OW Oscarama – I’m happy to let it go: Best Original Song prediction
via See that look in her eyes? That’s the look of someone who knows they have an Academy Award locked up. Our movie blogger has been generous enough to share his Oscarama duties with me this year. The first category he let me borrow is “Best Original Song.” As a musician, this category is close to…
Flashlights headline Whole Planet Fest 2014 on Sunday
This Sunday. March 2 at Will’s Pub, 15 local bands are billed for only $5 from 6 p.m. til close to benefit the Whole Planet Foundation. They’re calling it Whole Planet Fest, and the upbeat punk of Flashlights will be the main event. Flashlights have been attracting some attention nationally and supporting some major artists…
Cue the dancing ewoks: Star Wars Weekends extended at Disney
This year wampa jockeys and jawa jigglers will have even more time to boogie down Tatooine style as Disney’s Hollywood Studios has extended their famed “Star Wars Weekends” one extra weekend. And a great cry of “Utini!” was heard across the galaxy. Visitors will be encouraged to “join the rebellion” through mid-June, which is Disney-speak…
Breaking: Angry Orange County Commissioner Fred Brummer proposes charter amendment increasing number of districts, abolishing tax collector’s office
(Original illustration by Plinio Marcos Pinto) Woah, somebody spent his whole weekend binge-watching House of Cards on Netflix for municipal strategy. Either that, or stodgy old Orange County Commissioner Fred Brummer, whom everyone hates, just woke up in a bad mood and decided it was time to compose the following missive – with attached proposed…
OW Oscarama — You can’t marry a minion you just met: Best Animated Film
It’s the final week before the Oscars. Voting for Academy members ends tomorrow. If you’re an Academy member, that’s great for you, but the rest of us want a say too. (Isn’t that why the internet was invented?) With that, we bring you our yearly take on who we would vote for if any of…
YOUR DAILY WEEKLY READER: religious frauds, Boss Hogs and tiny dogs
via hallicino.hubpages.com WHILE CHRISTIAN HATE GROUPS FOCUS ON REPUBLICAN LEGISLATURES AND GOVERNORS – HELLO, JAN BREWER – TO TURN AWAY THE GAYS, UGANDA IS JUST GOING TO THROW THE GAYS IN PRISON: “Brushing aside Western threats and criticism, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda significantly strengthened Africa’s antigay movement on Monday, signing into law a bill…
A slippery slope? Netflix pays Comcast for access
Civilization was nice while we had it, but it seems to be going away in bite sized increments. After the ostensible death of Net Neutrality last month and agreeing to purchase Time Warner last week, Comcast has another victory under its belt this week in the form of dollars in their pockets from Netflix. The…
Florida Film Festival announces jury lineup
While the organizers of the 2014 Florida Film Festival are still sorting through the more than 1,500 submissions from 70 countries to make up the film program, the one thing they’ve gotten out of the way early is assembling their feature, shorts and documentary juries to hand out the big prizes. The lineup is as…
It’s National Margarita Day: Are you searching for your lost shaker of salt?
