Daily Loaf

Ever dreamed of becoming a rock god but didn’t know how to go about it? Join Creative Loafing’s Rock School and be at once immortal! Curated by musicians Joran Oppelt and Stephen Hammill, Rock School is a three-hour cram session where you’ll learn some killer stage moves and techniques from some of the best Bay area musical talent. This is a great gift for the new musician young or old just starting on an instrument, or for the more experienced player looking for some help/advice on developing stage presence.

Estimated value: $150.

Current High Bid: $30

Place your bid below:

You came, you saw, you voted: The winner of this year’s College Guide contest is Amanda Abadi of the University of Tampa. Her inventive video, which could be retitled “Crocodile Dundee Meets UT,” drew 6,694 votes. Amanda wins the title CL College Guide 2009, plus a CL briefcase stuffed with movie and concert passes, CDs and DVDs and assorted CL gear plus a $500 shopping spree from CL Deals.

Submission #1: Alex Vera | My UT: “Yes, I’m Losing My Mind”

Alex Vera
University of Tampa
Junior, Graphic Design
21, Tampa
My UT is: “The Minaret, my second home.”

Alex’s video takes viewers behind the scenes for a day (and night) in the life of the UT students who put out the school’s Minaret newspaper. Note the tempers fraying as the night stretches into morning.
(Editor’s Note: Despite any impression you might get from the photo, Alex is not UT’s Spartan mascot. We just happened to have a Spartan costume at the photo shoot, and Alex is an amazingly good sport.) Read the rest of this entry »

Submission#4: Chris Dvorscak | My Eckerd: “Party Time, Excellent”

Chris Dvorscak
Eckerd College
Senior, Anthropology (major), Management (minor)
21, Crystal River
My Eckerd is: “A tropical vacation spot.”

Chris is a baseball player, an anthropology major and an underwater archaeologist, so his tour of Eckerd naturally takes us to the ballfield, the dorms (where we learn something about the anthropology of party animals) and the swimming pool.

Video:

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Submission#3: Christina Erlinger | My Stetson Law: “Mind, Body, Soul”

Christina Erlinger
Stetson University College of Law
2L (Second-Year Law)
23, Seminole
My Stetson is: “Accomplished, studious, social and exciting.”
Who says lawyers have no soul? Christina’s video tour of Stetson proves they do, plus minds and bodies, too.

Video: Read the rest of this entry »

Submission#2: Amanda Abadi | My UT: “Where in the world is Spartacus?”

Amanda Abadi
University of Tampa
2nd Year, Masters in Business Administration (Management)
23, Detroit
My UT is: “Community-focused, auspicious, cultural and enriching.”

Amanda’s video follows the intrepid Dingo Dundee as he scours the UT campus in search of the university’s elusive mascot. Dingo goes everywhere from offices to classrooms to the John H. Sykes School of Business, where a surly student tries unsuccesfully to ignore the weird guy with the Australian accent.

Read the rest of this entry »

Submission #1: Alex Vera | My UT: “Yes, I’m Losing My Mind”

Alex Vera
University of Tampa
Junior, Graphic Design
21, Tampa
My UT is: “The Minaret, my second home.”

Alex’s video takes viewers behind the scenes for a day (and night) in the life of the UT students who put out the school’s Minaret newspaper. Note the tempers fraying as the night stretches into morning.

(Editor’s Note: Despite any impression you might get from the photo, Alex is not UT’s Spartan mascot. We just happened to have a Spartan costume at the photo shoot, and Alex is an amazingly good sport.) Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s a great mini-documentary from Lance Bangs that chronicles the making of the music for Spike Jonze‘ upcoming film, Where the Wild Things Are. Karen O (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) wrote most of the songs and produced the sessions. It turns out the kid voices you here on the soundtrack (listen to it here) come from actual kids, un-trained singers at that — an idea inspired by the The Langley Schools Music Project from the 1970s.

Check it out: Read the rest of this entry »

Those giddy with anticipation for the Spike Jonze film adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are (out Oct. 16) can now enjoy the soundtrack, which is streaming over at imeem.

The tracks are credited to “Karen O (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) And the Kids.” Also adding their talents: Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox and YYY band-mates Nick Zinner and Brian Chase.

Listen now.

After a few weeks of rumors and innuendo, we have official confirmaiton that ’90s indie rock band and lo-fi pioneers Pavement will reunite and tour next year.

Matador, the band’s record label, announced it all in a blog post this morning:

“Mark Ibold, Scott ‘Spiral Stairs’ Kannberg, Stephen Malkmus, Bob Nastanovich and Steve West [are] reuniting for dates around the world in 2010.”

