Blurbex

The Rays had no choice but to deny it — that the reason they lost yesterday’s game was because of a collective hangover; and I don’t mean emotional hangover, but the kind of hangover you get from drinking way too much on a Saturday night.

Of course they lost the season’s last home game because they were, probably to a man, fighting the effects of the previous night’s alcohol intake. Dozens of cases of beer consumed. Dozens of bottles of champagne. If you’ve ever tried to take a jog with a vile hangover, you know how debilitated you are. Now try to focus on a low-and-outside slider.

Hey, I don’t blame the guys for getting wasted after clinching the team’s first ever playoff spot on Saturday. And I don’t blame them for not admitting that the after-effects of boozing contributed to the loss — just so long as they realize that much more work is to be done to hold off Boston for the AL East title, and they get back in gear tonight.

Celebrating too early and allowing the Sox to pass them in the division race would really set a bad note for the playoffs, and that includes forfeiting home field advantage.

Shit, I almost forgot. Congratulations Rays. You got it done — the first part, at least.

• I can’t remember the last time the Bucs were in a barnburner like yesterday’s win against the Bears, and it was fun to watch. I give Brian Griese big ups for staying resilient and rallying his team.
Read the rest of this entry »

As of Wednesday, Aug. 20, the Blurbex blog will be folded into our new blog, The Daily Loaf.

Rays centerfielder B.J. Upton got booed last night — in his home park. That can’t feel good. After being benched twice in the last few weeks by manager Joe Maddon for lack of hustle, Upton made a baserunning error that looked really, really bad:

He hit a sharp shot to right, then hung around the batter’s box admiring the flight of the ball, thinking it was a homerun. Then he ambled down the first base line when he realized it would stay in the park. An easy double. He jogged around first and coasted toward second base. The Angels first baseman followed behind him, took the throw from the outfield and tagged Upton just before he touched second.

Upton looked shocked. He’d been tricked. Worse, it was not a good time to appear lazy on the baseball diamond. He hung his head. All this scrutiny, he had to be thinking, I just don’t need this.

Thing is, I don’t see Upton as lazy. At least not in this case. 99 times out of a hundred, that hit turns into an easy double. The first baseman doesn’t shadow you down the line and tag you.

Read the rest of this entry »

As I was driving out of my cul de sac in St. Pete, ready to brave Tropical Storm Fay and — fuck it — drive across the bridge to the CL office in Tampa, I had to make a hard right turn to avoid a downed palm branch! Phew. A few blocks later, another downed palm frond. I made it to the office and am hunkered down here for the duration. Where’s ABC Action News and Don Germaise? I want my on-camera!

From the two school systems:

Hillsborough Schools Closed Tuesday

Tampa, Fla. – (August 18, 2008) – Due to the threat of Tropical Storm Fay and the need to open shelters, Hillsborough County Public Schools will be closed on Tuesday, Aug. 19. The School Board meeting scheduled for Tuesday has also been canceled.

The latest information available shows that the Tropical Storm is expected to bring heavy rains and strong winds to the Tampa Bay area on Tuesday.
School officials will be in constant contact with Emergency Operations Center officials monitoring the path and intensity of the storm.  A decision will be made tomorrow (Tuesday) regarding the possibility of reopening schools on Wednesday, and we will use all our communications tools and rely on local media to help get out the word.

and:

Schools, Offices Closed Due to Tropical Storm Fay

All Pinellas County public schools and district offices will be closed Tuesday, Aug. 19, due to Tropical Storm Fay. Julie M. Janssen, Ed.D., interim superintendent, made the decision Monday afternoon based on information from the Pinellas County Emergency Operations Center.

All planned activities at schools today (Monday, Aug. 18) will go on as scheduled, including back-to-school activities for parents.

Parents are urged to stay tuned for communication updates that will be available on the district website, www.pcsb.org; the district’s recorded emergency phone line, (727) 588-6424; Pinellas County Schools’ television, WDPS-TV14 (which may be found on Bright House Networks Ch. 614, Knology Ch. 14 and Verizon Ch. 46), and in media reports. There also will be Connect-ED phone messages from the district to parents with the latest information.
#

This is the latest hurricane prep info from the city of Tampa:

City of Tampa Action & Information

•    City of Tampa offices will be closed tomorrow, Tuesday, August 19, 2008.  This includes Parks & Recreation facilities and programs as well as the after school program.

•    Solid waste collection services including yard waste and recycling will be postponed for Tuesday, August 19.  Residents with regular Tuesday collection will be serviced on their next regularly scheduled collection day, Friday, August 22.  Tuesday recycling and yard waste collection services will be postponed until the next regularly scheduled collection on Tuesday, August 26.  All scheduled commercial collections will be delayed one day.

