Fast times in low places
There’s a nasty rumor going around that Orlando’s cultural options are somewhat limited. It’s not true, but it’s a misconception that’s easy to fall into if you’re unwilling to make some hard choices about how you’re going to spend your leisure time. So it was that I elected to skip last Friday’s opening-night festivities of…
Unsafe at any speed
Movie: The Cruise
A ‘Life’ interrupted
Movie: Life
Lame affair
Movie: Goodbye, Lover
Unsafe at any speed
Movie: The Cruise
A ‘Life’ interrupted
Movie: Life
Lame affair
Movie: Goodbye, Lover
Chemical case shut, sealed
Just a few days after an Orlando Weekly article reported surprising new claims in a seven-year lawsuit over ground-water contamination `Poison Pens? Feb. 25`, the Orlando Sentinel reached a secret agreement with its adversaries in that suit. “The agreement was signed March 1,” says Colleen Dykes, a Sentinel spokeswoman. “A mediation was held Dec. 22,…
Mickeyâ??s payroll watch
Last year Disney CEO Michael Eisner cleared nearly $6 million, although all but $750,000 of his annual pay comes in the form of a “performance bonus” tied to an increase in the value of the stock. But with Disney shares languishing, Eisner in December approached his board of directors and asked for a new deal.…
Prescriptions for secrecy
Current bills in the Legislature would theoretically help consumers by forcing medical people to reveal mistakes. But the reports would be kept secret. HB 1971 would establish quality-of-care monitoring of nursing homes. But a companion bill would exempt those records from the state’s Sunshine Law. The reasoning? To protect patients who may give adverse personal…
Udder justice
The Fox News reporters from Tampa who said they were fired after refusing to lie in a story about bovine growth hormone in Florida milk will go to court next month. On April 1 a judge rejected WTVT’s request to throw the whistle-blower suit out of court. The trial is now set for May 10.…
Guaranteed seating
In March, the Seattle Police Department ordered the 26 employees in its fingerprint unit to attend a mandatory, half-hour safety class in how to sit down. Recently, three of the unit’s employees had filed worker-compensation claims for injuries that occurred as they were attempting to sit in chairs with rollers. The proper technique, according to…
Early-bird election sale!
Hi, “Crazy Jim” Hightower here, saying: Have I got a deal for you! Come on down to “Crazy Jim’s” for the deal of a lifetime. It’s all part of our “1999 Pre-Election Presidential Candidate Sale-a-Thon!” Shop till you drop here at our Presidential Showroom on the magic mile — we’ve got your Democrats and Republicans,…
New Age rocker is on a roll
New Age is the most sensible category for the music of Kitaro, the Japanese-born composer who uses a battery of modern and ancient instruments — including synthesizers, guitars and a Taiko drum dating back a millennium — to create soaring melodies and lush soundscapes. His albums, including collaborations with Yes singer Jon Anderson and Grateful…
Review – Half Mad Moon
Artist: The Damnations tx
Review – Half Mad Moon
Artist: The Damnations tx
Review – Post Global Music
Artist: Aerial M
Review – Post Global Music
Artist: Aerial M
Review – Trad Arr Jones
Artist: John Wesley Harding
Review – Trad Arr Jones
Artist: John Wesley Harding
Review – Come On Die Young
Artist: Mogwai
Review – Half Mad Moon
Artist: The Damnations tx
Review – Post Global Music
Artist: Aerial M
Review – Trad Arr Jones
Artist: John Wesley Harding
Review – Come On Die Young
Artist: Mogwai
Review – Half Mad Moon
Artist: The Damnations tx
Review – Post Global Music
Artist: Aerial M
Review – Trad Arr Jones
Artist: John Wesley Harding
Review – Come On Die Young
Artist: Mogwai
Review – Come On Die Young
Artist: Mogwai
Many unhappy returns
The final proof, I thought, finally came: the proof that up is down, wrong is right, salty is sweet, the janitor’s a genius, the priest’s a pedophile and nothing is as it seems. The proof came in the Archie McPhee catalog, epicenter of cool, fun toys and kitsch home decor: The “Elvis” playing cards cost…
Ready or not — Tiffany Chapel opens
It’s still a work in progress, but the world-watched Tiffany Chapel installation in the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art will open this weekend, as planned. Too much has been written in anticipation of the conservation project to consider a postponement, says publicist Nancy Long, so the museum is proceeding in the spirit of…
Getting Well frames the art of healing
On the mantle, masks of self-discovery seem to lean against each other for support. Others adorn the close-quarters walls; more hang in hallways. One is peaceful, flower-bedecked with a gazing Third Eye. Another is bisected between the gaiety of Harlequin and the blackness of an HIV diagnosis. Symbolically appropriate, the two-storied cottage that houses Getting…
Hiding and seeking stories
Boxed in by black frames and rubbed with dirt — this is what’s immediately striking about Nellie Van Scoy’s assemblages of everyday objects, currently on exhibit at the Mount Dora Center for the Arts. Van Scoy hangs shallow boxes with several compartments. Inside are sewing materials, props for children’s games, doll parts, drawings and knickknacks.…
Joys of spontaneous combustion
Widespread Panic’s eagerly awaited seventh album, tentatively titled “Till the Medicine Takes,” won’t hit the streets until July 27. But the jam band’s legions of loyal fans — dubbed “Spreadheads” — and potential new converts are already being dosed with the music. The sextet is hitting the road after months at home in Athens, Ga.,…
Stardust shines a different light
Once you drag yourself away from hours of scanning covers, looking for those obscure German Impressionist videos, stumble over to the food side of Stardust Video & Coffee (1842 E. Winter Park Road, Orlando; 407-623-3393) to fulfill other, less cerebral appetites. Extra points to anyone who gets all the film/music/literary references on the clever menu.…
Chic Changâ??s
For all the mediocrity wreaked by line-up-to-the-trough Chinese buffets with gloppy sweet-and-sour sauces and soggy takeout containers, spanking new P.F. Chang’s China Bistro stands in stark contrast. Enter the eye-popping, postmodern interior of the high-profile debut of this restaurant chain at the still-developing Winter Park Village, and you’ll think you’ve fallen through a pan-Asian rabbit…
Stardust shines a different light
There’s nothing typical about Stardust Video and Coffeehouse. Step inside the dusky, minimal interior and you’ll be greeted by the aroma of coffee beans, the hypnotic beat of mood music and a pastry case of tempting goodies. Some of the brews are named after independent films, like “Henry’s Fool” ($5), which is seven shots of…
