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How these 7 local meet-ups are bringing strangers together in Orlando
A local group of (mostly) millennial movers and shakers is shifting the scene. Instead of the so-called “social network,” that digital world we all half-live in, they’re creating gatherings ripe with opportunity for making real-life, lasting, meaningful connections between people with shared interests. And they’re accomplishing this using a concept that’s been around for more…
This 1986 news brief on ‘rowdy’ spring breakers at Daytona Beach belongs in a museum
On March 21, 1986, Ted Russell, of WFTV’s Eyewitness News 9, interrupted the film Kiss of Death to give an early morning news brief about rowdy college kids. And, thankfully, some hero hit record on the VCR. The segment, which also features some top-notch Orlando-based commercials, serves as a nice reminder of what Daytona was like…
Comedian Shane Mauss talks science, comedy and psychedelics ahead of his show at Backbooth
Wisconsin comic Shane Mauss stops into Backbooth this week with an experimental hourlong set about, well, getting fucked up. Mauss is planning an hourlong set centered around jokes having to do with psychedelic experiences. The 35-year-old – whose Netflix special, Mating Season, is similarly themed around evolutionary psychology – says that he’s been working on these…
DJ BMF pays tribute to the King of Pop during a special edition of Soul Shakedown at Will’s Pub
Tired of hearing those same Top-40 club remixes over and over when you go out dancing? Soul Shakedown, a weekly event, honors the greats of up-tempo funk and soul music with special nights dedicated to legends such as Stevie Wonder, Prince and James Brown. For this edition, they’re paying homage to the King of Pop.…
Christie Miga’s art goes with the grain at Timucua
One of the infinite choices that face a painter is how to confront the material to which she’s applying the paint. Should she obliterate the surface, or should she embrace the inherent texture and hue? Christie Miga has leaned toward the former camp in her past work, applying so many layers of freely dripping paint…
Orlando Gay Chorus turns OMA into a cabaret for A Lotta Night Music
Who doesn’t love a good cabaret? We’re singing with joy and anticipation for the Orlando Gay Chorus’ performance this Saturday, which we don’t think will be your average cabaret. For the event’s venue, OGC is ditching the typical local theater and treating the audience to an evening at the Orlando Museum of Art. The four ensembles…
Shoot your mouth off at Punslingers, a game show for bad jokes, at Stardust Coffee tonight
Do you regularly elicit groans from friends and family with your bon mots? Do you enjoy making eyes roll harder than an SUV on a hairpin turn? Are you an active user on r/dadjokes? Punslingers might be the night you finally get the recognition you deserve. Compete against other quippers in a game show-style format…
‘The Human Centipede III (Final Sequence)’ gives you something to chew on at Enzian this weekend
Touting a 500-person daisy chain of ass-to-mouth prisoners as its main attraction, The Human Centipede III (Final Sequence) is clearly mistitled (500 inmates x 4 limbs per inmate = that’s a human millipede, dummies), but no one’s going to care. Maybe the cleverest thing about Dutch filmmaker Tom Six’s Human Centipede series is the way…
Snag Golden Pelicans’ new record at their release party at Will’s Pub before they fly off to Europe
The early press on the Golden Pelicans’ new album, Oldest Ride, Longest Line, is as indignantly charged as the disc itself. Many authoritative and tasteful punk bloggers are ripping their hair out, wondering how they didn’t see it coming, while tapped-in tastemakers are constantly refreshing their inboxes for updates on their preorders. Here, we’re lucky…
Rocky Votolato returns to the Social on an upswing with two different releases this year
Sharply sweet, stripped-down indie folk requires a hardy constitution to do it well and be able to sell it (as in become credible, not the commercial drip of mass-marketed coffeehouse comps). It’s not that one must be depressed to create good folk music, but that the self-exploration the music compels urges an authenticity, which anyone…
