TheState.com: Sunday Life and Style

Big time

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 21:56 EDT

He shakes hands like a politician, with the eye contact and grip of a pavement pusher everybody knows.

And, yes, it seems like everyone knows him — or wants to say they do. A couple interrupted a recent lunch at Harper’s to say hello and “let’s get together.” A woman whispered to a female companion, “That’s Craig Melvin.”

Is it any wonder that some co-workers and friends call the WIS anchor Mayor Melvin?

“He made himself important to South Carolina,” says Tina Luque-Blacklocke, the former WIS-10 news director.

“Who doesn’t know him?”

Painting captures State House at night

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 22:01 EDT

Columbia artist Doug Shealey, best known for his renderings of iconic sports venues in the Southeast, is nearly finished with a painting he believes could be his “best yet.”

His new project, a nighttime scene of the State House, is a departure from his meticulous paintings of USC’s Williams-Brice Stadium, Clemson’s “Death Valley” and the Darlington Raceway.

“I have been wanting to do this painting for a long time,” Shealey says of the 30-inch-by-40-inch acrylic on canvas. “I decided to go ahead and do something different, and it just unfolded.”

In 1985 Shealey received a gift that eventually became the inspiration for the new painting. It was a black-and-white photo of the State House in a thunderstorm, bolts of lightning flashing in the distance. The scene had been captured by local photographer Dave Underwood.

“In the painting, lightning is striking in the air,” Shealey says. “It’s very dramatic and right after a rain. There is a lot of reflection and pretty color in it.”

Talking about parenting

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:59 EDT

If you enjoy connecting with other parents for advice, friendship or fun, maybe you’d like to be a member of our online Parents Panel.

We’re looking for moms and dads to lead parenting forums planned for The State’s Family Ties Web site, thestate.com/family. Help us lead conversations on family- and child-related topics — from how to find a good baby-sitter to looking for bargains.

We’re looking for forum leaders from across the Midlands — Columbia/Forest Acres, Irmo, Kershaw, Lake Murray, Lower Richland and Northeast Richland.

If you would like to be a part of the online Parents Panel, please send an e-mail to features@thestate.com and include:

• Your name, age and number of children

Tulsa’s art deco style honored by magazine

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 22:01 EDT

TRENDY TULSA

The Tulsa Foundation for Architecture sells a book, “Tulsa Art Deco,” for $45, and sells laminated maps of the city’s art deco architecture for $4.95 from tulsaarchitecture.com.

The Tulsa Historical Society at tulsahistory.org does a free guided walking tour the last Friday of each month; reservations at (918) 712-9484.

TULSA, Okla. — Think art deco architecture, and what places pop into your head? New York. Miami Beach. Los Angeles. Tulsa.

Tulsa?

Roberts delivers another great romance with ‘Tribute’

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:59 EDT

Romance Reader

Lezlie Patterson

TRIBUTE

By Nora Roberts

G.P. Putnam’s Sons,

Sedaris’ new book reveals a more mature, thoughtful writer

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 22:01 EDT

WHEN YOU ARE ENGULFED IN FLAMES

By David Sedaris

Little, Brown and Company, 336 pages, $25.99

Pick up David Sedaris’ new book, and you’re staring at death. If the van Gogh painting of a skeleton gracing the cover doesn’t say it clearly enough, the fact that the skull is smoking a cigarette should.

The image, from a postcard Sedaris picked up in a museum store, hints at the themes that set “When You Are Engulfed in Flames” — his sixth collection of essays — apart from previous Sedaris books. This is an older, more thoughtful writer who, after years of proffering stinging barbs, cigarette perpetually in hand, realizes he’s not immortal.

Comedy and the clock

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 23:44 EDT

The air in the Comedy House was saturated with the aroma of steak and chicken laced with cigarette smoke.

On the upper level, aspiring comedian Tim Williams nursed a Long Beach iced tea while checking his cell phone. In about 15 minutes he would step on the black and white checkerboard stage for his third shot at open mic night.

“It was hard at first,” the Augusta native admitted. “I forgot everything as soon as the light hit my face.”

A barber by trade, the 26-year-old often tries out his humor on his customers. “I just tell them to try not to laugh too hard while I’m cutting.”

