Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2008
The year in review
2008: Like no other
By Kent Kimes
Editor
In many ways 2008 was more of the same: Britney Spears still made headlines, albeit a bit more on the positive side, but ranking no. 1 on Yahoo’s top Internet searches for 2008 never the less, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan raged on, and George W. Bush was still in office – for the time being.
Yet 2008 turned out to be a tumultuous ride as we watched and felt the effects of a downturn in the economy that was finally officially labeled a recession, with signs pointing toward another Great Depression.
“It’s the economy, stupid,” is a phrase often attributed to Democratic strategist James Carville (who’s starting to look more and more like Jim Carrey’s Fire Marshall Bill from “In Living Color” isn’t he?), and those words took on monumental meaning in this, the most troubling of years yet in the new millennium.
There was the housing market crash and subsequent controversial multi-billion dollar bailout floated by W. and the Congress.
There was the fall of Wall Street stalwart Lehman Bros., government takeovers of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and another government bailout of the U.S. auto industry.
Where’s all this money coming from?
If you’ve got a 401-K or mutual fund – it’s self-inflicted pain if you look at your recent statements. Don’t do it!
The media has dubbed the U.S. economic crisis as a meltdown.
And the melting has hit the Grand Strand pretty hard too, as gobs of workers have been laid off, job opportunities dried up, building projects put on hold, empty storefronts remain empty and out-of-business signs hang in windows.
Riding the wave of discontent about our economic outlook and dubious presidential policies of the last eight years, the November elections proved historic as there’s finally going to be a guy in the White House who isn’t white - or 1,000 years old.
We very nearly almost had the first female Veep, too, and at least had a reason to watch “Saturday Night Live” again.
Locally, two major projects opened their doors in 2008: Hard Rock Park on the former Fantasy Harbour site (cursed Native American burial ground, perhaps?) and The Market Common on the former Myrtle Beach Air Force Base. And only one has survived, so far.
But the city of Myrtle Beach decided that the economy wasn’t bad enough and wanted to put a kibosh on motorcycle rallies and their accompanying revenue streams, enacting a tax increase to pay for squashing the events, and angering every biker on the Strand (hey, Mayor Rhodes, bikers live here, too, all the two-wheelers aren’t tourists).
Meanwhile, another wave of sports bars opened along the Grand Strand, and more chain restaurants were attracted to the area as well, with new locations of Beef O’ Brady’s, Gordon Biersch, and Chili’s, while Carolina Forest continued to grow into its own mini-city.
A slew of hot concerts came our way, too in 2008, including gigs by Morrissey, The White Stripes, The Eagles, Kid Rock, Spoon, My Morning Jacket and the return of Widespread Panic.
iPhones started popping up in more and more hands of local technophiles and social networking site Facebook took off, making Myspace seem so 2007.
And speaking of media and the Internet, whereas it’s been a horrible year for the print industry in terms of advertising revenue and more doom and gloom prognostications of the newspaper going the way of the Edsel, it’s been a tremendous year for journalism – both in print and online - and doing what we do best: telling compelling stories.
With that in mind, here’s a recap of some of the top stories that played out in this ever-evolving information age, from the international stage to the pages of Weekly Surge.
A construction crew works on Mt. Myrtle, a sandcastle of Republican presidential candidates across the street from The Myrtle Beach Convention Center. – Surge file photo.
January
• The year got kick-started during a time when it’s usually quiet along the Grand Strand while Myrtle Beach basked in the nation’s political spotlight as both of the country’s two major political parties chose to host nationally-televised presidential debates in our seaside burgh. Chamber of commerce types creamed their undies.
First up was the FOX News-sponsored Republican debate on Jan. 10 at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, featuring a slate of GOP candidates including the eventual nominee Sen. John McCain, actor/politician Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney, former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Internet sensation Ron Paul, who livened things up.
The Dems came a calling on Jan. 21 with their own verbal free-for-all as the CNN-sponsored debate at The Palace Theatre featuring a somewhat unknown dude with a funky name: Barack Obama. The Illinois Senator and Sen. Hillary Clinton jabbed at each other, while North Cackilacky boy John Edwards basically sat back and wondered aloud why he was even there. The debate drew 4.9 million potential vacationers – er, we mean viewers.
