Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

Men’s Health magazine has the craziest city rankings. They recently called Denver the drunkest city in America. Now they have determined that Anaheim is your best bet for safe sex. Conversely (and on the other hand), if you prefer to catch a disease, get on up to Detroit. For the safest in Florida pleasure, go to St. Pete. They are 41st safest, ranking it as average. Tampa, however, gets a D+, and is grouped in the “Taking Your Chances” category at number 68. Jacksonville is the worst in Florida at number 75. Miami is average at #53. At number 11 overall, Birmingham is the safest in the Southeast. Along with the Motor City, other cities ranking in the “Might as well get your shots now” category include (in order from 100 to 88) Newark, Baltimore, Atlanta, DC, Philly, Memphis, New Orleans, Richmond, Chicago, Norfolk (VA), Oklahoma City, St. Louis, and San Francisco.

The Buccaneers just traded Keenan McCardell to the San Diego Chargers for a third and a sixth round pick in the upcoming draft. By the way, if you haven’t checked out Buccaneers.com lately, their flash movie intros just keep getting better and better. This week’s is a take on the Godfather movies. Check out The Grudefather. It takes a minute to load, but it’s worth it.

Mel Martinez and Betty Castor face off tonight in the first of two scheduled debates. If you haven’t made up your mind, tune in tonight to hear where each candidate stands on the issues. Tim Russert from Meet The Press will moderate and has done a good job in Florida races in the past. It should be lively.

By the way, contrary to what Martinez wants you to think, Sami Al-Arian is not an issue. I followed that story as it was unfolding here in Tampa, and Castor did what she could to keep USF safe – safe from terrorists, safe from embarrassment, and safe from lawsuits. At the time, there were a handful of people that insisted Al-Arian was not a terrorist, and that he was being unfairly persecuted. Some are still not convinced. Castor was put in an uncomfortable position, and truly made the best of a bad situation.

Some of you wonder why people are still undecided about the presidential race. It could be that the undecideds are conservative folk that have been voting for a Republican president every year since 1952 (except 1964, when they didn’t vote at all), and just can’t seem to get behind a second term of Bush. Wait a minute – that’s not voters, it’s your local newspaper: The Tampa Tribune endorses NOBODY for president.

Think about that. Trib endorses Republicans in every election for 40 years, and this year, they have no opinion. And it could reflect the thoughts of many people. I personally know of two conservatives who feel much the way the Trib does, and they are both still undecided.

When you read news stories about the NFL, and the players, it seems they are nothing but a bunch of thugs. But that’s only because when most players volunteer or donate to any given charity, they don’t want to toot their own horns, and it’s not sensational, so the news media buries the stories after the latest drug bust. But I’m going to take a minute here to give props to the NFL and some individual players have helped with hurricane relief here in Florida.

Several NFL teams helped to raise money for hurricane victims. The Pittsburgh Steelers got $50K from 84 Lumber, and collected an additional $17,900. The Detroit Lions gathered up $7,000. Tony Dungy’s Indianapolis Colts also gathered up some money. And what about the Florida teams? The Jacksonville Jaguars raised over $11,000. The Miami Dolphins helped distribute some supplies directly to victims. Derrick Brooks donated $10,000, and the Bucs collected $12,000 from fans.

You can help too, you know. The Weather Channel and the NFL have teamed up for relief efforts, and will donate $1.00 every time someone visits this webpage. So, go visit the page. Now. And Again. And tell your peeps to click it too.

I meant to mention this last week, but didn’t get around to it. TV channel UPN 44 has brought back Dr. Paul Bearer (sort of) and the Saturday afternoon Creature Feature. Many of you probably don’t know what the hell I’m talking about, so here’s some background: Dick Bennick played Dr. Paul Bearer. He would come into our living rooms every Saturday afternoon to show us some cheesy horror movie. But the most entertaining part was catching the horrible horror puns by the “massacre of scareimonies” himself. He’d sit in his “uneasy chair” and read books and magazines with titles such as “Nooseweek,” and “Better Tombs and Gardens.” And who could forget the great special effects. Bennick would also make many public appearances throught the region - his charachter was quite popular. The show ran from 1973 until Dick Bennick’s death in 1995.

Recently, a few fans got together to revive the show and to remember Dick. They hired a new Creature Feature host, and sold it to UPN 44. The new host is supposed to be the late Doctor’s nephew, Professor Paul Bearer II. Because the show was such a staple at my house, I hope the venture is successful enough for 44 to continue, but Andy Lalino gives the new Creature Feature a mixed review thus far. I did not watch it last week, but hope to catch at least a bit of it tomorrow.

By the way, if you are an entertainment buff, you gotta keep Tampa-based Crazed Fanboy – Nolan’s Pop Culture Review on your hit list. Nolan Canova has been writing that thing for years now, and Lalino as well as all the other contributors are obviously passionate about their topics. I personally like William Moriarty’s “La Floridiana” segments. Go give ‘em a look.

Sarasota County is in the top ten of the most technologically advanced, cutting-edge county governments in the United States.

A show on HGTV reveals hidden gardens in different parts of the country. The Hidden Gardens of Tampa episode highlighted Sunken Gardens (hey, that’s in St. Pete!), George and Cassandra Banning’s garden at their home somewhere in Tampa, the Ybor City Museum garden and the sculpture garden at Artists Unlimited in the Channelside District. You can see three of the four live and in person for cheap! Not sure the Bannings would like you traipsing through their yard.

Speaking of Artists Unlimited, they now have their own online newsletter. Learn about future and recent events and how you and your family can take advantage of upcoming art classes. You can get the newsletter emailed to you just for signing up on their website.

The current administration tells me that the economy just keeps getting better and better.
Study Circle of 15 residents are reviewing Tampa’s long-term growth plan. How many committees are there?
Attempting invisibility: This one runs and swims. This one took his clothes off. This stalker uses GPS to track his victim.
Scum of the Earth: this one sells donated cars. These robbed while homeowners are evacuated during recent hurricanes.
Talk to your folks about their wills. If you are unhappy with it, rushing the process won’t help.