•    Sandbags: Residents may continue to pick up sandbags until 8 p.m. this evening.  Residents may pick up sandbags at the Himes Sports Complex, 4500 South Himes Avenue; Jackson Heights Playground, 3310 East Lake Avenue; and the solid waste facility at 4010 West Spruce Street.  Tampa residents interested in receiving sandbags must show identification verifying residence within the city limits. Valid driver’s license, utility bill or electric bill will serve as appropriate identification.

•    The Parks and Recreation Department has cancelled the Davis Islands Park Improvement Fund meeting scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 19. At this time a new meeting date has not been scheduled.

City emergency management officials are continuing to monitor the path of Tropical Storm Fay.  Residents are encouraged to stay tuned to local media organizations for storm updates.

Residents with questions regarding Tropical Storm Fay are encouraged to call the Hillsborough County Emergency Operations Center at (813) 272-6900.

Arguably the best culinary competition reality show, Bravo’s Top Chef has embarked on a 20-city national tour, which happens to be stopping at Ybor’s Saturday Morning Market on Sept. 20. No telling which chefs will take part (the info is noticeably absent from both the press release and the Top Chef site), but previous appearences have featured Season 5 finalist Richard Blaise (pictured at left) and Betty Fraser from Season 2. Locals are invited to come out and enjoy cooking demos, gourmet tips, and show secrets.

The Michael Phelps story was impressive, of course — his body of work in this Olympics is mind-boggling — but for my money the most extraordinary individual achievement of these Games thus far has been Usain Bolt’s win in the 100 meters. He blew away the field, celebrated the last 10 or 15 meters and still broke the world record with a 9.69.

At 6-feet-4, 198 pounds — gargantuan for a sprinter — Bolt runs with a kind of joyful lope. In the 100-meter final, he came out of he blocks a bit behind, and at the halfway point started to put everyone in his dust. The last part of his run was pure euphoria.

If you haven’t seen the highlight, you should. I couldn’t get it on YouTube — just still shots set to music, mostly — but it is available through NBC (although you must have the right browser). I got blocked from posting it here, but this is the link.

1. Crowbar presents a bill of alternative music, with sets by The Sleeping and Envy on the Coast, both of Long Island, New York, Asheville’s Secret Lives of Freemasons, and New Jersey duo The Gay Blades (pictured).

2. Make hurricane preparations.

3. Celebrate International Lighthouse Day with some lighthouse appreciation.

4. Week two of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games; tonight’s excitement includes the women’s trampoline final, the second night of individual event gymnastics (men’s rings and vault, women’s uneven bars), women’s beach volleyball semifinals, and several track and field competitions: the men’s steeplechase, 400m hurdles and long jump, and the women’s pole vault.

5. The Tampa Bay Rays kick off a three-night stand of home games against the Los Angeles Angels tonight at Tropicana Field.

Atlantic Records partner and famed producer Jerry Wexler, pictured right with Dusty Springfield, helmed many of my most beloved albums. He also provided me with a cherished memory and one of my proudest journalistic accomplishments — two things for which I will always be grateful.

I knew death had been looming for years but when I saw the news online late last night it saddened me greatly. Still does. It’s not like Wexler and I were ever friends but the hours we spent together, which I recall vividly, and the kindness he showed me, made me feel like we had connected in way that rarely occurs during an interview.

Read this post in its entirety, and the Jerry Wexler interview I did in 2003, at TampaCalling.com.

1. Leepa Rattner Museum of Art opens its 2008-09 season this Saturday with Playing a Hunch, a new exhibit of 90 images by NYC award-winning photojournalist Mel Finkelstein.

2. Indianapolis indie collective  Margo & the Nuclear So & So’s play a show at Crowbar this Sunday with Audreye Sessions of Oakland, Calif.

3. Suds lovers unite at Limey’s Pub in St. Pete for the next installment of Beer Club, a monthly Creative Loafing beer tasting event. Tonight’s featured brews: Michelob Hefeweizen, Beach Bum Blonde, Red Hook Sun Rye, and Red Hook ESB.

4. Beach Theatre continues its Friday Night Cult Flicks series with a screening of The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan Live at Newport Folk Festival 1963-1965.

5. Comedian Jim Gaffigan brings his “Sexy Tour” to Ruth Eckerd Hall and performs two shows on Saturday.

Pictured: “Marilyn Monroe with Arthur Miller,” Mel Finkelstein, 1957.  

