The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 20, 2004, Page 5, Image 5
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THE GAMECOCK ♦ Friday, February 20, 2004 5
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Colonial Center changes Columbia
from Old South to cultural hot spot
BY MEG MOORE
THE GAMECOCK
The Capital City, decidedly Old
South yet continuing to expand in
new cultural directions, can now
promote itself as a popular stop for
some of the country's biggest con
cert tours.
“Rock stop of the South” might
be a bit too presumptuous to ever
be adopted as Columbia's slogan,
but the largest city in South
Carolina is finally getting its dues
as a market for live music.
The bands might have come
slowly at first, but we built it —
the Colonial Center — and they
have kept coming. This spring, a
steady lineup of top acts is slated
to play USC's new arena. The city
formerly ignored by touring
artists is now playing host to the
artist formerly — and now once
again - known as Prince.
With its modern facade and
sleek Web site, the Colonial Center
is running a world-class operation
fit for the kings (and queens) of
popular music. Not only are some
exciting basketball games unfold
ing on the arena floor, but a slew
of big name music makers will be
making stops at the Carolina
Center this spring.
Next Friday, the arena will
open its doors to Winter Jam 2004,
a concert tour hosted by New Song
and featuring Audio Adrenaline,
Relient K, Todd Agnew, Jadyn
Maria and illusionist Brock Gill.
Only $10 at the door, the show not
only brings several big names in
Christian rock to Columbia, but it
does so at a bargain price.
The world famous Bette Midler
will be performing at the Center
March 7 as part of her “Kiss My
Brass” tour. Although she ap
peals to an older audience, the
Colonial Center lineup also has
its youth appeal. Britney Spears
will be storming the arena stage
March 24. And for those classic
rock fans, a few of music's leg
endary heavy-hitters are also in
the eclectic spring lineup.
Aerosmith and Cheap Trick will
be playing a double bill on April
7, and Prince comes on April 21.
Country stars Kenney Chesney
and Keith Urban will be playing
the next night, and Shania Twain
follows on April 28. It has also just
been announced that Jimmy
Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band
will be returning to the Colonial
Center on April 29.
For those looking to get the
scoop on upcoming events, the
Colonial Center has a slick, easy
to-navigate Web site, www.the
colonialcenter.com. Event list
ings, directions for out-of-town
visitors, seating charts and other
information are all accessible on
line.
With its 18,000 seats, the arena
has the capacity to play host to
any top-selling artist the music
world can turn out. And as>shown
by the spring lineup, those block
buster stars are beginning to take
notice. Columbia is a capital city,
a college town and now a concert
tour hotbed. Soon enough it might
be hard to remember a time when
we weren't so fully immersed in
the up-and-coming.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu
Catch ‘Em
live
For ticket information, call:
Box office 576-9200
Ticketmaster 783-2222
www.thecolonialcenter.com
Feb. 27 Winter Jam 2004 with
New Song
.March 4 Bette Midler
March 24 Britney Spears
March 26 The Gaithers
Homecoming
March 30 Yanni
April 7 Aerosmith, Cheap Trick
April 21 Prince
April 22 Kenny Chesney, Keith
Urban
April 28 Shania Twain
Cell phone users annoy
students, professors
BY BRITTANY BULLINGTON
THE (MMECOCK
Surviving the daily trek around
campus requires two things: a
book bag slung over the shoulder
and a cell phone glued to the ear.
Cell phones undoubtedly are a
great invention. They are compact
and lightweight, so they can travel
everywhere.
But do they belong everywhere?
Is there such a thing as inconsid
erate use of a cell phone?
First-year elementary educa
tion student, Sally Stephens
thinks so. “People don’t turn them
off in quiet places” she said.
Amanda Newman, a first-ye^r
business student, said that in qui
et places people “still carry on,
their own conversations without
considering other people’s feel
ings.”
However, many feel it’s com
pletely acceptable to carry on a
conversation wherever and when
ever the need strikes. “Before I
had a cell phone, I thought it was
rude; but now that I have one I re
alize I’m doing the same thing,”
Jason Reynolds, a second-year
electronic journalism student,
. said.
Although cell phones make
communication much easier,
there are some things to consider
before using your phone.
Journalism professor Kent Sidel
said that people “must remember
that the world around you has
ears.”
When you are in public on a cell
phone, you have an audience.
Stephens said that the “profanity,
affection and gossip” should be
kept private. Newman added that
not everyone wants to hear “who
did what with who this weekend”
while walking to class.
Another thing to consider be
fore talking on your cell phone is
location. Not every place is appro
priate for phone conversations.
Sidel said there is no appropriate
place for cell phone use, because
“there are people around trying to
do other things.”
-----*
Newman, Stephens and
Reynolds agree there are some
public places where cell phone use
is acceptable, but it is best to keep
cell phones off during class. “It an
noys me. You’re trying to concen
trate, and your concentration is
ruined by an inconsiderate per
son,” Newman said.
Professors find such distrac
tions to be “a slight bother but re
ally more embarrassing to the re
ceiving party, because all around
are annoyed,” Sidel said.
Cell phones are great additions
to mobile communication.
However, users must remember
that not everyone in the sur
rounding areas needs or wants to
know their business.
