Winter Park brothers competing on Season 29 of Survivor
Image via CBS Winter Park brothers Drew and Alec Christy are competing for the $1 million prize on the latest season of Survivor. They join eight other pairs in San Juan Del Sur for the 29th season of what some consider to be the original reality competition show. This is the second time the long-running program has pitted relatives and significant…
11 Orlando-area events to fill your Labor Day weekend
Instead of obligatorily accepting another invitation to your neighbor’s labor day bar-b-q and risking another sight of a speedo-clad “grill master”, be sure to fill your social calendar with these Labor Day talks of the town: Gulf Coast Jam Celebrate your Labor Day with your toes in the sand and your ears tuned into Blake…
Do me, Orlando: Bioluminescent kayaking the Mosquito Lagoon
Describe in one word: Trippy Info/cost: A Day Away Kayak Tours, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Titusville; 321-268-2655; adayawaykayaktours.com; $35 It lasted: about two hours It sounds like something you’d do on a vacation to an exotic, tropical locale, but kayaking in a lagoon at night with tiny creatures that create an otherworldly glow when…
Voting-rights groups want Supreme Court to hear redistricting case
By BRANDON LARRABEE THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA A coalition of voting-rights organizations and individual voters wants the Florida Supreme Court take up the legal battle over the state’s congressional districts. In a notice of appeal filed Friday with the 1st District Court of Appeal, the groups – which include the League of Women Voters…
This Little Underground: Modern Music Movement’s R.E.M. tribute night
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. R.E.M. tribute night with (from left) Brian Chodorcoff, Stephen Rock and Wheeler Newman at the Imperial (photo by Ashley Belanger) My second pop-in on a Modern Music Movement show was one…
Why Labor Day matters: We still don’t have a living wage, sick time, or much else here in Florida
As we all prepare our vodka-melon balls and pour oil into our Jet-Skis and make certain three days are three VERY IMPORTANT DAYS for the maintenance of our personal well beings, it’s important to note that you wouldn’t have weekends, or a lack of unfair child labor or even a solid minimum wage (not to…
Rachael Ray’s Shelter Cats are Beautiful tour is coming to Orlando
Shelter Cats Are Beautiful Tour Each year millions of cats enter shelters and are often quickly put into cages. If it’s not heartbreaking enough that these cats are often scared, hungry and sometimes dirty, a photo is snapped of them in this unfortunate state. This photo is then used to attract people looking to adopt.…
This Little Underground: Centuries, Jungbluth @ Uncle Lou’s
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: Jungbluth at Uncle Lou’s (photo by Christopher Garcia) Non-Prophet Organization’s latest punk-centric showcase (Aug. 27, Uncle Lou’s) was a study in both extremity and advancement. Some of these young bands aren’t…
Annual Grandma Party Bazaar accepting vendor submissions starting this weekend
Photos: All the weird that was Grandma Party 2013 Our favorite annual open-air holiday party/shop-portunity now has a 2014 date: Granny happens on Dec. 13 of this year. (That’s just 15 Saturdays away, so start saving pennies.) Grandma Party Bazaar organizers and hostesses with the mostesses Ashley Belanger and Christina Rapson will start officially accepting…
Thank you, Internet: Taser photoshoots and peanut portraits
Guess what, you guys? It’s a three day weekend! So, get your work done and start counting down the minutes ’til you can get start the weekend. Here are some links that should help kill at least some of that time: Image via Steve Casino, painter of nuts 1. Dude, this guy paints portraits on…
Win free tix to Maker Faire at Skycraft Parts and Surplus this Saturday
Concerts battle silence, the visual arts challenge the norm, but for tech-heads, tinkerers and craftsmen, the upcoming Maker Faire Orlando combats the laze that summer has laid upon us, just when fall makes garage projects bearable again. The event spans a weekend – Saturday, Sept. 13 and Sunday, Sept. 14 – and will feature more…
Ex-Disney Princess does Reddit AMA, ends up exactly how you think it would
Image via The Daily Dot Kristen Sotakoun, a former Walt Disney World worker who portrayed Pocahontas, Mulan and Silvermist (who’s, like, Tinkerbell’s buddy, apparently?), decided to do a Reddit AMA this week about her time at the park. While the AMA was full of cute stories about kids being cute and shit, Sotakoun posted a…
