Tuesday is Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry’s
via Tuesday, April 8 may not be an official national holiday, but to ice cream fans, it might as well be. April 8 is Ben & Jerry’s anniversary and, ever since the iconic ice cream shop turned one in 1978, they’ve celebrated by offering their customers a free cone. This year’s no different. From…
Orlando Musicians Guild throws “speed dating” networking party
via Just in case you were thinking that Orlando Musicians Guild is just another in a long line of Facebook groups that devolve into memes, bickering or idle liking, they’ve announced the first in a series of events meant to bring together Orlando’s music community in the real world. Patterned after the speed dating model,…
Stream Wes Fif’s new EP + the rapper reflects on SXSW
via Orlando rapper Wes Fif has been translating his life experiences into cut-to-the-quick raps for more than a decade, citing Trick Daddy and Jay Z as influences, and his most recent release continues the independent Street Smart entertainer’s legacy, landing him his first official SXSW showcase. We caught up with him via email to see…
VIDEO: 5 favorite Off the Avenue sessions
Off the Avenue on Facebook Orlando is lucky to have North Avenue Studios nearby in Orange City, a recording studio of pros who are admirably active and, perhaps more notably, are behind “Off the Avenue,” a video series of (mostly) in-studio live performances of (mostly) acts that come through Florida. So basically, if your favorite…
Mills 50 Main Street is looking for artists to decorate 15 dumpsters
The City of Orlando and the Mills 50 Main Street District are looking for artists to work with them on their next public art project. Fifteen dumpsters in the district will be transformed into “Art Boxes”. Entries are open to all two dimensional artists living in Orange County and then submitted to a judging panel…
A trip down the bunny trail to Rabbitfoot Records’ new Sanford location
This weekend, I was putzing around trying to figure out what to do with the day I had between the Sun Araw sandwich of this weekend, and I figured a trip to Sanford was just the filling I needed. A couple friends and I decided to make a night of it (since it is a…
Help clean up the Volusia end of the St. Johns River on April 12
Our resplendent St. Johns. Image swiped from Wikipedia. Welp, it’s that time of year again: Spring cleaning. What better place to start than the St. Johns River? Volusia County is seeking volunteers for an April 12 sprucing of their section of our state’s lengthiest waterway. Last year, crews cleaned up four tons of debris from…
Ranking the festival shorts
“Setup, Punch”stars Elijah Wood and Alia Shawkat. As I mentioned in the OW’s main review article on this year’s Florida Film Festival, it’s the shorts programs that are often the most anticipated. While some of the best features will likely get picked up by distributors – if they haven’t been already – you may never…
Will It Float? Late night’s conscience after Letterman
“It’s all your worry now, kids.” I’ve come to really dread the phrase “common sense.” When a politician says he advocates common-sense solutions to our problems, he’s usually exhorting his constituents to succumb to knee-jerk prejudices that are often directly at odds with empirical fact. So yeah, I’m inherently suspicious of Things We All Know.…
‘The Trip to Italy’ launches 2014 FFF
Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan The Florida Film Festival is officially underway. The opening-night party at Enzian was a blast, and the opening film, Michael Winterbottom’s The Trip to Italy (3 stars), seemed to be fairly well received. It won’t play again at this year’s festival, so I’ll spare you a formal review here, but…
Police Beat: Woman arrested when TSA screener finds pistol she didn’t know about
The penalty may have been less severe for this contraband item. An unfortunate incident at Orlando International Airport yesterday provides a reminder of this classic piece of wisdom: Be sure to double-check your luggage before the TSA screening, or you might leave the airport in cuffs instead of on a plane. Pennsylvania native Julie Powell,…
New reality show casting in Orlando
via So, you wanna be a reality television star, huh? You’ll have your chance on Saturday, April 19 at Central Florida Earth Day, where a casting call for the new Fox show, Utopia, will be happening. The show throws together 15 strangers in a social experiment to build a whole new world. Cue the Aladdin earworm ……
Location Matters: SeaWorld from “Jaws 3-D”
They deleted the subplot where Dennis Quaid searches for an antiperspirant that works. Location Matters is a series that reflects upon pieces of Orlando immortalized in popular film. Our country’s most popular chain of corporate-owned aquatic life theme parks has taken a real drubbing in the past year thanks to Blackfish, and the new groundswell against…