Here’s the rundown: No new albums/recordings are planned (yet) Read the rest of this entry »

Creative Loafing Editor David Warner made this announcement today:

Mitch Perry, who served for over 9 years as assistant news director of WMNF-FM and created the WMNF Evening News in 2003, joins the staff of Creative Loafing as News & Politics editor beginning September 21.
A respected voice in Bay area journalism with broad experience in covering local, national and international news and community affairs, he brings multi-media expertise and deep knowledge of the local scene to CL’s print and online publications. He has already won readers as a contributor to the Daily Loaf blog, where he worked with former CL Political Editor Wayne Garcia, and his appointment as Wayne’s successor reflects CL’s continued commitment to fair, thorough and intelligent coverage of the issues that are important to Tampa Bay residents.
“I’m thrilled that Mitch is joining our team,” said CL Editor David Warner. “I’ve long admired his work as anchor and reporter on the Evening News, and I’m looking forward to the new dimensions he will bring to CL — including that unmistakable Mitch Perry voice.” That voice will continue to be heard in a new daily CL podcast hosted by Mitch, along with a weekly print column, in-depth feature reporting and daily coverage in CL’s news & politics website, cltampa.com/news.
“The new owners of Creative Loafing have expressed strong support for good, solid journalism,” said Warner, “and this hire more than meets that standard. I’m looking forward to adding further depth to the newsroom as the year progresses.”
Perry, a San Francisco native, worked as an anchor and reporter for KPFA Radio in Berkeley, CA before his tenure at WMNF. He has moderated candidates’ debates in the Tampa Bay area, and regularly appears on local news and public affairs television and radio programs. He is a graduate of San Francisco State University and a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

Do to a surge in voting over the weekend, we’ve decided to keep the Best of the Bay polls open an extra two days — that means you have until Wednesday, Sept. 2 at noon to submit any and all ballots.

With some hotly-contested races like Best Local Chef, Best Local Band, Best Neighborhood and Best New Restaurant still undecided, your vote can make the difference.

Stay tuned for updates after the polls close by visiting cltampa.com/botb for updates on our Loafies awards party, to be held at our offices on Sept. 15, to be followed by our Best of the Bay issue Sept. 16.

You can also catch all updates on Best of the Bay on Twitter by looking for the tag #botb.

VOTE HERE.

Aug. 1 marked the opening of Creative Loafing’s new multi-use facility with an event welcoming members of the Tampa Independent Business Alliance (TIBA).

Two winners were announced as part of the “Shop Local & Fill Your Passport” contest (customers spent money at locally-owned businesses during the summer to be eligible).

The Brett Alan Trio also performed. Video and more pics below the jump:

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New iPods hitorically debut in the fall, around September. This report that says Toshiba will “ramp up” production of flash memory chips during the month of August. Word on the street is that Toshiba is doing so to meet a big order from Apple. So, new iPods could be on the way.

Why such speculation? Read the rest of this entry »

We (CL) opened up our doors Wednesday night for about 50 potential new contributors. There was wine, beer, pizza and a micro-symposium on 21st-century community journalism. We got a chance to recruit some new voices and our guests got to feel out our site editors. Look for their contributions in the coming days.

One of our newbies, Robin Miller, captured the whole thing on video, which you can see below the jump:

Read the rest of this entry »

Hollywood Bro Fight!

On a new episode of Entourage this weekend, the characters made references to Seth Rogen’s “ugliness” as being “oddly fascinating” in debating whether Rogen could get with a woman like Katherine Heigl in real life.

Seth is pissed and is striking back:

“Yeah, I actually ran into Kevin Dillon in a Starbucks, and he’s like ‘You know, I’ve got to kind of apologize because apparently the guy who created our show doesn’t like you so much’ and I said, ‘Well, I have reason to believe because I think Doug Ellin is a moron from all I can understand, so it makes sense he doesn’t like me.’ And I’ve kind of said some disparaging things about the show. Although in our defense,

Read the rest of this entry »

The new single from the well-reviews new Sonic Youth album, The Eternal, is Sacred Trickster, sung by Kim Gordon.

The video features a trio of young girls going all commie and busting up a rooftop party.

Video below the jump:

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Phil Spector was photographed by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in June 2009 after his arrest on murder charges (Spector was sentenced to 19 years in prison following his conviction for murdering actress Lana Clarkson, whom he shot to death in his Los Angeles home in February 2003) . And it turns out that crazy hairdo he sported in court (seen here) was not actually his real hair. Why would a man wear such a strange looking wig? Maybe because without it, he resembles Gollum from the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

See the horror below:

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Nicely-made fan video mashes Star Trek and Star Wars. Imperial propaganda? Lucas fans feeling a bit threatened for the first time in a while? Dorks on parade? You make the call. Watch the video below the jump:

Read the rest of this entry »

In celebration of J. J. Abrams’ bold decision to bring back the boots and mini skirts in the new Star Trek film, here’s a collection of retro pin-up-girl photos featuring current Hollywood actresses. Enjoy:

Scarlett Johansson:

Alexis Bledel:

More pics below the jump:

Read the rest of this entry »

“It would be my honor to be your new step-father.”

Sure, Saturday Night Live has been in the doldrums longer than most of us can remember, but Justin Timberlake’s guest-host appearances have served up some comedic gems over the past six years. As a sequel to the insanely viral “Dick in a Box” music video from 2006, Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg recruit Susan Sarandon in a very funny new joint: “Motherlover.”

Video below the jump:

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The richest and most famous woman in America has announced, via her her Facebook page today, that she will send her first tweet tomorrow on air. As of this writing, the Twitter username @oprah has 30,000 follwers, all anxiously awaiting her first 140 character announcement.

