STAGE: "He couldn’t spell Mississippi. He put so many p’s in it you could serve it up for soup"

Charles MacArthur’s fast-paced satire of American politics, Johnny On A Spot, concerns the machinations of a particularly inventive campaign manager to elect (southern state) Governor Johnny, a devout drunk and skirt-chaser, to the U.S. Senate. When he drops dead in a whorehouse, the manager conspires to keep him "alive" long enough to win the election. (Source: Ovation)

Johnny On A Spot runs thru October 4 at:

The Theatre at St. Clement's

423 West 46th Street

New York, New York 10036

Just off Ninth Avenue

E,C to 50th St., 1,9,2,3,N,R,W,Q to Times Square, F,V Rockefeller Center

STAGE: Southern Promises

When the master of the plantation dies, he wills his slaves to be freed, but his wife doesn't think that good property should be squandered. Pandemonium ensues. The play is inspired by the true story of Henry Box Brown who escaped to the north by mailing himself in a box. Southern Promises provides a unique portrait of the old south. (Source: P.S. 122)

Southern Promises (90 min., no intermission)

PS122 (150 First Avenue)

Tickets (212-352-3101): $18.00

Performances (through 9/27): Mon. @ 7 Wed.-Sat @ 8:30

SCREEN: A "rancid slice of Southern-fried crazy?" Sign me up!

Hounddog, which became infamous after Sundance as the "Dakota Fanning rape movie," has opened. Time Out NY calls it the aforementioned "rancid slice of Southern-fried crazy." The film has elicited everything from boos to evangelical protests to the support of Gloria Steinem and various children's and women's advocacy groups. It is either exploitative or revelatory, depending on which review you read. Probably best to find out for yourself.

SPORT: SEC IN THE CITY: Football Game Watching Parties

Because No Dawg/Gator/Tiger Should Bark/Chomp/Roar Alone!

ALABAMA Crimson Tide @ the new Brother Jimmy's location in Murray Hill at the corner of Lexington Avenue & 31st Street.

ARKANSAS Razorbacks @ The Mad Hatter Saloon 360 Third Avenue at 26th Street.

AUBURN Tigers @ Meet at Bar 515 515 3rd Ave, between 34th & 35th

FLORIDA Gators @ The Gin Mill 442 Amsterdam Avenue at 81st St. AND Sidebar 120 East 15th Street at the corner of Irving Place AND Town Tavern 134 West Third Street.

GEORGIA Bulldogs @ Firefly Bar 54 Spring Street (Between Lafayette and Mulberry Streets)

KENTUCKY Wildcats @ Mercury Bar at 33rd and 3rd

LSU Tigers @ Legends 6 West 33rd Street, bet. 5th & 6th Ave (212)967-7792

OLE MISS Rebels @ XII Bar 206 East 34th Street (@ 3rd Ave)

MISSISSIPPI STATE Bulldogs @ Mercury Bar 493 3rd Avenue

SOUTH CAROLINA Gamecocks @ Copper Door Tavern 272 3rd Avenue (between 21st and 22nd Streets)

TENNESSEE Volunteers @ The Wharf Bar 587 Third Avenue

VANDERBILT Commodores @ Village Pourhouse 64 3rd Ave (at 11th St) AND Southern Hospitality 1460 2nd Ave (at 76th St) - please check the Vanderbilt Alumni website to see which bar each game will be playing at!

SCREEN: Moving Midway

Godfrey Cheshire's richly observed film about his family's Southern plantation - and the colossal feat of moving it to escape urban sprawl - is a thoughtful and witty look at the lingering remnants and still-powerful mythology of plantation culture and the antebellum South. An award-winning film critic turned film maker, Cheshire uses the relocation of his family's North Carolina plantation house to embark on a surprising and multi-layered journey. While observing the elaborate, arcane preparations for moving a centuries-old house over fields and a rock quarry, unexpected human drama - from both the living and the dead - emerges. And a chance encounter leads Cheshire and his cousins to discover a previously unknown African American branch of the family (who have their own take on Midway and its legacy).

Through the use of movies and music, and by turning the camera on himself and his family, Cheshire examines the Southern plantation in American history and culture, and how the racial legacy from the past continues into the present. (Source: First Run Features)

Moving Midway is playing now in NYC @ IFC and Lincoln Center. Watch the trailer here.

SCOOP: Greensboro, NC by Stephanie Sherman

Elsewhere Artist Collaborative's Director of Concept and Design Stephanie Sherman gives Southernist "the scoop" on insider hotspots in Greensboro, NC:

ART: Elsewhere!! is an arts production site and experimental museum that brings innovative contemporary artists to Greensboro to participate in the transformation of a three-story former thrift store housing one woman's immense 58-year collection of surplus objects. (See more info below)

SLEEP: The Proximity Hotel is an awesome new green hotel. New World Moxie - Old World Hospitality -Vibrant Restaurant - Creative Events - Stylish Loft-Like Guestrooms - A Green & Eco Friendly Hotel. "Greensboro is an apt name for a town that will be home to one of the greenest hotels in the country." - New York Times, September 2007

EAT: 223 restaurant (223 south elm street) has incredible experimental southern food that appears totally wacky but is actually delicious. Very innovative combinations.

SHOP: A new store on McGee St. in downtown called "Love Your Friends Be Social"is a mix of skateboard, hip-hop, designer genre with some really great colorful kicks and nice sunglasses. Also, there's a great vintage store called Design Archives on Tate Street (a little ways from downtown).

More about Elsewhere: Elsewhere's international visiting artist program invites innovative cultural producers to create new, site specific works across media using the materials of Elsewhere's collection. Artists work with and within a living artwork, continually transforming Sylvia's collection and past artists' work into a building-wide collaborative installation. At Elsewhere neither object nor artwork is for sale, instead, a continually circulating environment of art and object provides imaginative experiences for audiences and artists alike. Elsewhere's fifth season, running March to November 2008, will include over 35 international creators and feature a complete schedule of openings, Artist Conversations, performances, workshops, new installations, happenings, and events.

2008 marks the bicentennial of Greensboro, NC.

ART: Banksy Paints New Orleans

One wouldn’t normally expect to find the world’s most Googled street artist lurking among the ruins of the lower ninth ward in NEW ORLEANS, but that’s just where renegade stencil artist BANKSY has been holed up for the past week, covering the desiccated city with art to commemorate the anniversary of KATRINA, the hurricane that killed 1800 people when it struck the coastal city in 2005. Said Banksy of the operation, “Three years after Katrina I wanted to make a statement about the state of the clean-up operation,” and attested that the city’s levee wall offered “the best painting surface in the state of Louisiana.” However, the Bristol Bomber seemed to feel some pangs of regret in his action when he added, “…I wanted to highlight the state of the clean-up operation. Only later did it dawn on me that if you choose to do this by drawing all over their stuff, you’re actually only slowing down that clean-up operation.” Of course, in the art world, timing is everything, and as the roving stencil demigod wraps up his project, the city braces for the onslaught of oncoming tropical storm Gustav which threatens to again devestate the slowly healing city. Hopefully, once residents realize what’s been painted on their doorstop, a quick sawsall session and a little eBay savvy will net them enough to build a mansion in the French Quarter. HAVE A LOOK (courtesty of SuperTouchArt.com)