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10 * THE GAMECOCK ♦ Wednesday, April 21,2004 , p , f cannot command nature L0nt3Ct. US except by obeyingher.” Story ideas? Questions? Comments? . • FRANCIS bacon E-mail us at gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu playwright |_^ ■■ «®s. - PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK The Folly Turtles Watch Crew protects the sea turtles’ nests to ensure their survival. BY ANNA HUNTLEY THE GAMECOCK /■ /E yrtle Beach is a glittering /I/ E Emerald City, a vacation staple JL r E for both retirees and underage high school kids: “The East Coast’s ultimate vacation hub,” according to the Travel Channel’s Web site. While it is a hot vacation spot, other South Carolina beaches offer something a little different. Twelve miles south of Charleston is Folly Beach, located on Folly Island, one of the bar rier islands. “It’s more like a beach and less like a tourist trap,” said Heyward Sims, a fourth-year art studio student whose family has a beach house at Folly. “I’ve been going there since I was four. You go to the beach ®«V Surf Yourself Bark Forward Stop Re? _ , , To learn more about becoming a volunteer for Folly Turtles Watch ©appk © v Crew, visit www.follyturtles.com. -To learn more about the Barrier Island Eco-Tours Company, visit www.nature-tours.com. iu gu me uecum. Mime thing a little more whole some than just going out to bars.” Folly Beach is also a haven for surf culture — a particular stretch of the beach, notorious for having the best waves in South Carolina, has earned the nickname, “The Washout.” The Annual Folly Beach Wahine Surf Classic, May 15-16, is in its fourth year. If you’re not quite up to this level, surf lessons are available. Folly Beach also provides a refuge for log gerhead sea turtles during their yearly egg laying ritual. On occasion, endangered leatherback turtles, which weigh nearly a ton, also choose Folly as a nesting place. The official turtle season begins May 15; volunteers for the Folly Turtles Watch Crew oversee the sea turtle nests to help ensure the sea turtles’ survival, an experience far re moved from the typical sunbathing and club hopping that goes on at larger, more com mercialized beaches. Isle of Palms is a similarly less-crowded barrier island with miles of wide beach. Like Folly, it is located less than 20 minutes from historic downtown Charleston. In 2002, Isle of Palms was designated a Blue Wave Beach by the Clean Beaches Council, a first for a South Carolina Beach. With its dearth of pollution, wildlife thrives at the Isle of Palms. Should beach ennui be gin to set in, Barrier Island Eco-Boat tours, based on the Isle of Palms, give visitors the chance to experience the tidewater ecosystem unique to South Carolina’s Low Country. Tours include the Capers Island Wildlife Exploration, educational dolphin tours, kayaking and sunset cruises. Tuesday through Friday during the summer, the Bottlenose Dolphin and Loggerhead Sea Turtle Discovery tour allow passengers to watch dolphins at close proximity and some times glimpse sea turtles—the same sea tur tles that build their nests every year on Folly Beach. Several tours take passengers to the Capers Island State Heritage Preserve, “one of the last undeveloped barrier islands,” ac cording to Barrier Island Eco-Tours Company. For those craving some nightlife amid all of the nature, Folly Beach and Isle of Palms have their own nightclubs; the Islander’s Shag Club at Folly, which features regular disc jock- I eys, and Windjammer at Isle of Palms, which regularly books bands. This summer, leave behind the jaded shores of Myrtle Beach and explore two of Charleston’s barrier islands. Visit a beach where visitors engage in the scenery rather than the hot body contests, where nature thrives alongside and in lieu of golf courses, where summer can be simultaneously laid back and intense—all without the traffic jams. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu Movie.Kevsew ‘Punisher’ elevates action to new level “THE PUNISHER" ★★★★ out of ☆☆☆is-* BY GABRIELLE SINCLAIR THE GAMECOCK It’s almost refreshing to meet a superhero fueled solely by his emotions. In “The Punisher” view ers get such a hero. There are no freaky mutations, no bug bites, no bizarre experiments gone horri bly wrong—just a man alone with his pain, his guns, a bottle of Wild Turkey and a thirst for vengeance. That innate sense of justice business can keep its place with the likes of “X Men” and “Captain America.” As a movie based on comic book, “The Punisher” comes at tached with an immediate stigma, an impossible set of expectations and is, on some levels, doomed to fail. But outside of fan expecta tions, “The Punisher” takes the genre to a new, promising level. Thomas Jane, in his breakout performance, plays Frank Castle, a newly retired undercover agent, pushed to vigilantism after wit nessing the systematic slaughter of his entire family. Castle is un necessarily violent in the film, but his cold rage is not absurd. Anyone who has felt unjustly wronged or has lost a loved one unfairly can relate to his lust for revenge. Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, with an amusingly limited waitress wardrobe, does what she can to ruin the film. As Joan, one of Cable’s overly-friendly neighbors, shi*s an almost offensive distrac PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK Thomas Jane makes his debut in “The Punisher” as a retired undercover agent seeking to avenge his family. tion for a man on a mission to avenge his family and find some sort of peace. Unlike other Marvel comics, which come equipped with an end less supply of bad guys, Frank Castle has only one nemesis. A warped sense of justice manifests in the retired undercover agent, but he has no ideology, no cliche “with great power comes great re sponsibility” moment. John Travolta plays Howard Saint, a gluttonous businessman defined by his vices. As the mon ster who order the annihilation of Castle’s entire family, Travolta makes for a decent villain, bring ing a disturbing, comic humanity to the role. Though it succeeds on its own terms, the movie could have just as easily been used as a flashback. It establishes the superhero’s roots and gives a basis and rationaliza tion for his future actions. The se quel is when the real action begins. And ultimately the film tri umph^ because of its realism. Castle is reminded again and again that he is just a person and success is not a given. It’s a won derfully dark and clever film, with a cool and ultimately likeable hero, who wears that pasty skull face on his chest well. Unlike the cartoon-ish, springy “Spiderman,” which to took pains to keep bloodshed to a cheesy min imum, “The Punisher” offers up a graphic sacrifice in virtually ev ery scene. And Castle’s killings aren’t exactly noble, either. It’s important to note that this is a ridiculously violent movie. And, unlike “The Passion of the Christ,” the film can’t biblically resolve the carnage. The reactionary Castle could easily be viewed as a villain. In the end, though, “The Punisher” works because it sticks to a strict doctrine: Sometimes a guy just has to work things out in his own way. To each his own. CommentSon this story?E-mail gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu Local band Tigerbot Hesh starts ‘Revolution’ with album release ' BY MEG MOORE THE HAMECOCK Guitars plugged in, amps cranked, drumsticks at the ready, local trio Tigerbot Hesh is prepar ing to stage a musical coup d’etat with the release of their full length debut, “The French Revolution.” From the breezy, summery rock of “No Diving” to the minor sounds of “Merlot,” the band’s latest record possesses a musical je ne sais quoi that is sure to have listeners singing along. Brought together, quite liter ally, by faith, the group — which includes Nate Austin (guitar and vocals), Dawson Huss (bass and vocals) and Mike Mewborne (drums) — has been together since early 2002. Austin and Huss, who had been working on music together, met Mewborne, then a high school senior, through the college Christian fel lowship, 360. “I met Dawson, who played bass, in the praise band there. I only remember talking with him once and telling him I played per cussion. Other than that, we didn’t really talk until one day in like March or February — he asked if I wanted to join a band,” Mewborne said. The rest, as band biographers love to say, is history. Added Mewborne, “We just clicked im mediately... and we have been playing (together) ever since.” Rocking their way through the local club scene, the band re leased “The Neapolitan EP” in 2003. Earning an opening spot for Jump, Little Children and fin ishing second in USC’s Battle of the Bands competition, the trio garnered a fan following, becom ing a popular act amongst the col lege crowd. The “Revolution” officially be gan in January when the group entered the studio with Pat Casey of Modern Music. Completed in late March, the album contains a slew of well-honed tunes that have already worked their way into the group’s live shows. “None of the tracks are going to be previously unheard. It is some of our most recent material, but we have been playing it for a while now at most of our shows,” Mewborne said. “We wrote most of the songs at least several months prior to recording the al bum.” Album cuts range from the light-hearted to the distortion heavy, all the while remaining undeniably catchy. When it comes to talking in fluences, the band members are all over the musical map. “We are very fickle,” Austin said. But it all comes together as “something unique that we can confidently call Tigerbot Hesh.” Each member has his own rock heroes and personal faves. “Carter Beauford of Dave Matthews Band and Buddy Rich are both big favorites,” Mewborne said. “Right now I am listening to Copeland, Mae and even a little Army of Me.” As for Huss, his musical tastes took shape at an early age. “This is pretty embarrassing, but I remember being 6 years old and my dad bringing home a cas sette of an old Christian rock band called Petra. I remember putting (it) in my little one-speak er cassette player — you know, the kind with a mic built in — and my mouth falling open sim ply because I’d never heard any kind of rock and roll before.” All of the band members agree that their passion for playing is more than just a passing inter est. “I think we would all love to see a career come out of this,” Mewborne said. “I mean we love playing this music. If someone wants to pay us so we can keep playing and writing more of it, •I that would rock so hard.” Although they recognize the dif ficulties of becoming rock super stars, as Austin explained, “Most of us have useless college majors, so if the choice is between being poor in an office or poor in a band, we’re definitely going to be in a band.” However, just as their faith brought them together, it also re mains their musical foundation. “We are going to work as hard as we can, and do all we can do with the talent God has given to us, and if He is willing, we will make it,” Mewborne said. Added Huss, “Being paid to play with Nate and Mike would be the greatest job on the planet, but ultimately, my relationship with Christ is what satisfies me, . and I’ll be happy whether I’m * rocking the Kasbah or sweeping the streets.” The band will be rocking New Brookland Tavern Thursday night when they celebrate the re lease of “The French Revolution.” Always aiming to “have fun” live, Austin admitted, “every now and then it is fun to go over the top” with the on stage antics. But the group tries to ♦ TIGERBOT, SEE PAGE 11