Pensacola Independent News

LOADED GUN | Vol 6, No. 27, July 6, 2006
(IN Civics 101 Quiz)
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Loaded Gun

ROAD WARRIORS Erran Yearty and Nick Claeboe, former graphic artists with the Independent News and current A-list party boys in Atlanta, are featured players in the July '06 issue of Maxim magazine.

The duo—who originally forged a friendship in Pensacola—teamed up for "Team Armada" and participated in the 2006 Great Maxim Magazine Road Trip Contest. Yearty and Claeboe came in a respectable third place and earned national ink for their decadent going away party at Atlanta's Frequency nightclub that included Motley Crue's infamous drummer Tommy Lee screwing around on the turntables and Nikki Sixx, well, being Nikki Sixx.

The "slow-motion train wreck," as they call it, started on Wednesday, March 15 and ended on Saint Patrick's Day in Dallas, where Yearty downed 160 Jagermeister shots and Claeboe strangely disappeared with a group of bodybuilders and strippers. The three-man team's captain, Max Smith, was hospitalized after the weekend for kidney trouble that was reportedly exacerbated by the liquor-fueled festivities.

While creativity was rewarded, the team had to adhere to a few Maxim road trip rules which resulted in Claeboe being taken away by a cop in handcuffs, photos of a three-way girl kiss that included tongue and the entire team working the pole at a strip club.

Yearty sums up the weekend in Maxim's "Three's a Crowd" write-up: "I was so hungover when we got back that my company fired me for having such a bad attitude. They eventually hired me back, but it was horrible."

Check out www.myspace.com/sofain for the lowdown.

NAME GAME It's up to Demetrius Fuller to pick up the baton once again after facing what he calls a criminal smear campaign.

The former conductor of the Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, who was terminated earlier this year after an ordeal that involved a financial mismanagement investigation launched by Okaloosa-Walton College president Bob Richburg, unveiled an avant-guard alternative for orchestral music enthusiasts last week.

Fuller's new symphony is called Sinfonia Gulf Coast. It's pronounced sin-fo'-nee-uh, which is a Latin derivative noun meaning a group of musicians.

"It has been my vision for some time to introduce a new kind of orchestral experience for the people of this region," explains the 29-year-old conductor.

"We wanted a progressive, upbeat and memorable name, while still upholding the highest standards of artistic integrity," he continues. "Sinfonia will take the formality out of the symphony and deliver an innovative, intimate and social happening for our audiences."

The season lineup boasts Tony Award-winning actress, Bernadette Peters, unleashing her "Journey Through Broadway" on Friday, Sept. 22. Sinfonia will revamp Handel's "Messiah" for the holidays in an event called "Too Hot to Handel" scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 30.

While the OWC proceeds with interim director Lois Van Dam at the helm of their battle-scarred NFSO, Fuller believes he has enough public support to make his vision of a top-notch symphony that functions autonomously from the college come true.

"Now, our focus is on the music," he says. "And we're determined to deliver a quality symphony that will once again earn national prestige."

Check out www.sinfoniagulfcoast.org for more information.

'THRESHOLD' REVIEW "The Beach Party At The Threshold of Hell," which was pre-produced and shot around Pensacola Beach and Fort Pickens, made its big-screen debut at the Los Angeles Film Festival 11:59 p.m. Friday, June 23 at the Majestic Crest Theater in Westwood.

"This gives us validation," says the film's associate producer, Nick Bodkins.

Written and directed by Gulf Breeze native Kevin Wheatley, the futuristic horror comedy is crafted to the point that it's ready for the upcoming film fest season—including the first-run screening at the revamped L.A. festival directed by "Star Wars" creator George Lucas.

While the cast and crew remain optimistic, a recent Variety review questions the economic viability of this monster epic.

"Whether the pic can actually move beyond festivals to nocturnal slots is doubtful, given the niche's current shaky commercial condition," comments Variety critic Robert Koehler.

However, the film's actor-director Wheatley, who recently finished taping a sitcom pilot with Christine Baranski in Los Angeles, is unnerved and already forging ahead. He's in the process of hashing out two sequels to "Threshold of Hell," both set on Pensacola beach.

Go to www.thresholdofhell.com for updates.

sam@inweekly.net

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Loaded Gun