the 941

— The newly formed Police Advisory Panel meets for the first time at 5 p.m. next Mon., Nov. 30. The gathering will be broadcast live on local public access and will stream live on the City of Sarasota website.

— Jay Handelman flies out to L.A. to meet up with Sarasota’s Peter Biegel, co-creator and co-producer on the new hit Cougar Town, who is clearly having a ball out in Hollywood. Handelman files his report directly from the Cougar Town set.

— Sarasota Herald-Tribune crime reporter Anthony Cormier got divorced the other day, and he writes about it in a candid and touching way over at his new H-T blog.

— Red County Editor Richard Swier chats with State Sen. Carey Baker and State Rep. Scott Plakon about their plan to introduce legislation they claim is defending Florida’s sovereignty by allowing Floridians to take or leave new health care legislation. (The plan is outlined at flfreedom.org.) Seems like disingenuous showmanship at best.

Bookmark to:

COVER STORY

— Hog wild: A carnivore owns up to his role in the food chain by going hunting for Florida wild hog. Plus! Two hog recipes: homemade sausage and a country rib ragù.

NEWS & VIEWS

— Image of the week: A prince visits Sarasota.

— The week that was: The Sarasota Police Department scandal reaches a climax.

— .Com-ments: Oh Mamma Mia!, Sarasota Boxing Club, Daawat Indian Cuisine, The Scenestress.

— Counterfeit chronic: Marijuana-aping herbal concoctions are popping up at local head shops. How long can the good times roll before the substance becomes illegal?

(more…)

Bookmark to:

What can I say about Brian Blur? We had a moment. Thankfully, not caught on camera, maybe we’ll tell you about it some day. All I can say is it was a very rock n roll moment, all ten seconds of it, which ranged from learning, to screwing up the lesson, to surprise to laughter to fear and back to holy shit, “Did that just happen?”

Now don’t go to the gutter folks, please! Brian and I are simply friends, he has a beautiful and talented biz partner and partner in crime, Tara, who wasn’t a part of this interview, so we just have the meat and potatoes ala Mr. Blur’s point of view. Which is pretty damn amusing, Brian has never been to an Atomic so I’m not sure if he knows what he is in for so I demand that he rest up, drink plenty of liquids and do a few bench presses!!

Name of Business/Website Address? Aperture Photography / apertureswfl.com/ & briandavidbraun.com/

What City/State do you reside in? Unincorporated Sarasota County

Is this your first time attending Atomic or have you done the show before? First time.

What do make and plan on bringing to Atomic? Three large cameras and a lots of prints.

Is making stuff your full time occupation? I am a single father and a full time photographer.

Why are you passionate about DIY and what does it mean to you? I do all my own stunts.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

Maid Mosephine and the Equines: \”Easy St\”

(Maid Mosephine and the Equines: “Easy St”)

Sarasota’s own Maid Mosephine and the Equines kicked off the PR blitz for their debut EP — Hearts on Faces — at a Saturday night CD release party at The Box Social. The Maid herself, Miss Erin Murphy, preceded the set with some gracious thanks and love for all the folks who helped to make the album happen, right before her Equines broke into a speedy rendition of “It’s My Birthday and I’ll Cry If I Want To,” as it was, indeed, her birthday. The lone and uncharacteristic cover was followed by the seven tracks off the new EP, with the painful but pleasant vibrato of Mosephine’s voice for the most part never veering far from her in-studio performance.

The album follows the tried and true indie formula of happy songs about sad things. The heartbreak and frustration found throughout Murphy’s lyrics seem to disappear behind the playful glee of Greg Ferris’ xylophone work. “Easy St” (which you can stream at top) is, for example, a tune that will have your body bobbing to such cheerful lines as, “It’s so much easier to just hold on, than to just let go of everything I know.” Mosephine’s clean-tone punk riffs fit right in line with her brother Mike’s steady, choppy drumbeats. Throw in the hypnotic motion of bassist Andrew Sink’s zoned-out stage presence and the live show becomes quite a spectacle. Costumes normally play a part too, with Ferris’ ever-present wolf head hat complimenting whatever fairytale fantasy Mosephine pulls out of the toy box — pirate or princess, the Equines will take you to a magical place. And now that they’ve got a record out, you can visit there as much as you want. 3.5 stars

Bookmark to:

Skinny Puppy plays at State Theatre Sat., Nov. 18

Ed. note: This piece was compiled by Jennifer Almond.

