Ted Leo unveils Benefit EP, Finishing Album 9/16/08
This interview with Ted Leo was the first after he released an EP to benefit people who were injured or detained during the Republican National Convention that summer, and this story was the first to break news about a new album he and the band were working on.
Read the online version here.
Change has come to Ani DiFranco
The neo-folk legend reflects on a career after motherhood
I spoke with feminist icon and neo-folk superstar Ani DiFranco during her tour for her 2008 album "Red Letter Year," the first she had released since giving birth to her daughter. From the back room of DC's 9:30 Club, DiFranco told me that having a child has forced her to slow down, something she says was needed after spending the majority of her maturing years on stage and under the spotlight.
Read the online version here.
The Gospel According to Gallagher 7/3/08
A smashing good interview
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Talking to Gallagher was among the more bizarre experiences of my life. He had little to say about comedy, watermelons, Hilton Head or his fame for the first half of our interview. But I did learn much about subatomic particles, resort proposals and the plague of girls with tattoos that is threatening America.
Read the online version here.
Top 5 rules for creating a killer top 10 list 12/21/07
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The Guide was voted the best entertainment publication out of all daily newspapers in the state in 2007, partially because it's full of this sort of self-effacing, cleverly hip content designed to be relevant, but still appeal to a broad section of readers.
To read the online version of this column, click here.
Runwaygate: Live blogging! 12/4/07
If you can find me an issue that draws more passion on Hilton Head right now than the airport, I'll eat my copy of the Land Management Ordinance. Go ahead and try -- it's OK, I'm hungry and this binder looks delicious.
You can't because the airport was the issue when this meeting was held. The town council decided in 2007 it had enough with the debate and wanted to pass an ordinance that would block any runway expansion without their approval. The issue drew the biggest crowd to a council meeting in at least a decade, and included hours of public comment, which I knew would be interesting but wouldn't fit in the paper. That's where the blog comes in, for a blow-by-blow of Hilton Head's equivalent of the Warren Commission.
Excerpts (full blog has since been removed from the site):
3:30 p.m.: It’s like the parking lot of a Hannah Montana concert here at Town Hall. Staff is out in force directing people where to park, where to walk. I think I saw someone selling T-shirts out of the back of a truck near the Wexford circle.
Inside council chambers is already packed. I’m guessing its the Arbor Day proclamation that’s pulling the crowd.
3:40 p.m.: Council members and the mayor overhead in the hallways talking about how this might be the biggest meeting ever. The chambers are standing-room-only and the hallway is full of overflow crowd.
4:03 p.m.: Judge Sol Blatt Jr. (he of Cross Island Parkway fame) is swearing in the reelected council members. Wait, what election?
“I’m not here with you any more but my heart’s here, always will be.” He’s the first to mention the packed room.
“I couldn’t understand. I’ve never seen this crowd before,” he said. Must be lots of family members of council members in the room.
“I’m gonna swear these council members, then I’m headed waaay out,” he said.
....
4:37 p.m.: Peeples voice is cracking as he talks about why they’re doing this measure. Holy jeez, I think he's crying a little. This meeting is full of firsts.
4:40 p.m.: OH SNAP! John Curry throws his support behind the ordinance! Curry has been involved in the airport since almost the beginning and initially opposed it. But now he wants to quiet all the noise — for and against the airport — and just look towards the future. This is kind of like Colin Powell speaking out against the Iraq war.
Bee spells D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R as well as V-I-C-T-O-R-Y 1/12/07
A new twist on an old spelling bee story
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Here's a math problem about a spelling bee story:
Hiring freeze + no education reporter x being the first person in the newsroom in the morning = getting assigned to cover a spelling bee last minute.
But I love stories like this because you get to peak into the intense competitive spirit that drives whole subsets of the population at seemingly innocuous events.
I tried to broaden the topic to make it releveant for an audience who might otherwise not think twice about a spelling competition at a private school.
To read the online version of this story, click here.
So it went: Fates worse than life for vonnegut 12/4/07
Reflections on secular humanism, irreverence and astronomy with author's passing
Kurt Vonnegut was one of the authors who first introduced me to the idea that writing can be funny simply because life is funny, and that sometimes the best way to viciously attack a subject is to make people laugh about it first.
His death was sad, but I couldn't help the feeling that it was probably much more of a quiet accomplishment for Vonnegut himself, who often spoke with shocked trepidation about his persistent vitality.
I had to find a way to pay tribute, even in some small form.
To read the online version of this story, click here.
'Living' in America: The world of Ted Leo 12/4/07
The Guide sets out to melt some faces by introducing our readers to punker Ted Leo
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Like much of the content of The Guide, Ted Leo an artist that flies well below the cultural radar of much of our readership, who tend to skew to the older end of the spectrum. The challenge then is writing about one of the most revered indie rockers on the scene right now, and making him seem relevant to our readers.
Taking risks liks this allow the paper to broaden our appeal to younger readers. But really, Ted Leo just rocks the house down.
To read the online version of this story, click here.