• Surge got in on the apparent surge (no pun intended) of excitement surrounding the election process supporting a Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce event called “Rock Out Your Vote” designed to register young voters held Jan. 18 at Celebrity Square featuring candidate info, free food, voter registration sign-up and performances by local rock acts.
• While it seemed politics were shaping the public discourse in first days of 2008, a water cooler shocker happened when in-his-prime actor Heath Ledger, 28, died Jan. 22 from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs. His role of a lifetime, playing The Joker in the retooled Batman installment “The Dark Knight’’ would prove to be the hit of the summer.
New York Giants' quarterback and Superbowl MVP Eli Manning – MCT.
February
• The 1972 Miami Dolphins breathed a sigh of relief when The New England Patriots couldn’t put the finishing touches on an undefeated season as Eli Manning and The New York Football Giants spanked Tom Brady’s stunned crew 17-14 in Superbowl XLII on Feb. 3 – as a record 97.5 million viewers tuned in.
• Early in February, Myrtle Beach rock club The Sound Garden, which had begun to build up a following for its bookings of ‘80s metal acts and local original rock bands, started offering what it called “shares” for $6 a pop in an effort to keep its doors open.
• Surfside Beach Police put some muscle behind its no-smoking ordinance by issuing the first penalties for violations of the no-puff policy on Feb. 5, in what some bar/restaurant owners called a sweep by the town’s cops “the cigarette patrol.”
• On Feb. 12, the TV writers strike mercifully ended, saving us from endless “CSI” reruns and pitched reality shows such as “Watching Paint Dry.”
• And speaking of smoking, Surge jumped into the brewing debate over the legalization of marijuana and wondered why if it’s everywhere and so readily available – including concerts and stores that sell accessories that you can smoke it with – there isn’t: something being done about it to stop the proliferation a push to legalize and tax it, so the government can make money off of it?
“It wafts out of the slightly unrolled windows of cars parked right outside of the door at your favorite watering hole. Mixed with the all-masking scent - to a smoker's nose, at least - of Febreze, it winds its way under dorm room doors. It's smoked backstage by musical artists old enough to know better but rich enough not to care. It's not uncommon on area golf courses, even - the open air, relative privacy, and hours to spare make pairing greens and The Green a natural. Like we said, it's everywhere.” – reads an excerpt from Timothy C. Davis’ cover story originally published in Surge on Feb. 28.
March
• On March 4, certain Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre (Fav-ah-ruh-ruh) of the Green Bay Packers announced his retirement amid many tears (if you look closely, you can see him bawling in the background on the TVs in the cover shot of Weekly Surge’s March 13 issue featuring local sports bars.)
• March got rolling early on as Surge brought Lebowski fever to the Grand Strand, marking the 10-year anniversary of the Cohen Bros. cult classic flick “The Big Lebowski” with the area’s first-ever party dedicated to The Dude, White Russians and bowling on March 12 at Waccamaw Bowling Center.
• Another tale of a prominent politician/government official who couldn’t keep it in his pants surfaced when New York Governor Elliot Spitzer announced his resignation on March 12, amid allegations that he patronized high-dollar prostitutes. Hey, at least his sleaziness is of the top-shelf variety.
• On March 17, tickets for The Eagles/Moody Blues grand opening gig for Hard Rock Park went on sale for $250 a pop – and locals’ laughter could be heard bouncing off the waves of the Atlantic.
• Also in March, a Myrtle Beach nightlife icon re-opened – sort of.
Billing itself as The Tiki at the Afterdeck, operators re-launched the infamous nightclub, making it a kind of mash-up of The Afterdeck and The Freaky Tiki – minus the freaky.
