Your local guide to speedtraps
First off, before I go any further, let me say: I don't condone speeding. All you road-ragers weaving in and out of lanes scare the hell out of me, and put all of our lives in danger. That being said: There's no fucking way I'm going 65 mph on I-275. Just no way. I don't…
The Second Coming
Apple honcho Steve Jobs unveiled the electronics giant's new iPhone 3G yesterday. The second incarnation of the company's hipster-coveted handset, the iPhone 3G is a little bit thinner (much like Jobs himself), a lot faster (about twice as fast as the first generation iPhone) and now has built-in GPS. All this for a new lower…
The eight-minute Democratic race
Now that Hillary's dropped out and Obama's secured the nomination, aren't you just a bit sad the parade and pageantry of the Democratic primary is over? Well, now you can relive the magic, in eight minutes.
Hair metal has-beens Warrant reunite to play Tampa
Winner for worst summer arena tour: Warrant with Cinderella, which arrives July 25 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa. Winner for worst canned quote of the summer (italics are mine): "Are you kidding me?!! We are chomping at the bit to get out this summer and rock!" says Jani Lane, lead singer and…
Voting With Your Stomach
We needed sustenance for another of CL's marathon editorial meetings, so we called up SoHo joint Gourmet Pizza for a few pies. Turns out Gourmet is running an election special: The Barack Star — a white pizza (uhm?) with ricotta, tomato, feta and pesto; or The Meaty McCain, your typical meat-lover's special. Gourmet will keep…
Tom Waits scalping for charity
Alas, this cool gimmick (for the well-heeled, at least) doesn't apply to Waits' lone Florida stop, July 1 in Jacksonville. But it's still cool. In fact, it'd be nice to see bands like The Rolling Stones, etc., adopt a similar model. “Some folks prefer to pay more, you get a good seat, a good tax…
A-hole Hulk Hogan set for interview with wrinkled nutsack Larry King
Tampa Bay's hometown hero, Hulk Hogan, is scheduled for an appearance on Larry King Live on CNN tonight. Hogan is going through a rough patch: his marriage is crumbling, his son is sitting in the Hotel Graybar for a few months after nearly killing his friend in a car accident and his daughter is pissed…
Brightman hits the road this fall
World renowned Broadway soprano Sarah Brightman has announced a many-date solo world tour in support of her first studio album in five years, Symphony, released this past January on Manhattan Records. The Symphony Tour stops at the St. Pete Times Forum on Sunday, November 16. From the release: "…Brightman is a pioneer in transcending and…
Steely Dan concert was a gas.
In the late ’70s, when I was a struggling loser just out of college and my brother Kurt was still in high school, we would spend considerable time in the bedroom we shared in my parent’s St. Petersburg home. He was a budding drummer; I was a future music critic (but didn’t know it at…
Five Things to Do Today
This could be growing in your back yard. Mmmmm… 1. Worried about all those potentially salmonella-infected tomatoes? Learn how to grow your own. 2. Dance to the New Wave industrial electro rock of UK’s Ladytron tonight at Czar, where they play with Norwegian labelmates Datarock. 3. Take a walk through Boca Ciega Millennium Park in…
Don’t Touch Me Tomatoes
Wal-Mart and McDonald's have pulled tomatoes from some of their stores in response to an FDA warning about 145 cases of salmonella. The feds have yet to pinpoint the source of the outbreak, but a lot of companies are getting proactive in the wake of problems like the Taco Bell lettuce incident of a few…
Yeah, you’re missing something
As if we needed any more proof that racism, in all of its irrational permutations, is alive and well in this area, take this letter to the editors from the June 7 edition of the St. Petersburg Times. Richard Wilson, a resident of Safety Harbor, railed against the Times for running articles that he claimed…
Confederate Flag Dude talks about his ‘tourist attraction’, presidential hopefuls and his Scientologist black friends
The St. Petersburg Times has an interesting profile on Tampa's favorite (confederate) son, Marion Lambert. The South Tampa beekeeper has been a media darlin' the last week, ever since a massive confederate flag flew on his property at the intersection of I-4 and I-75.The Times article painted the man generally as a gentle Southern enthusiast,…
Paula Deen’s In Town — Time To Break Out The Protest Signs
