Use your tax refund to buy yourself Google Glass
via You may be wondering how to spend that tax refund that’s burning a hole in your pocket. You might also be curious about how you could possibly make yourself look just a little bit dorkier. Google has the solution to both of those problems: Google Glass. For one day only, Google is giving anyone…
5 songs to get you through today
via Nothing is beautiful and everything hurts. It’s Monday, but, hey, there is a lot to look forward to this week (like Kendrick Lamar, Harrypalooza, Bad Veins, Record Store Day and more). Here are some songs to help heal your weekend hippy heart. 1. Cloud Nothings “Psychic Trauma” Get over your traumatic weekend with the…
7 spring and summer music festivals less than 600 miles away
via There are a bunch of great music festivals in the coming months that are totally doable for Floridians willing to go the distance, including this month’s Florida Music Festival, right here in Orlando, and other enticing bills arranged in nearby Florida cities Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale and Ybor City. Here is a quick look at…
Tonight: Celebrity bartenders (including Billy Manes) at Savoy Orlando
via Monday, April 14 from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m., you can stop by Savoy Orlando, congratulate Billy Manes’ on his national-news-making cover story and have him make you a drink. The best part? Every drink he concocts for you will benefit the Center. Savoy Orlando has been hosting a customer bartender night for the past…
Lake Mary woman converses with Jesus during bear attack
Actual painting from the Renaissance. Last night at approximately 7:45 p.m. Terri Frana was sitting on her back porch in Lake Mary when she spotted a couple of bears traipsing about the area. Concerned for her two children who had just biked to a neighbor’s house, Frana ventured to her garage to check the scene.…
Orlando Solar Bears playoff tickets on sale now
The Orlando Solar Bears have clinched a spot in the ECHL Kelly Cup Playoffs, thanks in part to league leading goal scorer Mickey Lang, whose 44 goals lead the next best skater by 14 (his 76 points leaves him third in the league in that category). The Bears — who are the ECHL affiliate of…
Police Beat: Burglar leaves clogged toilet at clinic
via When burglars strike, damages and loss of property are bad enough. But sometimes salt gets tossed in the wound. Take, for example, whoever burglarized the Devereux Clinic on Westgate Drive this past Monday night. When employee Sandra Green came in for work Tuesday morning, she noticed the door was ajar and all of the…
National Grilled Cheese Day in Orlando: Mmm, melty
Not only is April 12 National Grilled Cheese Day, the entire month of April has been deemed National Grilled Cheese month by some higher grilled cheese power. Not that I’m complaining. I love the hell out of a grilled cheese. Second only to cornbread on my list of comfort foods, it was my go to…
Guy with world’s largest 8-track collection is still better than you
Today (allegedly) is National 8 Track Day. What better time to revisit this important 2010 news report about Indiana Bob, our planet’s undisputed king of 8-track hoardin’? The best part is when he dismisses iPods as classless. [youtube RYi1i02CrvY 670 377] Keep on truckin’, Bob! Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go dust…
Thank You, Internet: Oreo snack hacks and Mad Men mania
Friday’s winding down and you know what that means, right? It’s time to play “kill the last few hours of the day”! Here are some links that should help: via 1. Ever hate your job so much you wanna quit? Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is offering his unhappy employees the chance to do just that,…
YOUR DAILY WEEKLY READER: wars on women, Hispanics and parents
DO THEY EVEN KNOW THAT WOMEN OUTNUMBER MEN IN AMERICA? DO THEY THINK ABOUT THAT? “On Tuesday, during a news conference, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi wondered out loud whether Republican senators who had tweeted support for the idea of equal pay for equal work could be counted on to vote for the Paycheck Fairness…
Tickets now on sale for Jesus Christ Superstar arena tour at Amway Center
As last month's first-class touring production of Evita proved, there's still plenty of life left in Andrew Lloyd Webber's early musicals, and a new area tour is aiming to bring one of his first hits to an entirely new audience. As of 10 a.m. on April 7, tickets are now on sale for Jesus Christ…
Kissimmee’s classy wrasslin’ dinner theater
via If chowing down on a pizza buffet while watching grown men grapple with each other is your thing, then I’m about to make your day. Next week, you’ll be able to do both at Manor Professional Wrestling’s dinner theater in Kissimmee on Friday, April 18. The dinner theater wrestling matches feature an elaborate backstory about two villages…
Location Matters: the shopping center from ‘Wilder Napalm’
