Stealing space
John Glenn crowded many other stories out of the papers last week just as he amiably crowded his six crew members (and the dozens of nameless shuttle astronauts who preceded him) out of his story. Who in America wasn’t aware of the launch? Five people, at least: the five Cessna pilots who caused the launch’s…
Wisest of his contemporaries
“I was doing a job I didn’t like anymore,” explains John Taylor from a cell phone in Boston-freeway transit, currently on tour with his new act, Terroristen. “I just thought there’s got to be something else out there for me.” The former Duran Duran bassist and heartthrob in-residence threw caution, and his career, to the…
Bloody mess
Movie: John Carpenter’s Vampires
A peek behind the personals
Movie: Unmade Beds
Bloody mess
Movie: John Carpenter’s Vampires
A peek behind the personals
Movie: Unmade Beds
Making her own bed
You don’t interview Brenda Monte. When the hilariously outspoken star of Unmade Beds wants to talk (which is most of the time), your job is to merely fasten your seat belt and enjoy the ride. From the first few seconds, it’s clear that her “Beds” role as a strangely lovable, shoot-from-the-hip gold-digger is far from…
Military-spending truths
Every now and then Washington slips up, and a little bit of truth accidentally slips out of the carefully calibrated PR machine designed to keep the public ignorant about what’s really going on. This happened just recently when the Joint Chiefs of Staff testified before a U.S. Senate committee. To the surprise of the military…
Conventional deal?
The Orange County Commission agreed last week in a split decision to spend $70 million to buy 230 acres for a convention center expansion. Of the seven members, Clarence Hoenstine and Bob Freeman voted no, while Ted Edwards, who originally opposed the deal, voted yes. The land will be bought from Universal Studios, which has…
Time to share
Time-share mogul David Seigel went to court this week to try to reduce the payments he owes his ex-wife Bettie for last year’s $200 million divorce settlement. Claiming the court’s estimate of his wealth and income was unduly influenced by a former employee who is now a competitor, Seigel says his company earned $70 million…
Pulpit politics
The Christian Coalition’s new voter guides should be distributed this Sunday, Nov. 1, and as usual they’re aimed at electing the most reactionary Republicans. But this election another religious group has stepped up to oppose the coalition and other elements of the religious right. Called the Interfaith Alliance, it is a nationwide amalgam of relatively…
To amend or not amend? It depends
Voters can change the state constitution Tuesday, Nov. 3, by voting up or down 13 proposed amendments, most of which are offered by a constitutional revision commission that convenes just once every 20 years. But the ballot questions are complex, sometimes larded with unrelated elements, and little-known outside the small group of policy wonks and…
â??Wave of the future
Last week, jurors in the case against former Tyco International CEO L. Dennis Kozlowski saw a videotape of the $2 million birthday party that Kozlowski threw for his wife, largely with company funds. Prosecutors showed scenes of scantily clad revelers cavorting around a swimming pool, and of half-naked male models posing for photos with party…
Review – Psyence Fiction
Artist: UNKLE
Review – 3-Song EP
Artist: Royal Trux
Review – Blue Meridian
Artist: Blue Meridian
Review – Two Many Frames
Artist: Phonoroid
Review – Psyence Fiction
Artist: UNKLE
Review – 3-Song EP
Artist: Royal Trux
Review – Blue Meridian
Artist: Blue Meridian
Review – Two Many Frames
Artist: Phonoroid
Review – 3-Song EP
Artist: Royal Trux
Review – Psyence Fiction
Artist: UNKLE
Review – Blue Meridian
Artist: Blue Meridian
Review – 3-Song EP
Artist: Royal Trux
Review – Two Many Frames
Artist: Phonoroid
Review – Blue Meridian
Artist: Blue Meridian
Review – Two Many Frames
Artist: Phonoroid
Mourning images
Eric Breitenbach considers himself professional wanderer. “When you wander without a real destination,” says Breitenbach, “you see things you wouldn’t normally notice.” Those wanderings fuel Breitenbach’s work as a documentary photographer, filmmaker and professor at Daytona Beach Community College’s Southeast Center for Photographic Studies. But they also have resulted in a series of images capturing…