Open mic nights are held every Tuesday at the Comedy House, on Decker Boulevard near Columbia Place Mall. There are three spots, and each comic has only three minutes to work the crowd.

Her ‘biggest thing yet’: USC grad Sarah Hammond writes on in NY

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 23:44 EDT

When we last saw Sarah Hammond, it was May 2006, and her play “Wax Works” was being staged at Trustus Theatre.

It was the final feather in her cap before she headed to New York, where she is having “an exciting and slightly destitute life.”

Her play “Green Girl” (first produced nearly a decade ago at USC-Aiken) is part of the Summer Play Festival being held at the Public Theatre starting Tuesday. She’s a resident playwright with New Dramatists, a sort-of seven-year fellowship, and just returned from a writing residency at the Royal National Theatre in London.

Hammond, who grew up mostly in Greenville and Columbia and graduated from USC, slowed down briefly to talk by e-mail. (“I’m hardly home at all. No e-mail when in rehearsal. It’s all really intensive.”)

On the Summer Play Festival:

Critics’ picks: This week’s best bets

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 23:44 EDT

It’s an election year, so we should expect outspoken pundits to spout their beliefs. But we expect only one to tour: Glenn Beck.

“Glenn Beck’s Summer Political Tour 08” will stop at The Township on Saturday, marking his third appearance in Columbia. Last summer it was “An Inconvenient Tour,” a play on the title of Al Gore’s Oscar-winning global warming film, “An Inconvenient Truth.”

Beck hosts a nationally syndicated radio show that airs 9 a.m.-noon Monday through Friday on WVOC-AM 560. Beck also provides his conservative take on current events, politics and entertainment on an hour-long show weeknights on CNN Headline News.

Immigration, Muslim extremism, oil and Iraq are all talking points for Beck, who leavens his commentary with humor and surprisingly frank personal revelations.

Here’s your chance tohear what Beck thinks about Barack Obama and John McCain live. The show is at 7:30 p.m. The Township is at 1703 Taylor St. $35.50 to $90.50; (803) 783-2222.

A Few Words with... Allen Mosley,

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 23:44 EDT

Irmo

How long have you lived in the area: 13 years

What I miss when I’m out of town: In the summer, I don’t miss the heat.

The thing I most love about this town: Convenience to everything

That was then...

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:27 EDT

A developer broke ground on a 17-story office tower at Main Street and Gervais Street last month, but for longtime residents, that corner always will be remembered for an earlier building — the Wade Hampton Hotel.

The first phase of the hotel was built in 1940 at the site of a previous hotel and opera house. As the Wade Hampton grew to 12 stories and 200 rooms, so did its reputation as the site of wild parties during legislative sessions.

The hotel closed in 1978, and the building enjoyed a brief revival as a dormitory for USC students until the university sold it to business developers. The photo shows the building’s implosion on July 21, 1985.

— Joey Holleman

BEST-SELLERS

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:27 EDT

Local best-sellers

Compiled by The Happy Bookseller

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

David Wroblewski

Time is a River

Arts news

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 23:44 EDT

Composer John Fitz Rogers, pianist Phillip Bush and writer Julie Elliott, all of Columbia, have won fellowships from the S.C. Arts Commission.

Rogers is a music professor at USC who has been commissioned to write works for musicians and groups around the nation.

Bush performs internationally as a soloist and in chamber groups. He has performed with the Philip Glass and Steve Reich ensembles on and off for 20 years.

Elliott is a professor in the women’s studies department at USC. Her doctoral dissertation was one of three winners of the Great American Novel Award at the Virginia Festival of the Book in 2003.

Other fellowship winners were Mindy Friddle, Greenville County, prose; and Dan Albergotti and Sally Arango Renata , both of Horry County, for poetry.

Book events

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 23:44 EDT

Book signings, poetry readings, club meetings, writing workshops — send us your literary events.

We will publish your happenings under the events section at thestate.com/books, and some will run in this space on Sundays.

E-mail event details along with a contact phone number to books@thestate.com, or fax them to (803) 771-8430, Attention: Book Events.

INSPIRATIONAL AUTHOR: S.C. writer Nicole Seitz will discuss and sign copies of her books at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Richland County Public Library, 1431 Assembly St. Her novels include “The Spirit of Sweetgrass” and “Trouble on the Water.” Her third book, “A Hundred Years of Happiness,” will be published in March. This event is sponsored by the Friends of Richland County Public Library. For more information or to become a friend, call (803) 929-3475 or visit www.myrcpl.com.

