Current mood:	sad
Current music:	"Violet Hill"

Farewell to the old newsstand
The Internet is a wonderful, terrible thing.

On the one hand, you can sit at your computer and read articles from publications around the world, usually free of charge.

But besides changing the economics of the newspaper and magazine industries (and possibly leading them to eventual extinction), the Internet is killing off what, to me, was always one of the most magical places you could find in any city anywhere — the newsstand.

Word came this week that Barnett’s Newsstand, an institution in my hometown since World War II, will be closing for good in a couple of weeks. That hurts, because Barnett’s has been a must stop for me on visits to downtown Athens for nearly as long as I can remember.

Located near the cast-iron arch that marks the gateway to the University of Georgia campus, Barnett’s wasn’t one of those walk-up stands like you see on the sidewalks of New York and Chicago; rather, it was a regular store stocking newspapers, magazines, comic books (in revolving metal racks adorned with Superman and Richie Rich), paperbacks, snacks, soft drinks and tobacco products. Used to be you could even buy a shiny apple, and in fact when I think of Barnett’s in my youth the most distinctive memory is the smell, which was an intoxicating mixture of apples and pipe tobacco.

When I was a kid, there were three newsstands in the downtown area of Athens, which had only just reached city status with a population of 50,000 (now it’s more than twice that). By the late ’70s, though, it was just down to Barnett’s, which expanded by taking over the store space next door, and for a brief time even added chili dogs to its offerings when the Varsity, the legendary old-style fast-food joint next door, closed down.

Back in my college days, I parked downtown most of the time and passed Barnett’s going to and from class. I first discovered Rolling Stone magazine there in the spring of 1969. And Billboard, which was among the newsweeklies they put out in racks in front of the store and which I would stand there and flip through because I could only afford to buy it occasionally (usually when there was some big story concerning The Beatles). In addition to the local and Atlanta morning and afternoon dailies, you could get out-of-town papers, including The New York Times, Chicago Tribune and a couple of the London Sunday papers. They had specialist magazines, like journalism, art and Civil War history reviews. And even the British music weeklies Melody Maker and NME. Barnett’s also had a large selection of the latest paperback books in those days, offbeat soft-drink brands like Buffalo Rock dark ginger ale from Alabama, the hometown cherry soda Budwine and even that Yankee deli favorite, cream soda. And if you were of age and ventured behind the shutters in the back corner, there were the more hard-core adult magazines that went beyond Playboy and Penthouse.

In recent years, the magazine selection at Barnett’s had gotten less extensive (my son the college student said he found more titles he was interested in at the Borders across town), they had only a smattering of comics and a handful of paperbacks. The smut was still in the back corner and the place still smelled of pipe tobacco, but the apples were long gone. Still, Barnett’s remained a regular stop for us whenever we were in downtown Athens.

The passing of the newsstand is not just a small-town thing. I read where Chicago has only half as many sidewalk newsstands as it did in 2000.

And I know I actually have access to a much wider variety of publications on the Net than I ever could have found at Barnett’s or any other newsstand. Somehow, though, it’s not as exciting.

I doubt anyone will ever wax nostalgically about perusing Yahoo News. And the only smell I associate with the Internet is the stink emanating from the Drudge Report and its ilk.

I’m gonna have to make it over to Barnett’s at least one more time.

