “Macbeth.” Actors, please bring a résumé and prepare one classic and one modern monologue; technical crew and stage manager candidates, please bring a résumé. For more information, visit www.augustatheatre.com.

USC-AIKEN MUSIC CONSERVATORY PROGRAM now open. Students of all ages and experience levels welcome. Private lessons available for musical instruments and voice; instructors are USC-Aiken faculty and have at least a master’s degree in their per formance area. (803) 641-3288.

Auditions

AUDITIONS FOR “NEVER AGAIN” Aug. 22, 6 p.m., at Springfield Baptist Church. Par ticipants are urged to obtain a copy of the script before auditions. For more information, visit www.oneollaratime.com or call 7900250 or (404) 483-1831. AUGUSTA CONCERT BAND rehearses Monday evenings and is looking to fill vacancies on most band instruments. Interested par ties should contact Ben Easter, (803) 2020091, or e-mail bandforaugusta@aol.com. SWEET ADELINES PEACH STATE CHORUS OPEN REHEARSAL for singers each Thursday at 7 p.m. at Church of Christ, 600 Mar tintown Rd. in Nor th Augusta. They are on the lookout for voices in the lower ranges. Contact Mary Norman at (803) 279-6499.

Education

SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCE CLASSES Saturdays at the Aiken Center for the Ar ts, 122 Laurens St. Beginners and experienced dancers welcome. For information, contact Marilynn Knight at marilynnk@scchamber.net or Brenda Sleasman, (803) 641-9094. ISRAELI DANCE WORKSHOP at the Augusta Jewish Community Center Sunday af ternoons, 4-5 p.m. Open to teens and adults; no experience or par tners 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, 7389016. ART CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS are of fered yearround at the Ger trude Herber t Institute of Ar t. Applications for tuition assistance for autumn quar ter classes will be accepted through Aug. 28. Autumn quarter runs Sept. 2-Nov. 22. Classes and workshops are open to toddlers through adults and feature instruction in drawing, painting, photography, pot tery, weaving and sculpture. For a newslet ter or detailed information on registering for classes at the Ger trude Herber t, call 7225495. The Ger trude Herber t Institute of Ar t also of fers educational tours; for information, contact the education director at the above telephone number. ART CLASSES FOR CHILDREN AND ADULTS at the Ar t Factory. The Ar t Factory also has a homeschool program

Exhibitions

JACKSON CHEATHAM AND HAYWOOD NICHOLS exhibit works at the Mary Pauline Gallery Aug. 29-Oct. 11. Opening reception Aug. 29, 5-8 p.m. 724-9542. WORKS BY TERESA COLE will be on display at the ASU Fine Ar ts Gallery Aug. 25-Sept. 25, with an opening reception 5-7 p.m. Aug. 28. Call 737-1444. WOMEN ON PAPER GROUP EXHIBITION through Sept. 26 at the Etherredge Center Ar t Gallery, located on the campus of USC-Aiken. Opening reception Aug. 22, 6-9 p.m. The group also exhibits at the Sacred Hear t Cultural Center Ar t Gallery Sept. 4-Oct. 28. For more information, call 860-3374. “TWO NATIONS, ONE VISION” PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT through September at the Augusta Jewish Community Center, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Thursday. Free admission. Call 228-3636 for information. WORKS BY ETHAN BROCK will be on display at the Lucy Craf t Laney Museum of Black History through Aug. 30. Call 724-3576. DISPLAY BY THE AUGUSTA CHAPTER OF THE EMBROIDERER’S GUILD OF AMERICA will be at the Friedman Branch Library in August. 736-6758. ART BY ARLENE DENGEL will be at the Gibbs Library in August. Call 863-1946. PAINTINGS BY DIANE DAVIS go up at the Euchee Creek Library throughout the month of August. Call 556-0594 for details.

Dance

CUTNO DANCE CENTER FOR DANCE EDUCATION OPEN HOUSE AND REGISTRATION Aug. 23, noon-4 p.m. For more information, call 828-3101 or visit www.cutnodance.com. THE AUGUSTA INTERNATIONAL FOLK DANCE CLUB meets Thursday evenings at 7:30 p.m. No par tners are needed and newcomers are welcome. Line and circle dances are taught. For location information, call 7376299. THE DANCES OF UNIVERSAL PEACE held the first

“Music of the Baroque: Up Close and Personal” comes to the Morris Museum of Art’s Music at the Morris concert series Aug. 24. Saturday of every month, 7-9 p.m., at the Unitarian Church of Augusta, honors the religious traditions of the world through song and movement. Call (803) 643-0460 for more information. 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 Cour t. Contact Melvis Lovet t, 733-3890, or Jean Avery, 863-4186, for information. CSRA/AUGUSTA BOGEY-WOOGIE DANCE AND SOCIAL GROUP meets every Wednesday at 6:45 p.m. at A World of Dance Studio. Couples, singles and newcomers are welcome. The group also of fers beginner shag lessons all summer. For information, phone 650-2396. SINGLES DANCE each Saturday night from 8-11 p.m. sponsored by the Christian Social Organization for Single Adults. Held at Westside High School. Tickets $5 for members, $7 for non-members and are available at the door. For more information, contact Doris Heath, 7363376.

Music

SOUTHERN SOUL AND SONG concer t series at the Imperial Theatre begins Sept. 2 with a per formance by Rober t Earl Keen. For information, call 722-8341. TICKETS FOR “FROM MOZART TO MOTOWN 2!” AND “A MOZART TO MOTOWN CHRISTMAS” now on sale. “From Mozar t to Motown 2!” will be staged Oct. 17 at the Imperial Theatre and “A Mozar t to Motown Christmas” will be staged Nov. 29 at the Imperial Theatre. Tickets are $30 general admission or $45 VIP admission per show. To order tickets, call the Imperial Theatre box of fice at 722-8341. “A SLICE OF AMERICANA” concer t Aug. 24, 7 p.m., at Riverwalk’s Jessye Norman Amphitheatre. Rain location is First Baptist Church in Nor th Augusta. For more information, call (803) 279-6370. “MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE: UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL” is par t of the Music at the Morris series at the Morris Museum of Ar t. Concer t featuring members of the ASU Fine Ar ts faculty begins at 2 p.m. Aug. 24. Free. 7247501. AN EVENING OF JAZZ sponsored by Paine College Aug.

31, 5-10 p.m., at Riverwalk’s Jessye Norman Amphitheatre. For information, call 821-8223. SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE event at Riverwalk’s Eighth Street Plaza Aug. 23, 7-11 p.m. Free admission. Live enter tainment, food and other fun is planned. Concession sales benefit the Imperial Theatre. For details, call Riverwalk Special Events, 821-1754, or Lara at the Imperial Theatre, 722-8293. MUSIC ON THE RIVER Aug. 22 and 29, 7 p.m., at the Jessye Norman Amphitheatre. Aug. 22 concer t is a tribute to the Divas of Soul, featuring Tutu D’Vyne. Contact Riverwalk Special Events, 821-1754. SOULFUL SATURDAYS with live soul music, spoken word and theatrical per formances through Aug. 30. Held at the Jessye Norman Amphitheatre, 8-9:30 p.m. Admission is $5. For information, call 821-1754.

SEASON TICKETS FOR THE AUGUSTA PLAYERS 2003/2004 MAINSTAGE SEASON now on sale. Shows include “Grease,” “Annie,” “Evita” and “The Wiz.” Season ticket packages range from $75-$124, with additional packages including the Glass Slipper Ball annual fundraiser in October. For more information, visit www.augustaplayers.com or call 826-4707. “OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS” will be per formed at the Abbeville Opera House in Abbeville, S.C., Aug. 22-23 at 8 p.m., with a matinee Aug. 23 at 3 p.m. Admission is $15 for adults and $14 for youth (ages 4-12), seniors (65 and up) and groups of 10 or more. (864) 459-2157.

Museums

RIVERWALK JAZZ CANDLELIGHT CONCERT SERIES Aug. 24, 8-9:30 p.m. at Riverwalk’s Eighth Street Bulkhead, featuring Josef Patchen and the Blue Diamond Express. Admission is $5. Bring a blanket or lawn chair and a picnic basket. Rain location is the meeting room at Rio Bomba. For information, call Riverwalk Special Events at 821-1754.

BROWN BAG HISTORY SERIES on Grovetown heritage is scheduled for noon Sept. 3 at the Augusta Museum of History. Free for museum members and $2 for non-members. Bring your lunch and the museum provides a beverage and desser t. Reservations are required by Sept. 2. Call 722-8454. “MASTERWORKS OF SOUTHERN ART” tour Aug. 31, 2 p.m., at the Morris Museum of Ar t. Admission is free. Call 724-7501 or visit www.themorris.org for info.

DOWNTOWN LUNCH DATE Aug. 21 and 28, Sept. 4, 11, 18 and 25, noon-2:30 p.m., at Augusta Common. Bring a lunch or eat lunch catered by the featured restaurant while listening to live music. 821-1754.

“HIDDEN IN THE GROUND: THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN PLANTATION EXPERIENCE” 30-minute film will play continuously in the History Theatre at the Augusta Museum of History throughout August. Call 722-8454.

HOPELANDS SUMMER CONCERT SERIES ends Aug. 25 with a per formance by the Aiken Community Band. Concer t begins at 6:30 p.m. on the Windham Per forming Ar ts Stage at Hopeland Gardens in Aiken. In the event of rain, concer t will be held in Gym 2 at the H.O. Weeks Center. Free admission. Call (803) 642-7631 for information.

“RETURN OF THE DINOSAURS” exhibit at For t Discovery through Sept. 21. A group of animatronic dinosaurs will be on display in the Knox Gallery. Admission to the exhibit is free with paid general admission to For t Discovery. For information, call 821-0200 or 1-800-325-5445.

Theater

“RUMORS” will be per formed by Stage III Sept. 4-7 at the Augusta Jewish Community Center. Dinner theatre per formances Sept. 4-6 at 7 p.m.; matinee per formance Sept. 7 at 3 p.m. Call 228-3636 or 868-9663.

THE GERTRUDE HERBERT INSTITUTE OF ART in Ware’s Folly exhibits works by local and regional ar tists. Ar t classes, workshops and other educational programming for children, youth and adults are held in the WalkerMackenzie Studio. Ware’s Folly galleries open Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; and Saturday by appointment only. The Walker-Mackenzie Studio gallery is open Tuesday-Friday,

10 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission is free, but a donation of $2 for adults and $1 for children and seniors is encouraged. Call 722-5495 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 Tuesday-Saturday, 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 Craf t Laney Museum of Black History, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Call the museum at 724-3576 for more information.

Special Events AUGUSTA OPERA SEASON OPENING PARTY Aug. 24, 5 p.m., at The Boathouse. For tickets and information, call 826-4710 or visit www.augustaopera.com.

at Augusta Common. For more information, contact Riverwalk Special Events at 821-1754. LABOR DAY REST FEST Sept. 1, 3-9 p.m., at Riverview Park in Nor th Augusta. Festival features games, rides, live enter tainment and fireworks show. Free. For more information, contact Deloris Bodie at (803) 441-4300. GREYHOUND MEET AND GREET at PetsMar t 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Aug. 30. For more information, Grey tHound Love Greyhound Adoption at (803) 278-5441 or 796-1708, or visit www.grey thoundlove.org. WOMEN’S EQUALITY DAY will be celebrated with a command program at For t Gordon’s Alexander Hall Aug. 28, 1:30 p.m. Free and open to the public. For more information, call 791-2014. MCA 2003 GRAND NATIONAL car show Aug. 29-31 at the Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center and Bell Auditorium. For information, call 724-2400. THE MASTERS CAT CLUB ANNUAL CFA CHAMPIONSHIP CAT SHOW Aug. 23, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., at the Riverview Park Activities Center in Nor th Augusta. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for children and seniors and free for children under 3. Please bring a donation of pet food for local shelters. For more information, call 860-6820. DOG OBEDIENCE/PUPPY SOCIALIZATION REGISTRATION Aug. 27, 6:30-7:30 p.m. at Julian Smith Casino. Dog obedience class is $50 for 12-week course and puppy socialization class is $40 for 8-week course. Bring proof of vaccinations; do not bring your dog. For more information, call the Augusta Humane Society at 7360186. ALFRED HITCHCOCK FILM SERIES on Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. throughout August at the Nancy Carson Library. No registration required and admission is free. For more information, contact Derek Marshall or Jennie Elliot t, (803) 279-5767. AUGUST FILM SERIES at Headquar ters Library. Show star ts at 6:30 p.m. and admission is free. Aug. 26 showing of “Lone Star.” Call 821-2600 for information.

LABOR DAY LUAU AND LASER SHOW 3-10 p.m. Sept. 1

YOUR TAILGATING HEADQUARTERS Open Early Saturdays 414 Martintown Rd. N. Augusta 706-279-1446

1501 North Leg Augusta 706-736-5593

503 Highland Ave. Surrey Center-Augusta 706-738-6628

3316 Washington Rd. Martinez 706-860-2605

116 Belair Rd. Evans 706-868-5182

651 Silver Bluff Rd. Aiken 803-642-0441

Call ahead for quicker service!

Best Fried Chicken Best Iced Tea Best Cole Slaw

The Best Catering Around!

25 M E T R O S P I R I T A U G 2 1 2 0 0 3

26 ▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼ M E T R O S P I R I T

Voted Best Steak In Augusta For 15 Years 1987-2002

A U G

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

2856 Washington Rd. 73-STEAK 1654 Gordon Hwy. 796-1875

▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼

2 0 0 3

For more information call 733-0130 1-866-517-7513

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults • Are you looking for a new direction in your life? • Would you like to have a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ, in the theology and teaching of the Catholic Church? • Do you feel empty, wounded, or rest less in your spiritual life?

• Are you interested in becoming a Catholic Christian? • Have you never been fully initiated into the Catholic faith through the Sacrament of Confirmation? • Are you a lukewarm Catholic who would like to be refreshed in Catholic truths?

Photo: Jimmy Carter

2 1

Enjoy fresh fruits, vegetables and other goodies from the Saturday Market on Broad, open every Saturday morning, 8 a.m.-1 p.m., through Oct. 25 at Augusta Common. SATURDAY MARKET ON BROAD: Main Street Augusta is seeking farmers and vendors in the CSRA to market homemade and homegrown products in downtown Augusta on Saturday mornings through October 25. Market is open at Augusta Commons 8 a.m.-1 p.m. For more information, contact Mary Killen of Main Street Augusta, 722-8000, or Sheri Chambers, 664-1054 or 564-6231.

August and September. For more information, visit www.shakespearetavern.com or call (404) 874-5299.

PEACE VIGIL every Saturday until U.S. troops come home, noon-2 p.m. at the corner of Wrightsboro and Jackson roads, in front of the Army Reserve Office. For more information, contact Denice Traina, 736-4738.

“A SALUTE TO 25 YEARS OF THE GEORGIA MUSIC HALL OF FAME AWARDS” runs through Jan. 18, 2004, at the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in Macon, Ga. Exhibits, programs and events honoring the 25th anniversary of the Georgia Music Hall of Fame awards. Call 1888-GA-ROCKS for info.

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.pet finder.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 PetsMar t. For more info, call 860-5020. RICHMOND COUNTY ANIMAL CONTROL AND AUGUSTA ANIMAL RESCUE FRIENDS hold pet adoptions at Superpetz of f Bobby Jones Expressway every Sunday from 1-4 p.m. Call AARF at 364-4747 or visit www.aar f.net. Adoptions also held at the Richmond County Animal Control Shelter, Tues.-Sun., 1-5 p.m. Call the shelter at 790-6836.

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, the R.C.I.A. process may be just what you are looking for.

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. 261PETS.

Out of Town

SKY HIGH HOT AIR BALLOON FESTIVAL Aug. 29-31 at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Ga. For more information, call 1-800-CALLAWAY.

The R.C.I.A. (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) is a journey of the faith that offers you a challenge for a vibrant new spirituality in your life. The R.C.I.A. is about conversion and understanding the doctrines and the theology of the Catholic Church. It is a growing awareness of what Catholic’s believe and profess. It is an experience that calls for change; change that is rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The R.C.I.A. is an opportunity to experience spirituality as you may have never experienced it before by sharing in the teachings and traditions of the Catholic Church. The R.C.I.A. process will help you to understand Catholic liturgy and worship and the Sacraments of the Church. For more information: Director of R.C.I.A. Church of the Most Holy Trinity P.O. Box 2446 Augusta, GA 30903 or email: kmp_mht@bellsouth.net

706.722.4944

DRAGONCON science fiction, fantasy and horror convention will be held Aug. 29-Sept. 1 in Atlanta. For more information, visit www.dragoncon.org. AT THE HIGH MUSEUM OF ART in Atlanta Aug. 30-Oct. 26: “Ansel Adams and his Legacy,” “A Mat ter of Time: Edward Hopper From the Whitney Museum of American Ar t.” Call (404) 733-HIGH or visit www.high.org for information. GOOMBAY FESTIVAL celebrating African-Caribbean culture Aug. 22-24 in downtown Asheville, N.C. Free. (828) 252-4614. DOG SHOWS AT GEORGIA NATIONAL FAIRGROUNDS AND AGRICENTER: Southeast Alabama Kennel Club Dog Show Aug. 28; Columbus Kennel Club Dog Show Aug. 29; Macon Kennel Club Dog Show Aug. 30-31. Call 1800-987-3247. “THE SHAKESPEARE COMEDY SPECTACULAR,” featuring per formances of “The Taming of the Shrew,” “All’s Well That Ends Well,” “Twelf th Night,” “The Merry Wives of Windsor” and “Much Ado about Nothing,” will be at the New American Shakespeare Tavern in Atlanta throughout

“RUINS AND RECONSTRUCTIONS: RECENT DRAWINGS AND SCULPTURE BY BRIAN RUST” exhibition at Bank of America Plaza in Atlanta through Oct. 2. Open 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday and by appointment. Free admission. For more information, call (404) 816-9777.

COWPARADE ATLANTA features over 200 life-sized, fiberglass cows painted by local ar tists and placed throughout Atlanta. The cows will be on public display through Sept. 14. For information, call (404) 898-2915 or visit www.cowparadeatlanta.com. GEORGIA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL runs through Nov. 2 with per formances of “Much Ado about Nothing,” “The School for Wives,” “The Tale of Cymbeline” and “The Tempest.” Tickets are $23-$32, with special $10 preview shows. Held at the Conant Per forming Ar ts Center on the campus of Oglethorpe University in Atlanta. Call (404) 264-0020 for information. REEDY RIVER NIGHTTIME CONCERT SERIES through Aug. 28 at the Peace Center Amphitheatre in Greenville, S.C. Free. (864) 467-6667. ON THE BRICKS concer t series wraps up Aug. 22 at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta with per formances by the Goo Goo Dolls, Pat McGee Band and Marc Broussard. Tickets are $3 per show or $25 for 12. Kids 5 and under get in free. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. Purchase tickets by phone at 1-800-594-TIX X or online at www.onthebricks.com. AT THE GEORGIA MUSEUM OF ART in Athens, Ga.: “Old Worlds, New Lands,” through Aug. 31; “Becoming a Nation: Americana from the Diplomatic Reception Rooms, U.S. Depar tment of State,” through Aug. 31; “‘Leaves Have Their Time To Fall ...’: Reflections of Mourning in 19th Century Decorative Ar ts,” through Sept. 14; “Af ter Many Years: The Paintings of Wilmer W. Wallace and Lamar Dodd,” through Sept. 14. Call (706) 542-4662. HARDEEVILLE (S.C.) MOTOR SPEEDWAY 2003 RACING SCHEDULE ends Aug. 30. For information, call (843) 784-RACE.

