Where to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Orlando
via It’s time to celebrate everything Irish again, including beer (either green or Guinness) and potatoes! Here are the best places to get your Irish on in Orlando this St. Patrick’s Day: Wednesday, March 12 Mighty St. Patrick’s Festival Live music by bands like The Willis Clan, 3 Dollar Band, Goitse and the Raglan Rebels. 5…
Just announced: Jenny Lewis playing Bob Carr in July
Be still my heart: Great moments from the Postal Service show at Hard Rock Live The last time we saw Jenny Lewis in town was last summer at Hard Rock with the Postal Service, a nostalgic show for those who cherish that 2001 era of music, but this time, she’s classing it up and is…
Shine Shed invites a limited audience to the Caress of Progress
It’s one thing when Shine Shed is invited or inspired to bring their imaginative installations to an established lineup (like I’m told they will for Sun Araw’s show in April), but it’s a whole other story when the entire event springs from the fantasies of this local art collective. At 9 p.m. Friday, March 28…
Celebrate the 20th anniversary of Sapphire Supper Club’s grand opening
Sapphire Supper Club, 1998, via Kick Bright Zine On April 1, 1994, Sapphire Supper Club – the venue that we now know as the Social – opened its doors and welcomed in a music scene that fostered local acts like Terri Binion, Steve Foxbury, Brian Chodorcoff, Eugene Snowden, Jeff Nolan and so many more, plus…
The latest aviation threat: fish
A Smithsonian lab has determined that the animal that hit Lt. Cmdr. Nick Toth’s plane as it was preparing for takeoff last September at Tampa’s MacDill Air Force Base was not, in fact, an osprey as originally believed, but a nine-inch sheepshead the osprey was carrying in its mouth (and dropped) as the bird realized it…
YOUR DAILY WEEKLY READER: not-so-great Scott, Rubio’s CPAC blowback, blaming the banks
GUESS IT ISN’T WORKING? RICK SCOTT IS TAKING A HIT EVEN FROM HIS OWN PARTY: “The state of Gov. Rick Scott’s poll numbers is . . . sorry. On Tuesday, as Scott kicked off the Legislature’s 60-day lawmaking session, he gave the annual state of the state speech, a campaign-like preview filled with job-creation statistics. But many…
Cosmos: two voices in the cosmic fugue
Of course, you all read this blog religiously, so you know that the reimagining of Cosmos begins tonight. The 13-part documentary originally aired in 1980 on PBS, hosted by Carl Sagan, while tonight’s version on Fox, also 13-parts, will be hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York, co-host of…
Belle and the Beast cameo in new Mickey Mouse short
Both Belle and the Beast make a short cameo in Disney’s new musical Mickey Mouse short, Adorable Couple. I’ve said this a few times now since Disney rebooted Mickey and the gang, but this might be my favorite so far. The short finds Mickey and Minnie so happy in love with each other that they break…
Free Krispy Kreme today: Lose an hour, gain a doughnut
Heads up! Free Krispy Kreme! Go to one of the three Orlando-area Krispy Kreme outlets (addresses and hours below) for one free original glazed doughnut to console you for losing that precious hour of sleep. Winter Park 1031 S. Orlando Ave., Winter Park Open 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. (Sunday – Thursday) and 5:30 a.m. to…
Video: Nuclear Cowboyz opening night at Amway Center
Nuclear Cowboyz, the mesmerizingly meshuggenah mash-up of X-games-style extreme motorcross and Shaolin martial arts, made an explosive entrance at Orlando's Amway Center last night. The show, which I previously previewed, is essentially a high-octane circus aimed at adolescent boys, bringing high-flying stunts and special effects together with a simple B-movie storyline. To be honest, there…
March 9 is National Meatball Day so put these balls in your mouth
Hey, Sofia I really think that’s too many balls. So, according to, uh, somebody somewhere with absolutely no official power, Sunday is National Meatball Day. Seems kinda rough on anyone who gave up red meat for Lent, but hey, I didn’t make it up. If you’re down to chomp balls, here are a few…
Eight years a suckup: Pushing back against the Condi rehab project
“What’s this long and white? Everything!” I’m not sure who should get the credit for 12 Years a Slave. I’m just worried that, the way things are going, it’s going to be Condoleeza Rice. Anybody who paid attention during awards season has noticed that Slave’s director, Steve McQueen, and its writer, John Ridley, don’t like…
New movie puts Timucua White House in the spotlight, see the trailer now
via The domicile/concert hall known as the Timucua White House opens its doors and welcomes music and art lovers regularly for free shows frequently featuring international talents, iconic underground performers and all that Jazz (and more). It’s a truly special place in Orlando to find high-level talents, with its spiral staircase delivering audiences to second…
Location Matters: The Government Facility from ‘D.A.R.Y.L.’
