Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

On this day in 1959, Busch Gardens opened in Tampa.

… beer-brewer Anheuser - Busch started up a beer garden (with free beer) and a bird show at the front of its new brewery in Tampa. It opened on March 31, 1959 as an admission-free hospitality facility for the Tampa Anheuser-Busch brewery on the grounds of the manufacturing plant. Visitors could watch bird shows and animal acts in a tropical setting and before leaving the grounds entered a beer garden offering free Busch beer to drink. Hundreds of exotic birds filled the fully interactive Bird Gardens, all for free admission.

Just as it is today, the birds roamed free, where the guests were free to pet them. Millions visited, and in a stroke of brilliance wildlife-lover August A. Busch Jr. added the 29-acre Serengeti Plains in 1965 (eventually expanded to 70 acres.) The gigantic Serengeti Plain allowed the African wildlife to roam freely and became the largest, free-roaming habitat outside of Africa. It remains one of the most unique features of the park to this day and has received numerous upgrades and expansions.

So Happy Birthday, Busch Gardens.

In addition to the TampaPix presentation of old images of Busch Gardens, Check the official Busch Gardens Tampa Bay website, and the unofficial Busch Gardens fan site, BGTGuide. Don’t forget, the new Jungala section opens this weekend.

I suppose you will hear more about a Busch Gardens Birthday next year, when they turn 50.

Tampa Bay Website Highlight: Art Squeeze

Art Squeeze — Get the juice on Tampa Bay’s arts scene!

Art Squeeze is a visual arts blog written by Megan Voeller, freelance writer and visual art critic for Creative Loafing Tampa.

From Megan:

I created this blog as a way of addressing the disconnect between different parts of the Tampa Bay area arts community. How many times have I heard an art lover from St. Petersburg tell me that she’s never heard of Bleu Acier? Or a Tampa resident admit that he’s never been to The Arts Center? Folks, we have a promising contemporary art scene struggling to thrive in this area, but we don’t have the social cohesion to support it.

Yet.

Each week, I write a print column about the visual arts in Creative Loafing, our alternative newsweekly. Here on Art Squeeze, you’ll find further coverage of events, story updates, and even multimedia features. (Yes—get ready to waste some freakin’ time on this site.)

The goal is always to support talent where talent has merited support. You won’t find me an uncritical cheerleader. There’s stuff that I don’t like and that I don’t think is very good; generally, I won’t be writing about that stuff. (On the other hand, just because I skipped your exhibit doesn’t mean I don’t like you.)

If you want to be on top of Tampa Bay’s visual art scene, check in at Art Squeeze.

My buddy Johnny took me to see a great example of stupidity in regards to parking in downtown Tampa. I have been meaning to get back to the place and take a photo, so I could show off the stupidity right here on Sticks of Fire. But I never remember to grab my camera. But now, Google Maps has saved me.

TBT* told me that Google Maps has added their “Street View” gimmick to the Tampa Bay area. So, from Google Maps, you can see a street level view of most any building (photo locations are outlined in blue). Here’s Tampa City Hall, for instance.

My house is frozen in time, too, complete with empty trash cans strewn about the driveway. I remember that day, and I think the photo was taken in February.

Of course, anyone walking by or hanging out when the photos were taken are also saved forever. You can check out one of the Downtown Partnership’s Clean Team chillin’ over the Hillsborough.

So back to Johnny’s observation. Google Maps - Street View has saved me a trip with the camera, and you can now see the stupidity for yourself. Check out the dueling parking signs near downtown Tampa. The top sign says “NO PARKING” the bottom sign says “2 HOUR PARKING.” Of course, mistakes can be made, but the same dueling laws apply on the southbound side, too. Anyone wanna volunteer to park there, and see if you get a ticket or if you get towed?

OR… you could simply find your house on Google Maps, and see if the whole world can peek in yer windows. Tell us what you find.

… or is it “Stay Home and Sulk”?

For her 18th birthday, Wifey and I took the High School Senior to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casin o. She had gotten some birthday spending money from friends and family, and I thought it would be a good idea to teach her how to effectively make it disappear at the slo t machines.

As we showed her the ropes, she learned there is a lot more than just

• a. insert money
• b. place bet
• c. pull handle
• d. repeat until broke

For instance, the Degenerate Gamblers Rewards Gimmick.

Before you sit down at your first machine, you gotta visit the Degenerate Gamblers Rewards Gimmick Concierge Desk (they MIGHT call it the Players Club or something like that). Give ‘em your name and ID, and they give you a plastic card that can track how much you lose play at the place. Each time you play at a table or any machine, you rack up points, and after 20 years or so, you will have enough points for a free soda or something.