Her guest tomorrow is Ashton Kutcher, one of the biggest celebrity Twitter users out there, who will likely talk about his race for a million followers on the service and his pledge to help fight malaria in Africa if he crosses the million mark before CNN.

This begs two questions: One, can Twitter possibly handle the influx of new users tomorrow — which could number in the millions — surely the fail whale will rear its ugly head at some point. And second, how might Twitter itself change once the soccer moms get on board?

Twitter CEO Evan Williams tweet from earlier today:

Read the rest of this entry »

We chose the first 95. You placed your nominations for the Final Five.  THE POLLS ARE NOW CLOSED.

Congratulations to our final five:

• Grant Rimbey, Temple Terrace architect/activist
• Bill & Sharon Ezzo, Earth’s Best Natural Pest Management
• AquaFree (earth-friendly car care)
• Kurt Zuelsdorf, Kayak Nature Adventures
• Jason Green, St. Petersburg College Sustainability Coordinator

We invite all our winners and nominees to attend our Green 100 party on May 5. Details here.

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For info on the Green 95, see Creative Loafing writeups below. For specifics on the nominees for the Final Five, scroll down to the readers’ comments.

Read the rest of this entry »

Michelle Obama is very tall, about 5′11″ according to “official” sources (Chickipedia has her listed at 6′1). Look at this shot of her among the wives and partners of politicians attending the G20 summit at an event at Covent Garden’s Royal Opera House:

Not to be confused with the following photo from the book Wonders of the Rainforests:

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A friend of CL sent this to us. We’re taking it as tongue in cheek, since nobody @cl_tampa is Twitter obsessed. Nobody. Video below the jump:

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There are simply not enough full-grown men dressed as unicorns doing video game reviews these days. Here are the Action Pals from Gamedaily.com, doing their best to fill the void in their review of Resident Evil 5:

The funny folks at Funny or Die ask what a modern day Willy Wonka horror movie might look like, and then make a trailer for it. Video below the jump. Enjoy:

Read the rest of this entry »

Not only did Resident Evil 5 (Xbox 360, Playstation 3) top the UK game sales charts last weekend, it also outsold all music singles, albums, and box office receipts.

Capcom’s UK public relations company Monument PR issued a press release with the details that should send a shiver through Hollywood and the music industry’s spines:

- The game outsold every item in the UK Singles Chart (Based on physical and digital sales of UK Top 200) for the weekend.

- The game outsold U2’s chart-topping new album’s total sales since release in one weekend (in the UK).

- Resident Evil 5 grossed more than the top 5 movies in the UK this weekend (Source: IMDB.com).

Because no holiday these days passes without some portion of the female population dressing up as “sexy” versions of whatever theme the holiday may comprise, we bring you the sexy girls of Saint Patrick’s Day. Does it matter if most of them aren’t Irish?

See more pics below the jump.

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Apple’s iPhone OS 3.0 “advance preview” event took place today at 1 p.m.

Here are the highlights of the new iPhone features, what Apple is calling a “major update”:

100 new features, 1,000 new APIs.

• In-app purchases
• P2P connectivity
• built-in Maps for developers
• Push notifications finally arrive
• cut copy and paste
• landscape mode for Apple apps
• Messeges app for MMS
• Voice memo app for recording audio files
• Search across all apps and iPhone OS with Spotlight

This new operating system, expected to launch in the Summer, will work for all iPhones as a free update. To see the complete recap of the presentation, follow the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

About 90 minutes into seeing Watchmen at my local IMAX theater, the character Rorschach had his mask removed. The actor playing Rorschach looked really familiar — an unmistakable face from the past, but I couldn’t figure out who he was. Then it hit me: He was a child star. I was sure of it.

Resisting the urge to look up the answer in the theater, I checked out our star on IMDB when I returned home. His name: Jackie Earle Haley. Born 1961. Scanning through dozens of film appearances through the past four decades, I found this:

Read the rest of this entry »

In the market for a 1978 Ford Fairmont with only 110,000 miles, new brake cables, new tires and new shocks, all for $500? No? Did we mention it’s painted with the original maps from The Legend of Zelda?

If you’re anywhere near Corvallis, Oregon, hit the link below the jump (get it, Link?)

Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s poll is a simple one:

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Don’t forget to check out CL’s comprehensive guide to Watchmen, including reviews, trailers and an interview with co-creator Dave Gibbons.

Because our lives, and possibly yours, can’t be truly complete until the release of the definitive stop-motion guide to constructing the Lego Millennium Falcon, we bring you just that, courtesy of David Gunstensen and Gizmodo:

Here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming Watchmen film, opening Friday:

Here’s our review, courtesy of staffer Brian Ries.

The Watchmen movie cometh: Should you care?

In this week’s Reel Projections podcast Brian gives his impressions:

CL interview with Watchmen co-creator Dave Gibbons.

Listen here.

Two and a Half Watchmen on Youtube:

Is there already a Watchmen backlash?

Our poll is simple: Who Will Watch the Watchmen?

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Creative Loafing in Tampa celebrated the launch of its new Web site last night in our South Tampa offices with a night of music, food and drinks. Pictures below, courtesy of contributor Chip Weiner.

