THE RACE IS ON: And on and on and on, much like the war in Iraq, which Sen. John McCain will doubtless continue into the 22nd century, should he become the next Commander-in-Chief. Let’s just hope that the eventual Democratic nominee fares better than in the presidential race than poor 8 Belles did in the Derby.

Meanwhile, the nice idea of free bus fares in Birmingham seems to have gone the way of the dinosaur, high drop-outs are to blame for the slow-down of economic growth in Alabama and Randall Specific keeps dying.

If you want to get your mind off the races, a walk on Highland Avenue might be just the thing, at least until better beer is available.    

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IN BIRMINGHAM WE ARE FIGHTING HISTORY: Race against race, class against class, this side not talking to that side. Last month, that sentiment was the impetus that prompted Birmingham Weekly to convene five local leaders for a lunchtime conversation about our community. This week’s cover story features excerpts from that two-hour, one-of-a-kind conversation.
Other highlights of Vol. 11, Issue 30 include Hot Seat & Limelight, the news in brief and Courtney Haden ruminating on what makes the BAMAs so worthwhile by considering the slow decline of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And what with the rising popularity of Guitar Hero, the problem is only bound to get worse.

Finally, if you don’t want to wait around for Peter Cottontail, check out Eat Beat for details on Easter brunch specials at local restaurants.

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We’re taking Ginny Phillips off the masthead. Now that she’s a published author, it only seems appropriate that any future bylines in this paper match what it says on the cover of her debut novel: Gin Phillips. The excerpt of The Well & the Mine that ran as this week’s cover story ought to be enough to convince you to get your very own copy (and if it’s not, perhaps the cornbread at John’s City Diner will be – the book release party will be held there on March 13).
Far stranger than fiction is the atmosphere surrounding Magic City government. A porn star and the Pope? It sounds like the start of a bad joke. And then there’s JeffCo’s money woes – possibly the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history looming on the horizon. Good thing Mayor Larry Langford hired a guy who helped create that catastrophe as the city finance director.

“You can travel across the entire land, ain’t no place like Birmingham…”
O! For a restart of the city! For a reboot of the republic! If only a good meal – barbecue say, or lobster tails and champagne — could make this all go away.

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IT TAKES A VILLAGE: Just ask Joe Minter, who took his backyard in Titusville and made it into a an African village. Minter’s sculpture Slave Ship: The Ship that We were Hijacked and Kidnapped Out of Africa into American and Europe is currently on display at Vulcan Park, and the artist himself will be there on Tuesday, Feb. 26, for the final “Collective Perspectives” program. This week’s cover story is a photo essay on Minter by the phenomenal photographer Jonathan Purvis.

And speaking of pretty pictures, how about that mayor? And how about the tricky ties of his consultant pal John Katopodis?

Plenty of politicos and their cronies complain about the bad raps their reps get in the press, but it’s often bona fide heroes that really take the beatings.

When times are tough, we seek solace in the stars. And by “we,” I mean J’Mel Davidson. The rest of us just talk about who we’re voting for — in the Birmingham Area Music Awards.

Plus, we always have news, views and entertainment.

Popularity: 54% [?]

SURPRISE, SURPRISE! In this city, a mysterious package is the last thing you want to see at your front door. So it was with some trepidation that we tore into the envelope we found in our foyer a few weeks ago. And while it turned out that the contents were, in a sense, explosive, we didn’t have to call the bomb squad. If you want to know what all this double-talk is about, check out this week’s cover story.
Elsewheres in this week’s Weekly, you’ll find professions of love and more professions of love, plus a valentine to soul food as served at Vulcan this month and some heartfelt sentiments from Gordon Lightfoot.
And as usual, we’ve got pondering, poetry, laughs and delicious gossip.

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So sing the Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars, who might just be the most peace-loving and compassionate band in the world. Manic chess master Bobby Fischer could have learned a move or 10 from these guys, et up with bitter madness as he was while he lived. There’s really no excuse for the kind of invective Fischer favored (although the perpetual promise and perennial failures of mass transit in Birmingham could inspire similarly sorry talk).

