Daily Loaf

It’s a big week for me, with the premiere of New Moon and the season finale of Project Runway, so despite my sudden fever and inability to breathe through my nose, I am excited and ready for some recapping!

To catch you all up, we are in New York and it’s just a couple days before the show at Bryant Park and poor Carol Hannah is blorching in the bathroom at the hotel. Before we even begin, I, for the record, am on Team Carol Hannah for the win. I love the evening looks, the dresses, the classic style, the drama, the frufiness, I love it all. One of my BFFs, Amanda W, is on Team Althea. We have a bet, loser buys the other one a Starbucks drink. If Irina wins, we all lose, as a human race, for allowing such a crazy be-otch to hold the title of Project Runway Winner. That is my stance on that.

From what I can tell, the workroom was basically just a mess of chaos, alterations, annoyance and tears for two days. I can understand though, I want to cry for Carol Hannah, she is beyond sick, I cannot imagine working under that kind of pressure while being that ill, ugh! At least she has Logan to comfort her, someone Wikipedia that and tell me they ended up married … I really want that happy ending. In non-loving news, Althea and Irina seem to be sharing brain waves yet again with the makeup look, bringing Althea to tears, the third workroom-cry within the first 10 minutes of the show … I’m no expert but that might be a record.

When they finally got to the tents, the chaos went from yikes to redonkulous. I have never seen Tim Gunn as upset as he got backstage at the runway show. No one was ready and he was not the least bit pleased. He ALMOST YELLED!!!! I cannot believe it, but seriously, these girls are a mess, models aren’t dressed, hair isn’t done. Big. Huge. Mess.

After the jump find out who wins, who loses and who has to buy Starbucks, or if we just lose as a planet.

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This weekend is college football’s calm before the storm, so if you need to get some yard work done, this is the weekend to do it. Unless of course, you’re a Michigan or Ohio State fan. The three kings, Florida, Alabama and Texas, all have two regular season games, then a conference championship to determine who will play for the BCS title. This week, those three are such huge favorites against Florida International, Kansas and UT-Chattanooga that Las Vegas doesn’t even have a point spread in the ‘Bama-UTC game. Perhaps the Mocs are hoping Terrell Owens will once again suit up for his alma mater. The Buffalo Bills might secretly be hoping the same thing. In the NFL, Super Bowl contenders are starting to separate themselves from the early draftees, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have a few choice matchups to watch. One includes an undefeated team as a road underdog and two other conference games that could determine who gets into the playoffs and who stays out.

(10) OSU at Michigan – (Saturday, 12:00 pm – ABC – OSU minus 12)

Let’s face it. A Rose Bowl berth doesn’t mean anything to Ohio State if they don’t beat they’re arch rival. Losses in this series get coaches fired. Just ask John Cooper. (I probably just lost three Buckeyes readers for merely mentioning Cooper’s name.) Speaking from personal experience, the only thing more enjoyable than watching college football’s most storied rivalry with a drunken Buckeye fan is hearing him or her explain in excruciating detail how this is college football’s most storied rivalry. So they have that going for them… which is nice. Whoops, just lost three more Buckeye readers. Michigan is 1-6 in the Big Ten this year and Jimmy T has never lost to Michigan, so the Buckeyes have nothing to worry about this year, right?

(11) Oregon at Arizona – (Saturday, 8:00 pm – ABC – ORE minus 6)

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In just a few months every culture vulture in Tampa Bay will be descending on the new Stanley Saitowitz-designed home of the Tampa Museum of Art and its inaugural exhibition, A Celebration of Henri Matisse: Master of Line and Light. But as the winner of this item, you and a friend will get to escape the crowds and go on a private tour of the Matisse show and the museum with its highly personable new director Todd Smith and CL art critic Megan Voeller. Then you’ll top off your tour with lunch at Sono Cafe, which isn’t just any museum cafeteria; it’s being run by Mise en Place.

Estimated value: $150. Suggested opening bid: $25

You only need $100 and a Mac to develop apps for the iPhone. If it’s Twitter, games, email, GPS navigation or Facebook, “there’s an app for that” on the iTunes App Store. The iPhone’s success is largely owed to the developers, ranging from big name studios to a few guys in a garage (a la Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak) who have made the device the Swiss army knife of phones.

Since its launch in July of 2008, the iTunes App Store has reached over 2 billion downloads and now has more than 100,000 unique applications available. What has made the rapid growth and success of the App Store possible are the more than 125,000 developers in Apple’s iPhone Developer Program.