More pics below the break:

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Jon Stewart thinks Twitter is a silly waste of time, according to yesterday’s Daily Show segment of “Jon Stewart shakes his fist at _____.”

Reporter Samantha Bee plays the Twitter enthusiast. Or is she a desperate member of the media, clinging to Twitter like a branch on the bank of a raging river? You make the call.

Download.

In the first Fusionistas podcast, Aleka Phoenix welcomes into the studio hip hop artist Shunda K, creator of the group Yo! Majesty, for a candid conversation about where she’s been and where she’s going, and how she was a forerunner of a new sound.

Spoof songs fans, burrito fans, anybody who goes to Ybor City on the weekend (maybe this weekend), enjoy:

In yet another sign of the Tampa Bay Bucs’ drastic facelift, the team released perhaps the most stalwart player in franchise history, LB Derrick Brooks, a sure-fire future Hall of Famer. Joining him on the cuts list were another popular Buc, RB Warrick Dunn, who returned to the team last year after several with the Falcons; WR Joey Galloway; WR Ike Hilliard; and LB Cato June.

All except June were past-their-prime players with substantial salaries. June, who turns 30 later this year, signed in 2007 as a free agent from the Indianapolis Colts, but never made the impact expected.  June was considered the heir apparent to Brooks, so it’s a bit odd that he was released as well. But overall, the cuts are indicative of a Tampa Bay youth movement, or to use a taboo word: rebuilding.

The Brooks release is easily the most controversial. He’s been an absolutely great player for the team, an 11-time Pro Bowler, and a pillar of the community. He even restructured his contract a couple of times to provide the franchise with salary cap space to sign free agents.

Salary cap is not currently a problem with the  Bucs. The team is a reported $42 million under the cap, most in the NFL.

What do all these moves augur? The optimist might think that the Bucs are gearing up for a run at free agents like monster DT Albert Haynsworth. Those with less sunny outlooks might see it as the new administration following ownership’s mandate to run the team on the cheap. The Glazer family owns the Manchester United soccer team, which is widely regarded to have the highest payroll in all of professional sports.

I don’t have a strong read on it either way — but I do know that if with the Bucs parting ways with Brooks and the rest, they had better be counter those moves by loosening the purse strings or else risk alienating their fanbase more than it already is.

—Eric Snider

A press conference has been scheduled for 3 p.m.

From the official site:

Bucs Call 3:00 PM Press Conference

Feb 25, 2009 -

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have called a press conference at team headquarters beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday afternoon.

The team will make both Head Coach Raheem Morris and General Manager Mark Dominik available to speak and answer questions at the press conference.

The press conference will be carried live on Buccaneers.com and a recorded version will be posted shortly after its conclusion.

So we don’t all own jetpacks yet, but the 21st century isn’t a total bust. Take touchscreens, for example; they’re a cool concept, and the new Impress foam touchscreen by Dis.play takes the touchscreen into 3-D.

Impress is the deliverance of the touch screen from its technical stiffness, coldness and rigidity. It breaks the distance in the relationship of human and technology, because it is not any longer the user which is subjected to technology, but in this case the display itself has to cave in to the human.

See for youself. Video below the jump.

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In episode 5 of ArtsSpeak, Creative Loafing editor David Warner talks with Marissa-Alma Nick and Tera Greene, the creative team behind the multi-disciplinary Peace Piece project and the dance opera “Take A Walk In My Shoes” which premieres February 24 at USF. This episode also introduces Brianna Kole and Lennox of The Fusionistas, CL’s new arts-and-fashion bloggers, who brought the Peace Piece to our attention.

Download

See pictures below the jump:

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Copy and paste, data tethering, and now Flash support — it looks like the yet-to-be-released Palm Pre will fill a lot of iPhone’s missing features. Palm has joined Adobe’s Open Screen Project. From their press release:

The Open Screen Project will help deliver Adobe Flash Player for smartphones on the new Palm webOS platform.

Meanwhile , Apple is getting its legal team together in case they decide to sue Palm for ripping off its touchscreen patents.

In a similar way to how watching 2 Girls, 1 Cup pales in comparison to watching other people watch 2 Girls, 1 Cup, pictures of people ogling barely-dressed people can surpass ogling barely-dressed people yourself. Gizmodo has an entire gallery devoted to just that (NSFW):

Read the rest of this entry »

Anybody else slightly perturbed by the accent?

In episode 4 of the Nosh Pit, Brian and Taylor talk $10 bottles of wine at Ruby Tuesday, chocolate and wine pairings, new and interesting cocktail offerings and the CL March Madness Taco Tournament.

Download.

Previous episodes below the jump.

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Take a moment and study the graphic above, showing job losses during the last three recessions, 1990, 2001 and present day (represented by the green line).

The current period of job loss already exceeds by an order of magnitude anything anyone under the age of 70 has seen. No recession since the Great Depression has lasted even 600 days. But 400 or so days into this one, no one sees an end.

For a more thorough breakdown, click here.

This is just coming down the pipe: New York Yankees‘ third baseman Alex Rodriguez sat down for an interview with Peter Gammons of ESPN this afternoon when he admitted to using steroids between 2001-2003. The interview will air on Sportscenter at 6 p.m. tonight.

