CALL IN TAKEOUT • ORDER ONLINE UBER EATS • DOOR DASH
RIGHT TO YOUR DOOR! ORDER NOW!
www.Taco-Bus.com *Get daily specials ONLY through calling in or ordering online directly through Taco Bus
2 | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | cltampa.com
BUS-LOAD OF ESSENTIALS!
CALL YOUR NEAREST LOCATION FOR PRICING AND AVAILABILITY
www.Taco-Bus.com *Available at participating locations, while supplies last, first come first serve basis. cltampa.com | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | 3
4 | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | cltampa.com
PUBLISHER James Howard EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ray Roa DIGITAL EDITOR Colin Wolf FOOD CRITIC Jon Palmer Claridge
ory
CONTRIBUTORS John Allman, Jeffery C. Billman, Angelina Bruno, Paul Catala, Gabe Echazabal, Chris Fasick, Julie Garisto, LJ Hilberath, Erin Hughes, Alexandria Jones, Eliot Mayo, Peter Meinke, Nano Riley, Jennifer Ring, Melissa Santell, Cathy Salustri, Eric Snider, Resie eaWorld in February, animal Waechter, SKrights West
@FRANKS_BEEN_DEAD
tion ................. 5 ory
aiming the practice of keeping wild stion ................. angerous. But even though public 5
INTERNS Chloe Greenberg, Christopher Cann
SeaWorld animal rights any don’t in seeFebruary, a parallel between the kind PHOTOGRAPHERS claiming the practice of keeping wild nd theNicole practice of Nick displaying Abbett, Cardello,animals Kimberly DeFalco, dangerous. But even though public Dave Phil DeSimone, Todd king for tooDecker, much? Or is it time forFixler, a Brian many don’t seeTracy a parallel between Mahar, May, Marlo Miller,the Jesskind Phillips, animals? Michael M. Sinclair, Kelsey Walker, Chip Weiner,
and the practice of displaying animals asking for too much?James Or is Ostrand it time for a t” animals? SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES
Anthony Carbone, Scott Zepeda
Music: Tampa Bay Blues Fest ........................... 40
MARKETING, PROMOTIONS AND
Music Week ................................................... 42 EVENTS DIRECTOR
They’re taking pepper spray to their faces and batons to their bellies.
Alexis Quinn Chamberlain Music: review: Tampa Bay Blues Fest ........................... Concert Artic Monkeys ..........................40 42
We don’t talk enough about the bravery of Tampa Bay’s young protesters, p. 11.
Music ................................................... 42 The ListWeek .......................................................... 46
STREET TEAM
Concert review: Artic Liz Monkeys .......................... 42 Movie reviews 63 Nate..................................................... Lamb, MacLean, Daniel Nolan, Abbey Turner
Movie ........................................................... reviews..................................................... 63 Puzzler 66
Free Will Astrology ......................................... MEDIA GROUP 64 Savage LoveEUCLID ...................................................... 69 CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Andrew Zelman Puzzler ........................................................... 66
tv
cltv
s
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICERS Chris Keating, Michael Wagner VP OF DIGITAL SERVICES Stacy Volhein DIGITAL OPERATIONS COORDINATOR Jaime Monzon
Savage Love ...................................................... 69
euclidmediagroup.com cltampa.com cldeals.com clspace.com
NEWS+VIEWS .....................11 FOOD+DRINK ..................... 20 A&E ................................... 22 ASTROLOGY....................... 25 SAVAGE LOVE .................... 26 CROSSWORD ..................... 27
EDITORIAL POLICY — Creative Loafing Tampa is a weekly newspaper covering public issues, the arts and entertainment. In our pages appear views from across the political and social spectrum. They do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher.
I’m just floored... That’s love.
Creative Loafing Tampa is published by Tampa Weekly, LLC, 204 E. Henderson Ave. Tampa, FL 33602. The newspaper is available free of charge at locations throughout Tampa Bay and online at cltampa.com. Copyright 2020, Tampa Weekly, LLC.
How was your Date? cltampa.com/movies How was your Date?
How 7th+Grove is surviving the pandemic, p. 20.
cltampa.com/movies
Our main number: (813) 739-4800 FAX (813) 739-4801 Classifieds fax (615) 844-9245
ON THE COVER: Photo by @franks_been_dead. Design by Dan Rodriguez.
Creative Loafing is printed on a 90% recycled stock. It may be recycled further, please do your part.
Ybor Festival of the Ybor Festival of the Moving Image Moving Image A MEMBER OF: cltampa.com/arts cltampa.com/arts
ampa .. tampa
/food Ownership drama
Follow us on
/arts Remember art galleries?
twitter.com/cl_tampabay
s,
facebook.com/cltampabay
instagram.com/cltampabay
DAVE DECKER
a
srs
ALEXANDRIA JONES
Paola Otero, Jason Rivera, Shomy Rodriguez, TheWill List .......................................................... Free Astrology .........................................46 64
/music We cut it from print /news It’s not good photos.cltampa.com Places to kayak cltampa.com | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | 5
KIMBERLY DEFALCO
editor's note
So tired
BLM: Black girl magic at Sunday’s Black Lives Matter march in Tampa.
Your feelings don’t hold a candle to those of your neighbor’s. By Ray Roa
I
’m tired, and so are you, but no one is more tired than the Black Americans who’ve been in the national spotlight for 10 days now. I struggled with how to write about George Floyd's murder and the loaded aftermath rising up like a tidal wave behind it. The emotional and historical narrative was all so complicated, so I settled on trying to write a straightforward story that might help anti-Kaepernick friends experiencing a change of heart better recognize—and then act on—their newfound discovery that peaceful protests are to be listened to. The piece wouldn’t push too hard on folks finally realizing that all lives truly can’t matter until Black ones do. Tampa Bay artist Tes One even mocked up a powerful cover driven by his own raw emotions surrounding the event. Not so fast. Turns out that trying to even start down a journey that addresses the path forward is complicated. A conversation with NPR TV Critic Eric Deggans—whose 2012 book “Race Baiter” explores how pundits play on old prejudices and deep-rooted fears to reel in narrow and devoted audiences—reminded me how shameful it is to watch the media rush to stories like Floyd’s. Deggans said that was one of the problems we have when talking about race. “Few media outlets want to have these conversations outside of a crisis, when people are polarized and emotional,” he told me. “I also think there’s a danger in trying to have complex, nuanced conversations like this at a time when feelings are raw because a huge injustice is in the air.” So in the absence of emotional distance and more facts about what happened to Floyd—plus what might happen to the officers involved in his death—I decided to push that story to the June 11 issue and move forward building this book in your hand around some of the week’s news and contributor-driven special features on
6 | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | cltampa.com
Black-owned restaurants plus local theater. Then the charges (murder in the third degree) arrived along with video of escalating protests that led to a fire at the 3rd precinct of the Minneapolis Police Department. Demonstrations in other cities followed; Tampa and St. Petersburg were no exceptions. The last few days have been dizzying. A St. Pete church did a figurative mic-drop with its sign about racism. A teacher was forced to resign after his comments in the “Right Wing Death Squad” Facebook group surfaced. There was the local news peaceful protests, but also a narrative about looting and white supremeist agitators arriving in Tampa. Contributors described the emotional toll. “That was the scariest thing of my whole life. I knew the bullets were nonlethal, but holy fuck that was terrifying,” Anna Bryson told me in a text. Dave Decker put it even more plainly: “That was the most intense thing I have ever experienced. And I robbed a bank [in 2014].” All that—along with non-protest items like sewage spills, a big win for a local cyclist, the potential demolition of the old Seminole Heights Baptist Church, CL’s own coronavirus revenue situation and more—is in your hands now, and like I said: We’re kind of beat up. But our weariness can’t begin to pale in comparison to the fatigue that sits on the shoulders of Black Americans who’ve carried the load and residual effects of both white colonialism and police brutality on their shoulders for generations. Those stories must always be told, and while I tried to counter Deggans’ point by saying that CL has always written about race, much to the chagrin of our “stick to the arts” fans, we can always do better. I hope all our readers realize that for themselves and act on it, no matter who’s in the headlines that week.
PRESS CLUB COURTESY
MR. LOVER: Eric Snider was put off by CL’s ask—here’s why he came around.
Free love
CL is asking for donations. How do you feel about that? By Eric Snider
S
o Creative Loafing is asking for donations. How do you feel about that? At first, I was a little put off, but after giving it some consideration, I’m totally fine with it. Is it unfortunate? Absolutely. Would CL rather not be soliciting? I can say for certain: They would rather not. But it is also, for certain, necessary. A column by editor Ray Roa pushed me past all squeamishness about Tampa Bay’s alt-weekly asking for handouts. He likened donating to CL to giving to public radio. (And his plea didn’t last a week of air time). Yes, CL is a for-profit enterprise, but that’s just splitting hairs. The product is, has been and always will be: free. You don’t even have to sign up to access content. The current tiny staff and group of freelancers (I’m one of them) is doing a remarkable job of providing (free) coverage of Tampa Bay during an unprecedented, worrisome and dangerous time—and has managed to infuse some fun and irreverence into all the doom and gloom. And CL hasn’t missed a weekly print edition, which I consider remarkable. You don’t have to be a media pundit to know that our alt-weekly’s current business model is not sustainable. This is in no way to suggest that CL is on its last legs, not at all. But no one knows how long the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic is going to last. When will local businesses start advertising enough to sustain CL? It’s one question among many that can’t be answered. But you can answer this one: Do you want Tampa Bay to lose its alt-weekly? (Again, I stress that it’s not imminent.) I do not. Not only is it a source of valuable arts, culture, food and
political news and opinion, but it also signifies that Tampa Bay is a community that has enough going on to sustain an alt-weekly, and conveys a certain status. I, for one, would find life in Tampa Bay without an alt-weekly to be sorely diminished. I worked as a writer and editor for Weekly Planet/Creative Loafing from 1996-2009. The only reason I left was because the Great Recession necessitated layoffs, and I was one of the unfortunates. That I still write regularly for CL says a lot about how I regard the product and the leadership. The challenges CL faced in the late 2000s seem minor when compared to today’s coronavirus fallout. During my journalism career, which dates back to the early ‘80s, I’ve worked at the scrappy and independent Music Magazine, the St. Petersburg Times, the Tampa Bay Business Journal, and written and/or edited for a number of lifestyle magazines, startups, and other outlets. My time at Weekly Planet/Creative Loafing was easily my favorite gig. I’m proud of so many things we accomplished there, but one sticks out: Our complete domination of the Best of the Bay franchise, despite the efforts of more powerful and better-funded outlets to pry it away from us. Do you still want an annual, credible, fun, irreverent and occasionally hilarious Best of the Bay issue? Just askin’... CL has shown us all a lot of (free) love over three decades. Isn’t it time to send some love back? Please consider a donation. Sincerely, Eric Snider
“Life in Tampa Bay without an alt-weekly to be sorely diminished.”
cltampa.com | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | 7
ASHLEY DIEUDONNE KIMBERLY DEFALCO @FRANKS_BEEN_DEAD TAYLOR MADEIDO
8 | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | cltampa.com
Say his name Photos by CL Contributors
P
eaceful protests in memory of George Floyd all took place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Tampa Bay. In Tampa, looting erupted near Busch Gardens and the University Mall. Four CL photographers were out there capturing the scene. Here are just a few photos. See the rest via photos.cltampa.com. —Ray Roa
cltampa.com | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | 9
#EATDRINKBEGREEK
dinegreek.com YBOR CITY • NEW TAMPA • RIVERVIEW SARASOTA • ST PETERSBURG • SOUTH TAMPA
10 | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | cltampa.com
Curbside and walk-in take out available! 225 S Franklin St | Tampa | 33602 | 813.321.4040 harpoonharryscrabhousetampa.com
DAVE DECKER
POLITICS ISSUES OPINION
Fed up
ONE MORE THING: Protestors meet police in Tampa on Sunday.
