Charleston City Paper

The one and only problem with S.C.'s Voter ID law

Chris Haire — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:28:55 -0500

It's as simple as this: As written, South Carolina's Voter ID law impedes or takes away the right to vote from those who are currently able to vote. It is illegal for the state to deny or prevent law-abiding voters from casting their ballots on Election Day or any other day. more…

Sheriff Al Cannon gets slapped by meaningless petition

Chris Haire — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:18:08 -0500

Having spent a good portion of my life punching the happy-hour clock at dive bars and brew pubs and associating with drunken derelicts and derelict drunks, I've run into a fair amount of people who've gotten pulled over for drunken driving and slapped with a well-deserved DUI. Some of those folks have been my friends. more…

Jon's Mixed Drinks opens in Village Tavern space

T. Ballard Lesemann — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:46:00 -0500

There’s a new club opening for business this week in the Crickentree Village in Mt. Pleasant at 1055 Johnnie Dodds Blvd. Jon’s Mixed Drinks is set to open on Fri. Feb. 10 at 5 p.m. in the space previously occupied by the Village Tavern, which closed down on Jan. 21 after a tough year-and-a-half run. more…

Is There Such a Thing as Too Hot?

Laura Cannon — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:56:46 -0500

Oh, the long-lost days of grade school Valentine's Day parties. A time when all you had to do to earn a stick of gum was paste a crookedly cut heart onto a shoe box and write your name in Sharpie. more…

Butcher & Bee pops up with authentic German fare

Stephanie Barna — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:35:00 -0500

If you've missed the last couple of pop-up dinners at Butcher & Bee, don't worry. They'll be doing more of them and regularly too. more…

Jay Clifford to perform Valentine's Day concert

T. Ballard Lesemann — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:06:00 -0500

Acclaimed Charleston songwriter Jay Clifford (formerly of Jump, Little Children) — a veteran of the local scene with a romantic streak — will celebrate the release of a new, fan-funded solo album titled Silver Tomb for the Kingfisher with a concert at the Circular Congregational Church (150 Meeting St.) on Tues. Feb. 14. more…

Medeski, Martin, and Wood meet, greet, and teach at Tivoli

T. Ballard Lesemann — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:57:00 -0500

Instrumental trio Medeski, Martin, and Wood will host a pre-show masterclass and meet-and-greet this evening (Feb. 9) at Tivoli Studios (656 King St.) before heading to the Pour House for their big show tonight.

Drummer Billy Martin, keyboardist John Medeski, and bassist Chris Wood haven’t performed in Charleston since 2006. more…

Gisele doesn't know her place, and Tom Brady is too whipped to keep her in line

Chris Haire — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:56:00 -0500

Many years from now, long after Halftime in America has come to an end, in the final two minutes of our great nation's history, no one will remember Tom Brady.

And no one will give two shits about Terrell Owens. more…

GOP conference organizers might soon fire back at Charleston Place

Dan McCue — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:46:00 -0500

The South Republican Leadership Conference flatly denies allegations that it skipped out on its bill after a four-day stay at the Charleston Place Hotel in January, and it appears close to ready to come out swinging in its own defense.

Saint Francis squeezebox is salve for stress

Anonymous — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:39:16 -0500

I'm a jaded middle aged man who served in the Navy, have travelled the world, worked in law enforcement and in the day even worked alongside federal agencies, and I thought I was a tough hard boiled person. A funny thing happened to me last week. more…

Army Wives Spotting: The Hump Bar

Susan Cohen — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:57:00 -0500

The Hump Bar is like something out of a dream. It's on a lonely stretch of Meeting Street Road, a route you would take to Pittsburgh Avenue's strip clubs or maybe farther, all the way into North Charleston. more…

In the Jukebox: The Explorers Club

Stratton Lawrence — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:30:00 -0500

The Explorers Club's Grand Hotel is a frozen-yogurt-smooth recording that wastes no time getting to its Beach Boys-style harmonies and horn arrangements. The album will undoubtedly find a national audience, and deservedly so.

Heart fires up James Island with latest trend in dining

Robert Moss — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

There simply aren't enough unique, locally owned restaurants out on James Island, making the arrival of Heart Woodfire Kitchen welcome news. It opened back in December in the space just off of Folly Road that was formerly occupied by the Daily Dose.

