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What does the future hold for Tymber Skan, Orlando’s most troubled condo complex?
It’s strangely quiet as the morning sun climbs over the weedy palm trees and tall oaks behind the buildings of Tymber Skan on the Lake condominiums. Right around the corner, other apartment complexes and condo communities are waking up. Kids walk to school and adults wait in bus shelters for the Lynx to whisk them…
Rethink the Princeton drops its legal appeal of College Park apartment complex
We guess it’s true what they say: You can’t fight City Hall. At least not unless you have deep pockets to defend yourself in the event of a lawsuit. Today, we got the following letter from Rethink the Princeton, the grassroots nonprofit organization that formed to fight an apartment complex planned for a sliver of…
Terry Caudill’s Cat Hair, Teen Agers’ mega set and Olde 64’s free Monday shows
THIS LITTLE UNDERGROUND If you’ve been keeping up, you know about Central Florida breakout Flashlights. If not, you should look into these lovely fuzz-punks already. Even though I think their full potential has yet to be realized, they’re a local band that’s earned some national prominence on Hard Rock Records with last year’s Frightened Rabbits-produced…
Universal reveals actors coming to annual Celebration of Harry Potter event
Some big name wizards will be flying to Orlando this January for the annual Celebration of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando. Universal announced today that Evanna Lynch, Matthew Lewis, Bonnie Wright, Katie Leung and Rupert Grint (aka Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, Cho Chang and Ron Weasley) will be headlining the party at the third annual…
New privately owned train line will connect Orlando to Miami by 2017
A new privately owned train service will soon be connecting the theme parks of Orlando to the beaches of Miami. All Aboard Florida’s new rail service, Brightline, plans to connect Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Orlando along a 235-mile route by mid-2017. Trains will run along the Florida East Coast Railway from Miami…
Your breakfast-for-dinner dreams come true (again!) tonight at the Coop
Bacon and eggs for dinner is pretty much the best lifehack for busy people these days, but tonight there’s a way to make breakfast-for-dinner even easier: Go out. Tonight, the Coop in Winter Park reprises its past brinnertime event, dishing up their full breakfast menu from 5 p.m. until close, so you can get your…
A recently registered domain suggests Disney is planning a live Star Wars concert
With pre-sales shattering all previous records there’s no question that the new Star Wars will be one of the most successful films of all time. Disney has done everything imaginable to cash in on the blockbuster franchise and a newly purchased domain might point to the next major Star Wars event. A few days ago,…
Florida representatives urge Congress to help financially strapped Puerto Rico
Florida’s Puerto Rican representatives are urging Congress to help the financially struggling island by allowing its municipalities and public utilities to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy relief. Congress has previously opposed pleas from other Puerto Rican representatives and activists to allow the island, which is a U.S. commonwealth and whose residents are U.S. citizens, to…
Happy Fallout 4 day! Here’s a rap to make you feel S.P.E.C.I.A.L.
