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Friday, February 17, 2012
Final thoughts after a January drought
Posted by Louise Rocco on Fri, Feb 17, 2012 at 3:16 PM
Her response was so succinct, "That doesn't matter. What matters is you exceeded your expectations."
So how have I been spending my February you ask?
Two Big Mouths #91 Now Live
Posted by Two Big Mouths on Fri, Feb 17, 2012 at 12:20 PM
We are back and ready with another diatribe we call Two Big Mouths. This week, the Main Mouths will talk about PETA and it's lawsuit against Sea World. PETA want's the killer whales to go free. Electronic cigarettes...not as safe as we first thought. And are you putting lead on your lips to look luscious? Associate Editor Joe Bardi is back for The Really Random Report to talk about Creative Loafing's 7th Annual Field Day, cajun music from Boogie Gumbo of Sarasota, and the Mad Movie Reviewer gives us his take on the independant film Fancypants. In Anti-culture news, we talk about the 2012 Grammy's aftermath and Whitney Houston's passing. Kicking butt and taking names this week on Two Big Mouths. Enjoy.
Check out the Main Mouths at http://www.twobigmouths.com
Musking up with pheromones: Is Erox a real life 'Sex Panther'?
Posted by Shawn Alff on Fri, Feb 17, 2012 at 10:37 AM
“Introducing Erox, a new unisex attraction fragrance, proven to increase feelings of arousal, excitement, and flirtiness in both female and male users… [Erox] contains a combination of pheromones, and a new revolutionary attraction compound called ER303… [Erox has] been clinically proven to increase feelings of confidence, social warmth and friendliness… I would be happy to send you a sample...
This was my reply:
“Has Erox found a way to turn vodka into an aerosol? Obviously I would love to sample it…”
Mitch Perry Report 2.17.12
Posted by Mitch Perry on Fri, Feb 17, 2012 at 8:58 AM
Good day, and welcome to the end of the working week, a week that has included, sadly, a lot of high profile deaths.
We had Whitney Houston, Freddie Solomon and Gary Carter leave this earth sooner than they should, and then there was the news on the website of the New York Times late last night that their star Middle Eastern reporter, Anthony Shadid, had died in Syria from an asthma attack. The 43-year-old writer/reporter was one of the greats writing about the tumult of the Arab Spring over the past year, and his passing is a major loss for journalism.
Meanwhile back at home, Tampa residents are going to have to start ponying up more for city trucks to pick up their garbage. We'll all do so, of course, but I'm still waiting to hear why city trucks that burn lots of gas do so twice a week, when overwhelming anecdotal evidence indicates that a lot of citizens only need their garbage picked up once a week. Like Mary Mulhern, though, who along with Frank Reddick voted against the increase, we'll keep on waiting to hear back from Solid Waste one of these years why that isn't possible. We'd send you to the link but it appears to have disappeared. Anyway, you'll be paying 12 percent more beginning in April with your rates, 12 percent more in October, and 12 percent more in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
Tampa City Council members also heard lots of comments — all negative — from members of the V.M. Ybor neighborhood Thursday on why they don't want the Trinity Cafe to move their new restaurant/feeding center into the 'hood, though apparently there's not much that can be done to prevent that.
And if you haven't had the chance yet, check out our piece in the new CL with Mayor Bob Buckhorn talking about a variety of subjects, including homelessness, which Council members again expressed their frustrations about at yesterday's meeting.
Pulitizer Prize-winning reporter Anthony Shadid dies in Syria
Posted by Mitch Perry on Fri, Feb 17, 2012 at 8:40 AM
Observing what's gone on in neighboring Middle Eastern countries, al-Assad determined months ago that he would not wind up like former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, and has led a brutal offensive against the uprising.
Syria has banned Western reporters from crosssing its borders, but some have.
Tragically, one reporter who did make the crossing in the past week, the New York Times' Anthony Shadid, died yesterday, not from being caught in the cross-fire between government and opposition forces, but because of an apparent asthma attack.
He was 43.