It looks like America’s reaping what it sowed. By Ray Roa
I
t’s hot outside, and when this hits newsstands, it’ll have been 10 days since the world watched George Floyd—a 46-year-old Black man known to friends as a gregarious giant and keeper-of-the-peace—suffocating under the knee of white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Floyd was accused of trying to pass a fake $20 to buy cigarettes. More video showed Floyd’s body already handcuffed and pinned underneath the weight of two additional officers. As Chauvin’s knee digs into the back of Floyd’s neck, Floyd can be heard saying “I can’t breathe officer” and pleading with officers to let up. Bystanders implored officers to check his pulse as his body went limp. Some observers say that with his final breaths, Floyd called to his dead mother by whispering, “Momma, I’m through.” He was carelessly lifted off, lifeless on a stretcher, and taken away in an ambulance. Floyd was later pronounced dead, and Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder. Jay Willis, a Harvard Law grad and staff writer for GQ, called the charge a low rung on the ladder of culpability which “means that a person neither planned nor intended to kill, but instead did something ‘eminently dangerous to others,’ acting with a ‘depraved mind’ and ‘without regard for human life.’” The action was not enough to keep Minneapolis from protesting and then setting fire to buildings, including the police department’s third precinct. To some, the destruction was senseless.
With his passing, Floyd joined a senseless number of other Black people—including Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray, Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Philando Castile, Delrawn Small and Alton Sterling—who’ve died at the hands of law enforcement. Across the country, in dozens of cities like Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, Washington D.C., Baltimore, Ferguson (and yes, Tampa and St. Petersburg) fed up protestors are joining arms, coronavirus be damned, and taking to streets to demand justice, systematic change plus a shakeup of how police operate and get held accountable. Local law enforcement officials across the country say they’ll implement those changes—we’ll see about that. Online, the reactions, armchair analyses and fearless reporting from journalists across the country are dizzying enough to cause nausea. We’re already ass-deep in a global pandemic, and now we’re also arguing over the difference between peaceful protestors and self-serving looters. We’re learning about alt-right instigators all while watching a bumbling president do his best to impersonate his authoritarian idols. The worst of the participants are firing off pleonastic explanations or pasting platitudes like “Lead with love” onto the end of Instagram posts that all dance around a truth that, for some, seems too hard to just say: America was built largely on the backs of Black slaves violently brought to these shores to be exploited by masters whose descendants have all benefited
PROTESTS
from the practice. And America, today, is still incredibly unkind and inhumane to Black people. Seeds of violence have been cultivated for centuries; all of what we’re watching onscreen and hearing outside our windows feels a lot like the harvest. In a new blog post, our 44th president Barack Obama said violence and the destruction of property “whether out of genuine anger or mere opportunism” is inexcusable. He also extolled the virtue of voting at every level of government and added that “the elected officials who matter most in reforming police departments and the criminal justice system work at the state and local levels.” Obama’s bottom line was this: “If we want to bring about real change, then the choice isn’t between protest and politics. We have to do both.” He’s not wrong about any of that, and neither is the collective taking a stand. What we’re not talking enough about is the bravery of protestors of all ages—but especially the young—who’ve not just peacefully marched across the U.S. but also refused to stand down to continued intimidation and threats of violence or arrest. Young people of all races are taking pepper spray to their faces and batons to their bellies. They’re getting knocked to the ground by riot shields and run down by NYPD squad cars. In Philadelphia they’re being threatened by police sympathizers wielding baseball bats. Still, the protestors are barely flinching at the sight of weapons loaded with nonlethal rounds (and paying the price as evidenced by the number of injuries being reported). They’re getting arrested all because they’ve all
had enough of the systematic oppression of Black Americans. These are young activists who’ve forcefully decided to take their outrage offline. Locally, they’re the ones standing in the middle of Fowler Avenue talking to former Tampa Police Chief and current Mayor Jane Castor (who in 2018 apologized for a ticketing campaign that disproportionately cited Black bicyclists). They’re horizontal on the asphalt shutting down St. Petersburg’s Beach Drive, and they’re organizing sit-ins at the police headquarters two miles away. They’re the ones trying to prevent looting. And they’re showing up in the morning to help clean up all before launching a GoFundMe to help a local business rebuild. Some in this new crop of young leaders may be unpolished or raw—and images of them clashing with police might unnerve your sweet little “all lives matter” heart—but these aren’t people who’ll get back to brunch as usual when this “all blows over.” They’ll relentlessly apply to join their Citizens Review Board and hopefully cultivate a better trust between a city and its law enforcement. They’ll run for office. At the very least, they’ll vote with a handful of friends (and ex-felons with rights restored) in tow. Make no mistake, these activists aren’t done. They’ll be on the news all through this very sweaty, and scary, summer. And it’s going to take some time, but if we’re lucky, they’ll make change. I hope they do, because we’re all fed up. More importantly, the safety and true wellbeing of Black brothers and sisters can’t wait any longer.
“These aren’t people who’ll get back to brunch as usual when this ‘all blows over.’”
cltampa.com | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | 11
BUBBAPROG/TWITTER
Confidence trick
BOOGERSNOT: ‘America First’ podcaster Nick Fuentes (R) on WFTS’ Saturday broadcast.
A white supremacist group infiltrated Saturday’s Tampa protests. By Colin Wolf
O
n Saturday night, after mostly peaceful protests that started in Temple Terrace and made their way up Fowler Avenue past the University of South Florida, hundreds gathered near Tampa’s University Mall to protest the killing of George Floyd. The nighttime gathering ultimately resulted in looting, a Champs Sports burning, and violent clashes with local police officers. Though originally organized by the Students for a Democratic Society at University of South Florida, Saturday night’s protest also drew infiltrators from the fringe, far right group “The Groypers.” A video segment Saturday from Tampa Bay ABC affiliate WFTS, and later tweeted by media consultant and former Deadspin editor Tim Burke, shows two men in Hawaiian shirts and a guy wearing a clown mask yelling the term “Groyper,” which loosely describes followers of “America First” podcaster Nick Fuentes The man in the center holding his phone is Nick Fuentes. Fuentes himself tweeted Burke’s video, and a DLive stream from his own account shows he was at the protest. In the video, Fuentes lurks by the WFTS news van, telling his followers to
let him know when they go on the air. “We should go troll this ABC guy in a second,” says Fuentes. According to the Antidefamation League, Groypers are considered a white supremacist group, though Fuentes carefully distances himself from the phrase and states that he prefers “Christian conservatives,” who oppose things like, immigration (undocumented and legal), globalism, gay and transgender rights and feminism. “Like the alt right and other white supremacists, Groypers believe they are working to defend against demographic and cultural changes that are destroying the “true America”—a white, Christian nation,” writes the ADL. “However, Groypers differ in a number of ways from the alt right. They identify themselves as ‘American nationalists’ who are part of the ‘America First’ movement.” During the livestream, protesters seemed skeptical of Fuentes, and asked what he’s doing there, to which he would say he’s “documenting” for TruNews. At another point when a protester asked him if he was down with the cause, he said “We’re supporting the cause! We’re with Soros.” “I don’t think they like us very much, said
LOCAL NEWS
12 | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | cltampa.com
Fuentes later in the stream. ”They’re always asking what our motives are, they don’t think were down with George.” When Fuentes sees an interracial couple, he says “Looks like we have some race mixing.” While Fuentes’ stream mostly consists of him and his followers strolling around saying racist jokes at the expense of Black protesters, his presence at the gathering is notable. Fuentes, who was also present at the 2017 “Unite The Right” Charlottesville rally, does tell protesters he’s “down for the cause,” but what cause is certainly up for debate. More than likely, what Fuentes is referring to here is what far right groups call “The Boogaloo,” which is a play off the ‘80s breakdancing classic “Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo,” that has now morphed into internet slang for a second civil war. Born out of racist memes and pro-gun shitposters in 4Chan forums—and then amplified in massive Facebook groups—the Boogaloo movement is now pushing into the mainstream, and Hawaiian and aloha print shirts have emerged as an ironic symbol for this upcoming “race war.” As Robert Evens and Jason Wilson pointed out in their lengthy investigation into the Boogaloo movement, the clown face is also a common symbol, referring to the “clown world” meme, which implies chaos and that liberal
democracies are “inherently ridiculous and doomed to failure.” University of St. Thomas Associate Dean Lisa Waldner, who specializes in white supremacy and the anarchist movement, echoed this sentiment, telling Minnesota news station WCCO that the goal is to create chaos and push their own separate agendas. “Why would people of color burn down the businesses they often frequent?” asked Walder. “There were people out there with knowledge in how to do this and how to do this quickly.” Saturday night’s protests in Tampa, like the previous COVID-19 lockdown protests, gives Fuentes and his followers the opportunity to push for civil unrest and be at the front lines of The Boogaloo, while also appearing to be both pro-police, and pro-Black Lives Matter. “However ironydrenched it may appear to be, this is a movement actively preparing for armed confrontation with law enforcement, and anyone else who would restrict their expansive understanding of the right to bear arms,” said Evans and Wilson. “In a divided, destabilised post-coronavirus landscape, they could well contribute to widespread violence in the streets of American cities.” On a related note, visit cltampa.com/news to cringe at a video of Fuentes eating his boogers on live television.
“When Fuentes sees an interracial couple, he says ‘Looks like we have some race mixing.’”
