Outtakes
Ali (R) Sitting through all two-and-a-half hours of director Michael Mann's Ali is a lot like being locked in a small room with a feisty 8-year-old with Attention Deficit Disorder. Between the jittery, distracted style-gymnastics and a storyline that flits willy-nilly from one event to another, Ali gives us a scattershot picture, at best, of…
Status Whoa
I know you are out there. You've been keeping quiet about all these messes — just like me. But you've been thinking the same thing I've been thinking. How do the powers that be keep their power here? They play dirty. They cut deals for themselves, their contributors and their cronies, and they do it…
Embattled ‘Bots
Joe Popp's Maxwell is a mixed bag, a rock 'n' roll musical that never entirely rises above its own and its performers' limitations to become a satisfying experience. Yes, Popp's script is impressive, literate and often witty; but the show's music is seldom memorable, few of the performers' voices are of notable quality in any…
DINING GUIDE
HILLSBOROUGH Brandon Bec's, 147 E. Bloomingdale Ave. (813-662-3000). Grab-n-go morning drivers will love the palmlettes, calzone-like breakfast sandwiches stuffed with delicious combos of eggs, meat, cheeses and veggies. For brunch, try baked egg souffles with a variety of meats, cheeses and veggies. Lox and bagel lovers will appreciate the generous Nova platter. For lunch, try…
The Quick and the Dead
Most movie buffs are familiar with the old adage about the difference between American movies and those films that hail from across the pond. It goes something like this: Hollywood, fast. Europe, slow. Like most cliches, this one turns out to have a lot of truth in it. Many European films are slower, or at…
Books
America the Beautiful By Moon Unit Zappa Scribner/$14 Forget whatever baggage your own parents may or may not have saddled you with — consider the case of Moon Unit Zappa. How does a creative young woman go about emerging from the long shadow cast by the legendary Frank Zappa? Introduced to the world as the…
CORKSCREW: Aging Wines
Remember the Paul Masson wine commercial from the '70s where the fat guy said, "We will sell no wine before its time"? Now I wasn't much of a wine connoisseur in grade school, so I had no idea what that slogan meant back then. It only took me 20 years to figure it out, so…
CULINARY EVENTS
Almonds Away Chef Debby DeGraaff enlightens us on the topic of almonds during her vegetarian cooking class. 7-8 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 16, and 10-11 a.m., Thursday, Jan. 17. Nature's Harvest Market, 1021 N. MacDill Ave., 813-873-7428. Free. Five-Course Winemaker Dinner features Pascal Schiele, managing director of Dopff & Irions, a producer from the Alsace. The…
Distrusting the Trustees
When Sami Al-Arian addressed the Faculty Senate at the University of South Florida, he told those in attendance that he never asked to become "the poster child for academic freedom." Well, with or without his permission, he's become the poster child for academic freedom and a whole lot more. Both the Faculty Senate and the…
Unzipping the Past
James Mathus really likes to play his guitar. It doesn't seem to matter with whom — his buddies, his wife, Buddy Guy — just as long as he gets to play. "It's really all the same thing. I love collaborating with my friends, but I don't really differentiate," he says. "I put everything I've got…
Philly Greed
One day in 1932, Pat Oliveri decided he didn't want a hotdog or a ham sandwich for lunch. Nor did he want tuna, roast beef or egg salad. The owner of a little hotdog stand in the Italian neighborhood of South Philadelphia, Oliveri had become bored with the staples of his trade, and on that…
Music Menu
Nothing Promise/Sadiya/Sleeping By The Riverside There will be some ferocious grindy-groovy goings-on at The Masquerade tonight, courtesy of Bay area metalcore stalwarts Nothing Promise (now featuring that rad-ass drummer from the Diaphragments!). Sadiya have been making some big waves lately — their dynamic hardcore sound is weighty enough for the metal fans, but compelling and…
Soundboard
Thursday, Jan. 17 Beach Place Hunks Of Funk Billy G'Z Baby Huey Band Bourbon Street Beet's Jam Carlie's Stormbringer Chase Club Derrick Williams Dave's Aqua Lounge Sandy Atkinson Famous Cigars Jazz Lounge Scott McGilurey Fox and Hounds Irish Pub Chris Morgan Frenchy's Rockaway Grill Rhodeside Gasoline Alley Christine Steel/Kenny McGee's Disease Green Iguana-West Shore Other…
THE WINE LIST
Winter Wonder Reds Keep toasty on those cold nights with the warming effects of red wine. The Vintage Wine Cellar holds tastings of 10 temperate reds. Friday, Jan. 18. 7 p.m. aperitif, 7:30 p.m. tasting. $20. Takes place at 3629 Henderson Blvd., Tampa. Reservations requested. 813-879-2931. New World Wines The Tampa Wine Institute at Wines…
Public Life
Sickle Cell Anemia SeminarSaturday, Jan. 19 Noon-3 p.m. The African People's Education and Defense Fund hosts this free seminar, presented by the St. Petersburg Sickle Cell Anemia Association, which provides an overall view of the condition. The seminar takes place at the Wellness Center, 1327 Ninth St. S., St. Petersburg. Call 727-821-2437. Florida Moratorium WalkBeginning…
Spins
Bob Marley & the Wailers Exodus Natural Mystic. Exodus. Jamming. Waiting in Vain. Turn Your Lights Down Low. Three Little Birds. One Love. These titles alone easily make the case that 1977's Exodus should be on the short list of great albums from the rock era. It's the best disc in a uniformly splendid Bob…
Corporations Behaving Badly
The 10 Worst Corporations of 2001
