Metro Spirit 12.26.2002

Dec. 26-Jan. 1 | Vol.14 | Issue 21 | www.metspirit.com

T H E M E T R O P O L I TA N

ARTS, ISSUES & ENTERTAINMENT

In 2003, odds are, the Augusta Commission will be asking Richmond County voters to commit 10 years of sales tax dollars to help pay for a list of local projects, like the proposed $89 million sports arena and the $66 million performing arts center. Can Augustans trust the government with a decade of their dollars?

And, will some private interests get a free ride?

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Contents The Metropolitan Spirit

DEC. 26 - JAN. 1

❘

F R E E W E E K LY

❘

M E T S P I R I T. C O M

YES, WE'RE OPEN

Christmas Eve & Christmas Day 5pm-Until

AUGUSTA’S

D E C

D O O F SEAUFFET B

A Decade of Dollars

By Stacey Eidson ..............................................14 Cover Design: Natalie Holle Photo: Brian Neill

FRESH SEAFOOD BUFFET 2510 Peach Orchard Rd 790-7556

OPEN WED-SUN - LUNCH & DINNER Wed is Senior’s Day

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Ring in the New Year

FEATURE

with a great deal from

The Art of Tarot

By Lisa Jordan...............................................16

Opinion

All 2003 Models Are On Sale Now!

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Ken Kraemer’s Report Card .........................................10 Augustans Leaving, but to Where? .............................12

Arts

The Year in Music......................32

Events

8 Days a Week .............................................................20

Cinema

Movie Listings .............................................................28

Music

The Year in Music .........................................................32 Faith Hill Experiments With “Cry” ..............................34 Nightlife .........................................................................36

Stuff News of the Weird ........................................................39 Brezsny's Free Will Astrology ......................................40 New York Times Crossword Puzzle ............................40 Amy Alkon: The Advice Goddess ................................41 Classifieds .....................................................................42 Date Maker ...................................................................43 Automotive Classifieds ................................................45

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Clearance Sale

Metro Beat

The Graphic Novel .......................................................18 Jazzamatazz Brings Pizzazz to St. Paul’s Jan. 7 ......26

Gerald Jones Honda!

Announcing Gerald Jones Honda's Year-End

Whine Line ......................................................................4 Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down ..........................................4 This Modern World ........................................................4 Words ..............................................................................6 Suburban Torture ...........................................................7 Austin Rhodes ................................................................8

EDITOR & PUBLISHER David Vantrease ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Rhonda Jones STAFF WRITERS Stacey Eidson, Brian Neill ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER Joe White ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Kriste Lindler, Jennifer H. Mar tin PRODUCTION MANAGER Joe Smith GR APHIC ARTISTS Stephanie Carroll, Natalie Holle ASSISTANT TO THE PUBLISHER Meli Gurley RECEPTIONIST/CLASSIFIED COORDINATOR 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

THE METROPOLITAN 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.metspirit.com. Copyright © The Metropolitan Spirit Inc. Reproduction or use without permission is prohibited.

Phone: (706) 738-1142 Fax: (706) 733-6663 E-mail: spirit@metspirit.com Letters to the Editor: P.O. Box 3809, Augusta, Ga. 30914-3809

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Whine Line A

ustin Rhodes’ top ten overused words on his radio show: ridiculous, ridiculousness, incredible, cotton-pick’n, crapola, hilarious, anyway, my home in Alpharetta, Pittsburg Steelers, and my wife’s show.

I’d like to agree with the whiner who says Augusta should bring back a smooth jazz station. It was the best station Augusta ever had: nice decent music, no offensive lyrics because it’s mostly easy-going music. There were no loud, rude DJ’s in the mornings, which I can’t stand. Most of these radio stations have morning shows and the two hosts are so hyper, you’d think they have caffeine IV’s in their arms. They all suck! Bring back the jazz radio station. I know others would love it too!

I want to know when the highly paid city manager in Aiken is going to do something about the officer who’s running for sheriff approaching people in fast-food restaurants trying to solicit their votes while he’s on duty. Maybe the city manager needs to look into this situation?

I’m tired of hearing about all the racism, sexism, favoritism and divisions in the Augusta Commission. I mean we have that at the main post office in Augusta, but we don’t whine about it every week!

Martha Burk is nothing more than a white Jesse Jackson!

To the morons at Channel 12 (WRDW): Who in the hell thought to put “Gunsmoke” on Sunday (12/15) at 1 p.m.? That was really stupid of you. There were a lot of fans from both teams including myself, ready to watch the best game of the year: the Miami Dolphins vs. the Oakland Raiders. No one wanted to watch “Gunsmoke,” especially not us.

If downtown is to come back like it should, we need to consider shutting down the Richmond Summit. Has anyone seen the drug dealers and prostitutes around that

place? I work across the street and I see it every day. Who decided to put that place there anyway?

I would really like to see your paper do a true expose, a la Stacy Eidson, on bank fees. I recently checked into having a savings account at my bank, one of the major area players, and was told if my balance fell below $300 a month, there is a monthly charge of $4. Plus, for every withdrawal during a month’s time over two, there is a $3 charge. The banks also are charging $30 for bounced checks. I could go to my bank at 9 a.m. and deposit cash. Then write you a check based on that deposit and even if you take it to my bank after 2 p.m., the check would bounce. However, my deposit would be credited for that day. But if my deposit is made after 2 p.m., that isn’t credited until the next day. It seems to me a bank that is really interested in genuine customer service could clean up. Other people must be tired of all these stick-it-to-ya fees. I remember the days when banks actually were service-oriented.

The time has come for Augusta to get rid of Mayor Bob Young, Lee Beard, Marion Williams and Willie Mays for being racists. I am an elected official and they only serve one small district, but it’s time to get rid of them.

It’s also time to get rid of George Kolb.

Why is it Jesse Jackson can use an epithet for Jewish people and it’s OK? Garrison Hearst can call a homosexual by a derogatory name, that’s OK. John Rocker made a statement about some areas of New York and they wanted to ban him from baseball. Poor Trent Lott says something at a birthday party and everyone wants to read all kinds of things into it. Is there a double standard?

Hey, just heard about the Eli Lilly provision in the Homeland Security Bill. Yeah, that’s right — good old Dick Armey added a provision into the bill that absolves Eli Lilly from any liability should their products ever be proven to contribute to autism. How’s that for your Republican mandate? He’s proud of that, too. Well, here’s part two: We know we

Thumbs Up Although it turned into a cheesy, self-congratulatory, PR scheme for The Augusta Chronicle it was, nonetheless, touching that citizens banded together to raise money to buy a new bicycle for a disabled

teenager who had his stolen. In fact, giving seems to be in the air this season, whether it be the after-effects of Sept. 11, or the lousy economy. Whatever the impetus, hopefully it will continue in coming years.

Thumbs Down Stealing from a charity is probably about the lowest crime one could commit. Yet someone did just that, breaking into a local Catholic Social Services building and making off with a stash of toys and gifts for the needy. If and when they’re caught (hopefully by the time you’re

reading this) it is hoped that a judge will see fit to build some type of humiliation factor into his/her/their sentence. Maybe standing on the corner of Eighth and Broad holding a big sign that reads, “I am a slug.” Though that probably would be letting them off easy.

won’t read about it in The Spirit because you report only local news and that’s fine. But why wasn’t it even mentioned in the other paper, the daily one? I mean, the paper’s run

by Billy Morris and ... oh, yeah. Never mind!

read him. I’ve read The Met Spirit from cover to cover for years but just skip right over him like he doesn’t exist.

The great majority of the young men (and some women) who are in the bands that are playing downtown are married with children and are just trying to make a living with the abilities God gave them. They play a “Rocking the Stocking” every Christmas season to provide needy children with Christmas presents. They play an August concert outside in 100-degree weather for Child Advocacy. The benefit list could go on. The point is, don’t blame these young musicians for problems downtown. Identify and fix the problems, or find another scapegoat. By the way, if Austin Rhodes offends you, don’t

Consider this: Morris News Service and The Augusta Chronicle, bash the jury system, plaintiff lawyers and advocate restricting people’s rights to sue for injuries in court. At the same time, Morris News Service is the plaintiff in a major money lawsuit against the PGA that a federal judge dismissed and threw out of court and then awarded court costs against Morris for filing such a frivolous lawsuit.

Morris News Service — what a joke.

Hey Charles Walker: You lost the election so get over it. continued on page 6

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My problem is with the Richmond County Board of Education. Richmond County schools get out on a Wednesday and start back on Thursday. Everybody in Augusta has to make their plans to go off for one week because they have two pieces of two other weeks and only one whole week, where they could have shifted it two days and got two whole weeks off. I think our Board of Education has gone to pot, that ever since Charles Larke took over, he’s been doing this for the past three years.

I have to laugh at the opinion guest column

by Senator Walker. That is what we call in the ol’ South “the pot calling the kettle black,” when he’s talking about Billy Morris.

They are two of a kind!

Again, I have to say to the people who do not like Austin Rhodes’ column, why the hell do you read it? The man has every right to say what he wants, right wing or left wing whatever it is. I don’t think The Spirit has the nerve to print anything good about Austin Rhodes and that is what I think of your paper.

My whine is about the drivers on Wheeler Road trying to get into Target Shopping Center. They apparently don’t know there is a second light. They are blocking the exit off of Bobby Jones. If they just knew how to drive or could read signs, we would be able to drive around.

I just finished the article about Broad Street becoming an entertainment center. That

would probably be complete with XXX theaters, the bars and all that goes along with it and all the nice stores would be closed.

Well, I for one bought a house because the area was very nice and I liked Broad Street.

But if it’s going to become seedy, then I will be putting my house on the market and moving away from here and will advise my father to do the same. We will not be a party to that type of stuff.

Charles Walker, please stop your whining!

The Whine Line has some of the stupidest whines, but when someone calls in with a legitimate whine such as health care, it’s not printed, as I did several weeks ago when I read the article on Matt Stovall and his untimely death. In the article he stated he did not have health insurance because he had been let go by WGAC. Austin is always putting people down because they don’t have health insurance, but he truly doesn’t know what people go through when they lose their job. But now that he has lost a friend who did not have health insurance because he had lost his job, he would be more understanding.

This is more important than the stupid whines you print.

I don’t understand what’s wrong with spending a Saturday afternoon antiquing or shopping in downtown Augusta, then going to one of the many great restaurants there for dinner, and then going to one of the bars in the evening to listen to a band or have a drink with friends. Why can’t downtown have it all? My parents used to walk me around the

Words “I heard a crunching sound and looked at the sandwich. I saw the wing of a dead bat sticking out of the side of the sandwich where I had tried to take a bite. I asked her if that was a real bat and she nodded yes.”

— Timothy Gooch, a Movie Gallery employee in Lexington, Tenn., as quoted in an Associated Press story about his being the recipient of a prank by a teenager who worked at a nearby Long John Silver/A&W Root Beer restaurant. The teenage girl, who thought it would be funny to give Gooch the dead bat sandwich, could be charged with a new law pertaining to tampering with people’s food, which carries one to six years in prison and up to a $3,000 fine. She could wind up in a juvenile facility for the prank, the article stated.

downtowns of lots of cities where there were stores, bars, churches and clubs and (gasp) the occasional beer bottle on the street, and I turned out to be a well-educated, self-sufficient woman. If people can’t appreciate the diversity that downtown Augusta has to offer, they should stay locked in their SUVs at the Augusta Exchange where their children will be safe from ... well, safe from whatever these crazy people are afraid their children will see downtown.

To the article on Stan Fink’s closing of Antique World: As a downtown merchant I have never seen a used condom or syringe on

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about not letting us drill for oil. Get it together.

To all the women out there looking for decent guys: Hello ladies. I just wanted you know there are a lot of decent guys out there, but there is one catch: We are all taken.

Austin Rhodes has given us his thoughts about how the Augusta National should be run: “The club chairman is the only voice of Augusta National.” I believe it is better to be able to voice your opinion on any subject that you wish to, than be a member of the Augusta National. By Austin’s standards they would have to kick Tiger Woods out. I think Austin is what is called politically correct, but just for this section of the country.

Thank goodness the whole country isn’t like this section of the country.

To the grinch that stole my 7-year-old son’s puppy out of our back yard: I hope you have a horrible Christmas, “Scrooge,” and I hope that dog ends up biting you. Bah humbug!

Just a reminder: While we are out Christmas shopping for our friends and relatives, let’s not forget all the pets in the shelters. The shelters can always use donations of food at Christmastime. Let’s not forget our furry friends. Merry Christmas!

The judge in the Two State trial talked about how sneaky Chris Poston was, but he didn’t address the actual crime. I’m a Monsanto stockholder. Poston stole millions and had to only return a fraction of it. It appears crime does pay!

Austin Rhodes is stupid and his article on Marion Williams was stupid and I can’t believe The Spirit published it.

Suburban Torture

I am so sick and tired of Austin Rhodes resorting to name-calling when people do not agree with him or have a different point of view. It’s usually people with limited vocabulary or who have nothing to say that have to resort to name-calling. I think that after this article about Marion Williams, it’s very evident that he fits both categories. Would somebody please shut him up? He wouldn’t have a job anywhere else in this country.

BY

JULIE

LARSON

D E C 2 6 2 0 0 2

I’d like to know from the people of North Augusta, Augusta and everywhere in between, if you know why a turn signal is on a car? Because you certainly don’t use them.

People are changing lanes, putting on makeup and not using the turn signal. Try it; you might like it. I know others will.

- Call our Whine Line at 510-2051 and leave your comments. We won’t use your name.

Fax your whines by dialing (706) 733-6663 or e-mail your whines to whine@metspirit.com.

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It amazes me how Marion Williams reacts about various items that come up with the county commissioners. Seems he can swallow a camel and gag on a gnat depending on the issue. It’s a bit disheartening. This man is a reverend and should be looking at the bigger picture instead of putting everything down as black/white issues.

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Segregation Can Be a Beautiful Thing

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eave it to the GOP leadership to screw up the big party before it even begins.

Here we sit, conservatives ready to rule the roost for a minimum of the next two years, having captured the elusive trifecta: White House, Senate, House of Representatives. Bing, bam, boom.

Then Trent Lott stupidly opens his mouth. The erstwhile senate majority leader, a one-time lock to re-ascend, steps in a pile as deep as Bill Clinton’s little black book.

Others have debated Lott’s heart when it comes to racism. I won’t do that.

While I do not believe Lott is a racist in 2002, I can honestly say it doesn’t matter. The senator ruined his own credibility with his off-the-cuff praise of a true bigot’s 1948 presidential campaign, and quite frankly, the conservative cause is way too important to be led by a man with such little common sense.

It is my sincere hope that Senator Bill Frist, a man I have had the pleasure to interview at length, will take the reigns of the senate’s conservative movement.

Frist is one of the senate’s top minds on the subject of homeland security, and he has impeccable personal credentials. As a close friend of our own Charlie Norwood and new Georgia senator Saxby Chambliss, I can assure you the citizens of the CSRA will benefit greatly if Senator Frist assumes the position once held for Lott.

But I digress. Lott’s ridiculous lapse of judgment not only sunk his political career; it also continued to besmirch a very interesting word: segregation.

The word “segregation” is one of many in the English language bastardized beyond all original meaning.

Because the word was used to describe the separation of the races, specifically American whites and blacks in the early 20th century, it has now become a “dirty” word, spoken only in negative tones, usually by those with a very distinct social agenda.

Ironic, because most people segregate, and in fact, discriminate (there is another “dirty” word) every day. I do it aggressively. Always have; always will.

Race has nothing to do with the discrimination and segregation I practice, but behavior certainly does.

I choose not to associate with deadbeats. I detest those who refuse to pull their own weight, and depend on the charity of others to exist, when they are perfectly capable of supporting themselves. I refuse to socialize with adults who have left their own children destitute by their refusal to support them. I will not hobnob with chronic underachievers, and I will be damned if I will allow my children much time around them either.

Professionally, I want no part of those who are not committed to positive

achievement. I will discriminate against negative attitudes and those who foster them. I want those individuals out, gone, splitsville. Get with the program or get out of the way. I will do my best to isolate and eliminate those who work against the greater good, not because of honest disagreement, but because you cannot grow when the atmosphere is poisoned by those around you.

This isn’t about ideas; this is about achievement. There are two kinds of people in this world: Those who are trying, and those who are not. Unless you have a severe mental handicap, there is no excuse, none, for long-term failure in this country.

While some segments of our society want to embrace everyone, I do not. I will not embrace liars, cheaters, lazy bums or criminals. I will isolate them and hound them at every turn until they are so uncomfortable they will either change or leave. Either way, I win.

I have dozens of very liberal friends who are all about “compassion,” particularly at this time of year. While I am the first one to encourage charity directed to children, I also want to know the reason the parents of the poor children have failed so miserably that they must depend on the generosity of strangers. For every free turkey given away, there is a story of personal failure that goes with it. If Mother Nature has inflicted the harm, then let us all join in the relief effort, but if individual malfeasance and serial misbehavior has created the situation, let the miscreants suffer. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to punish the parents without hurting the innocent kids, and there is the rub.

Our compassionate nature has created a society where there are few consequences for stupid choices. Time to change that.

If a man has a child he is unwilling to support, surgically fix him so he can’t make another one. If a businessman cheats his company, or racially discriminates against employees, garnish his future earnings until everyone wronged is compensated. Create dire, life-changing consequences for those who choose to live life destructively.

In the meantime, discriminate against those who choose to be parasites, and segregate yourselves and your children from those living lives of underachievement.

And as far as those who believe the color of your skin has something to do with your ability to succeed and lead good lives, segregate yourself from those idiots forever.

— 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.

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MetroBeat Ken Kraemer’s Report Card

W

ho’d have thought a year and a half ago that Augusta Regional Airport Director Ken Kraemer would receive a “satisfactory” performance rating from the Augusta Aviation Commission?

Kraemer came to Augusta as the airport’s golden boy. He was said to be the ideal director who would be able to turn around Augusta’s antiquated airport.

Since Aug. 1, 2001, Kraemer has managed to bring more than $4 million to Augusta from Washington D.C., through federal airport funding.

Under his leadership, the airport was chosen by U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta as the first airport in the country to be designated an airservice development zone.

The aviation commission and Kraemer have earned the respect of the community by managing to rein in Continental Airlines to Augusta for the spring of 2003.

The airport and aviation commission should be flying high with this year’s success. And it appears Kraemer can deliver.

But, like in most areas of Augusta government, politics and a clash of personalities have crept into the picture and times have changed.

During the November airport meeting, Aviation Commission Chairwoman Marcie Wilhelmi admonished Kraemer for not implementing one line of an organizational review study that had been completed and presented to the commission prior to Kraemer accepting a job in Augusta.

Wilhelmi told the commission that she was just trying to get Kraemer to “do what he’s supposed to be doing.”

At that meeting, the aviation commission called for

BY STACEY EIDSON

a formal evaluation of Kraemer.

On Dec. 19, it was time for Kraemer’s review.

In a two-hour legal session, during half of which Kraemer was asked to step out of the room so the board could hold a private discussion, the aviation commission evaluated Kraemer’s performance in Augusta.

If it were a report card, Kraemer’s seven out of 10 rating probably wouldn’t have pleased his mother in Wisconsin.

But after last month’s brouhaha, his momma should be proud.

Kraemer’s scores on his evaluation weren’t pretty, but there was a lot of politicking behind those marks.

Under a section labeled “general skills and traits,” Kraemer received a total of 12 out of 20 for job knowledge and competency.

For his quality of work, again, a 12 out of 20.

The only impressive score on the entire page was a rating of 18 out of 20 for his communication skills.

Despite the somewhat mixed review, Kraemer received a salary increase from $115,000 to $119,025.

Not bad for a score of seven out of 10.

Near the end of the December meeting, the aviation commission elected new officers. After serving two years as chairwoman, Wilhelmi was replaced by board member Cedric Johnson.

While the last meeting of the year was much calmer than November’s clash, Kraemer appears to still be the target of some aviation commissioners.

Aviation Commissioner Sheila Paulk strongly objected to Kraemer’s request to authorize the construction management services of LPA Group Inc. – a private engineering and planning firm from Columbia, S.C.

The aviation commission should be flying high with this year’s success. And it appears Ken Kraemer can deliver. But, like in most areas of Augusta government, politics and a clash of personalities have crept into the picture.

KEN KRAEMER

>>>

Kraemer asked that the commission hire LPA to handle the on-site evaluation of contracting work being performed on a $471,000 runway lighting project at the airport.

The total cost for the construction management services was $37,000, while the on-site inspection service

by LPA was going to cost no more than $67,000.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) would be paying for 90 percent of the bill. Augusta’s portion of the bill would only cost approximately $10,400.

But Paulk told Kraemer that she believed he was wasting FAA money.

“Why are we using FAA funds for construction management when we had an engineer?” she asked. “We are using FAA funds as a resource for something or someone that we should have on staff.”

In August 2001, the airport’s former engineering and facilities manager, Clarence Fennell, resigned to accept a new engineering job in South Carolina.

He continued working until the end of the year on a contractual basis for Augusta Regional Airport.

Paulk said it was ridiculous that the airport was paying a private company to inspect the runway lighting project when they could have a full-time engineer on site for approximately $58,000.

“The engineer that was on staff here had over 30 years’ experience,” Paulk said. “But a year ago we were told

that it wasn’t necessary. Now, we are looking at losing funds that I don’t think is necessary. I think we need to move quickly on getting someone in that position.”

“The salary of the employee that we had in place is far less at this point than what we are looking to pay a private company now,” Paulk added. “If we kept him (Fennell) on staff doing nothing in that office for one year we would not have paid $60,000.”

Kraemer explained that even if the airport had a full-time engineer on staff, they would still need to hire LPA. “A full-time airport engineer would not be able to donate his full time to watch this project and that’s what the project requires,” Kraemer said.

Kraemer also said he felt it was time to begin looking for a full-time engineer for the airport.

“The director of engineering position has been frozen until a significant portion of the capital improvement begins,” Kraemer said. “We are now nearing that time. So, yes, it is time to look at the issue of unfreezing the director of engineering position.”

Paulk made a formal motion to move ahead with finding an engineer for the airport. She also voted unanimously along with the board to contract with LPA Group on the runway lighting project.

“We don’t have a choice,” Paulk said.

“What else are we going to do?”

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Augustans Leaving, but to Where?

G

eorgia’s second-largest city can also claim a place atop another list.

Augusta is one of the top places in the state — to leave.

An analysis of U.S. Census data by The Spirit revealed that Augusta-Richmond County is No. 3 out of Georgia’s 159 counties in terms of population loss.

From April of 2000 to July of last year, Augusta’s population fell by 1,409 people, Census data showed.

Actually, an estimated 3,492 people moved out of the county during that same period, but that figure was offset by the county’s net natural increase (births minus deaths), estimated at 1,993, and arrivals here from out of the country, estimated at 145 new residents. The reason those numbers don’t exactly come out to the 1,409 total when subtracted, census personnel said, is because there are other factors such as military base migrations that aren’t figured in to the data.

Augusta was only outdone in departing dwellers by Columbus’ Muscogee County, which logged 2,157 residents in the minus column, and Liberty County, near Savannah, which lost 1,503 people that year.

Columbia County ranked in the top 20 counties in terms of population growth, adding 3,139 residents that year.

However, nailing down the facts to support the common belief that Columbia County is increasing its ranks with Augustans jumping ship to live there proved somewhat of an elusive task.

