Choose Charleston

A great event is taking place in Charleston starting tonight.  The second annual Charleston Classic which will be hosted in at the new Carolina First Arena at the College of Charleston.

You can purchase tickets here.

The field is loaded with talent with some common local teams such as C of C conference rival Davidson.  The South Carolina Gamecocks are also joining the field with coach Darrin Horn looking to make a national splash.  UNC-Wilmington joins, along with the ACC’s Miami Hurricanes.

The other teams making up the Charleston Classic for 2009 is  Tulane, USF, NIT champ Penn State, and La Salle.

I don’t know if they are really clear cut best team in the field but I expect several games to go down to the wire!

I will have some game updates as the Charleston Classic is played out this weekend.

The games will be played Nov. 19-22

I know I have many dedicated readers who have wrote me comments in regards to some articles I put out.  Some give me tips and suggestions of things on Charleston to write about.  I also enjoy getting to know Charleston business owner’s and work with them any way possible. 

 I am asking all of my readers, is anyone interested in contributing to the blog? 

 You can be in high school and gain experience with journalism.  College students who enjoy writing, be more than welcome to contact me.

Anyone who enjoys to write, contact me.

 You can even write on any Charleston related topic that you desire as long as it is rather clean.

 Just contact me through e-mail and I will be glad to see what we can work out.

 Look forward to hearing from someone!

choosecharleston@gmail.com , write me with the subject line “Blogging in Charleston”

Luke

I think everyone realizes that John McCain is favored to win and will win in South Carolina.

 My question is, by how much?

 Most poll averages have him ahead in South Carolina by 12%.

 Do you think Obama will keep it closer than that or will McCain cover the 12% spread?

 Also, post any of your thoughts on the 2008 election that you desire.  What is the residents of Charleston going to be voting on?  What should they be voting on?

Lastly, who do you think will win the 2008 election? Obama or McCain? Or….Barr!

Charleston tends to be recognized as a rather polite, well-mannered, place to live or visit; a place where gentlemen would tip their hats to ladies were hats still in vogue and where doors are routinely held as a courtesy.

It has been mentioned more than once, however, in articles on the polite society of Charleston that our manners tend to become a bit less gentile when we are behind the wheel.

Try to merge into traffic on I-26 somewhere around exit 209 around the middle of the day and you’ll soon be telling a whole different story about politeness.

So we are kinder pedestrians than motorists.

It’s also been noted, on those occasions when local media has experimented with allowing online readers to add commentary to news stories (or when online forums have been built to discuss local issues) that politeness tends to be kicked out the window along with the rest of the trappings of civil behavior.

This, it should be mentioned, is hardly unique to Charleston.

I’ll be biting my nails, wringing my hands with worry, every time I flip through the latest issue of Charleston Magazine from here on out.

Society editor extraordinaire Ida Becker just launched a crash-hot new daredeviling in the Palmetto State column called Living on the Edge.

Me, I’m sitting at home with the latest issue of Backpacker and a few ideas bouncing around. She’s out there in the world with a whip and a chair, telling those lions to mind.

Doubly clever and delightfully daring, Ms. Becker is the kind of elegant young gal who might of an afternoon favor a spot of skydiving, plan a trek off to Tibet, and later lure the fête set toward her lens for a bit of clicky-clicky, perchance at an evening soirée on Church or State.

That, and she’s a good writer.

Charleston’s hep cats and swinging dames are sure to have seen copies of ART Magazine, the latest venture from publisher extraordinaire Olivia Pool, about town.

Ms. Pool, of course, was the driving force behind the late critically acclaimed Domain Magazine and is known to have contributed many a “Special to” piece to the Post & Courier Preview section.

As she is among the most cosmopolitan of Charlestonian cognoscenti, it is only natural that Olivia would be helping to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the birth of the Persian poet Rumi.

The celebration proper, hosted by the Sophia Institute, will be in October but Rumi rejoicers yearning for an early taste of soul can catch a screening of “Rumi: Poet of the Heart” at Charleston County Library on August 14, 7 p.m.

The screening is free, open to the public, and will be a good way to schmooze with the local art and soul minded while grooving to ancient rhymes.

Every year the list of required school supplies gets longer and, tax holiday or no, that can bring a lot of hardship to low income families.

