Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

St. Pete Times: Some drivers blame left exit for truck crash that closed down 375 in St. Pete.

No, No, No. Drivers not paying attention is what causes confusion. From the article:

A large sign warns drivers that the exit is on the left nearly a mile before the split and another at 0.3 miles…

Commuter Ed Schatzman: “Almost every morning someone makes a last-minute decision and jerks back to go to the interstate or suddenly realizes they’re on 375 and must slow down.”

Schatzman’s co-worker, Kevin Bakewell, a senior vice president at AAA: “It is a very steep, sharp curve when you exit,” he said. “If you’re not paying attention to how fast you’re going … it can be a problem.”

Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Larry Coggins said the accident investigation is continuing. But he does not fault the exit… it is well-marked and does not have an unusually high number of accidents. About 11,000 cars use the ramp daily.

“It’s just a very terrible, tragic vehicle crash,” Coggins said. “We may never know why he took this turn.”

Both Ed and Kevin want to blame the left exit BUT…

• Ed: someone makes a last-minute decision
• Kevin: If you’re not paying attention

Tommy: When you are driving, JUST DRIVE. NOTHING ELSE.

I’m not saying the truck driver is at fault here - there could have been another vehicle involved. But, (again according to the article), he works 14-16 hour days, and it was 10:30 at night. If I got started on the road at 8am, even with breaks I don’t think I would make it to 10:30pm.

On Monday, I headed over with a friend to Boizao, a newly opened Brazilian steakhouse on Boy Scout Blvd across from International Plaza and Bay Street. Last week I went to the opening of Boizao and was impressed. The food was great and the service tried to please. Of course, this was to be expected at a grand opening. I was interested in seeing how Boizao served everyday customers for lunch.

If you’re a true carnivore and haven’t been to a Brazilian steakhouse before, you’re missing out. Even if you’re not a meat-eater, you’re still missing out on a unique experience. Churrascarias generally include cold buffets with salads, cold meats and imported cheeses. The main attraction, though, is the large selection of all-you-care-to-eat cuts of meat served table side by gauchos (Brazilian cowboys). The gauchos keep serving you until you tell them to stop. In the case of Boizao, it features 14 different fire-roasted cuts (beef, lamb, pork, chicken, sausage).

I thought the food was equally as good on Monday as it was at the opening. My friend had never been to a Brazilian steakhouse before and was impressed by the selection of meats and the quantity of food. My favorite cuts at Boizao are the knock-out costela de cordeiro (lamb chops), filet mignon and the filet com bacon (bacon wrapped filet). Warm side dishes included with meal are fried bananas, cheese bread, and mashed potatoes. This is not a diet place. Yes, you can just do the buffet and stick to the salad items, but watching the gauchos walk by with their giant skewers of meat would be cruel.Service was good. There was no shortage of different meats to choose from.

The atmosphere is upscale without feeling stuffy. Price wise, Boizao certainly isn’t cheap, but is priced similarly to other higher-end Brazilian steakhouses. Boizao’s fixed price menu is $38.90 for dinner and $18.90 for lunch. Apparently, there is also a “light lunch” option for $12.90 that is available. Given the quantity and selection of high-quality meats, these are fair prices. I’ve eaten at one upscale Brazilian steakhouse before, Texas de Brazil, a chain which has a location on I-Drive in Orlando. This was a few years ago, but I thought Boizao compared quite favorably overall to my experience at Texas de Brazil. Price-wise, this isn’t normally a place I would stop into for lunch or even dinner, but for a nice night out and special occasions, this is a good choice for meat-lovers.

The restaurant’s location in the Westshore business district should play well with business groups. This is a big restaurant and needs to do volume. Two more casual Brazilian restaurants include Brasillia Grill on N. Armenia and Brasa Grill on Waters. I haven’t been to either. So what’s your favorite Brazilian restaurant in Tampa Bay and why?

Bottom-line: Boizao, an upscale Brazilian steakhouse, is a welcome addition to the Tampa dining scene. This place is great for meat-lovers, but the cold buffet has enough of a selection to be a meal in itself. With its upscale pricing, this is more of a place for special occasions and nice night outs.

Note from Autopsy: okay. Two Cow Garage is not *our* local band. They are from Ohio. Why am I posting about them here? Do you have a pet band? That band that you think it great but nobody has ever heard of? Two Cow is my pet band and I do everything I can to help promote them. Since the weekends can be slow around here, nothing outside of Grand Prix and airshows is happening in town, and Sticks of Fire Night is not until Sunday, I figured I’d expose y’all to a great rock and roll band.

Two Cow Garage is a band I can root for… four completely awesome guys who write completely awesome rock music and play it with everything in them, regardless of the size of the crowd behind the monitors. If you can’t get behind that, then I dunno why you would even bother to read this backwoods corner of theinternets.Back in December I named Three as one of my most anticipated albums of 2007, so when it leaked to the internet I couldn’t resist the download temptation⁽¹⁾. I am happy to report my anticipation did not turn to disappointment … quite the contrary: this CD makes a beeline for my essential listening list.

(more…)

Alien Intelligencer presents a photograph of Sticks of Fire taken by Florida photographer Don Naumann.

Funny story.

