the 941

Ed. note: This piece, by Cecil Adams, will appear in next week’s issue of Creative Loafing.

I keep hearing pit bull owners claim their dogs are no more dangerous than any other medium-size to large dog. It’s just bad press, they say. Are there any statistics that prove that they (the dogs, not the owners) are more dangerous or aggressive than other dogs? Maybe they are generally docile but so powerful that when they do attack they cause more damage. —Decent Dog-Fearing American 

Not sure this is a distinction of importance. “Sir, my little Muffy is a docile creature who doesn’t know her own strength. Let me get a flashlight and we’ll see if we can find your arm.” So let’s skip the pit bull owners’ rationalizations and get to the gut question: How dangerous are these dogs?

Although there’s some argument over their origin, pit bulls were probably the result of crosses between bulldogs and working terriers to produce a new type of dog for, among other uses, pit fighting — hence the name. Despite the mental image of dogs tearing each other to pieces that the name evokes, pit bulls have a long history as family watchdogs and pets. Today the term pit bull is commonly applied to three related but distinct breeds — the American Staffordshire terrier, the Staffordshire bull terrier, and the American pit bull terrier — as well as to any number of other dogs of similar appearance. An experienced breeder could undoubtedly tell all these animals apart; you or me, probably not.

Before we get into how dangerous pit bulls are, a more basic question: How dangerous are dogs? Answer: plenty. According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs each year, with 885,000 needing medical attention. In 2006, more than 31,000 people underwent reconstructive surgery following dog bites. Granted, you’ve got a much greater chance of being killed by lightning than by an attacking dog. But when you ask about dangerous, the comeback is: compared to what?

Enough chatter. I reviewed more than 20 technical reports on dog attacks. Some common themes:

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Let’s start with the obvious: James Brown was among the two or three most incendiary performers of the rock ’n’ roll era. He presaged the likes of Michael Jackson, Prince and all the other brothers with soulful voices and slick dance moves who came after them. In the 1960s, Brown didn’t cross over to a white audience; the white audience crossed over to him. He achieved widespread commercial success without ever sanitizing, without ever suppressing the essential African-Americanness of his music.

Yet as much as white folk listened to Brown on the radio, bought his records and watched him on TV, attending his concerts remained a shaky proposition, one that brought out the pervasive fear and distrust of the black inner city — because most of the time that’s where you had to go to see James Brown in concert.

Many a white JB fan walks the earth today having never seen the man on stage in his prime (me included). That ship has sailed, of course, but the loss can be mitigated a little with the release of the three-DVD set I Got the Feelin’: James Brown in the ’60s (Shout! Factory).

Actually, the set’s title underplays its value. These DVDs do more than show an extraordinary entertainer on stage; they capture a fascinating slice of American micro-history.

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Nino Pinelli: \”Ice Age\” (”Ice Age”)

NINO PINELLI

Sounds like: A male Norah Jones, Damien Rice

Nino Pinelli has led every bit the dramatic life of a poignant songwriter, hopping between Sarasota and New York City in cycles of energy expenditure and rejuvenation. Opportunities arose while gigging around NYC, but the complicated mind of an artist often trumps reason. “I was sitting at the record company and the guy was just trying to pull me out,” says Pinelli, “but I was in the depths at that point. I just didn’t care.” In 2004 he finished recording six tunes in his closet at 3 a.m., took a plane to Sarasota a few hours later, and never released anything. “I was just so done, so burnt out. I had finally come up with the material saying what I want to say, but I didn’t want to say it anymore.” Now 33 and a father, Pinelli is starting fresh. “Now the goal is different, the goal is the belief that the music is relevant.”

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— Thanks to a City of Sarasota grant program, many Newtown businesses are getting a makeover. Shop owners put up what they can, and the city gives back 10 times that amount.

— Manatee County tomato growers are stressing about making a profit this spring: “We’re coming off one of the worst winters as far as market prices on a long time, and the situation currently is not any better.”

— “On the side of U.S. 41 in Venice you can find water rushing from a fire hydrant. 24 hours a day it goes straight down into a storm drain.” Sounds wasteful, and some Venice residents think so, too.

— Events in Hannah Wallace’s life are aligning in weird and surprising ways…

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COVER STORY

— Local singer Shannon Fortner fights for her partner’s right to live in the United States.

NEWS & VIEWS

— Image of the Week: Siesta Fiesta.

— The Week That Was.

— Q&A with environmental warrior Summer Benson.

— Creative Loafing forced to issue a “correction”: Jay-Z is not purchasing the Bahi Hut.

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VISUAL ARTS: OPENING

ART AFTER HOURS Fruitville Public Library, 100 Coburn Road, Sarasota (861-2500 or sclibs.net). Works by Friends of the Library. 7-9 p.m. May 1, free.

ART CENTER SARASOTA 707 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota (487-4670 or ncf.edu). New College Senior Thesis Art Exhibition will be displayed May 6-July 3 with an opening reception from 5-7 p.m. May 14. Call for regular hours. Free.

DABBERT GALLERY 76 S. Palm Ave., Sarasota (955-1315 or dabbertgallery.com). Expressions in Color features six artists showcasing their individual style of oil painting. Please see this week’s See & Do for more information. Opening reception 6-9 p.m. May 1. Exhibit runs through June 30. Normal hours 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sat.

HOPE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 4455 30th St. E, Bradenton (727-3408). Coffeehouse art show supporting various local artists. 7-10 p.m. May 1-2.

