The Cumberland County Public Library and Information Center and the Lafayette Society are sponsoring a lecture and book signing at the Headquarters Library, 300 Maiden Lane, on Sept. 4 at 7 p.m. for historian Alan R. Hoffman.
    Hoffman’s translation of Auguste Levasseur’s Lafayette In America In 1824-1825 was published in 2006.     The book is the first complete translation into English of the detailed journal kept by the Marquis de Lafayette’s private secretary during Lafayette’s Grand Tour of the United States on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.{mosimage}
    The program will begin with a showing of Vive Lafayette, a short documentary on Fayetteville’s celebration of Lafayette’s 250th birthday in 2007. Copies of Lafayette In America In 1824-1825 will be available for purchase.
    This program is one of many events planned for Sept. 4-6 as part of the Lafayette Society’s annual celebration of Lafayette’s birthday. For a listing of all events, or to learn more about Lafayette, visit www.lafayette250.com.
    Hoffman, a trial attorney in Boston, received his undergraduate degree in history at Yale and graduated from the Harvard School of Law. He spent three years translating Levasseur’s journal from a copy he discovered in a bookstore in Cambridge.
    Lafayette first came from France to America as a 19-year-old nobleman to fight in the Revolutionary War against England. His heroics at Brandywine and Yorktown, coupled with his fervent support of equal rights for all men after he returned to France, later earned him the title “Hero of Two Worlds.” Invited by President James Monroe in 1824 to visit the country he helped to found, Lafayette was greeted by enthusiastic crowds and elaborate receptions everywhere he went.
    Levasseur was a young French officer who had participated in a conspiracy against the Bourbon monarchy in the early 1820s. His journal not only traces Lafayette’s year-long tour of America, but also provides eyewitness accounts of intimate visits with presidents Monroe, John Adams, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson.
    Hoffman will highlight the portions of Levasseur’s journal describing Lafayette’s reception in towns in North and South Carolina, including Murfreesboro, Camden, and Fayetteville — the first American city named for Lafayette and the only namesake city he actually visited.
    The book shows how Lafayette, long an outspoken critic of slavery and advocate for its abolition, attempts to address the issue during his tour. Levasseur includes information enthusiastically gathered regarding the history, climate, commerce, and other characteristics of the states and cities they visited. Through the eyes of Levasseur, the reader in 2008 has a remarkably clear vision of life in America in the early 1800s.
    Levasseur’s journal reveals aspects of Lafayette’s character that help explain his popularity in America at that time. As Hoffman notes, “Lafayette had star quality. He was self-effacing, charming and charismatic. For a man who was raised as a member of the nobility, he definitely had the common touch.” In his introduction, Hoffman says, “I hope that by spreading the story of Lafayette on his farewell tour — as well as the Revolution as told in Levasseur’s flashbacks — this book will help to highlight his unique place in American history.”

Tim Wilkins, Associate Editor
COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 105 or tim@upandcomingweekly.com

   Death Race 2000 (Rated R) Rated: 4 stars

    The original Death Race 2000 was an exploitative Roger Corman classic, featuring a very young Sylvester Stallone and David Carradine. Death Race (89 minutes) the remake, helmed by Paul W.S. Anderson of Event Horizon fame, is a fun B-movie that highlights all the violence and explosions of the first movie, without the campy over-the-top theme costumes. In a clever nod to the source material, an uncredited David Carradine does the voiceover work for the character he played in the 1975 version, Frankenstein. Much like The Running Man and Series 7: The Contenders, Death Race extends the modern trend of reality television to its most extreme form; a reality show in which the death of the participants is the highlight of the show. 
    {mosimage}The film begins in a future United States suffering from a complete economic breakdown. Prisons have become privatized and inmates compete against each other in car races for the chance at release papers. Machine Gun Joe (Tyrese Gibson) is fighting it out with Frankenstein (voiced by Carradine) when something goes wrong, and Frankenstein’s navigator (Natalie Martinez) ejects while Frankenstein’s car flips and explodes. Meanwhile, Jensen Ames (Jason Statham), an out-of-work steel worker, is sentenced to the Terminal Island prison for a crime he did not commit. Once there, the warden of Terminal Island, Hennessy (Joan Allen), convinces Ames to participate in the Race. When he agrees, he is provided with a pit crew, including Coach (Ian McShane!  He’s punk rock!) and Gunner (Jacob Vargas). In stage one of the race, several drivers are killed and the ratings skyrocket. In stage two of the race, Jenson takes the initiative, challenging the rules of the game. Finally, in stage three of the race, he must make the choice to play the game and reap the reward or challenge the system and risk everything. 
    Not much from the original made it into the remake. First, as in the original, the “death race” is televised. Second, the murderous drivers are paired up with scantily clad navigators. Also similar to the 1975 original, the contestants’ personas are distilled to nicknames, such as Machine Gun Joe. While there is a shady authority figure, it is not the president. Instead, the remake introduces the character of Hennessey to play the evilly-motivated antagonist to Statham’s hero. Allen, as the warden of the prison colony Terminal Island, seems to channel a combination of Hilary Clinton and President Roslin from Battlestar Galactica. She will shoot (or airlock) first and ask questions later. Fans of the original should be reassured by the references to the original, but those who missed the first version will not find it difficult to figure out what is going on. 
    No, this film will not go down in history as the greatest movie ever made. But, it certainly is a fun little remake, heavy on the fiery explosions, bloody decapitations, and crunching metal. There is even some social commentary. The soundtrack is a good mood setter, the eye candy abounds, and the acting is amazingly sincere. This is an action film that rises above the rest because of the overall quality of its lead actors.   