What’s it like developing for the iPhone? Why are developers gravitating towards it? Where do developers see mobile gaming going? The Daily Loaf sat down with a few iPhone developers last week to answer these, and other, questions. Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to On the Radar, where we preview up-and-coming arts events to mark your calendar for. In the aftermath of last year’s presidential election, some cultural critics wondered if political humor might suffer in the Age of Obama. Regular viewers of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher know that hasn’t been an issue with this cable talk show host/comic (who visits Tampa next week) — but fans of Sarah Palin, George W. Bush, and other GOP icons should not think they’ll get off any easier.

Although Bill Maher once described himself as a Libertarian, in the Bush years he became an icon to many in the progressive movement. His 2003 appearance in Tampa, where he skewered Bush shortly after he had declared “mission accomplished” in Iraq, led some supporters of the former President to the exits. Read the rest of this entry »

Doug Stanhope is a balls-to-the-wall tact-free modern-day outlaw comic who says exactly what’s on his mind to great (if highly uncomfortable and nearly always offensive) comic effect. He recently admitted to being a “techno-retard” on his blog and to becoming “every hackneyed old comic who talks about these kids and their gadgets today. Take your apps and iPhones and leave me sitting here with my thumb stuck in my oldy-fashioned vibrating latex anus.” Expect some related techno-bashing at his Crowbar show. Sat., Nov. 21, 8 p.m., Crowbar, Ybor City, $20 (ages 21 and up), dougstanhope.com. –Leilani Polk

Tony Soprano and Groucho Marx would be in heaven: The 11th annual Cigar Heritage Festival includes an attempt to break the Guinness Book’s World’s Longest Cigar record by master cigar makers Wallace and Margarita Reyes, who try for a 180’ cigar. The nationally syndicated Cigar Dave Show is on site to report the festivities, a game zone offers big screen TVs, leather couches and casino tables (it doesn’t matter how many cigars there are, you still gotta catch the game), a beer and wine garden, a kid’s corner, access to the Saturday Market, myriad ethnic food vendors, and, of course, an enormous selection of the world’s finest cigars and accessories — all in the heart of Ybor. Sat., Nov. 21, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Centennial Park, Tampa, $5, free for children 12 and younger. Read the rest of this entry »

Going to see The Twilight Saga: New Moon? If you aren’t already jumping out of your chair kind of excited, you should be, because we thought it was pretty much amazing…we being me, Nice Amanda and my BFF Mean Amanda. I mean, sure, we might be in our 20s and maybe this isn’t the coolest thing ever for us to love, but we do love it and you should too.

We had the distinct pleasure of checking out the sneak preview last night so if you are into random conversations about werewolves, vampires, “Star Wars for girls” and vampire dildos you should probably listen to the podcast below where the Amandas will educate you on the Twilight saga, what we thought of New Moon and what to look out for, including Jacob’s miraculous back muscles, Edward’s weird nipple, some actual funny scenes and we didn’t even mention the bad wigs! (run-on sentence? Yep, that’s how thrilled I am about this, I have lost all ability type like an adult).

Download the podcast here

And you can check out the real Creative Loafing review here: The Twilight Saga: New Moon: one Twifan’s stream-of-consciousness review

Are you a film fanatic who’s always dreamed of writing your own review of a big Hollywood release? If so, we’ve got just the offer for you: The winning bidder will accompany Associate Editor Joe Bardi (left) to a special preview screening of a major upcoming release. (That’s “preview,” as in “see it before it opens and make your friends jealous.”) Love it? Hate it? Either way, you sort out your thoughts and write the CL movie review for the chosen film — to run in both the print and online editions of Creative Loafing. After you’ve completed the review, attract readers with your own media blitz, including an appearance on CL’s Reel Projections podcast and heavy promotion of your review through Twitter, Facebook and CLTampa.com. Soon, thousands of CL readers will look to you for guidance on what movie to see next. Feel the power!

Suggested opening bid: $50

Place your bid below:

This week’s episode of Top Chef Las Vegas had three very important elements: kicking off another schmo so we can get to the finale already, it was the last episode in Vegas, and (drumroll, please) Thomas Keller appeared as a guest adjudicator. It sure took for damn long enough to get him to do the show! What, 6 seasons?! I’m glad that Keller finally learned from his famous chef peers, sold out, and jumped on the gravy train that is Top Chef (because who knew who he was before this show, right?).

In their Quickfire Challenge, the chefs were greeted by Gavin Kaysen who competed in the 2007 Bocuse d’Or – the equivalent of the Olympics in the culinary world. He challenged them to a ballotine (bah-lo-TEEN) challenge (not to be confused with the mispronunciation of “ballontine” used almost the entire episode), which is basically a “protein inside a protein inside a protein” – a protein explosion!

