Cover Story
The number of Americans passing the GED is dropping rapidly. Why? And who’s left behind?
Derwin Williams sits in a study room at Project Learn, a nonprofit organization in Cleveland that offers adult-education programs, with sample questions for the GED before him on a computer screen. The 29-year-old wants to get into the construction trade, maybe as a roofer or drywall hanger, and he knows he needs a diploma to…
Chipotle offers free entree of your choice
The holiday season, with its rich gooey desserts and savory roast beasts, has come to a close. Time to pay the piper: If you’ve made a New Year’s resolution to weigh less (or just to eat less meat), Chipotle’s got a deal you might want to try. Purchase a sofritas entree tomorrow – Monday, Jan. 26…
Sleepy, hollow: Orlando rated No. 1 for worst sleep quality, No. 3 for highest stress
According to SleepCycle, an alarm app that collects data to help users sleep better, Orlandoans experience the worst sleep in the nation (We’re! Number! One! We’re! Number! One!), as well as the third-highest stress level. However, weirdly, we also rank No. 1 for best wakeup mood. I don’t even know what to say about that –…
The Highland Games return to Winter Springs this weekend
Calling all lads, lassies and wee bairns! Break out your tartan: The Central Florida Scottish Highland Games is upon us this weekend. Sponsored by the Scottish-American Society of Central Florida, the games mostly involve the lifting and moving of heavy shit, whether that means lifting a boulder and carrying it as far as you can…
Otronicon returns for its 10th year
Back when we were 10 years old, our computer entertainment interests hadn’t yet advanced beyond Intellivision, but as Otronicon ends its first decade, the event has proved an amazingly precocious pre-teen. Orlando Science Center’s annual expo of gaming technology is back for its 10th installment, and this edition’s exhibitors list includes major players like EA…
Culture Pop: A surreal dream of a night Friday, Jan. 16
Maitland’s Art & History museum complex wakes up into 2015 with a surreal dream of a show: Art and the Subconscious: Salvador Dalí & Andre Smith, which pairs enigmatic images from Dalí’s “Conquest of Cosmos” series with ethereal watercolors and abstract sculptures by the Maitland Art Center founder. The inaugural Culture Pop party of 2015…
Four Year Strong offers guitar lessons for fans as part of their show this week
Post-hardcore Massachusetts outfit Four Year Strong started charting in 2007 when they released Rise or Die Trying. They followed that up with an album of covers, pulling in notable guests from bands like Gym Class Heroes and Less Than Jake. They got scooped up by Universal/Motown (but left the label in 2012), gaining even more…
Swamburger turns the Social into a verbal gymnasium for MCs with Fat Gold Chain Chronicles
This inaugural edition of a new showcase series from local hip-hop guru Swamburger aims to turn the Social into a verbal gymnasium for MCs. Four MCs are given two sets of three songs apiece, each set featuring beats made by a random producer, whose name is drawn out of a hat. Once the MCs hear…
Of Montreal returns in satisfyingly euphoric style at the Social
The return of the curiously non-Quebecois band with flamboyantly subtle glam-funk stylings is nigh. Though they’re still touring their 2013 Lousy With Sylvianbriar album, arguably their best album since Hissing Fauna, they always manage to sound fresh. That being said, now that we’ve heard their newest single, “Empyrean Abattoir,” we’re more than ready for their…
No more arcade prizes at Disney, thanks to state’s crackdown on Internet cafes
The theme park blogosphere is reporting that Walt Disney World is removing arcade-game prizes from its hotels beginning immediately. No more claw machines featuring alluringly cute but barely attainable stuff animals, no more trading in your 50 tickets for a souvenir koozie, no more trying to rack up enough points to trade for a giant stuffed animal…
