Matt Hires inks deal with Atlantic imprint
Tampa singer/songwriter Matt Hires has signed to F-Stop Music, a new imprint label under Atlantic Records that will issue his debut EP Live From Hotel Cafe on Oct. 7. Hires CD release party will take place Wed., Oct. 8, New World Brewery, Ybor City. An expressive vocalist with impressive range and a gifted lyricist, Hires…
AC/DC rolls into Tampa on Dec. 21
Hipsters, run for the hills. AC/DC is scheduled to rattle the St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, on Sun., Dec. 21 — and it will take a major disaster to keep me from attending. The highly underrated hard rock titans are masters of heavy riffs and swinging rhythms that make you wanna shake your ass, an…
Crossfit day one: Snider gets back in shape
Eight minutes. That’s how long my workout lasted on Saturday. That’s right, 8 minutes. It was my first in the Crossfit 9 program, and it took about everything I had to finish the routine. I had rotator cuff surgery on my right shoulder in March, and just recently passed my six-month rehab mark and was…
New Food Labeling Goes into Effect
Washington and the USDA just passed the COOL bill – Country of Origin Labeling -which requires food producers to identify where your produce and meat were grown. Just in time to allay the Chinese milk, Mexican peppers and California spinach fears. But, like all other legislation these days, there are plenty of loopholes. "It will be…
Playing ketchup
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Reel Projections — September 30
First things first: Take the link below to the prospects of a sequel to Blade Runner with a grain of salt. Considering the revered status of Ridley Scott's sci-fi classic, this sounds like something that will get written, shared among friends at swank Hollywood dinner parties, and then stuffed in a desk drawer (or jump…
A 50 Egg Salute
Sure, I'm a couple days late (and we've posted some other video here) but Paul Newman deserves at least a week of mourning. Along with Sockarooni — my favorite mass-market red suace — this is what always comes to my mind when I think about Newman:
The Short List — Tues., Sept. 30
Is it just me or has September sucked big time? Wall Street is in shambles, Main Street is even worse. Creative Loafing files for Chapter 11. This message is brought to you by MasterCard, the official card of the Second Great Depression. Now that the bailout has failed, it's time to go Banana. Obama has…
Five Things to Do Today
1. "The Revival Tour" — which features solo acoustic sets by photo by Jason Smith), Ben Nichols of Lucero and Tim Barry of Avail — stops in Tampa tonight. 8 p.m., Orpheum, $15 (all ages). 2. MOSI recently opened a feature-length IMAX Dome Theatre film, Kilimanjaro: To the Roof of Africa. David Breasheras' doc follows…
Hat Trick Heroes and other locals shine at Skipper’s
Skipper’s Smokehouse’s 28th anniversary weekend celebration wrapped Sunday (Sept. 28) with rousing sets by some of Tampa Bay’s top rock acts. Hat Trick Heroes’ skilled-beyond-their-years teenage members closed the evening with a performance that offered a proverbial rattling of the venue’s famed oaks. The power trio brought the audience to the lip of the stage…
Creative Loafing to reorganize finances in Chapter 11 bankruptcy action
Check over on PoHo blog for news about Creative Loafing filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy court reorganization.
Note to self…stop watching the Emmy’s
Each Fall an army of eighteen-year-old "adults" floods USF, expecting to finally set foot in the long prophesized "real world." They soon discover that college, and the real world, are whatever these freshmen make of them. In constructing their identities, most are required to take a basic writing course. Creative Loafing has chosen four of those students to blog for the Daily Loaf. These are their…
Assaulted by an Afghan Whig in Cincinnati!
Many years ago, I played bass in a band called The AmeriCar Underworld. Of all of the shit we pulled (we were once banned from the Ritz, Brass Mug and Stone Lounge simultaneously), one story seems to keep floating around. To this day, if I meet someone who remembers me from the ACU, I still hear…
Homeless feeding ordinance struck down in Orlando
A few weeks ago, I wrote a story on St. Petersburg city officials' problems with charitable groups feeding the homeless in public. In that story, City Attorney John Wolfe acknowledged the constitutional issues with banning feeding in the parks. In a memo to the St. Petersburg City Council, he mentioned the legal department would be…
We’re in Chapter 11! CL files for reorganization in bankruptcy court
The difficulties in the national print media industry hit home at Creative Loafing as the company filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy action this morning. We're still publishing and don't expect layoffs or anything negative along those lines. Here's the full story.
