Daily Loaf

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.

As we approached Phoenix, the Routes Music crew heard news reports about a cold front that was bringing high winds into the desert and creating a mighty dust storm as a result. But not until we stepped out of the car in Tempe did we really see what the newscasters meant.

From the west, a faint haze grew darker and darker as it approached. The dust storm was roaring across the desert like a scene out of The Mummy.

But the desert sands weren’t the only thing in disarray: Phil and Terrence were having problems of their own.

The previous night, they’d driven 16 hours straight through the ever-changing terrain of Texas and New Mexico. At one point, border patrol stopped the van to check for illegal immigrants. (“Really?” Phil still comments whenever the subject’s brought up. “I could maybe understand if we were headed to Mexico, but in the middle of this country?”) Read the rest of this entry »

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.

The first thing we noticed on Austin’s infamous Sixth Street was the preponderance of clubs. Not the live music that Austin is known for, but booming bass beckoning babes in short skirts (and the dudes chasing them). Roads blocked off … police bored and leering … drunk college kids swaying from one sidewalk to another … a street musician, here or there, drowned out by the latest pop hits.

To find some music that wasn’t prerecorded, the Routes Music crew had to drive across town to locally-owned and operated Violins Etc., a full service string shop.

Inside, we were greeted by hundreds of violins – some brand new and ready for sale, others in various states of disrepair – as well as the employees who fixed them.
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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 the rest of this entry »

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.

On Tues., Oct. 20, the Routes Music crew rolled into St. Augustine. “It’s a quaint drinking town with a fishing problem,” as one local described it.

With the help of Mitch Cheney, our St. Augie ambassador, we hooked up with several scene stalwarts. One of them, Ryan Dettra, is the city’s premiere promoter.

After graduating Flagler College with a business degree, Dettra had a risky idea for a small beach town of 12,000: Open a profitable music venue that would bring regional and national acts to St. Augustine.

In 2002, he opened Café 11 inside a former convenience store off A1A. Although his first concerts brought only handfuls of people, Dettra kept at it, booking acts like Against Me! that would sell out shows. Then, six months after opening, he received his break.

The New York City-based art rock band, Les Savy Fav, was touring near St. Augustine. The five-piece was known for putting on wild shows, so Dettra booked them and they did not disappoint. At the encore, frontman Tim Harrington whipped the audience into a frenzy: Read the rest of this entry »

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.

When I seek out ingredients, I make an effort to find good-quality local items. Sometimes that means eggs and greens that travel fewer than 20 miles to get to me in the Florida panhandle. Other times, when something is not available on a truly local level, I try to find it regionally (usually Florida, Georgia and Alabama).

It isn’t always possible, but when I have a choice I buy local. That helps the local economy and uses fewer resources to go from farm to table. It also makes me focus on buying items that are in season, which is when they are the least expensive and taste the best.

For me, local buying is easy when it comes to seafood. It’s abundant in the Gulf of Mexico and Choctawhatchee Bay. Local buying has also worked well with cheese, honey, vegetables and meats. One of the meats I buy are ranch-raised rabbits from Seely’s Ark in Ocala. Read the rest of this entry »

People never cease to amaze me when pushing their bodies’ artistic boundaries.  I thought I was daring when I got my nose pierced.  I was in Amsterdam at the time, high on mushrooms, and I thought that a piece of metal in my nose was just what I needed. I’m usually too much of a pussy for shit like this, but some people get off on this kind of pain.  Below, I’ve included some of the most piercing pictures of painful piercings. I can’t even imagine how these people felt during their artistic voyage of self discovery!  My own story of getting my face pierced went a something like this:

Read the rest of this entry »

What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this last week:

Celebrating Independence Day or creating environmental disaster? – Kelly Rothwell looks at the littered aftermath of Fourth of July celebrations and wonder why, instead of giving back in celebration of their freedom, people decide to light off fireworks, leaving mass amounts of debris in the water and on the beach.

