Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

Wouldn’t it be cool if you could grab a spare bicycle at The Pier in St. Pete, and ride it to Tropicana Field for a ballgame, where someone else could use that same bike to get to the Dali Museum?  Once the Rays finish beating the Yankees, you could pick up another spare bicycle outside, and ride over to Baywalk, and put it in the bike rack with a handful of other bikes available to anyone to use for free.

Awesome idea, huh?  And the (turn down audio before clicking!) Green Bike Initiative wants to do just that:

Seeking to fill a niche need within our community, St. Pete’s Bike GREEN initiative was launched in March 2008 by cycling enthusiasts around Pinellas County. Having seen successful Public Utility Bike (PUB) programs in a number of European and American cities, founders Andrew Blikken and Brent Bruns decided the time had come for their own community to benefit from such an initiative.

It will never work.

The Tampa Downtown Partnership tried a similar program 10 years ago.  All 50 of the hideous orange bikes were stolen within a week.

Even Bike GREEN knows it.  In an interview with Big 13, BikeGreen.info founder Brent Bruns expects problems:

“We’re anticipating a thousand bikes to be stolen each month for six months, which is why we are launching with 8,000.”

Holy cow! - You’re telling me that you are going to flood downtown St. Pete with 8,000 green bicycles?  Imagine that for a second.  And then you expect 1,000 to be stolen each month for six months!  What happens in month 7?  Do people get bored with stealing bicycles every day?

And just how on earth are they raising money for 8,000 bicycles?  The obvious - they are selling handfuls of Altoids for $.25 each from vending machines.

This has success written all over it.

Tedd Webb and the Famunda All Stars are throwing a party to help out the Pediatric Cancer Foundation.

The Famunda All Stars are staging Koncert For Kiddz II Saturday night, May 17th at The Ritz-Ybor at the corner of 7th Ave and 15th Street in Ybor City. The Famundas will welcome local celebs such as Belinda Womack, Michael Clayton of the Tampa Bay Bucs, as well as TV giants like Brendan McGloughlin, Mike Deeson, pro wrestler Lanny Poffo, and newspaper elite Ernest Hooper, Steve Persall, and Bob Ross to sing for the benefit of The Pediatric Cancer Foundation. Bay News 9’s Jen Holloway, and Fox 13’s Charley Belcher will MC.

Tickets are on sale now, contact Tanya Loira at 813-839-9393. Corporate tables are $500 for 6 seats, while General Admission is $30.

This will be a great time, and I plan on hanging out there at the Ritz Theater in Ybor for a while, and partying with all the local celebrities: Michael Clayton of the Bucs, Sharon Taylor, Jeff Fisher, Belinda Womack, Lanny Poffo, Mike Deeson, Jerry Petuck, Brian Blair & The Oreos, Steve Persall, Ernest Hooper, Bob Ross, Jen Holloway, Charley Belcher, and more.

That’s this Saturday evening. The silent auction begins at 6pm, and the musical acts start around 8pm. As you can see be the list of guests above, there’s no telling what is going to happen.

Once they are finished, the Johnny G. Lyon Band starring Tommy Duncan is playing across the street at the Blue Shark, and you can be sure that we are going to party the rest of the night away there.

If you haven’t been to Ybor in a while, Saturday night is an excellent opportunity to reaquaint yourself. See you there!

My band, the JGLB will be playing two charity gigs this weekend. Proceeds from Sunday’s party at Hungry Harry’s benefit The Spring, and on Saturday, we are doing the Worlds Largest Hurricane Expo & Party (see info below) to benefit hurricane relief efforts of Krewes Kare and Angel Flight Southeast. I encourage you to come out and party with us this weekend, and make sure you come up and say hello.

Krewes Kare Tampa Bay presents:
The Stars Are In Alignment for The 3rd Annual “World’s Largest Hurricane Expo & Party” To benefit the hurricane relief efforts of Krewes Kare and Angel Flight Southeast.

