Beer-A-Day #5 – Lakefront Brewery New Grist Beer
Gotta keep an open mind with this one, folks. New Grist is the first gluten-free beer authorized by the US Government. That means no malted barley and no wheat. Instead, Lakefront uses sorghum, rice and gluten free yeast, all for people with Celiac's Disease or other gluten disorders. In the glass, the brew is bright…
Tent Cities: Not Just for Homeless Anymore!
Looks like the threat of budget crunches is producing some novel ideas for combating jail overcrowding in Florida, including re-institution of chain gangs and placement of low-risk inmates in “tent cities.†(St. Petersburg homeless, take note.) But those ideas aren’t that novel. Arizona’s Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, which handles criminals arrested in hot spots like…
Chalk One Up for Tampa’s Historic Structures
Some good news for those who celebrate Tampa’s African-American history: The 100-year-old Jackson House, a former boarding house where such greats as Ella Fitzgerald stayed in the early 20th century, finally received its designation as a National Historical Landmark. Willie Robinson, the owner and sole resident of the Jackson House, called me this week to…
The Short List — Tues., Sept. 11
Un-happy anniversary. The city of New York struggles to find a balance between satisfying the requests of 9/11 victim's families and keeping those family members safe from falling debris at an active construction site. 81% of people polled say 9/11 is the most most significant historical event of their lifetime. Yes, even more important that…
50 Cent vs. Kanye West
Curtis 50 CENT Shady/Aftermath/Interscope Graduation KANYE WEST Roc-A-Fella The images line the shelves of stores nationwide. One artist glares at the camera while the other opts for anime by renowned Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. It’s hardcore thug tales and club bangers versus “messages†and fashion boasts. With both discs released on Tuesday of last week,…
Freakin’ at the record store
There are few things I enjoy more than rifling through rows of discs at new and used music stores like the Sound Exchange on Nebraska Ave. in North Tampa. I spent an hour and a half there this evening finding what I considered to be the best deals in the shop. Came home with five…
Beer-A-Day #4 – Sinebrychoff Porter
Who'd have expected a porter this intense from a bunch of sun-starved Fins? According to the Sinebrychoff website, porter-style beers were the most common brews made in Finland up until Prohibition and they've been brewing the stuff since 1860. Tasting this, it makes sense. This is a hefty, syrupy brew loaded with chocolate, coffee and…
Britney Spears: No Sympathy
I've been slagging Britney Spears for a long time. So I don't feel bad about joining the fray in the wake of her latest disaster. People in the office we're talking about the fallen pop star this morning, and one of our ad coordinators said that we should show her sympathy — which caused me…
Tribal Style brings it at Skipper’s
Photo by Anthony "Sal" Salveggi Good times at Skipper's last night. Tribal Style, Tampa's top reggae band, played songs from their highly recommended new album Olde Town plus choice covers like Peter Tosh's "Downpresser Man" and The Maytals' "Pressure Drop." Click here to read my profile of Tribal Style.
Integrity Goes Local
Local Coffee & Tea – the Sarasota-based minichain of coffee houses – has joined forces with Susan Huff of Integrity Organic. For a while, Local owner Mike Duranko had avowed to CL that he wasn't going to get in the food business at the St. Pete location. Well, he isn't. Susan is, using his kitchen.…
The Short List — Fri., Sept. 7
Feel the buzz! Just in time for the anniversary of 9/11: He's baaaaack! Two dudes get into a fight over a woman at Channelside. Someone gets stabbed; someone gets arrested. No cruise passengers were harmed in the making of this story. Comcast Cable starts cutting off Internet users who use "too much" bandwidth. How much…
Beer-A-Day #3 – Michelob AmberBock
It's easy to forgive the nigh-unforgiveable act of combining two perfectly acceptable words, both capitalized, into one IdiotWord! Why? Because the beer is so very bad, I will likely program my mind to read it as something more appealing, like BeerWater, or even RefrainFromBuyingBecauseItTastesLikeCaramelColoredMichelobLight WhichAlsoDoesn'tTasteVeryGood. Oops. I think that last one was the review in…
Tonight’s Rentals show moved…
From Jannus Landing to State Theatre. Here's the write-up I did on The Rentals.
Tonkin Delight
Name of Position:Â Tonkin Delight Position: The woman lies on her back, with her legs open and her knees bent. The man slides his legs underneath hers, lifting her hips slightly and then penetrates between her legs. The man can easily reach her abdomen to caress and kiss. On a scale of 1 to 10…
Umbrella Corporation on cover of Creative Loafing Sept. 12.
