Columbia's only locally owned alt weekly

In The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion wrote that when her husband died, she would not throw away his shoes, because he might need them when he comes back. This is the magical thinking in the book’s title. Whenever we talk about the economy “coming back,” we are engaged in exactly the same kind of magical thinking.

That is the problem with both parties. They have been telling us for a generation that we can have something for nothing.  And we have believed them. We believe it is our most fundamental right and would trade the Constitution for this magical power in a heartbeat. When we talk about “our way of life,” that’s what we mean: something for nothing. Magic is our way of life.  We can give you a war, not ask you to serve, and not ask you to pay for it. Really?

It is impossible to have a consumer-based economy. It is so obviously unsustainable. We’ve seen that. But no one in either party will admit it. Instead, we talk about when the economy “comes back.” It shows how infantile we have become in our isolation from reality.  We are like Didion after she lost her husband, or like children when their grandmother has died, wondering when “she’ll come back.” And yet, we have done nothing to bring the economy back. We still don’t… Click to continue

On August 28, ignorance looked pretty blissful

By Will Moredock

“War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” – George Orwell

I have lived long enough to have witnessed some important changes in American culture, in the way Americans think, behave and speak.

When I was growing up in South Carolina a half-century ago, every white person I knew was a segregationist and a racist to a greater or lesser degree. Or if there were any white people who did not share those views, they were smart enough to keep it to themselves.

It is a tribute to the humanity of the civil rights movement and to the basic decency of the American people that so much has changed – even in the South. One of those changes has been in the way Americans use the language. The “n-word,” as it has come to be known, is now verboten. Its use can cost a person his social standing or her job, as it did with a right wing radio personality recently. Ironically, the word has standing today only among certain elements of the black community.

Likewise, the word “racist” itself has been transformed. Fifty years ago racist speech and behavior were perfectly respectable, even de rigueur. Whites not demonstrating… Click to continue

Since alcohol is one of the major food groups for most print journalists, it is always a joy to report on medical research that reveals the health benefits of booze. A team from the University of Texas at Austin recently found that heavy drinkers tend to outlive abstainers, regardless of socioeconomic background, exercise, and other control factors. Notice we didn’t say a small glass of Merlot with dinner, we said heavy drinkers. Booze hounds. A bottle of Merlot for dinner. (Though moderate drinkers, it should be noted, outlived the lot of them.)

We’ve harped on such research in CCP for years now, strutting the case studies around like peacocks in front of wives and bosses who believe our tendency to leave weepy 4 a.m. voicemails or vomit in the waste basket before early morning meetings is somehow indicative of an unhealthy lifestyle. To the contrary! So ponder this when you’re jogging this evening and checking your wristband heart monitor: the hooker staggering down the sidewalk a few hundred yards up ahead will probably outlive you. Cheers!

Columbia City Paper

Dear atheists,

Thanks for the continuous stream of ruffled emails related to J. Pelikan Sarcophage’s essay on religious belief. For the record, this paper –in the Bible Belt, mind you—has spent the last five years railing against the evils that religion has bestowed upon the human species. And, now, after publishing one essay… Click to continue

Previously Undisclosed Hospital Mixup Underscores Challenges on Road to Reform

By Fred Schulte and Emma Schwartz, Huffington Post Investigative Fund

FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg’s agency has been at odds with National Coordinator for Health Information Technology David Blumenthal’s office on oversight of electronic health records. (Photos: Emma Schwartz and Courtesy of US Mission Geneva via Flickr)

Computers at a major Midwest hospital chain went awry on June 29, posting some doctors’ orders to the wrong medical charts in a few cases and possibly putting patients in harm’s way.

The digital records system “would switch to another patient record without the user directing it to do so,” said Stephen Shivinsky, vice-president for corporate communications at Trinity Health System. Trinity operates 46 hospitals, most in Michigan, Iowa and Ohio.

