Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

Chris contacted us to let us know about an upcoming production at the South Camden Theatre.

I just happened upon your page accidentally. We’re producing a play about Charlie Bishop. “On the Wings of Sparrows” opens October 10, 2008. If you are in the area, we hope you can visit. http://www.southcamdentheatre.org

Camden is a bit far for me to drive for a one-act play, but who’s to say someone else wouldn’t be interested.  Here’s the scoop:

“Youth In America,” written by Joseph M. Paprzycki and directed by Christopher Schimpf, is a compilation of four one-act plays about young people’s struggle to grow up in America today.

• “On the Wings of Sparrows”, tells the story of Charlie Bishop, a fifteen year old boy who flew his plane into a building in Tampa, Florida in 2002.
• “Drop Period” shows the pressure felt by college athletes to keep up with college.
• “Waiting Tables” shows a seventeen year old handling the pressure of his own life while interacting with an eccentric older couple.
• “Dressing for School” takes us inside the horror that was Columbine.

This play opens on October 10 at the South Camden Theatre in Camden.

When journalists start working on their multi-media stuff, sometimes they expose the work to an adoring public before it is actually published.

Case in point - rhythmnation2004, a contributor at SkyScraper City, found this very interesting collage of the History of the Floridan building created by TBO online producer Kathy Moore.  Kathy had previously done the fancy looking Mission: Orange multimedia report earlier this year, too.

For those of you who have not kept up with it, a developer is refurbishing the old building and plans to re-open the place as a fancy hotel.

I would guess that a printed article in the newspaper about the history of the Floridan will be coming soon - perhaps this Sunday.  But for those of you who dig the history stuff (and like sneak peeks) check out the multimedia report on Kathy’s VUVOX website:  The cool collage of the history of the Floridan building.

By the way, for those of you who have video and image and want to create such a thing, VUVOX looks like a pretty cool tool.

Tampa on TV:

Warren Sapp is on Dancing With The Stars starting tonight.  So much for the former QB Killa.

Matt Lauer and the Today Show is live from UT in the morning.

In 2003, the City of Tampa along with the Mayor’s Beautification Program (MBP) and the F.E. Lykes Foundation launched a “greenprinting initiative.”  The plan was to upgrade 10 parks in 10 years.

The Seminole Heights blog first took notice of delays back in 2006.  Fast forward to 2008 - five years into the program - and we are still working on the first upgrade (along with two others).

In that article, Debra Evenson says they will finish those three parks and take on no more.  The executive director of the MBP also says “we’ve done a lot more than we expected to do.”  But we agree with the SH blog who asks if the expectation was 10 parks in 10 years, and we’re still waiting on the first, how in the world can that be “more than we expected”?

Stay tuned for when they actually finish those three parks, and tout the program as “a success.”

Introducing a new feature here at the Sticks, rankings of all the Division 1-A (or Bowl Championship Division as the NCAA now calls it) college football teams for Florida. Have a disagreement with the rankings? Throw ‘em in the comments.

1. Florida (2-0)
For three quarters Miami came close to knocking off the Gators but one quarter of work is enough to keep Percy Harvin and Company on top.

2. Miami (1-1)
The Canes are drawing rave reviews for their young defense and could be the favorites to win a weak ACC.

3. South Florida (2-0)
Not much of a difference between Bulls and Canes but I was more impressed with Miami in a loss than with USF in a narrow win.

4. Central Florida (1-1)
For all the trash talk coming from Bulls QB Matt Groethe the game was much closer than the Bulls could have been comfortable with. Credit the Golden Knights for taking the Bulls to overtime.

5. Florida State (1-0)
FSU stays down here until they play, and beat, a decent team.

6. Florida Atlantic (1-1)
After an ugly loss against Texas the Owls bounce back with a win against UAB.

7. Florida International (0-2)
Total points scored by the Golden Panthers this season: 10. FIU has a bye next week but plays USF the week after that and will be lucky to score ten more points against the Bulls.

OK, I admit it - I don’t get out much anymore.  Three kids under seven at home will do that to a couple.  But sometimes you just need to get out of the house.

I am a long time karaoke junkie. I’ve been haunting the best (and worst) karaoke bars in the Bay Area for 12 years. When I heard about Rock Star Fridays at Stump’s Supper Club at Channelside, I just had to check it out.

102.5 The Bone has been pushing this heavily the past few weeks and had folks from the Cowhead Show on hand as well.

The cover was very reasonable, only $5.  They offered $1 Bud drafts all night, plus well prices are reasonable. If you have never been to Stump’s, it’s very nice. We sat at the bar towards the back, which has an indoor portion and an outdoor area on the water. My wife smokes, so this is where we ended up. We still had a good view of the stage and could hear everything, despite being outside.

The Jimmy James Experience, led by Tommy Tutone bass guitarist Jimmy James, is the house band for Stump’s. They’ve been there seven years now. They are an awesome band, but for karaoke night they played without their normal sax player and female lead vocalist. But the sound was really tight.

I was nervous, I had never sung before such a large crowd. There were probably 100 people on the dance area in front of the stage and the place was filled to capacity with patrons. Add to that the excitement of being on stage with a real band, and I was in need of some liquid encouragement.

The only drawback is that they do not have lyrics on a monitor like a standard karaoke show. No “bouncing ball.” So I would recommend that you pick a song you know well. I chose one of my 80′ s standards, Simple Minds’ “Don’t You Forget About Me.” I did alright, I know I was a bit tipsy and flubbed a little, but the crowd did not seem to notice, they really got into it.

OK, and now for the icing on the cake. They put your video on YouTube. From the looks of it they get to it midweek, so Tuesday or Wednesday the videos from the previous Friday are posted. Just add famousleo to your subscriptions and you’ll get the new ones as they are posted.

I highly recommend Rockstar Fridays. I will definitely be back for it.

But not for the great state of Florida!

Gotta love those Tribune editorial stances.

When they complain about federal spending that is distributed across the nation, it’s pork.

When those bills bring the bacon to Florida, it’s “right.”

When that spending ends up in Tampa, it’s necessary earmarks.

Labor Day weekend is passing us by and that means the traditional end of summer has been marked. Oh, sure, we have a few more weeks until the fall equinox, but to many - summer is over.

And with the end of summer here, it’s go time in Tampa Bay sports. The Buccaneers kicks off their season this Sunday, the USF Bulls football squad has already started their 12th season of play, the Tampa Bay Lightning begins training camp in a matter of days.

Oh, yeah… That team in St. Pete? I hear the Tampa Bay Rays have a chance to continue playing games after the regular season ends September 28th.

So lets pose the question to all you Tampa Bay sports fans: Which team is going to have the best fall? The Buccaneers? The Lightning? How about the Rays? Or will it be the Bulls?

 Loading ...