Chocolate and Bacon Cupcakes: Tasty weirdness
Cooking or baking for someone is my favorite form of gift giving — it's personal and heartwarming. I was throwing a surprise party for a very good friend of mine recently and decided to bake cupcakes as my gift. Being the avid foodie and culinarian that my friends know me to be, I also thought…
Top 10 Stupid Band Names
Guitar World recently offered up a list of the “Top 10 Stupidest Band Names of All Time” and I gotta say, it doesn’t look like they put a lot of thought into it, like someone had a good idea but didn't use enough brain power to carry it out properly. Here's the list: 1. The…
Joel Weiss — Conributor
Joel joined CL as a Tampa Calling contributor in 2009. After earning a radio degree from Emerson College in Boston, Joel moved back home to the Tampa area and has spent time DJ-ing at local stations since 2003. Through his ten years of radio experience, Joel has hosted metal, local, and old-school alternative shows. e-mail:…
Gabe Loewenberg — Contributor
Gabe has called Tampa home since 1980; the previous five years were spent in Pittsburgh, PA. Since 1993 he has been heavily involved in the local music scene, playing in bands of varying genres such as The AmeriCar Underworld, Allison With One, and Space Program. Currently, he plays bass in Blast and the Detergents and…
B.Treotch – Contributor
B.Treotch grew up in Texas, but was born on the Supertramp tour bus somewhere between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Having played in enough bands and seen enough shows to make him a real asshole about music, he now spends most of the daytime sciencing things at USF. B.Treotch is also one of the contributors…
Autopsy IV — Contributor
Autopsy IV is the owner of the music blog ninebullets.net. He lives in a nondescript house in Southeast St. Petersburg with his wife and 2 bulldogs. He can regularly be found with a whiskey in hand in a multitude of Downtown watering holes and music venues. When sober, he is better at Guitar Hero than…
Nicole Kibert — Contributor
Elawgrrl is a legal eagle shutterbug bringing music photography to you through her "only music has the answer" Flickr site, blog, and Myspace. Her photography has been found in gallery exhibits, CDs, music publications, websites, blogs, and of course, Myspace pages. In past lives, she has been a music director and DJ for WRGW (GWU…
Ivan Pena — Contributor
Ivan has an Advertising degree from UF, 8+ years in corporate and consumer marketing, 10+ years in graphic design and promotions. He's also the leader of the group Soulfound and runs his own independent record label, Mohawk Bomb. In 2008, Ivan was named one of the Top 30 Under 30 by the Tampa Bay Business…
Joran Oppelt — Marketing and Promotions Director
Joran Slane Oppelt is the Marketing + Promotions Director for Creative Loafing and Media Producer for CL Studios. He is also the founder of the Southeast Music Alliance and before being hired by the Loaf, he was a 10-time Best of the Bay Award winner. He has toured and recorded with his own bands (Auditorium,…
Stephen Hammill — Online Producer
Stephen joined Creative Loafing as its online producer in 2008 after a two-plus year stint at the Tampa Tribune. He's an engineer and former on-air programmer (The 11th Hour) for WMNF 88.5. His band, Life of Pi, has called Tampa home since 2002. He's also an accomplished giftwrapper. email: stephen.hammill@creativeloafing.com Stephen's Myspace | Stephen's Facebook |…
Peter Bjorn and John ready to pop again with ‘Living Thing’
Unlike the rest of the world, I caught on to Swedish indie pop trio Peter Bjorn and John late, a little while after the band's hit single, "Young Folks," became the most overplayed song of '07. The catchy, saccharine ditty off PBJ's 2006 album, Writer's Block, made it onto commercials by Budweiser, AT&T, Napster and…
Bethany Sherwin — Contributor
Bethany Sherwin is a local beer sommelier dedicated to refining the palate of American beer drinkers. A longtime resident of Florida and graduate of St Petersburg's Eckerd College, she approaches beer with studious vigor, promoting some of the world best craft breweries by planning beer events, conducting beer tastings throughout the Bay Area, and beertending…
Leslie Green — Contributor
Having officially turned into my mother, I have an insatiable love for all things food. In April 2008, I started my food blog, The Hungry Housewife, as an outlet for my love of baking, cooking and photography. Since April it has grown by leaps and bounds. With over 500 subscribers and approximately 10,000 visitors a…
Dan Holm — Contributor
Dan Holm is the writer and thinker behind the daily restaurant blog GreenEggsMarketing.com. Passionate about food and restaurants, he believes in remarkable service, outstanding food and exhausting attention to detail. With several years of experience in the restaurant industry he currently works for OSI Restaurant Partners and lives in Clearwater with his wife and daughter.…
Inaugural celebrity-spotting (plus ugly-scarf watch)
PoHo's got his inaugural
Fork You — Contributor
Several years ago, I found myself thrust into the often inhospitable world of hospitality. All that I’ve derived from these endeavors, it seems, is a growing sense of apprehension regarding the populace at large and an enlarged liver. Through therapy, pharmaceuticals and this blog, I am attempting to reach a catharsis. In addition to acerbic…
Rishi Ramkissoon — Contributor
Eat to live, or live to eat? That is the question. I'm a Live to Eat myself and proudly a "foodie." My obsession with food began in my homeland of Trinidad, where cooking started out more as work avoidance rather than a passion. My mother was, and still is, my culinary messiah; she's well versed…
James Ostrand — Contributor
Born in New York City to parents of varying backgrounds, James was exposed to a variety of ethno-centric food styles at an early age. Some of his earliest recollections include a duck beheaded in a Chinatown restaurant, his Polish grandmother's Lobscow and Sicilian grandfather's homemade pizza. Watching his parents' do their homework for a Chinese…
Argentine cattle — once grass-fed greatness — moving to state sponsored feedlots
Argentina used to be one of the world's final outposts of incredible beef, largely raised in the pampas grasslands and herded by those colorful gauchos. Not any more. Where have all the cowboys gone? Like many South American countries, the rise in grain prices — particularly soybeans — due to bio-fuel demand, has caused Argentina…
David Davisson — Contributor
David moved to Tampa during the summer of 2006 and is currently a full-time student at the USF School of Library and Information Science. He started blogging about Tampa restaurants early in 2007 as a way of sharing restaurant reviews with friends. He had so much fun keeping that blog he decided to expand the…
Brian Ries — Food Critic
