Dec 23-29, 1998

Dec 23-29, 1998 / Vol. 14 / No. 51

Persons of the year 1998

• Marc St. George, 29, Miami, and his colleagues, who were arrested in a February drug bust in the Panhandle town of Callaway. Sheriff’s deputies had a suspected drug-traffic house under surveillance, and when St. George and three other men emerged and drove off in their rental car, the deputies followed and pulled them over.…

Chuck Shepherd

Balancing acts

With the returning cold air whipping through downtown Orlando this past Saturday, the main options for reheating our souls were the appearances of Kow at Sapphire Supper Club and Swingerhead at Rat Pack’s on the Avenue. Two acts who had all but defined their respective venues in ’98 were back to rekindle the flames before…

Steve Schneider

A toast to the small screen

Some people prefer to spend New Year’s Eve alone, marking the passage of time in quiet contemplation rather than drunken revelry. These people are called “Scientologists.” If your own motivations for holiday solitude are less spiritual, however, a quick trip to the video store will restore the entertainment value you’re losing by removing yourself from…

Steve Schneider

Self-justification, CEO style

Becoming chief executive of a major corporation is like getting a slot machine that always pays off. The money game is definitely rigged in your favor. In the early ’90s, when CEOs were embarrassed by headlines that exposed the garish level of the paychecks they were hauling away, they launched a highly publicized “reform” movement.…

Jim Hightower

A Disney rap sheet thatâ??s for the birds

It was a showdown at Toon Town when Disney security called Orange County deputies on Dec. 15 to arrest or subdue a woman and an 8-foot-tall chicken. The woman, whose name was not released by officials, was reported to be a producer working on a television show with filmmaker and political rabble-rouser Michael Moore. The…

Ericson, Edward Jr.

Throwing a literary party for one

If you’re looking for a good book to read on New Year’s Eve that means you’re alone, which is probably because your love life shows itself as often as the Loch Ness monster. We here at the Orlando Weekly would like you to embrace this situation, so we offer New Year’s reading suggestions in the…

Theresa Everline

Bleeding the customers

A November Associated Press dispatch described the work of commercial leech and maggot suppliers who sell to hospitals. A Welsh firm, Biopharm Ltd., moves about 20,000 3-inch-long leeches a year at $17 each to suck blood through delicate, clogged veins to restore circulation, and a unit of the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend, Wales,…

Chuck Shepherd

No silent night for Sapphire

“The Immaculate Contraption” is becoming as traditional as the annual influx of southbound transients escaping the frigid northern winter. For several years now the Christmas Day gathering of local musicians to play the best, worst and cheesiest classic rock tunes possible has warmed the hearts of assorted losers who don’t have families to be with…

Matt Kelemen

The soul of simplicity

Gregg Allman has been rightfully celebrated as one of the world’s leading exponents of blue-eyed soul — a Southern rocker whose growling, expressive, road-burned vocals more often than not are reminiscent of certain beloved African-American singers straight out of Motown, Memphis and Chicago. “Searching for Simplicity,” Allman’s first solo album in nearly a decade, offers…

Philip Booth

Searing images sparked by fiery civil-rights fight

Artist Kerry James Marshall’s interest in the struggle for racial equality stems from one of the worst civil uprisings in American history. Marshall, a professor at the University of Illinois, moved with his family to California in the mid-’60s. They settled in the tinderbox atmosphere of Watts, where the 10-year-old Marshall would be profoundly affected…

Todd Deery

A club countdown

You’ve picked out your threads, assigned a designated driver and the Tylenol is in the medicine cabinet awaiting deployment. Where will you go to unload the contents of your wallet (with “complimentary” champagne toasts) as you ring in the New Year? Nearly every club will quadruple its usual cover charge for Dec. 31, so your…

Matt Kelemen

No silent night for Sapphire

“The Immaculate Contraption” is becoming as traditional as the annual influx of southbound transients escaping the frigid northern winter. For several years now the Christmas Day gathering of local musicians to play the best, worst and cheesiest classic rock tunes possible has warmed the hearts of assorted losers who don’t have families to be with…

Matt Kelemen

Is road hog revving up?

The airport held a series of focus groups Dec. 14 and 15 to get ideas on how to structure a new contract focusing solely on luxury town cars. But at least one driver fears the airport’s motive was to find ways to limit the participation of small, independent drivers. “They do want to develop some…

Ericson, Edward Jr.

Poll-vaulting

Post-impeachment polls argue that Americans don’t want President Clinton removed. But according to the Wall Street Journal, only one national survey, conducted by Rasmussen Research, gives clues as to why. Rasmussen found that 61 percent of Americans believe Clinton deserves to lose his job, yet just 37 percent want the Senate to remove him. The…

Orlando Weekly Staff

Test Trackers

Disney’s newest, greatest ride recently debuted, 19 months behind schedule but touted as the most technologically advanced ride since the space shuttle. General Motors Test Track at Epcot is now being previewed by visitors lucky enough to be around when it periodically opens. “In the history of mankind, it has never taken a ride that…

Orlando Weekly Staff

Triumph of the troglodytes

I’ve been watching wrestling again. It’s not just because of the election of Jesse Ventura, the tight Spandex-wrapped asses or the smooth, interlocking muscular limbs. (OK, a lot of wrestlers look like Junior Samples, but not all of them.) It’s the drama. Everything else on TV is either obviously fake or obviously real. With wrestling,…

Liz Langley

Stay at home, if youâ??re game

Even a New Year’s Eve spent at home can be a gut-busting good time, if only you possess a little imagination — and a closetful of Milton Bradley detritus. The board games of your misspent youth can easily be transformed into drinking games the likes of which you haven’t experienced since you bounced your first…

Steve Schneider

Connect with the spirits

Like holiday superfreaks on a shopping spree, you just have to know where to find the novelties that’ll put that shot in the arm — so to speak — to drinking merriment. Here’s a road map for virtual tripping before making the real drive to the liquor store: Epicurious Type in “red” and the search…

Lindy T. Shepherd

Food and stories enrich Kwanzaa

The eating season has arrived, and there have been plenty of excuses to indulge. This week offers one more. Kwanzaa, a celebration of African-American culture and values, runs Dec. 26 to New Year’s Day. A typical Kwanzaa feast includes things like black-eyed peas and ham, sweet-potato pie and benne cakes, a dessert from West Africa.…

Colleen Moore

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