Daily Loaf

The Creative Loafing team prides itself on producing more Daily Loaf content each week than any individual could ever possibly comprehend. As such, you’re bound to have missed at least one worthwhile story from the pages of this blog over the last few days. Here’s a “greatest hits” list from the week that was, broken down by section:

NEWS

MUSIC

Movies, food, sex and Punky Brewster after the break. Read more “Best of Daily Loaf: The Week In Review” »

Remember those sharply dressed fellows in last week’s What to Watch? You know … the ones desperately trying to gain entry into that South Beach BCS night club? Their names were Iowa, TCU, Cincinnati, Boise State and LSU. Well, the lights are coming on and last call is rapidly approaching. This weekend, one of those teams has the opportunity to finagle its way to the front of the line. The others must continue to sit back and watch, hoping the BCS voters who work the door look favorably upon them, which is unlikely if Florida, Texas and Alabama continue to handle their business. The NFL doesn’t rely on doormen, but its season is no less exciting. This Sunday, the NFL reaches its midseason. As one avid SportsChump reader pointed out, we have six games pitting over-.500 teams against each other this weekend, a rarity for this late in the season. Sounds like a separation Sunday worth watching. Read more “What NCAA and NFL games to watch this weekend (Nov. 7 – 9)” »

With the holiday season coming to a start and the year already coming to an end, why wait until the new year to start living a greener lifestyle? Get into the swing of the holidays by putting some eco-friendly practices to use. Bonus: They’ll help you save money as well.

Here’s a list of some sites that offer great tips and advice on how to green your holidays this year:
Read more “How to green your holidays” »

“Hi!  I live in Tampa. A while ago, I dreamt that I was getting married. Everything seemed to be normal at the wedding, until I looked at a picture that someone had taken. My gown was black, as were my bridesmaids. The whole male wedding party was also wearing nothing but black! I’m only 14 years old, don’t have a boyfriend, and definitely DON’T want to be married. Can you tell me what this means?” (sic)

It’s interesting that at an age when young girls fantasize about boys, weddings, marriage, etc., you are sooo adamant that you DON’T want to get married.  What’s up with that?

I’ll tell you. Read more “Dreaming of marriage as death” »

Don’t forget about your homework for the weekend — keeping up on the latest music news.

Jay-Z announced the second leg of his tour for his new album, Blueprint 3. (No Florida stops are included.) The record may just be a “blueprint,” but no doubt it’s a plan to lay the foundation of yet another successful project for Jigga.

Tonight on the USF Tampa campus, a group of students intend to put a focus on the homeless situation by simulating a homeless camp on the campus grounds for one night.

Christy Burke is assistant director of the USF Center for Leadership & Civic Engagement.  She says tonight’s event is part of  National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week , for which universities across the country are holding similar  ‘Campus Sleepout’ events.  But she says that the environment being created on the campus is nothing like how most homeless contend with the elements.

Food and water will be available for the students participating in the project, which begins at 6 p.m. tonight.

Robin Mansour is in her second year of studies in Biomedical Sciences, and the student coordinator for the event.  She says in light of the recent (non)actions by the Hillsborough County Commission regarding the homeless,  students tonight  will meet in small groups to discuss legislation and other recent news about the homeless.

Mansour says, “Homelessness is becoming such an issue with the economy,  and a lot of the stereotypes are starting to disappear.  We desperately need to shelter these these people, most of them who aren’t dangerous, and aren’t predominantly drug and alcohol abusers.”

On the day Hillsborough Commissioners rejected the proposed tent city style of housing for the homeless last month, one resident in East Lake , Linda Hinson, was quoted in the New York Times as saying “I don’t have to go out and get a gun.”

That comment stunned Robin Mansour.  “It’s a little shocking,” she said, adding, “There’s a lot of fear and stigma of the homeless out there.”

Sushi Rice

Sushi, like most Japanese things, is made using exact skill and precision. But don’t let this scare you from making your own at home. In this recipe I outline the exact steps to take in order to achieve proper sushi rice using a rice cooker. I suggest that you purchase one of these handy kitchen appliances if you don’t already have one. They can be had for a minimal price — mine cost about $12 and can cook 6 cups of rice at a time.

It is important before you begin that you start out with the correct type of rice, wither short grain sushi rice or Calrose rice. Other types will not work as well, and some won’t work at all.

You can also make your life easier by purchasing “seasoned” rice wine vinegar, which includes the salt and the sugar already mixed in.