Here’s an exerpt:

His voice shaking at times, Alex Rodriguez met head-on allegations that he tested positive for steroids six years ago, telling ESPN on Monday that he did take performance-enhancing drugs while playing for the Texas Rangers during a three-year period beginning in 2001.

“When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure. I needed to perform, and perform at a high level every day,” Rodriguez told ESPN’s Peter Gammons in an interview in Miami Beach, Fla. “Back then, [baseball] was a different culture…

Read the rest of this entry »

A simple poll today. Do you care about the Grammys, which aired last night?

For an event whose most-cited moments include Milli Vanilli’s 1990 Grammy for Best New Artist and the Bob Dylan soy bomb dancer, We’re guessing probably not.

Read the rest of this entry »

NYTimes says movie studies are losing ground in their battle with pirates:

Hollywood may at last be having its Napster moment — struggling against the video version of the digital looting that capsized the music business. Media companies say that piracy — some prefer to call it “digital theft” to emphasize the criminal nature of the act — is an increasingly mainstream pursuit. At the same time, DVD sales, a huge source of revenue for film studios, are sagging. In 2008, DVD shipments dropped to their lowest levels in five years. Executives worry that the economic downturn will persuade more users to watch stolen shows and movies.

“Young people, in particular, conclude that if it’s so easy, it can’t be wrong,” said Richard Cotton, the general counsel for NBC Universal.

It seems strange that the article starts off talking about The Dark Knight, citing it as the most pirated movie of the year. The movie also made its studio an island of money, which begs the question: Is piracy a true threat to a studio’s ability to profit from a movie, or is it merely an expected offshoot of any film’s success, i.e., the better a film does at the box office, the more people try to download it. A film would have to be a hit in the first place to suffer from major piracy, and by that point it’s made a lot of money already, no?

Read more here.

A blogger named Zack asked an interesting question the other day: What is Grimace?

The question is pretty short and to the point. What exactly is Grimace, the McDonald’s character? I mean Ronald McDonald is a clown, that’s pretty clear. And the majority of the remaining McDonald’s characters seem to have at least a passing resemblance or relation to McDonald’s food. The Hamburglar is a thief that steals hamburgers. Birdie is a giant bird. Not sure if she produces the eggs for Egg McMuffins or has some relation to Chicken McNuggets, but she’s pretty clearly a bird. Mayor McCheese has an enormous cheeseburger for a head. The Fry Guys look like a wad of French fries. Well, really they look like pom-pons, but at least the have some relationship to french fries, its in their name. Grimace? I guess he likes shakes. Or are they called partially gelatinated non-dairy gum-based beverages?

But what is he?

Read the rest of this entry »

In episode 3, Brian and Taylor give a sneak peek of the new Datz Deli, talk about Brian’s review of Tampa’s Bin 27 Bistro, rant about wine bars, and rundown the top five food stories of the week: Domenica Macchia, Burger King Body Spray, Hook Atsavinh, Hamburger Cake, and “Dear Richard Branson“.

Download.

Apple was recently granted a patent that reveals covering serious video capabilities.

Alexander Wolfe, from InformationWeek, dug up these sections from the patent that explain the video capabilities of the iPhone.

That and more pics below the jump:

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David Letterman has a knack for interviewing with people for which he has little respect. If Letterman thinks the guest isn’t worth his time, you’d be well advised to set the Tivo and microwave a bowl of popcorn, because shit is about to get hilariously awkward.

For instance, take the case of actor Crispin Glover, from Back to the Future fame:

See the rest at Cracked.

10:15 Stay tuned as we live blog The Office. Just kidding. Goodnight, everybody!

10:12 After many years of snoozefests, we’ve had two great games in two years. This probably doesn’t top the Giants/Patriots, or does it?

10:10 Pittsburgh 27 – Arizona 23 – FINAL

Valiant comeback by Arizona, but in the end their defense could not hold.

10:08 Hail Mary, full of grace…

Omar Epps or Mike Tomlin. Can you tell the difference? Read the rest of this entry »

As one of the biggest entries in the game’s series and the first multi-platform one (not counting the online-only Final Fantasy XI), Final Fantasy XIII has an almost incalculable amount of hype to live up to. While the game still remains largely shrouded in mystery, Square-Enix has released some clear gameplay footage from the game which showcases the new battle system:

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Police in Switzerland have discovered a two-acre field of marijuana with the aide of Google Earth.

Swiss cops say that the marijuana field was discovered in Thurgau sometime last year while they were investigating a suspected drug ring.

Officers were using Google Earth to locate the exact address of two farmers they suspected of being involved in the ring when they came across a planation hidden in a field of corn.

“It was an interesting chance discovery,” Zurich police’s specialist narcotics unit Norbert Klossner told the Associated Press.

The police didn’t acknowledge whether they did anything to the field they found.

Read more at Ars Technica.

Blagojevich convicted, removed from office by Illinois State Senate.

Read more at Political Whore.