Local Food: Dinner in, and from, the garden at Gateway Organic Farm – Chef Gui Alinat gives information about Gateway Organic Farm’s next “Dinner in the Garden” event, an incredible local foods experience featuring nine Bay area chefs.

Read the rest of this entry »

Consider the thousands of events that take place in the Tampa Bay area, from the smallest to the largest, from the neighborhood Tupperware party to the Super Bowl. If there is a somewhat forgotten landscape for green, event management could be it.

Furthermore, the impact that could be gained locally would be enormous (of course depending upon how many people are engaged) and to take steps toward sustainable event management, whether it is your occupation or your hobby, is very easy if given the right direction.
Read the rest of this entry »

What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this past week:

The Derby Darlins have a successful first green event with T.R.E.E. at Little Bayou Park- Michelle Schenck reports on the roller girls from the Tampa Bay Derby Darlins‘ tree planting event last Saturday in St. Petersburg, an effort to offset all of the carbon emissions from their travels.

Let’s transform this ‘domination culture’ into a ‘partnership culture’ (Videos) – Eric Stewart asks: Is this the America we are handing over to our children? One thats main concern is violence and domination of the world? This government was put in place for the people: do the people want 60% of our taxes going to support defense? Why can’t 60% of our taxes go towards supporting education, renewable energy, as well as redoing the social net so that every human being in our country has their needs taken care of?
Read the rest of this entry »

As we look back on the traditional wedding month of June, many couples are extending their lifestyle commitment of sustainability to their day of exchanging vows. As we know from experience, weddings can be an extremely wasteful event. There are certainly different shades of green but here are some wonderful ways committed partners are lessening their impact on our battered earth.

Invitations are sent via e-mail. This reduces transportation costs and the raw material to make the paper.

Attendees are asked to dress casually so that the temperature of the facility can be set degrees warmer, or the ceremony and reception are planned outdoors in a tree-filled park.
Read the rest of this entry »

What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this past week:

Reconstructing a historic bat tower in Temple Terrace and how to build your own bat roost- Grant Rimbey investigates efforts in Temple Terrace to reconstruct an historic tower for bats, discusses a large community bat roost he designed for the Florida Bat Conservancy, and tells how you can purchase (or build) your own bat roost for your yard.

Summer Solstice: A brief history- Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, occurs this Sunday- June 21st. Here are a few facts you might not have known about it, from Linda Taylor.

Organics: How to eat well without breaking your budget- With the increase of demand over organic food in the last ten years you would think that a wide range of these products would be easily accessible. Here’s some some advice from Kelly Rothwell on purchasing healthy, organic food in this region without breaking your budget.
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Recently, I received an email from a local filmmaker, Arlen Slobodow of Public Media Productions, asking me to take a look at a 17-minute video he just completed on public health and the environmental consequences of air pollution in the Tampa Bay area.  Because I am such a supporter of local independent media production, things that inspire action for the public good, and combating big polluters, I thought I’d share it.  Also, be sure to check out my interview with the film’s writer/director/producer, Arlen Slobodow, in my next post.

Video after the jump
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With the increase of demand over organic food products in the last ten years, you would think that a wide range of these products would be easily accessible to most Americans, but this unfortunately is not the case yet. Many of the large companies are beginning to see the need for organic products and are beginning to expand their offerings in an effort to appease these needs. In the mean time, until organics are widely available at an affordable price, what are we to do? I am writing to offer some advice on purchasing healthy organic food in this region without breaking your budget.
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Have you ever heard the Vietnam-era quote, “war is not healthy for children and other living things?” It is a staunchly obvious and painstakingly reasonable appeal that cuts to the ethical core and casualties of war.  I read an article this week that reminded me of it, but instead of war, the murderous culprit in this story is climate change.

A new report by the Global Humanitarian Forum (GHF) says that global warming already kills about 300,000 people a year.  If that projection is not startling enough– or if you have more of an economic mind, and are not much swayed by stacks of human figures—the report also says that climate change costs around $125 billion in economic losses annually.
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(This piece came from our CL Sarasota, as part of it’s Summer of Pig coverage.)