Benefits INDOOR RUMMAGE SALE AND FARMERS MARKET to benefit the American Hear t Association Aug. 30, 8 a.m.noon, at Doctors Hospital Building III. For more information, call 651-6716. AUGUSTA-RICHMOND COUNTY ANIMAL CONTROL is in need of dog and cat food, cat lit ter and other pet items, as well as monetary donations to help pay for vaccina-

tions. Donations accepted during regular business hours, Tues.-Sun., 1-5 p.m. at the shelter, 4164 Mack Lane. Call 790-6836 for information. SHEPEARD COMMUNITY BLOOD CENTER BLOOD DRIVES in various locations around the CSRA this month. The blood center is urging people of all blood types to donate in order to combat a blood supply shor tage. For detailed information on locations and times to donate, visit www.shepeardblood.org. You may also call Susan Edwards at (803) 643-7996 for information on Aiken locations and Nancy Szocinski at 737-4551 for information on all other locations. 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.

Learning SPANISH CLASSES for adults who want to learn basic Spanish begin Aug. 25, 6 p.m., at Augusta State University. Classes are free for Association Cultural Hispano Americana members; non-members may sign up for a yearly fee of $12. To register, or for more information, call Maria Edwards, 860-0438. AUGUSTA STATE UNIVERSITY CONTINUING EDUCATION is now of fering the following classes: stained glass, ice skating, yoga, beginning shag, belly dance, introduction to the world of wine, drivers education and more. Also, ASU of fers online courses. For more information, call 737-1636 or visit www.ced.aug.edu. AIKEN TECH CONTINUING EDUCATION of fers the following courses: PCs 101, Microsof t cer tified system administrator, health care courses, massage and bodywork therapy, rape aggression defense, South Carolina childcare training system, real estate courses, defensive driving, driver education, private pilot ground course, motorcycle safety and more. Aiken Tech also of fers Education to Go classes online. For more information or to register, call (803) 593-9231, ex t. 1230.

Health BURN SURVIVORS’ REUNION Aug. 29-31 at Pinway Plantation. All burn survivors are invited to at tend. Par ticipants will enjoy a Day in the Country Festival, as well as other planned activities. For more information, contact the Southeastern Firefighters’ Burn Foundation at 650-BURN or 1-800-650-BURN. “WHAT PARENTS AND TEACHERS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ADHD” workshop 7-9 p.m. Aug. 25 in Classrooms 1 and 2 at Doctors Hospital. For more information, call 651-2229 or visit www.doctors-hospital.net. HATHA YOGA with Tess Stephens at the St. Joseph Wellness Center in Daniel Village Plaza. Day time classes held from 10 a.m.-noon Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Evening classes held from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Monday and Wednesday and also 6:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday. Cost is $60 per month for unlimited classes or $10 per class. For more information, contact Tess at 738-2782. FREE HATHA AND KRIYA YOGA CLASSES at Christ Church Unity. Hatha Yoga classes Mondays and Wednesdays, 9-10:30 a.m.; meditation-focused Kriya Yoga Tuesdays 6-7:30 p.m. Voluntary of ferings are accepted. Call 738-2458 for more information. THE MCG BREAST CANCER SUPPORT GROUP meets the third Thursday of every month at 7 p.m. and provides education and suppor t for those with breast cancer. For information, call 721-1467. DIET COUNSELING CLASSES for diabetics and those with high cholesterol at CSRA Par tners in Health, 1220 Augusta West Parkway. Free. Call 860-3001 for class schedule. 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 6:30-8 p.m. in the main conference room at the Children’s Medical Center. Sept. 2 program is “Transition to College for Students with Disabilities: Every thing You Had No Idea You Were Supposed To Know.” 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. Suppor t groups and health screenings are also of fered. Call 7360847 for details. PEACHCARE FOR KIDS AND RIGHT FROM THE START MEDICADE offer free or low-cost health coverage to qualifying families. Coverage includes prenatal care, hospitalization, vaccines, dental and vision care and is available to pregnant women of all ages and to children through age 19. Contact the RSM Project at 729-2086 or 721-5611 for information. YOGA CLASSES at Walton Rehabilitation Hospital are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7-8 a.m. for $45/month or 10:30 a.m.-noon for $55/month. Call 8236294. FREE HIV/AIDS TESTING every Tuesday from 4-7 p.m. at St. Stephen’s Ministry, 922 Greene Street. Free anonymous testing, pre- and post-test counseling and education. A FREE WOMEN’S HEALTH CLINIC is held from 6-8 p.m. on Tuesdays at the Salvation Army and Welfare Center, 1383 Greene St. Services include Pap smear, breast exam and the diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmit ted diseases. For more info or an appointment, call the St. Vincent dePaul Health Center at 828-3444. W.G. WATSON, M.D., WOMEN’S CENTER CONDUCTS EDUCATION CLASSES at University Hospital. Course topics include Lamaze, breast feeding, parenting and grandparenting. Par tners will learn positive suppor t techniques. There are also programs designed to help older siblings adjust to new family members. Some classes are free, while others require a fee. Registration is required by calling 774-2825.

Kids “MOMMY AND ME” program at Augusta Jewish Community Center. Crawlers class for babies 7-12 months Tuesdays, 10-10:45 a.m., beginning Sept. 2 and walkers class for babies 12-24 months Wednesdays, 1010:45 a.m., beginning Sept. 3. Cost is $35 per month. Call 228-3636. SCHOOL’S OUT PRIME TIME PROGRAM at the Family Y’s Wheeler Branch location Sept. 1, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., with early drop-of f and late pick-up available. Cost is $14 per child pre-registered or $20 per child registering the day of the program. For details, call 738-7006. BIRTHDAY BOOK CLUB bir thday par ty for children with August bir thdays Aug. 23, 2 p.m., at Headquar ters Library. For more information, call 821-2600.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Grill Out For Labor Day Bratwursts Hot Dogs Specialty Luncheon Meats Handmade German Meats

Brueckner’s Specialty Meats 101 Shartom Drive • Augusta Business Center Behind Applebee’s

868-0830

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

WORLD OF MUSIC Band Instrument Rentals Visit our new location 3526 Wrightsboro Rd Just down from Bobby Jones Ford Across from La-z-boy

LOWEST PRICE

TOWN

650-9977

No Move Too Small Residential • Office • Apartment • Moves

“TECHNOLOGY AND TENNIS FOR LIFE” FALL SESSION through MACH Academy will be held through Dec. 18 at May Park Community Center or Fleming Tennis Center. Program includes homework assistance, computer instruction, tennis and fitness instruction, field trips and more. Fee is $50 per month. For information, call 7965046. GIRLS INCORPORATED OF THE CSRA AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM runs through May 21, 2004. Open to girls currently enrolled in kindergar ten through high school. In addition to of fering specialized programs, Girls Incorporated of fers van pick-up at select schools, neighborhood drop-of f, homework room and a hot evening meal. For information, call 733-2512. STORYLAND THEATRE is now taking reservations for the 2003-2004 season: “Sleeping Beauty” Oct. 28-Nov. 1, “The Cour tship of Senorita Florabella” Feb. 24-29 and “Hansel and Gretel” April 13-17. Season tickets for weekday school per formances are $9 per student; season tickets for weekend family matinees are $10.50 per person. For reservations, call Storyland Theatre at 736-3455 or fa x a request to 736-3349. YOUTH LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT SKILLS PROGRAM for teens ages 12-19 held the third Saturday of the month at the Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History. Call 7243576.

1211 New Savannah Road Augusta, GA 30901

Augusta: 706-312-3000 • Aiken: 803-649-4959 Fax: 706-312-3001

27 M E T R O S P I R I T A U G 2 1 2 0 0 3

28 WEEKLY STORY SESSIONS at all branch libraries. Visit

Carolina citizens to run for membership in 2004-2005. Board membership requires a 10-15 hour per month time commitment and active par ticipation on one or more issues-based commit tees. Female applicants are especially needed. Call 1-800-249-8155 for a packet.

M www.ecgrl.public.lib.ga.us for more information. E T FIRST SATURDAY STORYTELLING at the Lucy Craf t R Laney Museum. In addition, there is a tour of the museO

COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATE PROGRAM VOLUNTEER TRAINING: The CASA program is looking for volunteers 21 years of age and older to advocate for abused and neglected children in the juvenile cour t system. Volunteers need no experience and will be provided with specialized training. Call 737-4631.

um. Held 10 a.m.-noon the first Saturday of the month.

S Call 724-3576. P I R I T

Seniors

CSRA HUMANE SOCIETY NEW VOLUNTEER ORIENTATION PROGRAM the third Saturday of every month at the Pet Center, 425 Wood St. Orientation star ts at 11 a.m. Volunteers under 18 years of age must have a parent or guardian present during orientation and while volunteering. Call 261-PETS for information.

A U COMPUTER COURSES: Personal Computers for Seniors, G Sept. 8-9; and Internet and E-mail for Seniors, Sept. 15-

16 at Aiken Technical College. Classes run 9 a.m.-noon

2 and cost is $50. Call (803) 593-9231, ex t. 1230. 1

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. FIT 4 EVER LIGHT IMPACT FITNESS CLASS is $25 for 12 tickets for Aiken city residents and $45 for all others. Classes are held at the H.O. Weeks Center in Aiken on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 10-11 a.m. Call (803) 642-7631 for information. THE CARE MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT COMPANY, a non-profit organization, provides transpor tation for seniors who live in the 30906 and 30815 zip code area. For a minimal fee, door-to-door shut tles provide safe, clean and dependable transpor tation 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Appointments must be made 24 hours in advance; call Linda Washington, 733-8771, or leave a message for more information. COMPUTER CLASSES FOR SENIOR CITIZENS Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at Shiloh Comprehensive Community Center. For more information, call 738-0089. AIKEN PARKS AND RECREATION of fers a multitude of programs for senior adults, including bridge clubs, fitness classes, canasta clubs, line dancing, racquetball, ar ts and craf ts, tennis and excursions. For more information, call (803) 642-7631. JUD C. HICKEY CENTER FOR ALZHEIMER’S CARE provides families and caregivers of those with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia a break during the day. Activities and care available at the adult day center, and homecare is available as well. For information, call 738-5039. THE ACADEMY FOR LIFELONG LEARNING of fers 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 Of fice of Continuing Education at (803) 641-3288. THE SENIOR CITIZENS COUNCIL OF GREATER AUGUSTA AND THE CSRA of fers a variety of classes, including aerobics, quilting, tai chi, Spanish, crochet, 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 dif ferent courses are of fered. Contact the USC-Aiken Continuing Education Of fice at (803) 641-3563.

WORLD HERITAGE FOREIGN EXCHANGE PROGRAM is looking for area families, couples and single parents to host high-school-aged foreign exchange students for a semester or a year in the U.S. For more information, visit www.world-heritage.org or contact Beth Folland, (803) 279-2696 or 1-800-888-9040.

Photo: Joe White

2 0 0 3

This weekend marks the season finale of the On the Bricks concert series in Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park. Catch the Goo Goo Dolls, the Pat McGee Band and Marc Broussard Aug. 22.

Sports FAMILY Y FALL RECREATIONAL GYMNASTICS PROGRAM held in two eight-week sessions, Sept. 2-Oct. 24 and Oct. 27-Dec. 19. Classes are available for toddlers through teen-agers. For info, call 738-6678. FAMILY Y ADULT VOLLEYBALL LEAGUE REGISTRATION Aug. 27. Fees are $20-$45 per person, and league play begins Sept. 29. For additional information, call 733-1030 or visit www.thefamilyy.org. FAMILY Y FREE IN-LINE HOCKEY CLINICS for children and teens throughout August and September. For dates, times and locations, contact Donna Pope, 364-3269, or Winn Crenshaw, 733-1030. TOTAL FITNESS LUNCHTIME classes at the H.O. Weeks Center in Aiken. For ty-minute classes of fer a full workout, and full shower and locker-room facilities are available. $15 per month. Call (803) 642-7631. THE AUGUSTA JUNIOR ROWING ASSOCIATION will host an informational meeting regarding the fall season for prospective rowers and their parents Aug. 21, 6:30 p.m., at The Boathouse. For more information, visit www.augustarowingclub.org or call 821-2875 or 7383991. FAMILY Y FALL SOCCER REGISTRATION: Southside Branch registration through Aug. 29 for children 4-5 years old as of Aug. 1, 2003, 738-6680. AUGUSTA GREENJACKETS HOME GAMES Aug. 28-31 and Sept. 1. Tickets are $6-$8 for adults; $5 for senior citizens, military personnel and children 4-12; and $1 for children 3 and under. For tickets, visit www.tixonline.com or call 736-7889. INTRODUCTORY AND DROP-IN CLIMBING Fridays, 5:30-

CAMP MEETING ‘03

GARLINGTON

ARTS IN THE HEART OF AUGUSTA FESTIVAL is looking for volunteers to sell badges, beer and festival merchandise at this year’s festival, Sept. 19-21 at Augusta Common and Riverwalk. For more information, contact Lisa Bryant, 560-3950, 724-3728 or L_A_Bryant@hotmail.com. SERVICE CORPS OF RETIRED EXECUTIVES (SCORE) provides counseling and mentoring to businesspeople star ting up a new business or expanding an ongoing business. Services are provided free of charge. For more information, call the Augusta of fice at 793-9998. SOUTHERNCARE HOSPICE SERVICE is currently seeking volunteers to per form a variety of tasks, including relieving caregivers, reading to patients and running errands. Training is included. For additional information, contact Lisa Simpson, (803) 463-9888 or 869-0205.

August 31

Over 2.5 Million Sold… All Brands & Types

7:30 PM - Music by DAVID & NICOLE BINION 7:30 PM - Guest Speaker CHRIS HILL & Guest Speaker JOSEPH GARLINGTON 10:00 AM - Guest Speaker JOSEPH

AUGUSTA GOLF AND GARDENS DOCENT TRAINING Aug. 27, 9:30-11:30 a.m. To par ticipate, contact Beda Johnson, bjohnson@gghf.org or 724-4443.

THE SAVANNAH RIVER SITE CITIZENS ADVISORY BOARD is looking for interested Georgia and South

8:30 AM, 11:00 AM & 6:30 PM Guest Speaker DARRELL GLASS

7:30 PM - Music by DAVID & NICOLE BINION & Guest Speaker TOMMY TENNY

August 29 10:00 AM - Guest Speaker TOMMY TENNEY 7:30 PM - Music by DAVID & NICOLE BINION & Guest Speaker Tommy Barnett

I-20 at Belair Road (Exit 194) • 706-868-6410 • www.nhwc.org

GOLDEN HARVEST FOOD BANK needs volunteers during the day, from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday, to help sor t donated products and assist in their agency shopping area. Help is needed year-round. If you are able to lift 25 pounds, can commit to at least 3-4 hours per month and would like to help fight hunger in the Augusta area, contact Laurie Roper at 736-1199, ex t. 208. AUGUSTA-RICHMOND COUNTY ANIMAL CONTROL: New volunteer orientation is scheduled the first Saturday of each month at 1 p.m. at the shelter, 4164 Mack Lane. Schedule subject to change; call 790-6836 to verify dates and times. SHEPEARD COMMUNITY BLOOD CENTER is seeking donors to prevent a blood supply shor tage. To donate call 737-4551, 854-1880 or (803) 643-7996.

Volunteer

August 30

August 28th - 29th @ 10AM

August 28

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.

WINDOW BLINDS!!!

MORNING BIBLE STUDY August 27

6:30 p.m., at the Virginia Acres Park Climbing Wall in Aiken. Cost is $5 per session. Call (803) 642-7631 for information.

THE KITTY ORTIZ DE LEON FOUNDATION needs volunteers to help promote organ donor awareness. For more information, please contact Cassandra Reed at 481-0105 or kodfoundation@aol.com.

Meetings AUGUSTA AREA SURVIVORS OF SUICIDE meets Aug. 24, 3 p.m., at Advent Lutheran Church. For more information, call 863-6785. THE CANOE AND KAYAK CLUB OF AUGUSTA meets the four th Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at the Warren Road Community Center. New members always welcome. Call 860-5432 or visit www.ckca.homestead.com for information. THE CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER LAND TRUST ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION 8 a.m. Aug. 28 at the Augusta Museum of History. Topic is regional greenspace planning. For more information, call 312-5263. 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 fa x (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.

Got Blinds?? No?? We Do!!

UP (YouTO 85% OFF! will not believe our low prices) Chuck Campbell's

WALLPAPERS

AND WINDOW BLIND STORE

Call for FREE Measuring 2825 Washington Rd. (Across from Hooters)

706-738-1288

Fleas, Ticks, Allergies,

Summer Skin Problems?

M E T R O S P I R I T A U G 2 1

“Housecalls For Pets” Vaccinations • Surgery • Dentistry • Senior Care Wellness & Preventative Care • Microchip Identification Home Delivery of Prescription Medications & Diets Heartworm Prevention • Flea & Tick Control Products

Debra J. Saul, D.V.M. 706-860-4884

Mobile Veterinary Service Bringing 19 Years of Experience To Your Door

Is Proud to Present

THE 2003 AUGUSTA AMERICAN HEART WALK September 27, 2003

LOCATION: Doctors Hospital REGISTRATION: 9:00 am WALK: 9:30 am

Because it takes a team to fight heart disease and stroke …

AUGUSTA’S NO. 1 KILLER. Call 855-5005 to form your team today! Participate. Raise Funds. Save Lives.

