We Have the Technology
Now here's an election-winning strategy that is long overdue — don't focus on how you run the race, focus on how you rig the results. And to think I got out of the political business. UPDATE: OK, I'll let the other shoe drop. It's a parody site, apparently perpertrated by the professional pranksters Yes Men,…
Morning Roundup
Back at it after a Monday on which I couldn't find a damned thing to recommend: If there is one entrenched bureaucracy in local government that rises above all the other entrenched bureaucracies, it is the Pinellas transit system. So is it any surprise that PSTA is slowing down the idea of merging Pinellas and…
Cooper and Mario
Cooper Levey-Baker, CL's events editor and music writer in Sarasota, gets a shot at the gastronomic big time: dinner at Mario Batali's flagship restaurant, Babbo, in NYC. Prepare to drool when you read his account.
Daily Newspaper Circ Drops, or the Buggy Whip Manufacturing Update
The new Audit Bureau of Circulation numbers are out, and both the St. Petersburg Times and the Tampa Tribune lost daily circulation. The Times could point to one "bright" spot; It held flat (an increase of 0.2 percent) in its Sunday circulation compared with one year ago, the ABC Fas-Fax report indicates. Mama Trib fell…
Political Party Podcast
Here's the podcast of our latest Political Party, "Speaking of Iraq," which is an examination of some unconventional and indepth views of the war. Join our panelists Ñ former Vietnam helicopter pilot Sonny Vergara, Gulf War I vet Michael Pinson, and Vietnam infantryman John Kieffer Ñ as they join a live audience and moderator Wayne…
Morning Roundup
Check these out: The troubled Tampa expressway authority could learn a lesson from the troubled Orlando expressway authority: when in trouble, don't fire those who made the fucked-up decisions, fire your PR agency. In one neat alt-column, here's an indicted Hollywood city commissioner, a racist state representative, and a Palm Beach County Commission chairman who…
Intern Wendy Withers on: The San Antonio Rattlesnake Round-up
Sunday morning, I made my semi-regular journey to my mother’s house to spend some quality time with her. By quality, I mean doing my laundry, eating her food and taking the leftovers home with me so I don’t have to buy groceries for another day. Except this Sunday, we really did spend…
St. Pete Digital??
The Tampa Bay Business Journal's Baysider column is reporting that St. Petersburg economic development officials have talked with Tampa Digital Studio about abandoning its attempt to redevelop the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory in West Tampa and move to St. Pete: Michael Piotrowski, a spokesman for Tampa Digital, said St. Pete officialsdid approach company president George…
What I’d like to see in the last week of the campaign
Dear lord, we beseech thee to grant our prayers so that in the last week of this 2006 campaign season we can witness: Charlie Crist agree that Jim Davis' attendance record in Congress while he was trying to run and win a Democratic primary campaign isn't relevant. Davis and the St. Pete Times agree that…
Stay the Course
The Buzz first wrote about Jim Davis' tactic of tarring Charlie Crist with the phrase "stay the course" exactly one month ago, but the frequency of the Democratic candidate for governor's use of the annoying phrase has increased exponentially as the race draws to a close. During Tuesday night's debate, Davis hit Crist six times…
Grandstanding
Capitalizing on Charlie Crist’s remarks to reporters yesterday, Jim Davis and two top supporters fired back a tough response to his Republican opponent’s late entry into the insurance crisis debate. “He was absolutely AWOL,†the incoming House minority leader Dan Gelber said during a conference call with political reporters. “As somebody who was there, we…
Axl
Apparently, this whole being-a-rock-star business is like riding a bike. Axl Rose has been gone for a while — as you may know — but during his show Wednesday night at the Forum in Tampa it was as if he hadn’t forgotten a thing. The edgy charisma, the watchability, the gobbling up of the stage,…
Morning Roundup
Fun stuff: NEWS FLASH: Ronda Storms tells the Ledger that she won't be changing her "direct" style once in Tallahassee. I'm stunned. Check out this lame piece of journalism here. Mark Foley is rehabbing in Tucson, not Clearwater. From the alt-press: More Crist-is-gay claims, this time with names. And an interesting aside from the author…
Under the Carpet
So Danny Rolling – the man who brutally assaulted and murdered five University of Florida students 16 years ago – is set to be executed in several minutes. It reminded me of my own personal connection to the case:My ex-stepfather is a carpenter who used to work in Ocala and Gainesville in the late ’80s…
High School Censorship
I read with interest the St. Petersburg Times’ story on Hillsborough High principal William Orr’s censorship of the student newspaper, The Red and Black. As a former rabble-rouser in my own high school paper, The Challenger, I take interest in perceived threats to student journalists’ freedom. Last week, I interviewed the two candidates for the Hillsborough…
The Migration
Anticipating the little butterfly’s return.