Dwight Howard returns to Orlando with the Rockets to take on the Magic
Dwight Howard hasn’t been the same since he left the Magic, and that’s maybe something the more impassioned fans delighted in over the past few seasons. But this year, he’s returning to form, and there are whispers that he’s a dark horse for defensive player of the year (HISS!). If you’ve let go of the…
Worth the Drive: The Both at Ponte Vedra Concert Hall
This Friday, Jan. 16, is a pretty stacked day for fans of music in Central Florida. Here in Orlando, there’s Of Montreal at the Social (we caught up with Kevin Barnes when the band was here in May and loved their big show in the intimate room) and Giraffage at Bullitt Bar with Spazzkid (Giraffage completely…
Kevin Klinkenberger discusses the transition to a walking- and biking-friendly society at Canvs
Sadly, Orlando has a reputation as a hostile place for pedestrians, though we’re seeing a gradual shift toward becoming a more pedestrian- and cycling-friendly city. Part of that shift is due to infrastructure (SunRail, bike shares, a focus on main streets and walkable neighborhoods), but some of it is due to perception. The more people…
COUNCIL WATCH: Watching municipal paint dry so you don’t have to
Well, hello, and welcome back!!! It seems like forever since we stared blankly into the abyss of yawning, perfunctory city governance with a smile (not really) on our face. But, guess what? We’re back. In the recent past spate of tick-tocking, City Hall was effectively morphed into a church of populism as Mayor Buddy Dyer,…
This Little Underground: Nashville South 3 at the Social
This Little Underground is Orlando Weekly’s music column providing perspective, live reviews and news on the city’s music scene. Read the latest column here. Orlando’s alt-country scene isn’t what it used to be, or at least its profile isn’t. Although not at the pitch or concentration as in the mid to late aughts, the talent,…
Sugar walls: The city considers a pilot program regulating murals
image via City of Orlando/featuring Andrew Spear For the past year, we’ve been painting tears on our faces at the prospect of the city interfering with one of Orlando’s most defining features: its growing gallery of colorful murals on business facades. On the one hand, the city has been endorsing the giant art features (especially…
Orlando makes NY Times 52 Places to Go in 2015 list
It seems Orlando has been turning up in an increasing number of “places to go” lists, assembled by people who like to point out that there’s more to Orlando than theme parks and gators. Well, we knew that already. But finally the rest of the world is beginning to acknowledge it. This week, the New…
Study says group homes may not be best option for kids in the system
A new study shows that placing children in group homes instead of with foster families is much more expensive – and many children’s advocates say it’s also worse for the kids. The study, released last month by the Legislature’s Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability, found that slightly more than 11 percent of…
United for Care relaunches campaign for medical marijuana in Florida (yes, you’ll have to sign the petition again)
Today, local attorney John Morgan and medical marijuana advocacy organization United for Care announced plans to relaunch the campaign for medical marijuana in Florida. In a late-afternoon press conference, Morgan told media that even though the initiative to legalize medical marijuana via an amendment to the state constitution was defeated in 2014, the measure clearly…
Mayor Buddy Dyer launches Orlando Bike Share (and rides a bike around for photographers)
Today, Mayor Buddy Dyer got on a bike (yes, he was wearing a helmet) for the cameras to announce the launch of Orlando Bike Share, the city’s new bike rental program operated by Cyclehop. The rental program lets people become who members of the bike share (you have to have a credit card and be…
IT’S A FIGHT!: Sentinel’s Scott Maxwell to dance off with Buddy Dyer at Otronicon!
