Theo Wujick Show in Ybor and More

Posted Mar 26, 2007 by Sir Robert Davis

Updated Mar 26, 2007 at 01:02 PM

Friday night was interesting enough,  spending time with the lovely Shannon Lyn,  Bass Player Bob and Shawn Beauville;  but Saturday was a bit more eventful.

We began the night at the HUGE Theo Wujick show at the Cuban Club.  There were models modeling,  scratch DJs DJing,  bands banding and drinkers drinking (with a rum tasting on the top floor and everything!).  I think there were more media people than paid attendees.  Everyone had a camera and nearly everyone took a photo of yours truly.  When I inspected the models,  one of the people shooting them turned and shot me instead.  One of the models in question shot me a look that said “I’d me mad if you weren’t so cute…” 

BANG!

Theo was on the second floor,  brandishing the best art of the night.  His action-oriented pop-art-in-shards pieces were superb.  I’m pleased when a show has one good piece of art.  When it has a good artist with a selection,  I’m overjoyed.  “Sensory Overload” is a bit misleading.  Accuracy would have been “Theo and a bunch of other stuff”.

At 10pm the awful techno kicked in seemingly everywhere we went,  so we went to another party.

Enter the Michael Murphy Gallery.  It was a birthday/anniversary-styled event with a great DJ,  decent food,  an open bar and a lot of groovy people.  I was asked to explain what a “shaman” is.  I was asked what a “dandy” is.  Interestingly,  nobody asked what an “aesthete” is! 

To my surprise,  this gallery had a higher supply of “good art” than anything I had seen in this area outside the Dali Museum. Then again,  it was dark and I had been drinking all night.  To be sure,  I shall return to it soon.   

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It’s A Berry Good Time

Posted Mar 26, 2007 by Janine Dorsey

Updated Mar 26, 2007 at 01:25 PM

I took my Girl Scout troop to pick strawberries yesterday. These are city girls of South Tampa, they had no idea about the workings of a real farm.

They learned the proper technique for removing the juicy orb without damaging the plant. They learned not to take the ones with worm holes. And they learned how the pickers get paid, a fascinating process of scanning a sticker that the worker wears each time they turn in a full flat. At least that is how this particular farm keeps track of wages.

Since we were guests at this particular location, we didn’t decimate their plants by taking a ton of fruit. But we sure would have liked to! Last night’s shortcake (berries over poundcake with vanilla ice cream) was a great reward for our “hard” labor. This morning’s fresh berries eaten plain was more compensation for our efforts.

I think we are just getting warmed up.

Click U-Pick farms for Bay area locations offering discount berries (you provide the containers and the labor).

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Country Ain’t What It Used To Be, Either

Posted Mar 23, 2007 by Curtis Ross

Updated Mar 27, 2007 at 06:14 PM

Nashville songwriting once was the province of master craftsmen and women. Harlan Howard, Cindy Walker, Willie Nelson and Tom T. Hall could turn a phrase or tell a story with grace and ease.

Listen to country radio for an hour or so to hear how far it’s fallen.

It hits a new low on “A Different World,” the first single from the upcoming debut album by Bucky Covington.

Covington was a vocally and dentally challenged “American Idol” contestant who has inexplicably wound up under contract to Lyric Street Records.

The song itself, which amazingly bears three writers’ credits, turns a chain e-mail into song lyrics, a feat which must have taken 15 minutes, assuming they took a smoke break.

If you’ve never had this bit of prose forwarded your way, lucky you.

It’s a boomer take on “back in my day,” which implies that coming of age before car safety seats and bicycle helmets proves we’re tougher than these kids today.

Tucked in with fond reminiscences of lead paint and tobacco-enhanced gestations are these lines, which, unfortunately, are not sung to “The Waltons” theme:

Had three TV channels you got up to change

No video games and no satellite

Covington is 29 years old. If he grew up sans video games, cable and a remote control, it had to do with economics or parental restrictions.

But contemporary country—hell, pop songwriting in general—never met a cliché, generalization or slogan too hackneyed, hoary or just plain wrong to turn into a hit.

If “A Different World” tops the charts, expect a wave of chain mail and Internet rumor-based tunes: “They Left ‘In God We Trust’ Off the Dollar Coins,” perhaps, or “North Dakota Didn’t Need FEMA.”

Don’t forget to download and forward 10 times lest the chain be broken.

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Playing Shadowrun, On The DL

Posted Mar 23, 2007 by Wes Phillips

Updated Mar 23, 2007 at 04:55 PM

Beyond telling you that I’m participating in the “Shadowrun” beta, I can’t tell you anything about this Xbox 360 title. Well, I can tell you it’s a first-person shooter with a strong online component that’s due out for Xbox 360 and PCs in June. And I can tell you that it will be Microsoft’s first cross-platform game, meaning users on Windows Vista will be able to compete against 360 users and vice-versa.

Actually, I haven’t looked at the fine print of the NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) but I see plenty of places around the Internet giving impressions. I haven’t played it enough to give educated impressions yet, but it reminds me a lot of “Counter-Strike.”

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Did You Mean ‘Zone’?

Posted Mar 23, 2007 by TBO.com

Updated Mar 23, 2007 at 04:20 PM

Turns out that if you search for “Zune” in Google News, it thinks you made a typo.

“Did you mean ‘zone’?” it asks.

Nice. Four months into Microsoft‘s bid to gobble up Apple‘s share of the digital music hardware market, the Zune is barely on the radar.

According to the NPD Group, the Zune held a 10.2% unit share of the hard drive music player market in the U.S. in December and a 9.9% unit share in January. Guess who owns the other 90 percent?

Think about it. Do you know anyone who owns a Zune?

Yeah. Me, neither.

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