ALLENDALEUMC/FACEBOOK
BUBBAPROG/TWITTER
WHERE’S THE LIE? The other side reads, ‘George Floyd was lynched today.’
Good God
St. Pete church calls out white supremacy with incredibly accurate sign. By Ray Roa
S
t. Petersburg’s Allendale United Methodist Church has been no stranger to activism since 2017, so it comes as no surprise to see the house of worship say something about the murder of George Floyd, a Black man who died at the hands (and knee) of the Minneapolis Police Department on May 25. One side of a church sign, located at 3803 Haines Rd. N. in St. Petersburg, says “George Floyd was lynched today by the police. We can’t breathe!” while the other reads, “White Supremacy: The most dangerous virus infecting our country since 1492.” Here’s what the church—which has spoken up about and acted on issues regarding immigration, same-sex marriage and even drag queen bingo—said on its Facebook page. His name is George Floyd. He was lynched today by Minneapolis police after being accused of writing a bad check. 8 minute long suffocation, all on video. Continued choking his neck even after he was unconscious. The most dangerous virus right now is White Supremacy... infecting this country and spreading out of control since 1492. Floyd, 46, was pronounced dead at the hospital after Minneapolis police officers, who were told that the suspect was sitting on a car, responded to an alleged forgery. The police said Floyd, who was inside of a vehicle “physically resisted” after he got out (other video seems to indicate he didn’t). Bystander video shows a handcuffed Floyd on the ground with an officer’s knee pressed against the back of his neck. Floyd can be heard telling the officer that he was uncomfortable and could not breathe.
Floyd is seen motionless by the end of the clip, with his eyes shut, laying on the pavement. Four officers involved in the incident were fired by Police Chief Medaria Arradondo, and on May 26, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told the media that the knee technique is against department regulations, and that the officer had no reason to employ it. “The technique that was used is not permitted; is not a technique that our officers get trained on,” Frey said. “And our chief has been very clear on that piece. There is no reason to apply that kind of pressure with a knee to someone’s neck.” But the Chicago Tribune reports that “In Minneapolis, kneeling on a suspect’s neck is allowed under the department’s use-of-force policy for officers who have received training in how to compress a neck without applying direct pressure to the airway.” “It is considered a ‘non-deadly force option,’ according to the department’s policy handbook,” says the Tribune. The firing was not enough to prevent protestors from taking to Minneapolis streets on Tuesday night during a 2.5-mile march to a city police precinct. Outrage from the incident manifested itself in protests across the country last weekend. Video and photos from the protests show police using tear gas and non-lethal rounds in an attempt to control the crowd. Some protestors damaged police cars and property. Prosecutors have charged Derek Chauvin, whose knee was in Floyd’s neck, with third degree murder and manslaughter.
LOCAL NEWS
CARRY-OUT, CURBSIDE & CALL AHEAD LUNCH SNACK PACKS $7 DINNER FOR 2 FOR $52 SMALL TO LARGE PLATTERS 813.649.8422 WEDNESDAY-SUNDAY LUNCH 11AM-3PM DINNER 4PM-10PM 1930 E. 7TH AVE. TAMPA, FL. 33605
“The most dangerous virus right now.”
911 Central Ave. | St. Petersburg, FL | 33705
buyaramen.com | 727.202.7010 cltampa.com | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | 13
14 | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | cltampa.com
Language of the unheard
You don’t have to like what the rioters did. But you should hear them.
A
Martin Luther King Jr. quote has made the rounds on social media this week, as civil unrest erupted from protests all over the country in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder-by-cop last Monday: “A riot is the language of the unheard.” But we do ourselves a disservice by reading this line, nodding wisely, and stopping there. It’s far more poignant and cutting in context. King first used “the language of the unheard” in an interview with “60 Minutes” in 1966, when he was addressing militant factions within the civil rights movement. “I contend that the cry of ‘Black power’ is, at bottom, a reaction to the reluctance of white power to make the kind of changes necessary to make justice a reality for the Negro. And I think we’ve got to see that a riot is the language of the unheard,” he told correspondent Mike Wallace. “And what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the economic plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years.” A year later, delivering a commencement speech at Stanford University, King elaborated on this idea: “But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, equality, and humanity.” Read in that context, that line isn’t merely about the frustration of the marginalized. Rather, it’s a specific condemnation of white America—of ostensible allies who voice passive support so long as they don’t have to sacrifice their “tranquility” in the name of Black “justice, equality, and humanity.” For years and for decades, we have failed to hear. According to The Equality of Opportunity Project, a Black child born into the bottom fifth of household incomes has just a 2.5% chance of rising to the top fifth, while a white child born into the same circumstance has a 10.6% chance of climbing to the top. Black kids born into the top quintile, meanwhile, are almost as likely to fall to the bottom as they are to maintain their economic position. On average, white households are worth about 20 times more than Black households—and that statistic hasn’t changed in a half-century. Meanwhile, African Americans are incarcerated at five times the rate of whites.
And while surveys show that Blacks and whites use drugs at roughly the same rates, Blacks are about six times more likely to be imprisoned on drug charges. Nationally, Black people are nearly three times as likely as whites to be killed by police, and nearly twice as likely as Hispanics. America has failed to hear. The protests this weekend weren’t just about Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes while three of his fellow officers stood around and said nothing. Nor were they just about the reality that, without a video of that incident, there is zero chance Chauvin and his fellow cops would have been fired, let alone Chauvin being charged with thirddegree murder. No, the protests were also about Eric Garner and Tamir Rice and Philando Castile and Walter Scott and Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown and Freddy Gray and Sandra Bland and Botham Jean and Jordan Davis and countless others. They were about decades of criminal justice policies that targeted Black Americans and decades of economic policies that impoverished them. And they were about a political system that has for so long ignored them: on one side, a party that takes their votes for granted; on the other, a president who delights in racist, incendiary, and atavistic rhetoric. Mix that with depression-level unemployment, a pandemic that has killed more than 105,000 in four months, and militarized police forces eager to bust heads, and you had a powder keg waiting to explode. It didn’t take much to set it off. My point isn’t to excuse or condone rioting or vandalism. It’s to acknowledge that it didn’t happen in a vacuum. There were, of course, opportunists who came to these protests not because they cared about the cause but simply to cause trouble. There were also, in some cases, white supremacists trying to make Black Lives Matter activists look bad. And there were a lot of people who responded to overtly aggressive police tactics—cops who got to play dress-up in riot gear and seemed to think a few thousand people chanting “Black Lives Matter” was tantamount to a Soviet invasion. Videos from city after city shows police, not protesters, instigating violence, blasting peaceful crowds with tear gas and less-lethal bullets and flashbangs. In Durham, North Carolina, where I live, the police took a different approach, blocking
INFORMED DISSENT
INDYWEEK/TWITTER
By Jeffrey C. Billman
IT HAPPENED TO US, TOO: Columnist Jeffrey Billman’s IndyWeek offices in Raleigh. off traffic to make way for protests and making a point of de-escalating tensions. The city saw only one incident of vandalism. A few miles away, in Raleigh, the cops acted like they were going to war, attacked protesters— and bystanders—without provocation, and got two days of destructive riots for their trouble. My newspaper’s Raleigh office was destroyed in the process. Shows of strength—when you equate strength to violence—is often counterproductive.
But the riots also arose from a sense of frustration, from years of resentment boiling over, from decades of the white power structure not hearing them. That was what MLK warned about a half-century ago. If nonviolent protest (Colin Kaepernick taking a knee) or civil disobedience (protesters blocking highways) doesn’t get results, what comes next is inevitable. It’s the language of the unheard. @jeffreybillman jbillman@indyweek.com
“Rioting and vandalism didn’t happen in a vacuum.”
cltampa.com | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | 15
Holy rollover
City to discuss demolishing Seminole Heights Baptist Church. By Ray Roa of the church, which was founded in 1921. The plan also shows a future expansion zone (ironically next to the shadow of the church’s famous steeple) in addition to a list of all the requirements for permitting on the right side of the sheet. There are square footage numbers for the parking, plus floor-to-area ratio numbers that all signify that the project is pretty close to applying for permits. “If it was purely for funsies, you wouldn’t necessarily do those calculations,” Frank told CL. Sill, to many on urban development blogs like URBN Tampa Bay, it looks like there’s an intent to demolish the church. The old fire station on the Taliaferro side of the property is also in jeopardy according to the preliminary site plan. The plan also shows a desire for a curb cut (entrance/exit) on Hillsborough Avenue, but a note on the plan says it is unlikely to be approved. Frank agrees that the curb cut will be disapproved since Hillsborough Avenue is an Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) road that’s close to the interstate. “That shows me that they know what they’re doing and that maybe they’ve had conversations with FDOT to some degree,” Frank said. Brant Adams, Pastor of Seminole Heights Baptist told CL that, “The plan you are looking at is not official or anything that has been submitted, from preliminary discussions.” He said church members are trying to discover what their rights as a property owner are, but that they’re kind of at the city’s mercy. “The Church Membership is the property owner, [which] has built and removed many buildings over the decades on this property,” Adams added. CL also reached out to Atelier Architecture’s Vivian Salaga, who is listed as the Chair for Tampa’s Historic Preservation Commission. Salaga wrote that, “Unfortunately, I cannot speak with you regarding this matter.” “I sit on the Historic Preservation Commission and this would be considered ex parte communication and render me unable to act on this matter at the public hearing,” Salaga added in an email. In a phone call with CL, Dennis Fernandez, Manager of Tampa’s office for Architectural Review and Historic Preservation, confirmed
GOOGLE MAPS
O
n June 9, the Historic Preservation Commission of the City of Tampa is holding a public meeting to discuss the future of the Seminole Heights Baptist Church, which is arguably the most prominent structure in Seminole Heights (its steeple can be seen from I-275). A city document says the request pertains to the “demolition of property listed, Eligible for listing, or pending listing in the National Register of Historic Places (National Register) individually or as contributing in a National Register-listed historic district or property in the HPC workplan.” The document also mentions a request for “determination of economic hardship.” Creative Loafing Tampa Bay’s calls and voicemails to the listed authorized agent, former Tampa City Attorney Julia C. Mandell, have yet to be returned along with calls and messages to City of Tampa building inspector Jerry Schrenker, and Eddie Browder. Browder’s LinkedIn profile says he’s a project manager and landscape architect at Orlando engineering firm S&ME. S&ME submitted a plan for the church, located at 810 E. Hillsborough Ave. in Tampa’s Seminole Heights neighborhood, to the city. Those plans, like many related to this demolition, can be seen by anyone via the city’s Tampa’s Accela Citizen Access site. And for now, without comment from the engineering firm or any of the newest documents, we have to speculate about the process and future of the historic structure (with a lowercase “h,” by the way, not “Historic” as in on the National Register of Historic Places). Josh Frank, Principal and Urban Designer at Wide Open Office—which works to establish new relationships between people and their environment through landscape architecture, urban design and community development—told CL that these are typical documents for these kinds of proposals. But based on the docs available, the plan for the demolition of the church could pretty well be on its way. Frank, 31, said those plans could be for marketing and pointed out that there could be a new plan for the site that isn’t online yet. But a look at the aforementioned test fit site plan, which shows a 10,860 square-foot “free standing emergency room” within the footprint
LOCAL NEWS
“People have a lot of nostalgia and sentiment towards church buildings.”
