It pays to super-size
Whoever coined the phrase “bigger is better” was a friend of mine. Without his helpful reminder that the finest things in life — hamburgers, hairdos, firearms — are best judged on the basis of sheer size, I might be forced to spend my time weighing aesthetic merits and ferreting out subtle nuances. And that sounds…
Hooks, lines — all stinkers
Movie: Love Stinks
Fakin’, not stirred
Movie: Stir of Echoes
A winning look at the waiting game
Movie: Trick
Crisis of faith
Movie: Stigmata
Hooks, lines — all stinkers
Movie: Love Stinks
Fakin’, not stirred
Movie: Stir of Echoes
A winning look at the waiting game
Movie: Trick
Crisis of faith
Movie: Stigmata
Review – 12
Artist: Kow
Review – 12
Artist: Kow
Review – In Pod We Trust
Artist: Fluorescent Pea Pod
Review – 12
Artist: Kow
Review – In Pod We Trust
Artist: Fluorescent Pea Pod
Review – In Pod We Trust
Artist: Fluorescent Pea Pod
Who got what
In December 1998, the private attorneys who battled Big Tobacco on behalf of the states got some very good news. An arbitration panel set up by the industry and the states agreed to pay them $8 billion — a record legal fee. Lawyers in the 46 states that eventually sued and settled will share the…
Up in smoke
The crowd in the breezeway at the Palm Beach County Courthouse grew larger and more excited as the minutes ticked by. Most didn’t know what was going on, but word spread that the governor was soon to arrive. So was the state attorney general, along with a cadre of other notables. They were going to…
It’s a shore thing
Geez, who doesn’t love the beach? We get to lie on it, change our skin color and (oooh) watch people saunter by in small outfits. We can contemplate the immenseness of the ocean. But we also put out cigarette butts and throw fast-food wrappers on the beach. Last year the Florida Coastal Cleanup, a huge…
Apology not accepted
The tastelessness of two radio DJs in California is creating some bad repercussions up the Disney chain — in the form, most recently, of a racial-discrimination lawsuit filed against the Walt Disney Co. on Sept. 2 over its role in a radio-promotion giveaway of free gardening tools. The merchandise was called “black hoes.” Real funny,…
Cultural diversity
Latest holy icons: Crocodiles, in a lake near Karachi, Pakistan, where thousands brought fresh-meat offerings in March to secure blessings for their babies; two frogs, joined in Hindu matrimony in Gauhati, India, in March to please rain gods and end a four-month drought; and six Franciscan priests, in remote Copacabana, Bolivia, who specialize in blessing…
Customer disservice
Technology is progressing so rapidly that pretty soon everything in the whole world should be perfect. Every day, stuff comes pouring out of NASA and Sharper Image and other tech-geek think tanks to make our lives a wonderland. Programmable houses, computers you can talk to and porn DVD are making life sweeter by the day.…
Band width
In a music community of any size, getting fans intimately involved with a band is a hard row to hoe. The faithful may come to shows, pick up a CD or two at the front door or even buy a T-shirt. But how connected can they really feel to the comings and goings of a…
Where the money went
Last year, the state spent only $204.5 million of its tobacco riches — a bank account that now holds more than $1 billion. Here’s where the money went: • $82,136,565 — Agency for Health Care Administration $75 million to match federal funding for expansion of state-subsidized health insurance for children of low-income families; $5,136,565 to…
Biting the hand that feeds you
Bennett LeBow is the South Florida financier who stunned the mighty tobacco industry when he broke ranks and starting talking settlement. LeBow controls Brooke Group Ltd., the holding company that owns tobacco company Liggett. The “Liggett Documents” that LeBow released in 1997 — over the protesting howls of his colleagues in the industry — gave…
Review – Avenue B
Artist: Iggy Pop
Review – Full Clip: A Decade of Gang Starr
Artist: Gang Starr
Review – Royal Astronomy
Artist: Mu-Ziq
Review – The Verve Pipe
Artist: The Verve Pipe
Review – Avenue B
Artist: Iggy Pop
Review – Avenue B
Artist: Iggy Pop
Review – Full Clip: A Decade of Gang Starr
Artist: Gang Starr
Review – Full Clip: A Decade of Gang Starr
Artist: Gang Starr
Review – Royal Astronomy
Artist: Mu-Ziq
Review – Royal Astronomy
Artist: Mu-Ziq
Review – The Verve Pipe
Artist: The Verve Pipe
Review – The Verve Pipe
Artist: The Verve Pipe
Not programmed for consistency
One thing you won’t hear from Moby is a bunch of machines playing programmed music. Moby himself plays nearly everything on his albums, as well as live. It’s standard for an artist, especially in electronic music, to write, record and perform every instrument, but there isn’t much else that’s standard about Moby. Although one of…
Ziggy getting with it: less pop, more roots
A high harmonica subtone, wheezed out by Taj Mahal, signals the start of “Keep My Faith,” the lead-off track from Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers’ July-released “Spirit of Music” album. Wah-wah guitar shows up next, followed by a shaker, tumbling Nyabinghi drums and, finally, the leader’s earnest declarations, seconded by tasty background vocals, about…
Homey diner’s soul and spice
Like anything that’s truly magic, true home cooking is mysterious, random and inexplicable. The chef doesn’t measure; she creates her own pathway with a pinch of this, a dash of that. It takes persistence, vision and faith that everything will come out all right. And it does indeed come out just right at Marjorie’s Diner,…
What happened to the class of ’89?
What’s the difference between an “Aahz” reunion and your high-school reunion? Answer: When StaceBass calls to invite you to one of the former, you don’t regret picking up the phone. The bodies that crammed the floor of Icon for Sunday night’s revival of old-time Orlando beats hadn’t just arrived on a whim. They were there…
