I’m shocked â?¦ shocked!
A Bush administration appointee is a knuckle-dragging goon who, um, may have misled us all about his credentials in order to further a radical (and, if I may, borderline retarded) social agenda? You don’t say. In late 2006, President Bush appointed Dr. Eric Keroack to oversee the nation’s family planning services. In other words, the…
Do You Trust Your Friends
Do You Trust Your Friends Label: Arts & Crafts Length: LP Media: CD Format: Album WorkNameSort: Do You Trust Your Friends Stars invited a cast of musically inclined Canadian ‘friendsâ?� for the purposes of interpreting their songs on Do You Trust Your Friends?, or more accurately, all of the songs on their widely praised Set…
Florida Funk: Funk 45s From the Alligator State
Florida Funk: Funk 45s From the Alligator State Label: Now Again Length: LP Rated: NONE Media: CD Format: Album WorkNameSort: Florida Funk: Funk 45s From the Alligator State Despite all of our swamps, bugs and crazy people, Florida’s musical profile has always been surprisingly sedate. But appearances, as they say, aren’t always the same as…
EPs and Rarities
EPs and Rarities Label: Mush Media: CD Format: Album WorkNameSort: EPs and Rarities Behind the laborious-sounding moniker, Londoner Mat Ranson’s searing, Warp Records’type electronica is split by fluid chirps and sometimes volatile synths that swoop rapidly in and out of range. Ranson steers clear of complacency by incorporating a mix of both software-driven elements and…
Cult Cargo: Grand Bahama Goombay
Cult Cargo: Grand Bahama Goombay Label: Numero Group Length: LP Media: CD Format: Album WorkNameSort: Cult Cargo: Grand Bahama Goombay Salvaging the musical remnants of a fleeting moment in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island ‘ when stateside funk swept the island like a subtropical storm to commingle with a Caribbean cocktail of island idioms that included…
TEA TOTALLY
Urban teahouse is steeped in eco-attitude
Away From Her
Away From Her Studio: Lionsgate Rated: PG-13 Cast: Julie Christie, Gordon Pinsent, Olympia Dukakis, Michael Murphy, Wendy Crewson Director: Sarah Polley WorkNameSort: Away From Her Our Rating: 4.00 Based on the Alice Munro short story ‘The Bear Came Over the Mountain,â?� Away From Her is about a smart, middle-aged Canadian couple dealing with the inevitable…
Shrek the Third
Shrek the Third Studio: Dreamworks Rated: PG-13 Cast: Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz Director: Raman Hui WorkNameSort: Shrek the Third Our Rating: 3.00 Shrek (Mike Myers) has done the unthinkable ‘ he’s gone soft. In the series’ first two installments, our hero was a cranky ogre who liked to fart and belch and threaten his closest…
Violette / The Comedy of Power
Violette / The Comedy of Power Studio: Koch Lorber WorkNameSort: Violette / The Comedy of Power It may not be as famous an art-cinema pairing as Federico Fellini and Giulietta Masina, Jean-Luc Godard and Anna Karina or Michelangelo Antonioni and Monica Vitti, but the collaborative work of director Claude Chabrol and Isabelle Huppert has produced…
The Tower
The Tower Studio: Channel 4/Koch Vision WorkNameSort: Tower, The 384 minutes of documentary on any building ‘ even the 900-year-old Tower of London ‘ is a bit much. Scratch that. It’s just too much. While viewers of BBC’s Channel 4 may have lapped up this six-hour-long hagiographic look at William the Conqueror’s imposing structure, it’s…
Al Franken: God Spoke
Al Franken: God Spoke Studio: Docurama WorkNameSort: Al Franken: God Spoke Can I just drop all pretenses of being an objective critic and say that Al Franken’s election to the United States Senate would be the greatest thing ever? If this documentary is any indication, C-SPAN would be Must-See TV. This testament to Franken’s wit,…
THIS LITTLE UNDERGROUND
;When it comes to household names, Rolling Stone magazine is the Coke of American rock journalism. Or, if you’re a little more studious, Creem. However, the mother of ’em all is Crawdaddy!, which launched in 1966, predating all the others. Founded with a decidedly critical spirit, it was breeding ground and launch pad for a…
FRINGE EATING
