This church stands for values
The South goes to church, and there's plenty of them, from small country clapboard chapels to giant sanctuaries in the cities. Here's a few words from three congregations. At the Northside Baptist Church in Charlotte, we find: Harvey Gouch, real estate investor, church member for 43 years: "This church stands for values. We're against abortion,…
When the mills closed, for many families it was total destruction
"When the mills closed, for many families it was total destruction," says Gwen Dellinger, a social worker in Rome, Ga., whose job is to help repair a little of the devastation. If there's one overriding, red-hot, "I get so mad I need a drink of sweet tea" issue in the South, it's jobs. Factories are…
I don’t want my son to be a cop
T.J. Donnelly is a sergeant in the Clearwater, Fla., Police Department. He has a wife and two boys, 14 and 8 years old. T.J. Donnelly: "I'm just coming from court. A ridiculous case of a pedophile hanging around a kid's home. We trespassed him. The lawyer called me a jerk. First time I've ever lost…
Do You Like To Watch?
The old slash and spatter with a voyeuristic twist
Music Events
THURSDAY, OCT. 28 42nd Street Bistro Live Jazz by Eddie Babalouie's Mark McGourley Bahama Breeze Mike Hastings/Denny Falzon Bahama Mama's Chris Murphy Barley Hoppers Stephanie Anderson (EVENING) Barnacle Bill's Jason Longoria Big J.R.'s The Johnny Charro Band Blackstone Grill Expressions Blue Martini Black Honkeys Brandy's True Colors Band Cafe Adagio Sound Proof Cafe Dufrain Nick…
Planet Picks
THURSDAY 10.28 Scream Therapy If Frankenstein's creature was given the chance to confront his creator, what questions would he ask, what demands would he make, and what would he do if no one was there to stop him? Continuing the tradition of presenting Halloween productions to the community, Jobsite Theater opens its 2004-05 season with…
I’ll try to rebuild if I can
Vero Beach, Fla., like much of the state, took multiple hits from hurricanes. We met retired St. Louis ironworker John Mason at his damaged but still standing mobile home. He was surveying the devastation with two fishing buddies, Richard and Myra Greenfield, transplants from Long Island. John Mason, pointing with a broom: "It really doesn't…
Maiden Voyages
Kerry volunteers hit the road, and gamblers play a waiting game
Pour Some Sugar on Me
A little sweetness in a wine isn’t a bad thing
An insanely conservative town
In Oxford, Miss., there were plenty of Ole Miss students gathered in bars Sept. 30, the night of the first presidential debate. And, almost every bar had a TV set tuned into the debate. But we had a hard time finding someone actually paying attention to John Kerry and George Bush — until we found…
The money stays right in the casino
"The money stays right in the casino," says our Mississippi dancing friend Kayla, adding, "They say casinos bring in a lot of money, but you don't see that money out here where most people live." In the South, there are two ubiquitous monuments to a new economy, Wal-Marts and casinos. Both get, at best, mixed…
Letters
Made Him SmileRe: “Smile Again,” by Eric Snider (Oct. 20-28) What a surprise to see the Weekly Planet devote a cover story to Brian Wilson's Smile (or as some diehards prefer, Smile). The Brian Wilson timeline was a nice touch for fans, and from the amount of detail presented I gather you must be quite…
If they raise taxes again, it’ll break us
Say what you want about wars and presidential elections. What really gets people riled are local issues, especially taxes. On a September evening in Holly Springs, Miss., the town square was crowded with citizens angry at their city and county officials for planning to hike local property taxes from $5.2 million to $6.5 million. Ben…
Upcoming Releases
The following releases will be in stores Tuesday, Nov. 2: A.F.I., AFI (Nitro) Arkade, Story of Hiding (Lujo) The Beakers, Four Steps Toward a Cultural Revolution (K) The Blackouts, History in Reverse (K) Bowling for Soup, 1985 (Zomba) The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Tepid Peppermint Wonderland: Retrospective (Tee Pee) The Chiffons, Absolutely the Best (Fuel 2000)…
Thinking Outside ‘The Box”
Considering Guavaween’s live music, and its alternatives
Upcoming Concerts
NOVEMBER 4 The Mercury Program/Fin Fang Foom/Chin Up Chin Up New World Brewery 5 Mike Watt & The Secondmen Orpheum 5 Dark Star Orchestra Jannus Landing 5 Subhumans w/Caustic Christ/7 Crowns State Theatre 5 Paul Thorn w/Sawgrass Flats Skipper's Smokehouse 5 Metallica St. Pete Times Forum 5 Dope w/Twisted Method/Motograter Boomerz Boiler Room 5 Hawk…
High school football in Alabama … speaks for itself
Nothing gets Southerners more worked up than high school football — and that's doubly so in Alabama. We attended Tuscaloosa County High School's homecoming game against Birmingham's Shades Valley High. It was a 36-29 squeaker for the home team. Jaime Thompson, wife of Tuscaloosa receivers' coach Price Thompson: "This is a pretty big event, homecoming…
Spins
To The 5 BoroughsBEASTIE BOYSCapitolWhen the snotty, simple and absurd Licensed to Ill emerged in 1986, it had all the classic hallmarks of one-hit-wonderdom. Nobody was surprised that the first white hip-hop crew to achieve pop-culture ubiquity was doing something that superficially qualified as novelty, and few expected to ever hear from them again. But…
Island Beat
Drinking in the Caribbean at Liquor Lloyd’s Beach House
I don’t think we should forget