Bill O’Reilly: Don’t mess with Jessica Alba. From the actress’ MySpace blog:

I want to clear some things up that have been bothering me lately. I find it depressing that in the midst of perhaps the most salient time in our country’s history, individuals are taking it upon themselves to encourage negativity and stupidity. Last week, Mr. Bill O’Reilly and some really classy sites (i.e.TMZ) insinuated I was dumb by claiming Sweden was a neutral country. I appreciate the fact that he is a news anchor and that gossip sites are inundated with intelligent reporting, but seriously people…it’s so sad to me that you think the only neutral country during WWII was Switzerland. Check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweden_during_World_War_II if you want to see what I was referring to. I appreciate the name calling and the accurate reporting. Keep it up!!

Postell Pringle (at left in photo) is playing the title role in the American Stage production of August Wilson’s “King Hedley II.” He’s also the star of another famous entertainment vehicle with a number in its title: He’s Playboy X in Rockstar Games’ “Grand Theft Auto IV.” CL Editor David Warner (right) talks to Pos about his multi-faceted acting career, and Online Producer Stephen Hammill makes a confession: He killed Playboy, and he’s sorry about it.

Download.

After the jump, a photo of Postell Pringle and his virtual alter ego, Playboy X. Read the rest of this entry »

Courtesy of Design Zen

Sometimes it’s handy to watch a short movie or live streams on a mobile phone. But, getting the viewing angle just right isn’t always possible without having to hold it. Then you need something that can solve this problem – or come out with creative DIY pencil iPhone stand just like what Roland Hutchinson from Geeky Gadget do. Make your own iPhone stand using a regular pencil’s and elastic bands.

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In episode 2, Brian and Taylor discuss the fine art of fooling your friends with box wine, how food critic Laura Reiley jumped the gun, why you may be spreading mercury on your PB&J and the reasons real men drink rose wine during the Superbowl.

Download.

Player below the jump… Read the rest of this entry »

You know those digital signs by the side of the road telling us about road conditions or that we should prepare to stop or that our local bridge might be closed next Tuesday from noon to midnight?

Yeah, well, they’re pretty easy to reprogram to say much funnier things, like, say, “Zombies Ahead.”

According to i-hacked.com, some programmable road signs are easily messed with because they often have unlocked instrument panels, a text-entry system that is easily accessed, and are often protected with uncomplicated, or unchanged default passwords. Read the rest of this entry »

Governor Rod Blagojevich hits the televisions this week in his “shock and awe” media blitz in which is says stuff crazy enough to make us all forget about his impeachment trial.

Today he reveals he considered naming Oprah Winfrey to the U.S. Senate, telling “Good Morning America” the idea of nominating the talk show host came to him as he explored potential candidates for the job that federal prosecutors allege he tried to sell to the highest bidder.

“She seemed to be someone who would help Barack Obama in a significant way become president,” he said. “She was obviously someone with a much broader bully pulpit than other senators.”

The governor worried, though, that the appointment of Winfrey might come across as a gimmick and that the talk show host was unlikely to accept.

In the inaugural episode of Nosh Pit, CL food editor Brian Ries and Cl wine editor Taylor Eason talk about Barack Obama’s first meal as president, plus new restaurant openings in the bay area and the worst of the worst chain restaurants:

Download.

Jimmy Fallon sure has been wooing the nerds recently. The former Saturday Night Live cast member/chronic giggler will take over Late Night from Conan O’Brien, who in turn is moving up to The Tonight Show starting March 2 (there’s a countdown widget, if you’re into that sort of thing), and he has been on the West Coast working the press for the past few weeks.

See the video here.

Yeah, this picture is worth a thousand words. The National Mall, Washington D.C. at noon, Jan. 20, 2009..

Ellen Tigh.

There you go. Surprised? Battlestar Galactica revealed its big secret during Friday’s season premiere on Sci-Fi.

Kate Vernon, the actress who plays Ellen Tigh, is kind of a cougar. And now she is the 12th Cylon. For those who don’t follow the series, it’s kind of like finding out who shot J.R. … or Mr. Burns.

Question is: Has the series jumped too many sharks at this point to win back its once loyal, if compact, fan base?

Big BG fan Kelvin Ma said this after the show: “Not bad. Season could go anywhere at this point. Prob. worth finishing.”

You can catch the episode online here.

As the inauguration craziness gets into full swing this weekend, here’s some video from Obama’s 137-mile train journey from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C.

Here are some shots from the trip, below the jump: Read the rest of this entry »

Web TV site Hulu plans to run the Obama inauguration in its entirety. Their player is even embeddable on other sites. Not too shabby.

Weighing in for the Beat’s end-of-year industry feature, Abrams Executive Editor Charlie Kochman predicts that the “biggest story in comics in 2009″ will be “the long-awaited publication of Robert Crumb’s Book of Genesis, an adaptation of the Bible story, which Norton will be publishing in Fall 2009.

Here’s a recent update from Crumb’s site:

This winter Robert hopes to complete the Genesis project. He’s on page 190 and has about 14 pages left, with the cover, introduction and various small pages related his agreement with Norton Publishers. It’s been an tremendous undertaking, and a commitment which has taken him four years to complete.