Hedge funds: Puerto Rico, it’s us or the kids
Earlier this month, we reported on Puerto Rico’s financial crisis: How the island, with its staggering $72 billion debt, is in an economic death spiral as thousands of Puerto Ricans flee to the United States, especially Florida. Puerto Rico’s governor has said the U.S. territory’s debt is unpayable, and legislators have opposed allowing the island…
This Little Underground: Riding Easy Records raises profile with Electric Citizen, Mondo Drag, Slow Season (Backbooth)
In the indie ranks where music labels operate closer to the heart and often specialize, label showcases are telling and therefore high-value experiences for good labels. The most recent jackpot was the touring one for West Coast imprint Riding Easy Records (July 24, Backbooth). In one knockout night, this lineup brought a procession of notable…
My Morning Jacket’s soulful new album trickles funds toward the Waterfall Project
MY MORNING JACKET 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 4 | Hard Rock Live, 6050 Universal Blvd. | hardrock.com | $43-$54.50 Since first forming in 1998 in Louisville, My Morning Jacket has always been involved with philanthropic endeavors. But now, with the release of its new album, The Waterfall, the band has made its activist impulses more…
Florida’s ‘environmental disaster’ Gov. Rick Scott awarded for environmentalism
No, it’s not opposite day, and yes, you read that right. Gov. Rick Scott, the same governor who banned the word climate change in state offices and who was called an environmental disaster by the Tampa Bay Times, is being awarded for his conservation work by the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida. The foundation’s…
Orange County Commission reduces trash pickup to once a week
Guess that smelly takeout you ordered Monday is going to languish in your trash can for a little bit longer. The Orlando Political Observer says Orange County commissioners voted Tuesday morning to cut trash removal services to once a week to try to “reduce costs and encourage sustainability.” The new removal system now includes…
Florida’s youngest convicted murderer walked free Tuesday
Almost 16 years after 12-year-old Curtis Jones and his 13-year-old sister were sentenced to prison for shooting and killing their father’s girlfriend, Jones was released Tuesday morning. Florida Today reports that in 1999, Jones and his sister, Catherine, told the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office they killed Sonya Nicole Speights. At first, deputies believed the siblings…
Find Orlando City gear and more at United World Soccer’s new store in Downtown Disney
In a move that’s sure to please futbol-loving foreign tourists, Downtown Disney adds a branch of United World Soccer, “the world’s greatest soccer store,” to its retail lineup today. United World Soccer specializes in jerseys from clubs and countries from around the world and they’ll even let you add your favorite player’s name and number…
Ravenous Pig pulls the plug on pig roasts
The days of going whole-hog at first-Saturday-afternoon pig roasts at the Ravenous Pig are just about over (sort of). The restaurant is putting the kibosh on the prix fixe lunch event and moving it just across the street to sister restaurant Cask & Larder. The demise of RavPig’s roasts makes way for the restaurant to…
The Jeb Bush Vine that will surely secure his presidency
If this Jeb Vine hits 1,000,000 loops by the end of the weekend, I'll get #Jeb4Prez tattooed on my neck. Please RT https://t.co/tOaczdT9OY — Vic Berger IV (@BestBergerEver) July 25, 2015 We started writing words to accompany this genius Vine video of presidential hopeful Jeb Bush, but they just get in the way. If you’re…
Florida clerks’ budget reductions could affect guardianship oversight
Like pretty much every hotel conference, the most interesting part of the Florida State Guardianship Association conference Friday was probably the mixed drinks at the pool bar. Still, we found some interesting tidbits at a presentation by four Florida county court clerks. For those who don’t know, a guardian is a decision-maker, either a family…
Why is SunRail ridership stalling out?
