Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

Warren Sapp is bringing his HipHopSodaShop to Tampa, over by USF.

The St. Pete Times Forum will be hosting a handful of college hockey and college basketball over the next couple years.

Jim Johnson at the State of Sunshine says “Sticks of Fire is probably the best Tampa Bay blog.”  I would put the emphasis on “probably.”

Wayne Garcia suggests the county commission really is addressing transportation problems in Hillsborough:

We have far too many people on the streets heading to visit a strip club or out searching for a good spot to burn a flag… Not to mention those hordes of people furtively seeking books by gay and lesbian authors at a local library.

The above-pictured plaque was acquired at the Weekly Planet BOB award ceremony last night. You may recall that WP annointed Sticks of Fire best local website. The Planet invited all BOB winners out to Yuengling Brewery for some beer and the Best Jamaican Food from Jerk Hut.

Awards were presented to many winners. Paul Wilborn (Best Job) - showed up to accept, as did rachel* (best blog per readers) from Midnight Culmination and Dave (best blog per WP writers) from Tampa Rail. I got the added pleasure of speaking with Chris Vela of YARD-OPS - Best Architecture Activists (Kiley Park Division)

The ceremony was capped by a $15,000 donation from WP to support animal causes. Everyone enjoyed the ceremony, and Wifey and I met many other wonderful people from our community. Thanks to the Weekly Planet for a really great time!!

Still on the high from recognition at the Weekly Planet, the tbt* cover story this week is “Tampa’s Best Read Bloggers.” I call ‘em “Seven Blogs You Should Be Reading.” Go pick up a copy. You’ll know you have the right one when you see rachel*’s smilin’ face on the cover. On the inside, you’ll learn about some local blogs everyone should read. Hey rachel*, look at this smilin’ face.

In addition to r*’s Midnight Culmination, you’ll also find Seminole Heights, Sarahintampa, D-Rays Bay, St. Petersblog, and the Tampa Film Fan each profiled in the weekly. Also listed on the second part of the piece are Boltsmag, Random Speak, Tiny Little Dots, Population Statistic, Side Salad, Rhonda K, My Park Bench, and Gonzonia.

Congratulations to all of you on the great publicity.

Oh yeah, the tbt* staff thinks Sticks of Fire is also one you shouldn’t live without (especially the “stinging satirical wit”), but you already knew that, didn’t you?

Hot dog!

The Weekly Planet has published this year’s Best of the Bay.

We are happy to report that Editor’s choice for Best Local Website is none other than Sticks of Fire. Editors at the Weekly Planet say “Sticks of Fire reigns supreme” and is an “outstanding gateway to Tampa…” We here at Sticks are very proud of the designation, and will continue to be more than just a blog. Hooray us!

Editor’s choice for Best Blog went to none other than Dave Piniero’s Tampa Rail. Way to go!

Reader’s choice for Best Blog went to Midnight Culmination. Sticks of Fire got third place in reader voting after the now-defunct bayciti (you’re still missed, justin).

Thanks to all of you who voted for Sticks of Fire. Congratulations also to Dave, rachel*, and justin. You all are most definitely worthy. Hooray all of us!

There should will be a party to celebrate this accomplishment. Details coming soon.

Wifey and I took in a play on Sunday afternoon, where we witnessed The March of the Kitefliers. Local playwrights Shawn Paonessa and Neil Gobioff wrote the enjoyable play, and the cast is fantastic. We especially liked David Jenkins portrayal of Jack – an energetic and playful character.

Before the show, we had the good fortune of meeting tim, who also enjoyed the event. Tim (an artist in his own right, btw) took off after the show in search of his next big adventure. Wifey and I stuck around for a few minutes to briefly speak with David. The poor guy was beat up by all the running around, and practically passing out from starvation.

On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of joining Costa for lunch. I went over to St. Pete to pick up “The Book of the Spirits” he had offered, and we ended up at Tangelo’s Grille for some excellent Cuban food. Costa thinks I really wanted the book, but I was more motivated by the chance to meet an excellent local blogger.

There is a movement to start a new meme on DaveDorm. The idea, “Blog it Forward,” is to highlight one link on your blogroll, and blurb about why they are on your list. Thanks to Dave Lowe for choosing Sticks of Fire as his highlighted bloglink of the week. Not to mention the accompanying unsolicited testimonial:

“Sticks of Fire… is a must-read for Tampans…”

Aw, shucks, Dave. Thanks!

Dave has witnessed the JGLB perform at the Blue Shark (we’ll be there this weekend!) a few times, so you can tell he has excellent taste.

We have a wonderful community of bloggers here in Tampa Bay, and I’m glad to have met a few of them. The publicity we are all getting by the more traditional media is deserved by all of these talented folks.