Cars 2, Bad Teacher
CARS 2 *** Think of Pixar as a person instead of a studio. Imagine it as Clint Eastwood. Remember that middle stretch in Eastwood’s career, when he would alternate more artistic endeavors with pure popcorn flicks? One year he’s helming something as weighty as The Outlaw Josey Wales, the next he’s starring in something as…
The Rumbler
During the Flat Duo Jets’ most fertile period, the early to mid 1990s, their stripped–down-raw rockabilly, driven by Dex Romweber’s tremolo surf guitar, attracted a slavishly devoted audience. Still, the band never crossed into any kind of mainstream acceptance. Perhaps the hyper–kinetic, low–fi garage music was just a bit too close to the actual garage…
Exhibits & openings this week
Additionally and Furthermore – A collection of paintings by Erin De Rosa influenced by Egon Schiele and Andrew Wyeth, among others. Reception: June 24, 7-9pm Gallery Espresso, 234 Bull St. , http://www.galleryespresso.com/ Ebb and Flow – An exhibition of photos and other historical memorabilia related to the project documenting East Savannah and the newly published…
Death by a thousand cuts, explained
Years ago I made the mistake of reading a book called The Journeyer by Gary Jennings, about the life and adventures of Marco Polo. If you’re not familiar with Jennings’s work, the synopsis is simple: SEX, VIOLENCE, history, SEX, VIOLENCE. Jennings writes of a torture practiced in the Orient of Polo’s time called “death by…
A ‘Red Hot’ debut, Friends of Chief benefit
GENERAL OGLETHORPE & THE PANHANDLERS FREE CANDY At 10 p.m. Saturday, June 25 Tantra Lounge, 8 Broughton St. Free The mischievous popsters in General O have been laying tracks for a new album; meanwhile, the band’s singing, songwriting frontperson Devin Smith has directed a video for “Red Hot,” one of the standout tracks on last…
Sacrificing the Ogeechee
We could really use Theodore Roosevelt today. His crusade against the dangers of monopoly is more than relevant, as was his particular distaste for “special interests,” a phrase he more or less coined and which he intended to refer to unregulated, rampant corporate greed – a scourge in his era as well as ours. Teddy…
One day at a time
Thirteen months have gone by since Lori Stuart, lead singer for the Savannah classic rock band Rhythm Riot, suffered a massive stroke on the stage of Bay Street Blues. In the tense, touch–and–go days that followed, she could only move her eyes, and doctors diagnosed Locked–in Syndrome – what the French call “walled–in alive disease.”…
Truth is stranger than fiction, pt. 2
Loud music got a man into trouble with the law. Just after midnight last Monday, an officer stopped a vehicle for a noise ordinance violation. When the officer approached the vehicle, he detected a strong odor of marijuana. The driver was found to be in possession of prescription pills and was arrested. After being searched…
Awareness is key
This year marks the 30th anniversary since AIDS first appeared as a mysterious unnamed killer that turned lives and communities upside down. It was in the summer of 1981 that news of curious diagnoses of Pneumocystis pneumonia among young gay men began to spread, leading the Center for Disease Control to form a task force…
Mark Your Calendar: The Whigs
Athens, to be sure, has been the portal from which so much great much has sprung (see the Dex Romweber story in this very issue for one notable example). The Whigs, the Athens-based power trio that’s been making international waves since blowing out of UGA-town in 2002, has a July 30 date at the Jinx.…
‘And then we moved’
Poet and Savannah State professor Chad Faries can now add memoirist to his list of occupational descriptors. His new book, an unflinching exploration of his upbringing in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula titled Drive Me Out of My Mind, hits shelves this week. It is a personal reflection; memories framed by the 24 houses he lived in…
The secret’s in the oak
Our wine–making friends from down under really propelled the U.S. demand for Sauvignon Blanc with their crisp, citrus–driven styles and low cost bottles. As welcome as these wines were to the market –– and as refreshing as they can be on a hot, summer day –– my palate has grown weary of the fresh cut…
Diving into the Shipwreck
Ahoy landlubbers! The major refit of the Broughton Street address that once housed Fuddrucker’s has set sail for an entirely new port – the Shipwreck Restaurant and Lounge. But don’t let all the big screen TVs, lethal drinks in fishbowls and massive martini menu keel haul you – there’s still some good chow coming from…
So many reasons to Dump the Pump
Waking up to the sound of rain, I was cheered that the drought had broken. Then I thought, “Note to self: get fenders for bike.” It is not typically an issue but for the second time in three years, it was raining close to the start of the Dump the Pump (DTP) Challenge, an annual…
Lather up!
With more than seven years invested in their project, the members of Soap finally decided things were right – the stars were aligned – and that they should get their music on tape. The key word for this band is evolution. Soap plays a unique combination of silky–smooth R&B, funk and rock ‘n’ roll. The…
Green Lantern, Mr. Popper’s Penguins
GREEN LANTERN **1/2 Considering all the advance negative buzz that had been building with the steadiness and scariness of a Category 5 hurricane, Green Lantern, just one of the approximately 428 superhero flicks that will be released this year alone, isn’t the catastrophe that had been all but foretold as far back as the Book…