At long last, Bethesda’s highly-anticipated Fallout 4 has descended upon the gaming masses. Why not celebrate it with this infectiously clever rap by Dan Bull? You can also grab the single on iTunes. Let’s sing along! Following total atomic annihilation it may fall to you to save the great nation That’s why Vault-Tec have made…
Details released on Kissimmee’s $750 million MargaritaVillage
The developers behind the new $750 million MargaritaVillage resort coming to Kissimmee recently shared new details of what the resort will entail. While we’ve known for some time that the resort, which is located on the old Splendid China property, will include a hotel, vacation homes and Jimmy Buffett themed amenities, the previously announced 175 room…
Bid farewell to the original Thirsty Topher space tonight
It’s your last chance to sit in the room that crystallized the Alden Road warehouse district’s brief life as the coolest neighborhood in town. (Not saying the nabe’s gone uncool – but it won’t exist in its current organic form for much longer. And between now and the time it becomes the Yard or whatever…
Southern Fried Sunday heats things up for 10-year anniversary party in January
Southern Fried Sunday (or if you wanna be cute: SFS) delivers home-cooked meals and highlights special home-brewed bands, but it frequently pulls in a headliner from somewhere else in the country to add a special spice to the monthly rub. To celebrate 10 years, from 1-10 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 17, 2016, SFS (what? I wanna…
Local bartender wins National Beard and Moustache Competition
Scott Metts, local bartender, musician and beard enthusiast, took home the gold in the 2015 Just for Men National Beard & Moustache Champion. The competition, which was Saturday, Nov. 7, at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, NY, sought out the best mouth mittens in the country in 18 distinct categories, ranging from the Dali moustache to the “Full Beard…
Disney’s Hollywood Studios will no longer host Star Wars Weekends
Disney’s Hollywood Studios announced Monday that it will no longer host its popular Star Wars Weekends, citing the cold hard fact that there’ll be a ton of Star Wars-themed activities with the opening of the new 14 acre Star Wars land. “While Star Wars Weekends has been a great way to enjoy the saga for…
SeaWorld San Diego plans to end controversial killer whale show
SeaWorld San Diego plans to phase out its infamous killer whale show, according to a company document released Monday morning. As part of SeaWorld’s new comprehensive strategy, the polarizing show will be replaced with a new “informative” experience” with a “conservation message inspiring people to act,” starting in 2017, reports the Sand Diego Union Tribune. …
Public Image Ltd. defies time and expectation (Plaza Live)
THIS LITTLE UNDERGROUND No one besides my editor has seen it, but I wrote a blurb about the previous album by Public Image Ltd. (This is PiL) in my year-end list for 2012. The original assignment was to write up not only my top picks of the year’s releases like usual but also the single…
Tonight at Rollins, Ms. Magazine founder Letty Cottin Pogrebin speaks
If you’d like to see, hear and possibly meet one of the people who made major change in this country in the 1970s, be at Rollins College tonight for Letty Cottin Pogrebin’s 7 p.m. talk. If she had done nothing else besides found Ms. Magazine with Gloria Steinem and a handful of other editors in…
Stand against wage slavery at Lake Eola Park with Fight for 15 on Tuesday
If in the past week you’ve thought, “The rent is too damn high,” Orlando’s Fight for 15 March might be for you. For months now, low-wage workers across the country have been campaigning to raise the minimum wage to a $15 hourly wage that you can actually survive on. The fight should come as no…
The Sh-Booms reload with Mizz Bren, plus Jessica Hernandez & the Deltas (The Social)
THIS LITTLE UNDERGROUND Like their profile, the aesthetic of Detroit’s Jessica Hernandez & the Deltas (Nov. 5, The Social) has been gradually crystallizing in a big, shiny way. She and her crew embody the Motor City music tradition in all its stripes and splendor, peppering it with even broader influences. But lately, it’s been…
Disney’s The World of Avatar will include a canoe ride and ‘shaman encounter’