Disney autism lawsuit plantiffs could triple
Image via Wikipedia Last April, a lawsuit was filed against Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, alleging discrimination against park guests with autism. The lawsuit was initially filed due to changes Disney made to its Guest Assistance Card program, which allowed disabled park visitors (and their guests) to go to the front of the line for…
Hard Rock Cafe Orlando to sell their MacDown-winning mac and cheese for a limited time
30 cheesy shots from the O-Town MacDown Look, the MacDown on Saturday, Aug. 23 was a blast and we literally drooled over quite a few mac and cheese concoctions (truffle honey mac and cheese from Toasted, we’re looking at you). But none of ’em were quite as delicious as the Brie and Fontina mac and…
Me Chinese and Room Full of Strangers announced for CMJ 2014
via CMJ CMJ Music Marathon spoils New Yorkers even more than they’re accustomed to by presenting full showcases of awesome new bands for five days in October (21-25), and they just announced the first string of featured bands. Among them are some familiar faces if you’ve been catching shows in Orlando: Me Chinese and Room…
Rock the Box: Orlando Weekly’s second annual street box painting party
Do you like the taste of the full-bodied flavor of Rolling Rock Beer? And would you like the chance to see an artist in action? Well then, we have the perfect event for you! Orlando Weekly and Rolling Rock have selected 3 local artists to turn once-nondescript street boxes into awe-inspiring works of art. Dan Perry lives in Orlando,…
Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights announces final house
Before you read on about the official announcement of Universal’s final Halloween Horror Nights house, we just wanted to set the mood a little bit, so go ahead and hit play on the video up there. Let that music sink in. Yep, the final house at Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights will be based on the John Carpenter classic Halloween. The…
Florida Education Association files lawsuit over school vouchers
image via Tampa Bay Times This morning, the Florida Education Association filed a lawsuit against Gov. Rick Scott, the members of the Florida Cabinet, the state education commissioner, and the state departments of Education and Revenue, alleging that the tax credit voucher program is unconstitutional. Under the program, low-income families can apply for a…
Pizza Posse’s Mr. 3 rewrites Beyoncé lyrics to inject more pizza into “Partition”
Awesome photos prove Pizza Posse delivers for Harrypalooza Vol. 4 Mr. 3’s crew is known as the Pizza Posse, so it should come as no surprise the local rapper has strong feelings about the perfect pie. Then there’s that one track off his November 2013 release, Keef Sweat, “Pizza Got Ya Boy Faded,” with its…
Disney axes popular Epcot entertainment acts
Bid farewell to the fife & drum corps and other popular Epcot live entertainment (photos by Seth Kubersky). Aside from the obvious attractions, why do people visit Orlando’s theme parks? I go to Magic Kingdom for nostalgia; Universal for Harry Potter; Animal Kingdom for sunstroke; and Hollywood Studios for as little as possible. Until today,…
Jimmy John’s workers in Baltimore unionize
In These Times published a piece yesterday about the unionization efforts of employees who work for Jimmy John’s sandwich shops in Baltimore. The story says that the workers have organized the Jimmy John’s Workers Union under the banner of the IWW, and that they’ve filed unfair labor practices charges with the National Labor Relations Board.…
Stick it to the man with Shake Shack specials this Labor Day weekend
Nothing says fun in the sun like food on a stick (as we pointed out at rather great length a couple of weeks ago), and Shake Shack wants to help you out with that: They’re bringing back their beloved, perfectly golden-brown corn dog for Labor Day weekend only. This Friday, Aug. 29, through Monday, Sept. 1, the…
10 free things to do in the Orlando area this weekend (8/29-9/1)
23 fun things to do in Orlando this week (8/27 – 9/2) BART 2 Year Anniversary Dance your ass off to the hits from the ’60s to today, all performed by a live band in this underground nightclub. When: 5 p.m. Friday, Aug 29 Where: BART, 1205 N. Mills Ave. Orlando Critical Mass Dance your ass off…
The good, the bad and the ugly: Disney Villains Unleashed
[View the story “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Disney Villains Unleashed ” on Storify] Image via Inside the Magic One of the other event highlights? Star-Lord and Gamora from The Guardians of the Galaxy made their very first appearance at a Disney park.