Before CL, Brian managed several restaurants, received an advance diploma from the Court of Master Sommeliers, and sold wine to the finest restaurants and retail stores across Florida and New England. Now, he spends his time eating and drinking for you. When Brian got out of the restaurant business, every time he'd go out to…
USDA releases voluntary — and castrated — guidelines for “Naturally Raised”
In the past, whenever you've seen "Naturally Raised" stamped on a shrink-wrapped pack of chicken breasts, it's meant zilch. Thankfully, the USDA is here to protect American consumers with new guidelines for using that content-less term. Kinda. Ethicurean sums it up:
Freedom isn’t free, but all these inauguration giveaways are
Celebrate Barack Obama's historic inauguration by getting free stuff! Ain't America grand? Free copy of New Yorker inaugural issue for registering on the website Free Obama sticker from MoveOn.org Free Jack & Coke, button at TGI Fridays, plus more if you're a member of the restaurant's rewards program Taco Bell is apparently selling tacos at…
The Short List: President Barack Obama
To get you geared-up for the big moment, here is an excellent AP short on how far we've come "From Emancipation to Inauguration." Also, be sure to check out our live blogging of the even over on PoHo. Oh, and W.: Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. Dick…
Rev. Gene Robinson’s big gay prayer that got bumped from HBO
The openly gay Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire, Gene Robinson, delivered the invocation at Saturday's inaugural megaconcert at the Lincoln Memorial. Of course, if you watched the event on HBO, you may not have realized this because his big gay prayer got bumped from their live broadcast. In a small attempt to compensate for this oversight, here's a YouTube video of…
Free shit: Cheeseburger at Champps
mmmm… cheeseburger… The only thing better than a cheeseburger, is a FREE cheeseburger! Champps Americana is giving away a free cheeseburger (or appetizer). Details after the jump!
Live from Park City: Redford, Raimi & Big River Man
We've been in Park City four days and while the novelty is starting to wear off and we are getting used to how things are done, it's still a lot of fun. Sundancers Ali, Sam and Alex with the Big River Man himself (Martin Strel and crew) The first weekend is always the most crowded,…
Sundance: Kevin Bacon & The Doors
We've been in Park City for two days now, learning the ropes and exploring. It's always tough to get tickets for the first weekend, and while we started out with about 8 or 9 tickets a piece, purchased online, I've encouraged the group to push their boundaries, see films they have no ideas about going…
Two churches, bridging the black/white divide in D.C.
My predecessor as Creative Loafing editor, the always thoughtful Jim Harper, sent friends a link to this eloquent piece of journalism from the New York Times. (The photo above, by Times photographer Stephen Crowley, accompanied the original story.) Here is Jim's own equally eloquent introduction: An Inaugural Prayer Some of you don't understand why I've…
Upcoming concerts
Here’s some upcoming shows that I recently added to our events listings and that somehow missed my concert announcement radar, which means that perhaps they missed your radar, too. For a complete list of upcoming concerts, click here. JANUARY Thursday, Jan. 29 John Legend w/Estelle (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater) Thursday, Jan. 29 NFL Pepsi Smash…
Eric Snider
Eric Snider has been called “The Dean of Tampa Bay music critics,” which basically means he’s been around longer than everyone else. Snider’s been at it since the early 1980s, when he helped found Music Magazine, our area’s first music rag. He was the St. Petersburg Timesmusic critic for six years, and has been at…
Hot on YouTube: “Obama Made Me Proud.”
Surfing around for the latest music news, I happened upon what might be the most adorable video ever — 6-year-old Lil Yani performing his Obama rap video, "Obama Made Me Proud." And there are some pretty thoughtful lyrics for a kid who's barely out of kindergarten. Not that he actually wrote them or anything. But…
Run away and join the Cirque
Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy, a fanciful circus reminiscent of (though not affiliated with) Cirque du Soleil, is coming to the Mahaffey Feb. 3-8. To rev up local interest, the Cirque Dreamers will be auditioning local acrobats, musicians, singers, dancers "and anyone else with a special talent" for a small walk-on (cartwheel-on?) role in the production.…
William McKeen — Contributor
is chairman of the University of Florida’s Department of Journalism and author of several books, including the Hunter S. Thompson biography Outlaw Journalist. His book blog can be read here. Bill's Complete Daily Loaf Archive
Mark E. Leib — Theater Critic
Mark has been theater critic for Creative Loafing in Tampa Bay and Sarasota since 1998. His criticism has won four awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, including the first-place statewide Sunshine State Award for Critical Writing. Leib is also a playwright whose plays and adaptations have been produced at the Players Theatre in Greenwich…
Songs for the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday
In honor of the good doctor’s day, I’ve compiled a list of songs either paying tribute to MLK or spreading a message I do believe he’d approve of. “Power to the People,” Curtis Mayfield “It is now the nation's turn / for all to be concerned / We can be freer still / it is…
David M. Jenkins — Contributor
David is the Producing Artistic Director for Jobsite Theater and Senior Marketing Manager for TBPAC. He has a BA in Theater from USF and an MFA in Acting from UF. He has also studied at Moscow State University, with the San Francisco Mime Troupe and the Russian Academy of Theater Arts. He was voted Best…
Megan Voeller — Visual Art Critic
Megan teaches at the University of Tampa and The Art Institute of Tampa, edits the weekly online newsletter of CreativeTampaBay and blogs at Artsqueeze.com along with the Daily Loaf. Her writing has also appeared in Art Papers, NY Arts and d'Art International. Megan is a graduate of Williams College and the New School's Media Studies…
David Warner — Editor
David’s been editor of Creative Loafing since 2004. Originally from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, he was previously editor of the Philadelphia City Paper, an alt-weekly in the Creative Loafing vein. He has a B.A. from Harvard and an M.A. in Theater from Villanova, and was a 2001-2002 National Arts Journalism Fellow at Columbia University. In October 2008 he played a…
Roppongi’s Ace CD release show
With temperatures in the 30's, a steady stream filed into Ybor's New World Brewery for the release of Tampa-based alternative-country band Roppongis Ace's first CD, Into the Night. The album was recorded this December at Steve Connonely's Zen studios while Drummer Max Norton and Singer/Guitarist Alex Spoto were on break from college. Spoto says the…
The Obama bookshelf: Have you read what he’s read?