HEART DISEASE/STROKE SURVIVORS: PLEASE JOIN US AT 9:00 AM TO BE HONORED. TO REGISTER, CALL

855-5005

2 0 0 3

30 M E T R O S P I R I T A U G 2 1 2 0 0 3

Arts: Performance

Augusta Opera: On the Threshold of a Season

etro Spirit – in the form of yours truly – recently sat down with Augusta Opera general and artistic director and conductor Mark Flint (pictured), a man who possesses a voice that has been smoothed and buffed with professional training. It became apparent during the course of our conversation that he regards Augusta’s opera company with high pride and affection. And he is standing on the threshold of a new season. “I’m calling it a season of celebration,” he said. “The reason that we have termed it that way is, we’re celebrating still thriving.” Uncertain economic times, he said, have injured many companies of comparable size. In fact, he said, a lot of them are going out of business. And the fact that Augusta Opera is still going strong, he says, communicates a lot about the company and about Augusta. He explained what it is exactly that Augusta Opera does. “We do a total of three mainstage productions at the Imperial Theatre and a very large holiday concert at Saint Paul’s.” Not to mention the outreach programs, he said, in which they go into the schools, introducing kids to opera. “We’re pretty much a full-year company,” he said. The Season “This year I chose to open with ‘Carousel,’” he said, calling it a classic off-Broadway piece. He explained that, though technically it isn’t an opera, it is a virtual opera piece, and a favorite of Richard Rodgers. “He, Richard Rodgers, always called it an opera,” he said. “It’s also a piece which has suffered a great deal, I think, from misinterpretation. It’s very dark subject matter. It involves spousal abuse.” And, he added, a lot of it takes place “up there” in heaven or “down here,” on Earth, and it’s based on a famous Hungarian play. “And I think we have a very, very strong singing and acting cast.” He said, though, that there is much more to it than having fun watching performers. “While it is extremely entertaining, it also delivers quite a message – that salvation can be achieved.” He assured us, also, that the salvation in the story is of the literal, spiritual, kind. It is about a man who has committed suicide, and his daughter, born after his death. Though many of his singers and actors come from all over, Flint said, most of his principals are our very own. Russell Joel Brown, for instance, as well as Kitty and Les Reagan. “Carousel” runs Sept. 11-13 at 8 p.m.,

and Sept. 14 at 3 p.m. at the Imperial Theatre. “Die Fledermaus” runs Jan. 29 and 31 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 1 at 3 p.m. at the Imperial Theatre. The season brochure touts it as a piece of “plotting husbands, scheming wives and dazzling disguises.” Yum. Flint says it’s fun. And, he says, it’s an operetta. So we learned a new term that day. “An operetta basically has a lot more dialog than opera and usually is in a lighter vein, which ‘Die Fledermaus’ definitely is.” “And then we close the season with ‘Rigoletto,’” he added. “And it’s truly an example of grand opera.” The Verdi piece runs May 13 and 15 at 8 p.m. and May 16 at 3 p.m. at the Imperial Theatre. Again, to the season brochure! There is a deformed court jester who has a daughter. And there is a libertine involved – the Duke of Mantua. It premiered in 1851, so you can enjoy a bit of the past when you sit down to watch. Oh, yes. The holidays. There will be a “Home for the Holidays” concert on Dec. 4 at 7 p.m., After that, the Edward Bradberry Holiday Concert at St. Paul’s Church will take place Dec. 7 at 3:30 and 6 p.m. You will see five international soloists, as well as the Augusta Opera Chorus and Orchestra, and – as if that weren’t enough – the Augusta Children’s Chorale. If you would like a chance to get to know the Opera, or maybe reacquaint yourself with it after its season break, then you can attend their 38th Season Opening Party at the Boathouse on Sunday, Aug. 24 at 5 p.m. The Conductor Every interview has its prize quote, and the Mark Flint Quote of the Day has to be, “I have been known to eat grits.” See, he was claiming Southernness. “I’m originally from West Virginia, so I am technically Southern,” he said. So of course, he had to be asked the grit question. He took over conducting duties at Augusta Opera at the death of longtime Opera leader Ed Bradberry, but Flint had been well acquainted with the company long before that. “I have conducted in Augusta since 1983 and pretty much when I was available I continued to come annually,” he said. Even now, however, he still conducts in Canada as well as in Augusta. “And when Ed’s sudden death occurred, I was in Hawaii. I did not at all want to see this company fold,” he said. “Which could have happened, because any time a leader of that magnitude is no longer with an organization, floundering is quite possible. Because of that I agreed to

By Rhonda Jones

serve as art director last year.” He now arranges his conducting schedule around his responsibilities in Augusta. “It’s amazingly a small world,” he said of the opera world. This is because the performers tend to travel from city to city with their roles, and often run into people they had last come in contact with in other cities. But even with all of his travel, Augusta has captured his heart. “I have a great fondness for the city and for the people here,” he said. He told, also, of how he caught the opera bug. “I actually began as a boy soprano, and West Virginia was not far from Pittsburgh,” he said. One result of that proximity is that he spent three and a half years with the Pittsburgh Opera. He attended college in Europe, and was handed a conductor’s baton. And he has never put it down. “So I never really studied it (conducting),” he said. “It just evolved.” He is of the opinion that, in order to learn your craft, you just simply do it.

But Why Should I Go to the Opera? Because it’s good for you. Actually, because it has a little bit of everything, Flint said. “The main selling ingredient is that it is the culmination of all art forms – music, theatre and the symphony. You often, as in ‘Carousel,’ have ballet,” he said. “So it’s the bringing together of all those forces that makes opera such an exciting medium.” And don’t worry about not understanding Italian. For “Rigoletto,” there will be subtitles. In 1982, he said, when the idea of rolling English translations out for the benefit of the audience was introduced, there was quite a controversy. But now, he said, those in the opera world realize that the practice has revolutionized the medium. “That has made opera very accessible,” he said. If you would like to access the opera this season, and you have questions, you may call (706) 826-4710.

WE DO IT ALL FOR LESS Exceeding Your Expectations Jennings McAbee formerly of Olsen Tires Tires Plus

Tires Brakes Alignments Exhaust

Tune-Ups Air Conditioning Engine Repair Alternators

Starters Clutches Transmissions Oil Changes Preventive Maintenance

4104C Washington Road â&#x20AC;˘ Martinez

706-860-1203

www.AffordableTireandAuto.com

31 M E T R O S P I R I T A U G 2 1 2 0 0 3

S P I R I T A U G

Cinema Movie Listings

2 1 2 0 0 3

Anger Management (PG-13) — Af ter "assaulting" a stewardess on a flight, doofy Dave (Adam Sandler) is ordered by a cour t into anger therapy. That means bonding with Buddy (Jack Nicholson), anger management guru, and time with Buddy's pet circle of hair-trigger loons, including Luis Guzman as a gay par ty beast and John Tur turro as a rage-aholic called Chuck. Buddy and Dave get in each other's hair, play mean pranks on each other, trade frat-level penis jokes, run up to Boston, and return to New York, where both seem to have something going with Dave's girlfriend (Marisa Tomei). "Anger Management" is not bad enough to make you angry, because inevitably the cast cooks up some silly fun. Cast: Jack Nicholson, Adam Sandler, John Tur turro, Marisa Tomei, Luis Guzman, Woody Harrelson. Running time: 1 hr., 35 mins. (Elliot t) ★★ American Wedding (R) — Jim (Jason Biggs) is going to marry his nerdy, peppy, fresh-faced, relentlessly horny girlfriend Michelle (Alyson Hannigan). This, of course, requires a bachelor par ty (strippers), a meeting of the in-laws and shopping for the wedding dress (a dance-off at a gay bar), not to mention the catastrophebound event itself. "American Wedding" becomes something of a showcase for Seann William Scot t, who gets to strut his stuff right up to, and then well over the top. Another saving grace is the presence of Eugene Levy, once again por traying Jim's dad, and Fred Willard, as the father of the bride. All of which might sound like a recommendation, which this most cer tainly is not. But essentially, the thing is harmless. Cast: Jason Biggs, Seann William Scot t, Alyson Hannigan, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Eugene Levy, Fred Willard. Running time: 1 hr., 35 mins. (Salm) ★1/2 Bad Boys II (R) — Vulgar, brazen, crass, violent, stupid, juvenile, loud, long and pointless — "Bad Boys II" is all that, plus a thin slice of enter taining. The scene is Miami. Marcus (Mar tin Lawrence) and par tner Mike (Will Smith) are back as narcs pledged to double duty: to collar nasty crooks, and to tickle the audience with cute bonding humor. They kick off this par ty by blowing a major drug bust while messing up a Ku Klux Klan rally at the drop site for smuggled dope. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer gives us not story, but the idea of story as

gooey plot pizza; not violence, but the idea of violence as car toonish pulp; not style, but the idea of style as shiny pictures for gaping apes; not comedy, but the idea of comedy as compulsive imbecility; not fun, but the idea of fun as a migraine of lavishly cheap jolts. Cast: Will Smith, Mar tin Lawrence, Gabrielle Union, Joe Pantoliano, Jordi Molla. Running time: 2 hrs., 30 mins. (Elliot t) ★ Bringing Down the House (PG-13) — Queen Latifah smoothly pockets "Bringing Down the House" as Charlene, a good-hear ted fugitive from the law, turning to a starchy, divorced ta x at torney for refuge and suppor t. Steve Mar tin is the lawyer, Peter. The core idea of this very simple comedy is pure buzz of contrast: Latifah is abundantly, explosively black, while Mar tin may be the whitest man ever to star in movies. Latifah rides out the nonsense in her queenly, Pearl Bailey style. It's a cookiecut comedy. The movie delivers its very manufactured goods, but it lacks the guts to be a meaningful comedy. Cast: Steve Mar tin, Queen Latifah, Eugene Levy, Joan Plowright, Jean Smar t, Bet ty White. Running time: 1 hr., 45 mins. (Elliot t) ★★ Bruce Almighty (PG-13) — Jim Carrey is Bruce, the goofy features repor ter on a TV station in Buf falo. He aspires to become a "serious" anchor, but af ter blowing his cool on the air, loses his job and has a rif t with his sweet, please-marry-me girlfriend (Jennifer Aniston). There cometh unto Buf falo the Almighty (Morgan Freeman). The Lord loans his powers to Bruce. Time for some payback, some wild stunts, some sexual dazzling of Aniston, some nudges of satire. Like Mel Brooks as Moses in "History of the World, Par t I," Carrey has climbed the comical Mount Sinai and, like Brooks, he has dropped a tablet on the way down. One of the pieces is "Bruce Almighty." Cast: Jim Carrey, Morgan Freeman, Jennifer Aniston, Philip Baker Hall, Catherine Bell. Running time: 1 hr., 45 mins. (Elliot t) ★★ Chicago (PG-13) —- It's been 23 years since Richard Gere stripped on Broadway for "Bent." Now he gets to pull of f his clothes as slick shyster Billy Flynn. Mostly in wonder ful suits, his hair shining like creased silver, Gere is having the best time of his movie life, singing and tapdancing and lording over women with rakish snaz. He's a lioness-tamer; the main cats are Velma

Fox Searchlight Pictures

“LeDivorce”

RATINGS

★★★★ — Excellent.

M E T R O

“My Boss’s Daughter”

Miramax Films

Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones), a cabaret sex bazooka and killer on Death Row and newcomer Roxie Har t (Renee Zellweger), a Bet ty Boop who killed her lover. For cash and headlines, Flynn will help guilty women beat the law. "Chicago" is zip for depth, but it has all the sexy sur face it needs to be ex travagantly alive. It tops of f at the Chicago Theater, and the old show palace looks delighted. Cast: Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, John C. Reilly, Queen Latifah, Christine Baranski, Taye Diggs. Running time: 1 hr., 53 mins. (Elliot t) ★★★★ Daddy Day Care (PG) — Looking very much like the engorged warm-up for a future TV sitcom, "Daddy Day Care" stars Eddie Murphy and Jef f Garlin as cereal company promo men who lose their jobs, then star t a home day-care facility. There is an absurdly snooty villain (Anjelica Huston), owner of a posh day-care school. The kids are central casting darlings. The movie, which has a stern warning against sugar-based cereals, is sugared cereal. Cast: Eddie Murphy, Anjelica Huston, Jef f Garlin, Steve Zahn, Regina King. Running time: 1 hr., 35 mins. (Elliot t) ★★ Finding Nemo (G) — A father clown fish (Alber t Brooks) tracks young son Nemo through the Pacific to Sydney, Australia, af ter the small fry is caught and sold for a fish tank. Ellen DeGeneres voices adorable Dory, who is very pret ty and helpful as Marlin's search mate. The humans are alien invaders, big and nearly thoughtless. If "Finding Nemo" is just another of our plex distractions, then it's a giddy bummer, but as a whimsical warning with bite it arrives just in time. Helping to make the seas a lasting realm for real Nemos could be the good, giving backwash of "Finding Nemo." Cast: Alber t Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould, Willem Dafoe, Austin Pendleton, Vicki Lewis, Geof frey Rush, Barry Humphries. Running time: 1 hr., 41 mins. (Elliot t) ★★★★ Freaky Friday (PG) — It’s the updated version of the ‘70s film, starring Jamie Lee Cur tis as a frazzled mom and Lindsay Lohan as her rebellious teen-age daughter. The two are constantly arguing and both wish they could be someone else. When their wish comes true and the two end up switching bodies, they have to find a way back to their normal selves – before Mom walks down the aisle again. Cast: Jamie Lee Cur tis, Lindsay Lohan, Mark Harmon, Christina Vidal. Freddy vs. Jason (R) — The two masters of horror find themselves locked in a gory bat tle. An unfor tunate group of teens finds that they’re trapped in the middle of the slasher showdown. Cast: Rober t Englund, Ken Kirzinger, Kelly Rowland, Jason Bateman, Jason Rit ter. Grind (PG-13) — Skateboarding flick about four skaters who take one last road trip before college to follow the summer tour of one of the country’s biggest skateboarding stars. Their goal is to get noticed and asked to be par t of the troupe, but the tour manager makes things as dif ficult as possible for the boys. Cast: Colin McKay, Rober t Baker, Adam Brody, Shonda Farr, Jason London. Hollywood Homicide (PG-13) — As an L.A. cop

★★★— Worthy.

★★ — Mixed.

★ — Poor.

par tner, rumpled veteran Harrison Ford plays Senior as a leathery grinner who always gets his man, still has a hunter's eye for women and hustles real estate deals while chasing crooks. Josh Har tnet t's Junior is a dead cop's son, but cannot shoot straight, is a veggie and teaches yoga. Junior really wants to be an actor. The antic "plot" is from some kind of slag heap. The main villain is a record producer who doesn't just rip of f black talent, but also murders them. "Hollywood Homicide" reeks from its slumming, cynical exploitation of Hollywood as a junky old tar t, and Ford even cracks a wist ful line, about when the town was glamorous. That must have been back in his days as a carpenter. He should have hammered a nail through this script and mailed it back. Cast: Harrison Ford, Josh Har tnet t, Keith David, Lena Olin, Bruce Greenwood, Lolita Davidovich. Running time: 1 hr., 48 mins. (Elliot t) ★ The Hulk (PG-13) — It's excessive and too long, but with exciting macho blows, it pounds away at machismo. The nerdy, but more than sturdy scientist Bruce Banner (Eric Bana) becomes a plaintive monster, morphed by digital ef fects into a furious green giant. The Hulk doesn't merely leap tall buildings in a single bound. He springs over Wile E. Coyote canyons and falls from the upper atmosphere into San Francisco Bay and turns huge U.S. tanks into twisted toys. "The Hulk" presses on like a Wagner opera of "Fight Club." You can end up pulverized and satisfied, whipped and wowed. Cast: Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly, Sam Elliot t, Nick Nolte, Josh Lucas, Paul Kersey. Running time: 2 hrs., 15 mins. (Elliot t) ★★★ Le Divorce (PG-13) — Kate Hudson is Isabel, a maturing young woman, a Californian new to Paris, loving it and mostly loving being mistress to the very French and suave Edgar (Thierry Lhermit te). Alas, James Ivory's film has a nasty divorce at the center. This patchwork barely has a theme, lit tle story arc, but lots of Paris. It can be def t, yet this may be the most air-blown load of spurious Parisian wisdom since "Goodbye Again" in 1961. 1 hr., 57 mins. (Elliot t) ★★

Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde (PG-13) — Reese Witherspoon is so peachy and pink

and perky as Elle Woods, girl lawyer crusading for animal rights in D.C., that you can just about forgive the brazen retouching of elements from "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," including a clip from the Capra film. Elle even visits, like Jimmy Stewar t before, the Lincoln Memorial. The rather lame "political" plot and sof t gags breeze by thanks to her, Sally Field, Bob Newhar t and Luke Wilson. 1 hr., 35 mins. (Elliot t) ★★

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (PG13) — Sean Connery's Allan Quatermain is a former

adventurer suf fering from disillusionment and a broken hear t. A mysterious Brit who calls himself "M" finds the physically fit Quatermain in Africa with predictions of impending doom and a request by Queen Victoria to help save the world. An opium-wracked Quatermain is tracked down by the Dracula-inspired character Mina Harker (Peta Wilson), who is introduced a lit tle later in the film, as are Captain Nemo, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and the

0— Not worthy.

Invisible Man. One might forgive some of the clunky editing and pasted-together plotlines. Less forgivable is the contrived, bring-on-the-sequel ending. Unforgivable and completely baf fling is the dimming of Connery's starpower. Cast: Sean Connery, Naseeruddin Shah, Peta Wilson, Stuar t Townsend and Shane West. Running time: 1 hr., 41 mins. (Wood) ★★ Marci X (R) — Marci (Lisa Kudrow) is forced to take over her father’s hard-core rap label, Felony Assault. She faces a PR nightmare when one of the record label’s top ar tists, Dr. Snatchcatcher (Damon Wayans), releases “Shoot Ya Teacha’,” which then becomes a hit. Cast: Lisa Kudrow, Damon Wayans, Christine Baranski, Jane Krakowski. The Medallion (PG-13) — Another Jackie Chan flick, this time featuring Chan as a Chinese immigration of ficer who is killed on the job by smugglers. Af ter his murder, the of ficer finds he hasn’t really died; he just possesses supernatural abilities. Cast: Jackie Chan, Lee Evans, Christy Chung, Claire Forlani, John Rhys Davies. My Boss’s Daughter (PG-13) — When a young man’s tough boss asks him to housesit, it seems to be the per fect oppor tunity for the young man to hook up with the boss’s beautiful daughter, on whom he’s had a longtime crush. But he can’t seem to get her alone, as a strange cast of characters revolve in and out of the house on various personal missions. Cast: Ashton Kutcher, Tara Reid, Carmen Electra, Andy Richter, Molly Shannon. Open Range (R) — Once you are saddled for Kevin Costner's "Open Range," you have to keep riding. It is a wonder ful Western, maybe a great one. At the core of the story is the friendship of small-scale cat tleman Boss (Rober t Duvall) and sidekick Charley (Costner). The action builds inevitably, then bites hard. "Open Range" has the three crucial things that a good Western needs: actors firmly embedded in clear characters with strong motives; the tension of approach to a fated end; the topping gun-down, here a complex death ballet of jumps and jit ters and stunning bursts of firepower (the best, really, since "The Wild Bunch"). 2 hrs., 15 mins. (Eilliot) ★★★★

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (PG-13) — The movie will be a shock-

er for anyone expecting watery gruel ex tracted from a Disneyland-ride base. This "Pirates of the Caribbean" is an original, with clever plot ting, some rapierlike dialogue and a scurvy crew of first-rate second bananas. When the Black Pearl, the invincible pirate ship commanded by the dread Capt. Barbossa (Geof frey Rush) storms Por t Royal and kidnaps Elizabeth (Keira Knightly), the governor's beautiful daughter, what can her secret admirer, the lowly blacksmith Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), do but go af ter her? He's forced to team up with the immensely unreliable Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp). The movie lies becalmed when Depp/Sparrow is absent; when he's on screen, it's a rousing good time. Since he's on screen a good par t of the time, that makes "Pirates of the Caribbean" a rousing good movie. Arrrrr! Cast: Johnny Depp, Geof frey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightly, Jonathan Pryce. Running time: 2 hrs., 14 mins. (Salm) ★★★ Rugrats Go Wild (PG) — It's a synergistic cock tail, bringing together car toon figures from two big Nickelodeon TV shows, "Rugrats" and "The Wild Thornberrys," for a string of gags without a plot. Unless, as plot, you call being stranded on a deser t island that isn't really deser ted an "adventure." This TV promo gizmo and baby sit ter is an awfully small movie, though a Nickelodeon release boasts of $100 million in tie-ins and lists nine major companies. Voice cast: Tim Curry, Michael Bell, Lacey Chaber t, LL Cool J, Bruce Willis. Running time: 1 hr., 24 mins. (Elliot t) ★★ Seabiscuit (PG-13) — Charles Howard, acted by Jef f Bridges, is a brawny, self-made man whose success as an auto biz wiz led to personal tragedy, then a healing fancy for horses. Mostly, for Seabiscuit. Two other men also are saviors of Seabiscuit, in turn saved by him. Chris Cooper is trainer Tom Smith, a folksy genius of horse sense; and the scrappy jockey, Johnny "Red" Pollard, a Depression castaway stuck with dud horses and even bare-knuckle boxing, is acted by scrawny but muscular Tobey Maguire. The film piles on glossy contex t, but it finds its legs once the beloved horse turns into a come-from-behind challenger, egged on by the media. As a scrappy fable, this corn pops well, emotionally. Cast: Jef f Bridges, Tobey Maguire, Chris Cooper, William H. Macy, Elizabeth Banks. Running time: 2 hrs., 10 mins. (Elliot t) ★★★ Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (PG) — Now the boyish Juni Cor tez (Daryl Sabara) is a private investigator, the rest of his family away spying, and Juni is pulled into the evil video game empire of the Toymaker (Sylvester Stallone). He must rise through levels, liberate sister Carmen (Alexa Vega) and prove himself as The Guy. Mostly he must sur f through gaudy storms of computerized ef fects, of ten in 3-D (yes, you wear glasses). There are robots and blue-tongued monsters and frantic chases. For a while, leathery grandpa Ricardo Montalban is liberated by animation from a wheelchair to clank around in a huge metal suit. Montalban is always a kick, but the movie is about as Hispanic as a pinata made in Taiwan.