How to win the Bar-BQ-Bar jukebox on Facebook
Photo via Bar-BQ-Bar on Facebook The Bar-BQ-Bar jukebox is a nostalgic remnant from a turning point in downtown Orlando’s bar scene, which you can read all about in our cover story on Bar-BQ-Bar. It’s stocked with a decade’s-worth of local music, plus all the original music from when the bar first opened. It’s also the…
Thrillist ranked every state in the U.S. by its beer: Florida broke the top 20
Where can I get craft beer in Orlando? On a holiday weekend, drinking is on everyone’s mind. And in the ridiculous heat of the summer, what better way to quench your thirst and get good buzz than with a beer? And what EVEN BETTER way to quench your thirst than with a local brew? Thrillist…
Free towing in Orlando this weekend courtesy of AAA
Image via Confused.com Another holiday weekend is upon us, which means many of you will be drinking. Which means you may find yourself faced with the decision to: A) stumble to your car, fish your out keys and try to carefully make your way home without swerving; or B) call somebody else to drive you home.…
Busch Gardens Tampa announces 2014 Howl-O-Scream VIP prices
Busch Gardens Tampa announces 2014 Howl-o-Scream VIP prices (image courtesy Busch Gardens). We’re not even out of August yet, and Central Florida’s annual Halloween event wars are already well underway. In recent weeks, Universal Orlando has been steadily releasing information via social media about the new haunted houses at Halloween Horror Nights 24, which gets…
Creepy video of abandoned Arabian Nights dinner theater
Take a peek behind the curtain at the abandoned Arabian Nights dinner theater in Adam the Woo’s creepy new video (image courtesy Arabian Nights). It’s been nearly nine months since the Arabian Nights dinner theater on 192 shut down, ending 25 years of equestrian entertainment. After the final performance on New Year’s Day 2014, the cast…
No alarms and no surprises: Victorious Charlie Crist aims to make Florida “Scott-free” (video)
via Tampa Bay Times This particular reporter just returned from vacationing in New Orleans today only to find that we now have a two-person general election underway for Florida’s governorship. SURPRISE! Dems chose Charlie, and Nan Rich quickly endorsed thereafter. Maybe everyone will be nice now? Probably not. Most pundits are predicting a nightmare fight…
VIDEO: Orlando grungy punk duo the Welzeins on Off the Avenue
The Welzeins spawned from the demise of the short-lived local power-pop group, Olympic, which formed after original Welzeins drummer Matt Rawls answered guitarist R.J. Nordstrom’s Craigslist ad seeking a new bandmate. Since then, Rawls has left the Welzeins, but Nordstrom powered on (quite literally) with now-drummer Matt Wassum. Wassum said he was excited when Nordstrom…
Ararat takes traditional Eastern European fare to lofty heights
Hidden-away Armenian-Ukrainian restaurant offers a little slice of home
10th anniversary screening of Paul Wegman doc both sad and satisfying
Orlando theater community comes together to commemorate the local actor’s life
Seven new restos: Pig Floyd’s, Mynt, Two Chefs Seafood and more
Plus a couple of closings and some September food events
Make new friends at laid-back Fish on Fire
Bar Exam: The what, where and why of Orlando drinking spots
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19) In the coming weeks it will be important for you to bestow blessings and disseminate gifts and dole out helpful feedback. Maybe you already do a pretty good job at all that, but I urge you to go even further. Through acts of will and surges of compassion, you can and…
Downtown’s historic Round Building meets the wrecking ball next month
City to save and store concrete screen after teardown in hopes of reuse
How important is college radio to today’s underground bands?