   A Tutor Navigates High Society in Privileged

    In Privileged(Tuesday, 9 p.m., CW), a literary type named Megan (JoAnna Garcia) gets a job tutoring two spoiled heiresses in Palm Beach. At first glance, Megan looks like a standard character in a standard 14-to-29-demo drama: the neurotic jabbermouth beauty. But there’s more to her than that, and more to Privileged, too. The series offers Gossip Girl-style fun, with just enough substance to make it more than a guilty pleasure.{mosimage}
    Megan is delightfully quirky, and her charges can be delightfully bitchy. “It’s gonna be super-fun,” one of them tells Megan sarcastically, just before making her life a living hell. The pilot is chock-full of such snark, along with enough bonding and betrayal, sexy swimwear and sincere speeches to give the 90210 area code a run for its money.
    Privileged is gonna be super-fun.

KITCHEN NIGHTMARES
Thursday, 8 p.m. (Fox)
    In last season’s Kitchen Nightmares, mean British chef Gordon Ramsay vented his ire on struggling restaurants around the U.S. “Your food is crap,” he sneered at tearful owners. He screamed at the chefs, cursed at the waiters and, as a grand finale, made a show of vomiting.
    It was, I have to admit, an entertaining act. A year later, Ramsay returns to the restaurants to see how they’re doing. Some have improved greatly — a triumph for them, a tragedy for us. Because a happy Ramsay is a boring Ramsay. He hugs the newly successful owners, compliments the chefs and even asks for recipes. “I owe it all to Chef Ramsay,” one owner says in a segment that’s about as compelling as a Hallmark card.
    Please, bring back the vomit.

SAMURAI GIRL
Friday-Sunday, 8 p.m. (ABC Family)
    A Japanese girl named Heaven (Jamie Chung) has been raised in seclusion by her wealthy Tokyo family. She goes to San Francisco for an arranged marriage, but samurai warriors crash the ceremony and kill her brother. Heaven goes on the run, trains as a samurai and embarks on a quest to learn her family’s secrets, all while wielding a sword called Whisper of Death.
Obviously we’re not in a realistic universe, but Samurai Girl gives artifice a bad name. Though Japanese, Heaven speaks with a suburban mall-rat accent. She takes time out from eluding assassins to giggle about cute boys. She doesn’t talk so much as disgorge large chunks of exposition. She conveys about as much mystery and allure as a bowl of lukewarm miso soup.
Now that you mention it, that’d be a more appropriate name for her samurai sword: Whisper of Lukewarm Miso Soup.

FRINGE
Tuesday, 8 p.m. (Fox)
    This new series is about government agents investigating fringe phenomena, and it has a scary-cool opening scene. Airline passengers experience strange symptoms en masse, their skin melting and their jaws falling off.
    But Fringe quickly goes from scary-cool to silly-foolish. One of the agents is infected himself, and his beautiful partner-lover has a brilliant (read: stupid) idea for saving him. She springs a mad scientist from the loony bin and agrees to let him insert a probe into her skull so she can enter her beloved’s memory and “see” the villain who spread the infection.
    For some reason, this requires her to be immersed in fluid in her bra and panties.