Cast: Daryl Sabara, Alexa Vega, Sylvester Stallone, Ricardo Montalban, Salma Hayek. Running time: 1 hr., 32 mins. (Elliot t) ★1/2 S.W.A.T. (PG-13) — Samuel L. Jackson is Lt. Dan Harrelson, called Hondo, who is can-do to a fanatical degree. He's the only actor of sizable presence. Time for plot! Bring on one-dude fashion layout Olivier Mar tinez as Alex, a French psycho who has killed 24 and bags No. 25 by slit ting the throat of his uncle with a knife "given me by my father." He is called "The Frog." Arrested, the swinish Alex of fers $100 million to anyone who can free him. Within hours, L.A. is crawling with crazies armed with bazookas and other big-time weapons, ready to blow Alex free, demolish subways, escor t him through sewers (yes, one has computerized bats) and land a jet plane on a street bridge. Of course, only Hondo's squad can block this evil and perhaps Francophile scheme. Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Farrell, Michelle Rodriguez, LL Cool J, Olivier Mar tinez, Josh Charles, Larry Poindex ter. Running time: 1 hr., 57 mins. (Elliot t) ★

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (R) —

An almost unbroken stream of mighty mayhem, high on the bliss of eviscerated metal. Arnold returns as the Terminator, to save the future leaders of mankind (Nick Stahl, Claire Danes) from a vicious terminatrix (Kristanna Loken) who is like the sleek evil twin of the computerized vamp in "Simone." It goes where it must, to nuclear hell, and is weirdly satisfying. 1 hr., 48 mins. (Elliot t) ★★★

Covenant Presbyterian Church “ THERE’S SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE”

Sunday Services

8:30 am Communion 9:45am Church School 11:00am Worship

Wednesday Night 6:00pm 6:30pm

Bring Your Own Sack Supper Bible Study

Nursery provided for all church events Rev. Rob Watkins, Pastor 3131 Walton Way (Corner of Walton Way & Aumond Rd) 733-0513

A PC (USA) Congregation

Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (PG-13) —

Angelina Jolie recycles as Lara Crof t, tracking down a golden ball that leads to a magical chest that is Pandora's my thic box. Chief villain Ciaran Hinds is a bulging suit who wants to release hellish plagues on the world. The high point goes nowhere but down, a long, gliding jump of f a Hong Kong skyscraper. Many exotic places are visited, each one posing like a theme park. But then the wowzer payof f: a hokey cave with acid pools, and ugly tree monsters fiercely auditioning for "Lord of the Rings: The Final Nonsense." Cast: Angelina Jolie, Gerard Butler, Ciaran Hinds, Djimon Hounsou. Running time: 1 hr., 56 mins. (Elliot t) ★ 2 Fast 2 Furious (PG-13) — The speed par ty "2 Fast 2 Furious" is 2 silly 2 believe and 2 cliched 2 be very enter taining. 2 bad. It stars Paul Walker, back as Brian from the 2001 summer hit "The Fast and the Furious," in which he was an undercover cop and rival, then pal, of mechanic and street racer Dom (Vin Diesel). Walker gets to appear slight nex t to the big rack of torso Tyrese, cast as racer and ex-con Roman Pearce. The set ting is now Miami. The script is a chop-shop quickie with a greasy aroma of "Miami Vice." The car scenes are so heavily edited and accessorized with tech-freak dazzle that even the blasting finish collapses into a string of stunts. This film is just a motorized budget. Cast: Paul Walker, Tyrese, Cole Hauser, Eva Mendes, James Remar. Running time: 1 hr., 44 mins. (Elliot t) ★1/2 Uptown Girls (PG-13) — It took four writers to scribble "Uptown Girls," and they must have split their crayon into four pieces. Brit tany Murphy is Molly, who is kicked out of her posh Manhat tan apar tment and, though hardly moving downscale, becomes a rich kid's nanny. The kid is Ray, the packaged mini-princess Dakota Fanning, who seems from a Stepford planet. She may be the most insuf ferable film brat since Kirby Furlong in "Mame." Nanny and brat ty bond with the help of a pink pig, intrusive pop songs and a mutual zeal for inanity. It is just mindless summer fluf f. So forget taste. 1 hr,. 38 mins. (Elliot t) 0 Wrong Turn (R) — Bad luck befalls Chris (Desmond Harrington) when he sets out on a three-hour tour to Raleigh for a job interview. He’s barely star ted down the freeway when an accident up ahead halts traf fic. Taking a windy and isolated dir t road to get around the jam, Chris doesn’t see the SUV full of teens that is stopped in the middle of the road, tires mysteriously blown out. Investigating the accident scene, the group finds a strand of barbed wire stretched across the road — could it be a trap? Cast: Eliza Dushku, Desmond Harrington, Jeremy Sisto, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Lindy Booth. Running time: 1 hr., 50 mins. X2 (PG-13) — At the hub is the dutiful sequel section, laboring to ex tend the fantasy of a human world infiltrated by power ful, feared mutants, which the 2000 film transplanted from its comic-book roots. Then there is the ef fects section, each mutant get ting a chance to show his/her powers. There is the senior section of power ful old men, the creepy wizard Magneto (Ian McKellen) maintaining a duel of Elite British Accents with the paranormal seer Xavier (Patrick Stewar t). And the "check 'em out" section for new or aspiring stars (Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, Kelly Hu, Rebecca RomijnStamos, Aaron Stanford). "X2" seems to have been made by and for people who constantly switch between "Star Trek" episodes and James Bond reruns, while hoping for some Hannibal Lecter. Cast: Patrick Stewar t, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Brian Cox, Alan Cumming, Famke Janssen, Anna Paquin. Running time: 2 hrs., 5 mins. (Elliot t) ★1/2 —Capsules compiled from movie reviews written by David Elliott, film critic for The San Diego Union-Tribune and other staff writers.

All You Can Eat Prime Rib & Seafood Buffet Friday & Saturday Night $21.95 Includes All-You-Can-Eat Crab Legs

Live Maine Lobster only $4 more

2651 P ERIMETER PARKWAY • RESERVATIONS

(706) 855-8100

33 M E T R O S P I R I T A U G 2 1 2 0 0 3

●

▼ ●▼ ●▼ ●▼ ●▼ ●▼ ●▼ ●▼ ●▼ ●▼ ●▼ ●▼ ●▼ ●▼ ●▼ ●▼ ●

M E T R O

2 0 0 3

marinated grilled chicken marinated grilled steak black beans or pinto beans fresh pico de gallo southwestern rice

Jerk fish taco fridays 2 for $4

fresh guacamole freshly grated monterrey jack cheese mushrooms spinach

sh, It’s all fre ral, tu It’s all na od! It’s all go

green peppers jalapenos sour cream

Voted #1 Burrito in Athens By The Athens Banner Herald

Daniel village shopping center 667-0960

▼ ●▼ ●▼ ●▼ ●▼ ●▼ ●▼ ●▼ ●▼ ●▼ ●▼ ●▼ ●▼ ●▼ ●▼ ●▼ ●

2 1

By Joey Berlin

A U G

Kevin Costner Revitalizes the Western

Our burritos are customized right in front of you with

●

S P I R I T

Cinema: Close-Up

AFRAID TO BATHE? Let us re-do your tub! One Day Stress Free Bath Remodeling Over 1 million Installations Nationwide Since 1979 Bathtub liners • Shower Base Liners • Ceramic Tile • Acrylic Wall System • Shower Doors • Faucets • Vanities

“WE PUT A NEW BATHTUB OVER YOUR OLD ONE”™

1-800-BATHTUB Come visit our showroom!

Showroom Hours: M-F 9-6 • 4115 Columbia Rd, Suite 10 • Next to Kroger Office: 706-869-0750 • www.rebathaugusta.com

here has not been a decent Western in a long time, and Kevin Costner thinks he knows why. He says the genre has grown stagnant and he is ready to reinvigorate it with “Open Range.” After a recent string of poorly received boxoffice stinkers that stranded Costner, 48, high and dry with critics and fans alike, the multitalented star could use a little reinvention himself. Costner looks to snap his unlucky streak with “Open Range,” a majestic and gutsy horse opera that he directed. Costner also shares top billing with Robert Duvall. They play cattlemen drawn into a range war. Annette Bening co-stars as a fiercely independent woman who catches Costner’s eye. Costner has always been drawn to Westerns, and if “Open Range” approaches the quality of his Oscar-winning epic, “Dances With Wolves,” it should go a long way toward restoring a reputation soured by “3000 Miles to Graceland” and “Dragonfly.” Meanwhile, the California native has announced upcoming nuptials to longtime girlfriend Christine Baumgartner, 29, and will appear next in “The Upside of Anger,” slated for release in 2004. Q: What motivated you to return to Westerns with “Open Range?” A: It was that Westerns can be great and too often, in the past, they haven’t been. It’s a genre that’s been lazy, living on its past glory, which was a long, long time ago. They’re costume parties. It’s like, you wear floppy hats, get the beard growth going and get a gun, and you have yourself a Western. But that doesn’t really make a Western. Q: What is the appeal of the Western? A: I don’t know if there’s a perennial appeal. I hope so and I hope that people will come to a Western if it’s good. That’s what I’m counting on. I think that it’s an interesting place where we measure ourselves. These are our ancestors, without a doubt. The West is our culture. I don’t know what it is, I don’t know if it’s our first art form and I don’t know the psychology of it, but I like big horizons and I like running horses. I believe in the literacy of the West. A lot of people have the tendency to think that these are movies where people say, “yep” and “nope,” when in fact I think they’re very Shakespearean. Q: Do you think this movie will do well this summer, even if Westerns are not exactly the most popular genre right now? A: I’ve never been ahead of any curve or behind one. I’ve always gone by my own tune, and when a movie comes out, I can’t speak to the idea that this may be an advantageous time for it or not. The one thing I can say about it coming out now is that I hope that this being

considered summer fare doesn’t diminish your take on what Robert Duvall and Annette Bening and Michael Jeter accomplished in this movie, dramatically. I think it’s very brave of Annette Bening to play a supporting role in a Western, bringing her considerable skill to it and playing it the way she does. She does it without the makeup and all that stuff, and still she’s quite beautiful. Q: Do you think that society needs more heroes these days? A: I think we’re surrounded by heroism every day, it just takes different forms. I’m talking about a woman who’s got three kids and goes on a bus to go to work in central Los Angeles. That’s pretty heroic. We see heroic things all the time around us, we just don’t always recognize it when it’s happening. Movies have that wonderful way of highlighting how we wish we would behave when we’re confronted with something. That’s the beauty of movies. I play men that are a lot braver than I am, a lot smarter than I am, and I feel like I’ve learned from those movies how I wish I would be. I’ve always felt that for myself, personally, movies have been a guiding force on how to behave. Q: Do you like the challenge of creating a sense of authenticity in your films? A: There can be just as much drama in the truth of things. You can create so many dramatic situations out of things that do happen, like, guns really do jam and they have to be reloaded. Horses get killed. Not everything you shoot at, you hit. People run for their lives. And guns are really loud. They scare most people. Authenticity comes from language and also in recognizing a moment. What you have to do is be smart with your budget so you can give people a good show. That means that I can put my money in things like warped glass or in a piano in a saloon that can’t play because it’s broken.

MOVIE CLOCK REGAL AUGUSTA EXCHANGE 20 Movies Good 8/22 - 8/28 My Boss’s Daughter (PG-13) Fri-Sat: 12:50, 3:00, 5:30, 7:50, 10:05, 12:25; Sun-Thur: 12:50, 3:00, 5:30, 7:50, 10:05 The Medallion (PG-13) Fri-Sat: 1:00, 3:10, 5:25, 7:40, 9:55, 12:10; Sun-Thur: 1:00, 3:10, 5:25, 7:40, 9:55 Marci X (R) Fri-Sat: 12:45, 2:55, 5:05, 7:20, 9:30, 11:40; Sun-Thur: 12:45, 2:55, 5:05, 7:20, 9:30 Le Divorce (PG-13) Fri-Sat: 1:25, 4:05, 6:50, 9:35, 12:20; Sun-Thur: 1:25, 4:05, 6:50, 9:35 Uptown Girls (PG-13) 12:35, 3:05, 5:35, 8:05, 10:45 Open Range (R) 12:55, 4:00, 7:10, 10:15 Grind (PG-13) Fri-Sat: 7:45, 10:10, 12:35; SunThur: 7:45, 10:10 Freddy vs. Jason (R) Fri-Sat: 12:10, 2:00, 2:35, 4:25, 4:55, 7:00, 7:30, 9:20, 9:50, 11:45, 12:15; Sun-Thur: 12:10, 2:00, 2:35, 4:25, 4:55, 7:00, 7:30, 9:20, 9:50 Freak y Friday (PG) Fri-Sat: 12:05, 2:25, 4:45, 7:00, 9:15, 11:30; Sun-Thur: 12:05, 2:25, 4:45, 7:00, 9:15 S.W.A.T. (PG-13) Fri-Sat: 1:20, 1:50, 4:10, 4:40, 6:55, 7:25, 9:40, 10:10, 12:30; Sun-Thur: 1:20, 1:50, 4:10, 4:40, 6:55, 7:25, 9:40, 10:10 American Wedding (R) 12:20, 2:50, 5:20, 8:00, 10:35 Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (PG-13) 2:05, 4:50, 7:35, 10:30 Seabiscuit (PG-13) 12:40, 3:45, 6:45, 9:45 Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (PG) Fri-Sat: 12:00, 2:10, 4:20, 6:40, 9:10, 11:20; Sun-Thur: 12:00, 2:10, 4:20, 6:40, 9:10 Bad Boys 2 (R) 12:30, 3:50, 7:05, 10:20 Pirates of the Caribbean (PG-13) 1:05, 4:15, 7:15, 10:25 The League of Ex traordinary Gentlemen (PG13) 12:00, 2:40, 5:10, 7:55, 10:40 Terminator 3 (R) 1:55, 4:35, 7:20, 10:00 Finding Nemo (G) 12:15, 2:45, 5:15 EVANS 12 CINEMAS Movies Good 8/22 - 8/28 My Boss’s Daughter (PG-13) Fri-Sun: 1:15, 3:20, 5:40, 7:50, 10:00; Mon-Thur: 3:20, 5:40, 7:50, 10:00 The Medallion (PG-13) Fri-Sun: 1:00, 3:00, 5:00, 7:20, 9:20; Mon-Thur: 3:00, 5:00, 7:20, 9:20 Open Range (R) Fri-Sun: 1:00, 4:00, 7:00, 9:50; Mon-Thur: 4:00, 7:00, 9:50 Uptown Girls (PG-13) Fri-Sun: 1:30, 3:30, 5:30, 7:30, 9:30; Mon-Thur: 3:30, 5:30, 7:30, 9:30 Freddy vs. Jason (R) 2:10, 4:30, 7:35, 9:55

Grind (PG-13) 2:20, 4:50, 7:10, 9:25 Freak y Friday (PG) Fri-Sun: 12:55, 3:05, 5:15, 7:25, 9:35; Mon-Thur: 3:05, 5:15, 7:25, 9:35 S.W.A.T. (PG-13) 2:00, 4:40, 7:40, 10:00 American Wedding (R) 7:45, 9:45 Seabiscuit (PG-13) Fri-Sun: 12:50, 3:50, 6:50, 9:35; Mon-Thur: 3:50, 6:50, 9:35 Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (PG-13) FriSun: 1:20, 4:20, 7:15, 9:40; Mon-Thur: 4:20, 7:15, 9:40 Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (PG) Fri-Sun: 1:45, 3:45, 5:45; Mon-Thur: 3:45, 5:45 Pirates of the Caribbean (PG-13) Fri-Sun: 1:05, 4:05, 7:05, 9:50; Mon-Thur: 4:05, 7:05, 9:50 MASTERS 7 CINEMAS Movies Good 8/22 - 8/28 Marci X (R) Fri: 5:15, 7:15, 9:30; Sat-Sun: 1:15, 3:15, 5:15, 7:15, 9:30; Mon-Thur: 5:15, 7:15, 9:30 The Medallion (PG-13) Fri: 5:00, 7:00, 9:15; Sat-Sun: 1:00, 3:00, 5:00, 7:00, 9:15; MonThur: 5:00, 7:00, 9:15 Freddy vs. Jason (R) Fri: 5:05, 7:05, 9:05; SatSun: 1:05, 3:05, 5:05, 7:05, 9:05; Mon-Thur: 5:05, 7:05, 9:05 Grind (PG-13) 9:20 Freak y Friday (PG) Fri: 5:10, 7:10, 9:25; SatSun: 1:10, 3:10, 5:10, 7:10, 9:25; Mon-Thur: 5:10, 7:10, 9:25 S.W.A.T. (PG-13) Fri: 4:15, 7:25, 9:45; Sat-Sun: 1:25, 4:15, 7:25, 9:45; Mon-Thur: 4:15, 7:25, 9:45 Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (PG) Fri: 5:20, 7:20; Sat-Sun: 1:20, 3:20, 5:20, 7:20; Mon-Thur: 5:20, 7:20 Bad Boys 2 (R) Fri: 4:00, 6:45, 9:35; Sat-Sun: 12:55, 4:00, 6:45, 9:35; Mon-Thur: 4:00, 6:45, 9:35 REGAL 12 CINEMAS Movies Good 8/22 - 8/28 Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde (PG13) 2:30, 5:00, 7:25, 9:45 The Hulk (PG-13) 1:55, 4:45, 7:35 Rugrats Go Wild (PG) 2:10, 4:20, 7:10, 9:15 Holly wood Homicide (PG-13) 2:00, 4:30, 7:00, 9:25 2 Fast 2 Furious (PG-13) 2:15, 4:35, 7:05, 9:30 Bruce Almighty (PG-13) 2:35, 5:05, 7:30, 9:50 Daddy Day Care (PG) 2:40, 5:10, 7:40, 9:45 X2 (PG-13) 1:55, 4:50, 7:45 Wrong Turn (R) 2:45, 5:15, 7:50, 9:55 Chicago (PG-13) 2:20, 4:40, 7:15, 9:35 Anger Management (PG-13) 2:05, 4:25, 7:00, 9:20 Bringing Down the House (PG-13) 2:25, 4:45, 7:20, 9:40

M E T R O S P I R I T A U G 2 1

Bring the family and come eat by the fountain

FULL MEXICAN & PANAMANIAN MENU! or

Stay Late and dance to DJ Rickey Rey

Don’t Forget Karaoke with Mr. Russ every Friday

28th Street Riverwalk - Augusta

774-0053

TOP NOTCH CAR WASHES

Visit our Newest State of the Art Evans Top Notch location. Fast, Better Service All Brand New Equipment Just For You! Plus a Full Service Oil Change Facility Featuring Quality Valvoline Products!