For one, obtaining reliable figures on the numbers of schoolchildren leaving Richmond County to go to Columbia County — cited as a common reason for the supposed exodus from here to there — was next to impossible.

Bill Morris, assistant superintendent of Columbia County schools, said each of the 26 schools in the district handles its own transfers and there is no centralized keeping of the data.

Also, Morris said that the information that is kept at the individual schools pertaining to student transfers is often not

electronically stored and is even sometimes casually kept in notebooks.

Morris said he felt asking each school to go through and count the transfers by hand would be a labor-intensive task that would exceed the guidelines and expectations of an open records request under Georgia law.

Nearly the same proved to be the case in Richmond County.

The county only this year began centrally keeping transfer forms. Of a hundred or so of the forms, only about a dozen were from students transferring to Columbia County.

Like Morris, Carol Roundtree, guidance and testing director of Richmond County schools, said obtaining the information from the more than 50 schools in the district for a more accurate count would be problematic and time-consuming.

A year’s worth of registered vehicle counts The Spirit obtained from the Georgia Department of Motor Vehicles also did not paint a clear picture as to the theory that Augusta residents were leaving in droves for Columbia County.

From November of 2001 to October of 2002, the number of registered vehicles in Richmond County actually increased by roughly 2,700 — from 150,268 to 153,007.

Columbia County’s registered vehicles went from 89,946 in November 2001 to 93,906 in October — an increase of 3,960.

Becki Price Horner, president of the Greater Augusta Association of Realtors, said she doesn’t buy the notion that an inordinate number of Augustans are flocking to Columbia County.

“I don’t think there’s any more of a trend now than there has been in the last 10 to 20 years,” Horner said. “That’s my opinion.”

Horner said one thing that might explain why Augusta is losing population while Columbia County is gaining it is simply the availability of places to build there.

“I think one of the things that is an issue concerning that is, there are more homes that are available in the Columbia County area than in the Richmond County area (because of) availability of

“

BY BRIAN NEILL

land,” Horner said.

Horner also suggested that fluctuations in the Fort Gordon population might have something to do with Augusta’s population loss.

As earlier mentioned, the Census data showing migration trends do not factor in military bases.

However, according to the media relations office at Fort Gordon, the average daily post population, which includes military personnel living on and off base, actually showed a steady increase, from 11,087 in 1999 to the current 13,239.

Apparently, no explanation can be found there, either.

Jackie Poteet, president and owner of the Apartment Finders referral service, said many of the people she helps place in apartments in Columbia County are coming from outside the immediate area and have been told by local companies that Columbia County is the best place to live.

“A lot of them will say, ‘Well, we want to live in Columbia County because we’ve been told that the school systems are better,” Poteet said.

As to where all those missing Augustans went, and why, Poteet said it’s likely a mixed bag.

“I would think it would be on a 50-50 basis. Maybe they’ve been transferred, or maybe a job loss, or maybe 50 percent did move to Columbia County or to another area,” Poteet said. “I don’t think all of them that we lost went to Columbia County.”

Even if people are flocking to Columbia County, that doesn’t necessarily translate into a loss for Augusta.

Just ask Michael Dunbar, senior vice president of public relations for the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce.

Even though his consolidated Columbus-Muscogee County topped the list of population losses in the state, he said most of those leaving haven’t gone far.

“They’re leaving the county, but they’re staying in the region, and a lot of them are moving out to more rural environ-

Jackie Poteet, president and owner of the Apartment Finders referral service ments,” Dunbar said. “In a pretty strong city environment, housing developments are on quarter-acre lots, or less, and they’re moving out into acre-plus lots.”

And similar to the way Augusta is also seen to represent the Central Savannah River Area — including Aiken, Edgefield, Burke, Columbia and McDuffie counties — Dunbar said Columbus and Muscogee find strength in a regional identity.

“Population growth is important (but) we’re trying to work as a regional community, as six different counties and one municipality called the Valley Partnership,” Dunbar said. “So, we look at regional growth as a positive because they’re still going to shop and work in the major metropolitan area.

“There seems to be more people moving into the region. I would say years ago there was a big worry about people leaving, but there tends to be more people moving to the region and moving back home. So, I don’t think (population loss in Muscogee) would be a top 5 issue. It might be in the top 10.”

I don’t think there’s any more of a trend (of Augustans moving to Columbia County) now than there has been in the last 10 to 20 years. That’s my opinion.

— Becki Price Horner, president of the Greater Augusta Association of Realtors

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A

DECADE of

ould you trust the Augusta Commission with a penny?

It seems like a simple question until you consider City Administrator George Kolb’s new twist on the deal.

Kolb has proposed that the city ask voters in 2003 to approve extending the collection of the city’s 1-cent sales tax for a 10-year period.

In the past, the city’s 1-cent Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) has been presented to voters on a ballot every five years for their consideration. The majority of the sales tax monies have been used to fund projects such as road improvements, the constructing of recreational centers and building fire stations.

So, what does extending the sales tax 10 years mean for Augusta?

Over a decade, those pennies the city collects are estimated to raise approximately $300 million.

Therefore, the real question is: Would you trust the Augusta Commission with $300 million?

If the answer is “No,” you’re not alone.

Several Augusta commissioners themselves are uncomfortable with committing sales taxes through the year 2016 on projects that the city thinks are important today.

“I’m having trouble buying into a 10-year SPLOST because, with a five- year SPLOST, you bring it back to the voters every five years and the voters maintain greater control over their money,” Augusta Commissioner Ulmer Bridges told Kolb during a Dec. 18 workshop. “If you extend the sales tax on out there 10 to 15 years, then the voters have lost control.”

Kolb explained that, if Richmond County voters were committed to extending the next phase of SPLOST for a 10-year period, the future sales tax money could be leveraged to

secure a general obligation bond not to exceed $195 million.

“We are proposing that, beginning in 2003 with the issuance of the bond, that we implement a capital improvement program that will last at least 12 years,” Kolb said.

The only catch is, voters would also have to approve the bond referendum, and such bonds have proven to be unpopular with many Augustans.

In 2000, while the 1-cent sales tax was extended another five years, a $90 million general obligation bond proposed to correct the city’s drainage problems, failed, to the surprise of many in the local government.

But Kolb told the commissioners they can change Augustans’ opinions of the general obligation bonds by selling voters on the exciting new projects proposed for the Augusta area.

For example, a $195 million bond could supply the city with $70 million toward the recently proposed 12,000-seat, state-of-theart, regional entertainment and sports center.

It could also provide $20 million for the much-needed $45 million judicial center, as well as an additional $20 million for a new exhibit and trade center.

The Augusta Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau is scheduled to release its feasibility study on the exhibit and trade center in the beginning of next year.

All the commission has to do is convince voters that public funds should go to pay for these “quality of life” projects, Kolb said.

That may be easier said than done.

For example, when William S. Morris III, chairman of the Augusta Futurity and the National Barrel Horse Association, and Frank Lawrence, owner of Augusta’s arena football team, presented their $200,000 feasibility study last month on whether Augusta could afford to build a new $89 million arena, the proposal suggested that a portion of the funding come from private investors.

DOLLAR$

By Stacey Eidson

The study also suggested that Augusta approach surrounding municipalities and ask for financial support. Included in the study was a chart entitled, “Combined Sources and Uses of Funds.”

In this chart, it states that Columbia County could potentially provide up to $15 million toward the construction of the new arena.

However, to date, neither Columbia County or any other surrounding municipality has committed to giving Augusta a dime for the new sports arena.

“I believe this governing body needs to sit down with Columbia County and talk to them about this project and invite them to participate,” Kolb said.

In the sports arena’s feasibility study, it suggests that Richmond County also approach areas such as Aiken County and North Augusta for funding, but Kolb said he no longer thought that was possible.

“The problem is, those governments would have to get permission from the South Carolina state Legislature,” Kolb said. “And that could be very complex and difficult.”

Kolb also said waiting for the state Legislature to approve funding for a project that crosses state lines could be time consuming. And Kolb said the commission didn’t have a lot of time to waste.

He suggested that the city push to have a bond referendum to voters by March 2003.

“I’m suggesting that we do a general obligation bond. I’m hoping that we could look at a March 2003 referendum,” Kolb said. “It depends how quickly we can come together as to what kind of plan it will be. But I think if you wait much longer, the steam for some of these projects will start to be lost.”

County Attorney Jim Wall said that, in order for the board of elections to have enough time to develop the ballot, the referendum would have to be approved by the first week in February.

Many of the commissioners felt that deadline was impossible to meet because there were too many questions still lingering about several of the proposed projects.

For example, Bridges said that he was told following the presentation of the sports arena study that the city should expect at least 40 percent private participation in the funding of the $89 million project.

Currently, only $9.9 million has been committed to pay for the horse facilities proposed to be included with the new arena.

“I was told that normally you expect 40 percent private money,” Bridges said. “And I

“I think if we are not successful in creating a (funding) partnership that would include Columbia County, Aiken County and maybe North Augusta, we are going to have a difficult time doing it by ourselves.”

- Augusta Commissioner Bill Kuhlke

>>

looked at these numbers from when we got them a week ago, and it looks to me that we’ve only got about a little over 12 percent private funding, and that is being put up by one man (Morris).

“I just don’t think that low (amount) of private participation is going to fly when we go out to the voters.”

Augusta Commissioner Bill Kuhlke agreed that, in order for voters to get behind the new sports arena, they would have to know that money was coming from some source other than Richmond County.

“I think if we are not successful in creating a (funding) partnership that would include Columbia County, Aiken County and maybe North Augusta, we are going to have a difficult time doing it by ourselves,” Kuhlke said. “And I don’t think you’re going to do that without those municipalities having a vested interest in whatever we do. And that means ownership.”

Kuhlke suggested that Augusta try to work out an arrangement whereby Columbia County, Aiken County and Richmond County would each possibly provide approximately 25 percent of the funding for the arena’s construction.

The remaining 25 percent ownership, Kuhlke suggested, could come from the private sector.

Commissioner Lee Beard said one of his biggest concerns was giving the majority of sales tax funding to capital improvement projects like the arena. He said he had been approached by several constituents wondering how the city was going to pay for roads and bridges work if they committed the next 10 years of sales tax funding to these large capital projects.

“When we talk about the SPLOST funds and tying it up for the next 10 years, how do you compensate for projects that we are going to need during that time, infrastructure and other things that may come up?” Beard asked.

Kolb said there still would be money left over for drainage and road projects within the city. He also suggested the city could use a “pay as you go” method to construct other items such as three jail pods for the sheriff’s department.

He explained to the commission that those pods would be needed to replace the quickly deteriorating Law Enforcement Center on Walton Way. Kolb suggested that the jail pods, housing violent offenders, would be constructed along Phinizy Road.

Bridges immediately objected to that suggestion.

“You can’t do that George (Kolb), because

when the jail was built on Phinizy Road there was a public outcry about building the jail there,” Bridges said. “The public was promised that there would never be any violent offenders placed on Phinizy Road. ...

And here it is, eight years later, we are talking about doing that exact thing.”

Bridges said he didn’t care if Kolb wasn’t the city administrator at the time of the promise: That promise needed to be kept.

“Well, I don’t feel comfortable talking to the sheriff about it,” Kolb said, hesitating. “I think you should talk to the sheriff about it; that’s what I’m trying to say.”

Before the discussion of the sheriff could continue, Wall told Kolb that he didn’t think the jail pods would provide adequate space for the increasing number of inmates over the next 10 years.

“We are already in need of one additional pod, after the jail has been open only three or four years,” Wall said. “I assumed the three pods were for the additional growth, not as a replacement for the existing jail.”

Bridges found it hard to believe that the list of sales tax projects for the next 10 years seemed lacking in crucial areas, like the sheriff’s department, while there were other items such as a $6 million request by the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame that were being considered.

“I thought we had given the Golf Hall of Fame all the money that they asked for,” Bridges said. “My understanding was that this last SPLOST was supposed to be their final cut from SPLOST.” Bridges said it was a shame that the commission even had the request listed as a possibility.

“The argument you hear out there on the street about the Golf Hall of Fame is, it’s not going to pay for itself and that taxpayers are going to continue to have to subsidize it,” Bridges said. “And that’s exactly what is happening.

“I think we should scratch it.”

The commissioners quickly realized that they needed a lot more time to review the proposal of a 10-year sales tax extension before they were ready to put it to a vote by the citizens of Richmond County.

“Even if we were to do a referendum in June, we would have a lot of groundwork to make up to sell this to the public,” said Augusta Commissioner Andy Cheek. “We need to show people that everybody in the city is going to benefit by getting on board and voting for this.”

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BY LISA JORDAN

S

tall H-32 at the Barnyard Flea Market, nestled at the back of the structure, is incongruous with its surroundings. Amidst booths of collectables and clothing, Catherine Koons sits in front of a curtain of handmade, beaded necklaces and behind a table holding a crystal ball.

No, she can’t read it, she laughs. To scry, or use the crystal ball for purposes of divination, the mind has to be totally clear, which is something Koons has trouble doing. “My mind is full of images and things all the time,” she says.

What she can do is read the tarot. “The cards have always worked in my family,” she says. Koons, a fifth-generation psychic, picked up the art from her greatgrandmother, who used a regular ol’ deck of playing cards.

Though not much is known about the origins of tarot cards – and what is known is sometimes up for debate among scholars of the tarot – it does seem to be the case that the standard 52-card deck you play crazy eights with is derived from

the tarot deck. Like a deck of playing cards, the minor arcana in the deck of tarot cards is broken down into four suits and contains court cards – the King, Queen, Knight and Page, who is not represented in a deck of modern playing cards.

Also absent from a modern playing card deck are the 22 major arcana cards found in the tarot. Major arcana, the power cards, range from The Fool to The World, representative of a spiritual journey. That brings the total number of cards in a tarot deck to 78 – or, if you’re Catherine Koons, 77.

“I only have 77 cards in my deck,” she says. The Hanged Man was lost downtown one First Friday. “I figured I didn’t need it. I never liked that one anyway.”

Koons’ main deck is slightly worn around the edges, a testament to the 35 years she’s spent giving readings. At 13, Koons received her first tarot deck, the Aquarian deck. “Right now, there’s hundreds of decks out there,” she says. The one most Americans are familiar with is the RiderWaite deck, commissioned in 1909 by Arthur Edward Waite and illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith. “I don’t like the Rider-Waite deck. It’s boring. I like ones

with symbols on them. You won’t like a certain deck. If you don’t like it, you won’t be able to use it properly. I like (my deck) because I like the images on it.”

As for how the deck itself is treated, Koons says, “There’s all sorts of rules. I don’t know where I got them from. I won’t let a person touch (the cards) if I absolutely don’t like them. I keep them wrapped in a red cloth – it’s like it protects them. It’s not a business. That’s not how it works. All the money you make is for giving to people that need it, buying gifts or reading for charity.”

And that, Koons says, is what distinguishes legitimate readers from con artists who prey on common human desires for money and love, often charging exorbitant prices and making empty promises. “I hate the term ‘fortune teller,’” she says. “I’m a reader and advisor. I can’t make things happen. I hate the scams and cons out there. The whole thing has been given a bad name.”

Koons recently received her business license from Augusta-Richmond County and has plans to join the Better Business Bureau and the Chamber of Commerce in an effort to combat the idea that all tarot card readers are frauds.

“I’m not getting rich,” she says. “I’m meeting people. If I was only doing this to be making money, I’d charge a lot more.”

At $10 a reading and working only on the weekends, Koons says she has yet to

“

break even after renting a stall at the flea market and paying for her business license.

The price is right for her clientele, especially for the curious who just want to give it a whirl. “People are so naturally suspicious of something they don’t know.

Guys are real suspicious of it,” laughs Koons. “In cards, you’ll read probably, I’m guessing, 75 percent women. Women are more open to this. I think women are more open-minded.”

Koons first asks her clients to shuffle the deck until they’re comfortable. “If one (card) drops, I tell them to leave it be. It’s always accurate,” she says: Cards that “jump” out of the deck usually contain urgent messages. Then, using the layout her great-grandmother used – it’s a spread that’s different from most of the popular ones, including the well-known Celtic Cross – Koons lays out 14 cards.

“I only do one type,” she says. “I do a one-month reading. It’s enough information that they can remember it. They’ll know within a month’s time.”

The first two cards go in the center, and subsequent cards are laid out in four groups of three, each representing an upcoming week. “I read them by weeks,” says Koons, who claims an accuracy rate of 80 percent. “When I lay the cards out, they’re almost like a channel. It’s almost like a story builds in my head.”

The story, she says, is dependent on

I hate the term ‘fortune teller.’ I’m a reader and advisor.

I can’t make things happen.

”

-Catherine Koons (pictured)

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Outdoor Dining Available

several factors. While the cards themselves contain symbols for interpretation, the placement of the cards in relation to one another also molds meaning. “You get a general idea just by looking at the cards,” Koons says. “It’s swords that come up when there’s arguments. Cups or wands give possibilities. There are regular meanings and there are reverse meanings.

You’d have to memorize all meanings of all cards.”

The intuition of Koons herself plays into a reading, as well. “I think the cards are not as important as what I already know,” she says. “My head is filled with images – I think it’s a skill or talent that I have. And it’s not something you can just turn on or turn off. It’s almost like watching a movie.”

Relying on her insight was a skill Koons honed as a child, growing up with a mother and grandmother who were both mediums, as well as a father interested in the study of religion. Her great-uncle Jonathan Koons was a famous Spiritualist from Athens, Ohio, whose exploits were documented by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, among others. When Koons developed an interest in the tarot, it wasn’t discouraged. “(My family) didn’t think anything was odd with it,” says Koons. “I didn’t always need the cards. Like a tool, they will open up things to me. From the time I was little, I had dreams. Everybody trusts my instincts and my feelings.”

Peggy, who asked that her last name not be used, was at the Barnyard Flea Market last Saturday afternoon with her cousin in tow. At the urging of her daughter, who had previously obtained a reading by Koons, Peggy had turned to Koons earlier that day for a reading.

“The things she said to me – there’s no way she would have known,” says Peggy.

“Things that I had already thought about. I think she’s really good.”

Peggy’s cousin, visiting from out of town, suggested they return to the flea market so she, too, could visit Koons.

“I think we, as human beings, tend to want to delve into the supernatural a little bit,” says Peggy. “But I think that we are in control of our own destiny. Lots of times, we have an inner voice, but we don’t listen to it. Sometimes, we need that third party to tell us.”

Koons seems to agree. “A lot of times, people already know the answer, but they come to me because they want to validate it,” she says. “I get people who ask if I can leave out anything bad. But I say,

17 M E T R O S P I R I T D E C 2 6 2 0 0 2

wouldn’t you want to know now? You can actually change that. You can be more careful.”

Misconceptions about tarot and other forms of divination, as well as its taboo status among some groups and cultures, lead to one of the pitfalls of Koons’ talent.

“I’ve had people ask me if I’m a witch,” she says. “They ask if you go to church.”

Koons considers herself a member of the Spiritualist Church, but there are none in the Augusta area.

But offhand comments don’t discourage Koons from doing what she loves to do.

Even though she’s been through periods where she’s put the cards away, a thick skin allows Koons to practice her art openly. “Like all gifts, if you want to use it you can, but you don’t have to.”

On the whole, however, Koons says people respond to her in a positive manner. She even stays in touch with her clients, requesting a call or a visit to let her know how accurate her readings are.

“Feedback is extremely important,” says Koons. “If I ever think I can’t do it anymore, I’m going to quit.”

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18 M E T R O S P I R I T D E C 2 6 2 0 0 2

Arts

& Entertainment

The Graphic Novel

J

esse Custer is just that kind of man.

From the moment you lay eyes on him, you know he’s gonna be trouble, in spite of the clerical collar. Maybe it’s the drinkin’, the smokin’, the cussin’ ... or that ruby gleam in his eye.

I first met him at Borders. After that second look, it was obvious I was going to have to take him home. So what, I thought, if he’s a little two-dimensional? He has a right to be – he lives in a graphic novel series. The series is created by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, and is published by Vertigo/DC Comics.

Custer and his companions – Tulip, the exgirlfriend with a firearm fetish and Cassidy, an Irishman who drinks heavily, but it ain’t whiskey he’s drinking – are on a search for someone in “Preacher: Gone to Texas,” Book I of the “Preacher” series.

This ain’t no comical book.

Tom O’Neal, assistant manager of Barnes & Noble, refers to “Preacher” as being “sort of a superhero-based comic,” but one look at this book will tell you that it is a far cry from the Superman-type paper comic books you may have grown up with.

Profanity dots the dialogue, and plenty of graphically drawn corpses litter the pages.

This is one of that evolving species known as the graphic novel. “Preacher” does share some elements of the old comics – namely that sense of mission and that superhuman element.

Custer, the back cover explains, was a smalltown minister who was in the process of losing his faith when he becomes one with someone called Genesis – half angelic, half demonic.

So given all of these similarities, and this one example of a popular graphic novel series – just what are we dealing with here anyway?

Books-A-Million General Manager Wayne Tapley said, “All a graphic novel is, is a series of comic books that combines storylines.” He said that it takes several issues of a regular comic to get through a story, where the graphic novel packages the entire thing in one volume.

Tapley said that they have some of the Spiderman stories in hardcover, and that some of those are actually kept in the fiction section.

Part of the evolution, he says, has to do with the publishers’ practice of repackaging the

BY RHONDA JONES

same stories for contemporary audiences – changing hair styles, darkening the tone. But something else is going on as well. The books are getting a little deeper.

“The storylines are getting a little more advanced,” Tapley said. “I still read them today.”

He doesn’t mind the darker aspects of the comics, he said, as long as it doesn’t get too graphic.

“I still think comics should be comics.”

O’Neal says Barnes & Nobel sticks to the more superhero-centered stories for two reasons. One, he said, they worry that children, seeing the colorful pictures, may pick them up.

And two, those are the kinds that sell more often.

But, considering the “Preacher” series, that’s not all that’s out there. Not by a long shot.

What the Heck Is a Graphic Novel Anyway?

I began the descent into the realm of the graphic novel when I stumbled upon www.artbomb.net and read “Biting the Hand That Fed Me,” by D’Israeli. It’s an online graphic novel about a sweet little grandmother with a dark side, with a few hyperlink detours.

That was some good bait. I had to know more.

Jessica Abel, whom “Peter” at Artbomb calls one of the more prominent women creators working today, has created a piece in comics format to explain what a graphic novel is. For one thing, she stresses, a graphic novel isn’t a different animal from comics; it’s just another type of comic book.

She mentioned, also, that though superhero comics are very popular, that comics is simply a medium, and superhero stories are only one possibility.

In the case of the graphic novel, she writes, the term “novel” is used a little more loosely than it is in printed fiction. For instance, she points out, the term may also be used when referring to a short-story collection in graphic format, or anything that fits into a “long book” that is thick enough to need a square spine.

Some of them even come in hardcover.

Content determines whether a piece is a graphic novel as well, she said. In that case,

“I think comics should be comics.”

— Wayne Tapley, general manager, Books-A-Million

the term “comics” implies a story written at the level of a child, whereas “graphic novel” implies more adult content. It also provides quite a nice double entendre, for those of you who are paying attention.

Abel writes a comic called “Artbabe,” which is published by Fantagraphics Books (www.fantagraphics.com).

What she doesn’t mention is the variety that you can find when you go delving into the graphic novel genre. I’m talking the actual graphics here. Let’s face it: People read these things because they want to look at the pictures. Imagination is great, but it’s hard to resist the lure of having a character stare out of the frame at you knowingly, as if you were in on some big secret.