Yield: With this recipe you should be able to get about 3-4 sushi maki rolls out of one cup of rice.

Ingredients: Read more “How to make perfect sushi rice” »

In this over-medicated age, drug companies continue expanding their empires into the farthest realms of human behavior, developing chemical cocktails for whatever ails us: if depressed take Prozac, if scatterbrained take Adderall, if sleepless take Ambien, if impotent take Viagra… Now researchers are searching for drugs that will help you stay in love.

Consider how people often attribute their inability to remain in a relationship to psychological reasons, saying such things as, “I’m not happy anymore,” or “the spark is gone.” In a sense, a lack of love is simply a chemical imbalance, which theoretically can be corrected. Someday soon drug companies may develop a prescription pill that helps you stay in love the same way Rogaine sustains hair. Read more “Will science discover a love potion?” »

I think the editors have finally started to pay attention to this little blogger here in St. Pete, because we automatically start this week by learning that Althea and Irina aren’t speaking. Love it…finally Irina picked on the wrong girl. I have the feeling that Althea has a little trailer park in her and we all know, those girls can fight. Watch your back Meana Irina, watch. your. back.
Besides those two lovely ladies giving each other the silent treatment, Gordana, Carol Hannah and Christopher are the only designers around. And Chris looks soooooo lonely in that little apartment all by himself. Are the girls not allowed to move over there? Because I am pretty sure that would relieve some of the tension, thicker than Gordana’s accent, that is happening in Casa de la Girlies.

The challenge this week, the final challenge if you hadn’t gathered that from the 400 times they have said it, brings us to The Getty Center, which is apparently the heart of Los Angeles culture but seems mostly like a mish-mosh of art stuff. Whatever, I like it, it gives the designers some freedom to show their point of view. I like all the inspirations they have chosen from the Getty Center, but am a little concerned because so far they haven’t done awesome with that whole “get inspired” thing…I have faith in them though, except for Gordana. I have no faith in Gordana, ever.

I am really wishing I would have kept a log of how many negative things Irina said about people throughout this episode, because she is on it tonight, at least in the double digits. Did anyone else hear her call Carol Hannah a cute dog? That is not a compliment. I love a good Jack Russell terrier as much as the next girl but I do not ever want to be called one…just mean, so mean. Despite some messy looks and harsh critiques from Tim Gunn, everyone is keeping it together…untiiiiiiil the crazy Eastern European starts talking about her spiritual dress or some crap. Yep, we got our first cry of the show from your fave and mine, Gordana. Prepare yourself, because I don’t want to spoil anything but let’s just say the cry count is going up like the spaceship this week, straight to the moon (is it wrong that this makes me happy?).

The editing is really making it looks like every single designer gets torn apart on the runway. But do they??

Read more “Project Runway recap: the final challenge” »

At least eight people have been shot in a downtown office highrise in Orlando, FL, according to TV news reports. Here’s an excerpt from a report by WESH 2 in Orlando:

Firefighters were called to Gateway Center at 1000 Legion Place around 11:30 a.m. The building is near Lake Ivanhoe.

All patients have been taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center. At least four of the eight patients are serious trauma cases. Due to the incident, the emergency room has been closed to patients. The ER is on status X.

Dispatchers with the Orlando Fire Department said a shooting with multiple victims was reported on the eighth floor.WESH 2 reporter Gail Paschall-Brown, who is at the scene on the ground, said that 15 employees came out of the building very distraught. Paschall-Brown spoke with one who said that a former employee came into the office who hadn’t worked at the company in over a year.

According to a report filed at 12:50 p.m. by ABC Action News outlet WFTV, two of the shooting victims are dead and four are “trauma red.”

Routes Music is a documentary film acting as a roving music census, taking in the true musical passions (and disgusts) of the American people. We’re traveling all across the country, stopping along the way to interview local bands, take footage of live performances and chat with anyone and everyone. Learn more about the documentary here; check out all previous entries here.

Ok, we’ll admit it: The Routes Music crew has gotten a little side-tracked with an extended stay along the beach in Malibu, California. Can you blame us? The weather is perfect, the water beautiful, and the scenery … well, let’s just say you never know what you’re going to see when you walk out on the balcony in the morning.