Upcoming Concerts
November 2 Broken Social Scene w/Do Make Say Think Jannus Landing 2 Melvins/Big Business State Theatre 3 Kansas State Theatre 3 Jucifer Transitions Art Gallery @ Skatepark of Tampa 3 The Cult Jannus Landing 3 Trans-Siberian Orchestra Lakeland Civic Center 3 & 4 Steelheart Bourbon Street 4 Badfish Jannus Landing 4 Del McCoury State Theatre…
See What’s on the Slab
HOLIDAY
Music Menu
Randy as Ever Way before he became a prolific composer of movie music and the guy who sang "You've Got a Friend in Me," in that folksy-friendly voice, Randy Newman was probably the most biting satirist in popular music. Example: In "Sail Away," assuming the role of a pitchman luring slaves onto the boat, he…
Behind the story
Special Report: Endangered Species
Outtakes
New Releases EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED (PG-13) Actor Liev Schrieber (The Manchurian Candidate) makes his directorial debut with this black comedy based on Jonathan Safran Foer's best-selling novel about a Jewish-American writer traveling to Europe in search of family secrets. Elijah Wood heads up a crew of quirky characters, and the whole thing almost certainly gains…
Events around the city
AUSTRALIAN CRUSH HOUR Learn about Australian wines through the eyes of Steve Sink, who works for importer Grateful Palate. Wines all paired with artisanal cheeses. $25. 6:30-8:30 p.m. Fri., Oct. 27. Bern's Fine Wines & Spirits, 1002 S. Howard Ave., Tampa (813-250-9463). Reservations requested. HOT AND COLD RUNNING ROBLES Paso Robles, one of California's hottest…
Backspin
Elton John
‘Only 18 years old’
Stay the course to prevent a bloody civil war. Partition Iraq and get out as quickly as possible. Forget Iraq and pursue al-Qaida terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Stop embedding media with our troops. Those were just four of the positions espoused at Creative Loafing's Political Party on Oct. 16, a session devoted to starting…
Spins
At Carnegie Hall THELONIOUS MONK QUARTET WITH JOHN COLTRANE Blue Note In 1957, two watershed developments occurred in the life of John Coltrane: He swapped heroin and booze for spirituality, and he joined pianist/composer Thelonious Monk's band. Both of these served to rapidly accelerate Trane's musical development. Although the Monk/Coltrane quartet's nine-month tenure at New…
Dead Ringers
The rumors are true, sort of. There's no denying that Death of a President is one provocative movie — but, skillfully made though it is, the film's provocations amount more to cheap tabloid thrills than to any genuine engagement of hearts and minds. There's more than a little that's annoying about Death of a President,…
Andy Seniska
A Lasting Delusion ANDY SENISKA www.andragg.com For his second CD, Bay area multi-instrumentalist Seniska employs a host of friends to flesh out an uneven mash-up of prog-rock, experimental jazz, ambient and contemporary avant-classical styles. His enthusiasm for exploring new territory is evident and a few tracks — including the kitschy, driving "Go Wash The Dishes,"…
Endangered species
Special Report: How safe is Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo?