"…his appreciation of the magic of language and his ardent love of reading…" it's been a long time since we've had a president who possessed either of these qualities, so it's heartening to read the NY Times' account of Obama's love affair with books. As for our soon-to-be-ex-president, Bush apparently made reading into a competitive…
Prospect.1: Revisiting Katrina
Mark Bradford's Mithra. Photo / Frank Rodriguez On Saturday, we hopped in the car and went for a self-guided tour of Prospect.1 projects in the Lower Ninth Ward. (The biennial offered a shuttle bus for visitors throughout the day, but our experience trying to catch it the day before at 40-minute intervals was something we…
Gaming for goodness sake (and $1.4 million)
Every hobby and interest group should have its own pet charity. For hackers, it's the Electronic Frontier Foundation. For comic book fans it's The Hero Initiative (which supports aging comic creators fallen on hard times). For gamers, more and more, it's Child's Play. Founded by Gabe and Tycho — those two maestros of video-game inspired…
Alice Waters continues her tireless crusade for local foods with $500 private dinners
I love Alice Waters as much as the next worshipper of good food and local ingredients, but she's best as an inspiration. An icon of a movement. Whenever she gets her hands dirty trying to foment grassroots change in the way America eats, Waters comes off a bit lofty. She's in DC this week with…
Why wasn’t the gay bishop on TV?
I thought I'd just tuned in too late, but Wayne Besen reports that HBO didn't even broadcast the invocation by openly gay Episocopal Bishop Gene Robinson that preceded the festivities of the We Are One concert. The explanation from HBO: “The producer of the concert has said that the Presidential Inaugural Committee made the decision…
Jeannie Pierola re-works brunch at Gaspar’s Grotto
Our favorite conuslting chef needs to get her own place. Soon. In the meantime, though, she's been working with Gaspar's Grotto to beef up its brunch menu: "The overarching theme is laidback, pirate-pumped, Ybor-style fun, but with high-quality food (price: $29.95). They've experimented with a beignet recipe, the plan to shake them in a bag…
Krispy Kreme giving away free doughnuts on Inauguration Day
Krispy Kreme is honoring Obama's Inauguration Day by offering a free doughnut of choice to every customer on January 20th. No purchase necessary and limit one per person. How sweet it is! Store locator Press release
And the final Cylon is…
Ellen Tigh. There you go. Surprised? Battlestar Galactica revealed its big secret during Friday's season premiere on Sci-Fi. Kate Vernon, the actress who plays Ellen Tigh, is kind of a cougar. And now she is the 12th Cylon. For those who don't follow the series, it's kind of like finding out who shot J.R. ……
Ocean Prime set to make waves in Tampa
Not that we need yet another high end fish and steakhouse, Ocean Prime is set to open this Friday in International Plaza's Bay Street. Rumors abound that it will give its neighbors Fleming's, Shula's, Ruth Chris and Capital Grille a meaty run for the gold, shrinking corporate expense accounts be damned. An advanced preview of…
“We Are One”: Battle of the megastars
Watch more YouTube videos on AOL Video "We Are One" was the concert's optimistic theme, but — inadvertently or not — the performances and speeches in yesterday's pre-inaugural bash featured more than a little oneupsmanship, and even a little upstaging. Favorite faceoffs: Steve Carell vs. Jamie Foxx: How could Carell not come off as the…
Ingredient Basics: Garlic
The "stinking rose" comes in pill and juice form, is famed for curing a boatload of ills and can turn a fearsome vampire into a whimpering kitten, but that's not why it is an object of obsession the world over. People devote festivals, poems and entire books to garlic because it tastes so freaking good.…
New John Frusciante solo album out January 27.
