Thursday 8.16
Being Spike Jonze The cinematic directorial debut from acclaimed music video director (Weezer, Beastie Boys, Bjork) and Three Kings photographer Spike Jonze, Being John Malkovich is an audaciously original fantasy starring John Cusack and Cameron Diaz. The story concerns an unkempt and chronically unemployed street puppeteer (Cusack) who discovers a portal into the mind of actor John Malkovich and decides to exploit it for a little cash. Written by Charlie Kaufman, the movie ignores convention and resists real-world logic. Malkovich himself is brilliant as a prim and horny fop. The movie is free with museum admission (which is half-price after 5 p.m. on Thursdays). The movie starts at 6 p.m. in the Raymond James Room of the Salvador Dali Museum, 1000 Third St. S., St. Petersburg (727-823-3767).
Friday 8.17
Belligerent Dreams Local artist Bask exhibits works created in collaboration with seven other established Bay area artists: David Williams, Ron Pieniak, Brandt Elling Peters, Frank C. Strunk III, Kathie Olivas, P$ynner and Mark Taylor Michaels. Born in the Czech Republic in 1977 and transplanted to Florida at the age of 8, Bask, 24, is a self-taught multimedia artist known for his signature outsider art style that utilizes American icons and archetypal images of the family, society and the self. Bask tends to deconstruct and reconstruct icons in a style and format that appears to parallel defined graffiti art practices, but does not consider himself a graffiti artist. As a nationally recognized artist, he has shown throughout the United States and recently had a solo exhibition at C-pop gallery in Detroit. The collaborative series is on display through Sept. 22. The exhibit's opening reception takes place 7-10 p.m. at Hyde Park Fine Arts, 937 S. Howard Ave., Tampa (813-258-8883).
Sugar Babies The SoCal quintet Sugar Ray mixes new wave, pop, hip-hop and rock in creating such Top 40 radio hits as Fly, Every Morning and When It's Over. Their new self-titled album delivers much the same energy and sound as their double-platinum sophomore album, Floored, and triple-platinum follow-up, 14:59. Of the band's latest songs, there are tributes to the ever-influential Rolling Stones and lead singer Mark McGrath's new wave heroes, Men Without Hats. Uncle Kracker and The Start open the $32 show, which begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center's Carol Morsani Hall, 1010 N. MacInnes Place, Tampa (813-229-7827).
Paradise Fallen In the tradition of Paradise Lost, David Davalos' Darkfall explores the relationship between good and evil, but unlike Milton's epic poem, Davalos uses corporate America as his play's backdrop. Darkfall tells the story of a New York couple who inadvertently becomes involved in a power play between Jesus and Lucifer. An intellectual thriller, Darkfall incorporates both biblical and corporate allegory in its examination of faith and the fate of mankind. American Stage selected the play with the help of audience input from among eight plays presented in the company's New Visions Series. The play runs through Sept. 2. Shows start at 7:30 p.m. on Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. The American Stage is at 211 Third St. S., St. Petersburg (727-823-7529).
Saturday 8.18
Dog Wash Nature's Harvest Health Food Market is sponsoring a dog wash, from which all proceeds benefit Florida Voices for Animals. So animal lovers with pooches in need of a bath, or even clean dogs that could be cleaner, bring your four-legged friends down to get sudsed, scrubbed, rinsed and dried, all in the name of charity for animals and good, clean doggy fun. Donations are at the discretion of each dog's companion, with average donations being $6 to $12. For more information about FVA or to volunteer, call 813-969-3755. The dog wash takes place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Nature's Harvest Health Food Market, 1021 N. MacDill Ave., Tampa (813-873-7428).
'Total Request Live' Live MTV's TRL tour is headlined by Destiny's Child and features Nelly, Eve, Dream and 3LW. Apart from Nelly (what kind of guy's name is Nelly anyhow?) it's a lineup of all female artists, which leaves the tour without several TRL staples: boy bands (now there's a misnomer), pop-punk bands and, of course, Carson Daly. Nevertheless, the tour's bound to be a success, with scads of first-time concertgoers clamoring to shimmy and sing along to hits by several of TRL's most familiar artists. Tickets cost $27.50, $37.50 and $49.50. The show starts at 7 p.m. at the Ice Palace, 401 Channelside Drive, Tampa (813-301-6500).
Henry Inc. In the '90s, Henry Rollins emerged as a post-punk Renaissance man, relentlessly busy recording albums with the Rollins Band, writing books, performing spoken-word tours and managing his own book publishing (2.13.61) and music publishing (Human Pittbull) companies. The Rollins Band's records are uncompromising, intense fusions of hard rock, funk, post-punk noise and jazz experimentalism, with Rollins shouting angry, biting self-examinations and accusations over the grind. In the most recent incarnation of the band, Rollins has teamed with L.A.-based Mother Superior — guitarist Jim Wilson, bassist Marcus Blake and drummer Jason Mackenroth — and recorded Get Some Go Again. It's the first album Rollins has produced himself and is, in his own words, exactly the kind of music that I had always wanted to make. All of this bodes well for an impressive show. Tickets cost $15 in advance and doors open at 7 p.m. at Jannus Landing, 200 First Ave. N., St. Petersburg (727-896-1244).
Sunday 8.19
Lo-fi Sci-fi An adaptation of H.G. Wells' classic novel, The Invisible Man (1933) is the intriguing tale of a scientist who has invented a serum to render himself irreversibly invisible and is undone by the pronounced effect of the transformation on his sanity. Claude Rains stars as the scientist driven mad as he searches for a cure. The $4 matinee starts at 3 p.m. at Tampa Theatre, 711 Franklin St., Tampa (813-274-8286).
Monday 8.20
Po' Boy Progeny Hank Williams III, the youngest of the famous Williams men, is touring behind his debut album, Risin' Outlaw. Like his famous forbears, Williams is a rebel to the Nashville establishment. His six-piece Damn Band generally perform both a country set and a thrashing rock set at each show and blend the two overall in a style some call hard twang, punkabilly or y'allternative. Williams' first appearance came on the '96 release Three Hanks: Men with Broken Hearts, which (thanks to sound processing) allowed Hank Williams III and Jr. to sing with the deceased Sr. Williams III bears a striking vocal resemblance to his late grandfather, most obvious in his live covers of Your Cheatin' Heart. Tickets cost $13 in advance, $15 day of. Doors open at 8 p.m. at the State Theatre, 687 Central Ave., St. Petersburg (727-895-3045).
Tuesday 8.21
The Adventures of … DJ Skinny spins the best in underground hip-hop every Tuesday (through August) at New World Brewery. The fliers are very cute, fashioned after comic book covers, teasing: Can DJ Skinny save the crab-ass herbs and bitters from themselves? Find out inside! There's no cover charge and liter drafts are only $5. New World Brewery is at 1313 Eighth Ave., Ybor City (813-248-4969).
Wednesday 8.22
Letterman PerennialA raconteur of weird stories, Jake Johannsen has appeared on Late Night with David Letterman more than 30 times. He's also appeared more than 10 times on The Tonight Show, five times on Politically Incorrect and hosted such Comedy Central programs as Two Drink Minimum. Cumulatively, Jake Johannsen's late-night TV appearances becomes unquestionably impressive. Johannsen performs through Sunday, Aug. 26, at the Improv. Tickets cost between $10 and $16, depending on show times, which are at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday; 8 and 10:30 p.m. Friday; and 7, 9:30 and 11:30 p.m. Saturday. The Improv is at 1600 E. Eighth Ave., Ybor City (813-864-4000).
This article appears in Aug 16-22, 2001.
