Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

Lots of changes ’round here recently:

Online Morgan is offline, Blog de Leon has blogged de nada, and Sekimori went underground. Blunted On Reality has been snubbed out, and Tampa Bay Blogger Fest has no recent news. Population Statistic is on hiatus, and Dave has recently thought about quitting, as has Der Stonegauge. The Snooter and Gonzonia are down to about once a month. YaGottaBelieve (written by Jake) has become part of DRays Bay (which John tried to tell me a month ago!).

Still blogging, but in a new way: The Worst Blog Ever became implobbable, and DebWire became a photoblog.

Still blogging, but in a new place: The Orange Haired Boy is moving to Chicago, and the unstoppable girlie~dervish is moving to NYC. Best wishes to both of ‘em. We’ll miss you here in Tampa!

So, the government pays $250,000 for a consulting firm to come up with a catchphrase to help increase tourism. But the $250,000 slogan is stupid. It doesn’t work, and not even the visitor bureau will use it. Are we talking about “I am Tampa?” Not this time.

Just be happy you don’t live in Delaware, where “It’s Good Being First.” You just know the night before deadline, someone at the consulting firm was watching the History of the World, Part I. Thanks to Pat Fish, who offers her suggestions for much less money (scroll to very bottom).

I just decided to put up the Trident theme I had told you about through email… ALong with customizing it a bit with the sidebars and the background. There is a lot more customizationt aht can be done - especially on the right hand menu…

One thing that escapes me however is how to customize the header. I want to put a GRAPHIC in there. I might just end up clipping an image of Tampa and putting it in there….

You’ll be able to just switch the theme back if this is not what you want but I’m doing what I can with customizing it becuase I think it’s a lot more what you are looking for.

Back in 1998, Hank Earl Carr killed two officers while in their custody. He had a handcuff key on a chain around his neck, and used it to get free. After that debacle, the cops went hard after his girlfriend, Bernice Bowen, because she did not give Carr’s real name and failed to tell them of his hidden key. Bowen is now in jail for accessory after the fact.

Now in 2005, when investigators were looking for Jessica Lunsford, the crackheads living with John Couey failed to give his whereabouts. Citrus County Sheriffs say they cannot arrest them for lying. What’s with the double-standard? Is it because a cop was killed? Or am I missing something?

A hat tip goes to letter to the editor writer Lori Filer.

If you are one of those people living in one of those apartments that are about to be turned into condominiums, you should read this article. The Tribune reports on real estate agents who are encouraging apartment renters to hire them so you can keep the same address. The story makes it pretty clear there is not much reason to do it, unless you just want to throw away your money.

The Brandon area had quite a revelation the other day. Sixty six people have been arrested for gang-related activities near the Heather Lakes subdivision. A third of them have close ties to one of the many gangs wreaking havoc nearby. The biggest gang is known as City Squad. Others are called the Untouchables, Raw Dogs, FAM, Bloods and the Dover Locos. I’ve recently heard of members of the City Squad fighting with the FAM crowd during afternoons when school lets out. A house in the neighborhood and a “local teen nightclub” has been reported to the nuisance and abatement board for possible drug activities. The NAB is the first step to putting a lien on the property and shutting it down. The Sheriff’s Office gives you some info on how to detect gang presence in your neighborhood.

The past few days have been directed toward choosing a theme for the blog. I can’t find one I’m happy with. I have the same problem with finding an image for the header. Perhaps I’m being too picky. More likely is that my design skills are limited (to zero), and that frustrates me. I wouldn’t mind learning more, but don’t really have the time to do it. I’m considering just going with one of the templates, with the intention of changing them later. Although I really wish the whole thing could be finished all at once to make a big splash…

The NFL released the 2005 schedule today. The hometown team schedule is pretty vanilla. There is no Monday Night Football. There is no Sunday night match up. In fact, 13 of the 16 games are at 1:00 on Sunday. There is one 4:15 game at San Francisco, and two late-season Saturday games. One of the Saturday afternoon games will be televised nationally. One. They don’t deserve that. I guarantee they won’t lose on Oct. 23, they have a bye.

Let’s check the top stories in the local paper today:

The search is on for a missing girl. Hmmm. That sounds familiar. Pinellas student injured because of school negligence. That’s familiar too. Mel Martinez denies responsibility for blunder. Nothing new there, either. Neighborhood apartments to be converted into condos. Déjà vu all over again. Ronda Storms takes on meaningless task. Goodness, I don’t even have the time for all those links.