Thank you, Internet: talking to dolphins and Taco Bell breakfasts
Happy Friday, y’all. When you get done wasting away the last few hours of work by planning your weekend, these five links should get you through the home stretch: via 1. Soon, we may find out just how intelligent dolphins really are. Using the Cetacean Hearing and Telemetry (CHAT) device, scientists have successfully translated a dolphin’s…
Drunk person falls through ceiling at Roxy Nightclub
via From the Drunk People Doing Stupid Things department: Today the Orlando Police Department released a report of an incident that happened at 1:39 a.m. at Roxy Nightclub on Bennett Road. Apparently, an off-duty police officer working at the club was approached by some patrons who told him that an injured person was lying in…
Animated poster steps up Orlando’s local show promotion game
Not only was I super-excited by a recent event advertising a full-band Maximino set (can’t remember when the last one was!), and not only did I love the collage-y illustration for the event poster, but I also clicked through to discover that local zine creators and artists Alana Questell and Guillermo Casanova had turned their…
Shots! Shots! Shots! Earthday Birthday turns 21
Local rock station WJRR throws a party every April celebrating Earthday Birthday with bands, stunt shows, vendors and even a carnival environment with rides. This year, the party is Saturday, April 12 at the Central Florida Fairgrounds and features four stages of live music (30+ bands), including headliners Cypress Hill, Everclear, Pepper, Filter, Alien Ant…
Grass: New Works from Brandon McLean opens Saturday at the Falcon
Brandon McLean is one our favorite homegrown Orlando artists (obviously we like his stuff); his works in various formats can’t be contained by just one discipline, but spill all over into each other, fluidly shifting boundaries. Opening Saturday at The Falcon is Grass, a show of mixed-media image transfer collages that grew out of a group of short…
YOUR DAILY WEEKLY READER: staring at the sun, hiding from the sunshine and buying an election
via freewoodpost.com SOLAR POWER! IN FLORIDA! WELCOME TO 1977! “Florida Power & Light Co. customers who want to support more solar power would have a chance to do so under a proposal the company filed Wednesday with the state regulators. Customers would pay $9 a month for three years in a voluntary pilot program that…
Twice the Ice: Minus5 Ice Bar opening in Orlando
via Watch yourself, International Drive. There may be an ice turf war happening soon. A little rumble in the igloo, if you will. There’s a new cold bar coming to town. Minus5 Ice Bar is moving in on ICEBAR Orlando’s territory. They’ll be opening up their first Florida location at Pointe Orlando later this month.…
Capen House reunited at last
via Like their name-sakes, a pair of star-crossed lovers in a cheesy rom-com, “Fred” and “Ginger,” the two halves of the historic Capen House, have been reunited at last. Last month, we reported that “Ginger” was on the move to her permanent home next to “Fred.” Today, she’s happily nestled up against her soul mate,…
Pantsless McDonald’s employee attacks cop in DeLand
Twenty-one-year-old Ryan Wolf smirks in his mug shot as if he’s committed crimes on par with Dillinger or Pretty Boy Floyd, but the fact of the matter is this McDonald’s employee was booked Saturday for trying to choke out a cop who dared inquire why he was lying in the middle of a DeLand street…
David Yow to publish cat book: not an April Fool’s hoax
Yow and Buddy, via I heard about this Tuesday and shrugged it off as just another April 1 ha-ha: David Yow — frontman of legendarily noisy and aggressive bands Scratch Acid and the Jesus Lizard (which I hold responsible for at least 8% of my cumulative hearing loss) — is writing and illustrating a book about cats.…
A double dose of documentaries
SlingShot and The Final Member at the Florida Film Festival The OW just released our big Festival article featuring reviews of roughly 30 feature films, but since there are more than 50 at this year’s fest, that means we just weren’t able to get to all of them by our press deadline. Two we missed…
Your guide to Record Store Day in Orlando
via Record Store Day is to collectors what Easter is to chickens; it’s so easy to count your eggs before they’re hatched. (Sorry if I hurt your brain.) This year, it’s Saturday, April 19. With so many exclusive releases, for a certain crowd, it’s about camping out in line to assure you acquire all the…
YOUR DAILY WEEKLY READER: charter fail, hobby hypocrisy and Dems without frontiers