“The stars must have been in perfect alignment,” says Krewes Kare President, Yvonne
Painton. “Everything came together at the right time. We received final approval of our 501(c)3
status from the I.R.S., our new website was launched (http://kreweskare.org/), and we’ve got a new, larger indoor and outdoor location for ‘The World’s Largest Hurricane Expo & Party.’ And, it’s all happened within the past month, thanks to the efforts of our members.”

This year’s event will be held on Saturday, May 3rd from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Zendah Grotto, which is behind the Tampa campus of the Hillsborough Community College, at 4402 West Ohio Avenue, and will feature live music from three bands, dancing, carnival-style games, a Hurricane preparedness expo, and a family fun area. All you can eat food and drinks provided by our sponsors as well as auctions, raffles and other giveaways. This year’s event promises to be the biggest and best, yet.

Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door, and are 100-percent tax deductible. To purchase tickets or make a donation go to the website at www.kreweskare.org or call Yvonne Painton at 813.839.1302.

Krewes Kare, Inc. is a 501 (c) 3 charitable organization founded in 2005 to provide early response hurricane relief to affected areas inaccessible to the larger relief agencies. We are a partnership of Angel Flight Southeast and volunteers from the 50 plus parade krewes in the Tampa Bay area.

Be there or miss out!

On Sunday, May 4, the Johnny G. Lyon Band will kick off the Grand Finale of the annual Love Shouldn’t Hurt Poker Run and Rally at Hungry Harry’s Famous BBQ. Come party with us as we donate our time to rock the house for a great cause!

Excerpts from the press release:

On Sunday, May 4, 2008 the Tampa area will hear engines revving up in support of the 3rd Annual Love Shouldn’t Hurt Poker Run and Rally, benefiting “The Spring” of Tampa Bay sponsored by Florin Roebig Trial Attorneys. This event is repeatedly billed as “The Motorcycle Event of the Year.” It is circled in red on every riders calendar for its high energy, attention to detail, and the fact that it is planned FOR bikers BY bikers.

The Dangerous Curves Chapter of Women in the Wind is joining with The Web Riders to crank up this years event by featuring themed parties, prizes and games at every single stop of the run. Harleys, Hondas, BMWs and more will rumble in to register beginning at 9:00 am in the Performance Honda of Wesley Chapel. (28009 State Road 54, Wesley Chapel, FL 33542) Each riding chapter is attempting to win the massive Chapter Challenge Trophy by bringing more members than any other club. A hot breakfast awaits the participants as they buy one poker hand for $10 and additional hands for $5 each. Photographers will be on site for photo ops in front of the US flag backdrop with a Captain America chopper replica or on your own bike. The last bike out of the first party location is leaving at 11am.

Riders get a detailed map with directions leading them along the scenic country back roads to a series of party stops. Who better to host an All American Patriot Party than the VFW Post #8713? A Beach Party with dancers, games and a special Cuban buffet is awaiting the group at the Tropical Breeze Cuban Restaurant in Dade City. The Wild West Party at the San Antonio Restaurant & Lounge cranks up the music and energy level at the third stop of the day, preparing the participants for the BIG Party at the Final Party Stop of the day.

The Johnny G. Lyon Band begins rocking at 1:00 pm to propel the Hungry Harry’s Famous BBQ lakefront location into full tilt action as the riders roll into this final party stop. Adding in a live auction, bike show, appearances by local sports celebrities like Dave Andreychuck of the Lightning, vendors, more games, more prizes, a 50/50 raffle, Hungry Harry’s Famous BBQ and awarding the cash prize of $500 for the Best Poker Hand of the day, this truly will be an event to remember.

What else is important to remember? That every single dollar raised at this event is donated to The Spring of Tampa Bay. Since 1977, The Spring has provided sanctuary and services to more than 30,000 abused adults and their children. The Spring is the largest of Florida’s 41 certified domestic violence shelters and the first in the United States to have an accredited school on site. The Spring aims to be the premier provider of domestic violence services and a positive force for social change, creating a ‘zero tolerance’ attitude toward domestic violence in Hillsborough County.

Hey, this promises to be a great time all around, and we’re gonna be partying all afternoon. Why don’t you come join us, and help out The Spring at the same time?

