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THEY SAID IT RALPH WALDO EMERSON “Welcome evermore to gods and men is the self-helping man.” Story ideas? Questions? Comments? Write us at gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com ARE YOU TOUGH ENOUGH? Precious, right, throws a punch at Nickkl in Al E Gators amateur women’s boxing Monday night, photo by Stephanie gibbs Girl FIGHT WOMEN ROUGH IT UP FOR BIG BUCKS AT LOCAL BAR The two women are on the verge of throwing down. BY CHARLES PRASHAW THE GAMECOCK Two hundred people crowd a small nightclub on the fringes of Columbia where the heat and smoke of Black and Milds surround you. It’s not comfort able inside, but most people don’t seem to mind. It’s Monday night, and at most oth er nightclubs in Columbia, this means some cheap gimmick to try to draw people in on a night that’s usually dead. But not at A1 E Gators, just off Garners Ferry Road. Monday nights mean amateur women’s boxing. What’s special is that any girl can show up - your sister, your girlfriend or even your mom - and jump in the ring for a chance to win $150. If the winner re turns the next week and wins, she takes horpe $500. On one side of the club, a DJ takes time out from playing rap to help a 20 something woman fit red Everlast box ing gloves on her already-taped hands. On the opposite side of the club, an other boxer is already prepared with headgear and gloves. She leans out of a crudely designed ring and talks to her boyfriend about the proper use of a mouthpiece. The boxers simply go by Precious, who wears baggy shorts, a “wife-beat er” shirt and red gloves, and Nickki, who picked out dull black gloves and a similar costume of baggy clothes. Before long, the two boxers are to gether in the ring. For the first time, a young man with glasses climbs into the ring and tries to quietly explain the rules. He’ll be the referee for tonight’s tournament. Overhead, the voice of the DJ announces that the fight will begin soon. Both women are from Columbia, and last week, Nickki won her fight, making her the crowd favorite. The two women are on the verge of throwing down. You can feel it in the air. Young half-drunken men stand in their chairs and scream the names of their favorite fighters. People with glazed-over eyes stare at the ring, and every person in the room feels a wild anticipation that something very cool is about to happen. The DJ makes the announces the theme of the night, “Let the Hoes Fight!” The referee blows the whistle and the two women meet in the middle of the ring with fists flying. There is no planning of punches by either woman; ♦ GIRLFIGHT, SEE PAGE 8 Precious, right, stepped in the ring for a chance to win $150. Nickki, however, the returning champion, won the match, and picked up $500 because she won last Week. PHOTO BY STEPHANIE GIBBS IF YOU GO: MONDAY NIGHT FIGHTS AT GATOR CITY, LADIES ONLY AL E GATORS. 7351 GARNERS FERRY ROAD. 695-5100. COST $5-$7 AFTER 9:45 RM. FIGHTS START AT 11 RM. THE GHAUTS Top 10 movies Figures are for the weekend of August 24-26. MOVIE BOX OFFICE ~TJmehcan~Pie 2 $12.5 million 2. Rush Hour2_$11.6 million 3. Jay and Silent... $ 11 million 4. The Others $8.6 million 5 .Rat Race $8.1 million 6. Summer Catch $7 million 7. The Princess... $6.6 million 8. Captain Corelli's... $4 million 9. John CarpenteCs...$8.8 million 10. Planet of the Apes $3.6 million MOVIE REVIEW “O” doesn't standfor original “0" Starring Mekhi Phifer, Josh Hartnett, Julia Stiles ★*outof*<nin> BY TUG BAKER THE GAMECOCK As time goes on, it gets harder and harder to come up with an original storyline. For a quick fix., Hollywood knows you can’t go wrong with the classics. Retellings of Shakespeare’s plays, from Kurosawa’s Ran to Baz Luhrman’s Romeo and Juliet, have run rampant in Hollywood. The latest in this series of warmed-over Shakespearian tales is O, based on Othello. This time around, the story of love, de ceit and murder takes place in a high school, where a lone black student, recruitedl for his bas ketball talent, becomes the target of jealous rage. Odin James (Mekhi Phifer), called O by his friends, has just about everything, despite being the only black student at his school. He’s the star of the bas ketball team, he’s a good student and he’s dating the dean’s daugh ter (Julia Stiles) behind her old man’s l2hck. All this good fortune angers Hugo (Josh Hartnett), Odin’s friend and the basketball coach’s son, and it’s he who plans Odin’s downfall. The movie follows the plot of Shakespeare’s Othello closely, much more than most other Shakespeare remakes do. Unfortunately, the dialogue needs serious work. Writer Brad Kaaya should have known that, when redoing Shakespeare, good dialogue is essential. The script is also heavy-handed in its treat ment of symbolism. After seeing flocks of white doves for the tenth time, I wondered whether I was watching a poor man ,s John Woo film. MUSIC REVIEW Gorillaz offers a range of oddities GORILLAZ Virgin Records Produced by Dan the Automator Featuring appearances by Damon Albam, Del Tha Funky Homosapien, Miho Hatori, Tina Weymouth, and Ibrahim Ferrer out of BY JUSTIN BAJAN THE GAMEOCK The Gorillaz are a fictional foursome composed of the ani mated characters 2D, Murdoc, Russel and Noodle. These char acters are “played” by Del tha Funky Homosapien, founder of the Oakland-based rap group Hieroglyphics; Damon Albam, . formerly of the rock group Blur; Miho Hatori of the Japanese pop group Cibo Matto and Dan the Automator, the creator of the idea. Because these musicians have worked with Automator be fore, a synergy emerges on the al bum that is so convincing it sounds like a project from a vet eran rock group. Meshing gen res, motifs and themes, Automator has created a stylis tic audio sampler that will satis fy nearly anyone’s musical needs. X lie LU1IUU31J' LI Lieu 1\C Hash,” combines a driving drum and bass line with a hook sup plied by Albarn and Hatori. Albarn’s monotone delivery melds perfectly with Hatori’s shrill cadences, giving listeners an idea of the diverse sounds the Automator exacts. A hard drum loop opens the surprisingly laid back song “Tomorrow Comes Today.” Albarn comes across as a dis traught husband seeking the at tention of alcohol at a bar. A syn thesized but still-bluesy har monica plays tag with Albarn, following his verses with equal bewilderment. Using an obscure Bo Diddley sample, Automator and Albarn continue with another somber song, “New Genious (Brother).” The song combines the scratch ing sounds of a turntable with the lamenting notes of a clarinet. By now, everyone should have heard “Clint Eastwood,” a minimalist excursion offering a repetitive bassline, chorus and drum beat, all the ingredients of a modern pop record. Albarn opens with the infectious, dron ing chorus. Del then makes his ♦ GORILLAZ, SEE PAGE 9 Mekhi Phifer and Josh Hartnett star in 0. special to the gamecock The bad dialogue is a burden the audience from seeing Odin as on the actors. Phifer muddles any kind of tragic figure, through his lines decently enough, but bad scripting keeps ♦ “0”, SEE PAGE 8