We’ll be reporting in soon with a new report from San Francisco and a look back at Phish Festival 8 with a killer slideshow. Stay tuned …

See the complete photo-shoot video after the jump …

Read more “Routes Music, Malibu: Scoping the beautiful bikini babes on the shores of the Pacific Ocean” »

By George Niemann
PoHo contributor
Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners:
It appears likely that you are going to ask us to approve a 1% sales tax increase in November of 2010 to fund a long range multi-modal transportation package which is highlighting the introduction of light rail to the Tampa Bay region.

At Wednesday’s Regular BOCC meeting it was revealed that, although the referendum’s top billing will be “light rail”, only 37% of the proposed tax will end up going toward an inter-city light rail system. The balance will go toward other forms of transportation, as well as road improvements that are long overdue.

The big question is this – are you going to give voters all of the hard facts surrounding this proposed referendum? And will you incorporate this into your referendum campaign? I know that it will be tempting to take the soundbite approach without providing detail because, as you know, the devil is in the details. Considering that a good portion of this tax would be used to fix infrastructure problems that were created by approving sprawl, how do we know that you’ve learned your lesson? Or that you won’t come back to us 10 years from now and say we need an additional 1% on top of the first 1% because we couldn’t help ourselves from approving more sprawl without getting the money for the infrastructure?

Read more “An open letter to Hillsborough County Commission – will we get all of the facts about the 2010 Light Rail/Penny Tax Referendum?” »

For a movie whose title references the most sinister level of encounter with an alien life form — abduction — The Fourth Kind should probably have come with a modest “buyer beware” warning.

That’s because the film is less about getting prodded and probed by little green men than it is a test of what we are willing to believe and be frightened by. As The Fourth Kind opens, actress Milla Jovovich addresses the audience directly, telling us that what we are about to watch is based on a series of strange occurrences that purportedly happened in Nome, Alaska, during the first week of October 2000.

Read more “Movie Review: The Fourth Kind, starring Milla Jovovich” »

Talk about recycling with a purpose: The new Navy Ship, USS New York, came into New York harbor this week sporting more than just 361 crew members – contained in the ship is 7.5 tons of recycled steel from the World Trade Center.

The 25,000 behemoth was built in Virginia and is the length of two football fields. Written on the bow above its crest is written “Never Forget”. Built in Louisiana, it made its way into New York harbor earlier this week, performing a 21-gun salute in front of Ground Zero and docking until November 11 so that the public can climb aboard and get a firsthand glimpse of it.
Read more “USS New York built with recycled WTC steel” »

With the exceptions of my sister and my buddy Jesse, there may be no one more stoked for the upcoming Maroon 5 album than me. Songs About Jane, their 2002 debut album as Maroon 5 (the four original members formerly played as Kara’s Flowers), is the one record that takes me back to my high school years, when I played it so many times that the CD is actually past due for replacement. Their follow-up, 2007’s It Won’t Be Soon Before Long, worsened my addiction — but I’ve never really attempted to cure it. Both albums have put the band on the map and have given fans high hopes for the next one. Currently on a tour of college campuses across the U.S., Maroon 5 promises a great release in 2010. Check out a series of three trailers promoting the forthcoming album after the jump. Read more “Maroon 5 releases teaser trailers for upcoming album” »

The World Series of Beer Pong — “the largest, longest-running organized beer pong (aka Beirut) tournament in the world, created by beer pong players, for beer pong players” according to the WSOBP website — will start in less than two months, on Jan. 1 at the Flamingo Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.

But you knew that, right? You’ve been single-mindedly training since 2008, when team Chauffering the Fat Kid managed to snatch the suds from an all-but-victorious  Iron Wizard Coalition by completing an amazing four straight sinks. Cinderella story? Yes. Biggest come-from-behind victory in the history of sports? Probably.

Don’t get the wrong impression about beer pong, though: it’s not all about beer consumption. Read more “Call Cracker-jack and Hootie, get the team back together: World Series of Beer Pong Satellites are here” »

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) calls it “electrocution without prosecution,” and in the wake of the two most recent Taser-related deaths in Florida, the civil rights group wants the governor to temporarily ban Tasers until a stricter, more uniform policy can be put in place.

The so called “non-lethal” devices, manufactured by Taser International, have killed over 400 U.S. citizens since 2001. According to the website Electronic Village, which diligently tracks the numbers, over 40 percent of the victims are black men. Charles Smith, president of the Manatee Chapter of the SCLC, sees Tasers as the biggest threat to the people of Florida. “You don’t have to break the law for them to use it on you. We cannot allow the local authorities to arbitrarily decide when a person can use a Taser and when they can’t.  This is not a black and white issue; this is a right and wrong issue.”