4400 N. Alafaya Trail in its starring role. Location Matters is a series that reflects upon pieces of Orlando immortalized in popular film. At six years old, I suppose I was the target audience for 1985’s D.A.R.Y.L., the family movie about a government-built child android who escapes into our world and discovers the joys of…
Thank you, Internet: Cookie shot glasses and earth porn
It’s Friday afternoon and you’re already itching to get home and put the finishing touches on your costume for the Great Orlando Mixer tomorrow night. Here’s some links that’ll help you pass the afternoon until it’s time to go home: via 1. Looks like a normal, albeit wide and clunky ring, right? WRONG. This ring…
Cereal killers: bad cereal creations
via Look, no one said cereal makers were geniuses. Well, except maybe John Kellogg, but my most of my knowledge of him is based on the fictional book The Road to Wellville. So, on National Cereal Day, I wondered: what were some of the worst cereal creations in the history of cereal? Not surprisingly, most of ’em…
Kansas City nightclub scandal has Orlando ties
Photo via The Pitch The Pitch, an alternative newsweekly in Kansas City, reported this week about a nightclub scandal in which the business manager of a local club allegedly gave up on the the bar, took thousands out of its accounts and ran off to Florida to open a new club. The Pitch’s story says…
YOUR DAILY WEEKLY READER: party fights get Rocky, ALEC gets sneaky
WAIT, WHICH ONE IS DOLPH LUNDGREN? YOUR MORNING ROCKY (IV!) REFERENCE ILLUSTRATING CRIST OUT-FUNDRAISING SCOTT IS HERE: “There is a scene in the iconic movie ‘Rocky IV’ (yes, ‘Rocky IV’ is iconic, after all, it was just referenced during the U.S.’s current showdown with Russia over that county’s invasion of Crimea) in which ‘The Italian Stallion’…
In honor of National Frozen Food Day, some frozen food nostalgia
via I may be dating myself a bit here, but I remember the days when it was a treat to sit in front of the television and peel back the foil on a TV dinner. It was torture to wait the 20 minutes until the meal was completely cooked The mashed potatoes were half-frozen and…
Want a two-bedroom apartment in Florida? 98 minimum wage hours per week, please!
via According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, minimum wage workers in Florida would have to work at least 98 hours per week in order to afford a two-bedroom apartment. That’s more than two full-time jobs. Hell, that’s two full time jobs and a part-time job. Minimum wage in Florida is above the national average, at…
This is a photo of an otter killing an alligator
Photographer Geoff Walsh captured this shocking event at the Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge in DeLeon Springs. Although it happened in 2011, only now has the Refuge deemed the public ready to see the unbelievable images of this deadly otter-on-gator violence. Look at that otter. Look in its eyes. That’s pure ice. Calculating, unfeeling. This…
‘Finding Florida’ author T.D. Allman at Orlando Public Library today
T.D. Allman, whose book Finding Florida: The True History of the Sunshine State ruffled a lot of historians’ feathers last year, speaks at the Orlando Public Library (101 Central Blvd.) at 6 p.m. today. Allman has written for the New Yorker, Rolling Stone, the New York Times, National Geographic, Vanity Fair and many other publications,…
YOUR DAILY WEEKLY READER: Florida’s poverty, the war on women, free-speech panties
via totalfilm.com BEWARE OF THE REPUBLICAN WAR ON POVERTY, BECAUSE IT’S BASICALLY A WAR ON YOU (AND UNDERPAID WORKING CLASS). ALSO, BEWARE OF HOUSE SPEAKER WILL WEATHERFORD’S MAGNETIC SMILE: “Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford laid out his agenda for the next 60 days of the 2014 legislative session, and it sounds much like his vision…
From the Pages of Orlando Weekly on WMFE: Billy Manes on the Brummer problem
via Orlando Sentinel In today’s fast talking radio broadcast, Billy Manes takes on the proposed special election Orange County Commissioner Fred Brummer (among others) has been trying to push for in May. You can listen at this link immediately below in the widget. Also, you can read along!!!! Enjoy. It may seem strange to most…
Ways to spend time with the Green Fairy in Orlando
Today is National Absinthe Day. No one can say for sure who started it, but it’s been unofficially celebrated since 2007, when the United States lifted the absinthe ban, which had been in effect since 1912. If you want to celebrate tonight, here are a few ways you can visit the green fairy: via The…
Did Thee Wilt Chamberlain’s ‘Breakfast at Taco Bell’ song inspire fast food chain?
