Farewell, ‘Hollywood Ron’
Anywhere you went downtown, sooner or later you were bound to get a glimpse of Ron Higgins’ Savannah Movie Tours luxury coach. He drove the air-conditioned 16-seater nearly every day of the year, and on the back was the iconic image from Forrest Gump, slightly altered: The man in the white suit, perched on a…
Avett Bros. Concert 06-11-10
Pictures from the Avett Brothers concert at the Civic Center. Photos courtesy of Bob Jones. www.nathanjonesphoto.com
A-Team, Karate Kid, Killers
THE A-TEAM *** “Overkill is underrated,” opines group leader “Hannibal” Smith (Liam Neeson) at one point during the course of The A-Team. Clearly, the man isn’t talking about summer films, wherein the whole point of many of these heavily hyped efforts is to render everything louder, larger and more expensive. Still, as far as costly…
News briefs
Lend me your ear(mark)s Judging solely by political affiliation, a comparison of our local congressmen’s federal tax dollar expenditures on pet projects via earmarks yields surprising results. Between 2008 and 2010, Republican Jack Kingston (GA–1) spent nearly four times the tax dollars of Democrat John Barrow (GA–12) through earmarks, according to data from Taxpayers for…
Twilight Visions
Although artists and engineers might seem like strange bedfellows, the link between art and technology is clear. In much the same way that developments in digital media irreversibly changed film, photography and music, at one time it was electricity and the camera which were the cutting edge, changing how artists and audiences alike viewed the…
This is your brain on Jell-O
I remember a story from the 80s about lime Jell-O giving off brainwaves. When I mentioned this the other day I got into a long argument about microtubules, consciousness, and superstrings and need a quick shut-’em-up. Anything to this? -Mungsback Yes. The point of the research, however, wasn’t to suggest Jell-O was alive but rather…
Exhibits & openings this week
Alexander Ink – SCAD’s annual juried printmaking exhibition composed of students from the Atlanta and Savannah locations. Runs through July 2. Alexander Hall Gallery, 668 Indian St. , http://www.scad.edu/exhibitions Diane Von Furstenburg: Journey of a Dress – A retrospective of work from the world renowned designer including examples from her personal archives; looks from the…
Norwegian prisons
Lead Story It’s clear, based on a May Time magazine dispatch, that Norway’s felons and miscreants are of a superior class than America’s. When Norway’s brand-new Halden prison opened in April, the country’s King Harald V headlined a glitzy gala that celebrated what has been called the world’s “most humane” lockup. Among the facilities: a…
‘Your mind is supposed to wander’
With its brutal, modern, mechanized tactics, World War I devastated Europe. Everything, suddenly, was different. As people began tentative, reactionary steps towards a new kind of normalcy, so too did European artists begin thinking of things in alternative ways. Filmmaking was still in its infancy, and inevitably it was seized upon as a new way…
Mountain climbing
Tapping into the grittiness of American roots music – emotionally precise lyrics, tight harmonies and lustily-picked acoustic instruments – the Avett Brothers created a rock ‘n’ roll hybrid that feels anything but forced. Indeed, the band’s live shows are usually packed with rock fans just discovering the tactile beauty of acoustic music, and those who…
What’s Next: This, that, the other
First, a couple of quick notes: A reminder that tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday for the Sept. 29 show from blues guitar legend B.B. King in the Johnny Mercer Theatre… …Coming Aug. 3 via Rounder Records: John Mellencamp’s No Better Than This, part of which was recorded, in mono, at Savannah’s First…
Ugly Radio Rebellion; Vinx
UGLY RADIO REBELLION: THE MUSIC OF FRANK ZAPPA Some people think of Frank Zappa as that weird guy with the goatee who wrote strange, smutty songs as the guitarist and bandleader for the Mothers of Invention, way back when. That’s fine. Zappa never got played much on the radio, so those folks are excused for…
What happened to going down with the ship?
Officers were alerted to assist with locating victims of a capsized boat around one o’clock in the morning. Upon arrival, they were informed that there were two people sitting on a pylon below the Veterans overpass of the Little Ogeechee River. They were not injured. Blankets and a radio were lowered to them. The pair…
Opera in Savannah
Even though she’s headed for Italy to sing the role of Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus at Operafestival di Roma next month, local soprano Rebecca Flaherty has set her mind to something far more domestic: Bringing live opera to Savannah. “When I walk around Savannah, and I look at how beautiful it is, it just makes…
Random bites: AVIA
This downtown luxury hotel is the place to see and be seen. In fact, the once cozy little bar was recently tripled in size – and filled to capacity almost overnight. But one of the hotels most overlooked features is its inventive small plates menu. From sliders to pulled pork barbecue and chicken and waffles…
Fly like a beer
With so many great new craft beers hitting the market, it can become daunting, both in terms of drinking and buying. And what a bummer to score a $10 six–pack of a new beer, only to discover it’s really not something you would want to drink regularly. That’s where flights come in. More and more…
Keeping time
It’s been just under a year since we profiled Rasheed Akbar, a New Orleans street musician whose life was turned upside down by Hurricane Katrina, in a story called The Chairman of River Street. Akbar, 57, had been a fixture on Decatur Street in NOLA for more than 20 years, and was bringing in a…
News briefs
Another step forward for DeRenne Project At last week’s meeting, City Council voted on a resolution to move forward with what’s known as the Boulevard concept for Project DeRenne, which is aimed at remedying traffic delays along the corridor. According to information provided at public meetings in December of last year, the Boulevard solution is…
Get Him to the Greek
GET HIM TO THE GREEK **1/2 A semi-sequel to Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek is the latest film to emerge from the Judd Apatow factory, which means the picture will take great pains to show it can be sweet and sincere while simultaneously dishing out the sort of vulgar gags that have…
Megasite should be a renewable energy magnet
While Mitsubishi Power Systems will take up a small portion of the Pooler Megasite, the remainder of the 1500-acre parcel at I-16 and I-95 has the potential to be further transformed into a mixed–use commercial/industrial campus to attract a variety of renewable energy companies. Along with Mitsubishi, those firms could form the core of a…
A Fight for the Right
Republican candidates vying for the chance to take on incumbent Democratic Representative John Barrow for Georgia’s 12th District seat gathered during the Savannah Republican Women’s luncheon to discuss the issues last week. In front of a standing-room-only crowd in the Johnny Harris banquet room, each of the four Republicans – Ray McKinney, Jeanne Seaver, Carl…
Reviews: ‘Cuckoo’s Nest,’ ‘Joseph’
With the current production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the fledgling Indigo Arts Center has spread its wings and flown. This nearly-perfect production establishes Indigo – barely six months old – as a serious contender for the best community theater venue in Savannah. Its intimacy is the selling point. For Cuckoo’s Nest, novelist…