images via Orlando Sentinel AHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA. Just as we were packing up our glad rags and bits of shredded dignity at the Weekly this afternoon, we caught – cough – wind that our favorite boyfriends (except for our real boyfriends) Sentinel glee-clubber Scott Maxwell and bicycle-enthusiast Mayor Buddy Dyer would be facing off (again?) at the…
Follow the progress and planning of UCF downtown campus on new website
UCF has set up a new page on its website where you can track the planning and progress of its proposed new downtown campus, which is supposed to be constructed as part of the Creative Village, a long-discussed downtown development planned on and around the site of the old Amway Arena. The new webpage doesn’t…
Meeting to discuss a ban on fracking in Florida scheduled for Jan. 13
On Jan. 13, activists, environmentalists and concerned citizens who want to keep fracking out of Florida will meet at the Orlando Public Library at 5575 S. Semoran Blvd., for a Ban Fracking in Florida meeting. The group will gather to talk about strategies to build support for two bills being introduced in the Florida Legislature…
Animal Rights Foundation of Florida to protest Ringling Bros. circus at Amway Center
Once again, the Ringling Bros. circus has come lumbering to town. Which means not just the self-appointed “greatest show on earth,” with its death-defying feats and whatnot, but also its assorted animals and the controversies that surround their care and keeping. If you choose to attend Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey presents Circus Xtreme, the…
Read more on the complaints and controversies surrounding the new GED test
In this week’s cover story, we tell you about how changes made to the GED (general equivalency diploma) test have resulted in a significant drop in the number of people who passed the exam in 2014. In 2013, approximately 540,000 people earned a GED; in 2014, that number dropped to 55,000. The changes have left…
Bike share launches in Orlando today with Buddy on a bike
image via wired.com HEY YOU GUYS!!!! The city has been abuzz with new transportation options lately, but minus the Uber and Lyft drama, we almost forgot about the bike sharing system that we reported on last year. Worry not, two-wheeling wunderkind; everything is launching tomorrow! Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer will kick the top-heavy festivities off…
Orlando and Tampa rank high on the list of most-hacked cities in the nation
New data released by EnigmaSoftware.com has revealed that Orlando and Tampa have won a place on the “most hacked cities” list. People in Orlando and Tampa, it seems, are more likely to be hit by computer hackers than anywhere else. Tampa takes the top spot on the list, with people reporting computer infections in 2014…
This Little Underground: Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires at Crowbar
This Little Underground is Orlando Weekly’s music column providing perspective, live reviews and news on the city’s music scene. Read the latest column here. You can’t always wait for shows to come to you. Sometimes you have to travel for them. Every serious music fan knows this. The latest big-deal concert for me was Charles…
ArtReach Orlando and Boy Kong collab mural installed in Mills 50 today
Today, rising young art star Boy Kong has another piece on another wall, but this time he got a little help from some friends. In collaboration with ArtReach Orlando, a local nonprofit that brings art programming to underserved schools and organizations in Orange County, this new piece was installed today on the front of Mills 50’s distinctive…
Sorcerer’s hat at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is coming down today
The iconic sorcerer’s hat, which has been in place at Disney’s Hollywood Studios since 2001, is coming down. Dismantling of the giant hat, which represents the one worn by Mickey Mouse in the animated movie Fantasia, begins today. The page on Disney’s website for the Sorcerer’ s Hat Shop is also gone from the park’s…
The noisy frailty of Elisa Ambrogio’s solo debut crumbles cookie-cutter pop notions
“This is all I know of love,” Elisa Ambrogio sings on “Comers,” off her disorienting heartthrob (Drag City) release, The Immoralist, as she tramples the trite propensity of writers to overburden their works with cliché symbols and somehow expect the results to convey unique sentiment. In this case, under attack is the spirited metaphor of…
Savage Love
I have been wearing bras and panties with stockings for so long now, it’s become a part of me, and I was wondering if you have heard of this before. Sent From Samsung Mobile People wearing bras and panties and stockings – that is something I’ve heard of before. A quick programming note: Some weeks,…
This Little Underground: War on Women rocks our faces off
You’ve heard the unanimous raves about the White House. Though set in a residential context, it’s as acoustically professional a music hall as you’ll see in the city. Furthermore, through partnerships with smart, connected show organizers like the Civic Minded 5 and the Accidental Music Festival, it features some very legit talent from the international…
Rachel Simmons’ work explores the economy and ecology of independence