EVANS

NOW OPEN

512 North Belair Road • 868-1450

MARTINEZ

3853 Washington Road • 868-1550 Next to Appliance Land

DOWNTOWN

1022 Walton Way • 722-4109 Next to Johnson Cadillac (CLOSED SUN)

AUGUSTA MALL

3425 Wrightsboro Road • 738-1300

Movie listings are subject to change without notice.

Again this year!

MEDICAL WEIGHT LOSS & GYNECOLOGY

Carol G. Pryor, M.D. F.A.C.S. A.C.O.G. Board Certified Gynecology

Weight Control Safe & Effective Medicine Physician Supervision Over 40 Years Experience

Diet/Nutrition/Exercise Most Insurance Accepted • Visa • MC

706-738-2503 • 2316 Wrightsboro Rd.

$2 $1 OFF OFF ANY WASH Must present coupon Not valid with any other offer Expires 8/28/03

TOP NOTCH CAR WASHES

FREE

CAR WASH PLUS

$5OFF

ANY PACKAGE WASH

ANY FULL SERVICE OIL CHANGE

TOP NOTCH

Must present coupon Not valid with any other offer Expires 8/28/03 CAR WASHES

MASTERCARD • VISA • DISCOVER • AMERICAN EXPRESS • LOCAL CHECKS ACCEPTED HOURS: MONDAY-SATURDAY 8:30-6:00 • SUNDAY 12-5

2 0 0 3

36 M E T R O S P I R I T

Music

A U G 2 1 2 0 0 3

Chris Duarte Group Keeps Music Fresh

By Lisa Jordan

“I

write about those old wounds you have in your soul and you try to heal them,” says guitarist and vocalist Chris Duarte. This comes right after he says that he considers himself a novice songwriter. With over two decades of musical experience under his belt and several albums released with his Chris Duarte Group, it’s hard to believe that Duarte considers himself a novice anything. The group’s latest album, “Romp,” was released Aug. 19, the same day Duarte took some time out to speak with Metro Spirit over the phone from a hotel room in San Antonio, Texas. “We recorded it in about six or seven days,” he says. When asked if the speed with which the group laid down the recording was extremely fast, Duarte replies that it is, for the type of gritty, rock-infused blues the group plays. “For a jazz band, if we were a jazz band, it’s not uncommon. But that’s the thing about (producer) Dennis (Herring). He knows what makes us special is our live performances. He tried to capture that.” “Romp” marks the second time that the Chris Duarte Group has worked with Herring, who also produced their 1994 debut, “Texas Sugar / Strat Magik.” The only difference in working with Herring the second time around, Duarte says, is “just the immense amount of more knowledge that he had. He was already extremely capable.” Recorded last February in Herring’s Sweet Tea Studio, located in Oxford, Miss., “Romp” benefits from the mood the producer was able to create in the band’s workspace. “A producer gets real comfortable when they’re in their own setting,” Duarte explains. “Dennis has this knack for setting up a vibe in his studio – candles, I wouldn’t say tapestries, but certain sorts of cloths.” The sum total of Herring’s expertise

leads to an album that accurately captures the band’s spontaneity, an element which Duarte picks up on immediately when listening to “Romp.” “I can tell the difference, and you could actually hear it in the first album,” he says. “Although I love all my albums – they’re all my children; I love them equally; I had a great time making them – (the ones with Herring) just have this certain energy and vibe to them.” Herring also brought something extra to his duties as producer – the title track off

the album. “‘Romp,’ the title cut, is a Junior Kimbrough tune,” says Duarte. “Dennis had just brought that tune in, and we had to learn it. It was neat how that song sort of grew. We got more comfortable with it, and you could hear it.” Other songs on the album include “Last Night,” which Duarte says is “about a guy that faces his demons, his internal demons, whatever they may be,” as well as the slow, wry “Mr. Neighbor,” whose lyrics explore that strange neighbor

we’ve all had and wondered about. “That’s sort of a departure from my usual writing style, that my fans know me as,” he says. “I’m paying homage to John Lennon and Elvis Costello in that song – the moody Elvis Costello. “The album, overall, I think it’s one of our better efforts put forth in the last two or three albums. This one’s kind of special because of the vibe that Dennis creates with it. It has that same feeling of sort of writing about personal experiences and stuff.” This particular lineup of the Chris Duarte Group has been together nearly a year and a half, since drummer Ed Miles joined the group. Bassist John Jordan has been playing with Duarte since the group’s beginnings. So, it seems, has the band’s beloved van, now out of commission after half a million miles on the road. “We just bought us a new one,” he says, officially announcing the old van’s retirement. “It’s a diesel van. It’s supposed to get that many miles, but it can cost you a lot of money (in repairs).” Since Duarte has seen a good portion of the country over his musical career, the Spirit asked what his favorite places to play are. “I like Colorado a whole lot. I like Kansas City. I like Florida. I like the Northeast, New England, I guess we should call it, the Detroit area, Chicago,” he pauses and notes that he’s mentioned almost the entire country. “I like all places.” On Aug. 29, Duarte visits our little corner of the world. The group will be appearing at the Blind Pig with their spontaneous stage show. “You can’t play the same thing every night,” he says, explaining how, after being in the music business so long, he manages to keep things fresh. “I get depressed when I think about cover bands. I just keep writing new material, have no setlist.”

MUSIC

37 M E T R O

BY TURNER

S P I R I T

It’s Not the Nelsons Dept. It’s Ozzfest time again in Atlanta as America’s favorite dysfunctional TV star brings his version of the rock ‘n’ roll circus to Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater Aug. 26. Joining OSBOURNE this time out are KORN, MARILYN MANSON, VOIVOD and others. Hopefully, Ozzy won’t be encoring with another “lyrically challenged” version of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” as he did at Chicago’s Wrigley Field last week. Rockers SEVENDUST have a newie in the stores next month. “Seasons,” their first long-player since “Animosity” was issued 18 months ago, is due Oct. 7. The first single, “Enemy,” has already hit radio. Two Southern dates of interest are Aug. 28 at the Myrtle Beach House of Blues and Sept. 12 at the Georgia Theater in Athens. Another vintage ALLMAN BROTHERS concert will be available soon. Recorded several months before their seminal “Live at the Fillmore East” set, “Live at the Atlanta Pop Festival” is a two-CD affair featuring the

A U G 2 1 2 0 0 3

MARILYN MANSON original lineup of the Brothers. JOHNNY WINTER guests on the album, which was recorded when the Allmans had only their great debut (“The Allman Brothers Band”) out at the time. The June 1970 concerts also featured JIMI HENDRIX, JETHRO TULL, BB KING, and others, leading many at the time to refer to the fest as “The Woodstock of the South.” Were you there? Turner’s Quick Notes LES CLAYPOOL and PRIMUS have regrouped. A CD/DVD, “Animals,” is due Oct. 7 ... JOE SATRIANI, STEVE VAI, and YNGWIE (“Pat, I’d like to buy a vowel”) MALMSTEEN will hit the road soon as another version of G3 is announced ... IAN ANDERSON has a solo project, “Rupi’s Dance,” out this week ... GODSMACK is turning down the volume with an unexpected foray into wooden music set for midNovember ... Three classic SANTANA albums have been reissued — with extras “Welcome,” “Caravanserai” and the double live set “Moonflower” ... Turner’s Rock ‘N’ Roll Jeopardy A. This Augusta nightclub, popular in the ‘70s and early ‘80s, played host to bands that included THREE DOG NIGHT, LEON RUSSELL, PABLO CRUISE, POCO and REM.

ED TURNER

Drug or Alcohol Problems?

Call Augusta Steppingstones to Recovery An outpatient counseling service dedicated to the relief of individuals & families suffering from Alcohol or Drug Problems

1701 Wrightsboro Rd Augusta, GA 30904

733-1935

thursday August 21

GARY CONRAD

fr iday August 22

BRASS TYME

Q. What is Stonehenge (later known as New York, New York)?

his 70-year old Texan sure has been around the hayfield a few times. He’s recorded duets with U2, FRANK SINATRA, JOHNNY CASH, EMMYLOU HARRIS, STEVEN TYLER and RAY CHARLES. His compositions have been hits for WAYLON JENNINGS, RAY PRICE, PATSY CLINE and countless others. And let’s not forget his humanitarian efforts too, as he’s a founding member and participant of Farm Aid. Yes, WILLIE NELSON has done it all. Celebrating his five-decade career in the music biz, “The Essential Willie Nelson” contains all of his major hits and most of his storied duets. The two-CD set is chock full of great performances covering almost every spectrum of the musical palette. Other great Willie albums have been reissued as well, including “To Lefty from Willie” and the soundtrack to “Honeysuckle Rose,” each with bonus tracks and other extras. They’re in the stores now.

Logan Electronics

Expert Lightning Repair TV’s - VCR’s - Computers & Monitors Used TV’s Starting at $50 Insurance claims accepted on all electronic repairs 712 Bohler Avenue • 733-9440 (off Walton Way behind Ga Power)

FREE PICK-UP & DELIVERY WITH REPAIRS

thursday August 28

STEVE CHAPPEL with his award-winning Elvis Tribute Show

Call for tickets now Doors open at 6pm Show starts at 9pm Le Pavillion - 3328 Washington Road

364-CADI (2234) OPENING SOON FOR LUNCH

38 M E T R O S P I R I T A U G 2 1 2 0 0 3

MUSIC MINIS Lucky Break Former Stone Temple Pilots frontman and current Velvet Revolver frontman Scott Weiland got off easy in a California court last week. A May arrest on two felony counts of drug possession landed him three years’ probation, instead of hard time. His punishment includes counseling with an Alcoholics Anonymous group, drug rehab sessions and random drug-testing. If Weiland slips up, he could face up to a year in jail. Note to Scott Weiland: Don’t Do This A fellow musician who also has some, shall we say, bad habits, Bobby Brown, has gone AWOL. Wanted by DeKalb County authorities for failing to stick with the terms of his probation – twiceweekly Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, random drug tests and 240 hours of community service – Brown is apparently nowhere to be found in the Atlanta

area. The probation stemmed from an arrest last November, in which Brown was charged with speeding, drug possession and driving without a license or proof of insurance, not to be confused with a 1996 arrest in which Brown was cited for DUI, speeding and “loosely interpreting marked lanes.” Dude, Make Sure You Get Probation Phish bassist Mike Gordon was arrested Aug. 11 and charged with child endangerment, after he allegedly invited a 9-year-old girl at a New York concert to a boathouse behind the theatre, open only to state employees, to take some photographs. No, the photos weren’t indecent, but the girl’s father, a Hell’s Angel, reportedly wasn’t too thrilled about the disappearance of his daughter. Gordon faces up to a year in jail and a $1000 fine.

COMPILED BY LISA JORDAN Information compiled from online and other music news sources.

taproom

TUESDAY AUGUST 26

just off of their performance at the Grand Ole Opry

The Gibson Brothers Currently #1 Album in Bluegrass Unlimited’s Top 15 "These boys sure do know how to bring it all home.” -Kathy Coleman, Take Country Back

Friday COUNTRY FARM

Plus $2 Pints All Night!

Saturay TARA & THE HALF SHIRT LEROYS

Choose from 16 drafts

Thursday SIBIN

974 Broad Street • 826-9857 • Open Tues-Sat 4pm-until (Next to Nacho Mama’s)

Music

The Kilpatrick Project Crafts Solid Tunes By Lisa Jordan

or a group that came together as, well, sort of a happy accident, The Kilpatrick Project is enjoying success. One listen to either one of the band’s EPs, “Heart” and “I(four)I,” and you’ll know why. Richly layered instrumentation and the vocals of guitarist and singer Miles Kilpatrick, whose singing at times resembles that of the late Jeff Buckley, merge to form a solid example of what is quickly establishing itself as one of Augusta’s most popular genres – that of the singer/songwriter. “We’re four guys and we love playing music,” says Kilpatrick. “We all have different influences, but it works out. It was just one of those things that just came together, and it was right, and I’m thankful for that.” Kilpatrick himself has been playing music since the age of 16. As a highschool student, he played around Augusta in a local band, but when college came and the band members parted ways, Kilpatrick found his niche while attending Georgia Southern University in Statesboro. “We started a band called Sparkplug,” he says. “We kept that together three years, did the Southeast thing.” As is the case with life, the members of Sparkplug also went their separate ways. But Kilpatrick, who likens playing gigs to the pull of a drug, couldn’t stop performing. “I started opening for friends, got a few chances to play Kansas City with some signed bands, played Nashville,” he says. “I moved back home, not planning to stay here, but Augusta’s been really good to me. From the first shows in January at the Soul Bar, since then, Augusta’s been good to me.” As music has been a vehicle through

which Kilpatrick has made friends and fans alike, The Kilpatrick Project, which started out as simply a man and his guitar, evolved into a four-piece band. “I met so many people through music,” says Kilpatrick. “We probably started jamming at one of Wes’ friends’ houses. It wasn’t a planned thing.” The Wes he speaks of is bass player Wesley Fritz, who joined Kilpatrick for the band’s interview with Metro Spirit to share his thoughts on The Kilpatrick Project. The group also consists of drummer Matt Thomas and Jeremy McGavin on piano and keyboards. “We’ve only been playing for over a month,” says Fritz. “Things just started writing well really fast.” The Kilpatrick Project’s introspective tunes deal with down-to-earth themes and relationships, all in a positive manner. “I think that’s important, too, to be real,” says Kilpatrick. “This, I don’t know if we’re considered a Christian band. It’s positive. I think it’s important to be truthful.” But don’t expect a group of uptight, boring performers. Onstage, the band is all about turning out an enjoyable shows. “We just like to have fun, but we all believe in the same thing,” Fritz says. “We can turn it up.” “Being up on stage with three other guys, you don’t have to rely on yourself,” adds Kilpatrick. “You kind of play off the other guys.” Check it out for yourself. Miles Kilpatrick plays with fellow singer/songwriters Josh Pierce and Tristin Aug. 21 at the Metro Coffeehouse as part of the Lokal Loudness Words and Music show. You can see the entire Kilpatrick Project Aug. 30 at The Bee’s Knees. For more upcoming dates, visit www.thekilpatrickproject.com.

Night Life

M E T R O S P I R I T A U G 2 1

Photo: Joe White

2 0 0 3

Experience Calvin Johnson, a.k.a. Selector Dub Narcotic, and Ian Svenonius Aug. 22 at the Soul Bar.

Thursday, 21st Adams Nightclub - DJ Andy’s - Open Jam The Bee’s Knees - Meditate on This! The Big Easy - Buzz Clif ford, George Sykes Cadillac’s - Gary Conrad Cafe Du Teau - James McIntyre Club Argos - Karaoke Dance Par ty with DJ Joe Steel Coliseum - Karaoke with Travis, Hi-Energy Dance Continuum - Playa*Listic Thursday Coyote’s - The Rhes Reeves Band D. Timm’s - Joe Patchen and the Blue Diamond Express Finish Line Cafe - DJ Fox’s Lair - Key West Karaoke Greene Streets - Karaoke Joe’s Underground - John Metro Coffeehouse - Josh Pierce, Miles Kilpatrick, Tristin Michael’s - Mike Swif t Modjeska - SKYNN with DJ Richie Rich Playground - Open Mic with Doug James Red Lion - Paul Arrowood Robbie’s Sports Bar - DJ Doug Romanella Soul Bar - DJ Shawnee Dread Stillwater Tap Room - Sibin Surrey Tavern - Sabo and the Scorchers

Friday, 22nd Adams Nightclub - DJ Andy’s - Patrick Blanchard, Justin Benson, Adam Hat field Back Roads - DJ The Bee’s Knees - Projections and Selections DJ The Big Easy - Air Apparent Blind Pig - Shameless Dave and the Miracle

Pat Blanchard plays with Justin Benson and Adam Hatfield Aug. 22 at Andy’s, with Adam Hatfield and Keith Jenkins Aug. 24 at Mellow Mushroom and Aug. 27 at Surrey Tavern.