1. The Hush Sound, a Chicago indie quartet who craft blissfully saccharine pop songs marked by the throaty vocals and lively piano playing of Greta Salpeter, headlines a show at State Theater tonight. They are joined by The Cab, Steel Train and the Morning Light.
The Hush Sound; photo by Matt Wignall.

2. Comedian Jim Florentine of Crank Yankers fame (remember Special Ed and belching, blazing Bobby Fletcher?) brings his stand-up to Side Splitters Comedy Club; he performs tonight through Sunday.

3. Author William McKeen talks about and signs copies of his fantastic new book, Outlaw Journalist: The Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson, at Inkwood Books this evening.

4. HCC-Ybor Art Gallery opens a new exhibit featuring two exceptional visual arts students: Eric Lawson and Laura Mendes. 

5. For the next installment of WMNF’s Live Jazz Series, the station welcomes Larue Nickelson, a preeminent Bay area jazz guitarist and composer.

As you’ve no doubt read by now, the Pinellas-Pasco State State Attorney’s Office has cleared St. Petersburg police officer Terrence Nemeth in the shooting of 17-year-old Gibbs High School student Javon Dawson after the young man allegedly pointed a gun at Officer Nemeth when police arrived to break up an out-of-control graduation party.

Officer Nemeth is still on leave. Dawson’s family is calling the decision a travesty of justice. The Uhurus are making veiled threats of “consequences.” Just yesterday, after protesters descended on his office, Gov. Charlie Crist asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to do its own review of the case. But, if everything reported so far is correct, there’s probably enough evidence here, including DNA and gun residue, to show Dawson did fire a gun at the party.

But there’s an interesting aspect of the case that could have larger consequences for St. Pete in the future.

Take a look at the St. Petersburg Times’ special report on the shooting, and you’ll find a copy of Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe’s memo to St. Pete Police Chief Chuck Harmon that outlines the results of the investigation. In that memo are the names of witnesses that came forward and talked to the state attorney’s office about the shooting.

If you recall the climate surrounding the shooting in June, police and investigators had an extremely difficult time finding witnesses for the case, despite the fact that some 250 kids were present at the graduation party where Dawson was shot. This spurred all types of commentary on the no-snitching code that’s prevalent in many black communities here in Tampa Bay and across the nation.

The Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney’s Office finally convinced some witnesses to talk, and now, their names are splashed on the Times website for all to see. That includes any Internet-savvy gang members that investigators say Dawson was affiliated with.

I’m not sure how I feel about that.

As a rule, I always err on the side of “the more information, the better.” Sometimes revealing names and confidential information on a subject might be uncomfortable, but that’s our job as journalists.

But if I look at this from another point of view, as someone who regularly goes into communities that are hostile to fact-finding folks like police investigators and journalists, I worry this could have a negative effect on future investigations. If witnesses know their names will end up in print (or on the Web), will they still come forward when the next shooting happens? I’m not faulting the Times — I can’t say for sure if I would or wouldn’t do the same thing — but I am surprised the state attorney’s office didn’t redact any names from the report. Just two weeks ago, I was stonewalled by the SPPD for just trying to get a police report of a 2-year-old art theft. Now, a state agency has released the names of witnesses and perhaps put them in danger.

Again, I’m not passing judgement, only curious on the conversations that did (or did not) go on about the ethics of publishing these kids names.

What do you think?

(Photo Credit: Beard Papa)

My job searching isn’t off to a good start.

I was supposed to have my first post-college graduation interview today and it went … , well, it actually didn’t go at all. I walked out completely disappointed and angry and feeling scammed.

A few weeks ago I applied for a job with the City of St. Petersburg — I won’t say which job because I don’t want the competition — and was delighted when I got a call a couple days ago to schedule an interview with someone I thought was the City of St. Petersburg. How could I have been mistaken, you ask? See the exchange below:

Stephanie: “I’m calling about a position we have available. Are you still looking for a position?”

Ben: “Weellllll, yyyess …” I said non-commitally. (At this point she hasn’t told me where she is calling from. I get a lot of job offers to sell pest control services, cars and, ironically, insurance, and I suspected it was that type of call).

Stephanie: “You don’t sound too sure about that.”

Ben: “Well I am looking, but I just graduated from college on Saturday so I haven’t really done a big search yet. Plus, I don’t even know where you are calling from.” (Here was the point at which a person with less underhanded leanings would have given me a company name, etc. Keep reading to see where the confusion lies.)

Stephanie: “I’m calling from St. Petersburg.”