On July 25, the SunRail riders blog posted a frustrated-sounding plea to its readers: Stand up for SunRail. The service, which has only been in place since May 1, 2014, has not maintained the 4,300+ average daily ridership goal officials hoped to meet in 2015. Instead, ridership has dipped down to about 3,700 people per…
Vanilla Ice, 2 Live Crew and more join Legends of the Old School at CFE Arena
Alright stop, collaborate and listen. The Legends of the Old School will be performing live at the CFE Arena on Friday, November 6. Rob Van Winkle, recently named Wellington, Florida’s citizen of the year, is still solving problems. When he isn’t flipping houses or donating toys, he is still going on tour as Vanilla Ice.…
New IKEA placemat wants to control your behavior
Last week, IKEA released tons of images of the new products that will be available in the 2016 catalog, and the kitchen stuff is especially nice. Those wood ring trivets! That iron serveware! One item that has gotten a lot of attention is the Sittning placemat (above), which has a little pocket sewn on so…
¡Hola, Orlando: Jeb Bush speaks to Latinos at Orlando campaign stop
The first stop on Jeb Bush’s presidential choo-choo train through Central Florida Monday was in Orlando, specifically, to meet with local Latino pastors. The former Florida governor showed off his bilingual skills at Centro Internacional de la Familia as he answered questions mostly focused on religious freedom and Puerto Rican statehood. Bush is also scheduled…
Orlando makes list of 23 cities where millennials can’t afford apartments
Congratulations, Orlando, for making yet another list – this one as one of the top 23 of the largest 50 cities in the nation where the rent is too damn high. So high that millennials – those born in in the 1980s, 1990s or early 2000s (aka, the Insubordinate Generation that business magazines are constantly trying…
Last chance theater: What’s leaving Netflix in August?
YOU’RE THE KING OF THE COUCH! And as a benevolent ruler, you need to know what’s on Netflix so you can properly schedule your viewing time. If you haven’t seen these movies in a while (or ever), hop to it because they are leaving Netflix streaming at the end of July. GONE as of Aug.…
All you aspiring Khals and Khaleesis can learn Dothraki at GeekyCon this weekend
On July 30, GeekyCon, formerly known as LeakyCon, returns to the Orange County Convention Center. The four-day event centered on all things “geeky” will feature the inaugural launching of Geeky U, “a specially designed programming series to give you the basics you need to jump into any fandom.” Feel like you are 50 years too…
Get a hardcore history lesson from ‘Salad Days: A Decade of Punk in Washington, DC’ at Will’s Pub
When a scene naturally springs around you, it sprays and showers everything in its midst until it loses its luster and normalizes, or else self-implodes. The DIY punk scene depicted in new music documentary Salad Days: A Decade of Punk in Washington, DC shows massively influential bands like Bad Brains, Fugazi, Minor Threat and more…
Apparently Katy Perry performs at the Citrus Bowl tonight
Tonight, the Citrus Bowl hosts the closing party for Microsoft MGX (July 21-24), and according to rumors on Twitter and Facebook, they’ve hired pop stars Katy Perry and OneRepublic to perform a secret show. There is already a line of folks trying to get into the show, but we can’t find official information on entry…
Sushi, steak, beer and ice cream: 15 new restaurants and a food truck opening in Orlando
Maki’s Place, a “temakeria” specializing in temaki rolls (your local sushi joint probably calls them “hand rolls”), has opened on South Park Avenue in Winter Park Yamasan Japanese Restaurant will open in the space next to Segafredo in Mills Park. Rabbitfoot Records Coffee Lounge celebrates the opening of their new, larger space on Second Street…
Good reason to button up this summer – offbeat Kick Bright Zine to open new button and vintage shop at Artegon
Kick Bright Zine has long been a treasure for longtime locals involved with the music scene, posting concert reviews, photos, videos and other memorable documentation of Orlando’s underground cultural scene since 1996. The zine is run by Jeffrey Howard, also of the band Hot Hands (a garage punk duo with his wife Kristin Howard), and…
Score $2 cupcakes at Blue Bird Bake Shop this Saturday