Hearts exploded when Taco Bell unveiled its new breakfast menu, which starts service March 27, but local visionaries and surf rockers Thee Wilt Chamberlain arguably knew it would happen all along. Their prophetic song “Breakfast at Taco Bell” was released in July 2013 on Plays the Hits and features a dreamy surf-y soundtrack that they…
Warm up for NDT’s Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey with a marathon of Carl Sagan’s original Cosmos this weekend
Art by Frances the Mute Before Sunday night’s pan-Fox broadcast of the premier of the Neil deGrasse Tyson-hosted Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, the National Geographic Channel will be running a bifurcated marathon of the original series, the Carl Sagan-hosted Cosmos: A Personal Voyage. Starting on Saturday at Noon, NatGeo will begin with an airing of The Shores of the…
Win tickets to see Dead Milkmen in Tampa!
via Orlando Sentinel In today’s fast talking radio broadcast, Billy Manes takes on the proposed special election Orange County Commissioner Fred Brummer (among others) has been trying to push for in May. You can listen at this link immediately below in the widget. Also, you can read along!!!! Enjoy. It may seem strange to most…
Win Tix to Universal Studios Mardi Gras
The Spirit of Mardi Gras isn’t bound to the Big Easy – you can be a part of it all at Universal Studios Mardi Gras Grand Celebration. Come join the party with a dazzling parade, beads by the handful and the most amazing concert line-up ever featuring some of the biggest names in pop, rock,…
19 questions with an Orlando resident: Ryan Showman
Welcome to 19 Questions, a feature where we ask longtime Orlando residents 19 questions that are mostly related to living in the City Beautiful. Ryan Showman is a “learning architect” at the publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Hailing from Melbourne, Ryan has lived in Orlando since 2002 and is the first person interviewed for this feature…
Florida man uses noose and KKK flag to recruit new members
via Outside of a West Boca Raton trailer fly both Ku Klux Klan and Confederate flags. The owner of the trailer, who would only identify himself as Mr. Hayes, calls the flags his patriotic duty, showing pride in his heritage which he equates to a Puerto Rican flag that another neighbor displays. “Hey, nobody stops the Puerto…
Assisted Living Giant Is Focus of Federal Probe
The federal government is investigating the operation of Emeritus, which operates facilities in Orlando, Ocoee, Lake Mary, Apopka, Oviedo and Winter Springs
Wes Anderson soundtrack box set to be released in 2014
33 of our best shots from the weekend in Orlando I had the delight of attending the opening night of Stardust Video and Coffee’s Wes Anderson tribute gallery currently hanging in the small room at the coffee shop, so if you’ve been looking for an eclectic piece from your favorite Anderson film, I can say…
Video: Longwood’s Shon Law and his free-range farming philosophy
Shon Law, the subject of our current cover story, “Turf Wars: The Case of the Do-Nothing Farmer,” is stirring up a lot of feelings. His practice of shizen noho or “nature gardening” has raised the ire of his neighbors and the city of Longwood’s Code Enforcement officials. Our story addresses some of the basic philosophy…
Florida Music Festival dates announced, including a rad This Little Underground showcase
I don’t know anyone in town (or probably anywhere) who sees as many shows as Orlando Weekly’s live music columnist, Bao Le-Huu. I’ve tried, personally, to keep up with his activities, and it was freaking exhausting. So, I was really excited when he told me that he’d be curating a local showcase for this year’s…
Read two poems now from J. Bradley’s ‘The Bones of Us’ (out March 15)
photo by Laura Cole We ran a story in this week’s issue about local poet Jesse Bradley’s new book, but due to the constraints of print, we weren’t able to show you any of the work. Here now, you can read a couple of the illustrated poems from the book. “The Bones of Us began when…
YOUR DAILY WEEKLY READER: on saving the alts, taking the piss and broken justice
via City Paper IT’S NOT OVER ‘TIL IT’S OVER. AS ALT WEEKLIES SHIFT IN PURPOSE AND PROMOTION, IT’S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER WHAT WE ARE AND WHAT WE AREN’T: “WHEN the Baltimore Sun Media Group recently announced that it was buying the Baltimore City Paper, the local alternative weekly where I work as an editor, the…
Rabbitfoot Records opens a second location in Sanford
Rabbitfoot Records continues to bound along to great success since they started making big moves like cutting their own records (and yours!), starting their own label and remodeling their Titusville location. And now, they’re growing further, opening a second store (and coffee shop!) in downtown Sanford (309 E. 1st St., Sanford) this Friday, March 7.…
Nuclear Cowboyz stunt show stops in Orlando’s Amway Center this weekend
Motorcycles and ATVs flipping and flying through the air? Check. Shaolin monks cracking steel bars across their skull with Kung-fu skills? Check. Eyebrow singing pyrotechics and comely chicks cavorting with laser beams? Check, check, and check. If you want to see the feverish fantasies of a teenage boy brought to life (or at least…
‘The Bones of Us’
Local poet J. Bradley’s new book deals with the death of love
‘Songs for the Deaf’ and ‘Train Shots’
Local publisher Burrow Press bets on the short story; readers ought to as well
Local label Total Punk celebrates three years with music festival Total Fuck Off Weekend
Their first major music festival invites 15 punk bands for Total Fuck Off Weekend
‘The Great Beauty’: one of the best movies of the year
Stunning take on life’s mysteries deserved Oscar consideration for Best Picture
Corrupt politicians have free rein in Florida
Corporate masters purchase the influence that ordinary constituents have lost
Opening in Orlando: ‘Mr. Peabody & Sherman’
Movies playing on screens in town this week
Darkness abounds on Eagulls’ enthralling debut album
Album review: Eagulls’ self-titled
‘300: Rise of an Empire’ is a bloody mess
Sequel to ‘300’ has no purpose or ambition, but it does have a lot of gore
Remix: Our take on the Blood & Sand cocktail
When a mixed drink is named after a movie, shouldn’t it remind you of the movie?