Five Things To Do Today
1. Henry Rollins (pictured) brings his "Center. 7:30 p.m., Ferguson Hall-TBPAC, $26.50. 2. Tampa Theatre offers a limited presentation of Man on Wire, a documentary about Frenchman Philippe Petit's seven-years-in-the-making endeavor to set up a high wire between the World Trade Center towers and walk across it. 7:30 p.m., $9 adults/$8 students/$7 seniors and military. 3. The triumphant players and coaches of…
The Short List — Mon., Sept. 29
Tina Fey does it again playing Sarah "The Other White Meat" Palin. Stay tuned for another turn in the post-debate edition of SNL next weekend — if Lorne can talk her into it, that is. Do we have a deal? After winning Friday night's debate, Obama holds onto his lead in the polls. Speaking of…
Extravagonzo at Skipper’s Smokehouse
Skipper's Smokehouse wraps up its 28th Anniversary weekend with a local band showcase that we — CL — had a hand in choosing, which means, y'know, we highly recommend it. Here's the skinny: Local Music Extravagonzo: Hat Trick Heroes w/Tailgunner Joe and the Earls of Slander/Katherine Kelly & Sons of Hippies/Basic Rock Outfit/Sarge and the…
Cool Hand Luke is king
I've been feeling like shit the past few days. Hunkered down at my apartment Friday and my parents' place Saturday. Last night, I waited until everyone went to bed (my cousin and his wife were visiting from Pennsylvania) and then spent $1.99 of my folks' hard-earned money on Cool Hand Luke (thanks ma and pa).…
Paul Newman: best movies
Paul Newman died Friday at age 83 with dignity, as one of the greatest actors, family men and philanthropist of his generation. Despite being one of the most handsome men to ever be captured on film, Newman largely passed on the heartthrob roles, instead playing anti-heroes rife with self-destructive flaws, their hearts of tainted gold…
The Short List — Saturday, Sept. 27
Bill Murray is not opposed to a Ghostbusters 3. Morrissey and Johnny Marr are working together on a Smiths rarities compilation. Paul Newman is dead from cancer at 83. He was one of the 20th century's greatest actors and a truly generous human being who parlayed his celebrity into decades of good works. Butch Cassidy…
Week 4 NFL Picks: Matt Millen Memorial Edition
Time for another round of pigskin prognostications nobody seems to care about — yet. We're hard at work developing a series of bribes that should change your tune right quick, Tampa Bay. But in the meantime, we're just going to keep ramming this thing down your throats like Max Hardcore on a meth bender. This…
2 Birds 1 Stone
Alex Pickett's latest report on the St. Pete City Council got me thinking. If the city's so worried about panhandlers and emissions caused by recycling trucks, why not lobby the state legislature for a bottle bill? The town I spent the bulk of my college days in, East Lansing, also has a sizable homeless population…
Boozing it up at Best of the Bay
Here's a look at my new Bar Tab logo and a snippet from my latest column. Were you one of the approximately 1,000 people who partied it up at CL's Best of the Bay Awards Show at Tampa Theatre? Then perhaps you recall the flask I chugged on stage. Good times. From my current Bar…
Critical Mass!!