It seems like just yesterday that Blue Bird Bake Shop opened its doors in the Audubon Park Garden District and changed Orlando’s cupcake game forever (after being the dessert du jour at Pom Pom’s Teahouse & Sandwicheria for a couple of years prior, and they’re still on the menu). But alas, it’s been five glorious…
College students say Orange County deputies used excessive force
Local college students are accusing Orange County Sheriff’s Office deputies of excessive force after two students were arrested Monday. A video captured using a cellphone shows deputies arresting Deidra Reid and her friend Reggie Lane Jr., at The Retreat at Orlando, an apartment complex near the University of Central Florida, for allegedly trespassing and resisting…
How property taxes keep Florida students in impoverished school districts
Orange County parents: Ever wondered why, oh why, neighboring schools in Seminole County are so much better? The map above shows exactly how the public school system’s dependence on property taxes affects your child’s school quality and encourages the divide between rich and poor communities. Created by EdBuild, the interactive map displays student poverty levels using…
Rally in Orlando celebrates New York’s $15 minimum wage victory
Workers and activists rallied on the front steps of Orlando’s City Hall Thursday, joining organizers across Florida who showed support for the $15 minimum wage increase in New York. On Wednesday, a wage panel appointed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo recommended the minimum wage be raised for employees of fast-food chain restaurants to $15…
Parents of drum major killed in hazing incident proposed an $8 million settlement with FAMU
Attorneys for the family of Robert Champion, a former drum major from Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University who was killed in a hazing ritual, offered to settle a lawsuit against the school for $8 million, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Champion was 26 years old when he was killed in 2011 by his fellow band members,…
A Florida woman jumped into a pond and rescued her dog from a 7.5 foot gator
Lori Beiswenger, a 52-year-old Inverness, Florida, resident and fearless defender of dogs, was gardening at her home on July 11, when a 7.5 ft gator started pulling her terrier mix, Hope, into a nearby pond. “I hear the most God awful, piercing scream that I have ever heard in my life,” she said to WFTS.…
Hey, it’s National Hot Dog Day. Where should you celebrate in Orlando?
Today’s the day to celebrate red-hots, but Orlando’s not really known for its ‘dog culture – not like Chicago, anyway. Luckily, we put together a list of 11 top-notch dog spots yesterday, just in the nick of time. From Maitland to Kissimmee, with plenty of downtown stops, food trucks and theme park dogs, here are our…
Cute local biz alert: Blossomis and 123 Frutty
It’s so much easier to keep your cash in the community when your community keeps dreaming up adorable ways to take your money. The two latest small businesses to fall into our inbox are Blossomis and 123 Frutty. Blossomis is a flower subscription service that could be described as “Birchbox for flowers” … or you…
Break out your jazz hands and take advantage of free classes and events on National Dance Day
There are so many ways to stretch your creative muscles at this nationwide event on Saturday. At the Orlando Ballet School’s studios, 30 free classes in 16 different dance styles – hip-hop, ballet, jazz, Latin, more – are offered throughout the day to dancers of every ability level and age, from 3 years old to…
Button-mash your way to victory at the Hourglass Brewery Video Game Tournament on Saturday
C-c-c-combo breaker! You better bring your A-game and a strong liver, because the Hourglass Brewery is hosting a gaming tournament complete with competitive favorites. Whether you’re tearing it up in Super Smash Brothers or taking a hadouken to the face in Ultra Street Fighter 4, there’s no doubt that heads will roll and controllers will…
Luca Lush drops into the Geek Easy on his rise from the bedroom to the Boiler Room
Versatile New York producer Luca Lush could be a snot about his impressive Soundcloud rise, which saw him rapidly booked to a standout SXSW showcase and performing alongside artists whom he previously only studied with scholarly awe. But he’s too down-to-earth for that. Obsessively following electronic music naturally led the bedroom producer to Soundcloud daily,…
Uber will deliver ice cream directly to your face this Friday