The October 27 meeting with Governor Crist came after weeks of protest over the Pensacola killing of 17-year-old Victor Steen, who police say was fleeing on his bicycle from a construction site the night of Oct. 3. Officers tried to tase him from inside their patrol car but missed. Steen then lost control of his bike and fell into the path of the vehicle and was dragged 25 feet to his death. After that incident the Pensacola Police Dept. revised their policy to prohibit the shooting of Tasers into or from a moving vehicle.

A week before Steen was killed in Pensacola, 38-year-old Derrick Humbert died within a half hour of being tased in the back for not stopping when ordered to by Bradenton Police Officer Del Shiflett.  Humbert’s only crime was operating a bicycle without a headlight. Read more “National civil rights group says enough is enough; wants Crist to ban Tasers” »

If Alfred Hitchcock and Edgar Allan Poe got together to do their own version of The Matrix, it would look a lot like Richard Kelly’s The Box. The Donnie Darko director returns with a morality tale that twists and turns around a complex story like barbed wire around a rose. No matter what notion you have of the film going in, you’ll have a drastically different one coming out; that I can guarantee you.

Read more “Movie Review: The Box, starring Cameron Diaz and James Marsden” »

As speculation continues on what led to Thursday’s crazed shooting spree by Nidal Hassan at Fort Hood yesterday, the Secretary of Veteran Affairs, General Eric Shinseki, is scheduled to speak today on the USF Tampa campus.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her underlings will be working furiously today to try to gather the 218 votes she needs to pass a health care reform bill that includes a public option tomorrow.

And the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce intends to honor Mayor Rick Baker tomorrow for all of the successes  that the Chamber believes have occurred under the Baker administration.  But there are activists who say the whole story needs to be told, and they plan on protesting the event tomorrow night.

We may not have an audio podcast up today.  But we’ll be back for certain on Monday a.m.

In two months, the Rick Baker era ends. St. Petersburg’s mayor moves on, possibly toward the only job he’s said he really wants: replacing Carl Kuttler as the head of St. Petersburg College.

But before he goes, his critics want to let him know how they really feel about him.

Yesterday a coalition of activist groups, including St. Pete For Peace, announced that they would protest Saturday night’s St. Pete Chamber of Commerce “Bon Voyage Shindig,” now scheduled to take place at Demens Landing.

In the words of the Reverend Bruce Wright, “If you’re going to honor him for his accomplishments, let’s tell the truth about his failures.”

When asked today by CL what he considers to be Baker’s shortcomings, the homeless activist rattles off a litany of issues. “The elimination of public housing. Tent slashing by his police department.  Black youth being shot by his police department. The harassment of youth in general. Destroying civil liberties by vacating the sidewalk at BayWalk. His lack of movement on the environment, which is why we still don’t have curbside recycling.”

But Wright says for all of Baker’s failures, he’s concerned about what might come next in a Bill Foster administration. “It’s frightening,” he says. “I think our city is going to go in an even worse position.”

Demens Landing is located at Bayshore Drive and 1st Avenue SE in St. Petersburg.  Activists want people to show up there at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Routes Music is a documentary film acting as a roving music census, taking in the true musical passions (and disgusts) of the American people. We’re traveling all across the country, stopping along the way to interview local bands, take footage of live performances and chat with anyone and everyone. Learn more about the documentary here; check out all previous entries here.

It’s 8 p.m. and Phil is driving through a torrential rainstorm in an abandoned part of New Orleans’ West End. He’s running his hand through his hair, bent over the steering wheel, trying to find Magellan Road. The GPS isn’t working and every street seems to lead back to the interstate we just exited. A tiny brown Chihuahua looks lost, too, as it darts across the road and between two houses.

It’s enough rain to make a New Orleans native nervous.

Read more “Routes Music rewind, New Orleans: Living Room Studio, Lovie Dovies, the Blackbelt Band (video)” »

Later today, President Obama is expected to visit the House to rally support for the biggest issue of his young presidency domestically, health care reform.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has told the members of the House to come to the Capitol at 9 a.m. Saturday to vote on the 10-year, $1.05 trillion health care legislation.

What a 24 hours it should be for Madame Speaker.

Pelosi needs 218 votes, which means doing whatever she can (legally) to convince the disparate members of her caucus to support the bill.  If the bill goes down to defeat, you will never hear the end of it from Republicans and the Washington press corps.