    If you’ve ever met Patricia Fields, you know she is an optimist. On a recent Wednesday morning, when the rest of the community was covered in rain, Fields’ outlook was sunny, and grew only more so as she talked about the upcoming season at the Givens Performing Arts Center.
    “This has got to be one of the best seasons we’ve ever had — it’s definitely one of the most diverse,” she said.
Fields knows what she’s talking about. The 2008-2009 season at the center has a little bit of something for everyone. “We have everything from Broadway to ballet, from puppets to football players,” she said. “We are really doing great things this season.”
    At the top of the list of things Fields wants to talk about is the Broadway and More series. This year the series will bring eight phenomenal shows to the stage.
    “We are very fortunate to do things that are kind of on the curve of what’s happening in the main stream,” said Fields. “Last year we did Hairspray, right on the heels of the movie, and introduced a whole new generation to live theatre. They saw the movie and then decided it would be a good idea to see the play. We’re doing that again this year with Sweeny Todd. I have had several ladies whose husbands have seen the movie, but would never have thought about coming to the theatre, say they want to come see it on stage.”
    The Broadway and More series kicks-off in October with the classic Oliver! on Friday, Oct. 24 at 8 p.m. But that’s just the beginning:
Ain’t Misbehavin’
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
The 30th Anniversary Tour of the Fats Waller Broadway Musical starring 2003 American Idol Winner Ruben Studdard and his Idol Cast mate, Frenchie Davis. The outrageously prodigious comic and musical soul of 1930s Harlem lives on in this rollicking, swinging, finger-snapping revue that is still considered one of Broadway’s best well-crafted revues of all time.

The Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
    Founded in the mid 1800’s, The Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra, together with the Royal Irish Academy of Music, represented the pillars of Irish classical music life at a time when Dublin, after London, was considered the most vibrant and distinctive city in the British Isles. 

Sweeney Todd
Friday, February 6, 2009
    This triumphant new cutting-edge production of Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway tour de force will take your breath away. The 2006 winner of two Tony Awards and four Drama Desk Awards has stunned theater goers as never before. The legendary demon barber, hell-bent on revenge, takes up with his enterprising neighbor in a delicious plot to slice their way through England’s upper crust…literally! Justice will be served-along with lush melody, audacious humor and oh yes, there will be blood!

Sleeping Beauty: The Russian National Ballet Theatre
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
    The Russian National Ballet Theatre was founded in 1989 when legendary principal dancer of the Bolshoi Ballet Sergei Radchenko sought to realize his vision of a company which would bring together the highest classical elements of the great Bolshoi and Kirov Ballet companies in an independent new company within the framework of Russian classic ballet. 

To Kill a Mockingbird
    Harper Lee’s Pulitzer-Prize winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, now celebrating the 50th anniversary of its publication, was brought to the screen in an Academy Award-winning adaptation by Horton Foote in 1962 and was later adapted for the stage by Christopher Sergel. Though over 35 years old, this stage adaptation continues to compel and delight viewers worldwide with its warmth, wit, and wisdom. 

Movin’ Out
Monday, April 27, 2009
    Five-time Grammy winner Billy Joel and legendary director/choreographer Twyla Tharp have joined forces to create this spectacular musical.  Winner of two 2003 Tony Awards, Movin’ Out brings Billy Joel’s classic hits to electrifying new life as it tells the story of five life-long friends over two turbulent decades.  It all adds up to one unforgettable Broadway musical.

    The floor of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Southeast North Carolina is full of pallets of bottled drinking water. Unfortunately, the shelves are nearly empty of the one commodity the facility on Deep Creek Road needs the most: food.
    David Griffin, the food bank director, says the demand by hungry folks seeking emergency supplies of food has increased 59 percent over the past two years — a hike he lays squarely on the shoulders of a faltering economy and high gas prices.
    “Those factors have made it tough,” said Griffin as he surveyed the warehouse’s empty pallets and the bare freezers of a facility that serves seven counties. “In addition, our seven counties are mostly rural and they’ve lost a lot of jobs, especially in Robeson County. A lot of people just can’t make it with the increasing cost of food.”
    {mosimage}Griffin says that the ever increasing poverty rate contributes mightily to this perfect storm of hunger. He adds that Cumberland County alone has 51,000 folks listed as subsisting below the federally mandated poverty line — many of them children.
    “It’s heartbreaking to see someone with small children needing food,” said Griffin. “It really takes something out of your heart. People don’t just ask for food unless they really need it.
    “As long as I am director here, I will make sure people have plenty of food,” said Griffin. “But we need help.”
    That help is on the way in the form of the 2008 Cumberland County CROP Hunger Walk. The event — scheduled for Oct. 19 — is sponsored by Church World Service and has taken place off and on since 1980, with county residents soliciting sponsors to fund their walk for the hungry and provide money that is distributed locally and nationally — 25 percent of that money goes to the food bank.
    Michele Bedsole, the crop walk’s coordinator, said the 10K walk — which had more than 325 participants last year — raised $16,000 in 2007; however, she says this year’s walk is seeking a 59 percent increase in money raised — the exact amount the food bank says requests for food have increased.
    “We’re still looking for participants and sponsors,” said Bedsole. “So far, Methodist University, Fayetteville State University and Fayetteville Technical Community College have agreed to participate, as has Cape Fear High School. The more people and sponsors we get, the more money we raise for the food bank.”
    The walk has 2-mile and 6.2-mile options and will begin at 3 p.m. at Haymount United Methodist Church. Some runners will compete, but they will start before the walkers. 
    Bedsole says the walk is mostly symbolic, with participation by families pushing strollers and even senior citizens.
    “We had one lady who was 84 walk last year,” said Bedsole.
    Griffin says he is appreciative of any help the crop walk can provide the food bank.
    Even though the food bank, which is part of the Cumberland County Action Committee, Inc., is helped out by a long list of sponsors such as Food Lion, the Campbell Soup Company, Wal-Mart, Frito-Lay, Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Sam’s Club, more help is needed.
    “The demand continues to rise,” said Griffin.
    Griffin says the food bank generally provides food through the various organizations that identify families in need, though anyone showing up at the facility on 406 Deep Creek Road needing food will not be turned down. For more information on the food bank or to donate, call 485-8809.
    If you would like to participate in the crop walk or make a donation through that organization, check out the Web site at www.crophungerwalk.org. You can also call Bedsole at 484-6896 or contact the Rev. Laura Lupton at laura@techtutors.org.