The new Tiki was billed as the kinder, gentler, more mature and swankier Tiki, not the infamous spring break party destination that that was shut down on Ocean Boulevard for wet T-shirt contests and the like. “And yet, it can't be discounted that The Tiki's Myspace.com page advertises that “The Tiki Returns” - how can you return if you've never been somewhere else?” reads an excerpt from Surge’s March 20 cover story about passing along the new Tiki torch.
Dave Malinosky aka Dave Sky. –Photo courtesy of MTV.com
April
• On April 1, People reported that hip-hop/R&B royal couple Jay-Z and Beyonce picked up their wedding license in Scarsdale, N.Y., giving paparazzi across the nation a stiffie.
• On April 2, we found out what happens to a Grand Strand resident when he’s one of “Seven strangers picked to live in a house…to find out what happens when people stop being polite… and start getting real” as Coastal Carolina University student Dave Malinosky – aka Dave Sky – made his debut on MTV’s long-running reality series “The Real World.”
• An ambitious live/work/shop multi-use development known as The Market Common on the former Myrtle Beach Air Force base officially opened on April 3, boasting a slew of shops here-to-fore not in this market, such as Anthropoligie, the aforementioned Gordon Biersch Restaurant Brewery, a relocated Barnes and Noble Bookseller and a new 14-screen movie theater. Strolling around the city-fied, landscaped streets, patrons could be heard mumbling over and over, “this doesn’t feel like we’re in Myrtle Beach.”
• Also on April 3, Surge’s A Gay in the Life columnist Chris Rudisill announced The Center Project’s plans to host a gay pride event in Myrtle Beach, the city’s first such rainbow celebration since the controversial statewide gay pride march staged here in 1998.
• Those damned dirty apes must have rejoiced when actor/National Rifle Association spokesman Charlton Heston died on April 5 at the ripe old age of 84.
• After months of construction and hype, the 55-acre, $400 million Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach flung its doors open on April 8, featuring Led Zeppelin: The Ride as its centerpiece, a multi-loop, breakneck-paced ride set to the Zep tune “Whole Lotta Love” and emulating the prowess of Robert Plant’s legendary love muscle.
Sarah Jessica Parker stars as Carrie Bradshaw in “Sex and the City”.
May
• Fanboys rejoiced as one of Marvel Comics’ beloved – but somewhat underground – heroes came to the silver screen on May 2 with Robert Downey, Jr.’s stunning portrayal of wealthy playboy/weapons inventor Tony Stark in “Iron Man.”
• On May 3, Mother Nature struck Myanmar – also know as Burma – as a cyclone devastated the Southeast Asia country, killing in excess of 20,000.
• Also in May, Dead Dog Saloon announced plans to shut down its location at Coastal Grand mall, while the Dead Dog in Murrells Inlet remained open. Owner Charlie Campbell had some doggedly pointed words for the mall’s management.
• Cruising the Coast, Myrtle Beach’s spring motorcycle rally, known colloquially as “Bike Week,” got underway in usual fashion on May 9 – with no hint of a brewing storm.
• With bikers still in town on May 15, Surge offered its inaugural guide to gentlemen’s clubs on the Strand. Tough job, eh?
• Proving to be successful out of the box, the S.C. Pirates, a professional inline hockey team based in Little River, captured the 2008 Southeast Division title of the Professional Inline Hockey Association beating the Richmond Robbins on May 11. The team couldn’t bring home the PIHA championship, however.
• Also in May, a sissy-fight broke out between Myrtle Beach promoters and those who wave the rah-rah flag for Virginia Beach, Va. It seems Virginia Beach boosters were upset that Myrtle Beach websites were offering the Grand Strand as “the ideal vacation alternative vacation to Virginia Beach.” The flap continued as a Virginia Beach radio station created a pretty funny website poking fun at Myrtle, depicting pot-bellied hicks chilling at a toxic-waste polluted beach, and some not so funny homophobic stabs at the Gay Dolphin.
• Women and their BGs (Best Gays) rejoiced with a raised Cosmo as Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha came to life on the big screen in the “Sex and the City” movie which opened nationwide on May 30. Straight men yawned.