THURSDAY, Nov. 26
CROWBAR Gil Mantera’s Party Dream The duo-turned-trio from Ohio produces synthtastic New Wave-flavored pop melodies with overaffected and vocoder robotic vocals trading off atop bleeptastic beats. This is the band’s second round in town since the release of their 2009 album, Dreamscape, and their live show is worth checking out for sure. Frontmen/maybe-brothers Ultimate Donny and Gil Mantera are ringmasters of absurdity in tacky spandex who bring a sort of gross animal magnetism to their chaotic, alcohol-fueled performances. If you missed ’em at Sarasota’s Cabana Inn on Tuesday, here’s your makeup date. —Leilani Polk
THE FLYING DOG CAFÉ Open Mic/Jam Night
THE GATOR CLUB The Cherry Bombs
MARINA JACK DEEP SIX LOUNGE Rock Lee
MARINA JACK PORTSIDE PATIO Democracy
MARINA JACK II THANKSGIVING DINNER CRUISE Dan Crawford

(more…)

Bookmark to:

I haven’t gotten my hands on a copy of Andre Agassi’s hot new memoir, but, according to The New York Times Sunday Book Review, Agassi spends considerable page space expressing how he grew to hate the sport he conquered: “Agassi’s announced theme is that the game he mastered was a prison he spent some 30 years trying to escape,” writes reviewer Sam Tanenhaus. And one of the “cells” Agassi felt trapped in was none other than Nick Bollettieri’s famous Bradenton tennis academy, known now as IMG Academies.

Here is how Tanenhaus sums up the Florida portions of Agassi’s book:

[His childhood training] was nurturing, at least compared with his next incarceration, at the Florida tennis academy, or “glorified prison camp,” operated by Nick Bollettieri, a sun-baked entrepreneur paid thousands of dollars by parents who shipped their children off for months, even years, of incessant drilling, lectures on motivational psychology and nights spent in barracks-like dorms. “The constant pressure, the cutthroat competition, the total lack of adult supervision — it slowly turns us into animals,” Agassi writes. This happened at a time when tennis promoters were eager to feed the public’s infatuation with under-age champions like Bjorn Borg and Chris Evert, not to mention half-forgotten casualties like Jimmy Arias and Andrea Jaeger — a phenomenon that recalls the unhealthy national “love affair” almost a century ago with screen virgin-goddesses like Mary Pickford and the Gish sisters. Agassi rebelled by drinking, brawling, body piercing and sporting “one pinky nail that’s two inches long and painted fire-engine red.”

Bookmark to:

“Cut the Bull” by photographer Jimmy Peters is on display at Art Center Sarasota

Ed. note: This piece was compiled by Danielle Favreau.

VISUAL ARTS: OPENING

ART CENTER SARASOTA 707 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota (365-2032 or artsarasota.org). The 6th Annual Florida Photography Open Juried Exhibition will feature photographs by David McGough, Arieh Aizenberg, Richard Brownbill and Jimmy Peters, as well as watercolors by award-winning watercolorist Dean Mitchell through Jan. 9. Regular hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Free.

ART UPTOWN 1367 Main St., Sarasota (955-5409 or artuptown.com). Richard Stewart’s impressionistic photography and the photography of Joe Fletcher will be on display Nov. 28- Dec. 5. Regular hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat. Free.

ARTCENTER MANATEE 209 9th St. W., Bradenton (746-2862 or artcentermanatee.org). On and Off the Wall, an open, juried all media exhibition will be on display through Dec. 4. Regular hours are 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Free.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

— Sarasota loses another connection to its circus past: “Arthur Grotefent, a former member of the famous family circus troupe, The Flying Wallendas, died Friday at age 95. ‘He was one hell of a wire walker,’ said Jackie LeClaire, 82, who performed with Grotefent in the 1940s. A Sarasota resident, Grotefent was one of the original members of the 7-People Pyramid in the Great Wallenda High-Wire Act. Seven people in the family troupe formed a pyramid and walked a tightrope.” RIP.

— Hannah Wallace enjoys the great outdoors during a camping trip out at Lake Manatee State Park. No word on whether or not she encountered You Know Who.

— CL Contributing Writer Lael Hazan has another post up on Sarasota Magazine’s site; this one’s all about Thanksgiving. Drool.

Bookmark to:

So.

Thanksgiving, anyone? Family dinners may take up your evenings, but this week’s show schedule has a lot to give this week as well.

T-minus one day till dance heaven, fueled by synthesizers, spandex and brotherhood. This Tuesday, Cabana Inn welcomes Soap dance night, featuring pulsating electro-synth-pop from Gil Mantera’s Party Dream from Youngstown, Penn., with This Is an Adventure, I Kill Pxls, Shock to the System and DJ Automaton.

The sexiest men of any national touring act, local favorites garnering national attention and improvisational dance perfection? Can you afford to miss out? Let the video below and this Spin.com article make that decision for you, friend.

Bro time. Fishnet shirts. Gil Mantera’s Party Dream. Be there.

Finch House show picks this holiday week:
Tuesday 11/24 – SOAP hosts Gil Mantera’s Party Dream, This Is an Adventure, I Kill Pxls, Shock to the System and DJ Automaton at Cabana Inn, 2525 S. Tamiami Trail, $10, 21 and up.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

Here’s how it works: Tell us why you deserve free tickets for a night at the 97X Next Big Thing show with Rise Against in the comments section below, then email us your contact information. We’ll announce our winner on Thurs., Dec. 3!

Bookmark to: