Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Street Socks—an inexpensive trend — has wide appeal BY CAITLIN COKER THE GAMECOCK Wal-Mart is a favorite mer chant for the random 2 p.m. or 2 a.m. trip to pick up, well, just about anything. All too many have walked in intending to carry the few items in their hands, but leave j with a full cart. You wouldn’t expect to find something outright fashionable at a discount clothing retailer, but there are diamonds in these sock aisles. Buy Gap socks no longer; Street Socks are here. They are the raddest socks to blanket feet in a delicious cotton blend. These fantastical socks come in a myriad of colors and types—from a chic single-colored lining to a racing stripe that screams, “I’m speedy!” Beat others to the chase with the new Charcoal-Black Meshtop Hi quarters, made with “2 percent oth er fibers.” Perfect for athletes, the mesh fop gives your feet ventila tion while the triple grey stripes & do wonders for your fengshui. If minimalism is more your style, perhaps the Navy-Orange Collegiate Stripe Low Cut will do your feet right. A simple navy sock, one orange line adorns your foot, running down the sides and circling the ankle. For some who are concerned with clothing and fashion, a cur rent fad is in the image of the punk lifestyle. Armbands, ties and safe ty pins assist in feigning the atti tude, but where would they be without socks? Seann McGuckin, a self-de scribed “old punk-rock dude,” seemed to know all the kids as he scuttled around New Brookland Tavern socializing. He has 25 pairs of shoes — Puma, Chuck Taylor, Vans, Doc Marten — you name it. McGuckin is well aware of the cultural phenomenon known as Street Socks. “I had some! They’re comfort able as hell,” he said. Street Socks are also a hit among the conventionally fash ion-oriented. Russell Saul, a first-year Spanish student who said he’s a “classic blond boy,” seemed to have an extensive wardrobe. Now all he needs are Street Socks. “I think everyone should have a pair,” he said. “I want some in blue.” Honor-roll student Carrie Frondorf even wants a pair. “The effect of the mesh covering is a unique specimen, which adds greatly to the popularia syn drome,” said Frondorf, a first-year journalism student. Perhaps you can’t afford to buy 50 band buttons to put on your bag or a Banana Republic sweater — so on your next trip for some ran dom groceries, pick up some Street Socks. Street Socks are distributed by the Kayser-Roth Corporation, lo cated in Greensboro, N.C. They are made in Ashboro and Graham, N.C. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com * PHOTO BY JOHNNY HAYNES/THE GAMECOCK The socks are available for $2.38 a pair from most Wal-Marts. ‘Oyster’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 story of revelation, a highbrow form of the mystery novel. The reader is tantalized with knowl edge and methodically led around and about the true reve lation while the plot slowly re veals the mystery. Unfortunately, by the end of “Oyster,” there is nothing truly new known that could not have f Teen guessed within the first 50 pages of the novel. Whether the anticlimax, the cult’s mysteri ous end, is intentional is not clear. But the novel’s cohesiveness and characters are certainly ca sualties of its postmodern con struction, as Hospital attempts to expose the irrational nature of human constructs such as uni versal truth and chronological time. “Oyster” reflects these cen tral conceits of postmodernism well, but they detract from the story and the characters, reduc ing them to artificial constructs created to illustrate a point and not emotionally compelling im ages of life. Although Hospital has the ca pacity to be a compelling and captivating author, as she is in ^various parts of the novel, she ul - fimately sabotages her own effort by overdoing the impenetrability of the story. The book’s main appeal should be its captivating cult fig ure and his seemingly apocalyp tic end, but they, just like the sto ry itself, prove to be intentional obscuring of reality, not com pelling and exciting truths. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockmixeditor@hotrhail.com Boutique, Inc. Boozer Shopping Center 1581 Broad River Road Columbia. SC 29210 (803) 354-9750 pr-—rj_ ^^DjrectionssJu»taCTW^^2J^^r^e^^t«Seron^^t^^ I PHOTO BY ADAM PATTERSON/THE GAMECOCK From Autumn to Ashes performed to a packed house Sunday night at the New Brookland Tavern. Emo show suffers from faceless acts FROM AUTUMN TO ASHES New Brookland Tavern ★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆ BY QUINN STEINBRECHER THE GAMECOCK While the Get Up Kids might not have been at New Brookland Tavern on Sunday, its influence lived on in the form of North Star, the opening band. North Star went from playing strong ly influenced the Get Up Kids emo-punk to being a cover band of the Get Up Kids — enough said. Emo-punk is a genre of mu sic exemplified by notable group Jimmy Eat World. Any descrip tion of North Star’s music might wrongfully imply that they have any musical identity or a unique sound. The next band to perform was A Beautiful Mistake. While the group was a breath of fresh air compared to North Star, A Beautiful Mistake, with its pop py brand of emo-punk, shared too