So the 18 year old became a member of the Degenerate Gamblers Rewards Gimmick, and after a small handful of visits to the Hard Rock, she has earned at least a couple of points. But yesterday we learned that she has only FOUR DAYS to redeem those rewards.

You see, Governor Crist gave the Seminoles permission to add some Vegas Style Table Games, and convert all those Bingo Based Slots to real Vegas Style Slot Machines. In exchange, the Seminoles agreed to disallow those under 21 to play with these more official gam bling options.

In preparation for that upgrade, Doug Hoppe, VP of Sales & Marketing of the SHRH&C sent out a letter to the High School Senior, explaining that as of April 1, she is no longer welcome as a member of the Degenerate Gamblers Rewards Gimmick. She is no longer welcome to play those one-armed bandits. (She can, however, continue to play poker.) She is no longer welcome to collect points, redeem offers, participate in any promotions, or redeem points.

Of course, the minute she turns 21, all bets are off (so to speak), and she will be reinstated as a full member of the Degenerate Gambler’s Society.

But in the meantime, these sharks have given her 4 days’ notice to find time to get to the glorified Bingo Palace, redeem her points, and get that free piece of Hard Rock Candy (or tiny trinket, or cash, or whatever) she so richly deserves.

By the way, SHRH&C PR guy Gary Bitner says some Vegas Style Slots could be in the Tampa casino as soon as June 1. We’re betting (ha!) that you will see some in there by mid-May.

On Good Friday morning, I got out of bed and saw that the High School Senior had slept in late. I woke her up so she could rush to school. “It’s Good Friday,” she said. “We’re going to the beach.” Being the stepdad, I assumed she had worked it out with her mother, and let her fall back asleep.

And I asked Wifey about this. With rumors that there wasn’t going to be much “teaching” going on, Wifey didn’t see the point of going to school, either. I found later they weren’t really “rumors.” Plenty of teachers were discussing the “free day off” with students all week at the local high school.

The 2nd Grader did go to school. She and 3 others showed up at the classroom built for twenty. Those four joined another class of TWO, and those six students didn’t learn anything. They drew pictures for each other and they “worked” on their coloring books. That’s not all, according to the seven-year-old. They did have a Phys Ed class - playing at the playground. And Lunch.

It seems that the High School Senior got as much an education at Siesta Key that day as did the 2nd Grader at her Local Elementary School.

How is it that school is scheduled, but nothing gets done? There are many reasons, but they all come back to the same thing. The Hillsborough County School Board has no common goal, no direction, no guts, and is manned by a bunch of self-important ninnies who have way more power than they should.

Back in February of last year, board members were insistent that holding school on Good Friday would be a disaster:

“In this country, the majority of the people are of the Christian faith and have accepted it as a day off,” Faliero said. “If you begin to take things like that away, people believe that you are eroding what this country was founded upon, and that was freedom of religion.”

But that is a knee-jerk reaction without even looking into the the subject. In that same article, the St. Pete Times notes that Pinellas holds school on Good Friday, as does Polk County, Orange County, and Bay County. In 2006, Pinellas’ Good Friday absentee rate was 15 percent for students, and about 10 percent of teachers.

A 10-15% absentee rate is something they could deal with. But even a year later, with Good Friday coming upon us, Faliero insisted. In the Times on Tuesday, March 18, she planted the seeds of Faliero’s Fantastic Friday Fiasco:

“Parents, please hear this: Your buses are going to be late,” School Board chairwoman Jennifer Faliero said. “Be prepared for a backup plan.”

Doom, Doom, and more Doom (Doom III?), she prophesies. What’s next, locusts? Nope, but religion comes up anyway. Read on from the Times on Wednesday, March 19:

“What I see — which is something I haven’t seen in a long time — is Christians uniting,” said School Board member Jennifer Faliero, who favors a day off on Good Friday. “They are fearing that their religion is being overlooked.”

Aha! It’s to be an uprising of Christians - uniting to protest the assault on their holy day! But wait - just the day before in the Tampa Tribune, Faliero said it had nothing to do with religion:

Taking Good Friday off has nothing to do with religion, however, said School Board Chairwoman Jennifer Faliero.

“Parents have always taken off Good Friday - they always will,” Faliero said. “This is an American tradition.”

So it’s an American Tradition. A holiday, not a holy day.