Valentine’s Day—a post mortem examination
Posted by SWF on Fri, Feb 17, 2012 at 8:00 AM
I found myself in an unfamiliar state on February 13; I was openly weeping to a lady friend about how I knew my boyfriend would do nothing special for me the following day. It was not an emotion I would have ever expected from myself, but there it was, and damn it, at least it was raw and honest. It was about to be fucking Valentine’s Day and I wanted ALL of the hoopla.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
V.M. Ybor neighbood to City Council: We don't want Trinity Cafe to relocate here
Posted by Mitch Perry on Thu, Feb 16, 2012 at 2:48 PM
In terms of organizing, Bailey scored. Dozens of residents of the area north of Ybor City crammed into the Tampa City Council chambers to tell local lawmakers that they didn't want the facility in their area.
But it remains doubtful that their activism will make any difference, at least for now. That's because the cafe has been classified by the city's zoning department as a restaurant, which is permitted to be built in the area, though critics say in fact it's a soup kitchen.
Kim Headland and Bailey — president and vice president, respectively, of the V.M. Ybor Neighborhood Association — said the fact that the cafe could be classified as a regular restaurant demonstrated that the city's zoning matrix was antiquated. Headland complained that citizens of the neighborhood have been shut out from having any voice on the volatile issue.
Bailey said that 200-400 homeless people coming into her neighborhood to get a meal will threaten her and her neighbors' quality of life.
USF held hostage by legislative terrorism
Posted by Scott Farrell on Thu, Feb 16, 2012 at 1:20 PM
Over the past decade Americans have been fixated on terrorism. It seems terrorism is around just about every corner, or, in the case of the TSA, hidden in every senior citizen's walker.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines terrorism as the unofficial or unauthorized use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims… Terrorism can take many forms, as the good folks at the University of South Florida discovered this week. You may have noticed that a certain Florida State Senator named J.D. Alexander is terrorizing USF. This week Senator Alexander did the political equivalent of threatening to detonate an economic atomic bomb that would possibly suck out nearly 60 percent of the entire USF budget if his personal demands were not met.
Oh sure… “technically,” Alexander’s not “terrorizing” USF, since his position as the Florida Senate Budget Chair allows him the ability to "officially" have a big say in the public financing of USF. Still, I think it’s safe to assume that President Judy Genshaft and Team USF feel somewhat threatened and intimidated by Senator Alexander, and would debate his apparent inclination to turn USF’s main campus into the college equivalent of Flint, Michigan.
So what are Alexander’s personal demands?
Simple. He wants a new, taxpayer-funded university in Lakeland that he can take credit for and potentially lead when his stint in the Florida Senate ends this year.
Mitch Perry Report 2.16.12 - Iorio calls out J.D. Alexander
Posted by Mitch Perry on Thu, Feb 16, 2012 at 8:40 AM
The drama involving that massive budget cut for the USF campus in Tampa continues to dominate the local media, but perhaps we're taking the wrong perspective on all of this. I mean, J.D. Alexander is bringing together disparate members of the Tampa Bay area political/media/business establishment in a fashion rarely experienced. The latest to pounce on the Polk County legislator is former Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio.
The Tampa City Council chambers might be a little thicker than usual this morning. Not for any policy prescriptions to be debated per se, but because Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon and first baseman Carlos Pena will be honored by the body. But there are some interesting items scheduled to be discussed.
The House of Representatives continues to debate a transportation bill that would radically reduce funding for local transit and bicycle/pedestrian improvements. Oh, and it would also allow for drilling off of Florida's coast.
And even though it might bring down the spirits of those of you in love with your iPhone, iPad, iPod, or anything having to do with Apple, there is growing awareness of the industrial accidents, abuse of workers and use of underage labor in the factories who make those products in China.
J.D. Alexander is bringing people together
Posted by Mitch Perry on Thu, Feb 16, 2012 at 8:35 AM
Following the lead of Hillsborough County Commissioner Mark Sharpe's personal letter to Senate President Mike Haridopolos, the Tampa Tribune is now calling for the removal of the Lake Wales Republican as chairman of the budget committee for his ham-fisted attack on the Tampa campus, manifested by the threat of a 58 percent cut in state funding. (That cut has already been reduced; the budget committee on Wednesday restored $25 million in costs related to the creation of a new university in Polk County.)
But perhaps folks in the Tampa Bay area are protesting too much. I mean, look how it's bringing people together in the community! Heck, after Jim Norman pressed Senator Evelyn Lynn, chair of the higher education appropriations committee, he even won some praise in the editorial pages of the Tampa Bay Times!
Most interestingly, former Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio has taken to the op-ed pages as well to weigh in.
