Getting sloshed and saving the ice for later
Summer Guide: My foolproof test of a water park’s merits is relatively simple, and goes like this: if, after spending a day on the slides, I am required to make an appointment with the chiropractor to have my spine “adjusted,” then it was a good park. Orlando has some goooood parks. I know this because,…
Fight for your right to party all night
The operator of Orlando’s late-night dance club attacks those who would stop the music All his life, Jon Marsa has been preparing himself to operate The Club at Firestone. But nothing could have prepared him for this. For the past two years, Marsa has paid a price for his place as Orlando’s preeminent proprietor of…
Buyout sells out workers
Odelaido “Donlyo” Garza holds an old microphone and addresses the crowd outside the Farmworker Association of Florida. He speaks in Spanish, and is translated to English. “I didn’t expect this news,” he says. “We just heard that they will close.” As the state prepares to spend $91 million to buyout the muck farms along Lake…
A name by any other PING
Think about “Ping.” It’s a sound and a verb. You can ping using sonar or using the internet. Table tennis players sometimes call their game “Ping Pong.” Golfers sometimes use PING clubs. Disney has reportedly named a character in an upcoming film “Ping.” So the golf club maker is suing the entertainment giant for trademark…
Silencing Fairvilla
Breaking up is hard to do.;;And although Ed Tyll’s topic of the day concerned break-ups, the self-described “most annoying” radioman in Orlando didn’t want to talk about his station’s breakup with the Fairvilla Adult Megastore.;;While Tyll found it unacceptable fodder for his cannon, the decision by Paxson Communications, owner of WTKS/Real Radio FM 104.1, to…
Logic beyond gravity’s pull
To borrow a phrase from their own lingo, the Astronaut Hall of Fame “screwed the pooch” when it decided not to induct Roger Chaffee along with other Apollo astronauts. The reason — according to the astronauts’ creed — is that he was never really an astronaut. In the macho world of “The Right Stuff,” you…
A day at the beach, but without the burn
Summer Guide: Summer is a fool’s paradise. Sure, the mix of cocoa butter and cooling seaside breezes seems enticing enough. But once you realize that taking full advantage of the warmest months entails parading your flabby butt around in front of people who clearly are and always will be your genetic superiors, well, the season…
Hooks, lines and drinkers
Summer Guide: The smell of fresh shiners and stale beer. The peaceful lapping of tiny waves on a dawn boat ramp. The purr-spittle of a flooded outboard refusing to start. The splash of bass breaking in the far, far distance. And you don’t care. Because you’re a Good Ol’ Boy, and this is a fish…
Hooks, lines and drinkers
Summer Guide: The smell of fresh shiners and stale beer. The peaceful lapping of tiny waves on a dawn boat ramp. The purr-spittle of a flooded outboard refusing to start. The splash of bass breaking in the far, far distance. And you don’t care. Because you’re a Good Ol’ Boy, and this is a fish…
A day at the beach, but without the burn
Summer Guide: Summer is a fool’s paradise. Sure, the mix of cocoa butter and cooling seaside breezes seems enticing enough. But once you realize that taking full advantage of the warmest months entails parading your flabby butt around in front of people who clearly are and always will be your genetic superiors, well, the season…
Hooks, lines and drinkers
Summer Guide: The smell of fresh shiners and stale beer. The peaceful lapping of tiny waves on a dawn boat ramp. The purr-spittle of a flooded outboard refusing to start. The splash of bass breaking in the far, far distance. And you don’t care. Because you’re a Good Ol’ Boy, and this is a fish…
Strokes of genius
Summer Guide:;;For non-consumptive appreciation of the natural world you can’t beat the view from a canoe. The quiet motion of a well-paddled canoe permits approach and observation of wild critters you never see while clomping along a foot trail, mowing the lawn or skydiving.;;Moose, lynx, beavers, pronghorn antelope and seals have watched me drift by…
For a hot time in the old time, suit up
Summer Guide: What’s eight feet tall and packed in ice, yet still manages to sweat off pounds of its own weight at 30-minute intervals? No, it’s not Sharon Stone; it’s Allie the Alligator, the recently-introduced mascot of Gatorland. And this summer, the space inside Allie’s costume may be the hottest spot in town. Other attractions…