Redbeard (Kevin) called the V Brothers “not smart” for trying to do too much in such a short period of time, though they seemed to pull it off, and Redbeard’s dish was then put down as being “too simple”. Angry Bro (Mike) got whiny about not winning (claiming to not have understood the challenge), and Ceveech (Jen) took the win with her sushi-esque calamari/scallop/salmon roll. It’s nice to see this once sassy and confident woman finally get her groove back and get back in the saddle. (Though I definitely think she was on something, be it natural or prescription, this episode – she seemed so much calmer, with a touch of joie de vivre about her.)

The cheftestants had to become culinary Olympians for their Elimination Challenge, as they were to perform in a Bocuse d’Or style challenge. To put it in layman’s terms: They had to cook a kickass dish with extremely intricate “garnishes” in only a few hours for some of the biggest names in the culinary world- Thomas Keller (the giant pictured at right), Daniel Boulud, Jerome Bocuse, and Gavin Kaysen, among other renowned names in food.

I thought that the comments made by Hot Bro (Bryan) about not being sure if he’d finish on time and Kevin saying how he was attempting something he’d never done before was foreshadowing and spelled doom for them. Ceveech, despite some minor issues, seemed pretty comfortable with her dishes (plus, she’d received an extra 30 minutes to cook from her Quickfire win), and Angry Bro seemed overly confident (as per usual) and well prepared because of all the culinary competitions he’d performed in about 10-11 years prior (”Best Teen Chef”?).

During judging, they were all raked against the coals, mostly being chastized for having over- or undercooked dishes. Turns out Angry Bro’s took his artistry too far and overcomplicated his dish, missing the mark, and forgetting to season properly. Even though he didn’t exactly follow the guidelines like the other chefs did (listen to the podcast below to hear our reasoning), Redbeard ended up taking the win, which also included $30k and a spot on the American team for the next Bocuse d’Or. And Eli “Bonaduce” got sent packing (no surprise there).

Highlights: Hate mail, Jeff gives us the 411 on the Bocuse d’Or, comments on the fabulous makeovers as seen in the finale preview, and we surmise our picks for the top three finalists.
 
Bonus: Jeff gives information on an exciting culinary event taking place next month in Orlando where Angry Bro (Mike Voltaggio) will make an appearance, as well as many other big names in the food world. Listen to the podcast for more info.

Hear the hilarious podcast after the jump:
Read the rest of this entry »

The perennial Best of the Bay-winning American Stage Theatre Company is offering a fantastic package for the theater fan: A subscription/Flex Pass good for six admissions to their 2009-2010 season. Choose from among This Wonderful Life, Blithe Spirit, Driving Miss Daisy, Seafarer and David Mamet’s political comedy November. And then the piéce de resistance: two tickets and a walk-on role in costume in next summer’s American Stage in the Park production at Demens Landing: the wild and woolly rock musical Hair. (Note we said “in costume” — you won’t have to get naked.)

Estimated value: $350. Suggested opening bid: $50

Place your bid below:

Looking for something green-related to do this weekend? Look no further than our own Green Community Calendar.

Dunedin Green Market- Every Friday; 8 am- 1 pm. The Dunedin Green Market is located in Pioneer Park at the cross streets of Douglas Avenue and Main Street in Downtown Dunedin and runs every Friday.

Tampa Downtown Market- Fridays October-May; 10 am-2 pm. The vision of the Tampa Downtown Market is to provide local residents and businesses of the community with the freshest, highest quality, most nutritious, and most reasonably priced food & gourmet products. The mission of the Tampa Downtown Market is to serve as a community-gathering place where local farmers, producers, and artisans can offer fresh agricultural and related products to generate a sense of local pride and further the economic development of Downtown Tampa. With a strong focus on sustainability, the Tampa Downtown Market intends to provide a vehicle to educate the community on the importance of good health as we create more business opportunities and residential benefits. Located in Lykes Gaslight Square- Tampa St. & Kennedy Blvd., Downtown Tampa.

22nd Annual Hillsborough River and Waterways Cleanup and Picnic- Saturday, November 21; 8 am-1 pm. Free breakfast, lunch, and t-shirts for volunteers. Rollin’ on the River Picnic at 11 am. Environmental education booths from 11 am-1 pm. Bring a canned good for America’s Second Harvest Food Bank to help us help families in need. To volunteer, contact the Mayor’s Beautification Program: 813-221-8733, volunteer@mbptree.org. Lowry Park boat ramp- North Blvd. at Sligh Ave., Tampa.