The president and House Speaker scored a couple of major endorsements yesterday when both the American Medical Association and the AARP came out in support of the bill.

The AARP has received scathing criticism from some conservatives throughout the year for speaking positively about health care reform.

Count Brooksville Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite among those critics.  After the AARP’s endorsement yesterday, she sent out a press release blasting the group by writing:

“There was a time when AARP represented the interests of retired people — this endorsement proves that those days are long gone.  The Democrats’ health care bill cuts $400 billion from Medicare — the very program that AARP’s members paid for and rely on.

“AARP is running a great risk by endorsing a bill that does not clearly determine which health plans will be allowed under this legislation.  This bill leaves it up to Washington bureaucrats to make that determination once the bill is passed and signed into law.

“AARP members deserve to know the true reasons behind their endorsement of this bill.  If they are not standing up to the interests of seniors, then whose interests are they standing up for?”

As I reported on yesterday, despite the mocking of Speaker Pelosi for saying of Tuesday night’s election results that it had actually been a good night for Democrats, it was a good night for her in her quest to get 218 votes by Saturday.

California’s John Garamendi, elected Tuesday in a district east of San Francisco, and Bill Owens, who won the much hyped New York District 23 race over independent conservative Doug Hoffman, both have said they support the health care bill that they’ll vote on tomorrow.

That’s not to say that there aren’t Democrats, particularly those from Republican-leaning districts in the South, who will oppose the legislation.  There are still negotiations going on today on delicate issues like abortion provisions and care for legal and illegal immigrants.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki  is scheduled to give the keynote address today at 12:30 p.m. during a daylong student veterans’ conference on the USF-Tampa campus.

No doubt he will reference the tragedy yesterday at Fort Hood, where, as of this morning, an Army psychiatrist (right) is suspected of killing 13 people and wounding 30 others in a shooting rampage. The suspect remains hospitalized and on a ventilator.

As of this morning, nobody quite knows for sure what set off Major Nidal Malik Hasan, other than reports that he absolutely did not want to go to Iraq, where he was scheduled to be deployed  later this month.

Former Army General Shinseki’s appearance comes just a few days after he announced a plan to end homelessness among veterans in the next five years, which includes pledging $3.2 billion over the next year to address the problem.

His plan includes preventive measures, including support services for incarcerated veterans who are re-entering society; a national referral center that can link veterans to programs in their areas; and expansions in education, job training, health care and housing.

“In the past, VA focused largely on getting homeless veterans off the streets,” Shinseki said. “Our five-year plan aims  day after also at preventing them from ever ending up homeless.”

“Putting on the sock” doesn’t refer to a condom or penis extension, but an age old foreplay technique. It begins with the woman on her back and the man kneeling before her with his penis placed at the entrance of her vagina. Instead of inserting his penis however, the man caresses her entrance, back and forth, in a circular motion. Don’t forget to involve the clitoris. The continuous stroking leaves her incredibly wet, and on the verge of a quivering orgasm. Just be careful to gauge her orgasmic pleasures, or she may be through before the man even gets invited inside for dessert! Read more “Kama Sutra: putting on the sock” »

Welcome to On the Radar, where we preview up-and-coming arts events to mark your calendar for. Next week, a three-day interactive multi-media art event, 11:11 – Let There Be Light, Art, Sound, is a celebration of the creativity that molds our communities and keeps us from falling prey to the everyday tedium of mainstream mediocrity.

The star of the event is Alex Grey (pictured), who, along with his artist wife Allyson, leads today’s psychedelic/spiritual/visionary/postmodern art movement. Alex’s most well-known works are his glowing “x-ray” paintings of human bodies, which offer detailed, anatomical-style examinations of his subjects’ physical and metaphysical anatomy. On Thursday, Alex stages a reading from his book, Art Psalms. Afterwards, he’s joined Allyson for the first two hours of a six-hour painting demo, which is paired with video projection painting by Johnathan Singer, and live multi-sensory music by Scott and Anne Kennedy. During the Friday night “Alex Grey Gala Event,” Read more “On the Radar: 11:11 — Let There Be Light, Art, Sound feat. Alex Grey” »