With this gray, mucky weather, there’ll be no nibblin’ on sponge cake / watchin’ the sun bake on this year’s National Margarita Day. But that doesn’t mean you should give up. Whether you stick with a bottle of tequila, a lime wedge and some salt on the back of your hand or go HAM with…
Sanford-Orlando Kennel Club is the Third Deadliest Dog Track in Florida
via LA Times It turns out that during 2013, the Sanford-Orlando Kennel Club was the third most lethal racetrack for Greyhounds in the state. The numbers come from a recent report illuminating canine deaths at Florida’s dog tracks. ABC 7 reported findings from dog advocacy group GREY2K USA earlier this week that told a damning…
Robin Thicke cancels tomorrow night’s performance at Universal Mardi Gras
via Robin Thicke has cancelled all of his performances this weekend, including tomorrow’s scheduled concert at Universal’s Mardi Gras celebration. Inside sources tell us that Robin lost his voice and is unable to perform. Despite the cancellation, the Mardi Gras celebration will go on as scheduled, including parades, scrumptious Mardi Gras food and a performance…
Thanks to social media, Orlando shelter dog finds a home in less than two hours
via Let me tell you guys about Ernie. He’s three years old and had been watching other dogs walk out of the Orange County Animal Shelter with new families for a few weeks. According to OCAS’s Facebook page, Ernie was running short on time. Earlier today, they posted this message to Facebook in an eleventh-hour…
Thank you, Internet: Tiny panther kitty and business baby
Repeat after me: Just a couple hours till happy hour. Just a couple hours till happy hour. Feel a little bit better? I have some more good news for you. The Internet has provided me with five awesome links (and two bonus videos) to help you slog through those long, sluggish hours. You’re welcome. via…
That’s not amore: Sbarro closing massacre claims several Orlando locations
A group of friends enjoying Sbarro in happier times (1985). “The closure of these underperforming stores will significantly improve the profitability of the company,” the chilling Darth Vadery voice of Sbarro said in a statement this week regarding the venerable pizza chain’s decision to close 155 of their corporate-owned eateries. Here in sunny Orlando, fallen locations…
YOUR DAILY WEEKLY READER: dead dogs, alt woes, shocking Kiev and blocking passwords
via BBC THE PART WHERE A LOBBYIST FOR DOG ABUSE COMPARES RACETRACKS TO NURSING HOMES AND FOSTER CARE: The Florida Greyhound Association and its affiliate, the National Greyhound Association, are defending the treatment of the racing dogs in response to an article in the Sunday Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times that reported that 74…
League of the South erects ‘Secede’ billboard in Tallahassee
via Earlier this week, the League of the South erected a billboard in Tallahassee, right on Apalachee Parkway, just as your Republican legislature was winding its collective ass back to its collective leather chair of Tenther decision for the 2014 legislative session. And then the League (cough, Klan, cough) posted a video explaining their newest…
VIDEO: Aerial views of downtown Orlando captured by drones
via</> Look up. What do you see? If you see the ceiling, you’re obviously inside, but if you’re outside and see some weird thing flying in the sky, it just may be a drone. Drones are unmanned aerial vehicles that are typically controlled via computers or remote controls. Sometimes, they even have cameras mounted on them.…
These Thornton Park schoolboys totally made my morning
I was taking photos in Thornton Park this morning to print with my monthly music column Feedback, when I was suddenly swarmed by some boy hoodlums. I kid, of course, but what actually happened is much more endearing than that. As I was standing in the Thornton Park fountain, trying to get some reeeeal artsy…
ORLANDO WEEKLY ON WMFE: Billy Manes on Pam Bondi’s professional luck
You can listen to me fast-talking at this link or below. READ ALONG FOR MORE FUN AND UNDERSTANDING! In a week that saw Governor Rick Scott magically popping up in touristan to inform us that not only had a record 94.7 million tourists patronized our state of mechanically suspended disbelief in 2013, but along with…
YOUR DAILY WEEKLY READER: Rubio’s base run, Bondi’s Fox hunt, and Arizona’s idiocy
HOW TO WIN DUMB FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE STUPID PEOPLE, RUBIO STYLE: Why is Marco Rubio taking time to take a shot at President Obama over whether or not art history is a good major to pursue? (Caravaggio for the win!) For the same reason that Rubio was one of the first people to join…
Rob Schneider brings his legacy to Orlando via ‘Real Rob’
The real Rob Schneider. Deuce Bigalow fans rejoice: Rob Schneider, star of the storied Bigalow franchise (the finest sex-for-hire comedies featuring Eddie Griffin ever made) and supporting caricature from many a goofball Adam Sandler vehicle, is bringing his latest project to Central Florida. Real Rob, a single camera sitcom “loosely based” on Schneider’s real life, has…
