The Grand Dame and the Boy Genius
TORONTO — Meeting Catherine Deneuve for the first time is a little like getting a private audience with the Pope or the Queen of England, only a lot more exciting. And glamorous. For going on half a century, Deneuve has been the embodiment of feminine elegance and charisma, the personification of idealized French womanhood. In…
The Ids Are Alright
To hear the hippest quarters of America's Indie Rock Nation (and Magnet magazine) tell it, songwriter Bob Pollard and his band Guided by Voices are an innovation on a par with fire, sliced bread and Internet porn. Though hardly a blip on the commercial-music radar screen, GbV qualifies as a fifth food group for most…
Sunshine Supermajority
If Amendment Four had been written into the Florida Constitution in 2001, instead of maybe going in this year, there would be two fewer pocks on the state's open-government laws. Amendment Four is on the Nov. 5 election ballot, thanks to a pair of Pinellas County state legislators. It would require that new exceptions to…
Books
Tami Hoag Dark Horse Bantam/$25 I'm not a horse fan, per se. I enjoy their beauty, respect their strength and admire their skills and usefulness, but I've never been inclined to jump on a half-ton spirited steed and ride off into the sunset. These facts speak loud and clear to Tami Hoag's ability not only…
Orbitals
College Stash Just when you start to believe it's every man for himself, some concerned citizen takes action on behalf of his fellow Floridians. Miami accountant Charles Gomes found out that, unlike other unclaimed property, people contributing to the Florida Prepaid College Program have a finite amount of time to reclaim their unused funds. Gomes…
I Love You Just the Way You Aren’t: A Review of ‘The Shape of Things
It's the many meanings of this attempt — to shape a lover's life, to make him over in a preconceived way — that's the subject of The Shape of Things, Neil LaBute's partly satisfying play, co-produced by Stageworks and Gorilla Theatre. The character who wants to do the shaping in this case is an art…
Darwin Goes to College
Civil rights groups say Bright Futures scholarships leave dim prospects for minorities.
Homestyle Lovin’
Iris's Family Restaurant is one of those friendly joints where the waitress calls you "Hon" and you can dally for a couple of hours over a hearty breakfast, guzzling coffee and scanning the newspaper. It's the kind of comfy, cheap and endearing restaurant that I have sought over the years in practically every state in…
Eclectic Company
For two decades and change, the Clearwater Jazz Holiday has provided Bay area jazz fans with a respite from the doldrums. It's also offered an inviting local getaway for folks less enamored of saxes and solos. CJH is held in verdant Coachman Park. And it's free. What's not to like? Well, over the years, jazz…
Spins
Red Hot & Riot Various Artists Over the course of a dozen years, the Red Hot Organization has released AIDS-fundraising CDs that are theme-oriented and specialize in unique artist collaborations. Red Hot + Riot, the 14th in a series that includes Red Hot + Blue, Red Hot + Rio, America is Dying Slowly and others,…
Trolley, Ho!
Trolley, Ho!"Clang, clang, clang," went the trolley "Ding, ding, ding," went the bell "Zing, zing, zing," went my heart-strings As we started for Huntingdon dell —Hugh Martin/Ralph Blane, "The Trolley Song" Judy Garland made "The Trolley Song" famous in Meet Me in St. Louis, belting it out in an extravagant number along with an expectant…
Drinking Blindly
It's sad to say, but our culture is polluted by marketing. When's the last time you made a decision based solely on the quality or usefulness of a product? Whether we like it or not, we are programmed by advertisements on TV, radio, and yes, even in the pages of the alternative newspaper you're reading…
Web Site of the Week
Welcome to Diana's Halloween Countdown. In honor of this most glorious and ghoulish holiday, I'm devoting my next three columns to Web sites supernatural, scary or just plain silly. Considering the current state of paranormal research, I think most "information" to be found in cyberspace fulfills all three criteria rather nicely. Which naturally brings us…
Outtakes
Abandon (PG-13) A much better film that those horrible trailers would lead you to believe, Abandon spends a good portion of its running time pulling the rug out from under our feet and keeping us guessing. The plot elements here are standard — a pretty grad student (Katie Holmes), a vanished ex-boyfriend who might be…
Shore Subject
The future of Treasure Island was up against the clock and the ladies of Jazzercise on Sept. 19.Four months earlier, the Pinellas County city's commission had asked its municipal zoning board to review proposed regulations that will likely replace the funky bars and sandy roadhouses along Gulf Boulevard with glitzy high-rise hotels. At the rear…