Tim Wilkins, Associate Editor
COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 105 or tim@upandcomingweekly.com

    {mosimage}

    Gyros. The Olympics. Jennifer Aniston.
    That’s pretty much the extent of most Americans’ knowledge of Greek tradition and heritage. However, from Sept. 12-14, area residents will have the opportunity to learn about all things Greek as the 18th Annual Greek Festival is held in Fayetteville.
    The festival — hosted by Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church — will feature live bands, traditional Greek dance, vendors, arts and crafts and Greek foods and desserts. The Cumberland County Library van will also be there registering children for library cards — so they can check out books on Greece — and the Fayetteville Fire Department will have trucks on hand for kids to scramble on and into, as well as giving the kiddies a chance to aim a fire hose at a simulated fire wall; additionally, children will be treated to a trackless train, two large bouncers, two large inflatable slides and assorted games and activities. For the adults, there will be appearances by Mayor Tony Chavonne; beauty queens from the Dogwood Festival and Miss North Carolina; three Greek dance troupes from Sts. Constatine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church; Greek vendors providing religious and cultural jewelry, antiquities and art; and, there will also be a raffle, with the winner receiving two round trip tickets to Athens, Greece.
    Speaking of the “old country,” Athena Sarantoulias came to Fayetteville 39 years ago, and for years operated the old Monticello Restaurant on Gillespie Street with her husband, George.
    The restaurant was a downtown landmark and favorite hangout of judges and lawyers who worked at the nearby Cumberland County Courthouse. These judicial officials helped Sarantoulias learn English, while a thriving Greek community welcomed her with open arms and fresh bacalava — despite her geographic origins.
    “I am from the southern part of Greece and was welcomed by many from the rival northern part of Greece,” said Sarantoulias. “This was really a big deal.
    “The American people welcomed me the second day I came to Fayetteville,” said Sarantoulias. “They supported me, and my husband, all the years we operated the restaurant.”
    Sarantoulias has helped repay the kindness of strangers by helping bake pastries for the Greek Festival. She is part of a team that will bake about 60 trays of Greek desserts such as bacalava, finiki and koulakia for the 10,000 or so hungry festival goers expected to show up for the weekend.
    Litsa Derosa, secretary at Sts. Constatine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church, said the pastries will be baked at the adjacent Hellenic Center. She also says that some Americans have a hard time wrapping their taste buds around the sweet treats.
    “Especially bacalava,” said Derosa, who came to Fayetteville from northern Greece 14 years ago following her husband, who is now retired from the military. “It has syrup and most are surprised at just how sweet it is. It’s not what they expected.”
    However, Derosa adds that most novice tasters love the taste of finiki and koulakia — Greek versions of cookies.
    In addition to Greek desserts, there will be plenty of other Greek specialities, including shish kabobs and gyros.
    “There will be a lot of lamb,” said Derosa. “If you haven’t had Greek food before you are in for a real treat.”
    But there will be so much more than great Greek food. Musical tastes of all genres will be sated by the Greek band Zephyros from Baltimore. Derosa is particularly excited about the performance by Zephyros, which performed at last year’s festival to much acclaim.
    “They are so popular that we had to book them for this year’s festival immediately after last year’s festival,” said Derosa. “They are more than just music — the emcee tells Greek stories and explains each song. Everybody likes them — Greeks and Americans.”
    This blending of Greek and American is the very heartbeat of the festival. While the approximately 150 Greek-American families that live in Fayetteville are as American as Freedom Fries and apple pie, they still want to honor their heritage.
    “It (the festival) means everything to me,” said retired Father Chrysostom Manuel of Sts. Constatine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church. “It is my very entity, my culture... music wise, art wise. For those of us who were born there, it reminds us of the old country.”
    Sarantoulias, who sold 1,000 tickets to the event this year — the most by any individual — puts it even more succinctly.
    “I love America,” said Sarantoulias, “but I also still love Greece.”
    The Greek Festival is a major fundraiser for Sts. Constatine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church, located at 614 Oakridge Ave. — the other major fundraiser being the church’s famous spaghetti dinner which will be held on Nov. 19, also at the church. The festival will be held at Sts. Constatine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church during the following hours: Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 7 p.m.