Whips Cadillac’s - Brass Tyme Cafe Du Teau - James McIntyre Club Argos - Argos Angels Cabaret with Sasha, Diane, Brazia, Barbara, DJ Joe Steel Coconuts - Augusta’s Hot test Mom Contest Coliseum - Natalie Dawn Cotton Patch - Red-Headed Stepchild Coyote’s - The Rhes Reeves Band Crossroads - Jemani, Drunk B**** Friday D. Timm’s - Joe Patchen and the Blue Diamond Express Eagle’s Nest - Karaoke with DJ MJ Finish Line Cafe - DJ Fox’s Lair - Roger and Ray Greene Streets - Karaoke Hangnail Gallery - Darkened by Reason, Daughter of Lust, ground:xero, Malefactor Highlander - Field Trip Jeremy’s Nightclub - Heavy Dose, Homemade Bikini Contest Joe’s Underground - Keith “Fossill” Gregory Last Call - DJ Richie Rich Marlboro Station - Lauren Alexander Michael’s - Mike Swif t Modjeska - The Flavour Shoppe with DJ Ty Bess Ms. Carolyn’s - Live Band Partridge Inn - Jazz Soulstice with Anthony Carpenter The Pourhouse - A Step Up Rio Bomba - Karaoke Robbie’s Sports Bar - DJ Eric The Shack - DJ Chip Soul Bar - K Records DJ Tour featuring Ian Svenonius and Selector Dub Narcotic Stillwater Tap Room - Country Farm Surrey Tavern - Playback with Tutu D’Vyne

Andy’s - Bill Shef field Back Roads - DJ The Bee’s Knees - Sweet Nuthin’ Saturday The Big Easy - Buzz Clif ford, George Sykes Blind Pig - Shameless Dave and the Miracle Whips Borders - Lives of Reily Cadillac’s - Steve Chappell Elvis Tribute Show Cafe Du Teau - James McIntyre Club Argos - Argos Angels Cabaret with Petite DeJonville, Claire, Diane Chanel, DJ Joe Steel Coconuts - Dance with DJ Stump Coliseum - Lauren Alexander’s Bir thday Bash Cotton Patch - Red-Headed Stepchild Coyote’s - The Rhes Reeves Band Crossroads - 420 Outback, Deathstar D. Timm’s - Joe Patchen and the Blue Diamond Express Finish Line Cafe - DJ, Karaoke Fox’s Lair - Bo Gardner and Sa x Greene Streets - Karaoke Jeremy’s Nightclub - Heavy Dose Joe’s Underground - Keith “Fossill” Gregory Last Call - New Day Marlboro Station - Miss Peg Metro Coffeehouse - Live Af ternoon Bluegrass with Eryn Eubanks and the Family Fold Michael’s - Mike Swif t Modjeska - Secret Society with DJ Kenny Ray Ms. Carolyn’s - Live Band Partridge Inn - Sandy B. and the All-Stars Robbie’s Sports Bar - DJ Eric The Shack - DJ Buckwheat Soul Bar - ph Balance, DJ The Ear thling Stillwater Tap Room - Tara and the Half-Shir t Leroys Surrey Tavern - Playback with Tutu D’Vyne

Saturday, 23rd

Sunday, 24th

Adams Nightclub - DJ

Cafe Du Teau - The Last Bohemian Quar tet Cotton Patch - Ruskin Yeargain Marlboro Station - Claire Storm Mellow Mushroom - Pat Blanchard, Adam Hat field, Keith Jenkins Orange Moon - Smooth Jazz Sunday with Emery Bennet t Pizza Joint - Brandon Bower Robbie’s Sports Bar - DJ Doug Romanella The Shack - Karaoke with DJ Joe Steel, Sasha’s Cabaret Somewhere in Augusta - John Kolbeck

Monday, 25th Coliseum - Q.A.F. Continuum - Monday Madness Crossroads - Club Sin with DJ Mykie G Greene Streets - Karaoke Joe’s Underground - Ruskin Michael’s - Mike Swif t Surrey Tavern - John Kolbeck

Tuesday, 26th Adams Nightclub - DJ The Bee’s Knees - 12*Tone Lounge Blind Pig - Sabo and the Scorchers Coliseum - Tournament Tuesday D. Timm’s - Joe Patchen and the Blue Diamond Express French Market Grille West - Wayne Capps Greene Streets - Karaoke Joe’s Underground - Ruskin Metro Coffeehouse - Irish Night with Sibin Michael’s - Mike Swif t Stillwater Tap Room - Gibson Brothers Stool Pigeons - Karaoke Surrey Tavern - Tuesday Night Jam Session

M E T R O S P I R I T A U G 2 1 2 0 0 3

Wednesday, 27th Adams Nightclub - DJ The Bee’s Knees - Heliocentric Cinema Club Argos - DJ Joe Steel Coliseum - Wet ‘n’ Wild Talent Search Continuum - Open Mic Jam Sessions Coyote’s - The Rhes Reeves Band D. Timm’s - Joe Patchen and the Blue Diamond Express Greene Streets - Karaoke Joe’s Underground - Mike Baideme Michael’s - Mike Swif t Playground - Hari-Karaoke with Kap’n Karaoke The Pourhouse - Edmond P. “The Lurch” Kida Somewhere in Augusta - John Kolbeck Soul Bar - Live Jazz Surrey Tavern - Pat Blanchard Veracruz - Wayne Capps

Upcoming Chris Duarte - Blind Pig - Aug. 29 Josh Kirkland and Texas Flood - Jeremy’s Aug. 29 Hobex - Soul Bar - Aug. 30 doubleDrive, Minus Driver - Crossroads - Sept. 5 Troubled Hubble, Fake Red Seth - Hangnail Gallery - Sept. 6 Orchestra Taboga - Modjeska - Sept. 20 Seether - Crossroads - Sept. 25

Elsewhere Carolyn Dawn Johnson - Wills Park Equestrian Center, Alpharet ta, Ga. - Aug. 21 Goo Goo Dolls, Pat McGee Band, Marc Broussard - Centennial Olympic Park, Atlanta Aug. 22 311 - HiFi Buys Amphitheatre, Atlanta - Aug. 2

Indigo Girls - The Arena at Gwinnet t Center, Duluth, Ga. - Aug. 23 Don McLean - Mable House Amphitheatre, Mableton, Ga. - Aug. 23 Blue Man Group, Tracey Bonham - Atlanta Civic Center, Atlanta - Aug. 23 Jump Little Children, Bain Mattox - Variety Playhouse, Atlanta - Aug. 23 Les Nubians - Roxy Theatre, Atlanta - Aug. 24 Stretch Arm Strong - Cot ton Club, Atlanta Aug. 26 Tony Bennett - Chastain Park Amphitheatre, Atlanta - Aug. 28 The New Pornographers, Young & Sex y - Echo Lounge, Atlanta - Aug. 28 ph Balance, Aerial - Echo Lounge, Atlanta Aug. 30 Marshall Tucker Band, Molly Hatchett Georgia Mountain Fair, Hiawassee, Ga. - Aug. 30 Tori Amos, Ben Folds - Chastain Park Amphitheatre, Atlanta - Sept. 1 Starship - Wills Park Equestrian Center, Alpharet ta, Ga. - Sept. 4 Pam Tillis - Mable House Amphitheatre, Mableton, Ga. - Sept. 6 Mogwai - Variety Playhouse, Atlanta - Sept. 11 Yo La Tengo - Variety Playhouse, Atlanta - Sept. 12 Aerosmith, Kiss - HiFi Buys Amphitheatre, Atlanta - Sept. 14 Boyd Tinsley - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, Charlot te, N.C. - Sept. 16; HiFi Buys Amphitheatre, Atlanta - Sept. 20 Steely Dan - HiFi Buys Amphitheatre, Atlanta Sept. 19 Crosby, Stills and Nash - Chastain Park Amphitheatre, Atlanta - Sept. 19 Jewel - Chastain Park Amphitheatre, Atlanta Sept. 20 Erase Errata, Numbers - Echo Lounge, Atlanta Sept. 20 Trace Adkins, Tracy Byrd - Georgia Mountain

Photo: Jeff Miles

40 continued from page 39

The Lokal Loudness Words and Music show Aug. 21 at the Metro Coffeehouse features performances by Josh Pierce (pictured), Miles Kilpatrick and Tristin. Fair, Hiawasee, Ga. - Sept. 20 Ranier Maria, Denali - Echo Lounge, Atlanta Sept. 26 The String Cheese Incident - Fox Theatre, Atlanta - Sept. 26-27 Al Stewart, John Sebastian - Wills Park Equestrian Center, Alpharet ta, Ga. - Sept. 27 Cursive, Blood Brothers - Echo Lounge, Atlanta - Sept. 27 The Raveonettes, Stellastarr - Echo Lounge, Atlanta - Oct. 9

Thursday SABO AND THE SCORCHERS

Friday & Saturday PLAYBACK W/ TUTU D’VYNE

Surrey Tavern

metro a coffeehouse

Espressos & Cocktails

Cocktail Hour Nightly 5-8 pm 1054 broad • downtown (on corner of 11th & Broad) 706-722-6468

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 or online at w w w.tixonline.com. 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.

Monday JOHN KOLBECK

Tuesday Night Jam Session with Pat Blanchard and Friends

Wednesday

PAT BLANCHARD 471 Highland Ave. | 736-1221 | Open Mon-Fri at 4 pm until & Sat 6pm until

thurs 21st Josh Pierce, Miles Kilpatrick, & Tristin $2.50 Import Draught Pints

fri 22nd Ladies’ LATE Night Specials (midnight-2) $1 Bud Light Draught $2 Well Drinks - $5 Cosmopolitans

sat 23rd Bluegrass in Broad Daylight w/ Eryn Eubanks & the Fold (2pm-5pm) $5 Bacardi Rumtinis Night!

mon 25th

$1 Pabst Blue Ribbon & Miller Highlife

tues 26th Irish Pub Night (8pm-10pm) Live Celtic Music w/ Sibin $2.50 Guinness & Harp Irish Drink Specials

wed 27th Bombs Over Broad Street $1 Bud Light Draught $2.50 Jagermeister Shots $3.50 Jager Bombs $4 Irish Car Bombs coming 28th Sky City

AUGUSTA’S ONLY KARAOKE BAR! ~ OPEN 6 N IGHTS A WEEK ~ JOIN US FOR OUR NATIONAL KARAOKE CONTEST

SUNDAY SUNDAY

NIGHT

LIVE

This Sunday

PAT BLANCHARD ADAM HATFIELD KEITH JENKINS Sunday, August 31

KING HIPPO

Music at 10 pm 21 & Up after 10 pm

Wednesday - Women Thursday - Men 1st 12 weeks - Country & Western 2nd 12 weeks - Rock/Pop/ Rhythm & Blues/Soul

Be the one to go with us to Laughlin, NV for the Karaoke Finals. National Grand Prize Winner receives $3,500 cash, plus gifts & possible recording contract.

Greene Streets

$2 HAPPY HOUR Mon-Fri 4:30-7:00 Sat & Sun 3:00-7:00

Karaoke Bar

LIVE MUSIC EVERY SUNDAY!

Corner of 12th & Broad :::: Downtown Augusta :::: 828-5578

SEE THE GIBSON BROTHERS at the Stillwater Taproom in Augusta on August 26th!

Corner of Greene & 11th Street • 823-2002 Mon-Fri 3pm-3am • Sat 6pm-2am

Your ticket to finding great flicks!

Check out Cinema Movie Listings

ON SALE $1199 CD

to make the best choice for your viewing pleasure!

Orangeburg, Prince of Orange Mall, (803) 531-3811 Augusta, Augusta Mall, (706) 736-4500 Sumter, Jessamine Mall, (803) 775-3759 Columbia, Dutch Square Center, (803) 750-0285 Florence, Magnolia Mall, (843) 664-9704 MasterCard

MasterValues

www.metrospirit.com

CHARGE IT! HURRY, SALE ENDS AUGUST 24TH!

T0308-051AMS

41 M E T R O S P I R I T A U G 2 1 2 0 0 3

42 M E T R O

★

S P I R I T

★

EVERY

FRIDAY & SATURDAY NIGHT

10-11 PM 2 FOR 1

Augusta's

Best Restaurant Overall

• Best Desserts • Best Beer Selection • Friendliest Service

★ Domestic Beer House Wine Well Liquor ★ Get a taste of New Orleans Absolut ★ Special Late Night Happy Hour NOW OFFERING Menu Available LUNCHEON DELIVERIES! *this location only*

★

Wednesdays $2 Martinis All Night

★

RIVERWATCH PARKWAY TO FURY’S FERRY ROAD WINN DIXIE MARKET PLACE

855-5111

Surrey Center 737-4865

Life is hectic. Weekends shouldn't have to be. Join Scott Simon for Weekend Edition every Saturday at 8:00 AM on WACG, 90.7 FM. Reclaim your Saturday and hear weekend news, views, and commentary. From gardening tips and film reviews to in-depth news analysis, Peabody Award-winning host Scott Simon eases you into the weekend with a fresh perspective.

Photo of Scott Simon by Lisa Berg

2 0 0 3

★

Bar Patrons Only French Market West Only

A U G 2 1

LATE NIGHT ★

★

Call us at (800) 654-3038 or visit us at www.gpb.org for more information about our programming.

News of the

Weird T

he Future of War: Although India and Pakistan have backed off of their recent potentially nuclear confrontation over Kashmir, computer hackers from both countries have stepped up their wars against each other’s government Web sites and networks, according to a July Washington Times dispatch. Retaliating against increased hacking that accompanied the attack on India’s parliament in 2001, Indian hackers unleashed the annihilating Yaha virus, which has been answered by a massive flood of Pakistani attacks (at about seven times the Indian attack rate), which has provoked Indian hackers to consider an even-more-devastating Yaha virus. • As straphanger Joyce M. Judge, 42, stared out the window of the Boston subway car during morning rush hour on July 30, she started dripping profusely, and a minute or so later, a baby fell out from underneath her skirt and slid around on the car’s floor. According to witnesses (some of whom vomited at the sight), Judge at first acted as if nothing had happened, then finally picked up her newborn, declined the help of passengers, nonchalantly continued the ride and left the train at the next station (stopping only to pick up the placenta when it fell to the ground). She subsequently reported to Boston Medical Center, where the baby was in good condition (and where the mother was referred for a mental health evaluation). People Different From Us • According to Houston newsletter publisher and devout Catholic Hutton Gibson, there was no Holocaust; Pope John Paul II is an imposter and a “Koran kisser”; and the church is doomed because, among other things, masses are no longer conducted in Latin. According to a July Houston Press profile, Gibson, 84, believes there is a worldwide plot that began with the 1960s’ changes in the church imposed by the Vatican Council, and he is using his 600-reader newsletter to get the word out, even though the Press compares him to the paranoid lead character in the movie “Conspiracy Theory,” which starred Mel Gibson, who happens to be Hutton’s son. Said Hutton, “I figure that as long as there’s one (true) Catholic in the world, (the church) hasn’t finished.” • David Mitchell, 35, was arrested in June in Omaha, Neb., on charges of false imprisonment and making terroristic threats, accused of having locked up his wife,

Polly, every time he left the house over a two-year (and maybe longer) period. He was always with her in public, and intimidated her from reporting him. David had always had only a cell phone so he could take it with him when he left the house, but he had recently gotten a home phone for Internet access, allowing Polly to call her sister one day when he was out. Can’t Possibly Be True • The Latest Results From America’s Preeminent Lawyer Enrichment Program (classaction lawsuits): (1) In a $350 million settlement between AT&T and customers overcharged on telephone leases, lawyers get $84 million, and customers get back $15 to $20 each (December). (2) In a recent settlement between Sears and customers with improperly done wheel balancing, lawyers get $2.45 million, and customers get $2.50 a tire. (3) In a $3.7 million settlement between televangelist Jim Bakker’s Praise the Lord Ministries and 165,000 defrauded Christians, lawyers get $2.5 million, and each victim gets $6.54 (July). (4) In a settlement of price-fixing charges against cosmetics manufacturers and retailers, lawyers get $24 million, and each customer gets a free cosmetic (July). • ABC News reported in May that it is not illegal in Massachusetts for a man to take surreptitious photographs of his adult daughter in the family home, even though in “hundreds” of the photos, she is nude or partially nude. The Easthampton, Mass., woman was 19 when she moved back into her old bedroom, where her father had been keeping electronic equipment, but later got a techsavvy friend to examine a camera and computer. The parents are now divorced, but since the father committed no crime, he got to keep the photos. • On July 31, a jury in Miami concluded almost simultaneously that a subsidiary of the Chevron Texaco corporation breached a contract with a local company, Apex Development Corp., yet caused Apex not a penny’s worth of harm, and yet still had to pay Apex $33.8 million in “punitive” damages. (Apex had charged that Chevron Texaco backed out of a contract to build “express lube” sites after Apex had already built them.) • A Rough Summer for Weird India: (1) Doctors at Burdwan Medical College and Hospital reported that black ants were crawling out of the left eye of an 11-year-old boy (June). (2) Six members of a family hanged themselves on a hillside near Tirupati, but the bodies were not discovered until the odor wafted into a nearby village (July). (3) After doctors in Angara found 15 students unconscious following a lightning strike, they covered the bodies in cow dung as per a traditional remedy; 13 recovered within a few hours (but not even cow dung could save the other two). (4) Doctors at Burdwan originally diagnosed parasitic flies emerging from the penis of a 13-year-old boy while he urinated, but doctors at SSKM Hospital in Kolkata disputed that (June). — Chuck Shepherd © United Press Syndicate

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

Warning! The following statements may pop into your head with annoying frequency in the coming week: “Nobody sees me for who I really am.” “Sooner or later, everyone will find out how I’ve been faking it all these years.” “I’ll never have enough money.” “I’m afraid to change even when I know the change will be good.” Now listen closely, Aries: All those ideas are dirty lies. I don’t believe in the devil, but if I did I’d say it was he who planted them in your mind. How can you fight back? Wage a ferocious campaign of positive self-talk. Barrage yourself with uplifting affirmations like these: “I face my fears with joyous courage.” “I turn apparent setbacks into juicy opportunities.” “I answer every criticism with a vow to be my best.” “I am an amazingly gorgeous genius with unimaginable tricks up my sleeve.”

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

I’m not necessarily suggesting you need a new soul mate. But if you do, this is the perfect astrological moment to go in search of one. Where should you look? I suggest you hang out in unfamiliar territory where you will be fresh and curious — frontier zones where you’re likely to uncover secrets about who you really are. For fastest results, visit the Costco Soulmate Trading Outlet (http://www.thespoon.com/costco/), a clearinghouse for soul mates at the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert from August 25-31. It offers “quality name-brand and private-label soul mates at substantially lower prices than can be found through conventional wholesale sources.” P.S. If you’re happy with your existing soul mate, infuse your bond with a concentrated dose of smart, loving creativity. It’s a perfect moment to propel yourselves into the next phase of your evolution together.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)

New York Times Crossword Puzzle

Robust singing skill is correlated with a strong immune system in songbirds. Male birds with the ACROSS 1 Like an ass 7 Field call 10 Scrap 13 Clodpate 14 “___ quiet!” 15 It may be involved in a shell game 16 Thresher shark 17 IHOP offering 19 Signal, in a way 21 Brimless hat 22 Some jazz performances 26 First Indian P.M. 28 Old pro 29 Outfit 31 Dramatist Peter who won a Tony for “Marat/Sade” 33 Skill at picking up things? 34 One way to get to Washington

most extensive repertoire of tunes also have the largest spleens, a key measure of immune system health. No studies have yet been done on humans. But if there is a similar link, I expect you will be crooning with unrivaled beauty and power in the coming days. The astrological omens say you are currently at the peak of your ability to fight off bugs and adversaries of all kinds, including both the physical and psychic varieties.

CANCER (June 21-July 22)

So begins the information-gathering phase of your yearly cycle, Cancerian. You’ll align yourself with the cosmic ebb and flow whenever you engage in activities that excite your love of learning and enhance your skills as a student of life. Here’s a gem from poet Heather McHugh to inspire your quest: “The knowledge I’m interested in is not something you buy and then have and can be comfortable with. The knowledge I’m interested in keeps opening wider and wider, making me smaller and more amazed, until I see I cannot have it all — and then delight in that as a freedom.”

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)

Please muse a minute on the title of a book by Susan Harrow: “Selling Yourself Without Selling Your Soul: A Woman’s Guide to Promoting Herself, Her Business, Her Product, or Her Cause With Integrity and Spirit.” I suggest you either consult this invigorating set of instructions, which works for men, too, or else create your own version of it. The astrological omens reveal you’re primed to receive fresh intuitions about how to make money from doing what you love. (P.S. I don’t know Harrow personally and have no financial stake in her book.)

