With Tuesday’s mayoral runoff election fast approaching, Dog Playing Poker hereby endorses candidate Pete Barr, Sr. This position may seem markedly out of step with the ideological thrust of this paper — and, indeed, of the position taken by the “news” department elsewhere in this very issue. But the ability to speak with a contrarian…

Steve Schneider

B, b, balls up, b, b, brain down

When I was a little girl, I used to wonder about stuttering. Usually, it popped up when I was lying or being an ass, like the time I stole my mom’s boyfriend’s Playboy with Bo Derek on the cover. “I, I, I …” and so on got me grounded, ostensibly so that I could steal…

Billy Manes

Bye, bye, bye Lou

I’m so sure that Lou Pearlman’s plan to redevelop Church Street Station is going nowhere that I’m going to make a little wager: If Pearlman and his partner Robert Kling actually move Pearlman’s Trans Continental empire to Church Street, I will purchase, with my own money, a copy of every ‘N Sync CD ever released.…

Bob Whitby

Hood vs. Osama

Politicians love grandstanding, and nothing gives them better opportunity to puff out their chests than the threat of an impending terrorist attack. Case in point: Last year Orange County Chairman Rich Crotty touted his “leadership” following the Sept. 11 attacks as a reason he should be reelected. And on Feb. 7, when the federal government…

Jeffrey C. Billman

Same SHA, different d

More bad news for the Sanford Housing Authority, the agency former executive director Tim Hudson turned into a federal disaster area before resigning two years ago. According to a report by the federal Troubled Agency Recovery Center, which assumed jurisdiction of the 480-unit housing agency in May 2002, SHA executive director Audris Billberry and her…

William Dean Hinton

Blood on their hands

The explosion of Columbia over central Texas was presaged by a drumbeat of warnings by government auditors and experts who voiced concerns about lapses in oversight and deferred safety improvements for NASA’s aging fleet of Space Shuttles. Although “safety first” was the watchword of Shuttle launches, aerospace engineers have repeatedly complained that belt tightening and…

Kathleen Ondov

Vote for Dyer

There are lots of reasons not to vote for Pete Barr. He’s an old-school, right-winger who brings nothing new to the table aside from silly promises to shave 20 percent from the city’s operating budget and a pledge to donate his salary to charity. Worse, he’s probably racist, sexist and homophobic. But is a vote…

Jeffrey C. Billman

The end of oversight

A decade ago, the University of Central Florida was a sleepy campus of 20,000 students. It lacked importance, and ranked behind the University of Florida and Florida State University as the college of choice for high-school seniors. Then came John Hitt. UCF president since 1992, Hitt pushed the campus to add classrooms and students, to…

Jeffrey C. Billman

Lost in space

NASA is at an ultimate crossroads. The remaining Space Shuttles, while in excellent condition, are growing old. In theory, they are capable of flying for the foreseeable future. But keeping the orbiters in the air costs a lot of money. It is only a matter of time until another accident grounds the fleet, possibly forever.…

Warren Wilson

Knead to know: Nigel’s bread

There are secret treasures in Orlando. One of them is the as-yet-undiscovered delight of Nigel’s Bread & Butter Cafe (110 N. Bumby Ave.; 407-896-2633). Owned by Nigel Kendall, who’s been gracing the farmers’ markets in Winter Park and Celebration with homemade breads for the past five years, the B&B Cafe epitomizes “organic” and “hand-crafted” with…

Joseph Hayes

New dawn fades

Do not believe what you’ve probably already read elsewhere: Interpol is not — repeat, not — the next big thing. In fact, the name probably doesn’t even register outside of certain record shops and magazine offices. You won’t hear your co-workers humming the band’s songs — unless you happen to work in one of those…

Daniel Fuller

Bringin’ the blini-blini

You could assume an internationally touring artist like DJ Vadim might have some good travel tips, but the globetrotting wax-spinner comes up surprisingly short on suggestions. “I’m not much of an expert on advice, I’m still figuring it all out myself,” he says. “Never drink before you get on a bus. Never. I figured out…

Mike Blakely

Feb 19-25, 2003

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