First, critical acclaim in The Wrestler, then a spot in Sly Stallone’s new action flick, now cradling his Chihuahua, Jaws, in PETA’s new ad, the actor tells folks to “have the cojones to fix your dog. When dogs get knocked up, puppies get put down because there aren’t enough homes for them.”

Chris Holcom and Kari Goetz of Jobsite’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile join Creative Loafing editor David Warner for a chat about Picasso, Einstein, Steve Martin and Jobsite’s ten-year milestone. Plus, Kari reveals her past life as a Gator Getter.

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Lights Up: Editor David Warner and art critic Megan Voeller welcome artist Will Pappenheimer and the City of Tampa’s Robin Nigh (L to R in the photo above) to talk about Lights On Tampa 2009, the illumination celebration that will transform the Convention Center, the St. Pete Times Forum and other downtown sites starting January 10.

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(Recorded 12/30/08)

In this episode, Joe and Sal review the top films of the year.

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In episode #2 of the Reel Projections podcast, Joe and Sal continue their talk with Dave Gibbons, co-creator of the grapic novel Watchmen.

Download.

Watch the video now:

Here are some shots from the Florida Democratic party’s election night rally held at the Marriot Waterside in downtown Tampa:

 

Here it is, in two parts:

Part two:

The McCain campaign really hopes nobody saw Dick Cheney’s endorsement Saturday:

Natilie Portman and Rashida Jones try to get you to vote by laying in a bed and playing with their  … pussycats … Read the rest of this entry »

It seems every four years, the New York Times pays a lot of attention to our strange state and its strange makeup — septuagenarian Jews and Cuban exiles, Nascar dads and Hillary moms. Check out their new video dissecting the state’s chances of (surprisingly) going for Obama this time around.

Raising the Barr? Politico talks about the chances dark horse Libertarian candiadate Bob Barr might shake the election up in unforseen ways. -Seems he’s getting some love in our presidential poll.

White support for Obama at an historic high? Recent polls from Gallup and Pew Research say so.

Best campaign video of the year? Waaassssuuuuuppp! Eight years later:

Finally, happy birthday to the Smurfs, who turned 50 last week.

Oh, and if you want to be scarred for life, do a Google image search for “old smurf” without filters.  Yikes.

Seven years ago today (Oct. 23, 2001) Apple’s Steve Jobs introduced a new device he claimed would revolutionize music. The invention, an MP3 music player which he called the “iPod,” the same size as a deck of cards, could hold your entire music collection.

Now, in 2008, more than 150 million iPods have been sold. More importantly, the music industry as a whole was upended as the new device changed how people listen to music.

Podcasts re-invented radio as a time-shift-able medium.

Bands and labels devalued albums as fans began collecting songs.

Check out Jobs’ introduction:

It’s hard to believe, watching the video, that it’s only been seven years. It feels almost like a distant chapter in history — further proof how fast the world moves in the information age.

About 10,000 turned out at George M. Steinbrenner Field (Legends Field) to cheer on Barack Obama.

The candidate arrived on the same day early voting begins in Florida. Obama’s camp clearly sees the state as a possible win now, with polls giving a slim, 3-point edge, and they know how the I-4 corridor will likely push the state blue or red.

Five members of the Tampa Bay Rays introduced Obama, including Fernando Perez, Carl Crawford and rookie pitcher David Price.

See the rest of Creative Loafing’s photos from the rally here.

Will Republican Colin Powell endorse Barack Obama Sunday on Meet the Press?

Sarah Palin has yet to see the SNL script featuring her, but aides confirm she will go on tonight, and it won’t be a 30-second cameo, either.

Remember the 80s? Check out the look back at cover art for SNES (Super Nintendo) games. Remember when graphic designers drew things?

The Rays try again tonight to win the American League Pennant. Things can’t possibly go like they did in game 5, can they?

… not when Everything’s coming up Milhouse.

Simpsons quizzes are a dime a dozen, sure, but the original Fallout Boy certainly deserves his own.

With their 13-4  victory over the Boston Red Sox in game #4 of the ALCS, the Tampa Bay Rays, baseball’s worst team last year, are one victory away from the American League pennant and their first World Series appearance.

The Rays started the year as a 50,000-to-1 shot to win the World Series. Creative Loafing’s staff is hard at work buidling a time machine which will allow us to travel back to April, place our cumulative salaries on the team and use our winnings to de-bankrupt the company and save print journalism from certain doom.

• Bill Murray is not opposed to a Ghostbusters 3.
• Morrissey and Johnny Marr are working together on a Smiths rarities compilation.
• Paul Newman is dead from cancer at 83. He was one of the 20th century’s greatest actors and a truly generous human being who parlayed his celebrity into decades of good works. Butch Cassidy and the Sundace Kid. Cool Hand Luke, The Hustler. Oh, and he drove race cars.

And he can eat fifty eggs.

• The first of four presidential debates took place last night. About 100 people met up at The Bunker in Ybor City for a watching party. Pics after the bump…

Read the rest of this entry »

- Twenty-six years ago this weekend, Scott Fahlman invented the emoticon.

- A new study confirms, on a biological level, conservatives are more easily frightened than liberals. Duh.

- This guy lives next door to Mike Hunt.