The City of Tampa’s fiendish plot to have you get up at an insanely early hour of the morning and groggily lace up your sneakers continues this Saturday with Keeping Tampa Fit. The biannual event is devoted to increasing awareness of personal health and the city’s numerous parks, while also offering the chance to keep up stride-for-stride with Mayor Pam Iorio (pictured, center), who plans on strolling four miles. As if that weren’t incentive enough, the first 200 registrants will receive a free T-shirt commemorating the event, which participants can then proudly wear to showcase their dedication to receiving free T-shirts. Sure you’d rather sleep in on what is likely your day off, but just think how good that coffee and artery-hardening cheesy omelet are going to taste when you reward yourself for forsaking a few extra hours of peaceful slumber. No pain, no gain, right? Sat., Nov. 7, Rowlett Park, 2501 River Hills Drive. Registration starts at 6:30 am, the walk begins at 7:30 am. Call the City of Tampa Parks and Recreation Department at 813-274-8615 for more info. – Anthony Salveggi Read more “Do It This Weekend: Walk with the mayor, Roser Park art fest, Evolution of Drag, Boxer Bash and more” »

Welcome to On the Radar, where we preview up-and-coming arts events to mark your calendar for. Next weekend, you can shuffleboard boogie it down at the St. Pete Shuffle or get crazy with a few rounds of Bingo at your community theater in Tampa. The average age of Florida citizens might be rising higher than the heat index, but the youth of Tampa Bay are reclaiming these traditionally geriatric activities for their own. Next weekend, theater-goers young and old alike can enjoy a game of Bingo while they see the story of Babe and Sis unfold onstage in The Queen of Bingo.

The two sisters are polar opposites: Read more “On the Radar: The Queen of Bingo at the Carrollwood Playhouse” »

The Table Restaurant in St. Pete, which has flirted with two new names recently — The Place and St. Pete Brasserie — as well as different culinary themes, will begin serving its French-inspired menu this weekend, according to GM Andrew Wilkins. Almost all the prices, excepting a ribeye and bigger portions of lamb and filet mignon, are decidedly under $16. Wilkins is also planning to offer a free cocktail with the purchase of an entree, as well as a 4-course prix fixe menu from 5-7 p.m. for $19.

The menu lists the name of the restaurant as The Table Brasserie, so that back-and-forth saga is obviously still ongoing. Wilkins says that his funding still hasn’t come through, so he’s just moving ahead with the changes he can make in the short term. Hence, the new menu. Check it out.

Full menu after the break (be aware that details may change before this weekend): Read more “The Table begins its brasserie-style menu this weekend, name change still in doubt” »

On Halloween, I was hopelessly spending most of the day huddled in my apartment researching the United States’ media coverage on Iran. I had purposely not made plans to celebrate the evening dressed as media sensation Balloon Boy, a firefighter with red-hot lipstick and heels, or even a cat. Instead, six weeks prior, I’d committed myself to the Hob Gobl’n 5K Race, hosted by the Dunedin House of Beer.

For about 30 bucks, I agreed to run 3.1 miles in exchange for three beers of my choice, a t-shirt, and a wonderful spaghetti and meatball dinner. Oh, and a portion of my $30 went to the Dunedin Doggie Rescue — but that wasn’t the best part. The best part was that runners were not required to wear a costume.

I suckered my classmate Manny into running in the event, too. While the purpose of my participation was to avoid the annual Halloween costume stress, Manny signed up because — well, I don’t know exactly why he participated, especially since he treated the entire event as though it were a brisk walk down a scenic trail. Read more “Remind me again — why am I running this charity 5K?” »

The 28-year-old mixed martial arts fighter, War Machine, a.k.a. Jon Koppenhaver announced his official debut as porn star, War Machine XXX, on twitter last month. He was last seen in Tampa at the mixed martial arts event, XFC 9, where he defeated Mikey Gomez (fully clothed) via TKO in round three. Maybe his loss to David Mitchell at TPF 1 on Oct. 8, 2009 inspired him to start a new career doing what he loves most next to fighting: adult entertainment.

“I’m a full time Alpha Male. I get paid to fight and to fuck….what more could I ask for,” War Machine states in his twitter bio.

With a fight record of  10 wins and 3 losses after almost six years as professional fighter War Machine might just hang up his gloves for good. His career highlight was the win over Jared Rollins at TUF 6 Finale in Dec. 2007 immediately followed by his devastating loss to Yoshiyuki Yoshida at UFC 84 in May 2008.

Ever since, his MMA star has been falling while he floated around regional MMA events without leaving his mark or earning a title. As much as he claims to love fighting, he seems to lack the direction to take his career to the next level.