Paula Deen will be in town tomorrow at the Florida Aquarium, brimming with "aw' shucks" and butter. I could have devoted an entire blog post to the fact that this cooking demonstration, hosted by Publix's Aprons Cooking School, costs $150, they had to limit the tickets to two per person and the the thing has…
Led Zeppelin mini-reunion at Foo Fighters gig
Guitar god Jimmy Page (pictured) and bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones joined the Foo Fighters on Saturday to perform the Zeppelin anthems "Rock and Roll" and "Ramble On," reports The Telegraph. Only a matter of time before all is made right in the world of classic rock and the mighty Led Zeppelin flies again, hopefully with…
Where shopping hurts my wallet
There goes my good Monday: Publix is buying out 49 Tampa Bay area Albertson's stores! I don't know where your grocery loyalties lie, but this does not bode well for me. After several months of trying out different grocery stores since I moved here, Albertson's was an easy choice. In my humble opinion, for the…
Video of the Day: Office rampage No. 2
A few weeks ago, over on the Political Whore blog, Associate Editor Joe Bardi posted a YouTube video featuring an office worker on the rampage, crashing over his cubicle in a brawl with a fellow co-worker. Ruminations on the video's authenticity followed. Well, I found an office rampage scene to rival that one. Feast your…
My junk mail insults me
As any other office troll would attest to, we get a lot of spam here at CL. A lot. Since my hiring two years ago, I've clicked through more junk e-mail than my entire life beforehand. As you might have guessed, most of it is of the "male enhancement" variety. Much to the chagrin of…
Kenny Chesney and Miranda Lambert to play Tampa
Not a huge fan of Kenny Chesney's combination of Jimmy Buffett beach bummery and hair metal-infused party anthems but might have to attend the show just to catch opener Miranda Lambert (pictured). She's the rare Nashville star who keeps it real with songs that would make Loretta, Dolly and Emmylou smile in approval. Kenny Chesney…
$20 Menu Challenge – Elements Global Cuisine
In honor of this week's upcoming Food Issue — The $20 Menu Challenge — EatMyFlorida will have a recipe o' the day for the next ten days. Our challenge to local chefs: Create at least three courses of wonderful food for two and keep the ingredients to under $20. Not too difficult for a home…
Five Things to Do Today
Steely Dan; photo credit Danny Clinch 1. Steely Dan returns to Ruth Eckerd Hall. 2. Michael Winslow brings his sound effects comedy to Floyd’s at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. 3. Former Citrus County truck driver Charles Spaide is riding his electric bicycle all the way to California to protest the high cost of fuel…
Homemade symposium proves rewarding
Local band Next Exit (all the members are in their early teens) performing at the video workshop. It could have been bigger and better but as far as debuts go, the first annual Homemade music symposium proved successful. The event took place Saturday at the Performing Arts Building on the Hillsborough Community College Ybor City…
Eighties has-been Boy George to play Jannus Landing
The flamboyant, former Culture Club frontman responsible for 1980s hits like the cloying "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?" and the impossibly catchy "Karma-Chameleon" will perform July 27 at Jannus Landing in St. Petersburg, according to CMJ. If the drug-and-falsely-imprisoning-prone star makes it through customs, it will mark Boy George's first U.S. tour in…
Homegrown event of the weekend
I'm debuting a new Friday blog feature called "Homegrown event of the weekend" (or something better, if anyone has a suggestion please share), where I focus on the top show/event of the weekend featuring local artists. We'll start with the Homemade symposium taking place Saturday in Ybor, in which I'll be participating as a panelist.…
Hot for teacher, Part 481
A Polk County middle school teacher was arrested on Thursday for allegedly having sex with students, the latest in what is turning out to be an ongoing trend. Stambaugh Middle School teacher Danielle Jones was charged with four felony counts of having sex with a minor. According to the police report, Jones had sex with…
Facebook addiction: it helps to know you’re not alone
I snapped this photo while walking along the Eastside Gallery during a recent stay in Berlin, and I couldn't agree more with the person who wrote this. The Gallery is a 1.3km-long section of the Berlin Wall, and is supposed to be an "international memorial for freedom." Every day I have to fight myself to…
A teenage political identity crisis