Ellenton Farmers Market- Saturdays; 8 am – 1 pm. Ellenton Farmers’ Market will be the largest year-round market in florida that specializes in “green” natural, organic and environmentally friendly products that makes for a healthier lifestyle and a better environment. Located just North of the Prime Outlet Mall in Ellenton, Florida (exit 224, Old Exit 43, off I – 75).

St. Pete Saturday Morning Market- Every Saturday; 9 am to 2 pm. Downtown St. Petersburg in the Al Lang Stadium parking lot / 1st Ave. S and 1st St. Open October 3 through May 29.
Read the rest of this entry »

The mixed martial arts (MMA) heavyweight fighter, Brendan Schaub, is now one step closer to winning a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) as he advances to the semifinals after defeating his team mate, Jon Madsen, last night on episode ten of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) season ten.

Madsen put his wrestling skills on display by taken the 4-inches taller Schaub down twice during the first round without effectively controlling him on the ground. Schaub, on the other hand, relied on his boxing skills and kept dishing out punches including two powerful right hooks in round two which quickly sent Madsen  to the floor resulting in a win via knockout for Schaub.

Being a former football player for the University of Colorado, Schaub is no stranger to employing an effective game plan. He revealed after the fight that his strategy included to let Madsen wear himself out with his wrestling moves and then to just finish him off with solid punches in order to avoid being at the judges’ mercy. Interestingly, this was Schaub’s first MMA career fight that actually made it past the first round as he won all his previous five bouts via TKO in round one.

Watch Schaub’s impressive knockout of Madsen after the break: Read the rest of this entry »

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart in New Moon

I’d like to begin by saying that when it comes to Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Saga, all faculties go down the drain. I like to consider myself a reasonably intelligent, slightly nerdy and only rarely socially inept twenty-something, which, to my mind, means that my obsessive — nay, rabid — devotion to a mediocre teen romance novel (about freaking vampires) is somewhat out of the ordinary. But millions of ladies (and dudes) of myriad ages and backgrounds can’t be wrong.

Which is why I should have been prepared for the onslaught of hysteria and hormones that accompanied last night’s pre-screening of New Moon, the anticipated sequel to Twilight that has had fans jonesing for another dose of Edward, Bella and Jacob for 12 long months (Which isn’t all that long I guess; I never had the fortitude to be a Star Wars fan.)

I know, I know; my fellow Twihards are itching to hear about the actual movie (and Taylor Lautner’s abs. I’ll save you the suspense: they’re amazing.) But I have to set up the scene. I arrived to a half-full theater of mostly women — and a few husbands and boyfriends (mine included) who had clearly been dragged along against their wills and better judgment.

Amidst unbearably high-pitched shrieks and screeches (mostly) from the audience’s younger members, the usual gaggle of TV and radio promotion people bestowed precious merch to the ultimate Twifans: she who knows the most trivia wins. By the time the movie actually began, I was thanking my lucky stars that my eardrums had somehow been spared. Boy, was I wrong. Read the rest of this entry »

Your little girl is growing up right before your eyes. It seems like only yesterday she was singing along with Hannah Montana, but now she’s dreaming of junior high school pep rallies and cramming for her PSATs. After exhaustive research, we have put together the perfect gift pack for the tweenage girl on your list. Included are DVDs of the cheerleading hit Bring It On: Fight To The Finish (starring High School Musical’s Christina Milian) and ABC’s college hit Greek: Chapter Three, and one The Twilight Saga: New Moon T-shirt. Plus, if you act now, we’ll throw in a New Moon poster and commemorative card set and — for your own movie-going pleasure — two adult admissions, including refreshments, to Channelside Cinemas 10.

Estimated value: $100. Suggested opening bid: $10

Bid on this item below:

I’m a sports snob. I strongly believe there’s only a handful of truly great sports movies. It’s just too difficult for filmmakers to recreate the drama that takes place on the field. So when the Creative Loafers asked me to review The Blind Side, a sports movie I would never see starring an actress I really don’t like, I was skeptical.

I fell into my comfy leather chair at the Cobb Theater Cinebistro in Wesley Chapel, fully expecting to pan everything about the movie. Then a strange thing happened. The film turned out to be pretty good.

