Support the Little Wine Guy
Everyday, we hear about small, local businesses dying beneath the dagger of behemoth chains. Called the "category killers," these chains offer lower prices for similar merchandise found at local stores. Does this dilemma pass over into the wine realm? Definitely yes. But wine differs from Wal-Mart items in that each bottle, each year is completely…
Web Site of the Week
http://www.badassbuddy.com
Soliciting Hope
Two lawmakers say $200,000 will help to quell a St. Petersburg prostitution problem. Those who work on the problem every day think the money is an election-year drop in the bucket.
Nile-istic Tendencies
"I know dance music when I smell it."Karl Sanders, guitarist/vocalist for Egyptology-obsessed extreme metal outfit Nile, has some strong opinions about what is, and what is not, metal. And for him, the current crop of heavy-music radio success stories just doesn't make the cut. "Some of the stuff that's pushed upon us, it isn't really…
Harboring Contentment: Eric’s New World Bistro
Driving recently through a summer storm with wind gusts of 60 mph, fiery daggers of lightning and horizontal rain, I began to look for a building that would provide the best protection from the elements. Gas station: small roof apt to fly away. Wal-Mart: For shelter OK, but lacks aesthetics. Drainage ditch: Good only if…
Books
Citizen McCain By Elizabeth Drew Simon and Schuster/$23 A former POW and presidential aspirant in 2000 who rode his "Straight Talk Express" to a near-upset of George W., John McCain has never been a darling of the GOP establishment, perhaps the reason why he is so popular with the American electorate. However, it is this…
Reviews: Spy Kids 2 & XXX
The young stars of Spy Kids 2 have aged a little since the original Spy Kids, but haven't we all? It's no crime to get older (a sin, yes, but not exactly a crime), but neither is it a heck of a lot of fun — unless, of course, you're a spy kid. In the…
The Creative Revolution
Sit down, civic leaders. Class is in session. Here is a list of developments and institutions finished or created in the last decade for which most of you would gladly claim responsibility: Raymond James Stadium, Centro Ybor, the Ice Palace, The Florida Aquarium, Channelside, Tropicana Field, the Devil Rays, BayWalk, International Plaza and the housing…
Orbitals
What the saints and sinners were doing over the weekend; the Beach Trolley might continue to roll; the Warped Tour still has some fringe cred; and a cowardly racist smears a conservative activist. Indie Film Feast On Aug. 3, local independent moviemaking outfit Renegade Films held its first Saints and Sinners Film Festival at St.…
Outtakes
Short reviews of movies playing throughout the Tampa Bay area Austin Powers in Goldmember (PG-13) The least fabulous of all the Powers entries to date but still good, disposable fun. Goldmember is really just a loosely connected series of gags, routines and set pieces (not that the other two movies weren't) with much of the…
Freebie: Visionary Arts
You'd think it were a given that a visual artist need the sense of sight. An exhibit of artworks by 12 visually impaired women proves otherwise. Women of Vision: An Experience in Seeing opens at Tampa Museum of Art with a reception and gallery talk at 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 11. The artists participated in…
Letters
Royal Snub Re:"A Kind of Blue" by Sara Kennedy (July 17-23) Peasants?! On behalf of the Corey Area Merchants Association, I would like to enlighten said reviewer and her readers by extending to them an invitation to visit historic downtown St. Pete Beach. By day, this area offers far more than Ms. Kennedy, who writes…
A Question of Style
After internationally acclaimed architect Rafael Vinoly was hired to design an addition for the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA), the facility conducted three public dialogues with him between October 2001 and May 2002. The president of the museum's board said in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, "If we don't engage the public in the process, we're…
Spins
Reviews of new releases from Bruce Springsteen, Arlo, Atmosphere and Gorillaz. Bruce Springsteen The Rising A new Bruce Springsteen album is no longer the seismic cultural event that it once was, but it does give heart to millions of baby boomers raised on his earnest brand of straightforward rock 'n' roll — especially since this…
Kung Fu Drama — The Acropolis Project
First, I have a confession to make: I don't really care for martial arts movies. I don't really care where that tiger is crouching or that dragon is hiding. I don't take great pleasure in kung fu, karate, kickboxing or tae kwon do. I'm not really mesmerized by the mystery of Bruce Lee, and when…
