A couple things for women
For the school-aged girl in all of us, or, more specifically, the school-aged girl in the school-aged girls of Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Lake Counties: The Women’s Playwrights’ Initiative is having their 6th Annual Script Competition. Now through March 2, girls divided into the brackets of 3-5 graders, 6-8 graders, and 9-12 graders can submit…
Weekend Ahead Jan. 16-18
Protest: the great American art form! No matter what horrible abuses of people and resources we permit, at least we stand tall and declare that we donâ??t like doing it. With the circus coming to town, it seems pretty obvious what the protest du jour will be. But who wants to be obvious? Here are…
The last Riverdance …
What: Riverdance When: Through Jan. 18 Where: Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre Tickets: $22-$57 www.orlandovenues.net After more than “10 thousand performance and 563 thousand miles,” the record-setting run of Riverdance is finally running dry. The Irish step-dancing phenomenon that launched the career of self-proclaimed â??Lord of the Danceâ?� Michael Flatley is bowing out after 13…
RAW DEAL
Sushi Tomi’s rolls and nigiri will have you crying ‘Oishi!’
THE CONVERSATION
Dustin Hoffman finally ages gracefully
GET IN THE RING
Mickey Rourke eyes an Oscar title bout
HAM SAMURAI
Bollywood’s foray into kung fu fails to connect
HAPPYTOWN
And now it’s time for the inaugural edition of What’s Up With Alan?, our attempt to keep you up to date on the comings and goings of Orlando’s new favorite congressman, Alan Grayson! This week’s installment finds Alan going to Washington, D.C., Jimmy Stewart—style, ready to take on those moneyed interests and idiot Republicans who…
THE PROGOSPHERE
As a young boy in Atlanta, Kevin McMahon would lie in his bed and stare longingly at the mobile of World War II—era propeller planes — the Wichita, the C-47 Skytrain — that his father hung from his ceiling as a birthday present. He dreamt not only of soaring through the clouds, far above the…
EYEBALLING WOODPECKERS…
There’s a woodpecker 10 feet from me. He’s merrily pecking away for bugs in the bark near the uppermost branches of a towering cypress tree. We’re at eye level to each other. One of us doesn’t belong up here. A quick glance down confirms that I’m the interloper. I’m standing on a small steel platform…
THE END OF AN ERROR
; The dark skies that lingered over Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2001, foreshadowed the beginning of an ominous era. Two months after the most contentious presidential election in a century, tens of thousands of protesters packed the rain-slicked streets, pelting George W. Bush’s motorcade with eggs and greeting the 43rd president of the United…
NUKES AHEAD
Florida doesn’t get much more rural than Levy County. Situated about 120 miles northwest of Orlando, between the Gulf of Mexico and Ocala, the area boasts no major cities or interstates. The entire county’s population is roughly 35,000. Much of the area is dotted with ranches and trailer parks. Unemployment runs high. Republican politicians run…
BLISTER
I had this dream, see. There was your standard Adventures in Babysitting blond suspense arc populated by single moms, bratty little girls, an anorexic 7-year-old resembling in equal parts Janice from The Muppet Show and that scary, black-eyed alabaster child in The Ring, exploding baby bottles, the dizzy spinning of the Disney teacup ride, pink…
FREEWILL ASTROLOGY
ARIES (March 21-April 19) According to some historians, Barack Obama won’t be the first American president with African ancestry. As many as six previous presidents may have had black ancestors, with Warren Harding and Dwight Eisenhower being the most likely. None of the others claimed their heritage, however, choosing instead to pass as pure white.…
SAVAGE LOVE
I’m going to Barack Obama’s inauguration. I’ve spent eight years, one month, one week and one day waiting for this. (But who’s counting?) However, I am looking for suggestions for a respectful way to protest the participation of Rick Warren. As a lifelong Episcopalian, I really don’t want to engage in an anti-religious protest. While…
THIS LITTLE UNDERGROUND
The traditional model of music consumption is crumbling in the face of the electronic tide, and more than a little bit of soul is withering with it. But, being the contrarian fetishists that they are, the punks behind Floridas Dying are offering remedy in the quaint form of a record shop. Actually, Wiggly World (named…
LIVE ACTIVE CULTURES
If you visited Orlando’s theme parks this past holiday season, you might have thought the recession had been postponed. All the major parks packed in healthy but not record-breaking crowds, with Disney’s Magic Kingdom temporarily turning away guests on New Year’s Eve. But when 2008 departed, so did the throngs. The usually reliable TouringPlans.com estimates…
COUNCIL WATCH
What little trinkets of a fantastic Orlando future would this year’s first airing of the city’s political puppet show illuminate? Well, if the grinning appearance of WESH-2’s political hound Greg Fox huddled outside the Plaza skyscraper with Downtown Development Board talking head Thomas Chatmon was any indication, it would be a movie theater to save…
POLICE BEAT
Jan. 5 (2009-6039) 7:50 a.m.: WTF of the week, Vol. 1: “Unknown suspect(s) cut a padlock, gaining entry on the east side of the property `on Diversified Way`. Once inside, suspect(s) removed 10 12-volt batteries and 22 6-volt batteries from within the sign board which are owned by Bob’s Barricades.” (2009-6568) 2:30 p.m.: You know…