Trip-hopâ??s trailblazer keeps underground cool
It’s no small feat that 30-year-old Adrian Thaws, a mixed-race street kid from Bristol, England, has managed to create one of this decade’s most distinctive, virtually unprecedented music styles under the nom de rap Tricky. His distillation of hip-hop into a cinematic, often nightmarish, soundscape of funk beats, soulful vocals, spoken grumbles and some of…
Mourning images
Eric Breitenbach considers himself professional wanderer. “When you wander without a real destination,” says Breitenbach, “you see things you wouldn’t normally notice.” Those wanderings fuel Breitenbach’s work as a documentary photographer, filmmaker and professor at Daytona Beach Community College’s Southeast Center for Photographic Studies. But they also have resulted in a series of images capturing…
Songs must wait until spirit hits
Lucinda Williams is as polite a person as you’ll ever talk to, but in the six years since her last album she has grown tired of certain questions. “I hate pop culture. I really do,” Williams says in her weary Louisiana drawl. “All I heard from reporters was ‘When’s the album coming out?’ Or ‘We…
Evolutionary exhibit is sensory fiesta
The political and social revolutions that took place in Mexico between 1910 and 1930 produced an explosion of artistic activity. Mexican artists challenged the European influence of academic painting by exploring their pre-Columbian past, the macabre social consciousness of Spanish painter Goya, and groundbreaking modernist styles — decisions that successive generations of artists would in…
Trip-hopâ??s trailblazer keeps underground cool
It’s no small feat that 30-year-old Adrian Thaws, a mixed-race street kid from Bristol, England, has managed to create one of this decade’s most distinctive, virtually unprecedented music styles under the nom de rap Tricky. His distillation of hip-hop into a cinematic, often nightmarish, soundscape of funk beats, soulful vocals, spoken grumbles and some of…
Country fried
One thing about country concerts: Tall boots are great for smuggling in liquor. And the empty pint bottles of Jack Daniels that littered section 231 of the Orlando Arena after the first of five sold-out Garth Brooks concerts last week suggested a lot of smuggled liquor. One thing about Garth Brooks: The man knows his…
A noteworthy night in the city
No one expected a local version of the Grammys. But the second annual Orlando Music Awards shone a bright light on the original and mostly independent musicians who define the Central Florida scene — one that is inclusive, worthy of wider recognition and large enough to warrant a celebration on the scale of the proceedings…
Bush backers speak up at last
“The Anglo American relies upon personal interest to accomplish his goals, and gives free scope to the unguided exertions and common-sense of the citizens.” — Alexis de Tocqueville, “Democracy in America,” 1835 Two of the backers whose previously secret donations helped underwrite the launch of Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Florida’s Future finally have stepped up…
Interview with the vampire hunter
Katherine Ramsland and I are chatting, about guys, blood drinking, Keanu Reeves, the ring she inherited from a murderer who killed himself to become a more powerful vampyre. (The “y” indicates they are practicing.) You know, girl talk. It could be a slumber party — scary stories, giggling, she insists she’s not sleepy and invites…
Sunny and not
No one should have to make up their mind about lunch while listening to Pat Benatar belt out “Hit Me With Your Best Shot.” But we gave it a try at the new Baja Burrito Kitchen at Colonial Marketplace. Standing in the “place your order here” spot by the counter, our attention ricocheted between burritos,…
Emeril kicks book up a few notches
Celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse makes a 3-D appearance in Orlando on Wednesday, Nov. 4, signing copies of his best-selling cookbooks from 5-7 p.m. at Books-A-Million in University Park Plaza (519 S. Semoran Blvd., 673-1331). Lagasse is pushing his newest book, “Emeril’s TV Dinners” ($25, Morrow), a “best of” round-up of dishes demonstrated on his Food…
