Work the Super Bowl … for free?
The Tampa Bay Super Bowl Host Committee is looking for a few good men and women — 6,000 to be exact — to work the events surrounding the Super Bowl this year. For free. The Times reports: As the Tampa Bay Super Bowl Host Committee begins its search this week for 6,000 volunteers, it is…
Top 10: Lottery songs
The old legalized-gambling debate has been reignited thanks to Gov. Charlie Crist's desperate plan to solve our economic woes with "enhancements" to the Florida Lottery. The gov promised not to play this card when he campaigned in 2006 and is now getting blasted by fellow GOPers such as his predecessor, Jeb Bush, who likens gambling…
FloriMezzo in the U.S.A.
Tonight, the FloriMezzo chamber all-stars — among them, concertmaster Sarah Shellman (pictured) and principal cellist Fred Gratta — perform Made in the U.S.A.: Florimezzo Goes to the Heartland, a Palladium Encore series concert of songs with a focus on the American heartland. The program features Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring, Stephen Montague’s Thule Ultima, The Ragtime of…
Apes & Androids rock CL’s Sensory Overload
Creative Loafing's Sensory Overload bash at the Cuban Club in Ybor City Saturday turned into a wild night that found more 2,000 party people getting down to bands like Latin funk ensemble Locos Por Juana, which I interviewed, and NYC indie glam rock quintet Apes & Androids (pictured left, photo by James Ostrand). Shortly before…
The Bachelor makes me happy.
The Bachelor's Matt Grant I have to admit that the recent gossip about Matt Grant – the single British bloke who’s looking for love on ABC’s The Bachelor: London Calling – has me intrigued. Did the 27-year-old global financier really appear on the show because his lawyer told him the best way to make a…
Rice revolution and Matzo madness, Popeye’s and Hor-moo-nes, and the death of Spanish techno-cuisine (?): It’s the Monday Media Wrap-up
"On Tuesday, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines, afraid of increasing rice scarcity, ordered government investigators to track down hoarders." "Fast food has always been an especially effective stimulant of the synapses that link my unrefined palate to the pleasure center of my brain, and it seems to do so in direct proportion to…
Salvia: What’s the buzz all about?
You've heard the hysteria generated by news reports and legislators, and perhaps even seen the videos on YouTube. Now I take a look (and a hit!) of this mysterious legal herb.Check out the story here.
Sentinel: Anti-gay marriage speaker hurting his own cause
From Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell's blog: If I had to make a prediction, the folks pushing for a gay-marriage ban will either change their techniques or simply stop trying to make their case in person before this campaign is over — because their effort to do so today in Orlando fell pretty darn flat.…
Six Things to Do This Weekend
Mitzi Gordon’s “Greenspace†is one of numerous works up for bid at Fifty/Fifty. 1. Various local artists auction off works to benefit their favorite charities during Fifty/Fifty at Silver Meteor Gallery. 2. Creative Loafing presents its third annual Sensory Overload, a lively multidisciplinary arts festival. 3. A new exhibit Ybor City State Museum, Sicilians in Tampa…
The Rickshaw
To begin, the man lies back in the edge of an elevated surface, such as a chair or a bed with his legs in the air and an erect member. The woman then backs in towards the man as he lies in this position and offers him her luscious backside. Pushing his member at the…
FROM THE STREET (Undercover in the Skatepark VIP)
Someone made the mistake of giving me VIP credentials for the Skatepark of Tampa’s 2008 Pro Party Saturday, but I’m not one to complain. Other than bucket-loads of free Redbull and Vodka, and the absence of a bathroom, the VIP section was just a smaller version of the Cuban Club’s courtyard: an alternative crowd buzzing…
Two gay marriage debates upcoming
Debating Florida's November referendum that would ban gay marriages (and other civil union benefits, including possibly some for unmarried straight couples) seems a cottage industry these days. Two more debates are scheduled, and both should be good ones. First, the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club also has a gay marriage debate on the books: Friday, April…