Since we began with “Preacher,” let’s return to that series for a moment. The inside artwork is infused with color and, though detailed, has a very comic-book feel. The graphic joy here is in the detail. As for story, though it’s an adventure ride, the characters and ideas behind the mission are meaty. Heavy. It will leave your head spinning.

But back to the graphics.

Every now and then, you will find a painting among the panels, with rich color and every bit of the attitude staring back at you that you find in the story panels. There’s plenty to look at.

My favorite things, personally, are the characters’ expressions. There’s a subtlety there that enhances the all-too-human concerns that flesh out the adventure. They aren’t just dealing with Custer’s mission of finding the biggest, baddest dude in the universe and holding him accountable – they’re dealing with each other,

the raw emotions that come from being thrust into such weirdness together. There are tender moments, sure, but they’re not sticky with sentimentality.

J. O’Barr’s “The Crow” – the book on which the movie is based – is a different visual experience altogether. Though there are a few color paintings in the back of the book, the storyboards are inked in a stark, black-and-white crosshatching. When there is blank space, that space is often black. Different, softer, lighter techniques are used during softer parts of the story. Oh, and by the way, it’s published by Pocket Books.

Visually, the DC Comics-published “Arkham Asylum” is darker still. The art has the appearance of paintings and contains the nightmare imagery of the demented. I’ve glimpsed the shadowy figure of Batman while flipping through. Who knows how deeply into the caped one’s psyche this little gem goes?

Well, you get the idea. If you avoid graphic novels because you “don’t like comic books” I suggest that you give them another whirl.

Whatever your taste in fiction, chances are, you’ll find something that appeals to you.

What’s Out There After stumbling across Artbomb.net, I thought there were probably hordes of other such sites on the Web, and so I went looking.

This is what I found.

The people who created www.hillcitycomics.com/graphic_novels/gn.htm are category-happy. They have books listed by subgenre, i.e., comics, graphic novels, anime, manga. In the comics section, they further

BOOKS

classify into Marvel Comics (“Avengers,” “Black Panther,” “Captain America,” “Elektra,” etc.) and DC Comics (“Superman,” “Aquaman,” “Batman”). DC also has some lesser-known (at least to me) characters like “Hawkman,” “Nightwing.” They also offer Image Comics (“Masters of the Universe”), Dark Horse Comics (“Star Wars,” “Superman”), Grossgen Comics, Viz Comics, and a listing of other comics companies. These seem to be discontinued issues, as the prices range between $2-$5, and you will pay at least $10 for a new book. More like $15 and up.

But if you’re into collecting, Hillcity Comics might be a good stop.

As for their graphic novels section, they have a lot of Japanese comics, like Kosuke Fujishima’s “Oh My Goddess!: Final Exam.”

This series is about a student’s life with a goddess. Clamp’s “Wish,” Vol. 2, is about someone who rescues an angel named Amber, and is therefore due a wish. The problem is, he can’t think of anything he wants for himself.

Hillcity lists a host of publishers: America’s Best, Cliffhanger, CPM, Dark Horse, DC Comics, Homage, Image Comics, Marvel Comics, Paradox Press, Tokyo Pop, Vertigo, Viz Comics, Wildstorm. And then there’s a list of small press publishers as well. It lists these departments: Aliens & Predator, Manga, Star Wars, Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, XMen, Will Eisner.

Will Eisner?? Apparently he has been a prolific creator.

The site www.powells.com offers some of Katsuhiro Otomo’s “Akira” series. This is done in a style known as manga, which is a softerlooking style than anime. (Anime is the style

in which “Pokemon” and related works are drawn.) Another manga work offered here is the “Sailor Moon” series by Naoko Takeuchi.

“Road to Perdition” is here, the novel on which the movie starring Tom Hanks is based.

Didn’t know it was based on a graphic novel, did you?

One of the more interesting pieces I found on this site was “Little Lit: Strange Stories for Strange Kids” by Art Spiegelman. The team of Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly, according to the site’s blurb, are a New York Times best-selling team.

Spiegelman is also responsible for a work called “Maus” and its followup “Maus II.” O’Neal of Barnes & Nobel introduced me to it. He said it’s very popular. Barnes & Nobel even keep it in the biographies section of the store, even though they have a graphic novels section.

The “Maus” stories are about the Holocaust, casting mice as the persecuted Jews and cats as the Nazis. It’s published by Pantheon. The copy of “Maus” at Barnes & Nobel features on the cover what appears to be a father and child – both mice – huddling in front of a swastika incorporating an evil-looking cat’s head.

I asked O’Neal if this was intended for children. “Not really,” he said. “The reading audience would probably be teens and up.” He agreed that graphic novels in general were a little ... or maybe a lot ... out of the reach of children.

Spiegelman is in the International Museum of Cartoon Art, by the way. (Yes, there is an International Museum of Cartoon Art. It’s in Boca Raton, Fla.) Learn more at http://cartoon.org.

Super

Other artists include Stan Lee of “SpiderMan” fame, Jack Kirby (“Captain America”), Dik Browne (“Hagar the Horrible”), Al Capp (“Li’l Abner”), and a whole bunch of others.

Oh wow. Mike Judge is in there too. For “Beavis and Butt-head.”

Sample Platter: Artbomb “Why I Hate Saturn” is written and illustrated by Kyle Baker and published by DC Comics (Vertigo). According to a microreview on the Web site, the charming thing about the book is the reality with which the two sisters in the book are handled. Neither saints, nor femme fatales, they are just a couple of people trying to make it in the world, dealing with their relationship with each other and with themselves. It can be found under the Literature & Fiction section.

“Marbles in My Underpants” by Renee French, published by Oni Press, is listed under surrealism. The blurb, by Matt Fraction, says French often uses the perceptions of children to present her stories. “‘Marbles’ drowns in a landscape of runny noses and misunderstood magic, all the bestkept secrets from mom and dad.”

(Oni Press, by the way, carries titles like “Cheat” by Christine Norrie, about love gone wrong and “Shot Callerz,” billed as a fourissue crime spree under one cover, and a whole bunch of others.)

But back to Artbomb.

“Skin Deep,” written by Charles Burns and published by Fantagraphics Books, is a collection of stories, rife with dark humor, judging from the review. Matt Fraction calls it creepy, sexy, funny and entertaining.

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“Pastille” is also a surrealist piece, by an Italian artist named Francesca Ghermandi, published by Seuil. Reviewer Jamie S. Rich lavishes her with praise for creating such a distinct dreamscape, which is probably a useful definition of a “surrealist.” Like a Salvadore Dali of comics. Apparently, poor little Pastille, a girl with a head shaped unfortunately like a hockey puck, somehow survives in a harsh, hostile world. Rich goes on to say that you can read “Pastille” without knowing Italian. Oh yeah. Hadn’t thought of that. That’s fortunate. He says the world is “lovely in its fuzzy edges” – sort of like the pre-coffee time of morning.

But wait, boys and girls: There’s also a section of erotica. Well, four titles. One is called “Diary of a Dominatrix,” and is a Fantagraphics title written and illustrated by Molly Kiely. Definitely not kidstuff here.

Reviewer Kelly Sue DeConnick calls it “raunchy, campy and fun.” She also says it’s the perfect holiday gift for fans of John Waters and May West. From her description, it sounds like it’s more fun than naughtiness. Or maybe it’s naughty fun. I think I saw the phrase “tongue-in-cheek” in there somewhere.

“Chloe” was written and illustrated by Hans Rickheit and published by Chrome Fetus Comics. I could probably stop right there with that image. But I won’t. I’ll go on to tell you that “Chloe” is also in the erotica section of Artbomb.net and that the reviewer says it’s disturbing.

And that, Dear Reader, should provide you with enough to do some exploring of your own. Happy hunting.

19 M E T R O S P I R I T D E C 2 6 2 0 0 2

20 M E T R O S P I R I T D E C 2 6 2 0 0 2

8

Days A Week

Arts

Auditions

as interior/ex terior murals. Call 722-0444 for more information.

ARTWORK BY BILLY S is on display at Borders Books and Music throughout December. Call 737-6962 for information.

AUDITIONS FOR “WHEN THE REAPER CALLS” Jan. 6-7, 7:30 p.m., at For t Gordon Dinner Theatre. Par ts are available for two men and three women ages 25-45 and per formance dates are Feb. 14-15, 21-22, 27-28 and March 1. Open to the public; all civilian par ticipants must have a photo ID to enter For t Gordon. Call 791-4389 or visit www.for tgordon.com/theatre.htm#reaper for details.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY GINNY SOUTHWORTH will be on display through Jan. 13 at the Aiken Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame and Museum. For information, call (803) 642-7650.

HORSEPLAY CALL TO ARTISTS: Ar tists from the Carolinas and Georgia are invited to apply for downtown Aiken’s upcoming Horseplay exhibit, which will feature 30 decorated life-size fiberglass horses. Submit your resume by January for consideration. Call (803) 641-9094, ex t. 207 or e-mail HorsePlayAr t@yahoo.com for details.

DAVIDSON FINE ARTS EXHIBITION through Dec. 30 at the Lucy Craf t Laney Museum of Black History. Call 724-3576.

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. Held at 600 Mar tintown Road in Nor th Augusta. Contact Mildred Blain at 736-7740 or Mary Norman at (803) 279-6499.

Education ART CLASSES FOR CHILDREN AND ADULTS at the Ar t Factory. Classes in visual ar ts, dance and drama are offered. The Ar t Factory also has a homeschool program and scholarships are available. Classes begin Jan. 6. 7310008.

CERAMICS CLASSES at the Weeks Center Ceramics House in Aiken. Fees include one class per week and students can choose any class time: Mondays, 9 a.m. to noon or 6-9 p.m.; Tuesdays, 6-9 p.m.; or Wednesdays, 9 a.m. to noon. $30 per month. Call (803) 642-7631 for info.

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.

Exhibitions BRUCE NELLSMITH exhibits his paintings at the Etherredge Center Lower Gallery Jan. 6-Feb. 1. Call (803) 641-3305.

CIVIL WAR ARTIFACTS of the First Independent Brigade will be on display at the Euchee Creek Branch Library in January. Call 556-0594.

FINE ARTS EXHIBITION Jan. 4-30 at the Lucy Craf t Laney Museum of Black History. Call 724-3576 for more information.

THE ARTWORK OF NANCY BANNISTER is on display at the Raging Bull, 828 Broad St., through the end of February.

Bannister specializes in landscape and abstract ar t, as well

NORMA MCCOMBS will exhibit her paintings at the Gibbs Library in December. Daniel Hayes exhibits in January. For information, call 863-1946.

AT THE MORRIS MUSEUM OF ART: “Charleston in My Time: The Paintings of West Fraser” are on display through Jan. 5; “Rituals: Works on Paper by Romare Bearden” will be on display through Jan. 5 in the museum’s Coggins Gallery. For information, call 724-7501.

AT THE GERTRUDE HERBERT INSTITUTE OF ART: “Ware’s Folly: An Architectural Perspective” is in the First-Floor Gallery at Ware’s Folly through Feb. 21. Call 722-5495 for more information.

Dance CSRA/AUGUSTA BOOGIE-WOOGIE DANCE AND SOCIAL GROUP holds a monthly dance every third Saturday of the month, star ting at 7:30 p.m. For information, phone 6502396 or 736-3878.

SINGLES DANCE each Saturday night from 8-11 p.m. sponsored by the Christian Social Organization for Single Adults.

There will be no regular dance on Dec. 28. 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, 736-3376.

Music “SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM” will be per formed by the Augusta Opera Jan. 23 and 25 at 7:30 p.m. with a matinee per formance Jan. 26 at 3 p.m. Held at the Imperial Theatre.

Tickets are $12-$40, with group, student and senior discounts available. Call the Augusta Opera at 826-4710 for information.

THE GRYPHON TRIO per forms 8 p.m. Jan. 10 at the Ma xwell Per forming Ar ts Theatre as par t of the Harry Jacobs Chamber Music Society 2002-2003 season and as par t of the ASU Lyceum Series. 860-5885.

“UNDER ONE GOD” features per formances by Alvin Franklin, Tutu Devine, Arie Brown Gosa, Isaac Holmes, Russell Joel Brown, Kivet te Clinton Bell, Maria Moody, the Beulah Grove Inspirational Choir, members of the Augusta Ballet, the Cutno Dance company, Darylyn Alford and the company, Joe Collier, Demetrius “Me Me” Blount, the First Baptist Church of Nor th Augusta Choir and RUSH. Held Dec. 29, 7 p.m. at the Imperial Theatre. Admission is free, but a love offering will be accepted to benefit the Augusta Family Preservation Center and the Ar tGro Foundation. 722-8341.

“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” will be at the New American Shakespeare Tavern in Atlanta Jan. 3-Feb. 9.

TUESDAY’S MUSIC LIVE CONCERT SERIES: All per formances in the concer t series held at noon at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Concer ts are free; optional catered lunch is $7 per person. 2002-2003 season schedule is as follows: Jan. 7, Jazzamatazz; Jan. 21, Joseph Gramley; Feb. 4, Lindsey McKee and Keith Shafer; Feb. 18, Cowboy Envy; March 4, The Augusta Children’s Chorale; March 18, Kari Gaffney and Jeff Williams. 722-3463.

COMMUNITY HEALING MEDITATION DRUMMING CIRCLE hosted every third Monday of the month by IDRUM2U, the Not Gaddy Drumming Studio. Held 7-9 p.m. at the G.L. Jackson Conference Center, 1714 Nor th Leg Cour t. Fee is $5 or a donation of canned goods for the Golden Harvest Food Bank. All are welcome and drums will be available to rent. For info, phone the Not Gaddy Drumming Studio, 2283200.

Theater NEWBERRY OPERA HOUSE TRIP to see “Wunner ful Women” Jan. 23. Bus leaves from the H.O. Weeks Center in Aiken at 1 p.m. Register by Jan. 6. Call (803) 642-7631 for information.

NOW ON SALE: Tickets for “Les Miserables” Feb. 11-16 at the Bell Auditorium; tickets for “South Pacific,” Jan. 2 at the Bell Auditorium. Call TicketMaster at 828-7700 or visit www.ticketmaster.com.

Attractions THE BOYHOOD HOME OF WOODROW WILSON: Circa 1859 Presbyterian manse occupied by the family of President Woodrow Wilson as a child during the Civil War and Reconstruction. Original and period antiques, restored house, kitchen and carriage house. 419 Seventh Street. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Tues.-Sat. Tours available; groups of 10 or more by appointment only. Admission is $5 adults, $4 sen-

iors, $3 students under 18 and free for ages five and under.

722-9828.

AUGUSTA GOLF & GARDENS OF THE GEORGIA GOLF HALL OF FAME features beautiful display gardens, as well as bronze sculptures of some of golf’s greatest masters.

Available for rent for a variety of functions. Group discount rates available. Closed Mondays; open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Tues.-Sat.; open from 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is $5.50 for adults; $4.50 for students, seniors and military; $3.50 for children (4 to 12); free for children 3 and under.

Sundays are two for one with a Super Sunday coupon.

Annual garden memberships are available. Call 724-4443 or 1-888-874-4443. Also, visit their Web site at www.gghf.org.

FORT DISCOVERY/NATIONAL SCIENCE CENTER: Children and adults alike can immerse themselves in the wonders of science through live demonstrations, vir tual realities, Starlab, KidScape and more than 270 hands-on exhibits. General Admission: $8 for adults; $6 for children, seniors and active military. Group rates available. Half-price admission daily af ter 3 p.m. Operating hours: Mon.-Sat., 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday, noon-5 p.m. Call 821-0200, 1-800-325-5445 or visit their Web site at www.NationalScienceCenter.org.

REDCLIFFE STATE HISTORIC SITE: 1859 mansion of S.C. Governor James Henry Hammond, held by the family for three generations until 1975. Hours are 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Thursday-Monday on the grounds. House tours are noon-3 p.m. by appointment. Closed Tuesday and Wednesday.

Admission to the grounds is free. Fee for house tours is $3 for adults and children ages 6 to 17. For more information, call (803) 827-1473. 181 Redcliffe Road, Beech Island.

SACRED HEART CULTURAL CENTER is offering tours of its 100-year-old building. Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. $1 per person, children free. 826-4700.

HISTORIC COTTON EXCHANGE WELCOME CENTER: Open Mon.-Sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sun. 1-5 p.m. Riverwalk. Free.

724-4067.

THE EZEKIEL HARRIS HOUSE: Deemed “the finest 18th cen-

tury house surviving in Georgia” by the “Smithsonian Guide to Historic America.” Open Saturday, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. General admission is $2; senior admission is $1 and children get in for 50 cents. For more information, call 724-0436.

Museums “A TOUR DE FRANCE” daytrip to the High Museum in Atlanta Jan. 23. Visit to “Paris in the Age of Impressionism” exhibit and lunch included. Cost is $75 for Morris Museum of Ar t members and $100 for non-members. Make reservations by Jan. 2; call 724-7501.

FRENCH IMPRESSIONISM SLIDE LECTURE Jan. 7, 6 p.m., at the Morris Museum of Ar t. Free for members and those registered for Jan. 23 bus trip to the High Musuem; $3 for adult non-members and $2 for seniors, students and military. Call 724-7501 for info.

AT THE AUGUSTA MUSEUM OF HISTORY: “Augusta, Ga.: Surviving Disaster” special exhibit on display through Jan. 12. December’s film is “Augusta Remembers” and January’s film is “The Founding of Georgia.” Register by Jan. 4 for “An Introduction to Georgia History” continuing education class, held Jan. 7, 14 and 28. Brown Bag History Series on Jan. 8 at noon presents “The Colonial Town Plan of Augusta”; bring lunch and the museum provides a desser t and beverage.

Reservations are required and the cost is free for musuem members and $2 for non-members. For more information, call 722-8454.

FIRST FRIDAY AT THE MORRIS MUSEUM OF ART Jan. 3 features First Friday Karaokatures. Xavier Jones sketches caricatures and karaoke will be available. 5:30 p.m. Gallery Spotlight Tour and 5:30-7:30 p.m. Ar t Rush Adult Ar t Making Workshop. Call 724-7501 for details.

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 Walker-Mackenzie 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. ThursdayMonday. 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 BALLET LEXUS RAFFLE to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Augusta Ballet. A Lexus SC 430 coupe will be raffled off during the intermission of the Feb. 8 performance of “Romeo and Juliet” at the Imperial Theatre.

Tickets are $100 and may be purchased by calling 2610555.

ANTIQUE APPRAISAL FAIR Jan. 10, 7-10 p.m. at the Aiken Center for the Ar ts. Evaluations are limited to two items per person in at tendance, and tickets are $25. For information, call (803) 641-9094.

JANUARY FILM SERIES at Headquar ters Library, Tuesdays at 6:30. Free admission. Jan. 7 showing of “O Brother Where Ar t Thou?”, Jan. 14 showing of “Love and Death,” Jan. 21 showing of “Straight Story,” Jan. 28 showing of “The 400 Blows.” Call 821-2600.

AT PHINIZY SWAMP NATURE PARK: Swamp Saturday Jan. 4, 9:30 a.m. Wear weather-appropriate outerwear and walking shoes and bring a water bot tle and a camera or binoculars on this free tour of the park. For information, call 8282109.

New Years Eve Packages 1 Great Place 2 Great Deals

GRAND OPENING OF FAMILY Y COLUMBIA COUNTY BRANCH Jan. 11, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. The Marshall Family Y is located at 4534 Washington Rd. Free and open to the public.

Call 363-FAMY for more information.

LOW-COST RABIES VACCINATIONS: Augusta-Richmond County Animal Control holds low-cost rabies vaccination clinics the four th Sunday of every month for privately owned pets. $8 per animal. 1 p.m. at Superpetz. Dogs must be on a leash and cats in a carrier. Puppies and kit tens must be three months old and current for all vaccinations. Schedule subject to change, so please call 790-6836 to verify dates and times.

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THE CSRA HUMANE SOCIETY holds pet adoptions every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and every Wednesday evening from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Pet Center located behind the GreenJackets Stadium on Milledge Rd. 261PETS.

Out of Town U.S. HOT ROD SUPERBOWL OF MOTORSPORTS Jan. 11 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Tickets are $10-$25 and can be purchased online at www.ticketmaster.com or by phone at 828-7700.

“LILLY’S PURPLE PLASTIC PURSE” will be presented Jan. 11-26 by Alliance Children’s Theatre. Tickets are $12.50 for children and $15 for adults. Special Families Centerstage per formance Jan. 18, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. is $25 and includes per fromance, lunch and additional activities. Held at the Woodruff Ar ts Center in Atlanta. Call (404) 733-5000 for tickets.

“A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM” Jan. 3-Feb. 9 at the New American Shakespeare Tavern in Atlanta. Tuesday-Saturday per formances at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday per formances at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $19.50 Thursdays and Sundays, $22.50 Fridays and $24.50 on Saturdays, with $10 preview shows Jan. 3-7 and $10 Tuesday and Wednesday night per formances. Student and group discounts available. Optional British pub-style menu served one hour and fif teen minutes prior to show. Call (404) 874-5299 for reservations.

ADOPTION INFORMATION SESSION at the Independent Adoption Center in Tucker, Ga., Jan. 11. Held from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Make reservations by calling 1-800-385-4016 or (404) 321-6900.

“TWENTY YEARS AGO” will be presented by NarroWay Productions Winter Dinner Theatre in Myr tle Beach, S.C., on New Year’s Eve, Fridays and Saturdays in January and Feb. 14-15. Tickets are $24.95 or $23.95 for groups and senior citizens. To make reservations, call (803) 802-2300 or 1888-437-7473.

ATLANTA DOGWOOD FESTIVAL CALL TO ARTISTS: Through Dec. 31, the festival, held April 11-13, is accepting submissions for its annual poster. Medium must be acrylic, oil, watercolor, pen and ink, pastels or photography and must conform to a 16” x 25” poster format. The work should also reflect the festival’s mission to provide an annual springtime celebration of ar ts and enter tainment. Submit original ar twork, along with your name, address, telephone number and bio to: Atlanta Dogwood Festival, 20 Executive Park Drive, Suite 2019, Atlanta, GA 30329. Call (404) 3290501 or visit www.dogwood.org for details.

“FOR THIS WORLD AND BEYOND: AFRICAN ART FROM THE FRED AND RITA RICHMAN COLLECTION” through May 25 at the High Museum of Ar t in Atlanta. Call (404) 733HIGH or visit www.high.org for info.

TICKETS FOR “VAREK AI,” a production by the Cirque du Soleil, now on sale. Shows are March 6-30 at Cumberland Galleria in Atlanta. Visit www.cirquedusoleil.com for more information.

“DEFINING CRAFT I: COLLECTING FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM” exhibit at the Columbia Museum of Ar t in Columbia, S.C., through Feb. 23. For more information, call the museum at (803) 799-2810 or visit www.columbiamuseum.org.

“PARIS IN THE AGE OF IMPRESSIONISM: MASTERWORKS

M E T R O S P I R I T

COLUMBIA COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY holds pet adoptions every Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and every Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. at PetsMar t. For more info, call 860-5020.

RICHMOND COUNTY ANIMAL CONTROL AND AUGUSTA ANIMAL RESCUE FRIENDS holds pet adoptions at Superpetz off Bobby Jones Expressway every Sunday from 1 to 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. through Sun., 1-5 p.m. Call the shelter at 7906836.