Disney recently released details on a new canoe ride attraction coming to the yet-to-be-completed Pandora-The World of Avatar, located at Animal Kingdom. Details on the attraction were released at the D23 Expo in Japan early Friday, Nov.6. From the Disney Park Blog: The adventure begins as guests set out in canoes and venture down a…
Local Orlando filmmakers fall in love with Fallout game series
It’s about to get post-apocalyptic up in here! With the release of video game Fallout 4 on the horizon, it looks like some local filmmakers have turned their fandom into reality by crafting a few wicked creations to celebrate the radiation-ridden paradise. Up first is fan-film Fallout Florida by YouTube Channel/Production Company, TheBigCitySendOut. It imagines what the…
New fall flavors at the IKEA Orlando cafe
Let’s talk about the real reason we all go to IKEA: the food. Hello $1 ice cream, $3 dinners and 99-cent breakfasts on weekdays. Yeah, you can go spend $40 at brunch, we’ll just be here downing our eggs, turkey sausage and breakfast potatoes that cost a whole hundred pennies. Have a great weekend; I’mma…
Orlando Sentinel: OPD used force on 3,100 people in past five years
The Orlando Sentinel published the results of a 10-month investigation Friday where they found 3,100 people had been “hit, kicked, pepper-sprayed, shocked or had some other force used on them” by the Orlando Police Department from 2010 to 2014. You should really read the entire interactive piece, but some highlights include: OPD used force in…
Dragonfly Robata Grill & Sushi hosts sushi-making class for Jiro wannabes
If you’ve sat in Kabooki Sushi and been totally mesmerized by the looped film Jiro Dreams of Sushi, starring one of Japan’s rolled-rice godfathers, this event is probably for you. Dragonfly Robata Grill & Sushi in Orlando is hosting a sushi workshop for those who want to break the arcane formula behind the combination of…
5 fave places to celebrate National Nachos Day today
Nachos got us like: Because, really, we’ll take any excuse, any excuse at all to eat nachos. Even shitty microwave nachos are better than no nachos. (I personally draw the line at the vat-of-liquid-queso–type nachos, but I’ve got no quibbles with anyone who actually goes there.) Nachos are everywhere, of course, but here are a…
Watch the trailer for “The Further Adventures of Walt’s Frozen Head”
Many have fantasized about Walt Disney having himself cryogenically preserved (which never happened), but few have gone quite as far as writer/director Benjamin Lancaster and the oddball comedy “The Further Adventures of Walt’s Frozen Head.” In the film, Walt Disney’s cryogenically preserved head gets thawed once a year to oversee company operations and protect his…
One of the first venues Gram Parsons ever played finally given historic marker
Over in Winter Haven, Derry Down Project has been working tirelessly to preserve Gram Parsons’ legacy in Central Florida by restoring the Derry Down Building, a music-minded youth center established in 1964 and the first venue where Parsons ever played with his first professional group. Part of preserving the venue was an initiative to have it…
Mary J. Blige fills you in on the 411 at CFE Arena Saturday
Not to be totally stuck in the ’90s, but Mary J. Blige has been blistering souls since she emerged in 1992 with What’s the 411?, trouncing even the most talented artists of the time on multiple fronts with searing hip-hop soul and stunning vocal chops. Her follow-up, My Life, sealed the deal for longtime fans…
Adult-oriented puppets gather for a good cause at the Venue Sunday night
Orlando’s ties with puppets are pretty tight. There’s the obvious connection to the Disney and Universal parks, and IBEX Puppetry, owned by Jim Henson’s daughter, Heather Henson, is based out of Thornton Park. One of IBEX’s puppeteers, Hannah Miller –famous for making a contest-winning video for They Might Be Giants’ song “Am I Awake” with…
Indie folk superstar Sufjan Stevens gets intimate at the Dr. Phillips Center
Momentarily forgetting Joanna Newsom’s jaw-dropping Divers, we’re confident there will not be a more necessary folk release this year than Sufjan Stevens’ Carrie & Lowell. If you made it through the tearful hypnotism of his minimalist yet tremendous attempt to reconcile his feelings about his parents’ deaths without your eyeballs stinging, it is unlikely you…
Suicide Girls bring Blackheart Burlesque to the Beacham on Friday
