Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

Check out the Washington Post’s review: SoHot Style in South Tampa.

there’s a certain frat-house stench to the air in Ybor, and most of what you’ll see on a casual stroll revolves around souvenir shops and tattoo and pizza parlors.

For a more refined experience, follow stylish locals to the leafy neighborhoods of South Tampa…

Well, at least they found something to like, unlike that visitor from the left coast.

Hat tip to SoHoTampa.

The St. Petersburg Times is looking for tales of online love gone bad. We’ve all heard stories about that self-described “big man on campus” who’s really a middle-aged man with hives. Turn your heartbreak into hilarity and send it in email form to jbarry@sptimes.com. The best of all entries will be published on Valentine’s Day. The best of the best will get a dozen roses. That’s more than you ever got from that redneck who sold himself as a “stud resembling Johnny Depp”.

I’ve been with the same man my entire life, so I can’t relate to these tales of woe. I sure do enjoy them, though. If you have a great story and can’t write in complete sentences, post it below and let the rest of us live vicariously through you.

I’m not a water-nut. I might would snorkel.  But I don’t fish, I don’t swim, and I don’t lay down on the beach. I do like to explore. And I have already been to every patch of land in Hillsborough County. So I bought a cruisin’ boat. And I love boating.

It’s just a small craft - 18 ft. Perfect for Wifey, myself, and the two kids, or six grownups. Of course, wifey’s not into fishin’, either. But she likes the sunshine - she’ll lay in the sun for hours and hours and hours. But she’s not into “roughing it.” And there’s no head (that’s “bathroom” for you landlubbers) on the vessel.

We put in at Shell Point in Ruskin. From there we’ve been up the Hillsborough (Rick’s) and Alafia Rivers (ABT). We’ve gone to Harbor Island (Island Oasis) and Cotanchobee Park (facilities are inside the Marriott). We’ve gone to Ft. Desoto, Egmont Key, and Tiera Verde. And we’ve enjoyed lunch at the St. Pete Pier.

You see, when they built that upside-down pyramid, they thought folks would pull up in their boats and do some shopping or dining - as was our plan. Therefore, slips surround the main pier area so you can tie down the boat and go on about your business.

Of course, the Pier was built in 1973. And let’s just say they haven’t maintained things at water level too well. So after tying down to the rickety, dangerous-looking pilings, and convincing my wife everything would be just fine, we enjoyed a great lunch, and a great day. But because of the sad state of the slips, we haven’t been back (via water).

There are over one million boats registered in Florida.  10% of them, or over 100,000 boats are registered in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.  Why wouldn’t the Pier’s management want visitors from the water? Why wouldn’t you want more visitors from anywhere you can find them?

Plans to renovate the St. Pete Pier are in the discussion stage.  I wonder if waterside access will be addressed.

Have you taken your little one to Disney World lately? I hadn’t been to the Magic Kingdom in ages but I took Girlie and three other kids (and two other adults - I’m not crazy) there yesterday for her 7th birthday. I should have known that security measures had changed when I went to AAA on Friday to purchase tickets. It used to be that you could get actual tickets from AAA and avoid the ticket line at the park. Not anymore. AAA gives you ticket vouchers that you exchange at the ticket window. Here’s why.

Before you can go in the park, the identification of each adult is checked and swiped through their computer. Then you have to write down the names and birthdays of each child on a slip of paper and wait while the ticket agent enters all that into the computer. (Won’t that be easier when everybody, even a baby, has to keep an national ID card on them at all times? Don’t answer, I’m being sarcastic.) Then you get your tickets and proceed to bag check and on into the park.

Perhaps I’m slow on the uptake, but how exactly is my security improved with these procedures? I’m sure that Disney benefits from having the names and information of everybody entering the park. And they own it, they can do it, I realize that. My question is: is this a valuable security measure that all parks should be employing, like Busch Gardens, or is this security measure just a thinly disguised way to get information about park visitors? Entering Disney was no less cumbersome than entering the United States through customs. What do you think?

Even when meeting for important issues, your elected officials still can’t get anything done. Ridiculous.

60 years ago today…

January 31, 1946 – The government declares Drew Field (now Tampa International Airport) a surplus, clearing the way for the city to take possession immediately and turn the field into an international airport.

Courtesy of the Tampa Bay History Center

The reward for information about Jennifer Kesse has increased to $115,000.

*Editor’s note: We here at Sticks of Fire know that your time is valuable. And we also hope that you won’t just go to the polls and make a guess. While we won’t tell you how to vote, we hope to bring a somewhat balanced look at the candidates and their stance on issues important to citizens of Tampa and Hillsborough County.

Starting today, we’re going to be running a series dedicated to the races for Tampa City Council and the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners. Everything related will be put in one category (election ’06) that you can check in the days leading up to the election in November.

Before we go over the new people who want to make decisions for you, here’s a quick look at how the county commission is currently stacked up:

The Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners is made up of 7 officials. The first four each represent a different district within Hillsborough County. Depending on where you live, you could expect to speak to (and therefore vote for) any one of 4 different commissioners. Check the map to see if you live in District 1, 2, 3, or 4. In addition, you have three other commissioners that purport to represent the entire county.

District 1 encompasses the coastline and Kathy Castor is leaving the BOCC to pursue a Senate seat in Congress**.

District 2 includes the northern portion of the county, including New Tampa. Ken Hagan is staying on, so there will be no election for this seat in 2006.

Thomas Scott is leaving to run for the Tampa’s City Council. He currently represents District 3 which is most of East Tampa.

District 4 is that “South County” you’ve heard so much about. It’s everything east of 39 and south of Hwy 60. The much beloved Ronda Storms is leaving to pursue a Senate seat, and candidates will be jumping in soon.

Districts 5, 6, and 7 cover the entire county. Remember, in theory, each one of them represent all of us. In District 5, Jim Norman is running for re-election. Brian Blair will remain as commissioner for District 6 for another couple years. Mark Sharpe is in charge of District 7, and must run for reelection this year.

In a nutshell, if you live in District 2, this year you will only vote for District-wide seats 5 and 7. If you live in District 1, 3 or 4, you’ll vote for 5, 7 and the district in which you live.

Next we’ll have a list of candidates trying to get those seats.

**Update 30Jan06 9:02pm: Corrected Castor’s reason for leaving - thanks Smitty!