Saudi Arabia: Our partners in peace
Saudi Arabia, our ally in the war on terror and provider of precious, precious oil, is about to demonstrate what a wonderful, advanced and civilized society they are: You know, by executing a woman â?¦ for WITCHCRAFT. The Saudi court cited an instance in which a man allegedly became impotentafter being bewitched by Falih, the…
It’s all downhill from here
Perhaps you read this morning that Sentinel publisher Kathy Waltz got the ax resigned. No, it wasn’t some ethical stand against new Trib owner Sam Zell’s impending destruction of real journalism in favor of stories about puppies – don’t be silly. Instead, after some discussion about reshuffling the chairs on the Titanic rearranging management structure,…
NET WORTH
Neighborhood seafood joint is quite the catch
SAVAGE LOVE
My boyfriend and I have been dating for four months and we’re crazy about each other. He’s been slowly introducing me to butt play. Last night, he asked if I’d be OK using a strap-on with him, to which I replied, “Of course!” Then he said that he had a harness and dildo in the…
BLISTER
A sad cigarette droops from my cracked mouth like a fuse attached to a dud bomb. I can’t even blow up anymore. Fortunately, on this particular Lenten Wednesday, misery has company. “There’s something on your head,” I poke at Savannah’s vanity. “Where?” “There,” I smudge some black ash from my futility smoking tray across her…
COUNCIL WATCH
There was something extreme playing out in District 4 commissioner Patty Sheehan’s region of the dais prior to the meeting starting: Her right hand flipped and flopped backward on the top of the desk before her whole body rose into an amusing pantomime. She was about to pop, but the viewing public would have to…
HAPPYTOWN
The evangelicals, it seems, are threatened by the idea that the state should set scientifically rigorous standards for public schools. They’d rather the kids learn about the origins of life from a book written by people who didn’t understand how rain works. Don’t you just love Florida? The Florida Department of Education’s last public hearing…
POLICE BEAT
Jan. 25 (2008-36900) 7:48 a.m.: Someone broke into an Orange County government building on South Street and stole portable CD players. As it turns out, taxpayers got off easy. “The three-story building chock full of electronics and copper wire does not have an alarm system and is being remodeled,” Officer Linnenkamp writes. (2008-37740) 6:12 p.m.:…
MAIL SACK
THE ARMS RACE I really appreciate the availability of you, the best alternative newspaper in O-Ville. I got a big kick out of the graphics and clips on Kevin Beary [“Thanks for the memories,” Feb. 7]. I feel compelled, however, to support the elephant-gun deal. I happen to know that international drug cartels, which do…
DRAMATIC DEBUT
Right now, the smoky amber of her whiskey is all that’s keeping Kaleigh Baker from running out the double doors and not stopping. It’s a chilly Friday night in December and the 21-year-old New York native eyes a growing crowd at the Social in downtown Orlando, near her home of almost two years. Kaleigh (pronounced…
BREAKING DOWN OLA FEST
In its fourth year, the four-day OLA Fest still doesn’t register a clear identity with the average city-dweller. The full name of the event, the Orlando Latin American Film & Heritage Festival, drops a few clues, but overall the picture remains fuzzy. So we sought out organizer Nelson Betancourt and asked for a simple explanation…
BACK FROM THE DEAD
There was something ruefully familiar in the air at the Jan. 7 opening of Vicon Entertainment’s $3 million House of Moves motion capture studio – a third of which came from Orlando tax dollars – at the University of Central Florida’s Florida Interactive Education Academy. It wasn’t just the scenes of the untold destruction of…
ROMANCE IN BLACK AND WHITE
Did romance exist before the movies? It must have, but you have to admit that Hollywood perfected it with sophisticated women and beautiful men trading witty dialogue. And filmmakers did it while overcoming artificial obstacles to the kind of rapturous love that only had to last until the words “The End” left us to imagine…
OLA FEST GOES GREEN WITH DU DOCUMENTARY
If commitment, frustration and rage were all it took to make an effective documentary, Poison DUst would be a classic. An angry little film about the devastating effects of depleted uranium on members of the U.S. military and others, it is too unfocused and, really, too unhinged to win many converts. Instead of zeroing in…
THE DEFENSE NEVER RESTS
It’s one of the last places you would ever want to find yourself in Central Florida. Entering the five-story building adjacent to the Orange County Courthouse, you’re patted and poked as you make your way through the metal detector. The message, “Courage is not the absence of fear, it is the conquest of it,” scrolls…
THIS LITTLE UNDERGROUND
Psst … just cos I’m your boy, I sprinkled a generous amount of get-lucky dust all over this one for you. Happy Hallmark Day. The beat Local band Poverty Branch splashed Back Booth with a tonic of fresh-faced indie rock, folk sensibility and solid pop precision Feb. 5. Uncomplicated, yet effective, it’s no surprise that…
LIVE ACTIVE CULTURES
Did someone order an early spring and forget to tell me? It’s not just the sunny skies that are making me do a double take at the calendar; a number of new arts opportunities are popping up like crocuses after an April shower. Not every cultural offering might be to your taste, but I like…
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
ARIES (March 21-April 19) After meditating about what advice would be most useful for your love life during the rest of 2008, I decided on this observation from 17th-century philosopher Sir Francis Bacon: “There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion.” In other words, you should raise your appreciation for…