As far as I'm concerned, the Red Hot Chili Peppers exist solely to fund guitarist John Frusciante's numerous solo endeavors. In 1988, Frusciante became friends with then-Chili Peppers guitarist Hillel Slovak, who would lose his own battle with heroin addiction later that year. Through Slovak, Frusciante befriended the rest of the band – and they turned…
The Short List: The last day of the Bush era
God it feels good. Say a fond farewell with Dick Cheney's exit interview from this weekend's Saturday Night Live. "Anything is possible in America." The inauguration may be tomorrow, but the "inauguration celebration" is well underway. Click below for much more news … Finally, a ceasefire in Gaza. For the media, covering the inauguration is…
Roppongis Aced CD Release Show Friday Night
With temperatures in the 30's, a steady stream filed into Ybor's New World Brewery for the release of local alternative country band Roppongis Ace's first CD, Into the Night. The album was recorded this december at Steve Connonely's Zen studios, while Drummer Max Norton and Singer/Guitarist Alex Spoto were on break from college. Spoto says the…
Super Bowl XXXXIII: Steelers vs. Cardinals
The historic angle for the Super Bowl that Tampa Bay will host in a couple of week is probably not as compelling as most. The Arizona Cardinals improbably won the NFC Championship 32-25 over the Philadelphia Eagles. It's the first Super Bowl for the long-suffering Cardinals, who won their last NFL championship in 1947 —…
Opening at Sundance: an unlikely friendship (Mary and Max)
After opening last year with In Bruges, a film packed with star power and scheduled to open in theaters the following weekend, Sundance has chosen this year to open edgy and unpredictable. It is not just that Mary and Max is an independent claymation flick from Australia, with a darkly comic theme about a lonely…
Review: Geri X record release party last night @ the State
It looked like a real rock concert. Geri X held a CD release party for her new Anthems of a Mended Heart (24 Hour Service Station) last night at the State Theatre and people showed up. A decent amount of them (depending on your point of view). She and three other acts — Will Quinlan…
Prosect.1: Food Porn
Pecan bread pudding at Antoine's. Photo / Frank Rodriguez Don't ask me how, but we ended up at Antoine's for lunch in the French Quarter before our tour of the Lower Ninth Ward. Once sticker shock wore off, really delicious pompano and beef tenderloin were the order of the day, followed by the extraordinarily rummy…
Around Americana in three links or less.
Hey everyone. Here's some shit I wanted to get to or saw this week that I wanted to pass along: Ever heard of $5 Cover: Memphis? Yeah, me neither. Apparently, it's a faux-reality show that's gonna be airing on MTV. The cool thing is that it will feature ninebullets.net faves Lucero. Looks like that major…
Bluelucy reporting From D.C.
When Chad and I were asked to create art for Manifest Hope:DC we were honored beyond words.The opportunity to be part of history and even art history was something we couldn't pass up. For this monumental exhibit we created two pieces, "Hope is Dope" and "The Great Communicator." Now, here we are, at the center…
Gaming the recession: Bioshock
In these hard economic times, it's nice to sometimes look around and see just how much worse things could be. Then again, if you're at all human, looking at other people's misery probably just makes you even more depressed. That's why I prefer to get my schadenfreude from the virtual world – all of the…
Sundance classics you must see before you die …
… or at least you ought to try and see when you have some free time and the inclination to stretch your cinematic imagination. On the eve of a new year of discovery and hype (Sundance starts tomorrow, January 15th), it's as good a time as any to see for yourself why indie filmmakers and…
Prospect.1: Art in the Crescent City
Lee Bul’s Untitled (After Bruno Taut series), 2008, pictured in the window of CAC. Photo by Frank Rodriguez We’ve thrown caution to the wind and a duffle bag in the trunk and ditched Tampa for New Orleans this weekend during the conclusion of Prospect.1— the largest biennial in the United States, according to the event’s…
Jeremy Piven: Too much mercury or too many parties?
Or was he just bored? The producers of Speed-the-Plow have filed a grievance against Jeremy Piven for abruptly leaving the Broadway production. It's not clear what grounds they're using, but it seems like they just ain't buyin' the diagnosis of sushi overdose.
Aestheticized presents: Deerhunter!
Contrary to the band's site, which has them in Europe through March 10, Deerhunter is, indeed, coming to Tampa. The date is March 9. The venue is Crowbar. No openers as of yet, but expect more info on the aes presents website in the upcoming weeks. For your Friday viewing pleasure, here's a vid of…
Fleetwood Mac coming to St. Pete Times Forum April 22
This just in from Woody, our PR pal at LiveNation concerts: AN EVENING WITH FLEETWOOD MAC COMES TO ST. PETE TIMES FORUM WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22ND ON SALE MONDAY, JANUARY 26TH The "Unleashed" Tour, beginning on March 1 in Pittsburgh, is an epic cross-country trek featuring 44 shows in major markets. The tour will include all…
Awards for Slumdog Millionaire are well-deserved
I have a natural and somewhat unexplained affinity for all things having to do with India. I’ve also really liked British director Danny Boyle ever since he made zombie attacks (in 28 Days Later) and heroin addiction (in Trainspotting) seem so aesthetically cool. So, naturally, when my dad told me about a new Boyle movie…
Take an early ride through Adventureland!
