Dec 15-21, 1999

Dec 15-21, 1999 / Vol. 15 / No. 50

Riding the rails

What’s Orlando to do with all the people who want to get from here to there? They’re all diffused, even though they want to get to many of the same places: Disney, I-Drive, the airport, the mall, even (believe it or not) downtown. I-4, that terrible transportation worm going north-south even though it claims to…

Theresa Everline

Scare tactics

A girl lost in the woods with two male companions discovers some artfully arranged twigs outside her tent and completely loses it. As does the audience. Why such a seemingly innocuous image both terrified and obsessed theater patrons across the nation is just one of the weird wonders in The Blair Witch Project in particular,…

Ian Grey

Lip Service

Remember the tireless enthusiasm with which you nagged your parents about Christmas presents? If you had retained that boundless greed, you’d probably have made something of yourself by now. No one writes a resume with the same verve as they wrote their letter to Santa, even though they both amount to pleading your case to…

Liz Langley

Bringing out the dead

In November, government officials in East London, South Africa, thwarted an attempt by two men and a woman to register a corpse for pension benefits. According to the South African Press Association, the three propped up the recently deceased man (who they said was merely ill) at the window serving the illiterate and held his…

Chuck Shepherd

Year in review 1999

January 5 Jeb Bush sworn in as governor. 5 Economist Hank Fishkind says light rail can’t be justified economically. 6 On his first day in office, Bush is accused of violating Sunshine Law with closed-door meeting with legislative heads. 6 NBA settles contract dispute. 7 Congressman Bill McCollum takes leading role as Clinton impeachment trial…

Orlando Weekly Staff

Year in review 1999

In many ways, 1999 was a triumphant year for animals. Tillikum the whale learned how to make a new friend, and mice came from nowhere to establish an elaborate, Marine-like invasion of Apopka. But other cute and fuzzy things had their day, too — like the Backstreet Boys. The time line is your chance to…

Orlando Weekly Staff

Cinema scarité

Sure, The Blair Witch Project torpedoed the myth that Central Florida can’t produce films of world-class quality and profitability. But Haxan Films’ 1999 powerhouse deserves equal respect for reversing a greater, more prevalent misperception. As the film’s unparalleled success demonstrated, no one actually has to die for Orlando to make the national news. We just…

Steve Schneider

Banding together

The arrival of night-time entertainment at the theme parks has ushered in sweeping changes to Orlando’s club and concert scene. No longer is downtown the only destination for live music; top-flight concert facilities like the House of Blues (Downtown Disney) and 1999 arrival Hard Rock Live (Universal’s CityWalk) continue to show up on the tour…

Mark Padgett

Theater seen

Indeed, walking to work may be the dream of residents who are expected to fill the apartments, condos and penthouses sprouting in the city center, part of a downtown building boom the likes of which Orlando hasn’t seen since the 1980s. Who moves in will help define what downtown becomes. But it’s certainly going to…

Jeff Truesdell

Stuffing solution: exotic munchies

Just what you need at this time of year: more snack options. But if you’re game for something above and beyond the usual munchies, check out Harry and David, which recently opened in the new wing of Florida Mall (8001 S. Orange Blossom Trail; 857-5071). Crunchy “wasabi peas” coated in Japanese horseradish paste are a…

Colleen Moore

It’s the end of the world…

It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine. But I’d feel a whole lot better if I could just get over this premillennial tension and pick the right soundtrack for an occasion that some worriers are referring to as the last night on earth and others will use as…

Philip Booth

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