Read the rest of this entry »

Need a portrait of yourself, your family, your pet dachsund? Want a photo for your holiday cards that’ll dazzle the

ornaments off the tree? Photographer and trend-setter Marina Williams invites you to ARTpool, her St. Pete gallery/boutique at 919 First Ave. N, for a professional, studio-lit photo session. If you like, you can wear items from the boutique’s vintage clothing and accessories collection during the shoot, and you’ll also get 50% off any one clothing item in the shop. After the shoot you’ll be presented with a final, high-resolution digital image on CD, and you’ll also receive two VIP tickets to the gallery’s ABC123 graphic design show in December.

Estimated value: $350.

Current Bid Amount: $50.

Place your bid below:

As everyone in the world that possesses a television knows, New Moon, the second installment of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Saga is in a theater near you at midnight tonight. My guess is most fans are going to watch Twilight right before they go see New Moon, just for the thrill of it. However, if they want to do it in the company of other “Twihards” and “Twimoms,” Regal Cinemas University 16 is showing the first film before the opening of the new flick for the Twilight Saga Festival Night. There’s also a Twilight/New Moon costume contest (costumes must have shoes, a shirt and no mask) along with a Twilight poster design contest. Winners of both receive prizes (please let it be Edward Cullen in a box, please let it be Edward Cullen in a box…) Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to On the Radar, where we preview up-and-coming arts events to mark your calendar for. Next week brings to the stage The Color Purple, a heart-wrenching/warming story, penned by Alice Walker and famously acted by Whoopi Goldberg, and now an Oprah Winfrey-produced Broadway hit (Oprah also joined Whoopi for the onscreen production).

The story, subtitled “The Musical About Love,” follows Celie, who finds inner strength and beauty despite a lifelong affair with adversity. Read the rest of this entry »

A fabulous sampling of the 2009-2010 season at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center (recently renamed the Straz Center), beginning with two tickets to one of the most anticipated theater events of the year: the world premiere of Wonderland, the new Frank Wildhorn musical based on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. That’s not all. You also get two tickets to Complexions Contemporary Ballet (Jan. 14) and two tickets to Opera Tampa’s production of Puccini’s La Rondine (Apr. 23-25).

Estimated value: $450.

Current Bid: $67.23

Place your bid below:

I’m exhausted. It’s the good kind of exhausted though, like finally lying down in your bed after weeks of traveling on vacation. Dragon Age: Origins, the new high-fantasy role-playing game from Bioware really is an epic journey to a far off land, and like anyone whose traveled abroad knows, there are plenty of rough spots and minor annoyances as you go, but looking back all you’ll think about are the grand vistas, the strange cities, and the demon spawn you got to kill. With well over forty hours of play time (at least), Dragon Age: Origins is no weekend getaway. It requires commitment, endurance, a desire to learn new language and the patience to put up with some unsavory meals. In return you’ll get memories that will last a lifetime (or at least until Mass Effect 2 or Final Fantasy XIII come out).

Set in a fantasy world of Bioware’s own creation, Dragon Age: Origins tells a familiar but satisfying tale of evil hordes invading the mortal world, threatening to destroy all creation with their gnashing teeth and overly-spikey armor. The developers take pride in making their generic fantasy setting not totally generic. The elves are either slaves, serfs, or nomads, not scions of high civilization. The dwarves obsesses over politics and scheming and have American accents. The arch-demons are really dragons. Read the rest of this entry »

Hard to believe, but the holiday season is in full swing at the multiplex. The last few weeks have already seen the release of some big blockbusters (2012, A Christmas Carol) and at least one surefire Oscar contender (Precious, which had a smash limited release last weekend and was just announced for a Fri., Nov. 20 opening in Tampa bay), and Hollywood promises the best is yet to come. With six weeks until January, here are 12 must-see titles to close out the decade.

Friday, November 20
WHAT’S HOT: THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON
They’re hot, moody and in love. Only problem: He’s a vampire who’s gotta get a move on, driving her into the arms of a group of vampire-hating werewolves. The buzz on the latest Twilight film is out of control, led by recent revelations that stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart are necking in real life. The franchise is becoming more cultural touchstone than mere film series, and New Moon looks poised to propel the “Saga” into the upper echelon of high-grossing film series like Harry Potter and Star Wars. Believe it.
COUNTER-PROGRAMMING: AN EDUCATION
If all that Twilight hokum sounds a bit childish, the Tampa Theatre will be opening director Lone Scherfig’s An Education in direct competition with the vampires. Starring Carey Mulligan as a 17-year-old student who falls in love with a much older man (Peter Sarsgaard) only to get an early lesson in heartbreak, An Education made film-fest waves earlier in the year after the film picked up an Audience Choice Award at Sundance. Also of note: British novelist Nick Hornby (High Fidelity, About a Boy) co-wrote the screenplay.