“THE RICHEST SEASON”:Maryann McFadden will discuss her debut novel, “The Richest Season,” at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Happy Bookseller, 4525 Forest Drive. The novel follows Joanna Harrison as she moves from New Jersey to Pawleys Island.

Lack of money dims hopes for Columbia arts festival

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 22:14 EDT

The Cultural Council of Richland and Lexington Counties has had little success getting funding for the Columbia Festival of the Arts, which means the festival is unlikely to be held in 2009 as planned.

• The council got $40,000 from the city of Columbia for its own operations, but not the $80,000 it wanted for the festival.

• The state Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism and the S.C. Arts Commission also turned down the council’s requests for $17,000 and $10,000, respectively.

• Still pending is a request for $80,000 from the State Budget and Control Board. Its grants committee will consider the request at a September meeting.

The Cultural Council has requested funding as the acting fiscal agent for the arts festival, according to Andy Witt, the council’s executive director. But no arts festival board has existed since the only festival was held, in 2007.

DuPRE gives Artists Round Table space for show

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:03 EDT

The Artists Round Table, a group of local artists, has hooked up with the Gallery at DuPRE for a summer show.

It’s a relationship that benefits both.

The exhibition, on display through Aug. 21, features works by A.R.T. members Sam Compton, Keith Tolen, Jeff Weese, Sandra Carr, Ellin Baskins, Jamie Blackburn, Roger Reed, J.J. Casey,Mercy Clonts, Elsie Fogle and Becky Age.

The artists are at various stages of their careers and most are painters.

DuPRE owner Byers Greer, who is on the A.R.T. board and an artist, offered the space.

Main Street’s big draw

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:11 EDT

Andy Zalkin, owner of the Army-Navy Store on Main Street, notices something unusual about his customers on Saturdays: A lot of them are wearing stickers from the Columbia Museum of Art.

“I’d say 40 to 50 percent of the customers have museum stickers on — well, maybe 35 percent,” Zalkin said. “It’s always three to four people together, too.”

When the museum opened at Main and Hampton streets 10 years ago this month, Zalkin and other business owners were not necessarily expecting a boost to business. But they’re glad to have it.

The museum moved into the former Macy’s department store, which, along with most big Main Street stores, had closed in the early 1990s.

“The loss of major retailers on Main Street was a sad situation that turned out well because of the art museum,” said Anne Sinclair, a Columbia City Council member for 20 years and a strong museum supporter.

Big shows in the big outdoors

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:11 EDT

It’s summer, which means most of the big concerts and tours are playing amphitheaters instead of arenas.

There are four outdoor venues within a few hours’ driving distance that have shows worth the gas mileage and ticket prices. (A few concerts will appear at more than one of the venues below.)

Here are some of the best shows to enjoy outdoors through Labor Day.

— Otis R. Taylor Jr.

VERIZON WIRELESS AMPHITHEATRE

PBS show helps local woman investigate WWI flag’s history

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:11 EDT

When Anne Clarkson unrolled the hand-sewn red and white flag with a striking crimson hand embroidered in the center, she knew she had something special.

She bought the flag for $350 on eBay from a person in Belgium. A U.S. Army disabled veteran, Clarkson’s last station was at Fort Jackson, where her final assignment was to research the 371st, an all-African-American WWI regiment, and Freddie Stowers, the only African-American in WWI to be awarded the Medal of Honor.

She believed the regiment may have carried the flag into battle when it served with France’s 157th Division. So she turned to one of her favorite PBS television shows, “History Detectives,” to help authenticate it.

The episode featuring what is known as the red hand flag will air at 9 p.m. Monday on WRLK-35, cable channel 11.

“It wasn’t what I expected,” she said. “I expected it to be red, white and blue (like the French flag). That will be explained on the show.”

A Few Words with...

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:11 EDT

Sandy Taylor, 45

Red Bank

How long have you lived in the Lexington area: 16 years.

What I miss when I’m out of town: The people. Everywhere we go we run into people we know.

The thing I most love about this town: I love that it still has a small-town feel, and as a parent I’m happy with the school district.