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Jul 8-14, 1998

Jul 8-14, 1998 / Vol. 14 / No. 27

The price of a country seat

What was Mary Johnson thinking? Having declared herself to be the Democratic alternative in the race for the Orange County chairman, Johnson, the District 3 county commissioner, prepared a platform of issues she planned to debate with Republicans Mel Martinez and John Ostalkiewicz. Martinez and Ostalkiewicz had lined up powerful supporters and amassed war chests…

Orlando Weekly Staff

Environmentalism pays off

For years, St. Joe Corp. was among the worst environmental pirates operating in Florida. But recently, the company has redone its image, winning an award from the Florida Audubon Society for its efforts on behalf of the environment. On Monday, Audubon praised the Nature Conservancy, the U.S. Department of the Interior and St. Joe’s Talisman…

Orlando Weekly Staff

Fiery emotions quiet nudists

Friday • 8 THE GOOD LIFE Part of Omaha’s Elephant-6-like Saddle Creek clique (which includes Bright Eyes’/Desaparecidos’ Conor Oberst and Lullaby for the Working Class’/Mayday’s Ted Stevens), Tim Kasher fronts quintessential emo act Cursive as well as The Good Life. He started The Good Life as a diversion to satisfy his sleepier, earthier side and…

Orlando Weekly Staff

Political pension dissension

Retirement. The Golden Years! Well, maybe. In this age of global corporate greed and downsizing, firm after firm has been looting the pensions of their employees. Such giants as General Motors have walked away from their earlier pension promises, leaving thousands of retirees in dire straits — not to mention poverty. Meanwhile, Republicans and Democrats…

Jim Hightower

An ongoing oeuvre

There’s a complete listing of show times in calendar.;; As the feeding frenzy for independent film continues unabated, it’s becoming harder to remember that the term “major studio” hasn’t always been considered an insult. Arriving in Orlando this weekend as part of a national tour, the Warner Brothers 75th Anniversary Festival of Classics demonstrates that…

Steve Schneider

‘Opposite’ attracts

Don Roos, whose dark comic tale “The Opposite of Sex” chronicles the havoc created by a caustic 16-year-old sexual predator, generated the entire twisting plot from a sole, striking image. “It just came to me, as ideas often do,” says Roos, an established screenwriter. “This girl threw a chair into an open grave. That interested…

Philip Booth

On local TV, bad news makes good business

Fox 35 News Director Bill Avery got the biggest laugh. Asked the mission of his news department, he said, “to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.” This response busted up the room, which was about three-quarters full of 60 public relations flacks and news junkies. The old saw, coined in an era before the…

Ericson, Edward Jr.

Outlaws making air waves

From suburban garages and urban apartments, a contemporary band of radio pirates is plundering the airwaves in defiance of federal authorities and mighty media conglomerates. These low-wattage broadcasters, whose transmissions typically can be heard only within a few miles to a few blocks of their locations, operate with little more than the technological basics and…

Mary Meehan

MK Ultra’s days of dissonance

Orlando-based MK Ultra produces a refreshing blast of feedback in a scene characterized by the adult contemporary lite-rock of bands like Matchbox 20, GumWrapper Curb and My Friend Steve. The band is making a stand for surreal dissonance in modern rock. “We don’t necessarily fit the rock scene that is going on, and we don’t…

Daniel Fuller

MK Ultra’s days of dissonance

Orlando-based MK Ultra produces a refreshing blast of feedback in a scene characterized by the adult contemporary lite-rock of bands like Matchbox 20, GumWrapper Curb and My Friend Steve. The band is making a stand for surreal dissonance in modern rock. “We don’t necessarily fit the rock scene that is going on, and we don’t…

Daniel Fuller

When the going gets weird â?¦

Both have given their time, talents, energy and money to liberal and progressive causes going back over 20 years. Both have lamented the plight of people left behind in America’s mad rush of consumerism and global hegemony. Both have sung out against racism, homophobia and the careless use of economic and political power, yet somehow…

Liz Langley

Creations that cool at Sapphire

There’s nothing like a cool, creative cocktail to take the edge off of summer’s sizzle. And you’ll find some wild creations on the summer martini menu at Sapphire Supper Club (54 N. Orange Ave.; 246-1431). Martinis take on a loose definition here, but who’s complaining? Citrus-infused tequilas are the secret behind the “TNT’: tonic water…

Colleen Moore

In God they don’t trust

Actor and proud philanderer Jose Estrada was elected president in one of the Philippines’ quietest elections ever, in that only 45 people were killed in campaign-related incidents. Former first lady Imelda Marcos dropped out of the race in April, but got back in, she said, to prevent the suicides of several of her supporters. Among…

Chuck Shepherd

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