Greg Mottola Greg Mottola got his start at the Slamdance Film Festival in 1996, when he won their Grand Jury Prize for his debut film Daytrippers. Since then, he stuck with television for several years and got to know Judd Apatow during his 3-episode stint as a director for Arrested Development. He made it big…
Bucs Fire Coach Jon Gruden, GM Bruce Allen
And we thought the Glazers weren't paying attention. In a terse statement on their website, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced just before 6 p.m today that they had fired head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Bruce Allen . Here's the team's statement: "We will be forever grateful to Jon for bringing us the Super…
The Critic as Playwright: More Complications
So now we're less than a week away from the staged reading of my play A RIVER IN THE DESERT at Gorilla Theatre and I get an e-mail from John Fleming, arts critic for the St. Petersburg Times. What he wants to know is, isn't it a conflict of interest, or at least the appearance…
Preparations for Obama inauguration ramp up as Tuesday draws near
As the inauguration craziness gets into full swing this weekend, here's some video from Obama's train journey from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. Here are some shots from the trip, below the jump:
Tampa Bay’s “driving Holocaust”
Drew Magary's Jambaroo, published every Thursday on sport blog Deadspin, is a must read for serious football fans who also get the absurdity of their favorite sport. This week, Drew is sounding off on championship Sunday when he takes time out to address a potential Super Bowl crisis: And so, if the favorites hold, we’ll…
Capital Grille gets a new corporate sommelier
Capital Grille's wine list, a relatively staid, cab-centric collection of big names, has needed a makeover for a while. We'll see if the new guy (who has a background in winemaking) can make some waves at this corporate steakhouse. Ecstatic about the hire, Capital Grille in Tampa issued this release to the staff yesterday:
Tonight at Dave’s Aqua Lounge: Smokestack and the Foothill Fury
Imagine if you took the Tasmanian devil and put him in a chair with a couple of guitars a slide and some weird snare drum connected to a foot pedal contraption and said "MAKE MUSIC". That explains the frenzy that is Smokestack and the Foothill Fury (which is actually only one person). Here’s what mountainfreak.net…
Hammell on Trial at Skipper’s tonight! I hear the opener is amazing…
If you've never experienced the hurricane-force musical stylings and caustic lyrical wit of Ed Hammell (aka Hammell on Trial), tonight is your chance. This Righteous Babe artist and long-time Ani DiFranco collaborator will be blowing the roof off of Skipper's Smokehouse (I know, there is no roof) with his one man theatrical show, The Terrorism of Everyday Life. Even…
Eric Stolz’s Grey’s Anatomy performance shows he still has it
I still remember Eric Stolz from Some Kind of Wonderful where he played a geeky, un-loved loser in love with a drum-playing, boy-ish tomboy played by Mary Stuart Masterson. He's come a long way from John Hughes teen flicks, landing a brilliant three-part leading role in Grey's Anatomy as a terminally ill death row patient. Last night's…
CL’s first monthly recipe contest — You say tomato
It's heirloom tomato time here on the Gulf Coast of Florida, so what better way to inaugurate our new monthly recipe contest — and our fancy new Food Section — than with a tomato showdown? We want to know how you use these sweet winter treats, if only so we can shove it in the…
Miller Lite posts worst quarter in more than a decade
The stalwart brand's shipments fell 7.5 percent in the fourth quarter, freaking out the company used to wallowing in cash. The MillerCoors' flagship brand has struggled in recent years, with small wins and losses but in a sign 'o the times, this one was the hardest and the worst since the early 1990's. More information.
Paul Blart: The best bad review
Somehow we knew that Paul Blart: Mall Cop would be less than a critics' darling. But among the many other bad reviews sure to come, this one by the NY Times' Nathan Lee is a small masterpiece of deadpan destruction. I especially like "…directed by Steve Carr, a man who knows how to put a…
The Short List: “You gotta give it up to the pilot.”
The video of the improptu rescue of U.S Airways flight 1549 in New York's Hudson River is just amazing. And the passengers all made it out alive! On that note, have a good weekend everyone. The cause of the crash seems to be a flock of birds. By the way: The first report of the…
Little Fyodor: underground legend coming to St Pete-Cafe Bohemia
Little Fyodor returns to Tampa Bay Friday night to downtown St. Petersburg's Cafe Bohemia. After blowing the roof off of Transitions Art Gallery and then the whole town of Gainesville one year ago with his cohort Babushka, Fyodor returned to his home in Colorado, kept in touch with some Floridians, and played some Florida music on his radio…
Jennifer Hudson returns to the stage at the Super Bowl, with Faith Hill to kick things off.
In what could turn out to be the best or worst PR move ever brewed up by a brain trust of managers, agents and consultants, soulful singer-actress Jennifer Hudson comes out of hiding and gives her first performance since the triple homicide that took the lives of her mother, brother and young nephew less than…
Star Wars: Retold by someone who hasn’t seen the films
Best. Online. Video. Ever. (Or at least this week.) Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo. (Thanks to my old college roommate Dave Simanoff, a former journalist who's sold out. Can I have a job, too?)
Hulu to stream entire Presidential Inaugaration
Web TV site Hulu plans to run the Obama inauguration in its entirety. Their player is even embeddable on other sites. Not too shabby.
Mickey Rourke’s new PETA ad (photo)
First, critical acclaim in The Wrestler, then a spot in Sly Stallone's new action flick, now cradling his Chihuahua, Jaws, in PETA's new ad, the actor tells folks to "have the cojones to fix your dog. When dogs get knocked up, puppies get put down because there aren't enough homes for them."
Mohawk Bomb Records announces new music releases for Spring 2009
Mohawk Bomb Records, the award-winning, Clearwater-based independent record label, announces its release schedule for spring 2009. Soulfound “Live at Zen Recording”: features 5 songs performed live at Zen Recording from their “Is a Rock Band” album, released in September 2008. The EP showcases the band's decade-long ability to perform their sing-along songs with passion and…
My Dinner with Geoffrey (Chaucer)
Seems the older we get, the more we fuck up. We stop doing the stuff that got us here. For one thing, we stop asking questions because we fear people will think we’re stupid or that we will come off as uncool. But the result is that we grow dumber because by not asking questions,…
Recipe to warm your nubbies: White bean and kale stew
A perfect warming element on a cold winter Florida night. 1 pound dried Great Northern beans (canned beans don't work as well) 3 slices applewood-smoked bacon 2 c. chopped onion (about 2 medium) 6 garlic cloves, minced 6 c. chicken broth 2 c. water 1 1/2 T. minced fresh thyme 1 T. minced fresh rosemary…
Tampa Theatre encores Rachel Getting Married
Tampa Theatre is making a habit out of reviving last year's films that are now up for serious award consideration. First, I got word that Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona would menage it's way back onto the big screen from Jan. 16 through 21st. Now, the Sony Classic Pictures publicity department is reporting that Jonathan…
Fellow Geezers review Clint’s Gran Torino
This is Marcia and Lorenzo. They have been posting movie reviews online under the handle "Reel Geezers" for a little over a year now, in the process garnering a tidy little fanbase. Both have film industry experience, and their reviews are a lot more insightful than the gimmick of having old fogies review new flicks…
Food quote of the day
Unsurprisingly, Mario Batali was talking to fellow debauched food guy Anthony Bourdain when he uttered the following: "There's a couple of ways that you make someone happy by putting something inside of them, and that's food and that's sex." From Serious Eats' Chewing the Fat series.
