Savannah Pride 2009
A few shots from this year’s edition of the Savannah Pride Festival in Forsyth Park, shot by Robin Wright Gunn.
What’s next: Folk, bluegrass and a good cause
The Saturday afternoon bluegrass jams out at Randy Wood Guitars bring people together, musicians who may have nothing in common but their love of the acoustic high lonesome sound. It was at one of these lowcountry jamborees that multi-instrumentalist Bobby Morris, a local legend on banjo, guitar and many others, ran into Al and…
Forgot something?
Police arrived at a convenience store in response to a call about an armed robbery. A black male wearing a do-rag as a mask and brandishing a small handgun entered the store and demanded the man hand over all the money. After watching a surveillance video and broadcasting an updated description of the suspect, police…
Failure to communicate
Here’s a little pop quiz to get you in the mood for the upcoming school year: Question 1: Let’s say – totally hypothetically – that you’re the organizer of a large, targeted outdoor festival in town with a devoted following. The second largest of its type in Georgia, in fact. Hypothetically. Do you: A) Contact…
Reviews: Julie & Julia, Perfect Getaway
JULIE & JULIA ***1/2 No question about it: Nora Ephron gets a bum rap from both critics and moviegoers, who often disparage her as if she were Hollywood’s female equivalent of Michael Bay (and Bay at least has the sizable fanboy demographic in his corner). Certainly, she deserves a lot of heat for foisting…
Three bites: Chen’s, Firehouse Subs, Pankake Palace
Chen’s Chinese Restaurant Unlike so many of the ubiquitous Chinese buffets in Savannah, Chen’s is neither “giant” or “super-sized.” It’s comfortable and approachable.Steam-table pans are changed frequently, which insures freshness. I gravitate to the Sesame Chicken, small and crispy spring rolls and egg drop soup. Ingredients are fresh, the food hot and satisfying. More attention…
Giving organic fruit beers a second chance
The last fruit beer I sampled was a blueberry brew offered up by a struggling Midwestern brewery trying to get back on its feet. The year was 1995. Craft beer was yet to emerge as the fastest growing industry sector, fruit beers were the rage in Europe, but not in America — and frankly, this…
Noteworthy: Willie Heath Neal
WILLIE HEATH NEAL Native Georgian Willie Heath Neal specializes in raucous, rabble-rousing honky tonk music. Sure, these days there are a lot of guys playing that stuff – we are in the South, after all – but Heath, all of 38, has got the goods. He sounds (and looks) like he was just let…
Sick days
Last week, the Center for Disease Control announced it will no longer report new H1N1 cases (the virus formerly known as swine flu) on a local level anymore, and will switch to state-level reports – the same way that seasonal flu is reported. While that bit of news might seem confusing, it marks an important…
Greenway gets another green light
An ambitious project to build a 161 mile bike and pedestrian trail along the Georgia coast got a boost last week. The city commission of Brunswick, two hours to the south, endorsed the proposed Coastal Georgia Greenway, itself part of a larger plan that would connect Maine to Key West with a 3000 mile trail.…
May the farce be with you
Ray Cooney is the go-to guy when a community theater wants to put on a door-slamming English farce. British-born and well-versed in the blending of broad comedy, bawdiness and split-second timing, Cooney’s plays are onstage, all the time, all over this country. You can’t throw a stone without hitting one. Most famous is Run For…
Hall of fame
No matter what Mitchell Hall is doing or where he is in life, he will always believe in fashion and Savannah. The Melbourne, Florida native and now creative director of BleuBelle Boutique on Broughton Street has studied theatre and art history, attempted to work for a magazine in Manhattan and most recently became a…
Laughing it up with the Queen of Gospel
She’s been called the Queen of Gospel Music, but Vicki Mack Lataillade isn’t a singer, vocal arranger or musician of particular note. One thing’s for certain: She’s the most successful African American woman ever to head a record company, and one of the most influential people in the history of contemporary gospel music. Vicki…
Musician by trade, folkie by choice
Jack Williams has been many things, all of them musical. He played lute in a renaissance group, trumpet in a hipster jazz combo, and guitar in too many rock ‘n’ roll bands to remember. He rowed the boat ashore with a Kingston Trio-esque folk outfit. He’s been a professional musician for more than 50…
Noteworthy: The Mumbles
THE MUMBLES Included on the short list of covers performed by this Brooklyn-based trio are Elvis Costello’s “Mystery Dance” and Tom Waits’ “Better Off Without a Wife.” How cool is that? The Mumbles play mostly original music, though, and it’s cool, R&B-inflected hipster jazz – in fact, some writer somewhere called it “Lounge music…