Amid all the hoopla over Obama being named the Democratic nominee and Clinton's reluctant but inevitable step-down, I started to wonder how I felt about Obama's win. In the primary that didn't really matter, I voted for Clinton. I did simply because I liked her for all the reasons everyone else didn't — she's a…
Dylan endorses Obama; Top 10 songs for the senator
Bob Dylan has been notoriously silent on politics, especially in endorsing candidates, since the mid-1960s. But in a rare interview with The [London] Times the American music icon speaks glowingly of Senator Barack Obama. From the Times: “Well, you know right now America is in a state of upheaval,” [Bob Dylan] says. “Poverty is demoralising.…
Ybor City Is Where It’s At: Five Things to Do This Weekend
"In Threes," an original work by Noah Deledda on display at his Ybor City studio. 1. Pick up a map of Ybor City’s creative district from Brad Cooper Gallery and take a self-guided tour of art galleries, artists’ studios, museums and more during the First Saturday Art Walk. 2. Shake what your mama gave ya to Little…
Afternoon roundup
Wanna write for The New Yorker? Here's how! Talk about soft-soaping: You'd think the Washington Post headline could've just read: Bush lied. She loves his mind: all six of them. Guess he has a "big" vocabulary. No surprise here, Zohan: Another Adam Sandler movie that sucks. Dylan for vice president: Bob backs Obama. A step…
The Advanced Black Bee
For those of you who have always thought the Black Bee as just too laid back. As a reminder in case you don't know the Black Bee by heart, it starts with the man in the seated position with both hands behind holding himself upright. The woman then enters the picture and rides him like…
Homemade, Sonny Landreth, Bar Tab and more in CL
Here's what I have running in the new Loaf: BAR TAB: Back on The Patio; getting crazy at the Fox. A Homemade workshop for musicians. Sonny Landreth and guests deliver masterpiece. Bob Dylan, before the comeback. Little Brother plays nice at Crowbar. Will Quinlan offers Navasota odes. The Duhks, Bogus Pomp and more in Music…
Nothing like $93 million to reunite sworn enemies
Yeah, I'd make nice for that kind of money, too. In fact, there's a lot I'd do for that kind of money. Anyway, from Billboard.com: Though not without setbacks, the Van Halen reunion tour ended up a massive success, wrapping June 2 in Grand Rapids, Mich., with a total gross of more than $93 million…
Five Things to Do Today
1. Hear what artist Brian Tolle has to say about public art and see examples of some of his works, including his 2002 “Irish Hunger Memorial" installation in NYC’s Battery Park (pictured above). 2. Pick up a copy of N.M. Kelby’s Murder at the Bad Girls Bar and Grill and get it signed by the…
Yes says no
Bad news for Bay area fans of classic prog rock. From the press release: YES Cancels 40th Anniversary Tour Includes Ford Amp July 31st Show!
Clinton calls it quits…
Will endorse Obama on Saturday. And get down on her knees and beg for the VP gig, which, if she gets it, may or may not be a good thing for those of us who refuse to imagine another four years of GOP rule. From the New York Times: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton will endorse…
St. Pete’s Recycling Woes
Last night, I had to recycle something fierce. I was on vacation in Iowa all last week, and when I came home there was a mound of soda cans, plastic jugs, beer and wine bottles against my back door. (Thanks roomie!) For the rest of Pinellas County, this wouldn’t present a problem: you just carry…
The Onion Movie out on DVD
A co-worker here at the Loaf set me a link to this trailer for The Onion Movie, which was released on DVD yesterday. I'm a big fan of The Onion, and the movie seems to have the same goofily satirical take on the news as the website. But the golden find here is the movie…
‘Is there gas in the car?’
Ruth Eckerd Hall says it has a few tix left for Monday's SD show. Until then, a little "Kid Charlemagne" for ya:
Possible Veeps for Obama
The talk has been out there for weeks now, but now that Obama's nomination win looks inevitable, there is no doubt pundits will be pontificating on well-known (and not so well-known) politicians contending for the spot. The Mother Jones website has a great piece out on Obama's possible VP choices, their strengths and weaknesses. The…
Pride & Passion 2008
Creative Loafing Art Critic Megan Voeller attended Tampa Museum of Art's Gay Pride Month kick-off/fundriaser, Pride & Passion 2008, this past Saturday; here's her video wrap-up. Art Squeeze: Pride & Passion 2008 from Art Squeeze on Vimeo.