In the words of Sidel, “Private
conversations should remain just
that.” So before making your next
phone call, consider two things: lo
cation and content. You never
know who might be listening.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu
Movie.Review
No one’s calling after ‘First Dates’
“50 FIRST DATES"
★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆
,_>v
BY LESLIE DENNIS
THE (tAMEOOCK
Adam Sandler and Drew
Barrymore attempt to rekindle
their on-screen chemistry six
years after their blockbuster hit,
“The Wedding Singer.” And al
ready their second try is, finan
cially, a success.
Topping the box office in sales
over Valentine's weekend, “50
First Dates” is bringing in the
big bucks. But for fans, the
movie is a disappointment and
an inferior follow-up to the ro
mantic hilarity of “The Wedding
Singer.”
Following the trend of movies
like “Memento” and “Finding
Nemo,” “50 First Dates” centers
on a character with short-term
memory loss, chronicling its ef
fects on others.
Beginning with tales of
Henry Roth's (Sandler) sexual
conquests of Hawaiian tourists,
the movie sets Henry up as a
love-'em-and-leave-'em type of
guy. A veterinarian at a Sea
World-type animal nursery, he
gets moral support for his type
of lifestyle from his unhappily
married friend Ula (Rob
Schneider, a familiar face in
Sandler movies).
But one day, when Henry
walks into a restaurant for cof
fee, he meets Lucy (Barrymore),
who makes him change his wom
anizing ways.
After success- Sandler and
fully grab Barrymore
bing her at- . „ ■ __
tention, ^ ^
Henry scores attempt to
a second date revive their
for breakfast._..
Henry COmedlC ,
doesn’t know, chemistry,
but the next ’
day Lucy, who lost her short
term memory in a car accident,
will not remember him or the
events of the day before.
Once Henry realizes Lucy
will never remember him, he
devises elaborate plans to make
her fall in love with him again
every day. If patience is truly a
virtue, Henry becomes a saint
through his persistence and
drive, despite the obvious ob
stacle.
The trailer presents the movie
as a comedy, but the only funny
parts are those in the trailer.
There is simply no more humor
to find.
Barrymore's usual perky,
quirky on-screen personality
shines through her portrayal of
Lucy. She perfectly portrays
Lucy's naivete and easily dis
plays Lucy’s emotional range.
Sandler, on the other hand,
fails to show the usual comic
wit he became famous for.
Instead, he comes across as a
more emotional, romantic type
of guy.
The acting isn’t the problem;
the issue is the lack of plot. The
film becomes a monotonous cy
cle of overused plot twists. “50
First Dates” begins to parallel
“Groundhog Day” after Henry's
first couple of attempts to make
Lucy remember him.
“50 First Dates” has the po
tential for a sturdy romantic
comedy but falls flat with stale
plot twists and sour jokes.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu
Film role changes little in Afghan’s life
BY LIZ SLY
KHT CAMPUS
Afghan film director Siddiq
Barmak will never forget the mo
ment he first caught sight of the
grubby little street girl who would
go on to star in his Golden Globe
winning movie “Osama.”
It was in downtown Kabul on a
bitter winter’s evening, and
Barmak was searching for street
boys to take supporting roles in
his film. He had already looked at
more than 3,000 girls for the lead,
and none had seemed right. But
time was running out; filming was
just four days away; and he was
going to have to choose one. His
mission now was to concentrate
' on finding boys, f
As he scoured the dusty side
walk for suitable faces, he felt a tug
at his sleeve, looked down and
found himself staring into the
biggest, saddest eyes he’d ever
seen.
He knew instantly that this was
the girl he had been looking for.
“Her eyes told me the stories I
wanted to tell in the movie," he
said. “Her eyes told the stories of
pain that are the stories of
Afghanistan.”
Barmak’s instincts were right.
He had to beg her to agree, but
Marina Golbahari, then 12, final
ly overcame her suspicions that
appearing in a movie would re
quire her to undress, and she won
worldwide acclaim for her perfor
mance as the girl who dresses as
a boy to circumvent the Taliban’s
ban on female employment.
“Osama” was Afghanistan’s
first feature film since the Taliban
regime was toppled, and in
January it became the first
Afghan film to win a Golden
Globe, for best foreign film.
For Marina, it was a life-chang
ing event, though perhaps not as
life-changing as might have been
expected for an illiterate girl
picked at random from the streets
and catapulted to movie star fame.
“Osama” tells the story of a girl
whose widowed mother faces des
titution after the Taliban prohibits
women from working. So she
dresses as boy and goes out into
the streets to find work, taking the
namefesama to scare off the boys
who taunt her about her ques
tionable gender. Eventually, she
is conscripted by the Taliban to at
tend a religious school, where her
identity is discovered with tragic
consequences.
For the first four days of film
ing, Barmak began to wonder if he
had made a mistake. Marina was
terrified of the camera, which she
took for some kind of weapon, and
she shrank in fear whenever he
pointed it her way.
But after Barmak convinced her
that all she had to do was relive her
own life, the role came easily.
“There’s a part where I am tak
en to the Taliban police station,
and he told me I have to cry,” she
♦ ‘OSAMA’, SEE PAGE 6
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Marina Golbahari, 13, peers from her mud home In Afghanistan;
she is the star of “Osama” but her family is still poor.