Multidisciplinary visual artist Rachel Simmons teaches printmaking, book arts and environmental art courses at Rollins College. Simmons has traveled extensively abroad, seeking to learn how other countries are addressing our shared ecological challenges. In Iceland, she was fascinated with the country’s dedication to renewable energy and how it is reshaping the landscape. She created a…
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19) In his novel Breakfast of Champions, Kurt Vonnegut describes a character, Ned Lingamon, who “had a penis 800 miles long and 210 miles in diameter, but practically all of it was in the fourth dimension.” If there is any part of you that metaphorically resembles Lingamon, the coming months will be…
Mocha is available from Orange County Animal Services
This beautiful girl is Mocha (A283582)! She’s a 1-year-old dog who was adopted from Orange County Animal Services as a puppy last February after she was found as a stray with five other siblings and her mom. She was recently returned to the shelter by her family, so she is now looking for a new…
Lulu Eightball
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Opening in Orlando: ‘Listen Up Philip’ and ‘Taken 3’
Listen Up Philip I spent a lot of time in Barnes and Noble over the holidays, and lemme tell ya, that is one great place to stock up on vinyl toys and Lego sets before you head home and order your books on Amazon. Which brings me to Listen Up Philip, in which a novelist…
Trendy sushi chain Ra keeps it appetizing for the tourist crowd
What Benihana did for teppanyaki, Ra hopes to do for sushi. That this stylish restaurant chain is owned by Benihana is no surprise, but I imagine what most of you really want to know is, does Ra Sushi warrant a trip to Pointe Orlando? The answer to that question, dear readers, is a matter of…
‘Selma’ is powerful, relevant and more timely than its director could ever have imagined
Oscar season always includes at least one shallow film about American history that lurches into theaters and plays like a civics lesson for schoolkids. Director Ava DuVernay’s Selma is not that picture. Instead it’s a vital, complex look at the period in our country’s history during which the civil rights movement broke down walls. Rather…
Tip Jar: Lots of opening, closing and moving in 2015 so far
Chef Tony Adams of Big Wheel Provisions, the much-missed food truck and caterer, returns to Orlando Jan. 11 with a pop-up dinner from 5:30-8:30 p.m. at East End Market; tickets are $20 plus tax. Earlier in the day, Adams hosts a pasta-making class, sauce and all, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (enroll for $40…
‘Inherent Vice’ lacks any of the energy or development that made director Paul Thomas Anderson’s previous films so successful
The more stately detective stories that have been adapted for the big screen are rarely about solving the mystery. Instead, the nucleus of the story typically focuses on the detective’s personal demons rather than crime-solving. Films like The Big Sleep, The Long Goodbye, Chinatown and The Maltese Falcon are great examples of this dense tradition.…
Marriage equality finally comes to Florida
“It ought to be a local decision. I mean, a state decision. The state decided. The people of the state decided. But it’s been overturned by the courts, I guess.” – Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush after a round of golf Even if you removed all of the hyperbolic superlatives from the vaunted journalism lexicon,…
‘It’s Gonna Blow’ gathers punk legends and scarring, awesome footage to impressively depict San Diego’s music underground
The music documentary screening at Will’s Pub this week doesn’t have to pretend importance to discuss a certain San Diego punk/hardcore scene. It’s Gonna Blow: San Diego’s Music Underground 1986-1996 is a sincerely warped time-warp to the house parties, backyard blowouts and nasty small-club shows that big memories are made of for devotees of any…
‘Charlotte’s Web’ becomes tangled in red tape
Sure, we all know that the “Charlotte’s Web” bill that was passed last session to aid folks with seizures was a bit of a Trojan Horse. Placed up against the John Morgan-backed Amendment 2 that would have written actual medical marijuana into law (a measure that only lost by a few meager points), it read…
Remix: We flip the script on the Cuba Libre
You didn’t think I was going to let the groundshaking end of the U.S. embargo against Cuba slip by without Remixing the Cuba Libre, did you? The mojito or the daiquiri may be more mixologically respected than the good old rum-and-Coke, but politically speaking, a Coca-Cola-based cocktail is much more symbolic of the deluge of…
This Modern World
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Like roller coasters for your brain, escape rooms are Orlando’s most puzzlingly addictive new attraction
Welcome to 2015’s first official installment of Live Active Cultures. This month marks seven years since I started writing this column, and as the song still ringing in my ears says, I want to ensure auld acquaintances aren’t forgot with a return to one of my first topics: gaming. In 2014, the international trend of…
Picks This Week: Lauris Vidal, Ghostface Killah and Raekwon, and more
Lauris Vidal Righteous Central Florida bluesman Lauris Vidal stomps through town for a free showcase, packing a one-two punch as a one-man band and covering the greats with his own soulful spin. 9 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 7, at the Imperial, free An Acoustic Night with Red Jumpsuit Apparatus Jacksonville’s Red Jumpsuit Apparatus rose up alongside…