Highlights from parody Twitter account @EpcotCentre
via If Epcot was a living, breathing person, what would it say? Parody Twitter account @EpcotCentre stopped thinking about this question and started tweeting. The account puts words in Epcot’s mouth via what appears to be a park employee who truly loves working there. Filled with observational humor and the occasional Q&A session, called #EpcotMailbag,…
The Pavilion That Could Have Been
If you live in Florida odds are you’ve probably visited the Walt Disney World Resort a few times. At some point you may have noticed the seemingly random African stuff between the pavilions representing China and Germany at Epcot and wondered what that was all about. It’s actually the last remnants of the planned Equatorial…
Vinyl collectors mourn: IKEA exes out the Expedit
Folks who collect records know that not just any shelf will do to handle the collective weight of your vinyl library. I’ve gone through all the requisite stages – milk crates, magazine racks, configurations of bricks and fiber board, etc. But nothing beats the economy and the sturdiness of IKEA’s Expedit shelving series, with those…
Buy Local Orlando ends March 15
via Earlier this week, Buy Local Orlando announced that the program would end on Mar. 15, 2014. Buy Local Orlando is an initiative introduced by Mayor Buddy Dyer in 2009. The aim of the program was to to help local businesses get through the recession by encouraging local spending. One of the problems with Mayor Dyer’s…
YOUR DAILY WEEKLY READER: on drunken nepotism, dark histories, and dumb DPAC moves
via bizbash.com BECAUSE NEPOTISM MEANS NOTHING IN THE DRUNKEN FLORIDA LEGISLATURE: “Rep. Matt Gaetz recently held himself out as a man who accepts responsibility for his mistakes. He brought up his 2008 DUI arrest during a meeting last week of the House criminal justice committee, which he chairs. The topic: a bill that would keep…
Port Orange woman charged with grand theft golden retriever
Dog-napper Celeste Neese. An arrest has finally been made in the case of Dumpling, the golden retriever from Port Orange who went missing February 5. Celeste Neese, 75, was booked into Daytona Beach’s Volusia County Branch Jail on charges of grand theft, dealing in stolen property, and providing false information to investigating law enforcement after…
New acts added to SeaWorld’s Bands, Brew & BBQ
via I don’t know if it’s because they’re having trouble booking acts as a result of all the Blackfish backlash or if they just want to keep their concert-goers in anticipation, but SeaWorld has been releasing their Bands, Brews & BBQ concert lineup on a week by week basis. For the first weekend of the…
Win a pair of tickets to Bite Night
Which lucky friend will get to go with you, if you won a pair of tickets to #BiteNight? Show us who! How to win: 1. Click ‘Going’ on the Facebook event page 2. Tag a friend in the comment area That’s it, it’s that easy! CONTEST WILL END WED, JUNE 18 AT MIDNIGHT! $40…
Gov. Scott touts record tourism numbers
More tourism jobs likely to bring more low wages
‘The Past’ concocts an elegantly woven spell around viewers
Asghar Farhadi’s tale of a complicated divorce is an elegant but knotty family drama
Mozes and the Firstborn possess everything a young band could want
Album review: Mozes and the Firstborn’s self-titled
‘In Secret’ is better than the book
Movie adaptation of Émile Zola’s dreary novel Thérèse Raquin works better on screen than in print
Savage Love
I am a straight male, married to a woman for 25 years. Our marriage started to go sour about 14 years ago. Sex was infrequent and stultifying. Finally, when the kids were old enough, I made plans to separate. When my wife got wind of these plans, she finally agreed to work on our relationship.…
Black Angels frontman Alex Maas discusses Roky Erickson’s revival
The Black Angels perform with Roky Erickson on the East Coast for the first time
Bar Exam: The Thirsty Topher
Your new spot to catch a lazy weekend buzz
Another meeting on fate of Fern Creek Elementary
Anxious parents should attend Feb. 19 informational meeting at Audubon Park Elementary School
Juan Wauters performs feats of timelessness on ‘N.A.P.’
Album review: Juan Wauters’ ‘N.A.P. North American Poetry’
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19) A woman from New Mexico wrote to tell me that after reading my horoscopes for three years in the Santa Fe Reporter, she had decided to stop. “I changed my beliefs,” she said. “I no longer resonate with your philosophy.” On one hand, I was sad that I had lost a…
Drinking, Nightlife and Parties
Where to drink and party in Orlando this week
Readers write about recent issues with Orlando schools
Comments about our coverage of the destruction of mural at Azalea Park Elementary and the proposed closure of Fern Creek
This Little Underground: Russian Circles and the new heavy paradigm
FMF, Inter Arma, KEN Mode, Norse Korea cover shows, Join Hands, Low Dough acoustic night
We sit down with notorious Universal leaker HateToFly
Live Active Cultures: Who’s behind all those Universal Orlando scoops?