Less than two weeks later, an unrelated glitch caused Trinity to shut down its $400 million system for four hours at 10 hospitals in the network because electronic pharmacy orders weren’t being delivered to nurses for dispensing to patients, he said.

“As soon as it was brought to our attention, we moved to fix the problem,” Shivinsky said of Trinity’s system, one of the hospital industry’s largest digital medical record repositories with more than seven million patient files. He said nobody was injured in either event, the Cerner Corp. system now works properly, and the hospital… Click to continue

City Paper recently sat down with one of Columbia’s most progressive and buzz worthy artists, Michael Krajewski. His show “Fraught” opens September 3 at HoFP Gallery.

By Paul Blake

COLUMBIA CITY PAPER: Laura Brown’s Artist Basement is often credited for “discovering” you.  Do you wish the community embraced her private local gallery the way it supports a tax payer funded venture like 701 Gallery?  Needless to say, the community should support 701, but I thought I would pose the question to an artist who has had successful shows at both.

MICHAEL KRAJEWSKI: I think the Artist Basement was embraced by the community. We had many successful shows there. And, I see many familiar faces supporting 701.    701 is a whole different creature than Artists Basement. The renovation of that building is incredible and I think it is a huge boost for Olympia and the arts community. 701 Gallery has allowed me to do incredibly groundbreaking shows like the first live painting on a nude woman.

CCP: If you ever get thousands of dollars in grants or hospitality tax money, will you consider buying a $50 ad in [Columbia] City Paper? I mean, this is like your fourth interview in the past five years.

MK: I have painted news boxes for Columbia City Paper, one of which has been stolen from the corner of Main and Gervais. I haven’t seen any money… Click to continue

Greetings!!!  Schools back in session, football is in full swing, and the money is still funny.  Hopefully all of you out there are doing well and enjoying the cooler weather.  If not; sorry for you…this summer was crazy hot. Let’s get it!!!!

Rest In Peace Playlist Back in mid 2005, Hurricane Katrina came thru the Gulf Coast like something that was never experienced before in these continental United States.  From dilapidated infrastructures and overwhelming flooding to disarrayed politicians and the unfortunate relocations for many and the even more devastating losses of life of people; Katrina will never be forgotten as a dire time in American History. As a tribute to the 5 year since it came upon shore, we are going to give you 10 of the greatest tribute songs to those who have gone on; there are plenty more out there, but these are some of the best.  May you forever remain in our memories… (In no particular order except #1 my personal favorite)

Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth- T.R.O.Y. (The Reminisce Over You- 1992)

Heavy D- Peaceful Journey (1991)

Ice Cube- Dead Homiez (1990)

D.R.S. (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels)– Gangsta Lean (1993)

Bone Thugs & Harmony- Tha Crossroads (1995)

UGK (Underground Kingz)- One Day (1996)

Master P- Heaven For A Gangsta (1997)

2 Pac- I Ain’t Mad At You (1996)/Notorious B.I.G.- Miss You (1997)

NAS- Just A Moment

D.I.T.C. (OC, AG, & Lord Finesse)-… Click to continue

Whatever you need in an alt country band, Raleigh’s American Aquarium has it: greasy licks; a deep well of lyrics; solid hooks; a sound that’s both gritty and rich at once; songs about booze and loss and the occasional bar tramp; packed out, beer-soaked live shows; four solid albums to pull from; you name it. What more could a music fan possibly ask for?

The band’s latest album Small Town Hymns is destined to be an underground classic. Rumored to have been written and recorded in just around a month’s time, it supplants the fuller barroom grooves of Dances for the Lonely and The Bible and the Bottle, with a darker, stripped down introspection more rooted in storytelling. Don’t get me wrong, it rocks, but it’s definitely a coming of age album –the morning-after soul searching that follows a night that got out of hand.

This will be a fun, hard-drinking show. New Brookland Tavern at it’s best.

Ponderosa opens. Doors at 8 p.m.

