The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, August 29, 2001, Page 7, Image 7
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