Carol Peppe Hewitt and Lyle Estill to speak about slow money
Authors will be at East End Market to talk about how to invest in growing local
One Election Day to rule them all
Give Me Your Money: How the very concept of Election Day is, in itself, an act of voter suppression
A fond farewell to Lora “Dorothy” Devers and Sarah Lockard
Two of my favorite actresses leave Orlando; plus eight shows to see now
‘The Sanford Project’ weaves together a community
Photography exhibit presents a more complete picture of the city
Charlie Crist tours the middle of the road
Book tour raises more questions than it does answers, confuses Republicans
Backyard chickens: pets or meat?
What to do when your hen stops laying eggs
The Pack A.D.’s cohesive ‘Do Not Engage’ expands the duo’s palette
Album review: The Pack A.D.’s ‘Do Not Engage’
Opening in Orlando: ‘3 Days to Kill,’ ‘Pompeii’
What’s playing on screens in town this week
Police Beat: Since Last Friday, Porch Masturbation and an Ale House Gun Discharge
Porch masturbators, accidental shootings, intentional shootings and a string of car burglaries have ensured lots of bitching from cops who’ve had to file endless incident reports during the last five days. Let’s have a look-see: Feb. 14: The zaniness kicked off on Thursday afternoon when Edwin Marcial, 40, met some random guy he didn’t know…
Don’t lose your foodie street cred! 7 restaurants now open in Orlando
There are seven, count ’em, seven new restaurants that just opened in Orlando, as reported in this week’s Tip Jar food news column. If you want to retain your foodie bragging rights, you’d better start making plans to visit them now (and to let that belt out a notch). via Another Broken Egg Café Winter Park…
Legendary filthy-mouth Amy Schumer comes to Orlando
Amy Schumer has got it going on. The attractive blond comic stars in her own Comedy Central show, Inside Amy Schumer, which returns for a second season April 1. She’s also in the midst of writing the script for Train Wreck, the new Judd Apatow flick (starring her!) due out in 2015. And she’s booked an extensive…
To the moon! Doug Rhodehamel launches his SPORE Project to higher levels
If you’ve lived in Orlando for more than a few months, you’ve probably been captivated by Doug Rhodehamel’s work, perhaps without even knowing it. Even if you haven’t attended an art show including his work (like Cardboard Art Festival, his most recent Stardust show, or his takeover of the Lake Eustis Museum in 2010), almost…
7 Orlando tattoo artist Instagrams you should be following
Whether you’re looking to permanently mark your body or just enjoy looking at pics of other people with ink, these Orlando tattoo artist Instagrams will inspire you in all kinds of ways: Instagram @stigmatattoosClick here for a gallery of more images Who: Stigma Tattoo Bar Why: The detailed work of this downtown tattoo studio will kind…
Body of missing legislative intern Ryan Uhre located in Tallahassee
For the past two weeks, the mystery of missing 23-year-old Ryan Uhre – an FSU graduate interning for Rep. Richard Stark, D-Weston – has been a horrifying guessing game. He disappeared under mildly conspicuous circumstances after last being seen at Andrew’s Capital Grill & Bar in Tallahassee, right next to the state Capitol. Today, police…
AMC Theaters hosts Oscar Best Picture marathon at two local theaters
In my post on Sunday, I gave out as many links to all of the Oscar nominated films that I could find. Some just didn’t have any because they’re still going strong in theaters. If you hold no regard for the short term comfort of your ass, and if you have a stout attention span…
19 questions with an Orlando resident: James Brendlinger
Welcome to 19 Questions, a feature where we ask longtime Orlando residents 19 questions that are mostly related to living in the City Beautiful. For nearly two decades, James Brendlinger has been teaching drama at Lake Howell High School, helping many a youth shape their acting dreams. Brendlinger hails originally from the borough of Kutztown,…
YOUR DAILY WEEKLY READER: lucky Bondi, lucky Obama, unlucky cities and an unlucky vase
THAT HILARIOUS MOMENT WHEN ATTORNEY GENERAL PAM BONDI SHOWS HERSELF TO BE EXACTLY THE CARICATURE WE ASSUMED HER TO BE, THIS TIME TALKING TO STUDENTS AT HER ALMA MATER: “Although Bondi’s comments focused mostly on her record as attorney general, she also fielded questions about how she managed to become attorney general, her time as…