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THE MUSEE D’ORSAY” will be at the High Museum of 22 FROM Ar t in Atlanta now through March 16. This exhibition marks the first time since the Orsay opened that pieces in its collec-

M E tion have traveled to the U.S. For more information, visit T www.ParisinAtlanta.org, www.high.org, or call (404) 733R HIGH. O

Benefits

S P I R I T AUGUSTA ICE BOWL Jan. 25 to benefit the Golden Harvest

Food Bank at the Lake Olmstead Disc Golf Course. A $20

D donation is required. Registration begins at 8 a.m. and the E C first round of play begins at 10 a.m. Call Sue Anne at 737-

6095 for more information.

2 6 SHEPEARD COMMUNITY BLOOD CENTER BLOOD DRIVES

in various locations around the CSRA this month. The blood

2 center is urging people of all blood types to donate in order 0 to combat a blood supply shor tage. For detailed information 0 2 on locations and times to donate, visit www.shepeard-

blood.org. You may also call Susan Edwards at (803) 6437996 for information on Aiken locations and Nancy Szocinski at 737-4551 for information on all other locations.

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 ADULT BASIC COMPUTER CLASS at MACH Academy is currently accepting registration. Call 796-5046.

COMPUTER CLASSES AT THE WALLACE BRANCH LIBRARY: “Basic Computer Skills Training” Jan. 7, 14, 21 and 28, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. or Jan. 9, 16, 23 and 30, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. “Intermediate Computer Class” Jan. 9, 67:30 p.m. To register for either class, call 722-6275.

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS FOR ADULTS Jan. 10, 17, 24 and 31 at the Ma xwell Branch Library. Call 793-6758 to register.

AUGUSTA STATE UNIVERSITY CONTINUING EDUCATION is now offering the following classes: Adobe Illustrator 10, Intermediate Shag II, Intermediate Investing, Digital Photography for Beginners, Adobe Photoshop 7 and more.

Also, ASU offers online courses. For more information, call 737-1636 or visit www.ced.aug.edu.

AIKEN TECH CONTINUING EDUCATION will offer the following courses in January: Intro to Computers, Windows 2000 Basic Concepts, Health Care courses, Rape Aggression Defense, Beginning Cake Decorating, Progessional Cooking Real Estate courses and more. Aiken Tech also offers Education to Go classes online. For more information or to register, call (803) 593-9231, ex t. 1230.

Health THE AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY “I CAN COPE” PROGRAM will be held four consecutive Tuesdays, beginning Jan. 7. Held at Warren Baptist Church, 6:30 p.m. The program is free, but registration is encouraged. Call 731-9900 or 1-800-ACS-2345.

“WHAT CAN NEUROSURGERY DO FOR ME?” free health

As part of its 40th Anniversary celebration, the Augusta Ballet is set to raffle off a Lexus on Feb. 8. education class Jan. 9, 2:30 p.m. at the Life Learning Center’s Downtown Division. To enroll, call 733-0188, ex t.

7989.

PEACHCARE FOR KIDS AND RIGHT FROM THE START MEDICADE offers 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. to noon for $55/month. Call 823-6294.

FREE HIV/AIDS TESTING every Tuesday from 4 to 7 p.m. at St. Stephen’s Ministry, 922 Greene Street. Free anonymous testing, pre- and post-test counseling and education.

HATHA YOGA CLASSES at the St. Joseph Home Health Care Center in Daniel Village Plaza. Held 10 a.m. to noon Monday, Wednesday and Friday and 6:30-8:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. $10 per class or $60 a month for unlimited classes. Mats are provided, but bring a towel and a water bot tle.

Call Tess at 738-2782 for more information.

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.

Study of Potential Prevention of Diabetes Are you age 50 or greater and at risk of developing diabetes?

Risk for diabetes may be increased if you have a history of: obesity or overweight, a large waist circumference, glucose intolerance, diabetes during pregnancy, giving birth to large babies, or a family history of diabetes.

To be eligible you must be age 50 or greater and be at risk for or diagnosed with cardiovascular disease (heart attack, coronary heart disease, peripheral vascular disease or stroke). Females must be surgically sterile or post menopausal.

Benefits include: physical evaluations, laboratory testing, diet and exercise counseling, electrocardiograms and FDA-approved medications or placebo at no cost.

Travel compensation provided.

For more information, call:

CSRA PARTNERS IN HEALTH 1220 Augusta West Parkway • Augusta, Ga 30909 • 706-860-3001

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 AT THE FAMILY Y: “School’s Out” program Jan. 2, 6 and 20 at the Wheeler Branch, 738-7006; spring soccer registration Jan. 6-18 for children 4-14 years old at the Wheeler Branch, 738-6678; gymnastics session Jan. 6-March 7 at Wheeler Gymnastics Center offered for toddlers through teens, 7386678.

FAMILY FUN DAY POTTERY WORKSHOP at the Augusta Musuem of History Jan. 12, 2-4 p.m. Learn how to throw a pot with Jeanet te James and other area pot ters. The program is free. Call 722-8454 for info.

ages 5-13. Call (803) 642-7635.

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS FOR ALL AGES Jan. 6, 13 and 27, 6-8 p.m. at the Friedman Branch Library. Call 7366758 to register.

CHILDREN’S LEARNING CENTER at the Lucy Craf t Laney Museum of Black History open Monday-Friday, 4:30-6:30 p.m., through June. For information, call 724-3576.

ACADEMIC HELP AND TUTORING available Saturdays, 2:304:30 p.m. at the Wallace Branch Library. Call 722-6275 to make arrangements.

GIRLS INCORPORATED AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM runs through the end of the 2002-2003 school year. A variety of programs will be offered. Services include van pick-up at select schools, evening drop-off, homework room and hot evening meal. Open to girls in kindergar ten through high school. Af ter-school program offered 2:30-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri. For more information, call 733-2512.

YOUTH LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT SKILLS PROGRAM for teens ages 12-19 held the third Saturday of the month at the Lucy Craf t Laney Museum of Black History. Call 7243576.

“TECHNOLOGY AND TENNIS FOR LIFE” REGISTRATION for the Winter Session now being accepted at MACH Academy.

Call 796-5046 for more information.

WEEKLY STORY SESSIONS at all branch libraries. Visit www.ecgrl.public.lib.ga.us for more information.

AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM at the Smith-Hazel Recreation Center in Aiken January through May, 2-6 p.m. Open to kids

FIRST SATURDAY STORYTELLING at the Lucy Craf t Laney Museum. In addition, there is a tour of the museum. Held 10 a.m. to noon the first Saturday of the month. Call 724-3576.

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Seniors

M E T R O PEOPLE WITH ARTHRITIS CAN EXERCISE (PACE) meets at S P I R I T

Walton Rehabilitation Hospital Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1-2 p.m. Call 823-5294.

THE SENIOR CITIZENS COUNCIL OF GREATER AUGUSTA AND THE CSRA offers a variety of classes, including aerobics, quilting, tai chi, Spanish, painting, line dancing, bowling, bridge, computers, yoga and pinochle. For dates and D times, phone 826-4480.

E C

ARTHRITIS AQUATICS offered Mondays, Wednesdays and

2 Fridays at Walton Rehabilitation Hospital. Classes meet 96 9:45 a.m., 10-10:45 a.m. or 12:15-1 p.m. $37.50/month. To

register, call 733-5959.

2 0 SENIORNET provides adults age 50 and over education for 0 2 and access to computer technology. Many different courses

are offered. Contact the USC-Aiken Continuing Education Office at (803) 641-3563.

National Silver Gloves Boxing Championship. Tickets are $4 adult and $2 child and are available through the Augusta Boxing Club. Call 733-7533 for more information.

BEGINNING FOIL FENCING CLASSES now forming at the Augusta Fencers Club. Youth class, for those 11 to 14 years old, meets Fridays, 6-7 p.m. and adult class meets Thursdays, 6-7 p.m. All competetive equipment provided, classes last approximately three months and begin Jan. 3-4.

Cost is $50 per month for either class. Call 722-8878 to register.

UPCOMING AUGUSTA LYNX HOME GAMES: Dec. 27, Jan. 3, 5, 11-12 and 17. For tickets, call the Lynx ticket office at 724-4423.

TICKETS NOW ON SALE for the Augusta GreenJackets 2003 season. Home games at Lake Olmstead Stadium. Tickets available at www.tixonline.com or by phone at (803) 2784TIX. There is also a TIX outlet inside Harmon Optical in Southgate Plaza.

YOUTH MONTHLY SPARRING the last Thursday of the month, 5:30 p.m., at the Augusta Boxing Club. Call 7337533.

Sports

Volunteer

GEORGIA GOLF HALL OF FAME ANNUAL INDUCTION BANQUET Jan. 11, 7 p.m., at the Radisson River front Hotel.

Tickets are $90 per person or $720 for a table of eight. For reservations, call Dianne King, 724-4443.

THE AUGUSTA MUSEUM OF HISTORY HOLDS DOCENT TRAINING class every Monday in January and February from 9:45 a.m. to noon. Classes begin on Jan. 6 and run through Feb. 24. The deadline for registration is noon Jan. 3.

Call 722-8454 to register.

TEN STAR ALL-STAR BASKETBALL CAMP is now accepting applications for its summer programs. Boys and girls ages 10-19 are eligible. Call (704) 373-0873 for information.

2003 EAST COAST SILVER GLOVES BOXING CHAMPIONSHIPS Jan. 10-11, 7 p.m., at May Park Gym. Boxers from eight states will compete for the right to at tend the

ADVERTISING SALES

THE EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT COALITION CAMPAIGN seeks volunteers to prepare basic ta x returns for low/limited income individuals, those with disabilities, non-English speakers and the elderly. Volunteers receive free training and instruction materials from the IRS. Call the Mayor’s Office for Workforce Development at 821-1834.

GOLDEN HARVEST FOOD BANK needs volunteers during the day, Monday-Friday, to help sor t donated products and assist in their agency shopping area. Help is needed yearround. If you are able to lif t 25 pounds and would like to help fight hunger in the Augusta area, contact Laurie Roper at 736-1199, ex t. 208.

THOROUGHBRED RACING HALL OF FAME DOCENTS NEEDED: Duties include opening and closing the Hall of Fame, greeting visitors and providing information about museum exhibits. Call Lisa Hall, (803) 642-7650 for information.

OLDER AMERICANS ACT SENIOR NUTRITION PROGRAM is looking for volunteers to serve meals to needy older residents. To volunteer, contact the Senior Citizens Council at 826-4480. For those in need of home-delivered meals, call 210-2018 or toll free at 1-888-922-4464.

AUGUSTA-RICHMOND COUNTY ANIMAL CONTROL: New volunteer orientation is scheduled the first Monday of each month at 6 p.m. at the shelter, 4164 Mack Lane. Schedule subject to change; call 790-6836 to verify dates and times.

The nex t meeting is scheduled for Jan. 7, 6:45 p.m. Club interests may call (803) 279-6186.

WALT DISNEY PIN TRADING GROUP is forming for all those interested in collecting and trading pins from Walt Disney World, Disneyland and other Disney resor ts. For more information, contact Tim Conway, 729-9900.

Weekly GEORGIA-CAROLINA TOASTMASTERS meets Wednesdays at noon at the Clubhouse, 2567 Washington Rd. $8 for lunch; visitors welcome. 860-9854.

SEXAHOLICS ANONYMOUS, a 12-step program of recovery from addiction to obsessive/compulsive sexual thoughts and behaviors, meets Wednesdays at 8 p.m. and Saturdays at 7 p.m. at Augusta Counselling Services. Call 723-3688 and leave first name and phone number; a confidential reply is assured.

AUGUSTA TOASTMASTERS CLUB #326 meets Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. at Advent Lutheran Church. Call 868-8431.

THE CSRA HUMANE SOCIETY is looking for animal lovers willing to donate a lit tle of their time. Volunteers are needed every Saturday at the Pet Center located behind GreenJackets Stadium on Milledge Road. Call 261-PETS for more info.

BUSINESS NETWORKERS INTERNATIONAL Augusta Chapter meets every Thursday morning from 7 to 8:30 a.m. in the Par tridge Inn main dining room. All professionals welcome; breakfast provided for a fee. Call Stuar t Rayburn, 737-0050.

SHEPEARD COMMUNITY BLOOD CENTER is seeking donors to prevent a blood supply shor tage. To donate call 7374551, 854-1880 or (803) 643-7996.

RIVERWALK TOASTMASTERS meets Mondays, 7 p.m. in Classroom 3 at University Hospital. Call Gale Kan, 8557071.

Meetings THE AUGUSTA SKI AND OUTING CLUB is a non-profit organization for those who enjoy snow skiing, boating, camping, whitewater raf ting, cycling and other outdoor recreation. The ASOC meets the first Tuesday of every month in the Alamo Room of Lone Star on Washington Rd.

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, The Metropolitan Spirit, P.O. Box 3809, Augusta, GA 30914 or fax (706) 733-6663. You may also e-mail listings to rhonda_jones@metspirit.com or lisa_jordan@metspirit.com.

Listings cannot be taken over the phone.

Holiday Happenings

The Metropolitan Spirit seeks experienced media sales people or people with qualified sales experience to sell display advertising. Excellent earnings, growth opportunity, and benefits.

RESUME AND COVER LETTER Advertising Sales c/o The Metropolitan Spirit P.O. Box 3809 Augusta, GA 30914 706-738-1142 All replies confidential

CHRISTMAS IN HOPELANDS Dec. 26-28.

Hopeland Gardens in Aiken is open from 6-9 p.m. and will be illuminated with over 75,000 lights for a walk-through exhibit. Shut tle service available running from the parking lot of Goodwill on Whiskey Rd. and the parking lot of Winn Dixie on York St. All guests must ride the shut tles. Free and open to the public. (803) 642-7631.

HOLIDAY CAMPS Dec. 26-28 and 31. Open to children ages 6-12. For more information, call the Bly the Area Recreation Center, 592-4988; McBean Activity Center, 798-1191; or Bernie Ward Community Center, 790-0588.

HOLLY DAYS AND THE SCIENCE OF TOYS Dec. 28 at For t Discovery. Special activities include science demos, ar ts and craf ts projects, workshops and enter tainment; it’s all free with paid general admission to For t Discovery. Call 8210200.

FORT DISCOVERY HOLIDAY CAMP Dec. 30-31 for astronauts in 2nd and 3rd grades. Hours are 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. For more information, contact Lisa Golden, 821-0646.

NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTY sponsored by the Christian Organization for Single Adults. Tickets are $10 for members and $12 for non-members.

Held at Westside High School. Please dress in festive holiday at tire. For information, contact Doris Heath, 736-3376.

PEACH DROP 2003 New Year’s Eve at Underground Atlanta. Activities take place between noon Dec. 31 and 4 a.m. Jan. 1, with per formance by Lit tle Richard, fireworks and the descent of the 800-pound “Big Peach.” All events are free. For more information, call (404) 5232311 or visit www.underatl.com.

NEW YEAR’S EVE AT CALLAWAY GARDENS in Pine Mountain, Ga., includes gourmet meal, music

by Gary Jenkins and Thundering Hear ts and cock tails. Package including lodging, New Year’s Day Brunch and admission to the gardens available. For information, visit www.callawaygardens.com or call 1-800-CALLAWAY. FANTASY IN LIGHTS HOLIDAY DISPLAY through Dec. 28 at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Ga. Tickets are $12 adult and $6 child ages 6-12 to view from your vehicle, $14 adult and $7 child 6-12 to view from open-air Jolly Trolly, free for children 5 and under. Purchase tickets in advance and select a time slot by calling 1-800-CALLAWAY. “A CHRISTMAS CAROL” through Dec. 29, presented by the Alliance Theatre Company in Atlanta.

Tickets are $18-$42. Call (404) 733-4690.

“IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE” comes to the Class Act Theatre in Mariet ta, Ga., through Dec. 29.

Tickets are $15 adult, $13 seniors and $12 children. (770) 579-3156.

HOLIDAY LUGGAGE EXCHANGE benefits local domestic violence shelters. Donations of used luggage will be accepted at the AAA of fice at 3601 Walton Way Ex t. through Dec. 31. For more information, visit www.aaasouth.com or call the Augusta AAA of fice at 738-6611.

THE MORRIS MUSEUM OF ART is collecting canned goods for the Golden Harvest Food Bank through Dec. 31. A two-can donation gets museum visitors $1 off admission. For information, call 724-7501.

“INVENTING SANTA: ART AND ADVERTISING” exhibit through Jan. 5 at the High Museum of Ar t in Atlanta. The museum is open Tuesday-Sunday.

Call (404) 733-HIGH for more information.

The 800 pound “Big Peach” is set to descend at midnight, Dec. 31 in Atlanta.

26 M E T R O S P I R I T D E C 2 6 2 0 0 2

HAPPY NEW YEAR Arts: Music ¢ From Noon On! Jazzamatazz Brings Pizzazz to St. Paul’s

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ho’d-a thunk Rudy Volkmann would have had an answer for the question I pulled on him last Thursday?

It was the kind of question that journalists throw out there when they’re fishing, just to see what will happen. The sort of question that frequently leads to something interesting and unexpected, if only because it throws off the subject for a moment, makes them regroup and think about things a little differently.

I asked, simply, “What is jazz?”

“Jazz is America’s only native musical art form, born from a combination of influences, including the ragtime from black composers in the Northeast in the 1880s; the black and Creole musicians of New Orleans, from about the 1860s; the blues writers of the American South and of course more recent influences like the African-American and Latin rhythms,” Volkmann replied. “It’s the only musical art form that has as one of its chief ingredients the idea that performers will create spontaneously.”

At that point I brought up an issue that comes up again and again in the realms of folk music of many cultures – the drive of older musicians to preserve the purity of their art versus the drive of the young to experiment and create new forms on the backs of the old.

Volkmann is all for experimentation, while paying homage to tradition with certain pieces. “Well, I think jazz is an evolving art form, as all art forms need to be – and yet at the same time, we try to honor tradition. If we do a traditional tune, we will make an effort to do it more or less in a traditional style.”

Even in classical music, which sometimes seems lost in a distant past, things change, he pointed out, from the materials used in making music to the very size of the instruments. “All Strads (type of violin) have longer necks than they did when Stradivari built them,” he said. “The Baroque violin is probably three inches shorter than the modern instrument.”

There is an actual reason we were chatting about jazz that day. Volkmann will be

performing jazz standards and original pieces with Jazzamatazz at St. Paul’s Church as part of the Tuesday’s Music Live series at noon.

Volkmann explained that Jazzamatazz takes more than one form, depending on the reason for the performance. On the 7th, he said, you’re going to see the concert group, consisting of him and five others. Fabio Mann will play trumpet; Dr. Rob Foster will play woodwinds; Northal Gaddy will play drums; John Lamb will play bass; Chris Mangelly will play piano; and Volkmann himself will play the bass trumpet.

“That’s our usual concert group,” he said.

“We perform with a slightly different membership as a quintet,” he said, but didn’t elaborate with the names. The quintet, he said, is the educational arm of The Jazz Project, which is Volkmann’s core group.

“We go around to the elementary schools in seven counties in Georgia and three counties in the South Carolina area.”

The quintet’s approach is a little different, also. Because they’re visiting young people, they’re not giving a straight performance.

They take part in educational assemblies, during which the musicians demonstrate the instruments and tell the kids all kinds of interesting things about jazz as an art form.

Jazzamatazz is something that gives Volkmann plenty of pleasure. “These are the best musicians,” he said. “It’s really a fun group to write for and to arrange for and to play with.”

As for Tuesday’s program, Volkmann said there will be some variety. “We’ll probably do a couple of big band standards, some originals.”

Jazzamatazz aren’t necessarily following any prescriptions in what they choose to perform. It’s all whim and whimsy. “Because I’m the artistic director, the performances tend to reflect my musical tastes,” Volkmann said, expressing a love for the old swing tunes. But there will be ballads and some Latin pieces as well, he said.

See Jazzamatazz perform at noon at St. Paul’s at 605 Reynolds Street. This is a catered event. If you would like to reserve a lunch, or if you need info, call (706) 722-3463.

27

Celebrate the Holidays at Azalea Inn

M E T R O S P I R I T D E C 2 6 2 0 0 2

New Years Eve Packages Gift Certificates King & Queen Suites Fireplaces Whirlpool Tubs 312-334 Greene Street • Augusta, GA 30901 • 724-3454 • 1-877-292-5324

M E T R O S P I R I T D E C

Cinema

2 6

Movie Listings

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Analyze That (R) — This sequel to the 1999 hit

"Analyze This," in which Rober t De Niro was top hood Paul Vit ti and Billy Crystal was his rabbit-nerved Jewish shrink, Dr. Sobol, is a string of mildly connective skit bits held together by capable casting and silly nonsense. Vit ti gets out of prison into the angst-rife care of Sobol, whose wife (Lisa Kudrow) is sarcastically aghast. Who would have thought De Niro, who carried the method to the edge of personality erasure, and was infamously a dull, stone-panic interview, would evolve into such comic confidence? When he sings "I Feel Pret ty" from "West Side Story," brilliantly badly, your jaw may drop like a punch line. Cast: Billy Crystal, Rober t De Niro, Lisa Kudrow, Joe Viterelli, Anthony LaPaglia, Cathy Moriar ty-Gentile. Running time: 1 hr., 34 mins. (Elliot t) ★★1/2 Barbershop (PG-13) — In this day in the wacky life of a Chicago salon, the rapper/actor Ice Cube drops his rough, gruf f image to play Calvin, the current owner of the barbershop. The shop was passed down to him from his dad and has been a mainstay of the community for years. Calvin couldn't care less, because he has a pregnant wife and wants to make money fast. In a moment of stupidity, he sells the place to the neighborhood loan shark. Af ter spending a day talking with customers and fellow barbers, he realizes the impor tance of the shop. He then has to buy back the shop at double the price. Meanwhile at the barbershop itself, tensions begin to rise. Cast: Ice Cube, Anthony Anderson, Sean Patrick Thomas, Eve, Troy Garity, Michael Ealy and Cedric the Enter tainer.

Running time: 1 hr., 42 mins. (McCormick) ★★★ Brown Sugar (PG-13) — "Brown Sugar " is a romantic comedy focusing on two childhood friends who have both found success in the world of hip-hop: one is an A&R executive at a record label and the other

“Catch Me If You Can”

Photo courtesy of Dreamworks

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is the editor of a glossy music mag. Even though they’re both involved with others, the two find that they may have already found love – years ago with each other. Cast: Sanaa Latham, Taye Diggs, Queen Latifah, Mos Def. Catch Me If You Can (PG-13) — Leonardo DiCaprio is Frank W. Abagnale, a teen-age criminal who, from 1964-1966, stole millions of dollars through forgery schemes and used various personas to evade the police. Af ter striking a deal with police, Abagnale reforms and becomes a consultant for the FBI, an agency that once worked against him. Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Jennifer Garner, Christopher Walken. Running time: 2 hrs., 20 mins.

Die Another Day (PG-13) — Pierce Brosnan moves with energy and can fake conviction. His chest hair is superb, his voice remains Bondaceous. But he looks peaked, and we imagine he found time to remember when acting meant, well, acting. Not just pulverizing glass, plunging through ice, brandishing absurd weapons and making limp jokes. True to its Cold War roots, the series reaches for one more Rot ten Commie enemy. So bring on dear old Nor th Korea. A Pyongyang lunatic has found the resources, via diamonds, to create a satellite sun called Icarus, to burn or blind the dumb Yanks, the snot ty Brits and the greedy South Korean stooges. He captures Bond, tortures him, then zips of f to Cuba, where he is DNAmorphed into a sneery Brit named Graves (Toby Stephens). We recall Connery, and old plots that, however abundantly silly, were adventurous larks and not just plastic shelves for hardware display. Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry, Toby Stephens, Rosamund Pike, John Cleese, Judi Dench, Rick Yune. Running time: 2 hrs. (Elliot t) ★★

Drumline (PG-13) — A young street drummer from Harlem wins a scholarship to at tend a Southern university and decides to make the trek af ter being convinced by the university’s band director, even though he knows he’ll have a hard time fit ting in.