It's the last Friday of the month and you know what that means. Grab your bike and saddle up for Tampa's Critical Mass. What is this "Critical Mass", you ask? Critical Mass in the cycling world is a controversial topic. For some it is a protest against cars and a demonstration of how bikes are allowed on…
My First Election
I almost didn’t get into to see Obama on Wednesday. The line to get in was extremely long — it took more than half an hour of walking to get to the end of the line, and it became known as the ‘line that never ends’ by all of the people walking to find it.…
TV scoop: Rocco Baldelli has muscular dystrophy
ABC Action News reported last night that Rays fan fave Rocco Baldelli has a form of muscular dystrophy. He spoke with the station's anchor Wendy Ryan last night about it. I haven't seen any other media pick up on this; it was already known that he had a problem with muscle weakness (most media reported…
The Short List — Fri., Sept. 26
The Letterman-McCain feud picked up steam Thursday, as the late night host continued to hammer the presidential candidate for standing him up on Wednesday." If you missed the Wednesday rants, click here. For a compilation of Dave's best shots from last night, see below: The bailout implodes. McCain's gambit to save the economy explodes in…
Five Things to Do This Weekend
1. The nonprofit community organization, Florida Institute for Community Studies, presents its first annual Multicultural Food and Art Celebration. Professional and up-and-coming artists – among them, Guillermo Portieles, Jan Radovan, Carlton Lewis , Vivian Fist, Julian Moreno and Alecia Zurita – exhibit alongside students and youths ages 7-17 who are currently enrolled in FCIS’ free…
Lyle Lovett, Hat Trick Heroes, Bonerama and more
It's Thursday. Time to get stoked for the weekend. Here's what we have for ya in the latest issue of CL (pictured). Plus, this just in, Anberlin at Vinyl Fever tonight Skipper's 28th Anniversary bash wraps with Hat Trick Heroes, Tailgunner Joe & the Earls of Slander and more on Sunday. Bonerama, GreyMarket, Lyle Lovett,…
Finding ticket prices for Counting Crows: An ordeal
I just researched the ticket prices for the Counting Crows/Maroon 5 show at the Ford Amphitheatre on Fri., Oct 3 — info I needed for my blurb in next Wednesday's MusicWeek section — and I’m ready for a nap. Exhausted, I tell ya. Here’s my saga: First I went to the Ford Amphitheatre website and…
Bartlett = Rays MVP?
Yep, that Jason Bartlett. At least according to the Tampa Bay chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America; heads up to my Favorite Sports Blog Ever, firejoemorgan.com, for their hilarious commentary. I can't say I disagree with FJM's assessment that the selection of Barlett for this honor is, at best, horribly misguided conjecture. Longoria,…
The Ballad of Sarah Palin
OK, it's not genius. Hell, it's not even that funny. But it's kinda funny. And it's a slow-ass day in the music world, y'know, with everyone worried about the United States of America becoming a Banana Republic and all. "The Ballad of Sarah Palin"
Reel Projections — September 25
Pirates of the Lone Ranger: Johnny Depp is back as Jack Sparrow and — Tonto?! Child’s play: Spielberg to direct another kid’s sci-fi flick. License to thrill: The Sun reviews Quantum of Solace. Keeping watch: The latest on the Watchmen lawsuit between Fox and Warner Bros. Rachel McAdams to cozy up to Sherlock Holmes?
Bill O’Reilly gets hacked.
In a nanny-nanny-boo-boo response to a recent "news" report by Bill O'Reilly on WikiLeaks (spurred by the Sarah Palin personal email hacking incident), the hackers have broken into O'Reilly's own site and leaked the names of 200 or so users. From the Bill O'Reilly.Com message board: The FBI and Secret Service are close to indicting some…
Sex Offender Lives Under Bridge
Interesting story from the Tampa Tribune on a sex offender living under the Selmon Crosstown Expressway in Tampa. Zackery Hicks, 42, became homeless after recently released from prison. He couldn't afford an apartment. He couldn't live with family, because they lived within 1,000 feet of bus stop and daycare facility. And homeless shelters wouldn't take…
Mayor Baker comes around: St. Pete to get curbside recycling
In his strongest words to date, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker is giving the green light for the city to adopt the curbside recycling plan offered by Pinellas County. Although he still has reservations about the environmental effect of trucks picking up recyclables (something the county has scoffed at), he told the St. Petersburg Times…
Finding ticket prices for Counting Crows: An ordeal
I just researched the ticket prices for the Counting Crows/Maroon 5 show at the Ford Amphitheatre on Fri., Oct 3 — info I needed for my blurb in next Wednesday's MusicWeek section — and I’m ready for a nap. Exhausted, I tell ya. Here’s my saga: First I went to the Ford Amphitheatre website and…
Five Things to Do Today
1. Last chance to see artists offer their visual response to the idea of The Human Condition. On display through Sept. 27, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., C. Emerson Fine Arts, free admission. Pictured at left: A lithograph from Lee Lee's "Nga in Tru Vu's Garden" series. 2. Comedian Margaret Cho brings her "Beautiful Tour" to Tampa Bay…
The Short List — Thurs., Sept. 25
Will America ever learn? George W. Bush addressed the nation last night, proclaiming "our entire economy is in danger." That means two things. 1. There is no crisis. 2. Bend over, American taxpayer. Bush invites both candidates to the White House for a chat about the economy. A theft bailout deal is close. Hey McCain,…
Vinyl vs. CD: listening test 1 (Miles Davis’ “Eighty-One”)
Last week, I wrote about my acquisition of a new turntable, my first since the early 1990s, and pledged to do some comparisons between CDs and LPs, which is a heated debate in the audiophile community (with most audiophiles, I’m told, favoring vinyl). First, you should know that I am not an audiophile, nor even…
Protest songs inspired by the Bush administration
For my CL music feature this week I compiled a list of the Top 10 protest songs inspired by the Bush administration. See, folks, there's an upside to everything. Bright Eyes, Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam are among the artists that amde the tally. Here's the story, titled "Dear Dubya" in the print edition that's…
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McCain suspends campaign!
