Carrie Quits
Carrie Wadlinger is getting while the getting is good. The head of the Pinellas County Democratic Party has announced her intention to step down as of July 15 from a job that, frankly, no one in their right mind should want. A combination of family concerns, fatigue, a sense of accomplishment and the ability to…
Our Former Editor
For those with long memories, who recall when the Planet was Creative Loafing, the name Steve Garbarino is loaded with Ybor City images of the paper’s larger-than-life editor in the early 1990s. Back before the Latin quarter was "redeveloped," Garbarino had the media party spot in a second-floor apartment in one of Ybor's older buildings.…
The Future of Journalism
Rant Warning: OK, so we hear so much about the future of journalism and how the MSM is screwing up the business and it has lost its way, blah blah blah. There is a lot to be said for the claim that newspapers are just giving the public what it wants. Witness: as I write…
Sami Appeals; Tribune Sues
A new lawyer for former USF professor Sami Al-Arian has filed a notice of appeal in his terrorism case. The lawyer, Peter Erlinder of the Wm. Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minn., declined to discuss the grounds for the appeal of Judge James S. Moody’s final judgment. In a telephone interview this afternoon,…
Holy Artifacts!
Thanks to the superficially different, fundamentally similar ambitions of George Bush, Dan Brown and Mel Gibson, scores of Americans are experiencing a renewed interest in (and in some instances, a reaffirmed obsession with) all things Christian. Whether you're politically religious, a conspiracy theorist or are simply looking for some tangible evidence to further substantiate your…
The Coldest I Ever Was
Tampa, Christmas Eve, 1989: The Southeast was experiencing one of its coldest holidays on record. In the Bay area, temperatures dropped as low as 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Massive heating demands led to power plant failures, and rolling blackouts were the consequence. Dad and I were holed up at home watching the Swedish film, My Life…
The Coldest I Ever Was
Wasn't the coldest weather I've ever been in. That coldest was the time in my college town of Cortland, N.Y., that the temp dropped to 35 below, with a 55-below wind chill. We went out, by the way, piled into Bob Dixon's busted-up '72 Toyota and visited some co-eds who had an apartment with better…
Down by the River
FESTIVAL
Short List
SHOT GUN TIMES WRITER FIRED Writing nasty stuff about Ronda can get you canned? Oh shit. SEX ON LOST Finally. (Although apparently it gets you killed.) GRAND-POP SHOT EU spending $1.2 million to retrain German hookers as caregivers for the elderly. SODAS OUT OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS As long as they don't touch the trade in…
Bubble Boy
In search of the perfect summer suit
The Agony of Defeat
Video Game Olympics
Outtakes
NEW RELEASES ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL (R) Terry Zwigoff's second project with graphic novelist Daniel Clowes doesn't have quite the effortless swing of their first collaboration, Ghost World, nor the epic, car-crash poetry of Crumb, but there's still considerable, loopy fun to be had here. If you consider Zwigoff's movies so far as hit singles (a…
Cold-Heart Snakes
The 10 Coldest Motherfuckers in Tampa Bay
Summer On Ice
Skating Rinks
Spins
The Attic Tapes LUCERO Liberty and Lament/East West While this reissue of the hip Tennessee alt-country band's first recordings — originally released on tiny Memphis imprint Soul is Cheap in the early '00s in extremely limited quantities — holds some great music, it chiefly serves as a historical document. Singer Ben Nichols' compelling rasp and…
Walk This Way
Special Events
Gulf Coast Beaches
ANCLOTE KEY, three miles off the north coast of Tarpon Springs. Accessible only by boat, this area is great for outdoor enthusiasts who prefer to visit the area's less-traveled beaches. BELLEAIR BEACH, Causeway Boulevard, between Clearwater and Indian Rocks beaches (727-595-4646). The area boasts two miles of sand with four separate beach access areas, a…
All Shook Up
(Relatively) Sweat-Free Exercise
A Volley of Tiny Balls
Table Tennis
Cold Case
The Coldest Beer in Town
Take Notice
Explore the fruits of Oregon’s wine.
Magic Carpet Ride
Learning to ski (indoors) on a moving rug.
Chari-Tees
An enterprising underground rocker builds a charity to honor his late wife.
Head for the Pool
Billiards
Go Dry
In search of dry ice
That Sinking Feeling
Summer's just begun but — between the wishy-washy prelude of M:I3 and now this popcorn atrocity — it already feels like it's been here forever. A disaster movie that only a disaster-movie-junkie could love, Poseidon is a thrill machine in the worst sense of the phrase — its characters are merely fodder for the machine,…
Final Persecution
The summer End of Sami
Milkshake Marathon
Tasting the best ice cream-and-milk concoctions in Tampa Bay.
Cutting the Ice
Ice Sculpting
Freeze frames
Movies to cool you to the core
The Coldest I Ever Was
I grew up in Long Island, N.Y., and in the mid-'80s my parents had an in-ground pool built in our backyard. Unlike in sunny Florida, pools up north are covered each winter, with the grand reopening becoming a cherished ritual of spring. One year, spring came a little early when some cinder blocks my dad…
Hang In There
Rock Climbing
Top Of The Pops
Meet the Popsicle, America’s favorite frozen treat.
Upcoming Releases
The following releases will be in stores Tues., May 16: Alarmist, Evil Works (Frenetic) As I Lay Dying, Long March: The First Recordings (Metal Blade) Big 10-4, Testing the Atmosphere (Universal) Boris, Pink (Southern Lord) Brand New Sin, Brand New Sin (Century Media) Cam'Ron, Killa Season (Diplomatic Man) CJ Sleez, Back From the Brink (Spinerazor)…
Red Hot
Hat Trick’s latest is one of the most stimulating shows in recent memory.