Gradually, his drumming skills help the other students warm up to him. Cast: Nick Cannon, Orlando Jones, Zoe Saldana, Jason Weaver.

8 Mile (R) — As Jimmy "Rabbit" Smith, Eminem flunks his first hip-hop bat tle, a cut ting contest of insult rhymes at a black club, is pegged a choker and sulks back to his grueling job at a metal-stamping mill.

The simple story is how Rabbit motorizes his mouth, confirming the "genius" proclaimed by pal and club emcee Future (Mekhi Phifer). As a buzzer, it has juice.

Thanks to Eminem and the rising rap momentum, "8 Mile" is engrossing. In this urban, if not urbane, fantasy, the hero takes a bad beating, gets up and goes to work, interrupts work to wow everyone at the hip-hop club, then returns to work af ter a verbal outlay that would have put even Winston Churchill in bed for days.

Cast: Eminem, Kim Basinger, Mekhi Phifer, Evan Jones, Brit tany Murphy, Anthony Mackie. Running time: 1 hr., 58 mins. (Elliot t) ★★★ Empire (R) — Victor Rosa is John Leguizamo's best movie work so far, a subtle and richly internalized per formance. Vic is a Bronx drug dealer who runs his four-man crew of buddies. Feeling successful but crowded, and now at tached to a woman he loves (Delilah Cot to), Vic meets the smoothie Jack Wimmer (Peter Sarsgaard). This yupster grif ter has an Ivy League purr of success and suits that seem tailored down to his chromosomes; he lures Vic into an airy investment scheme that seems more legal and less lethal than Vic's drug jungle. Grateful to be adopted

into a dream world he has envied, feeling this is a classy "out," Vic is being suckered. The movie is good at building momentum but less so in delivering, and the feeling for noir doom is never as credible as the sense of upward hunger. Cast: John Leguizamo, Peter Sarsgaard, Denise Richards, Vincent Laresca, Sonia Braga, Isabella Rossellini. Running time: 1 hr., 30 mins. (Elliot t) ★★1/2 Friday After Next (R) — This is the third film in the "Friday" series and features the same people, places and pals highlighted in the first two. "Friday Af ter Nex t" takes place around Christmas, as Craig and Day-Day are working as security guards af ter a "ghet to Santa" who’s been stealing presents. Cast: Ice Cube, Mike Epps, Don "D.C." Curry.

Gangs of New York (R) — Mar tin Scorsese's film is not a bore and is never less than a show, but it feels like having obscure history lessons hammered into your skull. Filmed with potboiler instincts, this pungent flux of pre-glam New York centers on the rather my thic precinct of crime called the Five Points.

The plot, a slender bone in an obese production, involves the arrival of the Irish in New York City in 1846 and af ter. They face the prejudice of a nativist gang of thugs, allied with young Tammany Hall. Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz, Jim Broadbent, Henry Thomas, Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson. 2 hrs., 40 mins. (Elliot t) ★★1/2 Ghost Ship (R) — A salvage crew on a mission discovers an abandoned passenger ship, missing since 1953, floating on a lone stretch of the Bering Sea. When the crew decides to tow the passenger ship back, strange things begin to happen. Cast: Gabriel Byrne, Juliana Margulies, Desmond Harrington.

Halloween: Resurrection (R) — Jamie Lee

Photo courtesy of New Line Cinema

“Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”

RATINGS

★★★★ — Excellent.

★★★— Worthy.

★★ — Mixed.

★ — Poor.

0— Not worthy.

29

“Pinocchio”

M E T R O S P I R I T D E C

Photo courtesy of Miramax

I Can Cope (Jan 7-28 at 6:30pm) is an American Cancer Society four program series which consists of enlightening and educational sessions for those diagnosed with cancer, their family and friends. There is NO charge for I Can Cope, but registration is encouraged. Please call your American Cancer Society to register at 706-731-9900 or 1-800-ACS-2345.

Refreshments and childcare provided.

Cur tis makes an appearance once again in the eighth film in the "Halloween" series. This time, six teens decide to host a live Internet chat in the house where Michael Myers grew up, stirring up evil. Cast: Jamie Lee Cur tis, Tyra Banks, Brad Loree.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (PG) — Harry (Daniel Radclif fe) faces destiny with a

clear eye and spor ty will, not the least neurotic despite having been orphaned into a family of idiotic prigs who treat him abominably. He again escapes to Hogwar ts, to his pals (Ruper t Grint as wobble-faced Ron, Emma Watson as bookworm Hermione) and the snippish regard of Prof. Snape (Alan Rickman) and Prof. McGonegall (Maggie Smith), and the wonder ful giant Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) and Headmaster Dumbledore (Richard Harris, now dead). Jason Isaacs should be given more time as Lucius, the evil, whitemaned father of snob Draco Malfoy. There is a sense of a grand machine greased, sometimes grinding. The "chamber of secrets" is less an exciting mystery at the center than a device to car t the bulky saga forward.

Cast: Daniel Radclif fe, Ruper t Grint, Emma Watson, Kenneth Branagh, Richard Harris, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane. Running time: 2 hrs., 41 mins. (Elliot t) ★★★ The Hot Chick (PG-13) — If the name isn’t enough to scare you, perhaps the idea that a vapid teenage girl wakes up to find herself inhabiting Rob Schneider’s body is. In the course of trying to get back to her true self, the popular teen discovers just how shallow she is. Cast: Rob Schneider, Andrew Keegan, Mat thew Lawrence.

Jackass: The Movie (R) — Nothing more than a big-screen version of the hit MTV series, "Jackass: The Movie" features Johnny Knox ville and pals performing hilarious and dangerous stunts and playing practical jokes on unsuspecting crowds. Don’t try this at home. Cast: Johnny Knox ville, Bam Margera, Ryan Dunn, Steve O. Jonah: A Veggie Tales Movie (G) — The animated group of vegetables that stars in the "Veggie Tales" car toons comes to the big screen in "Jonah." A van of singing veggies breaks down in front of a strange seafood joint inhabited by a lazy bunch of pirates who proceed to spin the tale of Jonah and the whale for the impressionable young vegetables. Cast: Phil Vischer, Kristin Blegen, Mike Nawrocki, Lisa Vischer. Running time: 1 hr., 23 mins.

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (PG13) — Frodo Baggins and the Fellowship return in

their ongoing quest to destroy the magical ring that may be used for evil. It’s the second film in the series and the second novel in Tolkien’s trilogy. Cast: Elijah Wood, Sir Ian McKellen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchet t, Orlando Bloom, Liv Tyler.

Maid in Manhattan (PG-13) — The airy fantasy puts Jennifer Lopez into a cute maid's uniform at a swank New York hotel. She's Marisa, and when she tries on the very expensive, if rather Bel Air Trophy Wife out fit of a snobbish guest, this at tracts the "playboy" eye of senatorial hopeful Chris Marshall (Ralph Fiennes). Chris' manager (Stanley Tucci) is in controlfreak agony that the Republican politician might fall in love with someone not toity and rich. The film is most marked by the flagrant waste of talent. As the sitcom yucks racked up their lit tle nif ties, perked along by music, I had a weird, tiny pinch of nostalgia for "Jackass: The Movie." Cast: Jennifer Lopez, Ralph Fiennes, Bob Hoskins, Natasha Richardson, Stanley Tucci, Tyler Garcia Posey. Running time: 1 hr., 35 mins. (Elliot t) ★1/2

Cradle Club Senior Friends Community Ed Educational Program – Diabetes and its Drug Treatment**

Join our Cradle Club today!

Membership is FREE. Please PRE-REGISTER for aLL classes. Call 651-BABY (2229) or register online.

Pinocchio (G) — "Pinocchio" is the latest Italian

impor t from Rober to Benigni, who stars as the title character of the classic fairy tale. An Italian toymaker produces a wooden puppet who desperately wants to be a real boy. It’s in Italian, with English subtitles.

Cast: Rober to Benigni, Nicolet te Braschi, Carlo Giuf fre.

The Ring (PG-13) — begins with the telling of an urban-legend-like tale that, for a while, seems likely to consign this movie to the slasher/horror bin: A weird videotape is circulating. As soon as you're through watching it, the telephone rings. A voice on the phone informs you that you have seven days to live. Seven days later, you die. The film boasts first-rate per formances, a gorgeous look, an engaging plot and a jangly, thrumming sense of dread. The ef fectiveness of such a movie depends entirely on the beholder. Save for a long, uneasy feeling of foreboding and one solid jolt, I didn't find it all that scary. Two young women exiting the theater in front of me, however, declared that the thing had terrified them, and I'm willing to take their word for it. Cast: Naomi Wat ts, Mar tin Henderson, David Dor fman, Brian Cox. Running time: 1 hr., 55 mins. (Salm) ★★1/2 The Santa Clause 2 (G) — Tim Allen discovers af ter eight years of being Santa that there's another small detail in his contract: In order for him to continue being the Jolly Old Elf, he's got to take a wife. But first he has to deal with his son, Charlie (Eric Lloyd), who's landed himself on the naughty list. Charlie's principal (Elizabeth Mitchell) wants him gone pronto and is a bit blue because the holidays don't mean as much to her as they once did. With 28 days to go before the contract expires, Santa's got a lot of work to do. One of his trusty elves comes up with a machine that can duplicate Santa while he's out in the real world hunting for a wife. Allen is remarkable playing Santa as funny, wise and sympathetic, all at the same time. 1 hr., 42 mins. (McCormick) ★★★ Signs (PG-13) — Mel Gibson plays Father Graham Hess, an Episcopal priest who lost his faith and retired his collar af ter his wife was killed in an auto accident. He lives in an old farmhouse with two adorable kids, plus a younger brother (Joaquin Phoenix). Big, elegantly precise "crop signs" turn up in their cornfield. It's space aliens, and the movie teases us as the signs pile up. The aliens show up, shoving clawed hands under doors but scared by steak knives, full of evil strength, yet not able to knock down the pathetic blockade of a fruit cellar. "Signs," though handsomely shot, seems meant for viewers who need to believe in tabloid aliens, and that we can beat them with plain-spun, homeland vir tues. It should be called "Sins" for compounding the sins of bad filming. Cast: Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, M. Night Shyamalan, Cherry Jones. Running time: 1 hr., 46 mins. (Elliot t) ★

Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams (PG) — A cheer ful theme park of a comedy about

junior spies, with a bigger budget and more inventive fun than the 2001 original (the plot is no advance).

Rober t Rodriguez directed, wrote, helped with the digital ef fects and gizmo touches, including excellent creatures. The many Hispanic rif fs do not land with PC heaviness, and the lively cast includes Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara as the main kids, plus Antonio Banderas, Steve Buscemi, Carla Gugino, Alan Cumming, Bill Pa x ton, Tony Shalhoub, Danny Trejo, Cheech Marin and (still macho at 81) Ricardo Montalban. Running time: 1 hr., 27 mins. (Elliot t) ★★★

continued on page 30

Tuesday, January 7, 11:30 am Presented by Thomas Taylor, Pharm. D. Free lunch provided. Please pre-register.

Saturday Express Prepared Childbirth Class*

Ballroom Dance Classes**

January 4, 9 am – 5 pm

Tuesday, January 7, 6:30 pm Beginners/Intermediate. Must pre-register Tuesday, January 7, 7:45 pm Intermediate/Advanced. Must pre-register Cost is $48 for six lessons per couple.

Prepared Childbirth Classes* Mondays, January 6 – February 3 Tuesdays, January 7 – February 11 7 – 9:30 pm

Line Dance Lessons**

Infant CPR*

Monday, January 6, 7 pm, Beginners.

Wednesday, January 8, 1 pm Advanced.

Wednesday, January 8, 2:45 pm Intermediate.

Cost is only $9 for 6 weeks. Partners are not needed to take this class. Must pre-register.

Thursday, January 16, 6:30 – 9 pm

Baby’s Brother and Sister* Sunday, January 19, 2 – 3:30 pm

Baby Care* Sunday, January 19, 4 – 6:30 pm

You’re a Big Girl Now*

Saturday, January 11, 10 am – 12 pm This class is for girls ages 9-12, along with their mothers. Information will be provided on puberty and adolescence. Girls will discuss strategies on how to successfully "survive" these natural changes. Please pre-register.

Growing Into Womanhood: A Time for Confidence and Decisions* Saturday, January 25, 10 am – 12 pm This course is for girls 13-16 and their mothers or a female relative. Sexuality, peer pressure, substance abuse and confident decision-making skills will be taught and discussed.

AARP Driver Safety Program**

Labor and Delivery Tour Breastfeeding*

Thursday & Friday, January 9 and 10, 12 pm Participants must pre-register.

Open to the public.

Thursday, January 23, 6:30 – 8:30 pm *These classes will be held at: Doctors Hospital Campus, 3623 J. Dewey Gray Circle Medical Office Building I, Cradle Club Classroom, Suite 110.

**These Senior Friends programs will be held in the Senior Friends meeting area, located on the Doctors Hospital Campus Building III, 1305 Interstate Parkway (Senior Friends Meeting Area)

Thursday, January 23, 7 – 8:30 pm

For more information, call 651-2450 or visit www.doctors-hospital.net

3651 Wheeler Road • Augusta, GA

10AM-2:30PM

BRUNCH Complimentary Champagne and Mimosas after 12:30 pm

Music by George Sykes Buzz Clifford Rob Foster

Brunch Special

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Make Reservations for New Year’s Eve

continued from page 29 Star Trek: Nemesis (PG-13) — Politically, the story parallels "The Undiscovered Country," with peace over tures this time coming from the Romulans.

Their new leader, Shinzon (Hardy), turns out to be not only human, but a young clone of Captain Picard (Patrick Stewar t). He'd been engineered for nefarious purposes, then abandoned and sent to die on Romulus' sister planet, Remus, Shinzon grows up to lead the Reman species in a successful revolt. Now, he wants only to make peace. Or does he? The film goes on at roughly the rate dilithium crystals melt at room temperature until the last half-hour, at which point the filmmakers remember that in "Star Trek" there are such things as phasers, photon torpedoes, cloaking devices, warp drives and starships. For our patience, we are rewarded with a prolonged O.K. Corral shootout. Cast: Patrick Stewar t, Jonathan Frakes, Tom Hardy, Marina Sir tis, Brent Spiner, LeVar Bur ton, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden. Running time: 1 hr., 48 mins. (Salm) ★★1/2 Sweet Home Alabama (PG-13) — Only a year and two weeks af ter New York became our most tormented but inspiring city, it is upstaged by a happy hicksville called Pigeon Creek. Why? Because cute "Mel" (Reese Witherspoon) fled poor-folks marriage to Pigeon Creek sweethear t Jake (Josh Lucas). She is now a light of Manhat tan as fashion designer Melanie Carmichael. And she has the love of politically upward dreamboat Andrew (Patrick Dempsey, son of The Apple's tough but dishy mayor, Candice Bergen). Andy doesn't know that his betrothed is still married to 'Bama boy Jake, who is hur t, haunted and planning his own rise from mediocrity. Mel returns home for a divorce, puts on her corn-pone accent instantly, and rediscovers the joys of Pigeon Creek. Director Andy Tennant serves this corny material with the skill of a machine punching out Alabama license plates. Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Josh Lucas, Patrick Dempsey, Fred Ward, Mary Kay Place, Candice Bergen. Running time: 1 hr., 40 mins. (Elliot t) ★★ The Transporter (PG-13) — Frank Mar tin is an ex-special forces operator living the quiet life along the Mediterranean in France. He suppor ts himself by running his own courier service – with a few rules.

Namely, Mar tin doesn’t want to know who he’s working for or what he’s delivering. But when Mar tin notices the package he’s transpor ting star t to move, he looks in the box and finds a beautiful and bound woman. Cast: Jason Statham, Shu Qi, Mat t Schulze.

Treasure Planet (PG) — The movie transmutes Rober t Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island" into the heavily digitalized animation of a "Star Wars" of fshoot.

Now Jim is a very American and stalwar t 'toon-teen voiced by Joseph Gordon-Levit t, and Silver (Brian Murray) is a huge cyborg with an old-salt pirate face and tech arms wor thy of the Terminator on a hardware rampage. A space movie that has interstellar craf t with lof ty, luminous sails and crusty barnacles on hulls is

“The Hot Chick”

New Lunch & Dinner Menus Mon-Sat Lunch & Dinner

437 Highland Ave • Augusta, GA 706.737.6699 • Fax 706.733.8644

After Christmas Sale

35% to 50% Off Christmas Items 25% Off

Everyday Items *some restrictions apply

706-738-6125 3626 Walton Way

Sal 12/2e thro 6 u 12/2 gh 8

Photo courtesy of Touchtone

30

so absurd that it's charming. In visual fer tility, "Treasure Planet" rivals the top Japanese animations of recent vintage. For the sub-13 crowd (and many beyond it), this is satisfying holiday enter tainment.

Voices: Joseph Gordon-Levit t, Emma Thompson, Michael Wincot t, Brian Murray, Mar tin Shor t, Laurie Metcalf, Roscoe Lee Browne, Patrick McGoohan.

Running time: 1 hr., 35 mins. (Elliot t) ★★★ The Tuxedo (PG-13) — Jackie Chan plays Jimmy Tong, a cabby who lands a job as chauf feur for Clark Devlin (Jason Isaacs), a wealthy industrialist.

Devlin is every thing Jimmy wants to be — handsome, smar t, rich, cultured and impeccably dressed. One of Devlin's prized possessions is an Armani tuxedo that seems to be a hit with the ladies and a definite confidence-booster. But Jimmy discovers there's more to Devlin than meets the eye af ter the boss is injured by a bomb while on assignment. Before he loses consciousness, Devlin asks Jimmy to wear the suit, a prototype created by a government agency that gives its wearer abilities far beyond mor tal men. Af ter Jimmy tests out the tux, he's thrust into the spy game.

Cast: Jackie Chan, Jennifer Love Hewit t, Jason Isaacs, Ritchie Coster, Debi Mazar and Peter Stormare.

Running time: 1 hr., 30 mins. (McCormick) ★★ Two Weeks Notice (PG-13) — Lucy Kelson (Sandra Bullock) is a smar t but stressed at torney whose client, millionaire George Wade (Hugh Grant), is deeply dependent on her. George won’t let her quit until she finds her own replacement – a young lawyer who has her eye on George. George, however, is looking elsewhere: at what just lef t. Cast: Sandra Bullock, Hugh Grant, Alicia Wit t.

The Wild Thornberrys (PG) — Big-screen version of the animated Nickeloden series about a family who travels around the world to make nature documentaries. While in Africa, 12-year-old Eliza learns that she can speak with animals and, with their help, aims to stop a group of poachers. Cast: Lacey Chaber t, Tim Curry, Ruper t Everet t, Flea, Lynn Redgrave, Marisa Tomei.

XXX (PG-13) — Vin Diesel is buf f, which is surely the main point of his playing "edge spor ts" thrill-seeker turned CIA agent Xander Cage, but he has glints of boyish vulnerability. As he grooves into playing the new agent recruited by the agency's top dude (Samuel L. Jackson), the movie finds a rhy thm that is like a more masculine, bulked-up "Barbarella." The plot is junk, about a gang of ex-Red Army crazies led by a satanic Slavic slime (Mar ton Csokas), nihilists eager to destroy the world with a superweapon. It's another movie where you must believe, or giggle. Cast: Vin Diesel, Samuel L. Jackson, Asia Argento, Mar ton Csokas, Danny Trejo. Running time: 1 hr., 44 mins.

(Elliot t) ★★ —Capsules compiled from movie reviews written by David Elliott, film critic for The San Diego Union-Tribune and other staff writers.

31

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

Music

D E C

YEAR IN MUSIC I

BRITNEY SPEARS

LISA JORDAN

BY

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THE

2 6

t’s the end of another year – which means, of course, that it’s time for the usual recaps, top tens, best of/worst of lists and the like. Here, we remember the people, events and albums that made up 2002’s musical landscape.

tying the knot: Jessica Simpson and singer Nick Lachey of 98º wed in October; Brandy owned up this year to her summer 2001 wedding and had a baby in June; middle Hanson brother Taylor married and fathered a child in 2002.

ALL GROWN UP

THE MOVIE CONNECTION

Now that Britney and Justin’s fans are moving into the voting (or legally drinking) demographic, what’s a teenybopper pop star to do? Show how truly grown up they can be, of course.

Justin Timberlake of *NSYNC and Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys struck out on their own with surprisingly well-received solo albums, proving that maybe the boy band craze is finally over.

Timberlake’s *NSYNC colleague Lance Bass, in a very “What I wanna do when I grow up” moment, attempted to travel into outer space, but his request was later turned down by the Russian space agency.

Christina Aguilera shed even more clothes for the October release of her album “Stripped.” With song titles like “Dirrty” and “Get Mine, Get Yours,” and her f-word peppered Rolling Stone cover story last month, Aguilera’s trying hard to erase her bubblegum past.

Still other popsters proved their point by

Another 2002 trend seemed to be musicians trying their hand at acting. Britney Spears starred in the dismal “Crossroads,” while (Lil’) Bow Wow just wanted to be “Like Mike.” Eve found success with roles in “XXX” and “Barbershop” and Beyonce Knowles of Destiny’s Child became the latest Powers Girl, Foxxy Cleopatra, in “Austin Powers in Goldmember.” Eminem proved that yes, personality alone really can carry a movie with the success of “8 Mile.”

THE OZZY PHENOMENON MTV’s latest reality hit, “The Osbournes,” debuted in March and became the highestrated series in MTV history. The show, which followed the day-to-day doings of Ozzy Osbourne, wife and manager Sharon and kids Kelly and Jack, became a mainstay of pop culture, and we busied ourselves trying to figure out what the @#$% Ozzy was saying.

In April, Ozzy got a star on the Hollywood

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Walk of Fame. Kelly recorded a cover of Madonna’s “Papa Don’t Preach” for “The Osbourne Family Album,” which also ended up on her debut album, “Shut Up.” Sharon was diagnosed with colon cancer in the summer, but remains upbeat and is currently doing well.

STILL KICKING Paul McCartney married former model Heather Mills and managed to tick off Yoko Ono this year. On his “Back in the U.S.” collection, classic Beatles tracks, the writing credits of which have been listed as “Lennon-McCartney” since the early 1960s, are credited to “Paul McCartney and John Lennon.”

McCartney also toured the U.S. for the first time in nearly a decade.

In other touring news, Cher launched her “Living Proof Farewell Tour” this year, and the Rolling Stones started on their “40 Licks” world tour.

FUNDAMENTALLY BAD PR MOVES Proving that he really is losing it, Michael Jackson lashes out at Sony head Tommy Mottola in July, accusing him of racism for not promoting Jackson’s “Invincible” album; in November, he dangles his infant son, head covered by a washcloth, over the railing of a fifth-floor hotel balcony.

Of course, there’s the obligatory J. Lo mention: Lopez divorced husband of 10 months Cris Judd and got engaged to Ben Affleck. Oh, and she made some CDs and movies and stuff, too.

