Unknown, Barney’s Version
UNKNOWN *** I don’t mind that Unknown, which builds on Liam Neeson’s newly minted status as a tortured action hero, is utterly ridiculous. Why? Because within the constraints of its absurdity, it always manages to play fair with the audience. This is a radical departure from many contemporary thrillers in which the filmmakers are so…
Savannah Stopover announces full schedule
If you want an idea of just how musical the city will be during the second weekend in March, head over to the official site of the Savannah Stopover Festival. The organizers have finally agreed upon a final schedule; quite the Olympian feat, finding a performance venue – and date, and time – for 50…
Exhibits & openings this week
All is well (Damn right it is) – New works by local artist Eric David Wooddell. Mandalas and collages inspired by the amazing times we live in. Ghost Town Tattoo, Montgomery & Congress Sts Birds in Flight – An installation by Matt Hebermehl of his signature, patterned bird forms hanging in the Jepson’s atrium. Jepson…
If you gotta melt the polar ice caps…
A friend and I were watching some old James Bond movies and talking about their grandiose evil plans. The conversation turned to melting the polar ice caps and flooding the world. His idea was to use a solar reflector; mine was to use nuclear weapons. Since neither of us knows any evil geniuses, we decided…
Stopover spotlight
Prince Rama The members of Animal Collective were so taken with Prince Rama’s hypnotic, trippy, spiritually-cued psychedelia, they signed the Brooklyn trio to their Paw Tracks label. Michael Collins and sisters Taraka and Nimai Larson started making music together while living in Alachua, Florida – it’s just a few miles north of Gainesville, which is…
His own private Vietnam
The Matterhorn is a mountain in the Alps. But in Karl Marlantes’ novelized account of his years as a Marine in Vietnam, it’s the code name of a hill to be savagely fought over. Told through the eyes of a second lieutenant who foregoes the Ivy League to volunteer, Matterhorn is a brutally compelling novel…
Losing votes, losing credibility
The search for a permanent city manager was nearly concluded during the last City Council meeting. But the process stumbled back into the quagmire of confusion and uncertainty from whence it came. Three possible solutions were presented, despite the fact that the city manager search was not on the day’s agenda. The mayor presented a…
‘Our own March Madness’
If Savannah is to become an indie music mecca, it’ll be Kayne Lanahan up in the minaret, calling people in. A marketing and advertising whiz from New York City, Lanahan is the brains behind the upcoming Savannah Stopover Festival, which will bring 50 independent bands and artists to multiple downtown club stages between March 9…
Say no to GMO
Editor, I appreciate your critical comments about the city manager search and the deepening of the river. These are important issues. However, I’d like to draw your attention to another issue that is even more important, as it creates a threat to the whole population of the U.S. and goes pretty much unnoticed by media…
Did somebody say ‘Festival’?
SINCE YOU might expect to read about politics in this space, let’s get this out of the way first: There are many people – more than a few, in fact – who believe Karl Rove belongs behind bars, not headlining the Savannah Book Festival. Indeed, the move to bring the former Bush administration political guru…
Songs and stories
Mairtin de Cogain is the leader of the Fuchsia Band, a popular and successful quartet of lads that play traditional Irish music right off the streets of their native County Cork. But de Cogain, who recently relocated to Minnesota (!), also works with an ever–changing roster of acoustic players from the U.S.A. This, he calls…
Song of the South
San Francisco Bay native Marc Smirnoff became a Southerner by accident in 1989, after his car broke down in Mississippi. He took a job in an Oxford book store and became fascinated by – and hooked on – the great Southern writers. And he never went back home. Three years into his Deep South residency,…
Sticks, Stones and a better America
A little to the south of Macon, near the town of Bullard, Georgia, there’s a 2,500 acre tree farm called Charlane Plantation. Here, Chuck Leavell and his wife Rose Lane grow pines for harvest – in 1999, they were named National Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year by the American Forest Foundation and the American…
Darsombra, Jonathan Richman
DARSOMBRA At 10 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 16 The Jinx, 127 W. Congress St. Baltimore metal guitarist Brian Daniloski – a founder of Meatjack – has fashioned a psychedelic, ambient music–mash with elements of electronica, vocal improv and doom metal (he says he pulls in neoclassical and musique concrete for the ambitious soundscapes as well). It’s…
Bloody hands and hand guns
An officer on patrol was flagged down by a concerned citizen who said he just saw a person break the window of a building on Congress Street. It was shortly after three in the morning. The officer found a man walking away from the location with his right hand bleeding badly. He refused to be…
Mark your calendar: Lisa Lampanelli
In one of comedian Lisa Lampanelli’s concert videos, she addresses a smartly–dressed lady in the front row. “Women like her usually hate me,” Lampanelli says, “because I’m dirty, I’m loud, I’m rude. There’s always those soccer mom types who come to see me, hoping I’ll be a ‘female comic’ who talks about PMS and dating.”…
Sailing into history
Joshua Slocum was the first man to sail around the world alone. Geoffrey Wolfe has written a new biography about him, The Hard Way Around. Not only is the book an entertaining account of Slocum’s historic voyage on the little Spray –– rigging the wheel on a primitive autopilot so he could sleep –– it’s…
Filipino food on Whitemarsh
Kainan Restaurant I was in the mood for curry, and that’s what I ordered. But the best reason to try this Whitemarsh Island restaurant is to sample the authentic Filipino dishes on the menu. You’ll find a smattering of Thai, a nice range of Vietnamese dishes and, to my knowledge, the only selection of Filipino…
Spring puts on its Magic Hat
That underworked prognosticator of Spring, Punxsutawney Phil, is an overrated varmint. You want a sure sign of Spring? Here it is. The Spring Fever 12–pack from Magic Hat Brewing Co. is back as sure as the daffodils and the azaleas. Packed inside the wonderfully creative cardboard case are a pair of old friends – and…