Outtakes
Catch a Fire, Saw 3, The Nightmare Before Christmas
Dancing Fashion
SPECIAL EVENTS/FUNDRAISER
Spooky Strolls
If you didn't get enough of the urban legends in last week's issue, check out Saturday's Haunted Hike through the Euclid/St. Paul neighborhood, one of the oldest in St. Pete. The guided tour explores old homes and landmarks that have given rise to legends like Sweetie Pie, the sewer-dwelling, man-eating alligator, and the jilted brides…
Sweeten Your Halloween
Finding the right wines to pair with chocolates can be a real treat.
Gram Parsons
Gram Parsons FALLEN ANGEL Rhino This bio-doc on the heartbreaking life and death of alt-country godfather Parsons is pretty standard images-and-anecdotes stuff. Still, it's extremely thorough, covering everything from the Tennessee Williams play that was Parsons' upbringing through the notorious theft and amateur cremation of his body by friend/road manager Phil Kaufman in 1973. Fallen…
Season’s Creepings, Part Two
Paranormal for a pair of normals
Brother Man
A rejuvenated Gregg Allman talks about Duane, the Allman Brothers and his new band.
You’re in the Game
SPORTS/VIDEO GAMES
Dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge
Should candidates answer political questionnaires?
The Wave
NO IMPEACHMENT FOR BUSH, SAYS PELOSI"But when it comes to that bastard Cheney, all bets are off." 62 YARDSMore yardage than Chris Simms' offense had in the first three games total. MICHAEL J. FOX TV ADAttacks Sen. Jim Talent of Missouri on stem cell research during World Series; Talent says he'll "shake it off." SEGER,…
Stepping up
An arts program aims to beautify communities and improve relationships.
See & Do Picks
DINER DRAMA American playwright Terrence McNally has always shown a special fondness for flamboyant personalities, from the Broadway-obsessed Buzz in Love! Valour! Compassion! to the imperious diva Maria Callas in Master Class. But two of his most well-known creations — the title characters in Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune — are considerably…
A Rose is Still a Rose
Guns N’ Roses rock the Forum well into the night.
Spins
Elton John, Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3, Viva Voce, Adult Swim, 120 Days
My hand to God
From the trial of ‘Ronnie One Arm’
About that night
Midtown residents are still divided on how the community has changed since Oct. 24, 1996.
Breaking News
Talking with the host of radio’s funniest (on purpose) news show.
Be Nauti
HOLIDAY/FUNDRAISER
True to Themselves
A quest for originality drives GreyMarket’s sound.
Shear Disaster
Lunging in all directions at once, Running with Scissors goes nowhere.
Not Just for Seder Anymore
The quality of kosher wines is on the rise.
CL’s must-do list for the week of
THURS., OCT. 26-WED., NOV. 1
Don’t Look Back
A 50-year-old play fails to translate into modern times.
A Rising Market
Considering the quality of the food, it’s no wonder St. Pete’s morning market is booming in popularity
Menu Week
THURSDAY, OCT. 26 BRAND NEW HEAVIES English acid-jazz pioneers Brand New Heavies helped contemporize classic funk and soul sounds for a new generation of urban-music fans in the early '90s. The group also influenced the organic, soul-jazzy sonic beds of hip-hop artists like Guru and A Tribe Called Quest to no small degree. (Jannus Landing,…
The view from the stoop
The first thing I remember is the St. Petersburg Police cruiser screaming by us on I-275 South, the officer behind the wheel yelling something we couldn't hear from two closed windows away. We wondered what the hell that was all about, and continued on our way to my then-girlfriend's wonderfully ramshackle two-story house on 14th…
Guavaween 2006
HE'LL GET YOU, MY PRETTY: A Features Costume Contest winner at Guavaween 2005. If you've attended Guavaween, you know what it's like and you either enjoy the unrestrained mayhem or avoid it like the plague. If you're among those who have never experienced Ybor City when its streets are overrun with the Bay area's drunken,…
