Jux Below the Surface
Mainstream rap is the new glam-rock. Think about it. Ostentatiously clothed, attractive young men of questionable creative talent, swaggering and slinging tales of sexual bravado, good-time escapism and street life, whose styles differ only in the degrees to which they emulate the last guy to go platinum. There's a disillusioning glut of bland similarity, and…
Orbitals
News anchor John Wilson’s painful foray into editorial writing; Plant City officials dig themselves in deep; and more on the lawsuit between a lawyer and the St. Petersburg Times. Anchor, Away Certain statements forecast a contradiction before the speaker ever utters the word "but." When WTVT-Ch. 13 news anchor John Wilson wrote a commentary for…
Books
Little, Brown & Company/$25.95
Mr. Jones and Media
It may seem as though Janet Reno and Bill McBride are the only two Democratic candidates in this year's gubernatorial race. In fact, there are 14 other people who want to take a crack at Jeb Bush in the race for governor. Some of them may well be insane. But one of them, state Sen.…
Website
http://www.volunteermatch.org
The Weekly Planet Pie Chart
This just in … Is it apple? Cherry? Pumpkin? No one can accuse Weekly Planet of delivering readers irrelevant fluff. Here are some important statistics …
Shortsighted Simulations
Unlikely as it seems, playwrights have occasionally made the subject of Hollywood into provocative theater. There's Sam Shepard's Angel City, in which a northern California medicine man is hired by producers to create a movie that drives "people right off the deep end … penetrating every layer of their dark subconscious and leaving them totally…
Outtakes
Outtakes are brief movie reviews of films playing throughout Tampa Bay. Reviewed entries by Lance Goldenberg unless otherwise noted. 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…
Second Helpings
If you've ever heard wine-swilling folks refer to "second label wines," you may have wondered just what the hell they were talking about. Were they referring to bottles that sport two labels instead of just one? OK, I know you're not dumb enough to fall for that, but the term could use some clarifying all…
Spins
Reviews of the new releases from Superdrag, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Hall & Oates and Spaceways Inc. Superdrag Last Call for Vitriol Back when Knoxville's Superdrag were on Elektra Records, they were largely perceived as just another major-label alt-rock hopeful. Since ending their contentious relationship with that imprint and heading back underground, however, the now-…
Freebie: Viva VIVO!
Not to make the Bay area's art lovers and concertgoers sound like part of an algebra equation, but it seems there's a lot of overlap among audiences for classical music, jazz and fine art shows. This subset, if you will, is essentially who The Florida Orchestra is seeking for its newly formed support group VIVO…
Cool Movie Refreshment
It's only July and I'm already over summer. I can't help myself. Even with the occasional saving graces of Minority Report and Road to Perdition, I have to confess that all the exploding, screaming whozits and digitally manipulated whatzits have had their way with me. I'm ready for them to just go away. Even a…
Rocky’s Road
Rocky Bridges never became the baseball player his father wanted him to be. But now, at age 37, he seems poised to hit a different sort of home run with the bases loaded. Rocky's phenomenal journey has taken him from his Tarpon Springs hillside home to an early friendship with an internationally acclaimed artist, an…
This Cat Can Cook
It always surprises me how efficiently people find a great new restaurant. The Laughing Cat, for instance, opened in June 2000, offering take-out from a hot hole-in-the-wall that nevertheless attracted a devoted clientele because of its impressive menu. Its terrific $6 lunch specials, like a filet mignon with a side of homemade pasta, attracted regulars…