16 | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | cltampa.com
HERE’S THE STEEPLE: The City of Tampa wants people to tell it how they feel about a Seminole Heights staple. that the church and fire station do not have Preservation does look at how structures can places on national or local registers of his- find new uses and still play a role as a link to toric places; both, however, are eligible for the Tampa’s past. national listing individually, which brings it to He said The Sanctuary off Central Avenue the board level review. Fernandez confirmed in Tampa Heights is a good example of that. that demolition requests are on the table June “I do know that a lot of people have a lot of 9, but added that if the board concurs with the nostalgia and sentiment towards church buildstate that the structures are eligible for lifting ings and houses of worship,” Fernandez said. on the national register, then they also deter- “So we’ve worked with a number of properties mine if they’re eligible for local listings. you know they still operate as churches and “If they feel that others that have put Historic Preservation Commission way and they vote in the building to differTues. June 9, 9 a.m. on a majority to affirm ent uses.” Tampa Convention Center, 333 S. Franklin St., Tampa that, then essentially Social distancing what happens is they measures will be in will not approve a demolition permit practice at the meeting, and members of the for those structures at this time until they go public who do not wish to appear in person may through another review for local listing of local submit written comments for the Architectural significance,” Fernandez, a lifelong Tampeño Review & Historic Preservation Office by mail told CL. (4900 W. Lemon St., Tampa, FL 33609) or email Fernandez could not give his personal (beverly.jewesak@tampagov.net) no later than thoughts on the church, but his role in Historic 24 hours before the meeting.
Good luck, Chuck
Hillsborough teacher resigns after comments surface in racist Facebook group. By Ray Roa
V
ernon “Chuck” Henderson, a Gaither High School social studies teacher who’s come under fire for posts in a white supremacist Facebook group, has resigned. That’s according to Tanja Arja, Chief of Communications for Hillsborough County Public Schools, who shared the update with Creative Loafing Tampa Bay last Thursday. “Under my leadership our district will not tolerate racism of any kind,” Hillsborough County Schools Superintendent Addison wrote in a statement emailed to CL. “Any behavior that has a detrimental effect on our students and staff, or the positive culture at our schools will be dealt with in a swift manner. We will continue to protect the core values of our district and our community.” Over the last week, Henderson has been the subject of scrutiny from activists who shed light on his activity as a member of the pro-Nazi “Right Wing Death Squad” (RWDS) Facebook Group, which routinely posted pro-Nazi propaganda. For the unfamiliar, RWDS is also a phrase used by fringe far-right groups that insinuates genocide aimed at those who they feel are degenerates, (this typically includes groups like LGBTQ, minorities, etc). Henderson has since defended himself, saying his account was recently compromised, but screenshots show a habit of racist and anti-Semitic remarks going back for over a month. As Gaither High School’s student newspaper, The Pony Express, pointed out in April when it broke the story, the school—located near Carrollwood in North Tampa—has a minority enrollment rate of 62%. “The comments could alienate students Henderson is responsible for educating,” reporter Andie Fields wrote.
In one social media comment posted in RWDS, Henderson’s account wrote, “I think we should stop looking down upon these poop people for preferring their steak slightly less than medium rare.” In another, Henderson suggests that Black people aren’t smart enough to run a successful country. “... Show me one example of a black run country that was successful” Until the 1670s,” the account wrote. “Africa didn’t have one city that wasn’t made out of mud and sticks. or a system of writing and that was brought in by inferior Muslims.” On another shitty thread, Henderson’s account asked, “When did Bantu make a resurgence in America.” In one response to a post about the need for an all white ethnostate, Henderson wrote “Rhodesia 2.0,” which a reference to the white supremacist vision of a Caucasian utopia. Arja also told CL that Henderson told the county that he contacted the Temple Terrace Police Department about his his account allegedly being compromised. But, on Thursday morning, Laurie Hayes, Public Information Officer for the City of Temple Terrace, told CL that, “While Mr. Henderson may have sought advice from one of our officers, there is no record of any official interaction, nor were any complaints filed with the Temple Terrace Police Department on his behalf.” Hayes later added that “upon further review, our Police Department located an event within the Police Dispatch CAD that confirmed that Mr. Henderson did have contact with one of our officers on May 21 regarding threatening phone calls and harassing social media messages. As previously noted, no formal report resulted from the interaction.”
EDUCATION
“Racist and anti-Semitic remarks going back for over a month.”
GOOGLE MAPS
SCHOOLED HIM: The Gaither High School newspaper broke news about a racist instructor in April.
cltampa.com | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | 17
Oh, shit
A Temple Terrace apartment complex spilled 100,000 of sewage last week. By Colin Wolf We’re nearly halfway through 2020, and so far Hillsborough County is having an incredibly shitty year. On Wednesday, May 27, a significant sewage spill was reported in Hillsborough County after a lift station malfunctioned in Temple Terrace. The spill was reported at approximately 8:10 a.m. and occurred at the The Park at Valenza apartment complex—located at 6900 Aruba Ave. in Temple Terrace—when a privately-owned lift station failed and nearly 100,000 gallons of sewage overflowed into nearby collection ponds, according to a mandatory report posted to the Federal Department of Environmental Protection’s pollution notice website. While the report noted that most of the sewage seeped into the neighboring ponds, it also stated concerns that the polluted water could leak into the nearby wetlands and the Hillsborough River, which is just west of the
apartment complex. “This was a fairly large spill,” Paula Noblitt, Compliance Enforcement Manager for the Water Division Environment Protection Commission, told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. Nobliltt says that the spill actually happened on May 21, and has been reoccurring on and off for the past week. She also pointed out that the 100,000 gallons of sewage estimate isn’t precise, and it could certainly be much bigger. “It’s ongoing from what we can tell, and for now it seems to be staying in the ponds,” said Noblitt. “However, if we get a lot of rains, it could potentially reach the river and the nearby wetlands.” Noblitt says the Environment Protection Commission has issued the apartment complex a notice for failing to notify the state office and the public, as well as for failure to maintain the sewage.
LOCAL NEWS
This isn’t the first time The Park at Valenza apartment complex has had an issue with sewage overflow. The complex, which is owned Riverchase Property Holding LLC and managed Blue Rock Premier Properties LLC, has had four violations involving since 2016 regarding sewage overflows of different sizes. As of now, the complex has five days to respond to the notice, and if an investigation progresses, the company could face up to $10,000 a day per violation. “We’ve asked for the invoices of the last year, which will show us what issues they’ve had out there and if they’ve made repairs suggested by their maintenance company, or if they sat on it,” Noblitt told CL. “That will be part of what we’ll evaluate.” CL reached out to Blue Rock Premier Properties LLC for comment and we’ll update
this story if it gets back to us. The Temple Terrace spill is certainly notable, but this year has seen much worse.GAGE SK Hillsborough’s largest spill in 2020 occurred on Jan. 18, in a rural area just west of the Big Cat Rescue Center, when a contractor working for the county damaged a 36-inch force main, and 2.2 million gallons of wastewater was spilled. The second biggest spill this year happened about a month later on February 20, after a contractor, who was also working for the county,NASA broke a PVC force main in Ruskin, spilling an estimated 475,000 gallons. In total, nearly 3 million gallons of sewage and waste water has been spilled in Hillsborough County in 2020 records show. While most of the spills have been properly cleaned-up by federal standards, an estimated 764,300 gallons have not.
“It could potentially reach the river and the nearby wetlands.”
BECKER
18 | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | cltampa.com
Shit Happened FRIDAY 29
GAGE SKIDMORE
SATURDAY 30
A local woman’s Trump voodoo dolls leads to $1,100 donation for Tampa Bay food bank. Conservative snowflakes focus on the voodoo instead of the food being delivered to families in need. Space X and NASA team up to send two American astronauts to the international space station for the first time in a decade. They picked a great time to pack up and leave Earth, amirite?
MONDAY 01
Over fears of protesters, Tampa’s big dumb Confederate flag off I-75 has been removed. Fitting for a bunch of chuds who worship the giant, billowing, Civil War participation trophy.
TUESDAY 02 Cristobal, the third named storm of the Hurricane preseason forms in the Gulf. I’m gonna spend the whole weekend rolling my Rs in honor of the sexiest storm name of the year.
NASA
SUNDAY 31
In two unrelated events, an employee at The Kennedy and a co-owner of Tampa’s Nocturnal Hospitality Group no longer work for their companies after racist comments surface online. Shitheads can’t even stay hidden in a pandemic.
BECKER AUTOMOTIVE DESIGN
It’s been an incredibly shitty week, but we’re still covering it via cltampa.com/news.
You can now buy Tom Brady’s custom Escalade for $300,000. It does not come with TB12’s stupid little immunity pills in the cupholders.
cltampa.com | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | 19
RESTAURANTS RECIPES DINING GUIDES
Snapping back
Coronavirus upended the food industry. Tampa Bay’s Black-owned restaurants were no exception.
