The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, January 26, 2000, Encore!, Page 8, Image 22
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Reviewer left dry by Rivers
The Restaurant Review
by ADAM DAWKINS
*
After a semester of 21 hours in class
credits, 1 am back to guiding you through
the exciting world of restaurants here
in swingin’ Columbia. If you have
any comments or want to tell me about
a restaurant, e-mail me at
DineWine@aol.com.
Rivers
600 Gervais St.
The Vista
$$
Formerly South by Southwest,
Rivers serves basic American cuisine
with a somewhat southwestern approach.
The menu offers a wide selection of
choices, including a number of house
specialties.
When 1 dined at Rivers with some
friends recently, we were a little tak
en aback by the prices and the value
of the meal in general. We didn’t or
der an appetizer, but went directly for
the entree.
One friend ordered the grilled
salmon, which appeared (and tasted,
might 1 add) to be the best meal at our
table that evening. Another friend or
dered the grilled tuna, which appeared
to be very skimpy and not at all thick.
I was disappointed, as it s listed on the
menu for $16.95. 1 ordered the pork
loin, which was served with a citrus
sauce. While the pork was prepared
well and tasty, it arrived luke-warm.
All of the entrees were served with
the same starch and vegetable: “smashed”
potatoes and green beans with almonds.
I am a big fan of mashed potatoes, and
i thought these were excellent. 1 would
have been tempted to just leave the pork
loin, etc., and order a plate of the pota
toes. I think I would have enjoyed them
more.
The three of us drank a bottle of
Gewiirztraminer along with our meal,
which accompanied both the salmon
and the tuna well. We shared a piece of
mud pie for dessert, which was very
good, but I think was worth about 2
inches on the waistline.
Our check, with tip, came to about
$80, which all three of us felt was a pret
ty terrible deal for what we had. All in
all, I was not especially impressed with
this restaurantskew concept, and for
that money, there are far better
restaurants in the area.
Courtyard Coffee House
116 State Street
West Columbia
$
The Courtyard Coffee House in
West Columbia serves a plethora of cof
fees and other beverages in addition to
a number of sandwiches and light fare.
Courtyard has become a popular
lunch spot, and for good reason. They
offer some very tasty sandwiches (along
with side items) for an excellent
price. My favorite sandwich there is
the curried chicken salad sandwich (I
prefer it on their dark bread), which is
served with fresh fruit and pasta salad.
I consider myself to be quite the
connoisseur of fine chicken salad Court
yard Coffee House definitely gets my
seal of approval.
If you’re in the mood for a good
sandwich, a cup of java, or some of
the best hot chocolate in town, I sug
gest making the short trek over to State
Street in West Columbia. You’ll be glad
you did.
Key to pricing guides:
$=$1-S10per person
S$= S11-S20
$$$= $21-$30
S$$$=over $31
Adam Dawkins is'a senior Hotel,
Restaurant, and Tourism Administra
tion major. A native of Greenville, SC,
he's a member of the National Restau
rant Association and the American Culi
nary Federation. His reviews have been
printed in Journals throughout the south
east.
Guitar legend comes to Gallery 701
by Jonathan Dunagin
Gamecock Critic
Guitarist Davey Williams and USC employee and per
cussionist Kevin Green bring a highly unorthodox style of
humorous improv Thursday to
Gallery 701 in Columbia.
Regarded as one of the three
founding fathers of American free
improvisational guitar according to
Dan Forte of Guitar Player maga
zine, Williams has been improvising
for more than 25 years with the likes
of avant-garde artists John Zora, Fred
Frith and Eugene Chadbourne, to
name a few. He’s also a member of
an avant/jazz/rock group called
Curlew.
“I’ve been dying to play with
Davey, and I feel pretty confident
about being able to play with him,”
Green said. “(In improv], you don’t
play for yourself, you play for the
means. You have to be able to listen
very well and play off of each oth
er, something he does very well.”
Williams’ unique style, which
he calls his “object guitar” technique,
involves the muting of his guitar
strings with various objects. These
objects range from paint brushes to
polished stones to shrapnel and alu
minum tape measures. He even am
plifies the sound of low-voltage mo
tors, like that found on a toy, to
produce sounds akin to engine blasts.
All of these experiments result in
the production of a new sound and
style of music, one that is beyond
the guitar itself.
Green also brings a unique style
to the stage — one for improvis
ing drums, noise and percussion. He
developed this style over a 20
year period by attending various
workshops for experimental improvised music in Europe with
the likes of Frith, Tom Cora and Zeena Parkins.
What’s more, Green has been recognized for his work
in writing experimental music for studio and soundtracks, and
has promoted and singlehandedly brought,
numerous concerts to the Columbia area.
Recently, in addition to working for Dis
tance Education, Green took over the
Creative Music and Film Society at USC,
a group that preserves and promotes
independent films and music. He’s work
ing on finishing his first studio solo CD.
Even though the duo met 11
years ago, they have only been able to
play together once before, a memorable
show that included La Donna Smith on
viola and Green on keyboards.
“We were all improvising and
she [Smith] had a remote pickup and
Davey and I were looking for her,” Green
said. “She was making some terrific
sounds, and it ended up she had walked
outside the club and was out in the mid
dle of an intersection.”
Even though their previous
show together will be hard to top, Green
is confident that Thursday’s show will be
even better.
“I’m a much better percus
sionist than keyboard player, so this show
should be more to my forte,” Green said.
“He’s a master of guitar and I’m a mas
ter of the drums and he’s been impro
vising for years, so this is going to be a to
tally different concert.”
In addition, Green said they
were going to be amplifying lots of odd
objects.
Doors open at 7 p.m. and guest
opener Mandible will play a 30-minute
set beginning at 8 p.m. The price is $6 for
the general public and $5 for members
and students.
Photos COURTESY OF KEVIN GREEN
Above: Guitarist Davey Williams
Below: Percussionist Kevin Green
'Freaks' invades Russell House
by Jonathan Dunagin
Gamecock Critic
The second half of the “Clerks” and
“Freaks” double feature asks the uni
versal question: “Can a full-grown
woman truly love a MIDGET?”
Released in 1932 and banned in
Britain for 30 years, “Freaks” has re
ceived a cult following and today is rec
ognized as being the masterpiece of the
grotesque.
From Todd Browning, the director
of the original “Dracula” starring Bela
Lagosi, “Freaks” is one of the most con
troversial films ever made because it fea
tures a cast of actual side-show freaks.
These freaks include midgels, quadri
plegics and Siamese twins to name a few,
many of whom were discovered by
the legendary P.T. Bamum.
This story involves Hans, a wealthy
circus midget who has fallen in love with
Cleopatra, a full-grown trapeze artist.
At first, Cleopatra strings him along out
of amusement, but upon discovering his
wealth, she plots to marry and then
kill him with the help of her strongman
lover. However, both misju<fge the freaks,
who decide that the trapeze artist is bet
ter suited for a different career.
Among the scenes that stand out
in this is the freaks hunting down the
strongman and literally crawling through
the mud to surround him, as well as the
grand “goobble-gobble” wedding ban
quet. Another scene, whose mes
sage deserved more attention in the film,
was Madame Tetrailini’s protection of
the freaks, who to her were just chil
dren.
Although this film suffers from ac
tors who read their lines instead of act
ing them, and from a poor job of edit
ing, the underlying moral and
examination of prejudice and injustice
are strong. The film shows that although
the freaks appear abnormal, it’s the nor
mal members of the carnival who are
the true monsters.