Among those getting mug shots this year: Adam Ant threatens to pistol-

whip some pub patrons with a fake gun, the boys of Oasis get some teeth knocked out in a barroom brawl, D’Angelo is charged with some road rage-driven assault, Mystikal is arrested for rape, R. Kelly is indicted on more than 21 counts of child pornography and Queen Latifah gets pulled over for a DUI.

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NEW YEAR’S EVE

NOTABLE CD RELEASES The surviving members of Nirvana and Courtney Love stop feuding long enough to release “Nirvana,” a greatest hits collection with previously unreleased track “You Know You’re Right.” Kurt Cobain’s personal diaries are published as “Journals” by Riverhead books.

Beck takes a turn for the depressed on his critically acclaimed “Sea Change,” Coldplay finds popularity and maturity with second album “A Rush of Blood to the Head,” Avril Lavigne makes the anti-Britney wife beater and necktie look cool with self-penned debut “Let Go,” and “Brainwashed” is George Harrison’s posthumous release.

PAYING TRIBUTE We remember some of the musical legends we lost in 2002: country music rebel Waylon Jennings, exAlice in Chains lead singer Layne Staley, TLC girl Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, The Who bassist John Entwistle, Dee Dee Ramone, RATT guitarist Robbin Crosby, Widespread Panic founding member Michael Houser, Drowning Pool frontman Dave Williams, Run-D.M.C.’s Jam Master Jay, Mary Hansen of Stereolab and Lovin’ Spoonful’s Zal Yanovsky.

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34

Faith Hill Experiments on “Cry”

M E T R O

By Mike Toombs

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aith Hill is certainly well-acquainted with gold and platinum, watching as her 1999 album, “Breathe,” sold more than 8 million copies to country and pop music fans alike.

And now on her new release, “Cry,” the singer has introduced herself to Pink.

The fateful encounter comes on “If You’re Gonna Fly Away,” a song written by Linda Perry, formerly of 4 Non Blondes (“What’s Up”), and Alicia B. Moore, much better known as pop sensation Pink.

Far more typical of Pink than of Hill, “Fly Away” offers a despairing picture indeed: “So you’ll take a thousand pills, hoping to be numb / Lie awake in bed counting all that’s wrong.”

“The lyrics are very disturbing, but in my opinion,” Hill said, “by the end of that song you feel there has been a change in the moment. And it’s all up to interpretation — we all feel differently about things — but that’s how I saw it. So I wanted it to be that revival, almost.”

One might expect Pink to wallow a bit in her misery, but Hill insists that her relentlessly upbeat version is faithful to Pink’s original demo.

“She lifted it up, and it was a very, very spiritual feeling,” Hill said. “And I met her for the first time the other day. We were in London, doing ‘Top of the Pops’ there, and she came in and it was so nice to meet her, because I think she’s a really, really talented girl.

“But I told her we had a very difficult time, because the work tape that she had done was so honest and so real and so pure that making a record was senseless, almost. I wanted it to be like that; I wanted it to be in the roughest form.”

Hill’s fans can breathe easy, though. True to form, there is little about “Cry” that could be called rough. With one notable exception — Tim McGraw, Hill’s husband and duet partner (“It’s Your Love”), is a no-show — the new album incorporates all the familiar elements from the singer’s four previous studio albums.

“Cry” features smoothly modulated singing

by Hill and, on many of the 14 tracks, epicsounding production (by Byron Gallimore, Dann Huff and Marti Frederiksen).

The dramatic title song is, not surprisingly, the first single, although in impact it would seem a far cry from the similarly scaled “Breathe.”

“I just think it’s a powerful love song,” Hill said of “Cry,” which follows the breakup of a relationship: “I gave, now I want something in return / So cry just a little for me.”

“The thought of saying that to a lover after a relationship has ended,” Hill continued, “is pretty direct and intense, I thought.”

The new album also maintains a tradition of spotlighting female songwriters. Familiar names include Bekka Bramlett, who is one of Hill’s backup singers, and Beth Nielsen Chapman and Annie Roboff, who wrote “Free,” which opens the album.

“Sure, I probably could relate to a woman’s point of view more than a man’s point of view, but there’s a lot of male writers on this album,” Hill said with a laugh, noting that “Cry” composer Angie Aparo is actually a man.

“I want to find the material that really moves me,” she added. “I don’t even look at the songwriter until after I’ve heard the song.

I really don’t care where it comes from.”

The album does allow Hill a few breaks from the usual routine. “Stronger,” with its subdued production, lets her showcase her vocal talent as it recalls the gospel-grounded soul of the 1960s.

“It’s the soul music that comes out of the church, which I think is all over that song.

It’s all over ‘One,’ it’s all over ‘Free,’ even,” Hill said.

On those last two songs in particular, Hill, 35, makes her boldest nods yet to her R&B roots, evoking Janet Jackson’s classic recordings with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. In doing so, Hill is perhaps freeing herself from the notion that this might alienate some of her fans, especially those who have followed the Mississippi native’s career since she arrived in Nashville with her 1994 debut single, the deceptively titled “Wild One.” “I’ve always incorporated those sounds in my records — not as much as this, because the songs have never been there for me to do that,” Hill said. “I’m very comfortable in that place, because that’s what I first heard – that was the music that I was first ever exposed to.

“It was that sound, because that’s the music that comes out of the church. And I believe country music, once you strip it all back, is from that same place, in some way.”

35 M E T R O S P I R I T D E C

Happy Holidays from the staff of

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

Night Life

D E C 2 6 2 0 0 2

Thursday, 26th The Bee’s Knees - 12 Tone Lounge Borders - Lisa Savage Cafe Du Teau - Buzz Clif ford Club Argos - Karaoke Night Continuum - Playa*Listic Thursday Coyote’s - The Rhes Reeves Band D. Timm’s - Joe Patchen and the Blue Diamond Express Garden City Bar and Grill - Karaoke with Mad Dog Mike Greene Streets - Karaoke Joe’s Underground - Keith “Fossill” Gregory Michael’s - Marilyn Adcock Modjeska - Kosmic Karma with Three Six ty Playground - Open Mic Night The Shack - DJ Billy Shannon’s - Glenn Beasley Soul Bar - Superchief, Stink foot Time Piecez - DJ Dance Par ty Whiskey Junction - DJ Chaos Whiskey Road Oyster Factory - Weston and Preston

Friday, 27th The Bee’s Knees - Live Jazz Cadillac’s - Brass Tyme Cafe Du Teau - Buzz Clif ford Club Argos - De Caberet DeJonville Coconuts - DJs Doug and Eric Continuum - Jemani with Guest Cotton Patch - The Free Beer Band Coyote’s - The Rhes Reeves Band Crossroads - Happy Bones, El Dorado Deluxe D. Timm’s - Joe Patchen and the Blue Diamond Express Durango’s - Heavy Dose Five Pines Saloon - Jimmy Smithy and Sudden Thunder Fox’s Lair - Tara Scheyer Garden City Bar and Grill - Karaoke Greene Streets - Karaoke Highlander - Senatobia Honk y Tonk - Danny Rhea and the Empty Pockets Joe’s Underground - JAR Last Call - Tony Howard, DJ Richie Rich Luck y Lady’s - The Duke Boys Michael’s - Marilyn Adcock Modjeska - The Flavour Shoppe with Terany, DJ Ty Bess The Shack - DJ Buckwheat Shannon’s - Steve Chappell, Bar t Bell Soul Bar - Disco Hell Whiskey Junction - Wa x Bean, DJ Paul

Saturday, 28th The Bee’s Knees - Sweet Nuthin’ Saturdays Cadillac’s - Brass Tyme Cafe Du Teau - Buzz Clif ford Club Argos - Pre-New Year’s Celebration with All-Male Revue Coconuts - DJs Doug and Eric Cotton Patch - The Free Beer Band Coyote’s - The Rhes Reeves Band Crossroads - Drop Level, Prescription X

Neato Torpedo (pictured) performs at the Soul Bar Dec. 28 with special guests Phil Hamelton’s Jugs of Life.

D. Timm’s - Joe Patchen and the Blue Diamond Express Durango’s - Heavy Dose Five Pines Saloon - Jimmy Smithy and Sudden Thunder Fox’s Lair - Tara Scheyer Garden City Bar and Grill - Karaoke with Mad Dog Mike Greene Streets - Karaoke Honk y Tonk - Danny Rhea and the Empty Pockets Joe’s Underground - Sabo & The Scorchers Last Call - Tony Howard, DJ Richie Rich Luck y Lady’s - The Duke Boys Michael’s - Marilyn Adcock Modjeska - Terany, DJ Boriqua The Shack - DJ Buckwheat Shannon’s - Pre New Year’s Par ty with Steve Chappell Soul Bar - Neato Torpedo, Phil Hamelton’s Jugs of Life Whiskey Junction - Wa x Bean Whiskey Road Oyster Factory - Weston & Preston

Sunday, 29th Cafe Du Teau - Buzz Clif ford and The Last Bohemian Quar tet The Shack - Karaoke with Buckwheat and Doober Shannon’s - Shelley Watkins Somewhere in Augusta - Jayson Sabo

Monday, 30th Continuum - Monday Madness with Perry Anderson Crossroads - Dance Par ty with DJ Chris Greene Streets - Karaoke Joe’s Underground - Keith “Fossill” Gregory The Shack - DJ Billy

Tuesday, 31st The Bee’s Knees - New Year’s Eve Par ty with Projections and DJ Big Iron Saloon - New Year’s Eve Par ty with Magic Hat Cadillac’s - New Year’s Eve Par ty with Hack Bar tley and the Shuf fle Band Club Argos - New Year’s Celebration Crossroads - The Big Mighty, Juice Fox’s Lair - Roger Eneveldson’s New Year Bash Honk y Tonk - New Year’s Eve Par ty with Danny Rhea and the Empty Pockets Joe’s Underground - Keith “Fossill” Gregory Last Call - New Year’s Eve Celebration with Live Enter tainment Modjeska - New Year’s Eve Par ty with Three Six ty and Guest DJs Playground - New Year’s Eve Par ty with 420 Outback Shannon’s - New Year’s Par ty with Bar t Bell Somewhere in Augusta - Patrick Blanchard Soul Bar - Soul Bar New Year’s Eve Bash

Time Piecez - New Year’s Eve Bash Whiskey Junction - New Year’s Eve Par ty with Shinebox

Upcoming Jucifer - Continuum - Jan. 10

Elsewhere Lyricist Lounge - Cot ton Club, Atlanta - Dec. 26, Feb. 2 Fusion: A Kwanzaa Celebration - Variety Playhouse, Atlanta - Dec. 26 Derek Trucks Band, Mofro - Variety Playhouse, Atlanta - Dec. 27 Cheap Trick - Roxy Theatre, Atlanta - Dec. 27 Bluestring - Cot ton Club, Atlanta - Dec. 27 Almost Steve, Part-Time Heroes - The Handlebar, Greenville, S.C. - Dec. 27 Dirty Vegas - Eleven50 Club, Atlanta - Dec. 27 Edwin McCain - Ear thlink Live, Atlanta - Dec. 27 Hip Hop Jingle Jam - The Carolina Center, Columbia, S.C. - Dec. 27 Mad Margritt - Flanagins, Atlanta - Dec. 27-28 Sister Hazel - Tremont Music Hall, Charlot te, N.C. - Dec. 27; Ear thlink Live, Atlanta - Dec. 28 PDQ - The Handlebar, Greenville, S.C. - Dec. 28 Trans Siberian Orchestra - Fox Theatre, Atlanta - Dec. 30 Widespread Panic - Philips Arena, Atlanta Dec. 30-31

continued on page 38

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Juice (pictured) plays Dec. 31 at Crossroads with The Big Mighty, who will be recording a live CD that night. continued from page 36 Gregg Allman and Friends - The Tabernacle, Atlanta - Dec. 31 Stuck Mojo, Impotent Sea Snakes Masquerade, Atlanta - Dec. 31 Nappy Brown - The Handlebar, Greenville, S.C. Dec. 31 Delbert McClinton - Variety Playhouse, Atlanta Dec. 31 Mandorico - Riviera Club, Atlanta - Dec. 31 Trick Pony - Cowboys Atlanta, Kennesaw, Ga. Dec. 31 Snake Oil Medicine Show - The Handlebar, Greenville, S.C. - Jan. 2 3 Doors Down - Variety Playhouse, Atlanta Jan. 8 The Gaither Homecoming Concert - Columbus Civic Center, Columbus, Ga. - Jan. 9 George Strait - Bi-Lo Center, Greenville, S.C. Jan. 16 2003 Holy Hip Hop Showcase - Ear thlink Live, Atlanta - Jan. 17 DJ Spook y - Echo Lounge, Atlanta - Jan. 17 Saliva - Tremont Music Hall, Charlot te, N.C. Jan. 18 Dave Alvin & the Guilty Men - The Handlebar, Greenville, S.C. - Jan. 18 Hair Care Atlanta - Nine Lives, Atlanta - Jan. 18 Pink Floyd Laser Spectacular - The Tabernacle, Atlanta - Jan. 18 Countdown Quartet - Echo Lounge, Atlanta Jan. 18 Coldplay - BJCC Concer t Hall, Birmingham, Ala. - Jan 24; Grady Cole Center, Charlot te, N.C. Jan. 25 moe. - The Tabernacle, Atlanta - Jan. 24-25 Honda Battle of the Bands - Georgia Dome,

Atlanta - Jan. 25 The Pretenders - The Tabernacle, Atlanta - Jan. 27 Todd Rundgren - Roxy Theatre, Atlanta - Jan. 31 Jimmy Buffett - Philips Arena, Atlanta - Feb. 1; The Carolina Center, Columbia, S.C. - Feb. 5 David Gray - Fox Theatre, Atlanta - Feb. 4 Big Head Todd and the Monsters - Roxy Theatre, Atlanta - Feb. 5 Papa Roach - Eleven50 Club, Atlanta - Feb. 12 Bon Jovi, The Goo Goo Dolls - Philips Arena, Atlanta - Feb. 13 Henry Rollins Spoken Word - Variety Playhouse, Atlanta - Feb. 13 Mission of Burma - Echo Lounge, Atlanta - Feb. 20 Steve Earle - Variety Playhouse, Atlanta - Feb. 22 Engelbert Humperdinck - Gaillard Auditorium, Charleston, S.C. - Feb. 26 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - The Arena at Gwinnet t Center, Duluth, Ga. - Feb. 28 Bill Gaither and Friends - Charlot te Coliseum, Charlot te, N.C. - March 7 Yanni - Philips Arena, Atlanta - March 11 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@metspirit.com or lisa_jordan@metspirit.com.

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News of the

Weird S

ome callers to Boston’s major homeless shelters became angry that their requests to help out this year on Thanksgiving and Christmas day were rejected because the shelters have too many volunteers on those days (yet too few on the other 363 days a year). A Boston Globe reporter found that volunteers even try to cajole officials to bump them up the waiting list (170 on one shelter’s list, which started accumulating names in August), but express disappointment at suggestions that they help at less “popular” (and less prestigious) suburban shelters.

Boredom, Illustrated • Ian Jewell, an employee of the West Somerset (England) District Council, was rewarded by his bosses after his counting revealed that the toilet paper in the restrooms contained fewer than the 320 sheets per roll stated in the supplier’s contract (September).

And a popular pastime in Bismarck, N.D. (according to an October Associated Press report), is a game called “Slip,” in which teenagers walk the city during summer nights trying to avoid cars’ headlights. (If they get flashed, they’re out.) Said one teenage girl, “It’s better than sitting around on the couch on a Friday night watching a movie.” And in many cities, the opening of a Krispy Kreme doughnut shop has been marked by fans queueing up several hours in advance, but Peter Bolland and his son, P.J. (both grown men), lined up 30 hours early for the store’s debut in Kitchener, Ontario, in November. (“(This) sounds so ridiculous,” said P.J.) Quotes From Deep in the Story • “It’s sick, disgusting and perverted. I know all these things (but) I can’t go to prison for the rest of my life ... without seeing (some).” (Spoken by confessed murderer Cory Stayner, offering police a deal in which he’d describe his crimes in detail if they’d give him a “good-sized stack” of child pornography to look at.) (San Jose, Calif., July) • “It was like a ‘Blazing Saddles’ routine, because every time these (management) guys would move on their seats, you could hear flatulence.” (Spoken by a participant at a September labor-management session in San Francisco, describing a union man’s prank of having placed a small flatulence-sound-producing device under the table during a Pacific Maritime Association negotiating session with the dockworkers union, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle.)

• “(M)any top businessmen spend more of their time in hotels than in their own home. ... So when they get home, they like to recreate the hotel experience. ... Many of my clients (for example) have their own minibars in their bedrooms. ... They come to me (to make them) a hotel-style (closet).”

(Spoken by Arnold Chrysler, owner of

Chrysler’s World of Hotel Decor, on trial in London in October for stealing 40,000 hotel coat hangers (the bottom part, useful only if affixed to the closet’s hanging bar).)

Just Can’t Stop Myself • Slow Crime Days: Two St. Petersburg, Fla., police officers were suspended in November after allegedly using their in-car terminals to send each other a total of 4,232 non-duty messages in a one-month period (about 10 messages each, per work hour).

• James Sabatino, already serving time in a Putnam County (N.Y.) prison for attacking a federal officer and having recently served time in England for a telephone-based scam, had his telephone privileges removed because Putnam officials said he spent almost eight hours a day on prison phones, for five months, before they caught him in another scam. According to officials cited by the New York Post in November, Sabatino called phone companies and convinced them he was doing movie shoots and needed dozens of cell phones quickly (and was able to order about a thousand activated phones, delivered to places arranged by his girlfriend, without spending a penny).

People Different From Us • Sadomasochism practitioner Steven H. Bailey, 54, was indicted in St. Paul, Minn., in November in the bondage death of a sexual partner (one of 5,000 he said he’s had); Bailey calls himself “The True Master” of his craft but allegedly failed to render assistance when his partner stopped breathing through the chloroform-soaked bag over his face. And in November, The Washington Post disclosed that one of the members of the United Nations weapons inspection teams headed for Iraq was also an uncloseted S&M master: Harvey John “Jack” McGeorge, 53, of Woodbridge, Va., an instructor in “Dungeon 501,” featuring activities involving knives, ropes and choking devices.

Least Competent People • Capt. Van Fussell, a Florida Highway Patrol district commander in Venice, Fla., accidentally shot himself in the foot as he was holstering his Glock pistol while taking his annual firearms test in November. (He’ll have to take it over.) And the previous week in Brooksville, Fla., homeowner Jimmy Batten walked in on Sean Todd Duval, 26, who had apparently broken in to steal Batten’s guns. Batten was puzzled that Duval did not try to run away, but the reason was that minutes earlier, Duval had accidentally shot his left middle toe off with one of the guns and was so despondent that he told Batten: “Finish me off. Go ahead and blow my brains out.”

Updating Recent News of the Weird Stories • New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he was considering purchasing out-of-service cruise ships to alleviate the nightly overcrowding at the city’s emergency shelters (November). And prominent, boardcertified Independence, Mo., psychiatrist Donald Hinton, who seriously swears that he has been treating Elvis Presley for the last five years, was put on probation in November by the state for overprescribing a painkiller to a patient (not Elvis). And the Urbana, Ill., mother who was still breastfeeding her 8-year-old boy lost partial custody of him to the state (November).

— Chuck Shepherd © United Press Syndicate

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Brezsny's Free Will Astrology ARIES (March 21-April 19)

genius Thich Nhat Hanh says, “Thanks to impermanence, everything is possible.”

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

I make a distinction between emotions and feelings.

Emotions are instinctual reactions, often negative, that aren’t necessarily appropriate to the events that seem to stimulate them. For instance, you can just as easily become angry, sad, or jealous when you’ve misinterpreted a person’s actions as when you have understood them correctly. Feelings, on the other hand, are one-of-a-kind responses that arise in resonance to the unique qualities of a specific moment. You may, for example, be filled with a wistfully sweet sense of loss as you take a walk in the misty twilight after achieving a dream that commanded your attention for a long time. With these ideas as a guide, Cancerian, I suggest you make your emotions more objective in 2003, even as you cultivate the idiosyncrasies of your feelings.

Here’s my favorite thing about being an astrologer: I’ve been able to study my own horoscope to discern what qualities I lack, and then try to correct those lacks. For instance, I have no planets in Aries in my natal chart. But armed with that knowledge, I’ve worked for years to develop the strengths you Rams are famous for: a single-minded sense of purpose, a fiery knack for burning away the obstacles to my dreams, a restless passion to keep reinventing myself, and a reverence for adventures that compel me to build more courage. In 2003, I urge you to recommit yourself to cultivating all these beautiful talents, which are your birthright. I also suggest you identify the part of you that’s weakest, and use your native Aries dynamism to bolster it.

Professional trend analysts are touting the concept of “medievalizing” for 2003. They say we’ll be retreating into feudal self-protectiveness, cloistering ourselves from war, terrorism, and economic recession.

It’s the old concept of cocooning, multiplied tenfold.

According to my astrological analysis, you Bulls are already well underway in pursuing a healthier version of this homing instinct. You’re being driven mostly out of love, not fear. As a result, you’re raising the art of nesting to esthetic new heights. I predict that you will continue to become more comfortable in profound and enlivening ways in the coming months.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)

Sand castles are icons of ephemerality. They’re best built in the wet sand left behind on the beach when the tide goes out; they’re demolished when the tide comes back in a few hours later. I’d like to make them one of your sacred emblems for 2003. In doing so, I don’t mean to imply that your certainties will be any less transitory than usual. Rather, it’s my way of urging you to capitalize on the fleeting nature of all things, which should be one of your specialties in the coming months. As the Buddhist monk and

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CANCER (June 21-July 22)

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)

I predict that you will come into possession of some real magic in 2003: something equivalent to pixie dust or mystical beans or an enchanted potion. But coming into possession of it and being able to use it successfully are two separate matters. There’s no guarantee you’ll know how to make it work for you.

Here are a few guidelines that should help: 1. Don’t speak about your lucky stuff to anyone unless they absolutely need to know. 2. Before using it to change your life, practice with it once or twice in a low-risk situation. 3. Make sure it harms no one.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

Tony was the roughest, toughest dude in my high school class. He organized midnight drag races down suburban streets when he was 14, sold vodka on the playground at 15, and shaved his pimples off with razor blades in the boys’ bathroom at 16. He took boxing lessons throughout his adolescence, and by the time he graduated, he’d gotten two girls pregnant. I lost touch with him when I moved away.

Years later, though, I ran into a mutual friend who’d

New York Times Crossword Puzzle

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ACROSS 1 Big scrap 7 Cries at a circus 10 Fanatic finish?

13 Like some Mideast politics 15 Mushy Italian dish 17 Plaintiff 18 Wooden 19 It may be docked 20 Word from a killjoy 22 Shabby 23 I.R.A. options 24 Smidges 26 Attack anonymously 27 Obeys 29 Sound of contempt 31 ___-X 32 Company abbr.

stayed in contact with Tony. My friend said he’d become a policeman — and a pretty good one at that. Let Tony’s transformation serve as one of your guiding metaphors for 2003, Virgo. I predict that the most unredeemed part of you — your inner Tony — will undergo an amazing conversion.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

Your lucky number for 2003 will be 1.6180339887, also known as phi. In his book “The Golden Ratio: The Story of Phi, the World’s Most Astonishing Number,” astrophysicist Mario Livio asserts that it has been a key factor in creating many beautiful objects, from the Mona Lisa to Stradivarius violins to the Great Pyramid. Also known for hundreds of years as the divine proportion, 1.6180339887 is renowned as exquisitely harmonious and useful. I believe that everything I just said about it, dear Libra, should be applied to the effects you can have on your world in the coming months.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

As public schools continue to decline and private schools become more expensive, increasing numbers of parents are home-schooling their children. I predict that an analogous phenomenon will arise in 2003. Called the “home-church” movement by Christians and the “home-synagogue” movement by Jews, it will consist of people creating altars and conducting worship sessions in their own abodes.

