Gen-X-supreme art shows this weekend
See works incorporating Star Wars, homemade mixtapes and skateboard decks.
‘Red Wine, Green Art’: Holiday wine tasting and recycled art exhibit at Whole Foods Tampa: Sat., Dec. 10
Showcasing festive food and wines and creative, eco-friendly works by local artists.
Tonight’s Top Chef Texas preview: Word to your mother (sauces)
Check out the preview videos from tonight’s episode of Top Chef: Texas!
America’s least-loved governor shows new love for education funding
Rick Scott is making headlines this morning with his sneak peek announcement yesterday that he will be calling for a $1 billion increase in education spending this year — that's despite the fact that the state is again in arrears fiscally and there are fewer local school tax dollars available. This is a pretty radical…
This week in food and drink
Four food truck events, Craft Beer Palooza, tons of holiday wine tastings and more.
Reporters get the lowdown on logistics of covering the Tampa Republican National Convention
broadcast television crew members learn about logistics at the Forum In 264 days one of the biggest events in the city of Tampa's history will take place. That's when the 2012 Republican National Convention will convene, and on Tuesday afternoon officials with the Republican National Committee hosted hundreds of local and national broadcasters and print…
Liberal activists to rally this Saturday in Tampa at elections office
A coalition of liberal groups is gearing up for protest rallies this Saturday morning in Tampa and four other cities across the state, focusing attention on several issues, including the battle for the restoration of civil rights for ex-felons, which has been a leading cause for at least a decade in Florida. The recently enacted…
A Graffiti Tour of Miami During Art Basel 2011: Days 2 & 3
I woke up to the faint percussive sound of two empty aluminum cans clattering around on the landing outside of my hotel room window. I pulled the curtains open to verify that yes, indeed, they were cans and not an endless loop of electronic music permanently etched in my brain from the night before. I…
Concert review: Daryl Hall and John Oates at Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater
I went into Saturday night's Daryl Hall and John Oates show with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I was excited about a trip down '80s nostalgia lane. On the other, I felt a certain level of trepidation, because it's hard to judge how a nostalgia trip will go, especially when the band in the…
After a rash of shootings, Tampa to hold gun buyback program
TPD Chief Jane Castor, Mayor Buckhorn & the Lightning's Tod Leiweke The Tampa Police Department will host a gun buyback program this coming Saturday at the Seminole Heights Baptist Church, located at 801 E. Hillsborough Avenue near I-275. Those who turn in a shotgun, assault rifle or handgun will be given $50, no questions asked.…
P1nupgrls: Pin-up meets geekdom
P1nupgrls.com Geek goddesses have started to infiltrate pop culture, from G4's Olivia Munn to reality stars like Adrianne Curry who go to ComicCon dressed like a sci-fi fan's fantasy come to life. Capitalizing on this trend, local Tampa nerd and photographer, Blair Strange, created P1nupgirls.com, which blends two of her obsessions: pin-up style photography and…
Photo review: Janet Jackson at the Straz Center, Tampa
Some shots from Sunday night's show at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts featuring Miss Janet Jackson on her all-hits "Number Ones: Up Close and Personal World Tour." The Dec. 4 concert broke the Straz's box office records for a single performance, grossing $330,717 and selling out the 2,548-seat Carol Morsani Hall. More photos…
Support craft beer and healthy prostates at the Craft Brew Palooza: Sat., Dec. 10
Over 100 beers, educational sessions, food and beer pairings, plus live music and entertainment.
Scott administration acknowledges pension reform too hot for election year
The Associated Press is reporting that there will be nothing about pension reform in Governor Rick Scott's budget, to be unveiled Wednesday. The AP calls the halt to such reform "remarkable," in that it comes after the governor came out guns blazing earlier this year with a call to shut down the Florida retirement system…
The Gaily News: Michelle Bachmann vs. young LGBT activists (video)
While hawking her autobiography at a recent book signing, GOP presidential hopeful Michelle Bachmann, found herself face-to-face with yet another LGBT rights activist — but this time he was just 8 years-old. The boy, Elijah, though showing some reluctance, likely out of shyness, whispered in the uber conservative and notoriously anti-gay Republican's ear, "Miss Bachmann,…
Cynical and Southern: As a gay guy I should stereotype less
I saw them from many feet away. They were overweight. One of them was missing teeth. Their clothing was WalMart chic. In the moments between sighting and approaching, it’s amazing the number of thoughts that can go through your head. “Looking at these fucking people!… Oh, this is going to be a fun table to…
Mitch Perry Report 12.6.11
We want to welcome the hundreds of political reporters in town for the RNC walk-thru today of the St. Pete Times Forum and the Tampa Convention Center. Those two spots will host, respectively, the 2012 Republican National Convention and the work camp for the thousands of reporters who will be toiling during the convention during…
Ybor IKEA to go solar
The company says the solar panels will be the energy equivalent of powering 154 homes.