In other news, it’s the beginning of the end for The Bomb Shelter and the last days of Pompeii. Have sweet dreams and write ‘em down and we’ll meet again on the other side.

Popularity: 26% [?]

T.S. Eliot said April was the cruellest month, what with all the lilacs bred from dead land and the one part-memory, one part-desire cocktails. e.e. cummings countered that worse followed the bad: “even after april by god there is no excuse for may,” he said. Me, I hate January – the frigid month is only improved by the annual Alabama Dance Festival. The numerous performances by the Bridgman Packer dance company and dozens of local and statewide dance organizations are worth braving the below-freezing temperatures, as is the retrospective exhibit by NALL now at Matt Jones Gallery in Lakeview.

Otherwise, you could stay inside and study history, or take some pointers from J’Mel Davidson about what it takes to make it as a writer. Engaging in either of those activities is liable to decrase your apathy or increase your appetite.

In any case, protect your health – it’s not easy being green in any sense of the word.

Popularity: 24% [?]

WE ARE WHAT WE EAT & ALWAYS HAVE BEEN: Birminghamians are obsessed with food, with eating, with cooking, with restaurants. It didn’t start with the current crop of fine-dining establishments but rather with the workaday places that brought Birmingham into being in the first place – the iron and steel manufacturers.

Way back in 1927, right around the time that the Sloss-Sheffield Iron & Steel was modernizing its methods of pig iron production, the company launched a marketing inititative called Pig Iron Rough Notes. The mini-magazine consisted mostly of metallurgical matter, but also included a recipes page called “Gentleman Cooks.” These delicious formulas are the subject of a new book titled Man Food, as well as this week’s cover story.

Elsewhere in the paper we’ve got less appetizing news: Alabama Democratic Conference Chairman Joe Reed is all for black candidates – except the one running for president. But then again what do primaries matter in the age of making playlists?

In the New Year, the living is easy, at least for J’Mel Davidson. That guy means to live right in his own inimitable style.

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THE CONTENTS PAGE IS FULL OF LIES: Yep. The table of contents for Vol. 11, Issue 12 says that Kyle Whitmire’s “War on Dumb” can be found on page 4, when in fact what appeared on page 4 was a guide to the first-ever Downtown Holiday Open House (it went well, thanks for asking). And the contents page also said that Molly Folse’s story “Permission to Stare” about the awesome AXIS Dance Company was on page 23 or thereabouts, when in fact, it’s here. Otherwise, we meant every word we said, and that includes “Midterm Marks” for the Birmingham City Council, Courtney Haden’s consideration of I’m Not There, Jim Fahy’s contemplation of Dead Confederate and Carey Norris’ review of Lions for Lambs.

Next week, the truth will be revealed on the contents page – and a day early due to the holiday. Meanwhile, just prowl around www.bhamweekly.com

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DEAD BUT NOT GONE: That’s the best way to think of your dearly departed, particularly if you plan to attend the fifth annual Dia de los Muertos celebration at Bare Hands Gallery. This week’s cover story offers some history of the local celebration of the Mexican holiday known as the Day of the Dead.

In fact, we’ve got cross-cultural offerings aplenty in and around the ‘Ham this week – the Jewish Food Festival at the Levite Jewish Community Center, the Russian Food Festival in Brookside, Ala., the Taste of Asian Cultural Festival near George Ward Park and Deepawali at Taj India.

If you eat, drink and make merry in half-a-dozen different languages, it might be enough to take your mind off the fact that a charity with connections to Birmingham mayor-elect Larry Langford is under investigation by the FBI and that Daylight Savings Time makes no sense. J’Mel Davidson’s stories of clowns and magicians don’t make a lot of sense either but we like them, particularly the one about Uncanny Alfie.

Oh, and the Steeldogs are done and gone. You can read about the way they were here.

Popularity: 38% [?]