News breaking all over the Internet right now is that Sen. John McCain has suspended his campaign for the rest of the week! (Check out Wayne Garcia's take on the PoHo blog.) McCain is also trying to get Sen. Barack Obama to agree to postpone Friday's first scheduled presidential debate. Here are McCain's comments, from…
Clay Aiken is gay
Clay Aiken has finally confirmed what the whole world has suspected ever since he crooned his way through American Idol in 2003. No big surprise here in regards to Aiken's sexual orientation, I think even my 80something-year-old Italian grandma saw this one coming. From People.com: Following the Aug. 8 birth of his son Parker, singer…
Five Things to Do Today
1. reggae show featuring Impulse with special guest headliner Bankie Banx (sometimes called the "Anguillan Bob Dylan"; pictured at left). 7 p.m., Skipper's Smokehouse, $13. 2. Stop Pet Overpopulation Together holds a free pet seminar, "Hidden Clues for Understanding Animal Behavior" with animal communicator Laura Lassiter. 6-8 p.m., Pinellas Park Library. 3. "Construction Comic" Carmen…
The Short List — Wed., Sept. 24
We've switched to a new version of Wordpress and I'm having some trouble getting the video to display. (Thanks, Stephen.) If you click the link below, you'll see Amy Goodman discussing U.S. Troops about to be stationed in the continental United States in advance of the election. Is someone afraid the Republicans are going to…
What does it feel like to own a multinational insurance company?
Now that the government has bailed out AIG, we're fixing to find out. You, me and every other U.S. taxpayer will own just short of 80 percent of the ailing insurance giant. I don't know exactly what role I will play in managing our new company. I'm not much with an actuarial table. My sales…
St. Petersburg City Council takes on the homeless, curbside recycling
Remember that expanded panhandling law the St. Pete City Council passed back in January? You know, the one that was supposed to rid our streets of those (gasp!) beggars? It didn't work so well. Since the ordinance took effect eight months ago, police have made 27 arrests, but the crackdowns hardly solved the problem. Panhandlers…
Literature: Deep Carnivale: A Celebration of Words – Saturday, September 27
Now in its second year, Deep Carnivale: A Celebration of Words is a local lit fest that draws attention to more than 60 Bay area authors, poets, songwriters and artists, each adding his or her own unique flavor of creative verbiage and visuals to the festivities. The event is held on the HCC-Ybor campus grounds…
Food: I Like It Hot! Festival- Saturday, September 27
If you're not happy unless you're eating something that sets your taste buds on fire, you may want to check out the eighth annual I Like It Hot! Festival. The fiery food fest features all manner of spicy foods, homemade hot sauces, hot pepper plants, a pepper eating contest, amateur hot sauce and salsa competitions…
Creative Clay lines up artists and music for Folkfest St. Pete
This weekend marks the second annual Folkfest St. Pete, hosted by Creative Clay, the nonprofit responsible for visionary programs in the field of arts entrepreneurship for artists with developmental, physical and emotional disabilities. As if what they already do wasn't enough, Creative Clay, led by executive director Grace Anne Alfiero, established the event last year…
Art: Kent Bicentennial Portfolio: Spirit of Independence – Tuesday, September 30