- Just about every group, idea or product has a Christian-ized version. Video games are no exception. Check out Guitar Praise, the Christian Rock alternative to Guitar Hero.

-If you like to read magazines (who doesn’t?) but don’t like subscribing to them (who does?) you might want to check out Maghound. It’s like Netflix for magazines. For a monthly price you pick whatever you want, read, and send back. Just don’t take them into the bathroom.

- The new New Kids on the Block Album is the #2 album in the country, according to Billboard. Sigh.

- How to make homemade peanut butter cups.

by Ted Rall:

• From the Onion: Parody Movie Script One Crotch-Hitting Joke Short Of Being Greenlit.
• MySpace has melded social networking and teen-focused political education with MyDebates.org, a site focused on the issues and the candidates’ stances on them. Jesus — Sarah Palin’s MySpace page is as unnerving as the woman herself.
• You may not be a video game aficionado, but  if Saints Row 2 has anything to say about it, you soon will be. Neil Patrick Harris? Check.

• Mcain throws softball. Obama hits it out. Zing:

• Finally, may the schwartz be with you.  Spaceballs: The Animated Series looks really, really dumb. Is Russ Meyer directing it?

I prefer the original recipe:

• Top 10 minor Coen Brothers’ characters.
• iPorn
• Firefox wants you to enjoy porn more, too.
• Evil Dead: The Musical in 3-D. No joke.

-Some big names have announced some big Web-only projects:

• Michael Moore will release his new film, Slacker Uprising, online and for free. The Documentary (or whatever you call a Michael Moore movie) about the 2004 election and Moore’s attempt to rally young voters around John Kerry will be available for three weeks as a free download beginning Sept. 23.

• Also, Family Guy creator and voicemaster Seth MacFarlane will debut new cartoons via Google beginning Wednesday.

And some people still don’t think this Internet thing is going to pan out.

• I enjoyed Out.com’s list of the 100 gayest albums of all time. David Bowie beat out the Smiths for the number one slot. I guess I’m a gay music fan.

• Apple will unveil iTunes 8 on Tuesday. Here are some rumors about what it might do. iPhone 2.1 may also see release the same day.

• Finally, what the hell is the deal with the new Windows spots? The clip below features Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates in an ad which plays more like a Dadaist short film than a commercial for Vista .

Earlier today, Eric Snider, Joran Oppelt and I trekked to Tropicana Field, home of the first-place Tampa Bay Rays, to pay a special visit to their manager, Joe Maddon, baseball genius and fine-wine connoisseur. We can’t reveal yet the purpose for our visit, but I did capture some images.

As I suspected, the fake grass does look just like the Brady Bunch grass up close.

Joe was extremely gracious and very cool to let us bother him during the middle of a pennant race.

Maybe we were good luck. The Rays bitchslapped the Yankees shortly thereafter.

Read the rest of this entry »

– Call it the renaissance of Kobe Bryant.

Already on the verge of winning a gold medal with the redeem team, the once-accused rapist and all-around NBA “me-first” guy is apparently more popular in China than Yao Ming. On the heels of that comes the revelation Kobe loves comics, too, and soccer.

- What’s a calendar year without a little Radiohead backlash?

Yesterday, Wade reported how Hold Steady guitarist Tad Kubler kindled a blog flame war by admitting he liked Radiohead better when they played straight rock. What a shock, coming from a straight rock guitar player.

Then, on Monday, Silver Jews frontman/lisper David Berman, talking about the album In Rainbows, told Pitchfork, “all you’ll get over and over again is things are miserable, don’t try, things suck … Never before has there been a ‘greatest band in the world’ who had so little to say about anything.”

Now I like Berman, but does anyone else think he didn’t really listen to In Rainbows?

- Keith Olbermann says Bush is making more shit up, this time about Iran.

- And yeah, apparently, Warner Brothers is actually serious about making a Goonies 2, with the same actors, nonetheless. Let’s pretend I didn’t just type that and instead enjoy these Goonies quotes:

Read the rest of this entry »

During a recent conversation with fellow blogger Mean Amanda, I learned an interesting fact about her.

In all her 25 years, she’s never, not once, seen Star Wars.

I’m a Star Wars fan — not so much a nut. I’ve never worn a Padawn learner’s hair braid or anything. I don’t know the names of obscure characters. OK, I do, but still, for me Star Wars comprises a meaningful part of my childhood, fused into my psyche, a true cultural signpost.

So it was a shock to the system to hear this from her. And it forced a question.

What is it like to live amid near-infinite cultural references to something so universally experienced when you’ve never experienced it yourself? Is it akin to being a minority or a foreigner living in an unfamilar country? Sure, you pick up the phrases and the habits around you over time, but maybe not the associations.

Or maybe seeing Star Wars isn’t even necessary to “get it,” culturally speaking. Maybe one can fully partake in discussions regarding Wookies, lightsabers and gold biknis anyway.

Deep thoughts. Our conversation soon shifted to more familiar and shallow waters.

“I will watch Star Wars in order to get laid in the future,” she said. “The guys I like, they know Star Wars.”

The Force is strong with this one.

IG-88 bounty hunter. I didn’t have to look this up…