Oh, the Suicide Girls. Thousands of tatted pinup girls post seductive pictures on their website and social media to demonstrate that beauty comes in all different forms. Beauty could be Coralia holding a can of Steel Reserve while scantily clad in an American flag bathing suit. Or perhaps beauty is Waikiki giving a little peek…
You’ll soon be able to ‘snow ski’ on a giant treadmill in Winter Park
While the outdoor simulated snow ski and extreme sports project in Kissimmee has been put on hold due to a failed land deal, there is another local option to help scratch that snow skiing itch. WinterClub Indoor Ski & Snowboard is a new east Winter Park-based indoor simulated ski center located on Aloma Ave. in an…
‘Pancake-sized’ globs of tar are mysteriously washing up on Cocoa Beach
Large globs of tar started mysteriously washing up to shore Thursday morning in Cocoa Beach. According to WKMG, the “pancake-sized tar globs” began washing up Nov. 5, between 4th Street South and 5th Street South. Typically, tar globs occur when spilt oil mixes and rolls with loose sand and seashells, and, unfortunately, they really…
This is what happens when you hit an alligator while driving 70 mph
On Tuesday, Nov. 3, while driving westbound on Florida State Road 528, a motorist experienced firsthand what happens when a Chevy Cruze meets an alligator at 70 mph. YouTube user addakorn was running his dash cam while traveling between Cocoa Beach and Orlando when he accidentally struck the alligator. Sadly, the gator did not survive and the Chevy…
Seminole County is considering mandatory bear-proof trashcans
Seminole County commissioners may make bear-proof trashcans mandatory for businesses and residences west of I-4. The mandate would require the county to purchase nearly 25,000 new trashcans, according to a report by News 6. The initiative’s strongest proponent is Commissioner Lee Constantine of District 3. He proposed that the cans would be paid for through…
Beyond Dippin’ Dots: Artist Heidi Neilson talks about her “Menu for Mars” at UCF downtown Friday
HEIDI NEILSON: ARTIST TALK 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6 | UCF Center for Emerging Media, 500 W. Livingston St. | 407-823-5470 | gallery.cah.ucf.edu | free Like a teeny-bopper who took Casey Kasem’s famous edict to heart, Brooklyn artist Heidi Neilson keeps her feet on the ground but keeps reaching for the stars. Much – though…
Behind-the-scenes photos released of Jimmy Fallon’s new ride at Universal Studios
The veil of silence surrounding Jimmy Fallon’s new 3-D attraction at Universal Studios lifted briefly on Nov.4 with the release of three behind-the-scenes photos of the Tonight Show host in the midst of a motion-capture performance. Fallon, seated behind the steering wheel of what viewers might call the suggestion of a car, is seen wearing…
City of Orlando seeking proposals for market-rate and affordable housing development in Parramore
Just days after an election where the city’s lack of affordable housing – and affordability of life in Orlando in general – was the talk of the town, the city of Orlando announced that it’s seeking proposals from developers interested in creating a mixed-housing project in the Parramore area that incorporates affordable housing, market-rate housing…
Publix announces they will carry Grimaldi’s chocolate-covered potato chips starting today, fans lose it
Grimaldi’s Candy Co.’s chocolate-covered potato chips, made in Rockledge, Florida, have long been a favorite of locals and visitors to the South alike. Take note ladies and gents: the easiest way to my heart is with a bottle of wine and a box of Grimaldi's chocolate covered potato chips. — Mandy Parente (@mandyp6453) June…
UCF’s downtown campus gets $3 million from Orange County
Orange County Commissioners pledged their support and $3 million to the University of Central Florida’s downtown campus, the Creative Village project planned for Parramore. Creative Village is slated to open in 2018 and would “relocate 14 academic programs from its campus in east Orange County to downtown, including those in its School of Visual Arts…
SunRail will no longer offer a late-night train
Beginning Dec. 21, SunRail will ditch its late-night train for a mid-afternoon ride, says officials. According to the Orlando Sentinel, the late-night train has lagged in ridership over the last couple months and so it will completely stop running Friday, Dec. 18 and be re-slotted to a 1 p.m. ride out of DeBary. Because of this…