Drinking, Nightlife and Parties
Where to drink and party in Orlando this week
Longwood front-yard farmer stands by his permaculture plot
Despite distraught neighbors and mounting fines, Shon Law says he’ll continue to grow food not grass
Dine With the Departed, Corks for a Cause, Highball & Harvest and more
Tip Jar: local food news
Free Will Astrology
ARIES (March 21-April 19) Are you between jobs? Between romantic partners? Between secure foundations and clear mandates and reasons to get up each morning? Probably at least one of the above. Foggy whirlwinds may be your intimate companions. Being up-in-the-air could be your customary vantage point. During your stay in this weird vacationland, please abstain…
This Little Underground: The re-materialization of Roky Erickson
Iron & Wine returns solo
Commissioner Fred Brummer Crosses the Line
Proposed County Ordinance and Special Election are Full of Pandering and Spite
Natural Child shows shocking restraint on ‘Dancin’ With Wolves’
Album review: Natural Child’s ‘Dancin’ With Wolves’
Burning love for Angel Olsen’s arresting new album
Album review: Angel Olsen’s ‘Burn Your Fire for No Witness’
Former Disney employees weigh in on labor issues at the parks
Readers respond to story about wages at Disney
Live Active Cultures: Dapper Days at Disney
Annoying and pretentious, or a refreshing return to Sunday-best styles in public?
No shortage of potential at South and York
Farm-to-table menu from a talented chef might give you reason to dine in Winter Springs
Savage Love
Straight female with a question. It’s about something that sometimes happens to me that I’ve never really told anyone about because it’s so weird and gross. It involves my bowel movements, so it’s not very sexy. (No offense to scat lovers, but I have zero interest in “poop play.”) After I have a normal bowel…
New Pom Pom’s franchise to open in St. Pete
Pom Pom’s latest creation, the “Le Bithlo” (BBQ pulled pork, peanut butter, strawberry jelly, light red onions and melted Brie) Huge, huge happy congratulations to one of our brilliant local restaurant moguls, Pom Moongauklang, chef-proprietor-goddess of some of Orlando’s freshest late-night eats (and perennial Best of Orlando winners), Pom Pom’s Teahouse & Sandwicheria and Tako Cheena. Pom has…
Wednesday: Breakfast for Dinner to benefit Mills 50 – with celebrity servers!
photo of First Watch in Mills Park via Breakfast for Dinner to benefit Mills 50 It’s hard to think of eating an omelet or pancakes for dinner as truly transgressive – try eating dinner for breakfast, though, and you’ll get side-eye from a lot of people. But this isn’t about our habit of reheating beef chow…
Orlando beer survey: What’s your brew of choice?
We’re coming up on our annual beer issue to honor the flushed-face holiday of St. Patrick’s Day, and we wanna know: What is your favorite beer, Orlando? Vote now until Thursday at midnight, and we’ll tally the results to figure out which beer is most loved in the City Beautiful. Don’t let your favorite beer…
Cat poisoning in Colonialtown?
Seen near the corner of Shine and Concord in Colonialtown today: These signs were posted all around the intersection. Is somebody actually poisoning cats in this part of town? If anybody has any additional info on this situation, please tell us about it in the comments section.
Bradenton women ousted from court in shuffleboard shocker
A pair of the accused Shufflelettes. Photo by Paul Videla. Controversy struck this year’s Shufflelettes shuffleboard tournament out in Bradenton; just minutes into yesterday’s annual games, which have been held for over thirty years at the cozy Heather Hills Estates, the shuffleboard court’s owners called police to have players removed from the property for not…
YOUR DAILY WEEKLY READER: misrepresentation, missing rights and forced death
BECAUSE ACTING IN YOUR BEST INTEREST IS SECOND ONLY TO ACTING IN THE DUBIOUS INTEREST OF A FAILING GOVERNOR: “As Florida lawmakers open their annual legislative session Tuesday and the governor gives his fourth state-of-the-state address, overshadowing everything for the Republican-controlled Legislature is one overriding goal: the reelection of Gov. Rick Scott. Woefully behind in…