Trail of Dead to play Orlando, still owes us one.
Once upon a time, I thought …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead was an amazing metal band name wasted on some Austin indie rockers. Then I heard Worlds Apart, the band's ambitious, anthemic, self-indulgent yet criminally underrated 2005 album, and I realized these guys rule. I finally caught them live in…
Tampa’s Taco Bus hosts cookbook author Diana Kennedy
Renowned cookbook author and Mexican cuisine authority Diana Kennedy will be at Seminole Heights' favorite Mexican food diner — El Taconazo (affectionately known at the Taco Bus) — Friday, February 14. She'll be signing books at 5:30 and teach a cooking class at 6:30. I'm a huge fan of Kennedy's. The first cookbook I ever…
North Coast Scrimshaw: The paragon of domestic lager redemption
North Coast Scrimshaw, California Pilsner, 4.4% Those who know me as a beer drinker know, first and foremost, that I'm a dark beer girl. It's nut browns at baseball games and schwarzbiers on the beach for me, please. I also require a healthy dose of hops here and there, along with the terrible brettanomyces funkiness…
GulfStream.TV Online Television Network Launches
Remember when MTV played nothing but videos and shows showing videos? Looking for a place to actually watch some new music videos and kick ass live performances? Music lovers can now check out some rockin' Florida bands on GulfStream.TV, the new online television network. GulfStream.TV's CEO/camera man Mike Young produces all of the site's original…
The Short List: Obama to end “Don’t ask, don’t tell”?
With Apple CEO Steve Jobs' announcement that he is taking a medical leave of absence until the end of June, all eyes turn to the electronics giant and its price per share. How will Wall Street react? stay tuned. And get well soon, Steve. Is this the end of the line for the military's controversial…
Eckerd at Sundance: Pizza, sex and Soderbergh
The film festival is just a few days away and we're all getting ready. We've been reading about and watching some of the independent classics, posting our takes on some of the indie icons and legends, and putting together wishlists of the films we will be sure to catch when we get to Park City,…
Jelly! at Cafe Hey
[vimeo]] Tomorrow, Tampa Bay Creative Network (not the same as Creative Tampa Bay, a different local group whose advisory network I sit on) presents Jelly, a casual co-working experience. More and more of us these days (especially artists and creative industry workers) seem to be living the free agent lifestyle, either out of layoff-driven necessity…
Pop Life’s American Idol blog: Is it still bringing the snark?
In last year's Best of the Bay issue, we gave an award to Sean Daly's Pop Life blog for being the Best Way to Enjoy American Idol Without Actually Watching It. Well, AI is back, and so's Pop Life. Can Sean and pals possibly live up to their previous high-snark standards? Judging by last night's…
New Oasis short documentary debuts on MySpace Music
This just in from Oasis' publicists: MySpace Music, the world's most popular music community, is proud to announce the premiere of the new documentary from Oasis titled Dig Out Your Soul in the Streets. This insightful short film marks the first HD debut in the history of MySpace Music. The documentary was shot by The…
Breaking: Apple’s Steve Jobs takes “medical leave”
Apple fan-boys have been in a tizzy for months, speculating about the deteriorating health of Apple CEO/Guru Steve Jobs. Just last week, Jobs released a letter stating that he was not dying, had a treatable "hormone imbalance" and was fully capable of removing himself from power if the need be. Today, the need be. Drudge…
American Idol is poison
I watched a rented DVD of Woody Allen's Cassandra's Dream last night, a film which instantly goes into the pantheon of worst Woody flicks ever. But that's not the point of this post. The point is … I was not watching American Idol. When it comes to that wretched spectacle, I'm a conscientious objector. I…
For Obama: 49 Songs from North of the 49th Parallel
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is compiling a list of 49 Canadian-made songs to demonstrate to our new President-elect what Canada is all about. That's pretty neat. Here's a re-post of what they aim to accomplish: "Beginning Monday, January 5, CBC Radio 2 invites Canadians to help select the top '49 songs from north of the…
Mark the date! February 12th 2009 at New World Brewery: The Parlor Mob
Like Joe Hawley ( of Tally Hall), I am also fond of the classic yet progressive rock and roll band, The Parlor Mob (Pictured). Thier album And You Were A Crow was released March of 2008, their first under the moniker "The Parlor Mob". This New Jersey band may share a record label with Nickleback (Roadrunner Records), but please…
Impromptu Pasta: Easy Spinach and Gorgonzola Penne
I'm not typically a fan of Italian food per se and pasta isn't anywhere near the top of my "must have foods" list (mac and cheese being the only exception). But last night I came home wanting something out of the ordinary of my usual dinner routine- usually salad or a can of soup (exciting, I know). I was…
These Super Bowl parties are not canceled
The new nightclub at Channelside called Aja is blowin' it out for Super Bowl with three parties featuring celebrity hosts and entertainment. Here's a rundown: • Thursday, January 29, Super Bowl Kickoff Party Featuring a 4 Turntable Set with Sounds from DJ AM and DJ Jazzy Jeff, $50.00 — Thursday kicks off the weekend with…
The only white comic with an Obama impression?