Howard and Quaid square off in Sanford. Yes, that’s Jim Varney in the suspenders. Location Matters is a series that reflects upon pieces of Orlando immortalized in popular film. In the early ’90s American cinema went through a “bad clown” phase. There was Bill Murray’s bank-robbing harlequin in Quick Change, Bobcat Goldthwait’s self-destructive Shakes the Clown, and Tim…
‘Soft Sounds of the Seventies’ night at Lil Indies with special drink menu
There are plenty of reasons to cherish the ’70s for its broad music catalog. It’s the decade that jump-started punk rock and hip-hop; it’s when reggae could be called innovative; and rock got glam or art or prog appended to the front of it. But for some, it was the softer notes that hit home,…
State Rep. Joe Saunders takes OW – and the fight to expand Medicaid – to MSNBC (video)
So, yesterday hit us like a truck. Not only was our cover story “Falling into the gap” picked up by Huffington Post, Wonkette, Think Progress, and many other online outlets, it also landed on the desks of State Rep. Joe Saunders – who rather famously voted against the bipartisan budget this week because it did…
Pelican headlines this summer’s Southern Darkness Fest in Tampa
Those of the heavy heart, rejoice! On August 23, Southern Darkness Fest is bringing palpitations in the form of an incredible roster for the daylong music festival worth trekking to Tampa for, including the largely unclassifiable but majorly awesome post-metal critical darlings Pelican. I’m not convinced that we are even prepared: The rest of the…
Bomb threat at University High School causes evacuation
via At about 10 a.m. today, a bomb threat was called into University High School. The school, where nearly 3,000 students are enrolled, was immediately evacuated, as was the nearby Waterford Lakes Elementary School. University High School is currently being swept by K-9 units and bomb technicians. We will update this story as it unfolds.…
FROM THE PAGES OF ORLANDO WEEKLY ON WMFE: Billy Manes on Charlene Dill and the deaths caused by no Medicaid Expansion
This week, our cover story about the death of a 32-year-old mother thanks to Republicans not expanding Medicaid made national news. Here’s a segment we recorded for WMFE about the story. Listen here or below, and read along if you’d like. Even as Democrats celebrate and Republicans pick up their jaws in response to last…
YOUR DAILY WEEKLY READER: burning flags, flagging poll numbers, dying oranges
OH, SO THAT WAS THE NIGHT THE LIGHTS WENT OUT IN GEORGIA: “Oh, say did you see … the flag on fire at the Braves’ home opener? If you were at the game Tuesday night, you watched as baseball legend Hank Aaron was honored and the team’s latest division banner was unveiled. You might’ve missed…
Best of Orlando Bracket: Help us pick new categories for our Readers Poll
Click to enlarge Every year, we pause to assess what makes Orlando a place we’re proud to call home. We survey the city on an array of categories to cover as much ground as possible to highlight the best of the best of Orlando food and drink, goods and services, sports and recreation, music and…
Huzzah! It’s Fox Day!
For those of you who have been faithfully watching FoxDayCam.com for a sign of our furry ginger friend, the day has finally arrived! It’s FOX DAY! For those of you who have no idea what we’re talking about, shame on you. Once a year, a coy 300 pound fox statue magically appears on the Rollins…
Do Gooders: Thanks Thailand
Check out this super-inspiring commercial that a Life Insurance company made in the Land of Smiles (That’s what they tell you it’s called when you’re visiting Thailand). Small acts of giving can affect the world around you. How will you spend your day today? Spread the love, Orlando.
Horny Kansan took bathroom breaks in car on way to Longwood sexual predator sting
40-year-old Kansas City resident Christopher Lanning was arrested in our neck of the woods yesterday after driving almost non-stop from the Sunflower State under the assumption he was to meet a teenage girl he could sex. Said girl was a figment of the Longwood Police Department, a tool used by authorities to trap and capture…
Orlando man tries to rid his apartment of bugs by setting it ablaze
via Look, I get it. Bugs in your home can be super-annoying. You try everything you can to get rid of them. You clean ALL THE THINGS. You try the hippie remedies like cornmeal, cayenne pepper and white vinegar. Then you bring out the big guns, the poisons. Then, if they don’t work, you bring in…
Topless woman goes bonkers at Florida McDonald’s
via Last month, a Pinellas, Fla. woman thought it would be wise to strip down to her panties and go utterly insane at her local McDonald’s. Lucky for us, the store’s surveillance cameras caught all the boob-flying action. Clearly in some kind of rage-state, she shoves cash registers to the ground and empties cabinets. Eventually…
Hone your knife skills, chop chop! with free online tutorial
This is not proper technique. In the kitchen, anyway. Been looking for a way to sharpen up those knife skills? Those of us who didn’t have the benefit of culinary school training (i.e, most of us) could probably stand a bit of guidance in the ways and wherefores of using a knife. Good knife skills…
Battlestar Galactica being re-re-imagined into a movie?