Here's a preview of my cover story on Umbrella Corporation that runs Sept. 12. Photo of Jersey and I at Full Moon Saloon by Shanna Gillette. Heavy beats slam through the room like war drums. The crowded nightclub is thick with cigarette smoke, booze, a trace of weed — and adrenaline. Here at Full Moon…
The Short List — Thurs., Sept. 6
Who's hungry? Fred takes the plunge. Israel and Syria, apparently jealous of all the death and destruction just over the horizon, start provoking each other with fly overs and warning shots. Sen. Larry Craig decides to stay on, further flushing Republican electoral chances down the toilet. China, man! Bush to attend the 2008 Summer Games…
Beer-A-Day #2 – St. Peter’s Cream Stout
Damn, this stout pours from the bottle like a velvet painting of chocolate syrup, thick and opaque. At first glance, I feel like I might have to chew it. The rich chocolate and toffee nose backs that up, but it's more bittersweet dark than the milky richness that I expect from a cream stout. In…
Magical Boob Job Cookies
Only in Japan would they spike your cookies with "breast enhancing herbs." Each cookie has 50mg of the magical boobie herb, Pueraria Mirifica. (According to Peuraria corporate press: "As miracle herb has been proved its efficacy of "high Content of Active Ingredients" for building up confidence among women to be more Perfect! Lady." Lady, indeed!)…
Leave me alone
So, you like (insert name of mediocre indie rock band). Congratulations. Now keep walking. Here's a snippet from my latest Bar Tab column: "I tried my best to shoo Music Geek away, but he was dead set on getting me to argue with him about the merits of his favorite bands, which is the last…
Paper nor plastic, please
This afternoon for lunch I stopped into my favorite beans-and-rice place in downtown Tampa, priced just right for young alt weekly writer-types. After I parked and was exiting my vehicle, I faced a moral dilemma. Upon spotting an empty Tupperware container on the passenger seat, I thought I could bring it in with me instead…
Can Touch This
How's your iPod holding up? If you've been pondering an upgrade, listen up. Apple CEO/Guru Steve Jobs today unveiled a revamped line of the electronics maker's flagship music player, including a new iteration: The iPod Touch. The iPod Touch is Apple's snazzy iPhone stripped of the phone and beefed up with double the storage. The…
The Short List — Wed., Sept. 5
Where in the world is … Steve Fossett? "Massive" and "imminent" terror plot foiled in Germany. Three evildoers taken into custody. Three? Really? A "Massive" attack by three guys? They're one short of a round a golf for Christ's sake. Larry Craig's Home Waffle Kit: First, plead guilty to disorderly conduct. Wait three weeks, then…
Groovin’
The Young Rascals
Up against the wall
April Griffin finds out just how hard it is to change the school system
A City Asleep
St. Pete council elections don’t find a hotbed of voter interest
Letters to the editor
Plus comments from the blogs
Balancing Act
DiscussionThursday, September 6
Yummy It Is
Yummy House has flavor to spare
Wine List
Wine tastings and dinners
True West
Everyone has his price in 3:10 to Yuma
Not just for seder anymore
It’s time to try some kosher wines, bubbellah. Corkscrew
Leading Light
Studio@620’s Bob Devin Jones feeds arts lovers what they’re hungry for.
Hey You
No retreat from work
Perfect Timing
Mist
Brothers’ Keepers
Three siblings from Jamaica bring it Tribal Style
Wilson’s Gem
TheaterFriday, September 7
Shooting the Shooter
Brad Will went to Mexico to document an uprising. He ended up filming his own murder.
CL previews upcoming shows
Green Lemon, Matt Turner, Earth Bombs Mars
Summer Rentals
The Rentals, Bobby Lee Rodgers & The Codetalkers, Dave Matthews Band
The born from the unborn
A childhood spent under the knife
The born from the unborn
A childhood spent under the knife.
Outtakes
This Week at the Movies
Gun Play
The iconic antihero of Shoot 'Em Up isn't constantly chomping on a carrot for nothing. Absurdly impervious to the laws of physics or social niceties, he's part Bugs Bunny and part man-without-a-name straight out of your favorite spaghetti western. And Shoot 'Em Up is nothing if not a Looney Tune of epic proportions, filled with…
Remembering 9/11
Special EventsTuesday, September 11
From the Corner to the Block
Galactic
Line, Please?
Beckham's knee injury could end seasonNow don't we feel silly about all the hoopla surrounding him coming to America? Local Trump Tower Could be officially deadNow don't we feel silly about all the hoopla surrounding him coming to Tampa? Michigan changes presidential primary to vote firstLegislature there sets a retroactive election date of July 7,…
Appalachian Imaginations
ArtSunday, September 9
Walk of Life
FundraiserSaturday, September 8
All That Jazz
MusicWednesday, September 12
Devices, Dots and DaDa at DFAC
ArtMonday, September 10
Fillmore West, 04/27/69
Led Zeppelin
See & Do Planner
CL's must-do list for the week of Thurs., Sept. 6-Wed., Sept. 12 06Aidan Delgado, a Sarasota college student-turned-U.S. army soldier-turned Buddhist-turned conscientious objector, comes to town to discuss and sign copies of his memoir, The Sutras of Abu Ghraib: Notes from a Conscientious Objector in Iraq. 7 p.m., Inkwood Books, Tampa. 07See a traditional Indian…
Appalachian Imaginations
Few people outside of Appalachia shared West Virginia-native Ramona Lampell's regard for the region, and she often encountered negative stereotypes that it was backward and impoverished. In an attempt to amend this negative notion and bring the wealth of Appalachian culture into the spotlight, Lampell — a longtime collector of art — turned her focus…
Eyebrow Raiser
Recreating a favorite dish
Upcoming concerts
Perry Farrell, The Cure, Dropkick Murphys
Ant Wars
Forget dogfighting. Deby Cassill stages battles between fire ants.
Kelly Clarkson cont’d
Pleasantly kind of plump perfectly put together pop tart Kelly Clarkson apparently got word that I couldn't bear the thought of her not playing Tampa Bay. It was announced today that she will perform at Ruth Eckerd Hall on Dec. 1. I'm submitting my interview request as soon as I get done with this post.
Beer-A-Day #1 – Lagunitas “Maximus”
To commemorate the early demise of one of the Today (tonight, really), will be Lagunitas Maximus, an India Pale Ale from Petaluma, CA. First off — can you call it an IPA when it's 7.5% alcohol? This modern devotion to making a monster out of normal beer through the wonders of fermentation can go a…
