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Feb 11-17, 1998

Feb 11-17, 1998 / Vol. 14 / No. 6

Freedom’s fighter

The new director of Florida’s American Civil Liberties Union knows people view him as an agitator — unitl they need his help Howard Simon is pragmatic about how Floridians view the American Civil Liberties Union. “People come here from all over the country, and they’ve brought their perception with them — more so than things…

Dee Rivers

UCF Tackles the Aftermath

A scandal hurts recruiting, and the reputation, of a program hoping to rise In late January, the University of Central Florida Golden Knights football team finally found itself where it aspires to be: in the national media spotlight. Yet to the chagrin of Golden Knights boosters, that spotlight focused not on the team’s heroic efforts…

Lawrence Budd

Revamped

Paula Jones isn’t the first person who got a makeover to help her court case, but hers was the most drastic. Until now. Mouths hung open across Central Florida as Rod Ferrell, alleged vampire and confirmed killer, recently walked into a Lake County courtroom looking more like Emily Dickinson than a model for GQ (Gothic…

Liz Langley

A gathering of road-kill scholars

Casual drivers might struggle to link the Earth’s environmental health and the lifeless, mangled bodies of wildlife reduced to roadkill after collisions with moving vehicles. But experts from across the globe are meeting this week in Fort Myers at the International Conference on Wildlife Ecology and Transportation to contemplate topics such as “Hedgehog Traffic Victims”…

Lawrence Budd

Trust or bust in Parramore?

The $150 million investment that Al French has staked to the Parramore Heritage on downtown Orlando’s west side won’t be enough to create an upscale retail renaissance. So within a few weeks his Carolina-Florida Property will, French says, announce an updated plan fueled by small investors. “We have to be real careful with securities laws,”…

Ericson, Edward Jr.

Clogging the beaurocratic process

As kids, we read about the “Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe” and about “The Little Engine That Could.” Well now, from Holland, comes “The Little Old Shoe That Could.” I’m talking about the simple, sturdy Dutch clog — the long-lasting, hardworking wooden shoe that’s been around the Netherlands for six centuries. Now that…

Jim Hightower

Festival demystifies South Asian cinema

In their fourth year as co-producers of the South Asian Film Festival, the Enzian Theater and the Asian Cultural Association continue in their quest to demystify the potentially alien, but no less vital, film work being done on the other side of the globe. This winter, the theme of “the other” informs the festival’s four…

Steve Schneider

Making Mr. Right

I just broke up with someone. Don’t cry for me, Argentina. (That is your drag name, Isn’t it?). I break up more often than your cell phone and have gotten good at it, so good that we remain friends. Not like when you say you’re friends and then you get a real friend to burn…

Liz Langley

Ska survivors still keeping the beat

The Skatalites, with Hepcat, the Slackers and the Gadjits, Sapphire Supper Club, February 16, 1998 The Skatalites are to ska what Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino and Elvis Presley are to rock & roll — they don’t just play it, they helped to invent it. Ska has gone through numerous changes in its more…

Alex Oliver

BT houses down

BT, with Crystal Method and DJ Taylor, The Club at Firestone, February 15, 1998 Producer Brian Eno once dismissed new-age music for not containing enough “doubt,” while conveying a head-in-the-clouds attitude. That criticism is echoed by critics of certain styles of electronic dance music — specifically the uplifting, emotion-rich epic/progressive house genre — because of…

Daniel Fuller

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