Not quite: Dana Carvey tried one already. And then there's Fred Armisen. But you have to hand it to Tim Wilkins (former host of Studio 10, the Channel 10 morning show): His impression is actually good (though with just a hint of Tricky Dick). As for black comics' impressions of the prez-elect, check out this…
Texting your way to love
An amusing satire on the rise of texting in the dating world today: http://current.com/items/88906818/texting_your_way_to_love.htm
Chef Tom Pritchard’s drunken roast
On Monday night at St. Pete's Coliseum, hundreds gathered to honor Chef Tom Pritchard, local hero and executive chef at numerous restaurants including Salt Rock Grill. I've only seen "roasts" on TV, laden with celebrities embarrassing a friend. Mostly, they're small, sentimentalgatherings, but Chef Tom's Roast on Monday night extended its warm fuzzies to the…
Pollo Tropical wants to give you free food for a year
Pollo Tropical is bringing back its Families Eat Free For A Year giveaway. The PR folks are spinning it as a humanitarian gesture: "Pollo Tropical realizes how the economy is affecting customers," said Kim Miller, Senior Director of Marketing for Pollo Tropical. "We are pleased to present this great offer that allows our customers to…
Do It Today: Food & Wine Edition
Wednesday, Jan. 14: Belleair Grill and Wine Bar Four course wine dinner featuring Clos Pegase of Napa Valley. $47. 6:30 p.m., 1575 S. Fort Harrison Ave., Clearwater (727-449-2988 or belleairgrill.com) Wednesday, Jan. 14: ABC Fine Wines & Spirits Wesley Chapel Wine tasting and cigar smoker. $10. 1845 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Wesley Chapel (813-782-1389 or…
Living on fast food for $1 a day
What if you only had $1 a day to spend on food? Could you do it? With dollar menus at almost every fast food chain in the country, you can get almost an entire meal for $1. The bigger question – does that $1 meal fill you up, or are you left hungry for more?…
The Short List: Guess who’s coming to dinner …
As W. continues his farewell tour, here's one stop not on the actual itinerary. Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency Obama has dinner at George Will's house. I bet they talked a lot about baseball. Hillary gets grilled at her confirmation hearing. Lots more news after the jump …
Rachel Getting Married
Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt) may be getting married, but to her irritation, all eyes are on her car crash of a sister Kym (Anne Hathaway), who's been temporarily released from a drug treatment facility to attend the nuptials. Their sibling rivalry is only the tip of the iceberg, and as the weekend progresses, the waters recede…
Doubt
John Patrick Shanley adapted his own Pulitzer-winning play for this compelling drama about an archconservative nun (Meryl Streep) and a progressive priest (Philip Seymour Hoffman) clashing in a working-class Bronx parish in 1964. Principal of the parish school, the nun suspects the priest of molesting a 12-year-old boy — the school’s first black student. Lacking…
Race relations: Tommy J and Sally is a powerful drama
Tommy J and Sally is about as ambitious a play about black/white relations as I’ve seen since Jobsite Theater produced This Is How It Goes several years ago. But where Neil LaBute’s play was mostly about white views of African-Americans, Mark Medoff’s two-character piece looks at race from both sides of the color line, exposing…
O’Death: Broken Hymns, Limbs and Skin
O'Death builds a Frankenstein lurch out of mangled folk and rock parts, set to the tune of old-timey fiddle and banjo on Broken Hymns, Limbs and Skin. The album's spirit manifests with bold, haunted hootenannies that taunt the grave with calamity and manic energy. The opener "Low Tide" is jittery and country-esque, and the balance…
Does freezing stuff make it work better?
I've been hearing a lot lately about miraculous improvements in auto engine parts, golf balls and clubs, razors, and even brass and stringed musical instruments, all by subjecting the object in question to a deep freeze of -300 degrees or more. Is there any solid evidence for this? Sounds like pseudoscience to me. — —…
Frost/Nixon
Peter Morgan’s hit play about the 1977 TV interviews between David Frost and Richard Nixon makes for a punchy political entertainment, anchored by Frank Langella’s grand, mercurial performance as the angry ex-president. Frost relinquished any editorial control when he granted Morgan the rights to his story, and the movie is hardly flattering of him: It…
The new Tampa Bay History Center ain’t your grandpa’s museum
Part of the buzz surrounding the new Tampa Bay History Center has to do with its forward-thinking approach to the visitor experience. When the museum opens on Saturday, Jan. 17 — in a blitz of celebratory performances, demonstrations and giveaways — prepare yourself to encounter an institution that is emphatically not your grandpa’s history museum.…
Ocean Prime set make waves in Tampa
Not that we need yet another high end fish and steakhouse, Ocean Prime is set to open this Friday at International Plaza at the Westshore Blvd. entrance (next to Crate and Barrel). Rumors abound that it will give its neighbors Fleming’s, Shula’s, Ruth Chris and Capital Grille a meaty run for the gold, shrinking corporate…
Erath 2006 Pinot Blanc Willamette Valley
Pinot Blanc is one of those obscure grapes people hear about but don't get to taste very often. Originally from the Alsace region in France, the grape sports tart acidity and citrus but tastes full bodied like a chardonnay. This Oregon version has pear, lime and green herb flavors with a refreshing mineral finish. Decent…
To oak or not to oak
To oak, or not to oak: that is the questionWhether 'tis nobler to let wine languish in the belly of a barrel or soak in stainless steel. The slings and arrows of the outrageous cost of oak And take arms against a vast forest of trees. And by opposing end them? To let the grape…
Can we spend our way out of a recession?