What a time to be alive. This Friday, July 24, Orlando-based Uber users will be able to hit a button and have delicious ice cream delivered straight to their faces. No talking to people. No standing up. Just a slight press of the thumb and sweet sweet ice cream can be all yours. It’s all…
North Carolina beachgoers use homemade cages as shield from sharks
For your next trip to the beach, don’t forget the sunscreen, swimsuits and… a homemade shark cage? In response to increased shark attacks this summer, a Richmond, Virginia couple took to a North Carolina beach over the weekend in full safety armor. The homemade cages, which they dubbed the Block Jaw, PSC One, are made of PVC…
Pot petition headed to local supervisors of elections for validation
Supporters of a proposed constitutional amendment that would legalize medical marijuana this week sent 100,000 petitions to county elections supervisors, one of the first steps in getting the proposal before voters next year. It’s the second shot for United for Care, the committee behind the petition drive, to get the proposal on the ballot. A…
Transgender woman found murdered in Tampa park
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office says India Clarke, a 25-year-old transgender woman, was found dead in a park Tuesday from blunt force trauma, making her the tenth transgender woman killed this year in the US. Deputies are still investigating the crime and say they have not identified a culprit, Buzzfeed reports. Despite Clarke clearly identifying…
24 free concerts this week in Orlando (7/29-8/4)
Wednesday, July 29 Eugene Snowden’s Ten Pints of Truth 10 p.,m. at Lil Indies The Evan Taylor Jones Band 10:30 p.m. at Tanqueray’s Reggae Night with Hor!zen and DJ Red I 10 p.m.; at the Caboose Thomas Nicholas Band 8 p.m. at Mulligans Pub, Celebration Thursday, July 30 Dave Sheffield Trio 9 p.m. at Winter Park Beer…
Hungry bear eats 20 pounds of dog food and naps on Florida man’s lawn
You know that feeling when you go big on all-you-can-eat appetizers at TGIFridays and you just need to lay down for a minute? Well, this bear knows that feeling all too well. Bob Cross, a retired firefighter and Lake Mary, Florida resident was called over to a neighbor’s house Saturday afternoon to help get rid…
According to Spotify, Orlando’s most popular artists include Meek Mill and rain sounds
As if Orlando couldn’t get enough of the torrential downpours we have every five minutes, according to Spotify, rain sounds are what people in Orlando enjoy listening to the most. The music streaming service created a musical map of cities around the world that looks at which songs are most distinctly enjoyed in that area.…
Sean Patton and Eddie Pepitone to headline this year’s Orlando Indie Comedy Fest
One of our favorite events from last year, the Orlando Indie Comedy Fest, returns Thursday-Sunday, Oct. 1-4, this year. The inaugural festival was an unqualified success, with visiting comedians ranking it as one of the most enjoyable festivals they’ve participated in. The organizers seem to be looking to top last year, however, by getting two…
Little-known Florida Republicans line up to run for Rubio’s seat
As soon as Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, who sailed into his seat on a wave of Tea Party good times in 2010, announced that he’d be running for president in 2016, everybody started looking around for the right Republican to hand his legacy off to. Attorney General Pam Bondi didn’t want it (we keep…
Local Dems (and friends) to vie for seat being vacated by Grayson
Grayson’s announcement that he’s running for Senate means his seat in the 9th Congressional District is wide open, and local Democrats have wasted no time expressing their interest in succeeding him. On July 9, Grayson made the announcement that he’d run for Senate. On July 13, just four days later, Susannah Randolph, Grayson’s district director,…
This Modern World (7/22/15)
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Capa is bringing in Miyazaki Wagyu beef, breakfast is coming to Swine & Sons and more in local foodie news
The bad news: Barnie’s CoffeeKitchen in Winter Park has stopped its much-lauded Friday-and-Saturday dinner service. The good news: Chef Camilo Velasco and his talented staff will serve breakfast and lunch Monday-Saturday, and brunch on Sundays until 6 p.m. Capa at the Four Seasons Resort is bringing in small batches of A5 Miyazaki Wagyu beef from Japan, 15 pounds at…
Saintly eats arrive in Orlando’s North Quarter with Two Chefs Seafood Oyster Bar
