Sonny Crockett and Rico Tubbs were not your traditional television by-the-book gumshoes. They lived on the edge, pushed the limits, and for five years in the 80s, they took us along for the ride.

Last night, I went to see the Miami Vice movie.

Last night, Michael Mann took me back to Miami, only deeper, faster, and harder than ever before. The movie took everything the television series had done, and put it into overdrive.

Clearly, the world has changed since the 80s. The Medillin cartel is history and syndicated crime is international, with players who had been unheard of back then, using high-tech in ways unimagined. Mann combined these new realities with the characters and concepts he introduced us to in the TV series flawlessly. If Miami Vice had been on the air now, this is exactly what it would have been.

But there is a big difference between imitation and inspiration, and Mann understood this. He reached back for what made the TV series groundbreaking and powerful, and used it as a starting point for the movie, without letting his vision be constrained by it. Nevertheless, there were still times I caught myself expecting Don Johnson or Philip Michael Thomas to come out of the shadows or alleyways.

In the Miami Vice movie, Mann takes us back to Miami, and closer to the edge than ever before. It was a ride worth taking, and one you shouldn't miss.

That's a really good question.

According to reports, Earl survived some very challenging times in his life. “I’m so glad that Earl’s blog has actually survived a full year, " said Joshua Gross of The Body Politic, who left behind years of partying, surfing, and chasing attractive blondes in Hollywood when he moved to South Carolina. "He’s come through his dark times... especially the obsessive compulsive binge drinking that led to the downfall of the ‘Icons of Rock - Melkite Metal World Tour’ a couple of years back.”

Not much is known about his early years, but rumors abound about his roots. “I heard that Earl Capps is a closet Duran Duran and Wham fan,” said Brian McCarty, Columbia attorney and author of the blog Voting under the Influence.

Mike Reino, author of the SC6 blog, offers this insight into what is allegedly his background:

He led a rough and tumble life, from the dead end streets of South Carolina, often eating bologna on hand sandwiches 3 times a day. But destiny had Earl in mind, when a chance meeting with Lee Atwater at a Cinderella concert gave Earl the big break he needed in politics.

But eventually, the ride would come to an end. Women, inflated egos, and a raging addiction to Heroin left him insane and destitute.

Some of you who've visited my blog and seen my quote have probably wondered about it's origins:

Tonight's conspiracy theory ...

The real motives behind the massive influx of out-of-state campaign cash and outside organizations that showered cash on a whole slew of legislative candidates, as well as the Education race, have been a subject of great speculation in the media and the blogosphere.

A thought I'd like to throw out there for discussion ...

"What if these groups are looking to build up experience at how to win South Carolina voters, with an eye on winning the crucial 2008 South Carolina GOP Presidential Primary for the candidate(s) of their choice?"

From the looks of it, the 2008 Presidential GOP fielding looks wide and active. We could well see a half-dozen or more candidates actively campaigning for South Carolina votes and the delegates they would assign.

In SC, the first place finisher gets the delegates. In a field of four or five contenders, getting 30 percent of the vote could be all it takes to win. By fueling races that toppled two GOP state rep's and gotten their pick for Education Superintendent nominated, one could say they were off to a good start.

While it may be hard for a group of conservative activist groups and contributors to get a candidate over the fifty-percent mark, winning in a best-out-of-five (or six or seven ...) scenario is a lot easier. Of course, this presumes all these people would support the same candidate, which is by no means a given. If these people couldn't agree on a single candidate, it could become a massive escalation like the slug-fest we saw here in 2000, and we end up at the same point, with just a lot more money being spent to get there.

Having put that question out there, I'll wait and see what everyone has to say. Am I crazy or what?!?

I remind my colleagues from the Fourth Estate that the last time their city launched an unprovoked attack, it touched off a war that lasted four years, caused millions of deaths and plunged the South into crippling poverty for a century.

Of course, Charleston survived the Civil War in better shape than either Atlanta or Columbia because its city fathers surrendered to Gen.William T. Sherman as soon as he showed up with his Zippo.

Charlestonians didn't do a whole lot better during the American Revolution. The British waltzed through there and had their way in the Carolinas, until they ran into backwoods settlers up this way.

Rock Hill is named for a granite outcropping that had to be blasted to make way for a railroad between Columbia and Charleston. This city has a foundation of granite. Charleston's Battery was built upon a landfill.

When the British Army approached the city in 1780, Charleston high society, who looked down upon the "less civilized" people of the Upstate, seemed content to surrender their city without much of a fight, and make the best of occupation. While Charleston became a center of power from which to fight and oppress the rest of the state, some of the better people of the city chose to stick up for their fellow South Carolinians in the Upstate, who regardless of how they lived, deserved better.

One of those better Charlestonians, Isaac Hayne, even went to the gallows for defying the arrogance of those who ruled Charleston.

Likewise, the better people of the Lowcountry have spoken up in indignation at Hicks' unjustified attack. My letter is also awaiting publication, and the lady I spoke with at the paper who called to verify my letter said they had at least fifty of them.

Good Charlestonians, gracious, respectful, and considerate, are above that trash that was published in the Post and Courier. I'm glad I'm not the only one.

This story was written in the wake of the recent decision of Marshall, who coaches basketball at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, to reconsider accepting a job offer from the College of Charleston.

In addition to being insulting, Hicks should have based his driveling broadside on a little more knowledge of the community than a quick commute up there for a story, as well as the reasons why Marshall may have chosen to remain at Winthrop. I can understand one being confused or even a bit disgruntled (even though I'm an active CofC alum, I couldn't give a hoot about their athletics program), but this was really too far.

I don't know what the people of Rock Hill did to deserve Hicks' swipe at them. This issue was between Marshall, the College of Charleston, and Winthrop University. Frankly, I was stunned to see that the Post and Courier allowed this arrogant broadside to go forward.

As to what to do in Rock Hill, having lived there, I can assure Mr. Hicks there is plenty to do there. If he would take a minute to check the Rock Hill/York County Visitor's Bureau website, he'll find there's lots to see and do there.

All I can say is that given Hicks' stated attitude towards smaller Southern cities, I hope he never tries to find a job with a small-town newspaper.