The good, the plaid and the ugly
The entire world can easily be divided into two distinct groups. The first is populated by those who recognize the clarion call of bagpipes as the most stirring, majestic sound ever heard by human ears. In the second are those who consider the Scottish national instrument notable only for its capacity to send sensitive listeners…
Nightmare of nonsense
Movie: In Dreams
Teen score
Movie: Varsity Blues
Teen score
Movie: Varsity Blues
Uneven ‘Line’
Movie: The Thin Red Line
Nightmare of nonsense
Movie: In Dreams
Uneven ‘Line’
Movie: The Thin Red Line
Comedy, or a King-sized misstep?
Jim Philips aside, Orlando’s Real Radio 104.1 FM has distinguished itself as a playpen for playground put-downs and sexual innuendo of the sort that pepper a junior high boys’ locker room. Piggybacked onto the early A.M. broadcasts of Howard Stern, the Monsters of the Midday show helmed by Russ Rollins epitomizes that identity with a…
Trading houses for trees
Bob Wood is standing in his back yard on Balmoral Road in Winter Park, just a few hundred feet through a thick stand of trees from Lake Berry. At his feet is a dirt mound the size of a half basketball, with a softball-sized hole on one side. “I’m not sure who lives there,” he…
Micropirates get green light?
A 10-year battle by radio radicals may be about to bear fruit. On Jan. 7, Federal Communications Commission Chairman William Kennard released his agency’s agenda, and among the priorities is to “Open low-power radio frequencies for local use.” This is righteous noise to the likes of Stephen Dunifer, a micro broadcasting pioneer and founder of…
Disney earn it?
Disney earnings declined about 6 percent, to $1.85 billion, and the company’s stock dropped 5.5 percent this year. Recently Disney announced its new cruise ship, the Wonder, will, like its sister ship, see its launch delayed by five months. So it’s not surprising that CEO Michael Eisner, whose salary is $750,000 per year, endured what…
Send in the clones
Are Florida parents ready to save their children’s real permanent record? Cops hope so, but it may be a hard sell. In November, officials at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement sent letters to hospitals statewide asking them to join in a program to take DNA samples of newborns, according to the Wall Street Journal.…
All toppings, no droppings
Clemson University animal researchers announced in October that they have reduced the odor at some poultry houses in South Carolina by adding garlic to chickens’ diet. Said professor Glenn Birrenkott: “It makes the poultry house smell like a pizzeria instead of manure.” Surreal estate In December, a deer hunter on upscale Nantucket Island, Mass., stumbled…
Getting scrooged over
What is it about the holiday season that brings out the Scrooge in corporate chieftains? Just before Christmas, Citigroup dumped 10,400 employees — y’all have a nice holiday, now, you hear? Merrill Lynch offed 3,400; J.P. Morgan cut 5 percent of its employees; and Deutsche Bank punted 5,500. The Citigroup firings were especially galling. This…
River gets reprieve as legislation left alone
As suspicious environmentalists looked on, the Seminole County Commission on Tuesday backed away from a planned effort that could have undermined the Wekiva River Protection Act. “Without the considerable endorsement of the environmental community, then I move we drop this,” said Commissioner Randy Morris. “We should not be fighting for something when nobody’s with us.”…
Review – Tical 2000: Judgement Day
Artist: Method Man
Review – Telescopic
Artist: Edith Frost
Review – Music Is Rotted One Note
Artist: Squarepusher
Review – Crazyhorse Mongoose
Artist: Galactic
Review – Telescopic
Artist: Edith Frost
Review – Music Is Rotted One Note
Artist: Squarepusher
Review – Crazyhorse Mongoose
Artist: Galactic
Review – Tical 2000: Judgement Day
Artist: Method Man
Review – Tical 2000: Judgement Day
Artist: Method Man
Review – Telescopic
Artist: Edith Frost
Review – Telescopic
Artist: Edith Frost
Review – Music Is Rotted One Note
Artist: Squarepusher
Review – Music Is Rotted One Note
Artist: Squarepusher
Review – Crazyhorse Mongoose
Artist: Galactic
Review – Crazyhorse Mongoose
Artist: Galactic
Not writing off the life of the mind
Best known for the novel “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Canadian author Margaret Atwood is one of those prolific writers whose output seems boggling. She has written 30-some books, including fiction, poetry and children’s books, the last of which she claims are the hardest to do. With such volume, it’s not difficult to see why some think…
Not writing off the life of the mind
Best known for the novel “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Canadian author Margaret Atwood is one of those prolific writers whose output seems boggling. She has written 30-some books, including fiction, poetry and children’s books, the last of which she claims are the hardest to do. With such volume, it’s not difficult to see why some think…
Soul benefactors
Of all the indie-rock warhorses that galloped across the underground of the ’90s, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion is still a sure bet when it comes to stripped-down, adrenalized raunch & roll. Frontman/guitarist Jon Spencer, guitarist Judah Bauer and drummer Russell Simins whooped and hollered their way through numerous singles and several successful long-plays before…
Lush melodies rooted in flower-power
Olivia Tremor Control’s new double album, “Black Foliage: Animation Music by the Olivia Tremor Control,” is chock full of perfect ’60s pop melodies and noisy psychedelic interludes. And as part of the Elephant 6 group, a communal collective of artists based in Athens, Ga., the band forgoes indie-rock’s punk sensibility in favor of an idealistic…
Letâ??s make ideal
Almost a year ago I wrote a column in this very space ruminating about who the perfect man would be. It didn’t take much speculation. I figured out long ago that the perfect guy, in fact or fiction, is Gomez Addams. Not a GQ model, but so what? What enthusiasm, what romanticism, what panache with…
Flying colors
My friend had a theory: The walls were bugged at the Flying Fish Cafe. We couldn’t figure out how else the waiters seemed to read our minds when we had dinner at the restaurant at Disney’s Boardwalk. As the wait staff roamed through the dining area, stopping by this or that table to bring food…
Affordable wine for enthusiasts
Wine raves, with people sipping out of mason jars instead of wine glasses? It’s just one of the ideas being kicked around at west Winter Park’s new hub for grape lovers. Wine Country is going after the forgotten demographic: 20- and 30-somethings who want to explore the nuances of good wine but can’t afford pricey…