T
ampa Bay’s restaurant industry is adapting to an unprecedented pandemic that’s changed the landscape forever in just two months. Tampa Bay’s Black-owned restaurants were no exception, and a few are coping with the coronavirus by thinking of innovative ideas to keep their loyal customers interested. “All the big cities started to get hit first so I was hoping it wasn’t going to come to the smaller cities,” Maxim Thurière, co-owner of Downtown St. Petersburg’s Copa (stylized “COPA”), tells Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. Once it was clear the state would be affected, he realized the restaurant would have to close at some point. Maxim and his brother, coowner Sébastien Thurière, are relatively new to the hip restaurant scene in St. Petersburg after opening Copa Lounge—located at 1047 Central Ave. in St. Pete’s Edge District—less than a year ago. Because of his degree in biomedical science, Thurière could explain exactly what the pandemic was and what it meant for Copa and its employees. “We closed and focused on some other stuff for a month. It’ll give us a chance to take a step back and look at everything we were doing like repairs, renovations, and improve,” Thuriére explained. Heavy’s Food Truck co-owner Kendrick Scott was planning to open a brick and mortar location of his restaurant when everything happened. The bulk of Heavy’s revenue comes from various catered events so he’s anticipating the country reopening to 100% capacity. He says they’re making it these days by parking on different street corners selling food to those driving by. “Between March 14-April 3, we lost $40,000 in revenue with canceled catering because everyone was shutting down,” Scott says, but he didn’t shut down because he needed to keep a revenue stream for his employees. “I’ve been selfless for a long time and I was thinking about my guys. I said to myself I had to keep this thing rolling because they have
families to feed and bills to pay,” he says. In addition to figuring out how to survive, owners look for any type of financial assistance they can apply for to pay employees and keep the lights on. Former State Representative Edwin Narain says Black-owned restaurants usually have at least two weeks’ worth of funds in the bank, so when times get bad, everyone’s affected. “The average Black or brown business has about 14 days’ worth of cash on hand. Two bad weeks can cause one of those businesses to go under,” Former State Representative Edwin Narain tells CL. Ybor City restaurant 7th+Grove, located at 1930 E. 7th Ave. in Ybor City, is one of the fortunate restaurants to be approved for PPP funding from the federal government. Co-owner and Creative Director Dr. Jamaris Glenn tells CL it received funds in the five-to-six-figure range. “It allows us to hire back more of our employees and use a percentage of the funds for utilities like our rent,” Glenn explains. He says some employees are opting not to come back because with limited occupancy they won’t receive enough take-home pay to cover their personal expenses. By receiving unemployment pay, those employees can focus on other interests and pay their bills. 7th+Grove is in a sweet spot within Ybor City through the City of Tampa’s recently launched Lift Up Local Economic Recovery Plan. Over the span of two weeks, local restaurants and businesses in various parts of the city can open their doors to limited occupancy with outdoor seating along sidewalks and closed streets. According to the plan, Seventh Avenue is shut down from 15th to 21st Streets, allowing for the area’s bars and shops to operate with a few social distancing rules in place. Although he’s in favor of the street closure, Glenn says some oppose it. “I thought it was a really great idea. People walk down Seventh with a mission to come and eat somewhere,” says Glenn.
RESTAURANT NEWS
20 | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | cltampa.com
C/O COPA
By Alexandria Jones
DOUBLY GOOD: Sebastien (L) and Maxim Thuriere, owners of Copa in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida.
COPA is another recipient of assistance, not from the federal government, but locally. Thurière says they received a $5,000 grant from the City of St. Petersburg. “Although it’s nice to have $5,000, the expense to keep the restaurant open is 10 times as much. We’re appreciative, but we’ve had to take other steps to prepare for this,” says Thurière. In order to drum up more support for restaurants to keep them running, Narain and his wife Monica, along with friends Stevonia Dixon, Sammecia Bagley, Belinthia Berry, Felicia Harvey, Anddrikk Frazier, and Cedric McCray, created the “Saturday To-Go” initiative in April to highlight minority-owned businesses in Tampa. The grassroots program encourages Tampa residents via social media to order to-go meals to help generate sales and save employment. It started with only seven restaurants participating the first week. Once word got out about “Saturday To-Go”, the number of restaurants quickly grew to about 15. “The goal is to improve the awareness of the Black and brown restaurants. People go to the same restaurants to support when these
minority-owned restaurants are established, safe, offer good food, and are unknown,” Narain says. The City of Tampa partnered with the Narains recently to help promote “Saturday To-Go” as part of the Lift Up Local Economic Recovery Plan. Restaurants join for free as long as they practice social distancing and health guidelines. Residents show off their meals using the hashtag #SaturdayToGo. Narain says one business reported a 50% increase by midday on the first Saturday of the initiative. “We’re going to go as long as it takes. Every week, we’ll keep posting about restaurants in the neighborhood and patronize them,” he adds. Various problems with food vendors from shutting down to increasing the prices of food or items being on backorder caused some issues with restaurants receiving some of their essential products from food to paper products. “[Our distributor was] short-staffed and it was even hard for them to even get a surplus of supplies from chicken to paper towels,” says Calvin Jefferson, co-owner of Mr. B’s Restaurant located at 3401 N. Nebraska Ave. in Ybor Heights.
“I had to keep rolling; my staff has families to feed.”
Fortunately for Jefferson, this didn’t cause any issues with his menu. There were days where the restaurant ran out of some food, but staff kept searching until it could replace the items. “You can count on one hand the number of places we didn’t go. That’s how much footwork was going on,” mentions Roderick Johnson, restaurant manager at Mr. B’s. With a lot more time on their hands these days, owners are seizing any opportunity to get a bit creative to keep customers engaged and interested. Jefferson found himself perfecting old recipes and testing new ones like waffle burgers and pancake breakfast sandwiches. “I’m trying to get him to incorporate spaghetti on the menu. He makes an awesome homemade sauce,” Johnson says. Thurière says Copa switched to having only two tables available inside for reservations to prevent anyone being exposed. Ample outdoor seating, also available for reservation, follows strict social distancing rules. “Safety first. I want people to come here and have a good time. I don’t want to be on the other end where people are crammed together. Worst case scenario is we have to close down again because people aren’t obliging by the rules,” he says. A new thing Thurière mentions they’re trying with customers are Virtual Wine Tastings. He says the new venture went better than what he and his brother expected. Participants can orida.choose between picking up the bottles themselves or delivery. The tastings helped cover rent shed,and other expenses plus they were so successful, arainmore wine tastings are planned for the future. “We’d all jump on a Zoom call and a wine h thesommelier explains each wine and what foods urdayto pair. Some nights we’d have 25 people parnomicticipating,” Thurière explains. s long Helping out residents and giving back to the ealthcommunity is also part of making sure we all usingget through this coronavirus safely. s one Jefferson and his employees at Mr. B’s dday urday
constantly serve essential frontline workers, including nurses and EMTs, whenever they can. Scott says a few local organizations and businesses paid for a number of Heavy’s Food Truck meals for residents in Hillsborough and Pinellas. “We’re known in the area, so a lot of people give us a call because they know we do things like this. They determine the location, I post it on Facebook and people come,” Scott explains. The Jameis Winston Foundation partnered with a few Black- owned restaurants in the area in May to create dinners for those in need through its “Nourishing Our Community” initiative. Glenn says he’s forever grateful 7th+Grove was one of the restaurants chosen. “I thought that was the most amazing thing ever. I’m just floored by that. That’s love,” says Glenn. As the owners welcome customers back inside, extra precautions are in place to assure adherence to CDC and state guidelines. When guests arrive, they’ll see employees wearing masks and gloves whether serving or cooking food. Tables are sanitized around the clock from open to close to ensure cleanliness. Customers can feel confident seeing signs posted around detailing the steps restaurants are taking to keep them safe and well in the pandemic. “We have marks on the floor showing where you can stand and sanitizing stations for employees and customers to use. We sanitize every hour on the hour,” says Jefferson. As for the future, the owners remain confident Black-owned restaurants will come out of the pandemic stronger than before, having adapted to a “new normal”. Narain says Blackowned restaurants will survive, but people choosing to spend their dollars at those establishments is what makes a difference. “In the history of our people, when times were tight, we pulled together and figured out a way to survive. I predict we’ll look back on this in a decade and remember we survived it,” says Narain.
“When times were tight, we pulled together and figured out a way to survive.”
d and surwels,” r. B’s Ave.
ALEXANDRIA JONES
g to akes. keep rhood probwn to ng on rants from
B’S GOOD: Calvin Jefferson, co-owner of Mr. B’s Restaurant located at 3401 N. Nebraska Ave. in Ybor Heights, Florida.
cltampa.com | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | 21
THEATER MOVIES THEATER ART CULTURE
Come from away
Local theaters, big and small, have gone online to reach patrons.
B
usinesses across the country are slowly reopening, but Broadway is still a ghost town and the future of local live theater—from small community ones to the large professional houses—remains on extended intermission during the pandemic. While the stage is dark and reopening dates are unknown, theaters throughout Tampa Bay have stepped outside their comfort zones to connect with their audiences virtually. Whether livestreaming to Facebook and YouTube or live and pre-recorded performances streamed live on Zoom, theaters are thinking outside of the box to continue their mission statements to entertain. Creative Loafing Tampa Bay caught up with over 30 local theaters, who despite living with uncertainty, remain hopeful and positive. We wanted to find out how they’ve been staying connected and what their plans are for summer and beyond. Catch up with a few below and see the full story via cltampa.com/arts. American Stage American Stage wondered what its core purpose was during this time and adopted a whole new way to connect with their patrons. Staff and artists share “Summer Shorts,” a series of live performances and videos that the audience can watch from home, including the Shakespeare Lite Festival on June, 10-minute New Short plays festival in July, and a celebration of favorite scenes and characters for the theater’s 43-year history called “Living Room Plays,” in August. In addition, “Spotlight: The American Stage Podcast” offers special guests discussing American Stage’s work and the world of live theater. Live for 30 minutes on Monday evenings in June, “Creative Conversations” also features CEO/Producing Artistic Director, Stephanie Gularte in a Zoom series of virtual roundtable discussions with the community about live theater during the pandemic and beyond. americanstage.org Black Water Theatre Founded by India C. Davison and Willie J. Hannah, Black Water Theatre’s (BWT) mission generates a pathway for African American Artists. During the pandemic BWT have given all artists an outlet to display their talent through its social media platforms. Previous weeks can be viewed on Facebook (BlackWaterTheatre) and Instagram (@bw_theatre). facebook.com/blackwatertheatre Eight O’Clock Theatre Over the past couple of months Eight O’Clock Theatre (EOCT) has been posting “Blast from the Past” videos, where a cast member tells about their experience with
22 | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | cltampa.com
the show, and then shows some clips. “It’s been a lot of fun and our audiences have been loving it,” Sarah Roehm, public relations rep for EOCT, told CL. “We are also very fortunate that our next scheduled show is one that has a nice-person cast. We are hoping to move forward with it, even staging our cast members socially distant. We are obviously figuring this out and will be sure to follow all guidelines and keep everyone safe, but we are excited to think outside the box and see what that looks like.” eightoclocktheatre.com freeFall Theatre Artistic Director Eric Davis has been working with staff to present virtual programming that continues to engage freeFall patrons while upholding his vigorous standards for quality. freeFall sent patrons to its YouTube page where it has a large collection of “Making of” featurettes courtesy of filmmaker Leigh Simons, including a three-part documentary on freeFall’s smash-hit “The Normal Heart.” Inspired by the work of The National Theatre in London, freeFall recently began to present some of its productions free of charge on YouTube. As a unique way for patrons to engage with the artistic team, “A Theatre” Wednesdays at freeFall has 75-80 participants discussing the productions with Eric and our production team on Zoom. freefalltheatre.com Innovocative Theatre To stay connected to the community, Innovocative Theatre has been showcasing videos from performers sharing their experiences in past productions on their Facebook page. They also have been holding private readings of original works they plan to produce in the future. In June, Innovocative Theatre will begin hosting interactive virtual Murder Mystery Parties. Audience members will have the opportunity to play a character, solve the crime, and act alongside some of the Bay Area’s favorite local actors. innovocativetheatre.org Jobsite Theater The company that has largely “stayed connected” to audiences virtually from the beginning, through their social media, blogs or newsletters to keep fans in the loop about their plans and needs. Virtual projects include “One From the Vaults,” a series that focuses on our artists in their homes, sharing memorabilia and memories from iconic Jobsite productions, and “Socially-Distant Soliloquies” series where ensemble members can keep their tools sharp and offer up little bites from the Bard. jobsitetheater.org
ROB/HARRIS
By Deborah Bostock-Kelley
LOCKED UP: You can’t get into theaters like Jobsite at Straz Center, but they’ve opened a virtual door.
