Archive for September, 2008

When I was little, my parents had an old Ford Falcon station wagon. I remember it being brown and big. We would often lie on little pallets in the back on road trips where we could either play or nap. I think that there were seat belts in the front of the car, but... »

Now that we’re slowly starting to get a handle on this whole “internet” thing, it is rapidly becoming apparent that the Spark will soon have to make a fairly big decision: Should we move forward with a printed version of the Spartanburg Spark, or not? A print product was part of the initial Spark vision,... »

What’s new in the local news this week? Below is a grab-bag of stories from the Spartanburg newsmedia that caught our attention. Headline:Tough times, tough people Source: Spartanburg Journal Story: Print only, no online edition In a nutshell: A story with very good intentions, great human-interest angles, but little in the way of context. Thoughts: It took eight writers... »

It’ll be a few hours yet before this week’s Sparkle City Headlines, but I thought I’d make today’s first post a request for more Reader Soapbox contributions. Think of them as your own personal blog post on the Spark, about any topic (as long as it relates to something local, that is). Just to get... »

What happened this week in Sparkle City’s vlog-o-sphere? We’ve checked out the recently uploaded YouTube videos tagged with “Spartanburg” to find out. The great thing about YouTube is the variety. From videoblogs (or vlogs, as they’re becoming known) and captured cell-phone video of “wacky” friends to seriously produced documentary content and short films, you can... »

Cross-posted to SparkleCityBlogs.com, the Spark’s blog-community-building sister project. What happened in the Spartanburg blogosphere this week? It’s been something of an inactive week for local blogs — crummy economy news, horrible gas situation, elections and debates to fret about — but several local bloggers found the time to post their thoughts on this great internet... »

Here’s the gimmick: Each week, we’ll pick two local bands — an opening act and a headliner — link to a site where you can listen to their songs for free, then ask you to spend a few moments of your precious time to tell us what you think about them. Some may be... »

Reader Soapbox lets you, the readers of Spartanburg Spark, create your own posts about topics you find interesting and important. To write your own post, visit our Reader Soapbox submission page. Soapbox contributor: Bryan “chAng” Teague: ~ Well, I just woke up after a night of seeing a bunch of old and new friends, friendly faces,... »

About a week ago, I realized that the Spark was coming dangerously close to failing one of its basic goals: creating an active (and interactive) relationship with our readers. As I’ve mentioned before, the standard model for newspapers — and, to an extent, websites — is very one-directional. The basic philosophy at work is this:... »

Ah, Thursday — that glorious day when, if we all use a little imagination, we can almost convince ourselves that it’s very nearly Friday. The weekend is coming, and with it all kinds of interesting and fun things to do. What’s the Spark exited about this weekend? Well, there’s the Greek Festival, for a start. This... »

Up in the dark corners of South Carolina, there are still dirt-road legends of liquor hauling and bootlegging, possum tales and banjo tunes. And, every so often out in the deep of the woods, large crowds of people gather around a white-lightning still to listen to music and have a good time. But there’s... »

As often as not, community-theater productions of Peter Pan are horrible. Few people outside the theater community ever talk about this, of course, because it can seem deeply cruel to talk bad about, say, a particular 7-year-old’s performance simply wasn’t up to snuff because he got scared and vomited all over the girl who... »

A few days ago, we announced the first updates to the Community Directory — Arts, Bands and Community — and today we’re adding a fourth category to the list: Venues & Clubs. Although incomplete, we hope this will be a good starting point for those looking to get a basic picture of Spartanburg’s growing... »

What’s new in the local news this week? Below is a grab-bag of stories from the Spartanburg newsmedia that caught our attention. Headline: License to drive Source: Spartanburg Journal Story: Print-only in Sept. 19 edition, no online version In a nutshell: Why raising the minimum driving age for teens in South Carolina is a good idea, and why... »

What happened this week in Sparkle City’s vlog-o-sphere? We’ve checked out the recently uploaded YouTube videos tagged with “Spartanburg” to find out. There once was a time — not that long ago, actually — when those who were dedicated to the art and craft of high school cheerleading had to put up “sporting events” just... »