EVERYBODY LOSES WHEN CHARTER SCHOOLS WIN. LOOK, IT’S A PROVEN FACT THAT PRIVATIZING PUBLIC EDUCATION IS REALLY DUMB: “Most Florida taxpayers are surprised to learn that charter schools are part of the public school system and are paid for by taxpayer dollars. Yet, in a yearlong study, the League of Women Voters of Florida has…
Pillowlando 2014: Public pillow fighting madness
To celebrate International Pillow Fight Day, some magically fantastic Orlando residents have decided to host an super-cool orgy of pillow-fighting madness. Rules are as follows: Fight Featherless – feather pillows can make a feathery mess – also, some people are allergic Fight Nice – it’s a pillow fight, dummy. Fight in Style – we strongly…
Paul Sorvino: slaying the stereotype
Veteran actor to screen Goodfellas at Florida Film Festival Paul Sorvino has a lot on his mind, and a lot on his proverbial plate, but not a single one of those items has anything to do with the mafia. “Most people think I’m either a gangster or a cop or something, but the reality is…
Our appetite for messed up Disney art knows no bounds
Since the early 1970s, Orlando and Disney have been inextricably linked in the common mind. Though Walt died before before he was able to see “the Florida Project” completed (or even begun), he left his mark on the local geography, economy and imagination. It’s an uneasy coupling, though. Though the original plans were announced at…
JBF Kitchen Cam: Watch local chef Hari Pulapaka cook dinner at New York’s vaunted James Beard House
Well, this is just unbelievably cool. Not only are we thrilled that our very own Hari Pulapaka (chef of Cress Restaurant) is cooking tonight at the James Beard House, we can watch him do it! If you’ve ever wanted to stalk a talented chef in action — without the danger of being stepped on, cut…
Will’s whisky: How to not fall on your ass when the spirits come to town
We likely all have imbibed the great craft brews Will’s Pub has to offer, as it’s been a sort of beer and music mecca going on 20 years. But as some of you may be aware, the hoppy and hopping bar-made-music-venue will be serving up all sorts of liquor starting today, April 2. This has…
Real invisibility cloaks are coming!
via This is something straight out of the movies, you guys. The Harry Potter movies, to be specific. University of Central Florida Assistant Professor, Debashis Chanda, is leading a team of researchers in light bending technology that could make an invisibility cloak an reality. Here’s the gist of the invisibility in real person (not science person)…
19 questions with an Orlando resident: Brad Gunnell
Welcome to 19 Questions, a feature where we ask longtime Orlando residents 19 questions that are mostly related to living in the City Beautiful. Brad Gunnell has called Orlando home since 2002. A self-described military brat who currently works in educational publishing, Brad knows Louisville, Ky., as his hometown. 1. Who’s your favorite Orlando resident,…
Graffiti-lando: Can we make it work?
Earlier this month we shared a 14-slide photo gallery highlighting some graffiti in the Mills 50 Main Street District. It’s an area that has had plenty of tagging activity – what some would call vandalism – over the years. Property owners were of course incensed at the damage to private property and the conversation online…
Fleet Farming comes to Orlando
This Sunday at 10 a.m. a swarm of cyclists will descend on Orlando. Their mission: to tend your gardens. A lot of people want more local food options but are fed up with the lack of variety at local markets. Cheap local, organic produce isn’t as readily available as you would think, so some Orlandoans…
Car dealership threatens lawsuit over Sanford man’s bad review
via In the wake of a WFTV Channel 9 report about a Sanford man who was threatened with a lawsuit by a local car dealership for writing a bad online review, there’s only one thing for many to say: “What the fuck is going on?” Steven Dinsmore took his car to Evolution Auto for an…
‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ at Mad Cow Theatre
Mad Cow raises the roof on a Tennessee Williams classic
This Little Underground: Backbooth’s comeback
The Falcon ready for shows, The Welzeins, Kelly Craven, Slim Walker & His Orchestra, Stephen Rock, Wheeler Newman & the Cosmic Roots Collective
Florida Film Festival 2014 movie reviews
Not sure what flicks to catch at this year’s fest? Use our reviews as your guide
Florida’s Wolf-Face is gimmicky but also great, grizzly punk
Album review: Wolf-Face’s ‘Still a Son of a Bitch’
Florida Film Festival 2014
One of the best film fests in Florida gears up for its 23rd year
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19) In his novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera says that the brain has “a special area which we might call poetic memory and which records everything that charms or touches us, that makes our lives beautiful.” In the coming days, it will be especially important for you to tap…