Tim Wilkins, Associate Editor
COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 105 or tim@upandcomingweekly.com

    {mosimage}Faster than a speeding musket ball... More powerful than a company of Hessians... Able to leap a battalion of bayoneted British soldiers in a single bound. Look... in the sky... it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s... LaFayette!
    The marquis de LaFayette was a real-life hero  — a French nobleman and officer who came to the aid of the 13 colonies during the American Revolution and from whom Fayetteville takes its name. Much is written in the history books about the Frenchman’s contributions to our national freedom; and now, thanks to a group of graphics majors at Fayetteville State University and the backing of the LaFayette 250 Committee, the school children of Cumberland County will also learn about LaFayette... the superhero.
    In an attempt to reach and teach children through alternative forms of education, a graphic novel — that’s a souped-up comic book to all you baby boomers — will be distributed throughout the school system. Illustrated by four FSU students — Stacey Robinson, Shakeam Campbell, Rebekah Holland and Robin Powell —  LaFayette: Hero of Two Worlds will be passed on to the county’s 8,000 middle and high school students in recognition of LaFayette’s annual birthday celebration to be held here Sept. 4-6, as well as giving students a valuable history lesson in a medium most children find more enjoyable than the sometimes dry and staid content of history texts.
    LaFayette: Hero of Two Worlds, edited by FSU art professor Jonathan Chestnut and Museum of the Cape Fear Director David Reid, is a loving nod to the old Classics Illustrated comic books which many a child used as a literary shortcut back in the day — reading the condensed and illustrated comic book adventures of Robinson Crusoe and Frankenstein rather than slogging through the novel.
    “When we were designing this graphic novel we talked about those Classics Illustrated comic books of the ‘50s,” said Chestnut. “They were reprinted in the ‘70s and ‘80s, so most adults know about them. We thought that by telling LaFayette’s story in comic book form we could hook some students who otherwise aren’t all that interested in history books.”
    Chestnut said the project was very close to his own heart for two reasons: he was — and remains — a huge comic book fan; and, he was one of those “special” students who was behind his classmates in scholastic achievement, building much of his vocabulary and firing up his imagination via the old brightly colored panels of Marvel and DC Comics.
    “I guess I just never outgrew those comic books,” said Chestnut.
    The project began a year ago and was started at the urging of the LaFayette 250 Committee. Each of the four graphics majors contributed to the illustrations, putting their own unique mark on LaFayette’s story.
    The book was bankrolled by the LaFayette 250 Committee, along with a substantial contribution from Piedmont Natural Gas. The Arts Council of Fayetteville /Cumberland County was also instrumental in the project.
Dr. Hank Parfitt, president of the LaFayette 250 Committee, came up with the idea for the comic book and says he couldn’t be more pleased with the finished product.
    “We didn’t tell the students how to draw the story,” said Parfitt. “They had pictures but used their own imagination to portray LaFayette.”
    The graphic novel will be distributed to students beginning Sept. 5 as part of the LaFayette birthday celebration. About 40,000 will be printed to serve students over the next five years, said Parfitt, who added that the Cumberland County Schools sanctioned the distribution of LaFayette: Hero of Two Worlds.
    The four FSU students who drew the graphic novel are scheduled to be at a public reception Sept. 5 at 6 p.m. at City Center Gallery and Books on Hay Street. They plan to autograph the comic books that will be on sale to the public for $2.50 each.

Tim Wilkins, Associate Editor
COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 105 or tim@upandcomingweekly.com