Myth Busting
Just how long does it take to cool down a beer?
Splat
The short, happy life of the love bug.
Battle of the incumbents
Pinellas board disagreements prompt a schoolyard fight.
The Coldest I Ever Was
Was also maybe the dumbest I ever was. Why did I think that in Portland, Maine, in January, I wouldn't need a heavy winter coat? It turned out that I needed one inside, let alone for frigid forays into the truly, deeply cold outdoors. Chalk it up to the treacherous January thaw. In NYC, where…
Amusements and Attractions
ADVENTURE ISLAND, 10001 Malcolm McKinley Drive, near Busch Gardens (813-987-5660). This 30-acre water park features a huge variety of amusements, including slides, corkscrews, water falls, a wave pool, children's water playground and other family attractions. Additional amenities include outdoor cafés, picnic and sunbathing areas, gift shops, arcades and a white-sand volleyball complex. The park is…
Show Us What You Got
DANCE
Get Your Play On
Sunrise Table Tennis Club plays at these locations:
The Blotter
OPEN CONTAINER ROUND-UP: And now, the latest installment in a continuing series devoted to Bay area street drinkers and the officers who (easily) catch them. IT'S ONLY NATURAL: After an informal, unscientific and unreliable study of police reports from Tampa, the reigning champion of the open container violation is still Natural Beer (in both Light…
The Coldest I Ever Was
Working in our family-run grocery store as a kid, I would be locked up by my sibs in the meat cooler for shits and grins. It was maybe 8-by-8 feet and always packed. Hunting season or no, there were always a couple deer carcasses, several cows, maybe a pig or two, and some weird shit…
The Coldest I Ever Was
It was the second time I dumped the snowmobile that I truly realized just how frozen you can feel, lying in the snow 10,000 feet up in the Sierra Nevadas near Tahoe City, Calif. I would go on to flip the machine again (As my son, Nicholas, will be glad to tell you in detail,…
The Swing Of Things
Indoor Golf
Comic Relief
The Dalí Museum’s namesake shines in a new show of Spanish art.
The Cold War
An ice-cold backyard brouhaha.
The Coldest I Ever Was
Full of drunken, depressed musicians, my car broke down on the way home from a horrible gig in Tallahassee. I can't remember if it was just before or just after Christmas '92 or '93, but the temperature was around 30 degrees — one of the coldest days in North Florida that year. After an hour…
Parks & Trails
The following parks and trails are free and open dawn to dusk unless otherwise indicated. A.L. ANDERSON PARK, 39699 U.S. 19 N., Tarpon Springs (727-943-4085). This 129-acre site features a boardwalk and nature trail, boat ramp, playground, picnic shelter and restrooms. BOYD HILL NATURE PARK, 1101 Country Club Way S., St. Petersburg (727-893-7326). This 245-acre…
Music Menu
THURSDAY, MAY 11 KEVIN SO Asian-American folk-festival staple Kevin So has released 10 albums in as many years, and is reportedly adept at just about any style, from vintage croonerisms to jazz and R&B, on both guitar and keyboards. This is So's second UU Dome appearance. (Unitarian Universalist Church of Tampa, Tampa) JUST RECORDS SHOWCASE…
Ice Age
Cold Tub Therapy
Summer Lovin’
Summer 2006 may be a season to remember at the multiplex.
Take me IN to the ball game
Testing the climate control at the Trop
Private Music
Singer-songwriter Mark Kozelek is many things to many people. He's the man behind the cathartic, intimately personal pop/Americana of Red House Painters. He's the focal point of the newer, more eclectic outfit Sun Kil Moon. He's the unpredictable, cover-happy solo artist whose most recent album is a collection of Modest Mouse remakes. OK, so he's…
Cool Rider
How low will it go?
Summer Camps and Workshops for Kids
AMERICAN STAGE, 211 Third St. S., St. Petersburg (727-823-1600, xt. 201) Campers explore the art of musicals and perform their own production in Making Marvelous Musicals (ages 5-17, May 30-June 23, $500); in Drama-Rama!!, campers learn about acting, design, stage craft and more (ages 5-17, June 26-July 7, $300); Puppetry Under the Florida Sun has…
No Sweat
Introducing the fully air-conditioned Summer Guide 2006.
Winelist
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. *HONOR THY MOTHER Moms make some good wines. Honor their efforts by sampling those made by or inspired by moms. $5 (includes souvenir glass and hors d'oeuvres). 6:30-8:30 p.m. Fri.,…
The Coldest I Ever Was
August in Alaska. Summertime it may be, but it's not exactly a tropical paradise. Last summer, during a family cruise through Alaska's inner passage, my family took a day trip from Seward for a river wildlife safari. The brochures promised eagles, swans, bears and moose, and at $115 a person, we assumed that this —…
Ice: It’s not all the same
The virtues of pellet ice
Museums
ART THE ARTS CENTER, 719 Central Ave., St. Petersburg (727-822-7872). With five separate galleries, The Arts Center boasts a wide range of art by locally, nationally and internationally known artists. Currently on display: X-ing, Project Creo's first exhibition dedicated exclusively to the work of video artistry, through May 26; and Renee Stout: The Church of…
Backspin
LoveThe Cult Beggars' Banquet Anybody who has even a passing acquaintance with alternative rock knows "She Sells Sanctuary," but this iconic LP contains so many more top-notch, style-defining tunes — "Rain," "Hollow Man," "Brother Wolf, Sister Moon," "Revolution," the title track. Love showed only hints of the AC/DC-meets-Fields of the Nephilim blast of The Cult's…
Mix, burn and chill
Songs in the key of cool