Eckerd College recently unveiled an exhibit on loan from the Museum of Fine Arts. In Kent Bicentennial Portfolio: Spirit of Independence, a roster of artists — Will Barnet, Colleen Browning, Audrey Flack, Red Grooms and Jacob Lawrence, among others — honored America's 1976 bicentennial with visual answers to the query, "What does independence mean to…
Jeremy Gloff goes back to 1987 with new album
1987JEREMY GLOFF(Riotboy Records)(JeremyGloff.com) If lo-fi synths and high-drama lyrics turn you on, then 30-something singer/songwriter/keyboardist Jeremy Gloff is your man. For his umpteenth DIY solo release (he started issuing discs at a rate of about one per year in '93), Gloff goes into Boy George mode with a collection of gloomy club thumpers featuring titles…
Tampa Bay socialists have their presidential candidate: Brian Moore
Once, in college, I joined a socialist organization. I was new to politics and the Democrats and Republicans bored me. Armed revolution? Much more sexy. One afternoon, I came across a group of activists from the International Socialist Organization leafleting in the downtown area. "Join the struggle for justice and liberation!" they shouted. "OK!" I…
Hillsborough County undermines its Moral Courage Award
What makes a King out of a slave?Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave?Courage! What makes the elephant charge his tusk, in the misty mist or the dusky dusk?What makes the muskrat guard his musk?Courage!—The Cowardly Lion It must feel kinda shitty these days to be a past winner of the Hillsborough…
From auditions to opening at Largo’s 8 O’Clock Theatre.
July 13. It’s 7 p.m. on a hot day in Largo when 21 men and women enter the half-lit auditorium at the Largo Cultural Center and take seats facing the stage. They’re all here to audition for the Eight O’Clock Theatre’s production of Proof, the Pulitzer Prize-winning David Auburn play scheduled to open in September.…
Can tapeworms help you lose weight?
In her book Seabiscuit Laura Hillenbrand states that in the 1930s racehorse jockeys trying to lose weight would swallow a capsule containing a tapeworm egg. The worms would then mature in the jockeys' stomachs and eat whatever food was dropped their way. I'm sure you've heard this same story in connection with the great opera…
Wine and Culinary Events, 9/25-9/30
THURSDAY: COLUMBIA RESTAURANT BENZIGER WINE DINNER Special guest of honor Erinn Benziger will be on hand to pour her family's Sonoma wines, paired with food from Columbia's kitchens. $75. 7-10 p.m., Sept. 25, Columbia Restaurant, 2117 E. Seventh Ave., Tampa (813-248-4961 or columbiarestaurant.com). THURSDAY: CORK & OLIVE PALM HARBOR Sample nine wines with light appetizers.…
Fashion: Fashion Week Tampa Bay – Thursday, September 25
Local and regional fashion and accessories designers take the runway spotlight during Fashion Week Tampa Bay, a multi-day showcase that exposes the up-and-comers to retail buyers, boutique owners and consumers. Among the featured participants are 2008 Creative Loafing Best of the Bay fashion design winner and St. Pete style maker Ivanka Ska; Essence Flowers, a…
Chappy’s Creole fare adds Big Easy flavor to Downtown St. Pete
Craig Chapman, the man behind Chappy's, is a multifaceted fellow. He's a former corporate chef for chains like Hops and Bonefish Grill who's made the move into more independent dining, albeit with a mini-chain mentality. Chapman and a cadre of investors have planned three restaurants for downtown St. Pete, all with different culinary themes. Chappy's…
The ‘light petting’ blues
Update phrases before proceeding with plan
Can The Lucky Ones break the Iraq war-movie jinx?