Seekers pursuing this approach to spiritual communion will be their own priests, priestesses and rabbis. I believe that there will be a disproportionately high percentage of Scorpios leading this phenomenon.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

My acquaintance Alan was telling me about the journey he’s planning. Along with his wife, two-year old daughter, and six-month-old son, he’ll fly to Turkey, where they’ll launch a 20-month bicycle trip around Asia and Europe. As a father myself, I was stunned.

“How are you going to handle the diapers?!” I marveled in disbelief. “We’ll work it out somehow,” Alan said without a trace of anxiety. Since I don’t know him well, I was unsure whether to pity him for his naiveté or admire him for his easy-going audacity. I bring this up, Sagittarius, because I think it’s likely that in the coming months you’ll have a comparable version of Alan’s great adventure. While I’m worried you won’t plan very well about how to handle details like dirty diapers on a bicycle tour, maybe your easygoing audacity will make my concerns irrelevant.

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CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

Time travel will be one of the top metaphors of the year for you in 2003. That’s not to say you’ll be chosen as a subject in an experiment involving a time machine — though you may sometimes feel as if you’ve actually been transported into the past or future. The potential downside to this is that you might get confused about where you are in your long-term cycle. A psychic version of jet lag could periodically creep in. The upside is that you will have an unprecedented chance to weave together previously disparate threads of your life. Past events that have never quite made sense will acquire new meaning; future dreams that have been too vague to pursue will finally come into focus.

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I believe you should throw far more water balloons than usual in 2003. It would also be smart of you to enjoy pillow fights and spitting contests more frequently. Furthermore, I feel that in the coming months you should start more good-natured arguments and seek out more entertaining conflicts. My analysis of the astrological omens suggests, in fact, that you will derive great benefit from skirmishing with opposing forces as long as you maintain a spirit of fun and adventure.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)

In our previews of the future, we astrologers are accurate and helpful at least as often as weather forecasters, economists who predict the financial future, and lifestyle trend consultants. On the other hand, like those other three types of prognosticators, we astrologers are sometimes wrong or misleading; our advice should not be regarded as the word of God. Please keep this clearly in mind as you read my horoscopes in 2003. All the cosmic omens suggest it will be crucial for you to become far more discriminating than ever before in the coming months. I encourage you to supercharge your analytical powers as you question every authority, expert, teacher, leader, and guru.

— © Rob Brezsny You Can Call Rob Brezsny, day or night, for your Expanded Weekly Horoscope

1-900-950-7700

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

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moved here two months ago to start a new job. Ever since, an adorable 33-year-old coworker has been standing outside my office door at the end of the day, chatting with me for a half-hour or so. He often invites me to lunch and on outings with him and other coworkers, including last weekend’s party on a coworker’s farm. There, he said to tell him when I’m performing (I’m in a band) so “they” — the office crowd — could come listen. Basically, he’s done every thing but ask me out! While I truly appreciate his going out of his way to include the new girl, I’m frustrated — I really want him to make a move! Am I reading too much into his invitations?

—It Takes Twelve To Tango The state of men, these days, mirrors the state of the mar tini, which has gone all frilly and girly, and requires much micro-management — lest it come in purple, with green Jolly Ranchers bobbing around Malibu Barbie’s floating head.

A lot of women suddenly have a hard time determining whether a man is preparing to ask them out or preparing to be embalmed.

This is no news to you, since the guy circling your wagon appears to base his dating M.O. on “How Emulating a Paperweight Can Help You Pick Up Chicks.” Now, maybe this guy is merely a one-man chamber of commerce.

Then again, maybe he’d like a date with you that doesn’t require police and fire personnel for coworker crowd-control, but maybe he’s afraid of stepping in something sticky, with sexual harassment writ ten all over it.

Probably, though, he’s just as lost as the rest of the men.

How did men get so lost? Rogue feminists helped them. They whacked men upside the head with a big bronze bust of Gloria Steinem. While they were all out cold, somebody did a lot of whispering in their ears about not acting like such hairy beasts: “No, boys, sit down, have a civilized cup of tea, and stick out your pinkies ... if you want us to like you.” (P.S. We do like you like this, yes — we just won’t have any thing to do with you on Saturday night ... nyah, nyah, nyah!)

Men shot back a big lie of their own: that they want women to pursue them. Wrong!

Men are hunters. They don’t want to be gathered. Men love the chase. What they don’t

love is a chase that ends with a big wooden club popping out of the wall and clobbering them — or, worse yet, with the words “Why are you talking to me?” popping out of a woman’s mouth and clobbering them.

Suddenly, men are lying around like slabs of raw liver on wa x paper, waiting for somebody to take charge — just as long as it isn’t the woman. That’s where the slider date comes in. It’s an af ter-work meeting of two colleagues — a date that’s not a date ... unless the colleagues on it let it slide into one. Wait until all potential chaperones have lef t the building, then ask him out for drinks.

Flir t a lit tle, and if it goes well, flir t violently, until he gets the message that you’re just about dying to be chased. You may need to repeat the process, as it can take time to undo the brain damage done by the big bronze bust. If you aren’t the patient sor t, you might try washing his mind out with a couple mar tinis — you know the drill: shaken, not stirred, hold the marshmallows, forget the graham crackers and lose the macadamia nuts.

This weekend, I took this outrageously gorgeous girl I’ve been dating to a nightclub. At the club, the bouncer said she could go in but I could not. My girlfriend said, “See ya later,” and walked in, leaving me out on the sidewalk. I wasn’t surprised that they nixed me— I mean, she looks like a supermodel, and I look like Andy Dick. She later said she went in because she really wanted to go to the club. Was she being callous, or am I being oversensitive?

—Ditch-Slapped Say the girl looks just like Heidi Klum. Say the girl acts like a barnyard animal rushing the feed trough. Say it’s time for a lit tle supermodel-ectomy. Yank of f the Heidi Klum suit, and what do you have? Probably astonishment at how they can dress up a thing with four cloven hooves and a big ugly snout to look like it belongs on a magazine cover.

Are you being oversensitive? Well, she did kick you into the gut ter, then step over you to get into the club. Then again, it’s not as if she backed over your lifeless body in hopes of parking one space closer to the door. Of course, there’s always nex t time!

— © 2002, Amy Alkon

Got A Problem?

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

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To respond to ads using a ALL I THINK ABOUT IS YOU SBF, 28, enjoys cooking, reading, traveling, spending time with my kids/family. Looking for a male, 25-40, who likes similar things, friendship first. ☎672206 SELF-SUFFICIENT... hard-working DWF, 38, full-figured, Leo, smoker, with one child, seeks DWM, 38-50, smoker, children are fine. ☎659397 TIME TO HAVE A BLAST Honest SWF, 43, enjoys spending time with my daughter, bowling, dining out, Nascar, movies, baseball games, camping. Seeking honest, genuine SWM, 43-50, for fun and friendship. ☎554752 NOW IS THE TIME SWPF, 55, likes dancing, walks, movies, the lake, dining out. Seeking SWM, N/S, 48-65, for fun and friendship, and who knows what later! ☎653476 POSITION AVAILABLE! Mother of two lovely daughters, 34, employed with the Board of Education, seeks SW/HM, 33-48, to begin with friendship and possibly evolve into an LTR. ☎651992 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 I’LL COOK Fun-loving, intelligent SBF, 22, Capricorn, N/S, student, mother of three, seeks man, 21-30, to accompany me in life. Kids a plus. ☎647824 TIME WITH YOU Voluptuous BF, 39, seeks a BM, N/Drugs, social drinker ok. I enjoy reading, dining out, movies, church activities. ☎646176 IN SEARCH OF MY SOULMATE He must be a tall (5’10”-6’4”), Christian man, 42-55, N/S, who is honest, faithful, devoted and lively. I am a SBPF, 5’6”, 150lbs, and looking for LTR. ☎641005 TAKE IT SLOW SWF, 49, 5’6”, reddish/blonde hair, outgoing personality, wants to build a serious relationship with a SWM. ☎642309 BIG AND BEAUTIFUL BF, 43, brown/hazel, loves free time, books, weekend travel. Seeking a mature companion with an easygoing attitude, for friendship, dating, and more. ☎643199 THE MAN OF MY DREAMS... is easy to get along with, and has a great sense of humor and fun. Single mom, 28, 5’, brown/blue, is looking for her soulmate. ☎640587

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Monday-Saturday 10am-9pm 2635 Washington Road | Augusta, Georgia 30904 | 706.738.7777 www.windsorjewelers.net MOVIES AND MORE Seeking a man with a lively attitude who likes movies. I am a SF, 42, looking for love. ☎636995 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 THE BELLS ARE RINGING Slim SBCF, 29, 5’3”, student, employed, Pisces, N/S, seeks marriage minded BM, 27-36, N/S, for life’s journey. ☎633606 WE’LL STILL B TOGETHER... on down the road. SWF, 23, Capricorn, N/S, seeks sweet, gentle BM, 22-35, who is interested in a friendship. Let’s become a family! ☎631605 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

LOOK ME UP Well-educated, professional SWM, 45, no children, never married, enjoys boating, fishing, camping and exploring life. Seeking SF, with similar interests, for fun and friendship. ☎898023

MATURE WOMAN WANTED Hardworking DM, 48, brown/green, looking for S/DF, who’s independent, spontaneous, open-minded and mature, D/D-free, who knows what she wants in life, for friendship and maybe romance. ☎898762 FUN FOR ALL SWM, 50, seeks intelligent, aware SF, in shape, for indoor and outdoor fun. Looking for a friendship, that may lead to more. ☎902103 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 ARE YOU LONESOME? SM, 37, 6’5’’, 350lbs, would like to meet a nice female, 18-40, to get to know first. Let’s see where this leads! ☎780940 PHONE CALL AWAY Self-employed SWM, 40, Pisces, N/S, N/D, enjoys dining out, movies, cooking in, many activities. Seeking similar SWF, 28-45, N/S, to share good times with. ☎882776 IN NEED OF LOVE, SERIOUS SWM, 44, 6’, never married, blond/blue, Aries, smoker, seeks honest, romantic SWF, 25-38, enjoys sports, country walks, and more, for LTR, marriage. ☎889184 LET’S GET IN TOUCH! SWM, 20, Cancer, smoker, enjoys fishing, hunting, walking, playing games. Seeking older woman, 30-60, for possible relationship. ☎888111 THE PERFECT MATE DBM, 40, 6’, 195lbs, with 1 child, Capricorn, smoker, homeowner, loves gardening, cooking, and hunting. Seeking WF, 28-42, petite, to bedazzling. ☎873556

Stud Finder YOU HAVE 6 NEW MATCHES

GOOD GIRL Attractive SWF, 38, 5’4”, 145lbs, blonde/ hazel, N/S, Pisces, enjoys outdoors.

Seeking tall SWM, 30-42. ☎864247 THE LONG RUN SBF, 43, single parent, health service technician, Capricorn, N/S, loves basketball.

Seeking BM, 37-47, N/S, for friendship, love, and beyond. ☎872160 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 TRUE: One is a lonely number. DWF, no children, self-supporting, 59, my physical appearance won’t embarrass you. Retired and seeking man 44-55, loving, truthful, reliable. ☎896701 TIRED OF BEING ALONE SWF, 49, 5’9”, 164lbs, Cancer, N/S, social drinker, mother of one, enjoys music, dining out, reading. Seeking SWM, 44-59, N/S, for LTR. ☎890570 SERIOUS ABOUT LIFE SBCF, 50, 165lbs, Scorpio, N/S, churchgoer, mother of one, seeks outgoing, christian SBM, 50-60, N/S, with good heart, who is serious, for LTR. ☎885036 COMPATIBLE? Funny, smart SBF, 19, fun-loving, friendly, enjoys movies, clubbing, hand holding, dancing. Seeking SM, with like interests and qualities for friendship and possible LTR. ☎701088 SWEET AND SINGLE SBF, 30, Scorpio, N/S, student, enjoys quality time, movies, dining out, quiet times.

Seeking friendship with SBM, 29-43, for possible LTR. ☎890152 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 ARE YOU SINCERE? SF, 28, blond/blue, enjoys the gym, time with family and friends. Looking for an honest guy, 26-35, who is not into games. ☎857530 A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN... inside and out. SBF, 26, 5’10’’, light complexion, enjoys movies, music, just having a good time. Seeking honest, sincere man for LTR. ☎861401 I’LL WRITE YOU A POEM! SF, 25, 5’4’’, 150lbs, Virgo, enjoys reading, cooking, music, movies. Seeking a man who likes to try new things. ☎841437 SINCERE BEAUTY Sophisticated SBCF, 23, 5’2”, 140lbs, interested in seeking educated, independent, employed SBM, 23-30, long walks, stimulating conversation, friendship, dating, more. ☎849311 GENUINE GEMINI Sweet SWF, 21, 6’, in medical field, enjoys Nascar, long walks. Seeking tall SWM, 2535, with similar interests. Friendship first, possible LTR. ☎848654 I LIKE LIFE Single mom, 32, looking for a man with a vibrant personality and a love for living. ☎844138

WILLING TO MAKE TIME Busy, hard-working SBF, 31, nurse, mother of one, Taurus, N/S, enjoys traveling, walks, shopping. Seeking SBM, 31-39, N/S, for LTR. ☎836074 TAKE A CHANCE Laid-back SF, 30, enjoys dining in/out, going to the movies, church activities.

Seeking SM, secure in himself to share those things. ☎767576 BRAINS & BEAUTY Spirited executive SBF, 41, 5’8”, 138lbs, Gemini, enjoys dancing, dining, intellectual conversation, laughter, picnics, adventures.

Seeking humorous, classy gentleman, 3545, with kindred spirit. ☎751454 SKATE, RIDE, BOWL, ETC. African-American mom, 23, 5’, 159lbs, mother of two, currently in school, looking for honest, trustful family-man, 20s-30s, who’ll give his 100%. ☎751642 I’M YOUR VENUS SWF, 44 (looks younger), 5’, blonde/blue, with a full-figure, seeks HM, 5’5”-6’, who is secure. ☎747133 WORK OF ART Voluptuous SBF, 28, loves fishing, swimming, cooking. Looking for a man with the same passions. ☎747775 IMPORT FROM EUROPE This foreign born SWF, 40, Aries, N/S, seeks a fine BM, 35-50, smoker, for friendship and dating. ☎744559 ATTENTION... your miracle date is in Augusta. SF seeks military male, 28-50, with good qualities and values. Children ok, race open. ☎732101 COMPANIONSHIP DWF, 48, enjoys antiquing, travel, dining out, movies and more. Seeking DWM, 48-58, for loving, tender relationship. ☎732056 AQUARIUS HERE SWF, 18, brown/brown, loves, reading, travel, movies, outdoors. Seeking mature companion with an easygoing attitude, for friendship, possibly more. ☎732141 GOD LOVER Athletic, shy SBF, 33, 5’5”, 160lbs, Gemini, smoker, enjoys church, dining out, cooking, traveling, shopping, reading. Seeking outgoing man, 35-50, smoker, for LTR. ☎709843 LOOKING FOR FRIEND SWF, 29, 5’7”, 129lbs, Gemini, N/S, enjoys sports cars, movies, and more. Seeking SWM, 21-35, kids ok, for friendship first. ☎706587 NEED A SPARK... try me. Attractive, petite SWF, 57, fun, friendly and affectionate, raising grand children, seeks SWM, mid 50s-60s, trustworthy with open heart, for dining, movies, music.

Friendship first. ☎702738 NO GAMES PLEASE DWF, 33, 5’10”, full-figured, brown/hazel, self-employed mother of three, seeks WM, 25-45, honest, faithful, devoted, for fun, friendship, LTR. ☎680330 TWO PIECES OF A PUZZLE Full-figured, very attractive, independent woman, 31, 5’2”, seeks someone special to spend time with. You: honest, fun-loving, varied interests. ☎685405 ABSOLUTE ALTRUISM SBF, 42, 5’7”, 125lbs, seeks emotionally secure gentleman, 35+, with honor, wit, and wisdom. ☎605946 STRONG WILL SBF, 45, outgoing, attractive, youthful, enjoys writing, music, traveling. Seeking mature, strong-willed SBM, 35-48, for friendship. ☎965893 WANNA KNOW A SECRET? I’m available! BF, 47, serious about life, seeks single African-American male, 40-50, with similar sentiment. ☎660976

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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 advertiser 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

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M B D F H C LTR

Male Black Divorced Female Hispanic Christian Long-term Relationship

G W A S J P N/D N/S

Gay White Asian Single Jewish Professional Non-Drinker Non-smoker

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To respond to ads using a NOT JUST ANOTHER... stud. DBM, 33, with 3 children, Libra, N/S, seeks a lucky lady, 25-45, N/S, with whom to share quality time. ☎868350 DON’T MISS THIS! SBM, 45, 5’10’’, 230lbs, interested in sports, jazz, movies, dining out. Would like to meet a woman with the same interests. ☎862898 SHOW ME YOUR SMILE SM, 44, enjoys kayaking, cooking, art, biking, exercise, outdoors. Looking for a female, 34-50, who has the same kinds of interests. ☎858979 ARE YOU 26-48?

WM, brown/blue, likes fishing, camping, scuba diving, travel, and woodworking. If you would like to jon me, call! ☎715263 GET IN TOUCH WITH ME SM, 21, 6’3’’, athletic build, student, loves movies, clubs, church. Seeking compassionate, down-to-earth, fun woman. ☎861556 POET SEEKS MUSE SBM, 45, loves all sports, board games, fishing, travel. Seeking a woman to share movies, dining and romance with. ☎843396 OLD-FASHIONED GUY SHM, 34, 5’4”, 170lbs, Virgo, N/S, writes and loves country western music, helping the homeless, church. Seeking SHF, 32-36, N/S, with similar interests. ☎835306 DARE TO DREAM Outgoing SBM, 21, 5’9”, 165lbs, Capricorn, N/S, loves going out, outdoors, children.

Seeking SWF, 20-26, N/S, for possible family. ☎835444 EARLY XMAS GIFT Very romantic SBM, 31, 6’1”, 255lbs, Scorpio, N/S, enjoys church, dining out, cooking. Seeking stable SBF, 25-35, for friendship first, leading to something longterm. ☎837718 HEY LADIES! Outgoing happy SM, 24, 5’6”, 150lbs, slender and fit, brown complexion, braided hair, seeks SF, who’s open-minded and down for whatever. ☎767971 NOT A JOCK Peace-loving, dark blonde, 5’11”, 200lbs, friends say handsome, I say ok. Seeking Asian, mulatto, or dark haired american lady, 25-35, no kids, for travel, dining out, plays, and music events. ☎882215 KNOCK-KNOCK, WHO’S THERE? Call me and find out. SWM, 34, Cancer, N/S, loves to tell jokes. Seeking WF, 25-39, N/S, for friendship and relationships. ☎775609 SEEKING CHRISTIAN WOMAN Friendly, committed, independent SBCM, 42, 5’11”, enjoys quiet evenings. Seeking attractive, committed, independent SBCF for friendship, possible LTR. ☎796760 LET’S TALK SM, 28, 6’5”, 320lbs, enjoys sports, reading, movies, dining out, travel. Seeking attractive, intelligent, sensual SF, with similar interests, for dating and more. ☎796390 LET YOUR HAIR DOWN SHM, 26, Leo, N/S, lives a regular, cleancut lifestyle. Seeking a petite, active woman, 18-30, sophisticated southern belle, with back woods babe heart. ☎790345 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. ☎704669 I’M HERE FOR YOU SM, 42, teacher, seeks honest SF, 21-42, for friendship, possibly more. I like music, movies, conversation. How about you? ☎779153 CALL ME SM, 51, fun-loving, enjoys sporting events, movies, dancing more. Seeking fun woman with similar interests. ☎761290 SEEKS MATURE Spontaneous, sincere SM, 20, seeks older, loving lady, to explore life with, possible LTR. ☎767728

LET’S BE FRIENDS Outgoing, active SM, 31, enjoys sports, traveling, movies, dining out, and fun.

Seeking SF,with same interests. ☎769857 FIT FOR A QUEEN Restaurant manager SWM, 40, 6’, black/green, moustache, enjoys outdoors, hunting, fishing, camping, movies. Seeking big beautiful woman, 25-50. Tell me about you. ☎754399 GREAT CATCH SWM, 53, enjoys church, music, dining out, travel and more. Seeking kind, understanding SCF, with similar interests. ☎732175 CHANGE R LIVES 4 THE BEST Outdoorsy SWM, 57, enjoys fishing, quiet conversation seeks the right woman to be at my side. Let’s accomplish much in life!

Looking for a SW/HF, 45-60. ☎718103 RESPECT AND DESIRE SBM, 37, 5’8”, 164lbs, hazel eyes, Virgo, N/S, enjoys walks, traveling, mountains, cooking, candlelight dinners. Seeking hardworking SBF, 38-55, business owner, for LTR. ☎707443 TRUE TO HEART SWM, 42, 6’, brown/blue, no children, home-owner, Pisces, N/S, seeks spontaneous SW/A/HF, 21-42, loves the beach, movies, sailing, bike rides, for faithful relationship. ☎709121 R WE A MATCH? SWM, 40, 6’1”, 160lbs, brown/blue, enjoys classic rock, movies, dining, more. Seeking nice, friendly SF, 25-45. ☎965931 ANYONE OUT THERE? SWM, 51, 5’11”, 190lbs, brown/green, seeks SF, for conversations, casual dates and maybe something more down the line. ☎701908 TAKE THE CHANCE Open-minded SM, 25, father, loves Nascar car and Nascar car races, walks, time with someone special. Seeking caring, considerate, commitment-minded woman, for friendship and LTR. ☎699632 GOOD MAN IS HARD TO FIND SWM, 44, piano player, in search of WF, 3555, H/W proportionate, N/D, N/S, drug-free, who enjoys music and backyard swings. ☎695975 PAINT THE TOWN RED Medical student DWM, 41, just moved from Atlanta, seeks casual relationship with intelligent, articulate SBF, who knows Augusta and can show me the sites, dining, and dancing. ☎675071 THE TRAVELER European SWM, 44, loves traveling, reading, dining out, sports, ping pong, soccer.

Interested in meeting female, who loves traveling, reading and dining out as well. ☎685545

SEEKING MAN OF COLOR GWM, 31, 5’8”, 164lbs, brown/gray, moustache, goatee, down-to-earth, very openminded, seeks SB/HM, 23+, for friendship, maybe more. ☎575272 LET’S JUST CUDDLE Lonely GWM, 33, Aries, smoker, enjoys quiet nights, relaxing, being with somebody.

