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This Week in USC History Feb. 12, 1988 - Marvin Bush, son of George Bush Sr., visited USC in support of his father, who was then campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination. r » . f Monday, February 12,2001 ^ Hl(1E (BaillCCOCk Page 5 '■ . - . Local bars aid music scene elbow Room, new Brookland Tauem looking to help out local groups, create thriuing’ live music scene by Jonathan Dunagin The Gamecock The Elbow Room and New Brookland Tavern, in conjunction with The Jam Room recording studio, have recently started events aimed at local bands that they hope will provide a desperately needed spark to Columbia’s music scene. The two events, the Acoustic Competition at New Brookland Tavern and the Battle of the Bands at the Elbow Room, allow local bands to gain publicity, attract new fans and demonstrate their abilities. in auuuiun, me overall winnei ui eacn cunipeuiiun wins studio time at The Jam Room, a T-shirt package from Image Ink and a CD duplication package from db Audio. “By putting the spotlight on local bands, it creates a sense of community among bands and the bars, [and shows the bars] care about musicians furthering their careers,” said Marty Fort, promotions coordinator for both bars. Fort, along with talent buyer Dave Britt, developed the idea to create the events in order to display local talent. By doing so, they hoped to enhance Columbia’s struggling music scene. “The goal is to build [local] bands up to a bigger draw, so as to get more music and more industry personnel into town — like Athens — and have a thriving music community,” Britt said. “Also, it gets a communication network between bands involved to use opportunities each have to help each other.” This week marks the fifth week and the halfway point of the Acoustic Competition, which has had a tremendous response so far. “It’s really a songwriter’s forum since original music is the focus,” Fort said. “So far, it’s had a good mix of unknowns and local bands including Love Apple, Hick’ry Hawkins and numerous others.” Every Tuesday at 9 p.m., about 12 performers take the stage for three songs and battle for weekly prizes, including gift certificates from Pecknell Music, Cafe Strudel, a Jam Room compilation CD and, most importantly, a trip to the finals, which have tentatively been set for March 20. “We’ve seen a lot of musicians coming up and doing things they wouldn’t typically do,” Britt said. “The success of [the Acoustic Competition] has us trying other things.” Among these is the Elbow Room’s tecent creation of a Battle of the Bands competition. Beginning Wednesday, March 7, and continuing until the finals on April 11, four bands per week will be performing 30-minute sets. According to Fort, the competition will be tight and closely scrutinized. v_uinpeiiiiuii wm uc liuiiieu un space, su we le luuiuiig iui bands that are going to be original and professional,” Fort said. “You can’t send out cassettes to clubs because club owners don’t have time to fast-forward and rewind tapes. That’s why we require a CD, a one-page biography and a band photo — it’s professional.” By setting these restrictions on bands, Fort and Britt hope to get them thinking about their future and their marketability. “It’s amazing that so many [local] bands don’t have a press kit,” Britt said. “To enter the competition, bands have to at least get their act together.” Through developing these events, Fort and Britt hope to enhance the music scene by helping out the bars and bands. “By [the Elbow Room and New Brookland Tavern] putting local bands as the priority, show attendance is going through the roof,” Fort said. “And when locals have good shows, it helps out bars in pulling national acts and improving the scene.” For musicians interested in taking part in the Battle of the Bands, the deadline for submissions is Friday, Feb. 16 and admission is $5. The Acoustic Competition takes submissions every Tuesday at 8 p.m. and charges $1 admission. Special to The Gamecock Singer/guitarist Hick’ry Hawkins is one of many artists to perform at the New Brookland Tavern Acoustic Competition. The New Brookland Tavern and the Elbow Room are both hosting competitions for local artists. The spotlight desk can be reached at gamecockspotiight@hotmail.com Special to The Gamecock (From left to right) J. D. (Jack Black), Wayne (Steve Zahn) and Darren (Jason Biggs) celebrate a touchdown with a beer shower in the Columbia Pictures movie, Saving Silverman, directed by Dennis Dugan. ,Save yourselves; don’t see Saving Silverman by Brook Bristow The Gamecock REVIEW MOVIE: Saving Silverman STARRING: Jason Biggs, .Jack Black, Amanda Peet and Neil Diamond GRADE: ☆ out of ☆☆☆☆ This week’s true pageant of terrors isn’t Hannibal, its Saving Silverman. This wannabe comedy subjects its audience to excruciatingly unfunny dialogue, unappealing characters and a plot that is mentally discourteous. It is nothing more than a completely whacked-out comedy that willingly wallows in its own arrested adolescence. If you’ve seen the trailer, then you undoubtedly know the plot. The friendship of losers Darren (Jason Biggs), Whyne (Steve Zahn) and ^ J. D. (Jack Black), who play in a Neil I Diamond cover band, is threatened when Judith (Amanda PentX a gorgeous but twisted psychologist, steals Darren’s heart along with any trace of his remaining self-respect. The boys aren’t about to let Judith have him, so Wayne and J. D. kidnap her and hold her prisoner, convincing Darren that she died in a car accident. But their stupidity is no match for Judith’s wiles. At the same time they’re dealing with her, they’re trying to get Darren to go out with his old high school heartthrob Sandy (Amanda Detmer), a former trapeze artist who is just one week away from taking her final vows as a nun. Eventually, Neil Diamond appears to give everyone but the audience a happy ending. The acting is extremely overdone, and all the players do what they’ve done before, only more of it and with fewer comic dividends. Biggs doesn’t impress at all and probably had better on-screen chemistry with a certain apple pie than he does with any of his co-stars here. The central performances are by Zahn (That Thing You Do!) and Black (High