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

Question: What form of entertainment would be most likely to cure your brain cramps? Answer: Watching the demolition of an old building. Question: What lucky break could ensure you

36 Spontaneously

67 Actor Chaney

feature of this puzzle repeated three times 42 Jazz dance 43 How coffee may be served 45 Form of music files on the Net 48 Much of the Beatles’ “She Loves You” 50 Kind of oven 51 Tel ___ 53 Bite, say 55 Weizman of Israel 56 Aspect 58 Cannot stand 60 Direction indicator of the earth’s magnetic field 62 Regular employment

hit “___ Lonely” 69 Part of the iris 70 Old Spanish queen 71 Washington agent 72 Many a marathon winner

38 With 14-Down,

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE S H A S T A

T E N T E R

O S S A

T H A W

E X T A N T

T E L E C O K A W I S L A T

M A I N D S E A G R O E P S A T H E Y P E

B A J A

I T O R

M E L S

Y E N G A Y L H E E E A M S E G S T R E R E T O W

R E A P S

R A N D I

D R A B S

S I S A R L E D R O A R E E L S R E A Z E

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

S O L E

H A I R L U E S S E S R S M A A T R I A V T A

A Q H U A O U T E P

G O R Y

P R E F E R

A T R E S T

68 Janet Jackson

y 1

2 N.Y. neighbor

3 Co-star of Liam

in “Les Misérables,” 1998 4 World financial grp. 5 It precedes one 6 BP competitor 7 Half of table salt 8 Org. popular with authors 9 Cried 10 Unclear 11 Comes back 12 Begin 14 See 38-Across 18 Nudge 20 It might get your feet wet 22 Clampett of 1960’s TV 23 Soft shade 24 Chew (over) 25 Potted plant sites

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

The Big Texas Steak Ranch restaurant in Amarillo has a standing offer to its customers: If you can eat its four and a half pound steak in an hour without getting sick, the meal is free. Oh, and you’ve also got to finish the side dishes — salad, shrimp cocktail, baked potato and roll. Only about one in six brave souls succeeds at the test. Given your tribe’s current astrological omens, however, I think five out of six Scorpios could win the bet this week. Your appetite — not just for food, but for pleasure, wisdom, adventure and self-transformation — is gargantuan.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

History is littered with the stories of people who didn’t have sufficient funds to manifest their brilliant ideas. Mahlon Loomis was one. Guglielmo Marconi is known as the inventor of the radio, but Loomis created a wireless telegraph system two years before Marconi was even born. Unable to get financial backing, however, Loomis could not develop his innovation, and it remained a virtual secret. I’m hoping, Sagittarius, that this story will prod you into realizing how important it is to feed your own dreams with all the money they deserve. Don’t let them languish in the realm of fantasy.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

This Saturday I’ll leave for a visit to my version of

17 19

27 32

49 53

Glass Beads • Swarovski Crystals • Vintage Glass Semi-Precious Stones • Classes

“Augusta’s only full service bead store.”

YaYa Beads Beading Supplies

55 59

44 Some goo

57 Letters of relief

46 Land of the

61 ___-appropriate

45 IHOP offering

Blessed, in myth 47 Llama relative 49 Principal location?: Abbr. 52 Annoy 54 Brownie maker

Behind Applebee's on Washington Rd. 651-1147 • www.yayabeads.com Tues-Fri 10-6 • Sat 10-5

Puzzle by Michael Shteyman

a racket? 30 Minor 32 Crunch 35 Sneaks, say 37 Misrepresent 39 Gave off 40 Tease 41 Medium, e.g.

Don’t pay designer prices ...

27 Org. that raises

1-900-950-7700

$1.99 per minute • 18 & over • touchtone phone required • C/S 612-373-9785 • www.freewillastrology.com

You can call Rob Brezsny, day or night, for your Expanded Weekly Horoscope

Design it yourself.

43 48

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)

Your thought for the week comes from French writer Alexander Dumas. “If you give the impression that you need something, you will get nothing,” he said. “To make money you have to appear to be rich.” The best way to get what you desire, in other words, is to be confident that you deserve it. Don’t dwell on how needy you are; don’t let yourself become a morass of aching deficiency. This doesn’t mean you should water down the intensity of your longing. Indeed, passionate yearning is essential for bountiful satisfaction. But make sure your intense longing is propelled by a certainty that you will ultimately be fulfilled. — © Rob Brezsny

A U G

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

42 45

Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion” is one of the most highly regarded musical compositions in history. Yet the score disappeared and the work was never played for many years after Bach’s death in 1750. In 1829, composer Felix Mendelssohn rediscovered the long-lost manuscript being used as wrapping paper in the estate sale of a deceased cheese salesman. He arranged for a public performance of the piece, and its revival began. In the coming week, Aquarius, I predict you’ll have a taste of the amazed and confounded joy Mendelssohn must have experienced. In an unlikely place with seemingly low value, you will find a neglected treasure.

DOWN

1 Noisy transports

“You have to recognize the demons or else they’ll annoy you like mosquitoes,” poet James Broughton told interviewer Jack Foley. “But if you acknowledge their existence, if you say, ‘All right, here’s a cookie, go sit in the corner,’ then you can go about your work and you don’t have to go into depression because of it.” I suggest you follow Broughton’s advice, Libra. Neither ignore nor overindulge those pesky voices in your head.

paradise: the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert. For eight utopian days, I’ll need no money and see no advertisements or TV. Exuberant works of art, erected in abundance throughout the sevensquare-mile expanse, will feed my imagination. Half-naked dancing revelers who share my political and spiritual views will greet me everywhere I go. I’ll do workshops and performances for people who appreciate my peculiar brand of crazy wisdom. I bring this up, Capricorn, because I think you would benefit from a similar escape. It’s a perfect moment to make a pilgrimage to the place you consider heaven on earth.

59 Infrequent

63 It’s worth about

a penny 64 Rapture 65 Suffix with schnozz 66 Embargo

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.

www.metrospirit.com

Brezsny's Free Will Astrology

won’t keep missing the forest for the trees? Answer: Finding a bird’s nest. Question: What soul medicine would be most effective in giving you access to your repressed intuition? Answer: Reading mythic tales of resurrection. Question: What is the hardest yet most rewarding possible lesson you could learn right now? Answer: How to whistle with two fingers. Question: Where can you find a portal to another dimension? Answer: In your bedroom.

IN PRINT OR ON THE WEB, METRO SPIRIT IS AUGUSTA’S SOURCE FOR NEWS, ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT, AND HAPPENINGS.

M E T R O S P I R I T

2 1 2 0 0 3

44 M E T R O S P I R I T A U G

Where Service & Quality Matters AY S AT U R D R A L U G RE R AT E S

2 1 2 0 0 3

Sewer & Drain Cleaning Septic Tank Pumping

COLEMAN PLUMBING (706) 556-3833 24 HOUR SERVICE

▼❙▼❙▼❙▼❙▼❙▼❙▼❙▼❙▼❙▼❙▼▼❙▼

Looking for Local Live Music? Check out Nightlife this week

ine months ago, I started secretly dating an out-of-town coworker, only seeing him when business brought him to the city. Company rumors pegged him as a big player, so I wasn’t surprised when he said he’d just come out of a relationship, and only wanted a casual fling. Having just ended a relationship myself, this sounded ideal. We kept it light and fun. When months went by between his visits, I wrote him off with no hard feelings. But when work brought him back, something had changed. We spent hours just talking. He started calling me constantly. He sent me a plane ticket, and I visited him. He says he’s falling in love with me, but rumors about him persist. Even his driver told me what a womanizer he is: on the phone telling one girl how much he misses her, then saying the same thing to the next girl on the line. I don’t want to get hurt, but I’m falling for him. If he is a player (and I gave him a “no strings attached” fling) why would he pursue a real relationship? Am I naive to proceed? — Play It Again There comes a time in a player’s life when the existential emptiness of meaningless sex with a different woman every night leaves him longing for more. That’s generally when the player expresses special feelings for one par ticular woman, hoping to make a more profound connection with another human being — while continuing to sneak out for the existential emptiness of meaningless sex with lots of other human beings. Just because a player’s found love doesn’t mean he’s going to stop looking for it. Perhaps that’s why there’s an aspiring Annet te Bening in every woman. Bening is more than a movie star — she’s the woman who turned Warren Beat ty into Ward Cleaver. It’s the ultimate female egopolisher, to be the one who had what it took to tame the beast. The truth is, there’s no woman fabulous enough. Only the beast can tame the beast. Maybe he grows weary of sales-pitching a different “what’s her name” into bed every night. Maybe age puts a muzzle on his screaming hormones. Eventually, he might star t wanting a relationship enough to stop living according to the principle “if it moves, is female and under 75, try to have sex with it.” Of course, he could also be one of those guys who wants it all — a wife and

a revolving harem — plus the luck and skill to maintain it all without get ting chopped into lit tle pieces in divorce cour t. Remember, the road to this guy’s bed is paved with good intentions, all of which probably sounded sincere at the time. Sure, there’s a chance he’ll keep his pants on — and an even bet ter chance if you Krazy Glue his zipper. In other words, if you can’t live with infidelity, you’re contemplating a life with the wrong guy. Forget telling him how you feel. It’s a player’s job to tell you what you want to hear. Nothing he says proves he’s boyfriend material; only that you slipped past his finely honed psychological defenses, probably by not put ting up an offense. The way you play this, if you’re willing to take your chances, is absolutely expectation-free. If visions of diamonds and forever dance before your eyes, inform them that your establishment doesn’t have a cabaret license just yet. Should you apply for one? Time will tell. In fact, a year down the road, it should be very clear — whether this was the summer the leopard changed his spots, or whether he just got really, really tan.

My fiancée’s parents are radical Mormons who say I must marry her immediately to end the disgrace I’ve brought on the family by having premarital sex with her. I don’t feel ready for marriage, but the wedding date has been moved up (from not even set to three weeks away). I’m in a band, and I don’t make much money, so I have no idea how I’ll support my future wife. What should I do? — The Bad Guy “Because her parents are fundamentalists” is a good reason to avoid inviting them to hear your favorite Satanic metal band, not to gallop to the altar with their daughter. Yes, it might be hard for them to read their family name under that big black mark they think you put on it, but in time, they’ll manage. You’re likely to lose your fiancée if you don’t follow their orders, but in time, you’ll manage. Probably much bet ter than you would paying rent to her parents so you can live in wedded bliss in the doghouse behind their house — the per fect place for you to be trained to respond to all their commands: “Roll over! ... Fetch! ... Play dead!” Of course, that last one shouldn’t be necessary. — © 2003, Amy Alkon

Got A Problem? Write Amy Alkon

171 Pier Ave., Box 280 • Santa Monica, CA 90405 or e-mail AdviceAmy@aol.com

▼❙▼❙▼❙▼❙▼❙▼❙▼❙▼❙▼❙▼❙▼▼❙▼

45 M E T R O S P I R I T

To become a member, call 1-888-223-7044 To listen and respond to ads, call 1-900-226-8908 Calls cost $1.99 per min., Must be 18+.

,call 1-866-832-4685

To respond to ads using a LIGHT UP MY LIFE Beautiful BF, 60, 5’11”, with a brown complexion, N/S, N/D, has lots of love and passion to share with a SBM, who goes to church. ☎383766 ATTENTION! Your military date is in Augusta. SF seeks military male, 29-45, with good sense of humor, good values/qualities. No abusers. Race open. Children ok. Will answer all. ☎334255 ENVELOPING EMBRACE Kind-hearted SBCF, 52, non-smoker, enjoys dining out, attending church. Seeking loving SBCM, 52-65, with similar interests. ☎287845 FIRST TIME AD! Employed SBF, 35, no children, wants to meet a laid-back, spontaneous man, 33-41, race unimportant, to get to know as a friend and maybe progress to more! ☎280007 BE MY FRIEND Attractive SWF, 29, 5’7”, 129lbs, brown/brown, N/S, no kids, never married, seeks SWM, 20-37, in shape, friendship first, possible LTR. ☎945103 GOOD GIRL Attractive SWF, 38, 5’4”, 145lbs, blonde/hazel, N/S, Pisces, enjoys outdoors. Seeking tall SWM, 30-42. ☎864247 KIND-HEARTED, REAL Petite, green-eyed SWC mother, 39, Scorpio, N/S, seeks WM, 33-45, N/S, to build a love that lasts a lifetime. ☎648419 GOOD-HEARTED DWF, 61, 5’9”, honest, neat in appearance, with a good sense of humor. Seeking WM, 60-70, who’s honest and caring. ☎574264 AN AUTUMN SPECIAL Hard-working WF, 38, 5’4”, 100lbs, blonde/brown, enjoys biking, watersports, cooking, and travel. Seeking WM, 35-50, for possible LTR. ☎965904 LEO SBF, 31, wants to share quality time with a man who loves movies, dining out, quiet times, for friendship. ☎202217 A GOOD-HEARTED WOMAN Honest SWF, 5’4”, long dark brown/hazel, would like to meet a trustworthy SWM for a good, honest, open relationship. I smoker, so another smoker is preferred. Grovetown. ☎111411

WORTH A TRY SWM, 21, seeks SF, 20-30, who loves having fun, has a good personality and is looking for a lasting relationship. ☎622681

We Purchase Fine Swiss Watches, Estate Jewelry and Diamonds.

Monday-Saturday 10am-9pm 2635 Washington Road | Augusta, Georgia 30904 | 706.738.7777 www.windsorjewelers.net COMPANIONSHIP SBM, 34, enjoys cooking, dining out, movies, sports and more. Please consider me for a candidate for a relationship with you. Don’t miss this opportunity. Call! ☎619405 MAYBE IT’S YOU? SM, 36, 5’11”, enjoys working out, auto racing and car shows, mountains, beaches and more. Seeking easygoing, honest, funloving SF to share these with, friendship first, possible LTR. ☎625970 HELLO LADIES SM, 51, enjoys fishing, travel, movies, quiet moments. Seeking attractive, nice, ambitious, open-minded, non-judgemental SF, with big heart, who loves the lord, to share friendship, good times and possibly love. ☎620256 FROM THE HEART Handsome, outgoing, fun, young-looking SWM, 42, Virgo, N/S, seeks WF, 34-46, who likes to go out and is very nice. ☎605027 HANDY MAN Medium-built, tolerant, clean, financially secure DWM, 48, 5’10”, Aquarius, smoker, with a good sense of humor, enjoys cooking, house work, gardening, reading, music, cuddling. Seeking woman, 20-54, for longterm relationship. ☎607612 LOOKING FOR YOU Handsome SBM, 27, 5’8”, Aries, non-smoker, seeks woman, 24-33, non-smoker, who is independent and likes to have fun. ☎596431 MUTUAL RESPECT SWM, 28, 5’, brown/blue, Sagittarius, N/S, loves line dancing, shooting pool, and long walks. Seeking WF, 18-35, N/S, goodnatured and good-hearted. ☎583044 FLEXIBLE AS A RUBBER HOSE DWM, 56, Leo, smoker, enjoys traveling, and partaking of the area restaurants seeks WF, 45-55, with an agreeable disposition. ☎583222

EASYGOING ALL-AROUND SBPM, 6’2”, 196lbs, educated, very secure, Leo, N/S, loves romantic moments, live music, and family time. Seeking BF, 28-42, N/S. ☎583499 EVERYDAY MAN SBM, 19, 5’7”, very outspoken, very outgoing, all ears, Capricorn, N/S, seeks BF, 18-28, N/S, for movies and mall shopping. ☎585897 DELICATE HANDLING DWM, 27, 5’4”, Libra, N/S, does glass work, non-custodial dad, seeks a serious WF, 2035, N/S, to settle down with. ☎589673 COUNTRY DAD Male, 39, 6’, 205lbs, sandy brown hair, with 2 children, Gemini, seeks and outgoing country woman, 28-45. ☎578137 SUMMER FUN SWM, 60, self-employed, enjoys casinos, reading, travel, sports. Seeking SWF, with similar interests, for friendship, possible LTR. Serious inquiries only. ☎556936 NEW TO AREA SBM, 30, 5’7”, medium build, caramel skin, Gemini, smoker, works in health care field. Seeking BF, 25-35, sure of herself. ☎568136 FUN AND ROMANTIC DWM, 36, 6’1”, Gemini, N/S, likes talking, movies, exercising, and traveling. Seeking woman, 21-45, N/S, in shape, for romance. ☎573045 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 LOOKING FOR MS. RIGHT SWM, 37, 5’9”, 180lbs, enjoys biking, sports, travel, dining out. Seeking outgoing, attractive SF, with similar interests, for friendship, possible LTR. ☎557954

Stud Finder YOU HAVE 6 NEW MATCHES

WHOLE LOTTA LOVE SBF, 33, would like to share movies, dinners, quiet evenings at home, the usual dating activities, with a great guy. ☎463610 ALL I WANT IS YOU SB mom, 28, is in search of a man, 25-45, who would want to start off as friends, leading into more. ☎459939 OLD-FASHIONED VALUES Honest, relaxed, christian SBF, 56, Aries, N/S, enjoys cooking, dining out, quiet times at home. Seeking marriage-minded, financially secure SBM, 50-56, N/S, for LTR. ☎829149 FIRST TIME AD Attractive SBF, 27, light-complected Pisces, non-smoker, seeks BM, 26-30, non-smoker, who is honest and interested in a long-term relationship. ☎603443 LOOKING FOR LOVE SWF, 24, blonde/brown, attractive, compassionate, easygoing, desires SWM, 24-34, honest, open-minded for friendship and companionship. ☎323553 YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO SBF, 39, Leo, N/S, seeks BM, 38-45, downto-earth, very direct and straightforward, to have fun with. ☎582549 I’D LIKE TO HEAR... what you have to say. SBF, 18, 5’5”, darkskinned, pretty, Aries, N/S, enjoys shopping, vacations, and movies. Seeking a man, 20-28. ☎578781 LEASING W/OPTION TO BUY SBF, 30, fun, outgoing, romantic Pisces, N/S, enjoys song writing, music, traveling, and conversation. Seeking man, 30-50, for friendship and more. ☎567142 RAINY DAYS AND COOKING... are a few of my delights. DBF, 38, 5’5”, 125lbs, pecan tan complexion, laid-back, down-to-earth, Aquarius, smoker, N/D, seeks BM, 30-45. ☎569952 JUST BE THERE FOR ME SBF, 23, 5’2”, Pisces, N/S, enjoys traveling. Seeking a romantic WM, 25-31, N/S, for LTR. ☎576613 MORE THAN AVERAGE Slender SBF, 53, 5’2”, independent, Aries, smoker, loves music, conversation, laughter. Seeking independent, mature SBM, 4865, for friendship first. ☎369627 OUTGOING WF, 50s, 5’5”, 150lbs, brunette, likes dining out, dancing, cooking, interior decorating, more. Give me a call. ☎443130 STILL SEARCHING SWF, 47, 5’8”, 148lbs, Sagittarius, smoker, interests vary, seeks SWM, 37-48, for LTR. ☎342017 TABLE FOR TWO SWF, 57, 5’4”, blond/green, easygoing, outgoing, enjoys cooking, fishing, reading, NASCAR. Seeking honest, respectful S/DWM, 57-65. ☎965851 MAKE YOUR OWN DESTINY Loving, intelligent SBF, 34, seeks SBM, 3545, for companionship, long walks, movies, dining out and more. ☎550597 SEEKING DECENT MAN SBCF, 32, Cancer, N/S, CNA, likes having fun, going to the movies, eating out, fishing, looking for decent man, 25-45, N/S, who is hardworking and will treat her with respect. ☎544912 TAKE ME DANCING SWF, 25, 5’9”, blonde/brown, Gemini, N/S, seeks WM, 30-38, N/S, who likes kids. For dating. ☎385501

BEACH BUM SBF, 31, with bachelor’s degree in communications, Taurus, N/S, loves dining out, movies, working out, and reading. Seeking man, 26-36. ☎869451 COMPANIONSHIP DWF, 48, enjoys antiquing, travel, dining out, movies and more. Seeking DWM, 4858, for loving, tender relationship. ☎732056 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 GREAT PERSONALITY SWF, 45, 5’2”, blonde/blue, likes cooking, bowling, movies, travel. Seeking affectionate, caring, compassionate SM, N/S, financially secure, for dating, possible LTR. ☎525164 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 BIG HEART, BIG BRAIN? Creative, expressive SF, 41, graphic artist, loves the country, with passion for gardening, nature, flora/fauna, needlework( knitting, crochet, quilting). Seeking creative, spiritual man, to share hopes, dreams, desires. ☎483300 MAYBE YOU’RE THE 1 SBF, 30, 5’7”, brown complexion, auburn/brown, thick, seeks independent, loving SM, who’s fun, active, commitmentminded, a handyman type, to share romance, fun, friendship and a possible lasting relationship. ☎488232 ARIES/TAURUS DWCF, 52, 5’4”, brown/green, likes the beach, playing pool, sailing, flea markets, dining, movies at home, stargazing. Looking for tall, honest, kind, affectionate, Christian man, 39-58. Let’s adore each other. ☎479572 DON’T PASS ME BY SHF, 18, 5’1”, 126lbs, short/brown, would like to meet a guy for bowling, dancing and romance. ☎463061 LOVES TO LAUGH Attractive SWF, 19, 5’9”, Libra, smoker, seeks WM, 18-35, for a solid, good, honest friendship leading towards LTR. ☎455393 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 WIDOWED SENIOR WF, honest, neat appearance, good sense of humor, seeking WM, 55-75, honest, caring. ☎449726 NO INTRO NEEDED SBCF, 26, 5’4”, 130lbs, single parent of a 7year-old son, very independent, Gemini, N/S, seeks BM, 27-40, to be my friend. ☎432010 SEARCHING FOR MR RIGHT SBPF, 39, Libra, loves church, traveling, movies, and dining out. Seeking SBPM, 3760, for possible LTR. ☎421273 A SIMPLE GAL SWF, 35, 5’4”, seeks laid back man, 18-40, for casual dating, friendship maybe more. ☎418340 A SPECIAL SOMEONE SBF, 25, mother, seek financially stable, independent man, 20-45, who loves children, for LTR . ☎415803 NICE EVENINGS Attractive SBF, 35, enjoys nice evenings, conversation, seeking loving SBM, 30-37, for nice evenings. ☎400597 OUTGOING/OUTDOORS TYPE Tall, full-figured, SF, 5’10, long red hair, green eyes, outgoing, outdoors type, spends allot of time with two children, likes movies and sports. Seeking compatible SM, 24-40. ☎402582

A U G

Mobile Dating. The easiest way to meet great people.