In late 1946 producer Samuel Goldwyn took a dramatic gamble when he released William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives, a drama about three soldiers trying to adjust to civilian life after returning home from World War II. Adapted from a verse novel, the movie ran nearly three hours, and one of its lead…
Fundraiser: Photo Mojo! – Thursday, September 25
This year's Photo Mojo! is a joint fundraiser for Florida Museum of Photographic Arts and Friends of the Library of Tampa-Hillsborough County. Guests in cocktail dress enjoy wine tastings, heavy hors d'oeuvres, and live and silent auctions of 14 of the Burgert Brothers' slice-of-history Cirkut photographs — like the famous 1927 New York Yankees baseball…
Boozin’ it up at the Best of the Bay awards
I’m a big fan of awards shows juiced with booze. That’s why the alcohol-enhanced Golden Globes traditionally stomps the liquor-less Oscars. I don’t want to see someone gravely hand over a dumb-ass plaque — or accept the honor with a stale speech devoted to mom and his fifth-grade drama teacher. Most awards show watchers and…
Film: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: Live in Barcelona – Friday, September 26
The Boss, a rock star known for his generosity, donated the exclusive use of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: Live in Barcelona to benefit historic movie houses like the Bay area's own Beach Theatre, where the film is presented on Friday night. Live in Barcelona documents a killer two-and-a-half hour show from "The…
Skipper’s Smokehouse wraps up anniversary with Extravagonzo concert
Skipper's Smokehouse wraps its 28th anniversary with a "local music extravagonzo" that lives up to its moniker. Co-presented by Creative Loafing, the roster features power trio Hat Trick Heroes, three highly talented young men who throw down a crunchy cross between classic rock and vintage grunge, winning the band an Editors' Pick Best of the…
Jenny Lewis seduces with her Acid Tongue
Plus new CD releases by The Bird and the Bee, Will Bernard and Sing It Loud
The Rays, Sarah Palin and Tina Fey
Rays in playoffs And they did it without a new ballpark. Just a new work ethic. Hillsborough renames Moral Courage Award for power broker Next up: The Wal-Mart Independent Business Award and the Ronda Storms Tolerance Award. Sarah Palin visits The Villages Seniors complain of painful, whining noise in their hearing aids; turns out to…
Valerie Carter is Just a Stone’s Throw Away
Just a Stone's Throw AwayVALERIE CARTER(Sony) Her credits as a background singer run in the dozens and dozens (James Taylor, Lowell George, Linda Ronstadt, Aaron Neville, to name a handful), but Carter has only four solo albums to her credit. She was one of the California "mellow mafia" artists that sort of fell between the…
David Gilmour rocks Poland with solo and Pink Floyd classics Live at Gdansk
Live at GdanskDAVID GILMOUR(Columbia) David Gilmour's new double album and concert DVD functions as a fitting memorial to Pink Floyd founding member Richard Wright, who died Sept. 15. Gilmour and his electric guitar, or sax, or banjo or acoustic slide guitar (he switches it up) remain the focus throughout, but it's nice to see Wright…
The 10 best protest songs inspired by the Bush administration
The Bush administration orchestrated a dubious war in Iraq that has resulted in more U.S. deaths than the 9/11 attacks. The president then responded carelessly to Hurricane Katrina while the nation watched in horror. The White House's tax cuts for the wealthiest have produced what sure feels like a recession — plus record budget deficits.…
Tampa Museum of Art’s Avant Garde re-brands itself as the Exhibitionists
Chances are you know them as Avant Garde — if you know them at all — but the Tampa Museum of Art's young professionals volunteer group wants you to think of them in a different way: as the Exhibitionists. If you attended their say-goodbye bash at the old Tampa Museum of Art building in January,…
Special Events: Peace Week – Monday, September 29
Want agenda-free pre-election info about peace and justice issues? USF-Tampa's second annual Peace Week launches this Monday with a lecture, "Physician Involvement in Torture," by Nathaniel Raymond of Physicians for Human Rights (7 p.m., Marshall Center, room 3707). Tuesday is "Bring Your Own Knowledge Day," a community event at which area folks share how-to expertise…
Margaret Cho gets “Beautiful” at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center
Margaret Cho is currently enjoying the success of her new VH1 sitcom, The Cho Show, a quasi-real take on the Korean American comic's day-to-day adventures, among them, a mother-daughter "Cho-Universe Pageant" that embraces all types of beauty and features contestants who aren't necessarily related, including Cho and her 3-foot-10-inch assistant/burlesque entertainer, Selene Luna; a visit…
