Sacred Steel Worker
Over the course of one dizzying year, Robert Randolph has gone from playing exclusively in churches for small congregations to opening for the Dave Matthews Band in front of 15,000 people at Madison Square Garden. And the 24-year-old product of northern New Jersey has taken this rocket ride by playing the decidedly unglamorous pedal steel…
Dead on Arrival
A review of Life or Something Like It
Books
Creative Stars: Using Astrology to Tap Your Muse By Trish MacGregor St. Martin's Griffin/$13.95 It takes more than a mere quick read to fill that void in your life with creative urges flowing like manna from the star-filled heavens. And not only is Creative Stars: Using Astrology to Tap Your Muse not a quick read,…
Dorsey World
There are all sorts of stories flying around about what Tim Dorsey was doing on that June night in 1992 when he ended up in jail. One involved a drunk Dorsey breaking into someone's house, stripping down to his underpants and passing out on the sofa, where the occupants found him and called the cops…
Less Than Meets the Eye
ReviewsArt and Chekhov Chekhov and Chekhonte
Spins
Nappy Roots Watermelon, Chicken & Gritz For most hip-hop acts, hailing from the Bluegrass State would be a handicap tantamount to being known homosexuals. For Nappy Roots, though, being from the country is the trump card that separates them from the multitude of inner-city rhyme-slingers currently flooding the market with hymns to the bling-bling and…
Cool by the Pool
As a bead of sweat runs down my cleavage, I reach for the best thirst-quenching tool at the pool: a cool, dewy plastic glass of white or rose wine. There's nothing like it to satisfy quivering, lusty lips longing for the refreshing taste of crisp, clean wine. As I guzzle, an errant stream trickles down…
Freebie of the Week: The Green Thumb Festival
What do you get when the city of St. Petersburg crosses Earth Day with Arbor Day? (Besides some confused environmental activists.) The answer's the Green Thumb Festival, a family-friendly celebration of all things natural and horticultural. More than 15,000 people are expected to attend the 16th annual event, taking place from 10 a.m. to 5…
Outtakes
Short reviews of movies playing throughout the Tampa Bay area. A Beautiful Mind (PG-13) Russell Crowe is the main reason to see this atypically twisty Ron Howard production, the Academy Award winner for Best Picture, about an emotionally fragile genius whose life spins out of control in all sorts of unexpected ways. Big Trouble (PG-13)…
Wake Up and Smile
Sunrise is one of the day's most exhilarating hours, since it affords us freedoms we don't ordinarily possess. At 6 a.m., it's possible to jog or skate unimpeded by people or cars; we can tear recklessly about on a bike, leashless mutt in pursuit; or, assuming your neighbors are still snoozing, you can even search…
Battle of the Bands
When 98Rock announced several weeks ago that bands interested in the one remaining local slot at this weekend's annual Livestock festival would literally have to fight for it, many assumed, and not a few fervently hoped, that the whole thing was a hoax. Rampant speculation erupted within the heavy-music scene. In rehearsal spaces, at shows…
Snipes and Tripe on eBay
I had a $63.88 doorstop. My first eBay disappointment. Ken from Largo had billed it as an audiocassette duplicator with one teeny, tiny problem. When I wrote asking for details of how bad the problem was, he wrote back that the duplicator worked fine when he used it to copy church choir music a year…
Web Site of the Week
http://www.toosquare.com
Health Care Scare
Remember when an ambitious Democratic candidate for president campaigned in part on reforming the health care system in America? Once elected, the man from Hope then put his brainy wife in charge of the program. But bludgeoned by an onslaught of what some called disinformation (Harry and Louise, anyone?) and castigated as "socialized medicine," Bill…