Sensory Overload and more in new CL
Here's what I have running in the new Creative Loafing: Get loaded with us Saturday at our Sensory Overload bash in Ybor City! The Urban Explorer's Handbook 2008 contains a piece I did on South Tampa titled "The Gold Coast: South Tampa East: SoHo, Hyde Park and Bayshore." I managed to work a Harry Chapin…
From the streets with Alfie: Undercover in the Skatepark VIP
Someone made the mistake of giving me VIP credentials for the Skatepark of Tampa's 2008 Pro Party Saturday, but I'm not one to complain. Other than bucket-loads of free Redbull and Vodka, and the absence of a bathroom, the VIP section was just a smaller version of the Cuban Club's courtyard: an alternative crowd buzzing…
Five Things to Do Today
Das Fraulein 1. St. Pete Film Movement presents the Swiss film, Das Fraulein. 2. Former Air America personality Marc Maron brings his stand-up comedy to Tampa Improv. 3. Case Western Reserve University's Dr. Lawrence Krauss leads a lively talk, “Science, Non-science and Nonsense: From Aliens to Creationism,†at Eckerd College. 4. Gorilla Theatre opens its new production,…
Fossil Fools Day
Organizers on three continents are planning green events on April 1 as part of a "Fossil Fools Day" awareness campaign aimed at outing all the ways that fossil fuels are intertwined in our lives. From Rising Tide North America: Anywhere you live, fossil fools are going to be engaging in destruction, poisoning of communities, and…
Against Me! leads Warped Tour lineup
Gainesville punk quartet Against Me!, which after a decade-run finally broke through to the mainstream last year with its excellent, power-pop-leaning album New Wave, is scheduled to play the 2008 Vans Warped Tour that comes to St. Pete's Vinoy Park July 11, reports Billboard.com. Paramore, Gym Class Heroes (which perform Sunday, April 6 in downtown…
Five Things to Do Today
Persepolis 1. A limited run of the animated feature Persepolis – awarded four stars by CL Film Critic Lance Goldenberg – draws to a close at St. Pete’s Beach Theatre. 2. University of Tampa Writers at the University Series welcomes fiction writer Mary Gaitskill. 3. A discussion on race and healthcare takes place during a…
Paul Prudhomme Is Bulletproof!
Damn. First he gets so obese that he has to design a kitchen around his fat-guy wheelchair, then he loses all that weight and starts making the television rounds, now he dodges bullets! Paul Prudhomme is a badass. Well, he didn't dodge it, exactly. While cooking at the Zurich Classic golf tournament near New Orleans…
Local quotable
"The number one reason to live here is the people. They're friendly. They're talkative. It's a neighborhood where you don't meet no strangers. And now we're getting a lot of development in Midtown. You really don't have to leave of your neighborhood to get anything. It's getting better and better." —Melvin Hall, owner of Connie's…
Clap your palms
A natural treasure in North Shore Park.
Classical Music: Symphonie Fantastique
Friday, March 28
Sensory Overload: The Schedule
The full rundown on Saturday night’s doings at the Cuban Club
Under the spreading maple trees
NE St. Pete, from Euclid Heights to Historic Old Northeast.
Local quotable
"The natural beauty with the bay is very appealing, but most of all, what makes it special is the people, there's a very neighborly sense to South Tampa. … There's a lot more diversity within a very small area. There's everything from very traditional, world-renowned establishments like Bern's to mini, new ethnic restaurants. One can…
The don’t-miss list
Thirty top draws in South-Tampa-by-the-bay.
Tipping the scales
#1 Suburban sprawl
The don’t-miss list
The top 20 draws in Downtown Tampa and Ybor.
Hitting the Heights
Tampa Heights, Seminole Heights, Riverside Heights.
Leisurely past, lively future
Downtown St. Pete, with Historic Kenwood and the Grand Central District
Stop-Loss and Superhero Movie
What’s new in movie theaters this week.
Caribou, Joan Baez
Plus Todd Rundgren
Married Life
Pierce Brosnan tries to bond with Rachel McAdams
Urban mix, Latin accent
Downtown Tampa, from business center to Harbour Island, from Channelside to Ybor City
The gateway through North Tampa
The University Area, where students, commuters and amusement seekers converge.