I thought because I ate right and exercised that this whole cosmetic surgery thing would keep me down one, maybe two weeks. Tough cookie and all. I know, I know - Dr. Berger repaired stomach muscles torn apart by two active fetuses. So what? I’ve done 200 sit-ups before! Besides, I have had other surgeries, ya know. Tumors removed, veins stripped, children born and a hernia repaired. Piece of cake! Right? Of course, right.

Actually, not so much.

I’ve been a mess for the better part of two weeks. Finally able to walk upright, my tummy still feels tight. The only sensation I can compare it to is a sunburn. Tight and tender. That’s me. Wounds are still disgusting. Tegaderms make everything itchy. And I’m freaked about the whole “no bra” rule. For six weeks, my girls will be free - doctor’s orders. They feel so…exposed. What can I say? A nineteen year habit of strapping them in is kinda hard to break.

None of this is hot.

Gonna fight the urge to stay in bed and cry because I figure the best way to get back in the swing of things is to get back in the swing of things. Work. Mothering. Activist-ing.

So here I come. Slowly but surely. Eyes up here, boys.

There are a lot of big events this weekend. The St. Pete Grand Prix will take over the city of St. Pete, while the MacDill AirFest will take over MacDill Air Force Base. Of course, the biggest event of all is on Sunday afternoon, when Sticks of Fire will take over the March of the Kitefliers.

That’s right! On April Fools Day, not only will your city officials be sworn in, but it’s also Sticks of Fire Night at Jobsite Theater.

You may remember the first run of March of the Kitefliers last season. Shows sold out, and the production was even held over an extra weekend (which also sold out). So why all the sellouts? Cuz it’s damn good. And now it’s back.

First of all, it’s a fantastic story. The Tribune’s Amanda Henry said “… it is charming and fresh and … genuinely funny … what you might call an uber grande good time.” And because it’s good, a few nationally known producers are expected to take a look. Second, MOTK is an original work by a couple of Tampa guys. Local writers Shawn Paonessa and Neil Gobioff created the masterpiece, and on opening night (last night), Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio honored the production with a special presentation.

Jobsite Artistic Director David Jenkins has been putting a bunch of time and energy into this second run - and by all accounts to great success. Jenkins also plays one of the best characters you have ever seen, Jack. You can get a bit more insight into the character, since Jack even has a myspace page.

I’m telling you, you don’t want to miss the play this time around. Check out the previews by each of the local papers: Creative Loafing: Flying High, Tampa Tribune Sky is the Limit, St. Pete Times: Kitefliers breezes back

Won’t you join me on Sunday at 4pm? Of course you will. The first person to email me gets a free pair of tickets for Sticks of Fire Night. The rest of you, please buy your tickets now before it sells out. If you can’t go on Sunday, there are a couple tickets left for this weekend, but you better hurry.

See you there!

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

For additional information, contact:
Liana Lopez, Director
Public Affairs Division
(813) 274-8497
liana.lopez@tampagov.net

Mayor to Take Oath of Office
Ceremony to Mark Start of Second Term

Tampa, Fla. (March 29, 2007) – The City of Tampa will swear in Mayor Pam Iorio and members of Tampa City Council on Sunday, April 1, 2007 during the city’s Oath of Office Ceremony. The event will take place at 2 p.m. at the Tampa Convention Center in Ballroom A, located at 333 South Franklin Street.

Immediately following the ceremony, Tampa City Council will hold an organizational meeting to elect the chair and chair pro-tem. The meeting will take place in Room 13.

This event is free and open to the public. Parking is available for a fee in the Tampa Convention Center Parking Garage.

City of Tampa Television, Channel 15 on Bright House Networks and Verizon cable systems, will be on hand to cover the event live. The ceremony will be replayed on Sundays at 9 p.m., Mondays at 1 p.m., Fridays at 8 a.m., and Saturdays at 5 p.m. throughout the month of April.

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There are a multitude of blogs covering local sports, some you may have seen, some you may not. It is my intention to share as many of them in this space as possible. And if you have any blogs you would like to see in this space leave them in the comments.

• (This Should Fulfill My Monthly Bolts Quota) The Lightning are in a bit of a tailspin (losing 6 of their last 10) and are in danger of missing the playoffs. With 5 games to go the Bolts have dropped to the #7 seed, and only two points separate them from dropping completely out of the playoffs. The reaction from Bolts blogs runs the gambit from blaming the scorers, to blaming the goalie, to pulling a Chip Diller (remember, Kevin Bacon’s character from Animal House? “All is fine, nothing to see here.” You don’t? Damn kids…..)

• (An Excuse to Show Danica Patrick) It’s been a busy sports month for Tampa Bay between the ACC Tournament, spring training, the local teams and now the Honda Grand Prix (St Pete represent!). I know even less about Indy cars than I know about futbol, but from I understand the cars go really fast. So here’s a handy guide on how to tell one car from another.

• (I Hear John Wooden is Available) The Bulls basketball coach search continues (Day 20!) and USF may want to take a page from Michigan’s playbook and just take an ad out in the local newspaper. Recently fired Arkansas coach Stan Heath is the latest coach to throw his hat in the ring, he will meet with USF’s AD this weekend.

• (Maybe he’s just on X) With the latest owners meeting Gruden is forced to talk to the press and Buc Stats thinks Chucky has been taking a bit too much Percocet and Heineken.