No mercy
"The current treatment of those considered 'sexual criminals' is totally cruel and unusual. The only reason that these people are treated so unjustly is because it is taboo to stick up for their cause. So they just keep on being treated like second class citizens. … Why do we try to reform them anyways? Why…
Lyle Lovett, Greymarket, Skipper’s 28th Anniversary weekend
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD w/WORDS IN RED Mask-wearing rap-metal hooligans Hollywood Undead bring white-boy thuggery to a new low with humorless rhymes about drinking malt liquor, getting laid and hating on haters. (Orpheum, Ybor City) "BIG TROUBLE ON LITTLE THURSDAY:" GONZO BOCCIO CD RELEASE PARTY w/SKULL & BONE BAND/TRIPTICO Tampa neoclassic rock quartet Gonzo…
Wine labels get risque
I receive plenty of spirited mail deriding my use of "foul" or "salty" language, mostly from conservatives who'd like to control the world. Naturally, it stings when an e-mailed Corkscrew column bounces back from business addresses at staid corporations, but it also bemuses me. When I lived in Europe, censorship rarely reared itself, and the…
Chuck Palahniuk’s Choke gasps for air on screen
Character actor Clark Gregg has written and directed an often clever adaptation of the novel Choke by cult author Chuck Palahniuk. Flip insolence, however, can only get you so far. As Palahniuk said in the guise of alpha male hipster Tyler Durden in his first book, Fight Club, “How’s that working out for you? Being…
Comedy: Cheech and Chong: Light Up America – Sunday, September 28
A reunion tour many years in the making has finally materialized and comes to a theater near you. Cheech and Chong: Light Up America brings the duo back together for some modernized stoner humor. Will Cheech, who dumped his burned-out image to become a more "serious" actor, pick up where he left off? Will Chong…
The Wild Party takes Tampa Bay theater to new heights at Studio@620
The Wild Party is a triumph of inspired acting, direction and design, a pageant so stunningly professional that it may mark an epoch in the history of Tampa Bay area theater. At St. Petersburg's Theatre@620, the brand new freeFall Theatre Company brings us the Roaring Twenties at their most anarchic, a steaming cauldron in which…
Comedy: Margaret Cho – Thursday, September 25
Margaret Cho is currently enjoying the success of her new VH1 sitcom, The Cho Show, a quasi-real take on the Korean American comic's day to day adventures, among them, a mother-daughter "Cho-Universe Pageant" that embraces all types of beauty and features contestants who aren't necessarily related, including Cho and her 3-foot-10-inch assistant/burlesque entertainer, Selene Luna;…
Is a new Cold War starting between the U.S. and Russia?
What a difference seven years makes. Back in '01, the days when Americans feared Russians as God-hating robots scheming to turn North America into a toilet-paperless, collectivized potato farm were but a far-off memory. Relations between the two nuclear giants were more than pleasant. In June '01, in fact, President Bush and then Russian President…
Miracle at St. Anna, Eagle Eye and other movies opening this week
CHOKE (R) Read Curt Holman's review. EAGLE EYE (PG-13) Working in the finest tradition of brain-dead blockbusters, director D.J. Caruso (Disturbia) and executive producer Steven Spielberg take a script riddled with absurdities and throw millions and millions of dollars at it. Two Chicagoans who don't know each other (Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan) are coerced…
Special Events: Folk Fest St. Pete – Saturday, September 27
Creative Clay — a nonprofit that specializes in nurturing and promoting local artists with disabilities — hosts its second annual FolkFest St. Pete, a free outdoor folk art and music festival held in downtown St. Petersburg this weekend. More than 60 visual artists and 20 performers and presenters are featured on two separate stages over…
Concert list
Against Me!, Black Kids, The Shackletons
New AC/DC track rocks
AC/DC's new single, Rock ’n’ Roll Train, is the band's best stuff in more than a decade. It's vintage, hard and heavy blooze with a charmingly simple lyric about the joys of R&R decadence. A potent Angus Young guitar solo kicks in right around the 2:30 mark, giving the cut a rough edge that makes…
Pearl Jam reviewed in real time…
Well sorta. Anyway it's 7:50 p.m. and I'm at the St. Pete Times Forum, up in the rafters, I mean press box, typing away to the loud, echo-y sounds of opener Kings of Leon. Not too impressed. Maybe they'll improve when I get down to the first level where my seat is at. Pearl Jam…