The Fringe festival is always full of surprises, but here’s a surefire tip: You don’t have to buy the requisite $6 Fringe button, nor a ticket to a show, to partake of the affordable yummies that are for sale on the lawn of Loch Haven Park. We went back twice last year just for Auntie…
I LOVE TELEVISION
;Huh?! What?! Oh … it’s YOU. Look, I appreciate you reading my column and all, but frankly, I’m a little too busy for you right now. In case you didn’t realize, this is the bat-poop CRAZIEST TV week of the entire year, jam-packed with new shows and season finales. And if I don’t figure out…
HAPPYTOWN
The fourth and final stop on the ’07 Rich DeVos’ Golden Pleasure Dome™ Tour took place May 10 at Rollins College, and we were there! Got the shirt, bought the CD and everything. This one was hosted by Orange County Commissioner Bill Segal, and it amounted to another canned presentation and heaps of praise for…
POLICE BEAT
APRIL 9, 6:46 P.M.: A 41-year-old woman with a big ol’ gap between her two upper front teeth walked into a popular pharmacy in the 2350 block of South Hiawassee Road. She had elaborate plans. The damsel approached the sales counter with an armful of three packages of Huggies diapers, size 5. We all know…
MAIL SACK
Hey connie, it is our money In response to Connie Staudt’s letter, “Hands off DeVos,” one of her complaints was that people who feel that DeVos should pony up a bit more dough for his baby are “always mentioning taxpayers’ money; it is not, it’s hotel taxes!” We are fully aware that the money comes…
MORE OF A GOOD THING
In years past, there have appeared in the pages of Orlando Weekly some criticisms of the lineups for the Florida Music Festival. With the city’s multiple thriving underground scenes — indie, punk, hip-hop, for starters — the bands chosen tended to strike us as, at best, unrepresentative of the vibrant diversity. Last year, however, a…
FRINGE FESTIVAL SURVIVAL GUIDE
Ah, spring. When the earth bursts with new life, when a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love, and when all Orlando has one question on their lips: “What the hell is the deal with Fringe?” What’s the deal, indeed? The answer depends on whom you ask. Festival producer Beth Marshall and her…
A CONVENIENT TRUTH
Up on the eighth floor of Orlando City Hall, public works director Alan Oyler is doing his best to channel Al Gore via a PowerPoint demonstration. Oyler’s even got a slide about the rise in carbon dioxide levels compared to the rise in the earth’s temperature. The problem, Oyler says, is that natural gas reserves…
REFERENCE POINTS
;The canonization of American iconoclast Howard Hawks was cemented back in the ’50s when the French critics at Cahiers du Cinéma became the first film writers to deem him important. Since then, this unassuming director’s status continues to elevate from craftsman to auteur, as his pioneering efforts are acknowledged exhaustively in books, documentaries and DVD…
BLISTER
If there are indeed two sides to every story, then why am I always stuck underneath a mound of pubic hair on the dark one like a bed penny on a fat trick? I’ve just met my friend-couple, Drew and Kevin, at Savoy when the pinched synapse of nature’s duality slaps me across the face…
SAVAGE LOVE
;I’m having a problem. Twice ;when my girlfriend has given me oral sex, I’ve come in her mouth and then a little urine came out. She’s understandably mad. The first time it happened was in the morning when I had wood, so I thought I was just full of piss, but the second time was…
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
ARIES (March 21-April 19) The Only Three Questions That Count is the title of a book by Ken Fisher. I’m stealing it to use as the theme of your horoscope. So your next assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to craft three essential questions that will guide your journey between now and the…
Weirdo fundie column of the day
For your Tuesday entertainment. This comes from a guy named Vox Day, who uses the occasion of Mother’s Day to tell us how women belong in the home raising children, and not out doing pointless things like curing cancer or running businesses. Money quote No. 1: “We don’t need female doctors. We don’t need female…