Beck drops “Chemtrails”
Like a magic mushroom for your ear hole, Beck's new single "Chemtrails" will send you on a psychedelic odyssey of the highest order. Created with Gnarls Barkley's Danger Mouse, the song is at once mellow and propulsive, contemplative and assertive with keyboard washes giving way to hard-hitting drum rolls as Beck muses, "So many people,…
Soul Morning
One of the great joys of working in the alternative press is that we have a certain, shall we say, latitude in the way we conduct ourselves in the office. For CL, that translates to an office-wide Friday Afternoon Dance Party with music piped from our extensive playlists through computer speakers. It also means that…
Five Things to Do Today
The War on Democracy 1. Attend a free community screening of The War on Democracy at Café Bohemia. 2. Duncan Strauss welcomes guest Janine Garofalo on his NPR show, Talking Animals, which broadcasts live on WMNF at 11:30 a.m. today. 3. Get pampered at Sharmaine’s Salon & Day Spa during PrettyCity.com’s June spa event, Beauty and…
Radiohead review/catalog on iTunes
A review and some news. The Radiohead CD dropped Tuesday. As did the DVD and vinyl (see below). Here's my review: The Best Of RADIOHEAD Capitol/EMI When a band leaves its label, like Radiohead did recently to drop In Rainbows gratis, the former employer typically cashes in with a greatest hits collection post-haste. Or several…
Top 10: songs for Hillary Clinton
Cross-posted from TampaCalling.com: She lost. Obama won. Read the score. That’s democracy. At least this country’s version. But Hillary “I’m your girl!” Clinton just can’t bring herself to concede, which is just wrong. If this gets too ugly the GOP will win again and that’s not gonna be good for anybody pulling down less than…
Top 10: songs for Hillary Clinton
She lost. Obama won. Read the score. That's democracy. At least this country's version. But Hillary "I'm your girl!" Clinton just can't bring herself to concede, which is just wrong. If this gets too ugly the GOP will win again and that's not gonna be good for anybody pulling down less than $100,000-per. Hillary, please,…
False alarm at West Tampa Center for the Arts
An eviction threat is avoided, but bitterness remains.
Flavor Savor
Despite what you think, all beer is not created equal.
Art: First Saturday Art Walk
Saturday, June 7
The Bet Collector scores big
Global Lens 2008 film is worth the gamble.
Kung Fu Panda kicks butt
Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman lend their voices to this hero’s journey.
Adam Sandler, guerrilla hairdresser, and more
New and recent releases
Theater: Killer’s Head
Tuesday, June 3
The Cure gets angsty at the Forum
The soundtrack to my angsty high school years was riddled with tracks by The Cure. At 15, my first love interest turned me onto the British goth-pop foursome at a school dance after he managed to talk the DJ into playing "Lovesong." Hence my resulting obsession with 1989's brooding Disintegration, an album I played on…
Betrayal is Pinter lite
But his words still hurt so good.
Will Quinlan offers Navasota odes
With this love letter to his mother
Theater: A Dream Play
Wednesday, June 11
The cost of beer-flation
Beer prices are up, and aficionados are worried.
Concert: Colour Revolt
Sunday, June 8
Don’t Panic
What’s the latest from Pakistan?
Screamin’ Oliver Nelson
Lets loose in this brawny, bluesy classic.
Back on The Patio
Getting crazy at the Fox.
Can a Blue Dog Democrat beat Bilirakis?
FL Dems see opportunities to switch red congressional seats to blue.
Music: Ladytron
Tuesday, June 10
Farmworkers get a Whopper of a win
A surprising outcome in the fight against Burger King
Pearl Jam, Melissa Etheridge
Plus Kool & the Gang
From bombs to beauty
Reflections in Mom’s eyes.
Casa Tina doubles up
And its wine bar is a real plus.
Little Brother plays nice at Crowbar
Formed on the campus of North Carolina Central University in Durham nearly a decade back, rap twosome Little Brother has established itself as one of the better alternative hip-hop acts in the land. MCs Phonte and Big Pooh both have distinctive voices marked by melodic flow and witty rhymes that range from aggressive to humorous…
Sonny Landreth and guests deliver a masterpiece
From the Reach, plus CD releases by Tristan Prettyman and Does it Offend You, Yeah?
Steely Dan stays in the game
Funny how Steely Dan seems to stay in the general music conversation. The whole thing pretty much revolves around love-'em-or-hate-'em. I've written about this before — called it the "Steely Dan Divide" — and it's mostly generational. There are some music heads, usually younger, who don't get the Dan on any level. They think the…
Film: Bleach the Movie: Memories of Nobody
Wednesday, June 11
Literature: N.M. Kelby
Thursday, June 5
Doing more with less
A manifesto for the happily unemployed.
Bogus Pomp, Vampire Weekend
Plus Ladytron and Dive Bar Stalkers
Denver Pale Ale
A satisfying summer brew
Forum: Leadership: New Frameworks for the Changing Face of America
Tuesday, June 10
Festival: John Levique Pirate Days
Friday, June 6
A Homemade workshop for musicians
HCC hosts a symposium for budding DIYers.
Sex and the City, delegates debacle
Plus the Rays go country
Bob Dylan, before the comeback
DVD release shows Both Sides of the rock icon.
Comedy: Michael Winslow
Monday, June 9
Harrison Ford, biotch
Sure, he's an aging action star, but Harrison Ford is back doing what he does best in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. So I thought it would be amusing to show this icon of the movies in two of his, uh, less heroic roles. Below are two clips, one that captures…
