It's June Already!?

It is really hard to believe that May is over, isn't it? It went way too fast, but now that it is officially the first day of June, you should start planning for these awesome upcoming June events:

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June 4th- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo opens at The Nickelodeon. Based on a novel from Stieg Alarsson's best-selling trilogy, "Journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) and rebellious computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) team up to investigate the unsolved disappearance of wealthy Henrik Vanger's (Sven-Bertil Taube) teen niece (Ewa Fröling), only to uncover dark secrets about Vanger's powerful family." I've heard great things about this film, and plan to check it out myself. It runs through June 10th.

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June 5th- Art in the Park: newly-refurbished Quinine Hill Park is located on the corner of Forest Drive and Beltline Blvd. The event is from 10 am- 4 pm this Saturday, and there will be food, drinks, live music and local art.

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June 5th- See Spot Run 5K Run/Walk: This inaugural event will be held at Riverfront Park in downtown Columbia. All proceeds will benefit The Humane Society. There are lots of fun post-race activities, and dogs are welcome! Click here for more details or to register for the event.

And also June 5th, (wow, there's a lot going on in Columbia this Saturday!)- Ribs & Renaissance: I attended this event the past 2 years and it is really fun. There are street vendors, lots of live entertainment, tons of stuff for kids, and a Rib cook-off. There is also a juried arts & crafts show. I would go for no other reason than to hear the Hyatt Park Community Drum Line--I mean, who doesn't love a good drum line, for real?

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June 7th- The Melting Pot Ladies' Night Out: Are you as enamored of the cheese fondue at Melting Pot as I? Or maybe it's the chocolate that does it for you--either way, this is an amazing deal: cheese, salad, entree and chocolate, plus 2 signature cocktails for ONLY $35 per person. This really is a deal! Follow them on Twitter to receive a coupon for free chocolate. Call (803) 731-8500 to make a reservation.

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June 11th- Pack Rats Grand Opening!: Pack Rats is the newest vintage and handmade store in Columbia. It is located at 2009 Greene St, between Sammi's Deli and 5 Points Tattoo. Click here to see their blog and here to see their Facebook page. I can't wait to check it out.
Some photos of things in the shop, via here-- (I'm loving the wall color!):

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And June 13th- Township Auditorium Community Open House: everyone is welcome Sunday afternoon for behind-the-scenes tours, an art fair on the street, and entertainment from local groups; admission is FREE and free hot dogs and sodas will be served! Go check out the newly-renovated Township.

Whew-that's a lot. What else will be keeping you busy in June?

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Wine, Music, Wings, and Pets

Here's my quick run-down of things to do in Columbia this weekend (and early next week):

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Thursday, April 8th: Print out and take this Project Pet newsletter to Cellar on Greene between 5 and 7 pm to participate in a wine tasting for only $5. (The tasting is typically $10, but with the newsletter you get the discount and proceeds go to Project Pet). Love drinking for a cause :) And tell the folks at Cellar you read about it on Au Courant Columbia!

After the wine tasting you can head to 5 Points to hear Coolie G with Joal Rush & the Wares, Remedy at the 5 after 5 concert. Starts at 6:30. (Or, if you'd rather, head to The Vista to hear The Shakers at Vista After 5; starts at 5 pm).

Town Mountain, featuring Columbia's own Barrett Smith
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Sunday, April 11th: Skip down to Main Street for the 2nd annual Capital City Music & Wing Fling. Tickets are $5 in advance and there will be tons of awesome music and wings; gates open at noon and event lasts until 7 pm. Town Mountain (swoon!) is playing at 2:55 pm, and there will also be music inside The White Mule. Wing vendors include Village Idiot, Wings & Ale, Sly Fox and many more.
Monday, April 12th: Go eat at Carolina Ale House in Harbison between 6-9 pm, and print and take this card with you to give to your server. 10% of your meal cost will go to help the SC Humane Society.


Tuesday, April 13th: And, if you would like to take the animal thing a step further and actually dine with your dog, then make a reservation for you and your pooch at Solstice for Tuesday night at 7 pm. You order from Solstice's awesome menu, and your dog gets a gourmet 3-course meal from Pupcakes. Call (803)461-0236 to make a reservation. Cost is $12 for your dog.