An Oviedo middle school student wound up in detention for hugging her friend
Ella Fishbourh, 14, decided to give a male friend at Jackson Heights Middle School a hug only to end up in detention. The Seminole County Public Schools code of conduct prohibits “inappropriate touching, or any other physical act that is considered to be offensive, socially unacceptable, or not suitable for an educational setting.” However, it’s up…
Scientists hope to fight Florida’s citrus greening problem with sexy new insect trap
The battle between Florida citrus and plant-killing bacteria may be coming to an end with the help of acoustic technology. Between 2006 and 2012, a bacteria known as citrus greening has cost Florida $3.63 billion due to drastically reducing orange juice production. The bacteria is spread by an invasive insect called the Asian citrus psyllid.…
Tom Waits fans say Adele’s new single ‘Hello’ is a ripoff
Just as Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams came under fire for allegedly stealing from Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up,” for their 2013, kitschy-corn chart-topper “Blurred Lines,” and SAm Smith is now paying a portion of the millions that he, and more specifically Capitol Records, have raked in to Tom Petty for using the…
The evolution of Metric, plus Orlando’s the Pauses (House of Blues)
THIS LITTLE UNDERGROUND The last time I saw Canada’s Metric (Nov. 1, House of Blues) was almost exactly 10 years ago at intimate concert hotspot the Social. They were a big indie deal then. Now they’re a much bigger popular deal in general. Perhaps only Sweden’s the Sounds has been as effective, successful and enduring…
Suicide Girls co-founder Missy Suicide gives us the lowdown about the Blackheart Burlesque
A Suicide Girl is many things, but an object to gawk at isn’t one of them. Uniquely beautiful, thousands of alternative-style women take tastefully sexy photos and post them to the safest of havens—the Suicide Girls website. But this isn’t just a sanctuary for posting pictures and garnering likes. Thoughtful discussion about anything from classic…
Dr. Phillips High School lockdown lifted after police conduct search
Yes, there was briefly a lockdown at Dr. Phillips High School today, after a student reported seeing a gun on campus to an administrator. Officers responded to the school’s call and conducted a search but found nothing. Re: Dr Phillips High — Student reported seeing a gun; officers responded, they searched, nothing was found. Lockdown…
3 hacks for Greek Fest this weekend in Maitland
One of my first-ever assignments for Orlando Weekly back in 2007 was reporting on Greek Fest at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Maitland. Since then, I’ve made an effort to go every year, and it’s always worth it. But there are some secrets I’ve learned in the past eight years for doing the…
26 free concerts in Orlando this week (11/4-11/10)
Wednesday, Nov. 4 Eugene Snowden’s Ten Pints of Truth 10 p.m. at Lil Indies, 1036 N. Mills Ave. The Imperial’s Acoustic Soundcheck With Maxx Von Shadow 9 p.m. at the Imperial at Washburn Imports, 1800 N. Orange Ave. Reggae Night with Hor!zen and DJ Red I 10 p.m. at the Caboose, 1827 N. Orange Ave.…
A Taste of Dr. Phillips, World Food Championships, 9 new restaurants opening and more in local foodie news
Tara Gould, proprietor of the P Is for Pie Bake Shop, has sold the business to Stacey and Ed Tomljenovich. It was a tough decision for Gould, but she’s taking some time to focus her energies on her family. The Tomljenoviches will continue to serve P Is for Pie’s current recipes, and are taking orders…
Look long into Jess T. Dugan’s portraits and they also look into you
This fall, the Cornell Fine Arts Museum on Rollins’ pretty campus shows Fashionable Portraits in Europe and paintings and photographs selected from its permanent collection. Sandwiched in between these venerable masters is Jess T. Dugan’s photography project, Every breath we drew, and it is truly the meat in the sandwich. Her startlingly sharp, clear portraits…
Ed Schrader’s Music Beat is all over the map – in the best way possible
Succinctly summarizing the career of Ed Schrader is a daunting task. The Baltimore polymath, best known for fronting proto-punk duo Ed Schrader’s Music Beat, has also written magazine columns, performed stand-up comedy, acted in theatrical renditions of Jurassic Park and pitched cartoons to Adult Swim. But it’s onstage with bandmate Devlin Rice where Schrader shines,…