Ben: “You mean the City of St. Petersburg?”

Stephanie: “Yes

I realize that Stephanie had no way of knowing I had applied for a job with the City of St. Petersburg. She just got lucky that I was actually hoping to hear from someone who was calling from St. Petersburg — not the City, but the city — you know what I mean. So you can understand my confusion today when I couldn’t find the place she sent me to — I was, after all, looking for an office of — that’s right — St. Petersburg. After driving up and down Seminole Blvd. (within city limits according to Mapquest, but still: why would St. Petersburg have an office way out there? Not a giveaway, but certainly a red flag that was on my mind ever since Stephanie, if that is her real name, gave me the address), I finally found the place and … Damn! It belongs to United American Insurance Company (see above sentence regarding irony).

In my disbelief I actually parked and went in. A quick visual scan of the place confirmed that I definitely was not interviewing for the job I thought I was interviewing for. It was a small room with eight to 10 cubicles filed with a few young dudes in suits. One guy was asking another guy, who was obviously his superior, about a problem with a customer’s policy (there may be problems for more than just one customer, as it turns out). I caught an unpleasant-smelling breeze from what I think was most likely a revolving door.

I asked and the woman at the desk by the front door said she was Stephanie. After getting my name she said she had some paperwork for me to fill out. I asked if it is for an insurance sales job and she confirmed that, yes, it is to sell insurance.

“Then don’t bother, I’m not interested.”

She asked me if I wanted Stephanie to take my name off the list (she lacks a firm grasp on the obvious, that one). I started to say “Aren’t you Stephanie?” but then decided I just wanted to get out of there so I gave her a disgusted “Yes, please do” and walked out.

I could have said it much nicer over the phone a few days ago, had I been given the chance.

Back to the drawing board. Or the Monster job boards, anyway.

(Ben Fry just graduated from USF-St. Pete and completed an internship at Creative Loafing.)

Yeah, as you might have guessed, I’m a big fan of the Gonzo god. I’m also a big fan of William McKeen’s new biography Outlaw Journalist: The Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson. Here’s an excerpt from my interview with McKeen:

McKeen’s bio smartly focuses on Thompson’s singular writing style, his mastery of invective and the lengths he went to make sense of a world gone wrong. McKeen adroitly dismantles the Raoul Duke persona exploited by uppity doodler Garry Trudeau, as well as Hollywood and Thompson himself. The book addresses the Gonzo journalist’s acts of brutality and self-destruction but keeps the emphasis on the writer and his ability to demonstrate the “power of language when used well.”

Click here to read the entire piece and for info regarding McKeen’s appearance at Inkwood Books in Tampa on Thursday. See ya there.

Cross-posted from TampaCalling.com.

When certain pundits started taking NBC to task for offering too much choice during the Olympics, I thought they’d lost it. How could there be too much choice?

I still hold to that position – if a little girl wants to watch Equestrian on Oxygen and I don’t, so much the better – but I must admit that all this choice has altered my viewing habits, and not always for the better. 

I have a full HD cable package, which means that on top of all the regular Olympic channels, I get a Korean and Chinese (Mandarin) channel. I was like a third-grader with a new video game the first weekend, but lately I’ve been noticing a problem: I’ve developed a short attention span. I tune in a little boxing, a little cycling, a little beach volleyball, a little softball, a little badminton, a little of everything, and don’t stay very long at any of them. It just occurred to me that I haven’t watched an entire contest in any of those above-mentioned sports.

I must be missing out on some good competition, some nailbiters. I’ve taken in a lot of swimming  — about a world record every few minutes last night – probably, precisely, because the races take just minutes (and because Phelps is an animal). The only thing I’ve watched buzzer to buzzer is the U.S.A. Basketball trouncing of China on Sunday. I even stayed for the post-rout garbage time, probably just to see if could watch one event all the way through. 

Part of this scattershot pattern is due to games being shown. The last couple of nights have been heavy on gymnastics, and no matter how hard I try I can’t get into watching prepubescent girls twist and tumble, nor well-muscled little dudes for that matter.

(I’ve probably missed a few good wipeouts, which I love – although not as much as figureskating wipeouts – and that’s because I can’t keep my finger off the remote.) Hopefully, my attention span will lengthen when the track and field starts and basketball gets into the medal rounds. Until then, my TV’s probably going to resemble a popcorn popper. 

By the way, the coolest unusual (to Americans) sport I’ve seen during these Olympics: team handball. It has nothing to do with hitting a rubber orb against a wall. Look for it. Here’s a video primer.