GUIDELINES: DATE MAKER ads are for adults 18 or over seeking monogamous relationships. To ensure your safety, carefully screen all responses. First meetings should occur in a public place. Abbreviations are permitted only to indicate gender preference, race, and religion. We suggest your ad contain a self-description, age range, lifestyle and avocations. Ads and voice messages containing explicit sexual language will not be accepted. This publication reserves the right to revise copy containing objectionable phrases; to reject in its sole discretion, any advertisement on account of its text. This publication assumes no responsibility for the content or reply to any DATE MAKER ad. The advertiser assumes complete liability for the content and all replies to any advertisement or recorded message and for any claims made against this publication and its agents as a result thereof. The advertiser agrees to indemnify and hold this publication, its employees and its agents harmless from all costs, expenses (including reasonable attorney fees), liabilities and damages resulting from or caused by the publication or recording placed by the adver- a service of tiser or any reply to any such advertisement. By using DATE MAKER, the advertiser agrees not to leave his/her phone number, last name or address in his/her voice greeting. Not all boxes contain a voice greeting.

ABBREVIATIONS

To purchase more than your free 30 words, at $2.00 per word, please call 1-800-234-5120

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

Become a member of Augusta’s hottest new way to meet singles! Call today!

2 1 2 0 0 3

To become a member, call 1-888-223-7044 To listen and respond to ads, call 1-900-226-8908

S P I R I T A U G 2 1 2 0 0 3

Calls cost $1.99 per min., Must be 18+.

,call 1-866-832-4685

To respond to ads using a NEW TO AREA SBM, 5’3”, 185lbs, enjoys travel, working out, sports, music, reading. Seeking attractive, outgoing SF, with similar interests, for friendship, possible LTR. ☎559583 ARE YOU THE ONE? SBM, 34, 5’10”, 170lbs, enjoys bowling, movies, travel, dining out, reading. Seeking positive, active woman to enjoy life with. ☎561078 SUN AND FUN SWM, 43, 5’7”, 160lbs, medium build, enjoys reading, movies, dining out, travel, dancing. Seeking SF, with similar interests, for friendship, possible LTR. ☎558039 OUTDOORSMAN SWM, 19, Capricorn, N/S, landscape architect, likes sporting events, movies, fishing, hunting, anything outdoors, seeks SWF, 1825, N/S, similar interests, who is outgoing, likes to have fun. ☎541345 SOMETHING TO ADD? SBM, 42, Gemini, N/S, 6’, enjoys going out, romance, seeks SWF, 25-40, N/S, who will have something to add to a relationship. ☎546480 READ ON SWM, 29, Pisces, N/S, 6’3”, 235lbs, athletic, likes the outdoors, playing sports, watching sports, going out to eat, watching movies. Seeks SWF, 23-35, N/S, for dating. ☎549310 SEEKING FUN SHF SWM, 26, smoker, 5’11”, 195lbs, former military, security guard, will be joining police academy, likes to hang out, go to bars, have good time. Seeks SHF, 18-32, for fun, dating. ☎534532 ONE-IN-A-MILLION SBM, 19, Sagittarius, N/S, 5’9”, braids, gray eyes, medium build, likes to have a good time, seeks compatible woman, 18-30. ☎531369 SEEKING NATURALIST SM, 50, 5’11”, 163lbs,enjoys travel, fine dining, swimming, the arts. Seeking adventurous, attractive, fit SF, with similar interests, to explore the world with. ☎516833 TAKE ME AS I AM SWM, 31, 5’6”, medium build, brown/blue, Gemini, N/S, enjoys movies and more. Seeking SWF, 25-35, N/S, N/D, who enjoys good times, dating, for LTR. ☎341418 NO GAMES HERE SBM, 36, brown/brown, long distance truck driver, Aries, smoker, seeks honest W/HF, 30-36, smoker, who likes to travel and is looking for LTR. ☎509226 THANK YOU VERY MUCH SWM, 25, 5’9”, 164lbs, brown/hazel, told he looks like Elvis Presley, Rick Nelson, and one of the Everly Brothers, enjoys fishing, history, art. Seeking WF, 19-26, N/S. ☎508305 SEEKS HONESTY SM, 55, 6’, 200lbs, professionally employed, seeks outgoing, fun, sincere lady to share casual times, friendship, fun and maybe something more later on. ☎494413 WELL-ROUNDED SM, 27, loves art, theater, movies, music, long walks, conversation. Desires to meet attractive, cultured, social woman for dating, possibly more. ☎471543 ARE YOU THE ONE? SM, 29, enjoys tennis, movies, dancing, dining out, long walks, antiques, Asian culture. Seeking confident, sweet, goodnatured woman for LTR. ☎471619 HARD-WORKING SWCM, 48, enjoys sports, travel, dining out, dancing, reading, movies. Seeking stable, sincere woman, with similar interests, for friendship, possible LTR. ☎474643 NEVER BEEN MARRIED SWM, 40, would like to meet a woman who enjoys simple pleasures such as outdoor fun, music and exercise. ☎463381

WELL-ROUNDED MAN Educated DBPM, 41, 5’11”, loves reading, working out, the arts, dining out, travel, quiet times. Would like to meet female, 3045, with similar interests, for fun, friendship, and maybe more. ☎442021 I CAN COOK SWM, 51, 6’1”, 193lbs, with blue eyes and a laid-back attitude, seeks a woman with a spontaneous, creative spirit. ☎434997 LET’S HOOK UP 34-year-old SBM, 5’9”, 180lbs, Aquarius, nurse, bald head, new to area, open-minded, fun-loving, hopeless romantic. Seeking woman who loves to be romanced. ☎849401 A LITTLE TLC DWM, 47, hardworking, secure, seeks SWF, 35-46, who wants a LTR. ☎627154 YOU WIN MY HEART SWM, 44, N/S, seeks clean, sincere, honest, intelligent, wise, crafty SBF, 35-45, N/S, for life mate and deep friendship. ☎611238

COULD IT BE YOU AND ME? GWM, 24, enjoys quiet evenings, movies, quiet evenings at home, dining out. Seeking fun, outgoing GM, with similar interests, for friendship, possible LTR. ☎471342 BOY NEXT DOOR SAM, 27, 5’9”, 147lbs, Sagittarius, smoker, seeks WM, 25-45, who enjoys fun times and a true friendship. ☎456425 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 LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIP Senior SWM seeks sincere, honest SWM, 25-45, to share home and lifestyle. Many interests including gardening, cooking, arts and crafts, travel, camping. ☎294303 ENJOYS ALL THAT LIFE HAS GWM, 40, shaved head, goatee, Pisces, smoker, seeks very special, attractive, strong, fun-loving GBM, 30-50, for dating, possible LTR. ☎257126

SEEKING THE REAL THING BM, 32, 5’8”, 200lbs, enjoys reading, cooking, dining out, movies, spending quality time at home. Seeking WM, 25-35, who has similar interests, and wants a long-term, monogamous relationship. ☎389698 LOOKING FOR LOVE Outgoing, spontaneous, loving, down-to earth SBM, 24, Sagittarius, non-smoker, seeks man, 19-50, to date and enjoy life. ☎602634 MASCULINE AND FIT SWM, 39, Libra, smoker, 5’8”, brown/brown, masculine, works out, fit, likes movies, riding bikes, camping, cooking, time at home. Seeks SWM, 30-43, with similar interests. ☎545309 LET’S GET CRAZY SWM, 35, 6’1”, with green eyes, is in search of a man to get together with, and share good times. ☎384239 LOOKING FOR LOVE GWM, 41, 5’8’, 140lbs, Pisces, enjoys fishing, television, wood working, gardening, arts, crafts. Seeking GWM, 25-45, for friendship first, possible LTR. ☎705204 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 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 YOU CAN MAKE MY DAY Male, 60, Cancer, N/S, seeks a WM, 49-65, N/S, for casual relationship. Why not call me? ☎927707 A NEW START Retired, fit, outgoing GWM, 44, enjoys walks, movies, sports, reading. Seeking outgoing GM, with similar interests, for friendship, possible LTR. ☎527836 TAKE A CHANCE GWM, 43, 6’2”, 195lbs, black brown, seeks other GWM, for fun times and maybe something more. ☎493530 ARE YOU THE ONE? SWM, 34, 6’1”, 195lbs dark blond/blue, goatee, enjoys quiet nights home, going out with friends, travel. Looking for masculine, easygoing SW/HM, 18-38, for casual dates, possible LTR. ☎502698

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

How do you

GIVE ME A TRY GWF, 27, 5’7”, 150lbs, brown/blue, enjoys dancing, movies, travel, conversation. Seeking attractive, warm GF, with similar interests, for friendship, possible LTR. ☎553580 LOOKING FOR LOVE GBF, 19, enjoys reading, movies, dining out, travel, sports. Seeking GF, with similar interests, for friendship, possible LTR. ☎554721 WAITING FOR YOU GWF, 18, 5’4”, blonde/blue, enjoys music, movies, animals, travel, dining out. Seeking outgoing, honest GF, with similar interests, for friendship, possible LTR. ☎527575 IS IT YOU? SGF, 42, soft stud, loves movies, cuddling, traveling, plays, comedy. Seeking feminine Christian female, compassionate and understanding, with like interests, to share friendship, good times and maybe something more. ☎487095 SEEKING A RELATIONSHIP GBF, 24, enjoys dancing, sports, movies, music, quiet evenings. seeks goal-oriented GPF, 24-33, who knows what she wants. ☎474251 HAVE A GOOD TIME SB mom of two, 35, wishes to spend time, conversations, friendship and life with a great lady. ☎458794 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

GOAL ORIENTED Intelligent, happy, attractive SBF, 23, student, seeks similar SBF, 24-40, N/S, for all that life has to offer. ☎411842 LOVES CHILDREN Easygoing, nice SF, 32, looking for someone with the same qualities, 29-39, and a people person. ☎388943 OPEN-MINDED CHIC Broken-hearted GWF, 30, Libra, smoker, seeks woman, 20-45, to mend my heart. Let’s not be afraid of who we are. ☎370110 “EVERYONE’S BEST FRIEND” GWF, 26, 5’6”, medium build, likes watching movies, bowling, hanging out, malls, phone conversations. Seeking fun-loving, seriousminded GWF, 22-35, medium build, for friendship and possibly more. ☎335046 A REFRESHING CHANGE SWF, 30, Libra, smoker, is hoping to find it in a woman, 25-45. Will show a lot of a affection. ☎307177 FALL FEVER SWPF, 46, 5’6”, 129lbs, college graduate, enjoys reading , home movies, camping, country-living, seeks same in SWF, 45-50. ☎965910 LOOKING FOR LOVE SBF, 32, 140lbs, 5’8”, down-to-earth, likes clubs, movies, and quiet times. Looking for a female, 30-35, with the same interests. If you’re the one, call me. Aiken, South Carolina. ☎113533 I WON’T LET YOU DOWN Single GBF, 32, mother, non-smoker, looking to become acquainted with a laid-back, sensual GBF, who enjoys quiet times, movies. Interested? ☎910581

See

Evil

A voice says a lot about a person. Looks can be deceiving. It’s not easy to mask a voice. When you call and respond to an ad, you hear the advertiser’s voice greeting.

Call now to listen and respond to an ad with your credit card!

1-866-832-4685

M E T R O

To pay for our services using a check, call 1-800-252-0920

Phone

Text Messages

E-Mail

Choose any phone number, home, office or your cellular phone!

Text message sent on your digital pager or on your cell phone.

Give us your e-mail address and we’ll do the rest.

want us to contact you?

Respond to ads on this page by calling 1-900-226-8908.

Classifieds Alt. Lifestyles

Begin a New Career In Massage Therapy

$250 - $500 a Week Will train to work at home helping the US Government file HUD/FHA Mor tgage Refunds No experience necessary Call 1-800-778-0353 (08/21#8162)

Drink Specials: WED $9 Wet N' Wild FRI & SAT Famous Beer Bust All You Can Drink $9

Open Mon-Fri 8pm-3am Sat 8pm-2:30am

Fri & Sat. No Cover Before 10 p.m.

Train for a rewarding career in Massage Therapy in only 6 months

733-2040

Augusta School of Massage Inc.

1632 Walton Way • Augusta, GA

706-733-2603

Equipment

Email: ColiseumAugusta@aol.com

WOLFF TANNING BEDS AFFORDABLE • CONVIENENT Tan At Home Payments From $25/month FREE Color-Catalog Call Today 1-800-842-1305 (08/21#8131)

If You’re not Partying at Argos, The Tower of Argos or at The Shack… Club Argos Dance Club & The Tower of Argos Leather Bar Augusta’s Premier Progressive House Dance & Entertainment Zone with DJ Joe Steel. 1923 Walton Way Open Mon-Fri for Happy Hour @ 6:00pm with $1 off everything Every Fri & Sat Garage Party from 9-10 with all well & draft drinks only $1 Wed

Blue Party w/ Guest DJ “BJ” Trippin & Rollin Light Show

The Shack ... You’ll Be Back Monday-Sunday Happy Hour from 4pm-12 midnight $2 Long necks $3 Wells Fri

Thu

Karaoke Dance Party with DJ Joe Steel

Fri

Argos Angels’ Cabaret with Sasha, Dianne, Brazia & Barbara

Sat

Argos Angels’ Cabaret with Petite DeJohnville, Claire & Diane Channel

DJ Chip

Sat

DJ Buckwheat

Sun

Karaoke 8-12 with DJ Joe

Her showcast is not just Drag it’s pure talent. Come let us entertain you. Show starts at 12:30am.

COMING EVENTS Fri, Aug. 29

Goth Night

Fri, Sept. 5

Rocky Horror Picture Show

Fri, Oct. 17

Billy Dare & The Pumps

Fri, Oct. 24

Turnabout, Argos Nights on Broadway

Argos welcomes Gay, Lesbian, Bi, BDSM, Swingers, TVTS & all openminded patrons

Call us @ 481-8829 or email us at ClubArgos@aol.com

(803) 441-0053 425 Carolina Springs Rd North Augusta, SC Come have fun where the party doesn’t end!

... You’re Not Partying

••••• ••••• ••••• ••••• •••••

R AY 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 fa x (08/21#8183)

Professional Services VIRTUAL SENTRY Watch any location from remote sight over phone line or cell. Record activity with hidden cameras. Digital video recorders, cameras, and more. Call 706-564-5819 or 706-564-7714 for more info. (09/11#8195)

KARAOKE 19 Disc - Country $110 41 Disc - Variety $199 63 Disc - Variety $249 100 Disc - Country $399 Rental Systems, DJ Services 706-790-3950 (09/04#8192)

Religion Metropolitan Community Church of Our Redeemer A Christian Church reaching to all: including Gay, Lesbian, and Transgendered Christians. Meeting at 311 Seventh Street, 11 am and 7 pm each Sunday. 722-6454 MCCAugusta@aol.com www.mccoor.com

Travel

READINGS BY

MRS. GRAHAM

Private Investigator

Musical Equipment Sasha Sundays

3512 1/2 Wheeler Road • Augusta, GA 30909

C A R D 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.

SPECIAL READINGS WITH CARD

Call 738-1142 to place your Classified ad!

341 S. Belair Rd. Open from 9 a.m. til 9 p.m. Call (706) 733-5851

Sharon Foust of the Vacation Shoppe, Specializing in Cruises. All inclusive Vacations and Leisure Travel. Offering Low Rates Give her a call at 706-414-9392 cell (09/04#8191)

Wheels

Dead Bodies Wanted

We want your dead junk or scrap car bodies. We tow away and for some we pay. 706/829-2676

706/798-9060

Full Body Massage! Therapeutic tension relief, intense or tender touch, rela xing music, aromatherapy, by appointment only - $49.00/hr. Call Joy - 706-771-9470 or John - 706-868-5598 (08/21#8182) Professional Massage By experienced male. Designed for healthy men 18 - 45. A great way to rela x House & Hotel Calls Only 706-589-9139 (08/21#8190)

Travel

thank you

Visit www.metrospirit.com today to place your free personal ad

FOR SUPPORTING OUR ADVERTISERS

www.metrospirit.com

M E T R O S P I R I T

Mind, Body & Spirit

59 People needed to lose weight! All natural, doctor recommended 100% Guaranteed Call for free sample, 706-284-7650 (08/21#8171)

Premier Entertainment Complex & High Energy Dance Music

Sat, 8/23 Lauren Alexander’s Birthday Bash

Call 738-1142 to place your Classified ad today!

Help Wanted

THE COLISEUM Fri, 8/22 Natalie Dawn

A U G 2 1 2 0 0 3

NOW OPEN IN WEST AUGUSTA! GERALD JONES VW/AUDI

CHECK OUT our full line of

BRAND NEW 2003

(and some 2004â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s)

VW & AUDIS!

Come see us for all your VW/Audi service needs! David & Andy Jones

Gerald Jones Volkswagen/Audi 706-738-2561 Located in the former Columbia Square Shopping Center in West Augusta