‘Caress of Progress’ at the Space: intoxicatingly original
Shine Shed’s performance piece was a much-needed reminder that refreshingly new art and ideas are incubating in Orlando
Report reveals errors in handling of Ibragim Todashev
State Attorney Jeff Ashton’s investigation clears FBI agent who shot Todashev, but also reveals a few basic missteps that let situation get out of hand
Drinking, Nightlife and Parties
Where to drink and party in Orlando this week
Hispanic supporters express disappointment in Gov. Rick Scott’s campaign
Campaign’s former finance co-chair and key Hispanic politicians take campaign to task for insensitivity to Hispanic supporters
Remix: the Southside
A Jazz Age gin classic re-envisioned as a summertime slush
Sun Araw brings improvisational sonic exploration to Florida
Catch the experimental artist at two very different shows this week
The Strand is the latest in a string of Orlando dining victories
Cozy Mills 50 bistro has a food-first ethic and dedication to local and seasonal sourcing
Savage Love
My boyfriend of three months, “Marcus,” told me last week that he is a trans man. He has performed oral sex on me and fingered me, but he never let me reciprocate and told me he didn’t want to have penis-in-vagina sex yet because to him that was a large commitment. We go to college…
Black Lips’ ‘Underneath the Rainbow’ skimps on the scuzz
Album review: Black Lips’ ‘Underneath the Rainbow’
Mac DeMarco will put us all on a steady ‘Salad’ diet
Album review: Mac DeMarco’s ‘Salad Days’
Florida Film Festival 2014 food films and events
The foodie offerings at this year’s feast look tasty
Readers weigh in on Disney’s FastPass+
Commenters say new system is disappointing and has “zero appeal”
Give Me Your Money
Global industrial civilization could collapse in coming decades
Six fictional restaurants I wish were real
I suffer from two huge fictional disorders: advanced foodie-ism and level 5 movie addiction. I don’t go to fictional support groups or anything, though. That would just be silly. However, these two disorders combine to make a raging beast: fictional restaurant envy. In fact, I think it’s a mortal fictional sin or something. To help…
Tako Cheena to donate 15 percent of all proceeds to Zebra Coalition
If you love Tako Cheena (or, if you’ve been waiting for a good excuse to finally stop in), tomorrow would be a good day to go. The restaurant plans to donate 15 percent of all April 3 sales made between 11 a.m. and 11 p.m. to the Zebra Coalition, a local nonprofit that helps LGBTQ…
An April Fools retrospective: eating manatee steaks and Capital Orlando
via I’m sure you’ve spent much of your April Fool’s Day catching them all on your Google maps app and perusing the new product offerings over at ThinkGeek. Seriously, though a PBR stein is not that bad of an idea, amirite? We here at Orlando Weekly didn’t want to inundate you with more of the same fake news. Oh,…
Sochi stray dogs coming to Daytona Beach for adoption
Display dog only. Photo via Deadspin. Remember all those adorable stray dogs who were trotting around Sochi during this year’s Winter Olympics? The lovable mutts were spotted constantly around the city’s newly constructed hotels and bus stops; occasionally they even managed to interrupt athletic competition. Well, they were spotted constantly until Russian authorities began rounding…
YOUR DAILY WEEKLY READER: Obamacare excuses, whales on pills, Knuckles out
via the guardian EXCUSES, EXCUSES, EXCUSES: “Against all odds and expectations, enrollments in health plans qualified under the Affordable Care Act are surging Monday toward — and maybe beyond — the 7-million figure projected by the Congressional Budget Office before Oct. 1, when the open-enrollment period began. The deadline for starting enrollment applications for 2014…
A dog GIF to represent each Orlando venue
Each Orlando venues offers its own distinct experience and has its own specific reputation. I’ve seen shows all over this town, and so instead of griping about or celebrating the venues for what makes them so special, I figured it made way more sense to pair them with dog GIFs that evoke memories of each.…
Disney’s Frozen becomes the biggest animated film in world, is the GIF gift that keeps on giving
Conceal, don’t feel, Pixar. Don’t let them know. You’re number 2 now. Let it go. Disney’s Frozen, the studio’s 53rd feature animation and winner of multiple Oscars earlier this year, entered the top 10 all-time worldwide box office this week, passing both the billion dollar mark and Toy Story 3 on its way. Co-directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee,…