Brian Hicks speaks out at The Post and Courier

Will Moredock — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

Sometimes I would like to be a fly on the wall around The Post and Courier offices, especially in the halls and the men's room when columnist Brian Hicks bumps into the sages from the editors' suite.

Fullsteam goes hyper local and enlists foragers to help infuse their Southern brews

T. Ballard Lesemann — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

Not quite a year and a half into business, North Carolina microbrewery Fullsteam Brewing has established itself as a decidedly Southern pioneering force. Under the guidance of owner Sean Lilly Wilson, the Durham-based micro operates with a "plow-to-pint" philosophy that celebrates the agricultural heritage of its state.

Edward Hart and the CSO debut a Lowcountry concerto

Elizabeth Pandolfi — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

Edward Hart is about as homegrown as you can get. He was born and raised in downtown Charleston, went to school at the College of Charleston, and now teaches there. His musical memory, if memories can be said to have a location, exists mainly against a misty backdrop of cobblestone streets and Civil War-era homes, of marshes, rivers, and ocean.

The Avett Brothers pony up

Stratton Lawrence — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

Like it or not, old-school fans of the Avett Brothers have been forced to learn how to share. The Concord, N.C.-bred darlings of the indie-acoustic scene have crossed oceans since the days of sweaty sing-alongs at the Music Farm. Sunday marks their biggest-ever show in the Lowcountry

Nicole Seitz’s latest novel takes awhile to get moving

Erica Jackson Curran — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

Nicole Seitz says that her latest novel was inspired by a Forbes article about child labor. Imagining what it would be like if her own children were working under debt bondage at a rock quarry in India (or somewhere equally harsh), she started writing Beyond Molasses Creek, which hit shelves last week.

The horrors of the gluten-sensitive sufferer

Nikki Seibert — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

Imagine that for your entire life you have felt sick. Between the fatigue, stomach pains, and nausea, you have been stuck in an endless cycle of dining roulette. The doctors assume that you are "just sensitive" and treat these symptoms with a variety of medications, but they never find the cause. Yet the older you get, the worse it gets. Before long, there have been visits to specialists, countless tests with inconclusive results, and the uncomfortable feeling that everyone thinks you are a hypochondriac. As the symptoms increase, it becomes impossible to lead a normal life out of fear that your stomach may stage a revolt, especially when it comes to traveling or even spending a day at the beach. You may or may not have been pulled over when speeding for a bathroom and forced by sheer desperation to throw your wallet at the officer's face while yelling, "I am about to shit my pants" and screeching off toward your house. Needless to say, your life is scoring a wee bit low on the fun-scale.

Charleston Stage gets intimate with the original cast of Avenue Q

Michael Smallwood — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

The warning on the Avenue Q poster is the strangest you're ever likely to come across: Full Puppet Nudity. It's not a joke. Nor does it fully prepare you for what you'll see. There is full puppet-on-puppet action in this piece.

Blotter: iPads, punctured pants, and painted pee-pees

Paul Bowers — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

BLOTTER O' THE WEEK: An exterminator let himself in the back gate behind a house and ended up getting his calf chewed on by a pit bull. The dog, who preferred to eat organic, was disappointed to taste chemicals on the exterminator's pant leg.

Lewis Black takes aim at the sad and sloppy state of American affairs

T. Ballard Lesemann — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

If you get comedian Lewis Black started on the current presidential race or the state of cable news, be prepared: He'll grumble in his growly tone for more than a few minutes. As the happiest curmudgeon on the national comedy scene, the profanity-laden rants and meandering commentaries come naturally.

Stegelin's Cartoon: Muzzled

Steve Stegelin — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

Campy at times, Young Goethe in Love is entertaining nonetheless

Margaret Allen — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:00:00 -0500

The film centers on a young adult version of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the famed German Romantic poet, who has failed his law exam and is sent off by his father to complete a legal internship in the small town of Wetzlar.

Cremins: 'I cannot listen to the games' while resting

Ryan Overhiser — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:09:00 -0500

Cremins addressed a room-full of reporters to dispel any fallacies that may have come about in the days since his abrupt departure. “I had no gas. I was on empty,” Cremins said