An exploration of modern radio’s role in music discovery with WPRK’s “Local Heroes” and the Modern Music Movement
Drinking, Nightlife and Parties
Where to drink and party in Orlando this week
Netflix original anime, ‘Knights of Sidonia,’ embraces humanity in the space-pocalypse
Couchsurfing: stuff to watch, stream and download
This Little Underground: Orlando music from Obliterati to Sales
: Live reviews from the Obliterati reunion, Sales
Opening in Orlando
‘As Above, So Below,’ ‘Land Ho!’ ‘The November Man’ and ‘The Trip to Italy’
Taut Soviet thriller ‘The Letters’ touches on privacy and paranoia
Mad Cow period piece strums currently relevant themes
Gov. Rick Scott touts environmental record
Despite criticisms about his cuts to environmental programs, Scott says he’s looking for solutions
The many rock formations of classic-rock hit machine Deep Purple
Deep Purple survives and still surprises on stage, despite decades of lineup changes
Bar-BQ Sauced: An oral history of Bar-BQ-Bar
The beloved downtown dive is closing; here’s what its owners, staff and longtime patrons have to say
Orange County Commission mulls charter switch
Considers making some offices appointed rather than elected
We’ll miss you, Mount Vernon Inn
Letters to the editor
Savage Love
My boyfriend of two years cannot climax or maintain an erection unless his testicles are handled, squeezed, pulled or pressed on (preferably with my stockinged foot or knee). Needless to say, intercourse does not work very well, and our sexual repertoire is rather limited. His doctor says his ED is not physiological. I’ve read your…
Month-long Robin Williams tribute happening at the Enzian
Image via Rebloggy The Enzian Theater is planning a month-long celebration of the working life of gone-too-soon Academy Award winner, Robin Williams. During the month of December, the theater will be showcasing films which feature Williams in some of his most well-known roles. Henry Maldonado, President of Enzian and the Florida Film Festival, remarked, “We have known…
Caffeine fiending: new Downtown Credo, new Vespr, and another CultureBuzz fundraiser
We reported with glee in June that new downtown co-working space Catalyst would open a satellite location of Vespr Craft Coffee and Allures on the fifth floor of the the historic Yowell-Duckworth Building. Now comes word that that other new downtown co-working space, Canvs, will open a satellite location of that other cool coffee spot, Downtown Credo, in the Church Street Exchange building. // (function(d,…
Villain encounters coming to Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at the Magic Kingdom
Image via Magical Kingdoms Disney’s putting more focus on the villains at their annual Not-So-Scary Halloween Party this year. In addition to the return of the “Villains Mix and Mingle” to the castle forecourt stage, visitors to Disney’s annual Halloween celebration will also be able to encounter their favorite villains at various locations throughout the park.…
Worker at Wet ‘n’ Wild park in critical condition after being trapped in a pool
Image via Cheap Orlando Hotels The Orlando Police department says it was called to Wet ‘n’ Wild water park at 10:07 a.m. today to investigate an “industrial accident.” According to police, an employee became trapped underwater while cleaning one of the pools in the park. Another worker pulled him from the water and called for…
Free show at Bar-BQ-Bar tonight features Golden Pelicans, False Punk
Illustration by Cody Zeigler Since I’ve come on as music editor for the Weekly, you might’ve noticed I have a penchant for shows that spring up in unconventional venues. Bar-BQ-Bar is one of my favorite places for this to recur (sitting just ahead of Wally’s and Colonial Lanes), and tonight’s FREE show, Tuesday, Aug. 26,…
Kody Roach charged with murder
Photo via Orlando Police Department Today, Kody Roach was charged with murder in relation to an incident that happened early in the morning of Aug. 19 outside Vixen Bar in downtown Orlando. According to new documents released today, police were called to Vixen in response to a “gun wielding maniac” banging on the door of…
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! offers free admission to educators
Image via Random Hangers Starting on Tuesday, Sept. 2, educators will receive free admission to all Ripley’s Believe It or Not! locations in Florida. To take advantage of this offer, teachers, administrators, counselors and support staff just need to present a photo ID along with a current pay stub. In addition to one free entry, educators will…
Magical Dining Month: Now through the end of September
35 of the best restaurants in Orlando, as determined by you Visit Orlando’s annual Magical Dining Month kicks off today. While (of course) we prefer our month-long restaurant week, Bite 30, we’ll always leap at the chance to eat at some of Orlando’s yummiest restaurants at a discount. During Magical Dining Month, diners have the…