• During the Memorial Day Weekend, CCU student Corey Brooks, 20, was gunned down in Myrtle Beach during the Atlantic Beach Bikefest, aka Black Bike Week, which proved to be the powder keg that sparked the city’s upcoming anti-biker legislation.
Glenn Frey and Don Henley of the Eagles performing in a video shoot. – Courtesy Photo.
June
• The Eagles and The Moody Blues performed on back-to-back nights June 2-3 at Hard Rock Park’s new amphitheater during the theme parks’ official grand opening extravaganza.
• Obama, the 46-year-old U.S. Senator from Illinois, unofficially wrapped up the Democratic nomination for president on June 3, becoming the first African-American to ever win a major U.S. political party’s presidential nod by racking up the most primary wins.
• The Market Common made its first big bid to be Myrtle Beach’s de facto down town as the 57th Annual Sun Fun Festival kick-off shifted to Grand Park on the former Air Force Base including a concert by ‘90s rock sensation Third Eye Blind on June 7 that drew an estimated crowd of 8,000. Most folks in the crowd apparently thought it was a “Smash Hits of the ‘90s’’ CD playing over a loudspeaker and mostly socialized, ignored the no-alcohol policy, and kept their backs to the stage until the band played “Semi-Charmed Life.’’
• CCU’s baseball squad, under the guidance of Coach Gary Gilmore, got swelled up with pride as it advanced to the round of 16 in NCAA tournament play for the first time, but was duly bounced by national powerhouse, the North Carolina Tarheels, with a 14-4 spanking June 8 in Cary, N.C. Still, the Chants 50-win season did not go unnoticed as the team got substantial ink in the specialized baseball media and several players were selected in Major League Baseball’s 2008 draft.
• Myrtle Beach City Council took a bold step in clamping down on the area’s motorcycle events on June 17 by enacting a three-mill increase on property taxes designed to fund anti-rally initiatives, setting off a wave of backlash from area bikers and biker-related businesses.
• Iconic standup comedian/actor George Carlin kicked the bucket on June 22, dying of heart failure. He was 71.
The sign at the Myrtle Beach Train Depot during the Myrtle Beach Pride Festival. – Photo by Chris Rudisill, Weekly Surge staff.
July
• Homo-hater Jesse Helms, a former U.S. Senator from N.C. and a Republican/conservative icon died on July 4.
• As if on cue, the Grand Strand’s gay and lesbian community celebrated the area’s diversity with a Myrtle Beach Pride Festival on June 11-12 with activities centered on the Myrtle Beach Train Depot area. It marked the first organized gay pride celebration in Myrtle Beach in a decade, when S.C. Gay and Lesbian Pride March turned the town on its ear in 1998, as local politicians and the Burroughs and Chapin Company, Inc. got their panties in a wad. This year, the event seemed to go off without a hitch.
• Widespread Panic returned to the Grand Strand for the first time since 2003, with a three-night sold out run July 21-23 at the House of Blues in North Myrtle Beach – and venue officials compared the parking lot scene to football game tailgating rather than the more obvious comparison to a Grateful Dead show. Down, set, hut!
• A former CCU student won MTV’s “Legally Blonde the Musical: The Search for Elle Woods” and made her Broadway debut on July 23. Bailey Hanks, a 20-year old from Anderson who attended CCU in 2007, won the lead role of sorority-girl-turned-legal-eagle Elle Woods, a character made famous by Reese Witherspoon in a pair of “Legally Blonde” flicks. She earned a six-month contract with the Broadway musical adaptation of “Legally Blonde” at the Palace Theatre (no, not the one in Myrtle Beach) in New York.
• Also in July, it seemed like an end of an era, in a cost-cutting move, the Surge office on Oak Street in downtown Myrtle Beach was shut down – sparking rumors that Surge would cease to publish. But we soldiered on.
August
• In the dog days of summer, the aforementioned former footballing Favre unretired, and showed up at Green Bay Packers training camp, where he was designated as backup QB behind Aaron Rodgers, the man to helm the Cheeseheads’ offense. On Aug. 7, the Wrangler Jeans spokesman was traded to the N.Y. Jets. Apparently he likes green.