From the Seine to the Hillsborough
Dominique LaBauvie is an artist for “the new city.”
You Will Be A-mazed
Sensory Overload ’08 will mix artists and audiences in a labyrinth of art, music and performance at the Cuban Club.
The year of things happening
Right in the middle of it.
Local quotable
"This is an urban community. There are urban people living around here — just look at the University Mall and the clothing stores there. And there's the university. And there is a large artist community around here. There's like 40 recording studios, which works well with our own recording studio." —Eric Von Billington, co-owner of…
Local quotable
"People actually sit on their front porches and are open to one another around here. It truly is a front-porch community, and we didn't have to make up that name. We [the Neighborhood Association] give $250 grants to residents to encourage them to open up their enclosed porches. We gave out four just last year."…
The don’t-miss list
The 20 top draws in South St. Pete.
The don’t-miss list
The top 20 draws in Northeast St. Pete.
Local Quotable
"It's a great town to live in. Especially in the last 10 years or so, it's become a destination for dining, drinking and strolling around a downtown." —Skip French, owner of Skip's Bar & Grill Back to Urban Explorer
The don’t-miss list
Twenty-one top draws in the University Area.
The Globemother
Downtown pioneer and arts booster JoEllen Schilke.
Special Events: Women of the Spanish Main
Saturday, March 29
Singing in the rain
Band of Horses and Kimya Dawson weather the storm.
A walk down brewery lane
Located just off 30th Street, the bland exterior and modest signpost of the Yuengling Brewery doesn't exactly beckon visitors like nearby Busch Gardens. But in an area dedicated to the college student's beverage of choice — there are myriad beer pong tournaments, import nights and two-for-one specials in the area — Yuengling is an oft-overlooked…
A better place to be
Miss Carol lifts the spirits.
Run Fatboy Run and 21
A quirky rom-com and a blander Ocean’s 11
Local quotable
"It [went from] Biker City in the '70s to an art mecca in the '80s to a restaurant haven. … It's kind of a funky, kitschy town. It's an eclectic mix." —Stephen Ross "We really felt this is what Old Florida is all about. … With all the Spanish moss hanging from the trees and…
Fair: 33rd Annual Folk Fair
Sunday, March 30
Southern comforts
South St. Petersburg, from Midtown to the Pink Streets
Why is there violence in Tibet?
Don’t Panic … your war questions answered
The don’t-miss list
The top 25 draws in The Heights
Symphonie Fantastique
Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center features Berlioz
“Ready, fire, aim”
Is it possible to get Florida’s tax structure any more screwed up? Yes.
Feel the buzz
Dunedin, the downtown heart of North Pinellas
Patty meltdown
The CL Tournament of Burgers reaches the Final Four.
Special Event: Sensory Overload
Saturday, March 29
The don’t-miss list
The top 21 draws in Dunedin.
Local quotable
"I grew up here and left when I was 19 [in 1992]. It was basically a bunch of guys hangin' on the corner. Drug-infested. Crack houses. It wasn't a place I wanted to raise my kids. In 2005, I saw people fixing up the homes and not as many people hangin' on the corners. So…
The don’t-miss list
The top 30 draws in downtown St. Pete and Historic Kenwood/ Grand Central
The gold coast
South Tampa East: SoHo, Hyde Park and Bayshore
Theater: Avenue Q
Tuesday, April 1
Waterdigger hits the Heights
Garage rockers rant and rave.
Wine List
Got an upcoming or ongoing wine event? Send information to: The Wine List, 810 N. Howard Ave., Tampa, FL 33606, fax 813-739-4801 or e-mail brian.ries@creativeloafing.com. BEST BETs: RUM RUNNERS Put down the grape juice and spend the weekend hitting the hard stuff at the 3rd Annual Polished Palate Rum Festival. It kicks off with a…
Jobsite & American Stage set their seasons
Plus, Where’s Brian Shea? and other arts news
The don’t-miss list
The top 25 draws in downtown Gulfport.
