Kick-Ass, Date Night
KICK-ASS ** Based on Mark Millar’s popular comic series, Kick-Ass begins as a PG-13 delight before eventually turning into an R-rated ordeal. Adaptations of this sort often squarely fit into the more restrictive rating (e.g. Watchmen, Sin City), and Millar’s illustrated series certainly isn’t for the kiddies. But despite this fact, here’s one graphic (in…
A bridge from the past
An exhibit of portraits by local photographer Ellen Susan opened earlier this month at the Jepson Center. Susan creates portraits of contemporary soldiers using a 150 year-old process, known as wet collodion, first introduced around the time of the Civil War. The juxtaposition of modern soldiers rendered visually in a manner previously reserved for soldiers…
Takin’ it to the sidewalks
In some urban areas, sidewalk chalk art is as revered as fine oils and watercolors. Artists learn, experiment, teach and compete with everything from total naturalism to multicolored 3–D imagery. In Savannah, it’s all about having fun. The SCAD Sidewalk Arts Festival has been a local tradition for 29 years – current and prospective students,…
Sales tax evasion
Amidst the State’s budget woes, it appears that millions of dollars in revenue will go unclaimed because of businesses who evade payment of sales tax. “There is revenue out there that is going uncollected by the state,” says Amy Henderson, a spokesperson for the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA). “It’s not a new tax. It’s money…
Nothing fuzzy about Fuzzy’s vodka
With spring comes the inevitable pollen crush – and a steady stream of new products. Here are a pair from the past week: Fuzzy Zoeller Vodka While the name of Tiger Woods may have been the most uttered phrase during The Masters, there’s a good chance that the most frequent name called during the upcoming…
Random bites: Sugar Daddy’s
Sugar Daddy’s Wine & Food Bar I’ve been into this downtown newcomer a half dozen times, scoring a delicious small plate and glass of wine as an appetizer before heading to dinner somewhere else. General Manager Brian Torres and Chef Chris Russell have always made me – and everyone – feel welcome. And they’ve been…
Show and Tell for grownups
This Thursday night, painter Marcus Kenney would like six–and–two–thirds minutes of your attention. Not one second more. Not a second less. Filmmaker Michael Chaney wants the same thing. So does Maggie Evans, a painter and blues bass player. Kenney, Chaney and Evans aren’t running for political office, or soliciting funds for a cause, or recruiting…
A simple thing
They could have called it Leftover Cheese, or the Salmon Incident, but Drew Emmitt and Bill Nershi, leaving creativity to the music, went with the obvious. So we have the Emmitt–Nershi Band. Lynchpins and mainstays of Leftover Salmon and the String Cheese Incident, respectively, Emmitt and Nershi have forsaken the stadia–stage trappings and festival–sized crowds…
Straight up
Basik Lee is reflecting on what it means to be a rapper in Savannah. “I lived in Jersey my whole life,” he says. “Everybody’s like ‘You gotta go to the big city, you gotta go to these places and do your thing.’ For me, it’s not where you are, it’s who you are.” A founder…
Legislature fails public education — again
Facing a massive state revenue shortfall, the Georgia legislature’s response has been predictable: cut funding to public education. The proposed budget cuts to the public K–12 and public university system of Georgia would have a staggering impact: 17 percent of the budget for higher education ($300 million) and similar cuts from K–12 education that would…
Shortwave Society
At the end of March, the Knoxville-based band Shortwave Society performed at that city’s Big Ears Festival, alongside Sufjan Stephens, The National, My Brightest Diamond and others who continually push the musical envelope. “I really felt like it was one of the first times we found our tribe,” says the band’s keyboard player and co-writer…
There is no easy money
A woman called police to report a possible flim flam. The officer who arrived on the scene spoke with the woman who said that she had applied for a job online and her potential employer had sent her a check for $3,850.She was instructed to cash the check, deposit an amount and send the remainder…
What’s Next: G. Love & Special Sauce
The ambitious G. Love & Special Sauce will headline a free concert Friday, May 28 in Forsyth Park – the annual “new alumni” show intended as a thumbs-up for graduating seniors. Other acts on the bill – and there are usually two or three – haven’t been announced. G. Love, a.k.a. Garrett Dutton, is a…
‘Sensory overload’
While this week’s Savannah Urban Arts Festival features a ton of cool stuff — screenings, vinyl sales, poetry slams, hip hop jams, a video game tournament, and even skateboarding — there’s no doubt what the premier attraction is. Art Beats + Lyrics, a blend of traveling art gallery, installation, and hip hop road show, hits…
The Moth man speaks
Best–selling author George Dawes Green appreciates a good story. As a writer and the founder of The Moth, where people get on stage and share unscripted stories, he’s done his part in preserving the tradition of storytelling in the digital age. If you haven’t heard of it, The Moth is a wildly popular nonprofit storytelling…
Exhibits & openings this week
Aldwyth: Work v./Work n. – Collage and assemblage 1991-2009 by this reclusive Hilton Head artist, now in her 70s. Jepson Center for the Arts through 5/17 Ellen Susan: Soldier Portraits – Local photographer uses a 150-year old method to capture striking portraits of contemporary soldiers. Runs through July 25. Jepson Center, 207 W. York St.…
Lie detectors aren’t completely worthless
What’s the effectiveness of a polygraph? Police still use them, the feds still screen applicants using polygraphs, but the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled them invalid. Surely they can’t tell if you’re lying, and surely not all lies produce the same physiological response in every person. -Rob Lie-detector tests aren’t completely worthless. How’s that for…
Ramen blogging!
Lead Story Computer hardware engineer Toshio Yamamoto, 49, this year celebrates 15 years’ work tasting and cataloguing all the Japanese ramen (instant noodles) he can get his hands on (including the full ingredients list, texture, flavor, price and “star” rating for each), for the massive 4,300-ramen database on his Web site, expanded recently with “hundreds”…