Read the rest of this entry »

On this week’s episode of Top Chef Las Vegas we’re down to the Final Five: Hot Bro (Bryan), Angry Bro (Mike), Redbeard (Kevin), Eli “Bonaduce”, and Ceveech (Jen). (Even though I finally learned their real names a few weeks ago, I still like to refer to them as the nicknames we made up for them in our podcast. Deal.)

If you saw the sneak peek of this episode then you already know that this week’s guest judge is none other than American culinary deity Thomas Keller. (If you don’t know who he is, you might want to look him up before watching this episode and then beat yourself up for not being a devoted enough foodie.) It looked as if even the V Brothers were sweating when they learned that Keller would be gracing them with his presence. Surprisingly enough, Ceveech looks a heck of a lot better this week – she even laughs! Should we credit Valium or is she smokin’ the good stuff?

In the preview videos below, we get a peek at tonight’s Quickfire and Elimination Challenges. For their Quickfire, the chefs have 90 minutes to create a ballotine. Yes, I even had to crack open one of my old textbooks to look this one up. (It turns out, the chefs were actually mispronouncing the word.) According to Epicurious’ Food Dictionary, a ballotine (bal-lo-TEEN) is “Meat, fish or fowl that has been boned, stuffed, rolled and tied in the shape of a bundle. It is then braised or roasted and is normally served hot but can be served cold. Often confused with galantine, which is poached and served cold.” As Ceveech put it, it’s a “protein in a protein in a protein”. Or, as I like to think of it, a protein explosion. I like that Ceveech decided, “To hell with all this fancy schmancy gourmet crap!” and went renegade, Paula Deen-style, by making a Turducken.

For the Elimination Challenge, I’m still not quite sure of the actual challenge. It looks in one shot as though they’re making a ton of amuse bouches. In the video below, it seems that Angry Bro and Ceveech are both cooking with the same protein. All I know for sure is Thomas Keller is finally guest judging, which is enough to get me to watch.

In the video below, there is some major foreshadowing going on: Ceveech’s risky salmon dish; Hot Bro is attempting a 10-hour braise in 4 hours and remarks, “I hope that it doesn’t get me in the end.” (*cough*Thatswhatshesaid*cough*); and Redbeard is actually going out on a limb and attempting something he’s never done before, saying it is “one of the edgiest ones [challenges] for me to try and do something that I never do.” (Um, isn’t that no-no number one in Top Chef and has been the downfall of so many cheftestants?) Could a heavy-hitter (someone other than Eli) end up going home tonight? Watch what happens!

Tune in to Bravo tonight at 10 pm EST/9 pm C, check out our own live Tweets during the show (Jeff: @TheStew, Katie: @culinarypirate), and listen to our podcast here tomorrow! (You can now download on iTunes and check out Jeff’s Top Chef Flickr page.)

See videos after the break:
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Mystery and intrigue were dripping from the alien’s mothership in the third episode of ABC TV’s V reboot. Well, not literally, but follow me: Last week’s episode had an overall them of “you can’t trust anyone.” This week’s installment not only continued that theme, but offered some surprising examples of it in action.

Read the rest of this entry »

When you think about Marvel Comics, chances are you think about Spider-Man. The Hulk. Captain America. Iron Man. The X-Men.

But there have been just as many X-Women as -Men.

More of Marvel’s characters have called themselves Spider-Woman than Spider-Man, including the figurehead of last summer’s mega-crossover Secret Invasion.

She-Hulk was Marvel Chairman Emeritus Stan Lee’s final Marvel creation. A simple origin, but a lasting character.

Even so, Jennifer Walters — the cousin of Bruce Banner, The Hulk, has yet to smash her way to the big screen, in either an Ang Lee-adapted mess or much-deserved, subsequent relaunch several years later. And the only Spider-Woman your average person may recognize is a fat kid dressed as Spider-Man for Halloween. (I’m allowed to say that. It was me. They weren’t boobs, they were buds.)

Wolverine became the first X-Men spin-off, beating Phoenix, Rogue or Storm. (Sorry, Halle.) And the only Marvel film with a female at the lead, Elektra, managed to do worse than its predecessor, Daredevil.

Why? Because comic books, and therefore their mainstream adaptations, tend to lend themselves more to the Y chromosome than the X.

