Fairy-tale Italian
It was about 7:30 p.m. on a Saturday, and Enzo’s on the Lake was in its glory. Most of the tables were filled. Waiters glided through the dining areas bearing trays of Italian delicacies that perfumed the room. As the sunlight faded over Fairy Lake outside, soft candles in the restaurant threw a golden blush…
TV dinners
Our first mistake was paying six bucks to park in the garage at Universal Studios CityWalk. That’s because when we made reservations for Emeril’s Restaurant Orlando, nobody told us we could park free at the Hard Rock Cafe. (Emeril’s will validate valet stubs, saving $12.) Our second mistake was forgetting to call and confirm our…
The sound of one fan clapping
I knew that Orlando’s poetic community was relatively small, but this was ridiculous. As I entered Performance Space Orlando last Friday night, I was startled to find Gregory Patrick — the evening’s featured entertainer — hanging red Christmas lights from the ceiling and dispensing wine to an audience that, even at five minutes to showtime,…
Boyz barbecue a special order
If you hit any of the Citrus Bowl games or regional festivals, you’ll likely run into the Bar-B-Q Boyz. Year after year, they’ve dished truckloads of ribs, chicken and collard greens at the Zora Neale Hurston Festival in Eatonville and Bike Week in Daytona Beach. But the Boyz are increasingly staying closer to Orlando as…
Power outage
Movie: The Rage: Carrie 2
Clipped ‘Wing’
Movie: Wing Commander
Drowning in mother’s love
Movie: The Deep End of the Ocean
The way of Chow
Movie: The Corruptor
Power outage
Movie: The Rage: Carrie 2
Clipped ‘Wing’
Movie: Wing Commander
Drowning in mother’s love
Movie: The Deep End of the Ocean
The way of Chow
Movie: The Corruptor
Censored sensibility
“This was raw, right in your face,” admits Jason Neff. “But this is what’s happening right down the road.” Neff is referring to the content of the February episode of “Ballyhoo,” a local television show about film and filmmakers that Neff produces and directs. Time Warner Communications, which airs “Ballyhoo” eight times a month on…
Obedience school
One of the lessons for today is obedience, and the first graders at the school inside the First Christian Church building in Fort Lauderdale sing about it quite obediently. While the students at the Charter School of Excellence are divided fairly evenly between blacks and whites, they dress alike, with the boys in dark blue…
Father grows best
News of the Weird last year announced that an Australian scientist was working on growing human sperm cells inside mouse testicles, and in February 1999 a team at Tottori University in Japan announced it had actually grown some that way. But just when science was making men obsolete, prominent British fertility researcher Lord Robert Winston…
Legal self-defense hits a snag
From writing our wills to defending ourselves in court, we Americans can tend to our own legal business without the assistance of attorneys, if we choose to — and these days, with the price of attorneys ranging from $50 an hour on the cheap side to $1,000 an hour for the Cadillac set, a majority…
Primary colorless
“Mel Martinez: 100 Days” (not rated);2 1/2 stars ;(Out of five) In a cinematic world dominated by Tom Clancy adaptations, it’s a daunting task to make the work of a county chairman appear a fit subject for an enthralling political documentary. But in crafting a video tribute to one of our own elected representatives, producing…
Splendid mess
You probably know that Florida Splendid China is not the busiest attraction in town. And you’ve heard that it is owned and run by the Chinese government, basically as a soft-sell propaganda organ. But if you want the whole dark story (and maybe a bit more), see the piece by Kenneth Timmerman in the March…
Sunshine setting?
Sen. W.D. Childers (R-Pensacola) has introduced an amendment to the state’s Sunshine Law to create a new exemption of the open-meetings rule to cover “imminent” litigation. Currently the law allows public officials to meet in secret to discuss only pending litigation — meaning lawsuits that actually have been filed. The “imminent” rule — the word…
Trading hedonism for a helping hand
They missed their turn off Highway 441 and had to backtrack, but once they reached their destination there was no turning around again: Anthony House, a rehab center for homeless people located on the edge of rural Zellwood, was counting on their help, and the 11 University of Florida students who climbed out of their…
Review – You Better Keep Still
Artist: T-Model Ford
Review – No Exit
Artist: Blondie
Review – Baby Got Away
Artist: Virginia Dare
Review – February Son
Artist: Oleander
Review – You Better Keep Still
Artist: T-Model Ford
Review – Baby Got Away
Artist: Virginia Dare
Review – No Exit
Artist: Blondie
Review – February Son
Artist: Oleander
Review – You Better Keep Still
Artist: T-Model Ford
Review – Baby Got Away
Artist: Virginia Dare
Review – No Exit
Artist: Blondie
Review – February Son
Artist: Oleander
Review – You Better Keep Still
Artist: T-Model Ford
Review – Baby Got Away
Artist: Virginia Dare
Review – No Exit
Artist: Blondie
Review – February Son
Artist: Oleander
Songs of experience
Jets to Brazil had no shortage of passengers ready to fly their pop-punk airline by the time their debut album took off last October. With a flight crew gleaned from three respected ’90s punk outfits, Jets to Brazil created an near instantaneous buzz before their CD “Orange Rhyming Dictionary” was even released. But frontman Blake…
Brace for ‘Blown Mind’ beats
Over the past four years the British music industry has undergone an overhaul, one that has attempted to remedy the ineffectual post-Britpop malaise by focusing on something a little less postured. No longer does a protruding chin and a sloppy garage-rock riff (a la Blur and Oasis) represent a musical revolution. Instead, a younger generation…
Bound and determined
P.J. O’Rourke said bondage is popular these days because if you’re chained to the bed, at least you know where you’re going to be for the next 10 minutes. I think it’s because if you can’t move, nothing’s expected of you. That’s why “I’m all tied up” is an excuse we all use, whether it’s…
Dancer gives lift to Southern Ballet
For ballet dancer Yan Chen, “commuting to work” has a whole new meaning. For half the year she dances with the prestigious American Ballet Theatre in New York City. For the rest of the year she makes her home, with husband and son, here in Orlando. Chen has offered her considerable expertise as a guest…
Improv musicâ??s avant guardian
Guitarist Derek Bailey was practicing when I phoned him at his London home. He asked that I call back in an hour or so. Bailey’s admirers (including notable plectrum gods such as Henry Kaiser and Eugene Chadbourne) probably won’t find that statement odd, but many first-time listeners might be astounded that anyone could practice so…
Easy green
At least once a year, on St. Patrick’s Day, many Americans take to the streets in search of an Irish way to celebrate. There’s no reason to settle for fake green beer at chain outlets when there are wee mom-and-pop pubs that can dish out the real deal, like Claddagh Cottage, on Curry Ford Road,…
Precious and few
Korea House dates back to 1982, and while that’s hardly early history in terms of the city’s evolution, the restaurant was nonetheless a pioneer on the dining scene. For many years, it was the only local eatery offering a taste of the Land of the Morning Sun, and now it’s among the few. Even today,…
N.Y.P.D. looking for night action
Lunch hours were the exclusive focus of N.Y.P.D. when it opened several years ago. But the opening of the nearby Orange County Courthouse changed the demands. Owner Paul Russo found that some of his lunch crowd were looking to return after work and that more people in general were venturing out of surrounding neighborhoods in…