Watch the fight video of War Machine vs. Mikey Gomez at XFC 9 after the break.

Read more “MMA fighter War Machine debuts as porn star” »

According to reports from the AP and TV news, seven people have been killed and 20 wounded in shootings at the Fort Hood military base in Fort Hood, TX.

From the New York Times/AP report:

An Army spokesman at the Pentagon says the shootings began about 1:30 p.m. Thursday at a personnel and medical processing center at Fort Hood.

The spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Banks, says two shooters were apparently involved. There is no word yet on who they were, nor on identities of the dead.

Banks says the second incident took place at a theater on the sprawling base.

Updates to follow.

UPDATE from ABC News:

12 reported dead, 31 wounded in shootings on the base. Authorities say the shooter, who was killed, was an Army major, Malik Nadal Hasan. Two other soldiers were also involved and have been apprehended.

UPDATE from CNN 6:50 p.m.

Major Hasan was a psychiatrist.

UPDATE and CORRECTION

Contrary to reports on the day of the shooting, Major Hasan survived. Kimberly Munley, a sergeant in the civilian police department at Fort Hood, is being acclaimed as a hero for taking down the alleged assailant in four shots, ending the rampage. Hasan was in a coma as of Friday Nov. 6; Sgt. Munley was in stable condition with shots to the leg and wrist.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that Fuse will be airing a John Mayer concert on Tuesday, November 17, the same day his new Battle Studies album hits the shelves. The concert, which takes at New York’s Beacon Theatre, will be broadcast live across the country beginning at 9 p.m. Fuse has also partnered with American Forces Network to broadcast the show to troops overseas via AFN Radio’s Hot AC to troops and their families stationed in 175 countries and on 140 U.S. Navy ships at sea. AFN Television’s “Spectrum” channel will also be airing the concert on Dec. 6 at 8 p.m. and on New Year’s Eve.

It’s great that Mayer fans, no matter where they are in the world, will be able to listen to his new music and his live performance the very day it’s been made available. Go, John Mayer! Go, Fuse and AFN! And GO, U.S.A.!

“Dream Momma, I had dream while I was away from my family studying in Norway, I was at my brother’s house up where it was behind the hospital. My brother and I were watching TV, and these people came to the door. Just as there are people who stop you when you are in your car and start washing your windows and then demand money, these people, like young kids, various ages, came to the door and started doing lawn care and landscaping. I knew they were going to charge us for it afterwards, and I didn’t want to be taken advantage of. They were immigrants, so I started yelling gibberish at them so they would stop. They got mad because they knew I was making fun of their English skills, but they got back into their big van/suburban, and drove off. As I sat back on the sofa, I saw a flash from the car, and I knew they had shot a gun, and I felt the hot metal entering my skull. As I collapsed, I told my brother, tell mom and dad I love them. So mellow dramatic. then I woke up.” (sic)

This dream is about a split psyche based on the guilt you feel for leaving your family. Read more “Dreaming of a split psyche” »

For a big budget, Hollywood-style disaster film, 2012 probably wouldn’t come to mind as an “eco film” to most people. But not only does the movie serve as a message (or warning) of the effects of impending climate change, the director, Roland Emmerich, and producers took great strides to be as green as possible when making it.

Roland Emmerich, known for directing and producing other big budget disaster movies such as The Day After Tomorrow and Independence Day, has been living a green lifestyle himself – driving a Prius and using solar energy to power his home – and wanted to carry over some eco-friendly practices into his filmmaking. He stated to MNN at the Environmental Media Association Awards, “After making The Day After Tomorrow, I said to myself, ‘From now on my movies should have a green footprint’.”
Read more “How the upcoming disaster flick 2012 went green” »

Chris Sherman was the St. Pete Times restaurant critic for 17 years, until he decided to give up the gig at the end of 2006 because of ongoing health problems. He remained a staff writer for the Times and became the restaurant editor and travel writer for its sister publication, Florida Trend Magazine, where he hands out the generically illustrious Golden Spoon Awards.

Now, as of November 1, he’s blogging for big Bay area wine and spirits shop B-21. Does that constitute a conflict of interest, considering his work at Florida Trend? Eh, it certainly wouldn’t here at CL, now that we’ve trended towards giving a voice to people in the community on our blog and in the paper. Although it is curious that in his first post, when he mentions his work at the St. Pete Times, the outgoing link goes to B-21’s weekly newspaper ad, not the Times site.