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Aug 13-19, 2008

Aug 13-19, 2008 / Vol. 21 / No. 22

Blurbex moving

As of Wednesday, Aug. 20, the Blurbex blog will be folded into our new blog, The Daily Loaf.

by Web Editor

Brian Wilson on his new disc

Yes, he's heavily medicated. But Beach Boys composer-genius Brian Wilson is pretty lucid when he talks about his new disc, That Lucky Old Sun, set for release on Sept. 2. This is from a piece on HuffPo, starting with a quote from Scott Bennett, a member of his band who wrote the lyrics for the…

by Wayne Garcia

In defense of B.J. Upton — sort of.

Rays centerfielder B.J. Upton got booed last night — in his home park. That can’t feel good. After being benched twice in the last few weeks by manager Joe Maddon for lack of hustle, Upton made a baserunning error that looked really, really bad: He hit a sharp shot to right, then hung around the…

by Eric Snider

Courage in the face of Fay!

As I was driving out of my cul de sac in St. Pete, ready to brave Tropical Storm Fay and — fuck it — drive across the bridge to the CL office in Tampa, I had to make a hard right turn to avoid a downed palm branch! Phew. A few blocks later, another downed…

by Eric Snider

Skater Moms

“Everyone assumes skaters are bad kids,” said Bobbie Clothier as a gang of longhaired kids circled her, assaulting each other with firecracker poppers Saturday night. “The bad ones are the ones who don’t skate and hangout outside the skateparks. Nothing good happens after midnight or outside a skatepark.”From my own experience, I knew this was…

by Shawn Alff

Storm info: Hillsborough, Pinellas schools closed

From the two school systems: Hillsborough Schools Closed Tuesday Tampa, Fla. – (August 18, 2008) – Due to the threat of Tropical Storm Fay and the need to open shelters, Hillsborough County Public Schools will be closed on Tuesday, Aug. 19. The School Board meeting scheduled for Tuesday has also been canceled. The latest information…

by Wayne Garcia

Storm info: Tampa offices closed Tuesday, garbage pickup delayed

This is the latest hurricane prep info from the city of Tampa: City of Tampa Action & Information •    City of Tampa offices will be closed tomorrow, Tuesday, August 19, 2008.  This includes Parks & Recreation facilities and programs as well as the after school program. •    Solid waste collection services including yard waste and…

by Wayne Garcia

Top Chef comes to Tampa.

Arguably the best culinary competition reality show, Bravo's Top Chef has embarked on a 20-city national tour, which happens to be stopping at Ybor's Saturday Morning Market on Sept. 20. No telling which chefs will take part (the info is noticeably absent from both the press release and the Top Chef site), but previous appearences have featured Season…

by Leilani Polk

Fix It Now MOVING

As of Wednesday, Aug. 20, all future Fix-It-Now posts will be folded into our new blog, The Daily Loaf.

by Web Editor

Drinking pink

The past several days have been a blur of extreme fun. Well, except for the other night/early morning when I came home and read about the death of Jerry Wexler. He was one of the coolest men I have ever met. Anyway, here's an excerpt from my Bar Tab column that's in the current issue…

by Wade Tatangelo

Usain Bolt’s amazing sprint.

The Michael Phelps story was impressive, of course — his body of work in this Olympics is mind-boggling — but for my money the most extraordinary individual achievement of these Games thus far has been Usain Bolt’s win in the 100 meters. He blew away the field, celebrated the last 10 or 15 meters and…

by Eric Snider

Five Things to Do Today

1. Crowbar presents a bill of alternative music, with sets by The Sleeping and Envy on the Coast, both of Long Island, New York, Asheville’s Secret Lives of Freemasons, and New Jersey duo The Gay Blades (pictured). 2. Make hurricane preparations. 3. Celebrate International Lighthouse Day with some lighthouse appreciation. 4. Week two of the 2008 Summer…