Friday September 3

Cafe Strudel

Dennis Ware

New Brookland Tavern

Aloha Fest II:Day 1

Capital City Playboys

The Soul Mites

The Stellas

Acoustic Sets By: David Adedokun, Ben Walker,

Justin Register, Danny Lyons, TBA

Utopia

Reggae Infinity

Saturday September 4

Art Bar

Evil Empire (Rage Against the Machine Tribute), So Hush Hush (Pixies Tribute), Colour and the Shape, The Lovecrafts, Chase Asmer

Cafe Strudel

Flagship Admirals

House

The Swift Technique

Loose Cockaboose

Evil Empire (Rage Against the Machine Tribute), So Hush Hush (Pixies Tribute), Colour and the Shape, The Lovecrafts, Chase Asmer

New Brookland Tavern

Aloha Fest II: Day 2

Testing Ground

Carolina Chupacabra

Trudge

These Dying Days

TBA

Utopia

Cold Creek

The White Mule

An Evening w/ Shane Perlowin of Ahleuchatistas (early show)

Tom Conlon Don Russo, & Jesse Isley(late show)

Sunday September 5

Art Bar

Movie times listed are for the weekend of  September 3, please confirm with theater.

Nickelodeon

http://www.nickelodeon.org/ 937 Main Street

COUNTDOWN TO ZERO

Since the first atomic bomb exploded in 1945, scientists and world leaders have grappled with the apocalyptic dangers and paradoxes posed by nuclear weapons. Lucy Walker’s documentary presents an unblinking look at humanity’s lethal predicament. The film outlines current threats posed by a growing list of nuclear-armed states and weighs the prospects for global disarmament, soliciting insights from a gallery of world leaders and policy experts.

SEPTEMBER 3-9, Friday-Thursday

Friday, Sept. 3 – 6:00 only

Saturday, Sept. 4 – 3:00 and 8:30

Sunday, Sept. 5 – 3:00 and 6:00

Monday, Sept. 6 – 6:00 only

Tuesday, Sept. 7 – 6:00 only

Wednesday, Sept. 8 – 3:00 and 6:00

Thursday, Sept. 9 – 6:00 only

THE BIG MO MONETTA DRIVE-IN

5822 Columbia Highway North, Monetta SC  29105 open at 7pm and show starts at 8:15.

Labor Day Weekend Triple Feature Sept 3,4,5

Screen 1

Toy Story 3

Despicable Me

Twilight

Screen 2

Shrek forever after

Iron Man 2

Inception

Regal Columbia Cinema 7

3400 Forest Drive Suite 3000, Columbia, SC 29204

The Last Exorcism new! (PG-13)

2:50 5:20 7:45 10:05

Takers new! (PG-13)

2:20 4:45 7:20 9:50

Lottery Ticket (PG-13)

2:45 5:15 7:40 10:00

Nanny McPhee Returns (PG)

2:10 4:35 7:00 9:25

The… Click to continue

Written by T. Espinoza

When you see the trailer for a film like The Last Exorcism, with its grainy hand-held footage, no-name cast and a girl who looks like she could physically rotate her head better than any tricked-out Linda Blair doll, you get your hopes up. You think, wow, this could be the best of the Blair Witch and The Exorcist with a little Emily Rose thrown in. And should you be so astute as to catch the fact that it’s produced by Eli Roth (the writer/director of Hostel, not to mention the Bear Jew in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds), you start to get a real sense that things might get pretty gory pretty fast–deliciously, heart-poundingly gory.

Unfortunately, trailers can be misleading.

The film opens up with a glimpse of the flashy ministry of the fast-talking Deacon Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian), a handsome man of god who can get his practitioners hallelujah-ing about everything from the good word to banana bread. But for all of his fervor and pageantry, the deacon is having a crisis of faith lately, which isn’t good for someone who performs exorcisms. In fact, he thinks exorcisms are jokes that can become dangerous if they get out of hand, so he mostly performs them to do damage control with the hope of one day exposing them for what they are: psychosomatic manifestations… Click to continue