Picks This Week: Minus the Bear, Public Image LTD and more
The Growlers Costumed surfy country-punks the Growlers are touring on their best record yet, 2014’s Chinese Fountain, a must-listen for any earnest fun-seekers. 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4, at the Social, $17-$20 1st Thursday Songwriting Series With Beth McKee One of the strongest songwriter sets yet – Precious’ Steve Garron plus the fascinating Renee Arozqueta…
Attacks on scare actors are out of control this year; here’s a nine-step plan to make Halloween Horror Nights safer for everyone
October is usually a big month for Universal Orlando, and 2015 was no exception. On Oct. 22, NBC Sports Grill & Brew opened on the site of CityWalk’s old NASCAR restaurant, with a red carpet ceremony attended by Bob Costas, Kaká and other athletic A-listers. I was dazzled by the sleek TV-centric design and enjoyed…
Bland, James Bland: Newest Bond flick fails to excite
The opening gambit of Spectre – the fourth outing in the reinvigorated-for-the-21st-century James Bond franchise – is absolutely spectacular. It begins with a long sequence in which the secret agent and a lady friend wend their way through raucous Day of the Dead revelers in Mexico City, through streets heaving with partiers, into a fancy hotel (where…
Opening in Orlando: The Peanuts Movie and Suffragette
The Peanuts Movie Lifelong Chuck-o-philes like myself have had our fingers crossed for this flick since it was first announced. Would it be a worthy inheritor to the Schulz tradition or just another watered-down MetLife cash grab? The signs so far have been mostly positive, with the contoured, 3-D look of the trailers representing a…
Selections: Our picks of the week’s best events, Nov. 4-10
Thursday, 5 LeVar Burton LEARNING Equally well known for his role as the host of Reading Rainbow as that of Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation, LeVar Burton is kind of a big deal for fans of imagination. And it turns out that one of his mentors in the field…
This Little Underground: Meat Puppets still a revelation after 35 years
The truth about Meat Puppets (Oct. 28, Will’s Pub) is that I’ve never really been into them. I walked into this show with academic esteem for them as an original force of the American underground but, frankly, not much personal passion. That completely changed by the end of their opening song. In that room, something…
Free Will Astrology (11/4/15)
ARIES (March 21-April 19) In 1978, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield began selling their new ice cream out of a refurbished gas station in Burlington, Vermont. Thirty-seven years later, Ben & Jerry’s is among the world’s best-selling ice cream brands. Its success stems in part from its willingness to keep transforming the way it does…
Savage Love (11/4/15)
DEAR READERS: Two weeks ago, I announced I would be taking a nice long break from questions about miserable sexless marriages. I tossed out my standard line of advice to those who’ve exhausted medical, psychological and situational fixes (“Do what you need to do to stay married and stay sane”), and I moved on to…
Gimme Shelter (11/4/15)
Wishing for a little luck? Orange County Animal Services has a cat that’ll make you feel like the luckiest person alive. Meet Clover (Animal ID A332743). This 13-year-old cat is a bundle of joy who never wants to leave your side. In Clover’s free time, she enjoys cuddling, receiving lots of attention and eating treats.…
This Modern World (11/4/15)
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Give thanks with the Last Word, a forgotten classic cocktail
Remix is all about digging up forgotten classic cocktails and giving them their moment in the limelight – and then, of course, messing with them. But I usually hope readers try the originals as well as my variations, both for comparison’s sake and because a lot of these lesser-known drinks are hidden gems. (Then again,…
Paramount Fine Foods brings mediocre Middle Eastern fare to I-Drive 360
Ordering at Paramount Fine Foods, a Canadian chain serving Middle Eastern fare, is a little odd. On both my visits, a waiter has come by and insisted on taking my order at the table, this despite the fact that an “Order & Pay Here” sign dangles above a trio of registers at the front of…
