Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

Here’s a great opportunity for you to get your voice heard on the subject of war. Asking you to weigh in on the war in Iraq and the war on terror is Ben Eason, President and CEO of the Weekly Planet (also Creative Loafing in Atlanta). Check out this new blog called Voices of War.  From Ben Eason:

I’m interested in seeing how a civil dialogue might occur online amongst interested friends. Please respect the groundrules and we will all learn from one another. I appreciate your willingness to participate in this dialogue. I would like to present several broad themes in this blog coming from different participants and then ask you to engage in a dialogue by leaving comments underneath the theme that you’d like to respond to. The blog is a public space but I would also like to try to weave these comments into an article to appear in Creative Loafing in Atlanta and Charlotte or the Weekly Planet in Tampa and Sarasota.”

Voices of War already has several contributors and Ben introduces each at the beginning of their posts. It’s just getting started and I believe Sticks readers would have a lot to offer. So check it out!

Lowry Park Zoo has been voted the number one family friendly zoo in America by Child Magazine. Of course they probably mean when man-eating tigers aren’t wilding around the Asian display.

I wonder how the zoo would score on the animal friendly scale? It pains me to even ask because I have always loved that zoo. My daughter spent several fascinating and fun-filled weeks at the zoo school this summer. But even I would have to side with the relatives of Enshalla the Sumatran Tiger should they bring a wrongful death suit against the zoo. Enshalla never had kids so we’re probably talking about her litter-mates as complainants, wherever they are.

If you don’t know already, Enshalla the tiger was shot and killed the other day after waltzing out of the night house she was being transferred into for the evening. I’m sure there are many more facts to be revealed about this case but it seems clear that human error lead to her death. Somebody didn’t lock the door to the night house.

Indications in the St. Pete Times are that a zookeeper now on leave was responsible for the error. The paper raised questions about the training the zookeeper received at the zoo prior to the event that lead to Enshala’s death. There are also indications in the Tampa Tribune that the zoo will seek another Sumatran tiger. At the very least, the judge in the tiger’s wrongful death case should grant an injunction against further tigers being introduced to the zoo before the training and safety protocol programs can be evaluated.

I am still in favor of zoos for the time being. But I’m going to have to see some evidence that zoos have helped endangered animal populations and protected others from decline. I’m also going to need to see the numbers suggesting that zoos open to the public are necessary and humane, as opposed to alternatives such as private, closed breeding and study programs.

And yes, I know that tigers don’t have standing to file lawsuits but in this case, they should.

Not long ago my seven-year-old daughter raised her concern with me about recycling. They had discussed it at her school. I assured her that we recycle in our household and I showed her where to put empty bottles and old newspapers. That satisfied her but it left me wondering how we could do even more. The city gives advice about recycling in Tampa. It’s from the Solid Waste Department and I am following the suggestions.

Still I am bothered with the amount of garbage that a three person household can generate. How much worse is it in larger households? I have realized that it’s not enough to simply recycle when you can. We need to cut down on the amount of packaging we use to begin with. The Solid Waste Department says that 40% of the waste stream is discarded packaging. The time to think about conservation in this area is while you are shopping. It’s not easy to break old habits but little by little I am working on it.

For example, we no longer buy boxed juice. All those little individual boxes of juice create mountains of garbage. We buy frozen concentrate and mix it up in reusable containers. Do I miss the convenience? Only a little. I’m working on the buying-in-bulk thing too. I would love to know about local websites that address greening your average household. I’m not talking about moving into a yurt or growing my own vegetables, but it strikes me that there are lots of simple ways to conserve that would be easy to incorporate into our lifestyle.

So send me some suggestions or links and in the meantime, if you see a short-haired brunette whizzing about in a new red Prius, that would be me. This week I have greened up my garage too.

I know it’s heresy, but the surest way to stop young athletes from dying on the football field is to stop practice (or don’t start at all) when the heat index rises.  

Local media outlets are running articles about the concern doctors, parents, coaches and others feel about the recent deaths of two preteens after practicing football in the heat. The obvious questions for this protective mom are: Why are they out there practicing in heat strong enough to kill them? Where’s the sport in flirting with heat stroke?

This is Florida.  It’s hot.  Really hot.  And humid.  Shoot, it’s hot all over the country right now because, uhm, it’s JULY!  I love sports but I love children more.  Responsible adults should be teaching children to be responsible in the heat at this time of year.

My own mom had heat stroke as a twelve year old with lifelong consequences.  She was one of the lucky survivors.  Heat can kill.  And children are more vulnerable to heat stroke than grown ups.

By the way, I’m concerned mainly with youngsters — not college kids who are adults making their own decisions in life.  But if it is too hot to play football in summer in Florida, then kids, parents and coaches ought to be looking into other sports. 

