Monthly Archives: January 2008

In Love With: Dive Bars

After last week’s overly frilly post, I feel the need to redeem what indie cred I have (which isn’t much, perhaps why I’m defensive about it). Thus, let me indulge the flip side of my girly-girl nature, don my combat boots, and hit my favorite dive bars.

There is an art to the dive bar. It must be dingy, but not depressing. It must have “denizens” rather than customers-and there must be a usual roster of suspects on any given night. It must come by its reputation organically, not manufactured to “feel” urban or crusty. It must be the sort of place you have to think twice about taking parents, visitors to the city, and first dates, lest they re-evaluate their opinions of you and your drinking habits. And lastly, it must have a bathroom that tries to achieve some standards of cleanliness, since that is the sign of honest pride in one’s establishment. If they’ve given up trying to tame the bathrooms, folks, they’ve given up the ghost on a lot of things. So the top three on my In Love With list are (in order of frequency of visits): Five Points’ Upside Down Plaza, Irondale’s Bourbon Street, and Avondale’s Brown Derby.

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r3vrb destinations 1.17 – 1.19

Hello again, my new-found friends. I hope those of you who followed my lead last week had a good time. I sure did! Ready for another one? This week boasts a couple of big-name acts, and a little bit of everything for the discerning concert-goer. Whatever your tastes: Hip-Hop, Rock, Country, Singer-Songwriter, it’s all there for your absorption. So gather your wits about you and brace yourself, ’cause here we go:

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Slamming in the ‘Ham

Ultimate Fighting Champion Matt Hughes is cruising through Birmingham tomorrow night. He’ll be at the Wildwood Shopping Center Books-A-Million location at 7 p.m. He’ll be ready to pose for pictures and will be signing his new book Made in America, which is loaded with tons of background information about his rise to dominance and dishes backstage happenings about one of the most explosive leagues in all of sportdom.

{trav blogs regularly at {head}:sub/head, about reading, publishing, books and Birmingham.}

The Big Read’s Big Kick-Off

Today, the balloons were bought and the were cakes cut in honor of this year’s Big Read. Libraries across Birmingham have activities planned all day to help build awareness and participation in Project Mockingbird, which is the library systems push to get all of Jefferson County reading Harper Lee’s classic To Kill A Mockingbird. Think of it as “one county, one book” kind of a reading plan.

Events and features are planned all the way through this summer. Including a “Read it Forward” program where 1,500 copies of To Kill A Mockingbird will randomly be placed around the county, for people to stumble upon read and pass on.

You can keep up with the project here, and download free gfx, wallpaper and podcasts here. If you are wondering where the nearest launch party is today, check out the JCLC’s calendar page.

{trav blogs regularly at {head}:sub/head, about reading, publishing, books and Birmingham.}

Got plans this weekend? 1.11 – 1.13

It’s a busy time of the year at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. Now on the walls in advance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan. 21) is Images of Martin Luther King Jr. from the collection of Paul R. Jones. Another way the BRCI is getting ready is by holding a volunteer orientation session Saturday (January 12) from 2 – 4 p.m. BCRI will be free and open to the public on MLK Day and they need extra hands to help with the crowds. If you’d like to help, give LaQuita M. Singleton a call today at 328-9696, ext. 204 for more information.

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In Love With: Unabashed Femininity

I go a little stir-crazy this time of year, when the holidays have been filed as blurry memories and spring seems like a distant dream. I’m tired of layering bulky sweaters until I look like the StayPuft Marshmallow man, sick of static electricity, and done with the dry skin and splitting hands. The only recourse I’ve discovered is to dose myself well with unabashed femininity and wait it out.The first step is visiting Three Sheets in Homewood. This bastion of domesticity is crammed with lovely bedroom and bathroom things to touch, smell and try out. More often as not, I end up treating myself to a bath oil or fizzy bathbomb, since the beddings are too far out of my price range to do anything but caress. In the early stages of winter-ick, just a short visit, and maybe a Deep Steep lotion, is enough to pry me out of it.

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r3vrb destinations 1.10 – 1.12

Hello all. Glad you could make it. Henceforth, I will be providing an overview of the weekend’s upcoming shows so that you can more easily decide what to spend your hard earned cash on. In preparing this post for you, I’ve listened to all of the bands playing at over twenty venues in the Southside /Downtown region over the next few days. Let me know what you think. If you hate what I chose, yell at me! If you had a great time at a show I picked for you, let me know about it. The greatest return I could ever receive is a response from y’all. And now, without further ado:

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Moses Mayfield’s calling it quits

Moses Mayfield

Moses Mayfield.

AlternativeAddiction.com is reporting that the 5-piece band from Birmingham known as Moses Mayfield has broken up.

The message from front man Matthew Mayfield posted on their MySpace profile‘s blog on January 2 points to several reasons for the decision.

While fans of the band are no doubt upset, the good news is that Matthew still plans to post demos on his MySpace profile page for the foreseeable future. So as always, the music never dies…

Immediate Casting Need at Birmingham Festival Theatre!

bft logo Immediate casting! Birmingham Festival Theatre needs to cast two lead roles in their production of Hiding Behind Comets which is already in rehearsal. These roles must be cast by Monday 1/7.

TROY – 22 – Bartender in a one horse town bar. Twin brother to Honey. Measured and reserved with a healthy dose of smarta**.

HONEY – 22 – Troy’s twin sister. Small-town sexy, brazen, and impulsive. The flip side of Troy.

Contact the director (Stephen French @ 205.307.9272) to schedule a time to read today (Sunday), January 6. The show rehearses Monday – Friday from 7 to 10 p.m. and runs Thursday – Saturday from 1.31 to 2.16 with one matinee performance on 2.10.

Now you can karaoke online

This is Karaoke screenshot

Screenshot from This is Karaoke

You’ll be able to make some new friends too. Just in case you don’t feel like getting in front of strangers at the bar to sing your favorite song, you know have the option of attempting to perform for just your computer (or maybe some of those new friends).

This is Karaoke is an online karaoke website/community that lets you upload songs and meet others that are compelled to belt one out. Could take the idea of house parties to a whole new level…