Fidelity), who are used well at times and abused in other situations. Anyone familiar with Black’s inspired \york as the vicious record store clerk in High Fidelity will sneer at some of the things he does here. Peet was better in The Whole Nine Yards, but she has a few decent moments. R. Lee Ermey, doing yet another riff on the drill sergeant he played in Full Metal Jacket, does a fair job. And Neil Diamond’s performance will have his fans puzzled. What they think of his spoof on himself will probably be more entertaining than the entire movie. Director Dennis Dugan (Big Daddy), a veteran of broad doofus com edy, certainly knows what he has here — complete chaos, and lots of it. Most comedies will make you laugh. This one won’t. The only time you’ll crack a smile is when you leave the theater. The spotlight desk can be reached at gam9cockspotlight@hotmail.com Presents for your sweetie on V-day by Zeina Makky The Gamecock alentine’s Day: tender kisses, strong em md passionate declarations of love. It seems something is missing, however. “What?” you might be asking ... presents, of course! Preferably something red or heart-shaped, like a pendant (made in Taiwan, rubber cord, sold at every convenience store), or boxer shorts with little red hearts all over them (made in China, 100 percent polyester, buy one, get one A free). ■ Red roses also do the trick, ’ and are guaranteed to wilt within a week. Chocolates have always been a Valentine favorite — but 200 calories per bite? Thanks for ruining my diet. Sugar-free chocolates exist, too, but can reveal hidden messages (i.e. Honey, you may wanna lose some weight.) Jewelry is very popular, too. Mailboxes are filled with advertisements for heart-shaped pendants, earrings and rings. They all look the same, too. Their pictures are usually bigger than the real jewelry, but the lights in the shops will be there to create the illusion of extreme radiance. Many hands have been asked for on this day — but beware, it could hide a serious lack of imag ination. So Valentine’s Day is here to remind us we are in a relationship (“Oh, yeeahhh!”) and give us an occasion to act shamelessly sappy. For those who are single, the problem would be the high con centration of lovers at restaurants, movies and in the street hand-in hand, seeking only to make you feel more “single.” We don’t even have to go out in the streets anymore to feel the love. Store decorations, books, magazines and our Internet home pages with love tests and Cupids sending the lead singer’s accent. The title track of their latest single/EP, Flowers in June, isn’t the best song on the release, but it does showcase the band’s ability to chum out a good melody and nice layers of guitars without sounding oversaturated. “Summer Came” is simply beautiful, with goigeous harmonizing parts that are reminiscent of Ride’s “Here And Now.” The couplets in “Break Your Crown” al most sound like John Lennon’s. “Obsessiv! (out of tune)” has the | REVIEW CD: Flowers In June ARTIST: Silveriiawk GRADE: ☆☆☆ out of ☆☆☆☆ by Zeina Makky The Gamecock Silverhawk could easily be mistaken for any good British band if it weren’t for Silverhawk’s Flowers are in bloom ^ something special on Valentine s night, but don’t listen to them. We have something better for all of you out there wondering what to do. If you are in a relationship and want to do something special, you can follow a few of these tips: a) do absolutely nothing b) have a nice big argument c) break up For those of you who are single, you can always find comfort in front of the television and the multitude of romantic films on The spotlight desk can be reached at gamecockspotJightOhotmaiLcom In The News Fonda credits Turner for turning life around NEW YORK (AP)—Eght years of marriage to media mogul Ted Turner helped Jane Fonda find her voice. “He was a catalyst for my finding myself,” the Academy Award-winning actress tells Barbara Walters in an interview rai ABCs 20/20, which airs at 10 pm. EST Friday. “He is an extremely generous person —I don’t mean just financially, but, I mean, in his soul. He is a chikL He is a good, good, generous, innocent child. And he needed me. And I needed to be needed.” Fonda, 63, and Turner, the 62-year-old CNN founder, broke up in January 2000. The marriage was the third for both. Now, she says, she doesn’t need a man in her life. “I have had lovers, or husbands—or both—all my life,” Fonda says. “You know, someone said to me the other day, ‘Oh, you’re living alone. ’ I said, ‘No, I’m not—lam living with myself.” & arrows Keep Hammering me I day into our heads. f There are also loads of ideas for people to do j greatest guitar part of the record and is the best song on the album. Its out-of tune ending only adds to its appeal. Basically, this is filled with very good stuff that includes the most important ingredients of a good rock song: a more than decent melody and a good beat. The only significant flaw of this album would be its rough production (apart from “Break Your Crown”). Sure, this type of music doesn’t call for a super-slick production, but near lo-fi doesn’t do it justice, either. TOP TEN Week of Feb. 9 Frank Black and the Catholics- Dog in the Sand Low- Things We Lost In the Fire Stephen Malkmus- Matador □ Kleenex Girl Wonder- Why I Write Such Good Songs □ Propaganda Today's Empires, Tomorrow's Ashes Droplock Murphys- Sing Loud, Sing Proud Azure Ray- Warm The Stooges- Michigan Palace 10/6/73 Old 97’s- Turn the Power On JurassicFrve- WOEisMe EP "j Ink and Dagger- Buddyhead Martha Stewart donates thousands to college BANGOR, Maine (AP) — Domes tic diva Martha Stewart is donating $15,000 she won on “Celebrity Jeopardy! ” to the College of the Atlantic. Stewart, who beat forma NBA star Charles Barkley and “Survivor” host Jeff Probst, has a home on Mount Desert Island in the town of Bar Harbor, where the small liboal arts college is located. The show aired this week. “She’s been a really good friend to the college, and I couldn’t be more pleased,” said College of the Atlantic President Steven Katona “Hoe and in the entire United States, people really watch Martha and they really pay attention to what site says and the things she’s doing.” Katona said he doesn’t know how the college will spend the money.