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Jen Renninger of Still Room Studio will be at Atomic’s Sunday 12/13 show. She recently contacted me which worked out perfectly because I was in need of a person willing to work a table split, not always an easy thing to finesse! Anyway, when I opened up Jen’s email and saw her beautiful illustrations, it was a no-brainer! I loved getting to know Jennifer better and you can, too. Still Room Studio interview begins now:
Name of Business/Website Address? Jen Renninger Illustration – Still Room Studio, portfolio: jenrenninger.com/ / shop: etsy.com/shop/pleasebestill

What City/State do you reside in? Tampa, FL

Is this your first time attending Atomic or have you done the show before? This will be my first time attending and showing! How exciting is that? I can’t wait.. It sounds like such a great event!

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Cliff Roles interviews Jeff Shaara

From our boy Cliff Roles:

Jeff Shaara, a descendant of Italian immigrants, was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey (”Shaara” was originally spelled “Sciarra”). He grew up in Tallahassee, Florida, and graduated from Florida State University with a degree in Criminology. From age 16, Jeff operated a rare coin business, first out of his home, then in a retail store. After moving to Tampa, Jeff became one of the most widely known coin and precious-metals dealers in Florida. In 1988, Jeff’s father, Michael Shaara, died, and Jeff made the decision to sell his business, and take over the management of his father’s estate.

In 1993, the film “Gettysburg” was released, which was based on his father’s classic novel, The Killer Angels. After the critical and commercial success of the film, Jeff was approached about the possibility of continuing the story, finding someone to write a prequel and sequel to The Killer Angels. After some considerable soul-searching, Jeff decided to try to tackle the project himself. The decision was difficult in many ways, but most challenging because Jeff had no previous experience as a writer.

In February, 2003, the major motion picture “GODS AND GENERALS”, based on Jeff’s first book, was released by Warner Brothers.

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Here’s how it works: Tell us why you deserve free tickets for a night with Lisa Williams in the comments section below, then email us your contact information. We’ll announce our winner on Wed., Dec. 2!

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— After five months on administrative leave, Sarasota Police Chief Peter Abbott will learn whether or not he will keep his job today, as the City of Sarasota prepares to release all 3,000 pages of the Hillsborough Sheriff’s investigation into the Sarasota Police Department.

— The man who will make the decision on Abbott’s future, City Manager Robert Bartolotta, gets mostly positive marks during his annual review before the Sarasota City Commission.

— As all that happens, the citizen review board created to oversee SPD actions in the wake of the Juan G. Perez fiasco receives its mandate and finalizes its membership.

— And in amazingly non-Sarasota-Police-Department-related news, Erin Murphy (aka Maid Mosephine, of Maid Mosephine and the Equines — who just happen to have a new EP out, by the way) has a guest blog post up on CL Contributing Writer Michael Hamad’s new music site, 4GBs. Check ‘er out.

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It’s a well-known fact that gay men tend to take better care of themselves than their straight counterparts. Add a great haircut, tanned and toned muscles, and fantasies start taking shape. Sometimes in Speedos. Let’s take two of these guys and make them a couple. The average income for gay men is higher than the average income for straight guys. So now we have two hot guys with a considerable amount of  money between them and they look great in skimpy thongs. The gay guys have no children — in most cases. They have no college funds to pay into. Or braces to make payments on. That makes for expendable income. Wouldn’t that be a great couple to attract to Sarasota? Either to vacation or to live?

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There is a street in our town in which four houses in a row contain four women. They’re all married, all mothers but one, all 30-somethings, all attractive — and they all have enhanced breasts. I know this is true because I have seen all the women together, and let’s just say that none of them went for subtlety. Spotting the decoy amongst the ducks ain’t that hard.

Completely brazen about it, they were out on the town on the Saturday of Halloween, flaunting their curves. Being neighbors and plastic warriors, they call themselves the Breastford Wives. I smell the odor of some group couplings amongst this lot, but what they do with their Tupperware is their business.

I spent time chatting with the husband of the woman last to visit the cosmetic surgeon. I asked him what he liked most about his wife’s new assets.

“Well,” he said, “it puts the lie to the saying that more than a mouthful is a waste. And then there’s the smell.”

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— Venice T.J. Maxx staffers who suffered through Tuesday night’s insane hostage crisis in the store talk more about their harrowing experiences. Other fallout? Turns out the police still don’t know who they’re looking for: “Hours later, Venice police had few leads, saying only that they were pursuing two white suspects. Witnesses could provide little information because the intruders were masked and wore gloves.”

— Community leaders in Newtown — including City Commissioner Fredd “Glossie” Atkins — say a recent uptick in murders in the neighborhood is due to a decreased number of cops on the beat.

— The Tallevast Community Center begins work on a community “wall” garden. Planting in the ground remains off-limits due to the neighborhood’s poisoned groundwater.

— The topic for today’s Tiger Bay Club get-together? Offshore oil drilling. Sure to be lively.

— Richard Swier at Red County Sarasota looks at Sarasota County schools’ FCAT numbers, and wonders if money spent teaching to the test is worth it.

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Really only one story this morning, and it’s a still-developing one: Two gunmen in ski masks storm a Venice T.J. Maxx and take eight employees hostage around 9:30 p.m. last night. At 12:30 a.m., a Sarasota County SWAT team storms the building, rescues the hostages, but (as of 2 a.m.) the gunmen are nowhere to be found. More information will surely be forthcoming as the day rolls on.

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COVER STORY

— What’s next for Jannus Landing? The life, death and rebirth of a beloved concert venue.

NEWS & VIEWS

— Image of the week: Same-sex marriage supporters March for equality in downtown Sarasota.

— The week that was: Rounding up local headlines.

— .Com-ments: Bahi Hut, El Guaro, local hooch, Safe Sex Halloween Bash.

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