I am the captain of a team participating in the Relay For Life of Temple Terrace®, which takes place at Greco Middle School on April 18th and 19th this year. Relay For Life®, the American Cancer Society’s signature event, is a fun-filled overnight experience designed to bring together those who have been touched by cancer. At Relay, people from within the community gather to celebrate survivors, remember those lost to cancer, and to fight back against this disease. Relay participants help raise money and awareness to support the American Cancer Society in its lifesaving mission to eliminate cancer as a major health issue.

We’re calling ourselves ‘Team Daddy-O Alley Katz’ and our theme is retro bowling.

I know, right? Someone actually appointed me to a position of leadership and responsibility, which is about as likely an occurrence as seeing the Hamburglar profiled on America’s Most Wanted.

Well, actually, it’s not like I’m completely unqualified. I am sincerely committed to the cause, which is raising money to find a cure for cancer and eliminating it once and for all. I don’t want to just defeat cancer, I want to defeat it and humiliate it in the process. I want to pull down cancer’s pants and make crude, derisive comments about its genitalia. I want to give cancer a swirly in front of all the other diseases. I want to date cancer’s mom just so I can steal all her money, call her crude names and tell her to go make me sandwiches. So obviously my heart is in the right place.

I’ve taken to my role as team captain and have done my best to motivate my team. I assured them of my sincerity and dedication by telling them that I had already gone so far as to have written “CAPTAIN” on the waistband of all my underwear… in Sharpie.

But working with volunteers is a challenge at times. It’s hard to make demands of busy people who are doing stuff for you in their spare time. I have to remind myself to be patient and encouraging when things aren’t moving quite as quickly as I’d like. And actually, our team is doing pretty well so far. But it takes effort to come up with ways to keep everyone interested and enthusiastic without being completely obnoxious about it.

I have little doubt that many of them will no longer want to speak to me when it’s all over. I’m basing that on the fact I have no doubt that I’ve already been so obnoxious that some of them don’t even want to speak to me right now.

Relay For Life® isn’t really a competition per se, but teams do challenge each other to do a good job as a matter of pride and in the interest of pushing each other to raise as much money as possible. When it’s over, the American Cancer Society recognizes the best teams’ efforts with trophies and prizes. So screw what I said before; it’s totally a competition.

There’s a team in our Relay that’s been at it for years and they win a majority of the awards every year. I’ve decided that I hate them. In my mind, I’ve decided to consider them smug know-it-alls who act like they invented cancer just so they could raise funds to eradicate it and make me feel inadequate in the process as a bonus. Now, you don’t have to tell me what a terrible person I am for feeling this way. I’m already fully aware that resenting a group of people for effectively raising funds to combat a horrible disease is about as reprehensible an act as you can think of. I’m ok with it though, because I want to win trophies and prizes.

Besides, it’s not that I don’t want them to raise a lot of money; I just want my team to raise more than they do. So as I was sitting around thinking of new ways to try to motivate my team, it occurred to me that I should use this totally unjustified and irrational hatred to my advantage and pass it along to the people on my team. I wonder why I haven’t thought of it before; exploiting people’s healthy desire to see their like-minded peers re-cast as hostile opponents is not only completely natural human instinct, but repeatedly proven to be a highly successful tactic! Hmm, I’m beginning to understand why I was selected to be captain…

Anyway, if you’d like to learn more about Relay For Life and contribute to our team’s efforts, I’ve put yet another link to the site right here.

(Cross posted at Ridiculously inconsistent trickle of consciousness)

Hillsborough County commissioner Rose Ferlita and Tampa city councilman Charlie Miranda are proposing that Legends Field be re-named George Steinbrenner Stadium in honor of New York Yankees principal owner and part-time Tampa resident George Steinbrenner.

If you’re a baseball fan who lays the conjoined plagues of outrageous player salaries and lack of competitive balance squarely at Steinbrenner’s feet, or if you just happen to have a (healthy) general hatred of the Yankees, you might have a problem with this on first sight. However, the fact of the matter is that Steinbrenner the man has been extremely generous to and supportive of a number of worthwhile endeavors here in Tampa (and elsewhere) for a very long time and is as deserving of anyone of some lifetime recognition. It makes as much sense as anything to name a ballpark after him.

What’s really disturbing and off-putting about it is Ferlita’s recurrent efforts to shove the New York Yankees down the county’s collective throat. In 2006, Ferlita led an unsuccessful bid to have the Yankees included on Tampa’s “City of Champions” signage that noted the championships of Tampa Bay’s Buccaneers, Lightning and Storm. In attempting to explain the logic behind her idea, Ferlita said the Devil Rays are “out in St. Petersburg. So to me, the Yankees are the home team.”

Never mind that the Yankees are “home” for about six weeks out of the year or that not one of the Yankees 26 world champions was ever won on behalf of Tampa. Or Tampa Bay for that matter. Regardless of what you think of the Rays’ prospects in the future, the odds are still 100% higher that there will be a local parade celebrating a championship for them before there’s one for the Yankees.

Also never mind the fact that the Yankees have only been “home” in Tampa since 1996. The Cincinnati Reds were the “home” team for 30 years before that. Local government honored the “home” team by neglecting Al Lopez Field, making it untenable and basically driving them out of town to Plant City so they could tear it down and build an ice arena. Ironically, as a result the monument built to honor the achievements of Tampa native Al Lopez was razed while he was still alive, and the property stayed undeveloped, serving as another parking lot for Bucs games, until Raymond James Stadium was built 10 years later.

Ferlita is quoted in the Tampa Tribune as saying “I want to do it as quickly as possible so maybe it would be in concert with their first (2008 spring training) game”. What’s the urgency? After all, next year there’s going to be a new high school in Lutz named after Steinbrenner. I would say that’s actually a more significant and profound monument to someone’s good works than re-naming a stadium. Why does there need to be a priority placed on establishing a second one? Well, you probably don’t get to wear your Yankees cap and pal around with Reggie Jackson and Yogi Berra at some stupid school grand opening, I guess.

Cross posted at Ridiculously inconsistent trickle of consciousness

From a press release from the American Heart Association:

February is American Heart Month
Individuals, businesses and even buildings are “going red” across Tampa Bay to raise awareness that heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, killing more than the next five causes of death combined. February is American Heart Month and Feb. 1 is National Wear Red Day, a component of Go Red For Women, the American Heart Association’s national campaign to make women aware of their risk of heart disease and take action to reduce their risk. To stimulate heart disease awareness and help women live heart healthy lifestyles, Go Red For Women is organizing exciting 2008 activities. It’s easier than ever for women to Go Red – in their own style.

Local Events:
Turn Heads - Go Red
The beauty of going red in your own fashion is that women can do it in their personal style. At Turn Heads, Go Red, 60 women will receive Go Red beauty treatments on Friday, Feb. 1, from 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. at the Aveda Institute in St. Petersburg. The beauty treatments will include red manicures, red pedicures and red hair coloring or highlights. No matter the beauty treatment, all the participants will leave with a touch of red and knowledge about what they can do to reduce their risk of heart disease. Women will also be asked to share their story on video as the American Heart Association is hosting a casting call to find the next face of the Go Red For Women campaign.

Buildings Go Red
Several buildings are being lit red throughout February in support of Go Red including two St. Petersburg skyline icons: the Bank of America Tower and The Pier. The Bank of America Tower goes red on Feb. 1 and will remain illuminated in red for the entire month of February. Each night from Feb. 1-8, The Pier will be turning shades of red in honor of Go Red For Women. In downtown Tampa, passion for the movement can be seen in red lights at the fountain at Tampa City Center and red lights illuminating Park Tower. Local hangouts can also be seen going red, including the Downtown Art’s Association Gallery Walk on Feb. 9 in St. Petersburg, as well as Dunedin Public Library and Hyde Park Village throughout the month of February.

Businesses Go Red
Several businesses – including Macy’s, Carlton Fields, Gerdau Ameristeel, Pinellas County Health Department, International Academy of Design & Technology, Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point and Watson Clinic – are asking employees to wear red, sharing heart health information or hosting internal fundraisers. On Saturday, Feb. 23, the Tampa Bay Lightning will be going red at 7:30 p.m. with red “game time” promotions. The Weeki Wachee Little Mermaid is donning a red tail for shows throughout February in support of Go Red. The red tail will appear in shows from Thursday through Sunday at 11:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

Churches will also inspire their congregations to take action to prevent heart disease by hosting Go Red Sundays throughout the month of February. These events will include heart health messages from the pulpit, risk assessments and entire congregations wearing red.

About Go Red For Women
Go Red For Women is a nationwide movement that celebrates the energy, passion and power women have to band together and wipe out heart disease. One in three women has cardiovascular disease, and every minute one woman dies as a result of this health threat. Today, we want millions of women across America to take heart disease personally. Using the simple platform “Love Your Heart,” Go Red For Women engages these women – and the men who love them – to embrace the cause. For more information about Go Red For Women, please call 1-888-MY-HEART (1-888-694-3278) or visit www.GoRedForWomen.org. The movement is nationally sponsored by Macy’s and Merck.

Go RED today and all of February!

Nancy from the NAMV Group called me Tuesday. As a member of the Tampa Bay Advertising Federation, she wanted to make sure I had received an email she sent weeks ago to announce a “press event” coming up next week that will introduce Cyber Safe to Hillsborough County.

Here is the email we received about Online Predators/Cyber Safe Launch at MOSI:

Keep Hillsborough County Children Safe from Online Predators

Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) Chairman Ken Hagan, along with the Tampa-Hillsborough Public Library Cooperative and the Tampa Bay Advertising Federation’s Public Service Campaign committee, will host the premier event and screening for Cyber Safe, NetSmartz Training Program, at the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) on Feb. 5, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

NetSmartz is an age-appropriate software program that teaches children of all ages about the dangers that may lurk online. Research indicates that more than 50,000 children in Hillsborough County alone are exposed to unsolicited sexual material on the Internet. For this reason, Commissioner Hagan championed a partnership between Hillsborough County and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to launch an Internet Safety Education Initiative. With close to 200,000 school-aged children throughout Hillsborough County, the goal is to have every student complete the NetSmartz training program in upcoming months. “By the end of this school year we hope to have 25,000 students complete the program, which will be a major step toward our goal to keep each and every Hillsborough County student safe from Internet predators,” said BOCC Chairman Hagan.

The Tampa Bay Advertising Federation will play a critical role in attempting to achieve this goal. Every year, the Tampa Bay Advertising Federation gives back to the community by providing a public service campaign to help promote the cause of a nonprofit organization. Hillsborough County’s cyber safety training program was selected to receive this year’s Public Service Award. “The Hillsborough County’s Internet Safety Education Initiative was among the hundreds of applications received and our entire group felt that this program focused on one of the most important issues of today,” said Diane Broady, director of public service for the Tampa Bay Advertising Federation.

With assistance from local Hillsborough County students, the NetSmartz training program has now simply been branded as Cyber Safe. A key padlock logo illustrates locking out the harmful images and content that can be found online. As an added incentive to safety, each student who receives NetSmartz training will receive free ear buds and discounts for local attractions and restaurants. Additionally, adult education workshops have been held to discuss resources to help parents and adults protect children from online dangers.

February 2008 has been designated as Cyber Safe Month in Hillsborough County, and the campaign will kick-off the month with a premier night at MOSI on Feb. 5 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Press is invited to a special preview from 6:30 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. The evening’s main event will be the debut of a new, high impact, public service campaign on MOSI’s IMAX screen. Attendees will also have a chance to view a rare, real-time demonstration by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Internet Crimes Unit.

It looks like they have a fancy new website, CyberSafe from Hillsborough County, and also plan to put up a couple of scary billboards. And you can find out more about NetSmartz online.

I’m not big on press events, so I likely won’t be going (if you want to go, and write it up for Sticks of Fire, contact me). But this program is a great idea, and all of the people involved are to be commended for putting something together that can really help kids learn about the various dangers that can be found across the world wide web.

In addition to the Tampa Bay Advertising Federation, Hillsborough County, and the Library folks, sponsors include Verizon, TECO, ClearChannel Outdoor, Tires Plus, and NewsChannel8.