Mad Theatre of Tampa Mad Theatre made the difficult decision to postpone the remainder of its 21st season. Throughout the month of May, the theatre board pledged $500 and personally donated to Feeding Tampa Bay. They invited the community to donate to their drive, with all proceeds given to Feeding Tampa Bay. madtheatre.com New Tampa Players A playwriting project has groups, based on age and schedule, meeting over Zoom over the next three months. Each group will write an original one act play that will be performed in October at their original work festival in their new theatre space in University Square Mall, pending Covid-19 regulations. newtampaplayers.org Outcast Theatre Collective At the close of May, Outcast Theatre Collective Founders Clareann Despain and Coky Aquilera virtually presented “Stealthcare: Transphobia in Medicine,” a Forum Theatre piece developed using the techniques of Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed. This form of theatre invites the audience to engage in active problem solving around issues faced by members of marginalized communities. facebook.com/outcasttheatrecollective Powerstories Theatre Since April 7, to celebrate their 20th anniversary and to honor its mission statement of “staging true stories to open minds and hearts and inspire action worldwide,” Powerstories has remained connected to its audience through the collection and showcasing of true stories, videos, artwork, photography, music and theatre performances on its virtual time capsule, positivelypowerstories.com Stageworks Theatre To continue connecting with patrons, Stageworks regularly uploads new virtual content to its Youtube channel featuring Stageworks Theatre’s "Staycation Story Time" (every Saturday at 10 a.m.) and "Stageworks Actors Sing for You" (every Saturday at 3 p.m.). stageworkstheatre.org Straz Center for the Performing Arts/Patel Conservatory The Straz added a great a new section on its website called “The Show Must Go On.” It's added instructional videos from our
Patel Conservatory instructors, and encourage participation from the community in things like virtual sing-alongs and a virtual flash mob that the local community seems to be enjoying. “We’ve launched “Tampa Total Request Live,” which gives local musicians the chance to play some great music, get out in front of the public and even make a tip or two,” said Summer Bohnenkamp, Vice president of marketing and programming at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts. “We plan to continue that all summer as well as lean heavily into our “Arts Legacy Remix” program which showcases artists, veterans and others from around our community. And our staff meets regularly looking for new ideas and how to bring the arts to Tampa Bay in a new and virtual way.” strazcenter.org Tampa Fringe Festival The annual uncensored international performing arts festival, Tampa International Fringe Festival decided early on to shift from an in-person festival to a digital offering, and have been spending time in quarantine refining their vision of what that might look like in the context of fringe, and in keeping with the feel and ethos of the festival, scheduled for July 23-August 2. tampafringe.org Wordier Than Thou Wordier Than Thou has been taking its storytime virtual with readings from local authors, tours of writers, readers, and leader in the community’s home libraries, and Facebook Live interviews with local small businesses called "Tell Us About Your Quarantine," as well as interviews and short readings with local writers about their high school years, "Teenage Wasteland." On June 6, founder Tiffany Razzano hosts a literary scavenger hunt where participants will have a set time to find literary references, book covers, or particular books, etc. During Pride Week, Wordier Than Thou will feature a Drag Queen Story Hour for kids. On July 11-12, the nonprofit hosts a 24-hour fundraiser for its new publishing arm via a Facebook Live event. facebook.com/wordierethanthou
JAMES LEUDDE
OUT OF THE SHADOWS: America’s picking up on St. Pete resident Leo Rodgers’ inspiring story.
Roger that
Local cycling hero lands on the cover of ‘Bicycling’ magazine. By Ray Roa
I
t’s been my experience that there aren’t a lot of people who haven’t noticed Tampa Bay cyclist Leo Rodgers. The 35-year-old commutes 25-miles each way from his home in St. Petersburg to City Bike Tampa where he keeps a mechanic position. After recently getting a tuneup (or lights, I can’t remember) at the downtown Tampa shop, Rodgers—gap-toothed smile and all—passed me my bike, and enthusiastically said I was ready to run from the cops. I’m not bike-gang worthy by any means, but Rodgers made me feel cool as hell for a second. His enthusiasm is infectious, which is why it’s pretty cool to see that it played a part in landing Rogers on the cover of Bicycling magazine, which called the father of two “the kind of cyclist we all need right now.” As Los Angeles writer Peter Flax put it in the long read published online Wednesday, “Leo isn’t in a bike tribe—he’s in all of them.” And now the bicycling world knows a little more about those gangs, too. “He likes to go out at night in khaki shorts and smash it with a fixie crew,” Flax wrote about Rodgers, who’s won eight medals during four trips to the U.S. Paralympic Track Cycling Open, "he likes to do hard paceline training rides with the local spandex roadies and he likes to go out for gravel epics with dudes who consume a lot of CBD chewies.” Flax’s piece—which includes contributions
from Tampa photographers Bob Corislin, who started the story, and James Luedde, who finished it—paints a picture of Rogers’ St. Petersburg home, and it follows him to Tampa and Ybor City where he revels in the camaraderie of his biking friends (and the bars they visit sometimes). The article transports us back to Rogers’ youth and takes readers to meet his family. It also sheds light on a 2007 Fowler Avenue motorcycle accident where Rogers’ leg was sliced open by a guardrail before his body was dropped in the Tampa Bypass Canal. The end result of the accident: Rogers having his left leg amputated above the knee. A lot of the article is about how Rogers found a Redline single-speed from his childhood and re-ignited a love for cycling that’s now taken him to races across the country, but the whole of the piece is a beautiful document of the way hardship, perseverance, friends and an unbridled love of life can lead to the discovery of what makes life worth living. “It’s hard for me to put words together when it comes to me but I have some great people around me that I’m grateful for,” Rodgers wrote on Instagram. “I’m here to inspire others but I am inspired myself over and over by you all. More to come!” It’s a great story and something that I hope catapults Rodgers’ face and energy closer to the forefront of the sports world. Find a link to the piece via cltampa.com.
SPORTS
“I’m here to inspire others but I am inspired myself over and over by you all.”
cltampa.com | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | 23
TAMPA BAY’S PREMIER
INDEPENDENT GUITAR STORE
FIND THE PERFECT
GUITAR/BASS/AMP/PEDAL
ALL MAJOR BRANDS ALLTHE THE MAJOR HUNDREDS OF GUITARS TO CHOOSE FROM
BRANDS 10% OFF BRING IN THIS COUPON TO RECEIVE
HUNDREDS OF GUITARS ONE REGULAR PRICED ITEM. TO CHOOSE FROM NO COPIES ALLOWED, MUST PRESENT THIS AD
3944 S. DALE MABRY
REPLAYGUITAR.COM 24 | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | cltampa.com
BRITTON PLAZA, TAMPA
813-254-8880
Gemini The twins.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “It’s OK to live a life others don’t understand,” writes author Jenna Woginrich. That’s a healthy attitude for an eccentric person like her, who taught herself by trial and error how to run a small farm with a meager budget while all alone in the middle of nowhere. But does her advice apply to everyone? I say yes, it does. All of us have quirky behaviors and idiosyncratic ideas and odd feelings that other people find hard to understand, let alone appreciate. I bring this to your attention, Gemini, because the coming weeks will be a time when it’s best for you to emancipate yourself as much as possible from the need to be perfectly understood as you express your raw, pure, unique self. CANCER (June 21-July 22): I’m one of the lucky people who has never been addicted to alcohol or drugs. What’s the source of my great fortune? Two kinds of grace are key: I suffered no abuse and trauma when I was growing up, and my genetic make-up doesn’t predispose me to selfmedicate with intoxicants. But I am indeed a bit addicted to other things, like fearful fantasies, sexual feelings, and the urge to win arguments. So I’m blessed in some ways, cursed in others—just like all of us! In honor of our season of introspection, my fellow Cancerian, I invite you to do what I just did: Count your blessings and curses. Doing so will bring you just the right kind of healing.
manage, if only for ten days, to fight off and dissolve the reflex to worry. Here’s a tip: Any time the agitated fantasy of an ugly scenario rises up in your imagination, remind yourself that it’s not objectively true and immediately replace it with a fantasy of a desirable scenario. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Nobel Prize-winning Libran author William Faulkner was asked by a cousin if he was drunk when he dreamed up the imaginative stories and characters in his novels. The truth was that on occasion Faulkner did indeed consume alcohol in excessive amounts. However, he rarely indulged while actually writing. His creative ideas mostly came from his fertile imagination, not an unhinged spirit. In the coming weeks, I hope you will be like Faulkner during the inventive phases he enjoyed while sober and disciplined and driven by focused intention. The astrological omens suggest that’s the best recipe for generating original ideas and productive visions. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “What use is this howling tenderness?” wrote eighth-century Tamil mystic poet Andal. My research on Google reveals that no one has answered her question until now. I decided you would benefit from hearing my response, since you are in a chapter of your life story when howling tenderness could work to your benefit. So here’s my counsel: Howling tenderness is useful because it has the power to shatter mysterious barriers that have been at least partially obstructing you from exploring the frontiers of sacred intimacy.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield articulates the spiritual medicine LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “Jacquemus Mini Le I think you should seek in the coming weeks. You Chiquito” is the name of a tiny purse you can especially need it, and by happy coincidence, it’s buy for $522. It fits into the palm of your hand, likely to be available. Kornfield writes: “When and won’t hold much—maybe a single-use strand we have for so long been judged by everyone we of dental floss, a shoe from a Barbie doll, a snip- meet, just to look into the eyes of another who pet of a loved one’s hair, does not judge us can be an aspirin, maybe a few extraordinarily healing.” crumbs from a potato I urge you to identify the chip. In any case, I don’t people who can perform recommend it for you. this service for you, then By Rob Brezsny You should be surroundask them point-blank to ing yourself with symbols of capaciousness and perform this service, even if it has to happen roominess. You need influences that inspire you over FaceTime or via Zoom. To generate the to be a spacious container. It’s time for you to good karma that will ensure this happens in welcome and receive an abundance of blessings, just the right way, offer to perform the same inquiries, and invitations. service for others.