Come on, Lowcountry - we like to talk the talk about caring for the children of our community and the importance of education, right? Here’s a small something that those of us who are doing a little better can do to help:

Today, August 2, at 4 p.m. Steve Waters, a.k.a. “Steve the Guy” of the 95SX Two Girls and a Guy morning show, will be at the Summerville Publix on Central Avenue collecting school supply donations for local families in need.

Number 2 pencils are always in season. Notebooks? Needed. Paper towels? Probably so.

If you can imagine it, chances are the kids and teachers need it, and it doesn’t have to be much. Just a little something-something, one starfish tossed back in the sea makes a difference, at least to that one starfish, and all that good stuff.

Besides, drop something off and you get to groove with Steve, easily one of the coolest cats in the Lowcountry. Hey, not only does this guy gets to start every morning with Tanya Brown and Brooke Ryan, but he also puts a smile on the faces of a whole lot of folks who are stuck in the slow ooze of local traffic every weekday morning. He makes us laugh, lightens the load just a wee bit at the very start of the day.

Makes you feel better, makes you wanna do something good for someone else, makes you wanna pay that karma forward.

This Saturday and Sunday, August 4-5, the Washout on Folly Beach will once again host the South Carolina Governor’s Cup of Surfing.

That’s two whole days of competition featuring the best of the class from all the way up and down the Easten seaboard. Wahines wade in from the Outer Banks and Menehunes migrate from Myrtle Beach to show their stuff at this top wave event.

Arrive early to catch a good parking spot.

Keep in mind that South Carolina is one of only two states with an official Governor’s Cup dedicated to the sport of surfing (the other is California). Governor Mark Sanford, well known as a champion of coastal and environmental causes, is himself an avid surfer.

So the Governor’s Cup is a point of pride for Sandlappers.

Speaking of which, the summer 2007 issue of Sandlapper: The Magazine of South Carolina features a cool article on the Governor’s Cup and the Folly Beach surf crowd, if you’re interested in some background research before you show up on the beach.

As well, the summer issue of Garden & Gun has an article on the local wahines and the July 2007 Charleston Magazine has an article on Folly Beach in its golden age (check out the sailing adventure by the ever adventurous Ida Becker in the same issue).

It’s early Monday morning, coffee is brewing, and the cats are at the window, watching light wash into the world outside. I spent half the weekend in the world of muggles (mowing the lawn, trimming the edges, and resolving an attack of climbing weeds around an old-growth gardenia) and the other half lost in the land of Harry Potter.

Today, it’s back to the salt mines!

Today is also the day for the cats to have their annual check-up at the vet, which makes today’s choice for free & local easy enough.

Locals have been sending their Boykins to fetch Lowcountry Dog from the shelves for the last three years. With distribution points from Beaufort all the way up to Pawley’s Island, it is fast becoming a solid fixture of area veterinarian offices, pet supply stores, grooming salons, and even regular people places.

This is a snazzy looking glossy featuring high quality photography from some of the top names in the regional shutter trade and oodles of information on all things canine.

It probably speaks volumes of Charleston, in particular the historic district at the tip of the peninsula (where the Ashley and Cooper Rivers meet to form the Atlantic Ocean), to note that surrounding areas are referred to as “East of” or “West of.”

The land west of the Ashley River was predominantly rural until the later years of the twentieth century. Longtime residents have shared many a tale of childhoods spent watching cows from the Coburg dairy grazing along what is now Savannah Highway and driving Ashley River Road through a tunnel of live oaks that stretched from the Maryville/Ashleyville area all the way to Summerville.

Today, the “West of” area is one of the most rapidly changing parts of the South Carolina Lowcountry. There are exciting areas of renewal (like the Avondale neighborhood with its new growth of boutiques, restaurants, and young professionals moving in) as well as heated controversy over new developments encroaching on protected wetlands and historic sites.

The dynamic nature of the area and the growing number of people with an active interest in it makes the local community newspaper, West Of, all the more important. Publisher Lorne Chambers spent four years as the music editor and distribution manager for Charleston City Paper before launching West Of in February 2005. An alumnus of College of Charleston, Chambers knows his territory well.

Look for a finely honed focus on local news inside as well as a calendar chock full of area happenings.