the 941

"Palace" by Dolores Coe

Ed. note: This piece, by Kevin Costello, will appear in next week’s Creative Loafing.

After 100 years of evolution, abstract art continues to nourish our emotional and intellectual needs in ways representational art simply cannot. Abstraction is an invisible vessel of the imagination that pours out subterranean truths about the nature of human experience that representationalism can only reveal, but not explore. Abstract painting is visual poetry - oblique and enigmatic, circumscribed in its effect only by the limitations of the creative force and the physical dexterity of its creator.

The three artists currently on view at Allyn Gallup Contemporary Art - Dolores Coe, Carla Poindexter and Josette Urso - give evidence of the expressive plurality of abstraction. Each in their own way use conceptual strategies based on felt experience to fuse the complexity of the modern world into concise statements of line, color and form.

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— Florida’s DEP denies the permit to reopen Midnight Pass.

— Remember yesterday’s story about a 30-year-old disabled man who was not allowed to live with his parents in their 40-plus mobile home community? There’s a new wrinkle to the tale: The 30-year-old has an assault-and-battery background. We’re keeping our eye on this one.

— Pine View ‘rents fight to get easier access to their kids’ test results.

— Real Estate Junkie Bob Plunket scopes out “what may be Sarasota’s most spectacular penthouse.” What does he find? Well, in all honesty, the place looks kind of tacky.

— A legendary local Christmas light display gets a new home this year.

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The foul stench around the Illinois governor’s mansion continues to grow. Recent reports point to Jesse Jackson Jr. as “Candidate 5,” one of the Senate aspirants most deeply enmeshed in Governor Rod Blagojevich’s seat sell-off, and Obama has even chimed in with his two cents: Blagovich needs to go. Now.

Keep up with all the latest twists and turns in this monster of a case by checking out the Chicago Reader blog. They’re breaking down all the developments, speculating about what it all means and, fair enough, kind of celebrating a bit.

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— “In the past 19 months, the number of Floridians receiving food stamps has increased by 45 percent, up to 1.7 million people.” In Manatee County, need rose 83 percent, in Sarasota 95.

— A Bradenton mobile home park refuses to allow a couple’s disabled son to live with them, because, get this, the son is only 30 years old, and the park doesn’t allow anyone under 40 to move in. What compassion.

— Kim Cartlidge looks at the future of mass transit in the area.

— A formerly homeless man who got help from Resurrection House is giving back, now that he’s taken over his very own restaurant (right next to Memories Lounge and North Trail Liquors, for the curious).

— And, a bit late, the final column from Mark Ormond in the Pelican Press. The guy has accepted a full-time position at Ringling College, and is dedicating himself to teaching. His voice on the local art beat will be sorely missed.

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Ed. note: This piece, by Mark E. Lieb, will run in this week’s Creative Loafing.

Every play, musical or not, needs a hook, a premise that grabs the spectator and leads him or her to care about the proceedings on stage. In a classic musical like West Side Story, it’s the question of forbidden love between two members of warring clans. In The Music Man, it’s the fate of a con man who feels more and more sympathy for the folks he’s scamming, and in Cabaret it’s the fate of an innocent young Englishman thrown into the chaos and amorality of Weimar Germany.

In every case, something profound is at stake, something not only in the lives of the characters under the lights but also in the value systems and hopes of the audience. If the musical doesn’t strike a deep chord in our hearts, we won’t much pay much attention to the melodies of its denizens, however exuberant.

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In 2006, Atomic Holiday Bazaar was a success story, a hip showcase for items crafted by independent artisans that found a Suncoast audience few knew even existed. By the time Atomic 2.0 rolled around last December, you could feel momentum building. Vendors jockeyed for months to book tables at the event; retailers snatched up locally made pieces to carry in their shops; the crowds grew bigger.

This year, the buzz around Atomic is deafening. Make no mistake. Atomic III, which goes down this weekend, is nothing short of a genuine Event.

“People are waiting for Atomic,” says Laura Daniel Gale, owner of the Rosemary District boutique everything but the girl. Her shop is one of a growing number of Sarasota retailers that carry merchandise by Atomic artisans. “Like, they’re not going to buy anything until they can get to Atomic,” Gale says. “They’re going to fill their list with stuff they get there, and then go out and maybe land here after that, ’cause they, really, they know what to expect now, so they want to wait and get it all there.”

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If you feel even the slightest affection for the electric guitar and all the wonderful varieties of noise it can produce, you basically owe it to yourself to run out tomorrow (or log on to your computer thing-y) to purchase the latest double-disc Pavement reissue, Brighten the Corners: Nicene Creedence Ed.

Yep, Matador Records is pulling out all the stops yet again, taking Pavement’s fourth studio disc and ladling on the goodies: remastered sound, a 62-page luxe booklet, 32 bonus tracks culled from session outtakes, B-sides, radio performances and live dates. For Pavement fetishists (i.e. yours truly), picking this guy up is a no-brainer, but these two discs deserve wider renown, for the original 1997 album’s innate quality, sure, but also because all those accumulated extra songs reinforce the conclusion that this is the album where Pavement just decided to fucking shred.

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— Residents around Whitaker Bayou refuse to give up, and file suit against the city of Sarasota, claiming that the government was involved in some zoning shenanigans when it approved a $75 million yacht club and gas station along the bayou.

— Bradentonians honor the life of 20-year soup kitchen volunteer Mary Ann DeLazzer.

— Can’t top this headline: “Sarasota man finds burglary suspect sleeping on his floor.”

— More hilarity (and racism) from Theodore’s World.

— Reality Chick tells you how to properly party.

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Suncoast, are you ready? We here at CL have been working for days to get this year’s Holiday Guide ready for print. But you, lucky 941 reader, get a righteous preview of everything we’ll be including in our 2008 guide, which hits stands next Wednesday.

The idea is simple: We want to give you tips on how to keep it local this holiday season. We have a piece on next weekend’s Atomic Holiday Bazaar and how Suncoast crafters are keeping up in a miserable economy. In another column, Staff Writer Tim Sukits takes on a personal challenge: Buy gifts for the entire fam during one day at the Red Barn Flea Market. Beth Price offers tips on how to throw a holiday party on the cheap this year. We’ve also got an indie gift guide, with tips on where to spend your dough, and a compilation of worthwhile local charities who need your help.

To kick things off, follow the jump and read Brian Ries and Alex Pickett on why your money should go to the little guy this holiday season.

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