The Sunshine State College Football Rankings according to Ski: It’s the second week of the college rankings for Florida, which means we can expect to see a good deal of shift at the top of the rankings from last week. An important note on my rankings, they are based largely on the schedule already played and [...]
I’ve been thinking about two things in the past week or so, and both have to do with the opportunity, artistic and otherwise, provided by living on the edge of a frontier, an exurban terra incognita. Thing One: Getting in on the ground floor of any movement or trend is an appealing thought. Your chance [...]
As long as there are other places to go– places with higher wages, better education, cultural opportunities, a more congenial political environment, a less stultifying built environment– the Tampa Bay area’s creativity drain will probably continue. Accelerating the process may be: The inevitable long-term rise in the cost of commuting. It is unlikely that oil prices [...]
I made a donation to the Kevin Beckner campaign for Hillsborough county commission. As Tommy pointed out, Brian Blair is the Republican incumbent for countywide District 6, and will be faced by Democrat challenger Kevin Beckner. If you don’t know why I’d support Beckner over Blair, you must be new around here. Blair hands out political favors [...]
Introducing a new feature here at the Sticks, rankings of all the Division 1-A (or Bowl Championship Division as the NCAA now calls it) college football teams for Florida. Have a disagreement with the rankings? Throw ‘em in the comments. 1. Florida (2-0) For three quarters Miami came close to knocking off the Gators but one quarter [...]
OK, I admit it - I don’t get out much anymore. Three kids under seven at home will do that to a couple. But sometimes you just need to get out of the house. I am a long time karaoke junkie. I’ve been haunting the best (and worst) karaoke bars in the Bay Area for 12 [...]
I love making predictions, especially with the Bucs. Never mind that most of the time they are wrong. So here are my educated guesses on the season for our local NFL collective… JON GRUDEN WILL KEEP HIS JOB No subject more sharply divides Bucs fans than their opinions on the head coach. And while I understand where [...]
I’m leaving very soon for a month in China and parts east! Please don’t tell me (like everyone does) that I’ve missed the Olympics. My favorite part of the Olympics is still to come. The Paralympics are the Olympic Games for physically disabled athletes. They are always held in the same city, at the same venues as [...]
Labor Day weekend is passing us by and that means the traditional end of summer has been marked. Oh, sure, we have a few more weeks until the fall equinox, but to many - summer is over. And with the end of summer here, it’s go time in Tampa Bay sports. The Buccaneers kicks [...]
“Do what they did, you’ll get what they got.” I am not sure that Tampa Bay needs to reinvent the wheel on its way to urban viability, but… Many of the cities that have truly come back from the edge and become centers of creative post-industrial life are very different from the Tampa/St Pete metro area. They [...]
I know the only thing worse than hearing a fan whine about how the officials are cheating against their favorite team is hearing a fan whine about how the officials are cheating against their FIRST PLACE team. But seeing not one, but two utterly heinous blown calls go against the beloved home town Tampa Bay Rays [...]
Just a real quick note to Sticks of Fire readers who use the Facebook: Sticks of fire has it’s own Facebook fan page now!
Let’s quit pretending. Tampa isn’t a city. St Petersburg isn’t a city. Clearwater and all the other municipalities in the Tampa bay region are not cities in the traditional sense. Lacking a coherent functioning core and distinct boundaries (other than saltwater), they are, or have become, no more than jurisdictional regions. The small urban cores of [...]
Oh boy! In another one of those kooky quirks of scheduling, Tampa played host to both the Women of Faith Infinite Grace conference and the 2008 FetishCon this past weekend. One event featured appearances by Eden Wells, Kumi Monster and RubberDoll, the other featured Patsy Clairmont, Sandi Patty and Marilyn Meberg. I’ll let you Google [...]
“We don’t have a mandate to share editorial. We’re so local in our orientation, it’s never made any sense to do it that way. I think we’ve got six or seven film critics around the company now. If you put your efficiency hat on, could one film reviewer do the same job for everybody? Perhaps, but that connection to film and the local community is something I’m proud of. I’m (more interested in trying) something that really takes this talent and creates a national Web site out of it.” — Ben Eason, Creative Loafing CEO, in an interview with St. Petersburg Times’ TV/media critic Eric Deggans discussing Creative Loafing’s purchase of The Chicago Reader and the Washington City Paper; published August 19, 2007. After those assurances made almost exactly one year ago, Creative Loafing has let film critic Lance Goldenberg go. Local writer Philip Booth broke the story Thursday with an eloquently angry post on his blog Scribe Life. That same day, St. Pete Times’ TV/media critic Eric Deggans blogged about his disappointment at hearing the news in a post on his blog The Feed. Deggans’ post included quotes from both Goldenberg and CL editor David Warner, as well as the full statement issued by Warner. Acknowledging both of those blog posts and the overwhelming support Goldenberg received in comments on both blogs, CL writer Wayne Garcia posted briefly – almost begrudgingly – about Goldenberg’s departure on the CL blog Political Whore. Garcia’s blog post included a statement from CL editor David Warner, who said that the concern about this news is understandable because “Lance has been a reliably expert voice on film in Tampa Bay for many years.” In his published statements (on Political Whore and The Feed) and his blog comments (on The Feed and Scribe Life), Warner explained that CL’s decision to release Goldenberg – who has been a freelance writer for CL, not a full-time CL employee, all these years – was based on “the fiscal realities that are facing everyone in the newspaper business.” Warner assured readers and advertisers (smart move on Warner’s part to be concerned with advertisers, because they ultimately control the fiscal realities in the newspaper industry) of CL’s commitment “to reviewing and reporting on the local film scene and the many film festivals Creative Loafing has always covered in depth.” I have so many questions and comments that I don’t know where to begin. I suppose I should start by acknowledging my discomfort in writing about this topic. I’m a blogger, remember, so technically I’m part of the newspaper industry’s problem in the first place. (I’ll save that discussion for another blog post.) However, I hate reading about the exodus of film/book/art/music critics over the past year or so. (33 film critics since January 2006, according to The Movie Cricket.) I spent several hours today writing a long article about this, going through all my questions and reactions point by point. After re-reading my final draft, I realized that it didn’t work and deleted it. All of the thoughts that have been swirling in my head since I first read about Goldenberg’s departure relate to one central concern: Will Creative Loafing continue to write about, support, critique and draw attention to local films, filmmakers, film festivals and theaters? I certainly hope so, but Creative Loafing’s track record has me a little worried. The same week that Tampa’s CL let Lance Goldenberg go, Atlanta’s Creative Loafing laid off senior editor Scott Freeman and arts/entertainment editor (and occasional film reviewer) David Lee Simmons. Jonathan Rosenbaum, head film critic for the Chicago Reader, retired in February after 21 years. Art/film critic Felicia Feaster left Creative Loafing in Atlanta in April. The Chicago Reader lost several talented, dedicated staff writers in December. Hopefully, the national advertising agency Creative Loafing signed on with recently can bring in those crucial advertising dollars. When long-time writers like Goldenberg depart, readers notice the difference. Readers also notice when a paper loses some of its local focus or replaces thoughtful critical analysis with brief infotainment sound bytes. Local film fans will be watching. I certainly will be, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed. (cross-posted at www.tampafilmfan.com)