• On Aug. 8 (8-8-08, get it?), the Grand Strand’s first NBC affiliate, WMBF, flipped the switch and began broadcasting, just in time for the Summer Olympics which kicked off the same day in Beijing, China. U.S. Swimmer Michael Phelps dominated the much-hyped Olympiad.
• Two of America’s most-beloved entertainers – comedian Bernie Mac and musician Isaac Hayes – checked into the great coliseum in the sky on consecutive days, Aug. 9 and Aug. 10 respectively.
• The Dave Matthews Band soldiered on with a gig at the Staples Center in Los Angeles as its saxophone player LeRoi Moore died on Aug. 19 in a nearby Hollywood hospital. Moore, 46, died of complications from injuries he sustained during an all-terrain-vehicle smash-up in June on his farm near Charlottesville, Va.
• Keeping its pledge to distance itself from the wild, raucous image of the Freaky Tiki, the Tiki at the Afterdeck hosted Girls Gone Wild’s Search for the Wildest Bar in America Tour on Aug. 22.
• Proving that he indeed is a different kind of presidential candidate, the Democrat’s main man Obama sent a text message to supporters on Aug. 23 identifying his choice of running mate. The always-smilin’ Joe Biden from Delaware got to ride Obama’s coattails.
• Not to be outdone by Obama, the crafty, self-described “Maverick,” John McCain revealed his running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin on Aug. 29, simultaneously electrifying portions of the Republican electorate and reviving Tina Fey’s career
• CCU’s football team may have bitten off more than it could chew going up against its biggest opponent to date, getting thrashed 66-10 on Aug. 30 by Big Ten superpower Penn State at State College, Pa.
September
• September began ominously as news surfaced that one of Hard Rock Park’s financial backers decided to eat its $10 million investment in the Myrtle Beach amusement. By the end of the month, the park curtailed its first season and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
• Tropical Storm Hanna blew through the Grand Strand in early September not causing much physical damage, but putting a dent in the local tourism industry none-the-less.
• According to an economic analysis released Sept. 10 by the Brittain Center for Resort Tourism and the BB&T Center for Economic and Community Development at Coastal Carolina University (wow, that’s a mouthful), Hanna was responsible for a loss of $22 million in revenue. That bitch.
• In an unusual move – as most music is released on Tuesdays – hard rock legends Metallica dropped its latest disc “Death Magnetic” on a Sept. 12 – a Friday.
• Trying to do its best Cincinnati Bengals imitation, more off-the-field trouble surfaced for David Bennett’s CCU gridiron gang when the coach dismissed two players – Jamar Anderson and Paul Nicholas – on Sept. 15, a day after the duo was arrested for disorderly conduct. This made it nine CCU football players that had been arrested over the course of 13 months, on a variety of charges, including assault and battery, weapons and drugs offenses, sexual assault and driving under the influence
• On Sept. 23, in a somewhat surreal “I-know-they-didn’t” move, Myrtle Beach City Council officially adopted 15 ordinances designed to crack down on the area’s motorcycle rallies, including a helmet law that some say superseded the state’s so-called “right to choose” statute which says helmets are optional for bikers 21 and older.
• Wearying a bit from the hype surrounding the Nov. 4 election and somewhat peeved by the “it doesn’t matter who wins mantra – things will never change,” Surge offered this message on its Sept. 25 cover: “Vote. Or Shut the Hell Up.”
• Clay Aiken announced “Yes, I’m gay’’ on the cover of Sept. 24’s edition of People magazine. No one blinked.
Lust List finalists (left to right) Martin Pettigrew, Darrah Dawson, Abby Payne, Keith Crolley, Jackie Giardina, Emi Davis, Johnny Alexander and Brendon O’Connor – Surge file photo.
October
• The term “bail-out” dominates the national lexicon and consumes the nation’s attention in early October as the president, Congress, and presidential candidates enter into much handwringing over Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson’s $700 billion blueprint to rescue Wall Street and its flailing financial institutions.