AT THE MOVIES: My daughter and I caught the first of the summer blockbusters today, and I have to say “Iron Man” is a cut above the usual comic book-inspired super hero film. The armor-plated flying suit looks cool and the special effects by Industrial Light and Magic are top-notch, but the main plus is Robert Downey Jr., who manages to take central character Tony Stark, a saracastic, arrogant playboy weapons magnate-turned-hero, and make him thoroughly charming. There’s a lot of sardonic dialogue (without ever veering into campiness), and Downey receives able support from Terrence Howard as his Air Force pal, Jeff Bridges as his corporate chief and, especially, Gyneth Paltrow as Stark’s aide Pepper Potts. The chemistry between Downey and Paltrow sizzles. Actually, the big battle near the end between Iron Man and the villain in a bigger, badder metal suit was my least favorite part of the film, since it was all Transformers-style CGI. It’s when Iron Man has his suit off that the film really soars. Good news: The principals have been signed for two more “Iron Man” films, assuming this one does big box office. Judging by the all-ages crowd at a lunchtime showing today, I’d say that’s a given. … The most exciting part of the coming attractions before “Iron Man” was the new trailer for the year’s other super hero film I’m looking forward to, “The Dark Knight.” There was a lot more footage of Heath Ledger’s decidedly darker take on the Joker and a bunch of action scenes with Christian Bale’s Batman. Of the other films previewed, Mike Myers’ “The Love Guru” looked pretty silly (which means it’ll probably appeal to the Will Ferrell crowd), and the live-action updating of the old Japanese cartoon “Speed Racer” had the fakest-looking CGI effects in memory. Sort of like real actors surrounded by a cartoon. “The Incredible Hulk” also looked incredibly fake. M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Happening” looked like a variation on his “Signs.” And “Mama Mia!” looked like it might appeal to the same young-teen girl audience that flocked to “Across the Universe.” The new trailer for “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” wasn’t quite as enticing as the film’s first trailer, but we did get a look at the return of Karen Allen, Indy’s heartthrob in the original “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” And Adam Sandler as an Israeli super-soldier turned hair stylist in “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan” looked just awful.

LOOKING AHEAD: Besides “The Dark Knight,” the summer films I’m already planning on attending are “The X-Files: I Want to Believe” (I want to believe the reteaming of Mulder and Scully will be better than the TV series’ last couple of seasons) and “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian”. I imagine I’ll take my daughter to see “Kit Kittredge: An American Girl,” the first big-screen adaptation of the pricy doll series after a couple of TV movies. Depression-era Kit was Olivia’s first American Girl and remains her favorite. I generally avoid big-screen remakes of old TV shows, but the cast of “Get Smart,” with Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway, sounds promising, so that’s a possibility. I’ll have to wait and find out more about “Wanted,” an action flick pairing Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy. And I’ll hold off on Shyamalan’s “The Happening” until I hear whether he’s gone for another cheesy trick ending. As for “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” the original was one of my favorite films as a child and I firmly believe it didn’t need remaking, but I’ll wait to see what the reviews say about the new one. Likewise “Traitor,” the Don Cheadle CIA thriller written by Steve “Wild and Crazy Guy” Martin (!). And while I doubt Emma Thompson’s big-screen version of “Brideshead Revisited” can match the TV version, I’m betting Leslie will want to check it out. I know my ancient-Egypt-obsessed daughter will want to go to “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” the latest in the series with Brendan Fraser (though unfortunately the lovely and incredibly talented Rachel Weisz isn’t along for this one). But considering what clinkers George Lucas’ last couple of live-action “Star Wars” pictures were, I think I may draw the line at the animated “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and insist Olivia find a Lucas-obsessed friend to see that with.

REMEMBERING PAUL DAVIS: It didn’t draw much media attention, but ’70s-’80s pop hitmaker Paul Davis died of a heart attack the week before last at age 60. The name might not ring a bell until I mention the titles of some of his hits: “I Go Crazy,” “’65 Love Affair” (both of which went Top 10 nationally) plus “Cool Night,” “Sweet Life” and “Ride ’Em Cowboy.” Leslie and I got to know Davis during the late ’70s when he was living in Atlanta, where his record label, Bang Records, was based. With his long hair, beard and honey-dipped drawl, he came across as sort of a hippie variation on the Southern good ole boy. This was the pre-disco era when the record biz was riding high and there were industry receptions and parties several nights a week. Leslie remembers one such affair at which Paul was teasing his wife about using the Yankee-esque word “smushed.” Davis was good pals with another Atlanta resident at the time, Elton John’s drummer Nigel Olsson (years before Sir Elton made Atlanta his part-time home), and he produced a couple of singles for Nigel, including a remake of “A Little Bit of Soap” that was a minor hit. Paul eventually moved to Nashville, where I saw him once in the mid-’80s and he hit the country singles chart teaming up with Marie Osmond (“You’re Still New to Me”) and Tanya Tucker (“I Won’t Take Less Than Your Love”). He apparently semi-retired from music in recent years and went back to his native Mississippi. I hadn’t thought of him in a long time, but news of his death took me back to my early days on the music beat and a time when the Atlanta scene wasn’t all about hip-hop. A mere three decades ago!