Expectations were high when word came that Bernard Caramouche (former culinary director of Emeril’s Orlando) and Larry Sinibaldi (former executive chef at the Palm Restaurant) were joining forces to open Two Chefs Seafood Oyster Bar in downtown Orlando. The fact that it was to be situated in the lesser-known North Quarter and in a space…
Hooch has the ideal happy hour for the Wall St. pre-party crowd
Hooch 25 Wall St., 407-849-9904, wallstplaza.net After work or after hours? Both Beer/wine or liquor too? All of the above Check all that apply: ☒ fancy cocktails ☒ make ’em strong and keep ’em coming ☐ wine list (5 choices or more) ☐ craft beer ☒ beer: the usual suspects ☐ wide selection of bottles…
‘Sharknado 3’ brings production jobs to Central Florida
For those craving classic cinema, the title of the latest Sharknado movie – Oh Hell No! – seems appropriate. But for economically minded advocates of Florida film production, the new television movie is more a case of “yes, please!” Sharknado 3, airing July 22 on SyFy, was shot partially in Orlando, over eight days in…
Local director Kenny Howard catches us up on his recent projects
The last time we saw the squabbling Locksdale sisters of Michael Wanzie’s Ladies of Eola Heights, they seemed to have settled their differences in the wake of their abusive dad’s death. But it looks like Pearl (Beth Marshall), Opal (Peg O’Keef) and Ruby (Blue Star) couldn’t stay civil for long, as a public punch-up has…
This Little Underground: Summer blooms in the underground
You guys really should be following our native and underground scenes, and summer is the perfect time to do that. The big national tours plummet in quality here until the autumn when they stampede through. Since the local and frontier circuits don’t sleep like that, weeks like this happen – pulsing with discovery. The Beat…
Opening in Orlando: Pixels, Dark Was the Night, Paper Towns, Southpaw and The Vatican Tapes
Dark Was the Night Back In the good old ’70s, you could count on horror movies like Prophecy to demonstrate that environmental devastation is an affront to traditions too ancient for us to even know about. The fact that Prophecy also happened to be a piece of shit doesn’t negate the point – which is…
Picks This Week: Every Time I Die, Bengali 600 and more
La Luna Canadian post-punk band La Luna deliver emo-tinged fierceness with a loaded bill of Florida throbs like Moan, Vivian K and the mighty Gillian Carter. 10 p.m. Wednesday, July 22, at Uncle Lou’s Entertainment Hall, $5 suggested donation C+C Music Factory C+C Music Factory – which actually stands for “Cookies and Cream,” not the…
Music updates around town: The Wilderness, The Space, Time Waste Management
With breezy melodies and whispery, urgent vocals, the Wilderness’ 2015 debut, Natural Wonders, seeks to reflect the lushness of natural environments the band also seeks to protect. The foursome’s hippie-slanted psychedelic vibes course up the East Coast through the end of July following their recent tour kickoff (July 15, Will’s Pub), but you can catch…
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ARIES (March 21-April 19) The Latin motto “carpe diem” shouldn’t be translated as “seize the day!” says author Nicholson Baker. It’s not a battle cry exhorting you to, “Freaking grab the day in your fist like a burger at a fairground and take a big chomping bite out of it.” The proper translation, according to…
Gimme Shelter (7/22/15)
Orange County Animal Services has a royal canine in need of a loving home. Meet Prince (Animal ID 325151). This 3-year-old friendly dog was recently found as a stray. Prince is a curious boy and he loves exploring and sniffing everything around the play yard. He also walks well on a leash and gets along…
Savage Love (7/22/15)
My wife and I have been together for more than 10 years, practicing some kind of nonmonogamy for more than seven. We tried different things – open, dating others, FWBs – but after a bi threesome with another guy a year ago, we knew that was our thing. For a while, everything was great, but roughly a…
How Florida’s judicial system violates the federal Civil Rights Act and leaves non-English speakers out in the cold
Maria Machin had a test for the Duval County Courthouse when she walked in on the morning of June 29. She would walk to every single floor of the courthouse and ask for directions to the domestic-violence office. She wouldn’t ask for help in English – only in Spanish. As Machin ambled from floor to floor,…