New Music Tuesday! (December 6)
Live releases by Shakira, Phish and The Cure, plus new music from The Roots, Amy Winehouse & more (audio & video)
VIDEO: Thousands march at UN Climate Talks in South Africa
Thousands of Africans fed up with a lack of international action on the climate change crisis marched, sang, and danced today outside the UN climate talks at COP 17 in Durban today. Negotiators from 192 countries are struggling at the summit to come to agreements on how to lower global greenhouse gas emissions and help…
Mull them over: Holiday mulled wine recipes
Serve up seasonal warmth with a punch.
CL Holiday Auction includes bidding on co-hosting WMNF radio gig
This reporter in the radio days interviewing Dennis Kucinich The deadline is soon approaching in the CL 2011 Holiday Auction (that would be Thursday, December 14). Among the entries in which you can bid on is appearing on the weekly one hour political talk-show that this reporter hosts every Thursday afternoon on WMNF 88.5 FM…
“Secure the border?” New stats suggest it’s already secure
We at CL have been entertained (and exasperated) listening to Republicans (and even some Democrats) who refuse to deal with the reality that we have somewhere between 10-12 million people in this country who are not documented. But, of course, whenever the issue of illegal immigration is broached, any comment other than "We have to…
Help for small Pinellas businesses who want to get in on RNC to take place this Wednesday
For about a month now, local small businesses looking to cash in on the 2012 Republican National Convention have been visiting the websites of the cities of Tampa and St. Petersburg, and of Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, to learn about eligibility requirements and obtain applications. Those businesses have until the end of this month to…
New opposition, new support for federal health care law
Three of the eight letters to the editor published in the St. Petersburg Times on Monday refer to Bishop Robert Lynch's comments last week that if the regulations to the health care reform law do not change, he will not be able to offer health insurance to the Diocese of St. Petersburg's 2,300 employees in…
What is “slow money”?
Connecting investors to their local economies by marshaling financial resources to invest in small food enterprises and local food systems.
Photo review: The Airborne Toxic Event at The Ritz Ybor, Ybor City
Some shots from last Tuesday night's show featuring ambitious symphonic alt rock outfit The Airborne Toxic Event at The Ritz Ybor. More photos after the jump
Pierola’s KitchenBar 4: Dec. 8-31; Reservation line now open!
KB4 will feature local ingredients reflecting “cultural diversity and holiday influences.”
Not every Republican to play in Donald Trump’s sandbox
He's back, and blustery as ever With new polls showing Newt Gingrich up in Iowa and Mitt Romney leading in New Hampshire, America's favorite morning television program, The Today Show, began its coverage Monday with some quick analysis from political director Chuck Todd, followed up with commentary from another noted political mind — Donald Trump.…
Tampa Bay at Art Basel: Locals make a splash
C. Emerson, Mindy Solomon, Selina Roman and more.
Mitch Perry Report 12.5.11
Good morning America. I hope everyone had a better weekend than your Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Then again, if it's not on television, does it really count? The GOP race for president continues to get more interesting as the countdown to Iowa is now just four weeks away. On Saturday Herman Cain told the press and…
Frank Luntz’s advice to Republicans re OWS: Tell protesters, “I get it”
Although in recent weeks the news coming out of the Occupy Movement has been more about organizing tactics than political messages, the theme of economic inequality has solidly taken hold of the American public, and GOP spinmeisters are furiously working to make sure that their candidates don't get run over by it. Of course, it…
Credit (or blame) Florida for Herman Cain
One might think that Herman Cain's "suspension" of his presidential campaign would be the last we'd hear of the former Godfather's Pizza CEO. But like Sarah Palin before him, the "9-9-9" man will undoubtedly attempt to keep his face and voice in the media. It will be up to news outlets to decide if he…
The dinner party unicorn: working towards marriage equality
I was at a dinner party recently and met a cute heterosexual couple who'd exchanged vows this past summer. They were exceptionally proud as they showed off their matching wedding bands. Big white smiles splashed across their faces; they radiated love. I swear I saw a halo envelop them or a rainbow, or maybe it…
They’ll poke your price out: $20 discount to A Christmas Story with unwrapped toy
A Christmas Story, The Musical! has partnered with Metropolitan Ministries for a holiday toy drive. Save $20 off select seats for the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday or Sunday evening performances with the donation of a new, unwrapped toy now through show time at the Straz Center ticket office. This offer is valid for select seats…
USF’s Cesar Cornejo at Art Basel Miami Beach
Artist Cesar Cornejo inside the booth devoted to his project, Puno MoCA, at Art Positions in Miami Beach. Yesterday I arrived in Miami to catch the tail end of Art Basel Miami Beach, the annual art fair confab that attracts traffic-jamming numbers of artists, art collectors, art dealers, celebrities, and fashionistas to Miami each year.…
Best of the Bay winners bring some Laundry Love
One of the more inspiring Best of the Bay winners of recent years was Current of Tampa Bay, named Best Young Hopefuls in BOTB 2011. A nonprofit founded by former youth pastor Jason Sowell, Current is an almost entirely student-run organization that assists low-income families through initiatives like home makeovers and the Laundry Love Project,…
Art Basel 2011: Day 1 in South Beach
Miami has never been my weekend getaway destination-of-choice, even though it’s only four hours away by car. South Beach, in particular, is home to everything I actively dislike: non-stop electronic music, unnecessarily expensive meals of average quality, horrible traffic, and a dress code that incorporates sequins and impossibly high heels— think ballroom dance competition costumes,…
Pinellas food events for December
Food-related happenings in Pinellas.
