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Sabbath CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 me. “Children of the Grave” from “Master of Reality” is the ul timate heavy metal song. Back when Sabbath was known as Earth (and playing “one for the money, two for the show” type stufl), guitarist Tony Iommi’s right-hand fingertips were chopped off in a factory accident — on his last day of work, no less. So much for flipping off the boss and stealing stationery. Iommi had some trouble press ing the strings on his guitar after that, so he employed a two pronged solution to keep the band going. First, he applied metal caps to his fingers to numb their senses. Then he loosened his strings to ease the tension and in crease the playability. What he got was death in E-minor, a sound the Grim Reaper could dance to while swinging his scythe in a come-hither-and-die motion. (Unfortunately, a few years ago, the “tuning down” thing be came popular, and all those Jnco wearing numbskulls tuned then guitars down to Z-flat or some thing. But they forgot necessity is the mother of invention). Bible-bangers missed the point of Black Sabbath when they cried out with objections to such “devil music.” In “After Forever,” Ozzy sang, “God is the only way to love.” Yes, those heathens are gonna burn in hell, especially when Ozzy walks around draped in cross necklaces like a foppish Tupac. When I saw Sabbath at 1999’s Ozzfest, bassist Terry “Geezer” Butler stole the show right out from under Ozzy's nose with deft fingerwork. Drummer Bill Ward’s drum set was filled with literal layers of cymbals. Ozzy sprayed the audience with a phal lic waterhose. ’Twas a magical evening. I once saw a guy wearing a “Listen to Black Sabbath” T-shirt. I couldn’t agree more. Go pay homage to these metal demigods — and don’t skimp on the virgin sacrifices. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu Local bars offer DJ nights free of charge BY PAIGE HAGGARD THE GAMECOCK Every Tuesday, the Second Room Crew presents Abstract a< the Art Bar. Abstract features electronic music in all its sundry forms, from drum ‘n’ bass to house and all the beats in between. The resident DJs are Joey and Jason, but Abstract features guest DJs every week. Past artists have in cluded Soulshaker, Eric Bell, B Spot, Grand Stylez aka Joey Joe, Kable and MC Dot. Abstract starts at 10 p.m. and also coincides with Art Bar’s $2 liquor night so you can get a cheap drink to dance the night away. Just look for the Christmas lights in the Vista. Saturday is D J night at Group Therapy, sometimes called the Patio Sessions or “Decks on the Deck.” Group Therapy opens its deck up to the stars and to the spins of DJ Keane. Other spinners have included the likes of Jason Phillips, Kuttah, Ryan Cronin and Eric Hess. The spins begin at 10:30 p.m. and go until the town rolls up its streets and sidewalks at 2 a.m. Inside Group, you can still shoot some pool or some bull, de pending on your tastes. Bpth nights are coverless, the only catch being you have to be at least 21to get your groove on. Actress Brittany Murphy gets used to ups and downs of love BY REBECCA LOUIE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS NEW YORK - It’s one thing to act in a film about rocky rela tionships. It’s another thing to live through them. “During the course of making this movie, I went through two breakups,” says Brittany Murphy, who stars in “Little Black Book.” The film, which opens Friday and co-stars Holly Hunter and Kathy Bates, is about TV producer Stacy Holt, who snoops in her boyfriend’s Palm Pilot for information on his ex girlfriends. There was a breakup when we first started preproduction, which was the actor. Yes, Ashton (Kutcher). We broke up a month into it, and then two, 2 { months ago, Jeffrey andl...” For a moment, Murphy trails off. Her hands, which usually flut ter as she talks, become still. She’s speaking of Jeffrey Kwatinetz, the founder of the tal ent agency The Firm, who pro posed to her among rose petals at the Silent Movie Theater in Los Angeles in January. “I was engaged,” Murphy, 26, begins again. “And the timing wasn’t right. It was a mutual breakup and we decided to call off the engagement because it didn’t feel right. Most importantly, we are friends now. I just got an e mail from him today. And to be able to sustain the friendship af ter you are no longer a couple, no longer lovers, no longer fiances, and not getting married — lam proud of us.” Despite her composure, Murphy allows that getting over turbulent transitions isn’t easy. Like her character in “Little Black Book,” who sprawls on the bathroom floor wailing Carly Simon songs because she learns more about her man (Ron Livingston) than she’s ready for, Murphy also turns to music to heal. Though she’s a huge fan of jazz, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” and Eminem’s “The Marshall Mathers LP” are her breakup staples. (There were ru mors that Murphy dated the rap per while filming “8 Mile.”) “After heartbreak, there are different stages,” says Murphy, a self-proclaimed late bloomer who had her first kiss at 14 and first boyfriend at 20. “First it’s denial, then devastation. Then it’s the tears, and then after that it’s the chocolate. Then it becomes am bivalence and you get your anger, your fight up. Then you’re back on your feet again, and you’ve learned, hopefully, a new lesson in life.” Moving forward, often quick ly, has become a career for Murphy, who made her Hollywood debut as the brown haired ugly ducking Tai in 1995’s “Clueless” after a handful of TV appearances. Since that box-of fice smash, she made high-profile stops in “Girl, Interrupted,” “Don’t Say a Word” and “8 Mile.” But since her star turn in “Just Married,” aided by her pa parazzi-friendly fling with co-star Kutcher, Murphy has strayed away from neurotic characters. Now a svelte bottle blond, she was most recently seen in the feel good nanny film “Uptown Girls” with Dakota Fanning and provides the voice for a singing penguin in the upcoming “Happy Feet.” (Murphy, who has sung hooks on hip-hop songs under an alias she won’t « reveal, plans to record an album soon.) Her slow makeover has been fodder for speculation, with whispers of an eating disorder circulating in the press. “People ask me about the 'weight’ thing,” says Murphy, putting finger quotes around the word. “And I say, 'Yeah, I lost 10 pounds of eyebrows!’ Those things were so huge!” She bursts into laughter be fore quelling the rumors. “An eat ing disorder is not a part of my life, nor has it ever been,” she says. “The only time I ever wor ried about how an outfit looked was when somebody once told me I had skinny arms and wrote a mean story about it. Then, for about six months, I intentionally covered up my arms because l felt so controlled by that. “But I will never let that hap pen again. I am proud of being Olive Oyl, so let it be! I know that in a couple of years, when I end up having the kids I dream of having, my body is going to change. It’s going to change any way at 30. Who knows, it might even change next week! But while it’s here, I appreciate whatever God blessed me with.” AUGUST 6 &BLACK I Book r AUGUSIT" SL'BLACK >' book [, AUGUST! j nmf AUGUST® s B ■\ PHOTO COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS Brittany Murphy stars in “Little Black Book,” a romantic comedy opening Friday.