The sky is swallowing the Earth
Friends in Tennessee have weighed in with some freaky pictures of the storms that plowed through the middle of this nation on Sunday, spawning tornados and killing at least 27. This scene — the prelude before the storm — was taken by Kristina Snider of Cookeville, TN, our Deep South Storm correspondent.View another shot of…
An Armory RFP — Finally!
It's been some time since dozens of developers and others met at the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory in October 2004 to talk about the exciting possibilities for reusing that facility with the Florida National Guard moving to newer digs. And then the redevelopment process went on hiatus. Finally on Monday, the city of Tampa released…
Dunn in his own hospital
Tampa General Hospital spokesman John Dunn finds himself checked into his own shop after being hit by a van while riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle on Sunday. He suffered a badly broken leg and ankle but is otherwise all right. Dunn’s name is very familiar to media types, and he is on the board of directors…
Gene Simmons: Grand Mar-Shill
Gene Simmons insulted my shorts — something like, “Did you sue the guy who sold you those shorts?†This from a guy wearing tight jeans, black cowboy boots and a psychedelic T-shirt, covered by a black, double-breasted suit jacket with a rose in the pocket. Now I like a good rip, and it doesn’t bother…
And they’re off…
Was working at the computer this morning, at my house in NE St. Pete, with the sliding glass doors and windows open, with a beautiful breeze wafting through, when I heard the faraway buzz of car engines. It was 9 a.m., and racing had kicked off, and although I am not an auto racing fan,…
A Short List How-To
Short List Item Of The Day: FAA PROBES THIRD NEAR-COLLISION AT CHICAGO’S O’HARE AIRPORT THIS WEEK With Air Traffic controllers like this, who needs Al-Qaida? *** We are looking for your help in coming up with items for the Weekly Planet’s Short List. The Short List, for those of you who either don’t know or…
Animal Magnetism: Review of The Goat at Jobsite
Edward Albee’s The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? masterfully tackles the question, What if there were no rules?
Outtakes
New Releases ICE AGE 2: THE MELTDOWN (PG) The further adventures of Sid the Sloth and his lovable pals from the original Ice Age movie — Manny the wooly mammoth, Diego the saber-toothed tiger and that weird little over-caffeinated squirrel-thingie who's always obsessing about his nuts. In this installment, the weather appears to finally be…
Rebel with a clue
Figuring out Planet puzzler (and movie star) Merl Reagle
Basic and Basic-er
If the original Basic Instinct was trash expensively perfumed and impeccably wrapped (or, as some great mind once put it, a gilded turd), what are we to make of this ridiculous and utterly unnecessary sequel? Toxic waste with good lighting? Soft-core porn with delusions of grandeur? A chance for Sharon Stone to snag a paycheck…
Reelin’ in the Years
Donald Fagen’s new solo disc can’t measure up to ’70s Steely Dan
Backspin
Friday Afternoon in the Universe MEDESKI, MARTIN & WOOD Gramavision Released before the intrepid trio became a fixture on the jam-band scene, Friday Afternoon brims with freewheeling funk, grinding improvisation and willy-nilly noise. At this point, Medeski was still sticking mostly to his low-rent, greasy Wurlitzer organ, pushing it into overdrive and running it through…
Wine Emergencies
Counseling others via the phone.
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 winestuff@weeklyplanet.com. SAY CHEESE Not all cheeses pair up well with all wines. Come 'round and find out which ones like each other. $10; includes souvenir glass and hors d'oeuvres. 6:30-8:30 p.m.…
Steel Rockin’
They hail from St. Louis, Mo. Their last show at the New World earned them a Best of the Bay award, and their last album, Got This Feelin', was my third favorite album of 2005. They blend influences as disparate as Queens of the Stone Age and The Police into something all their own, and…
ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!
SPORTS
In Living Color
Clearing up a few mysteries of colorblindness.
Coming of Age in Festival-Land
The Sarasota Film Festival kicks off Friday with movies, parties and star-studded events.
Wordplay at the Sarasota Film Festival
Regal Hollywood 20, 1993 Main St., Sarasota, April 3, 7:15 p.m.; April 6, 7:30 p.m.; April 8, 3 p.m. Book signing on April 8. For more info on the festival, see this week's Film section or go to www.sarasotafilmfestival.com. Merl on the Web Merl Reagle: www.sundaycrosswords.com American Crossword Puzzle Tournament: www.crosswordtournament.com Wordplay: www.wordplaythemovie.com
Do it yourself
Cooking dinner gets easier.
Stories of the North
FILM
Park It in the Grass
THEATER
Action
Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks return with a new album of Selected Shorts.
Spins
Other People's Lives RAY DAVIES V2 This is Ray Davies' first solo album. Perhaps that's hard to fathom, but the legendary frontman for the Kinks sees the release of Other People's Lives a few months shy of his 62nd birthday, more than a decade after the last Kinks album. It was worth the wait. The…
Industrial Strength
Artist and carpenter Frank Strunk III enters the red zone.
Music Menu
THURSDAY, MARCH 30 PAUL OAKENFOLD One of the most instantly recognizable names in DJ-dom, Oakenfold was instrumental in breaking British house music to a worldwide audience. Then, he did a song with Crazy Town, and if that's not jumping the shark, I've got no idea what is. (Amphitheater, Ybor City) SKID ROW/QUIET RIOT Dude! Remember,…
People Of Substance
Raw materials transformed at Blue Acier; an Ybor pioneer in Orlando.
At The Lube
Thousands of bikers converge on Pinellas Park on Wednesday nights.
Cave of Corporeal Delights
LITERATURE
Me Read You Long Time
POETRY
Puccini’s Western Extravaganza
Composer Giacomo Puccini discovered the subject for his American commission while visiting New York City in 1907. During his stay, he saw David Belasco's play, The Girl of the Golden West, and according to stories, was so inspired that by the time he returned to Italy, he and the playwright had already reached an agreement.…
Where did our love go?
CHENEY'S DRESSING-ROOM DEMANDS "Heart pills must be separated by color — No Browns!" FLORIDA SUPREME COURT, PART ONE Allows anti-gay marriage amendment on the ballot because, as one justice writes, "that shit is gross." PRINCE PAINT JOB His rental house has purple stripes; address changed to undeliverable symbol. SKID-ROW PATIENT DUMPING And socialized medicine would…
Upcoming Releases
Abysmal Dawn, From Ashes (Crash Music) American Princes, Less and Less (Yep Roc) Annihilator, Waking the Fury (Locomotive Music) Baby Shambles, Down in Albion (Rough Trade Us) Blue October, Foiled (Universal) Tom Brosseau, Empty Houses Are Lonely (Fat Cat) Bubba Sparkxxx, Charm (Virgin) Caliban, Undying Darkness (Abacus) The Concretes, Concretes in Colour (Astralwerks) Daft Punk,…
Going Postal
BEWARE OF BIKERS Just read "Get Out of My Way" (Cover story sidebar, by Anne Arsenault, March 22-28), and I have to say: Brave. Very, very brave! I am seriously impressed with your level of bravery on that one. I'll leave it to other Bay area bicyclists to rake you over the coals for it…
Junk Food
Reality TV returns to the kitchen.
“P” Is For …
COMEDY
The Blotter
Air Force: In addition to regular police cars and those specialty jobs with the lights hidden inside the vehicle, the cops also have access to an airplane that patrols our city's highways and byways. An officer on patrol in Tampa was radioed by "air service," who reported observing a suspicious pickup truck on N. Florida…