Worlds collide in Melancholia
Stunning visuals and intense performances highlight director Lars von Trier’s latest.
Microgroove record store opens in Seminole Heights [Video]
Former Vinyl Fever employees Carl Webb and Keith Ulrey open their doors.
Beaujolais Nouveau alternatives pack flavor and year-round availability
Not quite Nouveau
Concert review: Judas Priest with Thin Lizzy and Black Label Society at 1-800-Ask-Gary Amphitheatre, Tampa (photos)
Priest claims to be slowing down but still managed two-and-a-half hours of grinding classic metal.
Can using thorium instead of uranium make nuclear energy safer?
Advocates of thorium to power nuclear plants say that the element is safer than uranium, and that its waste cannot be re-formulated for nuclear weapons.
Occupy Tampa members were poised for arrests
Occupy Members inside Riverfront Park Twenty-nine members of Occupy Tampa were arrested early Friday morning in Riverfront Park off of North Boulevard, the largest number of protesters arrested at a single time since the movement began in Tampa two months ago. According to a report by the Tampa Police Department, officers learned around 10 p.m.…
Mitch Perry Report 12.2.11
Good morning and happy Friday to everyone. As you probably know by now, 29 people affiliated with the Occupy Tampa movement were arrested in or outside Tampa's Riverfront Park early this morning, the single biggest bust of those activists since their encampment in downtown Tampa began two months ago. CL was there for much of…
Neighborhood Dining Guide: Carrollwood
ALEX'S SOUTHERN STYLE BAR-B-Q 5362 W. Village Drive, Tampa; 813-269-0050, alexsbbq.com. Nothing fancy here, but who needs a decked-out dining room to serve good barbecue? Alex's has made a name for itself, particularly for its ribs and pork, garnering faithful customers and becoming a Carrollwood staple. ANTHONY'S COAL FIRED PIZZA 13020 N. Dale Mabry Hwy.,…
Music Issue: Brigid Ochshorn, DIY diplomat
The musician, DJ and catalyst pays it forward.
Make your cheese sparkle by choosing the right bubbly
Season’s pairings
Weeks after Tampa tragedy due to poor lighting, city has yet to act to correct the problem
Fifteen days ago, 27-year-old Monica Alvarez was killed by a motorist in East Tampa as she and a friend pushed their two children in separate strollers on North 43rd Street toward East Hillsborough Avenue. The incident occurred in a part of town considered notoriously unsafe because of poor lighting and the lack of a sidewalk.…
There’s more to Florida cuisine than the grouper sandwich
Florida’s got balls
Tampa about to crack down harder on those busted with prostitutes
The Tampa City Council today voted on an ordinance that would allow the city to temporarily impound vehicles used by those soliciting street prostitution. The measure passed 6-1 on first hearing. Those charged under the impound law would be required to pay a $500 penalty to get their vehicles out of a lot. Defendants would…
Mitch Perry Report 12.1.11
Good morning, everyone. I want to begin by thanking those who attended the event I moderated at Studio@620 in St. Pete last night, at the event called Contribute, a public forum on community events in the 'Burg. Rick Scott is 59 today. One of his predecessors as governor, Bob Graham, held a news conference yesterday…
Green Community Calendar weekend events
Aquaponic farm tour, holiday fair, fresh markets and more.
Bob Graham to Rick Scott: Happy B-Day, now get your act together on the environment
Bob Graham Rick Scott turns 59 today, and to celebrate, he'll be part of a panel discussion with other GOP governors at the Republican Governors Association meeting in Orlando. Among the panelists sharing the dais with him are fellow Tea Party favorites John Kasich of Ohio and Wisconsin's Scott Walker. Like Rick Scott, the other…
Savory Sarasota
Five restaurants worth a day trip.
Excellent adventurers
From Arctic explorers to gospel choirs, video artist Janet Biggs shows us what we’re capable of.