What are your weekend plans?

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Be Politically Active

If you live in Columbia then there is no possible way that you can be oblivious to the fact that we are in the midst of a mayoral show-down; the likes of which I have never seen in my years as a Columbian because Mayor Bob has been in office for sooo long!

Even if you aren't typically "the political type," you should care who is elected. As I tell my Social Policy class often, it is your civic duty to advocate for what you believe in and educate your politicians about the issues. The politicians are not experts on everything, and we can't expect them to be. (Hell, some of our SC politicians are experts in things that I wouldn't want my politicians to be experts in at all...but that's a different, angsty post that I'm not gonna write today).

So, {hopping on my soapbox}, here are some ways to 'get political' and inform yourself and help others this week and next:

Tonight--head to the Richland County Public Library at 1431 Assembly Street at 7 pm for a Mayoral Forum on Homelessness. All 9 mayoral candidates will speak about what they think the city should do to address our homeless population.

Then, (as I mentioned in yesterday's post), go eat a delicious meal at Mr. Friendly's tonight and give the server this coupon. 10% of your meal cost will be donated to the local Humane Society.

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Friday, March 19th- Go to The Animal Mission's annual fundraiser, Party Animals! and hear Edwin McCain. There will be an open bar and food by Blue Marlin as well as an auction--all to help stray animals!

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Saturday, March 20th- Go to Jillian's in the Vista from 1-5 pm to witness the 4th Annual St. Baldrick's Shaving Event to benefit children's cancer research.


Monday, March 22nd- Go to the Mayoral Showdown at 701 Whaley St, 7 pm. There will be a cash bar and a debate among the top 5 mayoral candidates. Click here for more info.

Tuesday, March 23rd- Attend a rally at the State House steps to "End the R-Word," and promote the respect for and acceptance of more than 15,000 Special Olympians. Rally begins at 11 am. (This one is near and dear to my heart, as I am a constant upbraider of people using the R-word).

Saturday, March 27th- Attend the rally at the State House Steps to retire the Confederate Battle flag from State House grounds. 2-5 pm, performances by local bands; click here for more info.

I promise you will feel empowered and excited by being an advocate for change and helping others. What do you do to advocate for change or help others?

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Foxy Shazam and Things to Do

Columbia's St. Patrick's Day had beautiful weather, (albeit a bit chilly with the wind gusts), plenty of beer and food, and an eclectic line-up of musicians.

I started the day by running the Get to the Green 5K, which ended up being a pretty nice course--there were a couple little hills in the first mile, but miles 2 and 3 were flat and fast. Over 2,000 people participated in the 5K, so it was a bit crowded in the beginning, but thinned out quickly.
After the race, we joined my mom, dad, and nephew, Ben, to watch the parade down Devine Street. He was entertained, which was the point.
After a quick shower, James and I were on a mission to spend the rest of the day with friends, drinking, eating and listening to music in 5 Pts. And we did just that.

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The one band I was super-excited to hear was Foxy Shazam. The Free Times described them thusly, which piqued my interest and was the impetus for me to seek them out at the festival: "the band will be heading out soon enough to play Spin’s SXSW showcase, so I suggest you give their anthemic pop a listen or two. That way, when Bob Guccione Jr. gets around to putting them on the cover of Spin, you can say you heard them when."

The band is on SPIN's 50 Must-See Bands at SXSW List, and was on their 10 To Watch in 2010 List as well. Lead vocalist, Eric Nally, truly takes center stage; SPIN describes him as "Mick Jagger on a Red Bull binge." Their music is a bit hard and may not appeal to a mainstream taste, but their performance was over-the-top entertaining. Below are 2 pics that James snagged on his camera-phone, (of course my camera ran out of batteries on Saturday!)

Lead singer, Eric Nally, hanging over the stage.

And now hanging upside-down. If you look behind him, to the right, you can see the pianist standing on the keyboard...

We only heard them play for about 15 minutes, but I was sold. Bought the CD...and now I can say, "I saw them before they got really famous..."


Tomorrow night--head to Mr. Friendly's to the Humane Society's monthly fundraiser; 10% of all sales from 6-9 pm will be donated to the local Humane Society. Click here to print out the card to present to your server.