It seems like we go through the “why?” phase every few weeks these days. “Why would you remake that?” Ninja Turtles are mutants, not aliens. Jeez. Charlie don’t surf and Peter Parker sure as hell don’t skateboard. C’mon. Battlestar… a movie? Hmm. The answer to that question is pretty simple, of course: to get money from…
Bloodshot Bill’s music takes a cue from Jack Kerouac
Montreal’s Bloodshot Bill specializes in a primal mix of blues, country and rockabilly
A roundup of DPAC news, plus what’s next on local stages
Legler leaves town, Cowie films local creatives, Orlando Ballet to move into ‘the Doc’
Top 10 reasons to love Cabana Bay Beach Resort
Universal Orlando’s new retro-revival hotel complex gets the details right
The Hold Steady presents a pragmatic stylistic relapse on ‘Teeth Dreams’
Album review: The Hold Steady’s ‘Teeth Dreams’
Florida legislature expands Stand Your Ground
State decides that Stand Your Ground cases should no longer be public record
The War on Drugs gets lost in classic rock comparisons
Album review: The War on Drugs’ ‘Lost in the Dream’
Robert Pruitt’s work pulls so many different threads
Acclaimed Afrofuturist at Zora Neale Hurston Museum through July
No orchestra in sight on Manchester Orchestra’s new album
Album review: Manchester Orchestra’s ‘Cope’
Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando to open Kissimmee clinic
Despite some vocal protests, city says it has no legal grounds to try to block clinic
This Little Underground: Sapphire Supper Club revisited
Cherlene live, Deltron 3030
Cave Inn gets saucy
The kitchen goes paleo at this caveman-themed barbecue joint
The perils of Florida’s refusal to expand Medicaid
Charlene Dill is one of an estimated 2,000 people who expected to face dire health issues due to lack of access to care
Graffiti walls in Orlando: Love or hate?
Letters to the editor
Blocking Gov. Rick Scott’s vote block
Despite its attempts to defend its position on voter purge, court of appeals calls action unconstitutional
Drinking, Nightlife and Parties
Where to drink and party in Orlando this week
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19) Freedom is the most important kind of joy you can seek right now. It’s also the most important subject to study and think about, as well as the most important skill to hone. I advise you to make sure that freedom is flowing through your brain and welling up in your…
Opening in Orlando: ‘Rio 2,’ ‘Oculus’ and ‘Draft Day’
Movies opening in Orlando theaters this week
Tip Jar: Greg Richie takes over CityFish
Plus: Barley & Vine Biergarten opens, Kouzzina closes, Winter Park jinx spot unjinxed?
Paul Sorvino to screen ‘Goodfellas’ at Florida Film Festival
An interview with the veteran actor, who says he tries to evade the gangster stereotype
Woman accidentally brings gun to Orlando airport
Police arrest her because she did not have permit to carry the weapon
Savage Love
I’m an old guy, fast approaching geezerdom. After 45 years of marriage to the same woman, the sex has fallen off to zero. We otherwise have a great and comfortable relationship. If I want any at all these days, the only options are masturbation or professional service providers. I was very nervous the first time…
Bar Exam: Will’s Pub
The what, where, why and how of this Mills 50 mainstay
A quick post about Kurt Cobain
It felt weird letting the day pass without just a short post about Kurt Cobain. Today marks the 20th anniversary of his death. I know I’m not alone in saying that Nirvana had a huge influence on my life. Their music led me down the path to discovering other great bands and music. Twenty years…
Got the pipes? Sing for your supper at the Hard Rock Cafe
via We all know there’s no such thing as a free lunch, but on tax day, you could use your pipes to score a free dinner. If you fancy yourself a singer and are looking to swing a free tax day meal, you should get your ass over to Hard Rock Cafe on Tuesday, April 15.…
Best of Orlando 2014 is going to be SUPER!
Logo by Adam McCabe This year, we’re breaking our voting up into two rounds: Beginning April 30, you can nominate your favorite people, places and businesses for the best in Local Color, Music & Nightlife, Food & Drink, Goods & Services, Arts & Entertainment and Sports & Recreation. We’ll select the top vote getters in…
Ace Cafe is moving into our old office!
40 classic shots of the All-British Car Show at Mead Garden Within the year, Ace Cafe plans to open a new location in Orlando. It’s a location that we here at Orlando Weekly are quite familiar with, because it’s where we used to house our offices! Ace Cafe will be moving into the Harry P. Leu…
Orlando: One of the top 10 vacations for sports fans
Incredible shots from the Orlando City Soccer championship Hey, sports fans! Did you know that one of the best vacations for sports lovers is right in your own backyard? According to CNN, Orlando ranks at No. 8 on the list of America’s Best Vacations for Sports Fans. Also included on the list are obvious sports…
Game of Thrones fans, winter is finally coming
There is a porn parody of Game of Thrones coming out soon. It was only a matter of time – I’m actually surprised it took four seasons. It’s the latest in Hustler’s long, illustrious line of parody porn, and by the looks of the trailer it will be worth watching for the comedy, at the…
Here’s a kid playing ‘Highway to Hell’ on a Florida-shaped guitar
Did you know that April is International Guitar Month? Of course you did. Please enjoy this video of a child playing along to a classic AC/DC song on his custom made Florida-shaped guitar. Luckily our state lends itself to rock & roll craftsmanship. Hawaii? You can’t make a guitar out of that state. Wind chimes,…