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “Worry is a way to pretend that you have knowledge or control over what you don’t,” writes author Rebecca Solnit. “And it surprises me, even in myself, how much we prefer ugly scenarios to the pure unknown.” Your assignment in the coming weeks is to thoroughly incorporate Solnit’s wisdom—and then wield it with tender ferocity as you reshape your relationship with the future. See if you can
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “The changes we dread most may contain our salvation,” writes author Barbara Kingsolver. Although I mostly agree with her conclusion, I’ll also suggest that we could come up with less melodramatic versions of it. For example, we might say, “The adjustments we’re resisting may actually be healthy.” Or “The uncomfortable transitions we’re avoiding might ultimately lead to a better
version of comfort.” Or “The revelations we’re attempting to ignore and deny could eventually be the source of relief and release.” Do any of these work for you right now, Capricorn? I bet at least one does. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Some people seem to think of sacredness as being pristine and pious—an immaculate and orderly transcendence of earthly concerns. Author and minister Marilyn Sewell has a different perspective. “Who can order the Holy?” she asks. “It is like a rain forest, dripping, lush, fecund, wild. We enter its abundance at our peril, for here we are called to the wholeness for which we long, but which requires all we are and can hope to be.” I recommend Sewell’s version of holiness to you in the coming weeks, Aquarius. You’re primed to upgrade and deepen your sacred lust for life. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): When Europeans arrived in the New World, the Iroquois Confederacy in what’s now northeastern North American had been practicing participatory democracy for 350 years. The visionary principles of these native people ultimately influenced the formation of the U.S. and its Constitution. Now would be a good time for you to be inspired by these facts. How? Draw teachings from the past and use them to create your future. Sstudy the perspectives of indigenous people and incorporate their wisdom into the way you live your life. Tune in to and explore the traditions of people you respect and adopt them for your own use.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries poet Paul Verlaine wrote “Autumn Song” in 1866. It became a well-known French poem, and eventually played a role in a historical turning point. In June 1944, a top-secret British spy organization used the poem as a code to communicate crucial information to the French Resistance, via BBC radio, about the allies’ upcoming D-Day invasion of Normandy. In the spirit of poetry being used to accomplish practical actions, I’m now sending out a burst of code to you, Aries. It’s adapted from another poem by Verlaine: “Delight in good-omened fortune, baptized by the bristling scents of mint, thyme, and clover on the wind of dawn.” Regard this as a signal for you to acquire a necessary resource, strengthen connections with key allies, and intensify your current quest. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Taurus philosopher Bertrand Russell observed, “The best life is the one in which the creative impulses play the largest part and the possessive impulses the smallest.” That is always an important principle for everyone to embrace, in my opinion. But it will be an especially essential truth for you in the coming weeks. Your creative powers will thrive, even soar and generate blessings, to the degree that you downplay and outwit your possessive inclinations.
cltampa.com | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | 25
Elegant Lingerie DVDs Adult Toys Kama Sutra CBD Products Leather & Lace Couples Welcome 9921 Adamo Dr. • Brandon, FL 813-740-8484 planetxadult.com
XTC Adult
ELEGANT LINGERIE • DVDs • ADULT TOYS • KAMA SUTRA • LEATHER & LACE • COUPLES WELCOME
ST PETERSBURG
-----------------------
5944 34th St N (727) 522-1776 ST PETERSBURG
Super Center
-----------------------
4800 34th St S (727) 865-6977 BRADENTON
------------------
1008 Cortez Road West (941) 708-6969 SARASOTA
----------------
2092 17th St (941) 366-6969
SHOPXTC.COM 26 | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | cltampa.com
“Florida’s #1 Romance Headquarters” “Southwest Florida’s LARGEST Novelty Selection”
Blinders By Dan Savage
Here goes: I’m a 32-year-old gay male and I have trouble staying out of my head during sex. I feel like there may be many issues. The one non-issue is everything works fine on my own. When I’m single or “available,” I am OK. Let’s be honest: I’m a slut and I enjoy it. But when I invest in someone, when I’m trying to have an actual relationship, the sex suffers. With a partner I care about, I feel nervous. I feel small both mentally and physically. And I worry my dick is small. I’ve measured and photographed it, so I know better, but something in me is always asking, “Are you really enough?” I’m currently in an open relationship with a guy I’ve known for a decade. He’s amazing. Often I’m hard AF just sitting there relaxing with him. But the closer we get to actually having sex, the more nervous I become. I even stop breathing consistently. It’s almost like I feel ashamed to want someone so much. Or something? It’s frustrating because I would love nothing more than to fuck like rabbits until we were both exhausted. I love him and I want to be able to please him sexually! Our intimacy, our conversation, our connection—everything else is so strong. But I feel like my problem will kill any future I might have with him. He hasn’t really expressed a concern, but I worry. I have considered the idea of therapy, but the idea of talking to some stranger about my sex life face-to-face is just daunting. So what do I do? My other thought is to just blindfold him and say bottoms up. —Dazed In Love
DIL, especially if he got a good look at your dick, you’re convinced he would suddenly conclude— even though he’s known you for a decade and is obviously into you—that you’re not “enough” for him. So don’t let him get a good look. Blindfold that boy. Don’t lie to him about why you want to blindfold him—tell him you feel a little insecure—but explain why bringing in a blindfold makes working through your insecurities into a sexy game. Being able to have sex with the boyfriend without having to worry about him sizing up your cock will free you to enjoy sex and who knows? After a few hot sex sessions with your sensorydeprived boyfriend (or a few dozen hot sessions), your confidence may get the boost it needs and you won’t feel so insecure about your cock or anything else. And even if your dick was small—which it isn’t, DIL, and you’ve got the measurements and photos to prove it—you could still have great sex with your boyfriend. Guys with dicks of all sizes, even guys without dicks, can have great sex. And if you’re still nervous after blindfolding the boyfriend and worried you’ll go soft, DIL, you can take the pressure off by enjoying sex acts and play that don’t require you to be hard. You can bottom for him, you can blow him, you can use toys on his ass, you can sit on his face while he jacks off, etc. There’s a lot you can do without your dick. Zooming out, DIL, intimacy and hot sex are often negatively correlated—meaning, the more intimate a relationship becomes, the less hot the sex gets. Anyone who’s watched more than one American sitcom has heard a million jokes about this sad fact. People in sexually exclusive relationships who still want hot sex to be a part of their lives have to work at solving this problem with their partners. But if you’re in an open relationship and can get sex elsewhere, well, then you can have love and intimacy and pretty good sex with your partner and adventures and novelty and crazy hot sex with other people. Ideally, of course, a person in an open relationship wants—and it is possible for a person in an open relationship to have—hot sex with their committed partner as well as their other partners. But some people can’t make it work, DIL. However hard they try, some people can’t have uninhibited or unselfconscious sex with a long-term partner. The more invested they are in someone, the higher the stakes are, the longer they’re together, etc., the less arousing sex is for them. Most of the people with this problem—people who aren’t capable of having great sex with a long-long-long-term partner— are in monogamous relationships and, judging from the jokes on sitcoms, they’re utterly (but hilariously) miserable. You’re not in a monogamous relationship, DIL, so if it turns out you’re
SAVAGE LOVE
So you don’t wanna talk with a therapist about your issues—which touch on more than just sex—but you’re willing to talk to me and all of my readers about them. I realize it’s a little different, DIL, as you don’t have to look me in the eye while we discuss your dick. But there are therapists who specialize in helping people work through their issues around sex and they’re usually pretty good at setting nervous new clients at ease. They have to be. So I would encourage you to have a few sessions with a sex-positive queer shrink. Talking about your dick with a stranger will be awkward at first, of course, but just like eating ass, DIL, the more you do it, the less awkward it gets—and after a few sessions, your therapist won’t be a stranger anymore. (To find a sex-positive/poly-positive sex therapist, head over to the website of the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists: aasect.org.) In the meantime, DIL, go ahead and blindfold your boyfriend—if he’s game, of course, and I can’t imagine he wouldn’t be. You seem to have an irrational fear of being seen. If your boyfriend were to get a good look at you naked,
incapable of having great sex with a committed partner—if you can’t manage to integrate those things—you don’t have to go without great sex. You can have intimacy at home and great sex elsewhere. But it’s a double-edged sword, DIL, because if you can get hot sex elsewhere, you may not be motivated to do the work required—to talk to that shrink, to get that blindfold, to work through those issues—that would make it possible for you to have great sex with your partner and others. I’ve been with my boyfriend for three years. I’m a 27-year-old woman, and this was my first “real” relationship. Before I met my boyfriend, I would have considered myself a steady dick-jumper. I went flitting from guy to guy. On paper, our relationship seemed great. He tries to make sure I have what I need, whether it’s a meal, a TV show, a record to play. He is stable and affectionate; most of all, he wanted to be with me. But he’s boring. When I talk to him, I want to be somewhere, anywhere else. The more I tried to engage with him, the more obvious our lack of any deep connection seemed. He is stoic and un-emotional whereas I cry during car commercials. I’m desperately seeking an emotional equal. Every day I go back and forth between loving where we are and wanting to run the fuck away. I have a tendency to do the latter—with guys, friends, jobs—so I don’t know what I REALLY want. But
I feel so incredibly unfulfilled. We have a lackluster sex life and I feel more like his roommate the past year than his girlfriend. I want to be inspired by my partner. My question is... actually, I’m not really sure I have a question. —First Relationship Fizzle Since you didn’t ask a question, FRF, I guess you don’t require an answer. So I’ll make an observation instead: You repeatedly refer to this relationship in the past tense. (“…this was my first ‘real’ relationship,” “…our relationship seemed great,” “…the more I tried.”) So you obviously know what you need to do. Your soonto-be-ex-boyfriend sounds like a good guy, FRF, and you don’t want to hurt him, which makes dumping him harder. But if he’s not the right guy for you, FRF, you’re not the right woman for him. Go back to flitting—and who knows? Maybe one day you’ll jump on a dick that’s attached to a guy who inspires you. Or maybe you don’t want one guy—forever or for long. Some people are happier flitting than settling. Join me for my first-ever Savage Lovecast Livestream! June 4 at 7 p.m. PST. I’ll answer as many of your questions as I can, all from the comfort of your computer. Tickets are at savagelovecast.com/events. Contact mail@savagelove. net and follow @FakeDanSavage on Twitter. Bookmark savagelovecast.com.
cltampa.com | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | 27
creative loafing puzzler MEN AT PLAY by Merl Reagle 1 4 10 14 18 20 21 22
25 26 27 28 29 30 36 39 40 41 47 50 51 52 53
Empower women farmers with every cup.