Local Heroes: The CL music team presents the best local records of 2011.
We've spotlighted the folks behind the local music scene. Now let's take a look at the artists — whether they're locally based, or play the Bay area often enough that we've adopted them as our own — via the year's best albums. Auto! Automatic!!, Auto! Automatic!! (Brokenmold) The instrumental trio's second album is less reliant…
Airplay ain’t easy
For local bands looking to hear themselves on commercial radio, the buzz must come first.
America gives thanks!
Plus more fakers in this week’s Shit Happened.
Music Issue: Recording for the love of it at Short Circuit Studio
For Owen Meats and friends, the music comes first.
Music Issue: They’ve got the St. Pete Beat
St. Pete Beat’s videos are shedding new light on the bands of the ‘Burg.
Music Issue: My son’s in the band
And I’m driving him to gigs.
Music Issue: Raising The Ruckus
Melanie Parker-Levi, music blogger and intrepid fan.
Music Issue: Fil Pate, Mr. Fix-It
Busted guitar? Sick zither? Strings repairman Fil Pate is your guy.
Music Issue: Hear here
The top Tampa Bay venues for hearing (and playing) rock, pop, folk and more.
Mayhem & Macy’s
What we learned from our NYC vacation.
Feedback
You write it, we print it.
Word games
What’s the proper term for a woman who sleeps with other women?
Music Issue: DJ Sandman, Aych and Infinite Skillz, hip hop heavyweights
Three leaders of local hip hop are fostering a diverse local scene.
Music Issue: Fader jockeys
Sound guys Jason Smith, Mark Bustin and Steven “Fraggle” Antebi.
Janet Jackson gets nasty at the Straz Center
Plus Tracey Shedd, Foster the People and more of the week’s best upcoming concerts.
CL’s Music Issue ’11: Behind the Scene
Sound guy, music blogger, rocker mom, guitar repairman, indie catalyst, hip hop heavyweights: CL’s Music Issue 11 celebrates the people helping the local music scene thrive.
Commemorate World AIDS Day today
Today is World AIDS Day, when we raise awareness and honor the survivors and valiant fighters on the front lines of battling AIDS/HIV. World AIDS Day — the first ever global health day; the first commemorated on Dec. 1, 1988 — is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite and show support for people living…
St. Pete Pier designs: What do you think?
First impressions may be misleading, but they sure get people worked up.
DIY Green: Create a unique holiday wreath from recycled and found items
Reuse found items and things you’d otherwise throw in the trash to upcycle into an attractive wreath to don your door.
Allen West latest Republican to jump off the Herman Cain Express
The wheels are coming off the Herman Cain Express rapidly, as the latest shoe to drop in the GOP presidential candidate's personal life — a charge by a woman named Ginger White that she had a 13-year sexual affair with the former Godfather's Pizza CEO — seems to be the final straw for some of…
The Obama administration calls for an “AIDS-free generation”
December 1 is World AIDS Day, and it will be observed in Tampa Thursday evening with the annual Tampa Bay Red Ribbon Run, an event hosted by the AIDS Institute and Metro Wellness and Community Centers. Participants will either engage in a 3K run or a one-mile walk through Lowry Park Zoo to support HIV/AIDS…
Tonight’s Top Chef Texas preview: Roadblocks
Check out the preview videos from tonight’s episode of Top Chef: Texas!
Twilight: Breaking Dawn as self help—how to get rich via virginity, roofies, and unprotected sex
To understand why Twilight is the quintessential love story for millions of women, you must understand what women want: financial security. In this modern version of “Beauty and the Beast,” Bella is able to see beyond Edward's age to his inner beauty—i.e the wealth he has acquired from a century of preying on others. Stephenie…
CL Fiction Contest: Cold cash, hot theme
Deadline for submissions is Dec. 22 at cltampa.com/fictioncontest.
World AIDS Day 2012
World AIDS day is upon us. That magical time of year when we celebrate…. What? For as long as I have been active in the AIDS community, 30 years in one capacity or another, I never understood what exactly World AIDS Day is about. I went to Wikipedia for the answer. According to Wikipedia World…
Queened Out: Your boyfriend is a girlfriend?
What does the perfect man look like? My perfect man is a beautiful 6-feet tall blonde with blue eyes, nicely tanned toned muscles, and a gorgeous smile. Obviously, everyone has their own opinion and idea of what their ideal partner looks like. Most also have an idea of what their ideal partner will do for…
CL on the Road: Just another Monday night in Woodstock
When I first peaked into the Bearsville Theater I was struck by its warmth and intimacy but mostly I was in awe of black-and-white photographs lining the theater's walls by legendary rock n' roll photographer Elliott Landy. Located just a few minutes from downtown Woodstock, the Bearsville Theater is the labor of love of Albert…