But X has always been a key component to the success of Marvel Comics — and in March, coinciding with National Women’s History Month, the company will begin a year-long celebration of the women both on and behind its pages with Marvel Women. Read the rest of this entry »

Okesene Tilo, co-founder and co-owner of Square One Creative, Tampa, celebrated his 30th birthday in a whirl of art and costume last Saturday at Square One’s latest major event, Magnum Opus. The theme of the event was creation and self-preservation, linking the disparity of support in the arts community with that of the environment, with a call-to-arms in the names of both. Guests were encouraged to wear green and white in keeping with the theme. Square One operates out of The RITZ Ybor.

More than 80 local artists were featured at the event, along with live performances by local musician Jeremy Gloff, Kinetic Dance Group featuring Square One’s own Jason Moriarty, and HEMISPHERE Dance, among others.

Okesene (”Okie”) Tilo estimates that, “About 2,000 people were in attendance on Saturday.” This is corroborated by yours truly, who had a difficult time finding the bathroom for all the people standing in the way on more than one occasion.

Check out my photo review after the break: Read the rest of this entry »

With this weekend’s release of Twilight: New Moon, the superfans’ ravenous appetite for handsomely brooding bloodhounds will be temporarily satiated. But it won’t be long before they’re craving more, more, more! So what better way to suck up than the ultimate vampire gift-pack: a New Moon reusable, aluminum water bottle (BPA-free!), two different New Moon T-shirts, a New Moon poster (size 11 1/2” x 17”), a set of New Moon Commemorative Cards, and the two-disc Special Edition DVD of the original Twilight movie. And in case that still doesn’t quiet your bloodlust (particularly the lust part), we’re throwing in the Complete First Season DVD of HBO’s red-hot series True Blood.

Current Bid: $20

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Hot on the heels of her appearance in Jobsite Theater’s And Baby Makes Seven, recent Tampa Bay area transplant Jessica Rothert slips into Stageworks’ production of Bad Dates, which previews tonight at the Shimberg Playhouse. Theresa Rebeck’s one-woman show, which premiered Off Broadway in 2003, is about Haley Walker, a Texas transplant living in Manhattan with her teenage daughter. And lots of shoes. Six hundred, in fact. Having found a measure of success in the big city as a restaurateur, single Haley is ready to dip her feet and their fashionable footwear back into the dating pool. From her bedroom, Haley addresses the audience as she prepares for or reacts to her titular encounters with the opposite sex. Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to On the Radar, where we preview up-and-coming arts events to mark your calendar for. Nothing says holiday cheer like spending time with the author of In Cold Blood (about the brutal murder of an entire family) and Breakfast At Tiffany’s (about a high-class hooker). But sometimes, Christmas traditions are re-imagined — like in A Truman Capote Christmas, which opens next week at American Stage.

This is the autobiographical story of the author’s childhood in which he is sent from his comfortable, familiar home to live with the father he has never met. Along the way, Capote (pictured left, with his father) discovers the truth about his past, his father and Santa Claus. Not From Texas acoustic band accompanies the show. Nov. 23-30, 7:30 p.m. Sun.-Mon., 8 p.m. Weds. and Fri.-Sat., American Stage, 163 Third St. N., St. Petersburg, “pay what you can” admission, americanstage.org. – Franki Weddington

There are two sets of crises in 100 Saints You Should Know, one religious, one sexual. The religious crises are experienced by a priest named Matthew, who’s losing his faith, and a cleaning woman named Theresa, who’s just beginning to gain hers. The sexual crises involve Matthew again – he’s discovering that he’s gay and that he needs physical intimacy – and 16-year-old Garrett, who already knows that he’s gay, but is reluctant to out himself. There are two other important characters — Abby, Theresa’s rule-breaking daughter, and Colleen, Matthew’s dogmatic mother — and then there are the two near-nude dancers who, in Kerry Glamsch’s ambitious staging of the play, punctuate the action with intense slow-motion homoerotic couplings set to music including Gregorian chant.

The ultimate result is mixed: the play is original in its treatment of the ebb and flow of faith, formulaic in its scenes of gay self-actualization, and both spectacular and overly pious — sexually pious! — in its choreography. Still, author Kate Fodor is unafraid to aim for big game (her previous play was about who else, Martin Heidegger and Hannah Arendt), and on several occasions she scores a direct hit. This may not be a totally successful work of theater, but it’s provocative and daring. At the very least, it’ll give you something to talk about. Read the rest of this entry »

“Sometimes it’s after the curtains close the real reckonings come, whether it’s about who we wish we were or who we wish we could be or who we want.” — xoxo Gossip Girl

This week was the one of seriously awkward conversations … I guess that’s what happens when you have a threesome, or if you’re trying to have sex with your ex-hook up’s married cousin, or when your step brotherish comes to a club to take you home from an ecstasy deal with an ambassador.

