Your feedback
The truth about the Georgia situation Editor, Jim, generally I like your Editor’s Notes quite a lot. You are a great writer and often I appreciate your perspective on things, but your recent “China Syndrome” note included something that I found rather upsetting. In the course of speaking about the Beijing Olympics you refer to…
Mystery from history
ENGINEERS FOR the Riverwalk extension project expected all along that many submerged wooden piles would have to be removed from the river bottom before construction could begin. What they didn’t anticipate was the discovery of a series of massive, heavy timber mats about 12 to 15 feet beneath the river bottom. The mats were made…
Regarding Obama
MY PATERNAL and maternal grandparents, along with my mother, all died before Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama got the nomination. The following is an open letter to them and their generation, but is especially directed toward my mother’s mother, Grandma DeVeaux: I wish y’all had stuck around to see this little bit of history. Like…
Low pants vs. no pants
ACCORDING TO news reports, some members of Savannah City Council have seen enough underwear and are asking for a statute as part of Savannah’s proposed parental responsibility law, prohibiting boys from wearing baggy pants below the butt. Lowrider pants are hardly new to town. I recall that, during his 11th grade year, my now-30-year-old brother…
Not good
Caught with pants down Police responded to a call initiated by a Bryan County Sheriff’s deputy. They arrived on Fort Argyle Road and found a woman, passed out in the driver’s seat of a pickup truck. The woman wasn’t wearing anything below the waist. Police attempted to wake her up, but she was very intoxicated.…
Rum, sodomy, and the lash
One often hears references to rampant buggery among sailors in the glory days of the Royal Navy. Sometimes, its said, young boys called peg boys were on board solely for the purpose of providing pleasure to the officers. What’s the straight dope on this? —Wm. Bligh, Chicago Not an easy question to . . .…
The dark side of AI
As a teen in the 80’s I was intrigued by the prospect of artificial intelligence, or AI. While a lot of people, when they think of AI, think of high level, highly functional interfaces such as HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey, I was more intrigued with the challenge of simpler, low level processes coming…
What I did on my summer vacation
OK, I’M back from a nice, long summer vacation and ready to amp this thing up. Next week we’re going to feature our College issue, with a big Fall Arts preview issue soon after that. I always write an account in the paper of my travels, for two reasons: 1) I really enjoy travel writing;…
New release: Traitor
Traitor Tackling terrorism on screen is a dicey proposition, often resulting in a push-pull dynamic of trying to make an entertaining crowd-pleaser that nevertheless can’t forget its civic duty to present its ugly subject matter in an honest and illuminating light. Traitor tries for that line drive right down the middle and, consequently, ends up…
Everything else that’s out there
Elegy After suffering through the sight of Ben Kingsley disgracing himself as Guru Tugginmypudha in Mike Myers’ summer flop The Love Guru, it seemed reasonable to assume that it would be at least another year before viewers could take the Oscar-winning actor seriously again. But like both Michael Caine and Gene Hackman in the 1980s,…
‘We want to look as professional as possible’
IT’S BEEN JUST A LITTLE OVER A YEAR since local “roots-a-billy” band The Train Wrecks released their debut CD, Whiskey & War. During that time, the hard-charging quartet of Jason Bible, Markus Kuhlmann, Eric Dunn and Stuart Harmening have sold over 1,200 copies of that album on their own, and kept up the frenetic pace…
Entertainment Briefs
27th Annual Savannah Jazz Fest What: Massive showcase of Dixieland, swing, bop, melodic and straight-ahead jazz, plus funky blues, featuring: Simone (daughter of Nina Simone), The Bob James Quintet, The Eric Culberson Blues Band, The Ben Riley Trio, Wanda Johnson & Shrimp City Slim, James Cotton, The Beer Parlor Ramblers, The Skyelite Jazz Ensemble and…
The dark side of AI
As a teen in the 80’s I was intrigued by the prospect of artificial intelligence, or AI. While a lot of people, when they think of AI, think of high level, highly functional interfaces such as HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey, I was more intrigued with the challenge of simpler, low level processes coming…
Spotlighted gigs and recommended shows
Jubal-Kane CD Release *** With a look that’s one part Rick Rubin and one part The Wild Angels, these N.C. blues-rock throwbacks can’t help but look as though they’re about to kick somebody’s ass. Don’t let that stop you from getting close, however, as they’re a breath of fresh air on the Southeastern blues scene.…
Listening library
HEARD ANY good books lately? If not, Live Oak Public Libraries has a deal for you. Georgia Download Destination is a service that allows customers to download audiobooks for free. Diane Bronson, collection development coordinator for the Live Oaks system, said the program is a resounding success. “It opened about May,” Bronson says. “We’ve had…
Testing boundaries
THE 2007-2008 school year ended with a whimper throughout the state’s public schools. Almost 40 percent of Georgia’s eighth graders failed the standardized math test. That means that thousands of kids across the state spent the summer in school, and if they didn’t pass the exam a second time around then they’re going to the…
Recycling on the River
WHAT’S NEW on River Street? Think recycling. Last Friday’s presentation by City of Savannah staff on the status of the River Street Streetcar offers another way for locals and visitors to embrace the green lifestyle. Curbside trash recycling is scheduled to begin citywide early in 2009, but the River Street streetcar is a recycling project…
Alarmingly good eating
A call for a dumpster fire blares to Savannah Fire & Emergency Services Station 3 as I’m arriving at headquarters to eat dinner with Fire Chief Charles G. Middleton and the “The Mighty B-Shift” personnel of Engine 3 & Rescue 1. Twenty six seconds later the engine starts. At 49 seconds the siren sounds as…
Tag, you’re out
GRAFFITI ISN’T ART — it’s vandalism. That’s the message Savannah-Chatham Metro Police are trying to convey after a 24-year-old Savannah resident was arrested and charged with a felony after he defaced the city’s newest parking garage at Whitaker and Bryan streets. The same tag, which resembles a screaming face, was also found on the side…
How to fight the undead
I’m reading World War Z by Max Brooks, a fictional account of the world’s response to a zombie outbreak. In the book the U.S. military fails miserably in its first real battle against the undead but later changes tactics and ultimately triumphs, as does the rest of the world. I have always wondered how the…
No way. Way.
Lead Story “What was once a gentleman’s hobby among a few dozen enthusiasts at the turn of the 20th century,” wrote The New York Times in July, “has evolved into a multimillion-dollar industry,” namely, collecting strands of hair of famous people. Mastro Auctions of Chicago sells $100,000 worth of hair a year, and in October,…
New releases: Elegy, House Bunny, etc.
Elegy After suffering through the sight of Ben Kingsley disgracing himself as Guru Tugginmypudha in Mike Myers’ summer flop The Love Guru, it seemed reasonable to assume that it would be at least another year before viewers could take the Oscar-winning actor seriously again. But like both Michael Caine and Gene Hackman in the 1980s,…
August 27th Winner
Welcome to Connect Savannah’s You Shoot group! We’re looking for your pictures of life in Savannah, Georgia and its environs for use on our homepage, and possibly in our printed paper. You can add photos to our feed by sharing your photo online. If your shot is really good, we might just run it in…
The Greatest Cover Band in the World?
SAVANNAH RESIDENT RICK BOWEN VIVIDLY REMEMBERS the moment he first had the idea for his new stage show Flashback: The Classic Rock Experience. It came a few years ago on the drive back from Columbia, S.C.’s Colonial Center. Bowen had just witnessed his first live show by famed symphonic rock group Trans-Siberian Orchestra, who’ve been…