LONGBOAT KEY CENTER FOR THE ARTS 6860 Longboat Drive S., Longboat Key (383-2345 or lbkca.org). Innovations, wall and ceiling suspended sculptures. Meet the artist 5-7 p.m. May 1. Gallery hours Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. Runs through May 27.

UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH ART GALLERY 3975 Fruitville Road, Sarasota (371-4974). Dreams, Hope and Reality by Micole Breadean will be on display through July 1 with an opening reception from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. May 3. Normal hours are 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Free.

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I shouldn’t have left you, without a dope book to step to.

Ha! Didn’t that special little rhyme make up for the fact that it’s been over a month since I last posted an entry in The 941 Book CL-B series? Nope, well, I tried.

But I was working hard, dang it, and I cracked through The Zapatista Reader, a large compendium of writing by and about the Zapatista rebels of southeastern Mexico. The book was published in 2002, and was edited by one Tom Hayden, one of the founders of Students for a Democratic Society (and Jane Fonda’s ex-husband).

As historical document, the book is invaluable, filled with first-person accounts of the Zapatistas’ emergence onto the world stage on Jan. 1, 1994, the first day NAFTA took effect, and commentaries on the group’s long, slow holdout since shooting ended early on in the rebellion. Read back-to-back, however, the pieces tend to run together, and common tropes become exhausted quickly. This has little to do with the justness and courageousness of the rebels themselves, and much to do with the way international reporters and thinkers struggle to say anything new about the anti-neoliberal movement and the indigenous peoples who back it. Even luminaries such as Naomi Klein, José Saramago, Gabriel García Márquez, John Berger and Octavio Paz can’t add much analytical heft to the collection.

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I know I promised to be nice to The Sarasota Observer after the newsweekly so graciously chose to publish a photo of me and my lovely wife Rachel at a worthwhile ALSO Out Youth benefit party, but I just can’t resist commenting on a new full-page ad the paper is running to promote its new website, set to launch this Friday, May 1. (Because what makes more sense than the Observer timing the site’s release to coincide with an international socialist holiday?)

You can see the ad to the right. It features a plane emblazoned with the logo YourObserver.com taking off, with text teasing what the new site will feature, which is, apparently, “daily & breaking news,” “daily & weekly blogs,” “expanded information” and “tons more photos.” (All code for, “Nothing can be worse than this.”)

But the hilarious touch that makes breaking my vow to no longer mock the Observer worth it comes in the very headline of the ad: “Mayday… Mayday… Mayday!” Doesn’t a pilot usually shout, “Mayday!” when the plane he or she is piloting is about to crash land?

Via American Heritage, “mayday” is “an international radiotelephone signal word used by aircraft and ships in distress.” There you have it. The Sarasota Observer = in distress.

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Ed. note: This piece, by Mark E. Leib, will appear in this week’s issue of Creative Loafing.

The year is 1935. In a women’s prison in Texas, white Susannah Mullally, a researcher for the Library of Congress, is seeking unrecorded folk songs, songs that will be lost if Mullally doesn’t find and archive them. She meets convicted murderer Pearl Johnson, a black woman who’s been in prison for 10 years, and who knows spirituals and blues going back as far as the Civil War. But Pearl has needs of her own: she’s trying to find her lost daughter, and will only sing for Susannah’s recorder if Susannah promises to follow up some clues over in Houston.

A pact is made and a relationship begins: Pearl sings and Susannah searches. We learn that Susannah is a feminist and Pearl an avenger of sexual wrongs. Impressed by her new friend, Susannah decides to use her influence to get Pearl paroled. Her intentions are mostly honorable: She will bring Pearl to New York and from there to colleges around the country. They will make money, Pearl will be free and Susannah will get that plum university position that was stolen from her by a bad man years before.

But there’s trouble along the way — of course.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 30

CHA CHA COCONUTS 606 The Retro Duo

GATORZ EZ Street

THE IRISH ROVER — GLASS ONION Glass Onion is a Sarasota-based Beatles tribute band that strives to reproduce the Fab Four down to a tee. They use most of the same vintage equipment as the Beatles including a Rickenbacker 12-string guitar, a Hofner bass and Vox amplifiers. They play all the classics and even a few of the rarities like “Rain,” “I Am the Walrus” and “Dear Prudence.” Caution: Band may cause Beatle-mania. —Tim Sukits

KROAKY’S Kroaky’s Rock Band Challenge

LEBARGE Howlin’ Bob

MATTISON’S FORTY ONE Studio 41

NEW YORK NEW YORK The Real/Satori Band feat. Jennifer Real

THE ORPHEUM Afton Live/Car Crash Effect/Neolith/Born of a Snake/I Dream of Zombie/Fossor Silenti/Forget The Hearse/Apocalyptic Prophecy

RINGSIDE CAFÉ Surfin’ Racoons

RUTH ECKERD HALL Pinellas Youth Symphony #4

SHARKY’S David Moore

THE SOCIAL — CURSIVE/MAN MAN Omaha, Nebraska’s Cursive are slow-risers, possibly because they take long breaks between albums; this year’s Mama, I’m Swollen came three years after ’06’s well-received Happy Hollow. The band writes hooky, straightforward indie rock with the occasional ska-esque breakdowns. More tempting on the bill is Philly experimental sextet Man Man, which creates some of the best merry-manic, lurching Viking rock and gypsy jazz you’ll ever hear. —Leilani Polk

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