Although we were all promised a hot and heavy threesome last week not much was delivered, this week we got a little more of a view of the action, through flashbacks of a very cocky (pun intended) Dan, and we learned one very important lesson: don’t ever have a threesome Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to On the Radar, where we preview up-and-coming arts events to mark your calendar for. When I became a certified barbecue judge a few years back, I realized that there’s more to the art of smoked meat than most people realize. Luckily, you won’t have to worry about that when you head out to the 7th annual Plant City Pig Jam this weekend.

Instead, you can just cruise the field, sampling championship char from more than 70 barbecue teams, ranging from local yokels to semi-professional ‘cue cooks. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s a rare pleasure to indulge in the tradition of High Tea (and by that we do mean afternoon tea, not drug-infused drinks), and today pinkie-lifting tea lovers  can enjoy the tea traditions of four cultures with samplings of drink and cuisine from around the world: cucumber and mint sandwiches, goat cheese and watercress on raisin bread and scones with clotted cream and jam from England; smoked salmon sandwiches, roasted pepper and cream cheese sandwiches and tea cookies from Russia; curried chicken salad in pita, fennel and apple sandwiches and coconut puffs from India; and hummus on flatbread, pistachio baklava and date nut bread from Palestine. Bring your favorite tea cup and a story to share at this elegant oasis from the usual buzz of mid-week activity. Call Anne White at 813-253-7478 to make reservations. Tues., Nov. 17, 2:30 p.m., HCC Dale Mabry, Tampa, $15. Read the rest of this entry »

A weekly bulletin about who’s playing on late night TV; set your TIVOs or DVRs if you’ve got an early bedtime. See a day missing? No musical guest that night…

The Late Show with David Letterman, CBS
Monday, November 16: Wyclef Jean [pictured] with Cyndi Lauper (No doubt they’ll perform “Slumdog Millionaire” off Wyclef’s new album, From the Hut, To the Projects, To the Mansion.)
Tuesday, November 17: the Script
Wednesday, November 18: Ray Davies
Thursday, November 19: John Mayer
Friday, November 20: Lyle Lovett

The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, NBC
Monday, November 16: Carrie Underwood
Tuesday, November 17: 50 Cent
Wednesday, November 18: the Brian Setzer Orchestra
Thursday, November 19: Leona Lewis
Friday, November 20: Bon Jovi Read the rest of this entry »

The Taylors (Swift and Lautner in front of their Barbie Dream House)

*It’s Twilight Series: New Moon week kiddies and we know you are all just as excited as we are, we being me and Franki and that is all, no one else at CL cares even a little….but that isn’t stopping me from telling YOU about the latest and greatest from the makers of Barbie, Ken and Skipper. Here is your first look at the Jacob doll (please hold all ooos, ahhhs, applause and cat calls til the end of this bullet point). You can’t put it in a Barbie bed with your Taylor Swift doll and then bust out that adorable little baby Kelly until it’s released in February, but at the bargain price of $24.95, you should probably pre-order this sculpted piece of plastic ASAP.

*Big news of what is not happening this week: Madonna is NOT going to meet Jesus’ mom. Ok, I am no “religion expert” but isn’t Madonna Jesus’ mom? Does anyone else think this is really effing weird? It’s like some sort of crazy thing that shouldn’t ever be said out loud because it causes my mind grapes to hurt.

*The smartest beauty queen in America, Carrie Prejean, seems to be really into a little homemade porn, but what beauty queen isn’t? She is reported to be in not one, two or even three sex tapes, but eight and that isn’t including the numerous times she “pulled a Vanessa Hudgens” and snapped naked pics of herself using a mirror. I tell you what, this girl is all class. (Kinda SFW pic after the jump)

Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to On the Radar, where we preview up-and-coming arts events to mark your calendar for. This weekend, The Frenzie Theatre company offers Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead, an angsty adolescent show that asks what might happen to the Peanuts gang if they ever reached teenagerhood.

When CB’s dog dies of rabies, it causes him to question the existence of an afterlife — but with a burnout for a best friend, a sister who’s gone goth, an ex in the loony bin, and a load of inebriated buddies — he has no one to turn to for enlightenment on his existential questions. When he meets an artsy new friend, the limits of teen turmoil reach maximum levels in this darkly optimistic exploration of drug use, suicide, eating disorders, teen violence, rebellion and sexual identity. Read the rest of this entry »