• Since Myrtle Beach clearly doesn’t want bikers, spring breakers or folks with limited income, Surge set out in its Oct. 2 edition to find the perfect tourist. We’re still looking.
• The Grand Strand’s culinary scene nearly blew out its gastrointestinal fortitude with a week full of food-based events as Little River hosted its Shrimp and Jazz Fest on Oct. 11-12, the parking lot of Spud’s Waterfront Dining in Murrells Inlet was transformed into the 9th Annual Lip-Ripping Chilympics Chili Cook-off (judged in part by Surge’s chili-scarfing editor) and the granddaddy of ‘em all, the 25th Annual Taste of the Town held Oct.14 at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center.
• While the economy continued to tank, presidential hopefuls John McCain and Barack Obama squared off in their second nationally televised debate on Oct. 14 at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. – and largely ignored the specifics of how they would go about resuscitating the country’s financial fortunes. The debate was most notable for McCain calling Obama “that one.”
• It got all hot-and-bothered up in the Hard Rock Café as Surge hosted the inaugural Lust List Party on Oct. 16, featuring eight of the Grand Strand’s most lustful inhabitants as voted on by readers. Oh yes, and the event benefitted breast cancer research.
• Since she was mentioned 100 billion times in Surge’s News Rewind feature and since she is, after all, the person who is searched most often on the Internet, we finally dedicated an issue to our queen, Britney Spears, on Oct. 23, pondering whether the star-crossed diva was on the verge of a major comeback.
• The Grand Strand jumped on the comic con bandwagon as X-Con World, the area’s first comic book/fantasy convention commenced Oct. 31 (and continued Nov. 1) at the Springmaid Beach Resort and Conference Center. We swear we spotted the dude that owns the comic shop on “The Simpsons.”
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama strides onto the stage to make his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver on Aug. 28. – MCT.
November
Let’s see…what happened in November. Hmm. It was something. What was it?
Uh…
• Oh, that’s right, there was an election. Or rather, THE election. In a stunning victory, Barack Hussein Obama won the popular vote on Nov. 4 to become the U.S.’s next president, a salient day in the nation’s history as he also became the first non-lily-white commander-in-chief. His opponent McCain, meanwhile, was praised practically universally for a gracious and classy concession speech. The Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was shot with a moose tranquilizer and sent back to Alaska, unwillingly.
• Upstate New York had Woodstock, Wayne and Garth hosted Waynestock, and we had…Myrtlestock 2008, two days of live music featuring more than 20 bands that performed to raise money and awareness for the area’s homeless on Nov. 14-15 at The Clubhouse Myrtle Beach.
• The day finally came on Nov. 23 when Guns ‘N’ Roses’ long-awaited “Chinese Democracy” album (list price $13.99) was released at Best Buy stores only. Axl Rose, by the way, is the only original member of GNR left, and it took him 17 years to release “Chinese Democracy.’’
• And from the Senseless Acts of Violence Dept., a series of 10 choreographed terrorist attacks carried out by Pakistani rogues ripped through Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India’s financial capital from Nov. 26-29, killing more than 170 people and injuring more than 300.
December
• The fourth annual Myrtle Beach International Film Festival, which began very humbly on the campus of Horry-Georgetown Tech four years ago, kicked off Dec. 2 and ran through Dec. 6 at its new home, Broadway 16 at Broadway at the Beach, culminating with an awards ceremony on the last day. The festival showcased more than 50 works from independent filmmakers of every stripe and genre – including music videos, shorts, animation, documentaries and features.
• Coming 11 years to the day when the term “Festivus” was introduced to a mass audience via the “Seinfeld” episode entitled “The Strike,” Weekly Surge hosted the inaugural Festivus Party on Dec. 18 at Handley’s Pub in Carolina Forest. The event featured a pile of food (really too good for Festivus), a spirited airing of grievances and some fierce rounds of thumb-wrestling. (See pg. 22 for the airing of grievances.)
• On Dec. 25, folks took time to pause and celebrate peace on earth. And then the economy suddenly snapped back into shape and there was no depression. Okay, that last part was a bit of a stretch.
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