Seeking GWM, 20-30, for possible LTR. ☎887748 YOU WON’T BE SORRY Real, honest, and sweet GBM, 18, 5’11”, dark-skinned, Gemini, N/S, seeks friendly GBM, 18-35, not into games. I’m ready for a commitment. ☎831448

How do you

YOU NEVER KNOW Fun-loving, easygoing GWM, 51, 5’11”, 198lbs, enjoys cooking, movies, fishing, walking. Seeking interesting GWM, 18-33, who’s full of life, for casual relationship, possibly more. ☎676662 NEW TO THIS BiWM, 49, 5’10”, thick, black/blue, Libra, N/S, seeks friendly, fun-loving GWM, 35-65, N/S, for possible LTR. ☎839145 IT’S YOUR CALL GWM, young 46, 5’11”, 200lbs, brown/ brown, masculine, outgoing, enjoys travel, dining out, movies, shopping, Nascar.

Would like to meet honest, passionate GM, with similar interests, for dating, possible LTR. Serious inquiries only. ☎792384 BE YOURSELF Honest, caring SM, 47, 5’10”, 220lbs, seeks outgoing, ambitious, down-to-earth man, to share friendship, fun times and maybe more. ☎895468 I’D LOVE TO MEET! SM, 47, likes dining out, having fun, malls, movies, television. Looking for sincere male for possible relationship. ☎861252 FREE SPIRIT SBM, 24, loves having fun, enjoys tennis, racquetball, waterskiing. Seeking SM, to share a night out on the town, friendship and maybe a lasting relationship. ☎768054 TAKE THAT CHANCE Brown-skinned GBM, 35, 5’11”, 150lbs, who likes quiet evenings, reading, dining out, movies and stimulating conversations.

Seeking SB/HM, 30-50, for friendship, possibly more. ☎753854 SHOW ME THE TOWN... and what there is to do around here. Me: SWM, 42, N/S, new to the area. You: SWM, under 51, anxious to show me how wonderful Augusta is. ☎719366 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 I KNOW WHERE IT’S AT SBM, 25, practical yet fun, outgoing, Aquarius, smoker, seeks a masculine, alluring, well-rounded BM, 23-45, smoker, with his priorities in order. ☎695448 YOUNG MAN WANTED GWM, 22, brown/brown, pretty good-looking, in search of cute, down-to-earth GWM for movies, dinners, shopping, roller blading. ☎576230

OUT SPOKEN SWM, 32, 5’11”, 145lbs, enjoys camping, fishing, Nascar. Seeking laid-back WM, 2335, for LTR. ☎560095 BEYOND SWM, 32, 5’11”, 155lbs, light hair, looking for good time with GM, 18-45, ☎966003

FRIENDSHIP SBF, 38, 5’7”, slim, fit, seeks SF, for friendship and fun. Must be outgoing, love to wine and dine, travel, movies and theater. ☎878217 CHOCOLATE SEEKS CREAM SF, 39, new to the area, down-to-earth, loves laughing, sight-seeing. Seeking WF, 30-45, to show me a great time! ☎861222 CHURCH-GOER SBF, 38, Virgo, N/S, heavy-duty equipment operator, seeks BF, 30-45. Enjoys motorcycle riding, playing bass guitar. ☎799776 SOMEONE TO LOVE GBF, 21, with brown complexion, seeks femme GBF, 21-30, with no baggage, and her priorities straight. ☎843696 ZEST FOR LIFE Articulate, adventurous WF, 32, 5’8”, brown/brown, enjoys animals, running, movies and dining. Looking for WF, 25-40, for friendship. ☎965827 GIVE ME A RING Cute SBF, 30-something, seeks attractive SF, 25-45, for friendship, maybe more. No games. ☎965825 WASTE NO TIME GBF, 36, enjoys dining out, cooking, dining out. Seeking attractive, open-minded, fun, nice GF, 25-45, for friendship and possibly more. ☎965823 VERY PRETTY SBF...

28, two children, confident, feminine, seeks female, 20-35, with the same qualities, who is not into head games. ☎785531 A GOOD HEART SF, 39, goes to church, works for a living, likes having fun, going on trips. Seeking a similar female, 37-49. ☎780112

SPECIAL FRIENDSHIP Attractive, feminine SWF, 41, 5’4”, seeks a very open-minded WF, 35-48, for fun and exciting times. ☎775074 RAINBOW SEEKER Seeking my butch. SWF, 41, 5’2”, enjoys movies, walks, reading, quality snuggle time. Honesty is a must. Seeking SWF, with no drama, 30+. ☎754885 JOIN ME GBF, 32, nurse, part-time student, Capricorn, N/S, enjoys bowling, movies, shopping, traveling. Seeking casual relationship with woman, 25-45. ☎711628 BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN SBF, 58, mature, attractive, young-at-heart, Sagittarius, N/S, seeks woman, 48-62, N/S, who is ready to live again and likes traveling, playing cards, and bowling. ☎691703 TO THINE OWN SELF... be true. SBF, 27, 5’5”, 165lbs, Sagittarius, N/S, has 2 kids, enjoys walks, movies, and quiet times. Seeking an honest woman, 2735, N/S, for friendship first and foremost. ☎693934 IT’S ALL IN YOUR HANDS Nice, available stud wanted. I’m a teacher in Augusta, 40, who would like to start a friendship with another female, and progress into something more. ☎664842 BEAUTIFUL WOMAN SEEKS... beautiful woman. I’m 5’3”, physically fit, 132lbs, would like to meet fit female, 25-40, who would enjoy going to movies. Please be discreet. ☎661884 I’D LOVE YOU TO LOVE ME SBF, 41, no children, loves to read, chat on the internet, and more. Seeking a woman who is a romantic at heart, very good-looking, loves pets, family and God. ☎645876 GET TO KNOW THE REAL ME Dark-skinned young woman, 23, 4’9”, attractive, fun-loving, nice, caring, honest, laid-back. Seeking GF, 23-29, for casual relationship. ☎635372 I’M LOOKING 4 U Easygoing, loyal SBF, 31, 5’3”, 155lbs, security officer, people person, fun-loving, nice, caring, honest, enjoys bowling, movies, cuddling at home. Seeking trustworthy, outgoing SBF, 26-35, for friendship, maybe LTR. ☎965835 FRIENDSHIP FIRST! Funny, smart, down-to-earth GBF, 5’6”, 125lbs, loves long walks, hand holding.

Seeking GF, 21-30, who likes kids and doesn’t play games. ☎965829

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Cars 1979 TOYOTA CRESSIDA, runs, new brakes, as is, $350, cash only, 706-7383065 (727/125) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1980 BMW 528i, new shocks, struts, clutch and clutch slave cylinder, clean car, runs great, $2000, 706736-4858 (756/1219) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1981 CADILLAC EL DORADO, one owner, very clean car, V8, auto, most power options, many new parts, runs great, $1300 firm, 706860-6409 (805/109) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1982 HONDA ACCORD, silver, 4dr, 5spd, good clutch, new tires, not running, $300 OBO, 706-868-7599 (829/130) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1984 OLDSMOBILE CUSTOM Cruiser SW, $700 OBO, 706-437-1726 (696/1226) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1987 SUBARU GL, Station Wagon, power everything, rear wiper, lots of new stuff, runs and looks good, but has head gasket leak, $497 OBO, 803-441-8744 (673/1226) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1988 FORD MUSTANG Convertible, red/white top, 5.0, auto, 2dr, PL&W, AC, clean, runs good, CD, am/fm, $4800, 706-7427701 (752/1226) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1989 CADILLAC SEVILLE, 4dr, leather, blue, tip top condition, $4000, 706-556-6124 (553/1226) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1989 FORD TEMPO, 44K, new AC & ignition, less than 2K on tires, one owner, very good condition, $2150, 706860-0120 (773/1226) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1989 TOYOTA CAMRY, nice running car, 133K, $1500, 706-736-6545 after 4 pm (779/0102) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1990 CADILLAC SEVILLE, 4dr, runs good, $3000, 803640-3078 or 803-648-3443 after 6 pm. (806/109) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1990 NISSAN 300ZX, 5spd, AC, loaded, red, grey cloth,

t-tops, CD, new tires, good condition, $6100, 706-8330797 (671/1226) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1991 MAZDA MX5, convertible, hard top, white, mint condition, 85.5K, $7400 OBO, 706-737-8047 (669/1226) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1991 VOLVO 240, maroon, good condition, AC, PS, PB, am/fm, cassette, PW, cruise, $3000, 912-829-4556 (817/116) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1992 BMW 525i, gold, sedan, 154K, all power, leather interior, good condition, $5990, 706-495-9900 (782/0102) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1992 CHEVY CAMERO RS, 25th Anniversary Edition, green, gray interior, 305, auto, t-tops, excellent condition, 120K, $6000 firm, 706339-4531 (811/116) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1992 GEO STORM, blue, cold AC, 100K, $1300 OBO, 706-855-2288, 706-7850163 (726/1226) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1992 INFINITI G20, runs great, 4dr, CD, leather interior, must sell, $1500 OBO, 706-823-6607 (815/116) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1992 MAZDA PROTEGE, PS/PB, AC, power window locks, sunroof, cruise, CD, great gas mileage, reliable transportation, $1500 OBO, 706-399-7145 (701/1226) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1993 FORD T-BIRD, excellent condition, 100K, AC, new tires, adult driven, nonsmoker, garage kept, service record, hard to find, $2750 OBO, 706-836-3082 (823/123) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1993 FORD TAURUS, very good condition, new tires and brakes, low mileage 66K, loaded, as is, reduced, for quick sale, $3000, 706-7339434 or 706-721-8304 (808/116) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1993 FORD TEMPO, white w/red interior, auto, 4dr, clean, runs, new am/fm, CD, AC, 4cyl, clear title, $1600, call after 5 pm 706-560-2025 (800/109) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1994 CHRYSLER LHS, 3.5, auto, 101K, burgundy, grey

the power of dreams

GERALD JONES

HONDA 2 0 0 3 G O R D O N H I G H W AY • A U G U S TA , G A • 7 0 6 - 7 3 3 - 2 2 1 0 • W W W. G E R A L D J O N E S H O N D A . C O M

leather, AC, cruise, tilt, am/fm/CD, power everything, clean, $4500, 706-860-5001 (100/116) –––––––––––––––––––––––––

1994 LINCOLN TOWN Car, pearl white, white interior, leather, black tie package, excellent condition, $6800, 706-541-9190 (771/1226) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1995 BMW 325i, white, 5spd, 72K, excellent condition, premium package, priced to sell (KBB: $12$15,000) asking $11,800, 706-722-0665 (816/116) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1995 MERCURY GRAND Marquis LS, 91K, clean, all power, cruise, wire wheels, $5900, 706-793-2993 or 706-730-2697 (705/1226) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1995 VW JETTA, VR6, GLX, red, loaded, mint condition, $6500 OBO, 803-819-0132 (826/123) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1996 CHEVROLET CAMERO, 41K, factory purple, 5spd, 6 cyl, AC, FM, cass, immaculate, one owner, $7200 OBO, 706868-0090 (472/1226) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1996 GEO SPRINT, beige, 4dr, sedan, AC, cassette, new tires, great condition, $3500 OBO, 803-442-4592 (670/102) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1996 HONDA ACCORD EX, V6, automatic, all power, leather, alloys, CD, cruise,

sunroof, remote, garaged, excellent condition, 81K, $10,500, 706-733-7297 (813/116) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1996 MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE Spider convertible, red/grey, 78K, 1 owner, service records available, $8500, must sell, divorce, 706-2100530 (728/1226) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1996 NISSAN 200SX, green, 5spd, cruise, CD, well taken care of, $3400 OBO, 706267-1295 (814/116) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1996 NISSAN 200SX, red, good condition, CD, two door, AC, PW $6000 OBO, 706-860-3598 (776/0102) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1996 OLDSMOBILE 88 LSS, 4dr, 62K, new tires, leather interior, like new, $7500, 706855-0468 (820/123) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1996 PONTIAC GRAND Prix GTP, white, rear spoiler, tint windows, 3.4L, V6 high output, 4spd auto w/OD, well cared for, 129K, $6500, Jim 706-721-3365 days or 706547-7878 eve. (822/123) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1997 NISSAN ALTIMA GXE, black, cruise, alarm, keyless entry, 63K, current tune ups, XC, $9995 OBO, 706-8232420 (697/1226) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1998 ACURA INTEGRA GSR, white, excellent condition, all power, many extras, 66K, warranty $15,500 OBO,

706-284-9693 (812/116) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1999 LINCOLN CONTINENTAL, white, 54K, warranty, 100K, new tires, loaded, CD, moonroof, immaculate, one owner, garage kept, looks new, $17,500, 706-863-9152 (676/102) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 2000 ACURA INTEGRA LS, silver, 2dr, 5spd, all power, CD, sunroof, cold-air intake, warranty, XC, $15,000 OBO, 706-294-2691 (755/1226) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 2000 HONDA ACCORD SE, 4dr, auto, ABS, PW/L, cruise, CD, cassette, trunk-liner, cargo net, 31.5K, $16,000, 706-733-6807 (700/1226) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 2000 HONDA CIVIC EX, white, 4dr, auto, PL/W, sunroof, CD, low miles, $13,400, 706-210-9590 (702/1226) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 2000 HONDA CIVIC EX, silver, 42K, 5spd, 2dr, sunroof, CD, XC, car in Augusta, 610763-5202 (695/1226) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 2000 MAZDA MIATA, black, 5spd, PW, CD, appearance package, 47K, $13,500, 706951-0805 (672/1226) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 2001 CHRYSLER SEBRING LXI Convertible, dark blue, grey leather, power, CD, 35K, asking $15,998, 706-8630175 (804/109) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 2001 INFINITI I-30, rare find, has navigation system, 15K,

all optional equipment, $24,995, no sales tax, 706869-9007 (730/1226) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 2002 AUDI A4 Turbo, 4dr, dark green/tan leather, all power, AM/FM, Cass/CD, 8K, $31,850 OBO, 706-8631941 (729/1226) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 2002 SATURN SL1, auto, power steering, power brakes, AC, AM/FM/CD, factory warranty, 19K great condition, $9500, 706-863-7071 (781/0102) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 2002 SATURN SL1, auto, PS, PB, CD, AC, 19K, factory warranty, like new condition, $8950, 706-863-7071 (802/109)

Motorcycle 2000 HONDA XR650R, enduro, XC, Great Gift for the guy who has everything, priced to sell, 706-309-9526 after 6 pm (458/1226) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 2001 HONDA NIGHTHAWK, 250cc, showroom condition, 400 miles, excellent first street bike, $2600 OBO, 803-278-3442 (677/0102) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 2002 HONDA SABRE, 1099cc, custom pearle silver paint job w/fadin candy blue flames. 1920 miles, excellent condition, $7600, matching helmet available, 803-2793410 (818/116)

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Account executives develop new business, work with clients and production artists to create ads that get results.

If you possess an entrepreneurial drive and are up for a challenge with big rewards, please send your resume, with cover letter to:

Advertising Sales c/o The Metropolitan Spirit P.O. Box 3809, Augusta, GA 30914 or fax to 706-733-6663 EOE

Vans 1979 FORD BRONCO, needs work, first $500 takes it, 706-790-3305 (703/1226) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1997 FORD EXPEDITON XLT, green/tan cloth, 5.4L, 3rd seat, rear air, power everything, hands-free phone, 132K highway miles, XC, $8500 OBO, 706-3645347(699/1226) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1997 FORD EXPLORER XLT, willow green, 4dr, V8, loaded, original owner, extra clean condition, $8850 OBO, 706-667-9488 leave message (810/109) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1997 FORD EXPLORER Sport, loaded, good condition, $7995, 706-860-0860 (775/0102) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1997 GMC YUKON SLT, white/burgundy leather, excellent condition, $14,000 OBO, 706-833-0624 (819/116)

Trucks 1992 TOYOTA PICK UP, am/fm, cassette, PS, XC, trailer hitch, excellent tires, extended cab, $2750 cash, 706-739-1142 (807/109) –––––––––––––––––––––––––

1993 CHEVY SILVERADO, white w/red interior, 6 cyl, PS, PB, AC, auto, toolbox, great condition, $3500 OBO, 706-399-1303 (801/109) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 2000 FORD RANGER XLT, burgundy, 4cyl, auto, AC, disc player, tinted glass, 22K, short bed, factory warranty, no tax, $9150, 706-7368032 (648/0102)

SUVs 1995 CHEVROLET ASTRO Van, V6, 4.3L, 7 passenger, luggage rack, rear air, power seats and mirrors, $7000, 706-733-0526 (694/1226) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1997 FORD WINDSTAR GL, dark red, 7 passenger, 3.8 V6, AC, tilt, power windows, 146K, $4200 OBO, 706-8605001 (774/1226) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1999 PLYMOUTH GRAND Voyager Expresso, white, 51K, 10 speaker infinity sound system, cassette, CD, rear air, captain’s chairs, new tires, great condition, reduced to $12,700, 706868-1045 (770/1226) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 2000 NISSAN QUEST, one owner, 26K, loaded, excellent condition, $15,100, 706-8633895 (825/123)

THE CSRA'S PRE-OWNED TRUCK SOURCE

CHEVROLET S-10

DODGE RAM

$13,900 King Cab • Long Bed

THANK YOU

$12,900 Very Clean Truck

2000

2 6

The Metropolitan Spirit has a full time, entry level sales position available.

The ideal candidate is ambitious, self-motivated, competitive, persuasive, positive, creative, and a great communicator in person and on paper.

CESSNA 150 H COMMUTER, 760 ch. radio, GPS, VOR, wheel pants, 4000 TT, 150SMOH, $19,500 OBO, 803-278-2669 or tyrus_m@yahoo.com (798/109)

For Supporting Our Advertisers

NISSAN FRONTIER

$9,995

Clean As A Whistle • Low Miles

DODGE DAKOTA

$13,900 Low Miles

2001

D E C

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

1999

S P I R I T

Other

1999

M E T R O

––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1999 FORD EXPEDITION XLT, leather, fully loaded, 6 disc CD changer, excellent condition, 51K, $18,000, 706-854-9194 (778/0102) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 2000 KIA SPORTAGE, 4dr, auto, all power, AC, CD, one owner, runs great, XC, $11,500, 706-8400957(698/1226) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1963 FORD F-100, straight 6, step-side, body in good condition, perfect for restoring, does not run, $500 OBO, 706-541-0783 (662/123) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1985 DODGE RAM Prospector, red, full-size, w/camper shell, 140K, good condition, perfect work truck. $2800, 706-721-2317 (809/109) ––––––––––––––––––––––––– 1988 DODGE RAM, Charger, w/rebuilt 318 motor, V8, good shape, runs good, needs light transmission work, lots of new part, $1500 OBO 706-737-2359 (799/109)

ANDY JONES MAZDA ISUZU

(803) 202-0002

A L L

N E W

S U B A R U

47

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M E T R O

B A J A

S P I R I T D E C

S TA R T I N G AT $23,995* - All wheel drive

To Your Ticket eat Finding Gr Flicks.

- Open Cargo bed - Switch back system expands cargo bed into passenger area for hauling longer items - 2.5 liter box engine - Fully independent heavy-duty raised suspension * Plus destination charge, tax, title & fees

Check out Cinema Movie Listings to make the best choice for your viewing pleasure!

GERALD JONES 1801 Gordon Highway, Augusta

706.738.2561

FREE AUTO CLASSIFIEDS

* Automobiles for sale by an individual may be placed in our FREE Auto Classifieds. The same ad will run continuously for six weeks or until the vehicle sells, whichever comes first. After two weeks, if you want to keep running the same ad, you must call The Metropolitan Spirit by 5 p.m. on Friday or we will assume you sold the vehicle and will delete the ad. All vehicles must indicate price. FREE Auto Classified ads are offered to individuals only and are not offered to commercial companies or dealers.

TO PLACE YOUR AD: Mail: P.O. Box 3809, Augusta, GA 30914-3809 Email: classified@metspirit.com Fax: 706-733-6663 Website: www.metspirit.com Visit Us At: 825 Russell Street, Augusta, GA MUST BE MAILED, FAXED OR EMAILED ON SPECIFIED FORM. ADS ARE NOT TAKEN BY PHONE.

GENERAL POLICIES: The Metropolitan Spirit reserves the right to reject, revise, alter, or reclassify any classified advertisement. Please check your ad for errors the first week the ad is published.

The Metropolitan Spirit is not responsible for any errors which appear after the first week the ad is inserted.

AD PLACEMENT FORM:

DEADLINES: In person - Monday at 3PM By mail, fax or email - Friday at 4PM

Name_________________________________________________________________________ Daytime Phone_________________________________________________________________ Address______________________________________________________________________ City______________________________________________State________Zip_____________ Ad Copy 20 words or less________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

GUARANTEED CLASSIFIEDS

* Items for sale by an individual may be placed in our Guaranteed Classifieds. The same ad will run continuously for ten weeks or until the item sells, whichever comes first. You must call by 5PM on Friday every two weeks to renew the ad or The Metropolitan Spirit will assume the item has been sold and will delete the ad. There is a $5 reinstatement fee if you forget to renew your ad. All items must indicate price. Guaranteed classified ads are offered to individuals only and are not offered to commercial companies. Guaranteed Classified ads do not include any automotive vehicles, real estate or pets.

RATES: FREE ADS Merchandise Under $250 $8 ADS Merchandise $251 to $500 $15 ADS Merchandise $501 to $1000 $20 ADS Merchandise over $1000 20 Words or Less - No Exceptions.

ADS MUST BE PREPAID DEADLINES: In person - Monday at 3PM By mail, fax or email - Friday at 4PM

TO PLACE YOUR AD: Mail: P.O. Box 3809, Augusta, GA 30914-3809 Email: classified@metspirit.com Fax: 706-733-6663 ADS ARE NOT TAKEN BY PHONE Website: www.metspirit.com Visit Us At: 825 Russell Street, Augusta, GA MUST BE MAILED, FAXED OR EMAILED ON SPECIFIED FORM. PAYMENT OPTIONS: (ADS MUST BE PREPAID) Cash-Money Order-Check

AD PLACEMENT FORM:

Name_______________________________________Daytime Phone_____________________ Address______________________________________________________________________ City______________________________________________State________Zip_____________ Payment ❑ Cash ❑ Check ❑ Money Order ❑ Visa ❑ MC Card No./Exp. Date_____________________________________________________________ Billing Address (if different from above)_____________________________________________ City______________________________________________State________Zip_____________ Ad Copy 20 words or less________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ GENERAL POLICIES: The Metropolitan Spirit reserves the right to reject, revise, alter, or reclassify any classified advertisement. Please check your ad for errors the first week the ad is published. The Metropolitan Spirit is not responsible for any errors which appear after the first week the ad is inserted.

2 6 2 0 0 2

CELEBRATE

Photos: Joe White

at the biggest New Years Eve Party in Augusta

Doors open @ 8pm Live music from 9-12pm - DJ from 12-3am Complimentary party favors, cocktails & champagne toast at midnight.

Complimentary food provided by Pizza Joint.

Admission: $10 in advance, $15 at the door $20 couples in advance, $25 at the door Private booth reservations (only 20 available): $10/person in addition to admission VIP reservations (only 30 available): $40/person in addition to admission.

VIP includes complimentary bottle service.

For advance ticket information, contact 706-303-9700 or jfs3@prodigy.net

12.26.02 LIVE MUSIC W/ THREE SIXTY KOSMIC KARMA FUSION JAZZ/SOUL/FUNK 12.27.02 TERANY (HOUSE) THE EARTHLING (DJ TY BESS) 12.28.02 TERANY (HOUSE) DJ BORIQUA LATIN, REGGAE, DANCE

W W W. M O D J E S K A L O U N G E . C O M T H U R S - S AT 8PM-UNTIL 813 B ROA D S T R E E T 706-303-9700