Got soul?
The Atlanta outfit Soulphonics, formerly of Gainesville, is led by sultry frontwoman Ruby Velle, a diminutive woman who packs a dynamite punch with her boundless charisma and vocal chops. She's backed by a tighter-than-a-gnat's-ass band that delivers rubbery bass lines and punchy horns reminiscent of the sounds that propelled James Brown. The Soulphonics' originals stick…
Essential classic rock
All Music Guide picks the best thousand.
Music: An Evening With the Harlem Gospel Choir
Monday, March 31
Iraq, James Carville, Jericho
Plus anti-stingray legislation
Local quotable
"I liked it then. I like it now. [But] it's not what I thought it would be. I thought a bunch of artists would move in. It's cost-prohibitive, and these condos are sitting here empty because of the market." —Dominique Martinez, resident of the Channel District since 1997, when it was only old warehouses and…
CDs from Snoop Dogg, Nine Inch Nails, Missy Higgins and National Lampoon
Ego Trippin, Ghosts I-IV, On a Clear Night, and Electric Apricot
Dress to repress
"We want to be able to teach our kids how to dress appropriately. We want to train our kids how they should be as an adult."—Sen. Gary Siplin, sponsor of a bill that would ban sagging pants in schools "There's no need to add more black men to the prison system for something that could…
Salvia: What’s all the buzz about?
Florida legislators have found another drug to get hysterical about
Theater: The Mikado
Friday, March 28
The Latin funk of Locos Por Juana
Miami’s new sound machine comes to Sensory Overload.
Urban Explorer’s Handbook 2008
Creative Loafing‘s real-world guide to the neighborhoods of Tampa Bay
So you think you’ve got taste?
USF’s “State of Taste” conference looks at today’s art values.
Breakdown, Candy Bars
Plus the WMNF Blues Blast
Change comes to Old Northeast Tavern
But the new owners don’t want to lose its cozy neighborhood feel
Grape investments
Notable developments in the wine business.
Saturdays in the park
An art market brings new life to a troubled St. Pete park.
Main Street eclectic
The laid-back charms of downtown Gulfport.
Lena Young-Green: “Work together…”
Who? Lena Young-Green, longtime Tampa Heights community activist. Sphere of influence: Immediately after moving to Tampa in 1984, Young-Green joined the Tampa Heights Civic Association. Through three mayoral administrations, the Belize native has organized neighbors and pressured city officials for safer streets, more civic participation and redevelopment of Tampa's oldest neighborhood. From 1984 to 2000,…
Get loaded
Creative Loafing's Sensory Overload festival features a surplus of tantalizing sights, sounds and tastes Saturday at the Cuban Club in Ybor City. In the sonic department, attendees will be treated to a slew of music acts that includes Latin Grammy-nominated funk tropicale ensemble Locos Por Juana. The 10-person touring unit, from Miami, offers an ass-shaking…
Local Quotable
"We're both from up north, where you have a lot of neighborhood taverns. Down here, you don't really have that — you have commercial sections with restaurants and retail, and you have residential sections. They don't coexist. All of a sudden, you put a tavern in the middle of a residential neighborhood and all the…
Film: University of Tampa International Film Fest
Wednesday, April 2
Sensory Overload: The Music
Headlined by Miami's Locos Por Juana and NYC's Apes & Androids, plus a star-studded lineup of local bands and DJS, Sensory Overload '08 (music curated by Becca Nelson) promises to be a truly eclectic musical event. Here's CL music critic Wade Tatangelo's take on some of the noteworthy bands: Locos Por Juana This multiracial ensemble's…
Toadies’ Rubberneck still taut
Hop on this mid-’90s grunge classic
Rivers runs through it
The man is living, breathing, saxophone-playing history. Sam Rivers, 84, is often called jazz's "high-octane octegenarian." He's lived in Orlando for several years, where he's maintained a busy performing and recording schedule, but he rose to prominence in the 1960s as a leading light on the New York "loft scene," an artist-driven movement that focused…
Film: Sand and Sorrow
Thursday, March 27