President-elect Barack Obama not only feels that we can but believes it is our only option to avoid a years-long crushing of the U.S. economy and way of life. In his speech last week, he said, "At this particular moment, only government can provide the short-term boost necessary to lift us from a recession this…
Wilderness: (k)no(w)here
With (k)no(w)here, Wilderness drifts further from the mathy and energetic post-punk bent of its early days into shimmering and serene atmospherics. Repetition is the key to unlocking the angelic beauty of the group's songs. The Boston quartet draws out each moment of rhythmic bliss with every number on its third full-length. The one speed bump…
Capital Grille gets a new corporate sommelier
Capital Grille's wine list is a relatively staid, cab-centric collection of big names. Possibly in an effort to liven it up a bit, Capital Grille has retained George Miliotes, currently the corporate sommelier for Seasons 52 (another Darden-owned concept). We'll see if the new guy (who has a background in winemaking) can make some waves at this corporate steakhouse.…
Los Campesinos!: We are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
The Welsh band’s first album was released last February and the group decided to quickly release a follow-up of new material. You have to respect that kind of production, though the album is short. I like the dichotomy and balance that having a male and female singer provides. They offer more of an alternating setup…
Revolutionary Road
Richard Yates brought to his fiction not only a sense of drama but a cold eye for the self-dramatizing impulses of his unhappy characters. This adaptation of his classic 1961 novel about disappointment and delusion in the Connecticut suburbs fully exploits the drama, with scenes, dialogue and even key visuals pulled from the text. The…
Thai’d and true: Tampa’s Jasmine Thai is a safe bet
When Jasmine Thai recently moved from Kennedy Boulevard to new digs on S. West Shore, I thought I’d give it a try. Friends had spoken highly of this long-standing Tampa fixture, albeit without the fawning worship they reserve for local Asian restaurants that cater to less Americanized palates. And in that, they are entirely correct.…
Review: Fortitude 2006 Rose
I tried an interesting wine the other day, the 2006 Fortitude Rose from Napa Valley. Fortitude is a project developed from the winemaking team at Etude and since I'm a big fan of Etude, I just had to try it. According to their website, the project is about "celebrating the hard work of independent family grape growers. With…
Gran Torino
Like Woody Allen, Clint Eastwood has reached the point where his movies are better when he’s not in them. Changeling, his grim but fascinating period drama based on a series of child murders in the 20s, projected onto a traumatized mother the conservative anger at the justice system that runs all through his career. Coming…
North Coast Scrimshaw: The paragon of domestic lager redemption
Scrimshaw, North Coast Brewing, California Pilsner, 4.4% Those who know me as a beer drinker know, first and foremost, that I’m a dark beer girl. It’s nut browns at baseball games and schwarzbiers on the beach for me, please. I also require a healthy dose of hops here and there, along with the terrible brettanomyces…
Milk
Gus Van Sant’s biopic on Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to public office in California, is both timely and discomfiting, calling to mind currently unresolved gay rights issues, as well as flashing back to a time in pop culture many would just as soon forget. As Milk, Sean Penn gives one of…
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
That rarest of breeds — the fantasy film for grown-ups. Director David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club) and screenwriter Eric Roth (Forrest Gump) adapted this 159-minute feature from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s jokey 1922 story about a man who’s born elderly and over the course of his life ages into a baby, but they’ve turned it into…
The Damned: So, Who’s Paranoid?
The Damned's vampire-faced frontman David Vanian is a hard nut to crack. It's impossible to tell where he draws the line between hammy and sincere. Therein lies the mystique of the Damned — a band that participated in punk's earliest days and went with the flow well into the new wave '80s. So, Who's Paranoid?…
Tampa’s Jasmine Thai restaurant is a safe bet.
When Jasmine Thai recently moved from Kennedy Boulevard to new digs on S. West Shore, I thought I’d give it a try. Friends had spoken highly of this long-standing Tampa fixture, albeit without the fawning worship they reserve for local Asian restaurants that cater to less Americanized palates. And in that, they are entirely correct.…
January recipe contest: Tomatoes
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Upcoming Food and Drink Events
Tuesday, Jan. 20: Carrolwood Cultural Center: "Dining Around the World"This new, ongoing program will celebrate the food culture of a different country every month. January features the cuisine of Greece with a dinner at Acropolis Taverna in Ybor. $55. 6 p.m., Acropolis Taverna, 1833 E. 7th Ave., Tampa (813-269-1310) Tuesday, Jan. 20: Vino 100 BrandonVino…
Review: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
That rarest of breeds — the fantasy film for grown-ups. Director David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club) and screenwriter Eric Roth (Forrest Gump) adapted this 159-minute feature from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s jokey 1922 story about a man who’s born elderly and over the course of his life ages into a baby, but they’ve turned it into…
New Soho wine bar opens to muted fanfare
Although I'd love to report that SoHo's new wine bar, Cork, was packed at a tasting this week, it wasn't. But not due to a lack of desirous customers — the City of Tampa won't allow the new hotspot to have more than 50 people inside at one time. In an effort to curb the…
Keith Jarrett/Gary Peacock/Jack DeJohnette: Yesterdays
The recorded output from this venerable trio is so voluminous that I was frankly surprised to see another chapter added. But the Jarrett (piano)/Peacock (bass)/DeJohnette (drums) trio never gets old to these ears. They glide through an array of standards — “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes,” “Stella By Starlight,” “You’ve Changed” and six others —…
Miller Lite posts worst quarter in more than a decade
The stalwart brand's shipments fell 7.5 percent in the fourth quarter, freaking out the company used to wallowing in cash. The Miller-Coors' flagship brand has struggled in recent years, with small wins and losses but in a sign 'o the times, this one was the hardest and the worst since the early 1990's. More information.
St. Pete’s next mayor
Baker had it easy; his successor must deal with massive budget shortfalls and angrier neighborhoods.
At Sundance, even the rejection is memorable
Editor's Note: Nate Anderson's Eckerd College film class is preparing for their trip to Sundance, during which they'll be blogging for Creative Loafing. Former student Ryan Conrath, who's now in film school, sent them this open letter: Sundance is for many just an idea. It’s something that looms over countless student productions. It’s a running…
Tampa tattoos bring tunes, too!
The Cigar City Tattoo Convention took over Ybor City's Cuban Club this past weekend and brought much more than tattoos, including some special musical guests. Friday night's lineup included Drag The River, Joey Cape, Whiskey & Co, Tim Version and Nessie. Murphy's Law meant there was also a great show at New World Brewery featuring…