Local vegetables and fruits are commonplace, if you know where to look, but finding local meat is a distinct challenge. Blame the USDA.

Hogs meant for commercial meat sales usually have to go through the mega-slaughterhouses regulated by the USDA, whether it’s a couple pigs from a local farm or a thousand pigs from a corporate production facility. That makes it much harder for the little guys, since those slaughterhouses charge a premium for the smaller jobs of the family farm.

There is a loophole, however. Hogs meant for personal consumption – by the owners, theoretically – can be slaughtered at smaller, local slaughterhouses. Over the past few years, farms have started offering entire hogs for sale before they’re mature, then the farm finishes raising the hog for you. If you’re not in the market for that much meat, they’ll even match you up with other interested folks so you can buy a quarter or half of a pig.

Don’t worry, you won’t have to break down the carcass yourself; it will come to you butchered and wrapped to order. All you have to do is buy a freezer big enough to store your meat.

Why go the trouble and extra expense of buying local? Read the rest of this entry »

Remember when we were suffering from drought? Back when we longed for rain drops to quench our gardens, or heck, wash our cars? Tampa City Council has eased the ban on lawn sprinkling, which ends Monday June 1st. City dwellers will fall in line with Hillsborough County residents abiding by SWFWMD’s emergency restrictions; allowing lawn sprinklers to run once a week from midnight to 4 a.m.

Our city once had the strictest regulations in the state; Council members had the foresight to see beyond the immediate crisis, to address our dwindling water supply. We all know water is one precious commodity, more expensive by the 12 oz bottle than gasoline is by the gallon. By initiating tough regulations, City Council was preparing us, forcing us, to change our water guzzling ways. Forestalling the implementation of ration cards, tandem showers, and sky high rates. Okay, maybe the latter is more likely but one thing is for sure: water rates will rise as supply diminishes. Not to mention as our aquifer falls lower and lower, so does the surface; so we should be in for some major sinkhole action. Council members Mulhern and Miranda voted against lifting the ban, with Mulhern correctly stating that, “A three-year drought is not solved by two weeks of rain”, and Miranda resigning from the Water Board in disgust.

I miss the drought and the restrictions. Okay, so I’m lazy – for months my crunchy weeds, um, I mean lawn, didn’t need mowing but beyond my front yard and personal issues, the drought and its dire circumstances prompted discussions of conservation. Read the rest of this entry »

In order to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week (which I didn’t know existed until recently), Saturday is Teacher Appreciation Day at the H.B. Plant Museum, 401 W. Kennedy Blvd. The former Tampa Bay Hotel and National Historic Landmark is offering a special deal for teachers on May 2. So if you are (or you know) a teacher, you’ll want to check it out. Read the rest of this entry »

Have you been to the grocery store and seen the prices on produce these days? No wonder people don’t want to buy fresh food that’s actually good for them, when they can save a buck by buying processed, pre-packaged food that is full of chemicals and fake ingredients. It’s also dejecting to think how far food travels before it reaches our tables — going from farm to processing and packing plants, then shipped off hundreds of miles away to grocery stores.
I am making a personal effort to buy more locally grown food. It saves me money and it keeps the local farmers in business. Last weekend, I ventured out to Plant City to check out some of the local farmers’ markets and found Parkesdale Farms Market. Parkesdale Farm has been in operation by the Parke family since 1956, growing an array of vegetables, fruits, and various plants and flowers over hundreds of acres. They are now the largest strawberry, citrus, and produce market in Florida. Read the rest of this entry »

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St Pete City Council’s Public Safety and Infrastructure Committee went to work last Thursday towards adding language to their zoning regulations about community gardens.  Given that more and more people want to grow their own food and green up their neighborhoods these days, it may come as a shock that technically speaking, right now community gardens are not actually allowed.