TUBE BOOBS: Any so-called list of the best TV comedies ever that ranks “The Brady Bunch” and “Welcome Back Kotter” ahead of “The Dick Van Dyke Show” (and only ranks “Van Dyke” No 33) is already pretty much a joke of the unfunny kind to start with. But the fact that a classic like “The Andy Griffith Show” DIDN’T EVEN MAKE THE LIST while “Good Times,” “Mork & Mindy,” “Happy Days,” “Laverne and Shirley,” “Gilligan’s Island” and “Scrubs” did, shows the compilers have a weakness for mugging, overacting and catch phrases over good writing and memorable characters. The whole list is heavily skewed toward the past 20 years, with the still relatively new “30 Rock” cracking the Top 20. “The Simpsons” tops the list. If you want to check it out, go to:
http://television.aol.com/photos/best-tv-comedies

The latest step in the devolution of TV Land from oasis of classic TV shows to just another lousy cable channel relying heavily on bad reality shows and oft-seen movies came with the announcement of a new elimination dating series in which young men vie for the attention of a mature woman. TV Land now is describing itself as “presenting the best in entertainment on all
platforms for consumers in their 40s and 50s.” That’s odd, because most folks in that age group I know would rather watch shows from the 1960s and ’70s than the crap TV Land is offering.

You may have seen ads in print and on the Internet for “Scarlet,” touted as a “new TV series” coming this past week but not mentioning any network. There was an elaborate trailer directed by David Nutter and starring Natassia Malthe that appeared to be for some sort of glossy adventure show. It turned out really to be just viral marketing for a new line (or “series”) of television sets under the Scarlet brand name. Effective? Well, it caught my attention, but it didn’t make me click through to find out anything about the TVs themselves. So … no, not really.

QUICKIES: I got the free download of “Violet Hill,” the first single from Coldplay’s upcoming Brian Eno-produced album, “Viva La Vida.” I like the track. It’s not quite as immediately catchy as some of Coldplay’s earlier hits, but it’s got a slightly darker sound that’s interesting and bodes well for the album. … I think 007 dodged a bullet with news that Amy Winehouse has abandoned work on a potential theme song for the upcoming James Bond film, “Quantum of Solace.” I got a kick out of the fact that Mara Davis, lunchtime DJ on our local adult alternative station, Dave FM, recently included Winehouse in a theme show of the most irritating performers. … Glen Campbell is returning to his longtime recording home of Capitol Records with “Meet Glen Campbell,” a new album of somewhat unlikely cover versions due out Aug. 19. Among the songs covered by the onetime delight from Delight, Ark., are Velvet Undeground’s “Jesus,” U2’s “All I Want Is You,” the Foo Fighters’ “Times Like These,” John Lennon’s “Grow Old With Me,” Tom Petty’s “Angel Dream” and Green Day’s “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”. … The “Classic Albums: John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band” DVD issued recently is a must-have. There are illuminating interviews with folks involved with the album, including Ringo Starr, Klaus Voormann and Yoko Ono, and fascinating segments in which EMI engineers who worked with Lennon play with the masters at the mixing desk, isolating vocals and instruments and playing studio chatter and alternate takes. The list price is an incredibly reasonable $14.98. … My son saw Bruce Springsteen’s recent Atlanta concert and said it was much more of an upbeat, rocking show than when he last saw the Boss in 2000. A nice mix of older songs and tunes from last year’s album, and young Bill was especially pleased Springsteen didn’t devote a segment to those dreary acoustic numbers this time around.

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