55 57 58
ENJOY 15% OFF | USE CODE: CL ONLINE AT JOFFREYS.COM
62 63 64 65
Restrictions Apply. Not combinable with other offers.
Employment/Help Wanted
NOW HIRING OUTSIDE SALES!
Are you a "Creative Loafing" personality? Love talking with people and helping businesses succeed? Contact us today and submit your resume with a cover letter to: Kassey@cltampa.com. Use subject line "Outside Sales Representative"
HIRING: ARTIST MANAGER LICENSED PROFESSIONAL P/T COMM ONLY MULTI GENRE
A PROFESSIONAL MASSAGE Female Therapist
MA23220
LIFE IS GOOD! A Warm Lotion Therapuetic Massage. Once is not enough.
Call 727-403-3544 Lic# MA33860
Real Estate For Sale
Licensed Massage & Spas
@ THE RELAXATION STATION Strong Hands with a Gentle Touch 19 years experience IN CALL / OUT CALL 8am till 10pm 7 days
67 68 70
In-Call Sandy 727-822-4020
www.chansonsnow.biz
MASSAGE BY BUTCH
66
7 days! 9am-5pm, $40
SERIOUS ONLY 727-455-7139 chansonsnow3@gmail.com
RELAXATION MASSAGE From Deep Tissue to Lighter Pressure. Call for specials. 727-744-0254
John LaRocca REALTOR® John@MyHomeTB.com 813.990.7488
A TRULY IMMACULATE LUTZ ESTATE
LOCATED IN SANCTUARY AT LIVING STON! 4 CG & An ABUNDANCE of windows. Ornate formal rooms w/ TRAVERTINE & CROWN MOLDING. FR w/ stone FP, LUXURIOUS KITCH EN, GRANITE COUNTERS, CUSTOM CABINETRY, PENDENT LIGHTING, butler’s pantry, wine cellar, & GAS COOK TOP. OFFICE, Master BR FP, pool access, & custom walk in closet.. Master BA w/DOUBLE SINKS huge SHOWER & TUB. All BR’s w/ large walk in closets. LARGE MEDIA ROOM w/ bar & PATIO, POOL & SPA. Offered at $1,290,000
817.228.2990
Cash/Credit Cards Accepted MM#6181
28 | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | cltampa.com
125 73 Coup follower 76 007’s super-car 126 in Goldfinger, ACROSS ___ Martin Duffer’s miracle 78 Pot for pods 1 Observation 81 Announcement 2 Int’l cartel about a 3 Scope lead-in playwright’s 4 Playwright after a second act? 5 long layoff? 84 A ways to walk Welk fragment 85 “___ all!” 6 Iving's Meany (exclamation) Playwright 86 The Tyrrhenian, 7 standing near a for one 8 banner that reads 87 A personal “Closing Due To question 9 Poor Attendance”? 88 Wilson who 10 Spent a lazy day played Sam in Cauterize Casablanca 11 1979 space chiller 90 “___ making 12 “This isn’t the ___ a list ...” ordered” 91 Most add-on for 13 Possesses a hostess 14 Special delivery 93 Playwright’s role 15 from a playwright? in his own 16 The Penguins, e.g. courtroom drama? Decaf maker 96 A fairy tale 17 Overfill beginning 19 Headline about a 98 Like the music in playwright’s recent The Elephant Man award? 100 Love god 23 Crossword creek 101 Playwright during 24 Golden, to Gide his wild years? 29 Renowned rabbi 104 Satirist Beerbohm State of sameness 106 Gilbert who 31 Performance played Darlene 32 funder, perh. on Roseanne 33 Victor’s reward 110 Oozes 34 Luau setting 111 Son of Isaac 35 Theater’s All-Ben 113 Typewriter roller 37 lineup? 115 On the subject of 38 Passes a German 41 Watch site playwright? ___ edge 120 Witness promise 42 Like some 121 Hebrew month 43 divorces 122 A playwright’s 44 Skateboarder, colorful sailing 45 often characters? 46 123 Dealing device 48 Egg drink Places to do laps 124 They’ll make you black and blue 49 Love, Italian-style
1
John LaRocca REALTOR® John@MyHomeTB.com 813.990.7488 ADULT/Models
TRANS Model Yazmine: 813-508-1441
3
18
CUSTOM ODESSA ESTATE! Built in 2010 by interior designer Paul Lewis. 3,517 sq ft , 3 BR, 4 BA 2 CG, + workshop/storage, Dock w/ lake access, + pergola! 50 YR SLATE ROOF, 10’ ceilings. WALNUT CABINETRY, BRAZILIAN STAR BEACH GRANITE, CABINET FACED SUB-ZERO fridge/freezer, Enjoy the LAKE LIFE on your deck, pergola, overlooking SERENE CYPRESS trees & FRENCH INSPIRED landscape. Located in the highly coveted STEINBRENNER SCHOOL DISTRICT. offered at $1,495,000.
2
4
5
6
7
8
54 Tray content 95 Spell 97 “I don’t know 56 Praising poetry what ___ say” 59 India’s official 99 Hands down language DOWN Painter Veronese 60 Wisdom, for one 102 Cuban coffee ingredient 61 Jai alai basket Hot crime 103 Slangy assent 63 Roast need Soviet money 66 Moderate pace 104 “We’ll see” Raison d’___ 105 Also, in Alsace Seller of cols. and 67 Actress Wood 69 Concern in skiing 107 Inclined comics 108 End of a famous or musketry National Velvet’s Oscar 70 Words of horse 109 Gloomy outlook? emphasis “Made ___” 112 Hit a slick spot 71 Actress Rita Actress 113 State founder 72 A Finger Lake Moorehead William 74 VIPs from Swan lady 114 Glasgow girl Venus, e.g. It makes your 115 Derek and 75 “How’s ___?” dinghy go Diddley (query to a School grp. 116 Game shout pitcher) Hall of Fame 117 Stage signal 76 Tennis great coach Weeb 118 Franken and 77 Inoculation Black stuff Davis 78 Out of control Puzzle 79 Jackie’s designer 119 Tent anchor Dallas gang Ordinarily priced 80 Actor Luke of Chan films at: abbr. 82 Avoirdupois and Roadside rest troy: abbr. “So many 83 Woolly mama PUZZLE FANS ! desserts, ___ 84 Eggplant entree For info on Merl's time ...” 89 Eye, to Esteban Sunday crossword Expunge anthologies, visit Throw it and move 92 Lured www.sunday 94 Asian nut or Health care crosswords.com. palm option: abbr. Hocking Solution to Smoke Screen Fly, for one Ulna neighbor A B B Y A R F S L B S S A L A AMS I O L E L O L A E L I I N A T R A P Bikini and others R Y A N S D A UGH T E R L A SORD A Liverpool’s river B A D R A C K E T B U S T E R S OE R AME S S H E S S E A N T CWM Language finish G I R T R E S T MA L T T OH E R Staring angrily UR S U S S P I RO T H E E R A AGN A T E A S HO T I N T H E D A R K Clark Gable’s DONN A S S I E S T A OA F D Y E birthplace A N EGG A S S E T I N T OW ME R L E S T I RCR A Z Y R E B I D Drive insert CHOS A U L A S MA UN A Building additions C P O E O I L CORN E A P UR S E D A L L H A ND SOND E C K E L A T E S Mineral sources D E DUC T T RU S S COA T I Air conduit S A Y A H SON S B E RN I N F O D E C CUR MA I N E H E L E N The ___ degree OW L T H EMA T I NGGAME OR E Bear or bull F I L CH E D A Y A N K A T OX F ORD I T E R A T E R PM I GOR A S I A addition T HRON E S PO I D E RN S E C Y Tarzan, e.g. Condescends Make doilies
9
19
42
37
30
38 44
51
45
58
47
81
74
96
98 102
93
78
79
80
107
108
109
69
84 88
94
89
95
99
100
103
104 111
116
35
50
77
87
110 115
34
56
83
92
97
101
49
55
68 76
86 91
33
65
75
82
85
17
61
67 73
90
54
48
64
72
16
40
60
63
71
32
53
59
66 70
31
46
52
57
15
24
39
43
62
14
27
29 36
NOTICE UNDER FICTITIOUS NAME LAW PURSUANT TO SECTION §865.09, FLORIDA STATUTES NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the undersigned, desiring to engage in business under the fictitious name of Sonia Plotnick Women’s Health Fund in the County of Pinellas in the City of St. Petersburg, Florida 33747, intends to register the said name with the Division of Corporations of the Florida Department of State, Tallahassee, Florida. § Dated at St. Petersburg Florida, this 14th day of May, 2020 § Sonia Plotnick Health Fund, Inc., a Florida 501(3)(c) Nonprofit organization
13
21
26
28
CLTamp.com
12
23
25
41
11
20
22
to advertise by phone 813-739-4800 by email dlancaster@cltampa.com
10
117
105
106
112
118
113
114
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
STAY CONNECTED Join us all summer and enjoy powerful stories, virtually told on our newly launched Virtual Stage. Meet new people and explore new ideas with our Virtual Academy.
Summer Shorts | Creative Conversations Virtual Summer Camp | Master Classes and more!
EXPLORE TODAY. AMERICANSTAGE.ORG
Weekly Specials Monday:
BEST LARGE BREWERY IN FLORIDA ADDITIONALLY, WE WON TWO GOLD MEDALS AND ONE SILVER MEDAL FOR THREE OF OUR CRAFT BEERS.
Tuesday:
Burger Bag Day
Tactogon Tuesday
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Closed
$6 Cubans
Saturday and Sunday: Vegan donuts & rotating weekend sandwich specials @goldendinosaursvegandeli 2930 Beach Blvd. S in Gulfport goldendinosaurs.com 727-873-6901
4465 W. GANDY BLVD. • TAMPA • 813-837-2739 • 81BAYBREWCO.COM
cltampa.com | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | 29
30 | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | cltampa.com
cltampa.com | JUNE 4-10, 2020 | 31