by Leilani Polk

Remembering music man Jerry Wexler

Atlantic Records partner and famed producer Jerry Wexler, pictured right with Dusty Springfield, helmed many of my most beloved albums. He also provided me with a cherished memory and one of my proudest journalistic accomplishments — two things for which I will always be grateful. I knew death had been looming for years but when…

by Wade Tatangelo

Fond memories of music great Jerry Wexler

Atlantic Records partner and famed producer Jerry Wexler, pictured right with Dusty Springfield, helmed many of my favorite albums. He also provided me with a cherished memory and one of my proudest journalistic accomplishments — two things for which I will always be grateful. I knew death had been looming for years but when I…

by Wade Tatangelo

Five Things to Do This Weekend

1. Leepa Rattner Museum of Art opens its 2008-09 season this Saturday with Playing a Hunch, a new exhibit of 90 images by NYC award-winning photojournalist Mel Finkelstein. 2. Indianapolis indie collective  Margo & the Nuclear So & So’s play a show at Crowbar this Sunday with Audreye Sessions of Oakland, Calif. 3. Suds lovers unite…

by Leilani Polk

Five Things to Do Today

1. The Hush Sound, a Chicago indie quartet who craft blissfully saccharine pop songs marked by the throaty vocals and lively piano playing of Greta Salpeter, headlines a show at State Theater tonight. They are joined by The Cab, Steel Train and the Morning Light. The Hush Sound; photo by Matt Wignall. 2. Comedian Jim…

by Leilani Polk

Should the Times have printed shooting witnesses’ names?

As you've no doubt read by now, the Pinellas-Pasco State State Attorney's Office has cleared St. Petersburg police officer Terrence Nemeth in the shooting of 17-year-old Gibbs High School student Javon Dawson after the young man allegedly pointed a gun at Officer Nemeth when police arrived to break up an out-of-control graduation party. Officer Nemeth…

by Alex Pickett

Hunter S. Thompson lives on

Yeah, as you might have guessed, I'm a big fan of the Gonzo god. I'm also a big fan of William McKeen's new biography Outlaw Journalist: The Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson. Here's an excerpt from my interview with McKeen: McKeen's bio smartly focuses on Thompson's singular writing style, his mastery of invective…

by Wade Tatangelo

Hunter S. Thompson on cover of CL

Yeah, as you might have guessed, I'm a big fan of the Gonzo god. I'm also a big fan of William McKeen's new biography Outlaw Journalist: The Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson. Here's an excerpt from my interview with McKeen: McKeen's bio smartly focuses on Thompson's singular writing style, his mastery of invective…

by Wade Tatangelo

Hank Williams III remains rebel proud

My favorite redneck, Hank Williams III, has a new disc ready to drop. It's titled Damn Right Rebel Proud and if it's half as good as his previous release, Straight to Hell, it'll likely prove to be the most interesting country album of the year. It's scheduled to come out Oct. 21. The first single…

by Wade Tatangelo

Olympics overload

When certain pundits started taking NBC to task for offering too much choice during the Olympics, I thought they’d lost it. How could there be too much choice? I still hold to that position – if a little girl wants to watch Equestrian on Oxygen and I don’t, so much the better – but I…

by Eric Snider

Five Things to Do Today

1. Twenty@620 presents Descending Sideways, a night of theater readings and performances created by writers Jordan Stovall and Jared O'Roark (pictured artfully below). 2. Another Wednesday evening St. Pete for Peace documentary screening at Café Bohemia, this one Hamas: Behind the Mask, a one-hour Canadian documentary shot during 2004 and ’05, when Hamas emerged as…

by Leilani Polk

Why did my mortgage payments go up so much in the past year?

If you are like many people, you have a fixed-rate mortgage, which means that your principal and interest totals don't change from year to year. Then why did your mortgage payments seem to jump $300-$500 more in 2008? Blame our friend Mr. Escrow, and his pesky pals Mr. Rising Homeowners Insurance and Mrs. Out-of-Control Property…

by Wayne Garcia

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