the 941

In regards to the untimely passing this week of local musician and friend, Scott Gibson, we’ve been asked to relay the following information to anyone interested, as all are welcome to attend.

There will be a beachside memorial tomorrow evening, Sat., May 10, at Siesta Key Beach, Access 8. Beginning around 7:30 p.m., folks are asked to bring a candle, a cocktail or whatever suits them and pay their respects. A potluck will follow at the home of Scott’s brother, Buddy. Those attending the dinner are asked to bring a dish.

Formal services are scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, May 12 at Jennings Funeral Home (5750 Swift Road, Sarasota, 926-2223). Again, the public is welcome.

This evening’s musical celebration, featuring many of Scott’s friends and local musicians, begins at 10 p.m. at The Distillery in Bradenton.

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• This week in the military-industrial complex — Part 1 and Part 2.

• The GOP is finally beginning to acknowledge that it’s not a good year to be a Republican and that the November election could be a bloodbath.

• Of course, being a Republican may not be such a crutch if Hillary Clinton decides to go nuclear and destroy her own party if she can’t be president. Why does it seem that Bill and Hillary just can’t let go?

• Through a combination of political interference and supression of science, the Bush administration has trashed the EPA. But hey, they only care for the air you breathe and the water you drink.

• In a survey taken in other countries, the USA ranked dead last in terms of how we are perceived as environmentalists. We were even behind China, where the air is so foul, London bookies are now taking bets on how many Olympic athletes will die this August.

• Ready to let Sarasota become the next city in the world’s police state of closed circuit television cameras? Think the 2 million cameras in London’s “Ring of Steel” prevent crime? Think again.

• Want to grow your own garden? Especially in these lean times? You need less space than you think to grow all the food you need, even in an urban environment.

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Friends and Loafers,

Make plans to come by The Distillery (108 44th Ave. E., Bradenton, 739-7845) tomorrow evening, Friday, May 9 from 10 p.m.-2 a.m., for a musical celebration of the life of Scott Gibson, beloved friend, artist and Sarasota fixture. Gibson died Tuesday at age 41.

Members from local act The Big Kahuna Band, Chris Guertin and Dave Clegg, were set to do a gig with their old pal and colleague Scott tomorrow night, and per Chris’ My Space bulletin, “We’re gonna go ahead and do it, and we’re inviting all that knew him to come out & play.”

See you then, and check back here at The 941 for more images, sound files and memories of a true Sarasotan whose presence touched so many in this community and beyond.

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Scott Gibson, veteran musician with The Marvins, Large Mammal, Turning Wheel, The Amazing Dog & Pony Show, Thread and numerous other local bands lucky enough to benefit from his phenomenal gift and exuberant spirit, died last night.

Anyone who knew Scottie loved him. He was a sweet soul with an infectious smile, warm laugh and tremendous talent. He played with many during his years in Sarasota, and he was one of the most gifted guitarists around. Period.

A tribute is forthcoming in CL’s pages. In the meantime, our thoughts are with his family, friends and loved ones. Rest in peace, good sir.

UPDATE: Please click here for more information on various services planned in his honor.

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This just in, a change of location for tomorrow’s KidsFest Big Night Out (originally scheduled at Payne Park). 

When: Saturday, April 5 at 6 p.m.

Where: Holley Hall at the Florida West Coast Symphony, 709 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota

Per fest officials: “Due to the chance of inclement weather, KidsFest Big Night Out has changed venues from Payne Park to Holley Hall at the Florida West Coast Symphony.” For directions or additional info., call 366-6200.

As for this evening’s Opening Night Film and festivities, we’ll be there to blog all the hot star-on-star action. Stay tuned.

For more deets on the 10th annual lineup, check out this week’s CL.

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The paint thinner-reeking winds of change are blowing fast and hard in
Sarasota’s arts community. The latest casualty? Greene Contemporary.

Gallery owner Jonathan Greene is about to announce that he will close his Pineapple Avenue space — one of a select few in town to feature provocative art that’s something other than a matching accessory to that $5,000 couch. Before setting up shop in NYC, Greene will move to a by-appointment-only, mixed-use showroom/artist’s studio space near mack b after March 31.

The writing’s been on the wall for a while: hiked lease rates as of the first of this year, and the looming storm water construction on Pineapple. The project has been delayed twice, but if it does happen as scheduled in April, it will tear up most of the street and cut down on foot traffic, much like last year’s developments on Palm Avenue. Greene says that though it’s not a 100 percent done deal, things should be locked down within the week.