For those of you happy with the status quo, I’d really like to hear the rationale for risking young lives over a game.

I have to admit, it is my kind of rebellious act.

A couple who buys houses and fixes them up for resale bought a fixer-upper in Temple Terrace. Before the purchase was made, they were aware of a significant lien on the property for code violations. They were told by code board members that once the property was brought into compliance, the fine would likely be reduced. It appears that it was, but only a little.

In the end they were still stuck with a $32,000 fine that they paid in ONE DOLLAR BILLS. Hah. I love it because they complied with the law but still stuck it to the code board (a little).

The vice chairman of the code board expressed his dismay that the couple would not be fixing up more houses in Temple Terrace.

Friday night, July 14th, at 7:30 p.m. I will be signing books at the Carrollwood Barnes & Noble. Not just any books, mind you, but MY book, Parvenue Throws A Party by Wendy Boucher.

You might be interested in my novel that pokes some wicked fun at social climbing in Tampa. I have had several book signings in the Tampa area but none in North Tampa or Carrollwood and it’s about time. The problem is, I usually make some of my friends pop by so that I don’t feel lonely but there are only so many times that you can impose upon your friends.

So this time I’d like to impose upon you strangers to stop by and say “Howdy.” Then we won’t be strangers anymore. See? Win, win. No purchase necessary unless you’d like to be my best friend. I’ll be there for a couple of hours so stop on by on your way out to go see, uhm, Tommy’s band at the Blue Shark!

First off I would like to thank the brave officers who came to my assistance last evening. You see, a neighbor had warned me that a very large boa constrictor had been spotted near our houses. CRIKEY! I have two cats and a morsel sized dog, not to mention a small child. Living as I do IN THE CITY, I don’t usually have too much concern about wild exotic animals that could eat my critters. I was unsettled by the news so I went out to take a look in my front yard and immediately spotted the villain slithering towards my backyard.

I called animal services but it was after hours so I called 9-1-1 and the operator had the temerity to tell me that she hoped it had eaten recently. Hah, hah, very funny. The first two officers arrived right away but despite my taunting, wouldn’t go wrangle the thing until the third, more experienced with snakes, officer arrived. Then the real snake handlers arrived and I kid you not, picked up the snake and kissed it on the head. “It’s docile. Anybody else want to give it a kiss?”

Then all my neighbors posed with it for pictures and it was all roses and sunshine. But docile or not, a snake’s gotta eat and even my bony little Italian Greyhound would look like dessert to a hungry reptile.

So that’s my story and here’s my question: What’s the strangest animal you’ve heard about turning up in Tampa or its environs?

First of all I’d like to point out the obvious. I’m back. Just when you thought that the departure of Kate meant that the crazy lefty chicks were all gone. Nope. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Wendy Boucher (pronounced Boo-Shay’) and I’m an author and artist and blogger. I am 72 percent right-brained, according to an online test that can’t be far off. The right side is the visual, figurative, artistic, and intuitive side of the brain. But I’m good at math, too.

Friday night I attended an art reception at the Lyssa Morgan Gallery that benefitted Alpha House. It was fun, of course, but better still is the exhibit. It’s called The Square Foot Show because ALL the pieces are 12” by 12”. With smaller pieces come smaller prices and you have choices from over 300 works of art. It’s a superb opportunity to own an original piece of art by an artist that you love. More than 200 artists contributed to the show from all over the globe but many of your favorite local artists are on display too. The exhibit will continue through mid-July at Lyssa Morgan Gallery, 4062 Henderson Blvd, Tampa.

You can read about the Square Foot Show in the Tampa Tribune.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I have a piece in the exhibit called, Beauty Requires No Bombs. BUT, my piece already sold so this is not about getting you to purchase a Wendy Boucher original. At least not that one. Yet.

Tommy’s out there, somewhere beyond the sea on his vacation, and just in case he found a way to look at Sticks of Fire after he swore he wouldn’t, I apologize for the tenuous connection to Tampa. But when the cat’s away…

I was perusing online news sites this evening when I found this alarming and urgent missive in the St. Petersburg Times: “Ho’s Trading Inc. is recalling Fortune Star White Fungus because of undeclared sulfites. [etc.]”

Apparently white fungus is something you eat. On purpose. My first sweep of the net informed me that white fungus is closely related to black cloud ear fungus. Mmmm. Your sophisticated foodie will know all this, of course, and I don’t mean to belittle food allergies. Shoot, I’m the walkin’ talkin’ queen of food allergies. That’s why I pay attention to these news items. But your sophisticated foodie might also know that sulfites are used, in part, to inhibit fungal and bacterial growth.

So I ask you, declared or not declared, why are there sulfites on our ear fungus? More importantly, I ask you, what are the best food allergy websites out there and are there any based in Tampa?