much in common with Militia Group label mates Noise Ratchet. And unfortunately for A Beautiful Mistake, Noise Ratchet does it much better. After North Star and A Beautiful Mistake, local fa vorite. Bums Out Bright, who is on tour to support their new ly released album “Light A Match, For I Deserve To Burn,” rightfully played. Burns Out Bright’s recent songs have slower tempos, but the anthemic, sing-a-long cho ruses are still very much a part Specializing in Prom Mother - of - the - Bride Social Occasions and Accessories Recitals/Pageants Qax/IX its formula. Maybe the first two bands were watching and tak ing notes because Burns Out Bright was schooling everyone on how to infuse energy into a crowd. ' Lead vocalist and bass player Isaac Stone told the crowd that the band had been in the studio working on Some new material that would be out later in the year. Next, Glasseater performed and it was obvious that its mem bers had not brought their pens and pads because, most of the time, they looked about as dis interested in their music as I was. When the band finally de cided to show some emotion, the lead singer would repeatedly hit his heart with the microphone as though he really meant it. I mean this with all the sarcasm that can be mustered for a bland and uninspiring band. ♦ SHOW, SEEPAGE 10 Here’s Your Chance... ♦ To become a part of a premiere living and learning community ♦To live in a co-ed community with on-site classrooms ♦ To interact with faculty in Carolina’s only residential community ♦ To live in the heart of campus in beautifully renovated... Preston College Interested? Join us for an informational tea Friday, January 31, 2003 Principal’s Lodge West Wing, Preston College (Tea and light refreshments will be served) PRESTON APPLICATION DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 20,2003 « r * ‘Idol 2’ surpasses original's success BY MEG MOORE THE GAMECOCK • Last year, “American Idol” was the reality series that had all of America voting. In ‘Star Search’-esque form, the series showcased the talents — and in some cases, the astonishing lack. thereof— of a slew of wannabe pop-stars. Not surprisingly, the hit re ality show is back for a second season, and tfie first two episodes, which aired last week on the Fox network, drew record ratings. The show was a sur prise hit for Fox last season, re- > ceiving millions of call-in votes per week and commanding a large share of the viewing audi ence. After each hour-long show case of singers, television view ers would vote for their favorite contestants by phone. The per former earning the least num ber of votes each week was, in true reality-show fashion, voted off of the “American Idol” is lanH This time around, the general format has remained the same — and. so has the quality of the contestant pool. Last week’s episodes highlighted the pre liminary round of auditions, fea turing selected contestants from audition locations nationwide. While last year’s “Idol” try outs certainly included an array of awful vocalists, the “American Idol 2” auditions were full of the off-key as well as the off-kilter. Contestants tried their best to stand out, and those that could not make an impres sion on the basis of skill, strove to engage the judges through odd dances, crazy outfits and contrived sympathy stories. While some certainly showed promise — standout performers were invited to Hollywood for the next round of competition— others undoubtedly suffered from delusions of grandeur. Although considered a guilty pleasure by many viewers, the “American Idol” series is not fu eled by the sleaze factor that dominates most of reality tele vision. It maximizes the ‘Simon factor’ instead. Record produc er Simon Cowell — the judge that America loves to hate — has returned this season with the comparatively passive Paula Adbul and Randy Jackson to evaluate the competition. Cowell is certainly the show’s most valuable and most outspo ken asset. Never one to gloss over his opinions, he has start ed out the season as scornful as ever: “If you lived 2,000 years ago and sang like that, I think they would have stoned you,” he brashly told one contestant dur ing the first episode. Cowell’s unapologetic wit, however, keeps the show from simply being a sugarcoated showcase of standard-issue pop singers. While the first two episodes of “American Idol 2” lack the ad dictive familiarity of returning contestants and established fa vorites, their success has sig naled that viewers remain en thused by the show’s concept. Perhaps the show’s mass appeal stems from its idyllic premise: it affords ordinary people the chance to achieve the extraordi nary. “Idol” brings comparatively normal people — despite their ■ generally MTV-worthy appear ances and charisma — into the limelight, as a result of their tal ents rather than personal scan dal. “American Idol 2” might not offer its audience any surprises, but it remains good-hearted television that both young and old can enjoy, a rarity in today’s television landscape. Amidst the unsavory slew of degradation-driven reality shows, a series that sports Simon Cowell as its most offen sive aspect remains a refreshing series, indeed. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockmixeditor@ hotmail.com