Greene, the February 2007 cover boy, says locals shouldn’t necessarily take this as a bad thing in the arts scene. Still, we’ve heard rumors of other closings and/or out-of-town relocations. And unless someone comes in to replace venues like Greene, it’s difficult to see this development as anything but a negative.

More to come on this developing story.… In the meantime, what are your thoughts?

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Because you’ve just gotta have it, Ringling College of Art & Design’s Library Association has just announced the latest guest in its Town Hall 2008 lecture series — none other than filmmaking multi-hyphenate Spike Lee. The controversial force behind Do The Right Thing, Malcolm X, Inside Man, and recent Katrina documentary, When the Levees Broke, will speak at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall next Monday, January 28 at 10:30 a.m. Tickets to the joint run $50 to $80; call 925-1343.

UPDATE: Sure, those were all decent, we guess. But in honor of his appearance, take 30 seconds and appreciate Mr. Lee’s — or should we say, Mars’ — best work. —Ed.

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Word on the street is that Robert John Burck, aka The Naked Cowboy, is in town. Sources placed him at Sarasota News and Books on Tuesday. If you spy him, kindly let us know — we’re shivering with anticipation.

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This is a little old, but we wanted to mention it before it got even older. Last week, Tim Dutton, the executive director at SCOPE, wrote a guest column in the H-T about combating hate.
Here’s how it ends:

So what choice can I make that declares my unwillingness to settle and to accept this behavior?
I can choose to: Speak up when I hear slurs. Let people know that bias and hate are always unacceptable. Invite someone who does not look like me to share a meal. Talk about these crimes at the dinner or lunch table. Let people know how I feel. Write a letter to the local paper. Talk with my clergy about what faith-based organizations can do. Expect my elected officials to declare how these crimes fit in their view of this community and to do so publicly. Explore my own biases and learn from them.

Sounds simple. But taking that risk — putting yourself in front of that speech — is often too big for people to take. Thinking about it for just a few minutes, we can remember three recent instances when we heard a racist comment and said nothing. Often, it feels like quitting smoking — there are always excuses. It’s a coworker, the person’s drunk, whatever. Ultimately, the risk feels too high, so you stay quiet. Maybe talk about it with a friend afterwards — just so they know you know.

So what’s your tipping point? Where’s the line? What do you need to take that risk, to say something to that person in the next cubicle, that random guy at the bar, or, as Dutton wonders, in response to an attack on a family 20 miles away?

And what does it mean when you don’t?

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Some articles take all-night stamina to write, or gymnastic dexterity with court records. This week’s UrbEx however, just took a whole lot of self-restraint.
While I was as disappointed as the next that there would be no Gay Pride event in Sarasota this year, what disappointed me even more was knowing that there wouldn’t be nearly enough print space for all the strong, proud, opinionated voices I encountered during my research.
I’d give you all of them if I had more time, but I feel like I’d be cheating you if I didn’t provide at least a taste of these two interviews, both of which had to be reluctantly left on the cutting room floor.

…..

INTERVIEW ONE: MATTILDA a.k.a. MATT BERNSTEIN SYCAMORE

(photo: Jeffrey Walls)

Mattilda, aka Matt Bernstein Sycamore, is a direct-action activist, regular contributor to the San Francisco Bay Guardian and Bitch magazine, and editor of four political anthologies on the queer experience. When she’s not too busy touring colleges across America as a visiting lecturer, mattilda is kicking ass in the Castro with her unique blend of anarchist performance-art rebellion.
And get ready for some irony: One of the institutions she’s is most apt to rebel against is itself an insurgence of sorts. As one of the pioneering members of Gay Shame, a national movement that protests Gay Pride’s “assimilationist” rhetoric, mattilda seeks to challenge the gay establishment’s consumerist branding and bring its mainstream hypocrisy to the fore.
“People need to step back and challenge and dismantle everything that is normal,” she once informed the San Francisco Chronicle. “That’s the gift that queers have. But all that’s being thrown away, discarded, just for a taste of straight privilege.” On the phone in California, the transgender agitator at first seemed primed for the usual diatribe, ready to tell me exactly why we don’t need organized Pride in Sarasota. And then she broke from tradition.

(more…)

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