1. Twenty@620 presents Descending Sideways, a night of theater readings and performances created by writers Jordan Stovall and Jared O’Roark (pictured artfully below).

2. Another Wednesday evening St. Pete for Peace documentary screening at Café Bohemia, this one Hamas: Behind the Mask, a one-hour Canadian documentary shot during 2004 and ’05, when Hamas emerged as a political force despite the systematic assassinations of its key leaders.

3. More than 20 local wannbe comedians test their chops at Comic’s Night Out, an open mic free-for-all at Side Splitters where performers can say whatever the hell they want. The $10 cover includes a drink at the bar and a slice of pie from Garlic Jim’s Gourmet Pizza.

4. Tampa Bay Sierra Club welcomes nature photographer/Tampa Audubon Photo Club head/Florida Museum of Photographic Arts instructor Dan Harnly for its August General Meeting. Harnley presents “Get That Shot! Wildlife Photography Made Easy,” a program geared towards beginner to intermediate photographers.

5. Jobsite Theater offers a $10 preview of its latest production, Embedded, Tim Robbins’ drama-satire about the Iraq war. The show has its official opening tomorrow night.

1. Tampa Theatre continues its extended run of Brideshead Revisted, a film based on the novel by Evelyn Waugh that takes place in pre-WWII England and follows a young man who becomes hopelessly involved with a noble family. 7:30 p.m., 711 N. Franklin St., downtown Tampa, $9 adults/$8 students/$7 seniors and military, 813-274-8981.
Ben Whishaw, Matthew Good and Hayley Atwell in Brideshead Revisted

 2. Gulf Coast Museum of Art opened two new exhibits this past weekend – Victoria Block: Narrations, large-scale impressionistic landscapes paired with ceramic vessels other forms by the Canadian artist, and Studio Works, the museum’s annual juried show of works created by instructors and artists who have taught or taken classes or workshops at GCMA over the past year. Both can be viewed today. 10 a.m.-4 p.m., 12211 Walsingham Road, Largo, 727-518-6833, $8 adults/$7 seniors/$4 students and youths.

3. Wine, Dine, Canine is a happy hour fundraiser at Global Elements Cuisine held to raise money for “Get Rescued … Gulfport,” a nonprofit animal rescue organization that serves numerous area pet groups. Pets are welcome. 5-7 p.m., 3121 Beach Blvd., Gulfport, 727-343-9894.

4. Ybor City Chamber of Commerce welcomes Shelton Quarles as the guest speaker for its Membership Luncheon. Quarles is Chair of the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA), which was formed by the legislature to develop a regional plan for a Bay area mass transit system. 11:45 a.m., Columbia Restaurant, 2117 E. Seventh Ave., Ybor City, $24.

5. At this evening’s Arabian Nights Belly Dance Show and Party, Hip Expressions Belly Dance Studio welcomes Ophelia Tzighan, a 22-year veteran of belly dance who’s performed in 13 countries around the world and was a dancer on U2’s ZOOTV Tour. Other performers include Johanna ‘Xenobia’, Karen Sun Ray, Loud Zoo Tribal Belly Dance, Kimshara, Maritzina, the Three Gypsies and several others. Guests also enjoy Eastern European fare, a bazaar and a hookah lounge. 7 p.m. dinner, 8 p.m. showtime, St Petersburg Nights Russian Restaurant & Lounge, 6800 Sunset Way, St Pete Beach, $5 general/$3 ages 11 and under, 727-644-4839.

As unbelievable as it may sound, Paul McCartney has been traveling America’s most iconic stretch of road in a Ford Bronco with girlfriend Nancy Shevell. Over the course of his trip, the cute Beatle has been spotted strolling an Illinois museum, asking for a map from a Missouri convenience store, shopping for antiques and snapping pictures in New Mexico, just like a tourist. Except this tourist wrote “Hey Jude” and “Yesterday.”

Isaac Hayes, that pimpin’ progenitor of symphonic soul, died yesterday at 65; relatives found him by a still-running treadmill in his home in Memphis.

Hayes, aka Black Moses, contributed to the soundtrack of my high school years.

His biggest hit, “Theme From Shaft,” starts with a long instrumental section built around swirling strings and wah-wah-drenched rhythm guitar. Then the songs glides into Hayes’s buttery baritone.

The lyrics include the iconic line, “They say this cat Shaft is a bad muthah” [then the girl vocalists drown him out] “Shut your mouth!”

Here’s a fun clip of Hayes on stage performing “Shaft” with his mammoth ensemble. A ’fro-wearing, dashiki’ed Jesse Jackson introduces him.