Nonsense. She simply wants no school on that day and is saying anything that will convince students, parents, teachers, bus drivers - including Jews, Muslims, and atheists alike to play hooky. In addition, she counted on the newspapers to be her megaphone. And it worked. Did you see what both dailies did? Starting on Tuesday, both papers had section front stories all week proclaiming Doom III, and basically just pounded it into your head:

• Tuesday, March 18 - Many Teachers, Drivers Plan To Skip Work Good Friday, Hillsborough schools prepare for Good Friday flu
• Wednesday, March 19 - Schools’ Biggest Worry Good Friday May Be Buses, Hillsborough schools brace for Good Friday absences
• Thursday, March 20 - Schools Hope For Best On Friday and 19 Schools Will Have No Bus Service on Friday
• Good Friday, March 21 - Schools Hoping It’s No Freaky Friday, Hillsborough schools’ goal for Good Friday: a normal day

Good grief! They ran out of ways to say the same thing over and over and over. Not only that, but would you believe that TBO created a Blog dedicated to the saga? Yep, it’s entitled Good Friday for Skipping School.

Just because some teachers don’t read a newspaper, doesn’t mean they all are clueless. And kids can read too, you know. So is it any wonder that by Thursday, teachers, students, administration, bus drivers - hell, even the janitors were discouraged to show up.

And of course it worked:

Tribune - Lack Of Students Makes ‘Lonely’ Day, Times - Nearly 60% of Hillsborough County students absent on Good Friday

Or did it?

By the 20th, reporters heard that original numbers of absenteeism were being overestimated. And late Friday, the numbers that the Tribune got from each individual school was significantly different than the figures from the district. As far as I can tell, we have not yet received a verification of the correct number of absentees. Regardless, it was a mess.

Finally, this Tuesday, both papers ran editorials slamming the School Board for allowing a free day to occur. The Tribune and Times both suggest administrators limit the number of people taking a personal day, so the entire district doesn’t get shut down for a day.

The Times also specifically encouraged Jennifer Faliero to remember that the public school system is here to serve Christians and non-Christians alike.

Yep…

It’s an epidemic. There is now another one - this one from Pasco County schools. It’s happening so often that this one didn’t even make the front page of Trib’s Metro section.

Tampa Bay Website Highlight: The Sustany Foundation

The Sustany Foundation Vision:

To be the leading facilitator of sustainability in our community through efficient and effective aggregation and investment of resources.

The Sustany Foundation Mission Statement:

To increase the quality of life for Tampa Bay’s citizens today and into the future by promoting sustainability on a local level through education, investment, and culture. We will work to preserve Tampa Bay’s unique environmental attributes by developing and promoting systems and behavior focused on conservation and stewardship, while partnering with existing organizations whenever possible to leverage resources and avoid duplication of effort.

Learn more at sustany.org

Just days after reports of sextracurricular activities by a Hillsborough County school teacher, here we go again.

Freedom High School teacher Mary Jo Spack was arrested for engaging in sexual activities with a 17 year old student at the high school. This one is even weirder.

The student victim is nearly 18, so you can almost understand a May-September tryst. But the surrounding story is super-creepy. Cops say that in addition to the sex act, Ms. Spack was socializing with a handful of students at the hotel, and even supplied the Crown Royal. What the hell is that?

Well, listening to some of her students’ quotes, it almost sorta fits. For Ms. Spack, anyway. Check these from My Fox Tampa Bay (check the video, too):

• “she’s a really nice person, she’s really funny, really engaging,”
• “she was one of my favorite teachers”
• “she jokes with the kids, and have a good time,”

Less trustworthy, but perhaps noteworthy are the online comments supposedly left by students defending her, such as those via WTSP and TBO:

• “Nooo! Mrs. Spack is one the sweetest, most amazing teachers in the universe. She was good friends with my mom, and I adore her! I just want to say that she’s probably going to get a lot of crap for this incident, but she is honestly such a great lady. And I feel bad for anyone that judges her…”
• “Mrs. Spack was by far one of the best teachers I have ever had! Her charisma was uncontested and it made her all the more a brilliant person. Not only that, but she has gone out of her way to be nice to her students- without any sexual or drug-related intention, for you skeptics out there.”
• “this teacher is really cool”
• “she used to buy kids cigarrettes [sic] last year and alcohol”

Again, these last comments are from anonymous internet posters claiming to be students (or ex-students) of Ms. Spack, but she sure sounds more like a “friend” than any sort of authority figure.

Now, cops think there may be more victims.