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Become a friend of Rosso Trattoria on Facebook...they are awarding DINNER for TWO to their 1,000th Facebook Friend. If you suggest the 1,000th Friend, you'll win Dinner for Two, also! Last I looked, they were at 977 friends...

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So Many Things, So Little Time...

There is a LOT going on in Columbia in the next few days...I will probably be adding to this list later in the week, but here goes:

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February 23rd (today): At a City Hall Press Conference scheduled for 4 pm today, Mayor Bob Coble and animal advocates will proclaim Spay Day! National Spay Day is an initiative that promotes the importance of spaying and neutering pets, which significantly decreases the high population of stray animals. The Humane SPCA, Animal Mission, and other local animal shelters are all in support of this initiative. (More on Spay Day events later in the week...see below).

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Tonight- go see A Single Man at The Nickelodeon. This Golden-Globe nominated film starring Colin Firth and Julianne Moore (swoon) will only be playing through Thursday.


Friday, February 26th: Go to the Spay Day Benefit Concert at Elbow Room in 5 Points. Show starts at 8 pm and tickets are $5 in advance from Sid & Nancy, or $7 at the door. Artists include: Kenley Young & the Open Fires, Mean Weiner, Todd Mathis, The Thirsties, and Josh Roberts & Leslie Branham. All proceeds benefit the local Humane Society.

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SC Book Festival poster art by Columbia's own Claire Farrell

Saturday, February 27th: The SC Book Festival is this weekend--February 27th-28th at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center and admission is FREE! I plan to go Saturday to check out some of the presentations by authors of cookbooks. There will be all kinds of authors on hand to speak about their books, sell you their books, and sign them too--children's books, arts books, history books, you name it! [For those of you who are big fans- Dorothea Benton Frank will be at the Festival discussing Return to Sullivans Island at 12:45 on Sunday]. Click here for the full Saturday and Sunday schedules.

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Also on Saturday- ride your bike, skate, walk or ride the bus to the State House at 2 pm to attend the Transportation Transformation event, DJ Chris Wenner will be spinning. This event has been organized by Aaron Johnson and Grant Robertson, who are running for Columbia Mayor and City Council, respectively. According to the Facebook invitation, "the purpose of this rally is to draw together disparate groups in order to improve Columbia's transportation system." I for one love public transportation--in other cities. It sucks in Columbia. And I work with a population that has no choice but to depend on our broken and embarrassingly under-funded system...we should all care about this issue. "The problems with our transportation affect our safety, our environment, our health, our economy, and our quality of life."

So, what's on your agenda this week and weekend?

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Local Treats for V-Day Weekend

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Want a lesson in what to do when love goes bad? Head to the Barnes & Noble at Midtown at Forest Acres at 7 pm Friday evening for a book signing by SC first lady, (and soon to be divorced), Jenny Sanford. She will be signing copies of her new book Staying True.

Looking for a Creative and Unusual Valentine's Date or Un-date, as the case may be? Check out 701 Whaley's "What's Love" event. The What's Love Fest 2010 is a sensual celebration of art in all forms- visual art, music, and dance. There will be visual art from over 20 local artists, 4 performance art groups, including the Unbound Dance Company, and music from the quartet Les Paramours, which includes Danielle Howle. There will also be last-minute Valentine's gifts for sale from local vendors, and BBQ from Blythewood restaurant, Smoke. Wow--that's a lot. Starts Saturday at 7 pm, tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Click here for more information.

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Monday is Pawley's Front Porch Party for their debut on Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Never seen the show--click here to get an idea of what you're in for. Beginning at 7:30 pm, enjoy cheap drink specials and giveaways as well as miniature versions of the 3 burgers that will be featured on the show. There is even a Guy Fieri look-alike contest! The show airs at 10 pm. Click here to see Free Times' Eva Moore's blog post about the event.

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Love Animals? The Humane Society has started a new fundraiser that will happen once a month. A local restaurant will give 10% of your meal cost to the Humane Society on the particular night. The date for this month's event is next Tuesday, February 16th from 6-9 pm. February's restaurant is M Cafe at 1417 Sumter Street, Downtown Columbia. Print the card here, give it to your server, and 10% of your meal cost will go to help animals locally!

What are your plans for the Valentine's Day weekend?

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