Like most cities in Florida, St Petersburg’s zoning doesn’t have any provisions for community gardening at all.  Happily, in St Pete this appears to be an oversight — unsurprising given how few long-term community gardens have existed in the state of Florida.  City staff have readily provided temporary use permits to the Bartlett Park Community Garden over the last year (the Azalea garden on 22nd Ave. N is on city park land and doesn’t require permitting).  But more garden projects are in the works all over the city and it will help a great deal to have a more standardized process for getting them established.

If the city can move fast, St Pete could be on the upside of the curve.  Similar ordinances are in the works in places like Safety Harbor and Tampa (Tarpon Springs already passed theirs last year).  In fact, these others are looking at adding community gardens to their comprehensive plans as well as their zoning regulations, which could be really helpful as community gardens become recognized as both a necessity (for food during a recession) and a desirable neighborhood asset (studies show they raise property values and stabilize residency). Read the rest of this entry »

Carl Jung, the well-known analyst, and Freud’s expected heir apparent (didn’t happen, they had a fight) said a symbol was the best representation of something unknown.  Jung believed symbols were lurking in the collective unconscious (a part of our psyche we share with all mankind) and they appear as messengers in dreams.  Interpreting them can be slippery.

Many cultures take dreams seriously; we do not.  Stuff and nonsense. Instead of paying attention to the dream we say to ourselves, “Let’s go make money, get high, get laid — get it all.”

The irony of course is, a correct dream interpretation by the dreamer, gets all of the above and then some.

Read the rest of this entry »

Broccoli here, aka John K. I am not going to start a rant with my first blog, but I can’t take CNN anymore (or FoxNews, for my righteous right wing friends out there). Frankly, they both constantly blather on about more jobs lost and how politicians can’t figure out where to stimulate the economy (anywhere, please).

So, my partner, Eggplant and I feel the crunch. We are in the hospitality industry and yup, it is tough right now. I will NOT give any of my money to a commercial fast food operation though.  It is inconceivable to me that in this downturn Mc (insert expletive here) Donalds is posting a profit. Read the rest of this entry »

Hi, I’m John Matthews. Last week, Brian Ries convinced me to blog for Creative Loafing concerning local foods. I’ve read some blogs, but never thought I would be doing this. But with the help of my lovely wife, Andrea, I hope I write a few things you will find informative and insightful.

To give you a little background on myself, in recent years I managed the Sarasota’s Downtown Farmers’ Market and facilitated the establishment of the ‘Farm to School’ program in Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties. In May of 2008, I created the Suncoast Food Alliance to further connect area farmers with their community. I am currently the Chairman of the Florida Association of Community Farmers’ Markets. Whew, that was a mouth full, but I hope you can see that I have a passion for good food, good farmers and eating well!

When I came to Florida in 1999, I wanted out of agriculture. Read the rest of this entry »

For years, CL’s loyal readers have made our food coverage one of the most popular sections of both the paper and the website. Now, it’s time for us to give back.

Today, CL unveiled a new food site that goes far beyond the restaurant reviews, wine columns, food and drink events, and occasional news we’ve doled out in the past. To do that we assembled a crack group of local food and drink bloggers to cover the Bay area’s vibrant eating and drinking culture, from tours of local ethnic markets to a behind-the-scenes look at the people who bring you food. We’ll also feature more coverage of restaurant openings and closings, local events, and foodie news from around the country.

One of the biggest changes will be for readers willing to take a turn in their own kitchen. Every week will bring new recipes, new discussion of kitchen gear and techniques, information about the freshest in-season local ingredients, and much more for both novices and practiced home cooks. Think you’ve got some chops with a knife? Check out our monthly recipe contest, where we’ll determine the best unsung chefs in the Bay area.

There will be new stories, recipes and news posted throughout the day, every day of the week, so make sure to check back frequently to keep an eye on what’s going on. And if you have any information about the local scene that you’d like to see covered, or and idea for new columns, drop us a line.

Enough talk. Eat it up.