Some folks have a message — and they take an unusual way to express it. There are acres and acres of fields in the South, just perfect for making statements. Frank Gurley of Marks, Miss., for example, filled a huge field with a replica of a frontier fort, a sailing ship, a dinosaur, a Statue…
Guavaween 2004
For the past 20 years, thousands of people from all over the state have flocked to Ybor City to celebrate the puzzling union between José Gaspar and a scrub palmetto. Guavaween is here once again, so don your wigs, slather on the goop and head out to any of the many guava-related events. GuavaEve GuavaEve…
Voices of the South
What’s on your mind? Jobs, politics and, oh, yeah, football
Half of them might vote for Bush, half might not
"Half of them might vote for Bush, half might not," says Joey Smith, who works at the Gateway Tire Center in Corinth, Miss. Smith was talking about his co-workers, but his sentiments about sum up the South. Here's a scattering of what we heard. Dennis Machado, Smith's colleague at Gateway: "I'm voting for 'none of…
Move in, move up, move out
Miami Mayor Manny Diaz is ecstatic that his city is No. 5. "Oh, no, we don't want to be No. 1," Diaz quips. For years, Miami has been ranked the poorest city in the nation. But in a recent update, Cleveland moved into the top-bottom spot, and Miami fell — or rose — to fifth.…
If I had to do it again, I’d probably marry a woman
"If I had to do it again, I'd probably marry a woman," says Morris Williams, who, we should quickly note, 20 years ago did marry a woman — his wife, Becky. They run a country store near Lawrenceburg, Tenn. Morris Williams: "There's been a lot of complaining about gays. Gay marriage doesn't threaten me." Williams'…
Culinary Events
COOKING DEMONSTRATION The Tampa Bay Culinary Club will host a cooking demonstration and sampling by Chef Maria Castro. Noon Sat., Nov. 6. $10 per person. Reservations required. Spain Restaurant, 513 Tampa St., Tampa (727-789-2605). VEGETARIAN COOKING CLASS Chef Debby DeGraaff instructs participants on how to prepare "A Healthy Harvest"; 7-8 p.m. Wed., Nov. 3, and…
Perfectly rational human beings become lunatics over water
"Perfectly rational human beings become lunatics over water," says Honey Rand, a Tampa consultant, who has fought the H2O wars from California to, most recently, North Georgia. The environment and urban sprawl are concerns in every state we visited. Honey Rand: "Tomorrow we expect five inches of rain here from [Hurricane] Jeanne. And what did…
Outtakes
Short reviews of movies playing throughout the Tampa Bay area
Music Venues
420 Park Place, 420 Park Place Blvd., Clearwater, 727-796-7867 42nd Street Bistro, 516 S. Howard Ave., Tampa, 813-253-0042 4th Street Cigars & Martini Bar, 2900 Fourth St. N., Suite A101, St. Petersburg, 727-898-1884 688 Skatepark, 6140 Ulmerton Road, Clearwater, 727-523-0785 Adam's Mark, 430 S. Gulfview Blvd., Clearwater, 727-443-5714 The Aging Still, 11561 Walsingham Road, Largo,…
We’re tired of the racial profiling
"We're tired of the racial profiling," says Hispanic rights activist Boanca Rojas, who we met at a rally in Doraville, Ga. Race and the South are inevitably entwined. But it's no longer 1950. Rojas and Duluth, Ga., Muslim political organizer Halid Rashid point to new racial and religious fault lines. Boanca Rojas: "We build your…
The Life Aquatic
Rollin’ on the river for fun and credit — and alligator dookie
Where’s the business gone to?
"Where's the business gone to?" River Bill — the only name he'll give — lives on his open boat near where the Mississippi River garbage barges dock at Helena, Ark. Left high and dry by a broken outboard motor, he just bides his time hoping for a better tomorrow. "The people are good here," he…
Music Menu
All entries by Scott Harrell unless otherwise noted. HATEBREED W/THE ABSENCE/HATE ETERNAL/ SILENCE AFTER TRAGEDY This last-minute addition to State Theatre's weekly lineup is headlined by Hatebreed, one of the most visible metalcore bands at the forefront of the current heavy-music resurgence. Which means buy your tickets in advance, kids. Local extreme-metal act The Absence…
He’s over there defending Halliburton
"He's over there defending Halliburton," says Jeffrey Harper of Georgia's Paulding County, west of Atlanta. We ran into him at a church service in Alligator Point, Fla. The war is a political watershed for Southerners. Whether for or against, both sides claim to be patriots. Jeffrey Harper: "My daughter Tonya is a schoolteacher in [an…
Don’t Panic
Your war questions answered
We’re getting killed by imports
In one little office off of one little dock in the little village of St. Marys, Ga., the entire story of Southeastern commercial fishing is embodied in Calvin Lang. He proudly displays photo albums that show the growth and demise of his fleet over more than five decades. Calvin Lang: "I bought my first shrimp…
You got to talk politics
If you don't believe religion and politics can mix, visit the volunteer fire department in Sardis, Miss. Here's how the conversation went one afternoon last month, from the jovial to the serious. Presbyterian minister the Rev. David Smith drives up, and custom furniture builder Harry "Squeaky" Warner allows, "He'll run you over if he thinks…
Red Letters, and Blue
Dear George: Letters to the President pushes the envelope — a little
Ask the Advice Goddess
The Taming Of The Spew My husband is a great guy. He loves our child, he's a good provider and I know he cares deeply for me. He just can't seem to pay attention when I start speaking of my emotional needs — concerns about money, career and what the world is coming to; and…
